Anyang: An ancient city ready to take flight 08:59, May 18, 2024 By Liu Ning, Zhang Kaiwei, Huo Yaping, Chen Si, Cui Yue, Elena Davydova ( People's Daily Online Anyang, located in central China's Henan Province, is a city steeped in history, but at the same time poised for a dynamic future. Renowned for its rich cultural heritage and significant archaeological discoveries, Anyang stands as a testament to China's ancient civilization while embracing modernity through innovation. Drone photo taken on March 29, 2024 shows the skyline of Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning) With its vibrant and diverse cultural heritage, the city holds a pivotal place in Chinese history, notably as the capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.), one of the earliest recorded dynasties in ancient China. Archaeological sites such as the Yin Ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offer a glimpse into the regions glorious past, with its many relics and artifacts shedding light on early Chinese civilization. Visitors to the city can explore ancient temples, pagodas, and museums showcasing artifacts from various periods. Anyang captivates visitors with its diverse offerings and promising future. Exploring the cradle of Chinese civilization Photo taken on March 25, 2024 shows the oracle bones displayed at the new building of Yinxu Museum in Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning) How do you tell whether today is a good day to go to school or go hunting? Thousands of years ago, people in the Shang Dynasty used oracle bones to find the answer. These bones, primarily ox scapulae or tortoise shells, were used for divination purposes. Diviners inscribed questions on matters such as harvests, the weather, or royal decisions onto the bones, which were later heated to produce cracks then interpreted as divine answers, providing guidance to the ruling elite. The crowning glory of Yin Ruins lies in its oracle bone discovery, which marked a pivotal moment in the understanding of ancient Chinese culture and language. Li Xiaoyang, head of Anyang Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, said that Chinese characters are very intriguing, especially the method of creating characters, which originated from the oracle bone inscriptions, and our culture is preserved through the inheritance of these characters. The Yin Ruins is regarded as a testament to Anyang's ancient past and the cradle of Chinese civilization. Dating back over 3,000 years, this archaeological site unveils the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, showcasing palace foundations, ritual vessels, and oracle bone inscriptions. It continues to draw scholars, historians, and tourists eager to unlock the mysteries of China's early history. Drone photo taken on March 25, 2024 shows the new building of Yinxu Museum in Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning) A new building of Yinxu Museum in Anyang city officially opened to the public on Feb. 26, 2024. Its grand opening marks a significant milestone in the preservation and showcasing of the regions rich cultural heritage. The museum showcases nearly 4,000 items or sets of cultural relics, including bronzeware, pottery, oracle bones, and jade objects. Over three-fourths of these relics are being shown to the public for the first time. We are going to let Chinese people as well as our friends from other countries to know more about Chinese culture by publicizing our archaeological achievements and showing our cultural relics, said Li. Embracing low-altitude economy to develop new quality productive forces Photo taken on March 28, 2024 shows drones in a UAV workshop in Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Kaiwei) After the operator clicks the mouse to mark several locations on a digital map, the lid of a drone station automatically opens. A drone then flies out of the station to check all the marked locations and returns to the station autonomously after its mission is completed. This is not a scene from a sci-fi movie, but something that actually took place in the UAV industrial park in Anyang. The UAV can be used in many fields such as agriculture, rescue, meteorology and industry. The low-altitude economy covers a wide range of industries focusing on both manned and unmanned civil aerial vehicles. The sector includes aircraft manufacturing, low-altitude flight operations, and a slew of related services. The low-altitude economy was highlighted in China's Government Work Report for the first time this year, making it a key factor in nurturing new quality productive forces and a new growth engine. According to an action plan issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other government departments recently, China will establish a new development model for the general aviation industry characterized by high-end, intelligent and green features by 2030. Photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows visitors paragliding at Linlv Mountain International Paragliding Site in Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Kaiwei) In addition to industrial use, Anyang makes full use of its natural resources to develop the low-altitude economy for tourism and sports. Linlv Mountain International Paragliding Site is located at Anyang's Linzhou. Its take-off zone is on the east side of Taihang Mountains Grand Canyon, with an altitude of about 1,280 meters and an area of about 16,000 square meters. It can accommodate nearly a hundred paragliders taking off at the same time. In recent years, Anyang has emphasized the low-altitude economy and UAV industry, and is working on the construction of related infrastructures and 5G UAV management and control platforms to explore the UAV management and service mode, which covers four levels (country, province, city and county). Several urban application scenarios have been developed and promoted to the whole country. In 2023 alone, nearly 20 business projects were realized, with a revenue of nearly 50 million RMB (about 6.9 million US dollars). You Bingbing, General Manager of Anyang Honeycomb Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd, pointed out that as low-altitude airspace continues to open up, their drones play a crucial role in the low-altitude economy. The company has developed various industry-level drone products for security patrols, oil pipeline inspections, forest firefighting patrols, environmental monitoring, and emergency communications. "We continuously invest in research and development. We kept advancing, no matter how hard it was, all thanks to our hard work and self-reliance," said You. Inheriting the spirit brought by the Red Flag Canal engineering marvel Drone photo taken on March 28, 2024 shows the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning) One of Anyang's most impressive engineering feats is the Red Flag Canal. With bare hands, local villagers carved out a 1,500-kilometer canal along the steep crags of Taihang Mountain in the 1960s. Within a decade, they brought precious water from the Zhanghe River in bordering Shanxi Province to Anyang's then drought-stricken area, Linxian county, now known as Linzhou. After the canal was completed, it provided drinking water to 600,000 people and 37,000 heads of livestock, and irrigated 36,000 hectares of arable land. People in Linzhou overcame numerous challenges to make the impossible possible, forging the spirit of the Red Flag Canal, which emphasizes self-reliance, hard work, solidarity and cooperation, and selfless dedication. 76-year-old Zhang Maijiang was the youngest among the 300,000 people mobilized for the waterway's construction, We had to complete the construction no matter how tough it was, so that our descendants would no longer suffer from water shortages, he said. As visitors from far and wide flock to witness the marvels of the Red Flag Canal, they are reminded of the extraordinary achievements that can be accomplished through unity and perseverance. The Red Flag Canal stands as a shining beacon of hope, inspiring people to overcome adversity and forge a path towards a brighter tomorrow. Photo taken on March 28, 2024 shows students visiting Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Kaiwei) From the ancient wonders of Yin Ruins to the modern achievements of its low-altitude economy and the enduring legacy of the Red Flag Canal, Anyang embodies the spirit of innovation, resilience, and cultural heritage. As the city continues to thrive and evolve, it remains an inspiration for both locals and visitors, inviting all to discover the treasures it holds and the stories it continues to tell. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chengliang) China warns Philippines against acts of infringement, provocation Xinhua) 11:01, May 18, 2024 BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson has warned the Philippine side not to take any rash action, and urged it to halt all acts of infringement and provocation. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference Friday in response to a media inquiry about the Philippine president's recent claim that the country has no intention to provoke or escalate tensions in the South China Sea, as well as about the military drills jointly carried out by the Philippine and U.S. troops. The actions and statements from the Philippine side are contradictory and self-defeating, and it is clear to the world as of who is provoking and creating incidents in the South China Sea and exacerbating tensions through bloc rivalry, Zhang said. If anyone attempts to form self-serving cliques to coerce or pressure China, their calculations are entirely misguided, the spokesperson said. The Chinese side will continue to take resolute and decisive measures to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea, Zhang said. The spokesperson was also asked about the Philippine authorities' recent denial of any agreement with the Chinese side concerning China's Ren'ai Jiao. Zhang noted that regarding the issue of Ren'ai Jiao, the Chinese side has reached with the Philippine side a "gentlemen's agreement" and internal understandings out of humanitarian considerations, which could help manage differences, prevent conflicts, and build trust between the two sides. However, the Philippine side continued to deny the hard facts, deceiving its people and misleading the international community, Zhang said, questioning the Philippine side's credibility and intentions. China urges the Philippine side to adhere to the basic norms governing international relations, and stop its false narratives and reckless provocations, said the spokesperson. "Otherwise all its behaviors will only backfire on itself and do itself more harm than good." (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) The top U.S. negotiator for defense cost sharing talks with Korea arrived here Saturday, ahead of a new round of negotiations set for next week. The arrival of the delegation, led by Linda Specht, lead negotiator for security agreements at the U.S. State Department, came as the allies are set to hold their second round of talks on determining how much Seoul should shoulder for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). "This is really about the importance of our alliance, our relationships as two countries and the support we give one another," Specht told reporters upon arriving at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. "I'm looking forward to a good set of talks," she said. The talks will take place in Seoul from Tuesday through Thursday, between Specht and her Korean counterpart, Lee Tae-woo, the chief negotiator from Seoul's foreign ministry. Seoul and Washington launched the negotiations in Hawaii last month, at an earlier time than planned, amid a view that Korea seeks to strike a new deal sooner to avoid the risk of facing tough bargaining from the United States for a big increase in its share if former President Donald Trump is reelected in November. The two sides had grueling negotiations for the latest deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), as Washington under Trump's presidency had demanded more than a fivefold increase in Seoul's payment to US$5 billion. The negotiations had hit a deadlock, placing Koreans working for the U.S. military here under a temporary furlough amid the absence of an agreement. The current 11th SMA was signed soon after the launch of the Joe Biden administration. Under the six-year deal, due to expire at the end of 2025, Korea agreed to raise the payment by 13.9 percent from 2019 to $1.03 billion for 2021. Seoul has called for a new deal to come at a "reasonable level" to ensure the conditions for the "stable stationing of the USFK and to strengthen the allies' combined defense posture." Washington has said it seeks to pursue "a fair and equitable" outcome in the talks, as most of Seoul's contributions in the SMA are expended in Korea's domestic economy, representing a "powerful investment" in the bilateral alliance. Since 1991, Seoul has partially shouldered costs under the SMA for Korean USFK workers; the construction of military installations, such as barracks, and training, educational, operational and communications facilities; and other logistical support. (Yonhap) As a poor person I will tell you: people don't ride CARTA because the city is obscenely and hilariously filthy and dangerous, not because the buses haven't yet installed this month's fashionable cashless payment system.CARTA is said to haul three million trips a year on a budget of almost $30 million. Has anyone checked in on CARTA's administrators lately? If they can't make a bus service function on $10 per trip, I'm not entirely sure they can feed and clothe themselves. It's times like these where I wish I may, I wish I might, that our City Council was a little more bright. Chris Wicker All good Chattanoogans are dismayed at the news that CARTA may go "out of business." Whatever will we do without enormous, loud, empty buses clogging up our very narrow streets? The opportunity cost will be too great. How else will homeless prostitutes be CArried Rapidly Through the Area? How else will I get the opportunity to receive a structured settlement from a public transportation company? I'll have to go to Atlanta, by bus or rail, of course. Can you imagine paying thousands of dollars to take your partner on a romantic vacation, only for them to spend most of it flirting with other people right in front of you? This happened to one man who paid a lot of money to take his girlfriend to Italy and had to watch her flirt with a bunch of locals for attention. He and his girlfriend are 24-years-old, and six months ago, they began planning a trip to Italy. He initially wanted to visit Japan, but his girlfriend was very insistent on Italy, so he gave in. After arriving in Rome, he noticed before their first day out and about, his girlfriend took a lot of time getting ready and got extra dolled up. While she usually takes five minutes to get ready, she took half an hour in Rome. Then she put on a top that exposed her stomach and short-shorts, he said. This was odd to me as it wasnt even hot out, but I thought little of it. Perhaps some people like to be different from their usual selves when they travel. As we walked through Rome, my girlfriend kept wandering away from me. Again, we were traveling, and I figured she was just excited to be in a new country. She kept getting worse and worse. Id be talking to her, getting no response, and [then would turn] around to see her not even there. Later on their first day, he couldnt find his girlfriend for 10 minutes. After frantically walking around the city, he found her talking to a local man. He noticed she was being extra polite, which he first attributed to nerves, but then it became clear that she was being a flirt. After introducing himself to the local and introducing himself as her boyfriend, he and his girlfriend walked off, and she acted super annoyed as if he ruined her chances of finding a new boyfriend. Finally, he confronted her and asked why she was acting so strangely. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Unfortunately, when kids grow into teenagers and start having to balance more feelings, relationships, and school work, they get moody. Whats also unfortunate is that parents become an easy target for their moodiness, and you can never know what insult or snarky comment teenagers will make out of the blue. One woman has recently been giving her daughter the cold shoulder after she insulted her and called her a gold digger. She and her husband are in their 40s and have a 15-year-old daughter. Her husband is a successful businessman, and since her daughter was two, shes been a stay-at-home mom, ensuring her family has everything they need and caring for their house. However, their lifestyle wasnt always so easygoing. Shortly after we moved to the States, my husband struggled to get his business off the ground, leading me to support the two of us, she explained. I was working full time as a teacher, as well as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings at a restaurant and a coffee shop on Saturdays and Sundays to make ends meet. Once my husband was more successful in his business, I was able to stop working in the restaurant and coffee shop and just teach. After we bought our home, we decided to have a baby and later agreed that I should quit my job to look after her and our home, as we often argued about chores from having a busy schedule. While she doesnt have to work a job anymore, she works hard as a stay-at-home mom, doing the best she can for her family and supporting her husband and daughter in several ways. Her daughter has lived a very privileged life, getting to experience many things and opportunities. Unfortunately, since her daughter has entered her teenage years, shes grown very distant and has lost touch with her responsibilities. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Home News Attendance at Jimmy Carter's church staggered after he stopped teaching Sunday school, deacon says A deacon at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where former President Jimmy Carter is a member, says attendance dropped after he stopped teaching Sunday school, and the church's hiring of its first woman lead pastor is an effort to bring people back to their pews. Speaking in an interview with WALB News 10 Thursday, Maranatha Baptist Church Deacon Nelle Ariail, who has been a part of the church since 1982, said since Carter stopped teaching his popular Sunday school class in 2019 due to injury, attendance at the church has staggered amid declining membership. "It's been a little hard on the church to have different pastors that didn't stay there long. But during the time that President Carter was teaching Sunday school, we had lots and lots of visitors every week." Ariail explained. 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 Without visitors, Plains has only 575 residents. The population has reportedly been getting older and smaller, and including Maranatha, it divides its allegiance between 11 churches, The Longview News-Journal reported last month. Maranatha, a former congregation of the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination whose guidelines oppose women serving as lead pastors, aggressively recruited the Rev. Ashley Guthas, a divorced mother of two, for the church's top job. "A lot of churches are not OK with female Pastors, but we are, and we think she's going to be really good for us. She has a heart for the church and for loving people." Ariail said. Guthas, a 2023 McAfee School of Theology graduate, previously served as associate minister to families with children and youth at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta. She says she still feels "uneasy labeling myself as a pastor" and struggled with the idea for a long time before agreeing to take on the role. "It has taken many years for me to let go of the theological views that insisted women could not lead. Many of you have offered words that have encouraged me in this calling, and you had no idea of the wrestling taking place inside of me," Guthas wrote to Northside Drive Baptist Church in March, less than a year after that church announced her hiring last August. Northside highlighted her significant experience working with youth ministries in Methodist and Baptist churches and marketing at Chick-fil-A. Carter, who grew up as a third-generation Southern Baptist and was the first United States president to declare himself a born-again Christian, parted ways with the SBC in 2000, citing disagreement with the denomination's position on women and their role in the Church. He continued to teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church and encouraged the church to send half its mission contribution to another Baptist church network, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. "I have seen an increasing inclination on the part of Southern Baptist Convention leaders to be more rigid on what is a Southern Baptist and exclusionary of accommodating those who differ from them," Carter said at the time. "In the last couple of years, this tendency of the Southern Baptist Convention leadership to ordain their creed on others has become more onerous for me and more difficult for me to accept." Carter, 99, is the oldest living U.S. president and has been in hospice care for over a year. His wife, Rosalynn, died last November at age 96. The same year he stopped teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, leaders hired The Rev. Tony Lowden as their first black lead pastor. Lowden didn't stay in that role as long as they hoped. He left the shrinking small town in 2021, according to The News-Journal. Since then, the church services have been led by a rotating cast of visiting preachers, according to The News-Journal. Long-time church member Jane Williams, who plays piano and answers the church's phone, told the newspaper that fewer than 30 people attend the church every Sunday. Although there are more people listed as church members, some of those people haven't attended in decades. Guthas officially resigned from Northside Drive Baptist Church on April 28 to start her role at Maranatha. She will preach her first sermon at the church on June 2. "I ask for your prayers. Candidly, I seem to carry so many emotions within me regarding this calling," she told Northside congregants last month. "It is no small thing that a Baptist church, only recently separated from the Southern Baptist Convention, is calling a woman to be their pastor." Home News Hotel apologizes after canceling pro-Israel Christian conference amid security concerns A Tennessee hotel that canceled a pro-Israel Christian event amid reported threats has reached an agreement with the group behind the gathering as it has moved the event to a different venue. Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel told HaYovel, Inc. last week that it canceled an event slated for May 20-22, reportedly due to threats that the venue received in advance of the gathering. In response, the conservative legal organization First Liberty Institute sent a complaint letter to Sonesta on behalf of HaYovel, demanding that the hotel reverse its decision to cancel the summit. 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 In a joint press release Friday, Sonesta and HaYovel announced an agreement in which the hotel apologized for its actions. HaYovel announced that it relocated the event to Ramsey Solutions, still scheduled for May 20-22. "The safety and wellbeing of Sonesta's team and guests is its top priority," the statement reads. "While Sonesta determined it was unable to host the HaYovel event due to security concerns, Sonesta sincerely apologizes for the difficulty that this decision has caused HaYovel and its Nashville event attendees." The two parties say they "are committed to assist impacted event attendees to process refunds for relevant expenses." "Sonesta and HaYovel are pleased to have quickly and amicably reached a resolution regarding the cancellation of a recent event that was to be hosted at the Sonesta Nashville Airport," the parties stated. "Sonesta respects all humanitarian aid and advocacy groups in their efforts on behalf of people of all faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. HaYovel appreciates Sonesta's willingness to resolve this situation swiftly and to the organization's full satisfaction." Founded in 2004, HaYovel is a self-identified "Christian Zionist" volunteer organization that sends Christians to Israel to help plant trees, work at vineyards and tour the country. "We bring Christians to Israel to serve the land and people, enabling them to connect to the land of their faith, restore Christian Jewish relations, and confirm Israel's right to their ancestral homeland," the group says on its website. "After serving in Israel, volunteers return to their homes with a renewed sense of purpose, a strengthened faith, and a zeal for God's worldwide plan of restoration that began with Abraham." Last month, the group promoted "The Israel Summit," which featured multiple speakers, including former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Israeli Knesset Member Ohad Tal, National Religious Broadcasters President Troy Miller and Israeli musician Yair Levi. However, Sonesta canceled the summit, citing concerns about the safety of their facility amid threats when they notified the Christian organization. FLI sent a letter to Sonesta, arguing that the cancelation "violates the terms of the contract between the Sonesta and HaYovel executed January 31, 2024 ... and is unlawful religious discrimination in a place of public accommodation in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." "HaYovel respectfully requests you fulfill your contractual obligations as agreed and provide HaYovel express written affirmation that you will do so," reads the letter. "Failure to provide the written affirmation and fulfill the Contract may result in legal action against the Sonesta and all other responsible parties." FLI Executive General Counsel Hiram Sasser told The Christian Post in an earlier interview that he believed Sonesta was "in violation of federal and state law and they should correct this violation and stop their discrimination against people of faith." "Federal law and state law do not allow anyone to cancel an event based on the religious beliefs of the people holding the event and the law certainly prohibits the hotel from adopting the position of the antisemitic agitators heckling anyone who supports Israel," he added. Home News Minnesota teachers union expels school counselor who voiced concerns about trans policies A Minnesota teachers union voted to expel a member who publicly expressed concern about her school district's policies concerning trans-identified students and felt the district did not take steps to inform parents if their child identifies as the opposite sex. Christina Barton is a student counselor with Rochester Public Schools who has spoken up during school board meetings about the district's policies regarding trans-identified students. Earlier this month, the Rochester Education Association sent Barton a letter to inform her that she had been expelled, which was republished by the American Experiment, a nonprofit organization. The letter alleged that Barton "mischaracterized Rochester Public Schools policies and practices regarding LGBTQ+ students, spoke negatively of fellow union members, and spread misinformation about transgender youth." 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 "REA recognizes that you are free to hold whatever viewpoints you wish regarding LGBTQ+ students or any other matter, but viewpoints are not free from consequences, especially if they cause or contribute to unprofessional behavior," the letter stated. Vince Wagner, president of the Rochester Education Association, told The Christian Post that the union expelled Barton for violating the National Education Association's Code of Ethics for teachers, specifically, Principle 1, "Commitment to the Student." Wagner stated that Barton violated Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the principle. In a Tuesday statement published by the American Experiment, Barton asserted that it seems only employees who "succumb to censorship and intimidation" are accepted in a culture that professes "all are welcome" and "kindness abides and bullying isn't allowed." "Following my public statement to the school board on March 19, I have experienced countless retaliatory responses that are unprofessional, inaccurate, and very hurtful to me as a person as well as a concerned counselor and parent who is merely trying to advocate in the best interests of kids and on behalf of all parents," Barton said. "I love my students with all of my heart and soul; always have, always will." Rochester Public Schools did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment. Local outlet The Post Bulletin reported Tuesday that Wagner said that the union voted to expel Barton earlier this month after the second time she spoke during a Rochester School Board meeting. The student counselor spoke before the school board on March 19 and May 7, where she highlighted concerns about parental rights and whether staff should tell parents if their child is experiencing confusion about their sex. "How would a parent know how to request such information if they aren't aware their child is struggling with gender dysphoria? How would a parent be able to care for and support their student if the school never reached out to them," the counselor said at one of the meetings. In March, the elementary student counselor spoke about the district's guidelines concerning trans-identified students during a YouTube interview titled, "Christina Barton, Counselor, Rochester Public Schools, ISD535, on Dr. Kent Pekel's Secret Policy." Barton said during the interview that her school district did not share the guidelines until February during a staff meeting. In addition to staff members, the counselor claimed that the district did not share the guidelines with parents and community members. She also alleged that during one staff development meeting, the staff was shown a "disturbing" video about transgenderism and how they should withhold the information from parents. According to the district guidelines regarding parents' access to information, the law "generally" gives parents a right to access "educational data" about their kid when the child is a minor. Suppose parents request information about whether their child is using pronouns or the restroom that does not align with their sex. In that case, the guidelines state that staff "must provide that information to the parent/guardian if the staff member is in possession of that information at the time the request is made." "Staff members may refuse to provide such information if the student is 18 years of age or older, unless the parent has been designated as the child's legal guardian or conservator," the guidelines state. "Any staff member who provides such information to a parent/guardian should promptly inform the lead principal of the school or lead administrator of the program." Barton's expulsion comes after a school district in California agreed this week to pay $360,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a teacher fired for refusing to abide by a district policy requiring teachers to use students' preferred pronouns. By Kwak Yeon-soo A group of party members loyal to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Jae-myung issued a warning, Friday, stating their intention to depart from the party to protest the election outcome for the speaker of the first half of the 22nd National Assembly. On Thursday, Rep. Woo Won-shik of the DPK beat former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, who was widely perceived as Lee's preferred candidate for the position. As the Assembly typically elects a candidate nominated by the largest party as the speaker, the primary is seen as the de facto final election for the speaker position. Pro-Lee party members objected to Thursdays election result, with some claiming that the party should track down who voted for Woo. They also demanded explanations from Woo's supporters. Some even issued warnings, stating they would leave the party if their concerns were not addressed. In an attempt to ease the rift, Rep. Jung Chung-rae, a DPK Supreme Council member known as a close aide to the party chief, publicly apologized to hardline, pro-Lee party members. I apologize to those disappointed by the primary result. It's not about individuals, but frustration with the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Please stay with us on the path to change, Jung said in a party leadership meeting, Friday. Woo, a five-term lawmaker, expressed regret, saying Jungs remarks are causing more rifts within the party. I think its inappropriate for a member of the Supreme Council to make such remarks. Its causing more division within the party, he said during a radio interview, Friday. Home News Woman who lost everything in Brazil flooding has only one request: a Bible Among the testimonies that the Brazilian Evangelical Alliance (Alianca Evangelica Brasileira, AEB) collected during the ongoing rain emergency in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a woman approached Pastor Cassiano Luz, executive director of the alliance. Can I ask you for something? she said, and when he responded affirmingly, she whispered: I just want a Bible. Pastor Luz shared his reflection on the very emotional moment on his Instagram account, saying, I passed by a shelter, there are six in [the municipality of] Cruzeiro do Sul. As I was talking to the people, they started asking for some things, like wet wipes, diapers, big clothes, etc. And then I said, 'Well bring it tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will come early and bring food.'" As I was leaving, a lady, a little old lady called me, and she said quietly in my ear, 'can I ask you for something?' And I said, 'sure, I don't know if I can help, but yes.' And then tears started rolling down her eyes, and she said, 'can you get me a Bible? Because mine got washed away in the flood.'" 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 "It's one of those moments when you break down, isn't it?" the pastor said. "It's already getting dark here, but I told her, 'I'm going to come back today to give you the Bible.'" At a time when people lost everything, the only thing she asked for was a Bible. Although she must have had many other needs because the water ruined her material possessions, she only had that one request for what is most important in her life: the Word of God. Volunteers at the forefront of relief work The AEB continues working with volunteers coming from different parts of the country. They had to create a waiting list of people whom they ask to be prepared because at any moment a place will be assigned to them, Pastor Luz said. He has been in the affected areas for days, supporting the local population. We continue to receive more volunteers and a greater volume of donations. Trucks are arriving every day, he said. He asked the municipal authorities to please take over emergency management in the municipality, AEB said in an Instagram post. At the moment, the vast majority of rescue and care work is handled by volunteer civilians who simply came in solidarity, bringing whatever tools and material they had to lend a hand, according to CNN. As it rains again, the civil defense department ordered no one to go to the city of Porto Alegre. However, the volunteer assistance to the rescued people hasnt stopped. They feed them, provide them with personal hygiene kits, clothes to change, listen to them, hug them and cry with them, according to reports. The volunteers left the comfort and safety of their homes to come to the aid of those in need. And the requests for help keep coming in. Today our team of volunteers was called to help 'rescue' a school that was being flooded and was at risk of losing everything that was left, including the donations they had already received, said the AEB. Increasing concern as rivers rise again In recent days, the rains were again torrential and the little water that had receded began to again increase the flow of the rivers. In a region already devastated by floods that have left more than 140 dead and hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes, the rising rivers are of great concern. Practically all the large rivers in the state show a tendency to rise, reported the Civil Defense agency of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is experiencing the worst climate disaster in its history. The historic floods caused by heavy rains since the end of April have affected more than 2 million people. The National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) reported that the level of the Guaiba river in Porto Alegre now reached 4.78 meters. Authorities expect that it will continue to rise and could reach 5.5 meters. On social media, Ronaldo Lidorio, a Brazilian theologian and writer, is among those who call for continued prayer and support. Pray for the people of Rio Grande do Sul during this difficult time that the rains brought. Let us also support the Church of Christ that is at the forefront of several charities in that region, he said. This article was originally published by Christian Daily International. Home Opinion May 18 is a date thousands of Ukrainian pastors' wives dread May 18 is a date that thousands of pastors and their wives in Ukraine face with looming trepidation. Its the day when under a new law all Ukrainian men ages 25-60 including pastors are liable to be drafted into the army at a moments notice. Already, there are reports of pastors being called up, including a young newlywed minister. They leave behind an untold story of courage, trust and tears. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Its a story Ive experienced firsthand in Ukraine this month, frequently in tears myself, as I helped lead a retreat for pastors wives. One woman candidly told me shed had second thoughts about coming. What does an American know about what were going through? she rightly questioned. But as I shared with the women about my grief and the testing of my faith in God after the loss of my newborn grandson, we felt a common fragility, a common bond. Right now, thousands of pastors wives in Ukraine are living vulnerable double lives as they face the fear of the unknown. On one side, theyre the steadfast, faithful women of courage, stoically supporting their husbands as they minister to others, often serving as chaplains on the frontline. But the other side is an anxious, emotionally fragile woman, fearful her husband wont come home, and living every moment in dread of the unthinkable. Unthinkable heartache The unthinkable, though, is very real. Its estimated 70,000 Ukrainian servicemen have died at the front, leaving behind thousands of war widows, many of them only in their 20s and 30s. Every morning at 5 a.m., Natalia helps her husband, Vlad a missionary pastor in Ukraine put on his body armor before he goes to the frontline to help families and pray with them. And every day she prays he will come home. Recently, Vlad was injured by heavy shelling as he visited families living just a few miles from the trenches. For hours, Natalia didnt know if he was dead or alive. Doctors said it was a miracle he emerged with non-life-threatening injuries. Natalia hoped Vlad would abandon his compassionate sorties to frontline villages, where he often delivers food parcels and comforts the bereaved. But hes determined to continue. If I dont go, who else will? he told her. His bravery and the courage of all the pastors and chaplains serving on the frontline is only one side of the story. At the retreat hosted by the Slavic Gospel Association (www.sga.org) near Ukraines capital, Kyiv, I spoke with many pastors wives who bravely carry a heavy burden. Day after day and night after night, theyve kept their anxiety and fears bottled up. But when theyre together, they share their pain, tears flow, and their faith grows stronger. As they delve into the Bible, theres a common thread: God will never leave them, nor forsake them, even in the darkest of nights when they fear they will never see their husbands again. Yet even on the grounds of a peaceful retreat center, there is the constant reminder of the conflict raging not only the war on the frontline but also the battle these courageous women are fighting in their own hearts and minds. As I talked with one of them, she suddenly walked away. I thought perhaps Id said something wrong. But shed heard a jet flying overhead and wanted to see if it was one of ours. Any unusual noise triggers alarm; even an innocent leaf blower can be mistaken for menacing drones. Trust and tears Battle-weary, their nerves jangling on the edge, these brave women challenge me and all of us to live every day immersed in Gods Word, faithfully clinging to his promises. Because none of us knows what tomorrow may bring. Home Opinion This Pentecost, let's remember the Iranian church one of the world's oldest Memories are short and important information can get lost over time. That collective memory fog and subsequent events can shape what future generations believe or think, and consequently how they act. Take Iran for example. A series of events occurring back in 1979 in Iran profoundly reshaped the countrys landscape, namely the overthrow of the Shah, the rise of the Ayatollah, eruptive protests, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Because of these events, the Western world thinks of Iran as an Islamic nation. But the truth is, Iran is home to the oldest church in the world. 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 You see, on The Day of Pentecost, as documented in the New Testament Book of Acts, the global church was born. Iranians were there and among the very first converts to Christ. As we read Lukes account in Acts 2, something amazing occurs. The Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles and their followers, giving them the ability to speak in other languages. The multitude gathered in Jerusalem for the Shavuot holiday stood bewildered by what they saw, recognizing that these men were from various regions, each with its own language. Acts 2 reads: And they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia Luke then lists a slew of other nationalities present. But did you notice the first three mentioned, Parthians and Medes and Elamites? All of these people groups were from Persia, which is known today as Iran! This diverse gathering in Jerusalem underscores the multinational impact of Pentecost, making it a foundational moment not just for those in Jerusalem but for many distant lands, including Persia. Acts continues: we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. The events that unfolded in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago continue to resonate in the religious landscape of modern-day Iran. After Pentecost, Christianity spread around the world. Christianity took root in Persia very quickly, and early Christian communities flourished. However, Zoroastrianism, a false religion, held power in Iran. The Persian government was Zoroastrian, and Christians faced persecution. The Persian dynasty believed Christians were supporters of the rival Roman Empire and imposed heavy taxes on them. When Christian leaders refused to impose these taxes on their fellow believers, the ruler at the time declared that Christians would be put to death for disloyalty. Despite being a minority, Christianity continued in Iran. Zoroastrianism was eventually replaced by Islam. Christians faced hardships such as forced conversions and martyrdom. Yet, they persisted, adapting to the changes in culture and politics over the centuries. In modern times Iranian Christians continue to show resilience. They practice their faith in a Shia Muslim society, despite strict regulations imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. These rules particularly target those who convert from Islam. The light of Christ cannot be snuffed out as many, even today, gather for worship in underground churches, secretly practicing their faith to avoid persecution. Even more astounding, Christianity is growing in Iran! Those very first Gospel seeds planted by those initial Parthians, Medes, and Elamites who returned and shared their newfound Savior have now grown into a vast number of vibrant, Bible-believing, and Jesus-worshipping churches. I believe Iran will be the first Muslim nation to turn to God. God says in Jeremiah 49:38, I will set my throne in Elam. Iranians were there at the very birth of the Christian church and will, by Gods grace, continue to be used to win more and more Muslims to Christ. Christian teenager killed in sword attack laid to rest The family of a 14 year old killed in a sword attack in London last month have paid tribute to him after his funeral on Friday. Daniel Anjorin was killed in the attack in the Hainault area of east London on 30 April as he walked to school. Four others were injured in the stabbing rampage, including two police officers. Family and friends gathered for Daniel's funeral service at Jubilee Church, Ilford, in London on Friday. The family have attended Jubilee church for many years and Daniel was baptised there. A statement posted to the church's website on behalf of the family said: "Today, we laid our dear son Daniel to rest knowing that he is with the Lord, but he will be forever missed. "We extend our deepest appreciation to all who have stood by us, sharing in our sorrow and offering solace. Your presence, both at the funeral and in spirit, has been a source of immense comfort. "With heartfelt thanks, Mr and Mrs Anjorin and family." Pastor Tope Koleoso told the BBC the service had been "peaceful". "The service today was befitting of Daniel in every way, because he was a gentle, spirited and just a peace-loving boy," he said. "So the service kind of captured that. It was a gentle moment. It was peaceful. And yet it was a celebration of Daniel's life." Christians who sounded alarm over inappropriate sex ed 'vindicated' by government changes Government plans to ban extreme sex education and gender identity lessons from primary schools have been welcomed by Christians who have spent years fighting for change. The government announced this week that new guidance will introduce age limits "to ensure children aren't being taught about sensitive and complex subjects before they are ready to fully understand them". It said that the concept of gender identity was "highly contested and should not be taught". Parents also have a "legal right" to know what their children are being taught in relationships and sex education lessons, and can request to see teaching materials. "This is in line with the cautious approach taken in our guidance on gender questioning children," the government said. "Along with other factors, teaching this theory in the classroom could prompt some children to start to question their gender when they may not have done so otherwise, and is a complex theory for children to understand." Christian Concern has welcomed the development and said it "vindicates" a number of its clients who have spent years campaigning for change or fighting for their jobs in the courts after speaking out. One client, Kristie Higgs, is still fighting for justice five years after losing her job over posts on her Facebook page in which she expressed concern about transgender ideology in schools and the content of relationships and sex education lessons. A Court of Appeal hearing is scheduled for October. In another case, Rev Dr Bernard Randall was sacked and reported to the government's terrorist watchdog, Prevent, after saying in a sermon in a Church of England school chapel that pupils did not have to agree with LGBT ideology. He was also branded a 'safeguarding risk' by the local Church of England diocese for the concerns he raised. In 2017, Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe were allegedly branded transphobic after challenging the trans-affirming policy of their sons' Church of England primary school. They challenged the Department for Education's refusal to intervene and were granted a judicial review but the government settled and awarded them 22,000 in legal costs. Christian Concern CEO Andrea Williams said the change to RSHE guidance "vindicates courageous Christian parents who were faithful to their beliefs and ahead of the curve" but said the "silence" from the Church of England in the last few years had been "devastating". "We are glad and relieved that primary school children will now be protected from such lessons. But this must only be a beginning," she said. "So much harm has been done and so much confusion sown. Schools must return to their Christian roots and the Biblical beliefs on identity and sexual ethics which set children and stable families up for life. "It might not be popular or fashionable, but only God's good plan for human identity, marriage and relationships will ever be enough for children to grow up and lead fulfilling, stable and happy lives. "The past seven years have clearly demonstrated that when we turn from God's plan, it leads to endless chaos." Getting the most out of parent and toddler groups A new resource has been launched to support church toddler group leaders in supporting young children's faith and preparing them for school. The booklet, titled 'It's not just a parent and toddler group', has been created by Joanna Gordon, CEO of children's ministry Daniel's Den, Andy Frost of Share Jesus International, and David King, of the Gather Movement. Christian Today spoke with Joanna to hear about the importance of setting a strong foundation for children and why toddler groups are such a vital part of church ministry. What sparked the launch of this resource? Several years ago, Andy, David and I came together to create a resource because a lot of local authorities were talking about school readiness being an issue with children and how toddler groups do so much to develop school readiness and the confidence of children and families. The value toddler groups bring to society and to children is so important, and we wanted to highlight that. The resource affirms toddler groups in what they are already doing while encouraging people to think about what more we can do. How important is it that children have a firm foundation before they start school? I think it's absolutely vital. From my own personal experience, I was a primary school teacher teaching a reception class. I remember the days when parents would push their children into the classroom and say 'Mrs Gordon, give my child some manners.' I remember being really struck at the time thinking, it's not my job as the teacher to give your child manners, it's your job as the parent to lay those foundations that we can build on when they get to school. This was one of the catalysts for me starting Daniel's Den. I wanted to give parents the confidence and skills to pass on the basics to their children. I think parents are the child's first teacher - and often the best teacher. We are all familiar with headlines nowadays of schools having to do potty training and teach a child how to use a knife and fork. Many of these skills were neglected during the pandemic but I think these basics should be taught at home. Your toddler group is called Daniel's Den which is taken from the Bible. How important is it for parents to teach their children about faith? Daniel was a man of prayer and because he prayed he ended up in a den of lions and prayer got him out. It's common for families to pray that God will bless them with a child, and when this child does come it's like being in a den of lions - it's a scary place! At Daniel's Den, we pray for the families connected to us and in terms of faith formation more generally, toddler groups are just a fantastic opportunity to create a space where that can happen. Creating space with an unconditional welcome is a real expression of God's love, and I think that church-based toddler groups across the nation really create that space for people to know the love of Christ. It is important for children to know and experience the love of Christ in the language that they understand. They should see it in the welcome and hear it in the words. A lot of toddler groups across the nation will do a Bible story and sing Christian songs which again is building up a certain language that is very useful. Do you feel parent and toddler groups are underestimated in how effective they can be? Yes, I do think they are grossly undervalued. I've been running a toddler group for 27 years and I also lead a national movement called 1277, which is all about raising the profile of church-based toddler groups, and a phrase that I often hear is 'it is just a toddler group'. I think because toddler groups have been around for so many years they are taken for granted. I do strongly believe there should be a toddler group within walking distance of every family in the nation. I know that some churches may not have the facilities but another church down the road might have a hall or a space. Through 1277 we organise a national month of prayer in June where we really encourage toddler groups to be profiled in church services so that their value can be shared. Oftentimes, listening to the stories of the families that come is an amazing experience. Can the local church do more to support parent and toddler groups? Absolutely! A lot of churches have facilities and a lot of them rent their spaces out to private nurseries, but the building doesn't have to be perfect for families to come, and it doesn't have to be huge. If there is a space for 10 or 12 families that's fantastic, but working with other churches is also really good in terms of building a volunteer team. Churches should be looking to recruit volunteers from the local community and not just from the congregation because there are people out there. Toddler groups provide a great opportunity for people to come and help and to make a difference, and they are very intergenerational. People get a real sense of belonging and inspiration from volunteering, and who knows where that might lead in terms of belief and being connected? Toddler groups are such a wonderful expression of church - that safe space where people are welcome, where you can build trust and relationships. What churches have to offer through the love of Christ is amazing and I think it's not our job to judge who should come. It doesn't matter what your background is or what your belief is. To have this safe space for all children, I believe, is vital. I think sometimes we can be a bit narrow in how we advertise what we do and I think creating that wide open door is really important. Church is usually perceived as just a sermon being delivered before a congregation on a Sunday morning but from what you're saying, inviting toddlers and their families to play and learn with each other is an important extension of church. Yes, but I think it is so much more than that. A lot of churches have food banks, clothes banks and baby banks. What I love about Jesus' example is that he got alongside people, particularly those on the edge of society, and he was there with practical solutions. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about the church and the church doesn't do itself any favours sometimes; it can be perceived as being quite judgemental. Toddler groups are so important for the church's mission outreach because imagine if those 30 families that came to the toddler group on a Friday morning turned up at church the following Sunday morning. What would the response of the church members be? We need to have an openness about how we can connect with these families beyond the toddler group. There are lots of activities churches can do to promote cross pollination and there are already some wonderful examples like Messy Church or something as simple as a family barbecue. I have sat in many sermons where the preacher has preached about reaching out to the community yet never mention or acknowledge the work that the toddler groups are doing. It's very frustrating! Can you recommend any other resources? There are some amazing resources for toddler groups around, like the 1277 Facebook group, Care for the Family's Playtime project, and Bible Buds. But having said that, one of the greatest resources are the toddler group leaders themselves. The thing about toddler groups is there is no one size fits all. I love the story of Nehemiah because he really encouraged people to build where they were and because they knew what they had to do, they got on and did it. That's my vision for toddler groups: be who God has called you to be where you are. For more resources and a copy of the booklet, 'It's Not Just A Parent and Toddler Group', visit the dedicated website here. Poll finds young religious Brits are committed to their faith but Christians lack confidence A new poll has found evidence of high levels of faith commitment among young religious people in the UK. The Whitestone poll was commissioned by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) and surveyed 2,064 UK adults on their attitudes to faith. Religious young people aged 18 to 24 were more likely than religious over-65s to say that their faith significantly impacts their life (69% vs 51%). Nearly three quarters (72%) of religious young people said their faith was the only true religion, compared to around a third (35%) of religious over-65s. Over three quarters (78%) of religious youngsters said faith shaped their moral values, falling to just over two thirds (68%) among religious over-65s. Young religious Brits were also more likely to have friends with faiths or beliefs different to their own (76% vs 53%), and they were also more open to changing their minds about faith compared to older generations (45% vs 22%). Charlotte Littlewood, senior research associate for IIFL, said the results pointed to a "youth revival of faith". "The results have shown that whilst legally and politically the UK has been on a general course of secularisation, British youth are more believing than those half a century their senior," she said. "Faith is seen of higher value, significance and impact to Gen Z compared with previous generations. They are shown to be more seeking of God and are more zealous in their faith being that the majority of them believe their faith is the only true religion." She added, "Overall we are seeing what appears to be a youth revival of faith whilst holding onto values of tolerance, perhaps some much needed good news in a time when the headlines are filled with news of increasing inter-religious tension." Further polling by the IIFL suggested a "crisis of confidence" among Christians though, with over a third (38%) preferring not to tell people about their faith, compared to 29% of Muslim respondents. Only around a quarter of Christians (28%) were 'exclusivist' (believing their faith to be the only true religion), far lower than Muslims (83%), which the IIFL said indicated "high levels of cultural Christianity amongst this group in the UK". Only half of Christians said their faith helped them find purpose in life compared to 88% of Muslims, 70% of Hindus and 80% of Buddhists, although among 'exclusivist' Christians this rose to 87%. The poll also found declining appreciation for the role of Christianity in British culture, falling from 74% among over-65s, to less than half (46%) among 18 to 24 year olds. Vatican issues new norms to rein in supernatural phenomena Weeping Madonnas, bleeding hosts and saintly apparitions will have to be approved by the Vatican's doctrinal office, according to a new document issued by the same office on Friday, at a time when social media spreads reports of supernatural occurrences well beyond diocesan borders and away from church oversight. The new norms "are not intended to control or (even less) stifle" the spirituality of the faithful, read the statement by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, but "in some events of alleged supernatural origin, there are serious critical issues that are detrimental to the faithful." While the Shrines of Lourdes, Fatima, Aparecida and Guadalupe are widely known sites of miracles and Marian apparitions, there are hundreds of supernatural reports every year. Since the 1950s only six cases have been officially investigated by the Vatican, meaning that most cases "were either handled differently or just not handled at all," the statement read. According to the new norms, the local bishops will have to investigate the supernatural phenomenon by creating an Investigatory Commission, made up of one theologian, one canonist and one expert on the specific occurrence, and submit their judgment for approval to the Vatican's doctrinal office. Until the bishop receives the Vatican approval, he is not allowed to make any public pronouncement on the case. After its own investigations and reflections, the Vatican will confirm the bishop's decision or issue a new judgment. The Vatican may decide that the case needs further study; that, while some issues remain, its popularity among the faithful makes it difficult to discern; or that a group or individual are using the supernatural phenomenon for their own gain. They might also declare that there are critical issues in the phenomenon that need clarification or that the event is not of a supernatural nature. A novelty in the new guidelines is that the Vatican or local bishops will no longer make a pronouncement declaring there is certainty of a miracle, apparition or supernatural event. Instead, the church will issue a "nihil obstat," which in English translates to "nothing impedes," which allows faithful to approach the supernatural phenomenon but doesn't sign off on its miraculous nature. Previously approved cases will not be changed, but only the pope will have the power to confirm a supernatural event from now on. "Granting a Nihil obstat simply indicates that the faithful 'are authorized to give (the phenomenon) their adhesion in a prudent manner,'" the document stated. The Vatican's doctrinal department can at any time change its pronouncement on a supernatural event, the document states. The new norms replace the previous ones, which were drafted in 1978 and only made public in 2011. Previously, it was up to the bishops to determine the veracity of a supernatural event, which the Vatican believes led to confusion among the faithful. The bishop's approval of a miraculous phenomenon "oriented the faithful to think they had to believe in these phenomena, which sometimes were valued more than the Gospel itself," the statement read. The previous norms also led to decadeslong investigations and sometimes contradictory pronouncements by the Vatican and the local bishops. The decision by the Vatican to rein in supernatural apparitions is partly motivated by the considerable number of cases where these events are used to trick, defraud or abuse faithful. In the document, the Vatican also warned against doctrinal errors and the spread of "sectarian mentalities." The recent case of the Madonna of Trevignano, in a small town near Rome, saw the self-declared clairvoyant Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla placing pig's blood on a statue of Mary to get $100,000 checks from unsuspecting believers. Speaking at a press conference presenting the new guidelines on Friday, the head of the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, recounted cases where he had to decide on supernatural claims. One woman once said she felt at home at a Marian shrine, and only later the cardinal learned that it was because she thought she was the Virgin Mary herself. Another woman claimed she was told by God that she would become the mother of the new Messiah, and Fernandez said he was shocked when the woman said he had to be the father. "These events are quite frequent in certain cases, but it's often a situation where norms and procedures are not necessary," he said. "In other cases there may be a phenomena that does not stop and attract the attention of many people," he added. Social media has also impacted the Vatican's evaluation of unexplained phenomena, since strange events are quickly ascribed to the supernatural and can gather a wide following. "Now more than ever, these phenomena involve many people from various dioceses and spread rapidly across different regions and even countries," the statement read. The Vatican doctrinal office encouraged bishops to create interdiocesan commissions to address cases that spread over various church territories. Pope Francis has displayed a strong personal devotion to the Virgin Mary and often visited the shrines where she is said to have miraculously appeared, but he has also warned faithful not to be fooled by far-fetched stories and tales of miracles. Such apparitions "are not always real," he said in an interview in June last year. Religion News Service What is the vision we have for the children connected to our local churches? It's an important question to ask. The danger is that we sometimes think that we need to entertain the kids, so that we can properly help the adults go deeper with God but the writer of Proverbs explains, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6, NIV). My hope is that most churches want their children to become resilient disciples who choose to follow Jesus for themselves. And with this in mind, what is our hope for our children in five years' time and 10 years' time and 25 years' time? Understanding the vision we have is really important because it frames how we do what we do. In my early 20s, I was very involved in children's work in my local church. I thought I knew exactly what needed to be done to help children thrive in their faith. Each Sunday morning, I would have as much fun as possible with the kids while weaving in the things of God to pass on as much about the Christian faith as I could in that hour long session each week. The kids would go home beaming and week by week they would be grasping the stories from the Gospels. Numbers were up and everyone was pleased that the children's work was flourishing. However, since having children of my own, my understanding of the role of the local church has been dramatically changed. The sobering statistic is that only half of children who grow up in Christian families will still have a faith by the age of 18. Today, I am still involved in local church children's work but my approach has profoundly shifted. I've come to realise how children are being shaped and formed throughout the week, in the school playground and by the screens they are watching. When I was younger, my approach was all about an hour-long club on a Sunday morning. That hour-long Sunday school club can be very powerful but there's more we can do. Taking a step back, an average five year old might spend 77 hours a week sleeping, and a chunk of time at school and at other clubs. That hour a week at church, presuming they come every week, is minuscule in comparison. But what's interesting is that a five year old is likely to spend a whopping 30 hours a week at home with their parents or carers. Therefore they are the biggest influence on the child's life. And so I have stopped thinking it's all about that one hour on a Sunday. If we are trying to help a child grasp what the Christian life is all about in an hour in a church hall, it is near impossible. The Christian faith is not just about truths we learn in a classroom setting but about how we live life well, following Jesus. One of the most helpful sections of Scripture is a couple of verses that turn up three times in Deuteronomy. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deut 11:18-19). Moses commanded the people of Israel to pass on the truths of God. But this commission isn't specific to the priests, the professionals and the keen volunteers but to everyone; and it happens not just at special meetings but in the everyday of life. Over the last few years, in my work with the Kitchen Table Project, we have been thinking through how we empower and encourage parents and carers to share about the Christian faith in those 30 hours a week. We have come to realise that we need to, in part, re-think how we approach children's work as local churches. The danger is that we give off the notion that the local church will disciple our kids for us. Instead we need to look for a much more holistic approach which is about the clubs we run but also about the way we empower parents and carers for the rest of the week, and ultimately how the whole church gets to be involved. Lots of this thinking forms the basis of our new 'Children's Faith: A Whole Church Approach to Family Ministry' resource. We are currently journeying with 80 churches as part of an online learning community and exploring two aspects of church life: firstly the programme and the things we do; and secondly, the culture and the way we do things. So if your vision for the children connected to your church is that they become resilient disciples, then maybe we need to take stock of how we are approaching children's work and think through what we might need to adapt. Andy Frost is the director of Share Jesus International and works alongside Care for the Family on the Kitchen Table Project, helping parents and carers nurture faith in the home. He is the presenter of the new resource, 'Children's Faith: A Whole Church Approach to Family Ministry' which can be obtained from https://kitchentable.org.uk/church/wholechurchapproach/ President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Saturday to advance the freedom and welfare of the people as a way to uphold the spirit of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju. Yoon made the remark during a ceremony marking the 44th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement in the city located 267 kilometers south of Seoul. The ceremony was attended by some 2,500 people, including lawmakers from the rival parties and families of the victims. "The entire people of Korea heading into a happy, prosperous and hopeful future is the way to correctly inherit the May spirit in this era, and the path to truly honor the sacrifice and tears of Gwangju," Yoon said during the ceremony at the May 18th National Cemetery. He said while political freedom in Korea has increased since the movement, there remain many people without economic freedom. "We must quickly grow the economy, restore the ladder of social mobility, and raise the level of freedom and welfare enjoyed by the people," he said. "By fairly sharing the fruits of growth and more closely protecting the socially weak, we must open an 'age centered on the ordinary person and the middle class' where everyone is happy." It marked Yoon's third straight attendance at the anniversary ceremony since taking office in May 2022. On May 18, 1980, demonstrators, including students, protested against the then ruling junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power in a military coup the previous year. The military conducted a bloody crackdown on them, leaving hundreds dead. (Yonhap) Canada is looking at whether it needs to raise tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles after the White House announced major new levies on them, Trade Minister Mary Ng told Bloomberg News, Friday. "We are looking at this very carefully and we have an open dialogue with our American partners," Bloomberg quoted Ng as saying in a phone interview from Peru, where she is attending meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Canada's trade ministry and Ng's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report. Canada's decision follows U.S. President Joe Biden's steep tariff increases on Chinese imports, including electric-vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products earlier this week. China had immediately vowed retaliation. Biden will increase tariffs this year, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, from 25 percent to 100 percent on EVs, bringing total duties to 102.5 percent. Tesla started listing China-made Model 3 and Model Y models for sale in Canada on its website last year. (Reuters) Investors looking for the next way to play the artificial intelligence boom should consider some of the basic building blocks of the economy, according to Bank of America. Investment and ETF strategist Jared Woodard said in a note to clients last week that the market is underestimating the changes brought about by the energy demand of AI programs. "'Round one' winners from new tech demand like data centers, hyperscalers, and chip makers are well-owned already," Woodard said. "Further investments in those beneficiaries should be made contingent on a realistic path to expand the power supply. In other words, the big new digital darlings can still win, but the ruddy old real world may have to win first." The shift toward the next round may have already started. Utility stocks have started to rally in May, with the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) up 8% month to date. The fact that utility stocks are cheaper than the rest of the market and have long underperformed helped fuel the move, but the prospect of increasing energy demand also appears to have been a factor. XLU 1M mountain Utilities stocks have risen sharply in May. Woodard identified other ETFs and stocks that could benefit from increased energy consumption and investment in the electric grid. One is the Direxion Auspice Broad Commodity Strategy ETF (COM) . This fund is pricier than many equity-focused ETFs, with a net expense ratio of 0.70%, but offers actively- managed exposure to 12 different commodities, from soybeans to oil to copper. It is up about 8% this year. Bank of America also has a buy rating on mining stock Freeport-McMoRan , which is already up more than 27% year to date. "Progress is not possible without real assets. Our strategists expect metals like copper to fall into massive deficits through 2026. Miners should retain pricing power given constrained capacity after a decade of underinvestment," the Bank of America note said. Companies that help produce sources of energy could be another area in which to find winners. The VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH) is a fund that Woodard highlighted. Its top holdings include SLB and Halliburton . Uranium could become more important as a fuel source in the years ahead. Bank of America is positive on the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) , which offers exposure to both physical uranium and miners. "Uranium is in its third secular bull market as global supply cannot keep up with growing demand. A 10% nuclear 'uprate' could add 10GW of energy supply without any new building," the note said. The URA has a net expense ratio of 0.69% and is up about 18% year to date. The OIH is cheaper at 0.35% and is up roughly 6% on the year. Bank of America did not include a utilities ETF in the note, but the firm has a buy rating on Xcel Energy, among such stocks. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting. Turning Pointe Dance celebrates its 20th anniversary of the award-winning, faith-based dance company thats had thousands of kids pass through its doors for after school and weekend dance and theater classes and rehearsals. Standing on the shore of Taiwan's Kinmen Island, Taiwanese tourists snap photos of the skyline of China's Xiamen city that is clearly visible across the sliver of water separating them. For the best view of Xiamen's skyscrapers, visitors stand on a beach where anti-landing spikes jut out a reminder of when the island was a battlefield front line after Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949. More than 70 years later, China's Communist leaders still vow to seize democratic Taiwan, which Beijing views as part of its territory. Taipei-administered Kinmen is only five kilometres (three miles) from the Chinese mainland, compared to 200 kilometres from Taiwan. As Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te, a staunch defender of Taiwan's sovereignty, prepares to take office Monday, Taiwanese visitors to Kinmen hope he can avoid a conflict. "We don't ask for much, but we hope we can have a peaceful relationship," said Huang Yueh-yi, 78, Saturday as she visited a market on the tiny island famed for its temples and traditional brick houses. "You live your life and we'll live ours, it's good for both sides, and don't go towards war," she said. As the rift between China and Taiwan deepens, Beijing has been increasing military pressure on Taipei by regularly deploying fighter jets, naval ships and drones around the self-ruled island. In recent months, Chinese coast guard ships have also started making frequent appearances in the waters near Kinmen. Lai who has previously described himself as a "pragmatic worker for independence," enraging Beijing has more recently toned down his rhetoric. In the run-up to his inauguration, he has made overtures to China for a resumption of high-level communications, which Beijing severed after current President Tsai Ing-wen came to office in 2016. Chuang Cheng-tin, a construction worker from the central Taiwan city of Taichung, said it would be better for Taipei to "keep some distance" from Beijing. "We have different systems so there would be conflicts if we were too close," Chuang told AFP as he wandered Kinmen's historic streets. "We can't yield... otherwise we will be taken by them. We should keep a distance, be armed, so we can have a counterbalance against them." 'Peaceful reunification' On the verdant island of Pingtan, in the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, hundreds of tourists gather at a seaside site which is the closest place in mainland China to Taiwan. Pingtan is about 125 kilometres from Taiwan island too far for visitors to see the other side with the naked eye. Instead, they pose with sculptures representing the two shores and celebrating the nostalgia of the time when they were part of the same political system. The site is intended to symbolise the historical links between the two sides, with the vast majority of Taiwan's 23 million people being of Chinese culture and having ancestors from mainland China. "Chinese from the mainland need a permit to go to Taiwan and it's difficult to get one," Wang Lei, a 25-year-old student, told AFP as he took a photo of himself in front of a large granite frame sculpture of a postcard with the blue sea in the background. "So coming here is a way of getting a glimpse of the island and its history." While the tourists standing at the rocky site can only imagine Taiwan in the distance, some had clear views of its incoming president. "Lai Ching-te is the scum of the Chinese nation" because he "promotes separation between Taiwan and mainland China," Jack Wang, 30, who works in international trade, told AFP. "We aspire to peaceful reunification. But as the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong said, we can't renounce the use of force if it becomes necessary." "Of course, the Taiwanese also aspire to reunification with the mainland," he added. In fact, nearly 90 percent of Taiwanese wished to maintain the status quo, according to a 2023 poll by National Chengchi University in Taipei. Less than two percent said they supported unification as soon as possible. Some Chinese tourists who spoke to AFP were dismissive of the political developments across the strait, preferring to enjoy the sights of Pingtan. "Lai Ching-te? We don't really care about Taiwanese politics, to be honest," Zhou Yongping, a 54-year-old tourist, told AFP. "We just come here to visit, drink and eat." (AFP) While the immediate impulse might be to share good news right away, a recent study by the American Psychological Association suggests that keeping positive news to yourself before sharing it with others could enhance feelings of vitality and liveliness. Lead author Michael Slepian, Ph.D., an associate professor of business at Columbia University, said that while secrecy is often associated with negative emotions, positive secrets, such as surprise gifts or joyous occasions like secret proposals, can spark feelings of excitement and energy. The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, surveyed 500 individuals, revealing that despite the inclination to share good news immediately, many choose to keep positive secrets, such as marriage proposals or desired pregnancies. Researchers conducted five experiments involving over 2,500 participants to explore the motivations behind keeping positive secrets and their impact on individuals compared to negative or embarrassing secrets. During one experiment, participants were presented with a comprehensive list comprising nearly 40 typical types of positive news, ranging from financial achievements like saving money to personal indulgences such as buying oneself a gift or reducing debt. Subsequently, participants identified which pieces of good news they presently possessed and which they chose to withhold. While some participants were instructed to contemplate the positive news they kept confidential, others reflected on non-secret good news. Following this, they rated the extent to which the news energized them and their intentions regarding sharing it with others. "Positive secrets that people choose to keep should make them feel good, and positive emotion is a known predictor of feeling energized," Slepian explained. But the researchers found across four follow-up studies that positive secrets make people feel energized for another reason too. In a particular experiment, participants were presented with a list of typical types of positive news and instructed to choose the piece most likely to occur in their near future. Subsequently, one group of participants imagined withholding the selected good news until later that day when they could share it with their partner, while another group imagined being unable to inform their partner until later. Notably, participants who envisioned holding back the information to create a surprising revelation reported heightened levels of energy compared to those unable to disclose the news promptly. In a separate experiment, participants were tasked with recollecting either a current positive secret, a current negative secret, or simply any current secret. The study aimed to discern the motivations behind keeping positive secrets compared to negative ones. Researchers discovered that individuals tended to withhold positive secrets primarily for internal or personal motives, rather than feeling compelled by external pressures to maintain secrecy. Unlike negative or embarrassing secrets, which are frequently influenced by external pressures or anxieties, positive secrets tend to invigorate individuals when they voluntarily opt to maintain confidentiality, as noted by Slepian. "People will often keep positive secrets for their own enjoyment, or to make a surprise more exciting. Rather than based in external pressures, positive secrets are more often chosen due to personal desires and internal motives," he said. "When we feel that our actions arise from our own desires rather than external pressures, we also feel ready to take on whatever lies ahead." Moreover, keeping good news a secret can evoke a sense of aliveness, irrespective of whether individuals plan to share the news later or not. Slepian suggests that delaying the revelation of positive news allows individuals to savor the anticipation and excitement, prolonging the enjoyment of the surprise moment. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico s condition was stable but serious Saturday as the man accused of trying to assassinate him faced his first court appearance. Two hours of surgery Friday to remove dead tissue from Fico's multiple gunshot wounds contributed to a positive prognosis, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said outside University F. D. Roosevelt hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. Fico, 59, was shot as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova. The suspect was tackled to the ground and arrested. Fico's condition is still too grave to transport him to the capital, Bratislava, Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said. The update on Ficos health was issued as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him made his first court appearance, according to Slovakian state media. Prosecutors were seeking an order from Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect. They told police not to publicly identify the man or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard in the countrys southwest. Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didnt belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated. The courthouse in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers wearing balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media were not allowed in and reporters were kept behind a gate outside. Police had taken the suspect to his home in the town of Levice, Friday, and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station reported. Police didnt comment. World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Fico and Slovakia. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine. At the start of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraines staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister. Ficos government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path. Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies. Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions. Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism. (AP) 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. The worlds two most powerful despots met in Beijing towards the end of this week. Such top-level pow-wows are a regular occurrence these days. Almost unbelievably, Russias President Vladimir Putin and Chinas President Xi Jinping were meeting for the 43rd time and Putin was making his 19th visit to Beijing in 24 years. The economic ties between the two dictatorships are closer than ever, their military links deep and deepening, just as Russia ramps up its spring offensive against Ukraine. Their common purpose is to challenge the power of America and its allies across the globe. As if to leave the democracies in no doubt about their united intent, Xi saw Putin off on Friday evening with a hug, a rare expression of affection from the normally undemonstrative Chinese leader. The day before the dictators met there was an assassination attempt on Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico, a long-standing Kremlin fanboy. Fortunately, the gunman failed to kill his target, though the PM remains critically ill in hospital. But the incident served to remind us that democracies dont just face dangers from foreign despots such as Putin and Xi. In these febrile times, democracies can also find themselves threatened by the enemy within. Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping met this week for the 43rd time - which was Putin's 19th visit to Beijing in just 24 years The hallmark of democracy is that political differences are settled peacefully in debate and at the ballot box. Yet even placid Britain has suffered from exceptions to that rule. Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016 by a far-Right fanatic and only three years ago Tory MP David Amess was assassinated by a deranged Islamist. German politicians are now regularly assaulted when out campaigning, sometimes seriously. Yesterday morning, French police shot dead a man in Rouen as he attempted to set fire to a synagogue. Elected politicians across the democratic world are having to take security precautions as never before. These new internal threats are clearly linked to the dangers from abroad. Russia and China spend hundreds of millions on spreading poisonous messages and debilitating fake news via social media in a bid to sow dissension among us. Nowhere more so than in Slovakia, where the Kremlins relentless online campaign of propaganda and disinformation has split the country down the middle into pro and anti-Russian camps. Fico, an ex-communist turned Right-wing strongman, was elected prime minister for the third time last autumn on a pro-Russian, anti-American ticket. He pledged to halt arms sales to Ukraine on the campaign slogan: Not a single round (of ammunition for Ukrainian forces). He was in the process of taking control of the broadcast media in much the same way as that other East European pro-Kremlin strongman, Viktor Orban, has in Hungary. Robert Fico, an ex-communist turned Right-wing strongman, was elected Slovakian prime minister for the third time last autumn He was shot at point-blank range, requiring life-saving surgery, while visiting the town of Handlova on Wednesday. A 71-year-old man was arrested, pictured above There have been regular street protests against Ficos rule. When he was last in power (2012-2018) they were so serious he was forced to step down. The rhetoric is ugly (one of his supporters blamed the media for the attempt on his life, calling them dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes) and the threat of violence simmers just below the surface of this highly polarised society so much so that the countrys moderate president decided not to stand again because of relentless death threats to her and her family. It was Neville Chamberlain who dismissed the Nazis annexation of the Sudetenland in the old Czechoslovakia as a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing, but events in little known nations have a habit of blowing up into major conflagrations. It was 110 years ago next month that an assassination in Eastern Europe led directly to the prolonged carnage of World War I. Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on a state visit to Bosnia, which had been annexed by the Austro-Hungarian empire, when he and his wife were murdered by a young Serbian nationalist. After the attempt on Ficos life this week, people have been understandably worried that it could spark a similar powder keg. I doubt it. There is not the same network of interlocking alliances as there was back then. Within a month of Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian empire had declared war on Serbia, egged on by Germany which, in turn, decided it was a good time to declare war on Russia, Serbias ally. Germany also decided to invade France through Belgium, which brought Britain into the war. And four years of grim, murderous trench warfare began. Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on a state visit to Bosnia when he and his wife were murdered by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo in 1914 These are unpredictable times so it is wise not to be too categorical. But Slovakia 2024 is not, in my judgment, Sarajevo 1914. Nevertheless, our age is fraught with danger. Faced with a growing autocratic threat, the worlds democracies are riddled with internal divisions and divided among themselves when they should be united. It is tough enough to stand up to the likes of Putin and Xi when there is general agreement. It is all the more difficult when some democratic leaders, like Orban and Fico, are essentially batting for the other side. Democratic disarray is matched by autocratic unity. Xi and Putin, and their junior partners Iran and North Korea, are united in their mission to change the world order to their advantage. The most vital element in the Xi-Putin no limits bromance is Chinas crucial support for Russias defence industries. Chinese technology now flows in large quantities to Russian weapons manufacturers such as 800 million of machine tools (almost 90 per cent of all Russias machine tool imports), electronics, semiconductors (over 300 million-worth last year) and numerous dual-use items (which can be used for civilian or military purposes). Trade between Russia and China is booming, as it is between Russia and India (another democracy you cant trust to stand up to the autocrats). Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without Chinas support, says U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It is allowing the Kremlin to produce arms and ammunition at a faster pace than it did during the Cold War. The Sino-Russian trade might be essential to Moscow but Beijing is doing very nicely out of it, too. Over 20 per cent of its oil imports now come from Russia Chinas single biggest source of imported oil and natural gas is also flowing fast from Russia, up 62 per cent year on year. Nor does the co-operation stop at trade. Last March, the navies of Russia, China and Iran took part in a joint exercise in the Gulf of Oman, a crucial seaway for the Middle East oil and gas trade, the latest in a series of naval drills which started six years ago. Last summer, there were even joint Russian-Chinese naval patrols off the coast of Alaska. The dictators are emboldened by the dearth of democratic leadership. Europe is especially bereft of it. French President Emmanuel Macron sees himself as the voice of the Continent but he cant even speak for his own country, where he is deeply unpopular, never mind Europe. His musings on geopolitics have the trajectory of a ricochet. He cosied up to Putin even as he was preparing to invade Ukraine. Now he says Nato, an alliance he recently pronounced as brain-dead, might have to deploy boots on the ground in Ukraine, a policy for which he has zero support anywhere else in Europe. Macron has already lost much of Francophone Africa to Putin, whose paramilitary groups have wreaked havoc in the huge Sahel region, resulting in anti-French coup detats in the former French colonies of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. The Ukrainians would be mad to think he could be their saviour. No wonder the Chinese refer to him as Macaron maybe hard on the outside but definitely soft in the centre. Theres even more of a leadership vacuum in Germany, where Chancellor Olaf Scholzs coalition government of Social Democrats, Greens and free-market Liberals is tearing itself apart over public spending cuts as the economy teeters on the brink of recession. A round 80 per cent of Germans tell pollsters they are unhappy with their leaders. Scholz barely has the charisma to run the Dusseldorf Rotary Club much less rally the democracies to stand up to the despots. Then theres dear old Blighty. As Europes foremost military power, we should be in a position of some leadership. But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seems to have little interest in defence or foreign affairs and none of the leadership qualities the situation demands. He did attempt this week to address our precarious position: The dangers that threaten our country are real. They are increasing in number. An axis of authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China is working together to undermine us and our values. Fair enough. All true. But if he really took his own warnings seriously, hed be doing more than increasing defence spending by a mere 0.2 or 0.3 per cent of GDP. And hed be pumping far more into intelligence agencies like GCHQ, which works closely with its American equivalent to counter the growing danger of Chinese and Russian cyber attacks. Like every other major democracy, despite all the talk of danger, he is not prepared to put the economy on a war footing, a deterrent the dictators would take seriously. Instead well debate endlessly about gender self-ID, which the dictators take as a sign of our decline. I have no hope of things being better under Keir Starmer. The Labour leader has no experience of geopolitics, defence or foreign affairs and no historic knowledge to guide him through any of it. He will be even less of a war leader than Sunak. His partys instincts on foreign affairs are generally abysmal, more posturing than policy. Our voice in global affairs, currently diminished, would be barely a whisper. Of course, only America can provide the leadership the democracies require with, as in the past, strong supporting roles from important allies like Britain, France and Germany. But just to assert that is grounds for despair, given the presidential contest currently playing out across the Atlantic between two gerontocratic contestants, both unfit to lead America in these dangerous times. The fact Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the best the U.S. can come up with when autocrats are on the march is a cause for despair among all democrats and much chortling in the redoubts of the dictators. Ukraine has every right to be worried. As the China-backed Russian war machine churns out a mass of weapons and military kit, Biden has been slow to send Kyiv the weapons it needs to win. Meanwhile, Trump shows little interest in helping Kyiv and his MAGA wing of the Republican Party is openly hostile to Ukraine. His idea of a peace agreement seems to involve giving away huge chunks of Ukraine to Putin. No wonder Ukrainians view the prospect of a summer Russian offensive with trepidation. The dismemberment of Ukraine would encourage Putin to seek further territorial gains elsewhere, placing Eastern Europe in great peril. Yet even that might not be the greatest threat to our way of life. That is more likely to come from a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Putin and Xi's friendship is an ever-growing concern to the Western world, Andrew Neil warns We do not know if that is on Xis immediate horizon. But if the West was to suffer a major setback in Ukraine he could be emboldened, if not to mount an invasion then perhaps a naval and aerial blockade to bring the island to its knees. Be in no doubt, the global consequences of either an invasion or a blockade would be disastrous far more serious than anything that might happen in Ukraine. The worlds economy depends on semiconductors, or chips, which are ubiquitous in almost everything we use these days, from phones to fridges. Taiwan makes around 90 per cent of the most sophisticated ones. Should that supply dry up, the world economy would very quickly be brought to its knees. Every major country would be plunged into a downturn as bad, if not worse, than the Great Depression of the 1930s, with all the terrible political fallout that comes in the wake of an economic slump. That is why the current dearth of democratic leadership is so dangerous. Dictators are only deterred by democracies that are robust, consistent, well-armed and well-led. For the moment, we have none of the above. I have enough faith in our system and way of life to believe we will eventually rally behind leaders who see the dangers and are up to the challenge. But for now I cannot discern from whence they will come. It could get worse before it gets better. Forget a Winston Churchill. We barely have a Neville Chamberlain at the moment. At the end of season four of the nouveau-Western series Yellowstone, Kevin Costners grizzled rancher John Dutton faces a political dilemma. Having decided to run for Governor of Montana in a desperate bid to save his family homestead from being turned into an airport, he finds himself assailed by the forces of progress. Green activists. Property developers. Eco-tourists. Should he embrace change, and try to co-opt them into a grand coalition? Or should he stand defiantly against the new-wave liberals? His campaign launch puts the issue to rest. If its progress you want, dont vote for me, he declares proudly. I am the opposite of progress. I am the wall it bashes against. And I will not be the one who breaks. Last week, Rishi Sunak had the chance to channel his inner-Dutton, and create a clear dividing line between himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Framing himself and his Tory party as national custodians, he was supposed to deliver a message of security and stability, simultaneously contrasting it with the dangers of embracing the Labour leaders flimsily defined agenda for change. And promptly squandered it. At some point, in the second half of this year, we will all go to the polls and make a choice, the PM said. Not just about Conservatives vs Labour. Or Sunak vs Starmer. It will be a choice between the future and the past. I remain confident my party can prevail. Unfortunately, very few of his Ministers share that confidence. And after his address their number has diminished significantly. Thats not supposed to be the line, one who had previously held out hope of a miraculous Tory recovery, told me in exasperation. How can we make the General Election a choice between the past and the future? We are the damn past. Weve been in power for 14 years. READ MORE: DAN HODGES: Keir Starmer has sold his soul to hard-Right Tory defector Natalie Elphicke and his party will NEVER forgive this moment of betrayal Advertisement A second Cabinet Minister agreed. If people want change when they walk into the polling booth, theyre going to vote for Starmer. Our only hope is to make them so terrified of him they cling to nanny one more time. Sunaks reluctance to strike calculated fear into the heart of the electorate is said to be based on an analysis by his Australian polling guru Isaac Levido. The strategist, who helped mastermind Boris Johnsons 2019 triumph, has reportedly crunched the numbers and decided that Britain is heading for a Change Election. Isaacs focus groups are telling him people want a major reset. Theyre sick of politics as usual. They want a new start, one Minister revealed. This was the reason Sunak used last years Tory party conference to take a flame-thrower to the record of every Tory Prime Minister from Boris Johnson back to John Major. Weve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one, he lamented. Thirty years of vested interests standing in the way of change. Thirty years of rhetorical ambition which achieves little more than a short-term headline. But by doing so he was also taking a flame-thrower to the Yellowstone Strategy. To build trepidation over taking a gamble on Sir Keir Starmer, he had to at least mount a token defence of the status quo. Instead, he presented the period from the demise of Thatcher to his own election as Tory leader as three wasted decades. According to one Tory strategist, a number of Sunaks other No10 advisers now recognise this trashing of the Conservatives own period in office was a mistake. Kevin Costners grizzled rancher John Dutton, who faces a political dilemma in nouveau-Western series Yellowstone not unlike Rishi Sunak's Three days after Rishi Sunak failed to cast himself as the stability candidate, Sir Keir Starmer presented his vision for what he called 'a decade of national renewal' Theyve tried to walk it back a little since then, one MP revealed. They realise they cant just say everythings been c**p for the past 30 years. Weve been in power for most of it. Vote for us. But these pigeon steps are proving inadequate. The reality is that, as the Election approaches, the only person the voters have seen making any sort of aggressive case for Conservatism is Liz Truss. Which is problematic, given her attempts to validate her 49 days in No10 by attacking a shadowy deep state have become increasingly deranged and her time as Prime Minister was the most disastrous in post-war British history. Apart from Truss, whos out there? one frustrated Tory MP asked me. Wheres the defence of Brexit? Or our Covid response? Or Levelling Up? If we dont want people to risk Starmer we have, at least, to give them half a reason for sticking with us. In the absence of such a reason, Labours leader is effectively being handed the next Election by default. Three days after Sunak failed to cast himself as the stability candidate, Starmer presented his vision for what he called a decade of national renewal. It was meant to address concerns that, with the looming spectre of World War Three, the most uncertain economic outlook since the collapse of the Gold Standard and the collective implosion of the nations public services, Labours prospectus for change lacked ambition. In the end, the highlights of what Starmer unveiled with a shirt-sleeved flourish were a promise of two new teachers for every secondary school, an additional 40,000 weekly NHS appointments (the service currently deals with 360 million a year), and a rebranding of UK Border Force as Border Security Command. But it didnt really matter. Because, however lacklustre Starmers change agenda may be, it has nothing to compete with. At the moment Sunak represents neither a fresh start nor continuity. The PMs message appears to be: Trust me, Im the only one who can save you from the purgatory that I and my Tory colleagues have inflicted on you over the past decade and a half. And, unsurprisingly, the British people are preparing to reject his kind offer. Isaac Levido may well be right. The next time the country goes to the polls, it could indeed precipitate a Change Election. In which case Rishi Sunak and the Tories will be annihilated. The Prime Ministers only chance of at least mitigating his losses is to make voters think twice about taking a leap into the unknown. Like Kevin Costners anti-hero, he must present himself as the wall against which the forces of woke, liberalism will be dashed. But at the moment they are surging forward unchecked. And unless he changes course, its only a matter of time before they sweep Sunak and his party away. Rochelle says Meghan wears long clothes because she wants to appear taller Meghan Markle is known for her chic style, which has evolved significantly since she and Prince Harry stepped down as working royals and moved to California to start a new life together. But as she and the Duke of Sussex carry out 'quasi-royal' duties including their tour of Nigeria and events marking the Invictus Games, a new trend appears to be emerging in Meghan's outfits as she dons trousers, skirts and dresses that appear altogether too long for her. Instead of tailoring her maxi outfits so they perfectly match her 5ft 6in frame, the Duchess often wears clothes that no doubt add to her chic style, but also drag along the floor as she walks. It might seem an odd miss in the otherwise incredibly stylish Duchess's repertoire - but a celebrity style expert has suggested Meghan's perceived oversight may actually be a very deliberate decision on her part in order to create a particular illusion. Meghan Markle wears a long ruffled dress as she visits Lightway Academy last week in Abuja, Nigeria In Lagos, Meghan donned a Carolina Herrera Silk Overlay Column Gown in 'taxi cab' yellow It seems Meghan has always been a fan of long floaty dresses as she donned this striped garment when she visited Sydney in 2018 Celebrity stylist Rochelle thinks Meghan wears longer outfits that cover her feet to look taller than she is. Above: Meghan in September 2022, Germany During Meghan and Harry's 'quasi-royal' tour of Nigeria, the Duchess showcased several examples of very long clothing. One such outfit came in the city of Abuja, where she opted for an aptly-named Windsor dress in blush silk, which retails for 1,106. Its California-based designer, Heidi Merrick (one of the Duchess's favourites) actually offers a slightly altered version of the frock for petite customers via its tailoring service. However as Meghan danced the afternoon away at the Wuse Lightway Academy, she appeared not to have opted for the tailored version of the frock and instead donned a version which skimmed the floor as she bopped to Jump Up, Turn Around. Similarly in Lagos, the former senior working royal chose to wear a Carolina Herrera Silk Overlay Column gown in 'taxi cab' yellow. Meghan was all smiles as she soaked up the sun in the 30-degree weather and visited the Lagos State Governor's Office. And yet again, she wore a lengthy vibrant and flamboyant ensemble that dragged along the grass lawn. Celebrity stylist Rochelle White told Femail that the Duchess likely wears long clothing that covers her feet because it gives the illusion of height. She said: 'Long dresses and trousers, depending on body type, can help to elongate the body and shape. 'They can make you look taller and depending on the styles can help to define areas of the body you either want to highlight or cover up.' When the royal couple spent a week in Frankfurt last summer to attend the Invictus Games, Meghan wore an all-brown ensemble on a day that saw them both watching events and attending a NATO meeting. This was made up of a chocolate-coloured blouse and creased taupe trousers that trailed along the floor. She stood next to Prince Harry - who is a whopping 6ft 2inches in height - and although she barely came up to his shoulder, Rochelle says she appears taller because of her outfit choice. Meghan Markle is pictured in a long ballgown at the Variety Power of Women Los Angeles Dating back to 2019, Meghan wore long black trousers that trailed along the floor in Edinburgh Meghan Markle sported a pair of creased brown trousers during her trip to Germany last September with Harry The Duchess has worn long ensembles throughout the years including on her trip to Morocco in 2019 She said: 'Looking at Meghan, I feel that these styles make her look taller and highlight her silhouette. I feel it makes her look taller. 'I feel that she knows her body and the things or items that work for her best and is tapping into that with her looks.' In 2018, during Meghan's trip to Edinburgh with Harry, she proudly donned a pair of lengthy, flared black trousers which were too long for her despite wearing a pair of heels. As the Duchess was busy greeting people who braved the unpredictable Scottish weather to see the former royals, the slacks were pulled along the wet concrete, gathering dirt on the bottom of them. In 2018 during her visit to Sydney, the mother-of-two was pictured walking along the sand in a black and white striped maxi dress and the following year during her visit to Morocco with Harry, Meghan donned a large cobalt patterned frock. It's no secret that her wardrobe is different from Kate's, with Rochelle noting that the Princess of Wales opts for more traditional pieces of clothing. She said: 'Meghan has more of trendy edge when it comes to her style. Kate is very classic and chic in her fits and style with traditional pieces thrown in. 'With Meghan, I feel she is very much herself and has elements that really showcase her personality and personal style. 'With off the shoulder tops, shorts, co-ords and racer back tops, she doesn't hide what she likes and what works for her.' While Kate tends to wear more fitted dresses and tailored trousers, Meghan's style is dubbed more relaxed and personal. Tyler toured the grounds with courtesans and even had alone time with one Founded in 1976, the brothel is totally legal, and subject to strict regulations Ever wonder what it's like on the inside of an high-end legal brothel? YouTube star Tyler Oliveira has taken people inside the famed, and infamous, Chicken Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. Tyler spent the afternoon interviewing the women and other staffers at the brothel, and even bought one-on-one time with a 'courtesan' known as Air Force Amy. The brothel, founded in 1976, is totally legal. Along with this, the sex workers, who rotate in and out of the venue every few weeks to months, are routinely tested for STDs, and there's comprehensive security measures in place for everyone's protection. YouTube star Tyler Oliveira dropped by the famed Chicken Ranch brothel in Pahrump, Nevada, where he got a tour and even spent one-on-one time with one of the courtesans To kick things off, a courtesan named Sammie Sweets - who shared she specializes in neuro- and tantric massages - gave Tyler a tour of the Chicken Ranch grounds, where she's been working for the past two and a half years. To be clear, she added that the ladies preferred the term 'courtesan' over 'prostitute,' which she felt implies working the streets under much skeevier conditions. Each of the women working at the brothel are legally required to undergo an STD panel weekly; and condoms are required for both male and female clients. If someone does test 'dirty,' they can undergo treatment, and are welcomed back to work once they test clean. The Chicken Ranch also has an on-site private chef to provide meals for the women. Elsewhere, Sammie revealed the 'party shower,' intended for up to eight clients and courtesans for group sex. And in an adjacent room, she pointed out a stripper pole plus a jacuzzi for a 'naked hot tub immersion' experience. Sammie also added they'd hosted both bachelor and bachelorette parties in the 'party shower' on various occasions. Elsewhere on the premises, there's an outdoor pool; while the ladies 'don't do sex in water,' Sammie said, they can swim naked or 'enjoy your client, or a cocktail with your client' poolside. One of 19 legal brothels nationally, the Chicken Ranch was founded in 1976 Courtesans, as they prefer to be called, rotate in and out of working at the Chicken Ranch every few months Nearby, there's a wheelchair accessible entrance and space. 'We do get a lot of clients that are paraplegics, we get a lot of clients that are wheelchair-bound, we get a lot of vets that are amputees,' Sammie explained, adding that she had indeed met with a paraplegic. 'They turn into regulars. They come to see you like once a year. I mean, I feel like if you can touch somebody in that way, and they can come and see you every year, it's because they trust you,' Sammie said. 'It's really hard for somebody that's like an amputee, or say, a paraplegic, to go to like a bar. And try to pick up on somebody. Like, people are mean!' But clientele don't always just want to get busy with the courtesans. She went on to share that she had recently seen an autistic client, who was 'super, super nice.' 'He was awkward, he couldn't really do bar things, he couldn't be in large crowds, which I get,' she said. 'He actually paid me to watch Michael Myers with him We weren't like intimate. He just wanted to hang out and talk and watch Michael Myers.' A courtesan named Sammie Sweets gave Tyler a tour of the premises A large 'party shower' is intended to accommodate up to eight courtesans and clients, usually for group sex As for one of her 'craziest' encounters: 'I had a client pay me to work out for an hour. He wanted me to be super, super, super sweaty, workout. And then he wanted to party for two hours, with me,' she said, adding that 'party' is a general term for a session. Over the two hours following Sammie's workout, the man 'didn't want to do anything sexual - but he did want to lick my whole body. Mind you, he wanted me to workout for an hour before. So his thing was like, the smell feet, armpits, and the back of the knee.' Then there was a BDSM, Fifty Shades of Grey-style dungeon, with the girls able to roleplay as both dominatrixes and submissives. A separate, private RV was also on site for clients who desired more 'intimate' experiences. 'Let's just say you wanted to have something away from the house, and you didn't want everybody to hear you. You just want something to yourself, where it feels more like a honeymoon,' she said of the purpose of the RV. Showing off her designated room, Sammie revealed two floral bouquets from regular clients of hers that she saw 'a few times a year.' 'I've impacted their lives. These are clients who have suffered through depression and mental illness, and they come to me to kind of get that stress relief, because they say they feel comfortable and vulnerable, and they're able to like, be themselves,' she said. 'So even if nothing sexual happens, just being in my presence helps them.' She took him to an area with a stripper pole, also pointing out a nearby jacuzzi, intended for a 'naked hot tub immersion' experience Offered available girls in a line up, Tyler chose sex-industry veteran - and actual military veteran - Air Force Amy for some one-on-one time Next, Tyler spoke to the Chicken Ranch's COO, Will. Will explained that there are 19 legal brothels currently operating, all of them 'heavily regulated.' He explained that obtaining a brothel license was similar to obtaining a gaming license, and it was 'really tough to do.' 'You have to show your whole history, you have to show people you know, where you've lived, income, everything, and they know everything about you. And they can make some of that information public information,' Will explained, adding that the process took six months. Will also screens applications for women wanting to work out of the Chicken Ranch, looking for those who would be a 'good fit.' He went on to state that he believed that safe sex work had a 'net benefit' to society.' 'It's not just about the sex, believe it or not... It's about the emotional support, it's about the human connection. And if a guy gets a party for let's just say, an hour, it might be five minutes of sex, and it might be 55 minutes of chatting. And, they're kind of therapists,' Will said. Will also stated that they saw a lot of older virgins come it, with the oldest he'd known of being 48 years old. 'Not only are you going to lose your virginity when you leave here, but you're going to have more confidence with other girls, more confidence at work, and the guys always leave with a big smile of their face.' He also recalled how a quadriplegic, brought in by his mom, also made monthly visits for a while. Tyler then announced it was time to 'put myself in the shoes of a customer.' He then sat on a sofa while the available courtesans lined up for him, including Sammie and four other women. Rates for any of the women aren't explicitly listed on the Chicken Ranch's website, but discussions about the brothel on Reddit suggest the ballpark hourly range is at least in the mid-four figures, with each courtesan further offering a 'menu' of extra services. Tyler ultimately decided on Air Force Amy, a blonde bombshell type who claimed to have at one point actually served in the Air Force. Her bio, as listed on the Chicken Ranch website, reads: 'I love to snuggle and hug and giggle and I love to get expressive, passionate, and uninhibited too. 'I'm here to show you how fantastic and worthy you are and to let you experience just how fantastic and enjoyable sex, sensuality, and eroticism is too.' Tyler and Amy then retreated to her bedroom, where he asked her more about herself - including what her specialties were. Among them: 'upside-down, backwards blowjob,' in which she lies down on her back on a bed, head over the edge, receiving a man's member in this position. 'No gag reflex,' she cheekily added. She admitted she's probably slept with 'tens of thousands' of men over the course of her career. Working out of the Chicken Ranch, she reflected, is 'almost like a vacation to be here. Because you get to, if you think of it, I walk to work, I can sleep on the job, I can have sex on the job, I can drink on the job.' She further described herself as 'oversexed and boy crazy.' 'I love sex, everyday,' she said, further speculating she probably had 'at least' four orgasms daily. Tyler asked how she'd approach a man with a 'tiny pecker.' She emphatically nodded that she'd teach him how to use it, going on to insist, 'It's not about the size, you know? That is the case. You know? It's just that, people get judged. 'And I'm here to show you, I'm not going to judge you, I'm going to find something in you that I really, really like, which is going to be a lot of things. And you're going to feel like a million bucks! 'Sometimes I'm just like a stepping stone for someone that just doesn't have really good social skills. And I give you that confidence, and it's just a springboard for you to pew, go out there and start dating.' She further admitted that she would play into the 'dumb blonde' archetype, swearing the strategy made it 'easier to do business.' 'Because it's a man's world,' she whispered. 'You can't be too smart.' Afterward, Tyler sat with Amy and Sammie as well as two other courtesans named Mya and Tallie for a group interview. Tyler asked the courtesans to name 'one thing' people 'don't understand' about working at the Chicken Ranch. Tyler ultimately concluded his expose of the Chicken Ranch by interviewing four of the courtesans in a group interview 'They think we're working at the same level as other girls who might be accepting low, unhygienic parties, might be working with clients out of desperation,' Mya said. 'We're in a really good position here. People don't realize how high-class a lot of our customers, most of our customers, are. The people that walk in this door and have that view of us, they tend to not party with anybody because we're out of their budget, we're out of their expectations. 'I have people coming in here saying, "You know, I've hired girls off the street, and never had anything even close to this." So, we're playing in a different league here.' Amy added, 'Illegal prostitution and legal prostitution, is just apples and oranges. You can't compare the two. But we do often get thrown in the same bag as a street prostitute.' Tyler then asked whether they've had 'a particular moment or client' that has made them feel like 'the work I do is cool and I make people happy.' 'Definitely,' Sammie said. 'You have people who tell you about how they suffer from anxiety and depression for years. And they come to you, and you've eased that, or you've made them feel human again.' She further added that she had a client who passed away from suicide and actually thanked Sammie in his note for the positive impact she'd had on his life. Mya added that she had found it really gratifying to help people who had remained virgins into their 40s or 50s. 'It's not because of how they look or anything. It has to do with how they view themselves, and how they go about the world and their confidence levels,' she said. 'Being able to have somebody break down their barrier for the first time in their life around you, it's very vulnerable, it's really rewarding. I've had people come out the other side of losing their virginities looking like a completely different person, talking about themselves differently with confidence. 'Getting to do that for somebody is priceless. Chimed in Sammie: 'If more people opened their eyes and really seeing it what it was, they'd see we are normal people.' Anika Van Cleef is the elegant boss of a powerful Australian finance company who lives a luxury life with her two children and younger boyfriend in a leafy Melbourne suburb. But one day everything changes. While buying groceries, a woman shes never seen before shields her from two gunmen and bundles her out of the shop, telling her she has to start a new life. She has no idea whats going on, says Marta Dusseldorp, the Australian actress who plays Anika in Bay Of Fires, an eight-part thriller she also co-wrote. Slowly an explanation emerges: Anika had spotted discrepancies in her companys accounts and powerful people now want to keep her quiet before she goes public with the information. Anika and her children Otis and Iris are spirited away to a new home on the Australian island of Tasmania, and while the villains try to track her down much of the story follows Anikas new life in a strange cesspit of a town, Mystery Bay. The town sign reads Misery Bay, and its a sign of whats to come. Australian actress Marta Dusseldorp (pictured) stars as Anika Van Cleef in Bay Of Fires Its a crazy place with characters such as Frankie, a criminal matriarch played by Kerry Fox, and Jeremiah the handsome local handyman, says Marta. And a couple, Magda and Heather, walk their pig Truffles down the main street! Some of her new neighbours start to suspect shes hiding from something, and at least one demands money to keep quiet. Marta says the show has aspects of comedy Schitts Creek and Netflix hit Ozark, both about relocated families. Its also got an Alice In Wonderland element. Anika tumbles, like Alice, into this new world. Theres even a sort of Mad Hatters Tea Party when shes invited to the weirdest dinner party at Frankies. Its there she realises she and her family have been dropped into a vipers nest. Talking of vipers, Marta has to handle a python in the first episode. Like Indiana Jones I have a fear of snakes, she shudders. It did help my phobia. Marta, 51, whos married to Australian actor Ben Winspear and is a major star in Australia thanks to long-running TV series such as Jack Irish and A Place To Call Home, says Bay Of Fires is to some extent autobiographical. Much of the story follows Anikas new life in a strange cesspit of a town, Mystery Bay. The town sign reads Misery Bay, and its a sign of whats to come I do dream about anonymity, what itd be like to disappear. In Australia Im constantly being asked for photos in the street. We came up with the idea in Covid. Im sure what we were going through was on our minds. Series two began filming this month. Theres nothing more frustrating than committing to eight hours only to be told at the end, Wait, all will be revealed next year. So we wrap it up, says Marta. But we had enough to mine a second series and thats what weve done. They were the ultimate feel-good pop group of the 60s: five wholesome Californian kids dressed in identical shirts, tossing sun-bleached hair, flashing dazzling smiles and singing in soaring harmony about surfing trips, hot rods and beach parties with pretty girls in bikinis. The Beach Boys first big hit, Surfin USA, was released in 1963 and the sun-kissed California Sound swept the world. The truth was less sunny. There was an abusive father-turned-treacherous manager, alcohol, drugs, feuds and reconciliations. A member described one period, in a wry twist on their hit album, as an endless bummer. Yet the pull of The Beach Boys remains strong, as a new Disney+ documentary shows. So whats the secret of their enduring success? Mike Love, the bands frontman, says there are two factors. One is the musical genius of the founder and producer, his cousin Brian Wilson; the other is pure happiness. The Beach Boys (clockwise from left): Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson and Bruce Johnston Its 100 per cent joy, he says. Our music has always been a celebration of the positive things in life, people like that. 'There were plenty of negative things in the 60s, student demonstrations, immigration problems, the Vietnam War. We didnt choose to sing about negative things, we did Good Vibrations. I wrote the lyrics thinking about a girl who was all about peace and love and flower power thats largely why that song went to No 1. 'A psychologist in Sheffield studied songs from the perspective of which make people feel the best, and Good Vibrations came top. It all began with a music-loving family in an LA suburb. Dad Murry Wilson was an amateur songwriter, mother Audree played the piano and organ. On road trips their three sons, Brian, Dennis and Carl, would pass the time in the back of the car by singing in three-part harmony. In the early 60s they put together a band, managed by Murry, with their cousin Mike Love and Brians friend Al Jardine. Middle brother Dennis, a surfer, suggested they sing about the California sport and its culture, and The Beach Boys (a title none of them liked initially) were born. Songs like I Get Around and California Girls embodied the lazy days of summer, and in the beginning, say Mike Love and Al Jardine, it was fun. They rode the crest of a wave with their uplifting pop songs, and their acclaimed album Pet Sounds famously spurred their transatlantic rivals, The Beatles, to write Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Behind the scenes, though, was a very different story. Murry, a violent and abusive father, was a controlling manager and they were forced to fire him in 1964. In 1969 he sold the rights to their songs for $700,000 (they could be worth $100 million today). He believed we were washed up, Brian later said. Mike is still bitter about that, and in 1994 he sued Brian for a co-writing credit on dozens of songs and won. Meanwhile, Brian was beset with mental problems exacerbated by drug use, which led to rifts within the group. In 1964, while on a flight to a gig, Brian suffered a breakdown and collapsed screaming in the aisle. The Beach Boys, pictured performing in California in 1964, formed in the early 1960s and achieved major success with their uplifting pop songs He complained of voices in his head and later became grossly overweight, shuffling around in a bathrobe. He even had a giant sandpit built in his home with his piano in the middle. In the 70s and 80s he was treated by psychotherapist Dr Eugene Landy, who controlled the stars life for years, moving into his house and charging him up to $35,000 a month. And there was tragedy too. Dennis drowned in 1983, aged 39, after a day of drinking. Carl, a lifelong smoker, died of lung cancer in 1998, aged 51. Brian, now 81, has dementia. And yet, say Mike and Al, there is still laughter and music. Ill sing a Beach Boys song, says Al, and Ill remember Brian having to play the snare drums on it and reaching in because the engineer only had one microphone for five guys. It cracks me up when I think how immature we were, but how much hope we had. Those are good memories. Their hallmark intricate vocal harmonies were Brians genius, says Al. When we started a song, the arrangement was already in Brians head. He would put his right hand on the piano keys, and each one of us was a note. 'The trick was to remember your part, because if you didnt it screwed it all up and we had to start all over again. So we got pretty good at that. You can say that again. With its 60 million views and worldwide acclaim, it would be easy to imagine Baby Reindeer's creator Richard Gadd must be celebrating his good fortune. But the comedian wore a decidedly pensive expression when he was spotted walking along a North London street earlier this week. Perhaps a month's worth of raging controversy is taking its toll. The seven-part mini-series based on his experiences of being stalked, in which he plays the lead role of Donny Dunn, has brought 35-year-old Gadd overnight fame, fortune... and, now, a lot of potential trouble. For the next instalment in this all-too-real saga threatens to eclipse even the original story. In past interviews, Gadd has said that the episode with his stalker whom he has never named was 'resolved' and that 'the situation... with the person who stalked me is certainly over'. So maybe he hoped Fiona Harvey, who has outed herself as the true-life inspiration for stalker 'Martha', would melt away. Fiona Harvey, who has outed herself as the true-life inspiration for Baby Reindeer's stalker 'Martha', has hired a top lawyer who claims she has never been charged with a crime The 58-year-old appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored to contest the way she has been portrayed in the global hit show If so, then he has not been paying attention to his own script because the situation now appears the opposite of resolved. Not only is Ms Harvey, 58, going nowhere, she is fired up with rage and indignation and poised for revenge having secured the help of a top-flight lawyer. Despite Gadd and Netflix's insistence that the storyline does not reveal the stalker's true identity Gadd previously claimed to have disguised his stalker's identity to such an extent that he said, 'I don't think she would recognise herself' Ms Harvey was quickly exposed by online sleuths and says she has suffered death threats and abuse from internet trolls. The fallout has raised serious questions about whether Netflix's compliance procedures were adequate, especially in the light of what she claims are serious factual inaccuracies. Over four and a half years, Gadd says he received 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, letters totalling 106 pages and 350 hours of voicemail messages from his stalker. In an interview, the comedian has said: 'I felt a great deal of empathy for the real-life Martha. I didn't want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.' Comedian and Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, 35, pictured with a friend in London this week, is gearing himself up for a legal battle with Fiona Harvey - despite saying that 'the situation... with the person who stalked me is certainly over' But a powerful scene in Baby Reindeer portrays Martha tearfully pleading guilty in the dock, and being jailed for nine months. Ms Harvey insists this is a defamatory and devastating fabrication. Yesterday Ms Harvey's lawyer Chris Daw KC, a leading barrister, told the Mail: 'Fiona states that she has never been charged with any crime, let alone pleaded guilty and served a prison sentence, as suggested in Baby Reindeer. 'She maintains that this is complete fiction. I have not seen anything from Gadd or Netflix to support this part of the plot of Baby Reindeer. The serious harm done to Fiona, if this key part of the plot turns out to be fiction, should be obvious to anyone.' A key issue is that Baby Reindeer, which has held the number one spot in the streaming giant's charts since its launch in April, begins with the words: 'This is a true story' not 'based on a true story' or 'inspired by real events'. In the Netflix press release, Gadd himself declared: 'It's a true story.' He subsequently appeared to row back on this claim in an interview with GQ magazine in which he said the story was 'pretty truthful' and 'emotionally truthful' and that it 'never moved too far from the truth'. And while the show garnered rave reviews and praise over how he portrayed the trauma of being stalked he has repeatedly urged viewers not to identify the woman who made his life hell, saying: 'If I wanted the real life people to be found, I would've made it a documentary.' But, either through oversight or lack of imagination, the drama is replete with clues. Written by Gadd, Baby Reindeer depicts Martha as a chubby, middle-aged, curly-haired, Scottish, self-proclaimed successful lawyer obsessively stalking barman-cum-struggling stand-up comedian Donny. Online sleuths pointed to Ms Harvey's physical resemblance to 'Martha', the fact she also says she is a lawyer, tweets sent under her name a decade ago written with the same fruity language as used on TV and to newspaper headlines about a previous stalking victim that the Netflix show barely changed. Not to mention that Gadd himself spent time as a barman, at The Hawley Arms in North London, where Ms Harvey admits they did cross paths. Mr Gadd stands behind the bar during the Netflix drama as he meets 'Martha' - the character based off of Ms Harvey and played by Jessica Gunning Mr Daw, from Lincoln House Chambers, said: 'If you're telling the whole world something's a true story, it's no good to then say in media interviews, 'Oh, don't treat it as a true story, it's all kind of made up'. 'Both [Gadd] and Netflix, in my view, have made the mistake of trying to ride two horses at once both getting the benefit of a true story, which we all know increases viewing figures, but at the same time trying to avoid the consequences potentially of portraying someone in a completely inaccurate and defamatory way. 'There is absolutely no defence to say, 'we didn't mean it to be a literal truth, we meant it to be an emotional truth'. From a legal point of view, that's absolute nonsense.' He said Ms Harvey had yet to formally instruct solicitors, adding: 'I am building a team to consider what claims Fiona may have against Gadd, Clerkenwell Films and Netflix, arising from the use of her image, defamation and any other potential claims.' Last week Netflix previously under fire over made-up sequences in Royal Family drama The Crown was dragged over the coals in Parliament regarding the show's duty of care to those portrayed in Baby Reindeer. Its policy chief Benjamin King doubled down during a hearing of the media select committee, telling MPs: 'Baby Reindeer is an extraordinary story and it is obviously a true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist Richard Gadd suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker.' He insisted Netflix and Clerkenwell Films the production company behind the show had taken 'every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story'. In the TV industry, there is much smugness that Netflix has found itself accused of messing up its 'compliance', under which executives are supposed to maintain a duty of care to people depicted on screen. Ms Harvey says she was never contacted by the filmmakers. One TV insider said 'jaws were dropping' at the 'mega compliance failure', adding that the BBC and its belt-and-braces compliance department would never have let the show air if it was so easy for Ms Harvey to be found and targeted. In fact, Clerkenwell Films, the production company, is owned by BBC Studios, which makes many top programmes for the corporation. BBC Studios is part of the BBC's commercial wing and does not spend public money. Neither Clerkenwell nor Gadd have commented directly about claims they made it too easy to identify Ms Harvey. As the possibility appears to grow of a legal claim being brought by her, that may be a wise move. Ms Harvey's 'role' in Baby Reindeer has been such a 'mega compliance failure' that is has 'dropped jaws' in the TV business One thing is clear, many of those who have become involved with the Baby Reindeer story have found themselves rapidly out of favour with Ms Harvey. 'The Daily Mail was one of the first publications to speak to her when we met her at her London flat. The newspaper did not name her. As well as insisting it was she who was the stalking victim, she told us: 'The suggestion I'm a serial stalker is a load of rubbish, a figment of Richard Gadd's imagination.' She added: 'And do you think he's bonny, with his big nose? I never fancied him. He was 23, I was about 47.' She raged about her depiction in Baby Reindeer, shockingly declaring that the actress Jessica Gunning who plays Martha 'sort of looks like me after I put on four stone in lockdown, but I'm not actually unattractive. Not like that fat cow who's apparently 60 stone. She's a fat, ugly twerp.' After her Mail interview, Ms Harvey took to social media to complain about how it was written. Then last week she gave an interview to Piers Morgan on his YouTube channel in the process identifying herself to complain Baby Reindeer had been 'quite horrifying', saying: 'Some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. It's been absolutely horrendous.' She said she was 'being bullied for fame'. She said she went on Morgan's show because she trusted him to give her a fair hearing. But afterwards, Ms Harvey, from Stirlingshire, turned sour on Morgan too, telling Scottish newspaper the Daily Record that the broadcaster 'feels sorry for no one'. She said: 'His staff were being so nice and saying everything was OK but when I went in to meet him he could barely look at me. It was all a big act. 'He didn't even say goodbye and only got the photograph taken with me because he needed it for the publicity.' She claimed she had been offered only 250 for the interview and added: 'I have not signed a contract for the interview and I will be seeking far more than a piddling 250. I'd settle for a million.' In response, when Morgan was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Media Show, he did not deny the 250 offer but said his show had also funded a nice haircut and a car from her home. He said: 'She is not going to get a million pounds from me. She was perfectly happy with the agreed sum.' Morgan has endured plenty of brickbats from critics who claimed his interview was unethical because Ms Harvey could be mentally ill. He said: 'I didn't believe a lot of what she was saying, but that doesn't make her mentally vulnerable or mentally ill she doesn't see herself as vulnerable.' He said she was entitled to have her say about the truth or otherwise of the Netflix drama. He added: 'If you accuse someone of being a convicted stalker and they are not, that is a pretty serious claim to make. 'I think they've got problems here because she clearly is determined to have her day in court with Netflix. She is emphatic there was no court case, no conviction and no pleading guilty, nothing that led to any apparent conviction. Ms Harvey battles to clear her name on YouTube after Netflix watchers uncovered her identity soon after the show was released 'There's a big difference between being obsessive, or even harassing him, but if you do not cross the bar of a crime, then to call them in a series in which they have been immediately identified a convicted criminal is a serious failure by Netflix. 'In nearly a month, nobody has found any evidence that she has a criminal record.' Meanwhile SNP MP John Nicolson has asked Netflix to provide evidence that the woman who inspired Martha is a 'convicted stalker'. Gadd, Clerkenwell Films and Netflix were approached for comment but did not respond. And what next for Gadd who lays bare his own mental health problems in the drama? Few doubt that the comedian's account of his experiences at the hands of his real-life stalker would be anything other than terrifying. In an interview just before Baby Reindeer aired on Netflix, he said of such a personal drama: 'It's just a big exposing time but I'm well up for the ride.' But after the dark twists and turns of the past few weeks, and the threat of a legal drama to come, one wonders if he's enjoying the journey now. There is many a tale of men who lie about their age on dating apps in the hope of meeting a younger woman. But beauty entrepreneur Liz Earle, 61, reversed the cliche when hunting online for a man following a divorce in her 50s. She revealed how she took ten years off her age for her dating profile apparently to great success, as she is now celebrating an anniversary with a man 17 years her junior. Ms Earle made the candid confession on the How To Be 60 podcast. She explained: 'I was 59 at the time and I'd just done one of my genetic tests for my book and it came up as 39 so I thought, there's quite a big difference, what am I going to do? Beauty entrepreneur Liz Earle, 61, revealed how she took ten years off her age for her dating profile apparently to great success, as she is now celebrating an anniversary with a man 17 years her junior 'If I put 59, is he going to expect somebody who behaves in that way, perhaps there's a perception to it? 'So I split the difference and I put 49.' She said her friend had told her she needed to 'play the numbers game' and go on 100 coffee dates in order to find the right man. 'I got to about eight cups of coffee and there was nobody really that sparked,' she said. 'And then I just got a message in my inbox and I thought, hey that's quite an interesting younger guy... a year later we're about to have our anniversary.' Ms Earle added that she 'wanted to manage expectations in the best way but I did have to fess up very quickly'. 'I did say and I was a bit nervous about it,' she said. The businesswoman, who grew up in Portsmouth, founded Liz Earle Beauty in 1995 and has written more than 35 books on beauty, wellbeing and nutrition. She got divorced from her second husband, Patrick Drummond, when she was in her 50s and described that period as being 'scary'. But it prompted her to do new and 'weird' things including going clubbing for the first time in her life. She explained: 'My boyfriend took me to Ibiza for the first time last year because I've never been clubbing. 'He was a big clubber back in the day he was a DJ promoter and all of that. He took me and I did actually buy a silver sequined mini dress which I did wear with some very, very high platforms.' Dating secret: Ms Earle made the candid confession on the How To Be 60 podcast Liz said she had switched to a dating website from an app after being blocked for supposedly impersonating herself Ms Earle said her online search for a partner had not been without its hiccups. She said she had switched to a dating website from an app after being blocked for supposedly impersonating herself. 'I was very honest: I uploaded pictures of myself [but] I just changed my name very slightly. 'Anyway I got blocked for impersonating Liz Earle,' she added. A nursing student has revealed how someone posing as a buyer on a second-hand clothing store was able to steal $4,000 in a sophisticated online scam. Brianna Ireland wanted to sell her spare tops, pants and gym clothes to make some spending money after recently moving for university and so she decided to list them on Depop - a popular online marketplace for pre-loved clothes. The 19-year-old said she liked the eco-friendly idea of handing on the items and was contacted by her first buyer in early May, not long after setting up her page, and while still unfamiliar with how the process worked. The buyer, known as Sarah, messaged Brianna and told her she needed to include her email address on her Depop profile page under the 'my website' field because the site's checkout was asking for that information. 'I was so excited to sell clothes, I just didn't think anything of it ... I was so caught up in the moment,' Brianna told 7Life. Student Brianna Ireland listed some pre-loved clothing items on Depop but a hacker posing as a buyer scammed her Depop said the 'buyer' hacked a genuine user's account and then emailed Ms Ireland a false sale verification form The 'buyer' then told her to watch for a confirmation email in her inbox to give the sale the greenlight. The email appeared soon after and included a link to 'verify the purchase' which took Ms Ireland to what appeared to be a 'legit' Depop site with the customer's details including the shipping address, their email and phone number. The website asked her to add her bank details so that she could be paid. Ms Ireland said at this point she should have noticed the 'red flag' because she had already inputted her PayPal details to Depop but dismissed it, assuming that 'maybe my PayPal account mustn't have worked for whatever reason'. She said after inputting her bank details the website seemed to freeze and then told her there was an error and a chatbot appeared asking her if she had a different bank account to try. 'By this point, I was extremely confused as to why it was asking me this, and then it hit me.' A frantic Ms Ireland checked her bank account and saw that a $529.22 withdrawal had just been made to 'Bitinvestor', based in Denmark. She immediately rang her bank and was on hold for five minutes, a period in which the scammer tried to make another withdrawal. By the time Ms Ireland spoke to a staff member, who quickly froze her account, she was in tears. Another $3,500 had been withdrawn. The nursing student said she dismissed red flags such as poor grammar as laziness but the experience would not deter her using the site again But there was some good news, with the employee telling her because they had caught the second payment so quickly they were able to stop the transaction. The initial $529 payment had already cleared and could not be returned. 'I'm just so grateful I called the bank when I did, otherwise the payment wouldn't have bounced back into my account and they definitely would have drained my entire bank account,' she said. After reporting the scam to Depop, Ms Ireland said they told her the scammer had hacked someone else's genuine account to pose as the buyer. In hindsight the full-time student said there were other indicators she should have picked up on such as the poor grammar, which she assumed was just laziness, and the domain the sale verification email was sent from, which she did not check closely. She said she has learned her lesson and still uses Depop but is much more careful about the process when using the site and speaking to buyers. A Depop spokesperson said the site has wide-ranging protection measures in place to block scams and fraudulent behaviour. 'Our in-app payment systems are designed specifically to keep users safe, and legitimate payments on Depop will only ever be taken within the app or Depop.com. 'Unfortunately, as peer-to-peer marketplaces become more popular, scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to encourage consumers to pay outside of secure platforms this is an industry-wide issue.' 'We strongly encourage consumers who are buying and selling anywhere online never to share personal information with other users, to be very wary about following links to other sites, and to report any suspicious behaviour.' The company recommends only using the genuine Depop app or website to communicate with buyers or input information. The genuine site is depop.com and genuine emails will be from the domain @depop.com, the business said. Dear Bel, Im 25 and living with my boyfriend. We met two years ago through a mutual friend and, after a year, I moved in to his house. He has a demanding job working long hours, so moving in seemed sensible or wed never see each other. Hes very much in love with me and is wonderfully caring, attentive and calm. Sexually things arent so great but he tries and is becoming less embarrassed and self-conscious as the relationship progresses. I know hed make a great father and be a strong husband. I have always envisaged having my first child before I was 30 and being married for a year or so before that. Having invested all this time, I dont want to walk away from an amazingly caring man. But I can also see myself falling for a passionate relationship like the one I had with a bad boy for a year in my late teens. I dont want to write off an incredible man but I cant make myself feel more. I have enjoyed building our home but then I am a nester and like cooking dinners, baking and having someone to look after. Ive often set myself unattainable goals, so am I just over-rating the concept of the one? I hear stories of dreadful dates and awful boyfriends and feel so guilty for under-valuing what I have, but how can I agree to spend my life with a man when I am so unsure? Can one ever really know? I do love him but dont know if Im in love with him, or just sticking to what is safe and I told him all these concerns. I care about him deeply and in the couple of days it took him to retreat, nurse his wounds and come back to me since the talk, I felt pretty anxious. Now I think hes put the talk down to my usual over-analysing and moved on. Please help me decide if I need to keep at this or walk away. I dont want to lose the intimacy that we share but I dont know if what we have is enough for permanence. Is this just the effect of choice and awareness of divorce ratings? I dont want to become another statistic. SIMONE Bel Mooney replies: You are not the first young woman in a good relationship with Mr Nice Guy who still has fantasies about being swept off her feet by a dangerous, sexy bad boy. Nor will you be the last! This is at the heart of your problem. Sex with this good, loving man is not at all what you would like it to be and, at your age, that does matter a lot. You wouldnt have mentioned it otherwise. It concerns me that you seem to have written rather a rigid script for your life and are now having grave doubts about the plot and the characters. On the one hand you love the idea of nesting, cooking, having a baby, living happily ever after with the one and being the perfect wife and mother. On the other hand, your inner-self dreams of rebellion. Of smashing walls and running away. Your uncut letter tells me you did very well at university and now have a good job with interesting prospects. Im wondering if your lurking dissatisfaction with your partner and your pleasant, easy life together isnt also fed by a frustration with yourself for always being the A* high-achiever. Are there roots of this in childhood? For example, what was your parents response to your teen tearaway boyfriend? Did you always feel you had to live up to their expectations? Ive never believed in the concept of the one because for some people there are two or even three loves in a life. None of us can possibly know whether choices made in the 20s will prove a source of great disappointment and pain in the 40s. I assure you, I never thought Id be divorced in my 50s; becoming another statistic is not something you can possibly have any control over. As for permanence? What is that? Im afraid you cannot shoehorn the mysterious workings of destiny into your personal script for paradise found. Why not live in the present, focus on a good time with your partner and just park your plans? Stop the endless navel-gazing and cross-examination. Mr Nice Guy could tire of you and suggest a new start with new people. Or you could meet sexy Mr Wrong next month and run away with him. The jury is always out on our lives, you know. Thats why tomorrow is exciting. Mum is cruel and made her friend cry Dear Bel My mum, who is 86, raised three kids on her own, providing for us as best she could, for which were so grateful. But she wasnt loving (I dont recall her saying I love you) and isnt tactile; when I hug her, she steps away or pats me. We havent had the easiest relationship, as she expected more from her only daughter than her sons. I have learned not to challenge her because, if I do, she falls out with me for months. Bel Mooney says some of the saddest letters she gets are from the adult children of elderly parents She has become worse over the past few years often nasty. I dont want to be near her; it affects my mental health. She has a lifelong friend who is lovely and I often take her along to visit but Mum is now so rude its not fair to put her through it (last time, she was in tears). But without the buffer of the friend, I dont think I can handle her. I also feel bad if I dont see her. Mums mental health is not good. Her doctor has suggested she goes on antidepressants but she scoffs at this. I want to do something to stop her losing the few people who still care but my brothers disagree, saying she wont change. I worry that by trying to challenge her she will fall out with me. Do I let things be or do I try to get her to see how her behaviour is affecting other people? CAROLE Bel Mooney replies: Some of the saddest letters I get are from the adult children of elderly parents. They find themselves torn between a sense of duty and frustration. You dont mention a father. Whatever the circumstances, it sounds as if your mother had a difficult time, which makes me wonder if that made her tougher than youd have liked a mum to be. Some old people look back at their history and develop a deep anger, asking Why did it have to be that way? Such regrets can spark bitterness in those who feel short-changed by their own choices, bad luck or just by happenstance. Do you think some of that might apply to your mum? WRITE TO BEL Bel answers readers questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Advertisement Reading your description of her behaviour, my first thought was that she could be developing dementia, which can cause what I think of as a hardening of the personality. Forgetfulness is one thing, but increasing verbal aggression is another. Her being difficult with you might be explained by family history, but to be so mean to her friend? Thats different. You say her doctor has repeatedly suggested she goes on antidepressants which makes me wonder why she makes those appointments what physical symptoms? She may well scoff at anything to do with mental health, yet feel an unspoken need for help. If she rejects her doctors aid, how is she going to find it within herself to listen to you? There are no easy answers. You know her well; shes bound to become angry and reject you if you tell her the truth. When she made her friend cry, was anything said at the time or afterwards? Perhaps that incident could provide a way in to the conversation you dread. Im not sure why your brothers should duck out, but since you have a good relationship with the friend, can you enlist her help? Could you take her to visit one more time, making a pact to explain to your mother why her behaviour was unacceptable? The two of you could make her think, as well as providing some mutual protection against her rage. I suspect such an intervention would be best coming from a peer. And it might also help you to have some counselling to unearth old memories and explain why your relationship with your mother is so complicated. I admire your wish to save her from herself, but you can only do this with help. And finally... sharing is a way to work wonders! The sun disappeared, the rain came, but I was blessed by the sunshine of my postbag, responding to last weeks And Finally. You like it when I wear my heart on my sleeve and prove it by dispatching the hearts back to my inbox! QUOTE OF THE WEEK We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, But not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have The stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless Furnace of this world. A Brief for the Defence by Jack Gilbert (American poet 1925- 2012) Advertisement Answering my sad comment about not being Wonder Woman any more (because of health) Alison W set me right in a few kind but firm words: that part wasnt correct. You looked in the mirror at the wrong view. There isnt an older woman, tired etc to see there, but a woman with great strength So go back to the mirror and look again. Lynne M took up the theme: Youre just taking a break, youll be back in those boots soon. Theyre attached for when youre ready. And she sent me a picture of Wonder Womans red boots! So many caring emails reinforced my conviction that real wonders can be achieved by sharing our stories here. Thank you to everyone. Lawrence S supplied a moving lesson in positivity: Last April I lost my lovely wife after 66 years ... I had never in my life lived alone so it was difficult ... 12 days after she died I was rushed to hospital for five blood transfusions due to some internal bleeding, put down to the stress. Then, in June, I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. In January, I was again rushed to hospital with sepsis. Its left me weak and doddery after years of fitness. Then I began to think. As Im 90 next month, I should be grateful for 88 years of good health. I had more than 60 years of wonderful love and companionship. Bless you, Bel, for all the help you give each week. Get well soon. That makes me humble. A young couple who fell pregnant just a month after they made their relationship official say they've 'proved doubters wrong' with their happy marriage. Connor Neal, 24, from Ipswich in Suffolk, met his partner, Chloe, 21, in October 2023 after they bonded over their struggles with ADHD. A month later on November 4 the couple made their relationship official - and they were shocked to find out just four weeks later that Chloe was expecting a child. When their friends and family found out about the pregnancy the couple say some were understandingly sceptical - as they hadn't met the other's partner. Connor popped the question on New Year's Eve 2023 and the pair tied the knot on April 6, 2024, in a small ceremony surrounded by 35 guests. Connor Neal, 24, from Ipswich in Suffolk, met his partner, Chloe, 21, in October 2023 after they bonded over their struggles with ADHD The pair are now 'happily married' and excited to welcome their baby boy - who they've already named Albie - this August. Connor, a soldier in the British army, said: 'It was a mixture of emotions when I found out Chloe was pregnant. We were so soon into our relationship. 'I saw she was my life partner within that month and I saw a lot of positives in her. 'I thought "why not have the baby?" We have been given this opportunity that many people don't get the chance to get.' Connor and Chloe, an operating department support worker, started messaging each other through TikTok after he posted about his struggles with ADHD. Connor said: 'Chloe commented with "my every day struggles". 'I then found her on Instagram and she sent me a direct message that said "hello my ADHD boyfriend". 'I liked the confidence and we ended up FaceTiming for a week or two.' A month later on November 4 the couple made their relationship official - and they were shocked to find out just four weeks later that Chloe was expecting a child When their friends and family found out about the pregnancy the couple say some were understandingly sceptical - as they hadn't met the other's partner After speaking constantly the pair decided to meet in person in October 2023 and spent the weekend at Mersea Island, Essex. Connor said: 'She drove down to Essex and we spent the weekend together. We went down to the beach together and got to know each other. 'We instantly clicked and became official a month later.' In December 2023, Chloe took a pregnancy test which revealed she was expecting her first child with Connor. Chloe said: 'I have worked out the dates and the day that Connor asked me to be his girlfriend was the night our baby was conceived which is so sweet. 'Originally I was shocked and I called my mum straight away. The following weekend Connor came up to meet my parents. 'Connor is very confident and he can take confrontation well. Connor popped the question on New Year's Eve 2023 and the pair tied the knot on April 6, 2024, in a small ceremony surrounded by 35 guests In December 2023, Chloe took a pregnancy test which revealed she was expecting her first child with Connor 'He was happy to speak to my parents about his plans for us and not be uncomfortable about it and my mum liked that.' After finding out Chloe was pregnant, Connor knew she was the woman he wanted to marry and planned to pop the question on New Year's Eve. He said: 'When we found out about the pregnancy Chloe told her mum and dad and I told mine. We were worried about how they would take it, her mum was shocked as she didn't know me at that point but they were very supportive.' Connor and Chloe spent New Year's Eve in Weymouth, Dorset, at Connor's sister's house. Connor said: 'I took Chloe to a nice little pub for mocktails as she couldn't drink. After finding out Chloe was pregnant, Connor knew she was the woman he wanted to marry and planned to pop the question on New Year's Eve 'Whilst we were there, my sister, Shannon, was setting up the engagement - she had no idea.' Chloe added: 'I dont cry in social situations but when this happened it took me by surprise so much that I cried. That is when I knew I wanted to be with him and he was the one 'I was so happy I couldnt stop giggling and laughing I was so warm inside.' The couple had a small wedding at the town hall in Ipswich surrounded by 35 of their closest family and friends in April 2024. Chloe said: 'As soon as I saw him I cried my eyes out. I could see him at the end and he was crying himself. 'I couldnt have wished for it to be any better, I reminisce about it all the time, if I could do it all again I would.' The Duke of Edinburgh has said he will be 'forever grateful' for the 'outpouring' of comfort and support the royal family experienced after the death of the late Queen. Prince Edward, 60, opened up about the death of Queen Elizabeth II while deputising for his brother King Charles as Lord High Commissioner at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday. Welcoming the newly elected Moderator, Reverend Dr Shaw James Paterson, the duke spoke of the support he received following the death of his mother from royal chaplains. The father-of-two also confessed that the death of his father Prince Philip just the previous year made his mother's passing 'far more emotional'. Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022 at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, bringing an end to a 70-year reign and sparking tributes and memorials across the country, including in Scotland's capital. The Duke of Edinburgh has said he will be 'forever grateful' for the 'outpouring' of comfort and support the royal family experienced after the death of the late Queen Edward, flanked by new First Minister John Swinney and Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said he was 'really touched and comforted' by how chaplains helped the royal family 'For my own part, I just want to pay personal tribute to the chaplains of the Chapels Royal and especially those here in Scotland,' he said. 'There have been moments recently where I have been lucky to have sensed God's care and love. 'And who could forget the scenes that followed the passing of my mother? 'The outpouring of emotions, the demonstration of respect, love and grief was overwhelming and a privilege to experience and behold. 'I think I can speak for my whole family when I say we will remain forever grateful for that support.' The Duke of Edinburgh, flanked by new First Minister John Swinney and Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said he was 'really touched and comforted' by how chaplains helped the royal family 'behind closed doors and away from the public gaze and the scrutiny'. 'I know it's part of the job description, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, yet it not's necessarily what they did, it's how they did it,' he said. 'Here were centuries of tradition, of rituals long practised, of prayer, of care and of comfort.' The Duke of Edinburgh, who represents King Charles as Lord High Commissioner, speaking at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh Prince Edward opened up about the death of Queen Elizabeth II while deputising for King Charles as Lord High Commissioner at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Welcoming the newly elected Moderator, Reverend Dr Shaw James Paterson, the duke spoke of the support he received following the death of his mother from royal chaplains. Pictured: Edward on Friday Edward also congratulated Dr Paterson on his appointment as Moderator for the next 12 months - replacing the Right Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton - joking of the similarities between the life of a child of a minister, with that of a child of the royal family. 'Growing up in the family of a minister is never easy; having to come to terms with sharing one or both of your parents with the wider parish family,' he said. 'And believe me, I can empathise.' Responding to the Duke of Edinburgh's address, Dr Paterson asked him to urge the King, who has been diagnosed with cancer, to 'take the time he needs before he gets up to full speed'. 'His health is important, and we will be praying for him and all who have got health concerns,' the Moderator added. Lisa Seiffert had no symptoms when she impulse-booked a mammogram at David Jones while shopping - only for her split-second decision to reveal a sinister diagnosis. The model, then 39, used to regularly get breast cancer screening tests as the illness ran in her family, but the pandemic meant she was slightly behind. Lisa had been living in New York for 24 years when the world went into lockdown and her health insurance lapsed. She delayed the test a little until she flew back to visit family in Queensland in late 2022. 'I just happened to see a screening place at the shops while I was visiting my dad and decided to go in,' Lisa told FEMAIL. 'The technicians said they'd call me in a couple of weeks with the results, but I didn't hear from them for a while.' Lisa eventually called them back and they casually informed her that she had some calcification inside her right breast. Lisa Seiffert had no symptoms when she booked a mammogram at David Jones 'They told me it was nothing to worry about, that it was common. But I went back over a month later in Sydney and had an ultrasound - that's when they found the lump,' she said. Lisa was diagnosed with slow growing hormone-related stage two breast cancer and needed to undergo surgery immediately. Dr Sarah Forsyth performed a lumpectomy and removed her lymph nodes; she was lucky the cancer hadn't spread yet. 'I remember telling my mum and just breaking down. She lost her sister to breast cancer and she looked at me and said "I wish it was me instead" which broke my heart,' Lisa said. Lisa was assigned a cancer psychologist to help navigate the trauma of her diagnosis, who helped her come up with ways to manager her mental health She had to stop working while she received treatment and left her life in America behind. 'When you have cancer, it's a full-time job,' she said. 'My goal was to reach the end of the tunnel, I couldn't focus my energy on anything else.' Lisa moved back Down Under because of Australia's health insurance and remained even after the radiotherapy. 'I only came with one suitcase and ended up staying for almost a year, which I wasn't prepared for,' she said. 'I had to turn my apartment in New York into an Airbnb and I had hundreds of people walking in and out of my house while I was going through treatment.' Lisa explained she was in 'survival mode' the whole time and didn't have it in her to think too far ahead. 'I was 40 and starting over in a new country. I had to find my people, my places. It's still really hard - I felt like I was going to school in a new country where I didn't know anyone,' she recalled. Lisa was grieving the loss of her life at the same time she was adjusting to her new normal. 'I missed my friends, my yoga, my local haunts. I'm forever grateful for Australia's public healthcare, but it was difficult to give up a country I'd lived in since I was 16,' she said. Lisa moved back Down Under because of Australia's health insurance and remained even after the radiotherapy Lisa [pictured with a friend] said she was in 'survival mode' the whole time she was going through treatment Lisa revealed that she struggled to find an apartment in Sydney and was sleeping in a family friend's spare room for weeks before she was able to move into her own place. 'I was desperate because I was starting treatment soon so I really needed somewhere to live. I ended up getting a two-bedroom place after endless offers and inspections,' she said. 'I wanted the extra room in case I needed a family member to fly down from Queensland and help me.' Lisa went through 19 rounds of radiotherapy, five days a week, for a month. 'I cried tears of joy when my doctors told me I didn't need chemotherapy. I felt so lucky, I just don't think I could've gone through that mentally,' she said. Lisa was then prescribed a five-year course of hormone blockers after her treatment and goes back for screenings every year. Lisa went through 19 rounds of radiotherapy, five days a week, for a month She went through three rounds of IVF and has five eggs frozen, but she's not allowed to get pregnant due to the drugs she's on. 'I really want a child of my own, and it's heartbreaking that cancer has taken this away from me,' she said. 'I'm 41 now and I don't have a lot of options. I didn't choose this.' Lisa got 90 minutes of exercise in everyday while in treatment Lisa was also assigned a cancer psychologist to help navigate the trauma of her diagnosis, who helped her come up with ways to manager her mental health. 'I tried to be as active as possible - I didn't have a car so I took the bus to the hospital. I'd walk 25 minutes from my house to the bus stop, go for treatment, and then walk 20 minutes to McIver's Ladies Baths, she said. 'My doctors recommended salt water, and it really helped me. The ocean is my healing place.' Lisa swam and splashed around for half an hour before getting the bus and walking 25 minutes back to her house. 'I was literally getting 90 minutes of exercise a day during treatment,' she marvelled. She didn't want to get into a rut because she was worried about feeling stagnant, so she kept her body moving as much as possible. Lisa is working with the Royal Hospital for Women on a new project called 'Art for Healing' which aims to furnish the hospital with art from local artists More than a year on from her radiotherapy ending, Lisa is still trying to find her footing in Australia. An aspect of her treatment that stuck out to her was the physical environment of the hospital. The hospital felt like a bleak, dark, and lonely place - devoid of life and colour. 'I remember sitting there and wishing there was something to distract me from my reality. People in hospitals are going through the scariest times of their lives and all they have to look at is a blank wall,' she said. Lisa is founded a program called 'Art for Healing' at the Royal Hospital for Women which aims to furnish the hospital with art from local artists. 'Our health workers bend over backwards to give us the best care possible, the least we can do is make their workplace welcoming and bright,' she said. The program has received 30 pieces so far from Australian and International artists, and Lisa hopes to eventually have enough to hang up around the five-floor hospital. A dying woman has been denied a partial liver transplant offered by her own partner for drinking while she was on the waiting list. Amanda Husk, 36, has been on life support for three months awaiting the much-needed organ. But she was denied the transplant after medics found the struggling alcoholic had relapsed before being admitted to hospital. Now her devastated loved ones have been told she has just weeks to live, despite Husk agreeing to enter into an addiction program once she got her new liver. 'This was a wakeup call for her, she wanted to make every advantage and every opportunity to make sure she could get this transplant and turn her life around,' her partner Nathan Allen told CTV News. The 36-year-old has been on life support for three months awaiting the much-needed organ. Amanda Husk has been denied a liver transplant for drinking while she was on the waiting list. Allen had offered to be a donor himself as he is a matching blood type. However, medics at University Health Network in Ontario have refused the transplant request citing 'minimal abstinence outside of hospital'. Allen's next course of action is to try to get Husk to Europe where a transplant would be possible, but he fears she may not survive that long. 'We were told last week that she has a couple of weeks left to live maybe a month if she's very lucky,' Allen said explaining the treatment could cost $300,000. 'I will do whatever I can to save her life, just like the medical profession should be doing here.' Husk began drinking as a teenager and struggled to get her addiction under control. The heartbreaking case has ignited ethical questions around the treatment of addiction. Around 600 people are currently awaiting a liver transplant for a variety of reasons. About one in ten people who receive a transplant for alcoholic liver disease return to drinking. Debra Selkirk, whose husband Mark died in 2010 after being denied a liver transplant due to drinking, slammed the decision. Allen had offered to be a donor himself as he is a matching blood type However, medics at University Health Network in Ontario have refused the transplant request citing 'minimal abstinence outside of hospital' Allen now wants to transport Husk to Europe for a transplant, but fears she may not survive that long Her partner Nathan Allen said she had pledged to join an addiction program after receiving the transplant but was still denied 'A life-saving procedure is being based on perceived poor behavior,' she said. 'People aren't turned away because they didn't exercise or because they work too much or they don't get enough sleep or they didn't follow doctor's orders. 'So, in Nathan and Amanda's case, you're seeing someone being told, 'You didn't follow doctor's orders, so we're not going to help you. We're going to let you die,'' she said. Selkirk campaigns for more compassion towards those with liver failure caused by alcohol abuse. Edmonton liver transplant surgeon, Dr. Saumya Jayakumar, who was not involved in Husk's case explained that criteria for transplants is usually fairly uniform across Canada. 'It's a precious gift. It's a limited resource,' she said. 'As you can imagine, making these decisions can result in a significant amount of moral distress with members of the team. 'We can give you a brand new liver, but if we're not able to change all of the circumstances that led to the liver failing, then have we really done you a service?' she said. 'I would say every single Transplant Center in Canada is having difficulty with both access to mental health funding for patients, as well as having access to mental health practitioners for transplant programs.' she said. There were more than 45,000 liver disease deaths in the US due to alcohol in 2022, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Around 29,000 of the deaths were men, while the remaining 16,000 were women. Husk began drinking as a teenager and struggled with addiction into adulthood Her plight has ignited ethical questions around treating those with addiction issues Typically alcoholic liver disease has affected more men than women, however rates among females are on the rise in line with more women drinking than previously. The disease, which causes abdominal pain, fatigue and jaundice among other symptoms, has a higher mortality risk in women. Investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and colleagues found that women with steatotic liver disease related to alcohol consumption have almost twice the risk of dying within a certain time period than men with the same condition. Medics believe this may because women produce less on an alcohol-busting enzyme than men and generally have a lower mass and body water content. 'We are unable to comment on specific cases due to patient privacy, but can say there are multiple criteria for living donor eligibility, only two of which are blood type and willingness. Recipient criteria is governed jointly by transplant centers and Trillium Gift of Life Network,' UHN officials said. Whats the story? Founded in 2014, LA-based brand Vrai makes laboratory-grown diamonds. Physically and chemically identical to natural diamonds (and graded using the same standards), theyre an increasingly popular choice. Why should I buy? Natural diamonds have many ethical issues mass habitat destruction and deforestation caused by mining; lack of transparency and traceability, and human rights breaches. Lab-grown gems are conflict-free and have short supply chains, so are easily traceable. Why shouldnt I buy? Vrais diamonds have to be imported from Washington State in the US. Engagement ring, 1,908, and eternity ring, 1,598, vrai.com The extra mile Vrai uses only renewable energy to create its gems and was the first producer of carbon neutral-certified diamonds. Made in Vrais zero-emissions foundry in the northwest US. Made from Air: the diamonds are created in a plasma reactor over four weeks, crystallising carbon harvested from greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Journey Vrai prioritises air freight, with any emissions offset by its carbon-neutral foundry. Our rating On 24 August I am marrying my fiance, Josh, in the Tudor courtyard of beautiful Grade I listed Fulham Palace, on the banks of the Thames. Everything about the plans has run smoothly apart from the wine. No matter how good your wedding venue is, youll be paying over the odds if they supply it. For 100 people to have Prosecco before the wedding breakfast and to toast with (well come back to my feelings on Prosecco) plus half a bottle of wine each at the meal was going to set us back 3,840. My venue, however, charges 2,400 (including VAT) for corkage, which would leave me with 1,840 to spend. I just couldnt stop imagining what I could do with that sum in the aisles at Tesco. Or even Waitrose. It would be simple, I told Josh: wed go to a supermarket and buy a few of our favourites then test them out in the kitchen at home. Then wed buy as much as we could for the money. Job done. Youll pay over the odds if the wedding venue supplies the wine Except there is so much choice how to pick great-value red, white and fizz thatll appeal to all? Enter YOUs expert wine columnist Charlotte Kristensen, who immediately suggested we head to Majestic Wine. Not only will they transport the wine to all mainland UK postcodes, theyll buy back any unopened bottles (unlikely to be an issue with my family and friends). Heres how my big wedding wine tasting went... The great fizz test OK, I said Id get around to Prosecco and here it is: I hate the stuff. It just tastes like disappointing Champagne to me and who wants disappointment in a glass on their wedding day? Ah, said Charlotte, but have you considered a Cremant (in other words, a sparkling wine made outside the Champagne region)? I hadnt, but I was pretty sure my feelings about Cremant were going to be similar to my feelings about Prosecco. However, never let it be said that Im not open to a challenge and so I agreed to a blind taste test. Guess what? I picked the Champagne! (Punches the air in satisfaction.) I told you I didnt like Prosecco. Sophie chose Nicolas Feuillatte Grande Reserve Brut Champagne NV (29.99 a bottle; 26.99 each in a mix of six*) Charlotte says Its the ultimate pick for those whove got room in the budget, but I love an English sparkling wine, too. Consider also French Cremant particularly from the Loire and South African Cap Classique, as well as Spanish Cava, with prices starting from as little as 10. A red with mass appeal After tasting a few reds, I noticed that the more expensive bottles also seemed heavy. Not really day wines. Our meal is already quite sleepy gnocchi followed by steak so I didnt want to serve a wine that would have my guests (including the groom, who is a red man) dozing off mid-afternoon. Charlotte refers to lighter reds as crowd pleasers. Sophie chose Chosen by Majestic Vina Majestica Malbec Mendoza 2022 (9.99 a bottle, 8.99 each in a mix of six*) Charlotte says Medium-bodied, smooth, food-friendly reds get a thumbs-up from me as wedding breakfast wines. Argentinian Malbecs (Sophies option) go down well, with their rich flavours and velvety tannins they punch above their price and pair superbly with steak. Youthful styles of red Rioja are popular and versatile with a variety of dishes (look for Crianza on the label, which denotes this style). For French selections, consider a Loire Cabernet Franc or a warming and spicy Cotes du Rhone. Dont tell mum about the Chardonnay My mum loves it, yet when Charlotte and I tried a few, I could feel them at the back of my head after just a few sips. So I picked out a lovely Italian Gavi and was thrilled when Charlotte pronounced it a great choice to accompany my Italian-inspired food: What grows together, goes together. Expect to hear me confidently trotting that out at every restaurant I go to for the rest of my life. Sophie chose La Raia Il Borgo organic Gavi 2022 (14.99 a bottle, 12.99 each in a mix of six*) Charlotte says I recommend avoiding polarising styles like heavily oaked Chardonnays or intensely aromatic options (some Sauvignon Blancs). Instead consider crisp whites with a more neutral palate, which will appeal to a broader crowd. Many Italian whites are ideal, with their refreshing acidity. Some Pinot Grigios can be a bit dull, so think about Soave, Pecorino and Gavi [Sophies pick]. For those partial to Chardonnay, there are some good, well-priced ones from the Maconnais in southern Burgundy. The magnum of rose I love rose and, unlike with fizz, cant taste the price. In fact, Im so known for not minding that, in a pub, Josh will (lovingly) ask, Do you want the basic b***h rose? Im far too embarrassed to stride into Majestic and ask for that but Charlotte knew what I was after. She came up with the fabulous idea of buying some magnums that could go around at the Champagne reception and also be served with dinner. Sophie chose Maison Saint Aix Rose Magnum, Coteaux dAix en Provence 2023 (37.99 a bottle; 31.99 each in a mix of six*) Charlotte says Rose dazzles at summer weddings, usually pleasing both white and red wine drinkers, especially in a magnum as we winos say, Magnums show you care. Provences glamorous pale pink roses, say Whispering Angel and Aix (Sophies pick), are delicious, and pair well with food, although they tend to command higher prices. For budget-friendly similar styles, explore the nearby Languedoc and Rhone regions, or head to Spain. My rose tip: always buy the latest vintage to ensure vibrant fruit and peak freshness. For the non-drinkers A few friends are either pregnant or dont imbibe, and I want to cater for them with some low-and-zero options. Sophie chose Lucky Saint 0.5% lager (21.60 a case of 12); Noughty Organic Sparkling Chardonnay 0% (9.99 a bottle, 8.99 each in a mix of six*) Charlotte says Lucky Saint 0.5% lager is one of my go-tos; its stylish and flavour-packed. For fizz, Thomson & Scotts alcohol-free Noughty Organic Sparkling Chardonnay stands out. Consider, too, fruit- and botanical-infused sparkling waters: light and perfect for all-day sipping The results Total cost of Majestic wine, including Champagne, not Prosecco 4,512.76 (2,112.76 + 2,400 corkage) Total cost if the venue had supplied and charged for the drinks (including Champagne, not Prosecco) 5,640 Total saving for Sophie 1,127.24 and possibly more, given that Majestic will buy back unopened bottles of wine and cases of beer. *discount of at least 10 per cent on single bottle price when you buy six or more (the same or a mix). When Genevieve Kingston was a child in primary school, her classmates would draw pictures of their families with crayons. All the white children, including Kingston, would use the orange crayon to draw skin. But my mum really is orange, said a young Kingston, so its realistic. She was right. When Kingston was three, her mother Kristina was diagnosed with an advanced form of breast cancer. She tried every treatment available: medical and homeopathic. This included chemotherapy but also drinking vast quantities of carrot smoothies which, apparently, could help. She consumed so much of the stuff that her hands and face turned orange. Four years later, Kristina was told the cancer was incurable. With aggressive treatment, doctors thought she might live for another year. The family Kingston, her mother, her father and her elder brother were living in Santa Rosa, California, at the time and both parents ran a nutritional beverage company. Her mother stopped working and began another project. She decided to write a letter for every birthday for both her children until they turned 30. She would also leave letters for big life events: finishing school, passing a driving test, going to university, getting engaged, getting married, having a child. Genevieve aged four with her mother Kristina, whose messages have kept her spirit alive for more than 20 years The project was time-consuming. Kingston remembers the dining room being turned into a card factory. The table was covered with scissors and glue, wrapping paper and ribbons. Alongside the cards, Kristina left presents and cassette tapes on which she had recorded herself reading the letters out loud. When she was finished, she put the contents into two cardboard chests, one for each child, which she then handpainted. Kingston was around seven when her mother started writing the cards. I had a real impatience and was jealous of all the time she was pouring into it, she says, now a 35-year-old playwright, and speaking over Zoom from her apartment in Manhattan. People in our extended family also thought it was a bit odd, and worried that this was not the right way to spend the precious time that was left because it was an elaborate undertaking. But I think my mother was incredibly far-sighted. I mean, its 23 years since I lost her and Im having new conversations with her, because there are still letters in the box that I havent read. She could always see that bigger picture. In 2001, ten days before Kingston and her mothers shared February birthday, Kristina died, aged 48. She had lived four years longer than any of the doctors expected. Kristina had wanted to be buried in the cemetery at the end of their street, which was in the same area where she had grown up. She was first told it was full but, thankfully, her oncologist had a family plot with an open space for him; he gave it up for Kristina. Ten years later, Kingston bumped into the doctor at a memorial. Did I ever tell you, he said, how your mother asked me for the plot? Kingston said no. Well, the doctor explained, she said that she wanted to be buried in that cemetery because as a girl she used to play there, and she remembered peeing behind the headstones. How could I say no to that? (That phrase, did I ever tell you?, is now the title of Kingstons memoir which tells the story of her mother and is published this month.) Kingston remembers the early agony of waiting to open her mothers letters. I needed them so much. It was almost like holding your breath for a full year waiting for the next one. The letters really felt like a lifeline. Kristina had foreseen and prepared for almost every landmark; when Kingston started her period, she opened a four-page letter from her mother advising her on what to do. But on some occasions events her mother could not have predicted there was nothing. When Kingston was 22, her father took his own life. He did not leave a note. I did not see it coming, she says. There was a stark contrast between how her parents died: Both in terms of a long death and a sudden death, but also this preparation [from her mother] and this silence [from her father]. Still, From the beginning I had this feeling that, like my mother, he did the best he could and tried his hardest to stay with us. And if hes not here, its because he couldnt be. Some of the beautifully written and wrapped notes and presents from Genevieves mother (who called her Gwenny) When Kingston was 22, her father took his own life. He did not leave a note. I did not see it coming, she says. There was a stark contrast between how her parents died: Both in terms of a long death and a sudden death, but also this preparation [from her mother] and this silence [from her father]. Still, From the beginning I had this feeling that, like my mother, he did the best he could and tried his hardest to stay with us. And if hes not here, its because he couldnt be. In her early 20s, Kingston started to find opening her mothers letters a sad process. It was almost like we didnt know each other any more. She didnt know all these things that had happened to me and who I had become. And I thought: How could she possibly predict what I would need? But as Kingston grew up, and got closer to the age Kristina was when she was diagnosed, I started to see things almost from her perspective. I thought about what it must have been like for her, putting these letters together, and what it must have cost her. I had this upswell of gratitude and awe for the courage and the conviction that it took to execute this incredible plan. After Kingston turned 30, she had opened all the birthday cards from her mother and now had just three letters left: one for her engagement, one for her wedding, one for her first child. In all the years of reading the notes, Kingston had never opened one early. But she was in a three-year relationship and didnt think she believed in marriage. The engagement letter was thick; full of promise and Kristinas advice. Kingston opened it. In its several pages, her mother revealed that her own marriage, to Kingstons father, had been unhappy but that they had stayed together for the children. In a true marriage, partners hold each other's souls with the greatest tenderness and respect Kristina added: A true marriage is a marriage of what is most sacred in both of you. In a true marriage, partners hold each others souls with the greatest of tenderness and respect One must have an ease about both giving and receiving, a capacity for forgiveness for oneself as well as for the other, a personal sense of balance that is not dependent on the balance of the other, a kind of loving detachment. Today, Kingston who is still with her partner has the marriage and baby letters left. They are kept inside the same handpainted cardboard chest, which sits on a bookcase in her flat. Since Kingston doesnt know if shell get married or have children, does she think about when she might open these last two notes? You know, she says, one way or another, Ive got what I needed from the chest. Ive got the reassurance that I am, and have been, loved and cared for and thought of, and that my connection with [my mother] is solid. So I love that theres a little bit left in the box, and I look forward to reading those letters some day. Either because I have chosen that life path or because I decided that its time. But Im not worried about when I open them any more. Im just grateful I have them. Genevieves memoir Did I Ever Tell You? is published by Quercus, 20. To order a copy for 17 until 2 June, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over 25. Bottom line Four hours from the UK, Istanbul is a great world metropolis. Gathered east and west of the blue Bosphorus Strait, its faintly San Francisco in its setting: Golden-Gate-shaped bridges even link the European and Asian sides. Theres a whiff of Cairo and Athens in its spiritual antiquity, Lisbon in the hip food scene, London in the cooler cocktail bars and, on elegant uptown streets, Madrid. Storyline This is a tale of three cities. First, circa 660BC, Greek Byzantium; second, 1,000 years later, Christian Constantinople, when recast as Imperial Romes eastern twin. Islam arrived in 1453 with the Ottomans, whose rule fizzled out after the First World War. In its third incarnation, since 1930 its been Istanbul. High line Get your bearings after dark at glam rooftop restaurant-bar Mikla (miklarestaurant.com), towering above party district Beyoglu. Over martinis, spot the sparkly distant Asian shores east beyond the now black Bosphorus waters. South is Sultanahmet, the old city. Minaret-spiked and blistered with domes, its lit nightly in orange, yellow and gold. Beyazit tower (left) and Suleymaniye mosque overlook postcard Istanbul Get in line You wont regret queueing to enter the colossal Hagia Sophia, its watermelon-pink bulk rising over Sultanahmet like an ancient spaceship. It was founded as a church in 532. Today its a dynamic working mosque. The vast interior, cut with sunbeams from high windows, is utterly mystical. Bloodline Topkapi Palace (muze.gen.tr), for four centuries home to the Ottoman Dynasty, deserves a lazy days viewing. Laid down by Mehmet the Conqueror after hed nabbed Constantinople from the Byzantines in 1453, it has chamber upon chamber of glittering military regalia, also spectacular gifts from old imperial China. The lawned grounds invite you to lie down and daydream. Buy line Take an hour to scour the fragrant Spice Bazaar. In the Grand Bazaar are mountains of rainbow ceramics, kilims and soaps. For truly covetable Turkish goods, the new Galataport mall (galataport.com) is the biz dont leave without exquisite candles and lotions from Atelier Rebul Heritage Store. Waistline Hungry for a bread and honey breakfast in a historic caravanserai? A cheesy pide (Turkish pizza)? Colourful candy from a curiosity confectioner? Nonstop treats feature on the Culinary Backstreets tour Secrets of the Old City, which visits fascinating artisanal quarters. Arrive starving (110pp with food and drinks; culinarybackstreets.com). Shipping line On the breezy deck of a slender white ferry (Istanbuls answer to the London double-decker), day-trip the Bosphorus (a bargain 2.95 return; board at Eminonu pier by the Galata Bridge). Tea boys ply glasses of cay as pastel waterfront mansions spool by. Lunch could be seabass and chilled white in the sun at tiny Anadolu Kavagi village near the Black Sea, before you voyage back. Skys the limit: alfresco dining with a view at Mikla Clean line Are you ready for a romantic rubdown? Couples massages are a speciality in the grand spa at newish hotel Peninsula Istanbul (peninsula.com). The subterranean pleasuredome is a flawless homage to Ottoman Turkey, with Marmara-marble columns, walnut doors and Islamic vaulting. Dateline Cocktails are calling. Start with dusk negronis alfresco at loungey I-guru (i-gurugalata.com): a funky haunt below Galata Tower. Later, in the boho streets of Cukurcuma, bar Flekk (flekkcocktailbar.com) beckons: a good-looking grotto, where young Turks neck wild and potent creations. Flatline Fatigued sightseers sleep deeply at Ecole St Pierre (estphotel.com; doubles from 334, B&B). Its a fashionable yet comfortable design hotel in a restored 19th-century French Catholic school in Galata district. Bedrooms once classrooms are lovey-dovey cocoons. Shoreline In Southern Turkey is the chi-chi resort of Bodrum: add a week here to three nights in Istanbul: ten-night honeymoon packages from 1,499pp; trailfinders.com. Guideline For bespoke city (and country) exploration, consult clued-up and engaging man-about-town Sinan Sokmen at his agency istanbultourstudio.com. Airline Fly nonstop from Edinburgh, London, Birmingham and Manchester from 203 return with turkishairlines.com. Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. A.P. writes: Our Neighbourhood Watch has a community bank account with Barclays. One of the signatories died, and the remaining signatory contacted the bank to add me to the mandate. The paperwork was completed, and I visited the bank with the new mandate form and proof of my identity. But when I then emailed and wrote to the bank, I received no response. Peace of mind: A sign in an area covered by Neighbourhood Watch Tony Hetherington replies: Receiving no reply was just the start of your problems. When you called the bank and spoke to someone you believed was in Africa, they agreed that Barclays had received the new mandate form. However, there was a question hanging over your appointment as a signatory, and the speaker gave you a different number so you could call someone in India, who in turn told you to go to your branch, which you had already done. You called Barclays again, this time speaking to Stavros in Greece, who told you the new mandate should take effect within a fortnight. It didn't, so you wrote to the bank's headquarters. You were advised that a lot of work had been going on in the background, and that you should hear something later that week. You heard nothing, of course, and when you complained you were told the matter had been escalated to senior management. No reason was offered, but a couple of weeks later the other signatory on the Neighbourhood Watch account tried to make use of it and the branch told her that the account, which contained 650, had been frozen. At this point, you contacted me, saying that 'Barclays has seized our funds!' I asked the bank what on earth had gone so badly wrong that it had needed to freeze the account of a community group whose sole purpose is to warn against crime. Barclays told me: 'This is a rare occasion of an error having occurred when the account was initially opened in 2007.' Your Neighbourhood Watch scheme was mistakenly given a personal Everyday Saver account instead of one for a local association or society. This had been noticed when you applied to change the mandate, and the bank was now switching you to a Business Premium account. On the bright side, Barclays apologised for the error and inconvenience and added 500 to the account. Less helpfully, the bank only makes such switches on one day each month, and you missed the latest batch by 24 hours, delaying the whole process again. I went back to Barclays HQ and the handover was quickly made. The bank even added another 200 to its earlier 500 apology. So, problem solved? Not quite. A bizarre letter from Barclays arrived, saying that because the Neighbourhood Watch had changed its 'trading address' meaning statements would go to your home the bank wanted a copy of your business's lease or rental agreement, or utility bills, insurance contracts, correspondence from HMRC, letters from the Financial Conduct Authority or The Law Society, or signed confirmation from an accountant or solicitor. Fail to supply at least one of these documents showing your 'business name', and your nice new account would be frozen again. Once more, Barclays apologised. It was all a misunderstanding. The bank knew you were not running a business, and it would happily accept a utility bill or something similar as evidence of your home address, though like some mad Alice In Wonderland scene where nothing is what it seems, Barclays explained to me that, even though the account is not for a business, your address is still regarded as a trading address. Once upon a time, perhaps in the era when Mr Mainwaring of Dad's Army was the local bank manager and knew every customer, accounts were less complex. Now banks not just Barclays are so far removed from their customers that they rely on box-ticking exercises instead of common sense. You showed Barclays your income tax coding notice which included your address. Your account is now running normally. But the only really good thing to emerge from all this is that your Neighbourhood Watch is unexpectedly 700 better off. Lettings letdown D.F. writes: We have an apartment in Tenerife which we advertise through lettings company VRBO UK. We received a booking and the 502 payment was due soon afterwards, but VRBO said it was sent to the account of an Alfred Capper. I have never heard of him, but VRBO refused to pay me, saying it couldn't recover the money. Sunny outlook: A Tenerife apartment fee eventually arrived Tony Hetherington replies: When you told VRBO that you had not received the 502 it should have sent to your bank account, it told you it had asked a firm called Hyperwallet to investigate. VRBO told you that Hyperwallet had replied that 'unfortunately no funds remain for recovery on this occasion'. This was no explanation at all, but VRBO came up with an equally dismissive and useless response, saying that it had sent the money to Payoneer (EU) Limited, a Gibraltar payment-processing firm. VRBO is part of the Expedia travel group, which told me that you had made contact after spotting that your account details had been changed to an unknown Payoneer account, and that 'our team quickly investigated and determined that his host account may have been compromised'. Expedia claimed to have sent you a form to complete so you could recover your 502. Two days after I questioned VRBO, you were told it would pay you after all. The day after that, 502 appeared in your bank account. Magic! If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned. It is a new dawn for asset manager CQS Investment Management, founded 25 years ago by Michael Hintze. It was recently acquired by Canadian financial behemoth Manulife. For the time being the CQS brand remains, although Lord Hintze has exited the show, taking with him the flagship hedge fund he has long managed. So, it is very much business as usual for CQS, an investment business renowned for its management of credit (CQS stands for convertible and quantitative strategies). Yet CQS also possesses another string to its bow. It has a natural resources investment team which runs three investment funds. Between them, the team comprising Ian Francis, Robert Crayfourd and Keith Watson manage investment trusts Geiger Counter (investing primarily in uranium equities), the tiny Golden Prospect Precious Metals fund (29 million capitalisation) and CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income. The three funds remain somewhat in the shadows a result of the dominance of rival resources funds such as the 1.1billion BlackRock World Mining, which tend to catch the eye of powerful wealth managers looking to invest clients' money. It part explains why shares in all three trusts sit at double digit discounts to the value of their underlying assets. For investors, this potentially provides the opportunity to make additional gains if these discounts narrow although there is no guarantee of this happening. Over the past five years, shares in the three trusts have traded at a discount more often than not. The Natural Resources Growth and Income fund is the more established of the three. Launched in June 2003, this 127 million trust, listed in the UK, invests across a broad spread of international companies with business interests in the mining or extraction of a broad church of natural resources. Its investment record is stellar. Over the past five years, it has provided shareholder returns of 187 per cent. Over the past year, it has delivered a return of 18 per cent. By comparison, the respective returns from BlackRock World Mining are 142 per cent and 2.8 per cent. What makes the trust different from rivals is its focus on mid-sized and smaller companies so it is not interested in traditional energy-related stocks such as BP and Shell which it believes investors can buy easily and hold as standalone investments in their portfolios. The result is a fund littered with stocks unfamiliar to the eyes of most UK investors listed in the US, Canada and Australia. Shale oil companies are a strong investment theme. 'We like the US shale oil producers,' says Crayfourd. 'Their activities are onshore and so have acreage in terms of expansion. Yes, the world is going electric, but it still needs oil.' Among the fund's top ten holdings is US shale oil producer Diamondback Energy. Apart from oil and gas stocks, which represent a quarter of the trust's assets, the other big sector play is precious metals. 'We like gold as an asset,' says Keith Watson. 'The gold price is supported by strong central bank buying in countries such as China. If western investors get the appetite for gold, the price should continue to rise.' Australian listed gold miner West African Resources is a top ten holding. The trust pays a quarterly dividend. For the first three quarters of its current financial year, it has been set at 1.26 p a share. This is equivalent to an annual income of around 2.9 per cent. Ongoing annual charges are high at 1.8 per cent (source: Association of Investment Companies). Coca-Cola HBC's boss pocketed more than 320,000 in 'cost of living' benefits last year as part of his 4.4 million package. Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive of the soft drink bottling company, received the unusual payment alongside his salary, bonuses and other perks. He was handed a total of 580,000 in benefits. As well as the 'cost of living and foreign exchange rate adjustment' of 320,000, he also received a housing allowance of 91,000, private medical insurance, a 'home trip allowance' and a 'partner allowance' of 860. The company, which was founded in Greece, is a big bottler for Coca-Cola and is a member of the FTSE 100 index. As such, its shares are automatically included in tracker funds, which are popular with private investors. Croatian-born Bogdanovic, who has led Coca-Cola HBC since 2017, has been given 800,000 in 'cost of living' handouts over the past three years. He has taken home almost 12 million in total pay over the same period. Under scrutiny: Zoran Bogdanovic has been given 800,000 in 'cost of living' handouts over the past three years His rewards will come under scrutiny from shareholders at the FTSE 100 company's annual meeting next week. One third of participating shareholders voted against his pay package last year. The 10.3 billion company whose shares rose by a fifth in 2023 is listed in London but its headquarters are in Zug, in Switzerland. The Mail on Sunday's Fat Cat Files last year revealed the lavish perks received by the well-paid bosses of some of Britain's biggest companies. These include designer clothes, club memberships and home security costs. London-listed firms have already fallen prey to shareholder revolts this year, including online trading firm Plus 500 and shipping broker Clarkson. Education group Pearson, pharma giant AstraZeneca and medical devices group Smith & Nephew were also bruised by hefty rebellions. On a roll: Shein has disrupted fast fashion in Europe and the US its largest market As fast fashion giant Shein edges closer to a 60 billion flotation in London, rather than New York, scrutiny is growing over the strategies of the controversial business. Other retailers are asking: How does Shein do it? They are less interested in its reasons for seeking a listing than in the marketing, ordering and other strategies that have propelled its growth. In 2023, Shein which was founded in China but it is now headquartered in Singapore, sold $45 billion (35 billion) of clothing for a $2 billion profit. This issue is of interest to British investors too as they may become indirect shareholders in the business through index-tracker or passive funds, on whichever market it makes its debut this summer. A firm this size would be an automatic holding in such funds. Shein has disrupted fast fashion in Europe and the US its largest market. Its UK rivals Asos, Boohoo and Primark are said to be rattled. But Shein has also sparked mid-market anxiety. This week the Japanese group Fast Retailing, owner of the Uniqlo chain, announced it was launching a low-price brand Gu in the US to appeal to younger cash-strapped consumers who shop with Shein. Swedish-owned H&M has already taken action by going more upmarket and appointing a new boss. Shein, which does not sell products in China, owes its success to a mix of geography and the use of algorithms to indicate customer interest and preferences. The firm can produce new items rapidly thanks to the concentration of button, garment and textile makers in China's Pearl River Delta, the area around the cities of Dongguan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. These supply chains let Shein immediately order more if a garment starts to sell, rather than placing advance orders for large quantities in the hope of demand. Shein says this limits wastage: the incineration of unsold clothing is a common practice in the sector. But the environmental impact of production in the Pearl River Delta will deter ethical investors. The retailer used to rely on social media influencers, but is now able to grab customers' attention more directly with targeted marketing thanks to its IT systems. Sceptics wonder how the business can retain the Gen Z clientele that has powered its expansion as they enter their 30s, progress in the workplace and begin to require smarter and more timeless pieces. Shein is dealing with this with its Motf premium brand. A Motf cocktail dress may cost 94.99, way above its typical prices. But questions as to how and why any garment can be made and sold at a profit for 3.39, however efficient the process, will continue to circle around Shein after its flotation, be it in New York or London. A new Netflix rom-com has been slammed as 'the worst movie of the year' after its unconventional ending left viewers scratching their heads. Mother of the Bride was released on the streaming giant on May 9, and features an all-star ensemble cast, including Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Chad Michael Murray and Benjamin Bratt. Also starring in the film are Rachael Harris (Suits), Michael McDonald (MADtv), Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), Tasneem Roc (The Bureau of Magical Things), and Dalip Sondhi (Frayed). The movie, executive produced by Shields and directed by Mean Girls and Freaky Friday director Mark Waters was shot on location in Thailand for six weeks. Brooke Shields, 58, stars as Lana, the jittery helicopter mother to her calm daughter, Emma, played by former Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove, 30. Brooke Shields, 58, stars as Lana, the jittery helicopter mother to her calm daughter, Emma, played by former Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove, 30 Brooke's character Lana also has to deal with seeing her college ex, played by Benjamin Bratt, who in real life used to romance Julia Roberts, and is best known for appearing on Law & Order The pair travel to the Southeast Asian kingdom when Emma announces she is getting married there in a month's time to her boyfriend, RJ, played by Sean Teale. Shields' character Lana also has to deal with seeing her college ex, Will, played by Benjamin Bratt, 60, who is best known for appearing on Law & Order. Former One Tree Hill star Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears as Lucas, a romantic rival vying for Lana's affection. However, the drama around the hasty nuptials is further complicated and ends on a rather unusual note when Lana discovers her future son-in-law is the offspring of the man who broke her heart decades ago (Bratt). After a row at their children's wedding, Will pops the question to Lana and they become engaged - meaning the newlyweds will inevitably become step-siblings too. The ending did not sit well with a number of viewers, who took to X to share their thoughts, with one person writing: 'Did nobody think it was weird to end the movie with the bride and groom becoming step siblings?' Another viewer fumed: 'The worst movie I've seen so far this year is Mother of the Bride. How can the bride's mum and the groom's dad get engaged on the children's wedding day.' They added: 'Doesn't that make the married children - step siblings. Who wrote this plot? The pair travel to the Southeast Asian kingdom when Emma announces she is getting married there in a month's time to her boyfriend, RJ, played by Sean Teale Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection; seen with Brooke There is a scene where Brooke walks in on Benjamin after he has taken a shower The ending did not sit well with a number of viewers, who took to X to share their thoughts A third said: 'Mother of the Bride was all types of weird. So 2 ex lovers' kids get married and then those ex lovers decided to give it another try, hit a bump, and turn around and got engaged in the end, like that won't make their kids step-siblings.' Another bewildered viewer fumed: 'Watching the movie Mother of the Bride and I'm trying to figure out if the plot is incest or not.' Finally, one disappointed viewer wrote: 'Mother of the Bride is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'm so embarrassed to have watched it. I swear a 12 year old wrote it.' It comes after Netflix fans slammed a 2024 movie starring Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson as the 'dumbest' they have ever seen, after it was given a new lease of life by being uploaded to the streaming platform. The Sony superhero film, Madame Web, was roasted by critics and fans, who branded it an 'embarrassing mess' and the 'worst comic book movie ever' when it hit cinemas back in February. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were welcomed to Nigeria last week by a fugitive who has been federally indicted in the United States for allegedly orchestrating a $20million money laundering and bank fraud scheme, DailyMail.com can reveal. Air Peace CEO and Chairman, Dr. Allen Onyema, whose airline the royals took for their flight from the nation's capital Abuja into its largest city Lagos on May 12 was a key member of the welcoming committee that met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they touched down on the tarmac as part of their three-day-tour of Nigeria. Dressed in navy and wearing shades and a red kufi hat, Onyema was one of a small group of dignitaries, which included senior military and government officials, photographed alongside the Sussexes as they deboarded their Air Peace aircraft. Founded by Onyema just over a decade ago, Air Peace flies internationally and is the largest airline in West Africa. Now, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned that the 59-year-old businessman is a wanted man in the United States, facing multiple charges linked to millions of dollars' worth of alleged fraud set down in a federal indictment filed in November 2019. Air Peace CEO Dr. Allen Onyema was a key member of the welcoming committee for Harry and Meghan when they touched down in Nigeria last week. He's pictured chatting with the Duchess Dressed in navy and wearing shades and a red kufi hat, Onyema was one of a small group of dignitaries, which included senior military and government officials, photographed alongside the Sussexes as they deboarded their Air Peace aircraft The indictment, obtained by DailyMail.com, accuses Onyema of allegedly 'using his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than $20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts'. There is no suggestion that either Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema's history before they met him. DailyMail.com also understands that the couple had planned to use a different airline but plans were changed at the last minute. The charges were filed by former US Attorney Byung J 'BJay' Pak who has since left office. The case is now being pursued by US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan Buchanan who took over the role in 2022. Speaking at the time of filing Pak said of the man who gladhanded the Sussex's during their 'private' tour of his country, 'Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud.' Robert Murphy, the agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta field division added: 'Allan Onyema's status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the US banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt.' The indictment goes on to allege that Onyema set up various 'innocent sounding multi-million-dollar asset purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam'. It states that Onyema is the founder and chairman of several organizations across Nigeria, including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development and All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited. DailyMail.com has exclusively learned that the 59-year-old businessman is wanted in the United States for a bank fraud scheme. Between 2010 and 2018 over $44.9million was allegedly transferred Onyema's Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources There is no suggestion that either Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema's history before they met him. Meghan is pictured being greeted by Onyema Beginning in 2010 he began traveling frequently to Atlanta where he opened several personal and business bank accounts. Between 2010 and 2018 over $44.9million was allegedly transferred into his Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources. Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013 and, according to the indictment, traveled to the United States in following years and purchased multiple airplanes. Onyema is accused of using his status as a prominent business leader to launder more than $20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts However, the Department of Justice alleges, over $3million of the funds used to purchase the aircraft, 'allegedly came from bank accounts for the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development, All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited and Every Child Limited.' Air Peace's Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged along with Onyema. Both men were charged on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud and three counts of credit application fraud. In addition, Onyema was charged with 27 separate counts of money laundering while Eghagha was charged with committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme. Investigators allege that, beginning in approximately May 2016, the two men used a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to transfer more than $20million into Atlanta-based bank accounts controlled by Onyema. The letters of credit were purportedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace. The letters were supported by documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in Georgia. But, according to investigators, the supporting documents were fake. Springfield Aviation Company LLC, which is owned by Onyema and managed by a person with no connection to the aviation business, never owned the aircraft in the first place and the company that allegedly drafted the appraisals did not exist. In October 2022 American citizen Ebony Mayfield, a former staff member of Springfield Aviation Company was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $4,000 for her role in the alleged scheme after charges were filed against her by the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. The charges against Onyema and Eghagha remain pending with both men maintaining their innocence. Neither man responded to calls and emails to Air Peace's offices in Nigeria and the UK. She detailed moment dozens of passengers forced to pay 50 for carry-on bags A Ryanair passenger has issued a warning about the airline's strict baggage policies after witnessing dozens of travellers being forced to cough up 46 before boarding a flight. Emily Chaplin saw passengers unexpectedly hit with additional fees for non-compliant luggage while boarding a Ryanair flight to Tenerife on May 6. After passing through security at Birmingham Airport, Emily spotted a separate queue that required passengers to measure their carry-on luggage. She said: 'A woman at the front was desperately trying to cram her stuffed-to-the-brim backpack into the top section of the crate. My heart sank.' It was at this moment Emily was required to place her bag into the 40x20x25cm measuring box, but despite it 'bursting at the seams,' she was waved on through. A Ryanair passenger has issued a warning about the airline's strict baggage policies after witnessing dozens of travellers being forced to cough up 46 before boarding (stock image) Emily Chaplin recounted her fellow passengers' experience as they were unexpectedly hit with additional fees for non-compliant luggage while boarding a Ryanair flight to Tenerife (stock image) The reporter wrote in BirminghamLive: 'I knew Ryanair had stingy luggage limits - I'd bought an exactly-the-right-size backpack from Amazon to avoid paying extra to upgrade and spent ages rolling up all of my clothes to squeeze in five days worth. 'I've travelled with Ryanair plenty of times before but I'd never seen the rule so vehemently enforced.' Although Emily successfully evaded the 46 one-way baggage fee, a number of passengers were not as lucky. One woman found her stuffed backpack exceeding the airline's strict dimensions. She was then was promptly informed by Ryanair staff that she'd need to shell out 46 to bring it on board. The scenario, according to Emily, was repeated for twelve other passengers who found themselves in violation of the size restrictions and were forced to pay. In a moment of desperation, one passenger resorted to pulling items from her bulging backpack, redistributing the weight to avoid the fee. Fortunately, she managed to evade the extra charge, but others weren't as fortunate - such as a group of women wearing 'Girls' Trip - Tenerife 2024' t-shirts who tried to dispute the charge. It costs as little as 6 to upgrade to Priority Boarding and bring a larger cabin bag, but for those who fail to comply, they could face hefty charges at the gate, ranging up to 46 Pictured: New tiny bag size allowed on Ryanair planes for free - measuring 40-20-25 cm - at Stansted Airport in November 2023 Chaplin's experience serves as a warning to travellers, suggesting that Ryanair may be intensifying enforcement of their luggage policies (stock image) Emily overheard how the group had added the bags to their booking for the return flight, but not the outgoing one, yet were still required to shell out the funds. While it may cost as little as 6 to upgrade to Priority Boarding and bring a larger cabin bag, those who fail to comply could face hefty charges at the gate, ranging up to 46. It comes after a pair of German tourists travelling around Europe have revealed a creative way to wriggle out of Ryanair's often expensive luggage charges - and enjoy a comfy flight in the process. TikTokers Madeleine and Sophia, who post as @roadbunnies and describe themselves as 'Just 2 girls, doing roadtrips with a red Skoda Fabia', shared a clip on the social media site of them using a pillowcase as a makeshift suitcase. You've heard of a room with a view but for just under 600,000 you can have your own room with a loo. When a three-bedroom property in leafy Wimbledon debuted on real estate site Rightmove this week, for all intents and purposes it looked like the perfect family home. The 575,000 detached property in south west London comes complete with three generous sized bedrooms as well as a spacious open plan living room with plenty of natural light. However, for all its charm, one feature of the home has turned a few heads - a bedroom with an open-plan toilet. Referred to ignominiously as 'bedroom one', the spacious nook has plenty of space for a double bed and desk before the carpet peters out to reveal its hidden porcelain quarry. Heads were turned this week when a three-bedroom property debuted on real estate site Rightmove which looked to all intents and purposes like the perfect family home The 575,000 detached property in leafy Wimbledon comes complete with all amenities However many were shocked to see that one of the bedrooms has an open-plan toilet Reaction on social media to the peculiar fixture was decidedly mixed Or perhaps not so hidden, as the bath, sink and toilet are not separated from the rest of the room by a wall so are fully in the open for all to see (and presumably smell). The property, which is being advertised by Savills, is described as a 'A three bedroom detached house, benefitting from a rear yard, in need of modernisation.' The en-suite is not mentioned on the listing. Flagging the house on social media, one user scoffed: 'Can we talk about Bedroom 1 on the floorplan?' Spotting the monster in the room, another expressed their incredulity, saying: 'You could do a puppet show for the person in bed whilst sitting on the toilet.' Another laughed: 'Imagine having to pay well over half a million for that.' 'What, you mean you don't want your entire bedroom to be moist at all times?'. questioned another. Earlier this week, eagled eyed browsers spotted something entirely different on another Rightmove listing. But, while the Purplebricks listing includes 13 unremarkable photographs of the property, picture 14 displays disturbing graffiti sprayed across the front of the house. Written in blue spray paint on the front walls and door frame - the words 'paedo' and 'nonce' can be spotted on what was once the former home of a convicted sex offender. Described as being a 'delightful' three-bedroom property 'nestled in a popular and convenient location', this listing seems to be an ideal purchase for a prospective buyer. Purplebricks Estate Agents listed this 'charming' semi-detached property in Heol Cadifor, Swansea, which was once home to convicted sex offender Tommy Allington Allington, 25, (pictured) subjected an infant to a sustained campaign of sexual abuse, assaulting and raping the child, Swansea Crown Court heard Located in Heol Cadifor, Swansea, Wales, the semi-detached home was put on sale by Purplebricks Estate Agents for 125,000 and advertised on Rightmove yesterday. The property description boasts how it is offered with no chain, meaning buyers can 'seize the opportunity to secure your dream home'. Far from being a 'cozy retreat for relaxation or gatherings', this home used to harbour vile paedophile Tommy Allington who was jailed for 24 years after admitting filming himself sexually abusing a baby and sharing the images with other paedophiles. Swansea Crown Court heard how the 25-year-old primary school assistant subjected an infant to a sustained campaign of sexual abuse, assaulting and raping the child. The horrendous ordeal only came to light after police received intelligence of indecent images on Instagram and found a secret phone hidden in the attic of his house. Allington had downloaded more than 1,500 images of children being sexually abused. Furious punters have blasted their local pub as 'disgusting' after it refused to take cash and accused staff of acting like 'Big Brother' The Old Vine in Winchester has turned heads (and some customers away) by announcing they will no longer accept cash payments. The decision has been branded 'not fair' on the older generation, who said they like the freedom of spending their money without using a card or mobile phone. Some even called for training for 'technophobes' who have been left behind in the ever-developing cashless world - which has 'caught out' pub visitors. Others suggested there were 'frightening' possibilities of controlling the population if all businesses refused people the option of 'invisible' cash payments compared to 'traced' card transactions. The Old Vine in Winchester has turned heads by announcing they will no longer accept cash payments. A video shared online showed a heated discussion with an assistant bar manager (pictured) who told a customer she could not be served if she could only pay with cash A pub in Winchester has gone cashless pic.twitter.com/GPeRrskgMB BBlues (@BBlues100) May 12, 2024 The backlash comes after one customer tried to order drinks at the 18th century inn - which also offers guests the option to dine in or stay in one of six bedrooms - but only had a 20 note to pay with. She posted a video on X, showing a heated discussion with an assistant bar manager who told her she could not be served if she could only pay with cash. Retired PA Lorraine Cole, 77, hit out at the decision and said: 'I have always got cash on me, I want to spend it. 'I think it's really disgusting that they can turn you down. 'Even when people pay me back, I want cash, not a bank transfer. 'I always carry 40 cash on me, I'd be upset if I was turned away from a pub for trying to use it.' Although fellow retired PA Bobby Conduit admitted she could see it from the pub's point of view, she thought it should be up to the customer. 'I can see one side of it, as it makes it easier for the business by not having cash on the premises,' she conceded. 'But it's not fair on the older generation. 'We are still trying to get used to it all. 'I'd be very, very upset if I was turned away - especially when you're desperate for a drink.' Jackie Kilpatrick warned that the new policy risked turning Winchester into 'Big Brother' The perceived scandal comes after it was revealed almost half the population leave the house with only their phones as a means of payment Angela Lilly, (left) Bobby Conduit, (centre) and Lorraine Cole, (right) all agreed the policy was a problem Carer Angela Lilly, 76, suggested the pandemic was the catalyst for businesses deciding to stop trading physical money. 'Covid changed it,' she said. Jackie Kilpatrick, 63, who was visiting Winchester from her hometown of Penzance, Cornwall, warned of the dangers of willingly accepting a cashless society. 'The possibilities of control of the population that comes with not having cash are frightening,' the artist said. 'Were there to be another pandemic, were you to go outside of your allocated location, they could shut down your availability to pay. 'It sounds very Big Brother. 'I think we are sleep walking into a society that can so easily be controlled. 'If we use cash, we are invisible, with cards we are traceable. 'We all assume the powers that be are benevolent, but they may not alway be.' The perceived scandal comes after it was revealed almost half the population leave the house with only their phones as a means of payment. An estimated 25 million Britons aged 16 and over - 45 per cent - do not take their wallets with them when heading out, relying solely on their digital wallets as a payment method, new research has revealed. Millennials and Generation Z were found to be the most likely to leave their cards and wallets at home, with 66 per cent and 72 per cent respectively admitting to going out with just their phones. Comparatively, only one in four baby boomers - 23 per cent - and one in 10 silent generation members - 11 per cent - said they would feel comfortable leaving the house with only a phone as a payment method, even if it was just for a short period of time. Research late last year revealed that six in 10 free cash machines will likely disappear from our high streets by the end of the decade. Michael Tresise, who was about to meet a friend at The Old Vine, said the new policy was 'a pain'. 'I almost got caught out there and I only wanted a coffee,' the 76 year old said. 'It's only a small amount of money so it does seem silly. 'In Sweden and other places in Europe they try to go cashless. 'It's a pain but that's the way things are going.' Julia Palmer suggested once you've been caught out once, you 'don't go out without your credit card' The Old Vine refused to comment when approached by MailOnline He admitted he did use his card, but said he preferred to use it for a 'reasonable' amount of 20 or over. 'In a place like Winchester, it's a tourist centre,' he continued. 'And it's a bit silly really because people can get caught out. 'How many people would walk in there say 'I want a pint of bitter', have it poured, and then can't pay with cash. 'What do you do then? Pour it away?' He also raised the issue of closing banks across the high street, providing limited availabilities of cash points to actually withdraw money, which may 'force' people to use their cards. But local artist Julia Palmer, 66, suggested once you've been caught out once, you 'don't go out without your credit card'. 'I virtually never have cash on me,' she said. 'So for me, it's just not an issue, but I can see both sides of it. 'It's a big change, but for the people that work in these places, it's just much easier. 'They have enough problems trying to make a business. 'I just think we don't seem to have any teaching programmes for people who aren't savvy or don't do social media and anything online . 'They must be feeling more and more remote about what is going on. 'When computers first came out they used to to IT classes in schools. 'Now, they are just expecting people to lump it and get on with it which is tough for people who are phobic to using phones and technology.' Staff at a nearby bakery which has been cashless for two years and said customers come in 'all the time' complaining about their policy - Ollie Withers (left) and Katy Davis (right) Katy Davis, 23, and 20 year old Gracie Tollis work in a nearby bakery which has been cashless for two years and said customers come in 'all the time' complaining about their policy. 'We get quite a lot of abuse when you are front of house,' Ms Davis said. 'A lot of people say 'can we pay with cash' and it's difficult saying it's a company policy, done for security reasons.' She revealed the main purpose was to not have cash on site and therefore lower the chances of any burglaries. Ms Tollis said: 'They will sometimes stomp out. 'We get at least four complaints a day.' Ollie Withers, 17, who also worked at the bakery, said he would have no problem with only being allowed to pay with his card. 'It's mainly just deal with the card you've been dealt,' he said. 'If they've got policies, you follow the policies as it's private property.' The Old Vine refused to comment. Chinese VP, Putin attend opening ceremony of 8th China-Russia Expo Xinhua) 11:08, May 18, 2024 Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 17, 2024. Han and Putin attended the opening ceremony of the expo here on Friday. Han also read out Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the expo and made a speech at the opening ceremony. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) HARBIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Friday. Han also read out Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the expo and made a speech at the opening ceremony. Han said that President Xi and President Putin met in Beijing on Thursday and jointly drew a new vision and blueprint for the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era. This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic relations, Han said, noting that China and Russia have deepened political mutual trust and achieved fruitful economic and trade cooperation. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Russia reached a record 240.1 billion U.S. dollars, and China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. The scale of two-way investment continues to grow, and cooperation on major projects in energy, chemical industry, aerospace and connectivity has made steady progress, said Han. He noted that mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia has not only benefited the two countries and peoples, but also injected new impetus into the development of bilateral relations. China is willing to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation and seize opportunities, to add impetus to the high-quality development of bilateral relations, Han said. In his speech, Putin said he had a fruitful meeting with President Xi in Beijing and reached important consensus for the development of bilateral relations and the expansion of practical cooperation. Noting that Russia cherishes the tradition of friendly cooperation with China, Putin expressed the hope that the two sides will tap the potential and actively leverage the role of the expo to push for new progress in bilateral cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, energy, industry, high and new technology, cross-border transportation, tourism, agriculture and local affairs, to bring more benefits to the two peoples. After the opening ceremony, Han met with Putin. Han said China-Russia cooperation has enjoyed a sound momentum in recent years. The Belt and Road Initiative has been further aligned with the Eurasian Economic Union, and a number of major projects have been smoothly advanced, Han said, adding that the China-Russia Expo was a beautiful "business card" of bilateral economic and trade cooperation. It is believed that with the joint efforts of the two sides, bilateral cooperation will surely achieve more results, benefit the two peoples and contribute to world development and progress, Han said. For his part, Putin called on the two sides to closely coordinate and cooperate, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, further promote local cooperation between Russia's far east and China's northeast region, and push for better development of bilateral relations. Han and Putin then toured the exhibition hall together, listened to the introduction of cooperation between the two countries, and interacted with the heads of participating institutions. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng speaks at the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 17, 2024. Han and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the expo here on Friday. Han also read out Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the expo and made a speech at the opening ceremony. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Russian President Vladimir Putin tour the exhibition hall of the 8th China-Russia Expo after the opening ceremony of the expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 17, 2024. Han and Putin attended the opening ceremony of the expo here on Friday. Han also read out Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the expo and made a speech at the opening ceremony. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) The legal troubles plaguing President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden are about heat up as the two cases against him are set to go to trial next month. The timeline puts his charges for illegally obtaining a gun and tax evasion center stage as the 2024 presidential election season for his father intensifies. It is the latest courtroom activity that could hold weight in the 2024 presidential election as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is also spending a significant amount of time in court and the possibility of more criminal trials this year. Hunter Biden is charged in Delaware with three charges related to illegal possession of a gun. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. President Biden with his son Hunter Biden arriving in Syracuse, NY on February 4, 2023 On Monday, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected throwing out the federal gun case against the president's son, 54, clearing the way for the trial to start June 3. It's expected the trial will last up to nine days. Also next month, Hunter Biden could go to trial on the opposite coast for the case involving tax evasion. That trial is scheduled to start June 20. If convicted in the case, Biden faces a maximum of 17 years in prison. The timeline means if convicted at either trial, the president's son could face prison as his father runs for a second term in the White House. Biden aides and family members are worried about the weight the trial will place on the president according to reporting by POLITICO. It also said the president has expressed fear that his son may serve prison time. President Biden hugs his sone Hunter after they leave a restaurant on Hunter's Birthday in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024 A picture from Hunter Biden's laptop showed the now 53-year-old first son posing nude with a firearm Hunter Biden is charged in Delaware with three counts in the gun related case. He is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. Special Counsel David Weiss brought the gun charges in September, when Biden became the first child of a sitting president to be indicted. Hunter Biden has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine during that time, but his lawyers argued he did not break the law. A federal appeals court last week also said the case could move forward to trial. Hunter Biden's efforts to have the other criminal case he faces in California involving tax allegations scrapped have also failed. The investigation into the president's son looked like it would be wrapped up last year with a plea deal, which would have resulted in two years probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges. But the agreement fell apart after the judge expected to approve the deal instead raised further questions. In January, Biden instead pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges. A court sketch of Hunter Biden alongside his lawyer Abbe Lowell in federal court on January 11, 2024. The president's son pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges filed after a plea deal imploded Biden is charged with nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. Federal prosecutors accuse the younger Biden of a four-year scheme to skip out on paying $1.4 million in taxes he owed the IRS between 2016 and 2019 and instead spending the money on his extravagant lifestyle including drugs and alcohol. Republicans including Donald Trump criticized the original plea deal which fell apart as a 'sweetheart deal.' Hunter Biden's lawyers have slammed the deal's implosion, claiming Congressional interference and accusing special counsel of bowing to political pressure. Under the initial plea deal, Hunter Biden would have also avoided prosecution on the gun charge if he stayed out of trouble. Close friend of Hunter Biden, Kevin Morris, left, is said to be 'tapped out' of cash after financially supporting his legal battles over the last four and a half years to the tune of $6m. Hunter's lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, seen right, doesn't come cheap Hunter's lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, seen right, charges between $855 and $1,500 an hour for his services Ahead of the looming trials, Hunter Biden's 'sugar brother' Kevin Morris, 61, is reportedly tapped out of cash after financially supporting Biden's legal battles over the last four and a half years. Morris decided to step in after believing Hunter had little support, loaning him more than $6.5 million. But Morris has since confirmed he is no longer going to continue to lend money to the first son to fight his legal battles. Hunter Biden's troubles are not a new headache for the president. He was attacked mercilessly during the 2020 campaign by Trump over his son's business dealings and drug addiction. The president's son has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period in 2018, but his lawyers have said he didn't break the law Then-candidate Biden faced attacks over his son Hunter during the 2020 campaign. During the debate he addressed his son's past drug addiction head on saying 'he's working on it, and I'm proud of him.' During a standout moment the first presidential debate in 2020 Biden shot back about his son's drug problem 'he's fixed it, he's working on it, and I'm proud of him.' But it is a new reality the president's son could face prison this year as the president seeks a second term in the White House. While a president's children and other family members have posed a series of challenges for them throughout history, prison time for a sitting president's child during a campaign is unprecedented. Meanwhile, Trump has also faced legal challenges this election season that have forced him to spend the better part of the last two months in a courtroom rather than on the campaign trail. Donald Trump in the Manhattan criminal court for his hush money trial on May 14 New York prosecutors could rest their case in the hush money trial next week. And jury deliberations could begin as soon as next week as the ex-president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors accuse him of attempting to cover up the payment to a porn star. He also faces charges in Georgia, Florida and Washington, DC for election interference and mishandling classified documents after leaving office. Trial dates for those cases have not yet been set and could be put off indefinitely as Trump mounts his presidential bid. A mother described how her daughter suffered agonising burns after accidentally making 'prison napalm' in the microwave while trying to follow a TikTok recipe for the Chinese candied fruit snack Tanghulu. Emma-Louise Owen claims the food challenge spotted on TikTok could have left her daughter scarred for life. She is warning other parents about the dangers of the 'Tanghulu challenge' after her 12-year-old daughter Sophie-Rosie was left with burn blisters from the craze. It involves heating up sugar and water to make a sugar syrup, which is then glazed over fruit skewers before dipping in cold water to create a hard, crunchy surface. But it resulted in a mixture of boiling water and sugar, known as 'prison napalm', which is often used as a weapon by prisoners. Sophie-Rosie, 12, suffered agonising burns after accidentally making 'prison napalm' Her mother rushed Sophie to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where doctors told the family they were 'lucky' the burns were not more severe (Pictured: Sophie in bandages) The deadly liquid sticks to the skin and intensifies burns, one of the principal effects of jelly-like napalm bombs. According to the National Library of Medicine, 'prison napalm' attacks will cause more severe burns than using plain water and incidents can be 'potentially devastating'. Mrs Owen said her daughter asked her whether she could do the Tanghulu challenge last month after spotting the trend on TikTok. The 34-year-old agreed as she had seen the trend on other social media platforms too and warned Sophie to be careful, but soon heard a piercing scream come from the kitchen. Mrs Owen, who lives in Cardiff, Wales, said her daughter had heated the syrup using a plastic jug in the microwave - but the boiling hot sauce had melted through the container onto Sophie's foot and hand. The boiling hot sauce had melted through the container (pictured) onto Sophie's foot and hand Sophie-Rosie was hospitalised with the horrible burns after trying the challenge Mrs Owen (pictured) claims the challenge spotted on TikTok could have left her daughter scarred for life The mother-of-two submerged Sophie's foot and hand in cold water - noticing huge blisters were appearing across the youngster's skin. Concerned, Emma rushed Sophie to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where doctors told the family they were 'lucky' the burns were not more severe. Insurance handler Mrs Owen feels grateful her daughter was not blinded by the scorching hot liquid and is warning other parents about the viral craze. TikTok said that Tanghulu is a popular Asian version of a sugar syrup-based sweet treat and said recipes proliferated online prior to their platform. The social media giant claimed that making Tanghulu is not any more dangerous than cooking any other food at a high temperature but said their platform was for children aged 13+ only. The family were told the injuries (pictured) - which have left several scars - could've been 'a lot worse' Insurance handler Mrs Owen feels grateful her daughter was not blinded by the scorching hot liquid and is warning other parents about the viral craze (Pictured: Some of the blisters on Sophie-Rose's foot) Mrs Owen said: 'Sophie had seen this new trend on TikTok - all her friends were doing it. 'I'd seen it on social media, celebrities had been doing it and it looked good. I knew it was a new trend that was going around where people were glazing around. 'She approached me on a Friday night and asked if she could do this Tanghulu trend. I said no, you're not using the oven. But she said there's this video which shows you can do it in the microwave. 'At the time my mum was calling me so I said yes you can do it in the microwave, just be careful. I didn't understand the actual context of it and I do feel like a terrible parent. 'She'd put the sugar and the water in a plastic microwavable jug for two minutes and as she'd taken it out, the syrup had burnt through the bottom of the jug which dripped onto her hand and her foot. 'There was a trail of syrup on the floor in the kitchen. She was screaming 'burn, burn, burn' and I said 'put your hand in cold water'. Then a massive blister formed on her foot instantly. 'I grabbed a bucket and put her foot in there with cold water while running her hand under the tap. My husband came downstairs and I told him she'd done this trend with sugar water and his face just dropped. 'He said this is what they use in prisons to scar people. Her foot just ballooned. She had one big lump then little splats of burn where it had splattered on her foot. 'She had a blister in the palm of her hand and a big bubble on her index finger. She had calmed down but every now and then she'd had a pang of pain and break down.' After ringing 111, Mrs Owen rushed her daughter to hospital where burns specialists had to pop the multiple blisters which had appeared on Sophie's hand and foot. The family were told Sophie's injuries - which have left several scars - could've been 'a lot worse'. She said: 'We were told it could've been a lot worse. Because we acted so quickly and kept it under water for so long, we sort of killed off the burns. 'It could've easily splatted in her face and she would've had scars all over her face or been blinded. She has scars now from this. 'There's no disclaimers on social media about this challenge such as being careful of splats and making sure there's an adult with you. The mother-of-two submerged Sophie-Rose's foot and hand in cold water - noticing huge blisters were appearing across the youngster's skin (Pictured: The 12-year-old bandaged up) 'Kids just absorb everything from online. This could've been so much worse. I wanted to let other parents know the dangers of this. I don't want this happening to another person's child. 'You can't keep an eye on your kids 24/7 but just stay aware of what they're doing.' A TikTok spokesperson explained that candied fruit recipes have been on the internet for years pre-dating their platform, including on cooking shows and popular recipe platforms. They explained that Tanghulu is a popular Asian version of a sugar syrup-based sweet treat and claimed the making of it is not any more dangerous than cooking any other food at a high temperature. The spokesperson emphasised that cooking and recipe videos are welcome on TikTok but stressed it was strictly a 13+ platform. To help keep people from using the platform if they're not yet old enough, TikTok claimed they have designed a neutral, industry-standard age gate that requires people to fill in their complete date of birth rather than allowing them to select if they are under or over the age of 13. They claimed this would discourage children from lying about their age. The TikTok sensation listed three 'weird' aspects of UK culture that baffles him Kobie Jordan is a content creator who documents life as an American in London An American man living in the UK has revealed three aspects of British culture that has left him baffled. Kobie Jordan, who lives in London, regularly delves into cultural differences, both through street interviews with Brits and sharing his own experiences. In a video uploaded in June 2023 as part of his 'Weird things about the UK' series on TikTok, the content creator shared his observations. Jordan, who goes by @kjordyyy, highlights three things he finds 'weird' in Britain Firstly, he discusses the commonly used greeting of 'You alright?' - which he admits he initially mistook for passive aggression. American Kobie Jordan, who lives in the UK, reveals aspects of British culture that has left him baffled - including university students 'grabbing a pint' with their teachers after lectures He said: 'When I first moved here, I thought it was just British people being passive-aggressive, being like: 'Are you alright' after I just had a bad day. Of course I'm not alright.' Secondly, Jordan also claimed that Brits walk more than their trans-Atlantic cousins. According to the content creator, American drive or take public transportation for any distances that exceed ten minutes. He explained: 'We'll be done filming and I'll be like, "Let's get some food somewhere," and they're like: "Oh, it's only 35 minutes away." 35 minutes away? Back home, if it's more than 10 minutes, you're whipping [driving].' However, the most bewildering revelation to the American came regarding university culture. Jordan pointed out how surprising it was to find bars or pubs on many British university campuses. He said: 'They have bars and clubs on their campus. And, even weirder than that, the teacher will literally be like, "Are y'all [you all] ready for a pint after class?'' The most bewildering revelation to the U.S. native came regarding university culture in Britain, with Jordan pointing out the presence of bars or pubs on many university campuses A number of Brits hilariously confirmed Jordan's observations in the comments Jordan concludes his observations by claiming that drinking is normalised among British students due to the legal drinking age being 18 - with many drinking even before then - compared to 21 in the U.S. He claimed that Brits have been 'drinking since they're 15years-old, so by the time they get to college, it's nothing to them' while Americans 'go buck wild and start acting crazy' in college due to the national drinking age being 21. A number of Brits hilariously confirmed Jordan's observations in the comments, with one writing, 'As a Brit that has moved abroad, I miss walking everywhere,' while another said, 'Drinking for 15? What part of the UK in? We start from birth haha.' Meanwhile, one individual pointed out: 'Don't you guys say 'what's up' as a greeting? Isn't that pretty much the same as 'you alright?'' It comes after an American woman living in the UK has revealed the three words which make Brits sound 'posh' - including the word 'holiday.' Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fifth presidential term earlier this month precipitated a major shakeup in the upper echelons of Russia's elite. With a corruption scandal plaguing his creaking defence ministry and his troops requiring an endless supply of lethal weaponry to wreak havoc in Ukraine, the Russian President took drastic action. Putin yanked the long-suffering Sergei Shoigu, who had served as defence minister since 2012 and oversaw Russia's bungling invasion of Ukraine, from his position and instead made him secretary of the Federation's security council. By presidential decree, lifelong mathematician and economist Andrei Removich Belousov stepped into the unenviable position as the top official presiding over Russia's war effort. With the conflict across the border now well into its third year, the appointment offers yet more proof that the Kremlin is willing to go all the way in Ukraine and is transforming its economy, industry and society to go to war indefinitely. Now, with no end to the fighting in sight and a potential conflict with NATO looming on the horizon, MailOnline spoke to several experts to learn more about Russia's new defence minister and explain exactly why his appointment suggests Moscow is committed to causing chaos. New defence minister Belousov previously held positions as an adviser to Putin, economy minister, first deputy prime minister and, briefly, acting prime minister Vladimir Putin (left) removed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) from his post and replaced him with Belousov Ukrainian service members of the 37th Marine Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine Putin's troops require an endless supply of lethal weaponry to wreak havoc in Ukraine Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov is seen during a meeting between Russia's President Putin and new Cabinet, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on May 15, 2024 One would typically expect the wartime defence minister of a nation with one of the world's largest armed forces to have at least some military background - although that didn't stop former civilian engineer Shoigu from occupying the role, either. But Dr. Richard Connolly, an expert on the Russian economy and fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said it is precisely Belousov's head for numbers that nabbed him the top job as overseer of the war effort - to ensure it can be sustained for the long haul. The new defence minister previously held positions as an adviser to Putin, economy minister, first deputy prime minister and, briefly, acting prime minister. He is also credited with establishing Russia's highly successful drone development programme and in 2017, according to Russian media outlet RBC, was among those who convinced Putin that the digital economy and blockchains were crucial to the future. Dr. Connolly told MailOnline: 'Russia's Ministry of Defence is now managing record levels of money. Depending on how we measure it, my estimate is that in the year of 2024, military spending will account for about 40% of the federal budget. 'It has never been this high in the entire post-Soviet period. (Kremlin Press Secretary) Dmitry Peskov said defence spending this year was likely to be 6.7% of GDP - that's just 0.7% less than the height of the Cold War when tensions between the Soviet Union and the West were at an all-time high. 'For that you need a manager rather than necessarily somebody with military experience.' Dr. Ksenia Kirkham, economic warfare expert and lecturer at King's College London's Department of War Studies, added that Belousov will have little involvement in military operations, unlike his predecessor who despite his lack of experience in the armed forces appeared to have significant input. But his expertise means he can represent Russia on the world stage and engage more closely with valued partners, helping to solidify essential economic and defence ties. 'The appointment of Belousov will not change the current coordinate system... in the current context, the post of defence minister requires the ability of a strategic vision of Russia's place in the global political economy, of the contemporary world order and the country's prospects for the development.' Dr. Kirkham said it was 'remarkable' that Belousov joined Putin on his first state visit abroad to China after re-election this week, exemplifying how the Kremlin sees him as a vital figure in formulating Moscow's approach to 'global problems and economic cooperation' with friendly states. Picture taken on May 9, 2022 shows then First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov as he arrived to the Victory day military parade in Moscow days before he was made the new defence minister A Ukrainian serviceman arrives severely wounded to the evacuation point after being removed from the Avdiivka battlefield as the Russian - Ukrainian war continues in Novoselivka Persha of Avdiivka Russian tank fires at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in Russia's Belgorod region Russian defence minister Andrey Belousov attends Russian-Chinese talks on May 16, 2024 in Beijing, China Gunners from 43rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire at Russian position with a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer 2C22 'Bohdana', in the Kharkiv region Dr. Alan Cafruny, professor of international affairs at the US' Hamilton College, added that Belousov's deep understanding of economics will ensure Russia can sustain 'industrialisation in the context of a protracted war' - something he said other leading figures helming Russia's economy cannot do. 'Belousov is charged simultaneously with stabilising the economy and further ramping up military production. 'As Putin himself has declared, ''Guns and Butter'' must be ''organically integrated into the overall development strategy of the Russian state'',' Dr Cafruny said. Besides his obvious economic clout, Belousov also boasts a squeaky clean reputation as a safe pair of hands. Admittedly, this is not a description one would typically associate with a member of the Russian elite. Russia as we know it under Putin emerged from the embers of the collapsed Soviet Union, where economic freefall gave way to gangster capitalism and led to the woefully corrupt system of today where the classes are separated by a veritable chasm and officials at every level take a cut where they can. Last month's arrest of Shoigu's number two Timur Ivanov on bribery charges and the subsequent revelation this week that top defence official Yury Kuznetsov reportedly accepted bribes worth more than $1 million should hardly come as a surprise. But with Moscow's spending on the war climbing ever higher and efficiency suddenly of paramount importance, such egregious corruption cannot stand. That necessitates the deployment of a stringent manager who knows where to look to root out financial fiddling - something that Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said would be one of the new defence minister's first tasks. Dr. Connolly said of Belousov: 'He's relatively incorruptible, certainly compared to Shoigu, who was widely acknowledged to have allowed more than the usual amount of corruption that you see in Russia. 'Belousov is seen as somebody who is not inclined to get involved either personally, or as a patron to people who serve under him, so I think that's an important part, he is seen as a more ascetic.' Your browser does not support iframes. Russia's new Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attends a meeting of Russian President with military leaders in Moscow on May 15, 2024 Ukrainian servicemen of the 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 16, 2024 The third and final key motivation behind Putin's appointment of Belousov is the minister's personal belief that the state should occupy a greater role in steering a nation's economy. These 'eastward leanings', as Dr. Connolly put it, and his loyalty to Putin as a top technocrat, will afford the Kremlin greater oversight and control of Russia's wartime economy - something it desperately needs if Moscow seeks to wage war across the border for the foreseeable future. 'This is about making the state work better to sustain a long war - and this is why Belousov is seen as an appropriate person for that job, despite a total lack of military experience. 'He favours state involvement and therefore will funnel large sums of funds towards state enterprises and manage the interaction between lots of defence industrial firms.' Dr. Kirkham added that Belousov will be tasked with ensuring social and economic progress at a time when Moscow is seeking to cement its position as a leader of the push towards multipolarity away from the Western-led global order. In February, Putin himself said Russia must not repeat the error of the Soviet Union by pursuing an arms race that ate up too much of its budget, declaring that the ramping up of the defence industry must be conducted in such a way that Russia's overall scientific and industrial potential can flourish. 'Belousov's expertise will not only serve to organically link the development of the military-industrial complex to the overall development strategy in the best possible way. 'He will also be expected to keep the military sector subjugated to Russia's overall developmental goals, not the other way round,' she said. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with commanders of troops of military districts, in Moscow, Russia May 15, 2024 Russian President Vladimir Putin attends talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, on Thursday, May 16, 2024 Belousov himself seems fully cognizant of the expectations placed upon him by Putin. Speaking Tuesday at the upper house of parliament following his appointment, he said of his newfound responsibility: 'It's not easy... it's comprehensive and primarily implies optimisation of military spending. First and foremost, optimisation means increasing efficiency.' He went on to credit Shoigu with overseeing the modernisation of Russia's military prior to the invasion of Ukraine, but declared more had to be done to increase supplies of modern artillery and missile systems, drones and electronic warfare assets to frontline troops. Then, in an apparent jab at his predecessor and his entourage over the allegations of rank-and-file corruption - as well as claims they routinely hid setbacks in Ukraine from Putin - the defence minister said he would carry out his duties according to an 'ironclad principle'. 'It's possible to make mistakes - but it's inadmissible to lie.' But it remains to be seen whether the defence minister's morals remain so strong after a few months under the Russian President's inescapable microscope. A yacht that was once owned by Adolf Hitler now lies just five miles off the coast of Miami Beach. Hitler originally commissioned the 80ft Ostwind in 1938 as an Olympic racing boat after Germany's poor showing in the 1936 Olympics. However, the Ostwind was never entered in competition and was used instead by Nazi officials, including Hitler. Florida historian, Mike Miller, who has researched the boat, said the Nazi leader even planned to sail the Ostwind to Britain if German won the war. No definitive record exists of how much time Hitler spent on the boat, however a picture exists of him with mistress Eva Braun onboard the ship. Historians believe he may have only visited the boat he commissioned for Olympic glory a handful of times. A yacht named the Ostwind that was once owned by Adolf Hitler sits just five miles off the coast of Miami Beach. The now 80-foot-long yacht sits at the bottom of the ocean. However, what is known is that after World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. took control of the Ostwind as a war prize and used it for training craft at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The navy sold the Ostwind off in the 1950s, and for the next 20 years was sold between various owners. In the mid-1970s, a Nazi memorabilia collector bought the vessel and took it to marine wrecker in Jacksonville with the intention of restoring to it to its former glory. But he failed to pay for the mooring space and the boat was repossessed by the yard's owner, J.J Nelson, in 1981. As word spread that the vessel belonged to Hitler, it was repeatedly vandalized. Mr Nelson then rejected a offer by the Chicago-based American Nazi Party wanted to buy the boat and use it as a place to worship Hitler. Instead, he gave the vessel to a Jewish group in 1988. The Israeli Consulate in Miami then approached the Miami Beach city commissioner, Abe Resnick, who suggested sinking the boat and making it into an artificial reef. On June 4, 1989, the Ostwind was in such bad condition that the boat was rolled off a barge and sunk into the ocean to commemorate the 50th anniversary of what has come to be known as the 'Voyage of the Damned,' according to state records. Hitler (pictured) originally commissioned the Ostwind in 1938 as a racing yacht, but it was never entered in competition and was used instead by Nazi officials. During this voyage, a group of German-Jewish refugees aboard the boat, lined as the S.S. St. Louis, were sent to Havana, Cuba by the Nazis in 1939. They were denied permission by both Cuba and the United States and were forced back to Europe, where more than half its passengers died during the Holocaust. On June 29, 1989, more than two weeks after its initial sinking, the yacht was refloated and sunk again into a deeper part of the ocean as it posed as a hazard to marine life on the coral reef as well as passing ships. The only way to view the Ostwind is by diving with scuba gear on the bottom of the ocean. A group of scientists have been trying to understand what is causing a radar blip in the middle of Utah wilderness that is a notorious 'UFO hotbed'. In a series of experiments that see the group using both ground-penetrating radar and rockets, they try to determine what may also be causing the electromagnetic disturbance from above. The experiments were set at the 512-acre Skinwalker Ranch in northeastern Utah in the Uinta Basin. The area is notorious for UFO sightings and other paranormal-related mysteries. A group of scientists have been trying to understand what is causing a radar blip in the middle of Utah wilderness In a series of experiments that see the group using both ground penetrating radar and rockets, they try to determine what may also be causing the electromagnetic disturbance from above The scientists used radar in order to detect what may be behind a specific anomaly they're repeatedly experienced at a specific area of the ranch called The Triangle. The ground penetrating radar (GPR) they used sends radio signals into the ground, but some are also sent up into the sky, enabling the detection of objects that might be lingering above. The team noted how in the past, when they were scanning the area using GPS, there were times when all data would suddenly be lost, and the GPS signal would give readings that were below the surface of the ranch. So far, the team have been unable to identify what is behind the sudden blocking of the GPS signal. The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place while others say it's 'cursed' The team used ground penetrating radar to analyze both above and below the ground Rockets were fired into the sky in an attempt to detect any objects overhead The ground penetrating radar (GPR) sends radio signals into the ground, but some are also sent up into the sky, enabling the detection of objects that might be lingering above Rockets were fired into the sky only for the same GPS dead spots to appear as in previous experiments In a curious result, the rocket appeared to head directly into the mesa despite being fired upwards In this latest episode of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, the scientists attempt to uncover more of the mysteries of the area. Rockets were fired into the sky only for the same GPS dead spots to appear as in previous experiments. While a second team conducted GPR surveys, a similar phenomena was uncovered with major blips picked up at the exact same time as the rocket launch, some 40ft in the air. Although the team had been attempting to uncover an underground tunnel that may lie below, the scientists were perplexed when the data they received appeared to have been altered by an unknown force. The scientists used all manner of equipment including rockets, cameras and radars Despite the rockets being fired directly upwards, the readings showed it being fired into the mesa The readings surprised scientists who were analyzing the results in real time A radar blip appeared to occur at a spot that had been pinpointed previously, 40ft in the air There appeared to be a disturbance in the radar and GPS readings for no obvious reason The point where the rocket appeared to go inside the mesa is where a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) was seen entering and exiting the area on a previous occasion Only seconds after launch the data produced some unusual readings appearing to show that the rocket had gone directly into the mesa, despite them witnessing from the ground that the rocket had fired straight up, to a height of around 2000ft. However, the point where the rocket appeared to go inside the mesa is where a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) was seen both entering and exiting the area on a previous occasion. The team at first believe they may have uncovered some sort of electromagnetic disturbance, but others in the group say an object was discovered that appears and disappears if only for a few seconds. Earlier this month, the team believed they had exposed a possible 'portal' on the haunted ranch, where the team has witnessed a mutilated cow who died under mysterious circumstances. The discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena. This discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away. Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996 The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place while others say it's 'cursed.' Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away. Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996. Additionally, Sherman witnessed unexplainable encounters, one in which Sherman saw a wolf-like creature three times the size of a normal wolf. Another researcher saw an bizarre creature with piercing yellow eyes surveilling him from a tree, among other mysterious instances. The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). In 2020, a bombshell report in Popular Mechanics describes the Pentagon's UFO program on 'Skinwalker Ranch.' Using black-budget money under the auspices of the Defense Intelligence Agency, in 2008 AATIP contracted private space technology company Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) to provide the government with technical reports and research into UFOs, according to the magazine. The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) BAASS controlled 'Skinwalker Ranch' in Utah - which the company proposed as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.' Two previously unreleased technical reports submitted through the contract were published in full or in part by Popular Mechanics, revealing research into the medical effects of contact with anomalous flying objects and the frequency of unexplained phenomenon near nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile silos. In 2008, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) awarded a $10 million contract to BAASS under a contracting program known as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP). A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow purchases the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there. Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP, according to Popular Mechanics. Former AAWSAP contractor and astrophysicist Eric Davis shared what colleagues had told him of the DIA scientist's experience in an interview with researcher Joe Murgia. A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow (pictured left next to NASA astronaut Mike Gernhardt) purchased the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP 'In the living room of the former NIDS double wide observation trailer/staff quarters. A 3D object appeared in mid-air in front of him and changed shape like a changing topological figure. It went from pretzel-shaped to Mobius strip shaped. It was 3D and multi-colored. Then it disappeared,' he said. According to former Senator Harry Reid, whatever happened at Skinwalker was enough to convince the DIA to seriously investigate paranormal and UFO phenomena. 'Something should be done about this. Somebody should study it.' I was convinced he was right,' Reid told New York Magazine. A 2009 BAASS report commissioned by the Pentagon mentions Skinwalker Ranch in Utah as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.' In 2016, Bigelow sold Skinwalker Ranch for $4.5 million to 'Adamantium Holdings', a shell corporation whose true owners have never been traced. After this sale, all roads leading to the ranch were blocked, the perimeter was secured with cameras and barbed wire, and signs went up warning strangers not to approach. Anyone who approached the ranch after reported being immediately confronted by guards and ordered to leave. The breed of Taylor Swift's beloved cats has been named as the most affectionate and intelligent in the UK. A new study by Burns Pet Nutrition has revealed that the Scottish Fold has been named as the 'top cat' by Britons. The Scottish Fold has risen in popularity in recent years, with popstar Taylor Swift owning a pair called Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson and Ed Sheeran owning one called Calippo. The little-eared scamps have charmed pet owners nationwide, with 75 per cent of survey respondents considering them the most intelligent and 67 per cent deeming them the most affectionate. The study also found that a whopping 92 per cent of cat owners found them the easiest to train compared to other breeds. A new study by Burns Pet Nutrition has revealed that the Scottish Fold has been named as the 'top cat' by Britons (stock image) The Scottish Fold has risen in popularity in recent years, with popstar Taylor Swift owning a pair called Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson (pictured) The popularity of Scottish Folds has skyrocketed, with 110,000 sold in the UK in 2021 alone, with the surge partly due to the breed's association with social media-savvy celebrities The popularity of Scottish Folds has skyrocketed, with 110,000 sold in the UK in 2021 alone, with the surge partly due to the breed's association with social media-savvy celebrities. Meanwhile, Ragdoll cats, known for their love of being held and cuddled, were a close second in the poll. Over half (56 per cent) of Brits rated Ragdolls as the most affectionate, ahead of Maine Coons at 46 per cent. In terms of personality, more than half (56 per cent) of Brits said Ragdolls had the biggest personalities, with 46 per cent choosing Maine Coons and 41 per cent preferring Bengals. The survey, which included responses from 2,041 pet owners, also provided insights into how cat breed colours affect training and affection. Calico cats were found to be the easiest to train, with eight in 10 owners reporting that their three-coloured pets responded best to instructions, and half of these owners also noting their cats were incredibly affectionate. Among tabby owners, 25 per cent claimed their pets were more cuddly than other colored cats, with 85 per cent stating they were the easiest to train. Nutrition Manager at Burns Pet Nutrition, Laura Crotch Harvey said: 'All cat breeds are often unfairly lumped in together as one. Meanwhile, Ragdoll cats, known for their love of being held and cuddled, were a close second in the poll, with over half of Brits rating Ragdolls as most affectionate (stock image) 46 per cent of pet owners in the UK chose Maine Coons as being the most affectionate cat breed (stock image) In terms of personality, 41 per cent of Brits said Bengals had the biggest personalities, 'But like dogs, cats have very different personalities and needs, from grooming, stimulation, exercise, and nutrition. She added: 'It's clear, those looking for that perfect companion should investigate the different breeds properly to ensure they're picking the cat that best suits them and their lifestyle.' With the Scottish Fold topping the charts, it's evident that these celebrity-favoured felines are more than just a pretty face - they're intelligent, affectionate, and a joy to train. It comes after welfare charity Cats Protection called for the breeding of Scottish Folds to be outlawed because of concerns about their health in 2022. The charity is also unhappy with A-listers for sparking a huge rise in demand for the pets. A blind man who has helped convict more than 30 Uber drivers for failing to follow equality laws said he will continue to stand up for disabled people's rights. Stephen Anderson, 33, said he has been illegally turned away by drivers 76 times in six years - roughly once every month - because they do not want to allow his two-year-old working dog Ava in the vehicle. But equality laws state that service providers such as Uber must make reasonable adjustments to policies for disabled people. This includes amending 'no dogs' and 'no pets' policies to allow access for assistance dogs. Uber's own policy states drivers must accept assistance dogs, unless the driver has a genuine medical exemption, and that passengers do not need to use the Uber Pet service. Mr Anderson, from Harrow in north-west London, told MailOnline: 'A lot of the time I will approach a vehicle, I will identify myself to the driver by asking: Are you for Stephen? Stephen Anderson, 33, with his guide dog Ava, has been refused to be picked up by 76 Uber drivers in the last six years Ava, the two-year-old chocolate Labrador, is a working guide dog for blind owner Stephen Anderson In a similar case, disabled passenger Humira Mohamed, 26, said she felt scared for her safety after and Uber driver refused to allow her and five-year-old support dog Peanut into the back of his car. Pictured Miss Mohamed and Peanut Stephen Anderson said he spends around 2,000 a year on Uber, his only form of public transport, and books around 150 rides a year 'They will say yes. If they identify themselves, I then go to get in. But what does happen sometimes is that they'll go: I cannot take the dog. 'All I have to do legally is tell the driver that I have a guide dog. I do not have to give them a War and Peace version of the law. I just have to tell them that she's a guide dog. And I always do. 'Sometimes when I say she's a guide dog, they go: Oh, sorry, my mistake. And if they say that, then we're all happy. But in turn, I expect people to follow the legislation.' Mr Anderson, who works as a public servant, said he spends around 2,000 a year on Uber, his only form of public transport, and books around 150 rides a year. But drivers' refusals mean he has been left in the rain on several occasions, and 'left at the roadside feeling extremely vulnerable'. He said: 'All of these incidents have made me feel incredibly sad and quite vulnerable actually. And they've reminded me of the negative consequences of my disability. I'm trying to live an independent life, but I'm made to feel like a piece of scum. 'And it still has a huge impact on me emotionally. Especially when I feel a sense of responsibility, not just to myself but to other disabled people who I feel need to know that things will happen, and they will be stood up for.' He regularly records his interactions with Uber drivers in order to support his case if Transport for London are able to launch a prosecution. He said: 'Being autistic means that when it comes to binary questions of legality, I know whether I'm right, or I'm wrong. And in this one, I'm right. 'The notion that I'm wrong is not only ridiculous, but offensive. I am right. Stephen Anderson said he captures videos of Uber drivers refusing to take him in order to help Transport for London prosecute those who fall foul of equality laws Stephen Anderson said: 'I'm not trying to entrap people. All I'm trying to do is say equality legislation exists for a reason' 'And I don't mean that arrogantly, I just mean that I know what my rights are. And I'm going to exercise them. 'You do have to sort of get into a bit of a Sherlock Holmes mentality because the prosecution threshold is very high. 'And people have questioned why I've got a camera, why I take screenshots of where the driver is and what's going on. And then I get a prosecution. That is why, because it's really important that I have all the evidence necessary. 'I'm not trying to entrap people. 'All I'm trying to do is say equality legislation exists for a reason. And I have to have mechanisms to enforce that - using a camera is one such mechanism. 'If you have a problem with me using a camera in public, maybe you need to think about why you're embarrassed about what I'm filming.' It comes after an Uber driver was fined at City of London Magistrates' Court this week after he refused to accept disabled passenger Humira Mohamed, 26, and her assistance dog Peanut. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: 'Everyone has the right to travel around the capital without facing discrimination. It is wholly unacceptable for a private hire driver to refuse a passenger's fare because they were accompanied by an assistance dog and we always take tough action on this, including bringing prosecutions to court.' An Israeli father was hospitalised with a broken jaw when he was attacked at a train station in Belgium. Shocking video shows his assailant rushing down an escalator at the station in Bruges before shoving 64-year-old Amnon Ohana, who had reportedly peeled an 'anti-Israel' sticker off a wall upstairs. The man pushes Ohana to the ground before standing over him, gesturing a lunge before grabbing his foot and tussling with him as onlookers can only warn him 'I have you on video' and 'f**k off'. Ohana was reportedly with his 29-year-old daughter Shira at the time. Israeli media reported that they were chased after fleeing to another floor in the station, and that no witnesses came to their aid. 'It is no longer just verbal violence or spitting but real physical attacks that can end in disaster,' Chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA) Rabbi Menachem Margolin said, condemning the attack and urging police to investigate. 'Don't wait for us to be murdered to understand that you must act more decisively against the troublemakers. Today it is against Jews and tomorrow the incited mob will attack anyone who looks western in their eyes.' A man rushes Ohana after pursuing him down an escalator at a train station in Bruges Ohana, pictured in blue, is shoved and falls to the floor during the pursuit The man is seen leaning over Ohana, who puts his hand out to deflect attacks Ohana was taken to a local hospital and revealed to have broken his jaw after the attack. He later filed a complaint with the Belgian police but sensed the force 'doesn't want to deal with him', Israel National News reported. As well as the filmed footage, reports claim the attack was caught on security cameras. 'It cannot be that a Western country claiming to be a state of law like Belgium will not act for the immediate arrest of the anti-Semitic assailants and refrain from immediate enforcement to prosecute them to the full severity of the law,' Rabbi Margolin said. He also called for Belgian police to define the attack as an anti-Semitic and racist hate crime, European Jewish Press reported. 'We expect the authorities to denounce this violence in the strongest terms possible,' wrote Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, Israeli ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, on social media. 'And we expect the police to find and press charges against this man.' Israeli media dubbed the attacker a pro-Palestine supporter, although this was not clear from the video. Israel Hayom also reported that Ohana was taking down pro-Palestinian stickers. MailOnline was unable to verify these claims. Reports of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe have spiked since the outbreak of war in the Middle East. In January, an independent public body fighting discrimination in Belgium said it received 91 reports related to the Israel-Hamas conflict between October 7 and December 7 last year, compared to 57 reports for the whole of 2022. Most of the reports were remarks or acts considered as antisemitic, including cases of Holocaust denial, the independent Unia said. In 66 cases, it was clear the target were Jewish. Most of the cases involved hate messages, more than half of them online, but there were also comments made in public areas. Unia is also collaborating with the public prosecutor's office and Belgian police in nine cases of assault and damage, it said. The report cited cases of beatings, graffiti and the desecration of dozens of graves in the Jewish section of a cemetery close to the city of Charleroi. 'We can therefore speak of a clear increase in reports of anti-Semitic since October 7, 2023,' Unia said. It also received eight reports of discrimination or hate speech linked to the Palestinian origin, Arab origin or the Muslim belief of the people targeted between October 7 and December 7. In France, data from the Interior ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service watchdog showed that 1,676 anti-Semitic acts were reported in 2023, compared to 436 the previous year. According to the Council of Jewish Institutions in France the country's main Jewish interest group the number of antisemitic acts in the three months that followed the Oct. 7 attack equaled those of the previous three years combined. Only yesterday, a man was shot dead in the northern city of Rouen after allegedly attempting to set fire to a synagogue. The motivations for the attack are still unclear to police, French media reports. A police source said they saw smoke coming out of the synagogue in the Rue des Bons Enfants (Good Children Road) just after 6:45am on Friday. 'Fire engines arrived with police and attempts to start a fire were brought under control,' he said, adding that the man became aggressive and tried to attack the emergency services upon their arrival. Ohana appears to cower as the man stands over him and launches attacks Ohana was later taken to hospital and revealed to have suffered a broken jaw in the attack Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the Mayor of Rouen, said: 'Through this attack and this attempted fire at the Rouen synagogue, it is not only the Jewish community that is affected. The entire city of Rouen is bruised and in shock.' Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), agreed. 'Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country,' he wrote on Twitter/X. France recently raised its alert level to the highest level against the backdrop of tensions in Middle East and Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, a Holocaust memorial in Paris was defaced with red hands in an act of vandalism described as 'unspeakable' by the city's mayor. The authorities have also placed guards around several of France's synagogues in anticipation of such attacks. A farmer is being sued by his own son in a bitter High Court battle over claims he reneged on a promise to hand over ownership of his 2million free range chicken farm because of a terse text message sent to other family members. Kevin Renaut, 47, says he began working on the 50-hectare estate when he was just ten years old and was led to believe the lucrative business would become his when his father retired. But he alleges his father John, 67, has since gone back on his word amid the fall-out with other family members. Legal documents allege the betrayal happened in 2021 when 'the defendant told the claimant that the farm would already have been his had he not sent a text to family members in 2020'. Kevin alleges his father John, 67, (pictured) has since gone back on his word amid the fall-out with other family members Kevin Renaut, 47, (left, with partner Carla), says he began working on the 50-hectare estate when he was just ten years old Both men continue to work uneasily together at Hill Farm in Redenhall, Norfolk (pictured) The subject was raised again in April last year when twice-married John said 'nothing would be done until he (the claimant) started getting on with the rest of the family and step-family'. Kevin claims he sacrificed other, more lucrative career opportunities as heir apparent to his father, while his younger brother and sister were not as closely involved with the farm and took up jobs in elsewhere. He also argues his father has taken a much higher cut of the profits, despite his being a partner in the business. Lawyers for the father-of-two state in his legal submission to the High Court in London: 'The claimant has dedicated his life and work to the benefit of the farm. He has worked tirelessly, working long hours and also weekends, for minimal financial reward. 'From childhood, the claimant acted on the promises/assurances and/or encouragement of the defendant by envisaging and planning a life for himself at the farm, eventually as its owner in his own right.' Neither man who continue to work uneasily together at Hill Farm in Redenhall, Norfolk - would confirm to MailOnline what the alleged dispute with family members was about. But Kevin said: 'The promises did appear firm to me. There was no doubt in my mind. 'Things are very tetchy [with my father]. Clearly, we're having to work together day by day. We are only in contact during work.' Last year twice-married John said 'nothing would be done until he (the claimant) started getting on with the rest of the family and step-family' John sold a field in 2002 to pay for a divorce settlement with his then wife, Rosie, and land to the east of the site went for 587,895 in 2021, it is claimed His father added: 'Hopefully we'll resolve this one way or the other.' The farm which includes two residential properties and other business ventures including a cafe and is understood to be worth well in excess of 1 million - was acquired by Kevin's great-grandfather, Albert, in the late 1950s. Since then, he states, the business has been handed down from father to son, while other siblings have moved on to other work. Kevin claims he was still at primary school when he began driving a tractor at the farm, which had a dairy herd at the time. 'The claimant worked on the farm after school, at weekends, and during holidays,' according to documents. 'His daily task after school each day was 'scraping out and finishing up', that is scraping out and cleaning the yard and the pens after the cows. 'At weekends and in the holidays he would assist with whatever work was required, feeding the cattle, 'scraping out and finishing up', looking after the calves, handling hay bales, mowing and helping at harvest. 'There was no such encouragement of the claimant's siblings, Paul and Lucy.' After leaving school, he completed a two-year course in agricultural mechanics at Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture, now known as Suffolk Rural College, then worked full time at the farm from 1995, becoming a partner two years later. Kevin claims he was paid 1,000 a month plus diesel for his car and water rates, because he was told profits had to be ploughed back into the business. Legal documents allege the betrayal happened in 2021 when 'the defendant told the claimant that the farm would already have been his had he not sent a text to family members in 2020' The case is the latest legal battle between a father and child over alleged promises made about inheriting a farm He allegedly also received just ten per cent of the profits in some years, rather than the 50 per cent he was entitled to. John sold a field in 2002 to pay for a divorce settlement with his then wife, Rosie, and land to the east of the site went for 587,895 in 2021, it is claimed. He also invested significant sums in the business, including around 150,000 into the construction of chicken sheds in 1997 when the dairy herd was sold off, a similar sum for a further expansion of the sheds in 2000, the installation of two wind turbines for 132,000 in 2011 and tarmacking the driveway in 2013 for around 35,000. Kevin - who lives in a cottage on the farm with his partner Nathalie Lewis, while his father lives in the main farmhouse with wife Lesley - further alleges the partnership shares the costs of a caravan meadow, which has electrics, water and requires maintenance, and three storage lock-ups, yet his father 'alone receives the income'. And pension contributions 'on behalf of the defendant [were] substantially greater than those on behalf of the claimant, by a factor of about five'. Lawyers for Kevin who supplements his income by running a cafe on the farm at a spot he rents from his father without 'reducing his working hours for the partnership' said: 'The claimant put up with the defendant exercising such control because he trusted the defendant and because eventually he himself would become the owner of the farm.' At one meeting with solicitors, the legal documents say, John who is said to work two or three hours a day for three or four days a week now - 'reiterated to the claimant that 'it will all be yours anyway'. The documents lodged with the High Court add: 'The defendant has failed to take steps, as promised, to give effect to those promises/assurances and, more recently, has failed to respond to the claimant's letter before claim dated December 20, 2023. 'It is accepted that tensions have arisen within the family (and step-family) in recent years but such tensions have substantially been caused by the defendant's failure to stand by his promises and assurances to the claimant and the resulting uncertainty as to the future of the farm.' A source close to the family said: 'As I understand it, the sticking point is Kevin making amends with the rest of the family and resolving any problems between them. 'But you know how that can be sometimes it's easier said than done.' The case is the latest legal battle between a father and child over alleged promises made about inheriting a farm. Recent examples include a High Court ruling in October when Michael Spencer was awarded his late father's Lincolnshire business despite being left out of his will after successfully claiming it had been promised to him. He had worked the land since 15. The type of claim is known as a 'proprietary estoppel', in which the claimant must show a promise was made to them, that they relied on the promise, and that it had been to their detriment to do so. Kevin Renaut said a system should be in place to protect the rights of children who dedicate their lives to helping with the running of a family business with only a verbal assurance of their future claim, saying: 'I do think it's important that things should be more documented.' No story should start at the end. But this one does. On Monday, at Westminsters Central Hall, it will all be over. The public inquiry into why hospitals were using contaminated blood throughout the 1980s, killing thousands of people and infecting tens of thousands of others, will publish its final report. It is set to put an end to decades of speculation about what compensation victims and their families will receive, after one of the longest, most harrowing medical scandals of all time. Sir Brian Langstaffs careful four-year stewardship of the Infected Blood Inquiry has examined millions of pieces of evidence, pored over more than 3,500 written statements and listened to 370 witnesses including me. It has operated against a background of almost unbearable testimony: in the mid-late 1980s, at the peak of the scandal, contaminated blood and blood products were killing one person every four days, making it the deadliest man-made disaster in British post-war history. Some 30,000 people received infected blood, and at least 3,000 died. These deaths were largely from liver disease after contracting the hepatitis C virus, or from Aids caused by HIV. One anonymous witness to the inquiry told how she was infected with HIV while still in the womb, after her pregnant mother received a blood transfusion. In the 1980s, about 30,000 people received infected blood, and at least 3,000 died, making it the deadliest man-made disaster in British post-war history Parents saw their children die in agony and some children lost one or both parents. Countless others still live today under a sword of Damocles, not knowing whether they, too, could suddenly receive word from their doctors that their livers are showing signs of fatal illness. Indeed, just last week it was revealed that some 1,750 people who were infected with hepatitis C after being given a contaminated transfusion, still do not know they have been affected because the Government has never traced them. Through the process of this inquiry, so many victims have had to endure the obfuscations of politicians and the medical establishment, attempted justifications by civil servants and administrators, and overly complex testimonies from doctors. There have been headlines, TV and radio documentaries, Facebook groups, books and social media storms. And now it will all stop: the end. I have thought much about what I might write as my own sort of finale to this scandal. Sir Brian Langstaff's stewardship of the Infected Blood Inquiry has examined millions of pieces of evidence, pored over more than 3,500 written statements and listened to 370 witnesses including Sue Douglas For me, the course of events that came to mark this seismic catastrophe is personal. It began 41 years ago when, as a young medical journalist, newly promoted on to The Mail on Sunday, I broke the story of Britains contaminated blood catastrophe. Much of what follows formed the basis of my own testimony to the inquiry. But, as this tragic saga unfolded, as the deaths continued to mount, I became ever more convinced that, at the heart of this scandal, was not a terrible medical mistake, but a far wider disease of human nature. The infected blood scandal is about greed and money blood money. It is spring 1983, I am 26 and a reporter on the Daily Mail. I am then promoted to Medical Correspondent on the Mails newly launched sister paper, The Mail on Sunday, because of my biochemistry degree, my fascination with science and experience of working on a doctors magazine. Over drinks one night, my best friend, Lorraine Fraser, who still worked on the magazine, told me about a conference shed attended where some scientists raised concerns about a highly-contagious new disease called Aids. Drug users and homosexual men seemed worst affected. Early studies pointed to transmission occurring via one infection route: blood. Back then the UK was not self-sufficient with blood supplies. We purchased much of the 1.6 million pints we required every year from outside sources. We bought in blood products, too including a blood clotting protein called factor VIII which is vital for treating those with haemophilia, an inherited condition caused by low levels of factor VIII. Without supplemented doses of factor VIII, even the simplest injury could cause excessive bleeding in haemophiliacs, possibly to death. With it, they can live normal lives. Lorraine explained that half of the factor VIII needed to treat British patients was bought, cheaply, from an American company. They paid blood donors, often prison inmates, drug addicts or the homeless. Such donors had a higher than normal incidence of blood-transmitted infections such as hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes Aids. One haematologist at that conference had raised a terrifying possibility: What if we are giving infected blood for routine transfusions and blood products here? I learned that others were beginning to share similar concerns, with tentative suggestions in medical journals and some cautiously worded press reports, but they were making no impact. In nearly every case, the potential risks were denied by the health authorities. I knew I was on to something big and somehow we had to stop this. Just a few days later I was sitting in an office in a large teaching hospital in Wales, drinking coffee with the man who was to become my whistleblower. He was scared. To secure the meeting, Id been vague about who I was and my agenda: I didnt want to frighten him off. Using hastily gathered facts from medical contacts in Oxford, I tried to persuade him that he needed to draw attention to the seemingly unthinkable, but deadly, possibility that British patients were receiving contaminated blood and blood products. We cant tell anyone, theyre already all denying it, he told me. But it is real. One of my friends is a doctor in London and he has two patients likely to die of Aids because of the blood products he gave them. Perhaps you should talk to him? We parted and promised to keep in touch. Back at the office, the news editor called a meeting with The Mail on Sunday editor, Stewart Steven, our senior legal team and two other experienced reporters. Quickly, we gathered a raft of damning evidence off-the-record confirmations from politicians, scientists and researchers who raised worrying concerns about our imported supplies, . Protestors gather last year to continue to fight for the clarity that will finally be revealed on Monday as the public inquiry into the scandal is published Then I got, on the record, the Swiss Red Cross suggesting they would be prepared to supply the NHS with heat-treated blood that was free of hepatitis C or HIV. But that immediate solution would cost the Government more than the blood imported from the U.S. My next concern was my whistleblower. I called him and read the story we were intending to print. He was silent for a few minutes. Then he said: I trust you, and I will help you, but we must never meet again. People here saw us together. Any breath of my involvement will put me in real danger. At best Ill lose my job. Little did I know that within two weeks of my story being published on May 1, 1983 with the front page headline: Hospitals using killer blood I would also face the prospect of losing my job. The then media watchdog, the Press Council, had received complaints from some doctors who accused me of putting lives at risk by alerting patients to what they saw as alarming concerns with no foundation. But, ever-resilient against bullying and threats, The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail continued their reports. More cautious reactions in the rest of the UK press followed a direct result of the continued barrage of Press Council warnings and experts accusing us of scaremongering. The rest of the world faced similar pressure. Suppliers of blood products were solving the problem if it was even acknowledged with new heat treated products. But the new safer supplies were more expensive and, before they could be used on patients, licence agreements took several years to finalise. Media concerns were calmed by official responses of it all being work in progress, masking the fact contaminated products were still being sold, especially throughout Asia and to the NHS. And so it fell to The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail to become the voice of doctors and scientists too scared to go public, and of worried patients and their loved ones. I have never revealed the name of my whistleblower, and I never will. I hope my anonymous hero is proud of doing the right thing, even when he faced losing his job and reputation. Despite the risks, his first thought was always for his patients. Over the following year, he continued to show me evidence I could never have known about otherwise, and helped inform all my reports. As for the victims I spoke to, there were so many. But let me tell you about a haemophiliac Ill call Terry. We have kept in touch for more than four decades, and we still talk a lot these days. A member of many campaigning patient organisations, he is a victim who was given contaminated factor VIII for most of his young life, and was diagnosed with hep C in the 1980s. Today, he lives with the threat of potentially fatal liver disease constantly hanging over him. Terry, too, gave evidence to the inquiry. I told him I was writing this piece to mark the conclusion and here are some of his words: We say we want to make sure this kind of thing never happens again. Well, of course, damn right it shouldnt, but as long as theres money to be made, greed and lies will prevail over truth and ethics. Human cost and hurt doesnt come into it. You stop a bully with a punch in the face. How do you stop a government lying? In answer to Terry, I would say you stop a government lying by publishing a story in the Mail. Then another story and another and another, until nobody believes government lies any more. In my evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry I said that ministers, particularly Norman Fowler, when Secretary of State for Social Services under Margaret Thatcher (1981-1987), and Ken Clarke, health minister (1982-1985), discussed the risks of imported blood with me around the time my first article was published. Indeed, I have diaries that list dinner and lunch dates with both men at some of Londons nicest restaurants, such as Langans in Piccadilly. Those meetings were within the exact time frame of my first story in May 1983. We were not discussing the weather. We discussed the stories I was working on, about the risks of imported blood and blood products, and I sought their thoughts and reactions. That is what journalists do. The reality is that ministers and their underlings knew the risks of using cheaper, potentially contaminated, blood in May 1983, but feared to act quickly or decisively. Activists stand in London as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gives evidence to the infected blood scandal hearing The defence is they were worried about causing panic, but there can be no doubt that the cost implications of the more expensive cleaner blood on an already overburdened health service was a significant barrier. This cost-cutting had tragic implications, as Terry and his family know all too well. Im a haemophiliac, my dad is, my uncle was. My dad is dying [from liver cancer caused by hepatitis C], a long, slow, drawn out death, from his exposure to contaminated factor VIII. My uncle died of hepatitis C he contracted from his factor VIII. So far Terry has, in his words, been lucky. But he says: The on-going threat from historic exposure is a ticking time-bomb that has ruined my life. When my breakthrough story was published, Terry was 17. Today he reflects: At the time I had a girlfriend, my first one and probably the great love of my life. I told her it would be wrong of me to keep seeing her, that I could be subjecting her to a death sentence. I said I had to stop seeing her because of your story. I didnt want to put her at risk. He then took the rebellious decision to stop taking factor VIII. His consultant and GP both begged him, then ordered him, to continue his treatment. Eventually he succumbed to their demands, because he believed they had his best interests at heart. They told him there was no risk. More to the point, there were no alternatives on the market that we, as a country, were prepared to pay for. Its something that infuriates him today: My doctors lied to me and never discussed the risks. In 1984, at the height of the contaminated blood storm, Terrys consultant told him she had been to a watershed pharmaceutical company briefing with many other consultants and health advisers at a hotel at Heathrow. They were advised to tell their patients that the risks of contaminated blood, as reported in the Mail newspapers, were grossly exaggerated. Their patients should continue as normal. Throughout this period, the storm of threatened litigation and censure continued against me and The Mail on Sunday. Safer, heat-treated blood products were eventually adopted by the NHS in 1985. Terry, who later married and had children, thinks there will be no new truth from the inquirys final report. He believes there will be no new framework for justice, nor any commitment to transparency and honesty. Any compensation announced, he believes, will never fully account for the deaths and the lives destroyed. We have known the truth for 40 years, since we read your article, he says. This all started with money. It was all about the cheapest source of blood being good enough for us. And its ending all about money the cheapest compensation being enough. Terry hates the idea that people will think the 10 billion of compensation reportedly set to be announced and seemingly paid for by the taxpayer is a fair pay out. No amount of money can compensate for the human loss, the physical injury, the hurt that families have endured. My wife and children cant be compensated for what Ive put them through. We should not be made to feel guilty about compensation. It should not be a dirty subject and it should not be an NHS loss. Most of it should be recovered from Big Pharma one years profit from one of the big companies would settle the UK compensation. So, yes, the sums should reflect the damage done. It should hurt the government. Anything less will result in further legal action from us, from our children and theirs, that will drag on for years. One anonymous witness to the inquiry told how she was infected with HIV while still in the womb after her pregnant mother received a blood transfusion. I could agree with Terry that it is all about money. But the words that still hang in the air for me are the denials of those we trusted to be honest. How, in a world driven by lies, conflict, greed, and inhumanity, do we protect and hold in our hearts empathy and caring and the simple sense of doing the right thing? For we would not be reading one word about the infected blood scandal if there was not, in this country especially, a desire for honesty and transparency when things go wrong. I couldnt write this if the establishment this very newspaper, and others, took to task was so powerful it could silence criticism. I would have been fired if my bosses at the Mail hadnt supported me and if others, like the many readers who wrote to me, hadnt given me the courage to continue. It is for every one of us to have the courage of the whistleblower, the conviction of the campaigner and to support a media that can still call to account our leaders and masters. So perhaps this isnt the end after all perhaps it is just the beginning. The Poison Line: Life and Death in the Infected Blood Scandal, by Cara McGoogan (Penguin, 10.99) is out now. This is the shocking moment a suspected shoplifter is dragged into the storeroom at a Sainsbury's in east London - before staff appear to give him a kicking behind closed doors. Shocked shoppers captured the scene at the Local supermarket on Mile End Road in Tower Hamlets at the weekend as angry staff yell at the man to 'stay the f*** down' - while he yells 'Allahu akbar' (God is the greatest). One member of staff says to 'take him inside' and the man, who appears to be agitated and in distress, is dragged by the collar of his jacket into the storeroom at the back of the shop. Staff are then seen kicking the man behind the door, labelled 'authorised personnel only' - as he appears to yell out 'I'm sorry'. One shocked eyewitness, who captured the violent incident on Saturday evening, told MailOnline they did not feel the level of force used by Sainsbury's staff was necessary. Police have confirmed they are aware of 'counter allegations' made by the alleged thief against security staff at the store. The alleged shoplifter appears to be on the floor, surrounded by Sainsbury's staff, who yell at him to 'stay down' The alleged thief is then dragged by the collar of his jacket towards the storeroom in the back of the shop The staff then struggle to push him through the door at the back (left). They realise during this they are being filmed (right) Staff can be seen appearing to kick and stomp on the man as he says 'Allahu akbar' over and over He then appears to whimper 'I'm sorry' as the staff continue to strike him with their feet A member of staff then appears at the door to the stockroom (left) and reaches out to the person filming - at which point the footage ends The eyewitness said: 'The shoplifter was quite unclean but he wasnt violent to the shop workers. 'He was committing a crime (but) did not deserve to be punched and kicked repeatedly whilst on the floor. He could easily have simply been restrained and detained. 'I suspect they stopped once they saw me recording. My worry was that the shoplifter was detained for such a long time he would continue to have been abused. 'Without my recording I suspect no one would believe what had happened especially from the shoplifter.' The footage, sent to MailOnline by the witness, begins as staff are seen running towards the entrance of the shop as they call out to the alleged thief. He is then seen lying on the floor of the supermarket as he is surrounded by staff. A man angrily yells at him to 'stay down' and 'stay the f*** down' as the suspected shoplifter yells out 'Allahu akbar' - an Arabic phrase meaning 'God is the greatest', which can be said at times of extreme joy or distress. Sainsbury's staff then drag him to the storeroom by his jacket, struggling to get him over the threshold and behind the swing door. One member of staff looks directly at the shocked bystanders as he attempts to force the man into the storeroom. Through the window in the door, staff can be seen appearing to stomp on and kick the man as he repeatedly wails: 'Allahu akbar'. One of the staff yells as he delivers a kick to the shoplifter, who appears to utter 'I'm sorry' in response. The footage ends moments later as a Sainsbury's worker steps out of the storeroom and holds his hand up at the person filming. The eyewitness phoned the police following the incident, later flagging down a police car in the street to show officers the video. He then gave a witness statement. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'Police attended a supermarket in Mile End Road, E1 shortly after 18.30hrs on Saturday, 11 May. 'A man had been detained by security staff on suspicion of shoplifting. The man has made counter allegations against the security staff. 'He was released on bail to attend a police station at a later date.' A Sainsburys spokesperson said: 'We are urgently investigating.' Eyewitnesses said the incident happened at the Sainsbury's Local store on Mile End Road in London's Tower Hamlets A total of 430,104 offences were recorded by the police in the year to December 2023. The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003 Shoplifters appear to be more brazen than ever, such as these thieves who struck at a Boots in Chingford, London last month Shocking video filmed at a Greggs in Archway, North London, shows a shoplifter walking out holding three sandwiches and two bottles of orange juice The incident comes amid the highest levels of shoplifting in Britain since records began - with thefts in 2023 jumping a third on levels the previous year. Retail bosses have accused ministers of essentially allowing shoplifting to become decriminalised - with many police forces failing to attend most reports and not gathering evidence when they do. Just under 40 per cent of shoplifting reports in London were attended by the Met in the year to April 2023. Archie Norman, chairman of M&S, has gone as far as to claim police 'are not interested' in tackling the shoplifting epidemic. Shoplifting costs retailers an estimated 1billion a year, with the number of thefts more than doubling in the past six years. In the last month, CCTV footage captured two shoplifters brazenly stealing products from a Boots store just yards away from a police station in East London. Elsewhere in the capital, a pair of masked shoplifters were also recently recorded helping themselves to bottles of booze from a Tesco store in Belsize Park - all as security guards and staff looked on. In April, Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the increase in shoplifting was 'clearly unacceptable', and added it was the Government's understanding that an increase in shoplifting was being driven by 'organised criminality'. The Home Secretary James Cleverly said that shoplifting has a 'corrosive effect' on people's confidence, and that police should attend every incident and pursue every line of inquiry to send a message that 'you don't just get away with it'. Figures from the Association of Convenience Stores also revealed that there were 76,000 acts of violence in small shops last year, up from 41,000. Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium said thefts cost retailers 1.8billion in 2022-23, up from 953million the previous year. Shops have responded by tagging the most unlikely of everyday items in order to deter thieves - from 2 chocolate bars to packets of cheese. Ms Wright said the family had to relocate Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his wife Kaia were forced to flee their family home after receiving a series of threatening messages. Jock Fleming, 28, began sending messages to TV personality Matt Wright and his wife Kaia after a fatal crash that killed Mr Wright's co-star on February 28, 2022. A helicopter operated by Mr Wright's Helibrook company crashed near King River, 500km east of Darwin, killing Chris 'Willow' Wilson who was dangling from a 100-foot sling line beneath the vehicle, and severely injuring pilot Sebastian Robinson. After the incident Mr Wright began receiving messages from Mr Fleming including one that read 'death is coming for yewwwwwe'. This week, Mr Fleming pleaded guilty to three counts of using a carriage service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being menacing and harassing and is no longer allowed to contact the Wright family. Kaia Wright told the Darwin Local Court that her family (pictured) was forced to relocate for their own safety after being harassed online by a troll Jock Fleming pleaded guilty to three occasions of harassment against Matt Wright, some of which included death threats Mr Fleming was released on a 12-month $1,000 good behaviour bond which Ms Wright hopes will deter other online trolls from repeating similar behaviour. 'No woman should be made to feel unsafe in their own home, especially with young kids there, she told News Limited. 'Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident and we continue to receive horrible messages on social media. 'If there's one thing to come from this it's that I want people to think about the women, families and kids on the other side of the message before they become keyboard warriors.' In Ms Wright's victim impact statement she told the Darwin Local Court that she still struggled to feel safe after her house was targeted by someone during the course of Mr Fleming's harassment. 'The last message received from Jock was around the same time that vandalism attacks were being made to my family home and power box,' she wrote. 'The simultaneous nature of the threatening messages from Jock and the attacks on my home and power box led me to feel very uneasy. 'Even now, I am always on edge in public in case I run into him, not knowing what he may do. I wonder about what his frame of mind is, and worry that things might escalate. 'I'm pretty withdrawn now in Darwin because of the abuse we've received. 'Over time I've become a bit numb to online abuse and keyboard warriors but this is something else. I had to move from where I was living and I worried he knew that, and I spiralled at that point and am still struggling with feeling safe today.' Police first got involved when Mr Fleming commented on an Instagram post by Mr Wright announcing the death of one of his tour animals. 'With any luck you won't be too far behind him,' Mr Fleming's comment read. ' looks like matty made a booboo hope he has a few more crocodile tears to shed when he actually needs them,' some of the message read. Ms Wright told the court that she had increased security around her house but still felt unsafe after receiving a string of messages from Mr Fleming The messages started shortly after a helicopter operated by Mr Wright's Helibrook company crashed, killing Chris 'Willow' Wilson and severely injuring pilot Sebastian Robinson Around this same time police also notified Mr Wright that a warrant for his arrest had been issued in relation to the fatal helicopter crash. Mr Wright will face trial later this year and has been accused of perverting the course of justice following the crash. Police were again notified to Mr Fleming's crusade against the family on February 24, 2023, when a death threat texted to Mr Wright was traced back to his phone number. Mr Fleming again contacted the family after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its findings into the Helibrook crash in November. The day after the findings were released Ms Wright received a private Instagram message from Mr Fleming who was posing under the username Darwin_Gecko. ' looks like matty made a booboo hope he has a few more crocodile tears to shed when he actually needs them,' some of the message read. The court heard that the continued harassment was the lone factor in Ms Wright's decision to relocate her family. She told police that she was 'fearful for herself and her children', despite the fact that she had installed bolt-locks on her doors and created barricades inside the house. Ms Wright was also sleeping with her children for their safety and had installed security cameras on the property. Mr Fleming has been told by the court that should he contact the Wright family again, he will go to prison. A Canadian store has sparked backlash online after posting a 'volunteer' job advert. A Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in downtown Toronto posted the unpaid position on job site LinkedIn on Thursday, CBC News reported. 'Your role as a volunteer is crucial in ensuring that our customers have a positive and seamless shopping experience,' the listing read. The unpaid role would require 'assisting customers, restocking shelves, and organizing inventory.' Social media users mocked the ad, with one posting, 'damn can't beat an opportunity like that. Shame I have to eat,' on Twitter with a grab of the listing. Shoppers Drug Mart has removed the post and claims it was made in error 'Hiring for a 'volunteer' employee. You just can't make this stuff up. But for all of you wanting to work for free, alas, the position is closed,' another wrote on the site. 'I'm sorry, am I hallucinating or does this LinkedIn post for Shoppers Drug Mart actually say 'volunteer'? This would be the same Weston-owned company that just posted $537 million in profit for the quarter, right?' a third added. The job was advertised by Emil Harba, the pharmacist owner at the Shoppers Drug Mart located at King and Peter in Toronto. Shoppers Drug Mart has since claimed that it was put online by mistake. The 'job posting was an error,' the company said in a statement to CBC, explaining that having volunteers in stores is against its corporate policy. 'It was closed right after it was posted and it's being removed. Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't have volunteers in stores and it's not within our policy,' Dave Bauer, director of media relations for the company said. However, Harba told the outlet that the position was posted intentionally but he was only 'trying to help people seeking Canadian experience.' 'The post wasn't for any bad intentions, it was for good intentions,' he told the publication. Harba explained that he often receives messages from people who want to gain work experience but that once he was told by the company it would not be allowed he immediately took the listing down. Nearly 30,000 older Britons died waiting for social care in the space of a year, damning figures have revealed. Analysis of NHS data showed that 28,665 people over the age of 65 died in 2022/23 while languishing on waiting lists. The figures lay bare the perilous state of the social care system. Charity Age UK, which conducted the study, blamed a lack of funding for local authorities to assess people quickly, as well as insufficient staffing levels. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: 'Good social care makes a big difference whenever it is needed, but never more so than in the last weeks and months of our lives. Nearly 30,000 older Britons died waiting for social care in the space of a year, damning figures from charity Age UK have revealed (file pic) Charity Age UK, which conducted the study, blamed a lack of funding for local authorities to assess people quickly, as well as insufficient staffing levels (file pic) 'The numbers of older people dying while waiting for care are also emblematic of the now chronic systemic problems within social care, as hard pressed local authorities try to meet the needs of a growing older population with resources that in no way match up. 'Social care lacks sufficient funding and, in many places, trained staff, and unless and until we get a Government that's prepared to face up to these problems older people will continue to go to their graves without receiving the social care they are due.' Earlier this year, the Department for Levelling Up department announced an additional 500m would be given to local authorities to top up their Social Care Grants. But leading health think-tank the Nuffield Trust has said current funding has left 'local authorities and providers often living 'hand to mouth'. It called on the Government to end short-term and last-minute cash injections in favour of credible proposals for sustainable funding. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Our sympathies are with the families of all those who have died. 'We want to ensure everyone gets the care they need and help even more people to live independently. 'That's why we have made available up to 8.6 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge, enabling local authorities to improve workforce recruitment and retention. 'Councils are responsible for assessing individuals' care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. 'This financial year, councils in England will receive up to 64.7 billion - a 7.5% increase in cash terms on 2023-24.' A Metropolitan Police officer who 'manhandled' and wrongly arrested a woman for bus fare evasion in front of her sobbing son has been found guilty of assault. PC Perry Lathwood, 50, of Norman's Bay, East Sussex, grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm, causing bruising injuries during the arrest on July 21 last year in Whitehorse Road, Croydon, south London. In the video footage Ms Agyemang can be heard repeatedly screaming: 'Can you get off me, please? Can you get off my arm.' As her son begin to cry hysterically and she is quickly surrounded by five police officers, before Lathwood slaps handcuffs on her for 'resisting'. The incident left the mother feeling 'violated', Westminster Magistrates' Court heard this week. Ms Agyemang was dropping her son off at her mother's house before heading to an appointment in Marylebone scheduled for 12.30pm. Police officers were helping ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon at the time. PC Perry Lathwood, 50, of Norman's Bay, East Sussex, grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm and wrongly arrested her for bus fare evasion in Croydon last July In the video footage Ms Agyemang can be heard repeatedly screaming: 'Can you get off me, please? Can you get off my arm.' As her son begin to cry hysterically Ms Agyemang was dropping her son off at her mother's house before heading to an appointment in Marylebone scheduled for 12.30pm After she and her son disembarked the bus at around 11am, she was asked to show she had paid her fare by a bus inspector, shortly before being grabbing by her arm, arrested and handcuffed. Footage of the shocking incident was shared widely on social media at the time. In his defence, PC Lathwood claimed he was trying to protect the mother and her child from being harmed as she argued with the officer by grabbing her arm. 'She's walking towards the road, she had to be contained for her safety, her kids' safety and our safety,' he said. 'If I hadn't moved her back she would have been splattered.' He denied but was convicted of assault by beating. At Westminster Magistrates' Court, Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram said that PC Lathwood's account of what had happened 'lacked credibility'. Throughout his verdict, Judge Ikram referred to the complainant as JA and to the defendant as D. He said: 'Whether an arrest was necessary and proportionate is an objective test, I make the following findings to the criminal standard. 'I readily find that JA was difficult throughout, she knew the inspectors were checking tickets but didn't stop as she could have, but wanted them to follow her. 'I find that she did say she'd paid and was difficult perhaps because she knew she had paid, as was later established. 'Confrontation with a difficult person does not in itself justify arrest without legal justification. 'I've examined the video carefully - on examination of the video footage, she clearly has the Oyster card in her hand outreached towards the inspectors' machine. 'In having it out it appears she may well have touched the machine given the opportunity to do so. PC Lathwood claimed he was trying to protect the mother and her child from being harmed as she argued by grabbing her arm, but the judge told him his version of events 'lacked credibility' Footage shared on social media showed the moment Ms Agyemang was arrested after wrongly being accused of bus fare evasion, as the police officer claimed she refused to show her ticket PC Lathwood remains on unconditional bail, with sentencing due to take place on 14 June 'This would have been visible to D. 'I find that bearing in mind the nature of the potential offences and difficult as she was, it was not necessary to grab JA's arm at that point, arrest her and handcuff her. 'I find objectively that there were not reasonable grounds to suggest that the arrest was necessary for any of the reasons advanced by D. 'I find that she ought to have been warned that she would be arrested if she did not give her name and address. 'She was never asked her name or address, bearing in mind the nature of the offence or potential offences I have no reason to believe that any criminal enquiry would be frustrated if she was not arrested there and then. 'I did not find that he ever honestly believed the arrest was necessary to protect her child, or to prevent injury to herself. 'Those suggestions are completely without foundation and fanciful. 'He said in evidence that all those reasons were in his head at the time prior to arresting her - I simply do not believe him. 'I find upon consideration of the facts that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the arrest was necessary on the grounds advanced by the officers. 'I've no hesitation in concluding that the officer made an error in judgement and overreacted in arresting her. 'I am satisfied the situation escalated once D assaulted her, by grabbing JA's arm, and then arresting her. PC Lathwood denied but was convicted of assault by beating at Westminster Magistrates' Court Giving evidence Miss Agyemang said the officer's actions made her feel 'very, very violated'. Pictured: Footage of the incident which was shared on social media 'Handcuffing her inflamed the situation even further. 'I accept that JA's reaction to being arrested was dramatic, she protested loudly and theatrically but that was not the situation prior to her being grabbed by the arm. 'I find that D acted unlawfully by grabbing JA's arm and handcuffing her. 'The prosecution has proved that the force applied was not lawful - it follows that I find D guilty of assault.' Wearing a blue suit and silk tie, Lathwood smirked with resignation to police officers in the public gallery as the verdict was announced. The court heard Ms Agyemang got off the 157 bus at around 11.11am with her young son holding her Oyster card and the ticket inspector asked to see it. She handed it over to the ticket inspector to check it and walked off as PC Lathwood became involved. 'He lays a hand on her, she moves away from him but he then grabs her arm again and arrests her for fare evasion,' said Paul Jarvis, prosecuting. PC Lathwood remains on unconditional bail, with sentencing due to take place on 14 June at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London 'In fact she had paid her fare, subsequently the card was examined - she had made payment for that journey but she was arrested. 'Her child was becoming distressed because his mother is becoming upset. 'PC Lathwood continues to hold her and repeatedly makes demand of her that she should tap her card, that she should present her card she's holding to the ticket inspector. 'It is confirmed that she had in fact paid for her travel, as a result of which PC Lathwood de-arrested her, removed the handcuffs he'd placed on her and effectively she was allowed to go on her way with her son.' 'The officer, in deciding to carry out this arrest and deciding to lay hands on her, handcuff her and manhandle her was acting unlawfully because he had no lawful justification, because he had no lawful justification for doing any of that. Giving evidence Miss Agyemang said the officer's actions made her feel 'very, very violated.' 'I just remember, like, this officer just grabbing me and my arm from nowhere. 'It was a very, very strong hold - he literally was hurting my arm and I believe I expressed that to him as well. 'I just wanted him to get off me because he's quite strong and it just made me feel very anxious that he was holding onto me and I didn't know what I had done wrong, especially as I had my Oyster card in my hand.' She said Lathwood had called her a 'daft cow' while releasing her from his grip. 'I think he tried to accuse me of running into the road and he called me a daft cow. 'I felt very violated, this is the main feeling about all of this. I felt very, very violated - very humiliated. 'I just felt like they didn't care, and I just felt a bit degraded because I hadn't done anything wrong'. Following his arrest Lathwood said in a prepared statement: 'Her actions were completely over the top, she didn't do what she was being asked to do.' Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: 'This verdict is a huge setback to our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners. 'We will learn the lessons from this and we apologise to the woman and the wider community who were deeply affected. 'Anyone who has seen the footage of this incident will be upset by how it escalated into a traumatic situation for a mother and her child. 'Despite today's conviction, we will continue to support the officer and continue to support our workforce, to ensure officers have the confidence to act decisively and make arrests when they believe they have the powers to do so. 'When an officer is convicted of a criminal offence, their conviction will often be considered at an accelerated misconduct hearing as soon as possible after proceedings have finished. 'In this case we will wait to hear if PC Lathwood will appeal the conviction, and work to fully understand the decision of the court and its implications for policing. 'We do not intend to consider an accelerated misconduct hearing in this case. 'The nature of this kind of fare evasion operation unnecessarily places officers in potentially challenging interactions with the public. 'Since this incident happened, we have stopped our involvement in supporting Transport for London fare evasion operations, but we continue our presence on the bus network tackling violent crime. 'The Met will continue to work with communities, to transform our culture and improve how we engage with all Londoners by embedding our values of empathy, integrity, respect, courage and being accountable across the whole organisation.' PC Lathwood remains on unconditional bail, with sentencing due to take place on 14 June. The British Army thrashed the Americans in a bridge-building war game as a part of NATO drills in Poland, with the UK setting a new record time for the exercise. Major Ryan Ingram, the commanding officer of 23 Amphibious Engineer Squadron manning the bridging vehicles, revealed that he had a 'wager' with the Americans over who could establish crossings the quickest - which the Brits won easily. Faced with the daunting task of crossing an 156-metre stretch across the Drawa River in the west of Poland, the British troops demonstrated their efficiency by creating a makeshift ferry crossing in just 18 minutes. The British Army crossed using M3 amphibious rig, a 24.5-ton truck that folds out to create a floating platform. Meanwhile, the US trailed behind the Brits taking an hour to assemble a ribbon bridge - a type of floating bridge capable of transporting army machinery. Faced with the daunting task of crossing an 156-metre stretch across the Drawa River in the west of Poland, the British troops demonstrated their efficiency by creating a makeshift ferry crossing in just 18 minutes Meanwhile, the US trailed behind the Brits taking an hour to assemble a ribbon bridge - a type of floating bridge 42 minutes before the Americans, the British army were able to start transporting vehicles across the water - creating ferries to speedly transport weaponry using the M3 amphibious rig Major Ryan Ingram, the commanding officer of 23 Amphibious Engineer Squadron manning the bridging vehicles, revealed that he had a 'wager' with the Americans over who could establish crossings the quickest - which the Brits won easily 42 minutes before the Americans, the British army were able to start transporting vehicles across the water - creating ferries to speedly transport weaponry using the M3 amphibious rig. Despite one vehicle struggling to board the bridge, the UK's military vehicles were transported seamlessly, taking just 45 seconds per crossing. Maj Ingram, speaking to The Telegraph, revealed the Brits had a 'wager' with the Americans. He said: 'The maths never lies. It's been a wager between me and my US peer with regards to which one is faster. So far, I'm winning and I haven't lost a round this week.' Despite the jokes, the seriousness of the war games were not lost on the troops. In neighbouring Ukraine a similar crossing could prove fatal for both sides where lengthy attempts to cross rivers leaves Ukrainian force exposed. Maj Ingram claims in real-life war situations, such as in Ukraine, the use of ferries allows for a quicker crossing time. The two-week joint exercise between British,Polish and US troops involved nearly 2,400 UK soldiers and 1,105 British vehicles. Members of the Scottish Green Party have been kicked out for declaring 'sex is a biological reality'. They were accused of making the party less safe for trans and non-binary members. Now several members have been expelled with immediate effect by the ruling Conduct and Complaints Committee (CCC). Those thrown out include Robin Harper, the party's co-convener from 2004-08, and other activists who have spent decades campaigning for Green politics. Writing on X, Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: 'So you are now expelled from the Scottish Greens for stating science. Members of the Scottish Green Party have been kicked out for declaring 'sex is a biological reality'. Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (pictured) is a critic of the Cass Review into healthcare for children with gender issues in the NHS in England, which has led to the suspension of puberty blockers in Scotland Those thrown out include Robin Harper (pictured), the party's co-convener from 2004-08, and other activists who have spent decades campaigning for Green politics Writing on X, Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser was critical of the Green Party decision 'And to think these extremists were in government until three weeks ago.' Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie is a critic of the Cass Review into healthcare for children with gender issues in the NHS in England, which has led to the suspension of puberty blockers in Scotland. Mr Harvie's refusal to accept it as a valid scientific report opened up a rift between the SNP and Greens, which led to the collapse of their power-sharing deal and the resignation of former First Minister Humza Yousaf. A total of 13 Scottish Green Party members were accused of breaching the Greens' code of conduct by signing a declaration in favour of women's 'sex-based rights', which was published online in November last year. The statement said that 'sex is a biological reality'; asserted that women have a right to maintain the sex-based protections enshrined in the Equality Act; stated that lesbians are same-sex attracted; and declared that 'women and girls have the right to discuss policies which affect them without being abused, harassed or intimidated'. Mr Harvie's refusal to accept the Dr Hilary Cass (pictured) Review as a valid scientific report opened up a rift between the SNP and Greens, which led to the collapse of their power-sharing deal and the resignation of former First Minister Humza Yousaf Humza Yousaf's deal with the Greens ended last month, which was quickly followed by his resignation as First Minister Writing on X, Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: 'So you are now expelled from the Scottish Greens for stating science' Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater of the Greens, lost their ministerial jobs when Humza Yousaf tore-up the Bute House Agreement The Bute House Agreement, which was voted for by members of both parties in August 2021, brought Greens into government for the first time anywhere in the UK, and gave the SNP a majority in the Scottish Parliament when its votes there were combined with those of the seven Green MSPs It went on: 'We know that globally women, as a sex, are disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental degradation, and that their empowerment is essential to our work as environmentalists.' Signatories were reported to the CCC, triggering a disciplinary investigation. Complainants, including the then co-conveners of LGBTQI+ group the Rainbow Greens, said the signatories had broken rules that prohibit the undermining of party policy, bullying, 'behaviours that constitute prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity' and 'behaviours that constitute a threat to others'. One of those expelled, David Jardine, 72, told Holyrood magazine the women's sex-based rights declaration 'wasn't a demand that the party overturn policy merely that people be allowed to speak without being harassed'. The Scottish Green Party said a breach of its membership policy had resulted in the 'immediate expulsion' of '13 individuals'. Former President Donald Trump is surging with a voter bloc Americans might not expect. Black voters are flocking to Trump in huge numbers, while simultaneously leaving President Joe Biden, CNN's average of polls showed. Trump's support among black voters surged to 22 percent compared to 2020, when the 45th president only had the support of 9 percent of the demographic. Biden, on the other hand, saw his 81 percent of black voter support in 2020 dip to 69 percent. CNN data analyst Harry Enten said this could be a 'troubling sign' for the Biden campaign, which heavily relied on black voters to get him into the White House last time around. Trump's support among black voters surged to 22 percent compared to 2020, when the 45th president only had the support of 9 percent of the demographi Former President Donald Trump waves as he attends the graduation ceremony of his son, Barron Trump, at Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida on May 17, 2024 Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, greets United States President Joe Biden at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC on Friday. Biden is currently touring the nation in a bid to strengthen his declining support among black voters Trump has doubled his support among Black voters from this point four years ago. If his support held, it'd be the best GOP performance since Richard Nixon in 1960 among Black voters.... Trump's doing it thanks to pulling in a quarter of Black voters under 50. pic.twitter.com/qDqBfRVLVA (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) May 17, 2024 If the trend of black voters aligning with Trump continues, he could win a larger share of them than any Republican presidential candidate since 1960, Enten added. 'This would be by far the best performance for a Republican candidate among black voters in a generation, two generations, probably since 1960 and Richard Nixon against John F. Kennedy This could be a truly historic margin.' This comes as the two candidates agreed to debate one another twice - first on June 27 with CNN and again on September 10 with ABC News. The polling average CNN cited also found that Trump is most popular with black voters ages 18 to 49. Twenty-five percent of them now say they support the former president - three times more than voters over the age of 50. 'Blacks for Trump' demonstrators gather on the day Trump appeared at the U.S. District Court in Washington on August 3, 2023 'Blacks for Trump' demonstrators show their support for Trump and his 18 co-defendants outside of the Fulton County Courthouse on September 6, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia The polling average CNN cited also found that Trump is the most popular with black voters aged 18 to 49 and has far less support among older black voters Biden still largely has locked down older black voters, whom he enjoys 82 percent support from, but the under 50 category is starting to slip. 'This is what a lot of folks have been talking about, that Joe Biden has a specific problem among younger black voters, and that is exactly what showing up right here,' Enten said. 'It's these younger black voters who very much are turning on him and being much more supportive of Donald Trump than they were four years ago.' Biden has certainly taken notice of the weakening of his coalition, and is currently on a tour to reassure black voters that he's the right choice to be commander-in-chief. 'Black history is American history, we have a whole group out there trying to rewrite history, trying to erase history,' Biden said Friday at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. Biden is seen giving a speech at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. It's part of his effort to shore up support among black voters Audience members react as Biden speaks at the museum He added: 'My name's Joe Biden, and I'm a lifetime member of the NAACP.' He was there to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The decision banned segregation in public schools. And on Sunday, Biden will deliver a commencement speech at Morehouse College, a historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia also happens to be a swing state that Biden narrowly won in 2020. Trump maintains a 1.1 percentage point edge over Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup, according to RealClearPolitics. Officials are desperately trying to boost tourism A once-popular tourist island is still mostly deserted amid Australia cost-of-living crisis. Footage of Magnetic Island, 20 minutes offshore from Townsville and 'sitting in the heart of North Queensland's tourism', revealed a distinct lack of tourists despite the April-May window being the island's traditional high season. A video posted to TikTok showed an associate of Magnetic Island Sea Kayaks searching for tourists on the island to no avail. As one person who commented on the video observed to explain the island's quietness, there's no-one there because Australians are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. 'We're all broke, struggling day to day,' the commenter posted. Officials have also been struggling to revive tourism on the island since harsh lockdowns cut travel by 90 per cent in 2020. Magnetic Island was ranked 37 in the Tourism Sentiment Index's 2023 edition of Leading Placing: The 100 Most Loved Destinations Around the World. TikTok user Crackajack9 uploaded a video of himself hunting for tourists on North Queensland's Magnetic Island to no avail The user, who works on the island, said that tourism has been down by 70 per cent this year despite the island once being named one of the world's most loved destinations In the video, cafes, beaches and main streets are all empty and not a single person is seen. 'Sadly Magnetic Island has been nearly 70 per cent down for tourism in 2024,' Crackajack9 said. 'Horseshoe Bay [has had] hardly a person here since Easter.' Even activities such as kayak, jet ski and boat tours, fishing charters, hikes, and waterfalls have not been enough to bring back tourists, he said. Some of those who commented argued that money was just too tight to justify travelling nowadays. 'People are too poor to go on holidays when 60 per cent of their wages are going on rents and mortgages,' one person wrote. 'It's almost like the cost of living is affecting people's ability to go on holiday,' a third wrote. Holidaying abroad was cited as the cheaper option instead. 'It's cheaper to fly return to Bangkok than it is Townsville? Could be an issue,' one man wrote. 'It's cheaper to go to Bali than holiday in Australia,' a woman added. Others said the island itself was just too boring and limited to justify visiting. 'It's pretty but it's boring....it's pretty boring,' someone wrote. '$30 small pizzas, the whole place is a rip,' another added. 'A decent supermarket and butcher shop on the island would be good, but I dont know thatll bring more tourists,' a third suggested. The video closed out by asking what needs to change in order to bring tourists back. A 2023 report by tourism, recreation and conservation planning consultancy TRC found that tourist numbers had stagnated, rather than declined. Magnetic Island is just a 20-minute ferry ride offshore from Townsville but tourist numbers have remained modest since the Covid pandemic Officials have also been struggling to revive tourism on the island since harsh lockdowns cut travel by 90 per cent in 2020 Magnetic Island bought in 299,796 tourists in 2022 which was a slight increase on the 290,500 that visited before the pandemic in 2019. TRC's report created a '10 year masterplan' to firmly re-establish Magnetic Island as a tourist hotspot. The plan is intended to 'enhance the island's competitive strengths and facilitate development ... to support tourism growth'. 'The Magnetic Island Tourism Masterplan will likely generate an additional 98,259 visitors and 295,000 visitor nights over the next 10 years from 2022,' the report stated. TRC claims this would require government funding, a new promotional campaign and the construction of 236 additional rooms to house visitors. 'Our vision [is for the island to become] a world leading sustainable destination inspiring land and sea stewardship that enhances the quality of life of our community and strengthens the cultural identity of our island home.' Up to now the 2,500 people living on the island claim that tourism is not getting any bigger despite businesses remaining 'cautiously optimistic' for a rebound. In January premier Steven Miles visited Townsville to try and figure out how to boost North Queensland's tourism revenue. The result was a proposed three-stage plan to rebuild demand through incentive schemes, building a more resilient industry, and increasing destination promotion. SeaLink North Queensland ferries the bulk of tourists to Magnetic Island and the pandemic resulted in 90 per cent fewer people travelling to the island. General manager Darren Spearman told the Townsville Bulletin in May 2023 that the impact on tourism had been 'tremendously negative'. 'It has been one heck of a bumpy ride,' Mr Spearman said. Pro-Palestine protesters have interrupted a Labor state conference in Melbourne amid heightened tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. Victorian Labor Party members and union delegates are gathering at the Moonee Valley Racecourse on Saturday for the two-day event. A group of pro-Palestine protesters breached security, entered the course and could be heard chanting outside the main room where speeches were being given. A party official told the conference the protesters had been moved on and the area was 'safe and secure'. Senator Lidia Thorpe was among those to give speeches as the group chanted 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' and suggested several Labor leaders had 'blood on their hands' A group of pro-Palestine protesters breached security, entered the course and could be heard chanting outside the main room where speeches were being given Outside the event, a crowd of more than 100 pro-Palestine activists rallied Outside the event, a crowd of more than 100 pro-Palestine activists rallied. A man trying to walk into the conference was swarmed by activists, before police intervened and walked him out of the area. Senator Lidia Thorpe was among those to give speeches as the group chanted 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' and suggested several Labor leaders had 'blood on their hands'. Domestic tensions remain high over Israel's invasion and bombing of Gaza following the October 7 terror attack by Hamas. Several motions related to the conflict are scheduled for debate on Saturday afternoon, including one calling for an 'end to military co-operation with Israel'. At last year's meeting, Victorian Labor members passed a motion for the Albanese government to recognise Palestinian statehood within this term of parliament. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan are scheduled to address the conference later on Saturday. Days after the federal budget was handed down, the prime minister is expected to tout his government's $32 billion housing investment. 'We are doing all this in spite of the opposition we've faced from the Liberals and the Greens,' Mr Albanese will tell the party faithful. 'The Liberals have a pathological problem with affordable housing, always have. 'And while the Greens ... talk a lot about housing, the only thing they want to build is their profile.' A party official told the conference the protesters had been moved on and the area was 'safe and secure' People attending the ALP conference get shoved and pushed as they walk through a pro-Palestine rally outside the Mooney Valley Racecourse The prime minister will accuse Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of failing to present a positive vision for the nation in his budget reply speech. 'The Liberal Party are scared of the present but terrified of the future,' he will say. 'They are stuck in the past and set on dragging the rest of Australia back there to keep them company.' It is the first state party conference since Ms Allan succeeded Daniel Andrews as premier. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan are scheduled to address the conference later on Saturday Victorian Labor's dominant socialist left faction is expected to lead a controversial motion to strip rank-and-file members of their right to vote for a new state leader. In September, senior right faction MP Ben Carroll threatened to challenge Ms Allan for the leadership after Mr Andrews' resignation. It would have forced a vote among party members, who currently get an equal say in deciding the leader when more than one MP nominates, but the situation was avoided when a deal was struck for Mr Carroll to become deputy premier. Another motion, titled 'keeping public land in public hands', could focus on the government's plan to knock down and rebuild Melbourne's 44 towers by 2051 in what has been billed as Australia's biggest urban renewal project. While the redevelopment plan would increase the number of residents living in the estates from 10,000 to 30,000, places reserved for social housing will only rise to 11,000. The parents of Shani Louk have described the heartbreaking moment they saw her body seven months after Hamas terrorists killed her and paraded her half-naked body through Gaza. This bittersweet milestone for the 22-year-old tattoo artist's family comes as relatives of the remaining Israeli hostages gathered Friday in New York City's Flatiron Plaza to demand their release. 'The body that we have now is complete and beautiful and looks like she's alive actually,' Shani's father Nissim Louk told the New York Post on Friday. The condition of her body was 'a miracle,' Nissim added. 'I think she'd been in one of the tunnels which was very, very coldthat's why the body is complete and beautiful and the skin is still the same color, you still see the tattoos, it's amazing,' Nissim said. German-Israeli tattoo artist Shani Louk, 22, was killed by Hamas in October 2023 after being kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Her body was recovered Friday in Gaza Nissim and Ricarda Louk, the parents of Shani Louk, expressed their relief that their daughter's body was found. Nissim invited fellow Israelis to her funeral Sunday Nissim said the family was relieved that the Israeli Defense Forces recovered Shani's body in Gaza and have brought her back to Israel. He invited other Israelis to attend to her funeral on Sunday. Shani's mother told the DailyMail.com that her daughter's 'spirit is free.' 'It is like closing a circle. Her spirit is free already half a year, but now her body is back home and can rest in peace,' Ricarda Louk said. The IDF also announced Friday the discovery of the remains of hostages Itzhak Gelerenter, 53, and Amit Buskila, 28. There are still about 100 hostages that could still be alive in Gaza, and one of them is Omer Shem-Tov. Shem-Tov's cousin Leat Corinne Unger, center, gave a detailed recounting of her cousin's seven month imprisonment by Hamas Unger, right, said Shem-Tov, 21, has kept his faith despite being given little food and having to ration it to keep the Sabbath Shem-Tov's cousin Leat Corinne Unger was at the 'Open Tent Shabbat' event in New York Friday, which was hosted by the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council. Shem-Tov, 21, was one of the Israelis dragged to Gaza by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack on the Nova music festival. He remains in Gaza to this day. Unger said Shem-Tov's family had to helplessly watch as his phone's location sharing revealed he was being kidnapped. 'On live location share, his family witnessed him being kidnapped to Gaza,' Unger told the Post during the event. Unger said Shem-Tov heard gunshots at around 6:30 am. That's when he called his sister to let her know he would try to escape by car. When that plan fell through, he took off into a brush on foot. Hamas militants unfortunately caught up and took him away in the back of a pickup truck. Ricarda Louk pictured with her daughter Shani. Ricard said her 'spirit is free' and she can rest in peace now that she's back in Israel A woman walks past posters of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 17, 2024 Unger revealed that Shem-Tov kept his faith, which she and the family learned from his friend Itay. Itay was also abducted alongside Shem-Tov, but was later released as part of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Once he was free, Itay told the family that he and Shem-Tov would keep track of time by listening to Muslim prayers. They'd also reportedly ration their food. 'They would scrape the salt off the pretzels they were given once and they used very little of it and saved the rest,' Unger said, adding they were also given grape juice and saved it. 'The small amount of pita bread they were given, they would take each part of their portions and recite the blessing of the Sabbath to bring light into the darkness.' Shani Louk is pictured in July 2023, months before her death, in the Czech Republic Pictured: Student encampment at Columbia University on April 23. They were gathered shortly before a deadline to disperse was given by Columbia's president Unger, a Columbia University alumna, also offered her opinion on pro-Palestine campus protests that raged all over the U.S. in recent weeks, perhaps most prominently at her alma mater. 'If you truly want to stop the suffering of innocent Palestinians, you would be demanding the release of the hostages,' Unger said. She continued: 'With the release of the hostages comes a ceasefire and an end of suffering and bloodshed on all sides.' Unger described the seven months since Shem-Tov was kidnapped as a 'rollercoaster' but said his family is 'hopeful' he'll be returned safely. Israel is continuing its ground invasion into Rafah, and Hamas has said it will fight back 'no matter how long the aggression lasts and regardless of its form.' UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, said more than 630,000 people had fled Rafah since the offensive began on May 6, Reuters reported. A 22-year-old vaping addict who ended up needing a double lung transplant has issued a chilling warning. Last October Jackson Allard developed parainfluenza as a result of his vaping habit, which led to pneumonia and eventually acute respiratory distress syndrome. Allard, from North Dakota, was hospitalized and put on life support for 70 days. Now recovering for a double lung transplant he has issued a warning to others as the sale of vapes continues to rise. 'I was really sick, barely able to sleep, puking constantly,' Allard told Fox News of his ordeal. Jackson Allard developed parainfluenza as a result of his vaping habit, which led to pneumonia and eventually acute respiratory distress syndrome Allard, from North Dakota, was hospitalized and put on life support for 70 days 'I had a 1 percent chance to live,' he explained. 'When I first started vaping, I was probably 14. I was pretty much non-stop doing it,' adding that he also began using marijuana vape as well. 'I told my friend who smokes weed, I was like, "Be careful with that,"' Allard said, advising that it would be better for people to opt for different products such as marijuana gummies instead of vapes. Allard's grandmother, Doreen Hurlburt, told the publication that doctors were clear about the implication of using vapes. 'Multiple doctors said, "If you smoke cigarettes for 50 years, we'll see you with lung cancer, and if you vape for five years, we'll see you with permanent lung damage,"' she said. Sales of vapes and e-cigarettes has continued to rise, according to a Federal Trade Commission report released earlier this week. Additionally nine percent of children aged 11-15 admitting theyre regular vapers, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 'We've seen kids who have been vaping for short periods of time, and not necessarily with heavy use, come in with pretty significant lung injury from that,' pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Brooke Moore told Fox News. Allard's grandmother, Doreen Hurlburt, said doctors were clear about the implication of vapes Now recovering from a double lung transplant, Allard has issued a warning to others Jackson Allard, 22, was found suffering from Influenza 4 and double pneumonia due to vaping. He had to have a double lung transplant to survive Sales of vapes and e-cigarettes has continued to rise, according to a Federal Trade Commission report 'With vaping products, we don't have as much long-term data, but in the short term, the risk seems to be as high as cigarettes, and I would argue in some cases worse' she added. A recent study found that vaping increases the risk of developing asthma by more than 200 percent. Researchers from the University of Texas looked at the health data from more than 40,000 people of all ages over the course of five years. At the start of the 2022 analysis, none of the participants had asthma. By the end of the study, they found that roughly ten in every 1,000 adults had developed the common respiratory condition. However, those who had used e-cigarettes in the 30 days prior to the final analysis had a 252 percent higher risk of developing asthma early in life, before age 27, compared to those who did not use e-cigarettes. A controversial US 'chastity preacher' has sparked outrage among parents who do not want him speaking at their children's schools. Parents and students are asking their schools to cancel a string of appearances from Chastity Project founder, Jason Evert. Mr Evert, from Arizona, intends to deliver his 'love or lust' lecture at Wahroonga's St Leo's Catholic College in Sydney's north, East Gosford's St Joseph's all-girl Catholic college and Warnervale's MacKillop Catholic College on the NSW central coast. He will 'discusses relationships in a non-judgemental way', a letter to parents of children at the schools read. Parents were told that the lecture would include topics like the virtues of chastity, virginity and the negative effects of pornography, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Founder of Chastity Project, Jason Evert, is scheduled to give his 'love or lust' lecture at three Catholic schools in NSW's Central Coast next week Parents of children at the schools are complaining about Mr Evert's controversial talking points which include pornography addiction, modesty and the value of abstinence This will be Mr Evert's seventh time delivering speeches in Australia as part of Chastity Project's 'outreach program' which seeks to 'educate' children around the world. One parent from St Joseph's, Alison Read, told the outlet that she did not want her daughter picking up any 'out-of-date views about keeping herself "pure".' Another mother, Sarah Greenaway, wrote a letter to the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay about how Mr Evert's 'perspectives can be harmful and alienating' for students. In a book he authored in 2006, Mr Evert had claimed that homosexual acts were 'disordered'. Despite Mr Evert claiming to have removed the quote more than 10 years ago, Ms Greenaway insisted in her letter that his views did not 'align with many of the teachings of modern Catholicism'. Commentary videos the chastity preacher posts online have also caused backlash, including one where he said 'most women do not want' to take the contraceptive pill. An online petition launched by parents and students at St Joseph's to cancel its event featuring the preacher received more than 700 signatures in one day. In response to the backlash Mr Evert told the publication that 'the only reason why I am being invited back' to Australia for more speeches is because people like him. 'The presentation is not about hate, bigotry, or medical misinformation, it's a positive message that focuses on chastity as a virtue that frees us to love,' Mr Evert said. 'And in terms of the subject of modesty, I think it's a virtue that men as well as women would do well to rediscover.' Despite Mr Evert's lectures not being compulsory, an online petition to cancel his appearances gained 700 signatures in one day A mother from St Joseph's all-girl Catholic College in East Gosford took particular issue with the fact that Mr Evert once called homosexuals 'disordered' The Sydney Catholic Diocese's Centre of Evangelisation hosted Mr Evert's 'love or lust' lecture in 2023. In the presentation Mr Evert used statistics to show how abstinence lowers divorce rates and that a lack of modesty can lead to objectification. 'I didn't even know how to treat a girl until I dated one in college who dressed modestly,' he said at the time. In another tangent he said that if a woman 'thinks she's ready for sex, [but] she's not ready to be a mother, then she has no clue what she's talking about'. A spokeswoman for Catholic Schools Broken Bay said guest speakers like Mr Evert can provide 'reassurance and certainty' for students' relationships and sexuality. Mr Evert's sessions will not be compulsory for students due to the sensitivity of the subject matter but parents told the ABC nobody had informed them that was the case before the controversy. St Joseph's principal Carolina Murdoch wrote a letter telling parents that their feedback had been passed along to Mr Evert. 'Jason was grateful for the opportunity to receive the feedback and provided assurances that his presentation will be delivered in a very compassionate and charitable manner,' the letter read. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jason Evert and Catholic Schools Broken Bay for comment. Two police officers who drove away for a kebab on a two-hour break on the night of the Manchester Arena terror attack have been handed final written warnings. The Manchester Arena Inquiry had heard that suicide bomber Salman Abedi may have been challenged if a British Transport Police (BTP) officer had been present. An investigation into the BTP officers was launched following a complaint by families of the victims relating to evidence heard at the inquiry. A report by Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry, into security arrangements at the venue concluded there were 'significant failures' by all five BTP officers on duty at the arena on May 22, 2017. The five on duty had been instructed by their sergeant to ensure at least one was present in the City Room when the concert ended. PC Jessica Bullough and PC Mark Renshaw went on a 10-mile round trip to buy kebabs on the night of the Manchester Arena attack. The pair later received commendations for running towards the aftermath of the bombing. But a misconduct hearing heard that if they had remained in Manchester Arena, they may have deterred the bombing Bomber Salman Abedi, pictured, was bent double under the weight of the bomb. He was reported to security 30 minutes before the explosion. There were no members of British Transport Police at the station and neighbouring arena at the time the bomb went off The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017 But they failed to follow orders. At 7.27pm, Police Constable Jessica Bullough and a PCSO colleague drove five miles from Victoria Station to south Manchester to get a kebab, and were off duty for two hours and nine minutes, the inquiry heard. It meant that when Abedi made his 'final approach' to the City Room, dressed all in black and walking almost bent double, carrying his heavy rucksack bomb, no officers were patrolling the area around the arena. READ MORE - The 23 missed chances to stop the Manchester Arena bomber Advertisement If a BTP officer had been present, Abedi may have been challenged after a member of the public, Christopher Wild, reported his concerns to Showsec stewards about half an hour before the explosion, the inquiry was told. The same officers were praised for their response after the blast - running into the City Room foyer to help those injured. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) directed an investigation into the actions of two police constables and two police community support officers (PCSOs) who were responsible for patrolling the arena on the night of the attack in 2017. They found one of the police officers and one of the PCSOs, who is now employed as a BTP police constable, should be disciplined for the 'timing and length of their refreshment breaks', as well as failing to follow instructions from a senior officer. A misconduct meeting found the case proven against both individuals. A report into the bombing found there were 'significant failures' in the conduct of all five BTP officers who were on duty on the night of the bombing They were given final written warnings which will remain in force for the next two years. The police watchdog also recommended BTP apologises to the families of the victims for the shortcomings in the policing operation on the night. This was accepted by the force, the IOPC said. The watchdog found 'no persuasive evidence' to suggest longer breaks had also been taken at other Arena events. READ MORE - Gang who supplied 10m of drugs and were associates of Manchester Arena bomber jailed for 40 years Advertisement The evidence 'showed BTP officers were given clear instructions about the lengths of refreshment breaks,' the IOPC said. IOPC regional director Mel Palmer added: 'Nothing can bring back the lives lost, or make up for the pain and suffering experienced by the bereaved, but it is important that the actions of the police are thoroughly scrutinised, mistakes are acknowledged and lessons are learned. 'That is why we have carefully reviewed the steps taken by BTP to address the areas for improvement identified in the inquiry report, and also recommended that the force apologises to the complainants. 'This investigation has also ensured the two individuals whose actions fell below the standards expected by the public, and who ignored instructions from a senior officer, have now been held accountable.' Another BTP officer who was the subject of the complaint retired before the investigation began. 'We reached the view that the evidence indicated there would have been no case to answer for either misconduct or gross misconduct, had they still been serving,' the IOPC said. A provisional decision has been made in relation to the other PSCO and will be finalised at a later date. Inquiry chief Sir John Saunders found that Abedi's Libyan parents, Ramadan (pictured) and Samia, and elder brother Ismail all held 'significant responsibility for the radicalisation' Libya extradited Hashem (pictured) in 2019. He was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 55 years Police have arrested a bar manager in Majorca on suspicion of raping a teenage British tourist. Detectives are said to be hunting two other men described as his friends who allegedly witnessed the sex attack and 'did nothing to prevent it.' The 19-year-old holidaymaker raised the alarm after returning to her hotel in the early hours of yesterday morning. She told cops she had been plied with alcohol at a bar in S'illot, a small tourist town on the south east coast of Majorca, before being taken to a storeroom when she became dizzy and 'offered sex'. Police have arrested a bar manager in Majorca on suspicion of raping a teenage British tourist (file picture of S'illot) Detectives are said to be hunting two other men described as his friends who allegedly witnessed the sex attack and 'did nothing to prevent it' (file picture of S'illot) Respected island newspaper Ultima Hora said she had claimed she was followed after managing to open the storeroom door and leave the unnamed bar - and was raped by the manager after being taken to a secluded spot nearby. The two men described as friends are said to have watched the alleged sex attack but failed to stop it. The man who has been taken into custody is Spanish as are the two pals police are trying to locate. He has denied any wrongdoing. He is expected to appear in court later today and the British teenager asked to ratify her police statement in front of the same judge who questions him before deciding whether to release him on bail or remand him in custody. The ongoing investigation is being led by the Civil Guard who are awaiting the results of DNA tests and calling in footage from CCTV cameras in the area as well as speaking to locals to see whether they saw witnessed anything that could help them. The 19-year-old holidaymaker raised the alarm after returning to her hotel in the early hours of yesterday morning (file picture of S'illot) She told cops she had been plied with alcohol at a bar in S'illot, a small tourist town on the south east coast of Majorca, before being taken to a storeroom when she became dizzy and 'offered sex' (file picture) There has not yet been any official comment from police. Yesterday the trial in the Majorcan capital Palma of two men accused of sexually assaulting and robbing a British tourist in Magaluf in March last year finished. The pair are facing prison sentences of 20 and 27 years respectively if they are convicted of their crimes. The three trial judges are expected to deliver their sentence in writing in the coming weeks. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made an appearance at the Victoria ALP Conference after ugly confrontations between pro-Palestine protesters, police and delegates sent the venue into lockdown. The PM addressed delegates at the conference saying a one-word answer he gave a journalist ahead of the last election sent the opposition off the 'deep end'. 'I was asked if I would support an increase in the minimum wage of $1 an hour. I gave a one-word answer: absolutely,' Mr Albanese said. 'That one word, the very idea that the lowest paid workers in Australia should not go backwards, that was enough to send the Liberal Party and some of their cheer squad in the media right off the deep ends. Mr Albanese's rallying speech followed ugly confrontations with pro-Palestine protesters, who clashed with police and delegates as they attended (pictured) Protesters were seen shoving and pushing as they made their way into the conference Some politicians attending the event had to be escorted into the venue by police officers 'They said it was loose, they said it was irresponsible, they said the sky would fall in and the economy would shut down, in other words they said what the Liberal Party would always say when there's a change to improve people's wages and conditions or workplace safety or job security.' The PM said the 'no-alition' said no every time and they were wrong as more than 800,000 jobs had been created since they came into power and a record for a first term government. His rallying speech followed ugly confrontations with pro-Palestine protesters, who clashed with police and delegates as they attended. Protesters could be seen shoving and pushing people as they make their way through the crowd into the conference - some of which included MPs and Labor delegates, who were met with abuse upon arriving. Others had to be escorted into the venue by police. A video posted to X shows hundreds of protesters storm a building where the conference is taking place with people inside the building chanting, 'Free, free, Palestine,' and banging on walls. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the actions of the protesters in a statement posted to X, saying she was 'disgusted' by their violence. 'Today, protestors and intruders brought violence, homophobia and anti-Semitism to the front door of state conference,' she wrote at 1.25pm on Saturday. 'I'm disgusted. No one should be cowered by these bullies. 'As Premier, my priority is a cohesive society where all Victorians feel safe and respected. That's what I'm fighting for.' MPs and delegates were met with abuse from the protesters as they arrived at the venue Mr Albanese claimed his one-word answer to a question about the minimum wage had sent the 'no-alition' off the 'deep end' (he is pictured at the 2024 Victorian Labor state conference) It is understood security had to put the building into lockdown, moving delegates to a secure area after the protesters stormed the building. Outside the conference protesters try to disrupt the conference by chanting pro-Palestine messages through megaphones. A Victoria Police confirmed that no arrests had been made but they would also be at the racecourse tomorrow when the conference continues for a second day. 'A group of protesters entered the gates to a venue on Feehan Ave this morning and were moved on without incident,' the spokesperson said. 'Our priority is the safety of the community and officers will ensure there are no breaches of the peace.' Senator Lidia Thorpe spoke at the rally while the conference was taking place inside a building at the racecourse (she is pictured at the rally) Protesters included union and community groups which have called on the Victorian Government to end its ties with Israel. In a statement released on social media, Trade Unionists for Palestine said they were protesting against the Albanese's Government's $917m defence contract with Israel and wanted the state government to end a partnership with an Israeli arms manufacturer. 'Trade Unionists for Palestine stand with dissenters in the ALP such as Senator Fatima Payman who recently broke ranks with party line and called Israel's attack on Gaza what it is, a genocide,' the statement said. 'Despite Payman's statement and growing disquiet in Labor rank and file, ALP governments stand shamefully on the wrong side of history in failing to condemn Israel's actions including war crimes committed on the Palestinian people.' Senator Lidia Thorpe spoke at the rally while the conference was taking place inside a building at the racecourse. A seven-year-old boy who died after being infected with HIV in the contaminated blood scandal was used in 'secret trials' because he was 'cheaper than chimpanzees' to test on, his parents have claimed. Ahead of the release of a report into the scandal on Monday, Jan and Colin Smith told of their heartbreak after their son, also named Colin died in January 1990 after being infected with AIDS and Hepatitis C with contaminated blood at the age of two. Sir Brian Langstaff will release his report into the scandal on Monday following four years gather evidence in the Infected Blood Inquiry between 2019 and 2023. Campaigners including Mr and Mrs Smith have tirelessly worked for decades to get justice for the victims of the infected blood scandal and that's what they hope will happen after the report's release next week. Mr Smith wants those responsible for the death of his son and other victims face criminal charges such as manslaughter, so that justice is served 'properly not hypothetically', he told Sky News. Contaminated blood scandal victim Colin Smith (pictured aged six in 1988) died aged seven in 1990 after contracting HIV from a dose of blood clotting protein Factor VIII Ahead of the release of a report into the scandal on Monday, Jan and Colin Smith (pictured) told of their heartbreak of their son's death He said he still struggles to 'get to grips' with the thoughts that 'I gave my son over to his killers'. Colin Jnr was born with haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood's ability to clot, which is treated with a substance called Factor VIII. The Factor VIII that was given to the young boy was made using the blood from the likes of prisoners, drug addicts and sex workers in America. Mr and Mrs Smith told Sky News that they believe their son - who weighed just 13 pounds when he died - was being used by doctors in 'secret trials', leading to his ultimately fatal infection with HIV. Colin was treated in the 1980s by top haemophilia specialist Arthur Bloom, who himself died in 1992. But documents released to the inquiry show that that Bloom's research had huge risks that had never been explained to Colin's parents. The first time he went to hospital the young boy had never been treated for his haemophilia, a document shown the inquiry was shown. This made him useful to researchers as they could study how he reacted to new treatments. Mr Smith said that his son was 'just unlucky enough to be born at the right time', and be a newly diagnosed and untreated haemophiliac. He told Sky News his son was exactly what doctors wanted because, 'as documentation states they are cheaper than chimpanzees'. The father said that while you can only 'treat a chimp once' children can be followed throughout their lives. Mr and Mrs Smith told Sky News that they believe their son - who weighed just 13 pounds when he died - was being used by doctors in 'secret trials', leading to his infection with HIV Mr and Mrs Smith go through their suitcase of memories of their son Colin Colin Jnr was born with haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood's ability to clot, which is treated with a substance called Factor VIII The first time Colin Jnr went to hospital the young boy had never been treated for his haemophilia, a document shown the inquiry was shown The inquiry also saw a letter that Bloom had written to a colleague after he saw Colin in hospital, where the doctor said he had just given the boy Factor VIII and even acknowledged the risk that could get contract Hepatitis, even though he had been given some made in Britain. 'This is just something haemophiliacs have to accept,' the letter said. Bloom also wrote to his colleagues on June 24 1983 where he said that the Factor VIII carried a risk of AIDS and that one possible case relating to it had been reported. Mr Smith asked how it could be justified that Colin was infected, despite being born in 1982, when this had been occurring since the 1970s. Mrs Smith said she had complete faith at the time that the doctors were treating Colin Jnr completely in his best interests, and that she never had concerns about their intentions. Mr and Mrs Smith showed Sky News a suitcase containing memories of Colin, including the blanket he was wrapped in when he died, which 'still smells of him'. Also in the case were his favourite toys and his artwork. Paedophile maths teacher Rebecca Joynes' illegal affairs with two of her students were only discovered after she orchestrated a sickening date night to reveal she had fallen pregnant. Complete with rose petals spread in a trail through her apartment, a sex games scratchcard, and ending with a babygro with the words 'I love my daddy', Joynes' announcement led to almost two years of lies unravelling in just hours. Her victim was left so shocked by the news - after Joynes, 30, told him she was unable to get pregnant due to having polycystic ovary syndrome - he told his parents, Joynes was arrested for a second time and was ultimately convicted of all charges on Friday. The disgraced teacher was unanimously convicted of four charges of sexual activity with a child and two charges of the same while in a position of trust, after she had a one-night stand with one pupil before falling pregnant by a second. Joynes burst into tears as the verdicts were read out and was rushed out of the courtroom by her father Stuart, who had attended every day of his pervert daughter's trial. Her victims' families cheered and some were seen to be tearful in a sign of their relief. She will be sentenced on July 4, when she is expected to be jailed - with the judge telling her she has a final chance to see her baby: 'You'll want to see her before sentence is passed.' Guilty: Rebecca Joynes has been convicted of sexual activity with a child concerning two pupils after a two-week trial at Manchester Crown Court Throughout the trial Joynes arrived to court each day wearing a baby's bonnet tucked into the waistband of her trousers. She later denied this was to 'win sympathy' from the jury - but they were not convinced Maths teacher Rebecca Joynes and her father Stuart leave court after she was convicted of having sex with two schoolboys The teacher - who has since been sacked from her school, which cannot be named to protect her victims' identities - had already been on bail for having sex with a 15-year-old boy from her Year 11 maths class when she first met up with a second pupil. Boys in her Year 11 maths class had told the young teacher how 'sexy' she was, nicknaming her 'Bunda Becky' which is a slang reference to her bottom. Soon afterwards, she groomed one of the boys by buying him a 345 Gucci belt, before inviting him to her luxury Salford Quays flat where they had sex twice. In her defence, Joynes said they did not have sex and blamed semen found on her sheets on the fact she had left him alone in her apartment for several hours. The boy told police that after awkwardly sitting on the couch together they ended up stripping naked and having unprotected sex twice. He said that as Joynes was getting undressed, she said: 'No one had better find out.' Rumours soon spread after the boy, 15, told schoolfriends and Joynes was arrested and suspended. But rather than stopping her illegal behaviour, she 'brazenly' went on to have a secret sexual relationship with a second boy, after he told a panicking Joynes how to wipe her phone records. This was in direct of strict bail conditions, which ordered her not to have any unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. After sending flirtatious messages on Snapchat, she agreed to meet up with the schoolboy and they went on to have unprotected sex around 30 times. The court heard how they had first kissed when he was 15, but only began having sex after he turned 16. Rebecca Joynes arriving at Manchester Crown Court on Friday before being found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust Rebecca Joynes pictured in 2018, years before she had sex with two of her students Joynes was found guilty of having sex with two 15-year-old pupils, one of whom she bought a 345 Gucci belt from Selfridges at the Trafford Centre Her lawyers tried to claim this meant their relationship was not illegal, because Joynes had already been suspended as a teacher. Although the age of consent in the UK is 16, this rises to 18 if it involves a teacher and student. But the argument failed as while Joynes had stopped working at the school, she was still receiving her salary. After initially asking how she was coping, the boy began sending messages including: 'Get your t*** out.' Jurors heard Joynes flirtatiously replied: 'Not tonight.' He claimed she later sent him a photograph of her bottom covered only by a thong. While he was still only 15, Joynes invited him back to his flat where the schoolboy said she straddled and kissed him. On turning 16 in 2022, he sent her a message saying he was now 'legal'. Despite still being a pupil at the school from which she remained suspended, he claimed she took his virginity, reassuring him that 'it was great'. Long letters written by Joynes were read to the court, which heard how she told her victim: 'every inch of you is perfect.' The 18-month relationship was only exposed after Joynes fell pregnant with her former student's child. After inviting the boy back to her flat, Joynes had devised a 'trail of surprises' including rose petals and a sex scratchcard throughout her flat. At the end of the trail, she handed the shocked boy a babygro with the words 'I love my daddy' on it. But this caused a row with her startled victim panicking at the news, the court heard. After telling his parents, Joynes was rearrested and again put her phone through a factory reset while police officers were knocking on her door. Rebecca Joynes tried to cover her face as she left Manchester Crown Court with her father, Stuart, after being found guilty by jurors of having sex with schoolboys Rebecca Joynes, accompanied by her father Stuart (right), was released on bail by Judge Kate Cornell Rebecca Joynes pictured with her father Stuart and mother Mel, who run a cafe selling tea and cakes in Heswall 'Now I think about it, it was emotional abuse,' her victim told police. 'She just basically mentally abused me. Then I sacrificed 18 months for a paedophile.' She was incarcerated for several months before being released on bail due to the 'intractable' problem of her child's impending birth. The baby was removed from her custody just 24 hours after birth following an emergency court hearing. In a shameless attempt to garner sympathy, Joynes turned up at court each day with a baby's bonnet visibly tucked into her clothing, and cried as she told the court how she was only able to see her child three times a week. Joynes insisted she had done nothing wrong by embarking on a full-blown sexual relationship with her second victim from the summer of 2022. 'I was in love with him, I was pregnant with his child,' she said. 'I wasn't committing an offence by doing any of it.' Following a two-week trial during which jaw-dropping detail emerged about her career suicide, Joynes was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. Joynes closed her eyes and grimaced, before she began visibly shaking as she stood in the dock as the guilty verdicts were returned by the jury foreman. Her mother and father, sat in the public gallery, made no reaction but yards away the parents of the boys stifled cheers as Joynes was convicted. She will be sentenced on July 4. Adjourning the case, Judge Kate Cornell granted Joynes bail and gave her a last chance to see her baby before she is put behind bars. It can now be revealed that her barrister unsuccessfully attempted to argue that Joynes could not be guilty of sexual activity while in a position of trust in relation to the second boy as she had by then been suspended as a teacher. Judge Kate Cornell rejected Michael O'Brien's bid to throw those charges out, pointing out that Joynes was still being paid her salary at the time. Judge Cornell said: 'There's a baby in this case who has done nothing wrong and is entirely innocent, and you will obviously want to see her before sentence is passed, I understand that. Joynes denied six counts of sexual activity with a child, two of them while in a position of trust but was found guilty The sacked maths teacher arriving at Manchester Crown Court on May 16 Joynes pictured outside Manchester Crown Court alongside her father Stuart last Tuesday Joynes was supported throughout the trial by her business owner father Stuart. Pictured: On Wednesday 'But you must be under no illusion about what's going to happen on July 4. You will have to serve what sentence I pass.' Joynes left the courtroom escorted by her father, 54, who has supported his daughter throughout the case. The tearoom owner, from an upmarket area in The Wirral, arrived with Joynes every morning at court, often with his arm around her waist. Upon her guilty verdict, Jane Wilson, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: 'Rebecca Joynes is a sexual predator. 'Joynes was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and safeguarding children. She abused her position to groom and ultimately sexually exploit schoolboys. Her behaviour has had a lasting impact on them. 'The CPS worked with Greater Manchester Police to build a strong case to put before the jury, including eyewitness testimony, phone evidence showing the messages sent by Joynes and CCTV footage. 'I would like to thank the victims for supporting the prosecution. Joynes will now face the consequences of her actions.' Teachers are to get free speech protections from blasphemy claims made by religious groups - after an RE teacher was forced into hiding for showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. An independent review by the Government's adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, will reportedly urge the Department for Education (DfE) to issue schools with statutory guidance to legally protect teachers' freedom of expression. This comes after a series of mishandled blasphemy incidents in British schools, including an RE teacher who was forced into hiding and faced death threats after showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The unnamed teacher was 'let down' by Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire and police after being suspended as head of religious studies at in March, a review found in March this year. But the new guidance would say schools should not automatically suspend teachers over blasphemy claims and would prevent schools from publicly identifying teachers involved. Protesters outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire, on March 26, 2021 after a teacher was suspended for showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils during an RE lesson The RE teacher at Batley Grammar School (pictured in March 2021) was forced into hiding and faced death threats after showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed Under the proposals, schools would not be obliged to consult parents, faith or community groups on educational content that might insult religious groups, The Times reported. The paper said the report, due to be published next week, is understood to have placed emphasis on making the guidance statutory. Lord Walney declined to comment. A Government spokesman said: 'Extremism of any kind has no place in our society and we will not tolerate tactics that set out to intimidate, threaten or cause disruption to the law-abiding majority. 'In recent months, we have also witnessed a small number of protesters display violent and hateful behaviour, and the police have our full support in tackling extremism and hate crime. 'We will consider the report's final recommendations extremely carefully and will respond in due course.' Last November, a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 teachers conducted for the Policy Exchange think tank found 16 per cent of them admitted having self-censored in order to avoid causing religious offence. The think tank claimed this had created a 'de facto blasphemy code in schools across the country'. The teacher, in his late 20s, showed the controversial image to children at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in March 2021. Protesters are pictured outside the school The report from, Lord Walney (pictured), will reportedly urge the DfE to issue schools with statutory guidance to protect teachers' freedom of expression It made reference to the Batley Grammar School incident, where a teacher was forced into hiding and received death threats after showing a class a picture of the prophet Muhammad, and said it had 'clearly scared the teaching profession'. Some 55 per cent of teachers polled said they would never use an image of the Islamic prophet in class and a further 9 per cent cited the Batley incident as the reason they would not do so. Half of teachers said there would be a risk to their safety if protests similar to the ones which sprang up outside the school gates in Batley took place, with one in five saying there would be a 'very big risk'. A total of 1,132 teachers from across the UK took part in the survey. France has rolled out a commemorative scratch-and-sniff postal stamp featuring its iconic long baguette, promising recipients an authentic 'bakery scent' to enjoy with their morning post. Nearly 600,000 of the stamps featuring the French flute wrapped in the colours of the tricolore began to go on sale on Friday, costing 1.96 (1.68) each. With an innovative spin, the stickers are made with ink containing 'microcapsules' that carry the smell of French bread. 'The baguette, the bread of our daily lives, the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture,' French postal service La Poste wrote in a glowing tribute on its website, having announced the promotion on Thursday. The timing of the launch appeared deliberate, Thursday being the day of Saint-Honore, the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs. 594,000 of the stamps will be produced, going on sale from Friday, May 17 The French postal system is selling novelty souvenir items championing the baguette online File photo. French baker David Buelens takes baguettes out of an oven in Versailles, Nov 2022 In a heartfelt - and lengthy - nod to French baking, La Poste heralded the simple baguette as a 'bearer of culture and customs... deeply rooted in the daily practices of the French'. 'She embodies a ritual, that of going to her bakery, a local business anchored in the regions, attracting twelve million consumers every day. 'The making of six billion baguettes each year confirms its iconic status in French food heritage.' Indeed, the French baguette, one of the abiding symbols of the nation, was given UNESCO heritage status in 2022. 'It is the promise of a delectable sensory experience,' a statement went on. 'On view, it seduces with its golden crust and its grignes, signatures of the baker. 'Fresh from the oven, its toasted scent whets the appetite. To the touch, it is a transition from the resistance of its crust to the lightness of its honeycomb crumb.' The souvenir 'novelty' stamp can be sent worldwide, meaning such scent could soon be appearing in postal bags in Britain. 'This scent is encapsulated. We buy it from another manufacturer,' Damien Lavaud, printer at Philaposte, was quoted as saying by France Bleu. 'And the difficulty for us is to apply this ink without breaking the capsules, so that the smell can then be released by the customer rubbing on the stamp.' Accompanying the stamp, La Poste released a 'document philatelique' (referring to stamps) - a note on the history and cultural significance of the baguette - and a souvenir card featuring a picture of iconic breadstick. In an impassioned statement following its ascension to the United Nations' Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2022, Macron championed the baguette as '250 grams of magic and perfection'. UNESCO voted to include the 'artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread' on its list, which already includes around 600 traditions from over 130 countries. It does not afford any special protections to baguettes but is added to the list to 'help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance'. At the French Embassy in #WashingtonDC, Pres. @EmmanuelMacron celebrates the addition of the baguette to the @UNESCO #IntangibleHeritage List pic.twitter.com/cTxhjXj619 Embassy of France in the U.S. (@franceintheus) December 1, 2022 Macron issues gushing praise to the humble baguette at the French embassy in DC, Nov 2022 French rugby fans hold baguettes and a tricolore in October 2015. The baguette received UNESCO heritage status in 2022 and remains a source of cultural pride for the French France decided to submit the baguette to the panel after seeing pizza from Naples be granted the special status, with Macron declaring: 'The baguette is the envy of the whole world.' He added: 'Excellence and expertise must be preserved, and that is why it should be heritage-listed.' In a speech at the French embassy in Washington DC in 2022, Macron lauded the flute as 'inimitable'. 'In these few centimeters passed from hand to hand lies the spirit of French know-how,' Macron said, holding a baguette in one hand and receiving laughs from his audience. 'Many have tried to make it; they just made something industrial which has no taste. 'And this 'French touch' we have in our baguette is the one we have in other sectors: It's this additional know-how, this extra soul. So, congratulations to our baguette for today,' A married teacher who told a 15-year-old schoolboy she loved him in one of thousands of emails and text messages has claimed she is 'not a predator, just pathetic'. The woman had been teaching for just over three years when she was suspended over her alleged 'inappropriate' and 'manipulative' interactions with the teen. The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) heard she exchanged more than 1,200 emails with her pupil over a six-week period. Among the messages were ones where she wrote 'you don't like that I'm married do you?' and 'the professional teacher half of me is actually really relieved that you're leaving. Sorry. You know how the other half feels.' After the teenager left the school, the teacher sent more than 3,600 text messages to him in less than a week, from 21 to 27 September 2018. A married teacher who told a 15-year-old schoolboy she loved him in one of thousands of emails and text messages claimed she is 'not a predator, just pathetic' (stock image) Those messages included her writing that 'I think it would be amazing. If we were closer in age' and 'You know I want you.' Another said 'You're gorgeous and I'm so sorry I broke you. I had no intention of that'. In one of the emails the QCAT found to be 'inappropriate', the teacher told the boy 'I know I have done wrong by you but I also have nothing to hide. 'I will deny nothing and stand by every single word I've ever said to you.' In the same email, sent on September 27, 2018, she wrote 'you've got me forever. Please come back when you're 18'. The regulator also found she invited the former student to her home and encouraged him to lie to his parents about meeting her, asking 'Do you want to come to my place I can get you.' The QCAT noted her initial response to the allegations 'was dismissive, lacked insight and attempted to shift some degree of blame onto the student by reference to his physical appearance and alleged attention that he gave her'. The woman initially rejected the assertion that se caused the student any emotional or pyschological distress, or that she was a danger to her students. 'My feelings for the student developed because he is a wonderful person who physically looks much older than he actually is, and I was in a pathetic enough headspace to not shut down his attentions,' she said. 'I made it clear that nothing would happen until he was an adult. Not a predator, just pathetic.' But the educator later expressed 'significant feelings of shame and regret' and voluntarily surrendered her teaching registration. 'That was the biggest mistake of my life and I deeply regret my actions and the harm I caused my former student,' she said. 'If I could go back in time and change everything I would in a heartbeat. 'I am no longer that person and I cringe with shame and disgust when I think of my actions and how they affected my former student. 'I truly hope that he has not had any lasting impacts from this and that he is doing OK.' The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard that the teacher exchanged more than 1,200 emails with her pupil over a six week period (stock image) The QCAT found the teacher's emails and text to the boy were sent when there was a power imbalance between them and were inappropriate and manipulative. 'The student was a young impressionable 15-year-old boy, and (the teacher) was coercing him to make decisions about his future when he may not have been ready to do so,' the tribunal decision, which was published on Friday, said. The woman has been barred from teaching for three years backdated to her suspension. She has to be assessed by a psychologist before she is allowed to teach again. A man riding an electric scooter has died after colliding with a car. Emergency services were called to St Albans, in Melbourne's outer northwest, at about 4.40pm on Thursday after reports of a crash. The 45-year-old rider was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Emergency services were called to St Albans, in Melbourne's outer northwest, at about 4.40pm on Thursday after reports of a crash (stock image) 'Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives have been told a man was riding the scooter along Arthur Street when it appears he collided with a vehicle,' police said in a statement on Saturday. 'The rider, a 45-year-old St Albans man, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. 'The man died in hospital as a result of his injuries.' Investigations are ongoing with a report to be prepared for the Coroner. Four others were killed when gunmen opened fire on Friday night An Australian tourist has been injured and four others have been killed in a deadly shooting incident in central Afghanistan. Three Spanish tourists and an Afghan were killed when gunmen opened fire in the city of Bamyan on Friday night, the country's Interior Ministry said. 'Unfortunately, this evening in the Bamyan city, there was a shooting against the public, in which three foreigners including one Afghan were killed and four foreigners including three Afghans were injured,' Interior Ministry spokesman Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said in a statement posted to X. 'The security forces started trying to find the killers, and so far, four people have been arrested in this case. An Australian tourist was one of the foreigners injured in the armed attack, which took place in the city's bazaar. details an event in Bamyan Province: Unfortunately This evening in the Bamyan city, there was a shooting against the public, in which three foreigners including one Afghan were killed and four foreigners including three Afghans were injured. 1/3 M.Abdul Mateen Qani (@muftiqani) May 17, 2024 Three foreign tourists and an Afghan were killed when gunmen opened fire in the city of Bamyan on Friday night, Interior Ministry spokesman Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said An Afghan security force member checks a vehicle following a shooting attack that injured one Australian tourist and three Spanish nationals on Friday Four people have been arrested following the shooting in Bamyan City, centra Afghanistan Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to X to express his heartbreak at the killing of his compatriots. 'Overwhelmed by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan,' he said. 'The consular emergency unit of the (foreign affairs ministry) is working to offer all necessary assistance.' Graphic footage from the aftermath of the attack shows men loading bloodied corpses into an ambulance. The European Union's Diplomatic Service released a statement condemning the attack in the 'strongest terms'. 'We condemn in the strongest terms the armed attack against a group of foreign tourists visiting Bamyan, Afghanistan,' the statement reads. 'Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack.' The Taliban, an authoritarian Islamist regime, gained control of Afghanistan after the US withdrew from the country in 2021 following 20 years of counter-insurgency warfare. Australia does not have formal diplomatic ties with the new government. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman confirmed with NewsWire the department was providing 'consular assistance to an Australian man in Afghanistan'. Bamyan City (pictured) is a UNESCO heritage listed area known for two giant Buddhist statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 An Australian tourist was one of the foreigners injured in the armed attack, which took place in the bazaar in the city of Bamyan (pictured) in central Afghanistan 'Owing to our privacy obligations we cannot provide further comment,' the spokesman said. DFAT states on its website its ability to provide assistance in Afghanistan is 'severely limited' at present. Bamyan is a UNESCO heritage listed area known for two giant Buddhist statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. 'Carved into the Bamiyan Cliffs are the two niches of the giant Buddha statues (55m and 38m high) destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 and numerous caves forming a large ensemble of Buddhist monasteries, chapels and sanctuaries along the foothills of the valley dating from the 3rd to the 5th century C.E.,' UNESCO states. 'In several of the caves and niches, often linked by galleries, there are remains of wall paintings and seated Buddha figures.' Two Albanian nationals who ran an 'Amazon style' fake ID factory and charged migrants 10,000 to be snuck into the UK on small planes and in the backs of lorries have been jailed. Myrteza Hilaj, 50, and Kreshnik Kadena, 37, both of Leyton, east London, were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court in March of facilitating the commission of a breach of immigration law. The pair used a plane to illegally transport economic migrants from northern France to an aerodrome in Essex, before police busted the operation after undercover officers photographed their 'emergency' meeting at a pub. The NCA said at least nine journeys of Albanian economic migrants in 2016 and 2017 were 'linked back mainly to Hilaj' - three involving light aircraft and others with migrants getting in the back of lorries. Kadena acted as his assistant and was primarily involved in smuggling migrants using the light aircraft. Myrteza Hilaj, 50, of Leyton, east London, was jailed after being convicted of people smuggling offences Hilaj's assistant Kreshnik Kadena, 37, was also jailed - he was primarily involved in smuggling migrants into the UK using a light aircraft The pair were sentenced to a combined total of five years and two months prison, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Friday. Their conviction followed an eight-year investigation by the agency, codenamed Operation Micropus, into an Albanian organised crime group involved in facilitating illegal migration, money laundering, drug trafficking and the supply of counterfeit documents. The group's pilot would take off from North Weald Airfield in Epping Forest, Essex, and fly to Le Touquet airport on the coast of northern France to collect three to four migrants to smuggle into the UK on each trip. The pilot would then fly to Stapleford Aerodrome, also in Epping Forest, where the migrants would leave the plane and be collected by Kadena. The Albanian migrants would pay 'up to 10,000' for transit into the UK and then 'a few hundred pounds extra' for fake documents, the NCA said. After a police interception in France on July 17 2017 which saw the pair's plane grounded, the NCA said Hilaj and Kadena, both in the UK legally, were seen having a 'fallout meeting at a local pub'. During the trial Kadena had suggested this was instead his 'birthday drinks'. Hilaj, who came to the UK in the 1990s and previously worked as a restaurant owner and security guard, supplied the migrants with fake documents. A false identity counterfeiting group provided Hilaj with many of these - including five individuals who produced 'tens of thousands' of such documents at a facility in Stratford for use in banking fraud. Following the grounding of the group's plane, Albanian smugglers Myrteza Hilaj, 50, and Kreshnik Kadena, 37, held a crisis meeting in a pub - where they were recorded by officers A light aircraft flown by David Green, an Essex pilot, that was intercepted by French police at an airfield near Calais on July 17, 2017 He also sourced documents from a man operating a passport factory out of his loft in Battersea, London. Hilaj and Kadena were arrested on July 26 2017 at their home addresses by the NCA. Officers discovered messages on one of Hilaj's phones in which he had corrected typing errors on false documents, as well as online searches regarding the aircraft interdiction on July 17. British pilot David Green and facilitator Edward Buckley were jailed in France in 2017 for the light aircraft operation which ran from June to July in 2017. The operation by the NCA involved a total of 27 arrests with 11 convictions in the UK, and nine convictions overseas. The NCA said the operation that led to the arrests of the men ensured the 'safeguarding of over 50 migrants' who were prevented from coming to the UK via dangerous means. It also involved the closure of four forgery factories, with confiscation orders of just under 1 million being issued. The wider investigation by the NCA, not linked directly to Hilaj or Kadena, involved the seizure of four tonnes of cannabis and 30 kilos of cocaine. Hilaj and Kadena were convicted after an eight-year investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) which also brought down four forgers running an 'Amazon-style' fake documents service. Pictured are documents seized from the site in East London Sergiy Mykhaylov, a 43-year-old Ukrainian, ran the plant - which supplied documents for smugglers including Hilaj and Kadena Many of the migrants had Hilaj's number saved on their phones, and had either communicated directly with him or with mutual contacts. Police believe he was trying to recruit lorry drivers after finding a note he left on the windscreen of a vehicle at Thurrock services on the M25 which read 'call me'. Kadena acted as his assistant and was primarily involved in smuggling migrants using light aircraft. On July 9, 2017, he helped to organise a flight carrying an unknown number of migrants from Calais to Stapleford airfield in Essex, where he arrived to pick them up after they had landed. Another flight eight days later was intercepted by French police before the aircraft took off from Marck airfield near Calais. Four migrants, including a child under 10, were taken into custody. A smuggler and the pilot, British architect David Green, were arrested and convicted in France. On the same day, following the interception in France, NCA surveillance officers observed Hilaj and Kadena at a 'fallout' meeting in a pub. They were photographed while wearing sunglasses and appeared tense. As well as Hilaj and Kadena, several people involved in the fraudulent production of documents were previously jailed as part of the NCA's probe. This included Sergiy Mykhaylov, a 43-year-old Ukrainian, who ran an 'industrial-scale' forgery factory in Stratford, East London, where he generated thousands of false ID cards and work permits for illegal immigrants. When officers searched his home they found more than 3,000 identity documents, 3,500 passport style photos and 300 building work certificates together with 15,000 in cash and enough material to produce 40,000 fake ID cards. Mark McCormack, of the NCA, said most of his customers were from Albania and described Mykhaylov as being 'like the Amazon of false identity documents.' He said: 'His services spread rapidly by word of mouth - the organisation would provide cards to anybody. It is a very lucrative market.' Mykhaylov was jailed for five and a half years after pleading guilty to a string of fraud charges in 2018. Middlemen Genadijs Kalinns, 43, of Loughton in Essex, and Dymtro Mykhailytskyi, 45, from Romford, were jailed for six years and five-and-a-half years respectively. Arsen Baculi, 24, of East Ham, was given five years and eight months for intent to deliver fake documents and possessing drugs. A fifth man, Oleksandr Sukhoviy, 45, was jailed for six years. NCA senior investigating officer Saju Sasikumar said: 'Operation Micropus has seen us uncover and dismantle an organised crime group who not only facilitated illegal migration, but provided a complete service to those they helped into the country, ensuring they could gain work and access services illegally. 'It demonstrates our resolve to go after all those involved in people smuggling, who risk the lives of others in pursuit of profit.' Britain will feed thousands of Palestinians trapped in the beleaguered Gaza Strip through a newly-completed pier off the Mediterranean coast, it has been revealed. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement the first shipment to Gaza, which left Cyprus on Wednesday, is expected to 'provide enough provisions to feed 11,000 people for a month'. 'The UK continues to play a key role in this herculean international effort supporting logistics coordination in Cyprus, deploying RFA Cardigan Bay to help US personnel constructing and operating the pier and providing UK aid for delivery.' Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lauded the delivery as 'the culmination of a herculean joint international effort', paying tribute to Britain's armed forces and foreign partners for their roles in bringing to plan together. 'More aid will follow in the coming weeks, but we know the maritime route is not the only answer,' he said in a statement shared Friday. 'We need to see more land routes open, including via the Rafah crossing, to ensure much more aid gets safely to civilians in desperate need of help. The temporary pier, constructed by the US Navy and Army at a cost of $320mn, was completed on Thursday, with the first aid deliveries dispatched on Friday morning. Britain has played a key role in securing the maritime corridor from Cyprus, where it retains military bases, and last month pledged 'up to' 9.7mn for aid deliveries - but still faces sharp criticism over the decision not to impose a national ban on selling arms to Israel. With Israel closing in on an expected offensive in the southern city of Rafah, heavy strikes continue to rock the Palestinian enclave, with international bodies reiterating calls to avoid civilian casualties and the growing risk of famine. Humanitarian aid trucks begin to enter Gaza via the newly-constructed temporary pier, May 18 Royal Navy support ship 'Cardigan Bay' at work in the Red Sea on April 26. The ship played a role in supporting an international effort to build the temporary pier in Gaza A truck carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier is seen in central Gaza Strip, May 17 A crane lifts aid onto a barge at the Port of Ashdod in Israel on May 16 Boys watch smoke billowing during Israeli strikes east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024 As part of the package, the first of 8,400 shelter coverage kits intended as temporary housing for residents have now arrived in Gaza, the government confirmed on Friday. More aid, including 2,000 additional coverage kits, 900 tent, five forklift trucks and 9,200 hygiene kits, are expected to follow in the coming weeks. Rishi Sunak said of the first delivery: 'UK aid is now being delivered to people through the temporary pier off Gaza. 'This is the culmination of a herculean joint international effort, and I pay tribute to our armed forces who alongside our partners have played a central role delivering this much needed support.' Foreign Secretary David Cameron added: 'This first delivery of UK aid through the Cyprus Maritime Corridor is a major milestone in the international community's efforts to maximise aid going into Gaza. 'The UK has played a central role in this and we're already working on getting our next shipment into Gaza soon as possible.' Lord Cameron has come under fire in recent weeks for saying that he would not support a ban on British weapon exports to Israel, however. While stressing that he would not support a major ground offensive in Rafah, he said Britain would not follow the US in its plans to stop arms sales. Defending the decision, he said Britain supplies Israel with just one per cent of its arsenal. Oxfam shared an open letter to Lord Cameron and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arguing: 'British arms sold to Israel are potentially being used to commit such serious violations of international law. 'By refusing to stop selling these arms, the UK is complicit in the slaughter of civilians taking place daily in Gaza.' The United States has threatened to stop providing Israel with weapons unless it relents from its planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah, now home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from communities further north. But the Biden administration has faced similar challenges and scorn after announcing on Tuesday that it would proceed with a $1bn weapons package for Israel - which critics view as counterintuitive to adjacent efforts to deliver aid to the strip. The United States concluded the building of the floating pier on Thursday, announcing on Friday that the first trucks were ready to begin deliveries. Some 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid is expected to pass through the port in the coming days, guided by Israeli forces to an area near Gaza City, in the north, before being distributed by the World Food Programme. Allies hope the pier will go some way towards alleviating the strain on the population of Gaza - though acknolwedge it cannot replace the truck deliveries entering by land. Israeli troops during operations to connect a floating pier to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip Israeli army battle tanks move near the border with the Gaza Strip at a location in southern Israel on May 13 Displaced Palestinians walk around a puddle in front of destroyed buildings and tents in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 16 A woman looks among waste accumulated near Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 18 Displaced Palestinians wait to receive United Nations Relief and Works Agency aid, March 7 A mother mourns the loss of her child, who died during an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp, on May 11, 2024 Palestinian children wait in line to get food for their families, distributed by charitable organizations in Rafah, Gaza on February 16 Fadi Al-Zant, a 6-year-old cystitis patient, being treated at Kamal Adwan Hospital under harsh conditions due to lack of access to medicines, and suffering from malnutrition, on March 10 Palestinian children hold a representational funeral for their 10-year-old peer Yezen Al-Kfarna who died of malnutrition, on March 6, 2024, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip American officials hope the deliveries will be scalable to 150 truckloads a day - a significant effort, but relatively small compared to the 500 trucks per day entering Gaza even before the war. The Foreign Office acknowledged the demand in a statement on Friday: 'The UK is clear that the corridor is not a replacement for land routes, which remain the most effective way of getting aid into Gaza. 'The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary continue to call on Israel to meet its commitment to allow at least 500 aid trucks into Gaza through land crossings and open as many routes as possible.' Last month, the United Nations' relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said a 'man-made famine' was 'tightening [the] grip' of its work, claiming it was 'being denied permission to [deliver] enough lifesaving aid'. The UNRWA said it was facing an Israeli 'campaign' to 'push it out of the Occupied Palestinian Territory'. The claims followed remarks in March that the UNRWA had been definitively barred from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza. 'Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any @Unrwa food convoys to the north,' Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, said on X. Oxfam made similar allegations that month, claiming Israel was continuing to block aid. Turkey's foreign minister claimed in April the country had been denied permission to join air drops of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Washington Post, speaking to 25 aid groups operating in Gaza, found that 'pre-dispatch approvals and border inspections have been inconsistent', with some items rejected in one instance and approved in others. While items like food, water and blankets do not require approvals, others submitted for permission including animal feed, croissants, crutches, field hospital boxes and generators for hospitals were turned back, the outlet reported. The urgency of life-saving aid is increasingly felt as Israel moves in on the southern city of Rafah. Some 600,000 people were displaced from the city between May 6 and May 15, according to the UN. This accounts for as much as a quarter of the population - with 90 per cent of the 2.3mn displaced by the ground and air offensive in the strip. Some 35,386 people have been killed, with 79,366 injured, inside the Gaza Strip in the last seven months of conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Still, hopes for a ceasefire have been repeatedly dashed by disagreement over terms between the warring factions. 'Sources indicated that the differences between the parties are very large, especially over the term "end of war", as well as over Israel's demand to veto the names of terrorists whose release Hamas may demand,' Israeli broadcaster Kan reported, repeated by Russian agency TASS today. The US has warned if Israel continues with its plan to completely destroy Hamas, per its stated war aims, it risks leaving the region open to a power vacuum fillable by sinister opportunists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains steadfast in his hopes of returning the remaining hostages held in Gaza through a military effort, and displacing Hamas from power for good. 'There is no alternative to military victory,' he said earlier this week, pushing back on Biden's proposals to hash out peace terms, build an exit strategy and find a suitable replacement for Hamas. Protesters wave Palestinian flags, chant slogans and hold banners during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration on Waterloo Bridge, in London, on May 11 Pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Israel's participation in the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) demonstrate in Malmo, Sweden, on May 11 People observe a moment of silence at the site of the Supernova music festival, attacked on October 7, on May 13, 2024 Footage from October 7 shows the armed Hamas militia during its surprise incursion Israeli soldiers inspect the burnt cars of festival-goers at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, October 13, 2023 The conflict between Israel and Hamas - elected in 2006 and rising to power after a bloody power struggle in 2007 - erupted on October 7 2023, when Hamas gunmen aided by allied factions stormed into Israel and killed some 1,170 people, mostly civilians. The devastating assault saw border towns attacked and claims emerge of horrifying accounts of rape and torture. Some 38 children were reported to have been killed in the attack. With Hamas taking some 240 hostages back into Gaza with them, Israel responded by launching an offensive into Gaza with the stated aims of thoroughly defeating Hamas and returning the hostages. Benjamin Netanyahu's government has faced criticism from allies and opponents, however, with limited success since November's ceasefire, which saw an exchange of dozens of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The response has proven divisive among international onlookers. Research by the Pew Research Center found some 57 per cent of people express some sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians in the conflict. Thirty eight per cent of US adults believe Israel's conduct in the war has been acceptable, while thirty four per cent believe it has been unacceptable. Just one in five believe the offensive will make Israeli people more secure than they were before. 27 per cent believe it will make them less secure, and 35 per cent are unsure. Support for Hamas is scarce, with just five per cent of US adults saying how Hamas carried out its attack on Israel was acceptable. Sixty-six per cent described the massacre as 'completely' unacceptable. Around a third believe Hamas' assault will make the creation of an independent Palestinian state less likely - with a majority 41 per cent left unsure. A veteran psychologist who specialised in post-traumatic stress disorder has been barred from practising for four years for having a sexual relationship with a patient. Douglas Brewer had been a registered psychologist for almost two decades when he met the 26-year-old woman who was admitted as an in-patient to Hollywood Private Hospital in the Perth suburb of Nedlands in January 2021. The woman was reportedly at a high risk of suicide and self-harm and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. After she was discharged in February 2021, she began weekly therapy sessions with Dr Brewer at his private practice, which is also in Nedlands. Western Australia's State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) found that he began allowing her to study for exams in his office and would sometimes drive her home after work. In May 2021, the pair went to an Indian restaurant before Dr Brewer dropped her home. They also met up for coffee the following month. A veteran psychologist who specialised in post-traumatic stress disorder has been barred from practising for four years for having a sexual relationship with a patient (stock image) In June 2021 they kissed in his office with the SAT finding Dr Brewer and the woman had sex four times in the following five months, three times at his office and one at the woman's home. Dr Brewer hired the woman as an office assistant for three months, paying her around $700 a week. The woman's employment ceased in October 2021, with Dr Brewer telling her that he was in love with her in September. The relationship ended in November. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) contacted Dr Brewer in December 2021, asking for his response to allegations he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with the woman. He denied they had a sexual relationship and described the woman as a former friend and employee with whom he had a close personal relationship. The SAT found his response had failed to give the full details of his relationship with the client and could have misled the board about their interactions. In January 2022, the Psychology Board of Australia put a limit on where Dr Brewer could practice and ruled that his sessions with clients be supervised. He surrendered his registration two months after that. The SAT has found that Dr Brewer engaged in professional misconduct and breached the Australian Psychological Society's code of ethics. He was barred from applying for re-registration for four years and ordered to pay $4,000 towards the Psychology Board of Australia's costs. Britons have reacted with fury after the Union Jack appeared to have been removed by French officials celebrating the anniversary of D-Day in a French town in Normandy. Pictures from previous years show flag bunting depicting all the nations involved in the Allied resistance to the Nazis adorning the streets of the charming town of Carentan. But images from this year show new bunting that appears to showcase the flags of all EU member states, the EU flag itself, as well as Canada and the US - but no British flag. Due to its proximity to the French coastline, Carentan was a vital town for the Allies to capture during the D-Day operation, which saw tens of thousands of soldiers land on French shores in the biggest military operation of its kind. Around 10,000 allied soldiers were killed in the operation, including thousands of troops from the UK and US. Images from this year show new bunting that appears to showcase the flags of all EU member states, the EU flag itself, as well as Canada and the US - but no British flag At last year's D-Day commemorations, the Union Jack was clearly visible alongside the flags of France, Germany and Canada It took troops six days to capture the vital town of Carentan, which was the only crossing point between the two major sites of the D-Day landings, Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. Shelling continued in the town for six nights, with railway lines, the town's bell tower and some houses all destroyed. In the early hours of June 12th, 1944, the Germans were finally forced to withdraw from the town following days of heavy US artillery bombardment. American forces entered the town, which remained under Allied control until the end of the war. These were the same American forces who had relied on Britain - as it was here from which the D-Day operation was launched. The town was liberated by the 101st Airborne division, and a monument to these brave paratroopers has since been erected in their honour. While photographs from 2022 and 2023 clearly show the Union Jack as part of the decorative bunting used to decorate Carentan each year, eager-eyed visitors spotted it was not present today. In 2022, the Union Jack was also on display in bright bunting across the whole town Rubble and burning houses, pictured in June 1944, shortly after US troops had successfully captured the town American troops, on the alert for snipers, press on past wrecked buildings in Carentan in June 1944 While all the flags of the EU - including countries which remained neutral in the war, such as Switzerland - were featured on the bunting, as well as the EU flag and that os America and Canada, the Union Jack appears to be absent. Engineer Neil Geddes, 59, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, told the Sun: 'It's wrong, considering our involvement in France's evacuation and liberation.' Pointing to the flags of Switzerland, Sweden and Ireland, he said: 'They have no right to flags here when it was us who battled the Nazis.' His friend Gordon Bridge, 83, added: 'For the brave contribution our country gave to defeating evil we should never be forgotten. MailOnline has contacted Carentan's town hall about the missing Union Jacks. Carole Zarb, 54, of the towns tourism board, told the Sun the 'town hall is behind this', adding: 'We think it is because of Brexit'. The suspect charged with the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has arrived at court ahead of his trial. Several police cars arrived at a penal court in Pezinok, northeast of the capital of Bratislava, today where 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula's pre-trial detention will be determined. The suspect was charged with attempted murder after unleashing a flurry of bullets at the Prime Minister, 59, in Handlova town on Wednesday, hitting him four times and leaving him in critical condition. Fico remains in intensive care, fighting for his life after undergoing five hours of surgery in hospital, with allies claiming bullets came just centimetres from vital organs. The country's deputy leader said today Fico was approaching a 'positive prognosis' this afternoon, however, after returning for further surgery. Officials said it was unlikely he could be moved back to the capital in the next few days. Policemen guard the area as convoy brings the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, to court in Pezinok, Slovakia, Saturday, May 18, 2024 Police takes up positions while awaiting the arrival of Cintula in Pezinok, May 18 Security personnel carrying Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico after he was shot on May 15 Slovakia's PM Robert Fico (pictured) is fighting for his life in hospital following an assassination attempt on Wednesday Juraj Cintula, 71, is a writer and founder member of a literary club. His son was quoted as telling local media: 'I have no idea what father intended, what he planned, why it happened. Maybe there was some short circuit' Fico, in office since his centrist populist Smer party won a general election last autumn, had another two-hour surgery on Friday. 'The patient is conscious now, his condition is stable, but he is still in intensive care. His condition is really serious,' said Miriam Lapunikova, director of the Roosevelt Hospital in the central Slovak city of Banska Bystrica. 'I was very shocked ... fortunately as far as I know the operation went well - and I guess in the end he will survive ... he's not in a life-threatening situation at this moment,' Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC's Newshour. Taraba said one bullet went through Fico's stomach and a second hit a joint. Defence Minister Robert Kalinak told a news briefing hours earlier that Fico had suffered 'serious polytrauma' after several shot wounds. 'If the shot went just a few centimetres higher, it would have hit the prime minister's liver,' Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told TA3. The Pezinok court is now considering a prosecutor's request made Friday that Cintula be placed in pre-trial detention after he had been charged with a premeditated murder attempt. 'This assassination (attempt) was politically motivated and the perpetrator's decision was born closely after the presidential election,' Estok said, referring to an April election won by a Fico ally, Peter Pellegrini. Fico is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on proposals for peace between Russia and Slovakia's neighbour Ukraine, and for halting military aid to Ukraine, which his government later did. The assassination attempt has deeply shocked the EU and NATO member country of 5.4 million people, already sharply divided over politics for years. Robert Fico greets people as he arrives for a government meeting, before he was shot, May 15 Security officers move Slovak PM Robert Fico in a car after the attack A man is detained after Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot at close range, May 15 The prime minister was airlifted to a nearby hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to the arm and stomach A car supposedly carrying suspect Juraj Cintula arrives at court in Pezinok on May 18, 2024 Outgoing pro-Western President Zuzana Caputova and her successor Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will assume office in June, have called on fellow Slovaks to refrain from 'confrontation' after the shooting. They called a meeting of all parliamentary party leaders for Tuesday in a bid to show unity in the aftermath of the attack. But some politicians have already pointed fingers at their opponents for allegedly causing the attack. Robert Kalinak, a deputy prime minister and Fico's closest ally, slammed opposition politicians and 'selected media' on Friday for labelling Fico as a criminal, dictator or Russian President Vladimir Putin's servant before the attack. 'All these lies are the main reason why Robert Fico is fighting for his life today,' he said in an emotional message on Smer's website. The intensity of anger and depth of divisions were among the most disturbing I've seen: IAN BIRRELL reveals how Slovakia can offer crucial lessons for other democracies after the shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico Out-of-touch and feuding politicians, soaring living costs and a lack of decent jobs - the gripes from voters were eerily familiar from reporting on elections in other democracies. I have heard the same disgruntlement from Argentina to the United States, from Spain to Sweden - and across Britain, of course. Yet the intensity of anger and depth of divisions in Slovakia were among the most disturbing I have witnessed - and they resulted in last years return to power of Robert Fico, the populist leader now fighting for his life after an assassination bid. We do not know the motives yet for the shooting - though a lone wolf appeared in court today charged with attempted murder. Yet as the global spotlight falls on this small east European nation sitting between Austria and Ukraine, it has crucial lessons for other democracies. I've heard disgruntlement across the world, but the intensity of anger and depth of divisions in Slovakia were among the most disturbing I have witnessed, writes IAN BIRRELL Pictured: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's security team detain his attacker during the shooting incident on Wednesday Despite resigning after the killing of a reporter investigating his government five years ago, Fico staged a comeback as a hard right populist First and foremost, this was another horribly violent attack on an elected politician - something we have seen in Britain with the sickening recent murders of two British MPs. As Slovakias president Zuzana Caputova said after the first assassination attempt of an European leader for more than two decades, the shooting was an individual act but the tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work. Political discourse has turned toxic with the country cleaved into two camps over Fico, the poison deliberately stirred by malign forces exploiting unfettered social media - but there are disturbing parallels across the West. Consider how a country invaded by Moscow within my living memory re-elected a disgraced populist with ties to the Italian mafia, a man who supports a Russian despot guilty of unleashing hideous carnage on their neighbouring nation. Fico may be an astute pragmatist - the polite phrase for shape-shifting populism that saw him slide around the political spectrum - but his restoration to power was remarkable after being forced ignominiously from office five years earlier. He had looked finished - far more likely to end up behind bars than back in power after massive protests followed the killing of a reporter investigating corruption and Italian mafia links to his government. Soon after the murder of the journalist and his girlfriend, Fico quit due to the public outrage. Yet he bounced back, defying efforts to tie him to the hit and reinventing himself as a hard-right populist. Bear in mind this slippery character was a former Communist. As a young lawyer, he represented his nation at the European Court of Human Rights. Then he took power adopting the Third Way centrist style of Tony Blair. In his latest incarnation, Fico started regurgitating Vladimir Putins propaganda, vowing to stop supplying arms to Kyiv and end sanctions on Russia. One former defence minister labelled him a Trojan horse for the Kremlin. He won by mimicking the illiberalism of Viktor Orban in Hungary, the brutal rhetoric of Donald Trump in the US and the divisive tactics behind the far-rights rise in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and even the Socialist nirvana of Sweden. These fissures were exposed last September by Igor Matovic, another former prime minister, getting embroiled in a fight with one of Ficos closest allies after driving up to a campaign rally in a truck emblazoned with the slogan we will not hand you over to the mafia. In his latest incarnation, Fico has regurgitated Putin's propaganda and vowed to both end sanctions on Russia and halt the supply of arms to Ukraine He was labelled by a former defence minister a 'Trojan horse' for the Kremlin A poll found fewer less than half of the Slovakian people still believed liberal democracy was good for their country Following Fico's first stint, Slovakia experienced four prime ministers in as many years, with trust in the government among citizens remaining low One man I met in Bratislava the next day vowed to leave the country if Fico returned. A woman walking her dog in the citys Freedom Square told me she would not dare to have children if he won. Everything he says is a lie, she said. I fear things are going to turn bad. Others were simply incredulous - including a Russian who fled Putins regime to study in Slovakia. Going to Europe was like a dream so I want this beautiful country to grow and open up like a flower. But for many - and not just in struggling post-Communist democracies - that precious ideal of blossoming democracy is wilting due to public despair over inept and self-serving politicians in a stormy era. While in Slovakia, my notebook filled with fury from voters feeling betrayed by all their leaders. Theyre all d*ckheads who dont care about the country, said a warehouse worker in Ficos home-town. They just want to throw dirt at each other, said a builder. A poll found fewer than half the people still believed liberal democracy was good for their country. There were four prime ministers in four years after Fico. Only one in seven citizens trusted their government. Matovic, an anti-graft campaigner, won power after Ficos ousting by pledging to clean up politics - but his government dissolved into chaos and squabbling. Sounds familiar, doesnt it? Fico capitalised on the frustration with his pose as a man of the people, by targeting minorities and with promises of economic turnaround backed by more welfare spending. Then he shut down the anti-corruption agency, passed the sort of Russian-inspired law on NGO funding sparking giant protests in Georgia, sought to scrap the state broadcaster and branded his president an American agent. Caputova, the countrys most trusted politician and a strong supporter of Kyiv, was driven out of politics by death-threats and personal attacks. Her successor, elected last month, is a Fico ally who shares his stance on Ukraine. Fico was aided in his return to power by disinformation and stirring of divisions from Russia, which saw Slovakia as a weak link in the EU and Nato. The Slovakian prime minister is being treated for his injuries at F D Roosevelt hospital in the city of Banska Bystrica Pictured: A child walks past a banner reading 'Violence is not the way'. Slovakia shows the dangers when voters lose faith in elected leaders and systems Few countries can afford complacency over their democracies, while economies stagnate and societies seem to be falling apart Moscow funded locals who ran online sites spewing out its propaganda, with one contributor caught on camera being paid by a Russian official. A leading Russian news channel even set up a Slovak-language site from Crimea. Yet again, we see the need to tackle digital anarchy in this dark age of emboldened dictatorships. Note how Chinas Communist regime rolled out the red carpet last week for its autocratic pal Putin as his bullet-ridden Slovakian stooge was air-lifted to hospital. Slovakia shows also the dangers when voters lose faith in political leaders and systems, growing despondent over constant tribal bickering and corruption while economies stagnate, public services decay and societies seem to be falling apart. Some Slovakian voters told me they knew Fico was dodgy - but regarded him as the lesser evil in desperate hope he might restore competence, growth and stability. Fico exploited electoral concerns over issues such as education, globalisation, governance and inequality shared by many more voters around the world. Few countries can afford complacency over their democracies. Yet we seem inured to the deep cynicism contaminating politics and despondency of voters - and blase about freedoms I have seen people around the planet risk lives and liberty to share. Surveys show rampant disillusionment in many democracies. Countries can fall apart but no one thinks it can happen here, one US professor of politics told me after their last election as a president denied the result to worsen their divisions. A few months later, people in Bosnia told me they felt the same before Yugoslavia collapsed into civil war three decades ago. The following year, I heard the same words of disbelief from Ukrainians as their homes, lives and country were wrecked. Last weeks shooting of the leader of a European nation was a terrible and tragic event. It serves in so many ways as a profound warning to the rest of the free world in this dangerous and divided era for democracies. Fed up locals of the seaside town branded the worst in Britain say they have lost the battle against badly behaved drinkers vomiting in the streets and getting into fights, as well as rising homelessness. Skegness resident Rachel Barker has lived in seaside resort in Lincolnshire all her life, but says that most of her older friends have moved away because of the town's boozy reputation. 'I was born and bred here but most of the older people I knew have already left,' she said. Mrs Barker added: 'There are lots of homeless now and lots of boozing. They come to the seafront off the caravan sites in droves. 'They are really badly behaved. They are sick everywhere.' Shortly before 11pm last night, a drunken street fight involving two men and a woman broke out next to a park on the seafront in Skegness Skeg Vegas: General view of the Oasis arcade in Skegness pictured last night Homelessness has become a rising issue facing Skegness At 7pm yesterday on the Skegness seafront Sarah, Daisy and Grace from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, were already partying hard, much to the chagrin of Mrs Barker. When asked what brought then to the seaside town, Sarah laughed and said: 'I would say the drink, the night life and the f***ing men.' She added: 'There is also the beach and the chippies. I've got no plans to go abroad. If you want to get away quickly with your mates you come to Skegness.' Waving a large jug of alcohol, she then staggered off down the prom, adding: 'We are off clubbing later.' Shortly before 11pm last night, a drunken street fight involving two men and a woman broke out next to a park on the seafront. It then continued into the park and the people disappeared into the darkness. Typical of the brash US- style bars attracting younger drinkers to the seafront is The Hive which boasts eight bars under one roof. For mother Rosie, 40, enjoying her first girls' night out in years, it was all too much. 'We have been drinking since 3pm and were told the place does not really get going till 10pm,' she said. 'I was planning to be home in bed by then.' Skegness resident Rachel Barker (pictured) has lived in seaside resort in Lincolnshire all her life, but says that most of her older friends have moved away because of the town's boozy reputation There were queues along the seafront for cheap fast food with 'Fox's Famous Fish and Chips' boasting the 'lowest price in Skegness'. Just 6.99 gets you a large chunk of haddock topped with enough mushy peas to turn the chips green. But around the corner homeless people were are settling down for the evening in front of the closed shutters of a rock factory. Dave Bond, 55, from West Yorkshire, shared a chip supper with son Alfie, 12, Staffordshire bull terrier Barney straining at the lead for scraps while Dave considered getting another tattoo during their stay. He said: 'Skegness is not what you would call scenic but for 5.99 the fish and chips was really nice. 'It is not what you call an affluent area. We used to go to Whitby but they have always got some folk festival going on or the Goths are there and prices have escalated so much. Earlier in the day there were families on seafront enjoying the doughnuts, candy floss and of course more fish and chips. The seaside ambience was enough to persuade Nessa Cox, 52, to move her while family up from Peterborough ten years ago. Scenes as a fight broke out on the streets of Skegness last night Men sit outside the closed Factory Rock Shop in Skegness yesterday Youths drink on the balcony of a bar in Skegness last night as they bring the weekend in People believed to be homeless on the streets of Skegness last night A fight in Skegness last night went out onto the streets Police attended the scene of the fight which started at around 11pm She said: 'It is all right. It is great to see families having fun and crowds coming into town. 'You do get your stag and hen dos but they are here for a good time as well. There is plenty for the kids to do and plenty to eat. 'There are plenty of places to drink - every thing a holiday place needs really. We just got cod, chips and beans twice for 11 so quite good prices. You can get some good deals.' As the shadows lengthened the families with young children began to depart, clutching cuddly toys won at the many arcades along the Golden Mile. Boy racers began to gather in car parks. Street drinkers could be seen lurking in shelters by the park. Young people could be seen drinking from open bottles behind the park railings. Last year, 300 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels in Skegness, causing controversy and tensions in the area. But as of April this year just one hotel in the town should be used for this purpose, the BBC reported. Closed shops on the Skegness pleasure beach pictured yesterday The Great British Rock Shop and Chips on Parade chippy on Skegness Buildings which have been heavily graffitied and in poor condition in Skegness Dave Bond, 55, from West Yorkshire, shared a chip supper with son Alfie, 12, Staffordshire bull terrier Barney straining at the lead for scraps while Dave considered getting another tattoo during their stay The seaside ambience was enough to persuade Nessa Cox (pictured), 52, to move her while family up from Peterborough ten years ago A couple relax on camping chairs on the beach in Skegness yesterday afternoon in the sun A couple take a stroll along the seafront in Skegness yesterday Skegness hoteliers received more than 10,000 a week to close their doors to tourists and house migrants instead. 'Those owners who have accepted the Home Office money tend not to live in the area,' Ross Richardson, events manager at the Savoy hotel, which rejected the offer, said in March last year. Tensions rose in July after an asylum seeker living in one of the hotels was accused of the rape of a woman just six weeks after he arrived in the UK on a small boat filled with 60 migrants. The Egyptian national was found not guilty of the accusation at court in December last year. After the man was charged, hotels reported that bookings were being cancelled, with deputy mayor Adrian Findley saying at the time that the town was being treated as an 'asylum seeker dumping ground'. Out-of-touch and feuding politicians, soaring living costs and a lack of decent jobs - the gripes from voters were eerily familiar from reporting on elections in other democracies. I have heard the same disgruntlement from Argentina to the United States, from Spain to Sweden - and across Britain, of course. Yet the intensity of anger and depth of divisions in Slovakia were among the most disturbing I have witnessed - and they resulted in last years return to power of Robert Fico, the populist leader now fighting for his life after an assassination bid. We do not know the motives yet for the shooting - though a lone wolf appeared in court today charged with attempted murder. Yet as the global spotlight falls on this small east European nation sitting between Austria and Ukraine, it has crucial lessons for other democracies. I've heard disgruntlement across the world, but the intensity of anger and depth of divisions in Slovakia were among the most disturbing I have witnessed, writes IAN BIRRELL Pictured: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's security team detain his attacker during the shooting incident on Wednesday Fico's shooting was yet another horribly violent attack on an elected politician Despite resigning after the killing of a reporter investigating his government five years ago, Fico staged a comeback as a hard right populist First and foremost, this was another horribly violent attack on an elected politician - something we have seen in Britain with the sickening recent murders of two British MPs. As Slovakias president Zuzana Caputova said after the first assassination attempt of an European leader for more than two decades, the shooting was an individual act but the tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work. Political discourse has turned toxic with the country cleaved into two camps over Fico, the poison deliberately stirred by malign forces exploiting unfettered social media - but there are disturbing parallels across the West. Consider how a country invaded by Moscow within my living memory re-elected a disgraced populist with ties to the Italian mafia, a man who supports a Russian despot guilty of unleashing hideous carnage on their neighbouring nation. Fico may be an astute pragmatist - the polite phrase for shape-shifting populism that saw him slide around the political spectrum - but his restoration to power was remarkable after being forced ignominiously from office five years earlier. He had looked finished - far more likely to end up behind bars than back in power after massive protests followed the killing of a reporter investigating corruption and Italian mafia links to his government. Soon after the murder of the journalist and his girlfriend, Fico quit due to the public outrage. Yet he bounced back, defying efforts to tie him to the hit and reinventing himself as a hard-right populist. Bear in mind this slippery character was a former Communist. As a young lawyer, he represented his nation at the European Court of Human Rights. Then he took power adopting the Third Way centrist style of Tony Blair. In his latest incarnation, Fico started regurgitating Vladimir Putins propaganda, vowing to stop supplying arms to Kyiv and end sanctions on Russia. One former defence minister labelled him a Trojan horse for the Kremlin. He won by mimicking the illiberalism of Viktor Orban in Hungary, the brutal rhetoric of Donald Trump in the US and the divisive tactics behind the far-rights rise in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and even the Socialist nirvana of Sweden. These fissures were exposed last September by Igor Matovic, another former prime minister, getting embroiled in a fight with one of Ficos closest allies after driving up to a campaign rally in a truck emblazoned with the slogan we will not hand you over to the mafia. In his latest incarnation, Fico has regurgitated Putin's propaganda and vowed to both end sanctions on Russia and halt the supply of arms to Ukraine He was labelled by a former defence minister a 'Trojan horse' for the Kremlin A poll found fewer less than half of the Slovakian people still believed liberal democracy was good for their country Following Fico's first stint, Slovakia experienced four prime ministers in as many years, with trust in the government among citizens remaining low One man I met in Bratislava the next day vowed to leave the country if Fico returned. A woman walking her dog in the citys Freedom Square told me she would not dare to have children if he won. Everything he says is a lie, she said. I fear things are going to turn bad. Others were simply incredulous - including a Russian who fled Putins regime to study in Slovakia. Going to Europe was like a dream so I want this beautiful country to grow and open up like a flower. But for many - and not just in struggling post-Communist democracies - that precious ideal of blossoming democracy is wilting due to public despair over inept and self-serving politicians in a stormy era. While in Slovakia, my notebook filled with fury from voters feeling betrayed by all their leaders. Theyre all d*ckheads who dont care about the country, said a warehouse worker in Ficos home-town. They just want to throw dirt at each other, said a builder. A poll found fewer than half the people still believed liberal democracy was good for their country. There were four prime ministers in four years after Fico. Only one in seven citizens trusted their government. Matovic, an anti-graft campaigner, won power after Ficos ousting by pledging to clean up politics - but his government dissolved into chaos and squabbling. Sounds familiar, doesnt it? Fico capitalised on the frustration with his pose as a man of the people, by targeting minorities and with promises of economic turnaround backed by more welfare spending. Then he shut down the anti-corruption agency, passed the sort of Russian-inspired law on NGO funding sparking giant protests in Georgia, sought to scrap the state broadcaster and branded his president an American agent. Caputova, the countrys most trusted politician and a strong supporter of Kyiv, was driven out of politics by death-threats and personal attacks. Her successor, elected last month, is a Fico ally who shares his stance on Ukraine. Fico was aided in his return to power by disinformation and stirring of divisions from Russia, which saw Slovakia as a weak link in the EU and Nato. The Slovakian prime minister is being treated for his injuries at F D Roosevelt hospital in the city of Banska Bystrica Pictured: A child walks past a banner reading 'Violence is not the way'. Slovakia shows the dangers when voters lose faith in elected leaders and systems Few countries can afford complacency over their democracies, while economies stagnate and societies seem to be falling apart Moscow funded locals who ran online sites spewing out its propaganda, with one contributor caught on camera being paid by a Russian official. A leading Russian news channel even set up a Slovak-language site from Crimea. Yet again, we see the need to tackle digital anarchy in this dark age of emboldened dictatorships. Note how Chinas Communist regime rolled out the red carpet last week for its autocratic pal Putin as his bullet-ridden Slovakian stooge was air-lifted to hospital. Slovakia shows also the dangers when voters lose faith in political leaders and systems, growing despondent over constant tribal bickering and corruption while economies stagnate, public services decay and societies seem to be falling apart. Some Slovakian voters told me they knew Fico was dodgy - but regarded him as the lesser evil in desperate hope he might restore competence, growth and stability. Fico exploited electoral concerns over issues such as education, globalisation, governance and inequality shared by many more voters around the world. Few countries can afford complacency over their democracies. Yet we seem inured to the deep cynicism contaminating politics and despondency of voters - and blase about freedoms I have seen people around the planet risk lives and liberty to share. Surveys show rampant disillusionment in many democracies. Countries can fall apart but no one thinks it can happen here, one US professor of politics told me after their last election as a president denied the result to worsen their divisions. A few months later, people in Bosnia told me they felt the same before Yugoslavia collapsed into civil war three decades ago. The following year, I heard the same words of disbelief from Ukrainians as their homes, lives and country were wrecked. Last weeks shooting of the leader of a European nation was a terrible and tragic event. It serves in so many ways as a profound warning to the rest of the free world in this dangerous and divided era for democracies. A mother has revealed how she received a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis after doctors initially put her heartburn and bloating down to her age. Donna Taylor, 45, had struggled with exhaustion and a loss of appetite while on her holidays in Turkey and Cornwall last summer. The mother-of-two had experienced heartburn, reflux and bloating for 18 months prior - but put the symptoms down to her age and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). But after returning from her holidays with her children, she was stuck in bed for three days with a sickness bug. Donna and her doctor initially thought it was due to stress but when her symptoms persisted she was referred to a cancer pathway. She had an emergency endoscopy and a CT scan which found a huge mass on her abdomen. The 45-year-old then had a laparoscopy and several biopsies and was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December 2023. Donna Taylor (pictured), 45, had struggled with exhaustion and a loss of appetite while on her holidays in Turkey and Cornwall last summer The 45-year-old then had a laparoscopy and several biopsies and was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December 2023. Pictured: Donna's stomach after an operation The mother-of-two had experienced heartburn, reflux and bloating for 18 months prior - but put the symptoms down to her age and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) She was told the cancer had spread to her peritoneum - a membrane surrounding your abdominal organs - and is now inoperable. Donna, who worked in children's services for ten years, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire said: 'It was heart wrenching. Cancer takes so much from you. It's tried to take away so much but it's given me so much. 'It's about living with cancer. My time is so precious. There is a richness in my life.' Donna started getting heartburn and reflux at the beginning of 2022 and said: 'I was going through two bottles of Gaviscon a week.' But the doctor initially put it down to her age and were not concerned. In August last year she went on two family holidays and started to notice a loss of appetite. She said: 'I went from having three meals to two to one. I felt really bloated. I stopped wearing a bra for a year - it was really uncomfortable. 'I felt exhausted beyond anything I'd ever experienced. I started to lose weight. It was dropping off me.' After coming back from her holiday, Donna was struck down with a bug and said she was 'in bed for three days'. Donna started getting heartburn and reflux at the beginning of 2022 but the doctor initially put it down to her age and were not concerned She added: 'I thought 'this is not ok'.' Donna continued to feel 'really poorly' and a follow up appointment with her GP in November 2023 she was referred and taken for an emergency endoscopy. A following CT scan confirmed a cancerous mass on her stomach. Donna said: 'I didn't think for a second that I was going to be told I had stomach cancer.' She then had to wait to see the extent of her cancer and had a laparoscopy and biopsies. The mother-of-two said: 'It's devastating. You are in no mans land. You don't know what you are facing. 'I went into a parallel universe. Life before Novemeber - that life had gone.' In December Donna was told the cancer had spread and it was inoperable. She had a stent fitted into her stomach in January 2024 to aid her digestion of food and medication before staring chemotherapy at the end of the month. She had a stent fitted into her stomach in January 2024 to aid her digestion of food and medication before staring chemotherapy at the end of the month Donna said: 'It's been intense and gruelling. The chemotherapy is working. It's shrinking the tumour. 'I won't have surgery as it's spread. The chemotherapy is about me living a quality of life with cancer.' Donna finishes her sixth cycle in June and will then have a break to enjoy the summer with her kids. She will then have regular scans to check the growth of the tumour. She said: 'I'll just be wishing and praying that it remains behaving itself.' Donna has remained positive by setting up her charity Dee's Tummy Cancer Charity in collaboration with the Weston Park Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care. She has already raised 16.5k through her fundraisers and is excited for her upcoming event 'All that Glitters Charity Disco' - in June - which she hopes can become an annual event. She said: 'I want it to be a legacy. Whatever happens with me I want this to become a legacy.' An old school friend of the Princess of Wales is to start offering sex parties on the ocean after her firm Killing Kittens launched its first-ever cruise. Emma Sayle, 46, who attended the prestigious Downe House School in Berkshire alongside Kate Middleton, as she was then known, founded the London-based sex firm to allow women to 'feel in control' and able to 'explore their sexuality'. For the past two decades it has made its name for hosting luxurious sex parties in grand houses and Mayfair clubs, often requiring black tie dress for the events, which are complete with oyster and champagne receptions. Sayle's firm, which was valued at 11.5 million in 2020, organises the parties with strict ground rules: a vetted guest list, no single men only single women or couples and a ban on men approaching women they don't know (women do the propositioning, instead). The seven-day cruise, leaving in June 2026, is expected to work in a similar fashion. Emma Sayle (right), 46, who attended the prestigious Downe House School in Berkshire alongside Kate Middleton (left), as she was then known, founded the London-based sex firm to allow women to 'feel in control' and able to 'explore their sexuality' Sayle's firm Killing Kittens was designed to offer women a safe space to explore their sexuality After setting off from Barcelona, it will visit five 'dreamy destinations' and guests can expect 'seven nights of pleasure'. Sayle is adamant her cruise will be a long way from existing so-called 'lifestyle cruises', instead focussing on 'top-end luxury' for its 640 'kittens', alongside their partners or guests. Her parties typically attract women in their early to mid-thirties, although she acknowledges the age range may be slightly higher on the cruise, due to the cost of the experience. While interior cabins without a window will cost from 3,999, entire suites can be snapped up from 10,499. Speaking to the Times, Sayle said: 'We picked a cruise line that had done adult parties and lifestyle cruises previously. 'We've been working on it for two years and part of that was finding a company that has experience so it's not a shock and 'oh no we can't do that' as well as being top-end luxury.' As well as visiting Monaco, Portofino, Florence and Palma in Majorca, the cruise will offer all the usual amenities - as well as activities more tailored to the experience, such as tantric massage workshops. Killing Kittens is launching its first cruise, which will set sail from Barcelona in June 2026 Sayle previously told MailOnline that she is aiming to combat 'British queasiness' around sex - especially where women's sexuality is confirmed 'We'll combine it with the education side,' Sayle said. 'There'll be workshops on everything from tantric massage to confidence, how to communicate and handling jealousy. The aim is to have a mix: a holiday cruise, parties and adult education.' Her firm is booming thanks to the UK's increasingly liberal attitude towards sex and sexuality, helped along by the pandemic. Since in-person events resumed, Killing Kittens has seen a 400 percent rise in attendance, with some evenings attracting up to 900 people. Sayle previously told MailOnline that she is aiming to combat 'British queasiness' around sex - especially where women's sexuality is confirmed. She said: 'Our sexuality drives us all far more than religion and politics, but thanks to the way the world has been run for years it's been squashed and put in the seedy, dirty camp that you can't talk about, particularly when it comes to women's sexuality.' Much of the company's growth in recent years can be put down to Sayle's savvy digital mind. Her Killing Kittens social media platform, which is a cross between Facebook and a dating app, has at least 180,000 members. Eerie surveillance footage captured the moment a 78-year-old boater left a dock shortly before he allegedly struck and killed beloved local ballerina Ella Adler. Attorneys for suspect Carlos 'Bill' Alonso released the footage as they say it bolsters his claim that he had no idea about the tragic accident before speeding away from the scene. In the footage from Fox6, he was seen unmooring his 42-foot Boston Whaler vessel shortly after 3pm on Saturday, before returning around 4:30pm in a calm manner. Alonso has not been charged, and his attorneys say the video shows he was 'alone, was not drinking, and had no clue that he may have hit someone.' It comes as tributes pour in for Adler, 15, following her death, as her family said she was a 'force of nature' who performed over 100 times with the Miami City Ballet. Eerie surveillance footage captured the moment a 78-year-old boater left a dock shortly before he allegedly struck and killed beloved local ballerina Ella Adler Pictured: Carlos Guillermo Alonso, the man police suspect hit Ella Riley Adler with his boat on May 11 while she was wakeboarding Adler, 15, was celebrating a friend's birthday when she was struck and killed The tragedy unfolded as Adler celebrated a friend's birthday off the coast of Key Biscayne's Nixon Beach, and officials said she was wading in the water after wakeboarding. A boater struck and killed the 15-year-old in the water, with witnesses describing 'a lot of blood' at the scene where the boat sped away. Alonso was identified as a suspect two days later and his boat was found docked behind his home in Hammock Oaks. He insisted he had no idea about the tragedy and is cooperating with police. In a statement his attorney Lauren Krasnoff said she hopes the release of the footage shows her client's actions more clearly at the time. 'This was an unthinkable tragedy and our hearts break for Ella and her family,' Krasnoff's statement read. 'We hope this video helps to shut down some of the awful and unfounded rumors going around about Bill, who is absolutely devastated. 'As the video shows, Bill was alone, and he had no clue that he may have hit someone. 'He parked the boat at his home, he was calm, he didn't clean the boat, and he did not try to hide anything.' The boater's attorney added that he will continue to cooperate with the ongoing law enforcement investigation 'in every possible way.' A first responder revealed that when they arrived on the scene of the crash (pictured), officials found 'a lot of blood in the water' and the driver sped away Alonso was identified as a suspect two days after the crash and his boat was found docked behind his home in Hammock Oaks (pictured) Ella (pictured center) was described as having 'a big posse of friends' and someone who was proud of her Jewish heritage. Ella was also a celebrated local ballerina who was cast in performances of The Nutcracker, performing over 100 times for the Miami City Ballet The update comes just days after Adler's funeral was held by her heartbroken family and friends, with tributes pouring in for the talented teenager. Rabbi Jonathan Berkun, who led the service, called Ella 'a star, a force of nature.' 'You were taken from us way to soon, and the world has been robbed of all the things you could have achieved. But you will always be here with us and your friends and family will carry your energy and spirit forever,' he added. The teenager was a high achiever, involved in many different organizations and clubs, including her school's Jewish Student Association, the debate team and the Miami City Ballet. 'Ella Adler was not just a beloved student and a magnificent dancer who graced our stage in George Balanchines The Nutcracker; she was an integral part of our family,' said Billy Zavelson, a spokesperson for the Miami City Ballet, to DailyMail.com. Rachel Rodriguez, the Head of School at Ransom Everglades where Adler attended, also shared the school community's collective grief over Adler's untimely death. 'Our hearts are broken and our community has been devastated by this tragedy. Ella shined in our classrooms and on our stages,' Rodriguez said. 'In this time of unspeakable pain, we have been moved by the outpouring of kindness and compassion from the Ransom Everglades community.' Mourners support one another as they exit Temple Beth Sholom after Adler's funeral service in Miami on Monday Friends and family attended Ella's funeral Monday morning Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach Ella Riley Adler is pictured (center) with her immediate family, from the Facebook page of her father Matthew Adler, a property developer Ella is survived by her parents, Amanda and Matthew along with her siblings Jaden and Adalynn. She was also the great-granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, and her grandfather is the current US Ambassador to Belgium. Adlers family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation or the Miami City Ballet. The teen's obituary went on to characterize her as a relentlessly dedicated student who loved to celebrate life. 'Ella worked hard at everything she did. She had a precocious discipline and focus that belied her age. She did not know what it was to work at half-speed. 'She gave everything her all and because of that, her energy made her stand apart. She worked relentlessly at school where she excelled,' loved ones wrote. A 19-year-old motorcyclist has died after crashing into a traffic barrier. Emergency services were called to Sir Bertram Stevens Drive in the Royal National Park, about 30km south of Sydney's CBD, at about 7pm on Friday. Paramedics treated the motorcyclist for chest, head and neck injuries. Despite their efforts, the 19-year-old sadly died at the scene. Emergency services were called to Sir Bertram Stevens Drive in the Royal National Park (pictured), about 30km south of Sydney 's CBD, at about 7pm on Friday 'A crime scene was established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident has commenced,' police said in a statement. A report will be prepared for the Coroner. Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Donald Trump was branded 'feeble' by Biden supporters after suffering an embarrassing wobble at a Minnesota rally. The presidential hopeful was giving a speech on Friday when he ran into trouble at the podium. Video shows Trump, 78, stumble forwards and grip onto the lectern to steady himself. But he manages to keep his composure before going on a 'rant' about the quality of the structure. 'You know this is the worst platform, who put this stage up?' He jokes before shunting the flimsy-looking podium back into place. Donald Trump was branded 'feeble' by Biden supporters after suffering an embarrassing wobble at a Minnesota rally The presidential hopeful was giving a speech on Friday when he ran into trouble at the podium 'The fricking place is falling down,' he continued, eliciting a huge laugh from the crowd. 'I notice it keeps tilting to the left, like too many other things,' he added causing uproar again. 'What a crappy contractor this was.' However, his opponents seized on the moment as evidence of weakness. 'A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant calling his event workers 'crappy' ,' a post on X from Biden-Harris HQ read. The ages and abilities of both Biden, 81, and Trump have been called into question amid the election cycle, with each suffering embarrassing gaffes which their teams have sought to blame on senility. A shock poll released earlier this year found that 60 percent of Americans do not believe Trump or Biden have the mental capacity to serve as president. But this was of little concern to the thousands who showed up to hear Trump speak at the Minnesota Republican Party's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in St. Paul. During his speech Trump repeated the unfounded claim that the last presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat, was tainted by widespread fraud. Trump was in St. Paul for the Minnesota Republican Party's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner He used the occasion to repeat the unfounded claim that the last presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat, was tainted by widespread fraud He falsely told those gathered that he won Minnesota in 2020, to rapturous applause from the audience But outside the dinner, scores of pro Palestine protesters and demonstrators carrying signs which said 'Remove Trump' could be seen. 'I know we won (Minnesota) in 2020,' Trump said to applause. 'We've got to be careful. We've got to watch those votes.' Ahead of their Nov. 5 presidential rematch, Trump campaign officials have publicly and privately insisted that Trump can beat Biden in Minnesota. While an upset in the state appears possible, available polling and the state's political history indicate that the former president faces an uphill battle. Major independent polls show Biden with a slim but consistent lead in Minnesota - typically between 2 and 4 percentage points. A Trump campaign official would not say directly whether they planned to dedicate resources to the state. While Minnesota's rural areas have swung towards Republicans over the last decade, suburban areas around Minneapolis have moved toward Democrats, reflecting broader nationwide trends. During the speech, Trump repeated his calls for a 'massive deportation' of immigrants in the country illegally, and he doubled down on promises to construct a new missile defense system, likening it to Israel's 'Iron Dome' program. But outside the dinner, scores of pro Palestine protesters and demonstrators carrying signs which said 'Remove Trump' could be seen. A woman pushing her newborn baby in a pram was forced to take refuge inside a convenience store after she was allegedly stalked by a knife-wielding stranger. The 72-year-old man allegedly followed the mother and baby down Elizabeth Drive in Liverpool, in Sydney's western suburbs, just after 7pm on Friday night. In CCTV footage from inside a nearby supermarket, the woman is seen rushing inside and telling the shop owner to lock the front doors. The owner of the supermarket, Simon Sari, told 9News he armed himself with a Stanley knife to protect both himself and the new mother. 'All we see is a girl coming in saying "shut the door, shut the door" and then we see a man chasing her with a knife,' Mr Sari recalled. 'She was shaking, she was scared to death. She cried. She was so scared.' The woman and her baby were forced to take refuge in a convenience store in Liverpool, in Sydney's west, after a man allegedly stalked her while armed with a knife The 72-year-old Liverpool man was allegedly armed with a kitchen knife (pictured) Mr Sari was able to convince the man to put the kitchen knife away before police officers arrived and tackled him to the ground. The mother is seen holding her daughter close to her chest before giving the baby a tender kiss on the head as the man is put in handcuffs. The 72-year-old Liverpool man was charged with carrying a knife in public causing fear for safety and hinder or resist police officer in the execution of duty. 'About 7:10pm yesterday (Friday 17 May 2024), emergency services were called to a business on the corner of Elizabeth Drive and Castlereagh Street, Liverpool, following reports of a man with a knife,' police said in a statement. 'Police attached to Liverpool City Police Area Command attended and arrested a 72-year-old man.' The owner of the store, Simon Sari, locked the doors and armed himself with a Stanley knife He was granted conditional bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on Wednesday. At 11.40am on Saturday, police arrested the man and additionally charged him with two counts of stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm. He was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted 'Intifada revolution' and 'UK government watch your back, Palestine is coming back' on the streets of London as tensions overspilled over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The Metropolitan Police confirmed they had made at least one arrest of a man 'appearing to lead a chant' after climbing a traffic light during a demonstration today, adding that officers 'quickly located and arrested the man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and suspected criminal damage'. Demonstrators moving in solidarity with the people of Gaza waved Palestinian flags and banners as they marched through the city centre today to reiterate calls for a ceasefire, with the ruinous war in the Middle East having now surpassed seven months with no end in sight. Protesters assembled at the BBC's London headquarters, planning to walk south via Regent Street and Haymarket before concluding at Downing Street. Amid concerns over possible clashes with counter protesters, the Metropolitan Police 'engaged' with the organisers, who agreed to move the path to avoid crossover with an event at a synagogue. The march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, will commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, referring to the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948. 'The brutal attacks on Gaza continue despite the pressure for a ceasefire and the growing isolation of Israel,' the Stop the War coalition wrote in a post promoting the march online. 'The movement here continues to grow. After another brilliant national demonstration on Saturday 27th April there were May Day protests for Palestine around the country and students in universities are starting to take action.' Scotland Yard stressed it would 'protect the lawful right to protest' while acknowledging the 'cumulative impact' of several months of protest in the city, 'including on London's Jewish communities'. 'Were aware of a man appearing to lead a chant during a demonstration and shortly afterwards climbing a traffic light on Regents Street W1,' the Met said on social media 'Officers quickly located and arrested the man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and suspected criminal damage.' Protesters turn out to call for a ceasefire in central London on May 18 Pro Palestinian supporters gather in central London on the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba on May 18 to call for a ceasefire in Gaza Protesters march on the streets of London to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, on May 18 An Israel supporter takes part in a protest in central London on May 18, 2024 Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters confront each other at Piccadilly, exchanging boos and opposing chants The Met vowed to protect the right to peaceful protest while minimising disruption Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, who is leading this weekend's policing operation, said: 'All Londoners have a right to have their voices heard, just as they also have a right to go about their lives without fear or being subject to serious disruption. 'Ahead of the weekend we have been in regular discussions with the PSC as well as religious leaders, community groups and businesses. What is an intifada? Intifada, from the verb 'to shake', refers to a popular uprising, or rebellion. The term was first employed in this sense in Iraq in 1952 and remains in use for political causes across the Middle East. The word has acquired connotations through two Palestinian uprisings against Israel, between 1987 and 1993, and between 2000 and 2005. The first was caused by growing resentment over the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and largely saw non-violent protests and boycotts. Some also turned to aggressive means of rebellion, including the launching of Molotov cocktails on Israeli targets and use of firearms. At the height of tensions, thousands of Palestinian children as young as ten were beaten by Israeli soldiers, The Economist notes. The second, more violent intifada saw Palestinians blow up buses and attack nightclubs in Israel after an Israeli politician's visit to the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem. Following the second intifada, voices in Israel calling for the trading of land for peace became quieter. Today, support for a two-state solution among Israelis is at its lowest since the start of the Oslo process. A majority of Palestinians also now believe violence an effective measure for achieving political goals, with support for Hamas rising after October 7. Advertisement 'The conditions placed on the location and route of the PSC event take into account the impact these marches are having in London, the right to protest, and seeks to minimise the disruption they cause. 'London has no tolerance for hate crime and we will take swift enforcement action against anyone who crosses the line.' Officers will police the event organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, as well as a number of other, unrelated events expected to take place across the city. At the same time as the PSC's march, pro-Israel group 'Enough is Enough' is expected to hold a static demonstration in Piccadilly Circus. The group have organised demonstrations to coincide with a number of the large-scale marches set up by pro-Palestinian groups in recent weeks. Late last month, the Met said officers arrested a man who shouted a 'racist remark' towards those in a static Enough is Enough protest in Pall Mall. Today's protest comes at a sensitive time, with Palestinians marking the 76th anniversary of the 1948 'Nakba', the expulsion of hundreds of thousands Palestinians from their homes. The Metropolitan Police said they had engaged with both pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters ahead of Saturday to 'minimise the serious disruption to the community and balance the rights of all'. Weekend protests have endured throughout the course of the war, with pro-Palestinian groups putting pressure on their leaders to end arms sales to Israel and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the civilian population, while calling for a ceasefire. Pro-Israeli groups continue to call for the return of Israeli hostages still trapped in Gaza under Hamas, and denouncing the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe. British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has come under fire from pro-Palestinian factions and charities in recent weeks for saying that he would not support a ban on British weapon exports to Israel. Oxfam shared an open letter to Lord Cameron and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arguing: 'British arms sold to Israel are potentially being used to commit such serious violations of international law. 'By refusing to stop selling these arms, the UK is complicit in the slaughter of civilians taking place daily in Gaza.' While stressing that he would not support a major ground offensive in Rafah, he said Britain would not follow the US in its plans to stop arms sales. Defending the decision, he said Britain supplies Israel with just one per cent of its arsenal. Pro-Palestinian supporters join to mark the anniversary of the Nakba, in London on May 18 Protestors demand sanctions on Israel amid the war in Gaza, in London on May 18 Palestinians run along a street as humanitarian aid is airdropped in Gaza City on March 1, 2024 Citizens queue for food that is cooked in large pots and distributed for free during war-time on December 28, 2023 in Rafah Israeli soldiers inspect the burnt cars of festival-goers at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, on October 13 The United States has threatened to stop providing Israel with weapons unless it relents from its planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah, now home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from communities further north. But the Biden administration has faced similar challenges and scorn after announcing on Tuesday that it would proceed with a $1bn weapons package for Israel - which critics view as counterintuitive to adjacent efforts to deliver aid to the strip. Meanwhile, reports of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe have spiked since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, further exacerbating tensions and security concerns across the continent. Britain last year recorded the worst year for anti-Semitism since 1984, with 4,103 reports - more than twice the figure in 2022 - amid a surge of threats, hate speech, violence and damage to Jewish institutions and property, the Community Security Trust said. In France, data from the Interior ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service watchdog showed that 1,676 anti-Semitic acts were reported in 2023, compared to 436 the previous year. According to the Council of Jewish Institutions in France the country's main Jewish interest group the number of antisemitic acts in the three months that followed the October 7 attack equaled those of the previous three years combined. A group tracking anti-Semitism in Germany said incidents rose by 320 per cent after Hamas attacked Israel. The RIAS group said it recorded 994 incidents, which is an average of 29 incidents per day and an increase of 320% compared to the same time period in 2022. The group looked at the time period from October 7 to November 9. Among the 994 antisemitic incidents, there were three cases of extreme violence, 29 attacks, targeted damage to 72 properties, 32 threats, four mass mailings and 854 cases of offensive behavior. A stunning oceanfront hotel in Oregon has been snapped up by a property developer 40 years after it hit the coastline - sparking fears the relaxing retreat for book lovers could lose its charm. The popular Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport captured local attention thanks to its picturesque Pacific Ocean views and literary theme - which includes a total ban on TVs and Wi-Fi. Guests are instead encouraged to enjoy its vast selection of books and gorgeously rugged views. It was officially sold Friday to John Lee, managing director of VIP Hospitality Group, for an undisclosed price, as its former owners Goody Cable and Sally Ford announced their goodbye. 'I no longer own a hotel, it makes me sad but life goes on,' Ford told The Oregonian. 'One chapter ends and another begins. It has truly been a labor of love for Goody and me.' But as the new owners announce they are now considering renovations, some locals are concerned about potential modernizations. The Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon has been snapped up by a property developer 40 years after it hit the coastline The book lovers' hotel has no TVs or Wi-Fi, and guests are encouraged to spend their time reading The hotel includes a cozy library (pictured) along with literary-themed rooms When Ford and Cable opened in March 1987, the designed it with book lovers in mind. It includes a large library full of classic tomes, and guests are encouraged to read instead of kicking back with a movie. During dinners in the hotel's dining room, strangers are encouraged to play parlor games and talk with one another to make new friends. The original property was built in 1913, and went through several iterations as the New Cliff Hotel and the Gilmore Hotel before Cable and Ford bought it. When they bought the property, it was a ramshackle low-rent residential hotel, with a broken roof and unstable foundations on the oceanfront. But Ford said despite its condition, 'when I first saw that dilapidated old place, I just loved it. 'It had three different colors of paint on it and that old Hotel Gilmore sign on the side of it. I had no idea what we were in for, but most of it was fun, just really fun.' They renovated the building and gutted its nooks and crannies, while adding four fireplaces, a kitchen, a new dining room, and an additional 21 bathrooms. To follow their literary theme, the owners also had their friends decorate rooms based on their favorite authors. This has seen guests enjoy specialized rooms themed on Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams and JK Rowling. Many of these themes remain to his day, while guests also enjoy a cozy library full of books that has a scenic view of the beach. While the hotel was opened in March 1987, the original property dates back to 1913 and went through several iterations as the New Cliff Hotel and the Gilmore Hotel Guests enjoy aesthetic scenery and rooms designed around famous authors including Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams The first ever guest was a 'little guy in a white sailor's uniform', Ford previously told The Oregonian, who showed up with a local and carried no luggage. 'The rate included breakfast, but they didn't spend the night,' she said. While its early days were low key, the hotel's aesthetic placement looking out over the Pacific led it to become a popular destination for tourists. As it faces new ownership, fans of the hotel took to Facebook to share their disappointment, with one suggesting they 'all chip in and buy it' instead. Another said the sale would be 'sad, especially if it goes all corporate.' One former guest had a more optimistic outlook, however, saying it has simply 'moved onto another owner for the next leg.' 'The building will be here long after we're all gone,' they said. The decision to sell the property came after Ford's brother Ken Payton, who ran the front desk, died in 2009, with Cable also suffering a stroke four years ago. The hotel was officially sold Friday to a property manager for an undisclosed price As they sold it, the former owners sadly said they would 'miss it terribly' When the hotel underwent renovations, it added four fireplaces, a kitchen, a new dining room, and an additional 21 bathrooms Looking back, Cable said she is proud of her hotel, which she said was 'our baby.' 'I'm going to miss it terribly,' she said. 'I'm going to really miss a lot of the guests and the dinners.' For new owner Lee, he said the VIP group is expecting to modernize the hotel while staying true to its 111-year history. 'Sally and Goody have built a successful business and brand with a worldwide following for four decades,' Lee said. 'We are honored to take the torch and will be focusing on learning the ways that make Sylvia Beach so unique. 'Theres a lot to learn and digest, and we will be immersing ourselves into the business over the next several months to figure out the next steps, including necessary capital investments to renovate all areas of the hotel.' She described their turbulent relationship and how he controlled his rage He was dating Krista Sinor until he was arrested on parole violations in July Jesse Calhoun is charged with murdering three women and suspected of fourth A woman who was dating accused serial killer Jesse Calhoun revealed how he would tell her not to talk to him when he was angry. Krista Sinor met the murder suspect through Facebook and they dated until he was arrested on parole violations before the accusations surfaced. Calhoun is suspected of killing four women in a 100-mile radius from Polk County southwest of Portland to the Columbia River Gorge, east of the city. Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Ashley Real, 22, were found dead over three months in wooded areas, under a bridge and in a culvert. Jesse Calhoun is suspected of murdering four woman in a 100-mile radius from Polk County southwest of Portland to the Columbia River Gorge, east of the city Krista Sinor met him through Facebook and they dated until he was arrested on parole violations before the murder accusations surfaced Sinor said she was still in contact with the accused killer through letters and phone calls to the jail, and found the murder accusations 'confusing'. She described how their relationship was turbulent and said Calhoun would sometimes fly into a rage but try to shield her form the worst of it. 'He would always say, if he got mad, like if he stubbed his toe or something, he'd be like, 'Don't talk to me',' she told News Nation. 'Just know that I can't be talked to for a few minutes, you know, when I get angry, just let me be and we'll discuss it later. 'There was a few times that things weren't going the way he was hoping to go and he would like throw me to the side... but on the bed 'So I mean, those times that I was thrown on the bed and he would be angry or whatever saying that I did something to... mess things up, he would come back and apologize for that.' Multnomah County District Attorneys Office announced on Friday that Calhoun would be charged with the murder of three women. Calhoun has a lengthy criminal record, with felony convictions dating back almost 20 years. He was reportedly a talented artist, who told booking officials he earned his living painting designs on vehicles. His first felony conviction was in 2004. He was arrested again in 2018, with meth, several guns, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office called him a 'prolific thief and career criminal.' In 2019 he was given four sentences, set to run concurrently. Calhoun was one of 41 prison inmates whose prison sentence was lowered by one year in 2021 by then-Governor Kate Brown after they helped battle devastating 2020 wildfires in Oregon. Kristin Smith, 22 (left), was the first victim: she was discovered on February 19 last year. On April 24, 2023, the second, Charity Perry, 24 (right), was found dead Bridget Webster, 31 (left), was found on April 30, 2023, and Ashley Real, 22 (right), on May 7, 2023 Calhoun was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution on July 22, 2021, almost one year before his projected release date, the Oregon Department of Corrections said on Friday. He had been serving a 50-month sentence for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and felony unauthorized use of a vehicle. Governor Tina Kotek revoked his commutation on July 3. The 6ft, 4in suspect, who has a history of resisting arrest, jumped into the Willamette River in Milwaukie and tried to escape when found on July 6. Armed robbers stole millions of pounds-worth of jewellery during a brazen heist at the world-famous Harry Winston store in Paris today. The gang struck just before midday on Saturday in broad daylight, causing panic around the Avenue Montaigne, just off the Champs-Elysees. 'Up to four men arrived on motorbikes,' said an investigating source. 'Two cars then appeared to stage a collision outside, presumably as a diversion. 'It was then that the men who arrived on motorbikes rushed into the store, and began breaking reinforced glass displays. 'All were wearing crash helmets to hide their identities. One shot was fired in the air to scare onlookers, but nobody was wounded. The world famous Harry Winston store in Paris was struck by a gang of armed robbers today The robbers got away with what is thought to be millions of pounds worth of jewellery 'The gang got away with jewellery believed to be worth millions, and everything is being done to find them.' They abandoned the cars, and left on at least two large motorbikes, said the source. Paris prosecutors confirmed they had opened a criminal enquiry into the crime, which took place in broad daylight and on the busiest shopping day of the week. In 2015, eight men were imprisoned over a double heist on the same store that netted jewellery including luxury watches worth some 65million. Sentences ranged from nine months to the 15-years given to the alleged mastermind, who had pretended to be a builder during the first heist in October 2007. The store remains a magnet for the super rich and famous, and first became a household name after Marilyn Monroe sung about it in 1953 A year later, four robbers again entered Harry Winston, with three of them this time wearing women's clothing and wigs. In March 2011, police found some 15million worth of jewellery from the 2008 heist stuffed down a drain in St-Denis, to the north of Paris. Despite this, the Harry Winston store in Paris remains a magnet for the superrich around the world, from film stars to Royalty. It first became a household name after Marilyn Monroe sung about it in 1953, in the song 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend', during the film, 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. Showing off a list of top jewellers, Monroe sang: 'Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it!' This video is no longer available This video is no longer available Shocking video has emerged of a violent altercation outside a country pub, forcing cops to hit back at claims they Tasered a man for no reason. Victoria Police officers have been accused of using unnecessary and excessive force outside a pub in Yea, 112km north-east of Melbourne, just after 10pm on Friday. Footage captured by a witness appears to show an officer Tasering a seated man while another used a baton against a man who was not resisting. 'He just got Tasered ... that's so f***ing unnecessary,' the witness says in the video. However, a spokeswoman said police could confirm a Taser was not deployed during the altercation following a review of the body worn camera footage. It's understood the officer activated the Taser while warning the man to comply with his directions, making the distinctive Taser noise heard in the footage. In another clip, another officer is seen unleashing on a second man with his baton. Witness Charlie Hill said the officer hit the man 'in the ribs three times'. 'And he was down on the first one and it just was not right,' he told 7News. A police officer is pictured about to hit a man with a baton outside a pub in Yea, Victoria A publican is understood to have called police after a hostile group allegedly refused to leave the venue after they were asked at about 10pm on Friday. A police spokeswoman said officers had allegedly been attacked before the witness started the recording. 'The first police on scene were outnumbered, confronted with a highly dynamic scene and had to deploy OC spray to separate those involved in the fight,' police said in a statement. 'As police were attempting to offer aftercare, one of the men involved allegedly attempted to assault one of the officers by kicking out and punching. 'While police were attempting to subdue that man, a woman has allegedly jumped on the back of a police officer while the second man attempted to grab the officer's firearm. 'OC spray was again deployed and all three were taken into custody.' But witnesses said the response was difficult to watch, with one onlooker telling 7News that 'it seemed very aggressive, especially for a small town'. 'Nothing really violent like that happens. I think they took it way too far,' they said. Another witness claimed an officer had placed their knee on a woman's neck. 'It's not right, she was even saying that she was struggling to breathe,' they said. A witness filming the altercation, which happened after a group allegedly refused to leave a pub , is heard saying 'He's gonna get Tasered ... that's so unnecessary' in the video (pictured) Police said they had charged two men and a woman following the incident in Yea. A 29-year-old Taggerty man and a 27-year-old Yea woman woman have been charged with assaulting a police officer and refusing to leave a licensed premises. A 26-year-old Glenburn man has been charged with affray. All three have been released on bail and are due to appear before Mansfield Magistrates Court in September. On Saturday, Victoria Police issued a statement confirming they are reviewing the body camera footage and will be speaking to one of the officers involved. 'Victoria Police have become aware of footage which shows the conduct of one officer in the latter stages of this incident,' it read. 'The matter has been referred to Professional Standards Command for review.' A British woman accused of drink-driving and causing a horror smash which killed a four-month-old baby in Lanzarote has finally appeared before a judge after her first hearing was cancelled because she had a panic attack. Olivia Brown, 23, declined to answer questions at the closed hearing yesterday in the island capital Arrecife. She was told she could remain on bail and a travel ban preventing her from leaving Spain was kept in place. British mother Alex Chadkirk, 28, was hurt in the March 11 crash after Brown's Ford Fiesta mounted the pavement and careered into her and her baby girl Harper Ayton. Harper, whose recruitment education worker mum proudly showed off her baby daughter in adorable photos following her birth last November, died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics to save her. Mother Alex Chadkirk, 28, was injured in the crash and her baby daughter Harper (pictured with Alex) was killed The driver has been named as 23-year-old Olivia Brown, with officials saying she tested positive for both drink and drugs at the scene Shocking images of the scene showed police and paramedics working desperately on the stricken pedestrians in the aftermath of the crash The tot's father Timothy Ayton, 40, was rushed to a nearby hospital and had to be admitted to an intensive care unit along with Alex's mum Andrea Chadkirk. Alex's father Derek was also hospitalised with less serious injuries. The family, from South Shields, Tyne & Wear, were holidaying on the island and walking back to their holiday villa in the resort of Playa Blanca when they were hit by Brown's. A Swedish mother and daughter who had just arrived in the resort were also injured. The younger woman had to be airlifted to a hospital in the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria because of the severity of her injuries. Brown, described as appearing to be under the influence of drink and drugs by town hall officials after the crash, was taken to hospital after suffering a panic attack on March 14 when her first scheduled court appearance had to be suspended. The expat, believed to be originally from Glasgow - although she moved to Lanzarote as a child - was told at the time she was being provisionally released pending an ongoing investigation and ordered to surrender her passport and sign on at court twice a month. Officials confirmed overnight she had made her first full court appearance yesterday. A spokesman for the investigating judge said: 'The person being investigated over the crash in Playa Blanca in Lanzarote on March 11 appeared at Arrecife Court of Instruction Number One yesterday morning. 'She invoked her right not to testify. 'After the appearance, the precautionary measures dictated at the time, namely the obligation to sign on at court on the 1st and 15th, withdrawal of her passport and a ban on leaving Spain, were kept in place. Emergency services tried desperately to save little Harper at the scene of the crash Ms Chadwick (left) and her partner Timothy Ayton, 40 (not pictured) were both injured, as was Ms Chadwick's own father 'She continues to be investigated for a crime of manslaughter and another of driving under the influence of alcohol, toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances under article 379.2 of the Spanish penal code. 'The victims are also pressing charges and their statements will be taken in due course. Several technical and forensic reports are yet to be presented.' In the aftermath of the accident a spokesperson for Yaiza Town Hall, which covers the Playa Blanca area, said in a statement the car driver 'showed signs of being under the influence of alcohol and drugs.' Town hall officials subsequently said she had tested positive for drink and drugs but declined to make further comment about the amounts detected in tests. The baby girl that died after being hit by the Ford Fiesta Brown was driving was four-and-a-half months old. The dead tot's paternal grandparents flew to Lanzarote after being informed about the terrible news. Ms Chadwick's father David Chadwick was also injured in the horror smash, as were a Swedish mother and daughter Brown is said to have been travelling from her home to work when she crashed. She is believed to work at a local hotel. She told police at the scene the steering on her car had blocked and reports at the time said her vehicle was being tested to see if there could have been any mechanical failures. She wasn't formally arrested or held in a police cell following the incident. Officials revealed the British family mown down were heading from a supermarket to their holiday villa when they were hit. More than a dozen bouquets of flowers and several teddy bears were left by well-wishers at the crash scene. One note pinned to a bouquet said: 'For a five month old little angel'. Another message said: 'RIP baby girl. Love and prayers to your family'. Bill Maher has suggested the only thing Democrat and Republican voters have in common is that 'they're both hoping their candidates die' ahead of the 2024 election. The left wing comedian has been an outspoken critic of both Joe Biden, 81, and Donald Trump, 78. He has previously faced criticism from within his own ranks for mocking the president's unsteady gait. But in an interview with the New York Times he doubled down on the comments, joking the octogenarian should accept he walks 'like a toddler with a full diaper'. The age of both candidates has become a flashpoint in the upcoming election, with both sides attempting to paint the other as unfit to govern. Bill Maher has suggested the only thing Democrat and Republican voters have in common is, 'they're both hoping their candidates die' ahead of the 2024 election Trump and Biden's ages have become a flashpoint in the election cycled, with both sides attempting to paint the other's as unfit to govern A poll in March revealed that 60 percent of Americans do not believe either Trump or Biden have the mental faculties for the White House. Biden aids were said to be so concerned about his 'shuffle' following a series of trips and tumbles that they now have him wearing sneakers, using shorter steps for Air Force One and surrounded by protective staff at all times. Meanwhile, on Friday Trump suffered an embarrassing gaffe when he stumbled at the podium while giving a speech at the Minnesota Republican Party's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in St. Paul. Maher, joked that Biden should just accept his lot and say, 'I walk like a toddler with a full diaper, but I believe in democracy.' The 68-year-old admitted he would still vote for 'Biden's head in a jar of blue liquid' over Trump. However, he acknowledged a growing sense of alienation from 'ridiculous' Democrats in recent years, explaining that this is why he has been targeting them more with his jokes. 'Because they're goofier and more obnoxious than they used to be,' he recently said on his show. 'They also just became weirder.' But he did give credit to Biden's determination to remain in the Oval Office - while still making a jibe about his age. 'He has crossed oceans of time to be where he is, and he's not going to give it up now,' the Club Random podcast host said. Maher joked that Joe Biden walks 'like a toddler with a full diaper' in the interview. Pictured: Biden appears to get confused while walking off stage at a UN event in 2022 Donald Trump was also branded 'feeble' by Biden supporters after suffering an embarrassing wobble at a Minnesota rally on May 17 He explained that he will continue to critique the president, even if it causes ire among the left, because it is not his job to cover up any weaknesses. Maher reiterated fears that Trump will challenge the outcome of the election as he did in 2020 if he does not win. 'Itll be disputed and itll be ugly,' Maher said. He previously correctly predicted Trump's election fraud line. Maher also hit out at students engaging in protests to end the war in Gaza, accusing them of being , 'American-hating hysterics devoid of knowledge' who support Hamas. 'It's hard to get your head around the thought of people yelling 'Death to America' on American soil,' he said. 'If they had any knowledge about the Middle East or what apartheid really means or genocide, would they be on the side of Hamas, really?' An Oakland man has been left heartbroken after his rare vintage Corvette was stolen from his garage just before his 80th birthday. Dave Lechthaler, 80, described how a mob of thieves broke into his home on April 15 before riding off with his $200,000 1959 Corvette, which has been his pride and joy for the past 18 years. Surveillance footage captured the brazen act, showing two suspects breaking into the garage, before running off in the Corvette within a matter of minutes. 'It's like a stab in the heart,' he told the Fox affiliate KTVU. He is now pointing fingers at the city's leadership for what he perceives as a lack of accountability for criminals. Dave Lechthaler, 80, found himself overcome with sadness when a mob of thieves broke into his home on April 15 - before riding off with his prized possession, a 1959 Corvette, which has been his pride and joy for the past 18 years Lechthaler said he poured his heart and soul into the 200K convertible, dedicating countless hours to its maintenance and upkeep. He also carefully rebuilt the engine, gave the car a fresh coat of paint, and reupholstered it with care Surveillance footage captured the brazen act, showing two suspects breaking into the garage, before running off in the Corvette within a matter of minutes 'There are no consequences in this city. People can steal and rob,' Lechthaler told KTVU. Lechthaler has a strong passion for automobiles, with his home now adorned with photos from his racing days. 'It hurts because my life, my whole life, has been hot rod cars since I was 14 years old,' he explained. Lechthaler said he poured his heart and soul into the convertible, dedicating countless hours to its maintenance and upkeep. He also carefully rebuilt the engine, gave the car a fresh coat of paint, and reupholstered it. Lechthaler believes he may have been followed from a car show in Pleasanton, where his prized possession caught the eye of the thieves. Lechthaler is now pointing fingers at the city's leadership for what he perceives as a lack of accountability for criminals Lechthaler believes he may have been followed from a car show in Pleasanton, where his prized possession may have caught the eye of the thieves While the Corvette is insured, the void left by its absence is irreplaceable for Lechthaler While the Corvette is insured, the loss is irreplaceable for Lechthaler. His message to the perpetrators is simple: 'I want my car back.' Figures from January show a shocking one in thirty Oakland residents had their car stolen last year - a total of 15,000 vehicles. This is a 45 percent increase in just 12 months, and the highest number in 15 years However, less than five percent of those auto theft cases lead to an arrest, with the California city's understaffed and underfunded police department preoccupied dealing with a 21 percent spike in violent crime. Last year alone, nearly 15,000 cars were reported stolen in Oakland a staggering 45 percent increase from 2022, marking the highest number in at least 15 years (Pictured: A scene of an accident after a driver was chased by thieves leading to his car flipping over) Masked bandits brazenly raid cars in downtown Oakland in daylight There are also just two police officers assigned to deal with car theft. Mary Remington's 2018 Honda Fit, Milan Sanders' 2019 Kia Sorento, and Emily Frazier's 2020 Kia Forte were all ruthlessly swiped away, they told the San Francisco Chronicle. The city's mayor and DA are both outspoken progressives who have said that police accountability and racial equity are a priority. But fed-up locals have pleaded with them to make the Bay Area city safer. In October, even Oakland's District Attorney Pamela Price had her work laptop stolen during a car smash-and-grab outside a family justice center in broad daylight. The city's mayor and DA are both outspoken progressives who have both said that police accountability and racial equity are a priority, but fed-up locals have pleaded with them to make the Bay Area city safer. Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price (pictured) Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (pictured) This comes as the campaign to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, also known as Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE), ramps up. The recall effort was initiated in 2023. The epicenter of this surge lies in Uptown and North Oakland, which witnessed a shocking 69 percent spike in car thefts, according to data from the Police Department and the state. The Chronicle revealed several reasons experts give for the growing crisis plaguing the city. One major factor is a lack of basic anti-theft technology in popular Kia and Hyundai models, exacerbated by a viral social media challenge encouraging thieves to target these specific cars, according to the Chronicle. Additionally, tight police resources are reportedly being directed towards higher-priority crimes. A London bus has burst into flames this afternoon with dozens of firefighters rushing to tackle the blaze on a busy high street. Terrifying footage shows huge flames and billowing smoke filling Richmond Road in Twickenham, south west London at 1pm today. A single decker bus was destroyed in the fire but the driver and passengers were evacuated before emergency services arrived, the London Fire Brigade has said. The road remains closed and people have been advised to avoid the area for the rest of the day. The vehicle is the fourth London bus to catch fire this year with similar incidents in Putney on January 25, in North Woolwich on January 12 and in Wimbledon on January 11. A London bus has burst into flames this afternoon with dozens of firefighters rushing to tackle the blaze on a busy high street Terrifying footage shows huge flames and billowing smoke filling Richmond Road in Twickenham, south west London at 1pm today The vehicle is the fourth London bus to catch fire this year with similar incidents in Putney on January 25, in North Woolwich on January 12 and in Wimbledon on January 11 Transport for London has confirmed they have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire and are working with bus operators, manufacturers, and suppliers to improve safety in the industry. A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: 'Five fire engines and around 30 firefighters tackled a bus fire on Richmond Road in Twickenham. 'One diesel single decker bus was destroyed by the fire. All passengers and the driver left the bus before the Brigade's arrival. There are no reports of any injuries. 'The road remains closed following the incident and people are advised to avoid the area for the rest of the day. 'The Brigade was called at 1.18pm and the incident was over for firefighters at 2.26pm. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police added: 'Emergency services were called at 1320hrs on Saturday, 18 May, to a bus on fire in Richmond Road, Twickenham. There were no reported injuries. Enquires continue alongside London Fire Brigade colleagues' A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: 'Five fire engines and around 30 firefighters tackled a bus fire on Richmond Road in Twickenham. One diesel single decker bus was destroyed by the fire. All passengers and the driver left the bus before the Brigade's arrival' A single decker bus was destroyed in the fire but the driver and passengers were evacuated before emergency services arrived, the London Fire Brigade has said Pictured: The remains of the bus after the huge blaze was put out by firefighters 'Crews from Twickenham, Richmond, Heston and Kingston fire stations attended the scene. 'The cause of the fire is under investigation.' A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police added: 'Emergency services were called at 1320hrs on Saturday, 18 May, to a bus on fire in Richmond Road, Twickenham. 'There were no reported injuries. Enquires continue alongside London Fire Brigade colleagues.' MailOnline has contacted Transport for London for comment. A progressive Biden staffer who resigned in protest of U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza is the daughter of a senior executive at an arms company providing weapons to Netanyahu's government. Lily Greenberg Call furiously quit her position as an Interior Department staffer on Wednesday after accusing President Joe Biden of using Jews to justify American policy in the conflict. Greenberg Call, 26, is the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign due to U.S. support for what protestors call 'Israel's genocide.' 'I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration amidst President Biden's disastrous, continued support for Israel's genocide,' wrote Greenberg Call in her resignation letter. But despite condemning Israel's 'violations of international law' perpetuated with 'American weapons,' as her letter states, it has now been revealed that the 16-year-old's father is a senior executive for one of the world's biggest arms dealers. Lily Greenberg Call (pictured), 26, quit her position as an Interior Department staffer on Wednesday citing the U.S. involvement in 'Israel's genocide' It has been revealed the the 16-year-old's father is a senior executive for one of the world's biggest arms dealers. Pictured is the $1.5million Oakland home of her father, Thomas Call Thomas Call, who lives in Oakland, California, is a chief engineer at Raytheon Applied Signal Technology, according to his Linkedin. The company, now known as RTX Corp., provides weapon to Israel's Dome anti-missile system, which the company advertises on its website. Call owns a $1.5million home in Oakland, California, and appears to have another daughter around the same age as the former White House staffer. Although she now holds anti-Israel beliefs, Greenberg Call previously attended a posh San Diego Jewish Academy, which cost almost $40,000 in tuition, and she served at the president of her high school's Israel advocacy club. She later switched up her views after attending the notoriously liberal college of Berkeley, located in Northern California. According to an essay Greenberg Call wrote for a May 2022 edition of Teen Vogue, her views began to change after meeting 'Palestinian-Americans at school' and entering Democratic politics. Call had worked for the presidential campaigns of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She is at least the fifth mid- or senior-level administration staffer to make public their resignation in protest of the Biden administration's military and diplomatic support of the now seven-month Israeli war against Hamas. She is the second political appointee to do so, after an Education Department official of Palestinian heritage resigned in January. Greenberg Call, 26, is the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign because of U.S. support for 'Israel's genocide' (Pictured: People inspect the damage amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis) Call had worked for the presidential campaigns of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Her resignation letter described her excitement at joining an administration that she believed shared much of her vision for the country. 'However, I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration,' she wrote. In an interview with The Associated Press, Call pointed to comments by Biden, including at a White House Hanukkah event where he said: 'Were there no Israel, there wouldn't be a Jew in the world who was safe.' She also highlighted his remarks at an event at Washington's Holocaust Memorial last week in which he said the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that triggered the war were driven by an 'ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people.' 'He is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is so deeply wrong,' she said, noting that her ancestors were killed by 'state-sponsored violence.' 'I think the president has to know that there are people in his administration who think this is disastrous,' Call said of the war overall and U.S. support for it. 'Not just for Palestinians, for Israelis, for Jews, for Americans, for his election prospects.' British holidaymakers could face holiday chaos this summer as Majorcans crank up their anti-tourism campaign by threatening to block the island's airport and protest outside hotels. The radical tactics were put forward at a 'citizen's assembly' yesterday at a school in the inland town of Sineu. Association Menys Turisme, Mes Vida, which translates into English as 'Less Tourism, More Life, organised the meeting to prepare the way for a large protest against so-called tourist massification and the effect it has on the lives of local people. More than 300 people took part in the brain-storming session. The idea of a protest at Palma Airport, one of the busiest in Europe during the peak summer months, involving cars massing outside and causing traffic gridlock was greeted with rapturous applause. No date was finalised for the demonstration and was nothing confirmed but activists showed they were serious about the airport proposal by discussing its legal implications and the wisdom of setting up a fund to pay fines levied by the authorities. British holidaymakers could face holiday chaos this summer as Majorcans crank up their anti-tourism campaign by threatening to block the island's airport and protest outside hotels (pictured: holidaymakers partying in Majorca) Thousands of people demonstrate against tourism policies on the island of Tenerife on April 20 Protesters carry placards during a rally in Madrid with the motto 'The Canary Islands have a limit' Activists promised an 'intense summer' at the packed meeting held at Sineu Secondary School. This comes after boozy British and German tourists appeared to resoundly be ignoring Majorca's crackdown on alcohol and walking around half-naked as they were been spotted taking to the streets in Speedos or with beer bottles in hand. The Balearic Islands ramped up efforts to curb rowdy behaviour by threatening street-drinkers with fines of up to 1,300, banning party boats from getting close to tourist hotspots and shutting down shops that sell alcohol at 9.30pm. Tourists are also at risk of being fined up to 500 for walking around the island topless or in a bikini. Outraged Majorcan locals told MailOnline earlier this week that they are sick and tired of men strolling around half-naked - some wearing ill-fitting budgie smugglers and others drinking in bars wearing just their underwear without a care in the world. Local media reported around 30 people had been forced to watch from the entrance doors because they couldn't fit into the assembly hall. The idea of protests outside island hotels was also put forward. The meeting ended with organisers suggesting more proposals should be registered in writing in the coming days before a final decision on a 'massive demonstration' in the next few weeks is taken. A separate protest against 'tourist overcrowding' next Saturday in Palma has already been announced. An organisation called Banc del Temps has organised the event under the slogan 'Mallorca no se vende' - Spanish for 'Majorca is not up for sale.' A revellers spotted rolling around on the floor on a night out in Majorca A tourist in Majorca looks a bit worse for wear as he is hunched over on a wall by the beach Holidaymakers in Palma and Magaluf have been spotted walking around topless despite the risk of being fined up to 500 for the act A group called Prou has organised a protest which will take place on the neighbouring island of Ibiza on Friday night against the 'stress' mass tourism brings. Activists are calling on everyone who supports a 'sustainable Ibiza' to join them and have flagged up the problems of lack of affordable housing and packed public spaces as issues they want to combat. Thousands of people in the Canary Islands took to the streets of the Atlantic archipelago last month to protest against the problems caused by mass tourism and demand their politicians take action. Government officials in Tenerife, where protesters held up banners which said: 'You enjoy we suffer' and 'Tourism moratorium now', said around 30,000 people had taken part but organisers put the figure at 80,000. Anti-tourist graffiti has appeared in both Majorca and Tenerife in recent weeks. Last month the words 'Go Home Tourist' were scrawled in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in the Majorcan neighbourhood of Nou Llevant, which has undergone massive transformation with most new properties being snapped up by Germans. It was billed as a smaller version of San Francisco's Silicon Valley when the transformation of the neighbourhood five minutes from Playa de Palma got underway. Locals have been echoing some of the same complaints protestors in the Canary Islands have been making, claiming code-operated key lock boxes have appeared on many of the entrances of new apartment blocks. One Spanish woman interviewed under a fictitious name in an island paper last year complained it was difficult to communicate with neighbours because most only spoke German and the majority of apartments where she lived were being purchased as holiday homes or rental investment properties. Campaigners in Tenerife were quick to distance themselves from anti-tourist graffiti which appeared on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar in the south of the island at the start of April. Tourists in Majorca out on a boozy night earlier this week despite restrictions Wearing a bikini in public could see you slapped with a 500 fine Messages in English left on walls and benches in and around the resort included 'My misery your paradise' and 'Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200 euros.' In an apparent UK backlash, a response left in English on a wall next to a 'Tourists go home' message said: 'F##k off, we pay your wages.' A picture was subsequently published in local press showing the words 'Go Home' on a hire car in Tenerife. Canarias Se Agota, the lead platform behind the Canary Islands protests grouping together a number of ecological associations, has voiced demands which include a halt to two controversial hotel projects, an eco-tax and more sustainable tourism. Some British holidaymakers have shown their support for the issues raised by the islanders but others have accused them of biting the hand that feeds them. Six men and women affiliated to Canarias Se Agota, which in English would translate as 'Canary Islands on the Brink,' went on an 'indefinite' hunger strike on April 11 outside a church in the town of La Laguna in northern Tenerife. It was called off after 20 days, with one of the activists who stopped eating saying as the decision to end the radical action was announced: 'We've been amazed at the social response and that's the best thing we'll take away from this. I'm very hopeful for the future.' Thunderstorms and heavy showers could cause flooding and travel disruption, forecasters have warned. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms for parts of Wales and south-west England during Saturday afternoon. It warns that scattered, slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop, with the potential to cause flash flooding. Spray on roads could result in dangerous driving conditions, the forecaster said. There is a chance some communities could even be temporarily cut off by flooded roads, while lightning strikes may lead to delays and cancellations to train and bus services. People have been enjoying sunny weather and warm temperatures at the seafront in Bournemouth, Dorset Sunshine-seekers have been enjoying seasides across the UK before wet weather and storms set in tonight across the west of Wales and England While Wales and the South West are struggling under a yellow weather warning, other parts of the UK will continue to enjoy temperatures as high as 22C The Met Office has warned of thunderstorms across South Wales and the southwest of England including up to 50mm of rain Some locations could see 20-30mm of rain in an hour or two, while there is a small chance repeated shower development could result in a few places seeing 40-50mm, the Met Office said. The warning, which covers areas including Swansea, Cardiff, Bath, Exeter and Plymouth, is in place from 1pm until 8pm. These areas could face gusts of up to 19mph marking a break from the calmer sunshine. Any showers and thunderstorms will gradually fade during Saturday evening, and much of the country will see no rain at all on Saturday, the forecaster added. While some Brits will be battling blustery showers and puddles, other parts of the UK will be much luckier, basking in sunshine. The South and Midlands is expected to hit highs of 22C as the hot weather continues while up in Scotland, Glasgow and Dumfries may reach highs of 2- and 20C while the east coast of the UK remains colder. A man has died after 'falling to his death' at a car park at Manchester Airport. Emergency services were called to the airport at 7.40pm on Friday evening following 'reports of concern for his welfare'. A man in his 40s, who was believed to have fallen from a car park, was pronounced dead on the scene. Greater Manchester Police said there are not believed to any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and enquires into the incident are ongoing. A man has 'fallen to his death' at a car park at Manchester Airport (file photo) In a statement, a spokesperson for the force said: 'At around 7.40pm on Friday 17 May 2024, we were called to reports of a concern for welfare of a man at Manchester Airport's Terminal 2. 'Officers attended the scene and located the victim. Despite the best effort of the emergency services, a man in his 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. 'There are no suspicious circumstances. Enquiries are ongoing.' This is the stomach-churning moment a daredevil walked a tightrope between two 49 story abandoned Los Angeles skyscrapers. YouTuber Ben Schneider shared footage of himself balanced between the Oceanwide Plaza apartment buildings, which have become known as 'graffiti towers' after vandals turned them into a downtown eyesore. Schneider said he was able to slip past a police perimeter after his friends distracted guards by pretending to be a religious cult. Speaking of his death-defying stunt, Schneider told KTLA: 'I call it moral graffiti... Im a moral graffiti artist. I vandalize buildings without causing any building damage.' Stunning footage captured the moment YouTuber Ben Schneider scaled between the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza buildings in Los Angeles The Oceanwide Plaza apartment buildings have become known as the 'graffiti towers' after vandals turned them into a downtown eyesore Schneider and his team pulled off the daring stunt by climbing over 500 feet up both towers several times, tying a one-inch-thick nylon strap between their roofs. The Oceanwide Plaza condos were intended to be a $1 billion luxury apartment building and retail space, but have fallen into disrepair and laid vacant for years. Without occupants, the towers have become a popular graffiti spot, which Scheider said attracted him to attempt the stunt. To sneak past the guards, he said he and his team 'pretended we were a religious cult and we got 20 people to all hold signs saying, Jesus Saves.'' 'The signs were blocking the polices point of view, so we just hopped the fence,' he added. Once on top of the buildings, Schneider - while wearing a safety harness - scaled the tightrope between the buildings, which stand at 49 stories high, or 675 feet. Schneider held a selfie stick above his head as he walked the line, capturing the panoramic viewpoint and inducing vertigo on millions of viewers. The Oceanwide Plaza condos were intended to be a $1 billion luxury apartment building and retail space, but have fallen into disrepair as they have laid vacant for years Lydia Ren, Schneider's lookout (pictured together) during the stunt, said she was 'pretty confident Ben could pull it off as he attempted the death-defying act Lydia Ren, Schneider's lookout during the stunt, said she was 'pretty confident Ben could pull it off', as he traversed the line for over two minutes. 'I just do this for fun. This is not a job. I actually work at a VR startup so this is like my weekend thing,' she added. When security reportedly realized the daredevil was in the building, he was forced to hide in a bathtub and cover himself with plywood to evade officers. KTLA reported that he remained hidden for hours before walking away without being arrested. Schneider has amassed a following of over 350,000 fans on YouTube and said the risks of his hobby don't faze him because 'everything's dangerous.' 'Driving a car is dangerous, but we still drive,' he said. 'The stunt I did was dangerous, but I think the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people. I got to push myself out of my comfort zone. We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life.' After completing the stunt, Schneider said 'the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people... We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life' The site of his daring stunt has become known as the 'graffiti towers' in recent years after a developer's dream condominiums fell into disrepair as they ran out of funds to finish the buildings. As well as being a common artist spot and tightrope-walk opportunity, the towers have also reportedly seen taggers scale the facades, while one person even reportedly base jumped from the roof. As city leaders struggle with solving what to do with the eyesores, Los Angeles City Council voted in March to spend $3.8 million cleaning up the site. The first black man to train with NASA in the 1960s will finally travel to space aged 90 on the next Blue Origin rocket flight - making him the oldest astronaut on record. Ed Dwight joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953 and quickly rose through the ranks to make captain. In 1962 he entered the Air Force's Aerospace Research Pilot School to train to be an astronaut. Yet despite making history as the first black astronaut to have a shot at making it to space after training during the civil rights movement, he ultimately missed out. But now thanks to Jeff Bezos' space company, Dwight will be among six people to board New Shepard on Sunday to take a long-awaited spaceflight, Wall Street Journal reported. Ed Dwight (pictured), the first Black man to train to be an astronaut in the 1960s, will finally be going to space on Blue Origin 's New Shepard vehicle at the age of 90 He joined the the U.S. Air Force in 1953 and quickly became captain. In 1962, he entered the Air Force's Aerospace Research Pilot School to prepare to be an astronaut. (Pictured: Blue Origin Flight taking off with 90-year-old William Shatner on board in 2021) Pictured: Ed Dwight, the United States' first Black astronaut, in the cockpit of an F-104 The 11-minute adventure will take him past the Karman Line, which some claim is the boundary of space,. There he will experience weightlessness and be able to view Earth's curvature before heading back home. The journey will make Dwight the oldest person to fly to space, just beating out 'Star Trek' actor William Shatner, who was 90 at the time of his flight on Blue Origin in 2021. 'This is an absolutely fantastic bookend to the space era of his life,' his son, Chris Dwight, told the Wall Street Journal. 'It's about time.' 'We feel like we are helping correct something that should have been done decades ago,' added Antonio Peronace, executive director of the nonprofit Space for Humanity, which is sponsoring Dwight's trip. In the 1960s Dwight quickly rose to national fame as the first Black astronaut trainee at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, gracing the covers of Jet and Ebony magazines. Leland Melvin, a retired NASA astronaut told WSJ: 'Ed has been the person who started the legacy of -we call ourselves the 'afronauts' - because he would have been the first.' 'He would have walked on the moon, he would have been an Apollo astronaut,' he added. Steven Moss, who with Richard Paul wrote 'We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program,' said the Kennedy administration was pushing for minorities to enter space as it would be good for their image. After he completed the training program, Dwight applied to NASA, but despite his stardom, was not given a spot in its 1963 fourteen person class. Pictured: Dwight looks over a model of the Titan III-X-20 Dyna-Soar combination during a visit to Air Force headquarters in the capital during November 1963. The 31-year-old pilot was in the first class of 16 Air Force, Navy and Marine pilots who went through the new 'Aerospace Research Pilot School' in 1963 as possible astronauts. Pictured: Dwight, who rose to the ranks as a captain in the Air Force, stands in front of the F-104 jet fighter Pictured: Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dwight Sr. hold a picture of their son, Edward Dwight Jr. who has been the first African American selected as a possible astronaut The head of the pilot school, Chuck Yeager, who was the first person to break the sound barrier, tried to claim Dwight had struggled to keep up with the other pilots. And once JFK was assassinated and the push for a minority presence in space disappeared, Dwight said he knew he wouldn't make it into space. 'My hope was just getting into space in any kind of way, but they weren't going to let that happen,' Dwight said in the 2023 documentary 'The Space Race.' 'Had all the things been equal, I would have made it to the moon. I had the capabilities, and I was not given that opportunity.' In the end Dwight pursued a different path, becoming a renowned sculptor. His works celebrate black history - notably a prominent Texas memorial depicting slavery and black contributions to the state. It also features Bernard Harris, the first Black astronaut to walk in space. Pictured: Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin and CEO of Amazon Pictured: Dwight poses for a portrait in his workspace that he sculpts in at his studio in Denver, Colorado Pictured: Images and news clips that Dwight saved from his time as an astronaut in his studio in Denver, Colorado His son Chris said he is taking his 22 and 20-year-old sons to see their grandfather's flight take off in Texas. 'It's really going to hit home for them what their grandfather has accomplished,' Chris Dwight told the Wall Street Journal. 'I think it's going to be one of those things like, 'Wow, that is my family, my forebears, that is going into space,' something not many people have done.' While Ed Dwight's dream was put on hold, the path to space for black Americans wasn't entirely closed. Although tragically short-lived, Robert Lawrence became the first black man selected for the space program in 1967. The wait for the first black person in space continued until 1978 when NASA selected three black men for the Space Shuttle program. Among them was Guion Bluford, who in 1983, finally achieved the feat of becoming the first black person to reach space. While Dwight's dream was put on hold, the path to space for black Americans wasn't entirely closed. Although tragically short-lived, Robert Lawrence (pictured) became the first black man selected for the space program in 1967 Flashback to the 1960s, Dwight (center) quickly rose to national fame as the first black astronaut trainee at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, gracing the covers of Jet and Ebony magazines Pictured (L-R): Victor Glover, Ed Dwight and Leland D. Melvin of 'The Space Race' pose for a portrait during the 2023 Tribeca Festival at Spring Studio on June 12, 2023 Nine years later, Mae Jemison made history as the first black woman astronaut. Lisa Cortes, a co-director of 'The Space Race' documentary, told The Wall Street Journal she is happy Dwight is finally able to finish what he started. 'Sometimes we have to wait for the arcs of time, justice and progress to intersect,' Cortes added. 'I think this is that moment for Ed.' Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of the Cannes Film Festival after Israel sent a delegation to the annual movie bash. The Palestine Film Institute, representing the country's filmmakers, has accused Israel of pursuing a 'relentless genocide' in Gaza as the country's military strikes back against Hamas following the October 7 attacks. It has called for a boycott of Israel's film industry, which is also being represented at the festival with a programme of events 'promoting the Israeli narrative', and comes after protests about Israel's inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest. Alongside, a French film director is showcasing a documentary about Palestinian trans women, including Miss Trans Israel winner Talleen Abu Hanna, who left Gaza for Tel Aviv to find acceptance in their chosen gender. The Palestinian delegation has invited activists from Film Workers for Palestine (FWP), which is calling for Cannes attendees to boycott Israel, to host a series of Palestine solidarity events at the festival. The Cannes Film Festival programme includes a film by a French filmmaker about transgender women who leave Palestinian territories for Israel starring Talleen Abu Hanna (pictured) Abu Hanna with filmmaker Yolande Zauberman, who said she considered scrapping the documentary following the October 7 attacks Calls to boycott Israel come a week after the country's contentious appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest (Israeli entry Eden Golan at the final, above) Figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health suggest 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began (pictured: the impact of shelling on Rafah, Gaza) Cannes organisers say they want to celebrate film 'without polemics' but some have still made a stand, including actress Leila Bekhti (pictured) who wore a watermelon badge to the premier of Furiosa. The fruit is considered a symbol of Palestinian solidarity Laura Blajman-Kadar, a survivor of the October 7 attack, wore a dress emblazoned with the faces of Israeli captives to the same screening It comes just a week after the Eurovision Song Contest was undermined by controversy tied to Israel's attendance at the event, which saw performers accuse the Israeli delegation of impropriety and performer Eden Golan booed by attendees. 'The months since October 2023 have underlined the great struggle we face as Palestinians to merely exist,' reads a statement on the Palestine Film Institute website. 'Against the backdrop of the current genocide, it has never been more urgent for Palestinian filmmaking to be platformed as a space of creative resistance, exchange and dialogue.' It will be screening four documentaries at Cannes Docs, the festival's documentary arm, and is also being hosted by Algeria's delegation on May 21 at the Algerian Pavilion, close to Israel's own delegation at the event. There, they will host workshops on showing solidarity with the 1.7million people reportedly displaced in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began. Speakers will discuss refusing to work with Israeli film festivals and 'withholding work or labour from institutions that censor Palestinian voices'. A later event will include a call for an 'immediate and permanent ceasefire now and an end to the Gaza massacre', with a minute's silence for the estimated 35,000 people killed since Israel's counter-offensive against Hamas began. Trade movement Workers In Palestine have called on other film workers to boycott the Israeli Pavilion at Cannes, as well as Israeli film funds, film festivals and production companies, and to avoid showing films in the country. 'In our capacity as filmmakers, actors, curators, film critics, and other workers essential to the international film industry, we stand for an end to genocide, apartheid, and repression,' it said in an online statement. 'We stand for the liberation of all people. We must do more than watch as genocide unfolds; we must act with conscience and continue to insist that Palestinian lives are equal to all others.' Osnat Bukofzer, the leader of the Israeli team in Cannes, told The Telegraph: 'We are here for films, culture, and open for dialogue. We hope that it will be the only action here in Cannes.' However, Israel's own pavilion will hold events highlighting the 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas on October 7 - which may include family members of hostages captured by the terrorists seven months ago. Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar said in a statement that Israel's presence at the festival would reflect its 'resilience and... commitment to building bridges even in challenging times'. 'We must amplify the voices promoting the Israeli narrative,' Mr Zohar said in remarks reported by the Jerusalem Post. 'For the first time, we will show Israeli films in the pavilion that reflect the unfathomable reality that the residents of the border communities lived in before October 7.' Israel has denied repeated accusations, including from South Africa at the International Criminal Court, that it is committing genocide in Gaza. Cannes organisers are reportedly keen to avoid taking any sides in the festival - refusing to give out pin badges showing support for either Palestine or the Israeli kidnap victims taken by Hamas on October 7, Variety reports. The number of security briefings for this year's festival was tripled from five to 15, ahead of expected demonstrations. 'This year we decided to host a festival without polemics, to make sure that the main interest for us all to be here is cinema, so if there are other polemics it doesn't concern us,' festival chief Thierry Fremaux said at a press conference. There was opposition to Israel's involvement in Eurovision this year (pictured) amid its war with Hamas - and complaints were made about the behaviour of the country's delegation Irish entrant Bambie Thug (pictured) claimed Israel's broadcaster had made inappropriate comments about them Cannes organisers are keen to avoid similar scenes to those seen in Malmo over the Eurovision song contest last week (pictured: protests outside the Malmo Arena during the show) Despite pleas from Cannes organisers, attendees have worn nakedly political statements on the red carpet. French actress Leila Bekhti, who wore a watermelon badge symbolising Palestinian solidarity to a screening of action film Furiosa. And Laura Blajman-Kadar, a survivor of the October 7 attack, wore a dress emblazoned with the faces of Israeli captives to the same screening. Outside of the delegations, the documentary La Belle de Gaza (The Belle From Gaza) examines differences in Palestinian and Israeli culture through what its filmmaker has insisted is a non-political lens. The film, being screened at Cannes, follows transgender women who left Gaza for Tel Aviv to live in their chosen gender and to escape a life of prostitution. Its cast includes Talleen Abu Hanna, a Palestinian Christian with Israeli nationality who won the Miss Trans Israel competition in 2016. Israel has been accused of 'pink-washing' - boasting of its pro-LGBTQ stance to cover up abuses against Palestinians - but Ms Abu Hanna told AFP her role was not to 'pink-wash' anything. She told the agency: 'There is a freedom in Tel Aviv that does not exist in other parts of the Middle East. And then there is also a territorial arrogance, a colonial arrogance that is unbearable.' Yolande Zauberman, the director of the film, told the Guardian she almost shelved the film after the October 7 attacks because she was keen not to make a political statement. She says both Arab and Israeli audiences have enjoyed it. David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes, has banned demonstrations along the coastal stretch of the city where film festival events take place, following scenes in Malmo as thousands protested outside the Eurovision venue against Israel's inclusion. The song contest was overshadowed by Eden Golan's appearance with song Hurricane. It had to be dramatically reworked and retitled because of allusions to the October 7 attacks before it could be performed at the reputedly apolitical event. Golan and the country's juror were booed during the live event, and the Israeli delegation faced accusations from other performers of behaving improperly. Israel received a huge number of points from the public and relatively few from the professional juries. Its culture ministry admitted embarking on a spend-heavy advertising campaign in allied countries - including a Times Square billboard - in order to encourage people to vote for them in countries where the contest is shown, including the USA. Calls were made by pro-Israel activists online called for people to vote for the country multiple times. Members of the public could place 20 votes from a single phone number, for 15p at a time. 'It is true that we as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs worked among friendly audiences to increase voting,' David Saranga, of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Ynet. Attention all Eurovision fans in New York and beyond! The Consulate General of Israel in New York has taken over Times Square with a special message: Vote #6 for Eden Golan and her song "Hurricane" this Saturday! #Eurovision2024 #EdenGolan pic.twitter.com/st3ZoiHLFa Israel in New York (@IsraelinNewYork) May 10, 2024 Palestinians rush to retrieve aid delivered by the US in the central Gaza Strip earlier today Relatives mourn beside the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli attack in Deir al Balah on Thursday Israel has been accused of suppressing aid deliveries into Gaza (pictured: people retrieving aid today) A boy cycles past a medical clinic in Gaza City that was destroyed in Israeli shelling Eurovision organisers the European Broadcasting Union later said it 'regrets' that some delegations 'didn't respect the spirit of the rules'. It did not name any countries in its statement. However, Irish entrant Bambie Thug accused Israeli broadcaster Kan of 'inciting violence' against them during its coverage, while other accused members of the Israeli delegation of filming them without permission. Israel, meanwhile, maintained that it had faced 'an unprecedented display of hatred... solely because of the simple fact that we are Israelis and that we were there.' In Gaza itself, UN says 640,000 people have been displaced in Rafah as prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu continues to defy calls to agree a ceasefire deal with Hamas. He is now facing opposition within his own cabinet after seven months of fighting that has decimated the Gaza Strip, as well as from America, which wants the war brought to a swift end without further significant casualties. Netanyahu has insisted there is no alternative to his original goal of 'eliminating' Hamas - but the war in Gaza has destroyed the occupied territory's infrastructure and left thousands starving, with restrictions imposed on aid being let in. The UK and US are among those to have built new piers on the coast of Gaza to help bring in aid after border crossings were closed off by Israeli forces. Climate activists caused chaos at Munich Airport on Saturday after gluing themselves to the runway, which resulted in a temporary halt to flights arriving and departing. Six eco-warriors from Letzte Generation (Last Generation) carried out the stunt to protest against flying as the most polluting form of transportation, according to German news agency dpa. The disruption lasted for a few hours, causing 60 flights to be cancelled and passengers needing to be rebooked on alternative flights, airport spokesperson Robert Wilhelm told dpa. Fourteen flights that were due to land in Munich were diverted to other airports, according to police. The six activists were eventually detained by police and the airport has resumed normal operations. Six climate activists from Last Generation glued themselves to the tarmac at Munich Airport on Saturday to protest against flying, which they say is the most polluting form of travel One of the activists at Munich Airport sat with a sign on the tarmac that read: 'The problem is the Government, not our holidays' On a post appearing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Last Generation accused the German government of 'downplaying' the negative effects of flying on the environment instead of 'finally acting sincerely.' According to Times of India, one of the posts stated: 'A total of six people are sitting in two groups on different locations of Munich Airport.' Footage of the protesters also appeared on X. In one video, a protester speaking in German who identified himself as Malte, said: 'I am sitting here today at Munich Airport, because the Government still does not have a plan to prevent disaster. 'We must speak the truth. Some things have to be shut down, some things we can no longer afford. 'The airports must be shut down by the Government. 'That is the elephant in the room that we must address.' German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for an end to such protests. 'Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,' she wrote on X. The disruption lasted for a few hours, causing 60 flights to be cancelled and passengers needing to be rebooked on alternative flights Fourteen flights that were due to land in Munich were diverted to other airports, police said Fraser also applauded police efforts to bring order back to the airport and called for airport safety measures to be checked. Minister for Transport Volker Wissing said that his ministry was already working on further tightening existing laws. The general manager of the German Airports Association, Ralph Beisel, also criticised the activists' actions. 'Trespassing the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,' he told dpa. Beisel called for harsher penalties for activists who break into airports. Last July, climate activities blocked flights at Hamburg and Duesseldorf airports for several hours. In January, Last Generation - known for infuriating many Germans by gluing themselves to streets in an effort to block traffic - said it would abandon the tactic and move on to holding what it calls 'disobedient assemblies.' Their actions have been widely criticised, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz describing them as 'completely nutty.' The organisers of a disastrous comic con event starring Hollywood star Jason Momoa have apologised to fans who complained it was a 's***show' - drawing comparisons with the disastrous Willy Wonka Experience. Hype for Basingstoke Comic Con was at fever pitch following news of the star's attendance alongside Hobbit actor Richard Armitage, Stargate's Richard Dean Anderson and actor and comedian Rhys Darby. But the event, which ran from Friday May 11 to Sunday May 13, came apart at the seams amid claims it had been oversold - with queues spilling out of the Hampshire Court Hotel in 25C heat and a lack of air-con to placate sweaty cosplayers. Momoa's attendance was also cut to just one day after he was previously touted as a weekend headliner. Organisers denied that they purposefully 'messed up his flight' so he could not attend for the full two days. They added a lack of staff contributed to a 'perfect storm of problems' that led to the event going wrong - and are now offering refunds as fans slammed it as a 'disaster'. Angry attendees took to social media to accuse promoters of overselling the event to make money. One has even set up a website giving advice on how to get money back from organisers, while another compared a statement issued on the issues at the convention to the disastrous Fyre Festival in the US. Fans had to queue up outside the Hampshire Court Hotel for Basingstoke Comic Con in 25C heat, leading to accusations that organisers oversold the event A cosplayer strikes a pose as the comic book character Kick-Ass inside Basingstoke Comic Con A cosplayer smiles as poses for a photograph at the event - but behind the scenes things were going wrong with a lack of staff and long queues Jason Momoa was the headline star of the show on Saturday - but had originally meant to attend for two days. Fans claimed organisers deliberately 'messed up his flight' Spot the difference: the Basingstoke Comic Con website listing for Jason Momoa in April (left) and now (right) The event also featured Richard Armitage, best known in fantasy circles for his role in The Hobbit trilogy as dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield The event comes after Glasgow's disastrous Willy Wonka Experience which over-promised and under-delivered (pictured: actress Kirsty Paterson at the underwhelming event in February) But the organisers - who admitted they'd had to sack two members of staff working at the event - have defended their decisions and said they are 'heartbroken'. A dispute also arose between Game Of Thrones and Aquaman star Momoa, 44, and the management, who defended allegations that they purposely 'messed up his flight' so he could not attend for the full two days. He was reported to have told fans his attendance was cut to one day - and the event website was amended at some point before the event to reduce his attendance to the Saturday alone. Organisers were criticised for describing Stargate actor Richard Dean Anderson as a 'slow signer' of autographs - and fans claimed he stayed until the early hours of the event so he could sign autographs which fans paid 60 for. Despite promising an 'AMAZING-Stoke Weekend' - fans branded the two-day event a 'disaster'. Comparisons were drawn to Glasgow's Willy Wonka Experience - the over-promising, under-delivering event in Glasgow in February. On the social news forum Reddit, one attendee said said there were 'no signs' and 'a crush risk at times in the queue'. The user wrote: 'No aircon, on a blistering sunny weekend. There were a few people taken out to ambulances. The very first thing some actors said coming on stage was "Stay hydrated". 'Seemingly no cap on autographs, so Richard Dean Anderson was there until 12am Saturday and 1am Sunday to get everything signed.' They continued: 'A huge conflict in time where people were in line for autographs so long they missed stage events and photos. 'Management left long before the event was over. A handful of volunteers stayed until 1am.' Another said: 'It was such a s***show. The actors were lovely, despite being subjected to the same unpleasant conditions and disorganisation, and clearly not having a great time of it. 'The organisers apparently cut loads of staff for the Saturday, telling them not to show up, despite there being a chronic lack of organisation and communication. 'I really hope this doesn't put the guests off coming to these more regional events, though I wouldn't blame them for never, ever coming to an event organised by this team again.' According to the event's website, an autograph from Momoa - who allegedly told fans the management shortened his attendance to one day - cost fans 175 and a meet and greet was priced at 399. Some paid up to 1,000 for VIP packages at the event. Basingstoke Comic Con was organised by KTEG Limited, described on its website as an 'established event company committed to help you plan... the perfect event'. Last year's event was the first of its kind and similarly star-studded, featuring Doctor Who star David Tennant and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, known for his roles in The Walking Dead and comic book movie Watchmen. In light of the complaints about this year's show, organiser Jane Lowther published a statement on social media and the convention's website apologising to attendees - which itself was heavily criticised as 'blaming' everyone but themselves. Organiser Jane Lowther posted a grovelling apology on the convention's website after the disastrous weekend Jane Lowther, who runs events firm KTEG, said her team was 'heartbroken' by the way the convention unfolded A trio of Daleks from Doctor Who at the Basingstoke Comic Con. Unfortunately, organisers could not exterminate the issues that plagued the weekend Fans turned up in cosplay as their favourite characters for the event - only to face huge queues Fans of Stargate turned up as their favourite characters - and spent hours queueing for autographs from star Richard Dean Anderson Attendees were deeply critical of the event itself as well as the subsequent statement put out by organisers Ms Lowther said the events senior team spent 10 months organising the convention and were 'heartbroken' by what has happened - as she hit out at attendees for 'verbally abusing' staff. Ms Lowther continued: 'We were hit by the perfect storm of problems that led to an event causing people to feel let down. It also left two members of staff physically attacked, some physically threatened, and almost all verbally abused. 'We truly apologise to everyone, whether a customer or staff member, who came away from the weekend unhappy.' The organiser said she has heard the problems 'loud and clear' and blamed the issues on 'unexpectedly' losing 35 per cent of their paid staff who 'just simply didn't turn up'. She said: 'We know people queued for hours and were hot and squashed and we are so deeply sorry. 'It was absolutely not the plan and devastating for us. 'The very last thing we wished to see is people who have looked forward to an event, saved for it and travelled long distances not having an enjoyable time. 'We are also aware the queue sizes led to far from ideal accessibility, something we take seriously.' Ms Lowther said by Sunday, they had 'so few staff' that they were 'very limited in what else we could put in place'. She continued: 'Please do not feel like we are blaming anyone here, I understand why. 'Losing the ability to communicate with attendees and each other made things incredibly challenging as it meant we were unable to respond quickly to issues as they happened.' Addressing the heat over the weekend, the statement added: 'We watched the forecast, and we planned for warm weather and some rain. 'What we didn't expect was for it to be 25C plus. 'I am aware that people were complaining that we didn't provide water until later in the day and the simple explanation was, we didn't have any. 'The hotel was unable to provide us with any, so we went out to buy bottled water and also tried to fill the gaps with jugs of water. 'We went out and brought fans and tried to think of every way we could to improve things for people with the event space we had available.' Ms Lowther claimed two members of staff were sacked: one for 'behaving improperly with guests' and the other for allegedly stealing items and getting photos and autographs for himself when he should have been working. She claimed the second person was now 'spreading lies and information' about the event on social media, and vowed to take 'action' against him. Comic book fans turn up as Marvel heroes Captain Carter, Rogue and Wolverine - but attendees say nothing could be done to save the event from disaster Basingstoke Comic Con attendees as Batman characters Harley Quinn and Joker - but the event was no laughing matter for those who queued for 12 hours for autographs Stars of HBO pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death (left to right) Vico Ortiz, Con O'Neill and Kristian Nairn held a panel Jason Momoa is known for his appearances in Aquaman (above) as well as Game of Thrones and Dune She added that Richard Dean Anderson - also known as inventive TV secret agent MacGyver - was a 'slow signer' who took as much as five minutes at a time to speak to fans as he signed autographs. As a result, it took him hours to get through the queue, reportedly staying until the wee hours. Organisers said he did this voluntarily. Fans slated Ms Lowther for appearing to deflect blame onto the star, who was described online as being attentive with fans rather than rushing through signatures. One said: 'I will not accept any blaming of Richard Dean Anderson.' Ms Lowther added: 'Regarding Jason Momoa, we have read a number of comments left by people saying Jason said that we changed his attendance to one day and also that we messed up his flight so he couldn't stay two days. 'This is completely untrue; we would have loved Jason to attend two days. 'Also, if other actors made negative comments regarding the event, none of them came to me and wished that they had, so I would have been able to address it directly.' Ms Lowther defended speculation that they oversold the event and said this was 'incorrect'. The statement finishes: 'We are deeply sorry that people didn't get the experience they deserved.' But attendees have continued to hit-out at the organisers after hearing their apology. On Facebook, Lilly Lonergan wrote: 'You can't address issues when the convention is over. The whole thing was appallingly organised. 'Richard Dean Anderson stayed till 10.30pm signing autos on the Saturday then 1am last night. 'Absolutely disgusting to have an actor have to do that to get through the lines. 'You oversold tickets to make money. That's all you cared about. Even with the excessive queues still on Sunday you continued to sell tickets for photos and autos etc. 'You don't care about the people at all. There was a pregnant lady in the queue with me waiting for two hours at that point in that boiling hall with no air con. 'And staff wouldn't allow her to get through. We told the staff and they just had no clue how to deal.' The statement said attendees can now request refunds. Representatives of some of the convention's headlining stars have been contacted for comment. The BBC is at the centre of a fresh licence fee storm after it allowed its 6 million-a-year orchestra to perform for dangerous criminals in a Scottish prison. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra which is mostly funded by the public purse played at HMP Low Moss, near Glasgow, as part of a controversial outreach scheme. That is despite the jail holding some of the country's most hardened thugs referred to by the BBC as 'men living in prison'. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year told the BBC to cut costs amid the biggest hike in the price of the 'TV tax' for 40 years, with the licence fee going up 10.50 at 169.50. Last night critics hit out over the prison concert and said licence fee payers' money would be better spent supporting victims. The BBC Symphony Orchestra entertains inmates being held inside HMP Low Moss HMP Low Moss prison where a BBC Symphony Orchestra performed for the inmates Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: 'Perhaps the BBC might instead consider staging concerts for forgotten victims of crime or other vulnerable and law-abiding sections of society.' Rebecca Ryan, campaign director of Defund the BBC, said: 'This is another slap in the face to licence fee payers and the victims of these criminals. Many licence fee payers can't afford to pay to watch the BBC Symphony Orchestra. 'At the same time, the BBC is squandering their hard-earned money on entertaining some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. It is yet another example of how out of touch the BBC is with the British public.' The Scottish arm of the BBC's symphony orchestra costs around 6 million a year to run, while Scots paid 304 million in licence fees in the 2022/23 financial year. Although the orchestra charges the public around 32 each to see them play, The Mail on Sunday has discovered the musicians went into HMP Low Moss in March to play for around 55 convicts as part of a rehabilitation programme. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) boasted that it was 'the first time ever' the orchestra had held a concert in one of Scotland's prisons. A post on its website read: 'Low Moss hosted the orchestra last month with 55 people in our care, as well as staff, able to enjoy a range of classical and contemporary music.' One inmate said: 'The music was amazing', while another added: 'I learned that I actually really enjoy classical music.' The musicians said they had previously worked with the inmates referred to on the BBC's website as 'men living in prison' on a series of family music sessions. One orchestra member said: 'We know the power of the arts. It's a brilliant way to connect with people, to change your narrative, to see yourself differently and to experience being in the moment with those you love most.' Last March a lifer at Low Moss, David Robertson, left fellow inmate Ian Hislop with a collapsed lung and a fractured cheekbone and jaw. Robertson later admitted assaulting Hislop to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of life. In 2020, three Low Moss prisoners who kicked a child abduction suspect to death while behind bars were sentenced to an extra 19 years. Musicians from the BBC orchestra perform during the concert inside Low Moss Prison Joanna Marchong, of the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group, last night said: 'Licence fee payers will be outraged at these concerts for criminals. 'With the BBC prioritising Beethoven behind bars, it's no surprise people are opting out of paying the hated TV tax. It's crucial funds are directed towards providing high-quality BBC services, not towards those serving time.' The SPS said: 'We are grateful to the orchestra for putting on this event in which young children were able to enjoy music with their fathers.' The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra said: 'We're proud of our recent activities at HMP Low Moss which facilitated meaningful engagement between people living in prison and their children.' Teachers are so burned out by spending hours trying to get kids to put down their phones that they are quitting in droves. Mitchell Rutherford, a biology teacher at Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Arizona, finally gave up after 11 years, feeling drained and frustrated. He tried everything - a 'phone jail' basket that few students used, teaching lessons on social media addiction and meditation, and taking kids on nature walks. But none of it worked. Students were unmotivated and openly said they didn't care about their grades, with half failing their classes. Mitchell Rutherford, a biology teacher at Sahuaro High School (pictured with a colleague) in Tucson, Arizona, finally gave up after 11 years, feeling drained a frustrated Instead of learning, they put their headphones on in class and tuned out, saying it helped with their 'anxiety'. 'I was employing all the tools in the tool belt, and more than half the class didn't seem to be trying at all,' Rutherford told the Wall Street Journal. Problems began when school reopened after the pandemic, and have only got worse since then - with this year being the last straw. Rutherford, 35, said at the start it was behavioral problems as students re-learned how to socialize among their peers in school. 'Students who are distracted are always the least happy, either in the moment, or later,' he wrote on Twitter in 2022 alongside one of many hand-drawn motivational posters he sticks up around his classroom. 'But focusing takes practice and work! Focusing on anything strengthens the muscle, and noticing the distractions helps too!' Rutherford said instead of learning, students put their headphones on in class and tuned out, saying it helped with their 'anxiety' This year students seemed better behaved - but it soon became clear the issues were still there, just under the surface. 'There was this low-energy apathy and isolation,' he told WSJ, recalling how it made him depressed and anxious until he realized phones were the problem. Phones in class, where school policy says they shouldn't be out, were always something teachers had to stay on top of, but kids usually went along with it. 'Now, you can ask them, bug them, beg them, remind them and try to punish them and still nothing works,' Rutherford said. Rutherford likened their constant phone use to an addiction, and tried to help them understand the apps they were hooked on were designed to keep them scrolling. He recalled how kids would clutch their phone tightly when he asked them to hand it over in class. 'That's what an alcoholic would do if you tried to take away their bottle,' he told them. Rutherford likened their constant phone use to an addiction, and tried to help them understand the apps they were hooked on were designed to keep them scrolling Rutherford and his fellow Sahuaro teachers compared notes on the strategies they used, and eventually found some that worked. But he said they were exhausting as the second he relaxed on enforcing them, the students would immediately 'backslide' into doom-scrolling. By February, he'd had enough and told the school this year would be his last - but he tried one more thing on his way out that seemed to finally get through. He challenged his students to a 'digital detox' where they kept track of their phone use and tried to cut it and spend more time in the real world. They would then write a paper about the experience and receive a lab credit. The results surprised him, as students who didn't care about their grades managed to change their screen use dramatically. Rutherford is leaving Sahuaro (pictured) after the school year to teach at an online college-prep school or a vocational program for high-school students Isabel Richey, one of his AP biology students, said she used to scroll TikTok for six hours a day and never study for more than 10 minutes without opening it. 'I would go on my phone at the beginning of every class and never get off,' she said. The detox challenge got her down to one hour a day. She read nine novels, and feels less stressed and generally in a better mood. The success gave him some regret about leaving, like he was abandoning his students, but he felt consumed and drained and couldn't keep living like that. Instead, he hoped to teach at an online college-prep school or a vocational program for high-school students, both of whom would have kids who were more motivated and able to put their phones away. The British Museum has recovered 268 more missing stolen objects from across the world. The shocking revelation that objects had been stolen or missing from the world famous museum led to the resignation of the then director Hartwig Fischer in August 2023. Meanwhile, legal proceedings began in March against former curator, Dr Peter Higgs, over items which allegedly were damaged or went missing under his watch. On Friday the museum announced that a total of 626 items, out of around 1,500 missing or stolen objects, had been found and returned to London. These precious objects were found across the world including as far away as North America. A last update from the museum in February stated that more than 350 artefacts had been returned after the objects, which included classical Greek and Roman gems and jewelry, were taken. On Friday the museum announced that a total of 626 items, out of around 1,500 missing or stolen objects, had been found and returned to London Legal proceedings began in March against former curator, Dr Peter Higgs, over items which allegedly were damaged or went missing under his watch. He was dismissed in July last year The shocking revelation that objects had been stolen or missing from the world famous museum led to the resignation of the then director Hartwig Fischer in August 2023 Chairman of the British Museum trustees and former Chancellor George Osborne said: 'Few expected to see this day, and even I had my doubts. 'When we announced the devastating news that objects had been stolen from our collection, people understandably assumed that was it - we were unlikely to ever see more than a handful of them again. That's usually the history with thefts like this. 'But the team at the British Museum refused to give up. Through clever detective work and a network of well-wishers we've achieved a remarkable result: more than 600 of the objects are back with us, and a further 100 have been identified - in total almost half the stolen items that we could recover. 'It's a great result but we're not resting here - the hunt goes on for the remaining missing objects. I urge anyone with any information to follow the example of all who've helped us and get in touch.' There are also around 500 artefacts that have been damaged, which includes an estimated 350 objects having gold removed and around 140 being harmed by tools. Following the furore over the thefts being disclosed in August 2023 Hartwig Fischer resigned, and was replaced by former Victoria and Albert Museum head Sir Mark Jones in the interim. Dr Higgs, who worked within the Department of Greece and Rome for more than 30 years, is accused of stealing up to 2,000 objects from the museum's collection He has been investigated by the Metropolitan Police but not charged Chairman of the British Museum trustees and former Chancellor George Osborne speaking about the recovery of the items said: 'Few expected to see this day, and even I had my doubts' In March, outgoing National Portrait Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan was announced as the permanent director of the British Museum. The institution is continuing to display some of the recovered gems to the public through the exhibition Rediscovering Gems until June 15 in room three. Legal proceedings were launched in March against former curator Dr Higgs, who was dismissed in July last year. Dr Higgs, who worked within the Department of Greece and Rome for more than 30 years, is accused of stealing up to 2,000 objects from the museum's collection He has been investigated by the Metropolitan Police but not charged. Dr Higgs did not attend the hearing at the High Court in London due to poor health. The court heard that Dr Higgs intends to dispute the claim and Mrs Justice Heather Williams ordered him to return any stolen items he may have. Brexit allowed the UK to respond quicker than EU states to Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Polish foreign minister has claimed. Radoslaw Sikorski said that the UK could move faster as it did not have to reach a consensus in a 27-member bloc on issues such as what sanctions to issue against the Kremlin and what aid to give Ukraine. The experienced politician, who went to Oxford University with Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron, said the UK had found a very useful and honourable 'niche' due to its quick decision-making. He told The Telegraph: 'You do the right thing before others, and therefore encourage the rest of us.' He has backed Ukraine to win the war and reiterated the call from Lord Cameron, his fellow Bullingdon Club member at university, for Nato members to boost their spending on defence to the two per cent target. Radoslaw Sikorski said that the UK could move faster as it did not have to reach a consensus in a 27-member bloc on issues such as what sanctions to issue against the Kremlin and what aid to give Ukraine Mr Sikorski has backed Ukraine to win the war and reiterated the call from Lord Cameron for Nato members to boost their spending on defence to the two per cent target. Pictured: New Ukrainian recruits on a training exercise on May 11 Boris Johnson was one of the first foreign leaders to visit Ukraine when he secretly visited the country in April 2022, two months after Putin invaded in the country. Pictured with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Poland, which shares a long border with Russia, Ukraine and close Russian ally Belarus, is now spending four per cent of its GDP on defence. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to raise the UK's spending to 2.5 per cent. Mr Sikorski said Poland was leading by 'example' and was now spending the highest proportion in Nato, including the United States. He said he expects the 'overwhelming majority' of members to hit the decade-old spending target by the upcoming Nato summit in July. He told the paper: 'Let me remind you that we only have a European defence budget as a benefit of Brexit because before Brexit, as you know, Britain consistently vetoed [it].' But he added that the UK had kept a security leadership role in Europe after Brexit and had done a 'great job' over Ukraine. Mr Sikorski also praised his university colleague Boris Johnson, who he said was 'ahead of the curve on Ukraine'. As prime minister Mr Johnson was one of the first political leaders to visit Ukraine after it was invaded. The ring-wing politician also praised his opposite number in the UK Lord Cameron, who he said the Polish security services collaborate with closely. Radoslaw Sikorski (right) with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron at a press conference on February 15, 2024, in Warsaw Mr Sikorski also praised his opposite number in the UK Lord Cameron, who he said the Polish security services collaborate with closely Pictured: Boris Johnson on his first visit to Ukraine on April 9. While there he praised the Ukrainian troops' staunch resistance that has 'defied odds' in rebuffing Russia's advance towards the capital of Kyiv Mr Johnson had travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in an unannounced visit Mr Johnson returned to Ukraine several times to show his support, most recently on the two year anniversary of the Russian invasion on February 2024 (pictured) Rishi Sunak met firefighters in Kyiv in January 2024 when he made a surprise visit to the country A Ukrainian infantry soldier of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade waits to head toward the frontline in the Avdiivka direction, in the Donetsk region, on April 3, 2024 Ukrainian soldiers fire with mortar during a military training with French servicemen, in a military training compound at an undisclosed location in Poland, on April 4, 2024 However earlier this month his boss, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made international news when he claimed Poles will be richer than Brits by 2030 because 'it's better to be in the EU'. The Brexit-hating politician, 67, vowed to accelerate the country's economic growth, potentially leading to a higher GDP per capita than that of post-Brexit Britain within just five years. Poland's PM was the European Council president during Brexit negotiations and was known for his extreme criticism of the decision to leave the EU. He took the figures from a forecast by Keir Starmer's Labour Party based on World Bank data that said Poland would outstrip the UK in GDP per capita by 2030. 'A fierce debate is taking place in Great Britain caused by the World Bank's forecast that GDP per capita will be higher in Poland than in the UK in 2025,' Tusk said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. 'And I promise it: on the 25th anniversary, Poles will be richer than Brits. It's better to be in the European Union,' he added. Tusk is now in his second stint as prime minister - a job he had left to become European Council president in December 2014 - after getting elected at the Polish general election last year. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron walks past a display of destroyed Russian military vehicles in Saint Michael's Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 2, 2024 David Cameron (front) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba lay flowers at a memorial wall to fallen servicemen, outside St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery on May 2 Lord Cameron (right) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on May 2 Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a presentation in Kazan, February 22, 2024 Donald Tusk made a bold statement earlier this month, claiming that Poland will be richer than Britain in just five years, thanks to being in the European Union During a 2019 trip to Brussels, Tusk sparked fury when he said there is a 'special place in hell' for people who pushed for Brexit without a plan. Last month Rishi Sunak visited Poland to meet with Tusk for talks about aid for Ukraine. In a joint speech, the Tory leader and Polish PM said 'we are allies in the long term', following a 500 million pledge in military aid for Ukraine by the British government. 'We will never forget in Britain that it was Polish pilots that gave their lives to protect our country in the Battle of Britain,' they said. 'And today we're proud to stand together as NATO allies. Two of Europe's biggest military powers. Two of Ukraine's firmest friends.' Sunak added: 'And across Europe, I think Poland and the UK are part of a growing wave of countries that are taking greater responsibility for our collective security. 'Poland is spending more of its GDP on defence than any NATO ally in Europe. 'And with today's announcement, the UK will be spending more in cash terms than any NATO ally in Europe.' It was a chance discovery that sparked speculation around the world. While working on a remote Scottish mountainside last year, a digger driver unearthed an extremely random and perplexing object the propeller of a Second World War aircraft, buried in a peat bog and, inexplicably, wrapped in potato sacks. The curious item drew the attention of global newspapers, websites and even the journal of the prestigious Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, prompting historians and military buffs to ponder which plane the propeller blade had come from, why it was in such an out-of-the-way spot and how long had it been buried. Also, why on earth was it bundled in tattie bags? More than a year later, the answers can now be revealed after intensive detective work by the archaeology team at the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), the charity which manages the land on Arran where it was found. Contractor Stewart Lambie, with NTS ranger Kate Sampson, found the prop blade wrapped in potato sacks A B-17 Flying Fortress of the type that crashed on Arran in December 1944 The propeller blade was found wrapped in potato sacks Behind the mystery is a saga spanning eight decades, combining wartime tragedy, honest attempts to honour the fallen, modern-day conservation and a ghoulish twist involving an unscrupulous looter. The tale is unravelled in a new podcast by journalist and broadcaster Jackie Bird, who is also president of the NTS. She said: The skies above us were once theatres of combat. Theres physical evidence that can retell those terrible years. Recently, a discovery on National Trust for Scotland land on the island of Arran made news around the world. The find was the propeller from a Second World War aircraft. What made it particularly mysterious was that it was found wrapped in a potato sack deep in a peat bog. The more Ms Bird learned about the provenance of the propeller blade, the more intrigued she became. She said: The story of the Arran propeller isnt just the stuff of a war movie but of a crime novel. The riddle began in February last year during work to restore peatland around the mountains in the north of Arran. While using a digger in a corrie below the 2,600ft peak of Beinn Nuis, the driver heard his excavator bucket crash against something metallic. In the podcast, Derek Alexander, head of archaeology at the NTS, said: Suddenly this thing went clunk on his bucket. He stopped immediately and had a look to see what it was. It was quite unusual in a peat bog to come across a large metal object. So when he got out, he found it was something wrapped in potato sacks and tied up with rope. It became quickly apparent that it was a Second World War propeller. But why was it in a peat bog in the middle of nowhere? We knew there had been crashes close by but we didnt know which one this belonged to. And the fact that it was wrapped in potato sacks suggested it had been moved. It was an unsolved riddle. During the dark days of the Second World War, aircraft crashes were an all-too-common occurrence in Scotland, with records showing there were around 4,500 between September 1939 and September 1945. Overall, nearly 6,700 crew and passengers died. Mr Alexander said: It was wartime, so some planes were casualties of combat they were shot down. But the sheer number of planes during the war had also increased dramatically, so the chances of something going wrong had increased. New crews were brought in at short notice so there was the potential for mishaps, mistakes and accidents. Navigation might go wrong too in Scotland there is the weather and the unpredictable terrain and its really difficult to fly in. The fearsome peaks of Arran, rising sharply from the sea to the 2,867ft summit of Goat Fell, presented a special hazard to pilots and navigators. After the discovery of the propeller, two wrecks in particular seemed most likely to be the source. The closest crash site to where the blade was found was that of a B-24 Liberator, an American bomber which came down in August 1943 with the loss of 11 lives. The other plane which crashed nearby was a B-17 Flying Fortress another US bomber which disappeared from the skies in the winter of 1944. Puzzlingly, the propeller was found at least half a mile from any known debris from either crash. Mr Alexander said: The closest was the Liberator site, so initially we thought it was from that. But was it part of the clear-up that happened straight after the crash? Or was this part of a later aircraft crash recovery? It was a mystery to us. All crash sites are protected by law under the Military Remains Act, meaning anyone who wants to remove any part must apply for permission. Mr Alexander said: We knew that the Flying Fortress had been investigated a couple of times in the 1980s and so licenses had been obtained from the Ministry of Defence to go out and search these sites and slightly tidy up the remains. We knew people had been out on the sites and we wanted to find out more about what had been recovered. On December 10, 1944, a Boeing Flying Fortress from the US 388th Bombardment Group set off from Suffolk to Prestwick, Ayrshire, carrying nine crew and two passengers. Conditions were difficult, with low cloud, rain and snow. An hour and a half after the aircraft had been due to land, the alarm was raised. With reports that an aircraft had been plotted flying west off Arran at the time, police were asked to search the island but couldnt locate any wreckage. Mr Alexander said: They didnt know precisely where it had disappeared it could have gone into the sea or it could have kept going. It was just missing. The problem was, because it was snowing over December, the crash site wasnt identified for three months until March 3, 1945, when a local man had been out walking in the hills and noticed the crash site and human remains. By checking on the research from the 1980s, the NTS team ascertained that the mystery propeller had come from the crashed Flying Fortress. But they still couldnt figure out why the fragment was so far from where the plane went down. The breakthrough came when the NTS was contacted by Peter Stanley, who had previously applied for permission to remove wreckage to be displayed in a museum in Suffolk honouring men and women from the British and American forces who had died in the war. Working with the Coastguard who agreed to provide a Sea King helicopter to lift the heaviest items he had found large portions of the aircraft, including fragments of one of the side guns, the tail wheel and one of the stabiliser fins from the rear of the plane. Crucially, he had also found a propeller boss the solid cylinder located at the centre with two blades attached. But when the helicopter was called away on an urgent rescue, Mr Stanley and his team were unable to take all the objects off the hillside. Mr Alexander said: The Sea King wasnt able to come back, so they werent able to lift much material. Instead, they buried it with a view to recovering it at a later date. Unfortunately and this where the story takes an unusual turn it seems that somebody had been watching where they buried these remains. In the podcast, the NTS archaeologist read out a letter from Mr Stanley, explaining in more detail the bizarre disappearance of parts of the wreckage. The letter said: It was during this time that some unpleasant occurrences happened. Wed spent many hours recovering two blades and a boss which had been located on a previous expedition. As the helicopter lift had been cancelled, we set about reburying the blades to prevent them from being removed or damaged by souvenir hunters. During this time a lone walker approached, which was unusual as the majority of walkers tend to keep to the high ridges and consequently never see the wreckage. This chap stopped and watched what was going on. Eventually once the hole was filled in and the turf replaced he wandered off. Not thinking any more of it we set off down the hill, carrying what we could. Unfortunately, due to the impending darkness, I decided to hide many of the other artefacts we had recovered in the valley below the crash site. It was at this time I noticed a figure sitting on the ridge watching. The following day when we returned to the place where all the items were hidden, everything had been taken. To the disappointment of Mr Stanley and his team, all that remained of the propeller hub and blades was the central boss and a pile of hacksaw blades. Mr Alexander said: Somebody had taken the propeller hub and cut the blades off in order to remove them from the site because it was too big to carry down in a one-er, and they had taken the blades away. But although the looter had managed to make off with some items from the wreckage, he had made an elementary mistake. Mr Alexander said: He had seemingly left his name and address in a local visitor book and was identified. When it was reported to the police, it was suggested he may also have taken munitions from the site, so they treated it seriously. They went round to his house in Glasgow where they found all the missing material. They recovered all the other items that had been dug up and taken, apart from two propellers and the tail fin. The information from Mr Stanley allowed the NTS to deduce that the propeller found by chance was part of the bungling thiefs plunder, and that the potato sacks had formed part of his badly executed plan. Mr Alexander said: The propeller found in the potato sack was probably about a kilometre down the hill from where the crash site was. It seems likely that the blade had been cut off the hub and put in a potato sack which had been tied up in order to be able to carry it. Journalist and broadcaster Jackie Bird unravelled the propeller mystery on the Love Scotland podcast series from the National Trust for Scotland It would have been taken part way down the hill from the crash site and probably deposited in the bog with the view that he would come back for it at a later date. But of course, having been caught, he never returned. It was only last year we discovered it with the machine. That must be one of the missing blades and there must be another one out there also in a potato sack presumably. Ms Bird said: The mystery of the propeller is solved but there could be another one waiting in the hills. Even though they are crash sites and theres a forensic reason for investigating them, these are still tragic human stories, often lost in the fog of war. Its surprising how some of the artefacts that are recovered even after 80 odd years can be so moving. Solving The Mystery Of The Potato Sack Propeller is part of the Love Scotland podcast series from the National Trust for Scotland, available now on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Poland is investing 2billion to bolster the defence on its eastern border amid growing tensions with Russia and Belarus. The Shield-East project was announced today by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. Poland will be investing 10billion zloty (2.01billion) in the major project that will include a system of fortifications as well as landscaping to make it 'impossible' for a potential enemy to cross. It is the latest example of Warsaw ramping up its defences after accusing Moscow and Minsk of attempting to destabilise Poland. Mr Tusk told a news conference: 'We have decided to invest 10 billion zlotys in our security, and above all in a secure eastern border. The Shield-East project was announced today by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. Donald Tusk (left) during a visit to the border with Belarus in Ozierany Wielkie, eastern Poland Poland is on the eastern flank of Nato and of the European Union and Mr Tusk stressed it bears additional responsibility for Europe's security. Polish Army soldiers take part in a Lithuanian-Polish military exercise 'We are starting a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications as well as landscaping and environmental decisions that will make this border impossible to pass for a potential enemy.' Poland is on the eastern flank of Nato and of the European Union and Mr Tusk stressed it bears additional responsibility for Europe's security. He was addressing Polish troops in Krakow, in the south, to mark 80 years since the allied victory in the Battle of Monte Cassino against the Nazis, during the Second World War. Poland's previous government built a wall on the border with Belarus to halt the massive inflow of migrants that began to be pushed from that direction in 2021, but the current pro-EU government says it needs to be strengthened. Poland is a staunch ally of Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia's invasion. It comes after Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned in an interview with the TASS news agency that security guarantees which Russia had sought and discussed with the West in 2021 were no longer relevant and that Moscow had no trust in the NATO military alliance. '(NATO) continues the manic advance of the alliance towards new frontiers... they are literally ready to balance on the brink of a direct armed conflict with us,' he said. Russian troops continue to seize territory in eastern Ukraine, forcing thousands in Kharkiv to flee their homes after Moscow launched another ground invasion in the region. Pictured, Russian president Vladimir Putin Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivers a speech as he takes part in the 80th Anniversary of Monte Casino Battle together with memebers of the Polish armed forces at the Main Square in Krakow People check tanks and military equipment during a military picnic on the the 80th Anniversary of Monte Casino Battle 'We warn that they are playing with fire. (The US) have long been in a state of proxy war with the Russian Federation. 'They somehow cannot understand that they are approaching a phase when it will be very difficult to manage what is happening and a landslide crisis. 'Diplomacy in this direction is working, I would say, in crisis management mode and in... preventing a slide to a really large-scale conflict,' he concluded. The comments yesterday came just hours after the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament yesterday warned that Ukraine was 'dragging the United States and Europe' into a major global war, urging Western leaders to act responsibly to avoid a catastrophe. Meanwhile, Russian troops continue to seize territory in eastern Ukraine, forcing thousands in Kharkiv to flee their homes after Moscow launched another ground invasion in the region. 'The Kyiv regime is dragging the United States and European countries into a big war,' said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, who is a close ally of Putin's and a member of Russia's Security Council. He said that Ukrainian lawmakers were trying to convince the United States to allow Kyiv to use US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory. 'This path leads to a tragedy that can affect all of humanity,' Volodin said. 'Western politicians need to realise their responsibility and do everything to avoid bringing the situation to a global catastrophe.' Meghan and Prince Harry were flown around Nigeria for free by an airline whose chairman is a fugitive wanted in the US. Dr. Allen Onyema, founder of Nigerian airline Air Peace, provided the Sussex's with free flights during their three day tour of Nigeria to celebrate 10 years of Harry's Invictus Games. However DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that he is also a wanted man in the US, facing multiple charges linked to millions of dollars worth of alleged fraud set down in a federal indictment filed in November 2019. Stanley Olisa at Air Peace said the Sussexes were given the 'complimentary flights' by the CEO, along with 'everything they wanted' becasue 'they are royals'. Meghan and Prince Harry were flown around Nigeria for free by an airline whose chairman is a fugitive wanted in the US Dr. Allen Onyema, founder of Nigerian airline Air Peace, provided the Sussex's with free flights during their three day tour of Nigeria to celebrate 10 years of Harry's Invictus Games (left dresses in navy) Meghan was left thrilled as she was presented with a painting by her adoring young fans Harry's Nigeria Unconquered team ended up losing 21-25 to the Chief of Defence staff squad with all the players being wounded military personnel The indictment accuses Onyema of allegedly 'using his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than $20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts'. There is no suggestion that either Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema's history before they met him. Mr Olisa told the Mirror: 'The planes were chartered. It was just the royals and their entourage. They were not flying with other passengers. We understand that they are royals so we gave them top-tier treatment on board. They were given everything they wanted. It was an exclusive experience. And we flew them back to Abuja in the evening. Everything was complimentary.' He added: 'The chairman of Air Peace gave Prince Harry and his wonderful wife Meghan free flights to Lagos and back as part of his contribution to the successful hosting of the couple.' In total the couple and their entourage flew 664 miles on a 120 seat plane creating around 12 tonnes of carbon emissions. The average annual carbon footprint for one person per year is about four tonnes. This whooping figure has left some angry at the Sussex's for being hypocritical, as it 2019, while still working royals, the pair launched the Travalyst initiative. He spent three years as the public face of the initiative to encourage the tourism industry to become more sustainable - despite a furore over his use of private jets. Like his father King Charles, who has spoken out for more than 50 years on issues such as sustainability and climate change, Harry has also been a vocal champion of environmental causes. In total the couple and their entourage flew 664 miles on a 120 seat plane creating around 12 tonnes of carbon emissions Onyema is accused of using his status as a prominent business leader to launder more than $20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts Harry hears as he urges on the Invictus athletes - as Meghan looks delighted beside him Meghan is pictured stodd next to five other female dinner guests as she attended a lunch with Minister of Defence in Abuja Nigeria During the visit the couple visited a local charity and met with military leaders, injured soldiers and school children, all of whom welcomed them smiles and enthusiasm. Robert Murphy, the agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta field division said: 'Allan Onyema's status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the US banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt.' The indictment goes on to allege that Onyema set up various 'innocent sounding multi-million-dollar asset purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam'. It states that Onyema is the founder and chairman of several organizations across Nigeria, including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development and All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited. Air Peace's Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged along with Onyema. Both men were charged on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud and three counts of credit application fraud. However it is understood that they deny the claims. Speaking to The Mirror , author Tom Quinn remarked that the whistlestop 72-hour visit 'confirmed the worst fears' for the Duke of Sussex 's family Harry - who at times appeared concerned - continually cast a vigilant eye towards his wife as their US and American security team tried to keep control This comes after it was alleged that King Charles was 'absolutely furious' that the trip had taken place anyway. Author Tom Quinn said: 'Everything you might expect from an official royal visit was there the receptions, the visits to schools and charities, to wounded soldiers and the disabled. 'Meghan and Harry's speeches and their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals and William and his father King Charles don't like it one bit.' Mr Quinn said that Harry and Meghan appear to have 'gone rogue', adding 'for Charles and William, it's as if Meghan and Harry are saying, 'We don't need your permission to be working royals we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like'. Royal expert Michael Cole told MailOnline that although the couple were on 'a private visit by two royal personages', they 'exploited their royal status to the very limit and in every way, trying to give the impression that it was the real thing'. He said that although the Sussexes' trip 'wasn't a state visit, an official visit or a royal tour', it seemed like a 'tour proposed by Buckingham Palace and sanctioned by the British government'. He added that the couple 'succeeded to such an extent that they will return to California well satisfied with their three days in Nigeria'. Despite this disapproval the Sussexes now have 'other trips planned for the remainder of the year' and hope to 'share more details in the coming weeks'. The insider added: 'It is definitely possible they could return to Africa for more tours after that.' The Sussex's and Air Peace have been approached for comment. Rudy Giuliani was served with court papers as he left, just after 11 pm on Friday Steve Bannon and Roger Stone were among the 200 guests at Palm Beach party Rudy Giuliani's 80th birthday bash was a who's who of MAGA world. Republican provocateur Roger Stone and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon were among the 200 guests who turned out for the party in Palm Beach, Florida, where the guest of honor belted out a version of 'New York, New York,' with a Frank Sinatra cover band. But the evening turned sour as Giuliani left the party just after 11pm. Two officials with Arizona attorney general's office served notice of his indictment in the Arizona 'fake electors' case, accusing him and other's of trying to overturn the 2020 election result in the case. 'The mayor was completely unfazed and even laughed as he was handed the papers and drove away,' said an outraged attendee. Republican provocateur Roger Stone joined Rudy Giuliani on his 'America's Mayor Live' show, broadcast during his 80th birthday party on Friday night 'Guests were visibly angry as they shouted at the individuals that served the former mayor.' Some were left in tears, said the source, as if it were all a part of an effort to humiliate and intimidate Giuliani and his friends. Earlier Giuliani taunted Arizona officials from the party, posting on X that they were running out of time to serve him in the case. Prosecutors had been trying for weeks to deliver official notice that we he has to appear in court on May 21. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declared victory at around 11:20pm. 'The final defendant was served moments ago,' she wrote on X. '@RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law.' It came after guests had mingled on the terrace, and watched Giuliani record an hour-long episode of his 'America's Mayor Live' show. They sang 'Happy Birthday' and presented Giuliani with a red, white and blue frosted cake. 'It was a wonderful evening celebrating an America hero, Rudy Giuliani,' said Caroline Wren, a top GOP consultant who hosted the birthday party at her home in Palm Beach. Some 200 guests joined Rudy Giuliani for his 80th birthday party at the Palm Beach home of Republican strategist Caroline Wren on Friday evening After recording an episode of his show 'America's Mayor Live' he was presented with a birthday cake frosted in the colors red, white and blue Giuliana poses for a selfie with members of a Frank Sinatra tribute act 'It's a shame that while the Arizona southern border is wide open and crime is reaching an all time high, the Arizona secretary of state's office thought it was a good use of resources to send agents across the country to serve an indictment to a man who was celebrating his 80th birthday amongst friends and family and has spent his entire life dedicated to law and order. 'This is what the Left does to people they fear. 'They fear Rudy Giuliani because hes one of the greatest prosecutors in American history and one of the strongest voices in the America First movement - so of course they must try to silence, indict and humiliate him - but luckily the American people can see right through this outrageous lawfare.' Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman said the former New York mayor was unfazed by the episode. 'He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love him from all walks of life and we look forward to vindication soon,' he said. Giuliani came to global prominence as the mayor of New York City on 9/11. In recent years he became known as Donald Trump's personal lawyer, and a key adviser on his efforts to hold on to power after the 2020 election. Giuliani came to global prominence as mayor of New York on 9/11 After recording an episode of his show 'America's Mayor Live' he was presented with a birthday cake frosted in the colors red, white and blue Some 200 guests, including a who's who of MAGA world, assembled for the party Several members of Trump's inner circle have been indicted in the Arizona case. The include his former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, legal adviser Boris Epshteyn, and former campaign aide Mike Roman. Trump himself is not named in the indictment, but he is believed to be 'Unindicted Coconspirator 1.' 'In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020,' the indictment reads. 'Unwilling to accept this fact, defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizonas voters.' An exiled ally of Alexei Navalny has vowed to 'never give up' fighting Vladimir Putin to ensure the late Russian opposition leader's sacrifice is 'not in vain'. Leonid Volkov, who was speaking after a horrific hammer and tear gas attack outside his Lithuania home in March, described his friend's death as an 'open wound in our hearts'. Navalny died at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison camp in February. Volkov insisted there was 'no one magic trick' to topple Putin but called on Ukraine's Western allies to send more weapons to the front line and not consider negotiating with the Russian leader. He told the BBC: 'If there are 50 things we can do, we have to do all 50 of them, if you do 49, thats not enough, because thats the greatest threat to the world that weve seen in 80 years.' Leonid Volkov, Alexei Navalny's top aide, speaking in March. The exiled ally of Navalny has vowed to 'never give up' fighting Vladimir Putin to ensure the late Russian opposition leader's sacrifice is 'not in vain' Volkov pictured speaking to the BBC yesterday Navalny pictured at a St Petersburg rally in 2012. He died at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison camp in February Vladimir Putin pictured at a press conference in China yesterday. Volkov insisted there was 'no one magic trick' to topple Putin but called on Ukraine 's Western allies to send more weapons to the front line and not consider negotiating with the Russian leader Navalny's aide accepted there was 'no substitution' for the late politician but that his wife Yulia Navalnaya was considered by 'everybody' as the new 'charismatic' leader of the opposition movement. Volkov added that Navalnaya had not wanted to be seen as the heir to her husband, who many allies, branded extremists by authorities, believe was murdered by Putin. On the Russian leader, Volkov pointed out that he had no boundaries and was killing people across the continent, on the front line and even in Russia. He added that Putin's recent displays of strength were a front and he urged Western leaders not to be fooled by it. The attack on Volkov's home in Vilnius, Lithuania, took place on March 12 and saw an assailant smash a window of his car, spray tear gas into his eyes and start hitting him with a hammer, according to Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh. Photos of Volkov's injuries revealed he suffered a black eye, a red mark on his forehead and bleeding on his leg, which had soaked through his jeans. The opposition figure claimed that the message behind the attack on his property had been that his enemies knew where he was and they could harm him if they wanted to. Volkov was a close ally of Navalny, working as the late leader's ex-chief of staff and as chair of his Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023. Yulia Navalnaya (pictured, in Berlin on election day in March) widow of Alexey Navalny believes the Kremlin ordered her husband's murder Photos of Volkov's injuries after his house was attacked in March revealed he suffered a black eye and a red mark on his forehead Volkov was a close ally of Alexei Navalny, (pictured during his 2017 trial in the Tverskoy court of the city in Moscow) working as the late leader's ex-chief of staff and as chair of his Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023 Navalny had been jailed since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow to face certain arrest after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. His Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices were designated as 'extremist organisations' by the Russian government that same year. Volkov used to be in charge of the regional offices. He left Russia under pressure from the authorities. Navalny's death, reported by penitentiary officials on Feb. 16, sent shockwaves around the globe. Russian authorities say Navalny died in the Arctic prison of natural causes, but his wife Yulia Navalnaya has accused Putin of having him killed - an accusation the Kremlin vehemently rejects. Recently US intelligence backed up Putin's claims, determining that the Russian President probably didn't order the opposition politician to be killed, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. The Journal said Washington had not absolved the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny's death however, given the opposition politician had been targeted by Russian authorities for years, jailed on charges the West said were politically motivated, and had been poisoned in 2020 with a nerve agent. The Kremlin denies state involvement in the 2020 poisoning. The assailant smashed a window of Volkov's car (pictured) sprayed tear gas into his eyes and started hitting him with a hammer, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Alexei Navalny seen on a screen via a video link from the IK-3 penal colony above the Arctic Circle during a hearing of his complaint on restrictions placed on which books and reading material he can access in prison, at the Supreme Court in Moscow on January 11, 2024 Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is detained by Russian police officers during a march to protest against the alleged impunity of law enforcement agencies in central Moscow on June 12, 2019 The mothers of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his widow Yulia Navalnaya, Lyudmila and Alla, stand in front of Navalny's grave on March 2, 2024, the day after his funeral at Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow Reuters could not independently verify the Journal report, which cited sources as saying the finding had been 'broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Departmentas intelligence unit.' The U.S. assessment was based on a range of information, including some classified intelligence, and an analysis of public facts, including the timing of Navalny's death and how it overshadowed Putinas re-election in March, the paper cited some of its sources as saying. It cited Volkov as calling the U.S. findings naive and ridiculous. Ukraine has already lowered the age to draft men from 27 to 25 to boost troops Ukraine has brought in a mobilisation law to boost troop numbers amid a new offensive from Russia that has seen more than 500,000 troops amassed on the front line in a dramatic bid to overpower Kiev. The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers such as cash bonuses or money towards buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford. Ukraine's parliamentarians dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine's forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country's ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition. Ukraine has brought in a mobilisation law to boost troop numbers amid a new offensive from Russia that has seen more than 500,000 troops amassed on the front line The law change comes as Russia continued its advances in northern Ukraine, which threaten the country's second city, Kharkiv. Pictured: Smoke rises over the city following a Russian bombardment on Friday Ukrainian troops help escort an elderly woman, one of thousands of residents evacuated within the Kharkiv area as Russia ramps up its offensive The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine's forces. Pictured: A Ukrainian rocket launcher fires at Russian positions on Wednesday Most notably, Vladimir Putin's army significantly outnumbers Ukraine's Western-backed troops, which experts say poses a serous threat to Kiev. Dr Jack Watling, from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said: 'The Russian forces have now expanded to 510,000 troops. 'The outlook for Ukraine is bleak. Its allies must replenish stockpiles.' The warning came earlier this week as Russia continued its advances in northern Ukraine, which threaten the country's second city, Kharkiv. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps suggested the advances had 'caught the West napping'. Alongside the mobilisation law, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also signed two other laws on Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers five-fold. Russia enlisted its prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled Ukraine to adopt the new measures. Oleksii Tarasenko, a deputy commander of a Ukrainian assault battalion, said that his men felt 'awful' about the law's failure to address the issue of demobilisation. Although many Ukrainian troops have been fighting since the war's early days, it remains unclear when and how they might be relieved of duty. 'It feels like a cruel injustice towards people who have been fighting for two years, and of course, it has a highly negative effect on the psychological state of soldiers and their families,' Mr Tarasenko said. Alongside the mobilisation law, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also signed two other laws allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers five-fold Early drafts of the law envisaged the demobilisation of troops after 36 months, and the rotation of those serving on the front line for more than half a year. These clauses were dropped following a last-minute appeal by Ukraine's military leadership, concerned that the armed forces would be left without their best-trained and most experienced troops. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry is working on a separate demobilisation law. Mr Tarasenko said that despite their weariness, his comrades could see the generals' point. Last month, Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. Pictured: New Ukrainian recruits on military exercise 'We already see how many people are lacking, especially professional troops in the units. ' And simply allowing such professional people who have been through a lot to demobilise would be wrong,' he said. Russian troops, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in north-eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region and put further pressure on Kyiv's overstretched military. After weeks of probing, Moscow launched the new push knowing that Ukraine suffered personnel shortages, and that its forces have been spread thin in the north east. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that the Russian push aims to create 'a buffer zone' rather than capturing Kharkiv, the local capital and Ukraine's second-largest city. New Ukrainian recruits are shown in training as Russian troops push ahead with a ground offensive that has put further pressure on Kyiv's overstretched military Still, Moscow's forces have pummelled Kharkiv with strikes in recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure and prompting angry accusations from Mr Zelensky that the Russian leadership sought to reduce the city to rubble. On Friday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that Russian guided bombs killed at least three residents and injured 28 others that day. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have died or suffered injuries in the more than 27 months of fighting. Kharkiv regional governor Ihor Syniehubov on Saturday said that nearly 10,000 civilians had to be evacuated from frontline areas near the Russian border. Only 100 residents remain in Vovchansk, the border town at the centre of Moscow's grinding push that is now largely in ruins. The town had a pre-war population of more than 17,400. The US last week announced a new $400million package of military aid for Ukraine, and President Joe Biden has promised that he would rush badly-needed weaponry to the country to help it stave off Russian advances. Still, only small batches of US military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv's needs to hold the line. Thousands of Ukrainians have fled the country to avoid the draft since Russia's all-out invasion in February 2022, some risking their lives as they tried to swim across a river separating Ukraine from neighbouring Romania and Hungary. Late on Friday, Ukraine's border service said that at least 30 people have died trying to cross the Tisza River since the full scale-invasion. Romanian border guards days earlier retrieved the near-naked, disfigured body of a man that appeared to have been floating in the Tisza for days, and is the 30th known casualty, the Ukrainian agency said in an online statement. It said the man has not yet been identified. A California nanny who sexually assaulted a baby girl in her care so she could send photos to a man she met online could be freed from jail in as little as 15 years. Michelle Nicole Hidalgo, 29, was arrested in Antioch, California, in September and charged with seven felony counts of child pornography and three counts of molestation. On Friday morning, she pleaded guilty to molesting the infant but her plea deal required prosecutors to drop child pornography distribution and additional child molestation charges. The count she pleaded guilty to means Hidalgo faces between 15 years and life in jail at her sentencing hearing scheduled for July. But she will have a chance for parole after 15 years, according to court records obtained by The Mercury News. Michelle Nicole Hidalgo has pleaded guilty to molesting a baby girl in her care but her sentence may be shorter than expected Michelle Nicole Hidalgo, was arrested in Antioch, California, in September and charged with seven felony counts of child pornography and three counts of molestation Hidalgo was arrested after cops in Contra Costa County received a tip from an unnamed social media platform about child abuse images shared by the babysitter on their platform. When they probed her online activity, police reported finding conversations between her and a man requesting 'worse and worse' images of the girl. The nanny was still employed by the victim's family at the time of her arrest. On top of the four felony counts of child pornography she previously faced, Hidalgo was then charged with a further three counts of child molestation of a victim under 10, and of using a minor for sex acts. When Hidalgo was confronted about the images by a District Attorney senior inspector, she allegedly admitted to sharing the images, calling them a 'stupid' one-time mistake. But cops suspected that she had also molested the infant at the direction of the man she sent the images to. After receiving the initial tip, a search warrant was carried out on her home by the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, where they seized 'equipment used in the production and distribution' of the child abuse footage. District Attorney Diana Becton previously said authorities have not ruled out the possibility that there are other victims. Hidalgo initially pleaded not guilty to charges in her first court appearance last year. On Friday morning, the 29-year-old pleaded guilty, but her plea deal meant prosecutors had to drop child pornography distribution and additional child molestation charges The charge Hidalgo (pictured) pleaded guilty to means she faces a minimum of 15 years in prison Her bail originally stood at $700,000 before it was raised to $2.7 million. The District Attorney's office said at her first hearing it would argue to keep her behind bars should her defense ask for the bail to be lowered because 'she is a danger'. According to Hidalgo's Facebook profile, she is originally from Pacifica, California, and graduated from at Terra Nova High School. Two presidential debates will be held on June 27 and September 10 Wondered if it was 'too late to switch' Biden for a younger candidate Comedian claimed president had more to prove than Trump in the debates Bill Maher claims Joe Biden only challenged Donald Trump to two debates because he knows he's losing and is desperate to make up ground. The president threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday for Trump to face him twice before the election - on June 27 in Atlanta and September 10. Trump immediately accepted with his typical bluster and declared he was 'ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe', despite his poor 2020 performances. Maher on his HBO talk show claimed Biden only agreed to debate, something Trump goaded him about for the whole campaign, because of his bad polls. They now indicate Trump will score an outright victory in November's election with analysts saying Trump's win sits outside polling margins of error. Bill Maher claims Joe Biden only challenged Donald Trump to two debates because he knows he's losing and is desperate to make up ground Bill Maher on the Biden-Trump Presidential debates: "It says that Biden knows he's losing. Only the loser wants to debate." "I've never seen a Summer debate, not for the presidential elections. They're always in October right before the election. June 27th? That's not even at the pic.twitter.com/CalNCsTDO8 Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) May 18, 2024 'To me it says Biden knows he's losing because otherwise he wouldn't have agreed, Only the loser wants to debate,' he said. 'I think the guy who has more to prove is Biden. Trump is a known commodity. They know he's gonna be an a**hole. 'He's gonna be lurking and growling and not obeying the rules and everything else. But Biden, they want to see proof of life.' Maher parroted the line that Biden, as it stands, has no choice of winning and his poll numbers - six months form the election - are grisly. 'I feel like we have turned a corner though. Like after the last election, it was 'Trump is finished.' And then a year later was 'Well, he's not going away',' he said. 'And then it was 'Uh oh, he could win again.' And now it seems like the consensus is almost Biden can't win. 'And he is losing in all the swing states I think except Wisconsin and by bigger and bigger numbers.' Biden threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday for Trump to face him twice before the election - on June 27 in Atlanta and September 10 Trump immediately accepted with his typical bluster and declared he was 'ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe', despite his poor 2020 performances Maher then suggested the Democrats would stand a better chance of winning if they convinced Biden to bow out and put up a younger candidate. 'Is it too late to switch out?' he said. 'Because in these swing states where Biden is losing, it's interesting. The Democratic Senate candidate is not losing. 'So it just says something, which is it's not the party necessarily somewhat, but it's the guy. They just don't see him as the guy no matter what he does. 'He has plenty of victories. It doesn't seem to ever move the needle, but the Democrats will have to get off their keister now. Now!' Senate elections historically don't necessarily follow the presidential results and are more easily influenced by local issues and personalities. Maher has previously discussed the idea of replacing Biden on the ticket, which would have to be done before, or during, the Democratic National Convention on August 19 to 22. It has widely been rumored that Biden may well step aside or be forced to step aside come August. His vice president Kamala Harris tends to fare even worse in polls. But leapfrogging the United States first female vice president and first black vice president will prove a thorny task for Dems - particularly if the candidate ends up being a white man like California Governor Gavin Newsom. Prince William is set to be an usher at his friend the Duke of Westminster's wedding but King Charles won't attend amid rumours of tension over a past Queen Camilla 'snub'. Prince Harry is also expected to miss the event over worries his attendance may cause family awkwardness which could overshadow his friend Hugh Grosvenor, and his bride-to-be, Olivia Henson's big day on June 7. The King and Queen will miss the 'society wedding of the year', over claims they have not forgotten about what happened at the 2004 wedding of Hugh's sister. They turned down their invitations at the time to Lady Tamara Grosvenor and Edward van Cutsem's wedding, which was held at the same venue as the duke's upcoming wedding: Chester Cathedral. Camilla Parker Bowles, as she was then, had been told that she would not be allowed to sit with Prince Charles and would instead be seated several rows back and be made to arrive separately. This was because of royal protocol since Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip attended the ceremony, along with Princes William and Harry. Prince William is set to be an usher at the society wedding of the year when his close friend the Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor gets married to Olivia Henson next month. Pictured: The couple's official photo released to mark their engagement Prince William will be among the groom's party, but the Princess of Wales, who is receiving cancer treatment, is not expected to attend Prince Harry is not on the guest list for his friend's marriage to 'avoid any royal tensions overshadowing the big day'. Neither he nor his wife Meghan Markle will attend, despite Grosvenor being so close to Harry that he is a godfather to the couple's five-year-old son Prince Archie The wedding of Lady Tamara Grosvenor, and Edward van Cutsem. The King and Queen chose to turn down their invitations to the 2004 wedding Tensions were heightened by reports that Emilie van Cutsem, the groom's mother, and Camilla had fallen out after each is alleged to have criticised the behaviour of the other's children. Charles ultimately excused himself from the event with just days to go, saying he had to visit Warminster barracks to meet the families of soldiers serving in Iraq. Camilla was described as 'otherwise engaged'. According to royal author Sarah Bradford, Camilla was so infuriated that she told Charles the status quo was no longer acceptable. Their own engagement was announced three months later. The King, who is Grosvenor's godfather, is still undergoing cancer treatment and will be travelling to France the day before the ceremony next month with the Queen and Prince William to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Another aspect of the upcoming wedding that has been the talk of the town for months is why Prince Harry may have turned down an invitation from his old friend. Now friends of the Royal Family think they have solved the mystery, claiming that Prince Harry refused to attend when he discovered his brother William had been given a prominent role. Tonight the Sunday Times reported that the Prince of Wales will be an usher at the duke's wedding to Olivia Henson. The Mail on Sunday understands that his son Prince George is set have a prominent role too, as he is the duke's godson. The attendance of King Charles, who is the duke's godfather, is yet to be officially confirmed or denied. King Charles and Queen Camilla are not expected to attend the wedding Chester Cathedral where the duke's wedding is set to take place next month After the wedding service at Chester Cathedral, guests will then enjoy a grand reception at nearby Eaton Hall (pictured) Prince Harry and Prince William at the wedding of Edward van Cutsem and their friend's sister Lady Tamara Grosvenor at Chester Cathedral in 2004 Harry and Meghan have already been excluded from next month's wedding. Hugh is believed to have felt the Sussexes' appearance could cause tensions with the Royal Family The Prince and Princess of Wales and their elder son, Prince George, who is Hugh's godson, are invited to the wedding. However, Catherine is not expected to attend because she is undergoing cancer treatment Olivia and Hugh announced their engagement on April 23, 2023, after two years of dating. Pictured vising charities in Chester earlier this month The late Queen is pictured with the late Duke of Westminster Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, who died suddenly in 2016 Pictured: Harry and Meghan with Archie in 2019 The releationship between Harry and William is understood to be under strain in recent years. Pictured: The brothers in 2021 at an unveiling of a statue of their mother, Princess Diana Prince William, pictured with Grosvenor in 2004, was at one point in the running to be the Duke's best man Known as 'Huey' to friends, the 33-year-old duke is one of very few to remain close friends with both William and Harry. Friends have suggested the Prince of Wales was first asked in December to be an usher at the wedding at Chester Cathedral next month. At one stage, he was even said to have been earmarked as a best man. Harry was said to have been 'put out' by the news because he had always regarded himself as being closer to the duke who is also godfather to the Sussexes' first-born, Prince Archie. Last night, a well-informed source told The Mail on Sunday: 'William was asked to have a prominent role in the wedding and that's what triggered Harry to decline an invitation. Apparently he [Harry] was put out by the request when he thought it should have been him.' Referencing the lack of public details about the occasion, the source added: 'Both the Palace and Hugh's people decided to hold dear the operational part of the wedding once the leak about Harry not attending made the papers.' Last year, it was claimed that Prince Harry had been 'snubbed' from the wedding, but a source close to the Sussexes was at pains to explain to US publication Page Six that both Meghan and Harry had in fact received invitations, but had jointly decided to decline. Neither Harry nor his wife Meghan Markle will attend the wedding, which is expected to have 400 guests, despite Grosvenor being so close to Harry that he is a godfather to the couple's five-year-old son Prince Archie. Prince William will be among the groom's party, but the Princess of Wales, who is receiving cancer treatment, is not expected to attend. Grosvenor, known as 'Hughie' to his friends, and Henson, were introduced by mutual friends in 2021. The couple have insisted on a 'strictly no-gifts policy' for their guests, according to The Sunday Times. Prince William (R) is greeted by General Timothy Granville-Chapman (2R), Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster (2L) and John Peace (L) as he arrives to attend the official handover of the newly built Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre A close friend of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Westminster is godfather to his eldest son Prince George (Grosvenor pictured in 2018 second from left with then PM Theresa May, far left, Bahrain's Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, second from right, and Prince William, far right) Once dubbed Britain's most eligible bachelor, Hugh was educated at 6,000-a-term day school Ellesmere College in Shropshire The Duke of Westminster and his fiancee had a busy start to the month as they carried out a very regal string of engagements in Chester, where they are due to exchange vows this summer Images from earlier this month showed the couple (left) being mirror images of William and Kate (pictured right in 2022), who are crowd-favourites when it comes to public engagements The Duke inherited his 9.3billion fortune when his father Gerald Grosvenor suffered a sudden heart attack while out on a country walk and died aged 64 in 2016. He inherited 300 acres across the affluent London areas of Mayfair and Belgravia, as well as estates in Oxford, Scotland and properties around the globe. This includes his current residence at Eaton Hall, the 10,872-acre family estate. After the wedding service at Chester Cathedral, guests will then enjoy a grand reception at nearby Eaton Hall. The following day they will host a second, smaller reception at Eaton Hall for close family and friends, but further details of both receptions are being kept secret. Sustainability will be a key feature of the wedding, with all food, flowers and products used for the wedding locally sourced where possible. The following day they will host a second, smaller reception at Eaton Hall for close family and friends, but further details of both receptions are being kept secret. The city of Chester is also bracing itself for the celebrations, with thousands of people expected to line the streets. Some shops, restaurants and cafes near the cathedral will be closed on the day for access and security. A spokesman for Kensington Palace said the Prince of Wales is attending the wedding in a private capacity, and said it does not comment on events during his private time. A representative for Prince Harry was also contacted for comment. Earlier this month, the engaged couple visited several local charities in Chester helped by the Westminster Foundation - showcasing their charisma and drawing comparisons from the Prince and Princess of Wales. Grosvenor, who is known to be publicity-shy and has always maintained a low profile despite his extreme wealth, is known to be 'incredibly excited' but 'nervous' about the wedding. Olivia and Hugh announced their engagement on April 23, 2023, after two years of dating. Hugh Grosvenor attends the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle with Charlie van Straubenzee at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 A life-long friend for each of the brothers, Hugh Grosvenor is thought to be the only pal both chose to mentor their children. Pictured: At the wedding of Harry's school friend Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks in 2018 Grosvenor, who is thought to own more land than the King, has an estimated net worth of 9.42 billion and has a long history with the royal family - with his late father Gerald acting as King Charles' own godfather. Pictured: With his mother in 2018 Raised at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, Hugh Grosvenor was privately educated at Ellesmere College before obtaining a BSc in Countryside Management from Newcastle University. After his graduation, Grosvenor worked in estate management at the food and agriculture company Wheatsheaf Group, an investment business based in the Eaton estate and owned by the Grosvenor Group. Afterwards, he held an account manager position at sustainability company bio-bean, which turns coffee-related waste into bioproducts such as biofuels and logs. The future Duchess of Westminster also comes from a wealthy background. Olivia descends from the Hoare banking family as well as the Marquesses of Bristol and the Dukes of Rutland, according to the Telegraph. The outlet also says her uncle is the Grand Master of Scottish freemasons and her father is stockbroker Rupert Henson. Olivia reportedly also has a 29-year-old brother who works in asset management and a 26-year-old sister who's in a brand relationships role. She is also said to speak Spanish and Italian after completing a Hispanic Studies and Italian degree at Trinity College in Dublin. Much like the Princess of Wales, Olivia is understood to have attended the elite Marlborough College, and before that was at the equally revered Dragon School in Oxford along with fellow alum Emma Watson. She worked at Daily Dose LDN and No1 Rosemary Water before landing a role at Belazu - a B Corp ingredients brand - where she is currently a Key Account Manager, in 2019. Close friends with the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke is the youngest of Prince George's godparents. He has previously represented the country at Olympic Skeet Shooting competitions both internationally and in the UK. Hugh previously dated property and recruitment consultant Harriet Tomlinson, but the couple, who met at 6,000-a-term day school Ellesmere College in Shropshire, split in 2020. The Duke also supports the rehabilitation of wounded or injured members of the Armed Forces and donated 2.5million to the Health Service when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, but said he was so 'humbled' by the work of doctors and nurses he wanted to give another 10million. An eight-year-old girl has been left badly injured while riding on the back of a motorcycle being driven by her dad after a car pulled out in front of them. Bella Martinez and her dad Enrique were traveling through Commerce City, Colorado, to meet up with family on Tuesday. 'It was a nice day, so you know, we were just going to take a nice little drive over there,' Martinez told local Fox affiliate KDVR. But as they were heading towards their relative's house, a car pulled out in front of them, causing Martinez to lose control of the motorcycle. The driver then sped off. 'Jumped out right in front of us, and kind of just lost control right there to avoid hitting them and just went down,' he said. On Tuesday, 8-year-old Bella (left) and her dad, Enrique Martinez (right), were riding around Commerce City, Colorado , on a motorcycle to meet up with family As the father-daughter duo were heading towards their relative's house, a car pulled out in front of them, causing Martinez to lose control of the motorcycle. Her father said his first instinct was to check and see if his daughter was okay. 'It was rough seeing her like that. I just made sure she was OK and nothing was broken off the bat. She was able to stand. We were walking. But I just sat her down right away and there was just she was scraped up bad,' he said. Bystanders who witnessed the accident rushed to their aid, but the person responsible for the accident was no where in sight. 'The dude who jumped in front of us, he just took off right away he didn't even stop. He didn't hit his brakes, nothing. He just kept going,' Martinez said. Martinez's father lived around the corner from where the accident took place, so he was able to take Bella to Children's Hospital Colorado, where she was treated. 'Burn center did say she's on the verge,' said Bernadette Luevano, Bella's mom. 'If they went any deeper she would definitely need skin grafts.' Her father's first instinct was to check and see if his daughter was okay Bystanders who witnessed the accident rushed to their aid, but the person responsible for the accident was no where in sight Martinez's father lived around the corner from where the accident took place, so he was able to take Bella to Children's Hospital Colorado, where she was treated for burns Bella was sent home Thursday with her wounds bandaged, but she will have to go back to the hospital weekly to get them redressed. 'Right now, we're just taking it week by week with the doctors just because we do not want to open the wounds up to get any infection in it,' Luevano said. The family is waiting to hear whether or not Bella is a candidate for skin grafts. 'They're going to have burn center look at it again and determine if her skin is healing well enough. If it's not, then she's going to need skin grafts. Which is we're hoping for the best.' The family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay the medical bills. Luevano said she had to put her business on hold while she takes care of her daughter. Bella's mother Bernadette Luevano (left) said she had to put her business on hold while she takes care of her daughter. The family is waiting to hear whether or not Bella is a candidate for skin gratfs. 'I'm having to cancel and reschedule all my appointments just so I can care for her properly and give her all my attention,' she said. The family said they are just grateful Bella is alive. 'Thank God she was wearing her helmet,' Luevano said, 'or else it could have been much worse.' There are no age restrictions for passengers traveling on the back of motorcycles in Colorado. A young mother was killed when a fake, defective airbag 'detonated like a grenade' during a crash and sprayed her with shrapnel, a lawsuit claims. Destiny Marie Byassee, 22, died on June 11 last year when her 2020 Chevy Malibu had a frontal collision in Punta Gorda, Florida. The airbag deployed, but instead of saving her life it 'detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin'. 'Several fragments from the blast struck Ms Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,' the lawsuit filed on May 16, her son's birthday, claimed. Destiny Marie Byassee, 22, (pictured with her husband Ernesto Donovan Barrientes and her young son) died on June 11 last year in a car crash in Florida This photo shows the aftermath of the crash with the exploded airbag module with shredded airbag on the seat The complaint was lodged with the 17th Judicial Circuit Court for Broward County on behalf of her, grandmother, husband, mother, and two children aged 4 and 6. Byassee's family's lawyer Andrew Felix laid out a shocking series of events the lawsuit claimed led directly to her death. The Malibu was involved in another crash on September 24, 2022, that also caused serious damage to the car and activated its original airbag. 'The damage to the subject Chevy Malibu from the crash was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,' the lawsuit claimed. Instead, its owner Enterprise Rent-A-Car decided to sell it through car auctioneer Manheim, but first it had to be repaired. Haim Levy, a mechanic who owns Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, was hired to fix the car - including replacing the airbag. The lawsuit claimed he used 'counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components' from Chinese vehicle part maker Jilin to save money. The airbag deployed, but instead of saving Byassee's life it 'detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin' The lawsuit was filed on May 16, her son's fourth birthday. Her daughter is six Levy also had to replace a seat belt pretensioner, which locks the belt in place during a crash to keep the driver from being flung all the way forward. The lawsuit claimed he again cut corners, and neither replaced nor repaired the damaged part. 'Jumbo and Levy cut the wires to the seat belt pretensioner so that the front driver's seatbelt would release from its deployed position, appear normal, and appear to function as designed and intended to an unwitting customer,' it claimed. Manheim then sold the refurbished vehicle at auction to Byassee and she drove it around until the fatal crash months later. 'Byassee had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired, that the vehicle contained counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components, or that the vehicle's front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was disabled and inoperable,' the lawsuit claimed. Both components failed in the crash and the seatbelt pretensioner 'did not deploy as originally designed', while the airbag responded far worse. The lawsuit included two photos of the inside of the car in the aftermath of the crash that 'depict a horrifying event'. One showed the exploded airbag module with shredded airbag on the seat, and the other the 'shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag'. Byassee drove the car around for months unaware it was a ticking timebomb, according to the lawsuit A file photo of a 2020 Chevy Malibu like the one Byassee was driving when she died 'She was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,' another lawyer representing the family, John Morgan, said. '[Byassee] believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should've been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money. 'Because of that, Ms Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.' The law firm said many counterfeit airbags from China were being unknowingly installed into cars in the US. Byassee's grandmother Cathy King is leading the lawsuit, with her mother Lorretta Simmons, husband Ernesto Donovan Barrientes, and her children named as plaintiffs. Enterprise, Manheim, Jumbo, and Levy himself are named as defendants with unspecified damages demanded for 14 counts of negligence, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, breach of warranty, and strict liability. A lecturer and veteran army nurse has been hailed a hero for leaping into action to save a man 'suffering a heart attack' on an easyJet flight from Alicante to Newcastle. David Armstrong, 68, provided the victim with oxygen and told the pilot to divert the jet to France so he could receive immediate medical attention. The aircraft then headed off to Nantes where paramedics met the man, named Steven, at the end of the runway. When Mr Armstrong, who was travelling with his wife Debra, 58, returned to his seat, he was given a round of applause by those onboard. The Associate Lecturer in Nursing at Northumbria University is a qualified nurse with a background in critical care. He was also a commanding officer for the 335 Medical Evacuation Regiment within the British Army. David Armstrong pictured in his military uniform. The lecturer and veteran army nurse has been hailed a hero for leaping into action to save a man 'suffering a heart attack' on a flight from Alicante to Newcastle Mr Armstrong pictured with wife Debra. Mr Armstrong, 68, provided the victim with oxygen and told the pilot to divert the jet to France so he could receive immediate medical attention He said: 'My wife and I were returning home from a spell at our place in Spain. 'I was watching a movie on my iPad and my wife noticed that a gentleman two or three rows in front of us looked ill. I put the iPad down and the cabin crew asked if there was doctor or anyone with medical qualifications on board who was able to give them some help. 'The gentleman, called Steven, was complaining of pain down to his left arm and up to his jaw, which are classic symptoms of a heart attack. 'This chap was adamant he was getting back to Newcastle. 'He had his daughter there and his wife, I had to reassure them. I said "I'll keep an eye on him for a short time". 'I got some oxygen from the cabin crew and I gave him some oxygen. 'I found out he had some GTN spray, which dilutes the blood around the heart and creates a better blood flow to the heart. I put a couple of squirts of that under his tongue. 'He was still looking not well at all, however he was still adamant he was going to Newcastle. I said "I'm taking the decision out of your hands, you're not going to Newcastle".' Mr Armstrong, who lives in Annitsford, North Tyneside, said he was concerned the man was going to have a 'full blown cardiac arrest' during the incident on April 30. 'I could tell the chap was deteriorating and he would have went into cardiac arrest,' the grandfather said. 'That's why I had to get the aircraft down on the ground. 'The most embarrassing thing was when I went back to my seat the passengers burst into spontaneous applause. I only did what anyone else in the same position would do. 'The cabin crew were absolutely excellent. They said "Would you like a drink? Anything you want." When Mr Amstrong, who was travelling with his wife Debra, 58, returned to his seat on the easyJet flight, he was given a round of applause by those onboard (Stock Photo) 'They were really nice and I got a cup of coffee.' Incredibly, the lecturer said he had helped another passenger experiencing health problems just weeks earlier, when he intervened when a traveller was having a seizure on a flight from Singapore to Manchester in March. He said: 'I was coming back with my wife, we had been on a cruise around Asia. 'He had a seizure, I looked after him and he was okay. He was stable. I was happy to continue flying. I felt he was okay to continue back.' A spokesperson for easyJet said: 'We can confirm that flight EJU5517 from Alicante to Newcastle on 30 April diverted to Nantes due to a passenger onboard requiring urgent medical assistance. 'The passenger was assisted by Mr Armstrong as a medical professional onboard and our crew arranged for medical services to meet the aircraft on arrival where the passenger was transferred to hospital, before the flight continued to Newcastle. 'We have been in touch with the family to ensure their wellbeing and with Mr Armstrong to thank him for his support. The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our highest priority.' A dying Marine veteran was finally handed his high school diploma while receiving hospice care after dropping out to fight in World War Two over eight decades ago. Richard Remp, a 98-year-old marine veteran in hospice care, left school at 17 years of age to serve in World War II, before later continuing his service in Korea and Vietnam. But on Friday he was finally handed the high school diploma he had longed for all these years but never received. Remp told local San Antonio NBC affiliate NEWS4SA: 'On behalf of myself and the Marine Corps, I thank you very much for what you have done for me. I'll never forget this. How can I with all you good people around me? I'm really happy'. A dying Marine veteran has finally received his high school diploma while receiving hospice care after dropping out to fight in World War II nearly eight decades ago Richard Remp, a 98-year-old marine veteran in hospice care, dropped out of high school at 17-years-old to serve in World War II Known affectionately as 'Gunny' for his role as a gunnery sergeant in Vietnam, Remp found himself in hospice care at home after doctors diagnosed him with stage four cancer following a recent fall. Determined to fulfill Remp's lifelong wish, his family and friends at the nearby American Legion Post 247 devised a plan to secure his high school diploma. They reached out Remp's original school district in Sharon, Pennsylvania, a little over an hour north of Pittsburgh, but the school was unable to get the job done in time. On Friday, he was personally handed the high school diploma he had longed for all these years but never received He put his education on hold 81 years ago to fight Nazis, later continuing his service in Korea and Vietnam But after hearing his story, Superintendent Justi Glaros of a neighboring district arranged for the diploma to be printed. She took a 4.5-hour journey to personally deliver the diploma to Remp's bedside. After six phone calls to 911, the police took four hours to get to her house The dispatcher told her to call a politician and ask for more police funding A mother, who was the victim of a home invasion, is outraged after a 911 dispatcher told her she should call a local lawmaker to request more police funding. Michelle, who has chosen to remain anonymous, called 911 six times after two men broke into her Chicago home. When they picked up, they told her if she wanted help from the police, she should call her alderman and demand more funding for the Chicago police department. 'A gentleman got on and said sorry to say we have no units to send youthen there was an awkward pause,' she told NBC Chicago. 'He also recommended I call my alderman and I said why- and he said encourage him to hire more police.' She continued: 'The dispatcher also asked me if I would consider defending myself if I had a weapon or considered getting one.' The victim said two men entered her house around 12:30 pm when she unlocked her door to let her dog out. Michelle, a mother from Chicago who has chosen to remain anonymous, was the victim of a home invasion after two men (pictured) broke into her Wicker Park home in Chicago The 911 dispatcher recommended Michelle call her alderman to encourage him to hire more police, rather then attend to the problem at hand (Pictured: 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata) No one came to Michelle's house for four hours. She called 911 six times, and when they picked up, she demanded to speak with a supervisor. 'I saw two men wearing masks standing inside my house,' 'I screamed 'I am calling the police' and they bolted.' Michelle and her neighbor chased the men away from their houses, and then once she was safe, she called 911. 'They told me dispatch was on the way and wait outside,' she said. When officers finally arrived at her house, they showed deep remorse, profusely apologizing for not getting there sooner. 'The officers who did show up cared and were apologetic it took so long to get them there,' she said. Chicago Police blamed the delay on the priority list for 911 dispatch calls, they told NBC Chicago. The department said if a person's life is not in immediate danger, it may fall low on the priority list. In a statement, 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata wrote: 'It is awful that our neighbor experienced this, everyone deserves to feel safe in their home,' he said. When officers finally arrived at her house, they showed deep remorse, profusely apologizing for not getting there sooner The victim said two men (pictured) entered her house around 12:30 pm when she unlocked her door to let her dog out 'My staff alerted me to the issue as soon as they heard, and I am in contact with 12th District Police leadership. 'I will continue to support any resources our districts request, and I will continue to work with the City on a proposed satellite location within West Town for the 12th District police.' Michelle emphasized that she does not blame the police for not being there sooner. 'I don't think it is the police department's fault they are overstaffed and overwhelmed,' she said. Donald Trump warned firearms enthusiasts that a Joe Biden win in November would bring more restriction on guns and promised to reverse new rules if he was elected president. He used a speech to the National Rifle Association on Saturday to whip up enthusiasm among a key part of his base, and promised to get to work protecting Second Amendment rights at midday on inauguration day. That would start with firing Steve Dettelbach, head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said. 'The bad guys are not giving up their guns,' said Trump. 'They will be so happy if the Biden regime gets four more years. They are coming for your guns ... 100 percent.' Former President Donald Trump addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association at their annual convention in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday evening The NRA put its full weight behind Trump during the 2016 campaign. In office, the gun lobby welcomed the way he elevated three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. But since then the group has seen membership and revenues dwindle. Wayne LaPierre stepped down as chief executive just before a Manhattan jury found him and two other executives liable for misspending millions of dollars. The NRA attempted to declare bankruptcy three years ago, but the petition was thrown out by a judge who ruled it was not made in good faith. Even so, its annual convention is still an important opportunity to rally the Second Amendment enthusiasts he needs to defeat President Joe Biden in November. He offered supporters his usual grab-bag of policy headlines, impersonations of world leaders and personal grievances. He promised to close the border and spent time railing against the judge hearing his hush money case in New York and a gag order, that prevents him attacking witnesses. But he also offered red-meat to the gun owners in front of him. 'At noon on inauguration day, we will sack the anti-gun fanatic Steve Dettelbach,' he said, using a British word for 'fire.' 'Have you heard of him? 'He's a disaster ... and replace him with an ATF director who respects the sacred right to keep and bear arms.' Thousands of NRA members were in Dallas for the annual convention The NRA enthusiastically backed Trump in 2016 and 2020. Trump called on gun owners to make sure they voted in November Before taking up the post in 2022 Dettelbach had called for an 'assault-style' firearms ban, and he remains a figure of suspicion for Republicans. Trump used his speech to remind his audience of the importance of voting. 'I don't know what it is,' he said. 'Perhaps it's a form of rebellion because you're rebellious people aren't you? But gun owners don't vote. 'What is that all about?' It was all part of Trump's 'too big to rig argument.' He set out the importance of picking up every vote possible and said that was why he was due to address the Libertarian national convention next week. Danny Batsalkin holds a rifle during the annual National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting in Dallas, Texas, U.S., May 18, 2024 The NRA has seen membership and revenues decline during the past decade, but the gun rights lobby is an important constituency for Trump if he is to beat Biden in November 'They get their three percent every year no matter who's running,' he said. 'And we have to get that three percent because we can't take a chance on Joe Biden winning.' 'He's the worst president in the history of our country, by far. Vice President Kamala Harris said the choice facing voters worried about gun violence was clear. 'It is clear that Donald Trump meant it when he said that Americans fed up with horrific gun violence should simply "get over it." In office, Donald Trump opposed common-sense gun safety measures and oversaw a rise in homicides,' she said ahead of the former president's appearance in Dallas. 'Now, at a time when guns are the number one cause of death for children and teens in America, Donald Trump is catering to the gun lobby and threatening to make the crisis worse if reelected.' Spattered with blood, they offer a glimpse into the tortured soul of a would-be assassin. The poems and writings of alleged gunman Juraj Cintula suggest a deeply disturbed psyche though not necessarily a madman. As the pensioner appeared in court charged with trying to assassinate the Slovakian prime minister, The Mail on Sunday was given exclusive access to his literary works. The rambling collection reveals Cintula's thoughts on topics ranging from the state of his country to pornographic fantasies. At first glance, much of it appears to be political gibberish. However, after the 71-year-old allegedly acted out his frustrations with last Wednesday's violent attack on PM Robert Fico, they may be viewed in a sinister new light. The cover of his 2010 novel Posolstvo Obete, which translates as The Message Of A Victim, depicts banknotes spattered with blood. The 141-page story features impenetrable prose about a killing during the Soviet era. Cintula lived half of his life under Communism in Czechoslovakia before the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The pensioner (pictured centre) appeared in court charged with trying to assassinate the Slovakian prime minister, The Mail on Sunday was given exclusive access to his literary works The poems and writings of alleged gunman Juraj Cintula (pictured) suggest a deeply disturbed psyche though not necessarily a madman The cover of his 2010 novel Posolstvo Obete, which translates as The Message Of A Victim, depicts banknotes spattered with blood. The 141-page story features impenetrable prose about a killing during the Soviet era Another tome, featuring a pornographic illustration of a naked dominatrix clutching a dead bird by the neck, will doubtless keep psychiatrists busy for hours Another tome, featuring a pornographic illustration of a naked dominatrix clutching a dead bird by the neck, will doubtless keep psychiatrists busy for hours. This 2007 book is titled Diptych, or Double Painting, with the sub-headings Bitkarova Bolest Pain Of A Fighter and Erotika. Does this book have a double meaning, and does it offer any insights into what happened last week? At the library in Cintula's home town of Levice, where the books were revealed to The MoS, academic Anna Medzihradska shrugged her shoulders. She said: 'I have read them all. And I have spoken many times to their author. I honestly don't know what they mean.' Every month for several years, she and Cintula and about 30 other members of the Rainbow Literary Club would meet over tea and biscuits in the wood-panelled library. Its members are avid readers and authors, of varying success. Before the revolution, Cintula who wrote his first romantic poem aged 17, according to his library blurb was unable to publish any of his critical writings. But while some of his troubled works serve to baffle rather than inform, there can be little doubt about his anthology Dream Of A Rebel, which is dripping with rage and revolutionary zeal. The lines of one poem seem prophetic: 'In my dreams, the police were looking for me I dreamed of riots... they beat me people judged me I no longer cry over shackles, I will weep over the dead.' Slovakia's PM Robert Fico (pictured) is fighting for his life in hospital following an assassination attempt on Wednesday The Velvet Revolution of November 1989 heralded the end of four decades of Czechoslovakians enduring the miserable yoke of Soviet-style Communism Juraj Cintula, 71, is a writer and founder member of a literary club. His son was quoted as telling local media: 'I have no idea what father intended, what he planned, why it happened. Maybe there was some short circuit' Graphic depicting the events following the shooting of Slovakian PM Robert Fico Security scrambled to tackle the shooter, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula from Levice, to the ground The gunman is allegedly 71-year-old Juraj Cintula who was arrested at the scene The PM was shot in Handlova, north-east of Bratislava, in the central European country Supporters and wellwishers of Slovakia's prime minister place flowers in front of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 18 After the assassination attempt, Cintula was seen calmly answering questions in a police station, sporting a bruise on his forehead and stating he 'did not agree with the policies of the government'. The married father-of-two exasperated his fellow book club members by endlessly talking about politics, and he eventually stopped attending in 2019. Slovakian author Janka Bernathova said she told Cintula: 'Juraj, open those clenched fists, release them and accept God through prayer. And he told me then: 'God took my brother from me.' He had a twin brother who died when he was just a teenager.' Whether he took her advice or not, Cintula turned to a far-Right group, Slovenski Branci. They pictured him standing next to their paramilitary-style members and he apparently tried to recite some of his poetry. Group member Peter Svrek recalled that after half an hour, Cintula left and never attended another event. He did, however, appear increasingly desperate for his voice to be heard. Ever since agitating for union rights as a miner in Handlova in the 1980s risking the wrath of the Czech state, whose notorious secret police the StB kept a file on him he was vocal for decades against corruption. After the divisive and pro-Putin PM Robert Fico won a fourth term, last September, Cintula's rage mushroomed. He could be found yelling profanities outside government meetings. To those who know him, the events of last week were a culmination of a lifetime's worth of bitterness at the political elite and their failure to build a just society after the fall of Communism. Whether his mind is irrational or just tortured remains to be seen. A ruthless ex-IRA commander has sensationally confessed to The Mail on Sunday that he was behind the assassination of King Charles's beloved great-uncle. In an astonishing admission set to cause huge pain to Charles, Michael Hayes callously boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten, and masterminded the atrocity. Lord Mountbatten a mentor to both Prince Philip and the then Prince Charles was murdered aged 79 when the IRA blew up his pleasure boat during a holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, in August 1979. Only one member of the IRA was ever convicted of the atrocity. Thomas McMahon was arrested on the day of the blast and jailed for life but later released under the Good Friday Agreement. But now, after being approached by a MoS reporter, Hayes has bragged: 'I blew up Earl Mountbatten.' Michael Hayes (pictured) callously boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten, and masterminded the atrocity Hayes (pictured) said that he did not regret killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenage boys who died as 'casualties of war' Lord Mountbatten a mentor to both Prince Philip and the then Prince Charles who was murdered aged 79 Killed alongside the earl were his grandson Nicholas, 14; Doreen Brabourne, 83, Nicholas's grandmother; and crewman Paul Maxwell, 15, of Enniskillen. Legal experts this weekend told the MoS that Hayes's admission made him liable for prosecution for the murders, if the Irish police and Director of Public Prosecution decided to pursue him. Hayes said that he did not regret killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenage boys who died as 'casualties of war'. As Buckingham Palace last night declined to comment, Ian Paisley Jr, the Democratic Unionist Party MP for North Antrim in Ulster, called for the Garda Siochana, the police service in the Republic of Ireland, to 'immediately' investigate Hayes. 'The sensational, shocking and blood-curdling statement by a self-confessed, cold-blooded murderer ought to be immediately investigated by the police and the man brought to justice,' he said. Queen Elizabeth II pictured chatting with Lord Louis Mountbatten at the Guards Polo Club on June 1 1975 The IRA blew up Mountbatten's pleasure boat during a holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. Pictured: The wreckage after the explosion Legal experts this weekend told the MoS that Hayes's admission made him liable for prosecution for the murders. Pictured: Part of the wreakage of Lord Mountbattens boat the Shadow V, circa August 1979 The brutal killing of Lord Mountbatten, who was affectionately known as 'Uncle Dickie' by the Royal Family, affected Charles deeply. In his diary, the 31-year old Prince of Wales wrote of 'agony, disbelief, a kind of wretched numbness'. But in 2015 Charles showed forgiveness, shaking hands with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams after travelling to Ireland to see where Mountbatten died. Hayes, a grandfather who lives alone in Dublin, was previously named as one of four men behind the 1974 IRA Birmingham bombings and has taken what he called 'collective responsibility' for all of the IRA's actions in England. But he has never before linked himself to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a remote-controlled 50lb bomb ripped through the hull of the Shadow V. Speaking to a MoS reporter, Hayes revealed that he was McMahon's 'commanding officer'. He said: 'Tom McMahon, he was only a participant. I am an explosives expert, I am renowned. I was trained in Libya. I trained there as an explosives expert.' Asked if he was saying that he was the man who designed the bomb, he boasted: 'Yes, I blew him up. McMahon put it on his boat ... I planned everything, I am commander in chief. ' Hayes has never before linked himself to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a remote-controlled 50lb bomb ripped through the hull of the Shadow V. Pictured: Debris of the boat following the blast The brutal killing of Lord Mountbatten (pictured), who was affectionately known as 'Uncle Dickie' by the Royal Family, affected Charles deeply Prince Charles is pictured with Lord Louis Mountbatten at a polo match holding pint of beer Earl Mountbatten's coffin is carried during his funeral following his death at the age of 79 An alleged IRA accomplice, Francis McGirl, was also arrested on the day of the attack but he was later acquitted. He died in a farming accident in 1995. Hayes confirmed to the MoS that he was also in County Sligo at the time of the bombing, adding: 'Francis McGirl made a b******s of it. I blew up Earl Mountbatten in Sligo, but I had a justification, he'd come to my country... Look at the Famine are we to forget that? The Black and Tans? He came to my country and murdered my people and I fought back. I hit them back.' There is no bar to prosecution of Troubles-era offences and any immunity as part of the Good Friday Agreement only applies to convictions handed down for crimes that have been prosecuted before the courts. A legal source said: 'This person [Hayes] could very reasonably be prosecuted...' Asked if detectives would investigate Hayes, a Garda spokesman said: 'As a matter of public record, two persons were prosecuted in respect of the murder of Lord Mountbatten. One individual was acquitted and a second individual served a sentence of imprisonment and was subsequently released pursuant to the Good Friday Agreement.' But when asked if he feared prosecution, Hayes said: 'No, I fought a war, I was justified.' Asked if he regretted the explosion he said: 'Blowing up Mountbatten? No.' But asked about the two boys murdered that day, he replied: 'Them children were not supposed to be on the boat in the first place. Although, sickeningly, he called the youngsters 'casualties of war', he conceded: 'Yes, I regret that, that wasn't meant to happen. I'm a father. I'm not made of stone. I was sickened, I cried.' Last night Mary Hornsey, 84, mother of young victim Paul Maxwell, said she would welcome a police probe into Hayes' claims 'to see whether or not he was involved, whether he really was the commander who did give the order'. She added: 'I think we would require justice, not revenge.' Speaking of the loss of her son, she explained: 'It's something that never goes away.' Senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who served in Northern Ireland with the Scots Guards, also urged the Garda to investigate Hayes's claim, adding: 'It's important to get to the truth.' Rishi Sunak is expected to receive a public endorsement of his Rwanda policy from the Austrian leader this week as he fights to portray Labour as being soft on immigration. No 10 hopes that on a visit to Vienna the Prime Minister will be hailed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer as a trailblazer for Europe over the policy of deporting people to the African country for asylum processing. It comes amid suggestions by some Tory MPs that Mr Sunak might end speculation about the election in the coming weeks by announcing a date in the autumn, triggering an unprecedented six-month campaign. The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, had backed a policy of deporting people to third countries for asylum processing as her European People's Party called for 'a fundamental change in European asylum law' in its manifesto for elections next month. No 10 hopes that on a visit to Vienna the Prime Minister will be hailed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer as a trailblazer for Europe over the policy of deporting people to the African country for asylum processing It comes amid suggestions by some Tory MPs that Mr Sunak might end speculation about the election in the coming weeks by announcing a date in the autumn, triggering an unprecedented six-month campaign The Prime Minister said it showed foreign parties were 'following our lead' and finally 'recognising a meaningful deterrent is the only way to stop the boats'. Mr Sunak regards Mr Nehammer as a 'key partner' in confronting 'one of the most pressing issues of our time' mass movements of people across the continent. A Downing Street source said: 'The Prime Minister said that where the UK leads on tackling illegal migration, others would follow. 'Sure enough, we now have 19 countries from Czech Republic to Italy to Denmark as well as top EU parties like the European People's Party, saying they recognise a safe third country deterrent is the only way to break the model of the smuggling gangs and stop the boats. 'Labour's position is to undermine national security. By saying they would scrap the Rwanda scheme just as all our neighbours do the opposite and declare a migrant amnesty, they would lead us to become the soft-touch illegal migration capital of the world.' The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that Ursula von der Leyen , president of the European Commission, had backed a policy of deporting people to third countries for asylum processing Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has also led calls to transfer migration procedures outside EU territory, while Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Union leader in Germany, has made third-country partnerships one of his key policies for next year's election. Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Albania this week to meet president Bajram Begaj to discuss illegal migration. Tackling the issue of migrants crossing the Channel, and immigration in general, is likely to be a key issue in the coming campaign. Tory party sources believe Sir Keir Starmer's announcement of his election pledges last week was a 'disguised launch'. A source said: 'We think they were expecting an announcement that an election would be held at the end of June, and booked that venue in Essex to look quick off the mark. 'You don't put the entire Shadow Cabinet on a bus for nothing'. Plans for a mass parachute drop over Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day have had to be scaled back because cutbacks have left the MoD without enough planes. The Parachute Regiment had expected to honour its wartime heroes by sending over 450 men in four aircraft but was told that only one was available. The decision was blamed on 'shameful, short-sighted cost cutting' by a senior source in the regiment. Last night, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was scrambling to secure additional planes after being confronted about the debacle by The Mail on Sunday. Members of the Parachute Regiment have privately warned that the UK's contribution to the events commemorating the D-Day operations of June 6, 1944, could look feeble compared to those of other nations. And a senior source in the regiment said the lack of aircraft was 'an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice'. A parachute drop pictured during the 75th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in 2019. Plans for a mass parachute drop over Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary have had to be scaled back because cutbacks have left the MoD without enough planes Hercules C-130 aircraft pictured taking part in the Trooping the Colour flypast. Critics blamed the Government rather than the RAF for the fiasco because Ministers decided to retire the last of Britain's C-130 transport planes Last night, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured, in January) was scrambling to secure additional planes after being confronted about the debacle by The Mail on Sunday Critics blamed the Government rather than the RAF for the fiasco because Ministers decided to retire the last of Britain's 14 Hercules C-130 transport planes despite warnings that the fleet of Airbus A400Ms that replace them would not fully match the Hercules's parachute drop capabilities until 2025. Writing for this newspaper, former Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood said: 'As things stand, the Paras' hopes of putting on a large-scale multi-plane parachute drop has been limited to a single aircraft and just 100 of them jumping out... 'The issue demonstrates a sad and simple truth today's RAF lacks heavy lift transport capacity after all Hercules transport fleet, which served our nation so well for more than 50 years, was scrapped to save money.' Former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois, whose father fought at D-Day, said: 'Given the Parachute Regiment's crucial role on D-Day, it would be a great shame if we had to curtail a commemorative airborne drop, because of lack of suitable RAF aircraft. 'That generation of heroes defended our freedom against Nazi Germany and they deserve to be properly commemorated in return. This just shows what a chronic mistake it was to retire the C-130, which performed this role successfully, for decades.' Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former Defence Minister, said: 'Veterans who took part in the historic operation on the blood-soaked Normandy beaches and the Nazi-infested territory beyond it will rightly be furious that 80 years on, the MoD can't provide enough planes. Grant Shapps should pull his finger out and sort this immediately.' A Parachute Regiment source, said: 'While we don't put on a big show every year, the 80th anniversary is being seen as special as it's probably the last milestone for surviving veterans.' He said that the regiment wanted four of the RAF's A400M to be provided to allow about 450 paratroopers to take part. But to the Paras' anger, only one aircraft which can accommodate 116 Paras was made available. Retiring the last C-130 came despite warnings that the fleet of Airbus A400Ms (pictured) that replace them would not fully match the Hercules's parachute drop capabilities until 2025 Writing for this newspaper, former Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood (pictured, last August) said: 'As things stand, the Paras' hopes of putting on a large-scale multi-plane parachute drop has been limited to a single aircraft and just 100 of them jumping out' Former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois (pictured, in December), whose father fought at D-Day, said: 'Given the Parachute Regiment's crucial role on D-Day, it would be a great shame if we had to curtail a commemorative airborne drop, because of lack of suitable RAF aircraft In contrast, America is expected to send at least six C-130s, with Poland and Canada also understood to be supplying planes for paracute drops. This year's D-Day commemorations will be attended by dignitaries from across the world, showing their gratitude to the heroes who took part in the unprecedented sea and air assault that changed the course of the Second World War. King Charles, who completed the Army's parachute training course on being appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment in June 1977, will join American President Joe Biden, Armed Forces personnel and the last remaining D-Day veterans. Members of the UK's 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team will jump on June 5 in tribute to the 18,000 men from the Allied powers who landed in Normandy shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, to secure key sites ahead of the main invasion. The Red Devils Parachute Display Team will also jump into Normandy, while the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will mark the anniversary with a flypast. French president Emmanuel Macron will host the ceremonies along the beaches of the Normandy landings. Events also include church services, firework displays and concerts, with VIPs protected by a defensive 'ring of steel' involving 5,000 officers. The Paras' source blamed last year's highly controversial decision to axe the Hercules for Britain's muted contributions. They said: 'Quite frankly, the politicians need to give the military the resources they need to do what is asked of them but they have let us down. 'The C-130 Hercules should have been retained in service instead all 14 were retired and are now awaiting sale for a foreign customer. We are seeing cuts in every area of the military and that is not helping our national defence policy and is impacting on recruiting.' Last night, retired Para Paul Biddiss who took part in a parachute drop on the 50th anniversary of D-Day said: 'It was a great mistake to get rid of the Hercules. Obviously, we got rid of them for cost reasons but we could have carried on using them for years. Then they would have been available for this D-Day commemoration event.' Earlier this year shortly after the Mail started its Don't Leave Britain Defenceless campaign Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised billions more for defence, pledging that UK military spending would rise to 2.5 per cent of national income by 2030. In a statement, the MoD said the 'comprehensive programme of tributes from today's Armed Forces to their forebears' would include a 'commemorative jump by UK paratroopers from an A400M on June 5 alongside Allied counterparts'. But later, sources close to the Defence Secretary said that he had ordered an urgent review into the issue. Mr Shapps is understood to be trying to secure at least one more plane for the Paras. Pictured: The commemoration service for the 78th anniversary of D-Day in 2022. This year's D-Day commemorations will be attended by dignitaries from across the world Veterans pictured at the service of remembrance for last year's 79th anniversary. King Charles will join American President Joe Biden, Armed Forces personnel and the last remaining D-Day veterans British soldiers pictured landing at Ouistreham on D-Day. Members of the UK's 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team will jump this June 5 in tribute to the 18,000 men from the Allied powers who landed in Normandy shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, to secure key sites ahead of the main invasion A source close to the Minister said: 'We will make sure we have what we need to mark D-Day in the way it deserves. This is a special anniversary and the UK will play a full part in the commemorations with a significant military representation.' However, he also made clear the RAF's A400M fleet was busy on 'a wide range of complex operations, including Nato missions and aid drops to Gaza'. An MoD source added that the A400M was a 'more modern and capable aircraft which offers many advantages over the C-130, including a greater range and payload capacity'. That victory, won with a margin of just 12,000 votes, is now under threat In 2020, Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia in 30 years Joe Biden could lose the key battleground state of Georgia despite his victory there in 2020, new analysis suggests. In 2020, the president became the first Democrat to win a presidential election in Georgia in 30 years. The party also won both senate seats in the Southern state. But the state's landscape has shifted significantly over the last four years, with recent polls suggesting former president Donald Trump is in the lead in Georgia. Biden, new analysis from the New York Times argues, has lost some support among, black, people of color and younger voters in Georgia. These groups were instrumental in his 2020 win, which he only just eked out by around 12,000 votes, suggesting a much tougher battle in the state as November's election nears. In 2020 Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia in 30 years Recent polls suggest former president Donald Trump is in the lead in Georgia Georgia's population has been growing and becoming more diverse in recent years. In 2020, this, alongside years of voter registration and mobilization efforts with historically disenfranchised groups, helped the Democrats make gains in expanding suburbs in cities such as Atlanta. Momentum was also brought on by the racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd which gained intense traction in Atlanta. The government's response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the glaring inequality of access to healthcare also gave the Democrats plenty of opportunities to win over voters. However, Trump and his team attempted to overturn the loss in Georgia leading to criminal charges being filed against them. Trump is now garnering support as a result of the backlash to the case brought against him, the New York Times reports. The cases are 'attempting to criminalize political disagreement,' Joshua McKoon, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party said on Friday. The Democrats are also concerned that voter turnout will not match that achieved in 2020 without the motivating factors of the protests and the pandemic. Trump and his team attempted to overturn the 2020 loss in Georgia leading to criminal charges being filed against them Biden has lost some support among, black, people of color and younger voters in Georgia, according to new analysis from the New York Times 'I think folks understand the importance of the election but there is a certain just fatigue,' Sam Park, a Georgia Democrat told the Times. Local Democrat activists are also concerned that some sectors of voters who supported Biden in 2020 have since grown disillusioned, according to the publication. Those on the ground are reporting back that there is significant anger that Biden has not been harder on Israel about its actions in Gaza, as well as the party's inability to tackle issues such as the rising cost of housing and student debt. Others say that the true problem is not that the Democrats are failing to grapple with issues that voters care about but their inability to communicate their achievements successfully. They claims that low levels of unemployment in the black community, large amounts of federal funds sent to the state for pandemic relief and infrastructure, as well as the government's efforts to cancel student loans are all marked achievements. 'Those things ought to not be secrets,' Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, the presiding prelate for the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia, told the Times. The Democrats are aware of the need to craft a narrative in the swing state and are about to launch a $14 million advertising blitz in the state later this month. 'Not saying that this is easy,' Quentin Fulks, Biden's principal deputy campaign manager, who is also from Georgia, told the Times. Adding: 'But I do think that we have a formula that's conducive to accepting that message.' A teenager has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 19-year-old man in broad daylight after an altercation near a school in Brisbane's south. Police allege the 17-year-old boy became involved in a fight with the man outside a property in Acacia Ridge about 2.30pm on Friday. The teenager is alleged to have then produced a knife and stabbed the man multiple times. Emergency services rushed the 19-year-old to Princess Alexandra Hospital with life-threatening injuries. A teenager has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 19-year-old man in broad daylight after an altercation near a school in Brisbane's south The 17-year-old Acacia Ridge boy has since been charged with one count of attempted murder, threatening violence, and possessing a knife in public. He's been remanded in custody to appear in court again in June. Acacia Ridge Criminal Investigation Branch are seeking the assistance of anyone who travelled along Gregory St between 2 and 2.30pm on Friday May 17 to review their dashcam footage. The alleged attack comes amid renewed focus on knife crime in Queensland, with the state government pledging to enhance Jack's Law and other police powers. Political commentator Alice Stewart who worked an analyst on CNN after working for several Republican presidential campaigns, has died suddenly at the age of 58. Stewart's body was found outdoors in the Bellevue neighborhood early on Saturday morning after suffering a 'medical emergency'. Police say no foul play was suspected. Officials believe Stewart suffered a medical episode, according to CNN. 'Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN,' Mark Thompson, the network's CEO, said in an email to staff on Saturday. 'A political veteran and an Emmy Award winning journalist who brought an incomparable spark to CNN's coverage, known across our bureaus not only for her political savvy, but for her unwavering kindness. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.' No further information about the cause of death or survivors was available on Saturday. Political commentator Alice Stewart who more recently appeared as an analyst on CNN after working for several Republican presidential campaigns, has died suddenly at the age of 58. She is pictured last month at the White House Correspondents Dinner Stewart was pictured, left, on her own Instagram account only yesterday alongside Wolf Blitzer and Maria Cardona, right, writing 'It's always a sunny day when you can join the great Wolf Blitzer' Stewart also posted a photo of her working at Sirius XM on Friday morning to her social media Stewart was pictured on her own Instagram account only yesterday writing 'It's always a sunny day when you can join the great Wolf Blitzer.' She appeared to lead a relatively healthy lifestyle and only last month posted photos of her taking part in a 10 mile run, nicknamed the Cherry Blossom run, in Washington D.C. CNN's Jessica Dean broke the news about their own political commentator just before 5:30pm on Saturday evening. 'We have some very sad news to report to you and I am very sorry that I have to tell you this. CNN commentator and Republican political strategist Alice Stewart has passed away,' Dean said, tearing up. 'Many of you knew her. She has been a staple on this network participating in many political panels bringing us deep insight into politics. You'll remember she was a former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. She worked with Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachman to name a few,' she said choking back tears. 'Alice and I both got our start in Arkansas television in local news. I was coming up as an intern. As we both made our way to CNN she was always there with an encouraging smile or a text as I climbed up the ladder here,' Dean explained. Stewart is seen alongside Jon Stewart (no relation) 'I am stunned and saddened by the news of Alice Stewart's passing. She was a political pro and a wonderfully nice person to just have a conversation with on any topic. I will miss Alice and will pray for her family,' former New Jersey Governoer Chris Christie wrote Stewart is seen alongside former CNN anchor Don Lemon who regularly appeared on his show Lemon shared pictures of Stewart's dog when she visited the CNN set of his show CNN anchor Dana Bash, seen center, paid tribute to Stewart, seen right of her CNN lead anchor, Wolf Blitzer paid his own tribute to Stewart. 'Personally, I will miss her very much and am very sad to hear this news.She brought us all so much information and insight. She was such a valuable piece of the team here at CNN.' 'We are all processing this news as it was so sudden,' Blitzer added. 'We always invited her to come on my show because we knew we would be a little bit smarter at the end of that conversation,' he said. Stewart came on board CNN as a political commentator before the 2016 election and frequently appeared on air to provide insight on the political news of the day. She last appeared only yesterday on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Stewart told the Harvard Political Review in 2020 that she brings 'a perspective that I think CNN appreciates.' 'My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker,' Stewart said. 'Im not a Kool-Aid drinker; Im not a never-Trumper, and I didnt check my common sense and decency at the door when I voted for (Trump).' Stewart also co-hosted the podcast Hot Mics from Left to Right alongside fellow CNN commentator Maria Cardona and served on the senior advisory committee at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School where she was previously a fellow. In her free time, Stewart was an avid runner. She frequently posted photos from road races on social media, including from the TCS New York City Marathon, which she ran in November, and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race, which she ran last month. A stunning loss for the CNN family: Political commentator @AliceStewartDC has died https://t.co/QNl5w9xYg7 pic.twitter.com/9qaC9FEz50 Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) May 18, 2024 Stewart took part in a 10 mile run, nicknamed the Cherry Blossom run, in Washington D.C. last month Stewart, right, is seen at last months White House Correspondents Dinner in the makeup room CNN staffers including Jim Acosta, Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins shared their shock at the news Those in the world of politics also shared their shock at hearing of Stewart's death Stewart was born on March 11, 1966, in Atlanta and began her career as a local reporter and producer in Georgia before securing a promotion as a news anchor in Little Rock, Arkansas. She served later moved into public relations becoming communications director for then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's office and fronting his presidential run in 2008. In 2012, Stewart served as the communications director for the presidential campaigns of former Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. During his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, she was the communications director for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. CNN staffers shared their shock at learning of Stewart's death on social media. 'Horrible news about our beloved and gifted commentator Alice Stewart. Just awful. We are all gutted,' tweeted Jake Tapper. 'She was so kind', he added. 'A stunning loss for the CNN family', wrote national security and law enforcement reporter Josh Campbell. 'Looking through all of my past messages with Alice. It's 99.99% HER cheerleading OTHERS and building us up! Notes out of the blue just to say 'great job' on this topic or that. Such an incredibly kind soul. God bless her memory. 'My heart is broken over the passing of our dear colleague Alice Stewart,' tweeted CNN anchor Jim Acosta. 'We've been friends going back to the 2012 campaign. We spent so many weekends talking politics with the wonderful @MariaTCardona - they always spoke so passionately but with kindness and civility. Alice was my friend and I loved her. RIP.' Stewart is seen alongside legendary newsman Peter Jennings when she worked for KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2004 'I am turned inside out at this tragic news. As many know, Alice & I were like sisters from opposite ends of the political aisle. We debated but w respect. I will miss her dearly but seems God needed some top-notch communications help. RIP beautiful friend,' wrote Democrat political strategist, Maria Cardona. 'Just devastating news about our colleague Alice Stewart. She will always be remembered by her kindness above all,' political reporter Kaitlan Collins tweeted. 'Alice Stewart was a womans woman who brought kindness and support along with smarts and expertise. I met her in Iowa in 2007 covering the Huckabee presidential campaign and worked with her in politics before I got to call her a CNN colleague. I cant believe shes gone,' tweeted CNN anchor Dana Bash. 'The last time I saw Alice she brought her beloved Sammie to see me at work. We texted often. Her last text to me was to thank me for something I said to her. She complimented me on my wardrobe. I was touched when she gifted me a pair of her dads cuff links & a tie holder,' former CNN anchor Don Lemon tweeted. 'We shared a love of dogs. We argued on tv but never in real life. She always had a soft heart and kind words every time we connected. Ill miss you, along with many others whose lives you touched. Rest in peace.' Stewart was highly regarded by her CNN colleagues who were devastated at the news Stewart is pictured during a brunch at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. last month Ed Goeas and Alice Stewart speaking for Michele Bachman in the spin room in 2012 'Gutted over this news. Alice Stewart was smart, savvy, funny & most importantly kind. She felt like she was from another era - a more decent one where we cd disagree respectfully. She was kind to me when I was in a low place & I'll never forget it. Sending love to those closest to her,' CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin, who appears on both The View and CNN, said. In the world of politics there was similar shock followed by admiration for Stewart's work. 'Heartbreaking,' Cruz posted on Saturday to X. 'Alice was wonderful and talented and a dear friend. And she loved America fiercely. She lived every day to the fullest, and she will be deeply missed. May God's comfort and peace be upon her loved ones. RIP.' Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson posted on X that Stewart's "sudden death is such a loss to all who valued her friendship as well as her political passion" "I first met Alice in Arkansas and I am proud that she focused on making friends in politics and not making enemies," he posted. "Thank you Alice Stewart!" 'I am stunned and saddened by the news of Alice Stewart's passing. She was a political pro and a wonderfully nice person to just have a conversation with on any topic. I will miss Alice and will pray for her family,' former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie tweeted. 'Alice was just about the nicest person you'd ever hope to meet, deeply committed to improving civil discourse, and passionate about bringing better representation for middle American conservatives to elite corridors. RIP, Alice. You will be missed,' Scott Jennings wrote. A protestor was arrested on suspicion of assault after launching into a 20-minute tirade of abuse at Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg. But the woman was released after the Tory former Cabinet Minister told police: 'Don't do anything on my account.' Sir Jacob told The Mail on Sunday he thought police and the courts had enough on their plates 'without their time being taken up with a slightly deranged woman'. But amid mounting concerns around MPs' safety, one fellow politician last night said he should have pressed charges to 'make an example of the woman'. It comes after Sir Jacob last month had to be escorted off the Cardiff University campus by security officers after being mobbed by pro-Palestine activists, including some who shouted 'Tory c***'. A protestor was arrested on suspicion of assault after launching into a 20-minute tirade of abuse at Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg The woman 'ranted on and on and on' at him for about 20 minutes, he said, calling him a 'terrible person' and protesting at the Government's plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda (stock image) Jacob Rees Mogg was escorted out of the university by campus security and was heckled by a group of students and activists in April But it has now emerged that he was last weekend accosted again at a children's fair near his North-East Somerset constituency. He said a woman in her forties 'came up to me at Hanham Common when I was with three of my children'. The woman 'ranted on and on and on' at him for about 20 minutes, he said, calling him a 'terrible person' and protesting at the Government's plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda. But he said he and his children 'carried on regardless'. He added that police community support officers 'tried to calm her down.' Sir Jacob said the woman 'did sort of poke me but nothing of any seriousness'. When Avon and Somerset police contacted him to say she had been arrested, he told them not to pursue it. The force said: 'A woman in her forties was arrested on suspicion of assault and later released without charge in accordance with the wishes of the victim.' A police force was last night accused of 'trampling' over democracy after detectives allegedly put pressure on a local Tory party to unseat a colleague wrongly accused of a hate crime. Anthony Stevens, a Conservative councillor in Northamptonshire, was arrested last year after posting an image from a video first revealed by The Mail on Sunday of a Christian preacher having his bible wrested off him by police in the street. The father of two was held for nine hours, during which he was also quizzed about his online support of another politician who criticised gay pride events. Mr Stevens, 51, a member of Wellingborough Town Council, was released and later told that no further action would be taken against him. But the MoS can now reveal that days before Mr Stevens was arrested, a Northamptonshire Police detective phoned Jonathan Ekins, a former local Tory mayor for Wellingborough, and allegedly told him Mr Stevens should be 'removed' as a councillor because of his views. In a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Mr Ekins said Detective Constable Amelia Thompson told him Mr Stevens was about to be arrested 'for a serious offence'. Anthony Stevens, a Conservative councillor in Northamptonshire, was arrested last year after posting an image from a video first revealed by The Mail on Sunday of a Christian preacher having his bible wrested off him by police in the street Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, who is representing Mr Stevens, said: 'What happened undermined and trampled on our law, democracy and freedoms on every level' 'She said in their opinion the police felt that he was not a fit person to be a councillor,' he said. 'DC Thompson said Anthony Stevens should be removed from being a councillor.' It is claimed that in a later call, DC Thompson told him police had learnt Mr Stevens had attended a meeting at the same time as a Labour councillor thought to have complained about his tweets. This, she said, was a breach of his bail conditions and she warned him officers would arrest Mr Stevens 'on the spot' if he turned up at another meeting attended by the Labour councillor. Mr Ekins said: 'My response was, rightly, to remind DC Thompson that she would be welcome to try but that, as chair of the committee, I have the right to instruct security officials to remove the police for public disruption of a democratically constituted meeting.' The row has prompted accusations of political interference by police. Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, who is representing Mr Stevens, said: 'What happened undermined and trampled on our law, democracy and freedoms on every level.' Mr Stevens, a property developer, was arrested last August and quizzed about tweets from his account, which had 76 followers. One involved a video showing how police had treated Christian preacher Oluwole Ilesanmi (pictured) in Southgate, North London, in 2019 Mr Stevens, a father of two, was held for nine hours, during which he was also quizzed about his online support of another politician who criticised gay pride events Mr Stevens, a property developer, was arrested last August and quizzed about tweets from his account, which had 76 followers. One involved a video showing how police had treated Christian preacher Oluwole Ilesanmi in Southgate, North London, in 2019. An officer snatched Mr Ilesanmi's bible after the preacher was accused of being Islamophobic. Mr Stevens was also quizzed about tweeting support for councillor King Lawal, suspended by his Tory group after he responded to images of Pride parades by writing: 'Pride is not a virtue but a sin.' A third tweet shared by Mr Stevens, and raised by police, involved a clip of a man burning a copy of the Koran with the suggestion he should be free to do so. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case four months later but he remains suspended by the Tory party. Last night Mr Stevens said: 'I don't think people realise what it's like to be taken from your house at 8am in front of your wife and kids, held in a police station and called a racist.' The MoS understands his IOPC complaint was referred to Northamptonshire Police's Professional Standards Department. The force said: 'This investigation is subject to a live complaint... we are unable to comment further.' Muslim teenagers are being radicalised by Nazi propaganda that celebrates Adolf Hitler's genocide of the Jews and even claims he was an admirer of Islam, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Dozens of Muslim schoolboys have been referred to the Government's Prevent programme after viewing and sharing Nazi videos and memes in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the war in Gaza. Previously only white teenagers susceptible to Far Right extremism were referred to Prevent over such material, officials say. But now Muslim youths are being sent to the deradicalisation programme for viewing the same propaganda and expressing similar views about the Nazis. Dozens of Muslim schoolboys have been referred to the Government's Prevent programme after viewing and sharing Nazi videos and memes Previously only white teenagers susceptible to Far Right extremism were referred to Prevent over such material, officials say (stock photo) The cases raise fears that some Muslim youths risk being radicalised as violent extremists who could carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Britain. So far there has been one terror attack in the UK in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre, when Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed a 70-year-old pensioner to death in Hartlepool as 'revenge' for the Gaza war. He was jailed for life on Friday. An alleged plot against Jewish targets in Manchester is under investigation. Home Office sources said teachers had flagged up a number of Muslim teenage boys for viewing Hitler memes and videos on social media sites such as Discord and TikTok. Some of the memes shared by the teenagers show a photo of the Nazi dictator with the title 'Hitler the Great'. In others, a quote is attributed to him saying: 'The only religion I admire is the religion of Islam.' Official sources say dozens of Muslim teenagers have been referred to Prevent in London alone for sharing Nazi material, often as 'no fixed ideology' cases. The cases raise fears that some Muslim youths risk being radicalised as violent extremists who could carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Britain. Pictured, Nazi propaganda being shared by Muslim schoolchildren A former Prevent worker said Islamists often did not realise that the Far Right hates Muslims as much as Jews. Another example of Nazi propaganda But when spoken to by Prevent mentors, it usually emerges that the individuals have 'Islamist mindsets' but are coming across Nazi propaganda when searching for anti-Semitic material online. A Home Office source said: 'These kids are being spotted by teachers for viewing Nazi stuff on their smartphones. But the teachers are confused they don't see that Islamists sometimes agree with the Far Right. 'The Islamists hate Jews and gays, and so do the Far Right. This makes them think Hitler was right in some respects.' A former Prevent worker said Islamists often did not realise that the Far Right hates Muslims as much as Jews, adding: 'For Islamists to love the Far Right is like turkeys voting for Christmas.' It comes as elements of Britain's Far Right leadership form 'alliances of convenience' with prominent Islamists. Home Office sources said teachers had flagged up a number of Muslim teenage boys for viewing Hitler memes So far there has been one terror attack in the UK in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre, when Ahmed Alid, 45, (pictured) stabbed a 70-year-old pensioner to death in Hartlepool Nick Griffin, former head of the British National Party, who used to campaign against Muslim immigration, posts anti-Israeli tweets to his 67,000 followers on X. Griffin, 65, who has described Islam as a 'wicked, vicious faith', has appeared on the Blood Brothers podcast hosted by prominent Islamist Dilly Hussain, discussing the 'dangers' of Zionism. Jayda Fransen, 38, former deputy head of Britain First, also tweets anti-Israeli material and has been on Hussain's podcast, as has Mark Collett, former head of the BNP's youth wing, and Jim Dowson, who founded Britain First. Craig McCann, a former police officer and Prevent worker, said last night: 'Some of these Far Right figures are opportunists who have formed an alliance of convenience with Islamists.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'Anti-Semitism is a scourge on our society and does not reflect the values of modern Britain, which is why we are committed to tackling it in all its forms.' Sickening pro-Palestine activists have dumped the bloody effigies of dead babies on the office doorstep of a Tory MP with two young children. Siobhan Baillie, 42, said she felt 'sad, angered and upset' after her constituency office was targeted as part of a campaign against the MP for Stroud, in Gloucestershire. The stunt's ringleader was former BBC News producer and activist film-maker Oonagh Cousins, who describes herself online as a 'mama, documentarian, producer, director, activist'. Last night Ms Baillie, who has two daughters under the age of four, told The Mail on Sunday: 'Those protesters won't help a single child.' Pro-Palestine activists have dumped the bloody effigies of dead babies on the office doorstep of Siobhan Baillie (pictured) Siobhan Baillie, 42, (pictured) said she felt 'sad, angered and upset' after her constituency office was targeted Ms Baillie, a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, said staff working for her had quit because of the protests. An MP since 2019, she was pregnant when she campaigned during the election that year. She said female MPs were being targeted by protesters more than male MPs are. 'Women get more abuse than men. I've got to believe it's a deliberate attempt to intimidate parents.' The stunt's ringleader was former BBC News producer and activist film-maker Oonagh Cousins. Pictured, Stroud Ceasefire Now Coalition protest But she said: 'I'm absolutely determined to show that there is a better way of doing politics. There's zero need to protest like that.' Robin Layfield, speaking on behalf of the Stroud Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: 'It is right that responsibility for this has been brought to the MP's doorstep. 'Our MP our representative in Government has huge agency and political power that she can bring to bear to help end this genocide and to bring about a ceasefire now.' Ms Cousins said: 'In a short period Israel has murdered more children in Gaza than the entire population of Stroud town, which is where Siobhan Baillie has her constituency office. 'Siobhan Baillie's constituents staged a peaceful and creative demonstration outside the office of their elected political representative, Siobhan Baillie, to express how upsetting this fact is. 'Siobhan is a key figure in the Conservative Friends of Israel and we, her constituents, would like her to use her special influence and platform for the much more urgent issue of demanding a ceasefire now and immediate lifting of the illegal siege of Gaza so aid can enter.' The Duchess of Sussex arrived at the Nigerian Defence Headquarters in Abuja this month looking both elegant and ethereal in a white St Agni Studio strapless gown that would not have looked out of place at the heart of a wedding. Styled with her signature tousled bun, the radiant look mirrored the shoulder-bearing ensembles she wore on her big day at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 2018, which became one of the most celebrated royal fashion moments in history. But this is not the first time Meghan has stunned in a white dress and given us bridal inspiration. The former actress has stepped out in white power suits, flowing ivory gowns and flirty mini dresses since marrying Prince Harry, following a pattern that leaves us wondering if she's forever en route to her next wedding. Meghan was in Abuja, Nigeria, this month looking both elegant and ethereal in a white St Agni Studio strapless gown that wouldn't have looked out of place walking down a wedding aisle In Tonga in 2018, Meghan looked as radiant as any bride for a state dinner. She wore a Theia gown with structured capped sleeves and a touch of sparkle on the shoulders which could have easily been plucked from a bridal boutique A striking white Louis Vuitton dress Meghan wore during a visit to New York in 2022 wouldn't have looked out of place on this year's brides Where Kate Middleton's signature style is dress coats, tailoring and glittering glamour on the red carpet, it appears Meghan's might just be the wedding dress, or something remarkably close to it. Aside from her famed wedding gown, floor-length white frocks reign supreme for the Duchess. Another addition to Meghan's collection of bridal-esque ensembles made its debut in Tonga in 2018 shortly after her nuptials, when she looked radiant for a state dinner wearing a Theia gown. It boasted structured capped sleeves and a touch of sparkle on the shoulders, which could have easily been plucked from a bridal boutique. It prompted the question: is this her third wedding dress? Continuing her bridal-inspired fashion streak on the royal 16-day trip through Australia in 2018, there were more notable white dresses. First was a simple shift dress by local designer Karen Zee which was both regal and relaxed, and then came an ivory Zimmermann frock topped with a Stephen Jones fascinator, making Meghan look every bit the modern bride. Next was the Maggie Marilyn chic white tuxedo dress she stepped out in on the same tour, followed by a striking white Louis Vuitton dress worn during a visit to New York in 2022. Both fit for a regal princess, their structured silhouettes elevated the designs from simple white dresses to statement pieces worthy of an impromptu wedding ceremony. Recently Meghan shook up her bridal wardrobe with a crisp white Altuzarra suit in Nigeria that seemed tailor-made for a stylish registry office wedding. In Australia she wore this simple shift dress by local designer Karen Zee which was both regal and relaxed and wouldn't have looked out of place during a wedding ceremony This ivory Zimmermann frock topped with a Stephen Jones fascinator, made Meghan look every bit the modern bride This glam Maggie Marilyn bridal-esque outfit wouldn't have looked out of place for a 'posh' registry office wedding Meghan in one of her actual wedding dresses on the day she married Prince Harry at Windsor in 2018. Made by top designer Stella McCartney, it was worn for the less formal part of the day Meghan in her main wedding dress leaving St George's Chapel with her new husband Prince Harry Paired with minimal accessories, the sharp lines and impeccable fit exuded sophistication while maintaining an air of simplicity. This look was quintessentially Meghan and another example of how she infuses her workwear wardrobe with a touch of matrimonial magic. Let's rewind to her actual wedding, the royal one, not the metaphorical fashion ones. Meghan's choice for her wedding evening reception was a sleek, halter-neck Stella McCartney dress that oozed elegance and modernity. The epitome of understated chic, it perfectly complemented the grandeur of her ceremony dress designed by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy. While the first dress was all about the fairy tale, the second was about sleek sophistication. And since then, it seems Meghan has kept a piece of that bridal magic in her wardrobe and is always ready to say, 'I do.' It was the honeymoon photos of the new Princess of Wales that clinched it for me to join Camp Diana. I'd always disliked the Royal Family, what with their ethos of hunting, shooting and fishing. The bear skin hats worn for ceremonial duties. Their love of horse racing and polo. Fly fishing! But the sight of Diana at Balmoral, clearly itchy in scratchy, dowdy tweed, trying to mask her boredom, made the animal lovers among us cheer her to the rafters. We swiftly fell in love with her refusal to not only kill animals for pleasure, but to refuse to be stiff and formal, and to go on to champion unpopular causes such as campaigning for victims of Aids, eating disorders, and poor mental health. The the sight of Diana at Balmoral, clearly itchy in scratchy, dowdy tweed, trying to mask her boredom, made the animal lovers among us cheer her to the rafters Princess Diana announcing on Panorama that 'there were three of us in this marriage' The Welsh Guards alongside the gun carriage carrying the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales Camilla in 1999 sipping sherry and going out with the Beaufort Hunt at Didmarton Charles and Camilla's wedding in 2005 still left Liz Jones unconvinced Camilla was of course the villain of the piece. When the taped conversations between her and Charles were released (I used to sit in my office, dialling The Sun phone line to pay to listen to them, open mouthed), not to mention the moment Diana, during her BBC interview with Martin Bashir, revealed 'There were three of us in this marriage', I and any woman who had ever been cheated on, lied to, humiliated by a man would forever hold Diana in the highest esteem for her courage to speak out. When she died in Paris in 1997, the grief was personal, genuine, overwhelming. I didn't sob as hard when my own father died a year later: I had no more tears left to shed. When Camilla finally married the man she had always been in love with, I was unconvinced, unexcited. I simply did not want to know. How dare she have made Diana so unhappy, so cast aside? She wasn't as young, nowhere near as beautiful. Yes, she and Charles had more in common, but they should have decided that sooner! I only really started to thaw towards Camilla, drip by drip, after Queen Elizabeth died. She seemed to possess quiet dignity. Other women suddenly seemed really strident, and loud. Remember the way Camilla calmed Charles down when he was annoyed by a pen and ink? As the culture changed, and women embraced MeToo, refusing to be victims, the fact Camilla had never whined, or looked bored, or bleated doe eyed to a camera, 'I'm not okay' was suddenly a beacon of strength. When Charles was diagnosed with cancer, she didn't sit by his bed stroking his hand, she dusted herself off and got on with it, working hard, with a smile on her face. When her beloved brother, environmentalist Mark Shand, died, she took up the mantle, raising money to help with the conservation of Asian elephants. I always disliked the fact she enjoyed fox hunting, was pictured mounted, sipping sherry. When hunting with hounds became illegal, she gave it up even as many others carried on. That she no longer takes part in a blood sport she had been brought up to enjoy, and which seemed normal to her and her class (Charles loved it too), is a welcome step in the right direction. Yes, we can change, yes we can bend to the will of the people. The vegan Coronation scroll was a triumph for animal lovers Camilla was seen calming the situation down when the King seemed annoyed by a pen Camilla wrote to PETA to announce that she would no longer buy anything using animal fur Earlier this week, Camilla wrote to PETA, the animal rights campaign group, to announce she would no longer buy anything using animal fur. It is a small step, as she might still wear vintage fur on occasion. Not quite as heart-warming as Queen Elizabeth, sat alongside a straight-backed rescued beagle called Guy in her car on the way to Meghan's wedding rehearsal, not an Awwww moment, but welcome nonetheless. Camilla's decision joins a long list of animal friendly actions taken by the Royal Family in recent months. Earlier this month, the RSPCA announced that King Charles is its new patron, saying, 'His Majesty's powerful voice for nature and regenerative farming will be vital in raising the profile of animal welfare and inspire more people than ever to create a better world for every animal.' Foie gras is no longer served in the Royal Household, and the Coronation Roll, the official record of last year's ceremony, was produced on paper not parchment, which is made from animal skin. But Rome wasn't built in a day. A 2023 Guardian investigation reported that over the past two decades Sandringham 'has been linked to the deaths and disappearances of a string of legally protected birds'. Animal Aid found that more than 7,000 mammals and birds were killed on Royal land in one year. Among that number, thousands of foxes and corvids were killed in order to protect the estate's pheasants from predators. Snares are banned in Wales and Scotland, but not in England. In 2021, PETA wrote to the then Prince of Wales with a request to ban snares at Sandringham, but claims not to have received a response to this day. Balmoral is used to hosting 'straightforward' shooting parties. But I do think Camilla is listening to what the ordinary British public want. According to the RSPCA, 95 per cent of us disagree with wearing fur. Charles clearly takes note of her advice. I like to imagine her whispering in his ear, gently persuading and guiding. So, Camp Camilla it is. Non-bearskin hats off to her. I cannot wait to see what long-held tradition will meet a sticky end next A nationwide ban could be imposed on pet cat owners that could save the country billions of dollars - and a new survey reveals most Australians would support it. The rules could see pet cats banned from going outdoors and owners slapped with hefty fines if they don't keep them indoors permanently. Some local councils along with the whole of the ACT are already imposing the ban while others, like Geelong and the City of Melbourne, are in the process - but there are fresh calls to impose a blanket ban nationally. A survey published by the Biodiversity Council in March this year found just one in 12 people, or eight per cent of the population, opposed such a ban. Along with saving millions of native animals that domestic and feral cats would otherwise kill each year, the ban could also reduce the impact of cat diseases transmitted to humans, which costs the economy an estimated $6billion a year. The City of Melbourne is holding community consultations on whether to ban cat owners from letting their cats outside A growing number of councils are imposing cat curfews or rules that pet cats must be kept indoors but these could become a national law - and research shows most people support the idea Feral and domestic cats allowed outdoors are one of the major threats posed to native wildlife The survey conducted by researchers at Monash University asked more than 3,400 people whether they would support a policy that would 'require cat owners to keep their cat contained to their property'. 'We found a clear majority (66 per cent) of people support cat containment,' researcher Jaana Dielenberg said this week. 'A strikingly small proportion, about one in 12 people (8 per cent), are opposed. 'The remaining 26 per cent were ambivalent, selecting neither support nor oppose.' A draft threat abatement plan released in December by the Department of Environment proposed uniform rules around the country for pet cat containment along with banning pet cats entirely from near high conservation value areas. The rules would protect wildlife and help to reduce feral cat numbers. But in addition to this, Ms Dielenberg said it would also reduce the incidence of several diseases which humans can catch from cats. 'These cost Australia more than $6billion a year based on costs of medical care, lost income and other related expenses. 'The most widespread of these diseases is toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be passed to humans but must complete its life cycle in cats. 'Australian studies have reported human infection rates between 22 per cent and 66 per cent of the community.' The infection can cause illness, affect pregnancy and in rare cases can be deadly. The majority of people who are infected do not become ill but there are still thousands of hospitalisations each year and it is believed the infection, which does not go away but lies dormant, can affect brain function. Studies have linked cat-borne infections to increased rates of car accidents, mental health issues and self harm. Cat transmitted diseases such as toxoplasmosis are surprisingly common and can cause complications with brain function and pregnancy More than a third of local councils in Australia now require cats to be contained overnight or 24 hours a day. While councils are responsible for pet issues, state and territory laws greatly influence what councils can and can't do. In New South Wales and Western Australia, state laws prevent local councils from requiring cat containment except in specific circumstances, such as in declared food preparation areas in NSW. Statewide or national bans would solve these issues. 'Amending the law in NSW to implement 24/7 cat containment rules is a simple step that would have profound benefits for our native wildlife,' Jack Gough, Advocacy Manager at the Invasive Species Council said. 'Councils across the state are crying out for this amendment so that they can protect their local bushland from the enormous impacts of roaming pet cats. 'The law in NSW is a stark contrast to the ACT which requires residents to contain their cats, or in Victoria where nearly 50 per cent of councils have introduced cat containment rules.' A feral cat in Tasmania is pictured after hunting a native marsupial This map shows the distribution of millions of feral cats across Australia. They are more common in the outback and abundant in parts of SA On average, a roaming pet cat kills 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year while a feral cat kills 748. When that is scaled up to the millions of cats in Australia, it is a huge problem, with cats playing a leading role in the majority of Australia's 34 mammal extinctions since colonisation. There are currently 110 native mammals listed as threatened in Australia. One example is the kowari, a small marsupial that was once common in the Australian outback but is now only found in a small section of desert in south-west Queensland and north-west SA. Threats to the kowari population are mainly feral cats and foxes along with cattle farming which reduces ground cover and tramples burrows. It is estimated there are only about 1,200 left in the wild with the government changing its status from vulnerable to endangered in November. The kowari, a native marsupial found in outback Australia, was recently upgraded to endangered courtesy largely of feral cats Ms Dielenberg, who is also the communications and engagement manager for the Biodiversity Council, said that with the level of support for a blanket cat containment rule in the community 'the time might be right for nationwide change in how we manage our pet cats.' 'Broader adoption of keeping cats safe at home would have large benefits for cat welfare, human health, local wildlife and even the economy,' she said. 'Requiring pet cats to be contained is a sound policy choice. But to realise the full benefits, we also need to invest in effective communication for communities, provide rebates to help contain cats, and make sure the rules are followed.' While Earth mostly succeeded in weathering last weekend's strong solar storm, experts have warned more powerful eruptions could continue to strike until 2025. A Smithsonian astrophysicist told DailyMail.com that the sun has not yet reached its 'solar maximum,' the most energetic point of its recurring, 11-year solar cycle, in which greater turbulence raises the sun's total energy output. That 'maximum' will finally come in the heat of the summer next year: July 2025. 'We could easily get much bigger storms over the next year or two,' Dr Jonathan McDowell of Smithsonian and Harvard's Center for Astrophysics told DailyMail.com. The 'extreme (G5) geomagnetic conditions' of last weekend's solar storm was produced by a disturbance on the sun's surface, a 'sunspot,' that was larger than the solar disturbance that produced the infamous 1859 Carrington event. The Carrington solar storm set telegraph wires on fire, cut communications worldwide, and even disrupted ships' compasses and space weather experts anticipate that a direct hit from the bigger solar storms coming soon could be worse. While Earth succeeded in weathering last weekend's historic solar storm, experts warn the risk of more powerful eruptions will keep increasing until July 2025. 'We could easily get much bigger storms over the next year or two,' astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told DailyMail.com 'It's definitely a scary time for satellite operators,' Dr McDowell said. At 2019's 'solar minimum,' the number of visible sunspots on the sun's surface was effectively zero, but at the coming maximum in July 2025, the US National Space Weather Prediction Center has estimated that there could be up to 115 sunspots. These magnetically dense areas of turbulence on the solar surface produce solar flares and more powerful 'coronal mass ejection' (CME) eruptions of plasma. While the 11-year solar cycle only raises the total radiation coming out of the sun a deceptively small 0.1 percent, that excess is very concentrated in sunspot activity. These increases to the 173,000 terawatts (trillions of watts) of solar energy that continuously hit Earth have been documented to disrupt satellites, black out radio communications, and interfere with the power grid. But even before next year's most hectic phase, when Earth could easily find itself in the line of fire from multiple sunspots, there is still ongoing stress on the world's satellite infrastructure right now from just the sun's elevated radiation as it approaches the solar maximum. 'For the past few months, even without solar storms, the drag rate on Hubble [Space Telescope] has been 10 times bigger than it was during the solar minimum,' Dr McDowell told DailyMail.com 'These solar storms while dramatic are actually only part of the story for satellites,' he explained. 'This whole period of the next few years will be pulling satellites down much more than most of the previous decade.' Sunspot AR3664, which released flares this past weekend, had reached a size that now competes with the sunspot responsible for the infamous 1895 Carrington event - which sent telegraph wires ablaze, shutting down international communication Last Friday's G5 geomagnetic solar storm disrupted farmers 'global positioning system' (GPS) satellites and stalled planting equipment across the US Midwest. 'All the tractors are sitting at the ends of the field right now shut down because of the solar storm,' one farmer, Kevin Kenney, told 404 Media last weekend. 'No GPS.' 'I've never dealt with anything like this,' Patrick O'Connor, who owns a farm roughly a 90-minute drive south Minneapolis, told the New York Times. Some impacts were also felt by the orbital astronomy platforms that Dr McDowell is more familiar with, but he suspects the bigger risks are still to come. 'This one we had you know, the aurora was beautiful, it was a big storm but it certainly wasn't the biggest storm on record or anything like that,' Dr McDowell said. As energetic particles from the solar storm heated up Earth's upper-atmosphere this weekend, the heat generated a thickening of the air not unlike a how air feels thicker in a sauna adding 'drag' to the orbital movements of satellites. The Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers discovered, is likely to end its lifecycle a little sooner, in fact, thanks to the drag created by the solar storm. Although Hubble is relatively stable in its orbit, its path can be thought of as a long, spiraling 'free fall' back inevitably down to Earth, and Dr McDowell said that Hubble's rate of orbital decay doubled 'about 80 meters a day instead of 40 meters a day,' due to the storm last weekend. 'You have multiple impacts,' Dr McDowell told DailyMail.com. 'You have the increased drag. You have increased radiation. You have an increased risk of getting electrostatic discharges on your spacecraft.' 'Mission controllers are a little bit more "on the edge of their seats" during a solar storm than they are on an ordinary day,' the astrophysicist noted. Dr McDowell's works with NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope (above), launched in 1999 to collect X-ray emissions from exploded stars, far-off galactic clusters and the matter swirling blackholes. The Chandra team put the satellite in partial shutdown to weather the solar storm Dr McDowell works directly with NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope observatory, launched into a distant orbit 86,500-miles away in 1999, to collect X-ray emissions from exploded stars, far-off galactic clusters and the matter swirling blackholes. 'Over the weekend, we took some precautions to save some of its instruments to best protect it against the onslaught of the storm,' he said. 'Shutting certain bits down,' Dr McDowell explained, to reduce the threat of short-circuiting or electrical damage to Chandra's sensors, 'but not the whole spacecraft.' 'We have lost expensive satellites in solar storms in the past,' he noted. According to a NASA presentation on solar storms, a 1994 solar event triggered electrical failures in three satellites, one Intelsat K communications satellite made by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin and two Canadian Anik television satellites. While two of the satellites were partially recovered, one was lost without a trace. 'Satellite engineers and scientists are cautious to admit the sun was ultimately to blame when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake and law suits could result from the wrong answers,' the NASA presentation said. Right now the only predictive method space weather experts have for forecasting when a major solar storm is likely to strike is following the path of sunspots. 'If you watch the sunspot going around the sun, what we call an 'active area,'' Dr McDowell said, 'you can say, 'Oh, I'm seeing that sunspot, and it's going to be facing the Earth in two days.' So, if it happens to burp, then then we could be in trouble.' 'So, there's a certain level of forecasting possible,' he added. 'We're working on improving that.' A young woman living in the world's coldest city has revealed some of the negative impacts the extreme cold has on the body - along with months of very little sunlight. YouTube creator Kiun B lives in the Siberian city of Yakutsk, where the temperatures have been known to plunge below -83.9F (-64.4C) in the winter and in the summer, it thaws out a little with the daily mean being around 68F (20C). In a new video, she also explains that 'a thick fog obscures the sun for most of the year' and the metropolis is akin to 'a scene from a science fiction movie.' During the short film, Kiun looks at the damaging effects of the cold and dark on her physical and mental wellbeing, starting with frostbite. YouTube creator Kiun B lives in the Siberian city of Yakutsk, where the temperatures have been known to plunge below -83.9F (-64.4C) in the winter In a new video, she also explains that 'a thick fog obscures the sun for most of the year' and the metropolis can be compared to 'a scene from a science fiction movie' During the short film, Kiun looks at the damaging effects of the cold and dark on her physical and mental wellbeing, starting with vitamin deficiency Showing a series of rather gruesome video clips of locals blighted by severe frostbite on their fingers, Kiun explains: 'In Yakutsk life doesn't stop [when it gets cold]. 'We still go outside, go to school and work. Getting frostbite and hypothermia in Yakutsk is almost as common as the cold itself.' Kiun says she often ends up with 'mild frostbite' on the exposed parts of her face, which is mainly her nose and cheeks. When she starts feeling a 'numbness' - one of the symptoms of frostbite - she will 'rush to a warm place like a mall or a heated bus station' to prevent any serious damage. The filmmaker says the condition is big problem among the homeless community and because of this, the government has taken steps to 'build more shelters to provide warmth and protection.' The hospitals also have specialized wards and specific doctors to deal with 'even the worst cases' and on top of this, 'every citizen and resident has access to a free basic health care services.' As some of the communities in the Yakutsk region are very spread out, Kiun says some people perish while making long journeys, as some trips can take up to 48 hours. The Siberian native reveals: 'In such cold, car batteries can freeze leaving travelers stuck... which can be fatal. Sadly, every year about hundreds of people freeze to death in Yakutsk.' Showing a series of rather gruesome video clips of locals blighted by severe frostbite on their fingers, Kiun explains: 'Getting frostbite and hypothermia is almost as common as the cold' As some of the communities in the Yakutsk region are very spread out, Kiun says some people perish while making long journeys, as some trips can take up to 48 hours Along with severe cold damage, Kiun says respiratory problems are rife in Yakutsk. Detailing why this is the case, she says: 'The freezing air can really stress your breathing. 'So during the really cold days here, we often cover our face completely and it's not only protect our skin but it also protects our lungs. 'I also heard many times from the newcomers who came to visit Yakutsk for the first time how the air is difficult to breathe.' Moving on to the next topic, Kiun touches on vitamin deficiency. Kiun tells viewers on the subject: 'Vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin D, is also a significant concern in Yakutsk due to our extreme climate and limited exposure of sunlight during the long winter months. 'As you might know, vitamin D is crucial for our bone health, our immune function and overall wellbeing I've been dealing with vitamin D and anemia for as long as I can remember.' Many people in Yakutsk do not eat many vegetables, Kiun says, which also means they lack certain nutrients. In a bid to help her body, Kiun takes vitamin D and iron pills. In the documentary, she attends a medical check up with her sister and the doctors confirm that the pills have helped with her vitamin D levels, as tests show them to be above average. Her sister's levels however, are very low and she tells viewers that she will need to take supplements to improve it. Another complaint linked to the lack of sunlight, Kiun says, is a type of depression known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. In the documentary, Kiun attends a medical check up with her sister and the doctors confirm that pills have helped with her vitamin D levels. However, her sister will need supplements 'It's been a huge help to connect to a therapist online... Having therapy sessions has helped me understand myself better,' Kiun says when she addresses mental health She says on the subject: 'In winter, the lack of sunlight and the constant cold can really get you down. 'It's tough to even step outside when you need to bundle up in hundreds of layers, so we spend quite a lot of time indoors. 'But staying indoors all the time can make you really feel tired, sleepy and I can feel my mood dropping.' Kiun says that finding help in regards to mental health in Yakutsk 'is not easy' and 'especially in the remote areas.' However, in recent years access to resources has become easier thanks to the internet and she has been using the mental health platform BetterHelp for more than a year. 'It's been a huge help to connect to a therapist online... Having therapy sessions has helped me understand myself better and explaining the reasons behind my feelings,' she says. One of the third issues which Kiun addresses is infertility. She claims the cold weather can impact 'internal organs' along with vitamin deficiencies. However, IVF clinic Neelkanth IVF says that cold weather and infertility are often incorrectly linked. The clinic website says: 'While the idea of cold weather having a negative impact on fertility may be intriguing, the scientific evidence does not support this notion as a significant factor in conceiving. 'Instead, age, reproductive health, lifestyle choices, timing, and emotional well-being are more critical aspects to consider when trying to conceive.' While in recent times, celebrities and health buffs alike have turned to cryotherapy and cold water therapy to ward off aging, Kiun says the sub-zero temperatures aren't quite as kind where she is. Pointing to recent findings, she says: 'Studies have shown that we in Yakutsk tend to age faster. 'While cryotherapy is known for its health benefits including slowing down aging, our situation is more complex research has found that our long-term adaptation to the harsh climate leads us biologically aging three to four years faster than Caucasians. 'This accelerated aging is believed to be due to our increased metabolic rate as our bodies work harder to generate the energy needed for the warmth. 'It's very interesting... because I always thought that living in Yakutsk is slowing down our aging.' To date, Kiun's video detailing life in Yakutsk has been watched more than 160,000 times, with many viewers thanking her for the insights. One viewer wrote: 'Love watching your videos. I could never live where it's anywhere near that cold.' Another fan added: 'Love the channel btw, very interesting, and informative. It helps me to endure the (for you very mild, even warm) Hungarian winter!' Exhibition to be held in Shaanxi History Museum to celebrate Int'l Museum Day Xinhua) 11:11, May 18, 2024 Pottery figurines are displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 6, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Pottery figurines are displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A copper mold used to make copper coins is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 15, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Gold ware is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 15, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A gold figurine is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 6, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Bronze ware is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Pottery figurines are displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A suit of stone armor is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 6, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) An ancient ship is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 6, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A pottery horse is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 15, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Pottery figurines are displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A terracotta warrior is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 15, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) A tiger-shaped figurine is displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 15, 2024. More than 1,500 cultural relics of Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) are going to be displayed during an exhibition in celebration of the International Museum Day. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) A cruise ship passenger has vowed to avoid P&O cruises after she claims she was exposed to bed bugs in her cabin which ruined her holiday. Corrine McIvor, 39, sailed out from Brisbane on the week-long cruise to various Pacific Islands earlier this month. But after spending a few nights in her cabin, the nurse said she developed itching and bumps on her neck, chest and legs that prompted her to visit the ship's doctor who apologised and told her they were 'classic' bed bug bites. Ms McIvor said she asked the doctor if she had seen this on the ship before and the doctor told her 'yeah'. 'The bed bugs totally ruined the cruise because of the anxiety,' Ms McIvor told Yahoo News. Corrine McIvor said she was mortified when the doctor on her cruise ship said she had been bitten by bed bugs The room on the P&O cruise was cleaned and inspected by staff Ms McIvor said she was at first impressed with how the ship's staff handled the situation by instructing her to visit the doctor and waiving the $150 consultation fee. But she said things soon turned sour. She was told to return to her cabin where staff would collect her clothes and other items and sanitise them. One staff member was careful to stand at the door while they packed their suitcases but another staff member walked into the room, put some of their clothes on the allegedly bug-infested bed then took them to their next room on the opposite side of the ship. 'That's how they spread ... like wildfire,' the nurse said. Ms McIvor and her partner's clothes were eventually laundered free of charge but she said they were given no instructions on how to avoid spreading the bed bugs to other passengers. Once they arrived back on shore she said the pair spent hundreds of their own dollars to ensure the bed bugs did not spread into their home. Ms McIvor said the doctor told her that her bumps were 'classic' bed bug bites P&O Cruises said 'just like hotels' they have robust cleaning policies in place (file image) They got all their clothes professionally dry cleaned and sanitised, discarded their newly bought suitcases which could not be laundered and purchased a steamer. 'It sounds over the top but this is how it spreads. I'm a public health nurse and I know it's a public health issue ... Passengers have no idea this is going on.' Ms McIvor said she has since reached out to P&O to discuss at least partial compensation for the cruise but she claims the business 'gaslit' her by saying the bed bugs were not confirmed and they only waived the doctor's fee out of 'goodwill'. She is furious and has vowed to 'never' sail with P&O again. A spokesperson for P&O cruises said it has 'strict and robust health protocols on its cruise ships'. 'The comfort, health and safety of our guests is of upmost importance to us. Just like hotels, we have rigorous cleaning processes in place to address and resolve any issues that may arise.' It is understood Ms McIvor's room was cleaned, an inspection found no bed bugs and there have been no other complaints of them from that room. Daily Mail Australia approached P&O Cruises for additional comment. A plus-size travel influencer has claimed she was discriminated against by an airport employee who refused to push her in a wheelchair because of her weight. Jaelynn Chaney, 27, recounted her experience with a wheelchair assistant on a jet bridge after a recent landing at SeattleTacoma International Airport. 'My ordeal at SeaTac Airport will shock you,' Chaney, of Vancouver in Washington, said in a TikTok. Chaney, who can walk, then detailed how she requested wheelchair assistance on a recent flight - as she always does. However, Chaney claims that when she tried to deplane the aircraft, the employee assigned to help assist her started to walk away when she realized she was supposed to help the plus-size woman and not one of the smaller passengers. The travel influencer said that as the employee walked away with the wheelchair she was making comments about her size. Chaney - who has previously demanded free extra seats for fat fliers subsidized by slimmer passengers - says the ordeal left her gasping for air. Jaelynn Chaney, 27, is a plus size travel influencer (she is pictured here on vacation in Lake Oswego, Oregon) Chaney, 27, recounted her experience with a wheelchair assistant at SeattleTacoma International Airport 'Even when I told her I really needed the chair and needed her to let me sit down in it she blatantly ignored me and kept walking,' Chaney complained in the dramatic TikTok - which showed her walking up an airplane's aisles aisles. 'I was then forced to walk up one of the longest jet bridges I've encountered and she didn't stop,' the 27-year-old continued in her rant. By the time Chaney was finally allowed to reach the wheelchair and sit down her lips were white, her oxygen levels had dropped and she almost fainted, she claims. According to Chaney, by assuming that she could walk and not pushing her up the jet bridge - the employee was discriminating against the plus sized woman. The travel influencer said that as the employee walked away with the wheelchair she was making comments about her size By the time Chaney was finally allowed to reach the wheelchair and sit down her lips were white, her oxygen levels had dropped and she almost fainted, she claims 'Staying silent isn't an option anymore,' Chaney said of the 'discrimination' she faced. 'If you've faced something similar, you're not alone.' She continued: 'Discrimination is real, and I don't want anyBODY else to ever experience something like this.' Users in the comments were quick to show their support for the 27-year-old. 'I'm so sorry honey,' one wrote. 'Sending positivity! No one should be discriminated against for their body or abilities,' another wrote. Chaney also used the experience to promote her push for airlines to give free extra seats to fat fliers who may not fit in a standard airplane chair. She says the 'passenger of size' policy afford basic human rights to fat people - but previously conceded that slim passengers' fares may have to go up to cover the cost of paying for overweight flyers' additional needs. This was the travel influencer's first time traveling without oxygen and uploaded a TikTok documenting the experience. Chaney also recently uploaded a video to her TikTok channel in which the plus-sized influencer proudly flies without her portable oxygen tank for the first time in four years Chaney explained in the video' caption that she had been travelling with an oxygen apparatus ever since the doctors at a hospital suspected that she had had a stroke Chaney uploaded a video to her TikTok channel showing her proudly sitting on a flight without her breathing aide. She explained to her followers that she'd previously required supplemental air to ensure she could breathe comfortably in the pressurized plane cabin. At one point in the video, Chaney holds up her seatbelt and smiles as she demonstrates how much it is extended. Chaney, whose TikTok account has more than 135,000 followers, narrates her concerns as a plus-sized flyer in the background of the video. Dramatic music plays and Chaney ponders: 'What if I have a medical emergency on the plane?' Then she asks: 'What if I cause an emergency landing?' But she stops herself and announces: 'No, forget that. No matter what they say, and no matter what it looks like, travel is for everybody.' Chaney created a Change.org petition in April, 2023, to demand that the FAA protects plus-size travelers Chaney also laid out a list of policies that would ensure that 'customers-of-size' are accommodated and treated with respect while flying The video then shows Chaney being wheeled down an airport gate and onto the plane. Then Chaney is shown in her seat, where she exhibits just how much her seatbelt has been slackened. The TikTok ends with a close-up of the plus-sized influencer's grinning face. In her caption, Chaney explains the context of her flight, recounting how for the past four years she has relied on 'supplemental oxygen' when flying. 'It all started back in 2019 after a hospital stay where they suspected I had a stroke,' Chaney wrote. 'Turns out, it was pulmonary hypertension, and I needed oxygen therapy ever since. Traveling just wasn't the same anymore.' Chaney's TikTok also explores her polyamorous lifestyle. The influencer has collaborated with companies ranging from Google to McDonalds The plus-sized influencer, who has over 135,000 TikTok followers, has previously called on the FAA to provide overweight individuals with up to three free seats when flying She said that she went 'from chasing waterfalls in Hawaii' to 'everything being so different.' After conducting intensive research, the influencer struck on portable oxygen concentrators. 'I shared my discoveries online, thinking this was going to be my new normal.' But Chaney found portable oxygen concentrators to be 'no walk in the park.' She said that using the apparatus was 'expensive, stressful, and downright scary.' Her recent flight marked the first time in four years that she had flown sans oxygen concentrator, an experience which made her 'anxious and afraid.' 'But guess what? I did it, and it went better than I could've imagined,' she triumphantly wrote. Chaney created a Change.org petition in April, 2023, to demand that the FAA protects plus-size travelers. The petition has now received over 39,000 signatures. 'Air travel should be comfortable and accessible for everyone, regardless of size,' she wrote on the Change.org page. 'As plus-size travelers, my partner and I have unfortunately experienced discrimination and discomfort while flying.' Chaney also laid out a list of policies that would ensure that 'customers-of-size' are accommodated and treated with respect while flying. Legendary Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is returning to the show after a seven-year break, having penned what may be his most dramatic episode yet. Before taking over the series as showrunner in 2010, the writer became known for penning some of the scariest episodes in the revival's run, and introducing iconic characters such as Captain Jack Harkness and River Song. Steven then took the reins of the series during Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi's runs on the show, and penned a feature length special in honour of the show's 50th Anniversary in 2013. Despite stepping down from the series in 2017, Steven hinted that he would be open to writing another episode in the future, and on Saturday viewers will get to see his latest effort titled Boom. The episode sees the current Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) travel to an alien planet gripped by war, but the Time Lord is placed in a terrifying situation when he steps on a land mine. So, as fans prepare to tune into what could be Moffat's most dramatic episode yet, MailOnline takes a look-back at some of his most iconic tales in the Who-niverse. Legendary Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is returning to the show after a seven-year break, having penned what may be his most dramatic episode yet The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005) Steven's first story for New Who came during the first series 19 years ago, and is still considered one of the scariest episodes in the show's history It also introduced one of the franchises' most iconic characters, Captain Jack Harkness, who at the time is an charming alien conman attempting to discover his lost memory Steven's first story for New Who came during the first series 19 years ago, when Christopher Eccleston took the reins as the Ninth Doctor. The two-parter is still considered one of the scariest episodes in the show's history with the introduction of terrifying 'gask mask zombies' after The Doctor and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) travel to World War Two-stricken London. In the episode, the pair investigate the spread of a mysterious plague that transforms people into zombies pleading for their mummy. It also introduced one of the franchises' most iconic characters, Captain Jack Harkness, who at the time is an charming alien conman attempting to discover his lost memory. Played by John Barrowman, the immortal rogue took centre stage in the spin-off Torchwood, and returned to Doctor Who several times throughout its run. The Girl In The Fireplace (2006) Long considered one of the best episodes in the show's history, The Girl In The Fireplace saw The Doctor come close to breaking the one rule he'd forever kept in place: Falling in love Long considered one of the best episodes in the show's history, The Girl In The Fireplace saw The Doctor (David Tennant) came close to breaking the one rule he'd forever kept in place: Falling in love. The episode saw The Doctor, Rose and Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) journey to a futuristic spaceship run by clockwork droids, who are stalking a French aristocrat from the 18th Century in the hope of using her head to repair the broken ship. The Doctor comes dangerously close to falling for Reinette (played by Sophia Myles), after travelling through a time window on the spaceship using a fireplace. He dreams of taking Reinette with him to travel through the stars, but in heartbreaking scenes, a faulty time window means he's too late, and returns to France following her death. Inspired by Audrey Niffeneggers novel The Time-Travelers Wife, the episode ends with The Doctor reading an emotional letter from Reinette, and it's still praised by fans nearly 20 years after it hit screens. Blink (2007) Airing during New Who's third series, Blink was a stark deviation from other episodes in David Tennant's tenure, as he barely featured during its runtime Considered a 'Doctor-lite' episode, Moffat delivered one of the show's scariest ever efforts, and another considered one of the best to ever hit screens Airing during New Who's third series, Blink was a stark deviation from other episodes in David Tennant's tenure, as he barely featured during its runtime. Considered a 'Doctor-lite' episode, Moffat delivered one of the show's scariest ever efforts, and another considered one of the best to ever hit screens during Russell T Davies' first stint as showrunner. Years before her break in Hollywood, Carey Mulligan starred as Sally Sparrow, who encounters the terrifying Weeping Angels, who transport victims back in time to live out the rest of their lives alone. The one-off episode focuses on the sinister Weeping Angels, who only move when they're not being seen... or when you blink, inspiring the episode's title. The Angels went onto become a staple during Moffat's tenure as showrunner, returning several times throughout his run Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead (2008) In his final two-part story under Russell's stint as showrunner, Moffat set the stage for one of his biggest mysteries, the origin of River Song (Alex Kingston) The episodes saw The Doctor and Donna Noble travel to a planet called The Library, where they discover the terrifying creatures called Vashta Narada In his final two-part story under Russell's stint as showrunner, Moffat set the stage for one of his biggest mysteries, the origin of River Song (Alex Kingston). The episodes saw The Doctor and Donna Noble travel to a planet called The Library, where they discover the terrifying creatures called Vashta Narada. Preying on a classic childhood fear, the creatures devour anyone who braves stepping into the shadows and out of the light. River is introduced as an archaeologist, and it soon becomes clear that she is a crucial part of The Doctor's future, as she knows more about his life than even he does. While she meets her maker at the end of the episode, Moffat leaves viewers with plenty of questions about her origins, which would be answered in later series. The Eleventh Hour (2010) Following David, and Russell's departures from Who, Moffat took over the series as showrunner, and penned the opening episode for the new Doctor, Matt Smith Viewers saw the 'raggedy' Time Lord come face-to-face with his new companion, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), first in childhood and later as an adult Following David, and Russell's departures from Who, Moffat took over the series as showrunner, and penned the opening episode for the new Doctor, Matt Smith. Considered another classic of the modern era, a post-regeneration Doctor is faced with the threat of escaped alien Prisoner Zero, with the Atraxi threatening to destroy Earth if he goes uncaptured. Viewers saw the 'raggedy' Time Lord come face-to-face with his new companion, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), first in childhood and later as an adult. Despite a few time-travelling mishaps, Amy is enticed to travel with The Doctor into outer space, and Matt's hour-long debut went down a storm with fans. The episode is also responsible for introducing a staple of Eleven's tenure... fish custard. The Wedding Of River Song (2011) The mystery surrounding The Doctor's death came to a dramatic conclusion in the sixth series finale, also drawing an end to the long-running saga surrounding River Song's heritage It culminated with a moment fans thought they'd never see; The Doctor getting married, as he and River exchanged vows to restart the timeline and stop The Silence The mystery surrounding The Doctor's death came to a dramatic conclusion in the sixth series finale, also drawing an end to the long-running saga surrounding River Song's heritage. In a tense episode, River's refusal to kill The Doctor resulted in time grinding to a halt, with the Time Lord himself warning that his passing must take place as fixed point in the universe. It culminated with a moment fans thought they'd never see; The Doctor getting married, as he and River exchanged vows to restart the timeline and stop the sinister villains known as The Silence. While this did mean The Doctor met his maker by River's hand at a lake in Utah, a last-minute twist meant the Time Lord would continue his TARDIS travels, occassionally breaking River out of prison to join him. The Angels Take Manhattan (2012) Marking the return of The Weeping Angels, viewers were left in floods of tears when The Doctor bid goodbye to his beloved companion Amy, and her husband Rory Marking the return of The Weeping Angels, viewers were left in floods of tears when The Doctor bid goodbye to his beloved companion Amy, and her husband Rory, in this dramatic episode. With the return of River Song, the TARDIS team struggle to escape an army of Angels who have taken over 1930s New York. While they appear to stop the Angels in their tracks, with Amy and Rory risking their lives in the process, it's one rogue survivor that ends the couple's travels with The Doctor, sending them back in time. A devastated Doctor receives one last farewell from his friends in the form of a carefully placed afterword in a book, young Amelia's dreams of aventure come to a heartbreaking end in the moving episode. The Day Of The Doctor (2013) For Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, Moffat delivered one of the biggest and most action-packed instalments in the show's history, with three Doctors on screen together Joined by his companion Clara Oswald, The Doctor finds himself face-to-face with his previous incarnation as well as a mysterious new figure For Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, Moffat delivered one of the biggest and most action-packed instalments in the show's history, shaking up the famous Time Lord lore in a way that left fans floored. Joined by his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), The Doctor finds himself face-to-face with his previous incarnation (David Tennant) as well as a mysterious new face, who would be known as The War Doctor (John Hurt), with guest stars and cameos galore. As it's revealed The Doctor was responsible for The Moment, which famously destroyed his home Gallifrey during the Time War, a shocking twist sees all of his incarnations come together to save the planet, freezing it in time. With the help of a familiar face in the form of iconic Doctor Tom Baker, the current Time Lord has whole new adventures opened for him, as he begins the long journey to discover his planet, setting the stage for decades of stories to come. Hell Bent (2015) The finale of Peter Capaldi's second series as The Doctor remains one of the most divisive in the show's history, as it saw the Time Lord return to his home planet, Gallifrey Following Clara's tragic death two episodes earlier, The Doctor decides to break the laws of time in a desperate bid to save her life The finale of Peter Capaldi's second series as The Doctor remains one of the most divisive in the show's history, as it saw the Time Lord return to his home planet, Gallifrey. Following Clara's tragic death two episodes earlier, The Doctor decides to break the laws of time and save her life, trapping her in a permenant second, where she would forever travel the stars to escape her imminent fate. While the mystery of the Hybrid is finally revealed, fans still claim it's the weakest story arc during Moffat's tenure. World Enough & Time/The Doctor Falls (2017) Moffat stayed on as Who showrunner when Peter Capaldi received the key to the TARDIS in 2014, and in his third full series, he penned a dramatic two-parter that set the stage for his end Moffat stayed on as Who showrunner when Peter Capaldi received the keys to the TARDIS in 2014, and in his third full series, he penned a dramatic two-parter that set the stage for his end. Coming face-to-face with old foe The Master, the episodes act as an origin story for iconic villains The Cybermen. Companion Bill Potts is (Pearl Mackie) tragically converted into the robot, and The Doctor also reunites with The Master's later incarnation, Missy. While Bill's story ends on a somewhat satisfying note, The Doctor is determined to escape his fate, and in the process makes a shocking discovery... himself, played by David Bradley who starred as the First Doctor in the 2013 film An Adventure in Space and Time. Twice Upon A Time (2017) Peter bid a heartbreaking farewell to the role of The Doctor in an episode which saw him meet his first incarnation, played by David Bradley The episode, also Steven's last as showrunner, saw The Doctor bid a final farewell to his companions Bill Potts and Nardole With the news that Jodie Whittaker would be taking over as The Doctor, Steven announced that he would be stepping down from the series that same year, with Chris Chibnall taking over for the new era. Peter bid a heartbreaking farewell to the role in the Christmas episode, which saw The Twelfth Doctor meet his first incarnation, played by David Bradley, and reunited with his companion Bill. The episode, which takes place on Christmas Eve in 1914, sees both Doctors determined to escape their looming regenerations. Both are eventually forced to come to terms with their fate, as they emotionally bid farewell to their current selves, with the Twelfth Doctor delivering a moving speech as he transforms into his new face. Former actress Simmone Jade Mackinnon has spoken of falling on hard times after soaring to fame in the early 2000s. Known for her pin-up girl looks, Mackinnon started her career in the American series Baywatch: Hawaii, which aired from 1999 to 2001, and then returned home for her starring role as Stevie Hall in popular drama McLeod's Daughters from 2003 to 2009. But her decade-long stint on television did not set Mackinnon up for life. After McLeod's Daughters ended, she drifted away from the industry and ended up in financial stress, which took such a toll on her that she suffered from panic attacks and hair loss. These days, the 2007 Gold Logie nominee - who was once engaged to Hollywood star Jason Momoa - is living in a caravan with her 13-year-old son after stepping away from the limelight and going broke. She spoke of her heartbreaking situation on Nine's reality show The Summit, where she is competing for a chance to win a life-changing $1million cash prize. Known for her pin-up girl looks, Simmone Jade Mackinnon started her career in the American series Baywatch: Hawaii, which aired from 1999 to 2001, and then returned home for her starring role as Stevie Hall in McLeod's Daughters from 2003 to 2009 (pictured) 'The last three years have been the hardest of my life,' Mackinnon said. 'And that caused severe anxiety. After a week of back-to-back panic attacks that led to massive hair loss. 'There was big chunks just falling out so I had to shave it all off. You lose your hair and it's a massive psychological hit. 'I just hid. I hid away from everything and everyone for years.' Simmone took an extended career break after McLeod's Daughters was axed in 2009, telling the Advertiser she advised her agents she wanted to focus on raising her son, who she realised 'would more than likely be my only child'. After McLeod's Daughters ended, she drifted away from the industry and ended up in financial stress, which took such a toll on her she suffered from panic attacks and hair loss Years later, in 2016, she bought a caravan with the intention of travelling the countryside. But her road trip dreams never materialised and that caravan ended up parked on a family property for two years when her father became ill. In a strange case of life imitating art, the ex-actress later took a job working on a cattle station in Rockhampton, Queensland, as a jillaroo. These days, she is living in a caravan with her 13-year-old son after stepping away from the limelight and going broke She said this period of her life was blissfully happy, describing the lifestyle as 'priceless' even though the money was just enough to break even. However, Mackinnon suffered another setback when the Covid pandemic hit. She hit 'rock bottom' while trying to keep her online clothing business afloat. 'I poured everything I had into it. I'm proud to say it's still going three years later but it is without a doubt the most stressful situation I have ever been in,' she said. Mackinnon's resume includes '90s favourites Water Rats and All Saints, as well as a stint on U.S. TV with Baywatch: Hawaii (pictured), an offshoot of the uber-popular Baywatch that aired from 1999 to 2001 and launched the career of a young Jason Momoa 'Living off credit cards, continually just praying people will like my new designs. It's taken a massive toll mentally and at the beginning of last year, I suffered a physical toll when I lost all my hair due to the stress. 'Rock bottom is where I found myself. And there's really only one way you can go from there... and that is up.' Mackinnon's resume includes '90s favourites Water Rats and All Saints, as well as a stint on U.S. TV with Baywatch: Hawaii, an offshoot of the uber-popular Baywatch that aired from 1999 to 2001 and launched the career of a young Momoa. She even became engaged to Momoa (pictured together in 2001), but their relationship ended after six years when Momoa - now a Hollywood A-lister known for roles in Aquaman and Game of Thrones - became romantically involved with actress Lisa Bonet She even became engaged to Momoa, but their relationship ended after six years when Momoa - now a bona fide A-lister known for his roles in Aquaman and Game of Thrones - became romantically involved with actress Lisa Bonet. After Baywatch, Mackinnon returned to Australia upon being cast on Channel Nine's long-running drama McLeod's Daughters (2003-2009). She is now back on Nine, albeit in a non-acting role, as a contestant on the reality series The Summit, where she is in the running for $1million. After Baywatch, Mackinnon returned to Australia upon being cast on Nine's long-running drama McLeod's Daughters (2003-2009). She is now back on Nine, albeit in a non-acting role, as a contestant on the reality series The Summit, where she is in the running for $1million The action-adventure series, hosted by actor Jai Courtney and filmed on location in New Zealand, sees 14 contestants as they race to the top of a mountain. Each contestant is tasked with carrying a backpack filled with $70,000 in cash, and if anybody quits the competition their money is subtracted from the total prize fund. Also competing on the show is former Neighbours actress Olympia Bellchambers (nee Valance). A participant from Farmer Wants A Wife has been left fuming after producers 'pulled apart' his family home and replaced the furniture to make it more TV-worthy. Farmer Todd recently joined the series as a new candidate looking for love and has been exploring potential romantic connections on his farm in Baan Baa, NSW. However, a friend of Todd's has now exclusively revealed behind-the-scenes filming secrets to Daily Mail Australia, explaining how the show overhauled his family farmhouse for the show. They claimed producers replaced all the furniture in Todd's home with hired items and 'pulled apart' the decor, leaving his family unimpressed. The source went on to claim producers also suggested painting his walls, but Todd put his foot down and insisted they couldn't. Farmer Todd Melbourne recently joined the series as a new candidate looking for love and has been exploring potential romantic connections on his farm in Baan Baa, NSW However, his friend has claimed he was left upset when The Farmer Wants A Wife producers 'pulled apart' his family home (pictured) and replaced the furniture to make it more TV-worthy 'The shoot is long and the invasion of your life is almost intolerable,' Todd's friend revealed. 'Todd had producers in their family home pulling apart his decor and that was just on day one, I don't think his mum was too happy at that stage.' 'The production team decided the farm was not the look they wanted and gutted the entire house of its furniture and replaced it with hired stuff,' a source close to the family said. 'They then wanted to paint the walls and that was when Farmer Todd stood in and said 'That is enough!' The friend also claimed the scenes where Todd introduced his romantic interests to his friends took 10 hours to film, despite only featuring on screen for a few moments. They claimed producers replaced all the furniture in Todd's home with hired items and 'pulled apart' the decor, leaving his family (pictured in his home on the show) unimpressed They claimed producers replaced all the furniture in Todd's home with hired items and 'pulled apart' the decor, leaving his family unimpressed (Todd's home is pictured) 'They had us playing games and having a great time (at the local pub) but when it came to what you saw on TV we were tired and wanted to go home,' they said. They also insisted that they were made out to be TV villains in the scenes as they criticised the final edit, which left viewers shocked. The brutal scenes saw Todd's friends tell him that he should look elsewhere for love as they shared their doubts over his connection with Daisy Lamb. 'I think she might be fun for right now, but not long term,' one mate told the farmer, adding she was not a good match because she had recently got divorced. 'I don't feel like she's the right pick for you as a wife and as a mother to your children. I just find her very strong, feisty, clash heads with kind of girl, has that masculine vibe.' The friend also claimed the scenes where Todd introduced his romantic interests to his friends was a 10-hour long filming day, despite them only appearing on screen for a few moments However, Todd's friends are laughing the edit off as one pal said: 'Luckily in rural areas we don't really take ourselves too seriously.' Todd also hinted that things weren't quite as they appeared on screen as he insisted the meeting between Daisy and his friends was more positive than it seemed. 'It didn't quite exactly come across the way it was meant to,' he told Refinery29. 'It seemed a lot harsher the way it was put together on screen. 'During the conversation with my cousin and his wife.... there were jokes and laughter and they did get along.' Despite the challenges of filming, a source close to Todd insisted that he wouldn't change his decision to take part in the Channel Seven dating show. Despite the challenges of filming, a source close to Todd insisted that he wouldn't change his decision to take part in the Channel Seven dating show 'The good outweighs the bad being on a show like this - you just have to know what you are signing up for,' they said. 'Farmer Todd has walked away with a great experience and wouldn't change his decision to go on the show.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Seven for comment. Todd is currently dating Daisy, Iyesha, Grace, Jacinta and Ellen on his farm in a bid to find the love of his life. Daisy has proven a solid love match for Todd as they have quickly formed a close connection, but she has also slammed the 'disgraceful' editing of the show. She claimed viewers were given the 'wrong' idea about what happened in the family and friends' meetings as she claimed the 'disappointing' final scenes made her 'sad'. Todd has formed a solid connection with Daisy Lamb on the show, but she recently criticised her 'disgraceful' edit after scenes showed her meeting the farmer's family and friends Daisy left Todd's mother taken aback when she admitted she might already be 'in love' with the farmer despite it still being early on in the dating stages. Addressing the scenes, she told Yahoo!: 'Unfortunately, the editing in this series is disappointing and disgraceful (to say the least) and has given viewers the wrong idea of what happened, who I am and how the whole experience with Todd played out. 'The other girls had plenty of time, we all had opportunity to speak with him and spend time alone with him and it's sad that, what could have been an amazing story, has been turned into something so foul.' 'Keep shining your light guys,' she added. Amidst the stars of Australian Fashion Week, one figure effortlessly outshone the influencers and fashionistas. Julie Bishop solidified her status as Australia's 'Minister of Fashion' after attending an impressive six shows during the star-studded event. The former Foreign Minister, 67, stole the spotlight with her fashion selections, turning heads in distinct outfits for each appearance. She made a solo entrance at the Viktoria & Woods show at Sydney's Carriageworks on Monday, sporting a brown coat, black turtleneck and trousers. Ms. Bishop made a statement in a striking red dress while attending the Carla Zampatti runway event on the same day. Julie Bishop, 67, has solidified her status as Australia's 'Minister of Fashion' after attending an impressive six shows at Australian Fashion Week (Pictured at the Viktoria & Woods show on Monday) On Tuesday, Ms Bishop supported her friend Pip Edwards at the P.E Nation show, flaunting her slender pins in tight leggings from Pip's label. Her remarkable fashion show run continued as she also graced the Acler and Michael Lo Sordo runway shows on Tuesday in stylish all-black ensembles. Meanwhile, on Thursday the fashion icon was all smiles as she posed in a stylish white trench coat inspired dress at the David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects event. The former Foreign Minister stole the spotlight with her fashion selections, turning heads in distinct outfits for each show (Pictured at at the David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects event on Thursday) She made a solo entrance at the Viktoria & Woods show at Sydney's Carriageworks on Monday, sporting a brown coat, black turtleneck and trousers Ms. Bishop made a statement in a striking red dress while attending the Carla Zampatti runway event on Monday (left) before supporting pal Pip Edwards on Tuesday (right) It presented a striking contrast to many of Sydney's much-younger influencers, who were largely absent, and in some cases were reportedly barred from events. As exclusively revealed by Daily Mail Australia, just a handful of brides from this year's season of Married At First Sight were invited, after previous years saw a deluge of fame-hungry participants flock to Sydney's Carriageworks venue. MAFS brides Lauren Dunn and Sara Mesa were sighted at the event, as well as older participants like Carolina Santos. Even regular attendee and former MAFS groom Nasser Sultan failed to make a cameo during the first four days of the event. Just last week, Ms. Bishop was awarded Japan's highest honour, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. She looked a vision of beauty in a deep purple satin gown as she stepped out at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday. The politician received the award from Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during a very exclusive ceremony. It presented a striking contrast to many of Sydney's much-younger influencers, who were largely absent, and in some cases were reportedly barred from events. Pictured: Lauren Dunn (left) and Sara Mesa (right) on Tuesday Even regular attendee and former MAFS groom Nasser Sultan failed to make a cameo during the first four days of the event. Pictured: former MAFS bride Carolina Santos Her fashion show continued as she also graced the Michael Lo Sordo runway show on Tuesday in a stylish all-black ensemble The 67-year-old was also spotted attending the Acler event on Tuesday 'Honoured to receive Japan's highest award, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, at an investiture ceremony with His Majesty the Emperor and Prime Minister Kishida at the Imperial Palace Tokyo today,' Julie captioned her post. The Order of the Rising Sun is a Japanese decoration of honour awarded by the country's government in April each year. It is handed out to individuals from both Japan and abroad who have made distinguished contributions to the advancement of Japan. Julie attended the investiture ceremony with her new partner, Perth man Stephen, by her side after she debuted their romance back in July 2023. Eurovision winner Nemo left viewers and guests on The One Show visibly stunned as they showcased their unique sense of style on Friday night. The Swiss star, 24, became the competition's first non-binary winner on Saturday with their song The Code. And Nemo was invited onto Friday's installment of The One Show to discuss their victory as this year's musical extravaganza alongside show guest Dominic West. However, Nemo's quirky sense of style raised some eyebrows of viewers at home and even left show guest Dominic, 54, stunned. They wore a pink knitted bonnet paired with a green vest which was made of recycled materials. Discussing their outfit, which was described as 'spectacular' by the show's host Alex Jones, Nemo talked fans through the crocheted ensemble. Eurovision winner Nemo left viewers and guests on The One Show visibly stunned as they showcased their unique sense of style The Swiss star, 24, became the competition's first non-binary winner on Saturday after with their song The Code and joined Dominic West and They revealed: 'Thank you, it's made out of bananas and pineapple and it's 100 percent biodegradable.' Nemo was then encouraged to give viewers at home a twirl of the outfit in full, however, some fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to mock the ensemble. One fan joked: 'When you overload your tumble dryer and drag all the clothes out at once. #theoneshow', while others said: 'I'm drawing the line, looks completely ridiculous'; 'As my nan's toilet roll holder' and 'I'll be honest, I don't rate the fit'. 'I bet the bloke with the baby pink cardigan with two ducks thought he'd be the most outrageously dressed! Outdone by #Nemo by quite a long stretch #theoneshow'. And Nemo was invited onto Friday's installment of The One Show to discuss their victory as this year's musical extravaganza alongside show guest Dominic West However, Nemo's quirky sense of style raised some eyebrows of viewers at home and even left show guest Dominic, 54, stunned as they wore a pink knitted bonnet paired with a green vest made of recycled materials Meanwhile, fans of the Swiss star praised the artist for their quirky ensemble. One fan penned: 'NEMO looking fabulous on The One Show (heart eyes emoji, love heart emoji) #TheOneShow' with others adding: 'They look absolutely FAB-U-LOUS! (heart eyes emoji)'; 'They're really pretty'; Another one added: 'Love them' . It comes after the Eurovision winner was swarmed by hundreds of adoring fans on Sunday, as they arrived at Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The star was greeted by cheers and applause as they returned home, with fans seen waving flags and banners and chanting Nemo's name. Meanwhile, fans of the Swiss star praised the artist for their quirky ensemble and claimed they looked 'fabulous' Nemo announced they are non-binary in November and revealed their song The Code is about them realising their identity and hoping to stand up for 'the entire LGBTQIA+ community' by appearing in the contest. The artist, whose full name is Nemo Mettler, added that when accepting they didn't 'feel like a man or a woman... I had to break a few codes.' They beamed as they emerged to the crowd of supporters, before rushing straight over to pose for selfies and sign autographs. In a press conference later that day, Nemo called their airport welcome 'extremely beautiful' and admitted: 'It showed me how nice it is to be part of a community.' The musician also proudly held up a non-binary flag and posed for photos in front of powerful fan-made banners that read: 'Smash the binary: we exist' and We exist, we insist, we persist'. It comes before Nemo showed off their snazzy fashion sense once again as they attended Zayn Malik's concert at The 02 arena Nemo stood out from the crows in a fluffy pink hat with earmuffs and cut a vibrant look in a printed jacket and light blue denim jeans True Blood star Anna Camp was pictured for the first time on the set of You on Friday. The 41-year-old actress who shot to fame in 2012's Pitch Perfect alongside Rebel Wilson was spotted filming a scene with lead actor Penn Badgley in New York City. She sported a sleek all-black outfit, comprising a sleeveless top, skirt, and a stylish head wrap, while engaged in conversation with Badgley on a sidewalk. The Hollywood heavyweights seemed engrossed in a serious discussion, as the actor firmly gripped the actress's arms during the scene. Camp joins the fifth and final season of the Netflix stalker drama as a series regular, playing both Reagan and Maddie Lockwood, twin sisters-in-law to Joe Goldberg (Badgley). True Blood star Anna Camp was pictured for the first time on the set of You on Friday alongside Joe Goldberg actor, Penn Badgley The 41-year-old actress who shot to fame in 2012's Pitch Perfect alongside Rebel Wilson was spotted filming a scene with lead actor Badgley in New York City According to the streamer, as Badgley's character Joe becomes increasingly entangled with Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie), his sisters-in-law emerge as formidable foes. Reagan is described as the 'cunning, cutthroat CFO of the Lockwood Corp., who has her eyes on the throne,' while Maddie seems to present as 'the unserious twin, a thrice-divorced socialite whose job is "vaguely PR,"' but is also a 'master manipulator.' Griffin Matthews has also been cast in You Season 5 as a series regular, playing Teddy Lockwood, Joes 'snarky but loyal brother-in-law.' Teddy is described as a 'confidante who was never fully accepted by the Lockwood family,' according to Netflix. He brings 'authenticity and empathy to a family for whom such things are a foreign concept.' Camp and Matthews join previously disclosed addition of Madeline Brewer (The Handmaids Tale, Orange Is the New Black). Brewer is set to portray Bronte, an enigmatic and adventurous playwright who embarks on a stint at Joe's bookstore. Bronte is set to become Joe's new love interest, evoking nostalgia for his past and causing him to question his present life, as they bond over literature and grief. The series premiered in 2018 on Lifetime, chronicling Joe's experiences in New York City where he becomes infatuated with NYU graduate student and writer Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). Camp joins the fifth and final season of the Netflix stalker drama as a series regular, playing both Reagan and Maddie Lockwood, twin sisters-in-law to Joe Goldberg (Badgley)'; Camp in 2023 Camp is recognized for her previous roles on shows such as True Blood, The Mindy Project, Mad Men, and The Good Wife; seen in True Blood In film, she has portrayed Aubrey in all three Pitch Perfect films The fourth season found Joe/Will moving to London under the alias Jonathan Moore, as an English professor who finds himself entangled with high society Transitioning to Netflix for its second season, the show relocated to Los Angeles, depicting Joe, now assuming the identity of Will Bettelheim, working at a bookstore and falling for heiress and wellness expert Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). In the third season, Joe/Will begins to establish a stable life by marrying Love and starting a family, yet his fixation on two new women persists. In the upcoming fourth season, Joe/Will relocates to London, assuming the persona of Jonathan Moore, an English professor entangled in high society. Camp is recognized for her previous roles on shows such as True Blood, The Mindy Project, Mad Men, and The Good Wife. In film, she has portrayed Aubrey in all three Pitch Perfect films. Tziporah Malkah has been rushed to hospital after suffering severe pain and sickness. The former model, 50, previously known as Kate Fischer, has had surgery after her appendix ruptured and has been closely monitored for possible bowel damage. She explained that she has also been put on antibiotics to clean up the 'mess' caused by the septic organ as she detailed her health scare. 'I was told my appendix had ruptured and were gangrenous,' she told The Daily Telegraph. She said she had first visited a doctor about the pain while on a work trip almost two weeks ago, but claimed the hospital discharged her after an hour on a drip. Tziporah Malkah, previously known as Kate Fischer, has been rushed to hospital after suffering severe pain and sickness 'They just checked my heart rate and blood pressure but didn't do any scans,' she claimed. Tziporah said she went to another doctor after returning home from her trip and was sent to a radiologist before being rushed to the hospital emergency department. She had an appendectomy to remove her appendix last Tuesday and is now recovering in hospital, having dealt with severe pain for more than a week before. Tziporah was a tabloid fixture in the late '90s and even starred in the film Sirens opposite Hugh Grant and Elle Macpherson. She has maintained a low profile in recent years, only making occasional appearances in women's magazines to discuss her weight loss and desire to one day become a mother. The former model, 50, (pictured in 2020) has had surgery after her appendix ruptured and has been closely monitored for possible bowel damage During her heyday as a model and socialite in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tziporah was arguably one of Australia's most photographed women. She was engaged to James Packer, the son of media tycoon Kerry Packer who would go on to become a casino mogul. The couple lived in Sydney's eastern suburbs, but split up in 1998 after dating for five years. She moved to Los Angeles after the break-up to pursue an acting career and eventually became an American citizen. Upon her return to Australia several years ago, she started working in aged care in Melbourne. During her heyday as a model and socialite in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tziporah (pictured in 2006) was arguably one of Australia's most photographed women She was engaged to James Packer, the son of media tycoon Kerry Packer who would go on to become a casino mogul, but they split up in 1998 after five years of dating She then embraced a return to the spotlight, signing with celebrity agent Max Markson and appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2017. Tziporah, the daughter of Liberal politician Pru Goward, has since parted ways with the agent and started working as a traffic controller. In 2022, she made headlines for sharing her OnlyFans photos on Instagram and launching her new venture. The I'm A Celebrity star uploaded several raunchy photos of herself to promote her page on the subscription-based platform. Mindy Kaling was on the receiving end of criticism from social media users on Friday after she posted what appeared to be an edited Instagram photo. The 45-year-old actress who attended the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront this week promoted her collaboration with swimwear brand Andie with a single photo of herself wearing a blue bathing suit. The snapshot featured the former Office star in a sleeveless one-piece with an ice cream cone in hand. Followers quickly flocked to the comments section to point out her seemingly ultra-smooth skin, with one joking, 'Even the ice cream is Photoshopped.' Someone else expressed, 'She is naturally beautiful but I hate that they airbrushed her skin until she looked like a wax figure. Her natural skin is lovely.' Mindy Kaling was on the receiving end of criticism from social media users on Friday after she posted what appeared to be an edited Instagram photo The 45-year-old actress promoted her collaboration with swimwear brand Andie with a single photo of herself wearing a blue bathing suit Someone else expressed, 'She is naturally beautiful but I hate that they airbrushed her skin until she looked like a wax figure. Her natural skin is lovely' Another social media user wrote that the picture 'looks fake' The caption of the post read, 'Join me for a wet hot American summer, complete with soft serve, unrequited crushes, and these incredibly flattering swimsuits from my Summer Camp collection with @andieswim.' Mindy added, 'I am obsessed. And unlike bathing suits from the malls in the 90s, these look good on everyone!' The Kaling International founder also promoted the range in an Instagram reel shared earlier in the week. In a caption to her 6.3 million followers, she said, 'CAMP ANDIE SWIM IS HERE! And Im wearing some of my new favorite pieces from our latest collection. Heres how it all came together!' The mother-of-two showed off her figure in a red swimsuit while posing near a lake. A description of Mindy's beachwear collection on Andie's website reads: 'Swimsuits and cover-ups reminiscent of glorious, carefree camp seasons of summers past. 'Americana-themed colors and flattering silhouettes inspired by the joyous memories of the canoe races, friendship bracelets, and smores.' The pieces offered to consumers include one-pieces, two-pieces, and cover-ups. The Kaling International founder also promoted the range in an Instagram reel shared earlier in the week The mother-of-two showed off her figure in a red swimsuit while posing near a lake Kaling attended the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront this week in New York City At her Upfront presentation this week, Mindy discussed her hit series The Sex Lives of College Girls, which is returning for a third season. Deadline reported the writer-producer joked her show is 'filled with smoking hot guys who run around campus topless.' 'Its a Max show, not a BBC show,' she added. Mindy created The Sex Lives of College Girls with Justin Noble and the series debuted on HBO Max in 2021. Nearly 25 years later, Melissa Joan Hart still has some regrets about her young friendship with Britney Spears. The Sabrina the Teenage Witch star, 48, admitted she feels 'really guilty' about taking the Grammy winner, 42, to her first nightclub when she was underaged, years before Spears' 2008 meltdown and subsequent conservatorship. 'Britney and I got to do a lot of press together,' Hart told ET of promoting 1999's Drive Me Crazy. 'And we had a lot of fun together during this time.' She starred alongside Adrian Grenier in the teen romance, which was named for Spears' single '(You Drive Me) Crazy' that appeared on the soundtrack. Hart and Grenier, 47, also appeared with Spears in the song's music video, and the popstar made a cameo on Hart's Nickelodeon show Sabrina that year. Melissa Joan Hart admitted she feels 'really guilty' about taking Britney Spears to her first nightclub when she was underaged The outing came years before Spears' 2008 meltdown and subsequent conservatorship 'I saw that she was just surrounded by people, never able to break free,' she recalled. 'And I was like, "Hey want to come?" 'I would go to a club every night I love dancing and I loved going out, but I also knew to be responsible and, like, when to stop,' added Hart. The Bad Guardian actress recounted of their first night out, 'She was underage and young and but I [was] just like, "Let's go out. We're just gonna go out and have some fun." 'I feel really guilty about that still to this day because I should have known better, being a big sister,' said Hart. She previously detailed their first night out as she appeared on Bethenny Frankel's talk show in 2013, admitting she left Spears at the club. 'So I went to her hotel and I invited her to come out with me and we went to a club,' said Hart. 'She was underage so I snuck her in the back door and we did a little dancing and then people sort of swarmed on top of her and then she got stuck at a table hanging out with people, chit chatting,' she recalled. Hart added. 'And I was like, "I've got to go to work tomorrow can I go?" And she was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, go I am good. They will get me home."' Spears was placed under conservatorship in 2008, lasting until 2021, when she gave testimony about 'abusive' treatment she allegedly suffered. 'Britney and I got to do a lot of press together,' Hart told ET of promoting 1999's Drive Me Crazy. 'And we had a lot of fun together during this time' The Bad Guardian actress recounted of their first night out, 'She was underage and young and but I [was] just like, "Let's go out. We're just gonna go out and have some fun"' 'I feel really guilty about that still to this day because I should have known better, being a big sister,' said Hart The Glory artist has recently sparked concerns of another mental health episode after sustaining an injury at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. She was doing cartwheels outside her hotel room when she twisted her ankle, following some drinks at the hotel bar with boyfriend Paul Soliz. Spears said she was 'harassed and gaslit and tricked to go on the street' barefoot to meet the ambulance. 'I was in my pajamas and yes, I had been crying because I hurt my foot!!! No breakdown!!! I'm a grown a** woman who is actually very naive in most situations!!!' she wrote on Instagram. A source previously told DailyMail.com that it was Britney's mother Lynne who 'called 911 and told them that Britney was having a breakdown and had injured herself,' knowing that her daughter 'was in a traumatized state.' The Glory artist has recently sparked concerns of another mental health episode after sustaining an injury at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles A source previously told DailyMail.com that it was Britney's mother Lynne who 'called 911 and told them that Britney was having a breakdown' 'Britney was crying in pain and she called Lynne in Louisiana to tell her what had happened,' the insider said. 'At the time, Lynne was the only one who knew that she had hurt herself.' Seeing a gurney was 'traumatizing' for Spears, triggering 'a severe panic attack' after she was placed under a 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold in 2008. Spears has since reportedly threatened to sell her Kentwood, Louisiana mansion Serenity, where her mother has lived rent-free since it was built in 2001. Laura Dundovic showed off her incredible figure as she gave an insight into her fitness regime on Saturday. The model, 36, took to her Instagram Stories to share a video of herself working out in the gym with her sister, make-up artist Ariela Dundovic. She showed off her toned abs in a burgundy gym set from Leelo Active, made up of a $69.95 fitted T-shirt and figure-hugging $89.95 leggings. Laura later stripped down to a white bralet as she showed off her flexibility on the Pilates reformer machine during her morning workout. The 2008 Miss Universe Australia winner swept her brunette locks back into a ponytail as she gave an insight into her active weekend routine. Laura Dundovic showed off her incredible figure in stylish gym gear as she gave an insight into her fitness regime on Saturday It comes after Laura recently shared an array of snaps into her lavish trip away to visit Cobram Estate's esteemed olive groves in Victoria. For the outing, Laura looked effortlessly chic in a deep purple leather-look co-ord set from Bubish, made up of a $249 bomber jacket and a $229 fitted pencil skirt. Laura completed her look with a pair of silver buckled sandals and shielded her eyes with a pair of rectangular sunglasses. She toted her essentials in a small Louis Vuitton designer handbag as she pulled out all the stops for the lavish trip. The model, 36, took to her Instagram Stories to share a video of herself working out on a Pilates reformer machine with her sister, make-up artist Ariela Dundovic It comes after Laura recently shared an array of snaps into her lavish trip away to visit Cobram Estate's esteemed olive groves in Victoria Laura also gave an insight into her luxury transport as she shared a photograph of herself on the runway besides a small private jet. She also tagged the Luxury Transport Group, which provides limousine and chauffeuring services, in one post as she sat in a vehicle during her travels. Laura then shared snaps of herself strolling around Cobram Estate's 6,500 hectares worth of olive groves, which boast more than 2.4 million trees. She was joined by Kate Waterhouse, model and blogger Nikki Phillips and former MasterChef Australia star Sarah Todd for the trip. In a recent post, Laura gave an insight into her luxury transport as she shared a photograph of herself on the runway besides a small private jet For the outing with her pal Kate Waterhouse, Laura looked effortlessly chic in a purple leather-look co-ord set from Bubish, made up of a $249 bomber jacket and a $229 fitted pencil skirt The trio were seen posing up a storm for the cameras as they took a tour of the groves and got a glimpse inside the factories where the olive oil is produced. Laura captioned one snap: 'Celebrating the 2024 first harvest of my favourite extra virgin olive oil.' Rob McGavin and Paul Riordan planted their first olive tree in 1998 and have gone on to grow into a hugely successful leading manufacturer of olive oil Down Under. Farmer Wants a Wife contestant Lauren McNeil has shut down fan speculation that she is dating Farmer Bert Harris. Rumours have swirled about a secret romance between the 27-year-old Queenslander and the pineapple farmer since Bert, 30, elected to walk off the show as a single man this week. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Lauren told followers that she is remains single and has not seen Bert since she left the reality hit during filming in April. Posting a photo of a beach along with her lengthy statement, Lauren said: 'Just wanted to make a quick announcement for those that are invested in FWAW.' 'Of course, I left the show of my own accord in April, but rumours have been swirling that Bert and I are a couple.' Farmer Wants a Wife contestant Lauren McNeil, 27, has shut down fan speculation that she is dating Farmer Bert (Pictured) 'I know this will be disappointing for some to hear, but we are not together.' 'Though Bert and I still talk and are friends, we have not seen each other since I left the farm that night.' She added she was, 'very much single' and told fans that her 'person was out there'. Lauren continued: 'I wish B all the best! Thanks for all the lovely words and overwhelming support. It's been so unexpected but has meant the world to me.' Rumours have swirled about a secret romance between the Queenslander and the pineapple farmer since Bert, 30, (pictured) elected to walk off the show as a single man this week Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Lauren told followers that she is remains single ever since she left the reality hit during filming in April She also hit back at the online rumours, adding: 'P.S. Don't believe everything you read, most 'insider' sources are people not known to us/looking for a payout, look after each other!' It comes after fan favourite Bert broke hearts around Australia on Tuesday night when he walked out of the show. After postponing his 24 hour date with Brooke because of farm work, Bert, 30, took a moment to reflect on his priorities. It comes after fan favourite Bert broke hearts around Australia on Tuesday night when he walked off the show He then made the tough call to leave the reality series without picking any of his ladies. 'Coming into this experience, I was looking for someone to share my life with. I think all the girls are wonderful, but I don't have what it takes to be in a relationship right now,' he said. 'I just don't have the emotional time to be the person that people are deserving of. That's the reality of it,' he added. 'Goodbyes are pretty hard for me. It always hurts but I know that deep down that it was the right choice for me to make. I was fully open to the idea of falling in love.' Rumours quickly emerged that Bert was dating Lauren, who exited the competition due to intensifying pressures 'The farm never stops taking. There's always more work to be done. Before I start a relationship with somebody, I want to be happy with the farm, happy with my life, and I guess happy with all of it,' he continued. Bert's ladies Brooke, Catilin and Karli were left shocked by the decision. Insiders claim Bert felt increasingly manipulated by production tactics, particularly from two male producers who were fresh off the set of FBoy Island and were pushing for heightened drama. Rumours quickly emerged that Bert was dating Lauren, who exited the competition due to intensifying pressures. Lauren, who left the show two weeks prior, was reportedly a significant factor in Bert's decision to leave, with sources suggesting he was coerced into letting her go - a decision reports have suggested he regretted. Rebel Wilson cut a stylish figure as she stepped out of a hair salon in Los Angeles on Thursday. The Australian actress, 44, who recently released her bombshell memoir Rebel Rising, appeared to be in good spirits after the pamper session. She looked effortlessly chic in a high-neck black and white zip-up cardigan, which she styled with a simple T-shirt and smart trousers. Rebel added a pop of colour to her fashionable ensemble with a pair of sky blue suede loafers and toted her essentials in a cerulean handbag. The Pitch Perfect star has been joined stateside by her fiancee Ramona Agruma and the pair have been spotted attending a string of events together. Rebel Wilson cut a stylish figure as she stepped out of a hair salon in Los Angeles on Thursday The Australian actress, 44, who has recently released her memoir Rebel Rising, appeared to be in good spirits as she was spotted after a pamper session They looked as loved-up as ever as they stepped out at Jeff Beacher's Madhouse show at Netflix Is A Joke Fest last weekend. Rebel recently opened up about how she didn't feel 'worthy' of being loved before she met Ramona. The Pitch Perfect star shared her struggles with self-love in a candid chat on Australian show The Project earlier this month. 'I get a bit emotional about that because why does a girl feel like that? Just feel like not good enough and not loveable?' she shared. 'And then, yes, there have been things that have happened in my life, not massive traumas, but little things that have led to me feeling that way and I didn't feel loveable or worthy. She looked effortlessly chic in a high-neck black and white zip-up cardigan, which she styled with a simple T-shirt and smart trousers 'And that's why I was eating all that crap and junk food late at night because I felt like I was trash and treating my body like trash.' Rebel spoke about how processing her negative emotions after her father's death and overhauling her health helped her to find self-love and romance with Ramona. 'I was being able to have true intimacy with somebody and really let somebody in and that happened to be my partner,' she said. The couple first met back in 2021 and announced their engagement in February 2023. They also share a daughter, Royce Lillian, 18 months. The Pitch Perfect star has been joined stateside by her fiancee Ramona Agruma and the pair have been spotted attending a string of events together (pictured on May 10) Rebel also discussed the censored version of her book Rebel Rising, which has been published in Australia with an entire chapter blacked out due to a legal battle. 'Yeah, I mean so obviously behind the scenes that was something I was not happy about,' she told The Project. 'I mean Australia is my home country, if anything I want my full story told and I will say the book is not about that guy. I know there's been a lot of media about it. But it's not about that guy and it's just my full life story.' Rebel added that she was glad the memoir had finally been released so she can focus on her baby daughter. 'So, at least it's come out now. Being a new mum I didn't want to have some lengthy legal battle for it to come out,' she said. Rebel and Ramona first met back in 2021 and announced their engagement in February 2023. They also share a daughter, Royce Lillian, 18 months Although the book has already been published in the US, publisher HarperCollins confirmed that Aussie readers will not be able to read the chapter. 'For legal reasons we have redacted one chapter in the Australian/New Zealand edition and included an explanatory note accordingly,' they said in a statement. Earlier this month, Rebel cancelled her Australian book tour which had been scheduled to promote her tell-all memoir. Rebel was set to host an event in Brisbane on May 12 and Melbourne on May 14, but said she 'won't be able to host any book events due to a changing work schedule'. Claire Holt has detailed her travel chaos trying to get to Cannes Film Festival as she got caught up in the devastating Texas thunderstorms. The Vampire Diaries star, 35, was due to be flying to France to join A-list Hollywood stars at the annual 12-day-long film extravaganza, but was left unable to fly. She took to her Instagram Stories on Friday to reveal that her flight from Austin was grounded after two hours waiting on board the plane amid the shocking storms. Devastating storms descended upon nearby Houston on Thursday, with winds as high as 78 miles per hour causing apocalyptic scenes across southeastern Texas. Claire Holt has revealed her travel chaos trying to get to Cannes Film Festival as she got caught up in the devastating Texas thunderstorms (she is pictured at Cannes in 2023) The storms also made their way through central Texas, including Austin, with a thunderstorm warning issued as flooding hit the state. Claire has been caught up in the storms while trying to fly to Cannes Film Festival as she remains stuck in Austin without any of her luggage. But she reassured fans she was safely back at her hotel and said there were 'worse things' than being stuck in the city as she criticised people's bad behaviour at the airport. She wrote in a snippet of her newsletter on Instagram: 'I'm supposed to be en route to Cannes right now, but after sitting on the tarmac for two hours thanks to an absolutely deranged thunderstorm, we were booted off the plane and I'm back in my Austin hotel room. The Vampire Diaries star, 35, was due to be flying to France to join A-list stars at the annual 12-day-long film extravaganza, but was left unable to fly (she is pictured at Cannes in 2023) She took to her Instagram Stories on Friday to reveal that her flight from Austin was grounded after two hours waiting on board the plane amid the shocking storms 'I'm bag-less, but thankfully I'm not stuck in line with 200 other people trying to get out of here tonight. 'Speaking of deranged, people really show you who they are when s**t goes wrong at the airport. Even the gate agent was feeling spicy this evening. 'I'll admit that my lip did quiver *slightly* as I unbuckled my seatbelt and dragged my ass back up the jet bridge, but then I reminded myself that there are worse things in life than being stuck in a cool city with a good book, a bath and a crispy glass of Pinot Grigio.' Devastating storms descended upon nearby Houston on Thursday, with winds as high as 78 miles per hour causing apocalyptic scenes across southeastern Texas (Houston is pictured) The thunderstorms have caused power outrages which could last weeks in parts of Houston, an official warned after the hurricane-force winds tore through the city. The raging storms knocked out electricity for almost a million homes and businesses in the region and caused chaos by knocking out windows and flipping vehicles. Crews are still trying to determine the extent of the damage from the storms and the number of casualties, with at least four believed to have been killed. Rose Byrne looked effortlessly chic on Friday as she chatted about her Apply TV+ series' Platonic and Physical during an event in New York City. She partook in a Q&A hosted by Creative Company journalist Mara Webster. For the function in NYC, the Bridesmaids star struck a pose or two in a stylish beige canvas suit jacket and pants. For a fun pop of color, she added a white blouse with a bold purple flora pattern. The brunette beauty paraded around in platform heels and opted to go accessory-free. Rose Byrne looked effortlessly chic on Friday as she chatted about her Apply TV+ series' Platonic and Physical during an event in New York City She had her dark brown tresses styled straight and shoulder-length with a part in the middle. As for makeup, Byrne rocked a bright red lip and sultry winged eyeliner paired with a healthy, luminous complexion. For the conversation, Webster who is the co-founder, head of programming, and host for In Creative Company opted for black pants and a matching blouse, along with a white blazer and red heels. The panel moderator would ultimately sit down on stage for their conversation in front of journalists and fans alike. In Physical, Byrne played Sheila Rubin, a quietly tormented housewife in 1980s San Diego who battles with personal demons. As the story transpires things begin to change when she discovers aerobics, sparking a journey toward empowerment and success. Along with Byrne, the cast also features Rory Scovel, Paul Sparks, Geoffrey Arend, Della Saba, Lou Taylor Pucci, Dierdre Friel, Ashley Liao, Jose Zuniga and Zooey Deschanel. She partook in a Q&A hosted by Creative Company journalist Mara Webster For the function in NYC, the Bridesmaids star struck a pose or two in a stylish beige canvas suit jacket and pants It was a jovial discussion between Byrne and Webster Byrne had her dark brown tresses styled straight and shoulder-length with a part in the middle Physical premiered on Apple TV+ in June 2021 and ran through August 2021. The third and final season, which like the other two seasons consisted of 10 episodes, aired on Apple TV+ from August through September 2023. The Insidious star would also chat about her other series for Apple TV+, Platonic, which sees her reunite with her Neighbors co-star Seth Rogen for the two lead roles. For the series, Byrne portrays Sylvia, a stay-at-home mom of three and wife who reconnects with her former best friend. Byrne and Rogen are joined in the cast by the likes of Luke Macfarlane, Tre Hale, Andrew Lopez and Carla Gallo, among many others with recurring characters. Created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller, the comedy made its premiere in May 2023 with 10 episodes that aired through mid-July last year. It would get the greenlight for a second season but so far there hasn't been any official word on when the new episodes will drop on Apple TV+. The actress got her start in the Australian black comedy-drama film Dallas Doll (1994) and in the Australian soap opera series Echo Point (1995). After landing a number of guest-starring appearances on television, she would eventually land her first leading lady role in The Goddess Of 1967 (2000). In Physical, Byrne played Sheila Rubin, a quietly tormented housewife in 1980s San Diego who battles with personal demons. As the story transpires things begin to change when she discovers aerobics, sparking a journey toward empowerment and success Platonic sees her reunite with her Neighbors co-star Seth Rogen for the two lead roles After making the transition to American cinema, Byrne starred in the hit horror film 28 Weeks Later (2007) with Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton She made the transition to American cinema not long later with a small role in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002). Byrne would soon become a household name in the U.S. and beyond soon after with roles in such movies as Troy (2004), Marie Antoinette (2006), 28 Weeks Later (2007), Get Him To The Greek (2010), Insidious (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), and X-Men: First Class (2011). She also starred in The Place Beyond The Pines (2012), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), Neighbors (2014), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Insidious: The Last Key (2018), and Insidious: The Red Door (2023). Jessika Power's new beau Brent Anthony has taken to social media to gush over the former Married at First Sight star. The U.K. born DJ posted a photo of himself in an intimate clinch with the one time MAFS 'villain' during a recent party gig. Jessika can be seen in a revealing black top planting a sultry kiss on Brent's stumbled cheek as the hunky music producer holds her chest. Brent captioned the racy photo writing: 'She looks good on me.' Jessika, meanwhile, recently sparked rumours that the pair were engaged after sharing a telling post on social media. Jessika Power 's new beau Brent Anthony has taken to social media to gush over the former Married at First Sight star The reality star, 31, posted a loved-up clip to Instagram last week which captured her and Brent enjoying a romantic stroll along the French Riviera while on holiday in Nice, France. The lovebirds held hands, before Brent grabbed his partner and romantically swept her off her feet. Jessika captioned the clip with some telling emojis - a bride and a wedding chapel. It comes after the MAFS star recently sparked rumours that the pair were engaged after sharing a telling post on social media The stunner also shared a gallery of loved-up snaps capturing her and Brent having the time of their lives on their very romantic European holiday. One precious photo captured the lovebirds posing up a storm at a Nice bar and another showed them dancing the night away at a nearby club. The coastal city of Nice, France, has developed a reputation for being one of the most romantic locations in the world and is a popular hotspot for proposals. Last year, Jessika revealed plans to extend her stay in the UK after finding love with Brent, a British DJ and music producer Last year, Jessika revealed plans to extend her stay in the UK after finding love with Brent, a British DJ. She first relocated to England in 2021 to be with her former flame Connor Thompson, who she broke up with last June. Jessika recently opened up about her new romance and said she was smitten. 'It's only been a month or so but they're pretty inseparable,' a source told Yahoo Lifestyle. Meanwhile, Brent recently posted some intimate snaps to his Stories showing Jessika cuddling him in bed. The bombshell is appearing on MTV's Celebrity Ex On The Beach UK in 2024 and is said to be contractually obligated to remain single until the show finishes airing. Following her time on Married At First Sight Australia in 2019, Jessika moved to the UK to pursue a television career, having also starred on Celebs Go Dating. The stars were out on the bight of the fourth day of the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. Filmmaker Greta Gerwig was among all the high-profile people who attended the Chopard Trophee Awards ceremony on Friday night. Like she has since the start of the festival on Tuesday, the Barbie director stepped out looking elegant in a black velvet mermaid-style gown. It had a low V-neckline and puff sleeves that only added to the frock's allure. She also brought the bling with a stunning sapphire and diamond necklace that was teamed with a matching diamond ring. Greta Gerwig, 40, looked elegant at the Chopard Trophee Awards ceremony, as part of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, on Friday night She paired her slicked back blonde locks with a bold red lip for the starry occasion. Along with Gerwig, some of the other big stars who attended the posh event included the likes of Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Lily Gladstone, Eva Longoria, Caroline Scheufele, Sophie Wilde, Carla Bruni, Mike Faist, Xavier Dolan, Maria Borges, among many others. On the heels of making history by becoming the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $1 billion with Barbie, Gerwig is proving to be a one of a kind again by being the first American female director to serve as jury president of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Prior to the beginning of each event, the Festival de Cannes board of directors appoints four juries who will hold sole responsibility for selecting films from the festival crop which will receive the blessing of a Cannes award, according to an official Cannes Film Festival guide. Jurors are chosen from all walks of the international film industry, based on their body of work and respect from their peers. In many cases, jury membership is bestowed on a kind of 'lifetime achievement award' basis. The Jury du Festival de Cannes bestows the awards for films in the Competition section of the festival. With Gerwig serving as president this year's jury members are an international group that includes Ebru Ceylan (Writer, Photographer, Turkey), Lily Gladstone (Actor, USA), Eva Green (Actor, France), Nadine Labaki (Director, Writer, Lebanon), J.A. Bayona (Director, Writer, Producer, Spain), Pierfrancesco Favino (Actor, Italy), Kore-eda Hirokazu (Director, Japan) and Omar Sy (Actor, France). There's also a Un Certain Regard Jury that bestows the awards for films in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival that has Xavier Dolan (Director, Canada) as president. Like she has since the start of the festival on Tuesday, the Barbie director stepped out looking elegant in a black velvet mermaid-style gown It had a low V-neckline and puff sleeves that only added to the frock's allure Her blonde tresses were slicked back She also brought the bling with a stunning sapphire and diamond necklace that was teamed with a matching diamond ring She paired her slicked back blonde locks with a bold red lip for the starry occasion The Camera d'Or Jury selects the winner for best film from a first-time director in the official selection, International Critics' Week, and Directors' Fortnight sections with Emmanuelle Beart (Actor, France) serving as president. The last of the four, the Camera d'Or Jury, has Baloji (Actor, Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the role of president. This jury selects the winner of the Camera d'Or award, for best film from a first-time director in the official selection, International Critics' Week, and Directors' Fortnight sections While the annual festival opened on Tuesday, Gerwig has been putting her best fashion foot forward each day with ensembles befitting a leading lady superstar. In the wake of her history-making work on Barbie (2023), she choose to follow up by helming The Chronicles of Narnia film adaptations for Netflix, which will mark her fantasy debut, according to Variety. During her career as a writer and director, Gerwig's resume also includes Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019). She also co-wrote the upcoming musical fantasy film Snow White, directed by Marc Webb, and starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, that's slated to premiere on March 21, 2025. After starting on May 14, the Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 25. The Block producers have been given the green light to film the upcoming season in the scenic regional Victorian town of Daylesford. Channel Nine's hit renovation series was slated to film this year's series there but delays in getting the building application approved meant they relocated to Phillip Island, according to the Herald Sun. However, in December the application was finally approved by the Victorian Planning Minister to build five dwellings on a 2,000sqm block of land owned by Hygge Property. The network has previously said it is always on the lookout for great locations to make the show. It has previously been filmed in a range of gorgeous city and regional areas, including St Kilda, South Yarra, Prahran and Gisborne South. The Block producers have been given the green light to film the upcoming season in the scenic regional Victorian town of Daylesford. Pictured: Scott Cam Series bosses typically have a location locked down by about mid-year for an upcoming season, giving them plenty of time to prepare for filming. Daylesford is located 114km from Melbourne and its unique combination of natural beauty, historic charm, and vibrant local culture provides a stunning backdrop ideal for the reality show. In September, the series hit a major obstacle just five months before it was set to begin production on the show's highly anticipated 20th season. Channel Nine's hit renovation series was slated to film the 2024 series in Daylesford (pictured) but delays in getting the building application approved meant they relocated to Phillip Island After more than nine months of laying the ground work in Daylesford for 2024's renovations, Nine was forced to pull the plug on the location. The network initially secured sites on Raglan Street in the picturesque country town but were driven out by locals and delays in permit approvals, reported the Herald Sun. 'We've had so many successful series in so many different locations, but we don't go where we are not welcome,' a production insider told the publication. The network has previously said it is always on the lookout for great locations to make the show. It has previously been filmed in a range of gorgeous areas, including St Kilda, South Yarra, Prahran and Gisborne South. Co-host Shelley Craft is pictured right 'Especially for the 20th series of The Block, which is so important.' Despite plans for the proposed setting being approved by the Hepburn Shire, Nine was challenged in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The network reportedly cancelled $500,000 worth of accommodation it had booked for the show's cast and crew. The show ended up relocating to scenic Phillip Island for the soon to be released 2024 series. She narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction as she headed into the capital on Friday. And Anya Taylor-Joy brushed off her hilarious outfit gaffe as she slipped into a daring black mini dress to attend the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga premiere after party alongside co-star Chris Hemsworth in London on Friday. The 28-year-old, who graced the red carpet for the film's premiere earlier in the evening, underwent an outfit change as she headed to the bash. The actress swapped her glamorous red-carpet look for a grunge-glam party ensemble. Anya wore a bold red leather jacket over a minimalistic black outfit consisting of a high neck sleek top and a black leather skirt showing off her long legs. She accessorised with a pair of simple black stiletto Louboutin heels. Anya Taylor-Joy put on a leggy display in a barely-there leather mini skirt as she headed to the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga premiere after party with Chris Hemsworth in London on Friday Anya kept her hair and make up the same as the premiere with a bold red lip, smokey eyes with a cat-eye flick and her platinum locks in a sleek high ponytail. As Anya headed to the event's glitzy dinner bash at The Nomad Hotel, she lost her footing in the 645 100mm nappa leather pumps. Anya attempted to meet her fellow stars for a spot of food, but as she made her way through a central London food court, the star's designer heels slipped off her foot. But her assistants quickly supported the blonde beauty as they helped her quickly get her foot back into the sky-high stilettos. Chris, 40, also changed into a more casual ensemble for the after party. The Avengers actor donned a pale blue silk shirt with a pair of dark grey trousers, polished off with a pair of smart black shoes. Earlier in the day all eyes were on Anya as she joined her leading man Chris Hemsworth at the UK premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The actress, who takes over from Charlize Theron as the younger Furiosa in the upcoming film, put on a racy display in a floral ruffled bodysuit on the red carpet at BFI IMAX Waterloo. The 28-year-old attended the premiere earlier in the evening and underwent an outfit change between the premiere and the afterparty. The actress swapped her glamorous red-carpet look for a grunge-glam party ensemble Anya wore a bold red leather jacket over a minimalistic black outfit consisting of a high neck sleek top and a black leather skirt showing off her long legs Anya kept her hair and make up the same as the premiere with a bold red lip, smokey eyes and her platinum locks in a sleek high ponytail She accessorised with a pair of simple black stiletto Louboutin heels. Anya leads the cast in the newest instalment in the franchise, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, and has been wowing fans with her incredible wardrobe. Friday was no exception as Anya showed off her incredible figure in the black bodysuit complete with huge white ruffled off-the-shoulder sleeves. The Queen's Gambit star's bodysuit was paired with sheer black tights and stilettos, as well as a glamorous triple-chain diamond necklace with matching earrings. Chris looked dapper as he attended the premiere in a three-piece duck-egg blue suit. The Australian actor paired the waistcoat suit with an unbutton light shirt, and paired the look with striking white Chelsea boots. Australian actress Alyla, 14, looked adorable in a ruffled cream-coloured babydoll dress, which she paired with barely-there white heels. Liam put on a loved up display with his girlfriend Gabriella Brooks as he showed support for his older brother. Gabriella looked sensational in a black satin co-ord which showed off her abs, while Liam kept it casual in a cap, sweater and trainers. It comes after Anya revealed that a 15-minute action scene in her new film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga took a staggering 78 days to film. Appearing on The One Show on Thursday alongside co-star Chris, Anya gave presenters Roman Kemp and Lauren Laverne some insight about what goes into filming such a long scene. 'We shot it for 78 days, 78 days!' Anya said. 'Yes. It's called Stowaway. It was 100 per cent the mountain we were all trying to climb.' Anya went on to say that the scene had its own team due to how mammoth a task it was, also known as a second unit, and was directed by Guy Norton - a stuntman in the first Mad Max. She continued: 'It was wild! It was so much fun but really interesting because it all took place on the war rig, so I had it very mapped out in my head like 'Okay I've got a month and a half underneath the rig, a month on the side'. 'When I finally made it into the cabin next to Tom Burke, he handed me a sandwich and was like 'Well done, you've made it' and I was like 'Thank you'.' Gabriella looked sensational in a black satin co-ord which showed off her abs, while Liam kept it casual in a cap, sweater and trainers Australian actress Alyla, 14, opted for a ruffled cream-coloured babydoll dress, which she paired with white heels Many came out for the after party including co-stars and Chris' brothers Luke (right) and Liam, as well as co-star Angus Sampson (left) Anya showed off her incredible figure in a black bodysuit complete with huge white ruffled off-the-shoulder sleeves Anya stepped out for the film's UK premiere at BFI IMAX Waterloo, London, on Friday, alongside Chris Chris smiles as he poses on the red carpet for the Furiosa UK premiere Anya's signature platinum locks were slicked back into a high ponytail, while she sported a dark cat eye eyliner look and vibrant red lipstick The pair's appearance on the BBC show came as they jetted to the UK from the south of France, where they were attended the Furiosa premiere at Cannes. Anya looked every inch the leading lady as she walked the red carpet wearing a stunning strapless Dior gown with a corset-style top and diamond jewellery from Tiffany. She showed off her fashion credentials in the light gold number which was adorned with crystals and teamed with a statement silver necklace. Anya wore her blonde tresses in a sleek bob and wore simple stud earrings while opting for a slick of red lip for a pop of colour. Her leading man Chris soon made his arrival in a smart white suit and was joined by his glamorous wife Elsa Pataky, 47, who wore a chic black gown. For Anya, Furiosa in Cannes is a full circle moment. The first time she came to the festival was to receive a Chopard trophy as an emerging actor in 2017. It was presented by the original Furiosa, Charlize, the star of Fury Road. Anya and Chris arrived in France earlier in the week for the world premiere of their new Mad Max film. She is staying in the famous Hotel Martinez whilst in Cannes. The flick - which is not being released to theatres until May 23 - is a prequel to lauded 2015 blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road. The pair's appearance on the BBC show came as they jetted to the UK from the south of France, where they were attended the Furiosa premiere at Cannes Anthony Callea has shared a sad update with his fans on social media, revealing his adorable Australian Shepherd puppy Cooper has died. The Australian Idol star, 41, shared a photo of the dog to Instagram on Thursday and captioned it with some heartbreaking words. 'It's with a shattered heart and an endless amount of tears, we share the news our little Cooper has tragically been taken away from us,' Anthony began. He added his adorable four-month-old puppy which he adopted with his actor husband Tim Campbell, 48, had died in a tragic accident. 'Last night he was involved in an accident and was hit by a car. It just doesn't seem real and words can't describe the loss we are feeling. We are so very sorry little Coops, I hope you knew how much we loved you.' Anthony Callea (pictured) has shared a sad update with his fans on social media, revealing his adorable Australian Shepherd puppy Cooper has died The Australian Idol star, 41, shared a photo of the dog to Instagram on Thursday and captioned it with some heartbreaking words Many of Callea's celebrity friends quickly took to the comment section to offer him their condolences. 'I am so sorry to hear Anthony and Tim. He has brought so much joy and happiness to you both. Sending you both lots of love on this sad time,' wrote The Block star Shaynna Blaze. 'Oh, I am so devastated for you. Sending so much love,' added veteran presenter Melissa Doyle. Callea and his Home and Away star husband Tim Campbell had adopted Cooper two months ago and shared a precious video to social media of them taking him home. Anthony said his adorable four-month-old puppy which he adopted with his actor husband Tim Campbell (left), 48, had died in a tragic accident Anthony married Tim in 2014 after seven years of dating. He confirmed his sexuality in 2007, three years after placing second to Casey Donovan on season two of Australian Idol. He told fans via his website: 'For some, 'coming out' isn't a big issue. For me it was. 'Others say you should just be honest with yourself. Well, that is easier said than done.' 'It brought to the surface things I have put in a vault and haven't thought about for a long time because I needed to not think about them to move forward.' The pop star, who rose to fame on season two of the competition, revealed he actually auditioned for the first season of the show in 2003, but fled the studio, consumed by anxiety. Rochelle Humes flaunted her incredible physique in stunning bikinis as she unveiled her gorgeous new swimwear range at Next. The 35-year-old presenter modelled a selection of styles for her upcoming new summer collection. In one snap from the campaign, Rochelle stunned in a cream bandeau style bikini top which featured a flattering U-shaped metal clasp between her cleavage with matching bottoms. Rochelle modelled the same style in a chic black two-piece which showed off her toned abs. In another snap from the new Next collection, the mother-of-three wore a gingham patterned balcony bra bikini with thick shoulder straps and a delicate ruffled edge to the cups. Rochelle Humes flaunted her incredible physique in stunning bikinis as she unveiled her gorgeous new swimwear range at Next The 35-year-old presenter modelled a selection of styles for her upcoming new summer collection In one snap taken from the Next collection, the mother-of-three wore a gingham patterned balcony bra bikini with thick shoulder straps and a delicate ruffled edge to the cups Rochelle paired the top with matching bikini bottoms and a pair of light blue jeans. In all the shots Next have kept Rochelle looking natural with a salt-wave to her hair and nude barely there make up. In the pictures Rochelle accessorised with a variety of jewellery including rings, earrings and necklaces all flattering to the various swimsuit styles. Another style shows off a one-piece from the collection, covered in a tie-die pattern the costume features only one shoulder strap. Rochelle has been sunning herself in the south of France after arriving at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, and on Saturday shared a slew of Instagram snaps from the first day of her trip. The This Morning presenter and L'Oreal ambassador put on a leggy display as she stepped out in a sixties inspired ensemble. Rochelle donned an elegant white silk blouse with black polka dots, a gentle bow at the neckline and puffed sleeves. The delicate top was paired with a pair of black hot pants and black tights which showed off her long legs. Another style shows off a one-piece from the collection, covered in a tie-die pattern the costume features only one shoulder strap Rochelle has been sunning herself in the south of France as she arrived at Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The This Morning presenter put on a leggy display as she stepped out Saturday night in a sixties inspired ensemble The outfit featured a large sunhat graciously balanced askew Rochelle donned an elegant white silk blouse with black polka dots, a gentle bow at the neckline and puffed sleeves. The delicate top was paired with a pair of black hot pants and black tights which showed off her long legs Rochelle is one of many L'Oreal ambassadors who have been invited to attend the swanky film event, alongside big names such as Eva Longoria Rochelle Humes exuded old Hollywood glamour in a white mini dress and a matching headscarf as she arrived at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. She posed onboard the RH Three boat and looked like an actress straight out of the 20s. She went bare-legged on the boat and drew further attention to her legs with the short chic dress. Rochelle opted for no jewellery for her boat trip but accessorised with a pair of stylish black sunglasses. The star flashed her Hollywood smile, unfazed by the wind which had pushed down her scarf. Girls Aloud paid an emotional tribute to the late Sarah Harding as they returned to the stage for the first time in 11 years for the first night of their reunion tour in Dublin on Friday. Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh made up the iconic girl band alongside Sarah until her tragic death from cancer in 2021. The girl group's opening night had their late bandmate at its centre with a rendition of I'll Stand By You set to a video of Sarah and her vocals, leaving fans in tears. Before the ballad began, Nadine told the crowd: 'We're going to do a duet with Sarah tonight. It's going to be us, Sarah, you. Lets do this together.' Sarah's vocals then began to play as her four bandmates sang live on stage alongside their late friend. Girls Aloud paid an emotional tribute to the late Sarah Harding as they duetted with her vocals during first reunion concert as a four-piece in Dublin on Friday Nadine Coyle , Cheryl, Nicola Roberts , Kimberley Walsh made up the iconic girl band alongside Sarah until her tragic death from cancer in 2021 Keeping Sarah as the focus from the start until the end of the performance, the show began with hit Untouchable which was set against a backdrop of footage of Sarah displayed on pink curtains. Later they performed Whole Lotta History, which was also dedicated to the late star. Nicola reflected: 'When we recorded this next song 19 years ago, we had no idea 19 years later it would become so poignant on our journey.' Black and white footage of Sarah singing were then shown, followed by a emotional montage dedicated to the late star which read: 'The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.' Holding back emotion, Kimberley told the audience: 'Standing feeling all the emotions you're feeling. I hope you know it means as much as it means you to you.' Cheryl added: 'Thank you for your support through everything we went through with Sarah. It's hard to believe but it's such a beautiful thing to be on stage with these ladies again.' The stars formed the iconic girl band in 2002 after winning Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and reunited with new music for their 10th anniversary in 2012. A second reunion for their 20th anniversary was planned but came as Sarah received her diagnosis. Taking to Twitter after their first show, the band thanked fans as they wrote: 'Show 1 done Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour'. Sarah tragically died in September 2021 after a battle with breast cancer (Pictured in 2017) The girl group's opening night had their late bandmate at its centre with a rendition of I'll Stand By You set to a video of Sarah and her vocals, leaving fans in tears Before the ballad began, Nadine told the crowd: 'We're going to do a duet with Sarah tonight. It's going to be us, Sarah, you. Lets do this together' Black and white footage of Sarah singing were then shown, followed by a emotional montage dedicated to the late star which read: 'The darkest nights produce the brightest stars' Later they performed Whole Lotta History, which was also dedicated to the late star. Nicola reflected: 'When we recorded this next song 19 years ago, we had no idea 19 years later it would become so poignant on our journey' Keeping Sarah as the focus from the start, until the end of the performance, the show began with hit Untouchable which was set against a backdrop of footage of Sarah displayed on pink curtains Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding formed the iconic band in 2002 after winning Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 (pictured) Replying fans wrote: 'amazing show! so entertaining, both fun and then also lots of beautiful tributes to Sarah well done girls'. 'You did Sarah proud! Love you all so much! See you next month'; 'Absolutely smashed it, you all looked and sounded incredible too'; 'I was in the front row, you were INCREDIBLE!'. 'youve done Sarah so proud'; 'You were amazing and Sarah would be so proud! Good luck with the rest of the tour.' Others penned: 'This is what you call a tribute. Taking out her demo vocals to showcase her incredible legacy is something only this band would do. Long reign Girls Aloud!' and 'If you see me crying in Cardiff at the Girls Aloud show, yes you did cause Sarah Harding was a legend. RIP Queen,'; 'What a beautiful tribute to Sarah. Girls aloud truly breathtaking. Girls be proud! Sarah will be. x,'; 'Well this just broke my heart,'; 'I'm honestly crying. We miss you Sarah,'; 'this moment is going to be the end of me, my goodness... SARAH FOREVER ,'; 'Sarah tribute is so special, so nice to hear her voice part of the tour,'; 'This is a moment wow.' Holding back emotion, Kimberley told the audience: 'Standing feeling all the emotions you're feeling. I hope you know it means as much as it means you to you' Taking to Twitter after their first show, the band thanked fans as they wrote: 'Show 1 done Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour' Replying, fans gushed that Sarah would have been proud During The Promise a picture of Sarah looking glam shone on the screen behind Girls Aloud fans - those lucky enough to be at the Dublin show and those admiring online - rushed to social media to share that they were moved by the tribute to Sarah After two back-to-back opening nights in Dublin's 3Arena, Girls Aloud will play two concerts at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday. They will then head to the Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday. In November, the group had to add six extra dates to their UK and Ireland 2024 arena tour due to 'unprecedented demand' following ticket pre-sales. When they announced the tour, Cheryl revealed they had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah - who died in September 2021 - was diagnosed with breast cancer. She said: 'We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Alouds 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate. 'But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didnt feel right, it felt too soon.' The group plan to use the tour to "celebrate" their late friend. Cheryl added: 'But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. Its the right time to celebrate Sarah, its the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. Thats a big honour in lots of ways.' Kimberley said: 'Over the last year, we've felt this outpouring of love obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group. 'And I guess it's ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn't celebrate at the time.' The group hope fans will enjoy the tour just as much as them. Nadine said: 'Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people's lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people. 'So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.' Elizabeth Debicki cut a fashionable figure during a photo call for The Crown in Los Angeles on Friday. The Australian actress, known for her role as Princess Diana in the Netflix series, opted for a chic lace top in a soft blue tone. The 33-year-old offered a glimpse at the matching slip she tucked under the blouse, which featured a point collar and black buttons. Elizabeth added a pair of high cut, wide leg trousers in a classy shade of slate grey, their long length covering her heels. The star opted for a clean makeup palette with a gentle pink lip and a wash of peachy eyeshadow. Elizabeth Debicki cut a fashionable figure during a photo call for The Crown in Los Angeles on Friday. Pictured She completed her look with a pair of chunky silver hoop earrings and otherwise skipped the accessories. The actress has soared to fame with her portrayal of the late Princess of Wales. However it wasn't all plain sailing, with Elizabeth recently revealing she was left with 'extreme terror' at the idea of taking on the iconic role. She told The Sun: 'It was really the strangest job of my life to date, without a doubt. 'It all happened within a swamp of terror as well, like a swamp of extreme terror that was linked to a sense of responsibility.' The Australian actress, known for her role as Princess Diana in the Netflix series, opted for a chic lace top in a soft blue tone The 33-year-old offered a glimpse at the matching slip she tucked under the blouse, which featured a point collar and black buttons Elizabeth, who has already won a Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and Critics' Choice award for her role, is gearing up for new projects this summer, including a romantic thriller and a sci-fi drama, following her horror debut in MaXXXine. The 6ft 3in actress admitted that she needed 'to do something different' after such responsibility. She said that after being offered the role of playing an Eighties film director with huge shoulder pads, she could not turn it down. She added: 'It was sort of like a balm to me as an actor, like a tonic, to go into something completely different. I just had a ball.' She opted for a clean makeup palette with a gentle pink lip and a wash of peachy eyeshadow She completed her look with a pair of chunky silver hoop earrings and otherwise skipped the accessories Elizabeth took over from Emma Corrin in the hit Netflix show, playing Diana for the fifth and sixth series, which included Diana's death in 1997. The actress said of her casting: 'Princess Diana's spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many. 'It is my privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.' Elizabeth also appeared in Christopher Nolan's movie Tenet, after famously landing her breakthrough role as Jordan Baker in Baz Luhrmann's movie, The Great Gatsby. The blonde beauty was fresh out of drama school when she auditioned for the movie. The actress has soared to fame with her portrayal of the late Princess of Wales (pictured here with actor Rufus Kampa who plays Prince William in the Netflix series) However it wasn't all plain sailing, with Elizabeth recently revealing she was left with 'extreme terror' at the idea of taking on the iconic role She also won acclaim in the 2016 BBC drama The Night Manager, starring opposite Tom Hiddleston in the adaptation of John le Carre's novel. Despite her rising stardom, Elizabeth is tight-lipped about her personal life, only recently stepping out with partner Kristian Rasmussen. Little is known about her mystery man Kristian Rasmussen, whom she was first spotted holding hands with in London in November 2022. Elizabeth's rarely-seen boyfriend - who bears a curious resemblance to The Crown's former Prince Phillip, Matt Smith - allegedly sneaks into award shows to cheer her on from the crowd. In an effort to avoid cameras and reporters, he flies under the radar as his glamorous girlfriend poses on the red carpet and takes to the stage to accept her awards. This year will see David Tenant host the BAFTA Television Awards. He is no stranger to the ceremony, having previously presented an award at the show in May 2023, but this year will be his hosting debut. Ant McPartlin has broken his silence after revealing he'd welcomed his first child with his wife Anne-Marie, while address fans' accusations he 'snubbed' his dog Hurley in his new tattoo. The presenter, 48, took to X to thank fans for their 'kind messages' after announcing the birth of his son Wilder on Tuesday. In his post, Ant also addressed fans' concerns that he'd 'snubbed' Hurley in a new tattoo paying tribute to his family, after the dog's name appeared to be absent from the design. Ant wrote: 'Hey all, I just wanted to say thank You so much for the kind messages of love and well wishes for our baby Wilder. Hes doing great. 'Glad you loved the tattoo as well. For all you dog lovers who asked why my beloved Hurley wasnt on the family tree..he was!! He was just covered by our newborn. All my love, gratitude and heartfelt thanks A.' Ant McPartlin has broken his silence after revealing he'd welcomed his first child with his wife Anne-Marie (pictured in 2021) The presenter took to X to thank fans for their 'kind messages' after announcing the birth of his son Wilder on Tuesday In his post, Ant also addressed fans' concerns that he'd 'snubbed' his beloved dog Hurley in a new tattoo paying tribute to his family Ant then shared a snap showing the full tattoo on his shoulder, with Hurley's name visible on the tree design. The tattoo could be seen on Ant's shoulder in an Instagram post where Ant revealed he'd welcomed a son named Wilder Patrick with wife Anne-Marie. It comes just hours after reports surfaced that Lisa has vowed to fight for custody of their pet Labrador as the fallout of their messy break-up continues to spill after the birth of his first son. The Saturday Night Takeaway star split from Lisa in 2018 after 11 years of marriage and went on to marry his former personal assistant, Anne-Marie Corbett, in 2021. This week Ant announced he and 46-year-old Anne-Marie had welcomed son Wilder Patrick McPartlin into the world - and the news is said to have shattered Lisa, who remains childless at 47 following her acrimonious divorce from the presenter. Ant shared a Instagram snap sweetly cradling his baby boy, revealing he'd been born earlier that day on Tuesday, writing: 'Born, 14/05/24 at 8.54am. Baby is beautiful, Mummy's a legend, Sisters are over the moon. Dad's a mess!' Since the split, Lisa has had one constant source of support by her side - loyal Labrador Hurley. She shares joint custody of the beloved canine with Ant but reports say she wants sole possession of him - something he is said to have resisted. But she has reportedly vowed to fight on for sole custody of the chocolate Labrador, who regularly features in her Instagram posts, where she refers to him as 'Mama's baby boy'. Ant then shared a snap showing the full tattoo on his shoulder, with Hurley's name visible on the tree design It comes just hours after reports surfaced that Lisa has vowed to fight for custody of their pet Labrador as the fallout of their messy break-up continues to spill after the birth of his first son Ant - known best as one half of presenting duo Ant and Dec alongside Declan Donnelly - and Lisa adopted Hurley in 2013 following struggles to have a child of their own. Ant is said to have refused to surrender full custody of Hurley to his ex during their reported 31million divorce battle, reportedly telling lawyers: 'She can have anything she wants except the dog.' The arrangement led to the TV presenter's chauffeur ferrying the dog between the two of them so they did not have to see each other. Anne-Marie was said to have expressed a wish to care for the Lab full-time in February - and friends close to the make-up artist say that desire is stronger than ever following the birth of Ant's first-born. 'She felt very betrayed by both Ant and Anne-Marie and felt that none of this has been handled sensitively, especially the announcement of the baby,' sources have told The Sun. 'The one thing that has got her through it and been by her side constantly is Hurley she doesn't know what she would do without him. He's more than just a dog to her and has been a lifeline at times.' They added: 'Ant obviously loves Hurley as well but he now has a lot of other responsibilities and things going on in his life and Lisa can't see why she can't have full custody of him. She needs Hurley by her side.' The former couple reportedly agreed to take it in turns to look after Hurley, with the arrangement seeing Ant's chauffeur ferrying the dog between them so they did not have to see each other. But the news of Wilder's birth is said to have hit Lisa hard - particularly after she spent years supporting Ant during a tumultuous period that saw him battle a prescription drug addiction and a drinking problem. His struggles with alcohol only became public in March 2018 - two months after he and Lisa divorced - when he was involved in a car crash and charged with drink-driving, for which he was fined 86,000. He checked into rehab again and voluntarily disappeared from TV screens for months following talks with his presenting partner and ITV bosses. After revealing he has become a dad Ant was soon flooded with messages from pals including Jamie Redknapp, Davina McCall and Alesha Dixon, who were delighted to see the star finally become a father. He had previously given interviews while still with Lisa about his desire to have children but it never came to pass. Ant told Radio Times in 2013: 'There's a rumour that I'm holding off having kids till (co-host Declan Donnelly) finds himself Mrs Right'. 'I love that idea, but I'm afraid it's not true. Lisa and I would love to have kids. We're trying. It's tougher than you think when you get a bit older.' Dec is now happily married to wife Ali Astall with whom he shares daughter Isla, five, and one-year-old son Jack. Ant and Dec hit the pause button on weekend primetime fixture Saturday Night Takeaway after the 20th series, which finished airing last month, in order to spend more time with their families. The Geordie duo said the milestone achievement was the 'perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath'. Lisa, who split from new beau James Green last year after three years, is said to be in Portugal on holiday this week, after sharing a cryptic post on Instagram about going through 'silent battles'. It featured a motivational quote meme reading: 'Be proud of how you've been handling these last few months. 'The silent battles you've fought, the moments you had to humble yourself, the times you've wiped your own tears. Celebrate your strength.' MailOnline has contacted Ant's representatives for comment. The former couple reportedly agreed to take it in turns to look after Hurley (Ant is pictured with the dog in 2017) Ant has been candid in the past about his desire to have children and he publicly spoke about how he had been trying for a baby with ex-wife Lisa. When the news of Anne-Marie's pregnancy was revealed, it was claimed that Ant was over the moon because he didn't think fatherhood was on the cards for him. A source told The Sun at time: 'This is the news everyone wanted. Ant and Anne- Marie are beyond delighted. It's no secret that Ant has always wanted children, but that it may never happen for him was something he had, sadly, come to terms with. 'When they found out last year, they were absolutely delighted, but obviously kept the news quiet for as long as possible. 'To be having a child two years short of his 50th birthday, with the love of his life, is the stuff of dreams for Ant. Hurley was adopted by the former couple in 2013 after they struggled to conceive a child together 'He's already a wonderful, doting father to Anne-Marie's kids, and together they're going to be brilliant parents to this latest addition to the family.' In February, Ant broke his silence on becoming a father for the first time in a candid interview as he spoke about taking a break from hosting Saturday Night Takeaway. Ant opened up about the real reasons for the show's pause in an interview with Fault Magazine as he publicly addressed his wife's pregnancy for the first timeHe said: 'We [he and Declan Donnelly] have both got children that we need to spend time with for a little bit. 'We need time to think and, and time to step back and look at the bigger picture and just see where we are now.' Zara McDermott has joined a slew of glamorous UK stars mingling with the best and brightest in Hollywood, after jetting to the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The Love Island star, 25, posed for glamorous snaps during a L'Oreal photoshoot on the beach in the heart of the French Riviera. Showcasing her incredible figure, Zara slipped into a dramatic white gown with a frilled neckline as she posed for the stunning shoot. The star has joined British names including Rochelle Humes and Kimberley Garner jetting to Cannes for the annual festival, alongside A-Listers such as Emma Stone, Anya Taylor-Joy and Uma Thurman. Zara also offered fans a racy glimpse of another shoot as she headed onto her hotel balcony in a daring black corset. Zara McDermott has joined a slew of glamorous UK stars mingling with the best and brightest in Hollywood, after jetting to the Cannes Film Festival on Friday The Love Island star posed for glamorous snaps during a L'Oreal photoshoot on the beach in the heart of the French Riviera Showcasing her incredible figure, Zara slipped into a dramatic white gown with a frilled neckline as she posed for the stunning shoot Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival. It has been held annually since 1946 except in 1948 and 1950, when it was cancelled due to lack of funds. The festival is known for its carefully selected programme of films that have gone on to Oscar glory or launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino. Cannes' top prize is the Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm, whose past winners include Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Pulp Fiction, The Pianist and Parasite. Jane Campion became the first female director to win in 1993 with The Piano, followed by a nearly three-decade gap until Julia Ducournau received the award for Titane in 2021. Justine Triet became only the third female director to take the prize last year with Anatomy of a Fall. There is also an honorary Palme d'Or, which is awarded in recognition of notable bodies of work, with past recipients including Harrison Ford, Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood. There are two honorary winners this year: George Lucas of 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' fame, and Japanese animation legend Studio Ghibli, the first group to receive the prize. The star has joined British names including Rochelle Humes and Kimberley Garner jetting to Cannes for the annual festival, alongside A-Listers such as Emma Stone and Uma Thurman Zara also offered fans a racy glimpse of another shoot as she headed onto her hotel balcony in a daring black corset Zara set pulses racing as she posed for the sexy shoot while working with the iconic French beauty brand Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival It has been held annually since 1946 except in 1948 and 1950, when it was cancelled due to lack of funds Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film. The Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off on Tuesday night as celebrities walked the red carpet into the plush Grand Theatre Lumiere to honour Hollywood actor Meryl Streep before settling in to watch this year's opening film, The Second Act. Almost as prestigious as winning the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, is being on the jury that picks the winner. Artists from around the world who have made a name for themselves in their respective field are picked to sit on the jury, with one member designated as jury president. This year's jury president, U.S. director Greta Gerwig, comes to Cannes after the massive success last summer of Barbie. She is the first female U.S. director to serve as jury president, taking the baton from the head of the 2023 jury, Triangle of Sadness director and two-time Palme d'Or winner, Ruben Ostlund of Sweden. The breakout star of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone returns to Cannes after becoming the first Native American woman to be nominated for an Oscar and winning a Golden Globe award for her performance. One of the writers of the 2014 Palme d'Or-winning film Winter Sleep, Turkish photographer, actor and screenwriter Ebru Ceylan is a familiar face at the festival. Also among the British stars who have jetted to Cannes for the festival is Rochelle Humes, who was spotted taking a break from preparations for her latest appearance on Saturday The This Morning presenter was wrapped up in a cosy dressing gown as she prepared for another L'Oreal shoot With her glossy raven tresses pulled into an elegant up-do, Rochelle cut a glamorous figure as she prepared for her shoot The star was also spotted playfully posing for a selfie with a pal Her first short film, On the Edge, was selected to compete at Cannes in 1998, and she has co-written several movies that were in the main competition line-up, including About Dry Grasses, Three Monkeys and The Wild Pear Tree. One of the select few women who have starred in a James Bond film, French actor Eva Green is also on the jury. She has an eclectic resume that includes Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, smaller-scale projects like Nocebo and TV series Penny Dreadful. The 12-time winner of Spain's prestigious Goya Awards, Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona is on the jury. He gained international recognition in 2007 with his first feature-length horror movie The Orphanage, produced by award-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. His latest, the survival drama and Netflix hit 'Society of the Snow,' netted the director an Oscar nomination for best international feature film at this year's ceremony. After making a name with 2018's Capernaum, which earned her Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, who has long had ties to Cannes, adds jury member to her list of accolades. One of Italy's most famous actors with a parallel Hollywood career, Pierfrancesco Favino is no stranger to Cannes, having appeared in the competition films The Traitor, directed by Marco Bellocchio, and Mario Martone's Nostalgia and now on the jury. Winner of the 2018 Palme d'Or for Shoplifters, which also nabbed an Oscar nomination, acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns as a main competition jury member after his film Monster won best screenplay at last year's festival. With a Cesar award - France's equivalent of an Oscar - under his belt for The Intouchables as well as several successful blockbusters, French actor Omar Sy is a Cannes veteran. The actor with parts in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Jurassic World starred in the opening film of the 2022 Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Father & Soldier, and will now serve on the jury. The ever-hapless Bridget Jones finds herself stuck up a tree in the next instalment of the hit movie series but luckily a vv hunky young park attendant is on hand to come to her rescue. These exclusive pictures show One Day heartthrob Leo Woodall in character as Rockstar, the toyboy love interest of Renee Zellweger's alter-ego, for the first time, as he helps her out of her predicament. But not without sneaking a peek at her bottom as he does so. Ms Zellweger's character finds herself out on a limb after scaling the tree in search of a stranded child during a family trip to Hampstead Heath in North London. Bridget Jones, played by Renee Zellweger, found herself in a tight spot during a trip to London's Hampstead Heath with her young children Ms Zellweger roars with laughter after climbing down from the tree during filming for the new movie Leo Woodall's character, Bridget's toyboy Rockstar, offers a helping hand to get her down from the tree His character is caught staring at Bridget's bottom as she clambers ungracefully down from the branches Leo Woodall, one of the stars of hit series One Day, is dressed in a green t-shirt and matching trousers - the uniform of park attendants on Hampstead Heath Woodall, 27, donned the branded green T-shirt and matching trousers of a park attendant for the scenes, recorded on Thursday. He was also seen filming a conversation with the child actor playing Bridget's young son Billy in the film, titled Mad About The Boy. The scene is reminiscent of the moment in the first movie, 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary, when the TV journalist character slides down a fire station pole. Ms Zellweger and Woodall were seen filming last Thursday, for the upcoming movie Mad About the Boy Co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor and Woodall appear to laugh up at Ms Zellweger while her character is stuck in the branches One onlooker on Hampstead Heath said: 'Leo and Renee looked like they were having a great time. There were lots of giggles, they seemed to get on really well' The fictional love-interest was also seen talking to Bridget's two children after rescuing their mother from the tree In the new film, Bridget enjoys a fling with Rockstar and PE teacher Mr Walker, as played by 12 Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as well as reviving her on-off relationship with Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth's Mark Darcy. Mr Ejiofor, 46, was also seen shooting scenes on the same day last week which means only Mr Grant and Colin Firth who has a small role in the movie as the late Mark Darcy are yet to be spotted in character. Woodall was hugs the young actress playing Bridget's daughter, who is flamboyantly dressed in leopard print trousers, a tutu and cat ears The actor shot to fame for his leading role in Netflix's One Day, but he also appeared in The White Lotus Ms Zellweger looks uneasy in a harness as she prepares to climb the tree One onlooker said: 'Leo and Renee looked like they were having a great time. There were lots of giggles, they seemed to get on really well.' Ms Zellweger, 55, has been busy since she arrived in London two weeks ago to reprise her role as the singleton for the fourth, and probably final, time. The leading actors laugh with the crew and Ms Zellweger hugs her fictional children Bridget Jones is renowned for being clumsy and rather ungraceful at times, and it seems nothing has changed A laughing Ms Zellweger hugs the tree, wearing blue jeans with a shirt and jumper for the scene Crew and co-star Woodall watch as the 55-year-old climbs down the tree in a harness She spent four days filming at ITV's studios in White City, West London, where programmes such as This Morning and Loose Women are made. There she met presenters from both shows, including Cat Deeley who was said to have been 'super excited' at seeing Ms Zellweger. Many studio staff were 'overcome with excitement' and desperate to get selfies with the Hollywood star when they realised that the movie was being filmed at their workplace. Scenes were recorded on the set used by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly for their now defunct show Saturday Night Takeaway, while audience members from Loose Women were also asked to stay for filming of some scenes It is the fourth time Ms Zellweger is returning to screens as the beloved singleton Bridget Jones, based on Helen Fielding's books Ejiofor, who plays PE teacher Mr Walker, was also shooting scenes on the same day The tree scene is reminiscent of the moment in the first movie, 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary, when Bridget slides down a fire station pole during a stint as a TV journalist One source at ITV said: 'It was chaos, imagine having Bridget come to your work. It was literally a dream come true. The place was absolutely buzzing. Word got round so fast, Cat was so excited.' Bridget's creator Helen Fielding has also been spotted at the filming as she prepares to say goodbye to the much-loved character. The film is due out on Valentine's Day next year. It was revealed last month that Bridget's obsession with losing weight will be 'played down' in the film amid fears they might be a bad influence. She's been a fixture at the glitzy festival for many years. And Eva Longoria made yet another showstopping appearaince in a dazzling green beaded gown as she stepped out during the fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The actress, 49, slipped her incredible figure into the eye-catching lime dress, covered with intricate silver beading. The beautiful piece showcased every inch of Eva's famous curves as she exited her hotel for another outing at the festival. Finishing her look with barely-there heels, Eva styled her glossy brunette tresses into a sophisticated half-up half-down look. Eva Longoria made yet another showstopping appearaince in a dazzling green beaded gown as she stepped out during the fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday The actress slipped her incredible figure into the eye-catching lime dress, covered with intricate silver beading The beautiful piece showcased every inch of Eva's famous curves as she exited her hotel for another outing at the festival It came just hours after she slipped into an extravagant pink gown to pose on the red carpet for the star-studded Kinds Of Kindness premiere. Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival. It has been held annually since 1946 except in 1948 and 1950, when it was cancelled due to lack of funds. The festival is known for its carefully selected programme of films that have gone on to Oscar glory or launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino. Cannes' top prize is the Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm, whose past winners include Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Pulp Fiction, The Pianist and Parasite. Jane Campion became the first female director to win in 1993 with The Piano, followed by a nearly three-decade gap until Julia Ducournau received the award for Titane in 2021. Justine Triet became only the third female director to take the prize last year with Anatomy of a Fall. There is also an honorary Palme d'Or, which is awarded in recognition of notable bodies of work, with past recipients including Harrison Ford, Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood. It came just hours after Eva posed on the red carpet for the star-studded Kinds Of Kindness premiere Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival It has been held annually since 1946 except in 1948 and 1950, when it was cancelled due to lack of funds The festival is known for its carefully selected programme of films that have gone on to Oscar glory or launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino There are two honorary winners this year: George Lucas of 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' fame, and Japanese animation legend Studio Ghibli, the first group to receive the prize. Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film. The Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off on Tuesday night as celebrities walked the red carpet into the plush Grand Theatre Lumiere to honour Hollywood actor Meryl Streep before settling in to watch this year's opening film, The Second Act. Almost as prestigious as winning the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, is being on the jury that picks the winner. Artists from around the world who have made a name for themselves in their respective field are picked to sit on the jury, with one member designated as jury president. This year's jury president, U.S. director Greta Gerwig, comes to Cannes after the massive success last summer of Barbie. She is the first female U.S. director to serve as jury president, taking the baton from the head of the 2023 jury, Triangle of Sadness director and two-time Palme d'Or winner, Ruben Ostlund of Sweden. The breakout star of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone returns to Cannes after becoming the first Native American woman to be nominated for an Oscar and winning a Golden Globe award for her performance. One of the writers of the 2014 Palme d'Or-winning film Winter Sleep, Turkish photographer, actor and screenwriter Ebru Ceylan is a familiar face at the festival. Her first short film, On the Edge, was selected to compete at Cannes in 1998, and she has co-written several movies that were in the main competition line-up, including About Dry Grasses, Three Monkeys and The Wild Pear Tree. One of the select few women who have starred in a James Bond film, French actor Eva Green is also on the jury. She has an eclectic resume that includes Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, smaller-scale projects like Nocebo and TV series Penny Dreadful. The 12-time winner of Spain's prestigious Goya Awards, Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona is on the jury. He gained international recognition in 2007 with his first feature-length horror movie The Orphanage, produced by award-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. His latest, the survival drama and Netflix hit 'Society of the Snow,' netted the director an Oscar nomination for best international feature film at this year's ceremony. After making a name with 2018's Capernaum, which earned her Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, who has long had ties to Cannes, adds jury member to her list of accolades. As an ambassador for L'Oreal Paris, Eva has been a fixture at Cannes for many years, and never disappoints with her glamorous looks There are two honorary winners this year: George Lucas of ' Star Wars ' and ' Indiana Jones' fame, and Japanese animation legend Studio Ghibli, the first group to receive the prize Ahead of her latest outing, Eva posed up a storm in a sexy teal satin dress during a L'Oreal shoot at the Martinez hotel The Desperate Housewives star showed off her incredible figure in the colourful dress With her glossy brunette tresses pulled into a sleek ponytail, Eva looking incredible in the colourful dress The look boasted a silver jewelled neckline, with Eva tucking into a plate of fries during a break from the shoot Jury president Greta Gerwig, second from left, poses with jury members Omar Sy, from left, Lily Gladstone, Nadine Labaki, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Ebru Ceylan, J.A. Bayona, Eva Green, and Pierfrancesco Favino at the opening festival One of Italy's most famous actors with a parallel Hollywood career, Pierfrancesco Favino is no stranger to Cannes, having appeared in the competition films The Traitor, directed by Marco Bellocchio, and Mario Martone's Nostalgia and now on the jury. Winner of the 2018 Palme d'Or for Shoplifters, which also nabbed an Oscar nomination, acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns as a main competition jury member after his film Monster won best screenplay at last year's festival. With a Cesar award - France's equivalent of an Oscar - under his belt for The Intouchables as well as several successful blockbusters, French actor Omar Sy is a Cannes veteran. The actor with parts in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Jurassic World starred in the opening film of the 2022 Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Father & Soldier, and will now serve on the jury. Ryli Johnson was dubbed 'the most beautiful girl in the world' after a snap of her and her boyfriend Tyreice Baira was posted online. And now the Murri woman from Moree, in north-western NSW, has starred in her fist ever photo shoot. The 20-year-old appears on the cover of this week's issue of Stellar Magazine, as well as a stunning pictorial inside. She posed up a storm in s strapless black dress with a sweetheart neckline and glittering embellishments. Ryli tells the publication that she is hoping to pursue a modelling career and the attention is helping to grease the wheels. Ryli Johnson was dubbed 'the most beautiful girl in the world' after a snap of her and her boyfriend Tyreice Baira was posted online. And now the Murri woman from Moree, in north-western NSW, has starred in her fist ever photo shoot for Stellar Magazine (pictured) 'I have this whole new opportunity. And I've always believed in saying yes to any opportunity and seeing where it leads' she said. The beauty was thrilled by the photo shoot and says it has inspired her to chase her dreams. 'I loved the atmosphere. I honestly had the most amazing time. It definitely gave me some inspiration of what I want to do with modelling' she added. Ryli is already dealing with her newfound fame after her image went viral. The 20-year-old appears on the cover of this week's issue of Stellar Magazine, as well as a stunning pictorial inside 'It's surreal. I was at a concert recently, waiting to use the loos with about 500 other people, and these two people came up and recognised me. Then everyone started cheering. It's like, "What the heck?" she said. The stunner had travelled with her boyfriend and friends to Townsville in far north Queensland for a weekend getaway and was enjoying a night out at The Bank Nightclub when a photographer snapped a photo of the pair. Johnson said she didn't think much of the photo, it was shared to the club's Facebook page and was soon flooded with comments praising her beauty. Countless internet users declared she should become a model and her fame spread when Daily Mail Australia spoke to Johnson in March. The stunner had travelled with her boyfriend and friends to Townsville in far north Queensland for a weekend getaway and was enjoying a night out at The Bank Nightclub when a photographer snapped a photo of the pair (pictured) which went viral Since then her newfound fame has only escalated and her gorgeous face has been splashed across the cover of this weekend's issue of Stellar magazine. 'A night out in Townsville saw her dubbed the ''most beautiful woman in Australia''. Ryli Johnson is ready for her close up,' the cover's caption reads. Johnson's only other modelling experience was at the age of 12 when her mother entered her into an Aboriginal model search competition, which her cousin won. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about her latest venture in the fashion industry, Johnson said she could see herself pursuing modelling. 'I really could see myself doing it, maybe not full-time, but I'm really excited to see where this takes me,' she said. Ryli tells the publication that she is hoping to pursue a modelling career and the attention is helping to grease the wheels Johnson recently moved to Port Macquarie on NSW's mid north coast and is working in office administration while she waits to hear if her job application with Qantas as a customer service agent is successful. Before that, she'd been considering going to university to study to become a teacher. The beauty said while her 5'3" height might mean she's too short for the catwalk, she was looking forward to doing more shoots. While incredibly grateful and humbled her by newfound fame, Ms Johnson has also learnt of the downsides stardom can bring. 'I have this whole new opportunity. And I've always believed in saying yes to any opportunity and seeing where it leads' she said 'I did receive a lot of derogatory comments and I had to put my Instagram on private,' she said. 'I was a bit disheartened and it sort of turned me away. Some of the messages were really disgusting, people were saying ''oh I've seen other beautiful black women''.' She was also flooded with messages of support, with a make-up artist even offering her services to the young woman. 'First Nations girls were messaging me saying ''you're gorgeous girl, keeping paving the way for us'' and that really hit my soul,' Johnson said. 'I'm such a proud First Nations woman and I just want to represent my culture and show people it doesn't matter what skin tone you are.' Kate Langbroek has revealed that she finds the 'gender gap' when it comes to glamour to be unfair. The television and radio star tells this week's issue of Stellar Magazine that women who appear on TV must spend significant time in the makeup chair while men don't face the same expectations. The 58-year-old says her male co-stars on The Project, which include Waleed Aly, Hamish Macdonald, Sam Taunton and Michael Hing, can make less effort than the women as they don't spend much time being glammed up. 'They whip in five minutes before the show' Kate said, but added that she would still have her hair and makeup done even if it was not required. 'But if I was on that show, or any other, and offered the opportunity to save 60-90 minutes a day, I wouldn't take it. Even though we dream of it when we see the guys' she said. Kate Langbroek (pictured) has revealed she finds the 'gender gap' when it comes to glamour to be unfair. She tells this week's issue of Stellar Magazine that women who appear on TV must spend significant time in the makeup chair while men don't face the same expectations Kate said she has particular empathy for women who appear on breakfast television, given the early starts. 'I do think of that when I see the sisters who do morning TV: you know, Sylvia [Jeffreys] or Nat Barr' she said. 'It's like that Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire thing, with their male co-host; they're doing everything he did but backwards, in high heels, and in hair and make-up 90 minutes before, so they must be getting in at, like, 3.30am.' It's not the first time that Kate has discussed the disparity between herself and her male co-stars. Kate says her male co-stars on The Project, which include Waleed Aly, Hamish Macdonald, Sam Taunton and Michael Hing, can make less effort than the women as they don't spend much time being glammed up. Pictured: Sam Taunton, Michael Hing, Waleed Aly, Hamish Macdonald, Sarah Harris and Georgie Tunny 'They whip in five minutes before the show' Kate said, but added that she would still have her hair an makeup done even if it was not required. Pictured left: Waleed Aly and ring, Kate with former Project stars Lisa Wilkinson and Peter Helliar In 2023, Langbroek issued a lengthy apology after publicly exposing a gender pay gay dispute between herself and former radio co-host Dave Hughes on The Project. She made the bombshell admission that she earned 40 per cent less than Hughesy during their time hosting Hughesy & Kate on the Hit Network for almost two decades. Clarifying her shock admission, Kate said that she hadn't explained the full context of the situation due to the 'time constraints' of the Channel 10 show. 'Nor did I explain that when he found out, Hughesy was mortified - properly shocked - and immediately sought to rectify the situation,' she admitted. Kate has empathy for women who appear on breakfast TV. 'I do think of that when I see the sisters who do morning TV: you know, Sylvia [Jeffreys] or Nat Barr... They must be getting in at, like, 3.30am' she said. Today show's Sylvia Jeffries and Karl Stefanovic are pictured 'I had already procured parity for myself, by the way, but his instincts were so honourable he offered instantly to take a pay cut,' she added. 'He also vowed that from that point on, we would always negotiate together on the show we had built together, and we did, the following year, when we moved to SCA. Knowing that we could speak freely about our negotiations, and that we were treated as true equals at our new radio network was the best.' Kate confessed that Hughes had been 'hurt' by her comments on The Project, which is she she felt the need to clarify them. She also said that she and Hughes weren't 'estranged' and that she was 'mortified' that she'd led people to believe that. Hughes backed up her sentiment, reposting her apology on his own Instagram page and writing: 'Thanks legend Kate! Estranged my a**e!' It's not the first time that Kate has discussed the disparity between herself and her male co-stars. In 2023, Langbroek issued a lengthy apology after publicly exposing a gender pay gay dispute between herself and former radio co-host Dave Hughes (left) on The Project In addition to the public apology, the pair patched things up in person by meeting up and taking a selfie together. The drama came after, on The Project, Kate had shared a story about how she was shocked to discover Hughesy was being paid a higher salary than her during their time on radio. 'It turned out he was getting paid 40 per cent more than I was. This was the Hughesy and Kate Show that we had made together and didn't exist without us,' she said. 'Showbusiness is not a standard situation but we did a radio show together for 18 years. It changed our relationship when we talked about money and I then left.' Kate co-hosted the popular Hughesy and Kate drive show alongside Dave from 2001 until January 2019, when she resigned to spend more time with her family. She added the gender pay gap was a form of financial discrimination that women continued to face in Australia. 'Because we're lovers and breeders and take time out we are punished for that in our working lives.' Anne Diamond has revealed she was rushed to hospital after suffering another secret health scare that left paramedics 'white' with fear. The 69-year-old broadcaster recently told how she'd undergone treatment for breast cancer, and detailed on her GB News Breakfast Show how she has had to take time off-screen due to dangerously high blood pressure. She said: 'Some of you have been asking why I've been off. The reason I've been off was a lot to do with stonkingly high blood pressure. 'And while that wasn't the whole problem, and I am still yet to get a proper diagnosis as to what was going on, it was an enormous part of the problem. 'I didn't realise that I had such incredibly high blood pressure. When the paramedics saw it they sort of went white and said, ''Well, you're off to hospital.'' And that was that. Anne Diamond has revealed she was rushed to hospital after suffering another secret health scare that left paramedics 'white' with fear 'It just made me think because wherever you go nowadays, in the doctor's surgery or in a pharmacy, there's always a notice up about it. 'And it doesn't matter how young you think you are, you ought to take your blood pressure. It's an easy thing to do and all the rest of it, but it's clearly an enormous thing too. 'I just think that maybe there is a lot more sort of campaigning to be done, I've done a sort of crash course in the last month. But high blood pressure is a real problem, and probably low blood pressure is as well. 'But your blood pressure is massively important. And the younger you are keeping an eye on it, the less likely you are to have any big problems later in life. Obviously it impacts absolutely everything so maybe we should all be a little bit more blood pressure aware.' Anne, who has been off screen for several weeks, said she's now feeling much better and that medics had managed to get her blood pressure down to a safer level. Last year Anne revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The presenter explained she had undergone a double mastectomy in what she described as her 'fight against breast cancer'. She said it had been 'a long journey' and the reason for her recent absence. The 69-year-old broadcaster detailed on her GBNews Breakfast Show how she has had to take time off-screen due to dangerously high blood pressure Anne, who has been off screen for several weeks, said she's now feeling much better and that medics had managed to get her blood pressure down to a safer level Last year Anne revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and explained she underwent a double masectomy 'I haven't been on a world cruise, which is what I know social media has been saying... because I'm well known now for loving cruises,' she said in an interview. 'It's been a fight against breast cancer. That's what it's been. It's been a long journey. And five months later, I'm still not at the end of the journey, but I'm through it enough to come back to work.' Diamond began her career in regional news before going on to become a star of daytime telly, in the 1980s and 1990s, for both the BBC and ITV. The British journalist, broadcaster, and children's health campaigner hosted shows such as Good Morning with Anne and Nick, alongside Nick Owen, as well as TV Weekly. She joined GB News last year to front its weekend breakfast show with Stephen Dixon. She explained she had received her cancer diagnosis on the same morning that she received an email saying she was to be made an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health and charity due to her campaigning on cot death. After her son Sebastian died from sudden infant death syndrome [Sids] in 1991, Diamond joined forces with the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), now the Lullaby Trust, and health authorities to launch the Back to Sleep campaign. Emma Stone had the sweetest reaction to a reporter calling her by her real first name on Saturday. In response to a journalist yelling out 'Emily' during a press conference at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for her upcoming film Kinds of Kindness, the La La Land actress, 35, smiled brightly upon hearing her name. She, then, turned to the films director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and excitedly said: 'That's my name!' The moment comes just weeks after the two-time Oscar winner revealed she prefers using her real name when possible. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the performer, who changed her name years ago because there was already another Emily Stone registered with SAG, admitted that she felt like she just couldn't be called Emma 'anymore.' Emma Stone had a moment during the Cannes press conference for Kinds of Kindness A reporter yelled out 'Emily,' which made the La La Land actress, 35, take a beat, smile and react She turned to the films director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and excitedly said: 'That's my name!' 'When I get to know them, people that I work with do [call me Emily],' she said. When asked if she would correct a fan that called her Emily, not Emma, Stone said: 'No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily.' Emma is at Cannes to promote her upcoming film, Kinds of Kindness. The film marks her fifth collaboration with Yorgos. The two have worked together on her Oscar winning role in Poor Things as well as the recently announced Begonia, which will be her fifth film with the Greek filmmaker. The movie a triptych fable in which 'A submissive office worker (Jesse Plemons) lets his boss dictate everything, from what he wears to the woman he marries. 'In the next segment, the same actor assumes a different role, playing a cop grieving his wifes disappearance. When she resurfaces (Stone), hes less than enthused when she tries to dominate him in the bedroom. 'Finally, a woman (also Stone) abandons her marriage to follow a kinky cult leader (Willem Dafoe) whos ordered her to find an elusive faith healer,' according to Variety. The film made its premiere at the annual film festival on the French Riviera on Friday. The Easy A star slayed the red carpet in a daring dark red gown with a plunging neckline., The dress was covered head-to-toe in sequins at the premiere of Kinds of Kindness at Cannes The actress's trademark copper locks were styled in soft waves, while she opted for natural make-up look and a dark pink lip Emma had high praise for her co-star, Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend Alwyn, calling him 'one of the sweetest people,' per People 'I love Joe,' Emma said in a press release. 'We had to do some pretty dark stuff on this one, so it was extremely comforting to be with him because hes one of the sweetest people youll ever meet' Kinds of KIndness also stars Margaret Qualley, Hunter Schafer, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Joe Alwyn, Hong Chau and Mamoudou Athie. The Easy A star slayed the red carpet in a daring dark red gown with a plunging neckline. The dress was covered head-to-toe in sequins. The actress's trademark copper locks were styled in soft waves, while she opted for natural make-up look and a dark pink lip. Emma had high praise for her co-star, Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend Alwyn, calling him 'one of the sweetest people,' per People. 'I love Joe,' Emma said in a press release. 'We had to do some pretty dark stuff on this one, so it was extremely comforting to be with him because hes one of the sweetest people youll ever meet.' Kinds of Kindness is not the first time Stone and Alwyn have appeared in a film together, as the duo both worked on The Favourite, another movie directed by Lanthimos. Jeremy Renner said he was treated 'like a child' on the set of Mayor of Kingstown after his horrific, near-fatal snowplow accident that took place on January 1, 2023. The 53-year-old actor admitted he faced severe limitations when he returned to work as his body was still recovering from the accident, where he suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after attempting to help his nephew with a car issue. 'They have to treat me like I'm a child actor. The mayor of Kingstown is now like a 14-year-old,' he told the Los Angeles Times, before recalling an incident, where he fell asleep during a take on his first week back. 'They go, "And action!" And I was out.' He continued: 'We discovered they worked me too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row. What I'm willing to do is everything, but what I'm able to do is a different thing.' Jeremy Renner said he was treated 'like a child' on the set of Mayor of Kingstown after his horrific, near-fatal snowplow accident that took place on January 1, 2023 Jeremy also revealed that Mayor of Kingstown co-creator Hugh Dillion asked his mother for permission for him to return to set and Renner was unsure if he even wanted to. He said: 'To try to create some truth and then get the audience to believe it, while I'm just trying to learn to walk again, to put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony. I'm doing all these things to find my footing on the planet again. The idea of going into a fictional world I have to be honest with you, I had to really consider, Is this something I really want to do?' However, Jeremy insisted the accident has left him with a more positive outlook on life. He said: 'It took the collective of all these people. That's the power of love. It's a slow burn. Man, I tell you... 'I'm alive. I'm walking through life with a smile on my face. And there's nothing that's ever going to change that. Nothing. It's impossible for me to have a bad day.' In January, he confirmed he was back to working on his hit series as he expressed his jitters returning to set. 'Day one on set,' he wrote in a caption alongside a selfie, adding, 'Nervous today.' He also said that he was doing it all for his fans. The 53-year-old actor admitted he faced severe limitations when he returned to work as his body was still recovering from the accident, where he suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after attempting to help his nephew with a car issue 'Hope this works out that I can ACTUALLY pull this off for our production and more importantly the fans,' he continued. At the time, he also confessed he was 'a little bit scared' to be back at work. 'I don't know if I'm looking forward to it. Again, I try to just do everything kind of step by step here,' after admitting he had 'a lot of callousness squashed out of him' from the accident,' he told People. 'That's one foot in front of the other one. Then you're walking. I think I'm excited when I'm there and I get in a rhythm there.' He continued: 'I'm excited about the character and, of course, all the people involved and all that in the storyline, but for me, I'm just tentative of confidence in work.' He admitted the show is 'arduous' since he films between 14 and 18-hour days, 'in the freezing cold outside in Pittsburgh.' On top of the long hours, he added he's, 'scared of slipping and falling,' since he doesn't possess the, 'lower body strength' he had before the accident. 'We discovered they worked me too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row. What I'm willing to do is everything, but what I'm able to do is a different thing,' he told the Los Angeles Times In February, he told The Hollywood Reporter that 'doing television is quite arduous' and involves 'long hours and a lot of heavy lifting.' 'Im just focusing on this right now and will see how I come out at the end of it. Because my number one priority still is my recovery and strengthening and just getting better, internally and externally, every day,' he noted. 'Im allowing my body always to dictate what I can and cannot do in my life.' Mayor of Kingstown's season three returns on June 2. On New Year's Day in 2023, Renner was plowing snow around his neighborhood in Mount Rose, Nevada when he stopped to help a family member whose car was stuck. In January, he confirmed he was back to working on his hit series as he expressed his jitters returning to set On New Year's Day in 2023, Renner was plowing snow around his neighborhood in Mount Rose, Nevada when he stopped to help a family member whose car was stuck His 14,000-lb industrial vehicle ran him over, breaking more than 30 of his bones and leaving him with a collapsed lung. 'I've lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience,' he said in an interview with ABC News last April. 'But I've been refueled and refilled with love and titanium.' He said that while in critical condition he wrote a goodbye note to his family on his phone, and wondered to himself: 'What's my body look like? Am I just going to be like a spine and a brain like a science experiment?' Doctors rebuilt his rib cage with metal, and used metallic plates to put his eye socket back together. He now has a titanium rod and screws in his leg. Valerie Bertinelli announced her plans to take some time offline to prioritize her mental health. On Friday, the 64-year-old actress told her 1.6 million Instagram followers that she was embarking on a 'social media cleanse' after experiencing feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm. 'The last six or so weeks have beena LOT,' the former Food Network star, who recently wrapped her book tour for her latest work Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share, captioned a selfie of herself resting her hand under her chin. She continued: 'And while I am incredibly grateful for all your support for my book and everyone Ive had the good fortune to meet, this here introvert in extroverts clothing is in need of a mental health break.' Valerie Bertinelli announced her plans to take some time offline to prioritize her mental health While the New York Times bestselling author acknowledged she didn't 'need' to announce her departure, she explained that she knew some fans 'worry about' her if she doesn't 'post often enough.' 'But, Im good,' she assured her followers. 'Honest. Taking a little social media cleanse/detox and a mental health break is a good thing and Im grateful Im at a place in my life where Im aware enough to know when Im overwhelmed and mentally/emotionally exhausted.' The mother-of-one concluded: 'Yall take care of yourselves. Ill be back before you know it.' Before making the choice to take her social media break, Bertinelli went Instagram official with her new boyfriend, writer Mike Goodnough on April 20. She debuted their relationship by sharing a photo with her new man, which she captioned with lyrics from Taylor Swift's song So High School. The caption read: 'I'll drink what you think and I'm high from smokin' your jokes all damn night.' Her post came just two days after Goodnough, 53, revealed his identity in a Substack post and confirmed their romance. Goodnough went into detail in a post titled Rumors, Rumors, Rumors... in which he explained how his romance with Valerie came to be. On Friday, the 64-year-old actress told her 1.6 million Instagram followers that she was embarking on a 'social media cleanse' after experiencing feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm (seen in March, 2024) 'I am Valerie Bertinelli's boyfriend and that may well be among the most surreal sentences I've ever pecked out,' Goodnough wrote in an essay. 'But it's true and nothing about our actual relationship seems surreal. It just seems good lucky a gift,' he added. He continued: 'Life is crazy, kids. It just is. It'll rain hellfire down on you for years and bring you to your knees and then it'll open the skies to deep blue and love and calling someone 'Honey' because you just love the absolute hell out of her and feel so very thankful for the gift of that feeling, the gift of her.' Goodnough said that amid 'a certain bit of gossip' they were involved in, he decided to 'address it head on' and consulted with Bertinelli 'out of respect' and 'reached out to [her] in question directly to discuss the matter with [her] prior to writing this.' He listed Bertinelli's impressive credentials over decades in show business, noting her successful TV career in both cooking shows and sitcoms, two Emmys, two Golden Globes, and six books. 'The whole thing is nuts,' Goodnough said. 'Nonetheless, with it getting out of hand, I figured I should say something about it.' The writer added that he and his new girlfriend 'had a humorous conversation about this whole thing,' and that 'she was lovely and warm and just exactly as you would imagine.' Before making the choice to take her social media break, Bertinelli went Instagram official with her new boyfriend, writer Mike Goodnough on April 20 Goodnough previously hinted at the romance earlier this month as he read a People magazine with a cover story about the actress speaking about her love life Bertinelli previously opened up about her romance in an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. 'He was not supposed to come into my life and here he is. He's 10 years younger,' the Hot in Cleveland star said without naming him. 'He would like to think he's complicated and brooding, but he's thoughtful and kind and ridiculously talented,' Bertinelli said. 'He's an amazing writer. He's gorgeous, like so hot. He does it for me. We all have our type, like he's just hot,' she gushed. Zara McDermott pulled out all the stops as she hit the red carpet for the Emilia Perez premiere on Saturday, after receiving a coveted invite to the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The former Love Island star, 26, mixed with Hollywood stars including Selena Gomez, Salma Hayek and Eva Longoria for the screening of the musical crime comedy, set for release on August 28. Zara sent temperatures soaring as she slipped into a sparkly blue maxi dress which featured racy panelling and showcased her jaw-dropping figure. The television personality appeared to go braless beneath the backless dress that boasted a small train and featured lace, sequins and sheer material. Zara styled her dark tresses into loose waves and added a boost to her height with black heels. Zara McDermott pulled out all the stops as she hit the red carpet for the Emilia Perez premiere on Saturday, after receiving a coveted invite to the 77th Cannes Film Festival The former Love Island star, 26, mixed with Hollywood stars including Selena Gomez and Eva Longoria for the screening of the musical crime comedy, set for release on August 28 The film stars Karal Sofia Gascon, Selena, Zoe Saldana and Edgar Ramirez and is a musical crime comedy film. According to IMDB, the film's plot centres on Rita, a talented lawyer disillusioned by her firm's win-at-all-costs mentality, who finds an unexpected opportunity for escape. Infamous cartel leader Manitas enlists her for an extraordinary task: to assist him in leaving his criminal empire behind and fulfilling his lifelong dream of transitioning into the woman he has always wanted to be. Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival. It has been held annually since 1946 except in 1948 and 1950, when it was cancelled due to lack of funds. The festival is known for its carefully selected programme of films that have gone on to Oscar glory or launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino. Cannes' top prize is the Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm, whose past winners include Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Pulp Fiction, The Pianist and Parasite. Jane Campion became the first female director to win in 1993 with The Piano, followed by a nearly three-decade gap until Julia Ducournau received the award for Titane in 2021. Zara sent temperatures soaring as she slipped into a sparkly blue maxi dress which featured racy panelling and showcased her jaw-dropping figure She styled her dark tresses into loose waves and slipped her feet into black heels The stunner oozed confidence as she graced the red carpet ahead of the star-studded ceremony Zara was attending the Emilia Perez premiere - a musical crime comedy film starring Karal Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Edgar Ramirez Justine Triet became only the third female director to take the prize last year with Anatomy of a Fall. There is also an honorary Palme d'Or, which is awarded in recognition of notable bodies of work, with past recipients including Harrison Ford, Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood. There are two honorary winners this year: George Lucas of 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' fame, and Japanese animation legend Studio Ghibli, the first group to receive the prize. Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film. Jury president Greta Gerwig, second from left, poses with jury members Omar Sy, from left, Lily Gladstone, Nadine Labaki, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Ebru Ceylan, J.A. Bayona, Eva Green, and Pierfrancesco Favino at the opening festival The Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off on Tuesday night as celebrities walked the red carpet into the plush Grand Theatre Lumiere to honour Hollywood actor Meryl Streep before settling in to watch this year's opening film, The Second Act. Almost as prestigious as winning the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, is being on the jury that picks the winner. Artists from around the world who have made a name for themselves in their respective field are picked to sit on the jury, with one member designated as jury president. This year's jury president, U.S. director Greta Gerwig, comes to Cannes after the massive success last summer of Barbie. A heartbroken Lisa Armstrong paid tribute to her dad earlier this week on the fifth anniversary of his death as her ex-husband Ant McPartlin welcomed his first child with his wife Anne-Marie Corbett. Taking to Instagram, Lisa, 47, paid tribute to her dad Derek, also known as Degs, by posting a picture of his gravestone. The moving words on her father's grave read: 'In loving memory of Dot Armstrong tragically taken on 26.6. 1992 and Derek John Armstrong sadly missed husband, Dad and Grampy forever in our hearts.' She captioned the heartbreaking image with: 'My Heart5 years. #MyDegs #MyHero.' Less than 24 hours after Lisa's post, Ant, 48, announced his wife Anne-Marie, 46, had given birth to a son, Wilder Patrick McPartlin. A heartbroken Lisa Armstrong paid tribute to her dad earlier this week on the fifth anniversary of his death as her ex-husband Ant McPartlin welcomed his first child with Anne-Marie Corbett Lisa Armstrong paid tribute to her dad earlier this week as she grieved him on the fifth anniversary of his death - just days after her ex-husband Ant McPartlin (pictured) welcomed his first child Taking to Instagram, Lisa, 47, paid tribute to her dad Derek, also known as Degs, by posting a picture of his gravestone She captioned the heartbreaking image with: 'My Heart5 years. #MyDegs #MyHero.' Lisa's father Derek pictured. He passed away in May 2019 aged 71 after being diagnosed with cancer the year before Lisa's father Derek passed away in May 2019 aged 71 after being diagnosed with cancer the year before, with his health deteriorating in the months before he died. The Strictly Come Dancing MUA was reportedly at Derek's bedside at her family home, in Oxford with her mum Linda, according to The Sun. Lisa was said to have kept her dad's illness a secret for a year. Lisa - who is the head makeup artist on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing - recently headed off to Portugal for a much-needed vacation. A source told The Sun: 'This is not an easy time for Lisa. 'The holiday was planned, not because Ant had a baby, but because of the anniversary of her dads death.' 'She and Ant tried to have children but it wasnt to be, so they got Hurley, their chocolate brown Labrador.' The source also revealed Hurley is her 'baby' now and she's 'moved on' from Ant. On Saturday, Ant set the record straight and addressed fans' accusations that he 'snubbed' his dog Hurley in his new tattoo. The presenter took to X to thank fans for their 'kind messages' after announcing the birth of his son Wilder on Tuesday. Lisa was said to have kept her dad's illness a secret for a year (pictured with her beloved parents) Ant set the record straight and addressed fans' accusations that he 'snubbed' his dog Hurley after revealing he'd welcomed his first child with his wife Anne-Marie (pictured in 2021) The presenter took to X to address fans' concerns and reassured them that Hurley was very much on the family tree tattoo, however, he was just covered by their newborn In his post, Ant also addressed fans' concerns that he'd 'snubbed' Hurley in a new tattoo paying tribute to his family after the dog's name appeared to be absent from the design. Ant wrote: 'Hey all, I just wanted to say thank You so much for the kind messages of love and well wishes for our baby Wilder. Hes doing great. 'Glad you loved the tattoo as well. For all you dog lovers who asked why my beloved Hurley wasnt on the family tree..he was!! He was just covered by our newborn. All my love, gratitude and heartfelt thanks A.' Ant then shared a snap showing the full tattoo on his shoulder, with Hurley's name visible on the tree design. The tattoo could be seen on Ant's shoulder in an Instagram post where Ant revealed he'd welcomed a son named Wilder Patrick with wife Anne-Marie. It comes just hours after reports surfaced that Lisa has vowed to fight for custody of their pet Labrador as the fallout of their messy break-up continues to spill after the birth of his first son. The Saturday Night Takeaway star split from Lisa in 2018 after 11 years of marriage and went on to marry his former personal assistant, Anne-Marie, in 2021. This week Ant announced he and Anne-Marie had welcomed son Wilder into the world - and the news is said to have shattered Lisa, who remains childless at 47 following her acrimonious divorce from the presenter. Ant shared an Instagram snap sweetly cradling his baby boy, revealing he'd been born earlier that day on Tuesday, writing: 'Born, 14/05/24 at 8.54am. Baby is beautiful, Mummy's a legend, Sisters are over the moon. Dad's a mess!' Since the split, Lisa has had one constant source of support by her side - loyal Labrador Hurley. She shares joint custody of the beloved canine with Ant but reports say she wants sole possession of him - something he is said to have resisted. But she has reportedly vowed to fight on for sole custody of the chocolate Labrador, who regularly features in her Instagram posts, where she refers to him as 'Mama's baby boy'. Ant - known best as one half of presenting duo Ant and Dec alongside Declan Donnelly - and Lisa adopted Hurley in 2013 following struggles to have a child of their own. Ant is said to have refused to surrender full custody of Hurley to his ex during their reported 31million divorce battle, reportedly telling lawyers: 'She can have anything she wants except the dog.' Ant then shared a snap showing the full tattoo on his shoulder, with Hurley's name visible on the tree design It comes just hours after reports surfaced that Lisa has vowed to fight for custody of their pet Labrador as the fallout of their messy break-up continues to spill after the birth of his first son The arrangement led to the TV presenter's chauffeur ferrying the dog between the two of them so they did not have to see each other. Anne-Marie was said to have expressed a wish to care for the Lab full-time in February - and friends close to the make-up artist say that desire is stronger than ever following the birth of Ant's firstborn. 'She felt very betrayed by both Ant and Anne-Marie and felt that none of this has been handled sensitively, especially the announcement of the baby,' sources have told The Sun. 'The one thing that has got her through it and been by her side constantly is Hurley she doesn't know what she would do without him. He's more than just a dog to her and has been a lifeline at times.' They added: 'Ant obviously loves Hurley as well but he now has a lot of other responsibilities and things going on in his life and Lisa can't see why she can't have full custody of him. She needs Hurley by her side.' The former couple reportedly agreed to take it in turns to look after Hurley, with the arrangement seeing Ant's chauffeur ferrying the dog between them so they did not have to see each other. But the news of Wilder's birth is said to have hit Lisa hard - particularly after she spent years supporting Ant during a tumultuous period that saw him battle a prescription drug addiction and a drinking problem. His struggles with alcohol only became public in March 2018 - two months after he and Lisa divorced - when he was involved in a car crash and charged with drink-driving, for which he was fined 86,000. The former couple reportedly agreed to take it in turns to look after Hurley (Ant is pictured with the dog in 2017) He checked into rehab again and voluntarily disappeared from TV screens for months following talks with his presenting partner and ITV bosses. After revealing he has become a dad Ant was soon flooded with messages from pals including Jamie Redknapp, Davina McCall and Alesha Dixon, who were delighted to see the star finally become a father. He had previously given interviews while still with Lisa about his desire to have children but it never came to pass. Ant told Radio Times in 2013: 'There's a rumour that I'm holding off having kids till (co-host Declan Donnelly) finds himself Mrs Right'. 'I love that idea, but I'm afraid it's not true. Lisa and I would love to have kids. We're trying. It's tougher than you think when you get a bit older.' John Stamos shared a rare photo on Instagram in honor of the birthday of his friend, the late Bob Saget. The General Hospital actor, 60, shared a black and white photo of the Full House cast that included Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen standing behind a large statue of Disney's Dumbo that is in Stamos' home. 'Happy Birthday Bob,' Stamos who helped his wife Caitlin McHugh celebrate her 38th birthday this week wrote on what would have been Sagets 68th birthday. 'This was taken as we gathered for his funeral. Though Bob wasnt there physically, his spirit was unmistakably present, wrapping us in warmth and shared memories that drew both laughter and tears,' he continued. Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier and series creator Jeff Franklin were in the photo credited to comedian Jeff Ross alongside the Olsen twins. John Stamos shared a rare photo on Instagram in honor of the birthday of his friend, the late Bob Saget. The General Hospital actor, 60, shared a black and white photo of the Full House cast that included Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen standing behind a large statue of Disney's Dumbo that is in Stamos' home 'Happy Birthday Bob,' Stamos wrote on what would have been Sagets 68th birthday. 'This was taken as we gathered for his funeral. Though Bob wasnt there physically, his spirit was unmistakably present, wrapping us in warmth and shared memories that drew both laughter and tears,' he continued, seen in 2012 Stamos continued: 'That day, each of us felt the weight of his absence and the strength of the bond he nurtured among us. 'Bob was the heart of our Full House family. His legacy of kindness and compassion was evident in the faces around me, (on Dumbo) in the gentle ways we supported one another, echoing the love he always extended. 'We celebrated a life that was a true gift to us all,' he continued, adding: 'Bob, you are with us in every joke we share and every hug we give.' He concluded: 'Rest in peace, dear friend. Your family misses you more than words can say. Stamos played Uncle Jesse opposite Saget's Danny Tanner from 1987 to 1995. Cameron Bure and Sweetin played, respectively, DJ and Stephanie Tanner. The Olsen twins both played the youngest Tanner child, Michelle from their infancy until the show's end. Saget died on January 9, 2022 in his hotel room in Orlando, Florida after he performed a comedy set. It was determined he died from blunt force trauma to the head that was sustained accidentally. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system. Stamos played Uncle Jesse opposite Saget's Danny Tanner on Full House from 1987 to 1995 Saget died on January 9, 2022 in his hotel room in Orlando, Florida after he performed a comedy set, seen in 2016 The Olsen twins both played the youngest Tanner child, Michelle from their infancy until the show's end Dave Coulier played Jimmy Gladstone for the full run of both Full House and Fuller House Cameron Bure and Sweetin played, respectively, DJ and Stephanie Tanner Most of the cast of Full House reunited for the reboot Fuller House, which ran from 2016 to 2020. The Olsen twins, who have given up acting and are fashion designers, declined to participate Initially, that didn't sit well with Stamos and he admitted made him 'angry,' but they have since mended fences Most of the cast of Full House reunited for the reboot Fuller House, which ran from 2016 to 2020. The Olsen twins, who have given up acting and are fashion designers, declined to participate. Initially, that didn't sit well with Stamos and he admitted made him 'angry,' but they have since mended fences. 'When I did Fuller House, they didnt want to come back and I was angry for a minute and that got out,' he said during a May 2023 episode of the And Thats What You REALLY Missed podcast. 'They said "We loved you guys, we loved our childhood." We loved being with you. They came over to my house and they brought a pork chop and sage,' Stamos said on the podcast. They were left heartbroken by the death of their bandmate Sarah Harding almost three years ago. But as Girls Aloud performed together for the first time since she died of breast cancer aged 39, they made sure that Sarah still had a starring role. Thanks to technology, images of Sarah were beamed on to a screen behind them and together they all sang their cover of I'll Stand By You, which became their second number one, in 2004. Sarah's vocals were used and Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh sang along with her. As they began, Nadine said: 'We're going to do a duet with Sarah tonight. It's going to be us, Sarah, you. Let's do this together.' That prompted tears from many among the sell-out audience at Dublin's 3Arena on Friday evening. Girls Aloud performed together for the first time since she died of breast cancer aged 39, they made sure that Sarah still had a starring role Sources say that after the concert, there were 'tears shed' by the band. Pictured, the concert in Dublin Sarah died in September 2021, just over a year after she revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Pictured, Sarah Harding on The X Factor, 2008 It was the first night of Girls Aloud's 30-night reunion tour across the UK and Ireland, which they want to dedicate to Sarah. So keen were they to get the tone right, they visited her mother Marie Hardman at her home near Manchester to receive her blessing. The band wanted to ensure that Ms Hardman 'had a say' in what they would be doing and that she was happy with how they presented her daughter. Sources say that after the concert, there were 'tears shed' by the band. Sarah, who was known as Girls Aloud's 'party animal', which led to her being nicknamed Hardcore, was never far from her bandmates as the concert went on. At the beginning of the gig, footage of Sarah was displayed on a pink curtain as the band sang their 2008 hit Untouchable. They later sang Whole Lotta History, which was dedicated to Sarah as one of her favourites from their back catalogue. Nicola told the audience: 'When we recorded this next song 19 years ago, we had no idea 19 years later it would become so poignant on our journey.' Black and white footage of Sarah singing was then shown, followed by an emotional montage dedicated to her which read: 'The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.' Sarah's vocals were used and Nadine Coyle , Cheryl Tweedy , Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh sang along with her Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they went on to have three more number ones and 20 top ten hits A band insider told The Mail on Sunday: 'So much effort and consideration went into making sure that Sarah's part was done perfectly which it was.' Sarah died in September 2021, just over a year after she revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread to other parts of her body. Her bandmates were distraught but it brought them back together after they had split in 2013 when Nadine suffered a career crisis following the flop of a solo album while Cheryl's status soared, after she became an X Factor judge. Nadine said she didn't want to break up but was 'blindsided' by the other four girls. The group catapuled to fame in 2002 when they took part in ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals. They competed for a place in a girl band and were then pitted against a boy band from the show named One True Voice in the hope that their song would become the Christmas number one. Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they went on to have three more number ones and 20 top ten hits. Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017. Kevin Costner paid tribute to his on-screen father in a touching tribute Saturday. The late actor, who passed away at the age of 92, worked with the Oscar winner on Yellowstone, starring as John Dutton, Sr. Costner, 69, took time from his busy schedule in Cannes, where he's promoting his latest project, to honor the journeyman actor. In a post, shared to his Instagram Story, the actor posted three stills from a touching scene with Coleman, writing, 'One of the most heart wrenching scenes I've been a part of.' 'What an honor to have gotten to work with Dabney Coleman. May he rest in peace,' he continued. Kevin Costner paid tribute to his on-screen father in a touching tribute Saturday. The late actor, who passed away at the age of 92 , worked with the Oscar winner on Yellowstone, starring as John Dutton, Sr Coleman appeared in one episode of Yellowstone as the father of Costner's character, John Dutton. During one of their final scenes together, John unplugs his father's IVs, removes him from his hospital bed and helps him into his riding gear. He and John Dutton Sr. go on to ride together on their family's ranch and take a few sips of whiskey from a flask. Then, John Dutton Sr., famously tells his son: 'Dont let em take it away from you son, not a god**m inch.' Earlier this week, Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan also honored the late actor, who was a mentor early in his career. 'I had the opportunity to work with Dabney in 2003, and learned priceless lessons in the power of simplicity as an artist, but more importantly I witnessed Dabneys humility, grace, and patience (with my 10,000 questions)' he told Deadline. 'I never forgot those lessons, and was humbled myself when he agreed to appear on Yellowstone,' the writer said. 'His performance was yet another lesson in bravery and emotional honesty.' 'Dabney Coleman is a treasure. He will be missed and admired, always.' the actor posted stills from a touching scene with Coleman, writing, 'One of the most heart wrenching scenes I've been a part of. What an honor to have gotten to work with Dabney Coleman. May he rest in peace' Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, 53, also honored the late actor, who was a mentor early in his career. Referring to Coleman's appearance on Yellowstone he said, 'His performance was yet another lesson in bravery and emotional honesty' Coleman appeared in one episode of Yellowstone as the father of Costner's character, John Dutton; Costner is seen on Saturday Costner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 was scheduled to screen out-of-competition at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday Costner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 was scheduled to screen out-of-competition at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday. 'Id like to thank the Festival de Cannes for including my film Horizon: An American Saga in this years selection,' the write and director said in a statement. 'Its been 20 years since Ive had the pleasure of being on the Croisette. Ive been waiting for the right time to return and Im proud to say that this time has come.' The actor, writer and director said he had been working on the story for decades. 'Horizon: An American Saga is a story that began 35 years ago, and I cant think of a better place than Cannes to reveal to the world the result of such a wonderful adventure.' 'The French have always supported films and believed deeply in filmmaking. Just as I believe deeply in my film.' Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 will open in theaters June 28. Chapter 2, will follow soon after, opening August 16. Emma Stone stunned in a white blazer as she attended the photocall for Kinds Of Kindness with Margaret Qualley and Hunter Schafer at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The actress, 35, paired the plunging blazer dress with a too-long black belt and a black pair of strappy heels. Emma showed off her famous physique in the eye-catching white blazer dress, hours after attending the film's glitzy premiere at the festival. The star teamed her look with black stiletto heels, and swept her glossy red tresses into a sleek ponytail. Margaret also caught the eye as she attended the photocall, ahead of the film's press conference as the festival reached its halfway point. Emma Stone, 35, stunned in a white blazer as she attended the photocall for Kinds Of Kindness with Margaret Qualley, 29, at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday Hunter Schafer flashed some leg in an all-white mini dress and matching headscarf which she paired with bright blue high heels The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star, 29, put on a stylish display in a black velvet dress with a sparkling overlay. Commanding attention alongside her co-stars, Margaret accessorised her look with an oversized white hat, and Chanel-inspired strapped heels. Meanwhile Hunter, 25, showed off her daring sense of style in a thigh-skimming white frilled mini dress. The dress boasted a dramatic thigh-high split and a bow belt to accentuate her trim waist. Covering her head with a matching white bandana, Hunter completed the outfit with pale blue stiletto heels. Kinds of Kindness premiered on Friday night at the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Emma collaborates with Yorgos Lanthimos again for the film, last working together on the critically acclaimed Poor Things. She stars as Rita in the film, after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in Poor Things. Emma showed off her famous physique in the eye-catching white blazer dress, hours after attending the film's glitzy premiere at the festival The star teamed her look with black stiletto heels, and swept her glossy red tresses into a sleek ponytail The star looked in great spirits as she was seen laughing with her hand over her mouth Hunter, 25, showed off her daring sense of style in a thigh-skimming white frilled mini dress The dress boasted a dramatic thigh-high split and a bow belt to accentuate her trim waist Hunter's outfit from behind showed her white headpiece The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star, 29, put on a stylish display in a black velvet dress with a sparkling overlay She accessorised her look with an oversized white hat which was adorned with a simple flower Hunter Schafer Willem Dafoe, director Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie (L-R) At the premiere, Emma wore an extreme plunging gown as she graced the red carpet alongside Eva Longoria and Demi Moore. The movie is described as 'triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader,' according to Variety. Joe Alwyn looked very dapper as he opted for a summery cream pin-striped suit. He paired the chic ensemble with a black shirt and black leather shoes as well as some stylish brown framed shades. Elsewhere Willem Dafoe reunited with Emma once again after they recently starred together in the Oscar-winning Poor Things. Willem, 68, beamed in snaps as be paired a dark grey suit jacket and trousers with a casual V-neck red top. Yorgos wore a khaki blazer jacket which he paired with some baggy black pinstripe trousers and quirky black sandals. After their latest Oscar-winning collaboration, Emma Stone and Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos are back with their latest effort Kinds Of Kindness Emma collaborates with Yorgos Lanthimos (pictured) again for the film, last working together on the critically acclaimed Poor Things Joe Alwyn looked very dapper as he opted for a summery cream pin-striped suit He paired the chic ensemble with a black shirt and black leather shoes as well as some stylish brown framed shades Emma recently won her second Oscar for Best Actress after working with Lanthimos, 50, on Poor Things, which also earned him a nomination for Best Director Emma, who stars as Rita in the film, looked in great spirits as she beamed from ear to ear The whole cast posed together: Yorgos Stefanakos, Hunter Schafer, Willem Dafoe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn (L-R) Hong Chua looked incredibly stylish as she opted for a pair of wide-legged Dior denim jeans The actress paired the trousers with a black leather belt and a white shirt Mamoudou Athie wore a grey suit, black T-shirt and Cuban heeled shiny black shoes Margaret was joined by Jesse Plemons who wore a brown jacket Willem looked super cool in his shades The actress burst out laughing at something Jesse had said Hong Chua looked incredibly stylish as she opted for a pair of wide-legged Dior denim jeans. The dark denim was turned up at the bottom to reveal a Dior print and she paired the trousers with a black leather belt and a white shirt. She elevated her height with some platform black heels as she beamed in the snaps. Mamoudou Athie wore a grey suit, black T-shirt and Cuban heeled shiny black shoes. Emma recently won her second Oscar for Best Actress after working with Lanthimos, 50, on Poor Things, which also earned him a nomination for Best Director. The pair previously worked together on 2018's The Favourite, for which they were also nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Director, respectively. Stone and Lanthimos have also been in talks to team up a fourth time for a remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet. Kinds of Kindness premieres June 21 in select cinemas. Elsewhere American director and producer Ron Howard attended the Jim Henson: Idea Man Photocall. Ron looked to be in great spirits as he styled a light grey suit over a white T-shirt. Pairing the look with some leather cream trainers with brown laces, he also added a cream baseball cap to his attire. Jesse looked dapper in a brown suit and white trainers Kinds of Kindness premieres June 21 in select cinemas Hunter also sported some quirky white-rimmed sunglasses Emma was seen leaving The Carlton Hotel Margaret drew attention in her statement hat Hunter threw on a trench coat as she left the hotel She also added a bright yellow Prada handbag She was followed by Joe Elsewhere American director and producer Ron Howard attended the Jim Henson: Idea Man Photocall Ron looked to be in great spirits as he styled a light grey suit over a white T-shirt He also added a cream baseball cap to his attire He paired the look with some leather cream trainers with brown laces Cate Blanchett arrived at Nice airport on Saturday for the prestigious festival She opted for some bright blue three-quarter length trousers and a grey jacket Vincent Cassel and Narah Baptista arrived together hand in hand The pair appeared to have come matching as they both donned some light blue denim jeans Narah wore a satin burgundy blouse which she paired with a long blazer style coat Meanwhile Vincent donned a suede camel coloured jacket and white shirt Toni Garrn looked stunning in a pair of floaty white trousers and matching shirt She completed the look with some square-toed sandals, sunglasses and a red bag Uma Thurman couldn't resist taking her own photos as she stunned in a floral cream skirt suit at the Oh, Canada photo call during the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The American actress, 54, looked lovely in the ankle-length suit which featured a beautiful black floral design on the jacket and skirt. She beamed as she turned her phone sideways to capture the magic of the annual film festival. Uma, who accessorised with black sunglasses, pearl drop earrings and black Jimmy Choo Maryanne slingback heels, gave a low wave. She is at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival for her film Oh, Canada which premiered at Cannes on Friday. Uma Thurman, 54, couldn't resist taking her own photos as she stunned in a floral cream skirt suit at the Oh, Canada photo call at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday The American actress looked lovely in the ankle-length suit which featured a beautiful black floral design on the jacket and skirt She beamed and laughed as she turned her phone sideways to capture the magic of the annual film festival Uma stylishly pulled down her sunglasses as she stood behind a huge podium which featured Cannes' leaf symbol. When she was finished, Uma called over a group of the photographers and they beamed as she stood, arms outstretched, in front of them. Later on, Uma larked about with Oh, Canada leading man Richard Gere and the film's director and writer Paul Schrader. Uma and Paul posed for a selfie taken by Richard before Uma whipped out her own phone again to take one, too. The dashing Richard looked handsome in an all-black suit with matching sunglasses but no tie. Paul, who Uma soon wrapped her arms around, wore a near-identical suit complete with black sunglasses but opted for a polo shirt. Actress-turned-photographer Uma then expertly leant back to take a few snaps of her colleagues. Not one to be left out, Richard wrapped his arms around Paul and while Uma warmly welcomed the film's US producer David Gonzalez. Richard put a supportive hand on Paul's back as he leant over and Uma turned away from the men to lower her sunglasses once more and charmingly stare down attendees Uma, who accessorised with black sunglasses, pearl drop earrings and Jimmy Choo Maryanne slingback heels, gave a low wave She is at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival for her film Oh, Canada which premiered at Cannes on Friday Uma sashayed her skirt this way and that as she soaked up the sun at the photo call Uma laughed wildly as she stood with her back towards a bank of photographers She began to speak as she walked along the path in her small heels Uma stylishly pulled down her sunglasses as she stood behind a huge podium The podium featured Cannes' leaf symbol across the front and behind Uma was a wall of photographers When she was finished at the podium, Uma called over a group of the photographers and they beamed as she stood, arms outstretched, in front of them At the photo calls, Uma larked about with Oh, Canada leading man Richard Gere and the film's director and writer Paul Schrader Uma and Paul posed for a selfie taken by Richard before Uma whipped out her own phone again to take one, too Paul, who Uma soon wrapped her arms around, wore a near-identical suit complete with black sunglasses but opted for a polo shirt Actress-turned-photographer Uma then expertly leant back to take a few snaps of her colleagues Not one to be left out, Richard wrapped his arms around Paul and while Uma warmly welcomed the film's US producer David Gonzalez Richard put a supportive hand on Paul's back as he leant over and Uma turned away from the men to lower her sunglasses once more and charmingly stare down attendees It comes after Uma and Nathalie Emmanuel were the epitome of chic as they lead the glamour at the premiere. The Kill Bill star commanded attention as she paired the dress with a matching white trench coat featuring a small train. Following closely behind was Megalopolis star Nathalie, 35, who does not appear in the film but looked stunning in a burnt champagne toule dress. Adding something different to her look, Nathalie paired her pretty dress with a royal sheer cape featuring a ruffled neck a quaint black bow. Elsewhere, leading man and Pretty Woman star Richard Gere, 74, looked as handsome as ever as he stepped out wearing a classic two-piece tuxedo. Jacob Elordi, who portrays Richard's character's younger self, opted to skip the premiere - and Cannes altogether. Oh, Canada delves into the life of a tormented writer on the brink of death (Uma) and a Canadian-American leftist (Richard) who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft. The drama film is written and directed by Paul Schrader and is based on the 2021 novel Foregone by Russel Banks. Uma, whose blonde locks were pulled back in a ponytail, blew a kiss at attendees She then made the 'namaste' hand sign, showing off a very expensive-looking gold and diamond bracelet Uma then hilariously appeared to admonish onlookers, staring with fake disappointment and wagging her finger Later, she held her hands behind her back and went on slight tippy toe, looking effortlessly elegant Uma's shoes proved that despite her fame and fortune the actress was really still just like the rest of us as they still had labels on their soles Uma kept the same gorgeous outfit for the press conference she attended with Oh, Canada's cast and crew. Her shoes proved that despite her fame and fortune the actress was really still just like the rest of us as they still had labels on their soles Cannes kept it tight for the conference, as she was joined only by Paul, Richard, and David. The panelists each had a bottle of San Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and a glass in front of them. San Pellegrino is a partner of Cannes Film Festival and the company does not yet make still water. Uma kept the same gorgeous outfit for the press conference she attended with Oh, Canada's cast and crew (pictured with Paul, Richard, and David) She was seen listening intently as Paul answered a question from the press with a serious expression The actress later smiled in agreement as Paul emphatically spread out his fingers to make a point Uma laughed at one of her colleagues' answer to a question Another question caused Uma to give a serious expression as she mulled it over The panelists each had a bottle of San Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and a glass in front of them She stood to answer a question of her own, using her arm and finger for emphasis Uma and Nathalie Emmanuel (right) were the epitome of chic as they lead the glamour at the premiere in similar colours Silver fox Richard kept his look traditional and paired his suit with a dickie bow, a crisp white shirt and a pair of shiny black shoes A giant removal truck full of lobster tanks, giant fridges and freezers, industrial ovens, microwaves, coffee makers, bars, patio heaters, tables and chairs and more - all for under $5,000. That is what the winning bidder of the entire contents of the outlet on Hawthorn Boulevard in Torrance, California paid for the hundreds of items. In fact, the entire contents of 48 of the almost 100 shuttered Red Lobster restaurants were sold at auction on Thursday. The struggling seafood chain is on the brink of bankruptcy - after its 'endless shrimp' for $20 deal was so popular it cost the chain millions of dollars. It is shutting locations in a bid to stem its losses. Buyers of the lots were seen collecting the goods in giant vans Friday. What they paid varied from just under $2,000 to $15,000. Chairs from the Red Lobster in Torrance being taken away Patio heaters were among the goods bought from the Red Lobster in Torrance In Torrance, outside Los Angeles, the winning bidders filled a Budget rental truck with all the gear from the shuttered Red Lobster in the city - bought for $4,886. Meanwhile, in Colombia, Maryland, buyers who paid $10,101 filled up a U-Haul. THey got a similar slection, and also five old 37inch TVs. It was only on Monday night, after a full day serving customers, that staff got any idea what was happening. Many didn't find out until their shift the next day. But with brutal efficiency, by Wednesday, the stock for 48 of the outlets was all listed on an auction site. It was online-only with the contents of each outlet being sold as a job lot likely to attract owners of other restaurants rather than customers. Fans of the chain were able to get an insight into just how abruptly restaurants were shut - thanks to pictures posted online by the auction house. Some showed leftover food still on trays and fresh food for the next day ready. In total, almost 100 restaurants across 27 states were shut on Monday night. The auctions of the restaurants' contents, run by Restaurant Equipment Bid, took place online on Thursday. The firm, which specialize in selling off gear from restaurants that close down and need to liquidate quickly, released images of items up for grabs at some of the locations on Wednesday. No fresh food or alcohol was old in any of the auctions. And while lobster tanks were sold, the creatures themselves were not. At a third Red Lobster in San Diego, dumpster divers were seen collecting items that were not included in the auction lots. Patio tables are loaded into a van at the Red Lobster in Torrance Closed sign at the Red Lobster in Torrance A U-Haul can is seen outside the now shuttered Red Lobster in Colombia, Maryland Red Lobster auction winners clear out kitchen equipment & furniture from the Red Lobster restaurant in Columbia, Maryland A lobster tank goes in the back of a truck in Maryland Industrial fridges and freezers outside the Colombia Red Lobster. The entire contents sold for under $5,000 Four people load shelving in Colombia, Maryland A grill from the Red Lobster in Colombia A man collects items from a dumpster in front of a closed Red Lobster restaurant whose entire contents are up for auction in San Diego, California, U.S., May 15, 2024 A dumpster is shown in front of a closed Red Lobster restaurant whose entire contents are up for auction in San Diego, California The images of items up for grabs at some of the locations made for fascinating viewing. At the Grand Forks location in North Dakota goods included a fish tank still containing live lobsters. Potatoes left on trays ready to be cooked, milk in fridges and cutlery strewn across the tables are also seen in images advertising the contents of Grand Forks. Other newly released images show a fully stocked walk-in fridge on the auction page for Council Bluff's Red Lobster in Iowa. Fresh lettuce and fruit as well as packaged sauce and baked bread suggests the speed at which the restaurants were closed and auction administrators brought in. The struggling chain is eyeing up a possible Chapter 11 filing to restructure its debt, allowing it to discard long-term contracts and renegotiate new leases. Live lobster still in their tank at the Grand Forks red Lobster in North Dakota Potatoes left on trays ready to be cooked seen in images advertising the contents of Grand Forks The chain, which started as a single restaurant in Lakeland, Florida, in 1968 has around 650 locations across almost all states. An image released by the auctioneers at the Colonial Heights, Virginia restaurant shows a large fridge with a pineapple, juice and plenty of liquor including beers and wine still in place. Other images of Colonial Heights appear to show leftover food on trays, prepared meals in a food heater, and dishes waiting to be washed on a rack, likely from the restaurants last serving day on Sunday. Minutes before his anticipatory bail was rejected, the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's controversial aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Saturday. Kumar was picked up from the Chief Minister's official residence by the police and brought to the Civil Lines Police Station. Maliwal has yet not reacted to the news of Kumar's arrest. The Tis Hazari court disposed of Kumar's anticipatory bail plea, terming it as "infructuous". Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4.45 pm and informed the court that Kumar has already been arrested in the case. "On a court query, the additional public prosecutor for the State submitted that the applicant was arrested at about 4:15 pm," the judge said. In a direct challenge to the Prime Minister, AAP convener and Kejriwal on Saturday dared him to arrest all top AAP leaders who will be marching en masse to the BJP headquarters on Sunday noon instead of picking them up one by one. Kejriwal, however, asserted that his party could not be crushed by sending its leaders to jail. Kumar is accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at the residence of Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Advocate Karan Sharma representing Kumar said, "We've not received any information from the police yet. We've sent them an email that we will cooperate in the investigation." Kumar on Saturday told the Tis Hazari court that he was "getting quashed in the battle of political giants." "On May 17, I (Bibhav) sent an email stating that I will join the investigation. I don't know why this is happening to me," lawyer Hariharan, appearing on behalf of Kumar, told the court. He also said Kumar could not be arrested without being served with a notice under section 41A of the CRPC. His lawyer said he was just seeking interim relief as the apprehension of arrest was real. "I'm not at flight risk. I'm not running anywhere," Kumar's lawyer Hariharan said while reading the application. "I'm just seeking protection right now...as the apprehension of arrest is very real," he added. The AAP shared an email sent by Kumar which stated, "It has come to knowledge of the undersigned through the media that a case FIR number 277/2024 has been registered at PS Civil Lines in which the undersigned has been named as an accused. Though the undersigned has not been served with any notice in the case till now, the undersigned categorically submits that he is willing to cooperate and join the investigation as and when called upon to do so by the investigating officer." "It may be emphasised here that the undersigned has also made a complaint bringing to light the true facts of the alleged incident that happened on 13.05.2024 vide emails dated 17.05.2024 to police," it said. On Friday night, Kumar had also mailed a complaint to the police against Maliwal for "illegal/ unauthorised entry into and creating a security breach by trespassing at the Chief Minister's residence; for creating a ruckus and interfering with public servants in discharge of duty". He wrote, "When the complainant asked Maliwal to leave the CM residence, not only was he abused and physically pushed by her, but she also threatened to implicate him in false cases. Since Maliwal has made unauthorised entry, trespassed, breached the security of the CM residence, prevented Government officers from discharging their duty and assaulted the complainant, she is liable for her action as per law." Claiming that this can be BJP's conspiracy, he said, "You are requested to take appropriate legal action against Maliwal. Since it is election time, all of this may have been done at the behest of the BJP and it is therefore requested that her call records, chats and interactions with BJP leaders should also be investigated." On the arrest, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma said, "Kumar got arrested from his house. So the CM was giving shelter to alleged criminals." Kumar was also summoned by the NCW to appear before it on Friday, at 11 am in the morning, which he ignored. An FIR was registered on Thursday under sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 354 D (Stalking), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Civil Lines police station. Maliwal's MLC done at AIIMS hospital during the wee hours of Friday has also confirmed that she sustained injuries on her face and leg. Calling Kumar a parrot in which Kejriwal's soul resides, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "It is extremely shameful that Kejriwal, by forgetting his decades-old relationship, is now tarnishing the character of his partner, Maliwal, who has been associated with him for more than two decades. Now that Kejriwal's aide Kumar has been arrested, the day is not far when many dirty pages of Kejriwal's politics will become public." He urged Kejriwal to come forward and support Maliwal at a time when the entire AAP is trying to defame her. "If the AAP is trying to implicate Maliwal by showing edited videos, it would be better for the Delhi Police to immediately take complete CCTV footage of the Chief Minister's residence into its possession," Sachdeva said, reacting to videos of Maliwal in the residence of Kejriwal going viral. At least nine people, including five women, were burnt alive and 15 injured in a fire incident near Tauru in Haryana's Nuh district in the early hours of Saturday. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all residents of Punjab's Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, who were returning from the pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan. All of them are relatives, police said. Police reported that the incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and a probe is underway, a police official said. A local resident said after noticing the fire, some people chased the bus on a motorcycle and asked the driver to stop. The locals also informed the police and the fire department. President Droupadi Murmu condoled the loss of lives in the fire and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. "The news of the death of many passengers in the tragic incident of a bus catching fire in Haryana's Nuh district is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured," Murmu said in a social media post. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has expressed grief over the loss of lives and assured the best possible treatment for those injured. From santustikaran (ensuring to satisfaction ) to tustikaran (appeasement ), plotting to send Ram Lalla to tent again and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's retirement age to scrapping of Citizenship Amendment Act, these issues dominated during campaigning for the fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha to be held on May 20. The political fate of Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Chirag Paswan, Piyush Goyal, Rajnath Singh, Omar Abdullah, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Rohini Acharya, will be decided in the fifth phase in 49 constituencies spread across eight States and Union Territories. The voting will begin at 7 am on Monday and conclude at 6 pm. This phase will witness voter participation from 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Maharashtra, seven in West Bengal, five in Bihar, five in Odisha, three in Jharkhand, and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Political rhetoric continued during the fifth phase campaigning by both the BJP and the Congress. During the campaign, Modi raised the issue of CAA, Muslim appeasement, Marxists economics and attacked the Congress, accusing it of indulging in "shameful" politics and plotting to send "Ram Lala to tent" again. Modi said he has resolved to free India from the biggest model of corruption, appeasement and dynastic politics. Addressing a public rally in Uttar Pradesh's Lalganj ahead of Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha elections, Modi asked, "Koi maai ka laal paida hua hai jo CAA ko khatam kar sakta hai? ("Has anyone been born from a mother who can repeal the CAA?" Jo bhi taakat ikathi karni hai karlo, mai bhi maidan me hun, tum bhi maidan me ho...aap CAA nahi mita paoge (gather all the strength you want, I am here, you are also here. You won't be able to repeal CAA)," Modi challenged INDIA Bloc leaders. On the other hand, the Congress and other Opposition parties claimed that if the BJP wins 400 seats, they change the Constitution while AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal raised the issue of Modi's retirement age saying Amit Shah will be next Prime Minister in an apparent move to create confusion among the BJP's voters. The Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh will be one of the most watched seats in the fifth phase of voting, due to the uncertainty over who the Congress will field from the constituency against sitting MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani. The Amethi constituency, formed in 1967 during the delimitation of parliamentary seats, encompasses five Assembly segments: Tiloi, Salon, Jagdishpur, Gauriganj, and Amethi. The Congress party has announced Kishori Lal Sharma as its candidate against the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) and current Union Minister for Minority Affairs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Smriti Irani. Sharma has played a significant role in Congress since 1983 and is instrumental in Sonia's victory in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in 1999. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) has named Nanhe Singh Chauhan as their candidate from Amethi. The party hopes that Chauhan will be able to garner the OBC Nonia community votes, which is a significant segment in the constituency. Amethi has historically been a bastion of the Congress party, as it has lost this seat only thrice, in 1977, 1998, and recently in 2019. Ending weeks of suspense on the last day of filing of nominations for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, Congress announced Rahul as its candidate. The decision put to rest rumours that his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be the one to replace their mother Sonia from the party stronghold. The move to field Rahul from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi - his former bastion - took many by surprise. Meanwhile, the BJP has nominated three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly and former Congress member Dinesh Pratap Singh as its Lok Sabha candidate from the constituency. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), contesting all Lok Sabha seats in UP independently in the 2024 general elections, has named Thakur Prasad Yadav as its candidate from Rae Bareli. Yadav, who unsuccessfully contested the UP Vidhan Sabha elections in 2017 and 2022, will make his debut in the lower house of Parliament with this candidacy. The Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, adjacent to Patna, is one of the State's 40 parliamentary seats and comprises six Assembly segments. Hajipur has been the political bastion of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, who hails from this region. Paswan's electoral prowess was evident from his remarkable record of victory here, having been elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Hajipur an impressive eight times. In the upcoming elections, Ram Vilas Paswan's son, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Shiv Chandra Ram will face stiff competition. Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, the largest in the country in terms of area, will be privy to the first major electoral contest after it was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and granted Union Territory status in 2019. Ladakh will vote on May 20. What was initially touted to be a two-way fight, a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, the parliamentary seat is now a three-corner fight with an alliance of local groups fielding an Independent to challenge the national parties. Over the last few months, Ladakh witnessed widespread shutdown as thousands participated in marches, advocating for Statehood and constitutional protections under the sixth schedule for the Union Territory. For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has nominated Tashi Gyalson, the chief executive councillor-cum-chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh), as its candidate for the seat, replacing incumbent Member of Parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal. The Congress has put forth Tsering Namgyal as its contender. Adding a twist to the electoral dynamics, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) has fielded Haji Haneefa Jan, the Kargil district president of the National Conference (NC). Historically, the Congress has clinched victory in the Ladakh constituency on six occasions. As per an agreement with the NC, they have nominated Tsering Namgyal, who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the LAHDC, both of which are constituents of the INDIA Bloc and the Leh Apex Body. For Karan Bhushan Singh, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be a battle of nerves. The Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh is one of the State's 80 Lok Sabha constituencies. It comprises five Vidhan Sabha seats, including Payagpur, Kaiserganj, Katra Bazar, Colonelganj, and Tarabganj, and is scheduled for polling in the fifth phase on May 20. Historically, the constituency has witnessed alternating periods of dominance by various parties, with the BJP currently enjoying momentum after winning the last two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019. According to the Election Commission, 695 candidates are in the fray for the fifth phase of polling. This count emerged after scrutinising 1,586 nomination forms filed for the fifth phase, 749 of which were deemed valid after the May 3 deadline. The last four phases recorded an approximate voter turnout of around 60 to 69 per cent. The fourth phase of polling held on May 7 in 96 constituencies saw a voter turnout of 69.16 per cent - the highest so far. According to the Election Commission, 69.58 per cent of men voters, 68.73 per cent of women voters, and 34.23 per cent of third-gender individuals exercised their franchise in the previous phase. BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdev, while addressing a press conference here on Saturday, accused the ruling coalition of promoting political jihad. Pratul said that a section of the Muslim community lures innocent tribal girls into a love trap and marries them. Later, they try to capture power by making them contest for the seats of Mukhiya, Zilla Parishad, Panchayat and Sarpanch reserved for tribals. There is political jihad. After that, the role of this tribal woman is reduced and all the work is taken care of by her Muslim husband. While giving innumerable examples of Pakur district, Pratul also gave examples of other districts of the state. He said that there are dozens of such examples in Pakur district, in which these Muslim fundamentalists have conspired to capture power by making their tribal wives win the elections. Some of them have trapped these innocent tribal daughters and married them to second and third wives. Giving the example of Pakur, Pratul said that Lalu Sheikh, Khayar Sheikh, Mehboob Alam, Azad Mian, Vakil Mansoori, Umed Ali Ansari, Abdus Shamim, Azad Ansari, Sagir Ansari, Mohammad Sheikh, Hazrat Ali and others. He said that there are dozens of such Muslim youths who lured their tribal daughters and married them. Then they made these wives contest elections at different levels and won in many cases and through them they captured power by waging political jihad. Giving examples from other parts of the state, he said that people like Tabarak Ansari, Ikramul Ansari, Moin Ansari, Rabbul Ansari, Shahbuddin Sheikh, Shahjahan Sheikh, Tipu Ansari have also carried out political jihad in other parts of the state. There is a list of more than 200 people who have captured or tried to capture power through political jihad. Pratul said that when his government is formed, he will demand a high-level investigation from the Home Ministry into the entire matter to find out whether these tribal daughters are being harassed. Meanwhile, Shahdev asked Alamgir Alam to resign immediately, saying that the Kejriwal model will not work in Jharkhand and ED has found evidence of Alamgir Alam being directly linked to the recovery of crores of rupees. ED has also mentioned this in its remand. Pratul said that ED should also investigate the movable and immovable properties and companies of Alamgir Alam's billionaire brother Jahangir Alam, who has been living in Bangladesh for a long time. Pratul said that Alamgir Alam's political rise in the 90s and his brother Jahangir Alam's The story of Bangladesh's shift during this period and its rise from the ashes to the top requires a thorough investigation. Pratul said that as Alamgir Alam's stature grew, so did his brother's financial empire. Today he is worth billions of rupees, and is involved in business related to rice, jute and medicine. State co-media in-charge Ashok Badaik and Tariq Imran were also present in the press conference. Punjab, this time, has witnessed a remarkable surge in candidate numbers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With a staggering 328 contenders throwing their hats into the electoral ring across the states 13 parliamentary constituencies, this election cycle has shattered records, surpassing the previous tallies of 253 in 2014 and 278 in 2019. The states Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C, sharing the details on Friday, said that a total of 328 candidates will contest the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, after a total of 25 candidates withdrew their names by the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Earlier, 466 candidates had filed 598 nominations in the State between May 7 and 14. After the scrutiny and withdrawal of papers on May 15-16, and May 17, respectively, the total number of candidates has come down to 328, including 302 male and 26 female candidates. As the last date for withdrawals passed, it became evident that the election field had swelled. The CEO revealed that Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency boasted the highest number of candidates, with a staggering 43 contenders vying for victory, including 41 males and two females. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, sitting MP and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, AAP MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi, and SADs Ranjit Singh Dhillon are battling it out from Ludhiana. In contrast, Fatehgarh Sahib Constituency has the lowest number of 14 candidates, with 13 being male and one female contestant. Following the completion of the nomination process, Sibin C emphasized the importance of adhering to the Election Commission of Indias (ECI) Model Code of Conduct (MCC). He urged all political parties and candidates to maintain decorum and refrain from making unverified allegations or engaging in distortions during the campaign. Providing a breakdown of the candidates contesting from each constituency, Sibin C highlighted the gender distribution, noting that out of the total 328 candidates, 302 were male, and 26 were female. Highest 41 male candidates are contesting from Ludhiana; while highest number of female contestants, four, are trying their luck from Amritsar. Various constituencies across Punjab witnessed a diverse range of candidates stepping into the electoral arena, with Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Khadoor Sahib among those displaying a significant number of contenders. Even as 26 female candidates are in fray, no women candidate has entered the poll arena from Ferozepur and Khadoor Sahib segments. In addition to outlining the candidate statistics, Sibin C reiterated the guidelines and regulations set forth by the ECI to ensure a free and fair electoral process. He emphasized the prohibition of loudspeaker usage during specific hours, compliance with traffic regulations, and the necessity of displaying identification badges during campaigns. Political workers must display badges or identity cards and vehicle restrictions during the campaign and on polling day must be obeyed. Complaints should be reported to election officials, he said. The CEO added that unofficial voter identity slips should be on plain white paper without symbols or candidate names. Non-voters and non-candidates must leave the constituency after the campaign. Corrupt practices, such as bribery and undue influence, and electoral offenses, such as canvassing within 100 meters of polling stations, are prohibited, he added. Additionally, he reminded candidates of the penalties outlined in the Representation of People Act, 1951, for disorderly conduct during public meetings. Demonstrations or picketing outside private residences are prohibited. Police assistance should be sought to manage disruptions at political meetings. Section 127 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, penalizes disorderly conduct at public meetings with imprisonment up to six months, a fine up to Rs 2000, or both, he added. Sharing information about the candidates, the CEO said that 30 candidates are in fray from Amritsar; 29 from Ferozepur; 28 each from Anandpur Sahib and Faridkot; 27 from Khadoor Sahib; 26 each from Patiala and Gurdaspur; 23 from Sangrur; 20 from Jalandhar; 18 from Bathinda; 16 from Hoshiarpur; and 14 from Fatehgarh Sahib. BOX Constituency-wise Candidates Dress similar to army taken back from the encroachment removal gang of Indore Municipal Corporation, the decision was changed after controversy. Indore Municipal Corporation has withdrawn its decision under which the encroachment removal gang was given army-like uniforms. This dress was given to more than 200 employees and the purpose of wearing this dress was to save them from the disputes during encroachment action, but after implementing this type of dress, Indore Municipal Corporation officials and the Mayor were criticized by all the people. After the protest in Indore, the encroachment squad had to remove the army-like uniform within 24 hours. The crowd broke into a loud cheer of Modi ji ko jai shree Ram as Prime Minister Narendra Modi came for a rally held in the national Capital on Saturday. Filled with enthusiasm and excitement, scores of BJP workers and supporters came to see him despite the temperature rising to 45 degrees Celsius. Prime Minister held his first rally in North east Delhis Kartar Nagar to support three candidates of the party in Delhi- North East Delhi candidate Manoj Tiwari, Chandni Chowk candidate Praveen Khandelwal and East Delhi candidate Harsh Malhotra. With big heart shaped cut outs with Abki bar 400 par written on it, people clapped non stop to welcome PM Modi. A boy was seen standing in the middle holding in his hand a framed photo of PM with his mother. The crowd also had first time voters who were enthusiastically seated on their seats, filled with anticipation to see their hero Prime Minister. When asked about why they are here, Deepanshi, aged 18 years who has just passed class 12, said, We have been seated here since 3 pm in the afternoon. I am so excited to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is an inspiration for the youth. I have just completed my 12th and will be looking to serve this nation by applying in government jobs. He made Ram Mandir for us and we are eager to visit the holy site. We will do it this year it self. A young boy Dev mentioned that he wants to join BJP to serve the nation. He said, PM Modi has brought Hindu pride back. He made Ram Mandir. He has done so much development in the country. I will vote for him only. A small girl named Tulsi, aged 5 years old, held in her hand dearly a cut out of Prime Minister with mai bhi hu Modi ka parivar written on it. However, some were also seen using it as a fan because of the heat. On being asked about why they have come here despite the scorching heat in the city, Amitabh Ahuja, resident of Pritampura, said, To be honest we didnt know there will be so much heat today. But even if it was known, a glimpse of Modi is enough to bear heat. He further said that he is not just voting for BJP on the face of Modi on May 25, when polling in Delhi is slated, I am giving my vote to BJPs candidate because of the partys development work. Of course PM Modi is a factor too but I feel the party has helped in the development of the country. Further, 14 people who got citizenship through Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were seated in the front row. A person who got his home in India finally after waiting for years held a poster that read Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Songs like mai taiyar, tu taiyar, Modi abki 400 par and Modi ka parivar, dege 400 par were also being played at the venure. People wore T-shirts saying mai hu Modi ka parivar and saffron caps. A divyang supporter of PM Modi was also present to witness him at the rally. He was waiting excitedly wearing partys scarf. Many supporters were seen sporting saffron turbans and T-shirts with Modis photo at back. Party flags were fluttered and despite the heat, people shouted Jai Shree Ram, Bharat Mata ki Jai and abki bar 400 par slogans. Haryana Chief Election Officer Anurag Agarwal on Friday said that the candidates contesting elections must disclose their criminal records, if any, publicly. For this, candidates must provide complete information about their criminal cases along with an affidavit. Apart from it, the relevant political party must also publish information about the candidate's criminal cases on its official website. He said that the process of filing nominations was complete on May 6, and after filing nominations, it is mandatory for candidates and political parties to disclose information about criminal cases at least three times in newspapers and TV channels. The Chief Election Officer announced that special arrangements will be made at polling stations on May 25, considering the summer season. Basic facilities such as tents, fans, and cold drinking water will be ensured to protect voters from the heatwave. Apart from it, voters will receive information from BLO through the queue management app about the number of people in queue, preventing overcrowding at polling stations and reducing wait times for voters to cast their votes with convenience. The CEO reported that the Election Commission has developed the C-Vigil app for voters to report violations of the Model Code of Conduct. In this digital age, IT-savvy voters immediately report any code violations they come across to the commission through this app. In Haryana, voters have sent 7,512 complaints through the C-Vigil app, of which 6,655 have been verified by Assistant Returning Officers. Agarwal said that the total number of service voters in the state is 111,058. He said that as the counting of postal ballots received from service voters is to be done before the EVM, availability of the required number of scanners should be ensured at the counting centres in advance and added that a separate ARO should be appointed for this work. He said that postal ballots are an important document in counting of votes. Under this, voters and other employees deployed on service voter counting duty and absentee voters are counted. In view of this, a separate nodal officer should be appointed, he said. Agarwal further said that the number of polling stations including temporary polling stations at 10,523 places in the state is 20,031. A direct flight will fly from Bhopal to Jeddah on May 21 and 22. On the first day, 183 pilgrims will go on Haj pilgrimage. 202 passengers will leave on the second day. Flights will depart from Bhopal's Raja Bhoj Airport at 5.30 am. Haj Committee Chairman Rauf Warsi said, preparations for the Haj pilgrimage have been completed. A flight has left from Indore. Flights will fly from Bhopal on 21st and 22nd May. About 7 thousand Haj pilgrims from the state will depart from Mumbai airport from May 21. This sequence will continue till June 9. Arrangement of coolers and fans in Haj House, team of doctors Preparations have been made for the convenience of Haj pilgrims from Bhopal. Commissioner Dr. Pawan Sharma has also held a meeting. He has asked Corporation Commissioner Harendra Narayan to make seating arrangements, coolers, mobile toilets, parking, drinking water arrangements for the Haj pilgrims and their accompanying family members and to fix the approach road to the Haj House. At the same time, power supply will also remain for 24 hours. 24 hour team of doctors at the airport Instructions have been given to secure beds at Hamidia Hospital in case of emergency along with doctors and paramedical team 24 hours at the airport and appoint a special team of doctors. Along with this, in view of the heat in Haj House, it has also been asked to distribute ORS packets. Madhya Pradesh State Haj Committee Chairman Warsi, MP Waqf Board Chairman Dr. Sanwar Patel were also present in the meeting. Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, while addressing the public meeting organized in Lalbagh, Meghwadi in support of NDA candidate from Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency, Yamini Yashwant Jadhav, said that first the Mughals, then the British and now the Congress are working to shame the self-respect of India. Still working. Congress and its arrogant alliance people are showing speed in doing this work. Because of these, the self-respect of the country was a bit scared, but now both the self-respect and the Constitution of the country are in strong and honest hands. These arrogant alliance leaders are dreaming of power, but their dream will never be fulfilled now. The dream seen by Chhatrapati Shivaji is now being fulfilled. By challenging the power of the Mughals, the heroes of Maharashtra gave an opportunity to be proud. During this, Chief Minister Yadav also participated in the grand Ashirwad Yatra organized at Shivaji Park Dadar in support of NDA candidate from Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha constituency, Rahul Ramesh Shewale. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the leaders of the arrogant alliance are dreaming of power. Their leaders want to become Prime Ministers, but Congress is not getting any candidates to contest the elections. Half the leaders of this arrogant alliance are in jail and some have come out on bail. Chief Minister Yadav said that the land of Maharashtra is the land of Veer Savarkar, the land of Baba Saheb. Baba Saheb also never compromised with the self-respect of the country. Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that today the dream of Chhatrapati Maharaj Shivaji is coming true in the country. Chhatrapati Shivaji had dreamed of a Hindu empire. When the country was ruled by the Mughals and the British. When the temple of Baba Mahakal was demolished in 1235 AD, it was the heroes of Maharashtra who made us feel proud by getting it rebuilt. Challenged the power of the Mughals and gave us an opportunity to be proud by building our temples in front of them. That period was difficult, but even in that difficult period he protected the temples. It also gave an opportunity to the people of Madhya Pradesh and Ujjain to be proud. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that now history is changing. In these changing times, amidst this changing history and the world, the voice of India's democracy with a man with a 56 inch chest is reaching the world. Today both the Constitution and self-respect of the country are in the safest hands. The country is gaining respect in the world today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the country famous in the world. Now even if a firecracker is burst by mistake in the country, Pakistan says that it was not burst by us. Lord Shri Ram is smiling in the sanctum sanctorum in Ayodhya under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that Bharatiya Janata Party will win all 29 seats of Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. This time the dream of crossing 400 will come true. This arrogant alliance should be eliminated in Maharashtra also. This time this arrogant alliance has to be taught a lesson and they have to be punished for their sins. Lord Shri Ram was kept sitting under the open sky for years, he adopted the policy of divide and rule in the country, this is the time to punish all these sins. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav urged the public to teach a lesson to Pakistan's patrons and make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time with a historic majority. During the public meeting organized in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav told the crowd present there that I come from Ujjain, the city of Baba Mahakal and am inviting everyone to come to Ujjain. 5 Everyone come to Ujjain, see Baba Mahakal Lok and have darshan of Baba Mahakal. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that Baba Mahakal Lok has been constructed in Ujjain and now the places where Lord Shri Ram and Shri Krishna have performed on the land of Madhya Pradesh will also be made as grand pilgrimage sites.Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav also participated in the grand Ashirwad Yatra organized at Shivaji Park Dadar in support of NDA candidate from Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Rahul Ramesh Shewale. During this, the Chief Minister was given a grand welcome and felicitation. During this, flowers were showered on Chief Minister Dr. Yadav from JCB. He was welcomed at many places by wearing big garlands. It kept raining flowers all the way. The Chief Minister also accepted the greetings of the crowd present during the Ashirwad Yatra and appealed to everyone to vote for Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji. During this, a huge crowd encouraged Chief Minister Dr. Yadav. In a direct challenge to the Prime Minister, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday dared him to arrest all top AAP leaders who will be marching en masse to the BJP headquarters on Sunday noon instead of picking them up one by one. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said you people are seeing how these people are after the Aam Aadmi Party, they are putting our leaders in jail one after the other. They put me, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh in jail. Today my PA was put in jail. They are saying that they will put Raghav Chaddha, who has just returned from London, in jail. They are saying in a few days, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi will also be put in jail, he added. Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, however, asserted that his party could not be crushed by sending its leaders to jail. Daring the Prime Minister to arrest AAP leaders en masse, Kejriwal said, I want to tell the Prime Minister, you are playing this Jail ka khel by putting one person after the other in jail. Sometimes you put Manish Sisodia, sometimes Arvind Kejriwal, sometimes Sanjay Singh in jail. I am coming to BJP headquarters with all my big leaders, MLAs, MPs, everyone, at 12 noon tomorrow. Whoever you want to put in jail, put them in all at once. You think that you will crush Aam Aadmi Party by putting its leaders in jail, the Aam Aadmi Party is not going to be crushed like this. You try putting them in jail once and see. The AAP is an idea. For as many AAP leaders you jail, the country would produce leaders a hundred times more, Kejriwal said. He claimed that the AAPs fault was that its government in Delhi built good schools, set up Mohalla Clinics, provided free treatment and ensured free round-the-clock power supply in the city which the BJP could not do. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday revealed that during his incarceration in Tihar jail, two CCTV cameras were positioned outside his barrack, with a surveillance team comprising 13 officers monitoring him round the clock. Even the footage was shared with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said while addressing a significant meeting with party leaders and workers in Amritsar. Accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kejriwal said: There were two CCTV cameras installed outside my barrack in the jail to monitor me. 13 jail officers kept an eye on me 24 hours a day, the footage of cameras was also shared with the PMO. These people kept an eye on my every activity, but they did not find anything. I have nothing to hide. Even in jail, I used to do my work and read books. Sharing further, he said: From here, the Punjab Police and Chief Minister's Office used to write that the CM of Punjab is coming to meet the CM of Delhi, but they did not arrange a meeting with me in the room. I used to stand on one side of the jail's bars and Bhagwant Mann on the other side and talk. They thought that by doing this they are insulting Kejriwal, but Kejriwal is not insulted by these small things. As long as Bharat Mata's head is high, Kejriwal's head is high. Expressing his gratitude, Kejriwal said: I have come here this time to meet the people of Punjab and my workers. I used to miss you all a lot in jail. He lambasted the BJP's attempt to weaken AAP by his arrest, asserting that such efforts would only strengthen the party's resolve. Every worker of the Aam Aadmi Party is Kejriwal, he emphasized, highlighting the unity within the party. Revealing the challenges he faced during his detention, Kejriwal mentioned the deliberate obstruction by jail authorities in facilitating meetings between him and Mann, despite provisions in the jail manual permitting such interactions. He narrated instances of health negligence, including the halt in his insulin supply, a crucial medication for his diabetes, which led to a spike in his sugar levels. However, he expressed gratitude for the Supreme Court's bail relief, vowing to utilize every moment to serve the nation. There are still 10-12 days left for the election campaign. Work so hard in these 10-12 days that the party wins all 13 seats in Punjab. On June 4, the day of election results, I will be in jail but I will watch the election results on TV. I am fully confident that you will not disappoint me, he added. Mann echoed Kejriwal's sentiments, lauding his resilience and denouncing BJP's tactics. He commended AAP workers for their dedication, attributing the party's prominence in the election campaign nationwide to their efforts. Mann predicted BJP's defeat in the ongoing election phases, asserting that the "ship is sinking" for the ruling party. In conclusion, Mann rallied the workers, urging them to redouble their efforts in the remaining campaign period. He underscored the significance of their role in safeguarding democracy and the constitution, pledging to script history with Punjab's unwavering support. A murderer hiding in disguise of a saint for 12 years, arrested by police in Sagar. To catch the murderer hiding in the guise of a monk, the police also adopted the film method and reached the temple posing as a devotee and arrested the accused. Sagar Police has arrested the murder accused who was absconding for 13 years from a temple located in Mhow, Indore. The name of the accused is Hibbu alias Prabhudayal who was hiding in the temple for years in the guise of a sadhu. When Deori police of Sagar district came to know about the location of the accused, they reached the temple posing as devotees but there were more than 12 sadhus in the temple. Aaori Hibbu had grown his hair and beard so it was not easy to recognize him. The police targeted him on the basis of his height and as night fell, a devotee-turned-policeman approached him and said, "My mother is unwell, please take her in the car and bless her." When Hibbu came to give blessings, the police caught him, made him sit in the car and brought him to Sagar. Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister LK Advani and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi have cast their votes using the home voting facility, the Delhi poll body said. The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Delhi on Thursday kicked off the home voting facility for elderly voters and persons with disabilities (PwDs) and it will go on till May 24. According to the data shared by the office, 1,409 voters cast their ballots from the comfort of their homes across all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi on Friday, which was the second day of the facility being started. The West Delhi constituency reported the highest number of home votes, with 348 voters participating. Among them, 299 were elderly individuals. With the completion of the second day, a total of 2,956 voters have exercised their right to vote from home, the CEO office said. Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi successfully cast their votes on May 17 from their home availing home voting facility in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, the office said. Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari cast his vote on Thursday, it added. Former deputy prime minister LK Advani cast his vote on Saturday, sources said. On the first day, 1,482 voters exercised their franchise from home. A total of 5,406 voters across Delhi -- elderly individuals and PwDs -- have filled out Form 12D to avail of the home voting facility in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This initiative ensures these voters can participate in the electoral process with ease and dignity, eliminating the need to visit polling stations. Delhi will go to polls on May 25. Days after confirming the alleged assault by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals controversial aide, the AAP has now taken a u-turn and claimed the alleged assault on its leader and Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, claiming that this case is a sinister scheme of the BJP to destabilise the AAP government. AAP has asserted that the BJP is orchestrating a political conspiracy involving the former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson to undermine AAP in the upcoming Delhi elections on May 25. Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi claimed, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, who is entangled in an alleged recruitment scam case, is being coerced by the BJP. It is using legal threats to pressure Maliwal into targeting the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. With voting just five days away, the AAP urges police to investigate Swati Maliwals connections with BJP leaders to uncover the truth. She stated that Maliwal is facing an alleged recruitment scam case from the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) that contractual employees were recruited in DCW in an illegal manner and said that this case has been going on for the last several years. An FIR has also been filed against her. Now this case is close to ending. Therefore, it seems that the same formula of the BJP to file cases against different leaders must have been used on Maliwal. Perhaps she was made to do this by threatening her about the case going on against her in DCW, she said. She further added, We have also said that Swati Maliwals call records should be investigated. We have come to know from reliable sources that she has been in constant touch with BJP leaders for the last few months. Delhi Police should investigate what kind of political conspiracy is this, which is being hatched to attack AAP and Arvind Kejriwal just 5 days before the elections in Delhi. There should be a thorough investigation into how Maliwal is in contact with the BJP. Ms. Atishi mentioned that the BJP does everything clearly and said, Like other opposition leaders, BJP has adopted the same formula in the Swati Maliwal case as well. First a case is filed against her by the ACB, FIR is registered, it is under investigation now. Now through this case, this conspiracy has been hatched by Maliwal. She is made a pawn of this conspiracy just before the elections. Additionally, Senior AAP Leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed to a video showing Maliwal threatening security personnel, which he said is contradicting her claims of victimhood. On Tuesday, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had said that Kumar did misbehave with Maliwal and that Kejriwal is taking cognisance against it. Bharadwaj said, When any woman makes such an allegation, people sympathise with her. When Swati Maliwal made this allegation for the first time, we also sympathised with her. Maliwal said that she was slapped, kicked and punched, her clothes were torn and somehow she managed to escape by saving herself. She said this on May 13. Refuting her claims by a video that surfaced on social media showing her sitting on a couch and arguing with the security personnels, Bhardwaj said, A video of Kejriwals drawing room of May 13 has surfaced, in which two policemen and a female policeman are standing in safari suits. These are the CMs security personnel. In the video, she is seen misbehaving with those police personnel. She is saying that I will get your uniform removed. She is also seen using abusive language for Bibhav Kumar. Her clothes are looking fine in the video. She is sitting comfortably on the sofa and is commanding. She does not look like she is suffering or making any noise. Further he said that in another video, security personnel are seen escorting Maliwal outside the CMs house, in which she looks fine. Another video of May 13 has surfaced, in which security personnel escorted her outside the CMs house. In that video too, she looks fine and is walking well. In her alleged conversation on May 13, even after so much beating, she is walking fine, he said Challenging the BJP claims of not being in touch with her, he said, I was listening to BJP President JP Nadda. He is saying that no BJP leader is in touch with her. I challenge the BJP. It has all the investigation agencies. Get all the WhatsApp and FaceTime calls of Maliwal investigated by those agencies. Senior BJP leaders are in touch with Swati Maliwal. JP Nadda also knows this, he said, adding that the way an ACB case against Maliwal is pending in the court, a lot of pressure would have been put on her by the BJP. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, on Saturday, said that this time NDA government will not be formed in the Country. There is no such thing as a Modi wave and people did not show enthusiasm in the elections. If there is no wave then it will only go against the ruling party. Low voting percentage is also an indication that there is an atmosphere against the ruling party, he added. Sinha said that in a country like America, the President can be elected only twice, but here Narendra Modi wants to become the Prime Minister for the third time. He said that what Narendra Modi did not do in the last 10 years as Prime Minister, he wants to do now. He said that this time none of PM Modi's tricks are attracting voters. Sinha said that PM Modi has teased a new rumor that if he gets 400 plus seats, he will bring back Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. He said that the NDA has made Pakistan an issue in this election also. Efforts are being made to divide the country on a communal basis. He said that I have seen dozens of elections since 1962, but there has never been an election as dull as this time. He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party would be limited to just 200 seats. He said that the NDA will remain far away from the majority. The former Union Minister said that the candidates do not have any issue and base of their own. In the advertisement, Hazaribagh candidate writes that Modi's Manish, that is, I am Modi. The Prime Minister should tell what is left in 10 years that 5 more years are needed. He said that I appeal to the people of Hazaribagh to vote in large numbers. He said that I was an IAS officer. Many elections were conducted as District Magistrate but this time there is a lot of silence. He said that in the last assembly elections, BJP had given the slogan of crossing 65 in Jharkhand but the seats were 25. This time the slogan of crossing 400 has been given and we will be hanged in 200. Assuring that the Punjab Police will leave no stone unturned to ensure free and fair elections in the state, Punjab Polices Special Director General of Police (Special DGP), Law and Order, Arpit Shukla on Friday appealed to the protesting people and parties to protest in a democratic manner if they wish to voice their opposition against any candidate or political party. Shukla emphasized the importance of not taking the law into their own hands. As per the order of the Election Commission of India, every party and candidate has the equal right to campaign for votes, he said, after holding meetings with the IGP, DIG and SSPs of Faridkot and Ferozepur ranges to review the preparations for the Lok Sabha Elections-2024 and the security arrangements in this regard. Faridkot Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gursharan Singh Sandhu, Ferozepur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) RS Dhillon, Moga Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh and other senior officers were present in the meeting. Shukla, talking to reporters, said that 80 per cent police force was being deployed in the border state to ensure free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the upcoming elections and to instill confidence among the general public as well as maintain law and order in sensitive and ultra-sensitive areas. At least 272 more companies of central forces will reach the state soon. Already, 26 companies of central forces have been deployed in the State. A total of 298 companies will be deployed for Punjab elections, he said. Shukla added that Punjabs 10 districts are adjacent to different states, and a total of 220 inter-state checkpoints are being installed in all these districts in view of security. He said that 3103 sensitive polling booths have been identified in Punjab. For which an adequate number of security forces will be deployed. He also appealed to the people to cooperate with the Punjab Police to conduct these elections peacefully and transparently. Any complaint in this regard can be lodged on the helpline number issued by the Election Commission or on 112. Immediate action will be taken by the police on the confirmed information, he added. Earlier during the meeting stressing the need to create a positive atmosphere in the state, Special DGP directed all police officers to conduct professional policing and not allow anyone to disturb the peace and harmony of the state. He ordered the officials to speed up the checking of vehicles coming and going into the state, especially commercial vehicles, to prevent the entry of drugs and illicit liquor into the state. He also directed the group of officials to make special efforts to nab the culprits involved in heinous crimes, drug trafficking, and looting, as well as speed up the investigation and prosecution of election-related crime cases. Special DGP also informed the officials about the rules regarding the deployment of forces at general polling booths and critical and sensitive polling booths. He also informed the officials about the rules for providing security to the candidates. Ranchi Police have arrested five smugglers who were going to smuggle Doda. The police team under the leadership of Kotwali DySP, Prakash Soy took this action on Saturday. The DySP had received information that five smugglers were going to smuggle large quantities of Doda from Khunti. After which Kotwali DySP, taking action along with the police of Sukhdevnagar police station, first arrested two smugglers from Sukhdevnagar police station area. The arrested smugglers told the police that their other associates were carrying Doda from Khunti. After which the police caught three smugglers near Bundu toll plaza. Seven quintals of Doda were recovered from him in a car. Meanwhile, police solved the child stealing case which happened at Ranchi railway station. The child has been recovered from Cuttack, Odisha. On the morning of May 12, nine-month-old Shubham Kumar was kidnapped by child thieves from Ranchi Railway Station. Taking action in this case, Ranchi Police team has arrested Radha Sahu, Amit Pal, Tikki, Nudrat Jahan and Suhana Begum. All these people are residents of Cuttack and Puri district of Odisha. The arrested accused have admitted that at the behest of Nudrat Jahan, women Radha Sahu, Amit Sanatan Pal and Tikki together had stolen the child for the greed of money and the child was sold for Rs 58 thousand. Then Nudrat Jahan sold the said child to Suhana Begum. Since Suhana Begum and her sister-in-law did not have any children, the child was bought by them on May 13. The money was paid by Nudrat Jahan from her Phone Pay account to Amit Pal's Phone Pay account. Ranchi SSP Chandan Sinha gave this information in a press conference on Saturday. Sinha said, Police came to know that some child lifting gangs are active in Cuttack and they steal children from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal. When the criminals found in the raid conducted by Ranchi and Odisha police were interrogated strictly, they confessed that they had sold the child stolen from Ranchi station on May 12 in Khurda, Odisha. After interrogating in Cuttack, according to the statement of the criminals, the police went to Khurda, from where they recovered nine month old Shubham Kumar. As soon as they got the information about the discovery of the child, Shubham's parents left for Odisha. Silver has reached an all time high. The shine of silver has intensified in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. According to the Bullion Association, the rate of 1 kg silver has reached Rs 88500. There has been an increase of Rs 11,700 in one and a half months. On the other hand, gold is also shining hige as 24 carat 10 gram gold is available for Rs 75,750. Due to this, the bullion business in Bhopal has declined by 30 percent. Bhopal Bullion Federation spokesperson Navneet Kumar Aggarwal said , silver reached record level in Bhopal on Thursday. Similar is the condition of gold also. For the second time the price has become Rs 75,750. There are more than 1000 gold and silver shops in Bhopal. There is a bullion market in the old city, while there are shops all over the city including New Market, Number 10 Market, Kolar, Hoshangabad Road, Bairagarh. There was good footfall in the market due to marriage auspicious time in March-April, but currently the wedding season has come to a halt. Due to this the subscription is less. Especially middle class people have distanced themselves from the market. There is definitely a crowd of farmers after the harvest of wheat and gram. Overall sales have witnessed a decrease by 30 percent. Subscriptions will pick up again in June. Traders claim that the market has been bullish since March. Due to this, the rates of gold and silver have increased. The rate of silver was Rs 73500 per kg on March 1 and Rs 76800 per kg on April 1, which reached Rs 88500 on May 16. In this way, there has been an increase of Rs 11700 in one and a half months. At the same time, the rate of gold was Rs 64700 per 10 grams on March 1, which reached Rs 75750 on May 16. In this way, it has increased by Rs 4700 in one and a half months. Spokesperson Aggarwal said that gold rates have increased at the international level. Which is affecting the Bhopal market also. On the other hand, silver is being used more in industries. Silver is being used in every electronic device. That's why silver prices are increasing. In the next one year, gold prices may go up to Rs 80000 to Rs 85000 per 10 grams. Whereas silver can also reach Rs 1 lakh per kg. The children of police officers/employees of 7th/23rd 25th SAF Battalion Bhopal, who have secured more than 90 percent marks in class 10th/12th in the academic session 2023-24 were felicitated by Sajid Farid Shapu, Additional Director General of Police, SAF Police Headquarters, Bhopal Honored in the "Medhavi Vidyarthi Samman Ceremony" organized at Bahini Special Armed Forces Bhadbhada Road, Bhopal. On this occasion, upon the arrival of Shapu Additional Director General of Police SAF, Police Headquarters, Bhopal, rose flowers were presented by the children of police officers/employees. Deputy Inspector General of Police, SAF Bhopal, Amit Sanghi, present in the program, congratulated the children of police families for their excellent performance He awarded Madhya Pradesh Police Special Award to 18 children of police officers/employees of 7th/23rd/25th corps SAF Bhopal, who have secured more than 90 percent marks in class 10th/12th in the academic session 2023-24. A citation and a medal of honor were presented by the armed forces. In the program, the children expressed their views regarding the challenges and inspiration they faced in their journey to success. On this occasion he said that excellent success inspired them to achieve success in life by being aware of the challenges coming in the future. In the program, gratitude was expressed by Rajesh Singh Chandel (B.P.S.) Commandant, 25th Battalion. Chandel said that the program of honoring the children for their high academic success has been organized with the inspiration of Additional Director General of Police Visbal, so that other children of the police family can also be inspired to perform excellently and it was assured that in future Every possible effort will be made by the corps for any kind of assistance. Various types of activities organized for children were organised. Commandant 23rd Battalion SAF , Bhopal Ajay Pandey (BJP) gave information about various activities going on in the summer camp. Shapu and Sanghi praised the enthusiasm of the children participating in the summer camp and the efforts being made by the 23rd/25th SAF for successfully organizing the summer camp. To supercharge the saffron partys campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is poised to bring his star power to the border state. Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is orchestrating a series of high-profile events featuring Adityanath in key cities such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Batala areas known for their significant migrant population. This strategic move aims to energize voters and galvanize support in what promises to be a fiercely contested election. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has formally invited Yogi Adityanath to visit the state to campaign for the party. Jakhar, in a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, praised Adityanath's governance and highlighted his popularity in Punjab. Jakhar emphasized that Adityanath's presence would significantly bolster the BJP's campaign efforts in Punjab marking the first time that the BJP is contesting all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab on its own. Jakhar proposed election campaigns in three major cities Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Batala. He requested that Yogi allocate some time for Punjab to intensify the election campaign in the state. Jakhar assured that all necessary arrangements for Adityanaths overnight stay would be made in Ludhiana. The development assumes significance as the BJP, amidst the backdrop of ongoing farmer protests against its candidates and leaders across Punjab, has decided to recalibrate its political strategy by shifting the focus towards migrants from the neighbouring states, predominantly Uttar Pradesh. Recognizing the significant presence of migrant populations in Punjab, the BJP is seeing an opportunity to mobilize support from this demographic segment, which may be less impacted by the agrarian grievances fueling the protests. By redirecting attention towards migrants, the party aimed at offsetting the potential losses in rural constituencies and broadening its electoral base. Concurrently, efforts are underway to bolster the organizational framework of the party, particularly in regions where farmer opposition has been most pronounced. In response to this imperative, the saffron party has intensified its Uttar Pradesh Cell in Punjab, appointing new members across four key districts Sangrur, Ferozepur, Mansa, and Moga a few days back. Approximately 30 individuals were tasked with spearheading organizational initiatives aimed at consolidating support and galvanizing grassroots mobilization. These appointments at the level of conveners, co-conveners, and state executive members reflected the party's commitment to fortifying its presence at the grassroots level and fostering a robust organizational structure capable of withstanding the challenges posed by the farmer protests. In a notable development, Yogi is scheduled to hold an election rally in Chandigarh on the afternoon of May 20 (Monday). His visit is anticipated to energize the BJP's campaign and support the candidates in Punjab also. Meanwhile, there has been speculation about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also visit Punjab for the campaign. Although Modi has not yet visited Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections, his inclusion in the campaign schedule could provide a significant boost to the BJP's efforts in the State. Punjab BJP has recently released a list of star campaigners, which included the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath among 40 prominent figures. The party plans to invite these leaders based on their availability and campaign needs. Additionally, several Chief Ministers from other states have also been included in the list of star campaigners. Preparations are also underway for Prime Minister Modi's potential visit to Punjab. The party is planning his programs in key cities such as Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar. Meetings are being held to finalize the details and ensure a successful campaign tour for Modi. A Bhopal based young woman who had gone to visit Manali, was murdered by her friend in Hotel KD Villa in Manali, murder surfaced after her friend was trying to check out from the hotel with a huge bag. The woman was identified as Sheetal Kaushal of Shahpura. The murder came to light when his friend Vinod Thakur started checking out from the hotel. Himachal Police took the accused into custody within 24 hours on the basis of a yellow vegetable stain on his white shirt. Sheetal (23), resident of Shahpura, lived with her parents. After working in a private company for a few days, she left the job. Father Kailash drives an auto rickshaw, while brother Rohit works in a tour operator agency. Rohit said that Sheetal suddenly disappeared on the morning of May 5. When she was not found even after a lot of searching, they lodged a missing complaint at Shahpura police station. Rohit alleged that Vinod was blackmailing Sheetal for money. Sheetal told that brother, something wrong has happened with her. The deceased was a graduate from Nutan College, Bhopal. He became friends with the accused through social media. On May 5, at 11.30 am, she had left the house without informing. On May 8, the family members had lodged a report at Shahpura police station. The family members allege that if the police had acted on time, their daughter could have been saved. In this case, Shahpura police station in-charge Raghunath Singh said that the family members of the deceased did not report her missing with the police. The hotel staff did not have any document or photo of the young man's identity. The hotel staff said that he was wearing a white shirt while running away. There were black stripes on the shirt. There was also a yellow vegetable stain on the front of the shirt. We blocked the check posts of Manali, Kullu and other tourist places. During checking, he was caught in a bus near Jheedi village bordering Kullu district. On Thursday, SP of Kullu district of Himachal, Dr. Karthikeyan Gokulchandran said that the deceased, a resident of Bhopal, had come for a visit on May 13. She was staying in the hotel located on Gompa Road, Manali in room number 302 with her friend Vinod Thakur, resident of Palwal, Haryana. The woman had left the house without informing. Both of them had checked in on May 13. Both of them had gone to Sissu (hill station) for a walk on May 14. Both came back in the evening. After this they had dinner in the hotel room. On the evening of May 15 the young man ordered a taxi from the hotel manager to go to the bus stand. After some time the taxi arrived and Vinod started keeping the luggage in the taxi alone. When the hotel staff asked about the woman, he said that she had gone to Leh. During this time, the hotel staff felt that a bag was very heavy. When asked why the bag was heavy, the accused ran away from the spot. When the police reached the spot and searched, the dead body of the woman was found there. Police arrested the accused from Bijora in Kullu on May 16. During initial interrogation, the accused said that the murder happened after a personal dispute. Manali police said that the accused also used to go to Bhopal to meet the woman. There were long conversations between the two on mobile also. Vinod, who was arrested on the charges of murder of Sheetal, has made this disclosure during initial interrogation. Vinod also told during interrogation that he and Sheetal had already visited Kullu, Manali and other tourist places of Himachal Pradesh once before. Both of them came here for the second time on May 13. Police are verifying the statements of the accused. Investigation has revealed that the CCTV cameras in the hotel where both of them were staying were faulty. Not only this, their proper entry into the hotel was also not recorded. The hotel management had completed the formalities only by taking the Aadhar card of the deceased, whereas the documents were not taken from the young man. Misrod police have arrested a youth for raising slogans of Pakistan Zindabad, he runs a tyre repair shop in Misrod area. After the video went viral on Friday, Bajrang Dal officials reached his shop. From there they caught him and took him to the police station and lodged a complaint. Police have taken action against the youth under section 153B of the IPC. During police interrogation, the young man said that the person who made his video was his friend. I said these words jokingly. Didn't know the video would go viral. Misrod police station in-charge Manish Bhadauria said that Faisal Khan (28), resident of Mandideep, runs a tyre repair shop near a petrol pump in the area. While talking to someone on Thursday, he had said Pakistan Zindabad. The youth has been arrested on the complaint. After the video went viral, Bajrang Dal officials lodged a complaint at Misrod police station. Bajrang Dal official Dinesh Yadav said that after watching the video the accused had approached Faisal Khan. There he misbehaved with the workers. After this, the accused was caught and handed over to Misrod police and a case was registered against him. The accused is also heard commenting about India and PM Modi in the video. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches. Kharge was addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc, where NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders were present. The opposition alliance held an election rally in the city on Friday. "No prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He speaks about democracy repeatedly but doesn't adhere to the tenets of democracy," Kharge said. Responding to a question on PM Modi' statement that the Congress will bulldoze the Ram mandir in Ayodhya and also restore Article 370 if the INDIA bloc is voted to power, Kharge said, "We have never used a bulldozer on anyone. Modi has the habit of lying and inciting people about things which Congress will never do or the things that are impossible to be implemented." Asked about his party's stand on Article 370, Kharge said , "I am not answerable to Modi. We will implement what we have promised in our manifesto." Attacking the PM further, he said, "Wherever he goes, he tries to create division, speaks of dividing society." PM Modi had described the Congress' manifesto as Muslim League manifesto, but now he says it is a Maoist manifesto, Kharge added. The Congress chief assured that reservation as enshrined in the Constitution will continue and nobody can touch it. Speaking on the occasion, Thackeray said, "'Achche din' are coming from June 4 (when Lok Sabha poll results will be declared) when INDIA bloc-led government takes charge." "PM Modi calls us 'nakli' (fake) Shiv Sena, tomorrow he may call RSS as 'nakli Sangh'," the former chief minister said. The BJP is floating 'Pakistan flags in our rally' narrative to divert people's attention from issues like jobs, he alleged. Pawar said that after coming to power, the INDIA bloc government's duty will be to protect all religious places in the country. Kharge noted that if elected, the opposition alliance's government will implement a simple, single rate GST, replacing the present GST. "We introduced Food Security Act, but PM Modi is taking credit for free ration supply," he alleged. Chinese foreign ministry, Macao SAR government host symposium on external legal affairs Xinhua) 11:16, May 18, 2024 Guests pose for a group photo at a symposium on external legal affairs in Macao, south China, May 17, 2024. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) jointly held a symposium on external legal affairs on Friday, seeking new opportunities for legal development and exchanges. The symposium themed "New Achievements, New Opportunities, New Actions: Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Macao's Return to the Motherland" was attended by some 370 officials, scholars, students, and association representatives. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) MACAO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) jointly held a symposium on external legal affairs on Friday, seeking new opportunities for legal development and exchanges. The symposium themed "New Achievements, New Opportunities, New Actions: Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Macao's Return to the Motherland" was attended by some 370 officials, scholars, students, and association representatives. Good work in the SAR's external legal affairs is important to building the country's foreign-related rule of law and essential to Macao's law-based governance, said Miao Deyu, assistant minister of foreign affairs of China. He added that it is significant for ensuring the steady and long-term development of "one country, two systems" and the SAR's long-term stability. United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares said via video that the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and its subsequent implementation have vividly demonstrated how countries can hold peaceful negotiations with such tools as international law, and offered innovative and pragmatic options for resolving various complex and historic issues. At the symposium, Cheong Weng Chon, secretary for administration and justice of the Macao SAR government, stressed that the SAR will firmly guard the bottom line of national security and promote the sustainable development of Macao's economy and society. In addition, the SAR will use its advantages to better serve the country's overall development, and carry out exchanges and cooperation with foreign countries in a multichannel manner, said the official. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) There is a distinct difference to the peasantry of the UK and that of the USA, at least in the UK the peasants know their place, however the exiled Prince Harry is finding that things are slightly different in the USA and its his and Meghans mission to change things. Prince Harry is thus on a mission to whip the American peasants into shape and compliance. According to Montecito aides and PR agents, Prince Harry finds Americans to be a disgusting lot of fat, junk food swilling, loud mouthed, opinionated morons who wrongly think they own the entire globe. Whats more, Americans do not bow in the princes presence, which has been a bone of contention since arriving in North America. This imbecilic outrage irks the prince to no end. It is also the wish of Harry to disarm the Americans of their right to bear arms and to dismantle the US Constitution, which the prince thinks is completely useless. Loose cannon Harry got into trouble a few years back when he called the First Amendment bonkers. Despite being a military man who was once a gunner on a helicopter, the prince wants to see every American put their guns down because it would make the country a safer place. This narrative of disarming decent hard-working Americans, naturally has not gone down well with many Americans accusing the prince of being a pompous limey asshole. Who the fuck does this limey prince guy who came from Brit land to the USA think he fucking is calling us American peasants? We dont bow our heads to his bullshit, and we dont give up arms for anyone. Go back to the UK, where they hate you even more than we do, one angry American was quoted as saying. You heard it here, folks, Prince Harry doesnt think much of you and wants to demolish your right to bear arms and your constitution. What do you think of that? 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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 This year, for the first time, Bloomsday, the annual celebration of James Joyce and his masterpiece Ulysses, will become Molly Bloomsday as it spreads north of the border from Dublin for a spectacular all-women inaugural event in Derry and Donegal. More than 30 female artists and performers from across Europe will converge on Northern Ireland for YES, a new, free festival of female creativity inspired by Joyces most famous female character, Molly Bloom. From 13-16 June 2024, Derry will be alive with dance, music, food, public art, literature, conversation and spectacle, culminating in an epic 18-hour finale transposing the famed Dublin locations of Ulysses to new places north of the Irish border. Among the many highlights of YES will be the world premiere of The Molly Films, a new cinematic suite giving a fresh presentation of a literary masterpiece and featuring a cast of some of the UK and Irelands finest actors, including Dame Harriet Walter, Fiona Shaw, Adjoa Andoh, Siobhan McSweeney and Eve Hewson. Each actress will take one of the eight mammoth sentences which form the closing episode of Ulysses, famously known as Molly's Soliloquy. Each year, on 16 June, the day on which Ulysses is set, Bloomsday celebrations take place in Dublin and across the world, with readings, performances and any amount of costumed revellers hailing Joyce and the books central character, Leopold Bloom. This year, as 16 June becomes Molly Bloomsday for the first time, artists and audiences will take part in an epic YES finale. From 8am on Sunday 16 June to 2am on Monday 17 June, an 18-hour cultural Joycean journey across Derry and north Donegal will see Ulysses Dublin scenes re-interpreted across the compelling and evocative urban and rural scenery of Irelands north-west. Molly Bloomsday will be a glorious reimagining of Bloomsday in the citys streets, bars, historic Guildhall Square and walls and the beaches and coastline of Donegal. A freewheeling day of literature, music, food, film, conversation, performance, song and surprises, decorated with folklore, mythology and Irish history, Molly Bloomsday will begin at 8am with breakfast at Donegals Iron-Age sun-fort An Grianan of Aileach with a dramatic backdrop of the estuary of Lough Swilly sweeping northwards into the Atlantic Ocean; it will take in the spectacular beach at Lisfannon (known in Irish as Lios Feannain), before heading into the city for a packed day and evening of events, culminating in late-night music with Miss Trouli from Athens at the City Taphouse before a final stumble home at 2am the next day. As in the novel, at dawn (4.48am) the final event of Molly Bloomsday will be the global digital release of The Molly Films. Among the highlights of YES: No Ordinary Women is a mini literary festival all of its own, bringing conversations covering issues affecting us all today. The likes of President Mary Robinson, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Orla Guerin, Marion McKeone, Miriam OCallaghan, Martina Devlin and two groundbreaking female political leaders yet to be announced will be discussing themes of Women & Leadership, Women & Climate Justice, Women & Resistance, Women & Media, Women & Power. SIRENSCIRCUS will unite audience and artists in a joyous sonic world premiere experience inspired by Ulysses Sirens episode through the frame of John Cages Musicircus, featuring 200 musicians and participants in Ebrington Square at Derrys Waterside. An unprecedented and exhilarating event on Derrys 17th century walls will bring together eight parading bands from both traditions, all playing and parading and providing an immense city soundtrack. A highlight of Molly Bloomsday will be O Rocks! a concert of music, conversation and poetry by one of Irelands most celebrated artists of recent years, Imelda May. The YES Festival is led by female curators Shauna Kelpie (The Sixteen Nations), Martina Devlin (NOW), Tracey Lindsay (designer of The Molly Bed) and Margaret Kelly (Project Manager) and is produced and co-curated by Sean Doran and Liam Browne of ARTS OVER BORDERS, which has developed the ULYSSES European Odyssey with partners across the 18 European cities. Sean Doran said, In the final episode of Ulysses, Molly's long-and-winding stream of consciousness begins and ends with the word 'yes'. This inspired us to pull Joyces Dublin-based story north to Derry~Londonderry, where yes is used as a greeting, a colloquial form of 'hello'. "While its possibly quite an audacious move to take Bloomsday north in such dramatic fashion, its not out of keeping with Joyces own history. He shifted the nationalities of several of the characters and moved the locations of his own 1914 novella, Giacomo Joyce, from Italy to Ireland, and not all of Ulysses is set in Dublin. "YES will be crammed with spectacle. Just over 100 years after the publication of Ulysses, we are excited to be giving Molly Bloom the limelight for once though we hope this is only the beginning for an annual Molly Bloomsday up North. YES is the culmination of the ULYSSES European Odyssey, the largest-ever Ulysses celebration, which began in three of the European cities in which it was written - Trieste, Zurich, Paris - and comes home to both parts of Ireland for the last two episodes. In mid-1921, as the Government of Ireland Act was dividing the island of Ireland into Republic and Northern, James Joyce was writing the 18th and final episode of Ulysses (Penelope). Joyce was acutely aware of the sober reality taking place in his home country. Particularly revealing in Ulysses final episode is Molly Blooms pro-Britishness in contrast to Leopold Blooms pro-Sinn Fein sympathies. Joyce chose Mollys fictional birthplace as Gibraltar, a colony. She grew up in a military family, her father being in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, loved the sound of marching bands and her first two lovers were military men. Ulysses was originally published in serial form in American literary magazine, The Little Review from 1918 to 1921, at which point copies of the magazine were seized and impounded by the Post Office, which refused to distribute them on grounds of obscenity. Further publication of the novel was banned in the US and UK. Ulysses was published as a book for the first time in 1922, by Sylvia Beach, owner of Paris bookshop, Shakespeare and Company. Visit: www.yesderry.com for more information and to book festival tickets. An easier route for people from the Republic of Ireland to get British citizenship has moved a step closer to becoming law. The British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Bill, which has passed the House of Commons, received its second reading in the House of Lords on Friday with cross-party support. The private members bill will allow Irish nationals to register for British citizenship after five years of living in the UK without the need for an English language or Life in the UK test. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, people born in Northern Ireland were given the right to choose to be Irish citizens, British citizens or both. The Irish Government introduced a simple process whereby anyone born on the island of Ireland, anyone whose partner was born on the island of Ireland, or whose grandparents or great-grandparents were are entitled to an Irish passport. This will cost them 80. Those born in the Republic of Ireland living in Northern Ireland, or anywhere else in the UK, have the right to work, study and vote in the UK, but they have to follow the same process towards citizenship as any other foreign national. This means they have to pass an English language and Life in the UK test, as well as pay a 1,630 naturalisation fee. DUP peer Lord Hay of Ballyore, who was born in the Republic of Ireland but moved to Derry at the age of six, branded this an anomaly that was missed or overlooked when the Belfast or St Andrews agreements were being negotiated. He told peers the process is lengthy and costly, and said it is unjust for Irish nationals who have spent years in Northern Ireland to pay the fee. Lord Hay said: We have an opportunity in this Bill to right a great wrong. The House knows our history, our relationship in these isles and how they have intertwined, and this Bill gives us the opportunity to provide the finished piece of that relationship jigsaw. For anyone who was born in the Republic of Ireland, but has made their home in the UK and who satisfy the residency test, should be able to avail of UK citizenship. UUP peer Lord Rogan branded it an abomination that this easier route to citizenship is not already available for Irish nationals. He said: As chairman of the UUP on Good Friday 1999, I accept my share of the responsibility that people born in the Republic of Ireland were not included in the Belfast Agreements definition of people of Northern Ireland and did therefore not benefit from its birthright provisions on identity and citizenship. It should have been corrected long before now. DUP peer Lord Browne of Belmont branded the current route to citizenship a costly, over-bureaucratic and uniquely discriminatory process, and said it was simply wrong for Irish people to have to pay a naturalisation fee. He said: This is contrary to the spirit of reciprocation offered through the Belfast and St Andrews agreements. I am pleased that this Bill now provides the opportunity to address this imbalance and to provide parity of treatment to allow Irish-born citizens resident within the United Kingdom to identify with their Britishness. As of the 2021 census, there were 324,670 Irish-born people living in the UK. To be eligible for British citizenship, they must have lived in the UK for five years, not have been absent for more than 450 days in the last five-year period or 90 days in the last year, and not be in breach of any immigration laws during that time. It will apply to those living in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and British overseas territories. Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom reiterated the Governments full support for the Bill. He said: Many of the immigration-related requirements for naturalisation are designed for those who require formal permission to enter and live in the UK and those are not applicable to Irish nationals. Equally, the UK has a unique relationship with Ireland and the close historical links, geographical proximity and shared institutions between the two countries mean that those who could make use of this Bill would, in our view, already have sufficient knowledge of language and life in the UK, and be further reinforced, of course, by five years qualifying residence. So, as such, being expected to pass the Life in the UK test or demonstrate competence in English is inconsistent with the reality. He added that the issue of the fee is being considered. 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. Public funding for staff at community centres in Blackrock and Muirhevnamor has been raised with Minister Joe OBrien in the Dail by Louth TD Ruairi O Murchu. The Louth centres were highlighted by the Sinn Fein TD, who said community centres were under pressure because of the added costs of wages, energy costs and the cost of business. He said Muirhevnamor Community Centre currently has an application with the Department of Rural and Community Development for funding under the Community Services Programme (CSP). Deputy O Murchu said: I can speak to the work that is done in terms of youth groups, youth training, addiction supports, disability supports, the HSE and everybody else who operates out of there. It has expanded and provides a fabulous service to the local community. Minister OBrien said: "I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy for Muirhevnamor community centre. He raises it with me regularly. We supply funding for it to support a manager and three full-time equivalents, so that is an annual contribution of 114,000 supplied to Muirhevnamor community centre. "Over the past four years, there has been a list of financial pressures on the CSP that really started with Covid. Many CSP organisations depend on the income they generate themselves. "That varies a lot depending on where organisations are situated. We had a job to make sure CSP organisations survived through Covid. Many of them were not able to generate their own income, so we developed a support fund to guide the 400-plus organisations through that challenge. "We have a new model, which gives CSP organisations a graded contribution. I think Muirhevnamor is one of those getting a higher contribution under the new model because it is in an area of higher need with less ability to generate its own income. Applications are under review, but due to the volume of applications received, it is expected notifications will issue to organisations in the coming weeks." Deputy O Murchu also raised Blackrock Community Centre. He said: "I also previously asked the Minister of State about Blackrock community centre and that his Department engage with it. "It previously failed on the basis of displacement, but it said the sort of jobs it was looking at could not be dealt with by Tus and CE. While it might not be in the same sort of area as Muirhevnamor, it provides a huge service and we should look at facilitating it." Minister OBrien said: "The past couple of years have been particularly challenging, and they have all stepped up to the plate. If the Deputy sends me more detail on the Blackrock situation, we can look into it. I do not know if appeal options were exhausted." Riverdance star Michael Flatley has launched Flatley Whiskey 'The Dreamer', his first signature Irish whiskey from a series of special blends, and distilled in the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk. Crafted in partnership with Ireland's esteemed Master Blender Noel Sweeney, this premium 5-year-old whiskey is said to embody "the spirit of dreams, passion, and mastery". The Lord of the Dance is said to have been meticulously involved with the whole process, ensuring that every aspect from the blend to the bottle design reflects a standard of excellence synonymous with his name. Michael Flatley is a long-time collector of Irish Whiskey. The idea for Flatley Irish Whiskey was brought to life when he began the multimillion pound restoration of his beloved Castlehyde in Cork. He created a sumptuous wood panelled whiskey room that has housed barrels of his earlier private blend for more than 25 years. With private visits by royalty and celebrities alike, the whiskey room at Castlehyde has been host to many tastings including the first tasting of Flatley's Irish Whiskey. The Flatley family crest adorning each bottle is a nod to his father, who he says was, and still is, his hero. Like so many Irish, Michael Snr left for the US in 1947 but his love for the home country never left him. His deep influence is clear from Michael's passion for Irish music and dance. Celebrated for his contributions to Irish dance and culture internationally, Flatley says it has always been his dream to have his own Irish Whiskey and to leave a legacy for the Flatley name. With Michael's US roots and global success and recognition, a highly anticipated launch stateside is planned for later this summer, with a worldwide launch in 2025. Michael is renowned for his perfectionism in his dance shows and has afforded the same attention to detail across every aspect of creating his whiskey. "For me, Irish whiskey, much like Irish dance, embodies the essence of Irelandits history, its spirit, and its ability to bring people together in celebration", he commented. "Irish Whiskey was a favourite of my father's. It was through his passion that I came to appreciate its complex flavours. So, it's a very proud moment to launch Flatley Irish Whiskey, as I know he will be smiling down on me." Commenting on the reason behind the name The Dreamer, Michael said, "With 'The Dreamer', we're distilling the essence of Irish tradition, the dreams that fuel us and the people that inspire us. "I brought in the very best team for Flatley Irish Whiskey, led by CEO Jim Clerkin, renowned in the international drinks industry, Master Blender, Noel Sweeney and Pierrick Bouquet who was the genius behind some of the most successful wine and spirits brands internationally. They all understood my vision, my desire to craft a whiskey that would be remembered from the first sip and could be enjoyed by all. The result is an exquisite blend that is rare and bold and I'm very proud of it." "It's a tribute to the undaunted dreamers who shape the world." The label reads: Savour the spirit of ambition and the warmth of achieving the extraordinary. Dream boldly, savour deeply. Noel Sweeney, one of the most talented Irish Master Blenders and an inductee into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame, formerly of Cooley Distillery and Powerscourt Distillery, created this impeccable blend with Flatley. Noel said, "I was truly honoured to work with Michael on this collaboration. He is one of Ireland's most prominent and significant ambassadors, enriching our culture through his promotion of Irish dance and music on a truly global scale, and now through whiskey." Commenting on 'The Dreamer', Noel continued, "This five-year-old triple-cask blend combines grain whiskey and double-distilled malt matured in former bourbon, port, and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The whiskey embodies a quintessential Irish Whiskey style with smooth complexity." Flatley Whiskey has signed a distribution deal in Ireland with the country's leading premium spirits distributor Dalcassian Wines and Spirits who are stocking bars, hotels, and independent stores throughout Ireland North and South. Grocery retailer SuperValu is also already stocking the whiskey in over 175 stores across the country. It will be launched internationally over the next few years, with an initial release in the United States planned for later this summer. Priced at a RRP of 45, Flatley Irish Whiskey is now available in stores, bars and hotels throughout the island of Ireland, and online at flatleywhiskey.com. Follow the journey on Instagram and Facebook @FlatleyWhiskey. Local man Eoghan McCabes three-year long journey of charity fundraising has totalled a staggering 94,906. The annual campaign, Eoghans Home Run, an annual tractor run, has brought together thousands of people over the years and has contributed to connecting communities throughout northeast coast region. The fundraising activity has consistently benefitted three well deserving charities since 2021 and throughout that time, Eoghan has also acted as an ambassador to raise awareness of causes, conditions and help for all three. December 23s Home Run started in Dunleer, Co. Louth and on the lead up to the event was supported by YouTube legend Farmer Phil as well as receiving messages of support by All Ireland greats Johnny Sexton, Jamie Heaslip and Tommy Bowe. Taking pride in his achievement, Eoghan recently presented the three supported charities, Williams Syndrome Ireland, Drogheda Special Olympics and Ardee Hospice with equal donations of 13,107. Commenting on the campaign, Eoghan said: "For the past 3 Eoghans Home Runs, I would like to thank those who participated and supported. Without you, these events would not have been as successful. #WatchThisSpace." All donations have been divided equally between the three excellent charities, Williams Syndrome Ireland, Ardee Hospice and Drogheda Special Olympics and we really hope it helps do more for more people. To view images and video from all the events, Eoghans Home Run Facebook page remains live and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/eoghanstractorrun Don't miss the chance to be part of something truly special! Join An Tain Arts Centre for the incredible journey of Little Amal, a giant puppet on a mission of hope and unity. Little Amal is the 12 foot puppet of a 10 year old Syrian refugee child who has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees. Amal, whose name means Hope in Arabic, is from just outside Aleppo in Syria. She has visited 160 towns and cities in 16 countries and has been welcomed by two million people on the street and by tens of millions online. Her journeys are celebrations of art and hope that draw attention to the huge numbers of children and their families fleeing war, violence and persecution, each with their own story. Her urgent message to the world is Dont forget about us. Little Amal will travel to Dundalk on her way from Belfast to Dublin, an especially powerful and meaningful journey. Other famous borders she has crossed include from the US into Mexico, from Turkey into Greece, from Poland into Ukraine. She will arrive at Market Square, Dundalk on Wednesday 22nd May at 6:30pm and will be welcomed by Breifne Holohan and a band of Irish musicians, members of MAD Youth Theatre and Setanta Choir. As part of the visit, Primary School Children from Faughart Community National School have been partaking in art workshops with local artist Sophie Coyle in preparation for Amals arrival. MAD Youth Theatre will then take part in a short movement performance to welcome Amal. Members of the public are encouraged to greet and engage with Amal. Amal is due to arrive at Market Square at 6:30pm where we hope she will make many new friends and experience aspects of Irish culture that will bring her joy. Little Amal carries a message of hope for displaced people. Her journeys draw attention to issues such as immigration policy especially with regard to children fleeing war, violence and persecution. Her journeys are produced by The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company. Visit www.antain.ie or https://www.walkwithamal.org/ to learn more and get involved in this inspiring event! Walk with Amal Wednesday 22nd May at 6:30pm An Tain Arts Centre. This is a free off-site event at Market Square Dundalk. No booking is required. Amals visit to Dundalk comes as she journeys from Belfast to Dublin as part of Belfast 2024, in partnership with ArtsEkta, Dublin city Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Little Amals journeys are produced by The Walk Productions, a not-for-profit company founded by Producers David Lan and Tracey Seaward with Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi. The Walk Productions presents large scale participatory public art that brings communities together to challenge assumptions, rethink narratives and provoke change. Their next production coming in 2025 is The Herds, a vast act of theatre to spark climate action. Little Amal was designed and built by Handspring Puppet Company, whose work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world spanning four decades. Their Puppetry design for War Horse established Handspring as one of the most important puppet companies in the world. Since Little Amals creation in 2021, she has travelled to 160 towns and cities in 16 countries and been welcomed by over two million people and tens of millions online, through creative events led by artists and local communities. She has also won a range of awards, including being named New Yorks No. 1 Art Event by Time Out magazine in 2022. The Walk 2021 was a co-production with Good Chance Theatre. Since Amal has started walking, she has raised 770,000 for The Amal Fund with Choose Love, providing urgently-needed support for refugee and displaced children all over the world. Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Louth marks its tenth anniversary this month, celebrating a decade of supporting local businesses across the county. Part of Louth County Council and supported by Enterprise Ireland, LEO Louth works to foster entrepreneurship and provide supports to underpin the growth and sustainability of businesses in Louth. Pamela Kerr, Senior Enterprise Development Officer, reflects on the milestone, explaining: "Over the past ten years, the team at LEO Louth have had the pleasure of supporting a diverse range of businesses that are the backbone of our local economy. From start-ups to scale-ups, our role is to nurture enterprise in Louth, and provide the right support as businesses grow. LEO client companies receive support tailored to their business needs. Some are helped through expert training, mentoring and business advice, while others access grants to help with investment in machinery or to expand into international markets. Local businesses describe LEO Louth as welcoming, supportive and empowering. Donal Geraghty of Data Analytics IT Consultancy Seapark Consultancy explains that: Business Expansion and TAME grants from LEO Louth allowed our company to grow from one to eight employees to meet market demand. David Kieran of award winning marketing agency ZOMA agrees: The LEO Louth team have helped our company to reach our true potential, both through expert mentoring and expansion supports. Dundalk based ceramicist Sarah McKenna talked about the consistency of support: Right from the very start of my business, their support made a difference. The craft sector is a balance between art and business and the team in LEO Louth have given me the confidence to keep moving my business forward, expanding into new markets and taking the business online. "They have also been instrumental in helping me design the environmental sustainability strategy for Sarah McKenna Ceramics, which is very important for our future. In the fields outside Drogheda, Marita Collier grows her renowned Drummond House Garlic, which is acclaimed by top chefs all over Ireland and Europe: LEO Louth have worked with me and my business over the last 8 years through numerous support programmes. Their support, advice and passion to assist new businesses has had a very positive impact on the growth and development of our business. "The choice of programmes, funding, and workshops they offer shows that they understand whats happening now and are always looking ahead to understand what business will need next. Its an invaluable resource for any business owner. Founder and CEO of My Forever Tooth Fairy Emma Duffy explains: starting a business can be a lonely journey, but the team from LEO Louth are always there. When I approached them first, my business was simply an idea. But they had the right supports to help me to develop that concept and build a strong foundation. "Ive taken part in top class training and had advice from their expert mentors. Access to feasibility support and New Frontiers means that both I and my business are now ready for the future. My advice to anyone with a business idea is to contact LEO Louth straight away - theyll set you on the right path. Pamela Kerr of LEO Louth concludes: "The last 10 years have been full of challenges for small businesses. Weve helped them navigate through Brexit, COVID-19, the sustained cost of living challenges and increased focus on digitalisation and sustainability. We have always been dedicated to supporting the enterprise community in Louth." Pamela continued: "Our training, workshops, mentoring, networking events, and financial supports will continue to empower entrepreneurs at every stage of their business journey. "As we look to the future our team, in partnership with LEOs across the country, will continue to introduce new programmes that will provide local businesses with the essential skills and knowledge they need to succeed. "Visit www.localenterprise.ie/louth/readyto to find out more and talk to our team about how our supports can help your business to thrive. Louth County Council have announced a pioneering housing project underway in Dundalk, signalling the beginning of 3D Construction Printed (3DCP) social housing in Ireland. The Grange Close pilot project involves a unique collaboration between Louth County Council, Louth & Meath Education & Training Board (LMETB), Irish-owned company Harcourt Technologies Ltd (HTL.tech), and Roadstone Ltd, a CRH company, using 3DCP technology with the aim of providing a pathway towards an increased output of more sustainable, affordable, and efficient housing. The project aims to utilise 3D construction printing technology to provide three three-bedroom terraced units that will have a floor area of c. 110 m over two floors at Grange Close, Dundalk. 3DCP is a method of construction that involves using large-scale 3D printers on-site to create three-dimensional structures layer by layer. In this process, layers of Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) are sequentially deposited through a gantry-based 3DCP machine according to a digital model. The result is the creation of the housing superstructure at a rate which is up to three times faster than is possible through traditional methods. This approach significantly streamlines construction processes and holds immense potential to revolutionise the construction industry in Ireland by providing faster, more cost-effective, and sustainable ways to build. In preparation for the Grange Close scheme, HTL.tech successfully completed two 2-bedroom units at their R&D facility in Drogheda, Co. Louth, to demonstrate this fully compliant Integrated Modern Method of Construction (MMC) Housing Solution. This accomplishment underscores the project's feasibility and scalability. The contract for the construction of the project was awarded to B&C Building Contractors Ltd, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. Joan Martin, Chief Executive at Louth County Council said: Louth County Council is proud to collaborate with LMETB, Harcourt Technologies Ltd (HTL.tech), and Roadstone Ltd to deliver what is a very significant pilot project at Grange Close, Dundalk. The provision of high quality and sustainable social housing is a core objective of Louth County Council, and this project is a significant example of the use of innovative technologies and organisational collaboration in the delivery of new homes. Justin Kinsella, MD and co-founder of HTL.tech, expressed his enthusiasm for the project, stating: "Co. Louth is at the forefront of innovative technology aimed at offering a solution to Ireland's housing shortage, and having grown up in the region, I am immensely proud. This endeavour highlights Louth County Council's progressive stance towards meeting housing needs and its dedication to promoting sustainable solutions. The transformative potential of this technology is very exciting, offering a viable solution to help address our housing challenges. We're excited to start the Grange Close project and work with our development partners to create real change." The housing units will use 3D printing technology and prefabricated construction components, including windows, doors, flooring, and roofing. Combining MMC component providers within the digital construction workflow of 3DCP will ensure the precise integration of prefabricated elements, expediting assembly while guaranteeing consistency. This collaboration will streamline construction processes, enhance efficiency, and boost housing production capacity. It is intended that the Grange Close scheme showcases the use of the regulatory-compliant 3DCP technology. Compared to traditional methods, the aim is to achieve three times faster superstructure program delivery and a 25% reduction in overall project timelines. This is the first social housing project in the world to integrate 3D construction printing and Ready-Mix Concrete while using the lowest embodied carbon mix to save 278 kg CO2e/m in conjunction with their building materials partner, Roadstone. Patrick Diviney, Roadstone, Commercial Manager said: "Roadstone is a solutions-focused business committed to driving innovation and sustainability. We are delighted to partner with Harcourt Technologies Ltd to offer this future-based approach to construction. Integrating new technology and traditional building materials offers a new era of efficiency and carbon reduction - working towards a sustainable future. Collaboration between Roadstone technical staff and the team at HTL, combined with access to our industry-leading R&D laboratory, has facilitated the development of bespoke RMC designs coupled with an efficient and high-tech modern method of construction." A spokesperson for the council said: The 3D construction housing project is built upon HTL.tech's use of COBOD International A/S 3D construction printing technology in collaboration with Roadstone. This collaboration underscores a shared commitment to innovation and sustainability within the construction industry and signals the beginning of the technology's scalability for housing delivery in Ireland. Louth County Council, LMETB, HTL.tech and Roadstone are committed to advancing this pioneering initiative. This project lays a path for future innovation and collaboration within the construction industry in relation to the production of high-quality, sustainable, and efficient housing in response to the ongoing housing demand. A law graduate and religious youth leader has been given a two-year jail-term for the defilement and sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old girl four years ago. Mark McMorrow (27) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the defilement of Sophia Doyle (19) on December 20, 2020. He also pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation on dates between September and December 2020. He further pleaded to communicating with a child for the purposes of exploitation on dates between April 10, 2019 and December 20, 2020. The court heard McMorrow of Woodlands Avenue, Cabinteely, Dublin was 22 years old when the offending began. Judge James McCourt handed down a two-and-a-half-year sentence with the final six months suspended on certain conditions. Detective Garda Lisa McDonnell told the court the events occurred ended just a week before Ms Doyles 17th birthday. She told Ms McMullan that the Doyles and McMorrows families knew each other through a faith-based group called Community of Nazareth. Her parents had joined when Ms Doyle was around seven or eight and all the families became very close, the court heard. She was also part of a youth group in which McMorrow became a leader and they saw each other socially. In 2019 when she was a 3rd year in school and she was struggling with her mental health, they started communicating on social media. He asked her to start messaging him on Discord, which the court heard was a more private type of messaging. The victim told a priest what had happened, who then reported it to Tusla, who informed gardai. The girls mobile phone was given to gardai and McMorrow met with them at Dundrum Garda Station where he was interviewed but later released without charge. He told gardai that it was a relationship that had turned sexual, having initially considered her a friend. He said he knew what he was doing was illegal but was at a "bad time in his life". Judge McCourt sentenced McMorrow to two-and-a-half years with the final two suspended on condition that he has no involvement with the Community of Nazareth, which Ms Doyle no longer attends, and he was not to communicate with the victim in any way. A victim impact statement was read to the court, in which Ms Doyle said that McMorrow had betrayed her trust. Mark was in a position of power over me not only with his age, but he was also in a position of pastoral and religious authority over me. He knew I wasnt able to say no and took advantage of that. For many years I believed him to be a friend to me, a role model, an older brother figure, and a mentor. I was his victim, she said. In mitigation, counsel for the accused, who is now married, said references before the court would say the offending was out of character for him. He said his client was now regarded as a sex offender, lost a huge social outlet and was unlikely to be able to visit the United States in the future. The court heard that the two had met on a number of occasions and McMarrow invited Ms Doyle over to a house he was sharing with other students in Loughlinstown, south Dublin. He asked her to meet up but told her not to tell anyone in the group. They would watch movies together and she would get the bus home. At that time they were using Discord for phone calls and they were texting daily. Her mother asked her to stop texting him because she felt she was becoming emotionally dependent on him. He invited her to his family home and there was nobody else in the house. She said she cycled from her home in Bray to Glenageary in the middle of the night. He told her to pretend she was leaving the house but then sneaked her upstairs past the living room, where his friend was. Both got into bed. Her mother asked her where she had gone and she lied, saying she had cycled to Dun Laoghaire to watch the sun rise. Gemstones sold to thousands of people across Ireland have been recalled due to a major safety concern. According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), Giftstones Ltd (British Fossils) are carrying out a recall on certain magnetic gemstones due to a risk of choking and injuries. If swallowed, the stones may cause internal damage if ingested. The affected products are the Power Magnet Gemstones Pack, Hematite Magnetic Gemstones, Iridescent Hematite Magnetic Gemstones, and the Iridescent Power Magnet Gemstones Pack. The model numbers are PK73, PK74, PU03 and PU06, and the barcodes are PK73: 5060104583170, PK74: 5060270221937, PU03: 5060303096044, PU06: 5060270226048. These products were sold by: Arigna Mining Experience, Arigna, Co. Roscommon Amber, Upper Bridge St Westport, Co. Mayo Natural Health Store Market Cross Shopping Centre, Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny Natural Health Store, Main St Wexford, Co Wexford An Ceard Siopa, Inisheer, Aran Islands, Co Galway The products were manufactured from 2021 to 2023 and there are approximately 3,900 affected products in Ireland. If you have one of these magnets, please keep away from children and pets. Dispose of them responsibly and contact the retailer it was purchased from with proof of purchase to receive a refund. For more information regarding this recall please email British Fossils on sales@britishfossils.co.uk or by call on +44 1258 857035. 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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 Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Trucks carrying desperately needed aid into Gaza have started moving ashore on the temporary floating dock built by the United States military, but this is not enough to meet the needs of civilians, UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Violent armed clashes broke out Saturday morning between rival armed groups in Zaouia, 45 km west of Tripoli and are continuing despite efforts to calm and resolve the conflict, according to corroborating sources THE Cork Organisation for Indian Nurses (COINNS) is calling for an expedited solution to the backlog in renewing Irish Residence Permits (IRP), as more than 500 families are being negatively impacted across the county, says organisation president, Janet Baby Joseph. Ms Joseph, who spoke to The Echo about the frustrating process, said that migrants are waiting up to six months for a renewal appointment at the Cork Immigration Office at Anglesea Street Garda Station. There is a lag of four to six months, and without a valid IRP, we cannot work, Ms Joseph said. There are 500 plus nurses and their families being affected. The issue is within the Cork city limits. If you go for a mortgage, a loan, or any kind of documentation, you wont get it without a valid card, she added. You cant travel out of Ireland without one either. In relation to the impact that an invalid IRP would have on someones day-to-day working abilities, Ms Joseph said that many employers are sympathetic to their situation, however, working without a valid card is against the law. Many employers do understand, she said. We show them the e-mails we send, they see we have to fight, but the thing is, its illegal. Solutions Speaking on solutions that could be put in place to remedy such a backlog, Ms Joseph suggested following in the footsteps of other cities, or expanding the catchment area to allow migrants in the city to book appointments at any immigration office across the county. There are three solutions that we think can be done. Firstly, theres very limited staff doing this work in the Anglesea Street station, so they need to increase those numbers, she said. Secondly, in Dublin, there is an online system which is working perfectly. They could do something similar here. Thirdly, what we could do is a centralised system. If we were allowed to go anywhere in Cork, that would be much better, because its easy to get an appointment in a county station, she said. In Bandon, Bantry, Mallow and Macroom, its easy to get an appointment. The problem is all with the Anglesea Street Garda station. This issue is our main priority, she added. We need more people talking about it. Issue raised in Dail People Before Profit-Solidarity Cork North-Central TD, Mick Barry raised the issue in the Dail with Taoiseach, Simon Harris recently in what he described as a positive interaction. In his address, Mr Barry said: This is causing havoc for people from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). Problems with employers, problems with landlords, problems opening bank accounts, and for some, it makes it impossible to travel home for family emergencies, such as the death of a parent or a serious illness with a child. There were nearly 9,000 non-EEA nationals living in Cork city in 2022, and many of them play vital roles in the life of the city. Speaking to The Echo, Mr Barry said: I await the Taoiseachs letter with great interest. The exchange was positive, but the people who are being messed about here will judge the Government not on their words but on their deeds. Action is needed, and quickly, he added. Transfer of functions A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said that the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (COFPI) recommended that immigration administrative functions should transfer from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) to the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) function of the Department of Justice, and that a number of these functions have already been transferred. A roadmap outlining the functions for transfer is being finalised, the spokesperson said. This will set out the timeline for the transfer of work relating to the nationwide first registrations and renewals of residence permissions for all other counties from An Garda Siochana to the Registration Office, which is expected to be substantially completed within the next 12 months. An Garda Siochana has seen year on year increase in demand for immigration-related appointments in Cork Garda Division. Local Garda management monitor the caseload on an ongoing basis [and] applications are triaged to identify urgent cases which are prioritised. People are required to register with their local Garda National Immigration Bureau in the Registration District in which they reside. ONLINE entries for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) have opened, three months earlier than ever before. Secondary school students aged 12-19 years are encouraged to start brainstorming ideas now, ahead of the 2025 Exhibition, which takes place in Dublin from January 8-11, next year. By extending the submission period, students will have more time to research and develop their ideas over the summer months. It has been a great privilege to have been custodians and organiser of the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition for the last 25 years, managing director of BT Ireland Shay Walsh, said. Over that time, the exhibition has produced amazing STEM talent and exported some of the worlds leading scientists and technologists. The 2025 exhibition will showcase entries from students in five categories: technology; social and behavioural science; biological and ecological science; chemical, physical, mathematical science; and health and wellbeing. 250 prizes, across a total prize fund of 50,000, will be awarded across all five categories and all age groups, including the overall BT Young Scientist & Technologist of the Year Award, who will go on to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists. Physicist & Broadcaster, and long-time special act performer at the BTYSTE, Mark Langtry, said: I have seen first-hand the positive impact that entering the BTYSTE has had on past participants, from the friends they make in the process to the valuable skills they learn and can use in any walk of life. Its a fantastic experience, and by giving early access to entries gives more time to develop ideas before the submission deadline. Visit btyoungscientist.com. NOMINATIONS have opened for candidates in Clonakiltys upcoming and unique mayoral election. A number of nominations have already been submitted. A public information meeting was held about the mayoral election process and the historical context of Clonakilty being the only town in Ireland with a mayor since the abolition of the local town councils 10 years ago. Nominations close at 5.30pm today with next Saturday, May 25, the deadline for nominated candidates to withdraw their nominations. The vote will be held from 10am to 7pm on Saturday June 8 at Scoil na mBuachailli, with the count beginning the following day at O Donovans Hotel, followed by declaration of results. Among the other main points made were: that all candidates stand as non-political individuals and the mayoral role is a totally non-statutory, ceremonial, voluntary, non-political, honorary position with no expenses for the first citizen. All voters who vote at Scoil na mBuachailli (Clonakilty Urban and Clonakilty Rural areas) in other elections are eligible to vote, though special voters outside of these electoral areas will also be considered if they apply to vote, as will people in the hospital and local nursing homes. The current mayor, Chris Hinchy and three of his colleagues Mike ONeill, Padraig OReilly, and Anthony McDermott as well as Cionnaith O Suilleabhain who was community Mayor in 2015/2016, addressed the meeting and encouraged people to put themselves forward for the election on June 8. THE Carnival of Science is returning to Cork this summer for a free two-day Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) extravaganza featuring more than 70 STEM activities and live science shows. The event, organised by the Lifetime Lab at Old Cork Waterworks, will be taking place on June 8 and 9 and will be held at Fitzgerald Park. The annual carnival is funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Cork City Council. With more than 75,000 people having previously attended the event, this years carnival will feature 45 STEM- based activities, 26 live seated science shows in circus top and stretch tents, live demonstrations, walkabout scientific performers, an animal roadshow, interactive stands and much more. Juggle New activities this year include Bee-ology, a circus science performance that juggles bee and insect stories and facts, as well as the OurKidsCode offering parents of primary school aged children a taster in coding through club workshops. UCC will also be on hand to showcase their Free Hydro Cells research project which aims to create energy from sustainable materials. Accessibility is a key focus of the carnival with provisions in place to ensure sign language interpretation is available at live show performances and a designated quiet zone for those with noise sensitivities. Welcoming the event, Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy said: Cork City Council are delighted to continue our support for the Cork Carnival of Science festival which is a superb day out for all to enjoy in the scenic and historic surrounds of Fitzgerald Park. This festival aligns with our goals of supporting STEM engagement from a young age, which is essential in keeping Cork city as a leader in scientific endeavors into the future, be it as a place to study, do research, or operate a business. THE 22q11 Ireland committee is inviting people to join them this Sunday for their 14th annual zoo day out in Cork, in honour of raising awareness for the genetic condition. The free event, which is hosted across zoos worldwide, is taking place at Fota Wildlife Park from 1pm, with more than 90 families in Munster registered to attend. 22q11 Deletion Syndrome, also known as DiGeorge Syndrome, is the most common genetic condition after Down Syndrome, with more than 180 different symptoms caused by a micro-deletion on the 22nd chromosome. On average, individuals could experience between 20 to 30 symptoms over their lifetime. The 22q11 Ireland committees incoming secretary Karin Buckley said: The annual family day at the zoo is an opportunity for families to meet with other families, to share their stories and experiences with 22q11, and for children to meet other children with the condition. Attendees of the event are asked to wear red t-shirts to symbolise their support for the campaign. EUROMILLIONS players in Cork are being encouraged to check their tickets carefully today after a player in the Rebel County won more than 1m in last night's draw. A National Lottery spokesperson said that the player scooped 1,005,000 in Friday nights special Ireland Only Raffle. In every EuroMillions draw, the Ireland Only Raffle sees 10 raffle codes generated with each winning 5,000. All 10 winning raffle codes drawn in last nights draw were put into an additional draw to see which one of the 10 codes would win the Must Be Won 1 million amount, on top of the usual 5,000 prize for the category. The winning code to scoop the 1,005,000 amount was: I-QQN-12284. The National Lottery has urged all Rebel County players to check their tickets carefully today as one player now has a ticket worth a life-changing amount. The winner is advised to sign the back of their ticket and keep it safe. They should contact the prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to collect their 1,005,000 prize at Lotto HQ. The winning store location where the ticket was purchased is set to be announced tomorrow. National Lottery spokesperson Sarah Orr said: Friday nights draw saw over 45,000 players in Ireland win prizes across the EuroMillions and EuroMillions Plus draws with a Cork player officially becoming the biggest winner of the night after scooping 1,005,000 in the special Ireland Only Raffle. "We are appealing to all of our players in the Cork area to make sure to check their tickets carefully today, especially the raffle codes, as one player has a life-changing prize waiting to be claimed. "The first thing the winner should do is sign the back of their ticket and keep it safe. They should then make contact with our prize claims team who will make arrangements for them to visit Lotto HQ to collect their incredible prize. The Cork player certainly got their weekend off to an incredible start!" SPEAKERS at a youth-led anti-racism summit at Cork City Hall yesterday, delivered a strong message about making the city more inclusive to policymakers and leaders of organisations such as the Gardai, schools, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, Tusla, youth and community groups, UCC, MTU, and teachers. The event, supported by the Cork Migrant Centre, the Youth Initiative against Racism, the Young Peoples Services Committee, Cork City Council, and Nano Nagle Place, is in its third year. It featured keynote speakers and performances by young people who had been preparing for the summit for the past six months. According to Leen Maarouf, a Palestinian woman and anti-racist development worker at the Cork Migrant Centre, the summit was aimed at empowering young people to confront systemic racism in Ireland and focused on the pressing issues of the direct provision system which directly affects young refugees, migrants, and minority communities, including Travellers and LGBTQ+ communities. Recent incidents of discrimination, and the shortfall in public investments in these communities, underline the necessity for this event, said Leen. Youth mentor and co-ordinator at the Cork Migrant Centre, Raphael Olympio, said he had had the privilege of working closely with young people and described their stories, insights and strategies to combat racism as truly eye-opening and encouraging. Their resilience in the face of adversity and unwavering determination to create a more inclusive society are constant sources of inspiration, he said. The future looks better, especially if the people of Cork get on board with this initiative. As well as the many addresses from leading policymakers, including the CEO of Anti-Racist Cumbria in Britain, the summit also highlighted the stories of young people in performances in which they expressed their experiences of racism through creativity, music, spoken word, dance and theatre. The event also gave a platform to a number of young people to showcase their leadership and talent, as they delivered the loud and clear message that they wanted to be at the forefront of the movement for positive change. IN medieval times reference is made to The Ever-flowing Well and to Sionnach-Coil (the Foxes Wood) both situated on a hill near Cork, and now identified with Sundays Well and Shanakiel respectively. The adjacent eastern area was in early times called Carrigeenaveigh (the Little Rock of the Deer), anglicised as Buckstone, a name still surviving in the area. The Well is still there today but arched over from public view. The junction of the North Mall and Wise's Hill, shows the former residence of the Distiller, Francis Wise who with his brother Thomas established a distillery on Reillys Marsh in 1779. In the background is the 19th century 160 ft high distillery stack. Adjacent to the house is the old distillery wall running up Wises Hill which is a remanet of the old red-sandstone wall and loading granary docks of the distillery. Photograph: Courtesy: Cork Camera Club Collection, Cork City Library Insert Photograph of ancient stone mullion: Richard T. Cooke. It is one of those ancient wells that was held sacred by the Druids and people in pre-Christian days. The ancient spring has given Sundays Well its name, the Irish equivalent being Tobar Ri an Domhnaigh, meaning the Well of the King of Sunday. It was a holy shrine in the form of a small circular structure, caped with stone, and shaded by an elm and two ash trees. Early in the morning on summer Sundays one could see hooded devotees, with rosary beads, performing their turrish or penance beside the Well, and various votive offerings were attached to the branches of the over-hanging trees, a custom prevalent in India and Africa. Popular rendezvous Today, as you walk along Sundays Well Road, youll notice on the pathway a half-moon shaped brick structure which marks the spot where the Holy Well is situated. On the left, on the wall is the original white limestone plaque that was located on the Well which reads 'Sundays Well 1644'. Photograph: Richard T. Cooke Insert: Sketch by Thomas Crofton Croker, taken from Sean O Coindealbhain, Holy Wells. JCHAS. 1946, p. 160. The Well became a haunt for historians, writers, poets, and artists of the day visiting the lush peaceful wooded hill of Shanakiel and Sundays Well. In 1644 a French traveller, M. de La Boullaye La Gouz tells us, the Irish believe this Well is blessed, and cures many ills. Dr Charles Smith in his writings for 1774 says its a pretty hamlet, called Sundays well, lying on a rising ground, and commands a view of the city and river. Here is a cool refreshing water, which gives the name to the place, but it is hard, and does not lather with soap.... John Windele, who penned valuable history on Cork during his stay in Blair Castle (situated off Sundays Well Road) wrote in 1839: It takes its name from one of those ancient fountains, which, long ere the Christian faith was preached in Ireland, was held sacred by its Druids and people. The exertions of the first missionaries were ineffectual to prevent their worship, and they had to content themselves with diverting the popular devotion, and substituting objects of Christian reverence. Sundays Well, in Irish, Tobar Ri an Domhnaigh, ie the fountain of the Lord, is one of those converted shrines. Thomas Crofton-Croker who made a sketch of the well, tells us in 1845: Sundays Well is at the side of the high road, and is surrounded by a rude, stone building, on a tablet on the wall of which the letters IHS mark its ancient reputation for sanctity. It is shadowed over by some fine old ash trees, which render it a picturesque object. Arched over Sean O Coindealbhain in his writings tells us: At the beginning of 1946 when the adjoining roadway was being widened and improved, it was necessary to remove the stone building covering the well and to run the road over the well. However, to mark the site, the stone tablet bearing the inscription, I.H.S., Sundays Well, 1644, which had been on the building, was placed on the wall adjoining the road. Rounds are no longer paid there. Shanakiel After the Siege of Cork in 1690 many minds in the corporation as well as many wealthy merchants saw an opportunity to spread their wings, to get out of their cramped dark lanes and old tumbling down walled city. Soon the physical appearance of Cork began to change rapidly. With the reclamation of the ancient marshes the city began to spread and its population increased. Quays were built and this saw trade and industry flourish and with that, merchants and business people began moving out of the old city to the fresh air of the countryside. One of those was Timothy Conway who had a clockmakers business at No 3 North Main St. He acquired a holiday home in the wooded Shanakiel, where the grounds of old Shanakiel Hospital was (now the home of Quality Healthcare Ireland) and named it Jemappes Cottage. It became a meeting place for the United Irishmen of the city prior to the insurrection of 1798 and tradition tells us that the military leader of the time, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, narrowly escaped capture on one occasion when he visited the place. Adjacent to the cottage was the Muggery Club this clubhouse was a simple structure built over a well of good water leaking from the original low-level city basin (reservoir). Here for the sum of a half-penny one could get a mug of water with a joke or compliment which made the tilly more valuable than the water purchased. Shanakiel Hill had its famous strawberry beds, the price being 3d and for as many strawberries as one could eat while on the grounds. Development Sundays Well prided itself on exclusiveness and on its high society classification. To add to its grandeur, a new development was taking place in the early years of the 18th century the construction of a new bridge, Wellington Bridge, now called Thomas Davis Bridge in 1830 and around this time the Wise brothers constructed Wises Hill. Later in 1927 Dalys Bridge opened. This new road system and traffic saw Sundays Well Lane become Sundays Well Road and this pleasant riverside resort hamlet soon developed into a suburb of some distinction as we know it today. Sources: CJF MacCarthy Files, Cork City Library Files, Sean O Coindealbhain, Holy Wells, JCHAS. 1946 Cork City Council: Places of Cork-Sundays Well captions. A young woman who was remanded in custody at Cork District Court was being escorted to Limerick Prison but she lit up a cannabis joint before she got to the van to take her to prison. The drug possession was immediately detected by Garda David OSullivan who seized the cannabis joint and later charged Paula Canty with having the drug for her own use. 31-year-old Paula Canty appeared back at Cork District Court yesterday charged that back on June 11 2022 at Cork District Court she had in her possession a controlled drug, namely a cannabis joint. She immediately pleaded guilty to this offence. Eddie Burke solicitor said gardai familiar with the defendant who has numerous previous convictions may have been surprised to see her come into court today totally sober. She has completed her full treatment programme at Coolmine and she is doing extremely well. She has been giving clean urinalysis for a long period. Originally from Kinsale she had a very difficult time in her early life. Whatever happened in Dochas (centre in prison in Dublin) seems to be working the oracle. And she is not hanging around Cork city meeting old foes, Mr Burke said. Judge Mary Dorgan said that is really good news. Despite the large number of previous convictions, Judge Dorgan said she would deal with the offence by means of a 100 fine and she gave Ms Canty three months to pay it. Sergeant Gearoid Davis outlined the background to the incident involving Paula Canty, who was then residing with Cork Simon Community. At 11.20 a.m. on June 11 2022, Garda David OSullivan was transferring Paula Canty from Cork City District Court to Limerick Prison when Ms Canty removed a cannabis joint from her clothing and began smoking it outside Cork City District Court, a public place, Sgt. Davis said. Met Eireann has issued a yellow thunder warning for Cork as well as Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow. The forecaster said that torrential downpours in parts with lightning and hail could lead to travel related issues and spot flooding. The weather warning comes into effect tomorrow at 2pm and will remain in place until 8pm. Status Yellow - Thunderstorm warning for Carlow, Kilkenny, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford Torrential downpours in parts with lightning & hail. Impacts: Travel related issues Spot flooding Lightning strikes Valid: 14:00 - 20:00 19/05/24https://t.co/FhFWKx6AbX pic.twitter.com/TwklXB6PGv Met Eireann (@MetEireann) May 18, 2024 Temperatures are expected to remain warm on Sunday with highs in Munster of 18 to 21 degrees forecast. Looking to next week, Met Eireann says that it will continue warm and humid, but will turn cooler and less humid from midweek with temperatures trending closer to average. Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The two ministers responsible for Social Affairs in Tunisia and Social Development in the Sultanate of Oman signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday in the field of social promotion, reported the Tunisian Press Agency (APT) CORK actor Fiona Shaw has described her latest film, which hits the cinemas this weekend, as a firework display of genius. Called IF, it is a live-action/animated fantasy comedy with a cast that also includes Ryan Reynolds, Emily Blunt, and Steve Carell. Its plot follows a young girl named Bea and her neighbour who find themselves able to see imaginary friends - the IFs of the title. Shaw, 65, who was born in Cobh and attended Scoil Mhuire and UCC, plays Beas grandmother in the film, and interpreted the films message to be about innocence, and about preserving innocence by defending yourself against the adult world, which is always an onslaught on children. Shaw loved the animation in the film: Its a firework display of genius, she said. Its just gorgeous, seeing all of those colours of creatures coming up. IF was written, produced, and directed by John Krasinski. and this charming, colourful and heart-warming family film is a contrast to his recent work which focused on the horror genre, directing 2018s A Quiet Place and 2020s A Quiet Place Part II. It tells the story of Bea, played by The Walking Deads Cailey Fleming: a young girl who has been having a tough time due to her parents ill-health. She unexpectedly gains the ability to see peoples IFs, colourful creatures of all kinds, who have been forgotten by the kids who created and loved them as they got older. Cailey Fleming (Bea) and Steve Carell (Blue) star in IF, in cinemas now She then meets Cal, a neighbour played by Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, who can also see the imaginary friends that others cannot, and the pair unite to help bring the abandoned IFs back to the kids and adults they belong to. The movie also stars Fleabags Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as well as Krasinski himself as Beas dad, and his The Office co-star, Steve Carell, voicing IF Blue. Krasinski, 44, wrote and directed IF for the two daughters he shares with Oppenheimer actress Emily Blunt. Ive always wanted to make a movie for my kids, but I didnt know exactly what avenue to take, he says. I was genuinely standing in a doorway for so long, all these years, watching my girls go to this magical world that were not invited to as parents. And it wasnt just the joy on their face, it was the authenticity of seeing how themselves they were being ... I just thought that would be an amazing movie to make. Then, it was actually in the pandemic, when they started imagining a lot less, and they started asking real world questions and fear was setting in, as it does for all of us, and they started asking questions like, Are we going to be okay? and I thought, Thats it, I gotta write this movie right now, and remind them that that magical world they created will always be there for them. At the heart of the film is an important message for kids, that growing up does not have to be scary, and that all the fun things about being a kid do not have to stop just because you get a full time job and have to go grocery shopping for yourself. I think its super-important, says 17-year-old star Fleming of the films message. I think growing up is very scary. I think about growing up all the time and, like, taxes and stuff. I dont want to do that. But it doesnt have to be scary. I love that taxes are the villain, laughs Krasinski. What even is taxes? Like, I dont even... that stresses me out so bad, smiles Fleming. If I could do taxes with magic and imaginary friends next to me, it would be so much more fun. Fleming, who played the young version of Daisy Ridleys Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, adds that she thinks kids going to watch IF in the cinema will love the entire thing. I mean, theres so many magical moments in it: obviously, the IFs, but then you have Coney Island, and you have dancing numbers, she says. So I think theres something for everyone. I think the parents are going to be having breakdowns in the car park, because its so moving, adds Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 38, who voices Blossom, one of the IFs. I cant wait to talk to some kids after theyve seen it, but I imagine that theyre like, Yeah, thats what our life is like, surrounded by these (imaginary) people all the time. And for the adults, its very emotional remembering the kind of imaginative freedom that you had as a child. The animated IFs were born from Krasinskis own imagination, and brought to life by Academy Award winning visual effects house Framestore. "As I was writing the script, Im a horrible artist, but I was drawing these little sketches of each character because I knew in my head what I basically wanted them to look like, says Krasinski. And then you go through this amazing process where you bring in professional artists who you get to bounce (off) and collaborate with, and you say, Because of this horrible drawing, what would you make it look like? And in doing so you get this really fun process where everybody gets brought to life. I really prefer to shoot practically, so everything I shoot is really there, he adds. We did hardly any green screen at all, so in order to do that, you have to have artists who are willing to be brave, because its really hard for VFX people to drop their characters into real life situations without having green screen and things like that. And I had brave and courageous and extremely talented people working with me. For Krasinski, as much as IF is about silly, fun, imaginary friends, its also about hope. I think the funny thing is, we all think kids are the only ones growing up, but were all always growing up, he says. Were always sort of progressing to this place that we dont know whats going to happen. And I think the best part is (to) just go with the things that you created when you were the most ambitious, when you had the most high hopes, when you had all these dreams. Thats where we should all be coming from when we go through our daily life. IF is in cinemas now. Kenneth Fox The businessman Tony O'Reilly has died at the age of 88. The former Ireland rugby player has passed away at St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin on Saturday after a short illness. The Glasnevin native became chairman of Heinz and invested in the Independent group. As The Irish Times reports, losses suffered by the Irish companies contributed to his losing much of his wealth later in life. It led to him being declared bankrupt in the Bahamas in 2015, aged 79, after AIB which opposed the bankruptcy decision in the Bahamas had secured a debt judgment against him for 22.6 million. He emerged from bankruptcy in January of this year. From Griffith Avenue in Glasnevin, Dublin, OReilly was born in May 1936, went to Belvedere College and University College Dublin, qualified as a solicitor, played rugby for Ireland, and enjoyed early success as an Irish business executive before moving to the other side of the Atlantic where he became one of the most highly-paid executives in the United States. Before he moved to the United States OReilly was the head of Bord Bainne, the Irish Dairy Board, and the Irish Sugar Company, with his appointment to the latter being suggested by the then taoiseach, Jack Lynch. In 1969 he became the head of Heinz in the UK, and two years later moved to Pittsburgh to take on the role of senior vice-president with that corporation. He remained with Heinz until 1998, becoming chief executive and chairman and overseeing a twelvefold increase in its size. While running his hugely successful career in the US, he also returned regularly to Ireland to oversee his investments here. At the height of his career and wealth he was known to some of the most powerful political figures of the age, and had homes in Dublin, Kildare and Cork, as well as in Pittsburgh, the Bahamas, and Deauville, France. He was a founder of the philanthropic US Ireland Fund, which raised hundreds of millions of euros for the cause of peace and reconciliation in Ireland and helped undermine IRA fundraising efforts in the US. In 2001, he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth for his services to Northern Ireland, the first such award for an Irish citizen and something for which the Government had to grant permission. He preferred thereafter to be known as Sir Anthony. 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. The Decker Coal Mine on publicly owned land in the Powder River Basin in Decker, Montana on Nov. 13, 2013. WildEarth Guardians The United States Department of the Interiors Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed the ending of new coal leases on federal land in Montana and Wyomings Powder River Basin (PRB) the nations most productive area for the highly polluting fossil fuel. The new proposal would regulate millions of acres of mineral reserves on federal lands, reported The Associated Press. However, the short-term effects will likely be limited since the leases take years to develop and there is less demand for coal. This is a monumental decision that will save lives, safeguard our environment, and significantly cut carbon emissions in the United States, said Drew Caputo, Earthjustice vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife, and oceans, in a press release from Earthjustice. We are grateful that the Biden administration has shown the courage to end coal leasing in the Powder River Basin and at long last turn the page on this climate-destroying fuel. BLM has issued the final version of a supplemental impact statement (SEIS), as well as an amendment to the land use plan for its Buffalo Field Office, a press release from BLM said. BLM developed the amendment and SEIS in response to a federal court order from 2022. The BLMs proposed alternative, Alternative A, would amend the 2015 Buffalo Field Office resource management plan and make BLM-managed coal resources in the planning areas unavailable for future leasing. Federal coal production is anticipated to continue through 2041 under existing leases, the BLM press release said. The SEIS looks at alternatives to Buffalo Field Office federal coal leases and provides updated data and analysis of the health impacts of fossil fuel development in the area. In 2022, the 12 surface coal mines that were active in the region produced roughly 220 million short tons of coal, down from approximately 400 million tons 14 years earlier. The Energy Information Administration has said that coal production in both the PRB and the U.S. peaked in 2008 and have declined sharply since. The proposal brought criticism from Republicans in Congress on the heels of a new air quality regulation by President Joe Biden that could lead to coal-fired plants being shut down if they dont reduce their pollution, The Associated Press reported. Environmentalists said the new proposal indicates a shift in the countrys coal policy. Coal companies in this region already have decades of coal locked up under leases, and its hard to imagine theyll find buyers that far into the future given the competition from more affordable energy sources, said Mark Fix, a Montana rancher who belongs to the conservation group Northern Plains Resource Council, as reported by The Associated Press. Government analyses of the BLM proposal have said stopping federal coal leases would lower carbon dioxide emissions from the fossil fuel equal to 293 million tons annually about the same as produced by 63 million gas-powered vehicles. The BLMs decision to end coal leasing is a sea change in the transition to clean energy, said Derf Johnson, Montana Environmental Information Centers deputy director, in the press release from Earthjustice. As we wind down the coal mining in the PRB, there is an immense opportunity to continue growing the clean energy economy. (Photo: REUTERS / Joe Penney)A church is seen guarded by soldiers behind sandbags, in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 23, 2014. Christian houses of worship are guarded by military soldiers at all times in Maiduguri. Life is fraught for many Christians in northern Nigeria, and at least 3,462 of them, including 10 priests or pastors, were murdered this year in the West African country, many of them by militant jihadists. A group that monitors violence there says that in some cases, security forces are ignoring or involved in attacks against the Christians who are a minority in northern Nigeria. The Nigerian-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law released a report on Aug. 19 about attacks on civilians in Africa's most populous nation where the Christian-Muslim divide is about 50-50 among some 196 million people. "It is recalled that Intersociety had on 18th July 2021 released a special investigative report and found that in 200 days or 1st January to 18th July 2021, 'no fewer than 3,462 Nigerian Christians were hacked to death by Jihadists and their collaborators" and by security forces. Intersociety named the groups behind the death toll of those killed in the "esprit de jihad," such as Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Muslim Fulani Bandits. JIHADIST FULANI HERDSMEN "The total number of defenseless Christians hacked to death by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen protected by the Nigerian Government and its security forces in the past month" from July 18 to Aug.18 rose by at least 400 and 2,259 if counted from Jan. 1 to Aug. 18, 231 days. In 12 years, 43,000 Christians had been killed by jihadists, 18,500 permanently disappeared, and 17,500 churches were attacked, said Intersociety. For the World Council of Churches, Fredrick Nzwili reported on Aug 18 that Christians face insecurity and violence in the northwest state of Kaduna, as bandits attack homes, villages, and churches, killing them and kidnapping others for ransom. At the center of the communal violence is religious persecution, territorial ambition, and ethnic cleansing in the region where communities have settled along religious lines, says Rev. John Joseph Hayab, the country director for the Global Peace Foundation, Nigeria. They are killing my people. They are burning down my churches," says Hayab, who is also the chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. "I cannot be satisfied in Kaduna state when most pastors are major victims of kidnapping. I cannot be satisfied when I have lost pastors, and I have witnessed students, pastors, or pastors' wives kidnapped, raped, and ransom collected in millions," he says. The cleric explains that bandits have been demanding ransom from church leaders through the public mobile phone networks. The leaders have been turning to the congregations to help raise the ransom money, although it is not guaranteed that when the ransom is paid, the victim will turn up alive, according to Hayab. "Sometimes, the bandits have picked the ransom and told the families to go and collect the body of a victim at a place," he noted. KADUNA STATE CAPITAL In the Kaduna State capital, Nzwili reports a demographic divide, with Christians residing in the south and Muslims in the north. In rural southern areas of the state, people are agrarian and live mainly from farming and agricultural activities. But it is the Christian areas that are experiencing the highest level of bandit attacks. "The security situation has frightened the people away from the farms, at a period when Nigeria is facing a lot of economic challenges," said the local church leader. Insecurity in Kaduna has developed in phases, according to the cleric. From 1987-2015 Christians in schools, places of worship, and Christian communities were targeted in religious riots. But that changed in 2015 when criminal activities such as banditry, cattle rustling, attacks, and kidnapping in Christian communities escalated. "The situation is so pathetic that it threatens the existence of all, as it increases poverty, starvation, psychological effects and holds a high possibility of promoting more criminality if left unchecked," said Hayab. He fears the Nigerian government may end the problem and has called on international church organizations to undertake fact-finding missions or research in Kaduna state to help change the situation and achieve justice for the people. "There is the need for the Christian world to turn their eyes on the Kaduna State issue to help us as what is happening here is ...a genocide and persecution of the faith," said Hayab. Following a recent string of attacks against Christians by Islamic Fulani Herdsmen, a call for local authorities to take action has also come from evangelical Christian leaders, Christian Headlines reported. Between July 23 and August 2 in the Irigwe area in central Nigeria, about 70 people were killed, at least 15 villages were destroyed, and over 400 houses were burned down, including churches and an orphanage. Additionally, nearly 20,000 people were displaced. EVANGELICAL CHURCH WINNING ALL According to The Christian Post, Dr. Stephen Panya, president of the Evangelical Church Winning All (EWCA), shared a statement lamenting the attacks. "For over 21 years, the Irigwe people of Miango, a predominantly Christian community, have been under attacks from Fulani militia that resulted in the loss of lives, properties, and farmland," Panya said. "The last two weeks, especially from Sunday, July 23 to Monday, August 2, 2021, have been the worst nightmare of the entire Irigwe land." Panaya also expressed disappointment to the Nigerian Army, who failed to intervene despite its headquarters being near the villages involved in the attacks. "Many of the villages, where these killings and burnings are taking place, are located behind the 3rd Armoured Division Barrack of the Nigerian Army. "Yet, these militias are allowed to continue their heinous murders and carnage without any intervention by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies ..., eroding the confidence of the populace in the military and security agencies, as unbiased protectors of all, devoid of tribe, ethnicity or religion," he said. Panya also noted that "no single AK-47 wielding militia" has been arrested, and "the indigenous youth who tried to defend themselves with crude instruments are paraded as aggressors." The U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported that Ungwan Magaji, Kishicho, Kigam, and Kikoba Irigwe villages in Kaura LGA, southern Kaduna, were also attacked. At least 48 people were killed, over 100 homes were demolished, and at least 68 farmlands were destroyed. "It is time for the international community to put aside debates about the origins and nature of this violence and to focus instead on pressing and assisting Nigeria to address this network of organized armed non-state actors," CSW's Press and Public Affairs Team Leader Kiri Kankhwende said in a statement. (Photo: REUTERS / Joe Penney)A church is seen guarded by soldiers behind sandbags, in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 23, 2014. Christian houses of worship are guarded by military soldiers at all times in Maiduguri. Christianity faces deadly crises in more than half of Africa's 54 countries, according to reports, and the situation is worst in Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation. Christian groups contacted by Fox News Digital said the faithful are being persecuted, killed, and displaced in 28 countries on the continent in an April 14 report. Persecution watchdog group Open Doors U.S. told Fox News Digital its research shows that "nine out of 10 Christians killed for their faith in 2023 were in Nigeria. However, this number is likely higher, as many deaths go unreported." "Nigeria is one of the deadliest places on earth to be a Christian," Ryan Brown, Open Doors US CEO, told Fox News Digital. "Of the nearly 5,000 Christians killed for their faith in 2023 worldwide, a staggering 82 percent of them were in Nigeria." "Currently, there are 28 countries on the African continent listed on the Open Doors' U.S. 2024 World Watch List, nations where Christians routinely face oppression, harassment and violence because of their faith in Christ." Despite around 46 percent of Nigeria's population of 236 million being Christian, they are often seized from their homes. Brown of Open Doors U.S. reported that "of the 34.5 million displaced people across sub-Saharan Africa due to political instability, conflict, and extremism, an estimated 16.2 million are Christians." On May 16, The Wall Street Journal headlined a story: "The Hunting of Nigeria's Christians - The government seems powerless to stop the massacres and mass abductions." From Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on May 14, Christian Daily International- Morning Star News cited a human rights group reporting that 1,336 people were killed in the country's Plateau state between December and February. Residents also reported 18 Christians killed since mid-April. Herdsmen killed four Christian farmers on May 7, council official Christopher Audu Manship told Morning Star News. On the same day in Bassa County, herdsmen ambushed and hacked to death a Christian in Kwal village as he was working on his farm, said area resident Ezekiel Bini. "The Christian farmer's wife and children were killed by herdsmen in 2021 during an attack on the Kwal community, a predominantly Christian community," Bini told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. In Bokkos County also on May 7, Joshua Gonshak, a lecturer at Plateau State University, was kidnapped from his home in Bokkos town, said resident Christy Musa. The abduction followed an attack on Ngoksar village, Bokkos County on May 1 in which "Fulani terrorists" attacked eight Christians, killing two of them, she said. (Photo: Peter Kenny / Ecumenical News)The Church of the Lord, Aladura Primate Rev. Rufus Okikiolaolu Ositelu leads a delegation from his church to the Orthodox Center Of The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambesy, Geneva on Jan. 30, 2018 The primate of The Church of the Lord, Aladura, Worldwide, an African initiated church founded in 1925 talks with pride about how the founder had a calling from God to have women serving with men in pastoral work. Primate Rev. Rufus Okikiolaolu Ositelu, metropolitan archbishop of the church visited Geneva and the World Council of Churches on Jan. 29-30. He spelled out some of the ecumenical, inter-faith and developmental work of the Church of the Lord, which joined the WCC in 1975 in an interview with the WCC. "According to the founder, he said God told him to have both males and females in the pastoral work and the church. Since, then it has been growing in multiples," said Ositelupointing to how the church was a pathfinder in both the global and African context. He is the son of the church founder, Josiah Olunowo Ositelu. He noted that now the church is thriving all over West Africa: in Liberia, Sierra Leone and of course Nigeria with women serving at all levels in the church. "The church is the first African church to be established on European soil and that was back in April 1964. The church is also thriving in the United States of America, so that is where the name worldwide came from. We are in Australia too." He lists the six tenets of The Church of the Lord, Aladura, which in Nigeria's southwestern Nigeria Yoruba language means "owners of prayer", "Prayer Fellowship" or "The Praying People". ECUMENICAL IN OUTLOOK "We are: ecumenical in outlook; Pentecostal in power; biblical in pattern; social in responsibility; evangelical in vision and prophetic in ministry." The church has 3.6 million members and joined the WCC in 1975 with the visit of the delegation taking place as part of the celebration of the WCC's 70 years as a living fellowship. The Church of the Lord is also a member of the Organization of African Instituted Churches; All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC); Christian Association of Nigeria, a broadly ecumenical group that includes traditional Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic Church and Pentecostal churches; and the Christian Council of Nigeria that includes traditional Protestant churches and is part of the WCC. "I am the vice-president of the Christian Council of Nigeria, so the church is also playing its role," said Ositelu. Then there is in the multi-faith dimension, as the primate said, "We are very passionate about peaceful coexistence. If we get to know one another there will be no problems." The primate comes from Africa's most populous nation of 190 million people where Christianity and Muslim are the two dominant religions, but he said he also comes from where African traditional religions are also strong. "We have just inaugurated an NGO (non-governmental organization) ...to work with Muslims and African traditional religions, a mission on peace," said Ositelu. He observed that people say there is a problem between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria who some say balance each other out numerically. CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS LIVING PEACEFULLY "The answer to that problem is right here in Nigeria because in the southwest of Nigeria, Christians and Muslims are living together peacefully." Ositelu notes that some people in the north where Islam dominates believe that Muslims in the south "are pagans". Educating Nigerians is a key to solving many of Nigeria's problems but there needs to be teaching so that people can move forward with their lives and not merely religious instruction at schools. "Every one of us cannot be a pastor. Every one of us cannot be an imam. We need people who are going be doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and so on," said the primate. And when it comes to working towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, "the church generally believes that they can play a role in this area...Many churches in Nigeria have vocational institutes where they train people in trades." He cited a medical centre run by The Church of the Lord in which the first woman who gave birth there was a Muslim; "because our role is to take care of humanity." INTER-FAITH CENTER Ositelu also mentioned the inter-faith centre in Kaduna in northern Nigeria where Christians and Muslims have committed to work together for peace. He said it needs Islamic partners to fill the places set aside for them in the equal venture. "I am optimistic about ecumenical and interfaith work in Nigeria," said the primate, who attended his first WCC Assembly in Harare in 1998. He said, however, it seems strange that sometimes Christian groups who don't talk to each other at home will meet when they attend regional and global ecumenical meetings. "Through the AACC and WCC we started talking," said Ositelu. "I was wondering if we talk in Geneva, why can't we talk at home? Regional and global ecumenical bodies are helping national churches to talk together." 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Efforts should also be made to strengthen the building of innovation mechanisms and ecosystems to facilitate the emergence of original and transformative technological innovation in the information and communications sector, Zhang said at the 2024 World Telecommunication &Information Society Day held in the city of Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. China has for many years made continued efforts to promote the modernization of digital infrastructure systems, and currently boasts the world's biggest and technologically advanced 5G network. Zhang said China's industrial development is now in a crucial transition from big to strong, highlighting the key role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in upgrading the whole chain of industrial production, improving total factor productivity, and effectively tackling industrial problems. The ministry will accelerate ICT breakthroughs to support new types of industrialization, deepen the integration of 5G and the industrial internet, and promote the application of digital technologies in areas such as education, medical services, and elderly care. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) By Nedbank Mowbray student housing development in Rosebank, Cape Town - External Views Nedbank Corporate Property Finance provided R25 million finance for an upmarket student housing development in Rosebank, Cape Town that was completed last month. Although predominantly aimed at students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), the development is also ideally placed for students attending Varsity College, AFDA, CPUT and Damelin. The development is conveniently located on Durban Road, which borders Mowbray and Rosebank between Liesbeek Parkway and Main Road. The four storey building comprises 55 two-bedroom apartments, each measuring between 34 and 36 m in size. Bedrooms are fully furnished to a high standard of specification, and all kitchens are equipped with stoves, fridges and convection/microwave ovens. Wifi access is available to all tenants. The building has a laundry room, while the first floor courtyard serves as an attractive open-air communal space. Two lounges, each equipped with TV's, are located on the top floor. The development also provides state-of-the-art security, including a 24-hour concierge service, biometric access control systems and CCTV camera monitoring. Since acquiring the erven in 2007 and 2008, the developers Jeremy Chaitman and Shamus Fitzhenry engaged UCT in negotiations to provide a solution to the dire need for more student residences. The developers have let the units privately and at the time of publication the occupation level of the building is over 80%. The skills and experience of our professional property consultants ensure that Nedbank Corporate Property Finance can structure tailor-made financial solutions for financing commercial, industrial, retail and residential developments across a range of property markets. In this particular instance, our finance team worked closely with the developers to structure a financial solution that would allow the opportunities presented by the demand for student accommodation in the area, coupled with the severely restricted supply, to be harnessed to the benefit of all the stakeholders involved, comments Richard Thomas, regional executive Nedbank Corporate Property Finance, Cape. Potential tenants can contact Marion on 074 330 4222. Maliwal assault case: Kejriwal's PA Bibhav Kumar arrested from CM residence Acting swiftly on former DCW chief Swati Maliwals FIR over assault in 'Sheeshmahal, the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Arvind Kejriwals personal secretary Bibhav Kumar from the Delhi Chief Ministers residence. Bibhav Kumar was accused of abusing and beating up Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal in the drawing room of Delhi CMs residence. Maliwal in her FIR said that while she waited to meet the Chief Minister on May 13, he barged into the room, pounced on her and thrashed her black and blue. Bibhav Kumar, a long-time aide of Arvind Kejriwal, has been taken into custody and is set to be interrogated for the alleged abuse and misbehaviour. Meanwhile, Bibhav has also lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police station and added that he was ready for the probe into the incident. While the Maliwal episode mounts the problems of already beleaguered AAP leadership, the emergence of new CCTV footage has added a fresh twist to the case. Delhi Police is also likely to scan the CCTV cameras at CM residence. On Friday, the crime scene was also re-created at CMs residence after the former DCW chief lodged the FIR. Meanwhile, the BJP has gone all guns blazing at Arvind Kejriwal and is lambasting the AAP leadership for attacking the woman MP inside CM house, while describing the episode as cheerharan. It also accused the AAP of shielding Kejriwals personal secretary despite having ample 'evidence' against him. 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. Riders take a trail ride via the Chaparral Ranch services at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2019. San Francisco Recreation and Park Department officials terminated their contract with Chaparral after a report that the companys horses were overworked. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle A rider gets comfortable aboard a horse before a 30-minute trail ride provided by Chaparral Ranch at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2019. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department revoked the permit of a company that provided horseback riding services at Golden Gate Park and Camp Mather, saying officials no longer believe they meet the high standards we expect from our park operators. In a statement to the Chronicle on Friday, Tamara Barak Aparton, a spokesperson for Rec and Park, said after careful consideration and gaining a deeper understanding of the issues, we have decided to revoke our permit with Chaparral Corporation, covering both Golden Gate Park and Camp Mather. Camp Mather is a popular camp site near Yosemite run by San Francisco Recreation and Park. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The decision to pull the permit followed an investigation by the San Francisco Standard, a local news outlet, that revealed years of mistreatment of animals and workers. Employees and volunteers for Chaparral told the Standard of inadequate care and a grueling work environment for horses. Aparton said the decision was made despite the fact that an Animal Care and Control investigation determined Chaparral met minimum standards for horse care under the law. The parks department said it notified Chaparral of its decision on Wednesday. Employees of Chaparral submitted a 41-page whistleblower report to the city, which was obtained by the Standard, that showed photographic evidence of the mistreatment, including lack of shelter, hoof care and health care. Chaparral could not be reached for comment Friday. A website that appeared to belong to the company said it offered horseback riding in Monterey Bay, Woodside, Los Gatos and Milpitas. However, its San Francisco website appeared to have been removed from the internet. They were forcing us to use these horses four to five hours straight very regularly, Sierra Healy, a Chaparral employee since April 2023, told the Standard. And when I say working, I mean lessons with kids and rides on Ocean Beach. Intense work. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Because of that, the horses werent able to keep any weight on. You can see their ribs. They have no muscle mass, Healy told the Standard. We had a couple of horses that would lie down and start rolling with a kid on their back. Its mind-boggling that theyve continued to operate like this for so long. A former Chaparral employee who worked for the company in 2021 told the Standard, The animals were there to make money. In an interview with the Standard, Chaparrals owners, Susan Pennell and Shawn Mott, said they offered a healthy environment for their horses, including adequate shelter. I dont feel like fighting for it anymore, Mott said to the Standard in regard to his business dealings with San Francisco. Ive been doing it for 50 years. I know what Im doing. All the professionals, veterinarians, doctors, animal control people, government agencies, entities, they asked us to be at these places. Sonoma State President Ming-Tung Mike Lee, shown here in 2023, has stepped down after his pact with pro-Palestinian student protesters angered CSU officials and Jewish leaders. Beth Schlanker/Associated Press Sonoma State University President Ming-Tung Mike Lee stepped down Friday, one day after California State University officials placed him on leave for unilaterally announcing that the campus would sever academic and financial ties with Israel. Lee had negotiated with Students for Justice in Palestine to persuade them to remove tents they set up on Sonoma States campus in Rohnert Park. The deal they reached included a promise to review the universitys investments and seek ethical alternatives if needed but also an unprecedented academic boycott of Israel. CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia labeled Lees action insubordination on Thursday and quickly named an acting president. On Friday, Garcia announced that Lee has informed me of his decision to retire. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Lee had been in the presidents role for less than two years, following a 28-year career as an administrator and business professor at Sacramento State. He came out of retirement in 2022 to take over at Sonoma State when former President Judy Sakaki resigned amid sexual harassment and retaliation allegations. But after announcing an agreement Tuesday that was celebrated by pro-Palestinian student protesters because it singled out Israel and included a promise to elevate the activists to advisors who would hold administrators accountable for complying with the boycott of the Jewish state Lee encountered swift backlash from Jewish leaders, including state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. Sonoma State University President Mike Lee was placed on administrative leave Thursday, one day after officials said he unilaterally brokered an agreement with campus pro-Palestinian protesters. On Friday he tendered his resignation. Sonoma State University Yesterday the President of Sonoma State University aligned the campus with BDS (the boycott, divest and sanction) movement whose goal is the destruction of Israel, home to (7 million) Jews, Wiener posted Wednesday on social media. He and Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino (Los Angeles County), co-chairs of the state Legislatures Jewish Caucus, thanked Garcia on Thursday for addressing the issue quickly, and said that the state-funded universitys endorsement of an academic boycott was totally unacceptable. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The accord struck by Lees administration went beyond those reached with protesters at San Francisco State and Sacramento State, which focused not on any one nation, but on examining financial ties with companies or regions of the world that violate human rights. Our role as educators is to support and uplift all members of the California State University, Garcia said Thursday in her statement announcing the disciplinary action. The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another. The Sonoma presidents action also caught the attention of House Republicans who are targeting university leaders for any perceived inattention to campus antisemitism. Sonoma State President Ming-Tung Mike Lee, shown here in 2023, has stepped down after his pact with pro-Palestinian student protesters angered CSU officials and Jewish leaders. Beth Schlanker/Associated Press Any university president who caters to a lawless mob must be removed immediately, Rep. Kevin Kiley said on Thursday after Lee was sidelined. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Right wing politicians have labeled the antiwar protesters antisemitic radicals and declared the protests sweeping the nation to be antisemitic college chaos. They have been calling university leaders to defend themselves in tense, McCarthyesque Congressional hearings. Next up are the heads of UCLA, Rutgers and Northwestern. Two college presidents, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Claudine Gay of Harvard, resigned this winter in the wake of Congressional hearings. Columbias president, Nemat Shafik, initiated a crackdown on campus protesters after her hearing in April, prompting a wave of student encampments this spring including the one at Sonoma State. Lee publicly apologized on Wednesday evening and said he acted without the approval of Garcia or other CSU leaders. Both Lees apology and his original announcement had been available on the Sonoma State website Thursday but were gone by Friday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad UC Santa Cruz grad students plan to strike Monday in response to the universitys crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Nic Coury/Special to the Chronicle 2021 A union representing about 2,000 UC Santa Cruz graduate student workers said its members will strike on Monday in protest of the University of California systems crackdown on pro-Palestinian encampments and student protesters, some of whom are represented university workers. The universitys crackdown on peaceful protesters amounted to unfair labor practices, according to UAW 4811, which represents 48,000 employees across the UC system. The union cited actions against protesters at UCLA and UC San Diego as cases in which it said the university trampled free speech rights of its members. Santa Cruz will be the first campus whose represented student employees will strike. The campus is on the quarter system and the spring quarter ends on June 13. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Our members have been beaten, concussed, pepper sprayed, both by counter-protesters and by police forces, UAW 4811 said in a statement. As a union, it is our responsibility to stand beside them and demand that UC stop committing these gross Unfair Labor Practices. Momentum toward a strike had been building up throughout the week, and on Friday the union said 79% of members voted to authorize the strike if circumstances justify. For many months, workers across California have protested the death, destruction, and human suffering in Gaza, Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 4811, the union representing the workers, said on social media. A UC Santa Cruz graduate student researcher, Douglas Grion Filho, said in the social media announcement: Over the last two weeks, UC has allowed appalling violence and intimidation against members of our academic community who exercised their right to protest. In a statement Friday, the University of California said it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the states Public Employment Relations Board against UAW 4811, and requests its members cease and desist strike activity. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Given UAWs publicly stated position and the subsequent potential impacts on our students and campuses, we are forced to take decisive action to ensure we can continue to fulfill our fundamental missions of teaching, research and public service, said Melissa Matella, Associate Vice President for Systemwide Labor Relations. A day earlier, Matella said in a statement that the strike would violate a clause in the unions contract that states it cannot strike over nonlabor issues. We respect and value a productive working relationship with our labor unions, Matella said. We collaborate regularly to reach mutually beneficial agreements around employment terms. We have and continue to hope that UAW will honor the terms of our contracts. The union said it has filed additional unfair labor practices charges against UC for labeling the planned strike as unlawful. Richmond police say they recovered this firearm from the home of Kevin James McDonald, whom they fatally shot. Two Richmond officers who fatally shot an armed man in his bedroom last year acted in self-defense and will not be charged with any wrongdoing, the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office announced. One of the officers had injured several people in other incidents, including one this month, records show. Officers Robert Branch and Alex Caine shot Kevin McDonald, 66, on June 28, 2023, while executing a search warrant on his Richmond home, where he lived with another man who was suspected of a firearm offense and had been arrested, according to a 42-page report compiled by Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton. That suspect told officers that McDonald and his mother lived at the home. McDonald was not a suspect in the investigation and had no criminal or violent history. Advertisement Article continues below this ad When officers arrived at the house at 9:08 a.m., they discovered that the side garage door was unlocked. They knocked and announced themselves and waited 45 seconds before 12 officers in total entered the home, said the report, released Friday. Inside the living room, officers found McDonalds mother, whom they described as elderly and disoriented, and said she did not respond or move when they called her toward them. At 9:12 a.m., a few minutes after entering the house, officers moved toward the staircase, shouted to announce their presence and asked for anyone upstairs to make yourself known, as well as calling out McDonalds name. After a minute, officers went up the stairs, continuing to announce their presence, according to the report. After searching the upstairs rooms, officers lined up outside of a room with a closed door at 9:15 a.m., with Branch at the front and Caine set up to cover for him. As Branch prepared to open the door, a voice yelled dont come in here, according to the report. Branch yelled Richmond Police Department as he opened the door, and then yelled show me your hands twice, the report said. Two seconds after opening the door, Caine shouted gun three times, and Branch also yelled gun. Both officers immediately fired their rifles at McDonald, who was pointing a rifle at them, the report said. Caine yelled shot, and McDonald, who was shot in the head and leg, fell back onto the bed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Officers then entered the room, and Branch took the rifle from McDonalds hands, the report said. Just after 9:15 a.m., less than a minute after officers first opened McDonalds door, they requested medical aid. One minute after that, officers applied first aid, and at 9:17 a.m. a paramedic took over. McDonald was pronounced dead at the scene. Richmond police say they recovered this live hand grenade from the home of Kevin James McDonald, whom they fatally shot. Richmond Police Department The report said that officers collected 47 assault rifles, hundreds of live rounds of ammunition and a live grenade at McDonalds residence. Photos of the scene included in the report show several large weapons in McDonalds room. The report was based on interviews with officers, paramedics and McDonalds mother as well as body cam footage. Caine was not wearing his body cam at the time of the shooting and told investigators that he forgot to transfer his body cam when he changed into a tactical vest to execute the search warrant. Caine, who videos show striking and handcuffing a man filming an arrest on a public sidewalk this month, has seriously injured people in at least 11 separate encounters since 2014, in addition to the June killing, according to records obtained by the California Reporting Project, a multi-newsroom coalition formed to obtain and analyze police records across the state. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In Branchs body cam footage, the view into the room as he opened the door was blocked by his hands and gun, but it did capture him removing a rifle from McDonalds hands after police shot him. Both officers told investigators that they believed McDonald intended to shoot them and that there was no time to deescalate the situation. As part of protocol for officer-involved shootings, a jury of citizens heard the evidence in the case as part of a coroners inquest and concluded that the cause of McDonalds death was suicide, suggesting he pointed the gun at officers to compel them to shoot him. The jurys decision has no legal bearing on the civil or criminal investigations or liability of anyone involved in the incident. It might be a good time to finally upgrade your iPhone if youve been hanging onto an older model according to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, Apple will be offering a little more than usual for some trade-ins starting next week in the US and Canada. The company itself hasnt said anything about the promotion, but according to Gurman, itll be offered in-store to customers wholl be using the credit toward any model in the iPhone 15 lineup. This will reportedly be in effect starting this Monday and last until June 3. Starting Monday in the U.S. and Canada, youll get an iPhone trade in value boost at Apple retail stores if you use the credit towards an iPhone 15/Pro/Plus/Max. This will last till June 3rd. Mark Gurman (@markgurman) May 18, 2024 Apple lists trade-in values on its website for all iPhone models going back to the iPhone 7. Something that old currently goes for something in the ballpark of $50, while a more recent model like the year-and-a-half-old iPhone 14 Pro Max has an estimated trade-in value of up to $630. Of course, the online estimates arent always what you end up getting, but it gives you an idea. Since Apple hasnt said anything about a temporary value boost, its unclear by how much these numbers may go up. The following contains spoilers for Boom. It should be a given any new series needs time to find its footing, even when its a revival of an already-running hit. The first three episodes of new Doctor Who have been fun, but not without their own idiosyncrasies that made them hard to love. Now its time for Steven Moffat, the series greatest 21st century writer, to show what this new season can do. Theres the usual degree of showboating and cleverness, but its hard to deny the mans genius when he pens the first genuine classic of the Disney+ era. Bloody hell. Boom thrusts the Doctor and Ruby into the smallest corner of a war, and lets it play out in microcosm. This is an angry story about how money, power and cruelty make people inhuman, and is the sort of episode Doctor Who excels at. This story makes no bones about the pointlessness of war and why money is the engine that keeps it going. Its framing may be modern theres one too many uses of the word algorithm here but its central thesis is timeless. Bad Wolf / BBC Studios In a wasteland battlefield on Kastarian 3, two militarized Anglican clerics are walking back to base. Carson (Majid Mahdizadeh-Valoujerdy) is leading his friend, John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) who has been blinded in the fighting, an injury thatll take four weeks to recover from. In the distance, they spot an ambulance but seem afraid of it and look to go the long way around it. Carson loses his footing and slips into a small crater, activating a land mine that instantly obliterates him. The disturbance summons the ambulance, a tank-tracked device with a large screen with an apparently friendly avatar (Susan Twist) which injects its tendrils into Vater, identifying his injury. It decides that four weeks is an unacceptable amount of time for recovery and terminates him instead. His scream is heard by the Doctor, who sprints out of the TARDIS to help but winds up putting one foot on the exact same mine that killed Carson. Ruby arrives to find the Doctor frozen in place, asking her to describe what hes standing on: A Villengard mine. Its an anti-personnel explosive made by a notorious weapons manufacturer that Moffat has referenced several times before. The Doctor asks Ruby to find something heavy for him to hold, so that he can shift his weight and put his foot down without triggering the mine. What she finds is Vaters compacted remains bolted to an AI canister containing a simulacrum of Vater. The Doctor asks Ruby to throw it to him, but she instead opts to walk within the blast range and hand it over. It affirms the dynamic that as Gatwas Doctor has vacated the role of big-chested hero, Ruby has stepped in to fill the void. The mine is, however, unsure if the Doctor is a viable target, and so remains frozen on the edge of activation. Villengards weapons are notoriously vicious and the company has created a warfare algorithm to limit the number of bodies in the battle zone at one time, while also dragging wars on profitably and indefinitely. It gives the company license to slay the wounded rather than spending the cash to cure them. Bad Wolf / BBC Studios Before he died, Vater was speaking to his daughter Splice (Caoilnn Springall), who was brought along to the war as there was no-one else to look after her. While her father was on patrol, she had been left in the care of Mundy (Varada Sethu), a lower-ranking soldier in the army. But she slips her minder to reach the last GPS-tagged location of her father. She arrives, triggering the hologram attached to Vaters remains that delivers his valediction to his daughter. Soon after, Mundy tracks down her wayward ward and is able to explain the rest of the plot to the TARDIS crew. The Anglicans have been fighting a war for six months against an enemy thats never seen or heard. Mundy and the Doctor spar on the nature of religion and how faith in more than just a higher power helps create willing material for the meat grinder of war. Mundys skeptical about the Doctor and Ruby but is quickly convinced when she scans the Doctor to see hes not just going to explode on the mine. As a complex space-time event, the mines activation wont just kill him but destroy half of the planet. It gets worse: The mine is going to time out and go off anyway after its stuttering activation. Having detected the fracas, an ambulance arrives and jams its menacing tendrils into the Doctor. Ruby, again refusing to allow anyone else control the narrative, grabs Mundys rifle and tries to create a distraction to no effect. Mundy tells Ruby to shoot her using the rifes lowest setting which would draw the ambulance without being fatal. But, as Ruby takes aim, Canterbury (Bhav Joshi) arrives just in time to misappraise the scene and shoot Ruby to defend his fellow soldier. Ruby, on the edge of death, generates more snow but is fading fast The Doctor has worked out the problem, which is that theres no enemy on the planet at all its barren. Villengard's algorithm is sending soldiers out to die with the traps they themselves bought and probably placed. The only solution is to surrender but thats not something Mundy is willing, or empowered, to do, so the Doctor needs to find proof to show to the senior cleric. He uses the AI of Vater, appealing to his duty as a father and whatever humanity is left inside to search through the military database to find evidence there is no enemy at all. More ambulances arrive in an attempt to overwhelm the people in the crater, looming down on them all. As Mundy and Canterbury speak, the latter is suddenly minced for reasons that boil down to were in the final few minutes of the episode. In the chaos, it looks as if all is lost, but as the Villengard AI projects a hologram, its quickly taken over by Vater, whose love for his daughter has hopefully triggered some sort of feedback loop, ending the war and disabling the mine. As the war is ended, Ruby is resurrected by the ambulance and the four survivors are able to enjoy the beautiful view in the skies over Kastarian 3. Theres even time for the Doctor to mention a grumpy old man who told him once that what will survive of us is love. Thats a reference to notoriously acerbic poet Philip Larkins work An Arundel Tomb, referencing a long-decayed sculpture of two people lying in state. The Doctor mentions Splice may have a bright future ahead of her, and gets ready to head off to their next adventure. Bad Wolf / BBC Studios Theres no good place to address this later, so Ill add that Varada Sethu has also been cast as a new companion for Doctor Whos second season. Initial rumors suggested she was replacing Millie Gibson but the BBC said last month the trio would travel together. Its not uncommon for an actor to play a minor role in one episode and then return as a member of the core cast. Peter Capaldi, Karen Gillan, Freema Agyeman and Colin Baker all played one-off roles before joining as a Doctor or as a companion. I have no idea if Mundy will return, or if Sethu will play a new character, but Im not sure Mundy was a compelling enough character to warrant a revisit. Bad Wolf / BBC Studios Boom is a masterclass in perpetually-building tension in a way that Doctor Who has rarely attempted. I wouldnt want to experience this level of stress every single week, but its a wonderful change from the status quo. The one thing that doesnt quite work with the episode is the uneven pacing. For all the effort put into building the tension, the ending just seems to happen. I feel like Moffat was straining against the running time, since the last few minutes are just dashed off without as much attention as Id have liked. Interestingly, the other times Moffat has written stories that are this bleak, like The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances and World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls, they were both two-parters. Im not sure Boom needed 90 minutes, but an extra 10 or so might have helped things breathe. Despite being rooted to one spot for most of the story, Gatwas Doctor still commands every frame he occupies. Theres enough chemistry between him and Millie Gibson that the pairs interactions are entirely believable. The rest of the cast, however, dont really get as much time to shine, given the limited focus and the stock roles they play in the narrative. Its entirely in keeping with Moffats style that hed come back to a show, now equipped with a Disney-sized budget, only to make an episode set in one location. As a writer, hes always enjoyed tying one hand behind his back and then allowing those restrictions to force him to be better. It was his Swiss watch plotting, smart storylines and snappy dialog that has always ensured his episodes are events. History has also silenced his critics: Last year, Doctor Who Magazine polled readers to rank every episode of the show made. Staggeringly, of the top 10, Moffat was credited with five, knocking Robert Holmes, the shows greatest writer, off his perch. And, as I said at the top, Boom stands proud as the first bona fide classic of the Disney+ era. Susan Twist Corner This week, Susan Twist played the avatar of the sinister Villengard ambulances that roamed the battlefield. Several times, the Doctor appealed to Vaters AI homunculus on the fact that they are, or were, both fathers. If it isnt clear, I think the show really wants the audience to know that the Doctor is a father with a child, whereabouts unknown. The hacky premise would be that its Susan who has taken the mantle of The One Who Waits, or that shes somehow Ruby. Yeugh. The former director of logistics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey has been accused of embezzling more than $600,000, as well as stealing Apple MacBooks and iPads. Google Street View The former director of logistics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey has been accused of a massive embezzlement scheme. Federal prosecutors say Zelene Charles, 42, spent upward of three years stealing more than $600,000 from the school and the nearby Defense Language Institute, plus a cache of Apple MacBooks and iPads. Charles, who lives in East Garrison in Monterey County, was charged Friday with felony counts of theft of government property and wire fraud, records show. She was not arrested and is due to appear in a San Jose courtroom on July 1. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Reached Saturday, she declined to comment, referring calls to her attorney, who did not immediately return a message. According to a federal complaint, Charles worked at the Defense Language Institute from 2010 to August 2019, as a civilian supply technician and then as a civilian supervisory general supply specialist. Then, she moved over to the Naval Postgraduate School, which is also under the U.S. Department of Defense, as a civilian supervisory supply management specialist. She later became director of logistics after the alleged thefts described in the complaint. Charles began embezzling in roughly December 2016, prosecutors said, by creating fake purchase requests and invoices and then paying the invoices by charging her subordinates government cards. By April 2020, she had steered at least $624,250 into her personal bank accounts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hsieh wrote in charging documents. Advertisement Article continues below this ad French police shot dead an armed man who set fire to a synagogue in the northwestern city of Rouen. Saturday, May 18, 2024 A few things caught my eye as I was reading this article in the Wall Street Journal about Putins visit to China last week. Putin is quoted as saying that he portray[s] himself and Chinese leader Xi Jinping as defenders of global stability and equality between nations. He goes on to say that Together [they] uphold the principles of justice and a democratic world order reflecting the multipolar realities founded in international law. Hearing Putin talk about democratic principles is cringe-inducing. To Xi Jinpings credit, he never pretends to run a democracy. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that he presides over does not allow popular voting on anything. Putin, in contrast, is the master of pretense. He holds elections, but handpicks who can run against him and manipulates the voting system to guarantee that he wins in landslides. He either jails or kills any unauthorized person who has the audacity to even think about challenging him at the ballot box. Pretty much every country neighboring Russia and China, or lying in close proximity to them, seems scared to death. These two large grizzly bears have become increasingly belligerent. The Baltic nations, Finland, Sweden, and Poland constantly watch nervously over their shoulders to see what Putin is going to do next. It is the same story in Chinas backyard. The Taiwanese cannot sleep easy nowadays because they see what is going on in Ukraine and they know that it is quite possible they will face a similar situation in the not-too-distant future. The Filipinos are being harassed in all kinds of ways by China. In recent months, the Chinese coast guard has repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons at Filipino coast guard boats in the South China Sea, which China claims dominion over. Does all this sound like stability to anyone? It is unclear what dictionary Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping use but this appears to be their definition of stability: Everyone shut up and do what we say. We all saw what happened to Alexei Navalny when he refused to live by Putins rules. The regime survival package that Putin is said to be selling to dictators in Africa is meant to globalize his gangster playbook. Perhaps there are people all over the place for whom this kind of stable world, in which no one has a say in anything, is appealing. But for others, like Navalny, Boris Nemtsov before him, and now Vladimir Kara-Murza, that type of world is not worth living in. I have enormous respect for these courageous men who are willing to sacrifice their lives so they and others can live in freedom. According to the WSJ article, in its attempt to justify Putins invasion of Ukraine, Beijing argues that Russia has rights to indivisible security, with no other countrys security efforts threatening its own. That claim is both laughable and shocking. And the arrogance of these two men is unbelievable. If Apple CEO Tim Cook were to point a gun at someones head for having the temerity to even think about buying a Samsung smartphone, would anyone try to justify Mr. Cooks action? After all, wouldnt that considered purchase of a rival product by that impudent customer threaten Apples profitability and ultimate survival as a going concern? The fact is that Putin and his pal never stop to think about why so many people, including their own compatriots, dont like the product they are selling. Because they have both come up through non-competitive political systems, they are not used to the idea of having to please their customers. The top brass at Apple Inc. know that they are not entitled to anything in life. They wake up every morning, travel to their offices, and, together with their employees, put in their best possible efforts to create products that will win hearts and minds in the marketplace. Talk is cheap, indeed. Putin and Xi Jinping can make all the claims they want about being the guarantors of stability in this world. But there are a lot of us that they will never convince. My husband and I recently went out to lunch at our favorite restaurant, a historic inn surrounded by big old trees and blooming shrubs. We barely had time to place our order when I heard a commotion. At a nearby window, a female cardinal was banging repeatedly at the glass. Perched on the limb of a nearby bush, she would launch herself, feet first, while using her wings to frantically beat at the barrier. Over-and-over she did this, and it gave me a headache just watching her. I couldnt help but eavesdrop on the comments coming from the surrounding tables of guests. Oh, look at that bird! It wants in! and That poor bird, its so confused. And Its gonna kill itself doing that! I smiled to myself as the waitress tried apologetically to explain to her charges what was really happening. Im willing to bet that most of my audience here has witnessed this type of bird activity at some point in their lives. During my tenure at the park, I fielded dozens of phone calls over the years from the public, begging me for advice for a quick fix to this annoying behavior. I have come to the conclusion that simply having the virtue of patience is the only thing that prevails. Unfortunately, its not the remedy that most people want to hear. Reflections So why do some birds exhibit this disturbing conduct? First of all, it usually falls within the species breeding season. This could occur from early spring through mid-summer. Secondly, it is usually demonstrated by male birds. As the boys begin to iron out their territories and commence the task of attracting a mate, they dont take too kindly to competition. Thus, when they see another male in their space, their reflection in the glass, they react violently. In an effort to oust the intruder, they fly at their challenger in a battle that will persevere until this particular phase of reproduction begins to wane. This behavior rarely ends in the death of the bird because they are battling at close range and not flying through their habitat, crashing into a window that reflects an extension of the environment. Females, too, will battle their reflection, as was the case with the cardinal at the restaurant. As she fought the other bird, she returned often to a limb right next to the glass. It was obvious that this shrub that butted up against the building held her nest and eggs and she wasnt taking too kindly to another female sharing her nesting space. Antidotes Obviously, hearing a constant banging noise can really fray ones nerves. Seeing the bird performing this needless act is even more stressful. So just what can we do? There are numerous antidotes on the market, some more effective than others, but sadly, none are foolproof. Basically, the more money you are willing to spend, the more success you will achieve. Start by simply relocating your feeders and birdbaths a minimum of 30 feet away from the area with the reflections. One of the least expensive fixes is to try covering the window with curtains or by closing blinds. You can also hang a towel or sheet behind the glass. This can help diffuse the reflection, depending upon the time of day and lighting outside. Often, however, the bird will simply move on to a different window of the house. Making the area around the window a distracting, intimidating place can be achieved by placing things nearby that move. Try hanging aluminum pie pans that bang around in the breeze or wind chimes that will aid in frightening the bird from the locale. An inexpensive, somewhat effective method is to apply decals or reflective strips of tape or strings on the outside of the window. Placing them within a few inches of each other helps to break up the reflection, making it harder for the bird to see a complete likeness of itself. Make sure that some of these decals mimic the shape of predators such as hawks or owls. Birds recognize these silhouettes and will avoid the area around them. If you are willing to put forth more time and effort, installing exterior screens over the outside of the windows will not only mask the reflection, they will also prevent birds from hitting the glass. If you decided upon this method, make sure that the mesh is small enough that the bird wont get its head stuck or end up trapped between the window and the screen. There is an anti-reflective window film available that can be placed on the glass or, if money is not an object, you can invest in the new technology of glass whose reflective surface has been diffused and eliminated by etching or frosting. Patience is key There are several species of birds that regularly fight their reflections, notably robins, cardinals, towhees and a couple species of sparrows. Yet, our most irritating experience with this behavior happened with a male eastern bluebird, and it lasted for two years throughout its breeding seasons. We love our bluebirds, dont get me wrong, but the tenacity of this male had us all crazy, including our dogs. Not only did he visit practically every window of our house, but he spent hours on our vehicles, battling his reflection in the side mirrors. To make matters worse, he would defecate constantly, coating the cars with streams of whitewash which had to be washed off daily. Covering the windows in our house or moving the vehicles to different locations on our farm made little difference. We were so relieved to see him go after rearing 2 broods in our box during the first year. The next year, we couldnt believe it when, there he was, back again at his shenanigans. Although we maintain several successful bluebird boxes on our property, we had never experienced this behavior from a bluebird and hopefully, never will again. Spring is a difficult time for wildlife, as it is the time of year that they must work so hard to propagate their species. When a bird is battling its reflection, it is completely stressed out and deploying all of its energy in order to achieve breeding success. It is not performing this behavior to annoy you. Over the years we have learned to practice the virtue of patience, because we know that eventually, the behavior will end, and parental duties will kick in. It is the price we all pay for keeping wildlife close. If nothing else, it certainly gives new meaning to the term watchable wildlife. The animal health industry has welcomed new regulations which represent the biggest change to UK veterinary medicine legislation since 2013. The new Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMRs) set out the controls on the marketing, manufacture, distribution, possession, and administration of veterinary medicines and medicated feed. The new rules seek to reduce the regulatory burden, facilitating the submission of one marketing authorisation application dossier and enabling common packaging to be used across the UK. Other changes include new measures to help tackle antimicrobial resistance by increasing restrictions on the use of antibiotics and antibiotics administered via feed. The changes, which have been widely backed by the animal health sector, apply to businesses throughout the veterinary medicines supply chain, including pharmaceutical companies, distributors and prescribers. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) said the new regulations include measures build on the industry's success in reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in livestock, which will, in turn, help reduce the risk of development and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The VMD said it would continue to work with stakeholders to help them implement the changes and to support their compliance with the regulations. It has published updated guidance that reflects the changes, which can be found under Veterinary Medicines Guidance on GOV.UK, and further information can be found on the VMD Information Hub. The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) alliance said it was 'delighted' to see the VMRs come into force. RUMA chair, Cat McLaughlin said: "The VMRs are a vital piece of legislation to which a number of important amendments have been made. "Changes which will bring many benefits to the regulatory environment for veterinary medicines and help continue to drive forward the UKs position as a leader in the responsible use of medicines." The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) also welcomed the new regulations, with its chief executive, Dawn Howard saying it was 'a momentous occasion' for the UK animal health sector. "The 2013 regulations were no longer fit for purpose, and these reforms were essential to ensure the industrys continued growth and success," she said. "NOAH commends the efforts of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) in developing the new regulations. "The VMDs commitment to open consultation with stakeholders throughout the process has ensured the final framework reflects the needs of all parties involved. A robust and modern regulatory framework that is fit for the future is essential for animal health businesses to operate with confidence and invest in the UK. Sean 'Diddy' Combs won't be charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office over an alleged assault in 2016. Diddy has faced allegations of abuse On Friday (17.05.24), a video was released by CNN that appeared to show the rap star physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel - but the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office has already confirmed that it's "unable to charge" the music mogul. In a statement posted on Instagram, the District Attorneys Office said: "We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles. We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch. "If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted. As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services." The alleged assault was captured on CCTV cameras at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. However, the hotel was permanently closed after the alleged assault took place. InterContinental Hotels said in a statement: "This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage." Cassie launched a lawsuit against Diddy last year, accusing the rap star of abusing her over a number of years. The former couple reached an out-of-court settlement shortly after the news became public. However, Diddy has always maintained his innocence. Ben Brafman, his attorney, told CNN at the time: "Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations." Judi Dench has declared her partner of 14 years will never propose. Judi Dench has declared her partner of 14 years will never propose The actress, who is set to turn 90 in December, met conservationist David Mills, 77, in 2009 when she visited his British Wildlife Centre near her Surrey home which she shared for years with her late husband Michael Williams, who died aged 65 from lung cancer in 2001 after they were married for three decades. She told Yours about the time she and David met and how they live apart and will never marry: I went to the (wildlife) centre, met David and I said that I was passionate about all British wildlife and if there was anything I could ever do to help to let me know. He then asked me to come and open the red squirrel enclosure which I did. I think we are far better off as we are as we have got two separate houses. We are either in one or the other and we are four miles apart. He is not going to propose. Judi still lives in the home she shared with her former husband Michael and talked about how she has planted trees in his memory for lost loved ones in her woodland. Along with trees dedicated to late actors Alan Rickman and Diana Rigg, she has one called Mike. Judy added: Its a lovely tree. It seems only right he found the house. The actress who had carpe diem tattooed on her right wrist a few years ago also said she is refusing to slow down as she ages. She said: Weve got to keep going and not think of age too much. You have to think you are about 56. Im a great advocate for not sitting back. I can never think, Oh, my eyesights bad, I cant possibly do this. I refuse to be beaten by age. Judy is losing her sight to macular degeneration, which has grown so severe she can no longer drive or read scripts. But she says she has refused to give up painting, adding: I used to paint a lot but because of my eyes I stopped. David, my partner, said to me, Why stop. Its an interpretative art. So I did start painting again because it doesnt matter; I am not doing it for anybody. Chinese FM holds talks with Tanzanian counterpart Xinhua) 11:21, May 18, 2024 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with January Yusuf Makamba, Tanzania's Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with January Yusuf Makamba, Tanzania's Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, in Beijing on Friday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, welcomed Makamba's visit to China on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. He said that China-Tanzania relations had always been at the forefront of China-Africa relations over the past 60 years, which set a good example for developing countries to seek strength through solidarity and mutual assistance. China is willing to deepen political mutual trust, strengthen strategic alignment, expand practical cooperation and inject new connotation of the era into the China-Tanzania comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, Wang said. He said that China appreciated Tanzania's long-term valuable support on issues concerning China's core interests, and was willing to continue to firmly support Tanzania in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and independently exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. The two sides should expand cooperation in key areas such as trade and infrastructure, and tap potential for cooperation in processing and manufacturing, digital economy, blue economy and new energy, Wang added. Wang said that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the most important platform and mechanism for strengthening solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa. A new FOCAC summit will be held in Beijing this autumn. China sincerely invites Tanzania to join in this event together with other African countries and make greater contribution to the building of an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future. Noting that Tanzania and China enjoy profound traditional friendship, Makamba said that the two countries had always trusted and supported each other since the establishment of diplomatic ties 60 years ago. Upholding the one-China policy is the cornerstone of Tanzania's relations with China, and Tanzania will continue to unswervingly support China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns. Tanzania looks forward to enhancing exchanges of experience on governance, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and working closely with China on international and regional issues. Tanzania will actively participate in this year's FOCAC summit and believes that the summit will achieve greater success, he said. The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues of common concern. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with January Yusuf Makamba, Tanzania's Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Though the risk to human health is currently low, the avian virus has the potential to disrupt the food supply and trigger a human pandemic if it spreads and mutates beyond birds such as these farmed turkeys. Janet Hostetter/Associated Press 2005 Though the risk to human health is currently low, the avian virus has the potential to disrupt the food supply and trigger a human pandemic if it mutates. Bird flu has already spread to dairy cows. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press Last month and early this month, health officials in Santa Clara County noticed an unusual pattern unfolding in their sewage shed in Gilroy, one of four wastewater sites throughout the county they monitor for viral activity and the one closest to many farms. They saw several spikes of influenza A, the family of viruses that includes the flu that sickens people during flu season, and of the H5N1 avian flu that has killed millions of birds worldwide and infected dozens of dairy cow herds in nine states. While the bird virus currently poses low risk to humans, it has the potential to disrupt the food supply and trigger a human pandemic if it continues to spread among livestock and mutates in a way that would make it transmissible among humans. Because influenza A typically only circulates at low levels once the worst of the winter flu season is over, it was potentially worrisome for Santa Clara County to see bumps so late in the spring. That prompted officials to further test samples from the Gilroy sewer shed to see if H5N1 bird flu was present. The subsequent tests confirmed it was not. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Having the ability to keep close eyes on the fluctuations and follow up and do testing to say, Is this a new threat or seasonal flu? was incredibly valuable to know the level of concern of the community right now, said Dr. Sarah Rudman, the countys deputy health officer. Yet Santa Claras ability to continue this type of critical viral surveillance could soon be curtailed. The $7.3 million per year the county receives from state public health grants would be eliminated under Gov. Gavin Newsoms proposed budget, which was released last week and includes $300 million in cuts to state and local health departments to trim a $28 billion budget deficit. It was disappointing to understand the governors proposed budget cuts one of the most vital and flexible funding sources we use for this work, Rudman said. Were keeping a close eye on whats happening with the governors budget, given my deep concern that the resources we rely on to do this work are on the chopping block. The state funding, called the Future of Public Health grant, is not specifically targeted for viral surveillance and can be used by each county to address a broad range of public health needs. About two-thirds of the money goes to counties and the other third goes to state agencies. Santa Clara County uses the grant to support wastewater surveillance and data systems, as well as to staff about 30 public health personnel including disease investigators, data scientists, community outreach workers and nurses. The state Department of Finance said the proposed budget maintains $3.1 billion to local health entities that they can use for their most pressing work, and that the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing $101 million that the California Department of Public Health is applying for to continue bird flu surveillance. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Rudman said the risk of H5N1 to the general public remains low, echoing what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials have said. Avian flu viruses dont typically infect humans, but they have before: Between 2003 and 2024, 889 people were infected with avian flu worldwide and about 50% died, according to the World Health Organization. Its not clear if additional people may have been asymptomatically infected. People who work at dairy and poultry farms are at higher risk because they come in direct contact with chickens and dairy cattle. Avian flu has been detected in at least 48 mammalian species, including sea lions, but cows are the carriers of greatest concern to humans because people come in contact with them more often and because of their role in the food supply. Were interested in cows because we have such an intimate relationship with the food produced by cows, said Dr. Michele Barry, director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University. Its not clear exactly how avian flu is transmitted to or among cattle. It could be through infected feces, including when feces is aerosolized in dust. Some cats have been infected after ingesting raw milk from sick cows. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ground beef for sale is on display at a butcher shop in Greenbrae. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that all samples of ground beef that were tested for the H5N1 bird flu came back negative in states where cows tested positive for the virus. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The current strain began circulating among birds in 2022 and was first detected in dairy cows in the United States in late March a significant development because it marked the first time bird flu viruses were found in cows. It has since spread to 49 herds of dairy cattle in nine states Texas, Michigan, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Ohio according to the Department of Agriculture. There have not been any infections detected in cattle in California. In California, the worst of the current bird flu outbreak appeared to have hit between January and March, mostly among egg-laying chickens, said Bill Mattos, head of the California Poultry Federation, which represents farms and poultry producers. During that time, 3 million to 4 million chickens in Sonoma, Marin, Merced and San Joaquin counties had to be euthanized. So far, two people in the U.S. have been infected one person in Colorado in 2022 who worked directly with infected poultry, and one person in Texas in March who worked at a dairy farm. Both people had mild symptoms, fatigue and conjunctivitis, and recovered. There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. The recommended treatment for humans is the same antiviral drug for seasonal influenza, Tamiflu. There is no H5N1 vaccine for humans, though chickens have been vaccinated against influenza for years. CDC officials say they have a vaccine candidate and would be able to quickly produce a vaccine for humans if needed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The risk to the public could become higher if the virus spreads to animals that humans interact with more regularly than cattle, or if it jumps to pigs. A pig can carry human influenza, avian influenza and pig influenza, it can have a mix of genetic material, said Stanfords Barry. So avian flu could mutate and become a better transmitter, perhaps by air transmission. In the meantime, consumers should avoid raw milk and unpasteurized cheese. Pasteurized milk products, pasteurized cheese and well-cooked beef should be totally fine, Barry said. Tom Feltons mother was too scared to meet Sir Paul McCartney. Tom Felton's mother was in awe of Sir Paul McCartney The Harry Potter actor was delighted to find the Beatles legend was as gracious and friendly as he had hoped, but the occasion was too much for his mum, who couldnt bring herself to talk to her lifelong crush. Asked when he was most starstruck, Tom told Empire magazine: Meeting Sir Paul McCartney. It was pretty epic. I was working with him for a Comic Relief skit and I brought my mum along, who grew up with him, he was her biggest crush. So I met Sir Paul, he was very gracious and friendly. Then I looked at my mum and literally dragged her across the room and said, Come on, this is your chance to meet him! She got halfway and then just turned around and said, No, cant do it. I went up to Paul and said, Sorry mate, shes not ready to meet you now. Maybe another day. The 36-year-old star recently returned to the UK after a period living in Los Angeles and he is relieved to be home because of the wide range of crisps available to buy. He said: Ive just come back from living in Los Angeles for quite a while and well Quite frankly, no-one does crisps like England. The selection we have is unmatched by any nation, I believe. Off the top of the head, were talking Twiglets, were talking Skips, were talking prawn cocktail, were talking Walkers salt and vinegar, were talking pickled onion Monster Munch. Tom joked he loves crisps so much, hes open to an endorsement deal with a snack company. He added: I should comment at this point that Im not endorsed by any crisp company. But if one does want to reach out The United States imported home textile products worth $193.529 million from Turkiye in January-February 2024. Out of the total home textile imports from the country, man-made fibre (MMF) products constituted almost three-fourths during this period. The imports of MMF products were valued at $144.247 million, accounting for 74.54 per cent of the total home textile imports from the partner country. According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, the share of cotton-based home textiles was minimal compared to MMF products. The inbound shipment of cotton home textiles was just $28.785 million, representing 14.87 per cent of the total. The import of wool/animal hair products from the country was $4.172 million (2.16 per cent) during the first two months of the current year. Around 8.22 per cent of products imported by the US from Turkiye were made from other types of fibres. In Jan-Feb, the US imported $193.529 million worth of home textiles from Turkiye, with man-made fibre products comprising 74.54 per cent. Cotton-based imports were 14.87 per cent and wool/animal hair products were 2.16 per cent. Last year's total imports were $1,099.425 million, predominantly MMF. Floor imports were 80.06 per cent in early 2024. Last year, the import of MMF home textiles from Turkiye was $783.996 million, making up 71.31 per cent of the US total home textile imports of $1,099.425 million from the partner country. The shipment of cotton-based home textiles was $205.015 million (18.65 per cent), wool/animal hair $33.903 million (3.08 per cent), and others $76.509 million (6.96 per cent), as per TexPro. During the first two months of 2024, floor imports from Turkiye were valued at $154.940 million, accounting for 80.06 per cent of the total imports. Among the top five home textile products, the imports of bathroom and kitchen textiles were $26.642 million (13.77 per cent), bed textiles $2.779 million (1.44 per cent), window textiles $2.626 million (1.36 per cent), and made-ups $2.012 million (1.04 per cent). Last year, floor imports were $833.147 million, which was 75.78 per cent of the total imports. Among the top five home textile products, the imports of bathroom and kitchen textiles were $167.034 million (15.19 per cent), bed textiles $41.608 million (3.78 per cent), window textiles $17.882 million (1.63 per cent), and sacks and bags $12.072 million (1.10 per cent). Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) The roughly 2,220 registered nurses who work for the San Francisco Department of Public Health are poised to strike over what they say are staffing shortages and unsafe conditions for patients. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle The roughly 2,220 registered nurses who work for the San Francisco Department of Public Health are poised to strike over what they say are staffing shortages and unsafe conditions for patients. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle The roughly 2,220 registered nurses who work for the San Francisco Department of Public Health are poised to strike over what they say are staffing shortages and unsafe conditions for patients. Salgu Wissmath/The Chronicle The roughly 2,220 registered nurses who work for the San Francisco Department of Public Health have voted to authorize a strike over what they say are staffing shortages and unsafe conditions for patients at the citys public hospital and clinics, the union representing the nurses said late Friday. The union, SEIU Local 1021, completed a vote among its members Friday to authorize a strike that would begin after June 30 if the union cannot reach a new contract with the city before then. The current contract expires June 30. The union and the department have been in contract negotiations since February. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The public health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening. The strike would include nurses who work at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the skilled nursing facility Laguna Honda, and community clinics. Nurses cited chronic understaffing and long wait times in the emergency department, and said the city has not engaged in good faith to prioritize patient care. Our public hospitals and clinics are literally at a breaking point, and city management is acting as if its business as usual, Heather Bollinger, a registered nurse in the emergency department at San Francisco General Hospital, said in a statement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad VICTOR, N.Y., May 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ), a leading beverage alcohol company, announces an updated time that Bill Newlands, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Garth Hankinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will participate in a previously announced fireside chat at the Bernstein 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 in New York, NY. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. EDT and is expected to cover the company's strategic business initiatives, financial metrics, and operating performance, as well as outlook for the future. A live, listen-only webcast of the presentation will be available on the company's investor relations website at ir.cbrands.com under the News & Events section. When the presentation begins, financial information discussed in the presentation, and a reconciliation of reported GAAP financial measures with comparable and other non- GAAP financial measures, will also be available on the company's investor relations website under the Financial History section. For anyone unable to participate in the webcast, a replay will be available on the company's investor relations website through the close of business on November 29, 2024. ABOUTCONSTELLATIONBRANDS Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. Our mission is to build brands that people love because we believe elevating human connections is Worth Reaching For. It's worth our dedication, hard work, and calculated risks to anticipate market trends and deliver more for our consumers, shareholders, employees, and industry. This dedication is what has driven us to become one of the fastest-growing, large CPG companies in the U.S. at retail, and it drives our pursuit to deliver what's next. Every day, people reach for our high-end, iconic imported beer brands such as those in the Corona brand family like the flagship Corona Extra, Modelo Especial and the flavorful lineup of Modelo Cheladas, Pacifico, and Victoria; our fine wine and craft spirits brands including The Prisoner Wine Company, Robert Mondavi Winery, Casa Noble Tequila, and High West Whiskey; and our premium wine brands such as Kim Crawford and Meiomi. As an agriculture-based company, we have a long history of operating sustainably and responsibly. Our ESG strategy is embedded into our business and our work focuses on serving as good stewards of the environment, enhancing social equity within our industry and communities, and promoting responsible beverage alcohol consumption. These commitments ground our aspirations beyond driving the bottom line as we work to create a future that is truly Worth Reaching For. To learn more, visit www.cbrands.com and follow us on X , Instagram ,and LinkedIn . MEDIACONTACTS INVESTOR RELATIONSCONTACTS Amy Martin 585-678-7141 / amy.martin@cbrands.com (mailto:amy.martin@cbrands.com) Carissa Guzski 315-525-7362 / carissa.guzski@cbrands.com (mailto:carissa.guzski@cbrands.com) Joseph Suarez 773-551-4397 / joseph.suarez@cbrands.com (mailto:joseph.suarez@cbrands.com) Snehal Shah 847-385-4940 / snehal.shah@cbrands.com (mailto:snehal.shah@cbrands.com) David Paccapaniccia 585-282-7227 / david.paccapaniccia@cbrands.com (mailto:david.paccapaniccia@cbrands.com) A downloadable PDF copy of this news release can be found here: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/69942b8a-1606-46f0-a46d-23e8a5b30eed San Rafael, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2024) - Today the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels (HBSAA) announced their upcoming Angel Investing Bootcamp to be held on June 5: Angel Investing - Lessons from the Experts. The virtual educational and networking event is for investors and entrepreneurs alike, and is open to anyone interested in entrepreneurship. The Bootcamp was developed by HBSAA to familiarize angel investors with the mechanics, insights and trends of angel investing. While the principal audience for this event are angels, other investors and entrepreneurs will also find these insights invaluable. The event features Harvard Business School alumni with tremendous depth and experience in angel investing and startup finance. It includes sessions on everything from how to get started, what to look out for, and how to build a portfolio with high-profit potential. Bootcamp topics include: Angel Investing 101: Best Practices Screening Companies and Pitch Decks Due Diligence: Looking Under the Hood Making the Initial investment: SAFEs, Convertible Notes & Priced Equity Follow-on Investments, Dilution & Exits Sameera Bazaz, co-chair of the Bootcamp and President of the Washington DC chapter said: "The program will provide unique insight into best practices for building your angel portfolio and the opportunity for attendees to network with fellow angels and presenters." Alexa McCulloch, co-chair of the Bootcamp and co-chair of the Southern California chapter said: "This is the 7th time we've run a Bootcamp and each time we try to improve the experience for the attendees. This Bootcamp will have something for both investors and entrepreneurs at every level." The presentations are taught by veteran investors and entrepreneurs who have built and funded companies of their own in a long list of industries from technology to consumer products to healthcare. The interactive sessions offer the ability for attendees to ask questions directly to the experts. The virtual Bootcamp environment also has breaks for networking among attendees and presenters. Join us for the HBS Angel Bootcamp on Wednesday, June 5, 12 pm - 5 pm ET (9 am - 2 pm PT). Learn more about the event here: https://www.hbsangels.com/bootcamp-basic. HBSAA also offers a follow-up Advanced Angel Investing Bootcamp - a two half-day deep dive into deal terms, cap tables and more - which will be held next in October. Recordings of prior sessions are available here: https://www.hbsangels.com/bootcamp. The Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Association, based in San Rafael, California, is a 501(c)6 non-profit alumni club of the Harvard Business School. With 20 global chapters and over 1,000 members, it is the largest alumni-based angel organization in the world. For more information: www.HBSAngels.com. # # # Media Contact Steve Kirschner, CMO HBS Alumni Angels Assn. stevek@HBSAngels.com 770-246-1500 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/209219 SOURCE: Ascend Agency Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2024) - McLaren Resources Inc. (CSE: MCL) (FSE: 3ML) ("McLaren" / the "Company") provides an update on the Augdome gold property which was optioned by Goldcorp Canada Ltd. ("Goldcorp") for inclusion in the Dome Mine open pit expansion project. The four year option agreement to purchase the Augdome property for $500,000 was announced on May 14, 2020 by McLaren. The effective date of the agreement is August 26, 2020 and Newmont holds the option on the Augdome property through its ownership of Goldcorp. The option expiry date is August 25, 2024. Newmont announced on February 22, 2024 that they are planning to divest the Porcupine Mine operations in Timmins, in addition to other mining operations in Canada and the USA. McLaren has a 100% controlling interest in 22 patented mineral claims situated on the eastern side of the Dome Mine open pit. The regional geological formation which hosts the Dome mine trends to the east. Future expansion of the Dome pit could include the gold zones situated on the Augdome property. The proposed open pit outline previously designed by Goldcorp included a portion of the Augdome property to be included within the Dome Mine expansion project. McLaren is waiting to learn if the Augdome property option will be exercised on or before August 25, 2024 by Newmont. If the Augdome property is not acquired by August 25, 2024, McLaren is considering an exploration drill program to target gold zones within the geological formation associated with the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone where it trends on to the Augdome property from the Dome Mine property. Augdome property consists of 22 patented mineral claims adjacent to east side of the Dome Mine property. The Augdome property overlies approximately 2,300 metres of the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone which trends to the north-east onto the property from the Dome Mine property. On October 25, 2017, Goldcorp announced a base case pre-feasibility study for the Dome Mine Expansion Project which contained 4.5 million gold ounces having a diluted grade of 0.87 grams per tonne. McLaren reported drill results from the Augdome property on January 4, 2018 that included: 8.0 m of 2.62 grams per tonne gpld ("g/t Au"), 7.5 m of 1.57 g/t Au, 9.0 m of 0.62 g/t Au and 10.0 m of 0.51 g/t Au. The drill results were from gold zones on the Augdome property in close proximity to the boundary with the Dome Mine property. McLaren has three additional 100 percent owned gold exploration properties located east of Central Timmins. The McCool property is located 85 km east of Timmins and neighbors the Tower Gold project, the Fenn-Gib project and the Holt Mine Complex. The property is on the north side of the Destor Porcupine Fault and covers 5km of the Centre Hill Fault. The property consists of a mining lease and claim cells with an area of 1,770 hectares. Drill results include 16.5 g/t Au over 6.0 m, 10.8 g/t Au over 9.0 m, 7.9 g/t Au over 4.5 m and 58.4 g/t Au over 1.5 m (see McLaren news release issued on January 24, 2023). The Blue Quartz property is located 73km east of Timmins and neighbors the Fox Mine, the Fenn-Gib project and the former producing Ross Mine. The property is located in Beatty Township, hosts the former producing Blue Quartz Mine and consists of patented claims and staked claims and covers an area of 640 hectares. Drill results included 13.95 g/t Au over 2.0 m, 12.80 g/t Au over 1.5 m, 13.30 g/t Au over 1.0 m and 11.89 g/t Au over 2.2 m (see McLaren news release issued on February 14, 2019). The Kerrs property is located approximately 15 Km north of the McCool property and consists of mining leases covering an area of 771 hectares. Previous historical work on the property during the period 1979 - 1989 included 55 drill holes over 10,279 metres. The drilling was focused on an exploration target area that is an extension of a gold mineralized trend from the adjacent neighboring property to the east, known as the KBX Zone of Sheltered Oak Resources Inc. For more information, please contact: Radovan Danilovsky, President, Phone: 416-203-6784, InfoMcLarenRes@gmail.com, www.mclarenresources.com MCLAREN RESOURCES INC. 44 Victoria Street, Suite 1616 Toronto, Ontario M5C 1Y2 The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of the press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements". When used in this document, the words "anticipated", "expect", "estimated", "forecast", "planned", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. These statements are based on current expectations of management; however, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. McLaren Resources Inc. does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof, except as required by securities laws. This news release which announces a completed financing is not for distribution in the United States. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/209814 SOURCE: McLaren Resources Inc. Jakarta, Indonesia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 18, 2024) - Sekuya, the cutting-edge platform that merges anime gaming with lifestyle loyalty, has successfully raised $2.2 million in total funding, marking significant progress in its mission to revolutionize the anime gaming market. The initial $1.6 million fundraising round saw strong support from prominent venture capitalists and angel investors, underscoring the market's confidence in Sekuya's vision. The round was led by Singularity Dao (SDAO) and included notable backers such as SingularityNet, Oracle Investment Group (OIG), Gains Associates, New Tribe Capital, Seed Thrift Ventures, and Bigger Than Race (BTRDAO). Influential angel investors like Mario Casiraghi from SingularityNet and Irene Umar, CEO of W3GG, also contributed. Cumulative fund raised from Private Rounds and IDO To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8690/209817_3b877b11f4cba9a9_001full.jpg The Rise of Anime Gaming The anime gaming market is experiencing substantial growth globally, with particularly strong momentum in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. According to industry reports, the global anime market size was valued at $24.23 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $43.73 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 9.8%. The APAC region, home to a massive base of anime enthusiasts and gamers, is a key driver of this growth, making it an ideal environment for innovative platforms like Sekuya to thrive. IDO Sold Out in 2 Minutes Sekuya's recent Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on SingularityDAO further demonstrated the platform's appeal and market potential, selling out within an astonishing two minutes and raising $691,000 USDC. This rapid sell-out highlights the robust demand and strong market interest in Sekuya's unique approach to combining immersive anime gaming experiences with a comprehensive lifestyle loyalty program. Joshua Budiman, CEO of Sekuya, expressed his excitement: "We are thrilled by the incredible response to our IDO on SingularityDAO. Selling out within two minutes is a testament to the strong support and belief in Sekuya's vision. This achievement marks a significant step forward in our journey to revolutionize the anime gaming and lifestyle loyalty sectors." CEX Listing on 21st May 2024 Looking ahead, Sekuya is preparing for its next major milestone: listing on two of the world's top cryptocurrency exchanges, Gate and MEXC, along with Uniswap on decentralized exchange. The listings, scheduled for May 21, 2024, at 14:00 UTC, will provide greater accessibility and liquidity for Sekuya's token, allowing a broader audience to participate in its ecosystem. These strategic moves aim to position Sekuya as a leader in the burgeoning anime gaming market. Sekuya's platform is poised to set a new standard in the intersection of gaming and lifestyle by offering users engaging content and valuable rewards. With the strong financial backing of $2.2 million, Sekuya is well-equipped to accelerate its development, expand its user base, and forge strategic partnerships that will enhance its offerings and market presence. Supporting Sport Tourism in Indonesia with Radical Motorsport In an exciting development promoting sport tourism, Sekuya has partnered with Radical Motorsport to unveil the world's first Web3 anime race car. This collaboration aims to elevate Mandalika as a sport tourism hotspot through innovative and culturally rich attractions. The collaboration announcement was made during the Elite Showcase in ICE BSD, marking Radical Motorsport's debut in the Indonesian automotive exhibition. About Sekuya Sekuya is a video game company headquartered in Singapore. Born from a community, Sekuya aims to revolutionize the gaming landscape with a community-driven approach in all new anime epic fantasy universe. Sekuya's flagship project, Sekuya Multiverse, an award-winning start-up project, combines 2 of the world's most popular gaming genres: MOBA + RPG, promising a new gaming experience for global players of both genres. To learn more about Sekuya visit sekuya.io or join the Telegram t.me/sekuyaofficial to be part of the community. Lilis Huri VP of Sekuya Lilis@sekuya.io To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/209817 SOURCE: Sekuya 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! After Kartik Aaryan and Kabir Khan, the main man and captain of the ship, Sajid Nadiadwala, is now headed to Gwalior for the biggest trailer launch of the year read more Chandu Champion may have been making noise everywhere owing to the super response to the posters and Kartik Aaryan and Kabir Khan. But the main person who made it come true is the gutsy producer Sajid Naidiadwala. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala, for the last three decades, has been giving blockbusters one after another. The man has given the perfect combination of commercials and contents with blockbusters like Kick, Highway, Baaghii franchise, Tamasha , Housefull series, and forthcoming Chandu Champion primed to be another biggie from his leading production house, Nadiadwala Grandson. He always aims to bring the best of the stories forward with his vision and backing as a producer, and with Chandu Champion, he has presented the extraordinary story on a larger-than-life scale. Advertisement The posters released so far are evident of the quality product, which makes everyone excited to watch the much awaited trailer. After Kartik Aaryan and Kabir Khan, the main man and captain of the ship, Sajid Nadiadwala, is now headed to Gwalior for the biggest trailer launch of the year. The proudest moment of my career so far- playing a soldier of the Glorious Indian Army, one of the many facets of Chandu Champions life !! Glimpse of the 8 min long single take War Sequence. Salute to the Indian Armed Forces ! #ChanduChampion Trailer out tomorrow pic.twitter.com/ri1cJSlw7X Kartik Aaryan (@TheAaryanKartik) May 17, 2024 The trailer launch is going to be one of the biggest cinematic events the Indian cinema will ever witness, and Sajids presence and insights on the film at the event are going to make it more exciting. Chandu Champion is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most anticipated films coming this year. The posters have left everyone shocked, and the biggest highlight is the three different looks of Kartik Aaryan, which show his range as an actor and have kept the excitement soaring high to watch the masterpiece. Advertisement Jointly produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Kabir Khan, Chandu Champion is set for a June 14, 2024 release, and is poised to leave an indelible mark on the hearts of audiences worldwide. Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah walked the red carpet at Cannes along with wife Ratna Pathak Shah, late co-star Smita Patils son Prateik Babbar, Dr Kuriens daughter Nirmala Kurien, and Amul MD Jayen Mehta read more Cannes, Veteran director Shyam Benegals Manthan, a film financed by 5 lakh farmers of Gujarat 48 years ago, made a triumphant return to the spotlight and public consciousness with its screening at the Cannes Film Festival. A restored version of the 1976 movie, inspired by the groundbreaking milk cooperative movement by Dr Verghese Kurien that transformed India into one of the largest milk producers in the world, was showcased under the Cannes Classics segment on Friday. Advertisement Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah walked the red carpet at Cannes along with wife Ratna Pathak Shah, late co-star Smita Patils son Prateik Babbar, Dr Kuriens daughter Nirmala Kurien, and Amul MD Jayen Mehta. Manthan team of Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Prateik Babbar, Ms Nirmala Kurien, @FHF_Official team, & Shri @Jayen_Mehta , MD, Amul, representing 3.6 million farmer producers of the film at @Festival_Cannes #ManthanAtCannes, the official X page of Amul posted. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of Film Heritage Foundation , the not-for-profit organisation behind the restored print, also attended the films screening. Film Heritage Foundation returned to the red carpet at Cannes for a third year in a row last night at the world premiere of our restoration of Shyam Benegals landmark film Manthan, produced by 500,000 dairy farmers, at the Cannes Film Festival 2024, FHF posted on X. Fronted by Patil, the film was inspired by the milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, who led Operation Flood to transform India from a milk-deficient country to one of the worlds biggest milk producer and is credited for creating the billion-dollar brand Amul. Co-written by Benegal and celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Gujarat-set Manthan was one of its kind as it was entirely crowdfunded by 5 lakh farmers who donated 2 each. The film won two National Film Awards in 1977: for best feature film in Hindi and for best screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also Indias official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category. Advertisement Benegal, who skipped the premiere due to health reasons, recalled how the farmers of Gujarat also made the film a hit by watching it en masse in theatres. The farmers, who had produced the film, helped make it successful. Once the film opened in Saurashtra, Gujarat, it had an excellent run. It was because of the farmers, they were the original audience of the film. They got their families. At the Bharat Pavilion, a lively discussion unfolded around the restored masterpiece, Shyam Benegal's "Manthan" The Film Heritage Foundation, along with Shri Sanjay Jaju, Secretary @MIB_India shared the film's restoration journey with Davide Pozzi, director of L'imagine Ritrovata pic.twitter.com/2tWFHidFI5 NFDC India (@nfdcindia) May 17, 2024 Advertisement They wanted everybody to see it as they believed it was their film. They all would come on bullock carts to see the film, be it from Ahmedabad, Baroda or other places in Gujarat. We didnt do any kind of publicity, the film developed its own momentum, the 89-year-old filmmaker told PTI earlier this week. Manthan is the third consecutive movie restored by the FHF to head to Cannes, one of the most prestigious film galas around the world. Advertisement The FHF brought a restoration of G Aravindans Malayalam movie Thampu to Cannes Classics in 2022, followed by the restored Ishanou directed by Manipuri auteur Aribam Syam Sharma under the same segment last year. According to the festivals official website, the restoration of Manthan was carried out using the 35mm original camera negative preserved at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India with sound digitised from the 35 mm release print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. It was restored at Prasad Corporation Pvt. Ltd.s PostStudios, Chennai and LImmagine Ritrovata Laboratory, in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, cinematographer Govind Nihalani and Benegal. Gurucharan Singh made his exit from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah in 2020 and was replaced by actor Balwinder Singh Suri read more Popular TV actor Gurucharan Singh, who became a household name for his portrayal of Roshan Singh Sodhi in the iconic show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, went missing last month. And now, he has finally returned home after 26 days and revealed that he had left worldly life to be on a religious journey'. After his interrogation, Police officials revealed that ever since he was missing, the actor visited Gurudwaras in many cities including in Amritsar and Ludhiana. However, he later realised that he should return home. Advertisement While Singh was missing from 22nd April, his father filed the complaint 4 days later which stated, My son Gurucharan Singh, Age: 50 years, had left at 8:30 am on 22nd April to go to Mumbai. He went to the airport to catch a flight. He didnt reach Mumbai, neither has he returned home and his phone is not reachable. He is mentally stable and we had been searching for him but now he has been missing. The missing complaint was filed in the Palam area of New Delhi and the police officials are investigating the case and trying to trace the actors call records Missing complaint was filed around 4 days back in Palam, South Delhi. Based on this, police are investigating the case. No FIR has been filed as of now. All investigation is being done based on the missing complaint, a police source News18. He (Gurucharan Singh) was last spotted near Delhi airport. Police are now trying to get his call records to know who he last spoke to on call or via message, the insider added. Advertisement Gurucharan made his exit from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah in 2020 and was replaced by actor Balwinder Singh Suri. Is San Francisco spiraling into a doom loop or emerging from the depths toward a bright and sunny future? It depends on who you talk to. On Thursday, a summary of the annual point-in-time count of the citys homeless population, conducted in January, was released by the San Francisco Department of Housing and Homeless Services. The count identifies various homeless populations and trends and helps inform policy decisions. The results of this years count arent great. There are more people without homes in San Francisco than ever. The homeless population increased by 7% to 8,323, up from 7,754 in 2022. But youd be hard-pressed to find this bad news in Mayor London Breeds press release about the count, which touted that Street Homelessness Hits 10-Year Low. Yes, its true that on one night in January, 2,913 people were sleeping on sidewalks and in parks, which is a 13% drop from 2022. However, the number of people sleeping on the streets and in vehicles hasnt improved much there are 4,355, which is only a 1% decrease from 2022. So, while you may see fewer people in tents, youre likely to see more people sleeping in vehicles all of whom, technically, are sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile, family homelessness, which is finally being counted outside of shelters, is up 94%. Of the 437 families identified, 90% live in vehicles. Is that an improvement? Hot on the campaign trail, Breed spins the new numbers as an excuse to highlight her policies. Her homelessness press release was the latest in a series of optimistic statements and public comments full of messages about the citys fortunes, with data to back them up. The San Francisco is falling apart narrative doesnt behoove an incumbent mayor in an election year, particularly when her opponents are employing this claim to oust her. In fairness, by many metrics, San Francisco is doing better. The city has fewer serious crimes than last year, or the year prior. Rapes, homicides and burglaries are down. The potential of a doom loop in which workers dont return to the office, businesses abandon real estate and financial crises ensue may be avoided. Breeds leadership is partly to thank for this. Not everything, however, can be summed up so neatly. Walk the citys more prominent streets and it would appear that the drug dealing, public mental health crises and homelessness that were so visible in U.N. Plaza and parts of the Tenderloin have been resolved with the assistance of a skate park, community ambassadors and added policing. Walk a few blocks away, however, and its easy to see the problems havent disappeared, but shifted to other neighborhoods. A few months ago, I responded to a woman overdosing outside the Chronicles building in the South of Market area. Just a few days ago a woman was robbed at knifepoint mere steps from our newsrooms front door. In other words, San Francisco may indeed be safer for some but certainly not for all. Consider the overdose epidemic. Last year, a record 810 people died of overdoses in San Francisco. Were not faring much better in 2024. From January through March, there were 199 overdose deaths. If the Chronicles overdose tracker predictions are accurate, 796 people could die from overdoses in the city this year. Hundreds of people are living their last few weeks or months in this city. We might not see them as easily as we did last year, but theyre still there. Overdose deaths remain a significant challenge, Jeff Cretan, Breeds spokesperson, told me. Though we have seen evidence of a slight downward trend to start 2024, its early and we have a long way to go. Were still short on treatment beds and are not able to meet the demand of those seeking recovery. Even as resources for those who want treatment are scarce, forced treatment and arrests are picking up speed. After a crackdown on public drug use, some of the citys social ills have shifted to our jails. That approach may be popular with some, but it isnt without consequences. As arrests of people accused of dealing drugs rise, ostensibly to make our streets safer and more tourist-friendly, the understaffed San Francisco jails are exploding in violence. The jail population increased 36% from last year to this year, going from around 700 inmates to more than 1,100. Meanwhile, the city had only 725 sheriffs deputies in March, a shortfall of 175. Its the lowest number since 2017, and a recipe for disaster. The strategy of cutting down the visible aspects of drug use without addressing the root causes or providing treatment on demand doesnt seem to be working in any meaningful way. As arrests for drug-related offenses increase, fatal drug overdoses remain high. Earlier this spring, San Francisco reached yet another gruesome milestone: More than 3,000 people have died from drug overdoses since January 2020, which is more than double the 1,319 people who have died from COVID in the city, public health experts pointed out in a press conference this week. That is a particularly painful statistic. Breed successfully led the city through a terrifying pandemic. A rapid response from the Department of Public Health and a commitment to reaching marginalized communities made all the difference: From 2020 through 2022, San Francisco had the fewest COVID-19 deaths among big metropolitan cities in the country. If we can handle a mysterious and dangerous new virus that quickly and drastically altered life as we knew it, why is San Franciscos implementation of a comprehensive public health response to a known enemy so lackluster? Were bound to see more positive press releases from Breed in the coming weeks and months. But dont expect to see anything from her office soon that lauds the citys progress on significantly reducing overdoses. Change, of course, takes time, and no one politician can be expected to solve every issue that plagues a city. Breeds election priorities, however, and who shes leaving out, are clear. On the intervening night of May 17-18, violence erupted in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The unrest, fueled by a viral video, targeted foreign students and migrants, leading to diplomatic warnings from India and Pakistan. We explain the incident, its impact on Indian and Pakistani students, the responses from their governments, and the probable root cause of the migrant issues in Kyrgyzstan read more On the intervening night of May 17-18, violence erupted in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The unrest, fueled by a viral video, targeted foreign students and migrants, leading to diplomatic warnings from India and Pakistan. We explain the incident, its impact on Indian and Pakistani students, the responses from their governments, and the probable root cause of the migrant issues in Kyrgyzstan. On the night of May 17-18, Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, was engulfed in violence that left 28 people injured, including three foreigners. The turmoil appeared to be directed against foreign students and migrants, sparking significant diplomatic reactions from both Pakistan and India. Advertisement The unrest began after a video purportedly showing Kyrgyz students in a fight with medical students from Egypt on May 13 went viral. This video led to a surge of mob gatherings across Bishkek, fueled by social media claims that the beaten individuals were Kyrgyz youths, though no evidence was provided, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Riot police eventually intervened, cordoning off areas where mobs had gathered, and video footage circulating online showed mobs attacking what appeared to be foreign students both in the streets and within dormitories. Impact on Indian and Pakistani students Indian and Pakistani students were among those targeted during the violence. Muhammad Ihtisham Latif, a Pakistani medical student in Bishkek, shared his harrowing experience with RFE/RL: The situation is bad here. The situation started when Egyptian students clashed with locals here. The locals are now protesting and they are beating Indian and Pakistani students. They chase them in their hostels and houseshostel (doors) were broken. I am locked up in the university along with other students since yesterday and I am sharing my voice with you. Kyrgyzstan has become a favoured destination for students from South Asia due to its high-quality medical training. According to the Migration Data Portal, Kyrgyzstan hosted the highest number of international students (61,418) in 2021 among the five Central Asian countries. Approximately 14,500 Indian and 10,000 Pakistani students are currently studying in Kyrgyzstan, attracted by factors such as affordable living costs, availability of Indian cuisine, favourable student-teacher ratios, and internationally recognized medical degrees. Reactions from India and Pakistan In response to the violence, Indian and Pakistani diplomatic missions issued warnings to their students in Bishkek. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar urged students to maintain regular contact with the embassy, stating, [I am] monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. Advertisement The Indian Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic also released a statement, emphasising that law enforcement agencies took prompt measures to detain those involved, both foreign and Kyrgyz citizens. The statement assured that the situation was under control and public order was maintained, with no reports of serious injuries among the victims. Statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic on the current incidents in Bishkek. pic.twitter.com/vt1FEwGVka India in Kyrgyz Republic (@IndiaInKyrgyz) May 18, 2024 Advertisement Kyrgyz governments response The Kyrgyz government announced an investigation into the violence, pledging to punish those found guilty. However, the government also appeared to place some blame on illegal migrants, with authorities claiming they have been taking decisive measures to suppress illegal migration and expel undesirable persons from Kyrgyzstan. Kamchybek Tashiev, head of Kyrgyzstans State Committee on National Security (UKMK), stated that 500-700 local citizens, aged between 18 and 25, had gathered to protest against the increasing number of migrants working in Kyrgyzstan. Tashiev highlighted the countrys struggle with illegal immigration, particularly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, noting that authorities identify and expel numerous illegal migrants daily. Advertisement The deeper migrant issues in Kyrgyzstan The violence in Bishkek reflects deeper tensions regarding the influx of migrants in Kyrgyzstan. The country has been grappling with a significant number of migrants from South Asia and Russia, leading to rising local frustrations. Kyrgyzstans favored status among international students, especially for medical training, has added to the cultural and social dynamics within the country. Despite the benefits international students bring, such as economic contributions and cultural exchange, the local populations concerns about job competition and social integration have sparked occasional unrest. The Kyrgyz governments focus on expelling illegal migrants suggests an attempt to address these tensions, although it also risks exacerbating xenophobic sentiments. Swati Maliwals allegations against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar have rocked the Aam Aadmi Party. But even before the assault row, there was chasm between the Rajya Sabha MP and the party. Heres all this and more in our weekly roundup from India read more India is moving closer to concluding its Lok Sabha elections. Two days later, polling will be held for the fifth phase, with only two more remaining. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which got a boost after its convenor Arvind Kejriwal got interim bail in an alleged money laundering case for campaigning in the ongoing elections, is now battling assault allegations by its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal against the Delhi chief ministers aide. Advertisement The party has made counter-allegations against Maliwal. More on this later in the story. Mumbai witnessed a tragedy after dust storm and sudden rain led to the collapse of a giant billboard in the Ghatkopar area, killing over a dozen people. The Mumbai Police have finally arrested the owner of the ad firm that put up the hoarding. Heres all this and more in our weekly roundup of explainers from India. 1. Swati Maliwal went to meet Arvind Kejriwal at his official residence on Monday. But what occurred after that has caused a massive stir. In her complaint to the Delhi Police, the former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has accused Kejriwal s aide Bibhav Kumar of violently attacking her. The police have filed an FIR against Kumar under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 509 (word gesture or act of intent to insult) and 323 (assault). Swati Maliwals allegations against CM Arvind Kejriwals aide have rocked AAP. PTI File Photo However, the AAP has made its own allegations against Maliwal, saying she was sent to the Delhi CMs house as part of a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The saffron party is trying to corner the AAP over the issue. What happened and what allegations have been made from both sides? We explain in our story. Advertisement 2. The falling out between the AAP and its Rajya MP Swati Maliwal has been some time in the making. The party insiders say the leadership was unhappy with her over her absence from Delhi after Kejriwals arrest on 21 March by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged money laundering probe in the liquor policy case. Even as Delhi goes to polls on 25 May, the ex-DCW head has hardly been seen campaigning for the party. Read our story to find out how the chasm between the AAP and Maliwal has been developing for weeks. 3. At least 16 people died and 75 others were injured after a massive billboard caved in onto a nearby petrol pump during a dust storm and unseasonal rains in Mumbai. The collapse of the 120 x 120 feet illegal hoarding in the suburban area of Ghatkopar prompted a manhunt for the owner of the advertising firm that had installed it. Advertisement A giant hoarding in Mumbai collapsed on a petrol pump during dust storm and sudden rains on Monday. PTI File Photo After evading arrest for days, the Mumbai police found Bhavesh Bhinde, owner of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, in Rajasthans Udaipur. What do we know about Bhinde and how was he nabbed by the police? We explain in t his report. 4. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar lost one of its tallest leaders this week. Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi passed away after a battle with cancer. His death was mourned by leaders across the political spectrum. Modi, who served as Bihar CM Nitish Kumars deputy for over 11 years in two stints first from November 2005 to June 2013 and the other from July 2017 to December 2020, was a product of the JP Movement. Here is a look at how Modi propelled the BJPs rise in Bihar. Advertisement Bihar CM Nitish Kumar pays tribute to former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi during a condolence meet in Patna on 17 May 2024. PTI 5. A battle between two popular moisturiser brands is in court. In 2021, Beiersdorf AG, which manufactures Nivea products, took Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) to the Delhi High Court, accusing its Ponds salespersons of partaking in unfair market practices. Now, the court has restrained HUL from advertising or carrying out marketing campaigns that compare its Ponds creams with Nivea products. But what happened? Read our explainer to know more. 6. AstraZeneca has remained a part of the news cycle since reports of its admission that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause a rare blood clotting side effect surfaced. This triggered questions about the safety of its jab, which was sold as Covishield in India, and the vaccine was withdrawn from the world. Advertisement Amid AstraZenecas episode, a new study has revealed that adverse events were reported in some participants who received the India-made Covaxin dose. What does the study say and is there a need to worry now? We explain in this report. You are all caught up for this week. If you like our explainers and would like to keep yourself updated, you can bookmark this page . The Israeli military, on Friday, announced that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip. They were identified as Shani Louk, Amit Bouskila, and Itshak Gelernter. The IDF stated that all three were kidnapped on 7 October and killed while fleeing the Nova music festival, with their bodies taken into Gaza read more This combo from photos provided by Hostages Families Forum Headquarters shows from left, Itzik Gelernter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila. AP Israel announced it has recovered the bodies of three people killed in the 7 October Hamas-led attack that initiated the Gaza Strip invasion. IDFs Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israels top military spokesperson, identified the three as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Yitzhak Gelernter on Friday. He stated they were killed by Palestinian militants during an attack on a music festival in southern Israel, and their bodies were taken into Gaza. Israel reports that over 130 hostages remain in Gaza, with a quarter believed to be dead. The 7 October attack saw over 240 people taken hostage when hundreds of Palestinian militants breached Gazas border fencing and attacked Israeli communities and the nearby music festival. The ensuing war has resulted in over 35,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and has devastated the Gaza Strip. Advertisement What do we know about the hostages? All three recovered hostages were at the Nova music festival when they were killed. Hundreds were gunned down at the event, while militants also attacked towns and villages near the Gaza border, marking the bloodiest day in Israels history. Hagari did not specify where the bodies were found, but Haaretz reported that the Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israels intelligence agency conducted a joint operation to retrieve them. Also Read: Is Joe Biden being arm-twisted by Republicans to deliver deadlier weapons to Israel? Authorities had already confirmed the death of Shani Louk, an Israeli-German citizen, in October after finding a bone fragment from her skull. She was a beautiful, lively person, Ricarda Louk, Shanis mother, had told CNN at the time, a day after her death was confirmed. She just enjoyed laughing, and experiencing life, and so it was just cut too short. The photo of 22-year-old Louks twisted body in the back of a pickup truck had circulated widely, highlighting the scale of the militants attack on southern Israeli communities. Hamas militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, 7 October, 2023. AP Nissim Louk, father of Shani, told Israeli media his daughters body was very well preserved because it had been kept in a deep and very cold tunnel. They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas, he said. Yitzhak Gelernters daughter, Yarden Pivko, learned of her 57-year-old fathers fate only when authorities notified her of his bodys recovery, as reported by Israels Channel 12 News. We held on to hope and had a lot of faith that the end would be different, she said. Amit Buskila, 28, was on the phone with her uncle during the attack, hiding from gunmen behind cars at the festival. Her uncle heard her begging for her life before gunshots rang out, according to the Times of Israel. Advertisement How has Netanyahu reacted? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the deaths as heartbreaking, adding, We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead. He stated, The heart breaks for such a big loss. My wife Sarah and I are hurting with the families. All our hearts are with them in their time of heavy grief. . . . , . . Benjamin Netanyahu - (@netanyahu) May 17, 2024 Advertisement Hamas-led militants killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the 7 October attack. About half of those hostages have been released, mostly in exchanges for Palestinian prisoners during a weeklong cease-fire in November. Also Read: With no clear exit strategy in Gaza, Netanyahu is trapped in a Chakravyuh Israel reports that around 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. The war in Gaza has resulted in over 35,000 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza health officials. Advertisement Netanyahu has pledged to both eliminate Hamas and retrieve all the hostages but has made limited progress. The US has threatened to reduce its support due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza . Passersby observe the photos of hostages held in the Gaza Strip that are plastered to the walls of a plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, 17 May, 2024. AP Thousands of Israelis protested last weekend, demanding a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, new elections, and Netanyahus resignation . More protests are expected this weekend in Tel Aviv. Israeli opinion is split between those who want the government to pause the war to free the hostages and those who see the hostages as an unfortunate cost of eradicating Hamas. Negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt have made little headway. Advertisement Also Read: A former colonel of the Indian Army was killed in Rafah. Who was he? Israel has been operating in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where it believes hostages are being held. With inputs from agencies UK health authorities are investigating an outbreak in Devon, where several individuals have tested positive for a microscopic parasite known to cause stomach upsets. Meanwhile, the local water company is examining a nearby reservoir as a potential origin, with 46 confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis reported read more Cryptosporidiosis is an infection that causes diarrhea. Image used for representational purposes/Pixabay Cryptosporidiosis, often referred to as Crypto, has recently emerged as a health concern in the UK, particularly parts of south Devon. With an increase in confirmed cases and reported symptoms, understanding this infection and ways to prevent it is crucial. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis in Brixham, with over 100 additional reports of symptoms. Other reported cases of diarrhea and vomiting in residents and visitors to Brixham are also under investigation. More confirmed cases are anticipated, stated the UKHSA. Advertisement Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, told Guardian, There are many different species but two are the main causes of disease in humans. C. parvum, whose main host is cattle, and C. hominis, whose main host is humans. In response to the outbreak, UKs South West Water has advised Brixham residents to boil their water before drinking and provided bottled water to affected households, local businesses, and schools. What is Cryptosporidiosis? Cryptosporidiosis is an infection caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium, leading to severe diarrhea. This parasite is notorious for its resilience, capable of surviving in chlorinated water due to its tough outer shell. It ranks among the most common causes of waterborne diseases in the United States and other regions worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO): Cryptosporidium is a waterborne intestinal parasite that causes diarrhoea in low and middle-income countries worldwide. Reports from Mediterranean countries have documented the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis in children at various ages, also among cancer patients, and in cases of chronic kidney disease, haemodialysis, and organ transplant. What causes Cryptosporidiosis? The parasite, Cryptosporidium, infects the intestines and is passed through stool. Transmission occurs primarily through the accidental ingestion of contaminated food or water. Here are some common ways the parasite spreads: Water Contamination : Swallowing contaminated water from pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, or streams. Food Contamination : Consuming uncooked foods tainted with the parasite. Surface Contact : Touching surfaces contaminated with infected stool, such as bathroom fixtures and diaper-changing tables. Person-to-Person: Direct contact with an infected person, especially in child-care facilities where hygiene may be compromised. Who is at risk from Cryptosporidiosis? While anyone can contract cryptosporidiosis, certain groups are more susceptible: Travellers : Those visiting rural areas in developing countries. Residents of Poor Sanitation Areas: Individuals living or frequently dining in places with inadequate sanitation. Immune-Compromised Individuals: People with HIV/AIDS, cancer patients on immunosuppressive medications, and individuals with inherited immune system disorders. What are the symptoms of Cryptosporidiosis? Symptoms typically appear within 2 to 10 days of infection and can last about two weeks or longer. Common symptoms include: Advertisement Diarrhea Loose or watery stools Vomiting Weight loss Stomach cramps Fever Even in the absence of symptoms, the parasite can be present in the stool for up to two months, posing a risk of transmission to others. What is the diagnosis and treatment? According to John Hopkins Medicine, diagnosing cryptosporidiosis involves analysing stool samples. Since the parasite is intermittently present in stool, multiple samples may be required. Special tests, not routinely performed in standard labs, are necessary to identify the parasite. Also Read: How climate change can worsen dementia and depression For individuals with a healthy immune system, the infection often resolves without medical intervention. However, those with weakened immune systems might require specific treatments: Nitazoxanide : An antiparasitic medication used to treat the infection. Antidiarrheal Medicines : Such as loperamide, to manage symptoms. Hydration: Ensuring sufficient fluid intake to prevent dehydration, a major complication of cryptosporidiosis. No treatment is entirely effective against the parasite, but supportive care and restoring immune function are critical for those with compromised health. What are the preventive measures? Good personal hygiene is the most effective way to prevent cryptosporidiosis: Handwashing : Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before eating or preparing food. Safe Food Practices : Wash and peel all raw fruits and vegetables before consumption. Water Safety : Avoid drinking untreated water from lakes, rivers, springs, ponds, or streams. Ensure water is filtered or chemically treated. Household Measures : Wash clothes and bedding at high temperatures, avoid sharing towels, and disinfect bathroom fixtures. Public Health Advice : Individuals who have experienced symptoms should avoid returning to work or school until 48 hours after their last episode of vomiting or diarrhea. Swimming should be avoided for 14 days post-symptoms to prevent spreading the infection in pools. Travel Precautions: When traveling to areas with unsafe water supplies, drink only boiled or bottled water and avoid raw foods washed with tap water. Also Read: This new weight loss drug is better than Ozempic. All you need to know Chadha had undergone an eye surgery in the UK and was away for a long duration. Questions were also raised over his absence, but the party had said that he will be back once he recovers. read more AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Saturday arrived at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals official residence, amid controversy over the alleged assault of Swati Maliwal. Chadha had undergone an eye surgery in the UK and was away for a long duration. Questions were also raised over his absence, but the party had said that he will be back once he recovers. #WATCH | Delhi: AAP MP Raghav Chadha arrives at the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal He was in UK and had undergone eye surgery there pic.twitter.com/XUGuqxHBIY ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024 Advertisement Last month, a Delhi minister had said that the MP had developed a serious eye ailment which could have led to blindness. Kumar was picked up from the chief ministers residence by a Delhi Police team around noon. He has been taken to the police station for interrogation. read more Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal. According to National Commission For Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma, Kumar was arrested from CM Kejriwals home. Delhi CMs aid Bibhav Kumar got arrested from his house. So CM was giving shelter to alleged criminal, she said in a post on X. Delhi CM's aid Bibhav Kumar got arrested from his house. So CM was giving shelter to alleged criminal. Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) May 18, 2024 A senior police officer said that Kumar was picked up from the chief ministers residence by Delhi Police team around noon. He has been taken to the police station for interrogation. The Delhi Police on Friday took Maliwal to the CMs residence to recreate the crime scene, an official said, adding that her statement was also recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court. In the FIR, Maliwal claimed that Kumar hit her with full force again and again and she was kicked and slapped seven to eight times. She also alleged that despite telling him that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge. Meanwhile, Kumar has also filed a counter-complaint saying Maliwal breached the security of the CMs residence, gained access forcibly and unauthorisedly, and created a ruckus there. When Kumar tried to stop her, she hurled abuses at him with the intent to physically assault him, according to the complaint. In another attack, within half-an-hour, terrorists shot dead former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh in Shopians Hirpora around 10.30 pm, the officials said. Sheikh, who was associated with the BJP, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, they said read more Image from outside the hospital where the injured were taken after the incicent. Source: X Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla. The first attack took place on an open tourist camp near Pahalgam and the second on the former sarpanch at Hirpora in south Kashmir, officials said Terrorists fired upon and injured a woman, Farha, a resident of Jaipur (in Rajasthan) and her spouse Tabrez at Yannar in Anantnag. The injured were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off. Further details shall follow, the Kashmir Zone Police posted on X. Advertisement VIDEO | Woman injured as terrorist open fire at tourist camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/aj6XWNjiHT Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2024 In another attack, within half-an-hour, terrorists shot dead former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh in Shopians Hirpora around 10.30 pm, the officials said. Sheikh, who was associated with the BJP, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, they said. The areas in Anantnag and Shopian have been cordoned off and search operations have been launched to nab the attackers, the officials said. The back-to-back attacks come at a time when campaigning for the parliamentary polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is going on. Polling in Baramulla will be held on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections. Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference, PDP and the BJP, condemned the attacks. Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, said on X, While we condemn the attack in Pahalgam today that resulted in injuries to two tourists followed by another attack on a (former) sarpanch in Hirpora, Shopian - the timing of these attacks given that the south election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by GOI (Government of India). Advertisement Polling for the seat was scheduled to be conducted on May 7 but was deferred after few political parties in Jammu and Kashmir raised concerns over weather conditions. Polling will now being held on May 25. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah also condemned the terror attacks. They have said that such acts of brutality remain a serious impediment to achieving long-term peace in J-K. They urged all communities to come together in these challenging times and support efforts towards lasting harmony. Their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult period, a statement from the party said. Advertisement The BJP in a statement said, We strongly condemn the killing of ex-sarpanch Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh in Hirpora, Shopian, South Kashmir, by terrorists today. Aijaz Ahmad was a brave soldier of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP firmly stands with the family of Aijaz Ahmad, who lost his life in this terror attack, it said. Even after seven months and various twists and turns, the Israel-Hamas war sees no signs of abating, let alone a ceasefire or truce. On the contrary, the fears of a full-scale Rafah invasion are becoming more real with every passing day. Rafah is the last cornered bastion for the million plus internally displaced Gazans bearing the brunt of Israeli firepower and a lack of sustenance due to utterly interrupted humanitarian supplies. Advertisement Rafah is a red line even for the Americans, who have been all-weather supporters of the Jewish state despite the Biden administration becoming frustrated with the ultra-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bidens pause and hold in the supply of arms and ammunition to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) does not seem to have affected the morale or intransigence of the vengeful political leadership of Israel, even as Netanyahu dramatically claimed that they will fight with bare nails, if needed. Knowing too well the power of the Jewish lobby at the Capitol, he also announced that Israel was not a vassal state of the US and that the intense part of the fighting in Rafah is just weeks away . Once again, as regards the two state solution, Bibi was categorical in rejecting it as the greatest reward for the terrorist that you can imagine, completely disregarding all UNSC, UNGA, Arab Peace Plan, and all other resolutions and hopes that envisaged a viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel since 1948. Moreover, even though most members of the UNSC voted for a resolution to give full UN membership to Palestine, Washington happily vetoed it for lame reasons. UNGA has, again with a big majority, requested the UNSC reconsider it, but the result will most likely be the same as the US will not listen to its conscience. Advertisement No wonder the US Congress passed a resolution asking the President not to stop supplies of arms and ammunition to Israel. The Israel Security Assistance Support Act would prevent Biden from freezing any congressionally approved military aid to Israel, including 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs that he has put on hold. But such small victories will have their own costs for Tel Aviv as the Biden administration begins to count its own real costs and losses in an election year when it is increasingly facing domestic and international pressure and protests for its complicity and double standards. However, the US military has completed the installation of a floating pier for the Gaza Strip to ferry badly needed humanitarian supplies through the Mediterranean, as they realised the ineffectiveness of their hold over Netanyahu. Advertisement Rafah is not only critical for the Palestinians but also for the Egyptians, who have been trying to persuade the Israelis not to invade Rafah, which could eventually breach the 1979 Peace Treaty between the two countries. In order to avoid a direct conflict with Tel Aviv, Cairo has not been keen to take the Palestinian refugees, but the full-scale Rafah invasion would alter the ground situation and could alienate Israel, and convert Egypt into an adversary forced to confront Israel. This would add a serious complication to the already fragile and fungible West Asian complex. This is the reason that Egypt has joined South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is debating charges of genocide by the Israelis in Gaza. Likewise, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is discussing issuing an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu for the same reasons, which will create difficulties for Bibi, who is already in the docks at home for corruption and other charges. Iran and Israel were on the verge of an expanded war that was averted. Advertisement Turkish President Erdogan has not only stopped all trade but, speaking to the Parliamentary Group of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), claimed, If this rogue terrorist state of Israel is not stopped, it will set its eyes on Anatolia with its delusion of a promised land." Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Arab League, and the OIC have all warned against the invasion of Rafah. It is evident that if indeed Rafah, which Netanyahu calls the last bastion of Hamas, is fully invaded and large-scale casualties occur in the complex of the Middle East, hope for further normalisation will be dashed for years to come. Miffed Qataris have said that the ceasefire talks are virtually dead as the Israeli leadership refused to consent to the draft that Hamas had agreed to. Advertisement As an unprecedented number of UN personnel have lost their lives in Gaza, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been highly critical of the Israeli collective punishment and continued bombardment of the Palestinians while criticising Hamass terror attacks and retention of hostages. He lamented in a tweet, In speed and scale, the war in Gaza is the deadliest conflict in my time as SGfor civilians, aid workers, journalist and UN colleagues.. any assault on Rafah is unacceptable. It would inflict another surge of misery when we need a surge in life saving aid." As if anyone cared. On Wednesday, an Indian former Army Colonel, Retd Vaibhav Anil Kale, of UNDSS, was killed by a missile attack by the IDF in Gaza. Even if it was by mistake, it has underlined the madness of the ongoing war as poor hostages also continue to suffer seven months of captivity in filthy and adversarial conditions. The Indian government issued an advisory against travel to Israel as Air India operations were halted. India was also forced to deploy her naval assets in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean with the rising threats and attacks by Houthis on commercial shipping in commiseration with the Hamas. India has a strong strategic partnership with Israel, and both have stood for each other in times of crisis. India also condemned the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, as it underscores the need for a viable and sovereign Palestine side by side with Israel. India also voted at the UNGA for Palestine and voted against the settlements. But seeing the extant killings and destruction of Gaza and the plight of Israeli hostages, PM Modi has been talking to various leaders in the region and beyond, including Netanyahu, urging for a ceasefire. Speaking to several media outlets this week, PM Modi mentioned that he had sent a Special Envoy (NSA Ajit Doval) in March to tell Israelis not to bomb Gaza during Ramzan, and they tried to follow it. The day after scenario is perhaps too early to call, but there is definitely divergence of opinion on Gazas governance between Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Netanyahu and his right wingers, who threaten to pull the rug from under his feet should he be seen as being soft to Palestinians. Israeli Minister Ben Gvir again called for the colonisation of Gaza, while Gallant did not want the army to rule Gaza, as the controversial Senator Lindsey Graham went crazy in reportedly suggesting to hit Gaza with a nuclear bomb to end the war", provoking the Japanese Foreign Minister to denounce such comparisons. But either way, there is a deep dyke that may not be filled until a permanent solution is found and respected by all sides. Hope the hitherto mute and frustrated international community will absolve itself creditably. The writer is a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta and is a Distinguished Fellow with leading think tank Vivekananda International Foundation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The twenty-year-old contestant Eden Golan from Israel came fifth in the much-discussed Eurovision 2024 last week. The 68th edition of the song contest saw the entry of Golans Hurricane with lyrics that read, Baby, promise me youll hold me again. Im still broken from this hurricane. This hurricane, in the finale. The contest is a larger-than-life affair that has previously seen winners such as Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias, and ABBA. Many have described the contest as unconventional, camp and even bizarre, with over 38 countries participating from Europe and beyond, expanding to Israel and Australia. Advertisement The longest-running television show in the world has also continued with its slogan from last year, United by Music, in an attempt to reinstate the romanticised idea of the universality of music as a language of love and peace. Emotions relayed by musicians and music aficionados alike who have often seen themselves as above political divisions and nationalisms, espousing greater, purer human ideals. The small problem, however, with this dreamy self-congratulatory idea is that in 2022, the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) banned Russia from the contest. In 2023, the United Kingdom hosted the competition on behalf of Ukraine. This year, too, the competition was marred by hostile political divisions over Israels inclusion, making Golan a target for pro-Palestine protestors. There were boycott campaigns against Golan, whose security was ramped up. The concerns over her and her teams security were such that Ronen Bar, Director of Israels security agency, Shin Bet, flew down himself to oversee Golans security arrangements. While pro-Palestinian protestors made every effort to have Israel banned from the contest, EBU asked for Golans song to be changed from what was originally October Rain to Hurricane to avoid any political referencing. A change that was readily agreed to and supported by Israels President Isaac Herzog in order for Israel to continue in the competition. Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, who seems to be active in all sorts of protests that have nothing to do with climate, landed up in Malmo, the Swedish city where the competition was held, and led over 10,000 protestors against Golans participation. They protested for the boycott of Israel while they held on to Palestinian flags, raising the frenzy against Golan, who is similar in age to Greta. Advertisement While Golan was made a target by Greta, a journalist asked Golan, Have you ever thought that being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and the public? A question that may have been more appropriate for Greta given the circumstances. Posters came up calling Eurovision a genocide contest, a word nowadays used flagrantly by protestors without a care for its historical context, with a simple agenda to raise the emotional pitch of whatever their grievance may be. Ironically, Malmo is one of the cities where Danish Jews arrived while fleeing the Nazis. However, it has also been reported that Malmo today has become one of Swedens most anti-Semitic towns, enough for travel advisories to have been issued, warning Jews from travelling in these areas because of the hostility they may have to face. Malmo largely consists of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East. Advertisement But these attacks were all in the public arena, what most did not see was what Golan endured backstage, amongst her United by Music co-competitors. Some yawned when Golan spoke at press conferences; some competitors wore clothes by anti-Semitic cartoonist Naji Al Ali; and others, such as Bambie Thug from Ireland, were so devastated that they cried when Golan qualified. It was clear that the Thugs and Gretas of the world came together to bully a twenty-year-old girl, simply because she represented Israel. Even during the grand finale, she was booed, crowds turned their backs on her, and a jury member even publicly admitted to not having voted for Golan because of Israels position on Palestine. But none of it seemed to matter, because Golans courage in the face of apparent hate brought to fore something that had not been seen before: the silent supporter, or as many have called them, the silent majority. Advertisement The Eurovision song competition is assessed not only by jury vote but through a combination of jury and public voting. It was the result of public voting that was truly representative of the support that Golan had garnered. The support of the true music lover, who does not need to be United by Music but individually loves music, the arts, and artists for what they bring to the world. The votes also told us a story of the people who were tired of the hate that is being normalised. Israel received the maximum points from televoters in Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and in the group category called Rest of the World. Further, Israel also received a number of votes from Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Moldova, Slovenia, and, surprisingly, Ireland. One only wonders how Bambie Thug would have taken the betrayal of her own country. She had cried when Israel qualified; this audacity must have left her devastated. To add to the woes of the Thugs of the world, Israels public vote tally enabled Golan to finish fifth in the competition with 323 votes, beating even Ukraines 307 votes. Advertisement The story of Golans victory is most certainly about a young girl who stood her ground, but more importantly, it is a curt message to the Thugs and Gretas who are holding the world hostage to populist agendas. The support that Golan received from the silent majority is an indicator that people are exhausted with juvenile wokeism running their lives, seizing control of independent thought. The toxicity that prevails on university campuses, offices, and cultural institutions that demands political homogeneity and social control has led to disenchantment among the masses. The result of Eurovision 2024 is a reminder that the silent majority is the balancing power that keeps the impertinent noise in check. It was a humbling lesson for those who dont have the courage that Golan displayed. Rami Niranjan Desai is an anthropologist and a scholar of the northeast region of India. She is a columnist and author and presently Distinguished Fellow at India Foundation, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost. Shani Louk was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, near the Supernova rave. Her body was recovered in an IDF operation and returned to Israel on May 17, 2024. Image: REUTERS One of the most gruesome images of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli civilians was what was the lifeless, mangled body of a young woman, sprawled on the back of a truck, with the dirty boot of a terrorist on her broken leg. She was identified by her dreadlocked hair and tattoos, but the Hamas heartlessly let her parents believe she was alive somewhere in Gaza. Last Thursday the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) found her remains, and those of two others. Advertisement She was 22-year-old Israeli-German citizen Shani Louk, an avowed peacenik who was dancing along with around 3,000 other similarly minded Israeli youngsters at a music festival in the desert at Reim when Hamas terrorists swarmed out of Gaza and mowed down over 360 of them. It is now clear that though Shani died in the attack, they took her body to Gazawhere cameras recorded the crowds jeering and even spitting on it. Why did they take her body back? Three weeks after the October 7 attack, Israeli authorities identified a skull fragment found at Reim as belonging to Shani via a DNA test, proving she had been killed there, thus confirming eyewitness accounts. But even then Hamas did not own up to her murder. Its leaders continued to callously negotiate the release of hostages on the basis of information Israelis had of the total number who remained missing once fatalities were tallied from all villages attacked. The other bodies finally recovered from a tunnel besides Shani were 28-year-old Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter, 57, all killed on October 7. And yet their bodies had been carted back into Gaza. Were they meant to be trophiesas the visuals of Shanis body suggests? There is no word just yet on the condition of the three bodies after seven months in a subterranean passage, but facts will emerge eventually. Will protesters have the guts to face them? The bodies being found only after months of battles and searches by IDF indicates Hamas intention was to hide actual death tolls. Much before the current discovery, western media reported that some 18 bodies had been carted back to Gaza after the attack. So, hostages both dead and alive were used as bargaining chips by Hamas from the outset and it has been periodically giving out selective information about hostage deaths since then, for maximum benefit. Advertisement Like the case of the Bibas family9-month-old Kfir, his 4-year-old brother Ariel and mother Shiri. The three were seen being taken away; the father was herded off separately, bearing bloody injuries. In between Hamas leaked information that the three had been sent off to another Palestinian terror group elsewhere in Gaza. Finally, Hamas claimed that the children and their mother had been killed in Israeli air raids. Why should that revelation even be considered true? Amid the worldwide outrage over the 34,000 deaths caused by the inevitable Israeli counter-attack to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages, the killing of innocent peace-lovers like Shani have been conveniently forgotten. Their attitude is that Israel is on a totally unprovoked blood-thirsty rampage, that the murder of nearly 1,200 people was not reason enough for a government to decide to eliminate the forces that perpetrated the attacks and rescue the abducted. Advertisement For the past seven months, families of those missing have been swinging between hope and despair, cynically manipulated by Hamas and its supporters. Videos of hostages criticising the Israeli government and exhorting it to accept the Hamas demands are obviously being released periodically to play with the emotions of the relatives and manipulate the media. How the hostages were compelled to speak on behalf of their captors is very painful to contemplate. More so as there is no good reason to believe anything that Hamas says is true. The UN has now found itself in an embarrassing situation regarding the mortality figures from Gaza given out by Hamas sources that it has been unquestioningly publishing without independent verification. Despite convoluted explanations it emerges that about 30% of the deaths in Gaza are unregistered as they are taken from local media sources rather than hospital mortuary figures. Advertisement One of the main factors in the swing of world opinion away from Israel in favour of the Palestinians despite Hamas brutal practices has been this huge death toll of children and women in Gaza. Before the latest UN doubletake, it was asserted that nearly 9,500 women and 14,500 children had been killed. Now, while the total toll remains unchanged at over 34,000, the latest figures for women and children have been nearly halved to 4,959 and 7,797 respectively. The explanation now being offered for this discrepancy is that while once the figures were taken from hospital data, it was shifted to local media sources once the IDF closed in on hospitals as they were also providing cover for Hamas operation centres. Why was the reading public not informed of this shift and the resultant likelihood of unregistered deaths? Why were those later numbers suddenly classified as unverifiable, but the total toll was not changed? Advertisement One possibility could be that the death toll of women and children were being deliberately inflated to not only to galvanise the world into stopping IDFs anti-Hamas operations inside Gaza but also to downplay the number of its own combatant cadres that had been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory action. The fact that all those up to the age of 18 were classified as children is also significant. There has never been a minimum age for terror recruits. Death reports by local media have been taken at face value by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). But it is now known that Hamas has been spying on its own people to ensure there are no dissenters. The local media also must have had to fall in line too or else Hamas would not have allowed them to report from there either. Nothing can explain OCHAs touching faith in the information provided by these manipulative militants. Surely OCHA cannot be as gullible as the student protesters who either do not know or will not acknowledge the released female Israeli hostages accounts of sexual assault and other torture that they faced from their Hamas captors? Given that it had been silent all this while about the three people whose bodies recovered on Thursday, Hamas can hardly be believed on hostages safety or death tolls. So why does the world continue to give Hamas the benefit of doubt? Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. San Francisco Mayor London Breed greets the crowd at the Fillmore auditorium Saturday during the kickoff of her mayoral reelection campaign. Breed was frank in her kickoff speech about the most serious challenges facing the city, but she stood firm in her decision to pursue a police crackdown on drug markets. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Actor Danny Glover rallies for Mayor London Breed during the campaign kickoff for her on Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle A crowd gathers inside the Fillmore auditorium Saturday to kick off San Francisco Mayor London Breeds reelection campaign. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle San Francisco Mayor London Breed ramped up her reelection bid Saturday, telling a standing-room-only crowd of enthusiastic supporters that she deserves another term because shes leading the city to a better future even as she confronts sobering crises. In a campaign kickoff speech at the Fillmore auditorium, a short walk from the public housing complex where Breed was raised by her grandmother, she was frank about some of the most serious challenges facing the city, including a record number of drug overdoses last year. But Breed stood firm in her decision to pursue a police crackdown on drug markets. I will not apologize for being aggressive to try and save somebodys life, she said. I am no longer going to be an enabler of people dying on the streets of San Francisco. Because Im not talking about it Im being about it with the work that Im doing to help get our streets under control. At the same time, Breed said shes seeing hopeful trends, including a drop in crime, and she swiped at her reelection opponents in some of her most critical public remarks about them to date. Breed said her leading challengers who she did not invoke by name want you to believe that this city is messed up and are promoting the narrative that this city has lost its way and San Francisco isnt what it used to be. She accused her challengers of wanting to keep us in a doom loop a reference to concerns that the city could slip into a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Their whole message is to speak down on San Francisco, and while theyre speaking down on San Francisco, Im lifting San Francisco up, Breed said. You know why? Because this is the city that made a girl from the projects mayor. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mayor London Breed rallies a standing-room-only crowd at the Fillmore auditorium Saturday during a kickoff event for her reelection campaign. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Breed is trying to defeat four major challengers in the November election and overcome deep public skepticism about her leadership and how the city has fared since she was elected mayor nearly six years ago. A Chronicle poll in February found she was at serious risk of losing reelection, with 71% of registered voters disapproving of her job performance. A nearly identical percentage of voters said in a separate poll that they think the city is on the wrong track. Her opponents contend that she has failed to properly respond to the citys problems, such as the proliferation of open-air drug markets, the historic number of people dying of drug overdoses, an exodus of major retail stores, the hollowing out of downtown office towers, the persistence of homelessness and property crime. But Breed has been making the case that shes beginning to see signs that her work on those issues is paying off. Police data shows crime is down, and this week her office touted figures showing that the number of people sleeping on the street or in tents dropped 13% over the past two years to the lowest level San Francisco has seen in a decade. People want you to think that those things arent turning around, Breed said in her kickoff speech. People want you to think that all of a sudden we cleaned up the city for APEC or we cleaned up the city for an election. You dont just snap your fingers and black magic happens. You do the work. The Rev. Arelious Walker waves a handkerchief Saturday as Mayor London Breed arrives onstage at the Fillmore auditorium to kick off her reelection campaign. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Yet total homelessness, driven by surges of people living in cars and shelters, increased 7% since 2022, according to the citys latest one-night count of its unhoused population. That led her leading opponents last week to reiterate their arguments that shes not doing enough to solve the biggest concerns of dissatisfied San Franciscans, though Breed contended in her speech Saturday that the overall increase in homelessness was a reflection of her administrations work to expand the shelter system. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Breed, whos considered a moderate in San Francisco politics, is a champion of the YIMBY movement, which favors an aggressive expansion of housing development at all income levels. She also favors looser restrictions on business, having successfully pushed for a March ballot measure to make office-to-housing conversions more profitable for developers. The four most serious opponents to Breeds reelection are Mark Farrell, a former supervisor who briefly served as appointed mayor; Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir; Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin; and Supervisor Ahsha Safai. Shirletha Holmes-Boxx wears a hat in support of San Francisco Mayor London Breed at the campaign kickoff for Breeds reelection Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Farrell and Lurie are also trying to appeal to moderates while arguing that Breed has failed to properly manage the city. Safai was elected supervisor as a moderate but has tried to appeal to progressives during his mayoral campaign, including voicing opposition to Breeds police-power expansion measure. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Peskin is running in the more progressive lane, criticizing Breeds support for arresting drug users and professing his staunch support for expanding rent control, financing affordable housing and preserving neighborhoods historic character. Peskin sees his views on housing as crucial to preventing the displacement of low-income residents, though his critics see it far differently, pointing to his support for blocking certain housing projects especially in his district to cast him as an obstructionist. Breeds kickoff event at the Fillmore was a show of strength for her reelection campaign, as about 750 people packed into the historic music venue, many of them donning yellow hats, shirts and buttons with Breeds name emblazoned on them. For those who showed up without any campaign gear, a Breed merchandise stand was set up in the corner of the room, echoing what concert attendees would see at a live music show. Before taking the stage at about 11:15 a.m., Breed was introduced by several speakers who reflected different parts of the coalition she hopes will carry her over the finish line in November. Emceeing the event was Renel Brooks-Moon, the former San Francisco Giants public address announcer who also emceed Breeds historic inauguration as the first Black woman to lead the city. Nor Cal Carpenters Union Executive Secretary-Treasurer Jay Bradshaw speaks during the campaign kickoff for San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Jay Bradshaw, the leader of a carpenters union thats all in for Breed, told the crowd that she has been fearless to fight for housing for all. Drag queen Donna Sachet said she and Breed both wanted to dispel the doom loop narrative and instead believe in what Sachet called the citys hope spiral. Actor Danny Glover, a San Francisco native just like Breed, called her an extraordinary woman. We have to elect London Breed as mayor of San Francisco, Glover said. We need our mayor: We need someone who loves this city, who was born in this city, who was raised in this city, who worked in this city. Seated in the auditorium wearing a Breed button after the speech, Anne Cervantes, a Bernal Heights architect who sat on an economic recovery task force during the early days of the pandemic, said she was pleased by Breeds remarks, which she called dynamic. Im energized, Cervantes said. Shes had to make difficult decisions, but people need to remember she is not just representing one group or one district in the city. She has to answer to everyone. Yes, some people are not going to like the policies that you change, but what shes doing is shes looking out for all of the city as a whole, like she did with COVID. Mayor London Breed dances with emcee Renel Brooks-Moon, the former San Francisco Giants public address announcer, during Breeds campaign kickoff event Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle At the conclusion of her speech, Breed invoked her tough upbringing as she pledged not to shy away from the hard reelection fight shes facing in the months to come. I know what it means to be a leader. I know what its like when your back is up against the wall, Breed said. I know what its like to live in the gutter. To live in poverty. To live with roaches and hopelessness. To stand in food lines. I understand the importance of the work we do every single day. So San Francisco, jump on this roller coaster. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has right recalled how, in the past, the US was appreciative of the fact that Chabahar has a larger relevance and how people should not take a narrow view now read more Responding to the US threat of sanctions over India signing a ten-year deal to manage the Chabahar Port in Iran, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said, It is a question of communicating, convincing, and getting people to understand that this is actually for everyones benefit. In the same vein, he recalled how, in the past, the US was appreciative of the fact that Chabahar has a larger relevance and how people should not take a narrow view (now). Advertisement Possibly, EAM Jaishankar feels confident that New Delhi could convince the US this time, too, as it has done all along when the common threat is China, especially in New Delhis backyard. It started with the Gwadar Port in Pakistan but does not end there. On a more recent note, Team Jaishankar came out of it all without hurt or loss when the US seemingly protested India buying cheap oil from Russia since the commencement of the Ukraine War, where Washington and the rest of the West took sides and imposed additional sanctions on Moscow. Popular mood Independent of such geo-political and geo-strategic considerations, the US should also understand that the popular mood influences, and at times pressures, the Indian establishment on issues just as it does in its country. In the US, we are told that human rights concerns in other nations are a talking point, especially at election times as the American presidential poll is due later this year. In India, too, such wholesale condemnation of the nation and its elected government are talking points, growing as far as to become pressure points, especially under the incumbent government. The influx and consequent influence of social media is one of the reasons, but the nationalist ideological moorings of a substantial majority of this governments support base are the real cause. Its government cannot be seen as saying one thing and doing another, full-stop. Jaishankar and his ministrys official spokesperson have both continually interjected whenever an American media report of a political condemnation of democracy in India surfaces in that country. It is true of other Western nations, who hold similar values steeped in the shared experience of the two Great Wars of the previous century. Advertisement They often forget, if at all they knew, that contemporary Indian socio-political values, as outlined in the Constitution at birth, too owe to the same understanding of democracy and liberalism in the post-War world. It was thus that India introduced universal adult franchise, including voting rights for women, and a ban on social segregation, long before many in the West began enjoying those rights and freedoms. The result of those early initiatives since Independence, in a nation of cows, elephants, and snake-charmers, has to be seen to be believed. The expression of Indian nationalism and the issues that are flagged on such occasions are one and the same. Some wear it all on their sleeves; others dont. Hence, for any outsider to conclude that there are internal divisions in the country that could be exploited at will is just out of the question. Advertisement The nations unity stood out through the Bangladesh War, the Kargil War, and the Pokhran-I and II nuclear tests, when, incidentally, ideologically opposite political parties and leaders were in power. It is thus worth recalling how Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose then Jan Sangh rival Atal Behari Vajpayee to lead the Indian delegation to the UN to demonstrate the national will, power, and unity after her disheartening global tour to convince the West in particular about the Pakistani military atrocities in what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Playing second-fiddle? Though the time may not have come for testing Moscows preferences between India and China, the question may arise if and when there is another episode involving the two Asian neighbours. It could be something like a limited operation (!) like the crude and cruel Galwan incident or a larger military engagement. Whatever the occasion, not just the Indian government but also individual Indian citizens would automatically expect Russia to side with India, as it had done during past wars with Pakistan. Advertisement Many Indians may not remember to recall that the then-Soviet Union and communist China acted as comrades-in-arms during the Chinese aggression of 1962, and it remained so until Beijing began slighting Moscow not long after. Today, in matters geopolitical and geostrategic, Russia can at best play second fiddle to Beijing, as its economic fortunes have reversed. In short, Russia needs China more today than the other way around, though mainly in political terms. Suffice to point out that Russian President Vladimir Putin undertook a two-day China visit to meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Before emphasising this, he said in Moscow that Russia was ready to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, but as a stakeholder, Moscows interests too should be addressed. Advertisement Does it also mean that Putin would discuss peace proposals with Xi after the latter had given up on his forgotten initiative in this regard months ago? If so, will Xi get into the thick of things all over again? But then, like the last time around, the US and Western Europe are not going to let Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky settle it all by themselves. Of course, now that Moscow has declared part of the captured Ukrainian territory Russian, it is not going to be easy for Kyiv to do it all by itself. Of course, these are bridges for each nation to cross when faced with them, but national strategies are built on possibilities and probabilities, where all these equations come into play. The writer is a Chennai-based Policy Analyst & Political Commentator. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Israels looming operations in the southern city of Rafah have led to the closure of a nearby crossing point from Egypt and affected almost all land deliveries to Gaza through the southern gate of Kerem Shalom read more Construction on the floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza Strip. After months, the pier has been completed and aid has reached the shores of Gaza using this for the first time on Friday. AFP As the ongoing Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, trucks carrying 300 pallets of humanitarian aid to Gaza arrived via the newly built US pier into the conflict-stricken Palestinian enclave for the first time. While the aid started to roll in from the pier, the US aid chief maintained that the new sea corridor would not be able to substitute the aid that arrived from land crossings. The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby confirmed the delivery of aid and mentioned that the shipment is the first in an operation in which the American military anticipates transporting 150 aid tricks a day, The Times of Israel reported. Advertisement Kirby noted that the aid was initially delivered and handed over to the United Nations officials who are operating in the region and are responsible for distributing the aid in the coastal enclave. The aid included food from the United Arab Emirates which was sent by ship from Cyprus. Hopefully by the time were done here, some of that stuff will actually be in the mouths of some hungry people," Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing. A crucial step but not enough While the head of the US Agency for International Development (USAid), Samantha Power, acknowledged the aid delivery, she maintained that the resources that are entering the Gaza Strip via the pier will not be sufficient enough to substitute aid delivered through land routes. The pier that opened today does not replace or substitute for land crossings into Gaza, every one of which needs to operate at maximum capacity and efficiency. Every moment that a crossing is not open, that trucks are not moving, or where aid cannot safely be distributed, increases the terrible human costs of this conflict," Power warned. In the past two weeks, food and fuel entering Gaza has slowed to dangerously low levels barely 100 trucks of aid a day entered Gaza, far less than the 600 needed every day to address the threat of famine. Much more must be done to save lives and alleviate the widespread suffering," she added. Advertisement Israels looming operations in the southern city of Rafah have led to the closure of a nearby crossing point from Egypt and affected almost all land deliveries to Gaza through the southern gate of Kerem Shalom. Meanwhile, aid deliveries for the northern crossing at Erez have been ambushed and looted by Israeli extremists in recent days, with little to no attempt by the police to protect the convoys. Before the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched its ground operation in Rafah, the UN said that nearly 640,000 people had been displaced from the city and the conditions in the region remained dire. In light of unconscionable attacks on aid workers since the war began, we will continue to press the Israeli government to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, Power concluded in her statement. Last week, the UN food agency said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of floods on May 10th. read more Flash floods from heavy seasonal rains in western Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people, with dozens still missing, according to a Taliban official on Saturday. The death toll is based on preliminary reports and may rise. Afghanistan has been experiencing unusually heavy seasonal rains. Spokesman for the provincial governor Abdul Wahid Hamas said that the hard-hit province of Ghor has suffered significant financial losses. Thousands of homes and properties and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed due to Fridays floods, including damage in the capital city Feroz Koh, he said. Advertisement The Talibans government chief spokesman posted on social platform X, mourning the loss of our fellow Afghans, and urged responsible authorities to provide all necessary support to alleviate the suffering. He also called on our benevolent donors to help and humanitarian organizations to provide the affected communities with aid. Last week, the UN food agency said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of floods on May 10th. Survivors have been left with no home, no land, and no source of livelihood, the World Food Organization said. Most of Baghlan is inaccessible by trucks, said WFP, adding that it is resorting to every alternative it can think of to deliver food to the survivors The latest disaster came on the heels of devastating floods that killed at least 70 people in April. The waters also destroyed about 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and Herat, and southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces. With inputs from agencies. In a statement, the Kyrgyz foreign ministry said that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in Bishkek. It said the situation in the city is calm and under full control, adding all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security read more India on Saturday asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors after the Kyrgyz capital city reported mob violence targeting international students, especially from South Asia. The Indian embassy in the Central Asian country said it is in touch with the Indian students and the situation is calm now. The mission asked Indian students in the city to stay indoors. In a statement, the Kyrgyz foreign ministry said that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in Bishkek. It said the situation in the city is calm and under full control, adding all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security. Advertisement External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar advised the Indian students to stay in regular touch with the Indian embassy. Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. The situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy, he said in a post on X. The Indian embassy said, We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Police in riot gear were deployed in part of Kyrgyzstans capital overnight as large crowds gathered in anger over an alleged fight between local and foreign people, The Times of Central Asia reported. The incident appeared to reflect tension over the presence of migrants, many from South Asia, in Kyrgyzstan, it said. The number of Indian students in Kyrgyzstan is estimated to be around 15,000. It is not immediately known how many of them are in Bishkek. The Kyrgyz foreign ministry said destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of Pakistan. It said the situation in the city of Bishkek is calm and under full control. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, and maintain peace and stability, it said. Advertisement Therefore, the ministry asks the representatives of mass media, blogger community, as well as foreign colleagues to be guided only by the official and confirmed information of the competent bodies, the Kyrgyz foreign ministry added. On Tuesday, the Georgian parliament voted 84 to 30 in favor of the foreign influence law despite 30 days of protests in Tbilisi involving hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. Opponents argue that the law would hinder Georgias aspirations to join the European Union read more Participants, including Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili, walk during a procession in support of the country's membership in the European Union, in Tbilisi, Georgia, December 9, 2023. REUTERS Georgias President, Salome Zourabichvili, has vetoed a contentious law targeting media and non-governmental organisations, following weeks of mass protests. The legislation, criticised for mirroring Kremlin tactics to suppress dissent, would have required entities receiving over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power. On Tuesday, the Georgian parliament voted 84 to 30 in favor of the foreign influence law despite 30 days of protests in Tbilisi involving hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. Opponents argue that the law would hinder Georgias aspirations to join the European Union. Advertisement President Zourabichvili, who has frequently clashed with the ruling Georgian Dream party, declared on Saturday that the law contradicts Georgias constitution and all European standards, stating unequivocally that it must be abolished. She had previously described the law as unacceptable. Despite the presidents veto, the ruling party, which holds a parliamentary majority, is expected to override her decision in the coming days. Georgian Dream claims the legislation is necessary to enhance transparency and limit detrimental foreign influence in the nation of 3.7 million people. India and the UK adopted a 10-year roadmap in 2021 to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others. read more India and UK agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of trade, defence, security, science and technology and people-to-people exchanges besides reviewing Roadmap 2030 to expand ties in the key areas, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Saturday. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatras visited the UK from May 16 to 17 to attend the 16th round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between the two sides. In 2021, India and the UK adopted a 10-year roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others. Advertisement At the FOC, the foreign secretary held talks with Sir Philip Barton, the permanent under-secretary at the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Kwatra also held meetings with Minister of State (Foreign Office) Lord Tariq Ahmad, MoS for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge, NSA Sir Tim Barrow, Home Office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft, Chief Trade Negotiator Crawford Falconer and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the UK prime minister, John Bew. The MEA said both sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and regional and global issues of mutual interest. The foreign secretary and permanent under-secretary undertook a detailed review of the Roadmap 2030, it said. Welcoming good progress across all pillars, they underscored their interest to raise the level of ambition and agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation including in trade and economic, defence and security, science and technology, people-to-people ties and mobility, energy, and climate change, as well as health, the MEA said in a statement. It said India and the UK share a comprehensive strategic partnership which has been strengthened across all domains through regular high-level political exchanges and meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms. The India-UK relationship was elevated to the comprehensive strategic partnership in May 2021. The two sides are currently negotiating a free trade agreement. Both sides are also keen to expand cooperation in the maritime sphere. Advertisement In June 2021, the UK posted a liaison officer at the Indian Navys Information Fusion Centre (IFC) that has emerged as a key hub in tracking movements of ships and other developments in the Indian Ocean region. The UK joined a select group of countries such as the US, Australia, Japan and France to depute officials at the Gurugram-based facility. The Indian Navy established the IFC-IOR in 2018 to effectively keep track of the shipping traffic as well as other critical developments in the region under a collaborative framework with like-minded countries. With inputs from PTI. Several Pakistani students studying in Bishkek faced mob violence late Friday night, sustaining injuries. However, no deaths have been confirmed. Pakistan media reports said the violence followed a brawl between foreign students, including Pakistanis, and Egyptian nationals. read more Several Pakistani students studying in Bishkek faced mob violence late Friday night, sustaining injuries, though no deaths have been confirmed. (Screengrab/X) Amid reports of mob violence targeting foreign students in the Kyrgyz Republic, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India is monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. He advised students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. https://t.co/xjwjFotfeR Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) May 18, 2024 Advertisement The Indian mission in Bishkek has advised students to stay indoors for the moment We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041, the embassy said in a statement. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041. India in Kyrgyz Republic (@IndiaInKyrgyz) May 18, 2024 According to media reports, Pakistani students were the primary targets of the mob violence. Several Pakistani students studying in Bishkek faced mob violence late Friday night, sustaining injuries. However, no deaths have been confirmed. Pakistan media reports said the violence followed a brawl between foreign students, including Pakistanis, and Egyptian nationals. Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistans Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation, the countrys PM Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X. Advertisement Israels representatives told the court that the Jewish nation was fighting a war of self-defence and maintained that it did not want and did not start. read more In a sharp rebuttal to South Africas allegations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel stated that the case is an obscene exploitation of the genocide convention. Israel went on to accuse South Africa of trying to defend Hamas militants instead of protecting Palestinian civilians. Israels representatives told the court that the Jewish nation was fighting a war of self-defence and maintained that it did not want and did not start, The Guardian reported. The representatives also noted that Israel took extraordinary efforts to protect the lives of civilians that are stuck in the ongoing conflict. Advertisement There is a tragic conflict going on, but no genocide, Israels justice ministry official, Gilad Noam, told the court. He also urged the court to throw out South Africas request for a court order to halt military operation in Rafah. It is important to note that the hearing came a day after the Group of Seven nations, excluding the US, sent a joint letter urging Israel to comply with the International law in Gaza. Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland also signed the statement. What are the both sides saying? On Thursday, the South African side presented its case to the court yet again stating Palestinians stuck in the ongoing conflict had nowhere safe to flee due to the intense bombardment and ground campaign across Gaza. Meanwhile, Noam said that the attack in Rafah is crucial to attack the battalions of Hamas militants that are operating in the region. Israel has pledged to destroy the group ever since the later conducted the October 7 massacre in southern Israel which ultimately triggered the ongoing war. Israel is acutely aware of the large number of civilians that are concentrated in Rafah. It is also acutely aware of Hamas efforts to use these civilians as a shield, he said. He maintained that Israel had ordered evacuation to protect the civilians and accused South Africa of having ulterior motives. South Africa has a clear ulterior motive when it asks you to order Israel to stay away from Rafah and to withdraw all its troops from Gaza, Noam told the court. It does so in order to obtain military advantage for its ally, Hamas. Advertisement The Israeli representative also pointed out that the ICJ only hears cases between states, hence, it has no jurisdiction over Hamas. This would mean that if the court orders for a ceasefire, only Israel will be binding to comply with the orders. Noam insisted that this would deprive the Jewish nation of its right to self-defence. At the end of the hearing, ICJ Judge Nolte asked Israel to provide more information about conditions in the designated evacuation zones and if there regions are providing the civilians with adequate food and shelter to Gazans stuck in the region. The protesters belonging to the LGBTQ+ community demanded the government to repeal a decree that described transgenderism as a mental illness read more Hundreds of sexual diversity activists gathered at Perus capital Lima to conduct a demonstration in front of the countrys health ministry. The protesters belonging to the LGBTQ+ community demanded the government to repeal a decree that described transgenderism as a mental illness. The government also put six other gender identities into the same bracket as well. According to The Independent, demonstrations were also held outside the Peruvian embassy in Ecuadors capital, Quito. Interestingly, these protests coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia. The momentous occasion has been celebrated since 2005 to mark May 17, 1990, when homosexuality then considered a mental illness was removed from the World Health Organizations International Classification of Diseases. Advertisement Peru does not recognise same-sex marriage The controversial decree was passed by President Dina Boluartes administration, last week. The health ministry stated that action would guarantee comprehensive mental health care coverage to those affiliated with public, private or mixed health plans. My life is freedom, not a disorder, Health is not legislated in the past, The disease is you, transphobia kills and No diversity with Dina," were some of the signs carried by the demonstrators who were marching in the capital. It is pertinent to note that the Latin American nation does not recognise same-sex marriage. We have had conservative governments for many years. We had military governments, then right-wing governments linked to Catholic and evangelical churches, so the position regarding us they have revived again, said Gia Cruzado, a transgender woman and writer. The decree is a step backwards and is a way to continue closing the doors to progress for our community, Cruzado furthered. Meanwhile, Gahela Cari, a transgender woman who unsuccessfully ran for the countrys congress said that being gay, lesbian, non-binary or bisexual is not a disease, it is a human condition. Meanwhile, in Ecuador, sit-ins were staged outside the Peruvian consulate in Quito. Many also waved flags and signs that declared that being trans is not a disease. With inputs from agencies. The company has been locked in a legal battle with Pfizer-BioNTech over their COVID shot Comirnaty after suing them in 2022 for allegedly copying its mRNA technology. read more Moderna said on Friday the European Patent Office had upheld the validity of one of the companys key patents, a win in an ongoing COVID-19 vaccine dispute with Pfizer and BioNTech. Pfizer and BioNTech have countersued, alleging that Modernas patent is invalid, after the companies rival vaccines generated billions in revenues during the pandemic. Pfizer said it was disappointed and would consider all legal options and may appeal the decision. Irrespective of the outcome of this legal matter, we will continue to manufacture and supply the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer said in a statement to Reuters. Advertisement The company has been locked in a legal battle with Pfizer-BioNTech over their COVID shot Comirnaty after suing them in 2022 for allegedly copying its mRNA technology. BioNTech said the patent offices decision to maintain Modernas European patent does not change our unwavering and unequivocal stance that this patent is invalid. The oral decision was handed down on Thursday, the Financial Times, which was the first to report on the matter, said. The report added a written decision is expected to be published in the coming months. Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna are also involved in parallel proceedings related to their patents in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England and the U.S. Last month, a Massachusetts federal court put a patent lawsuit on hold, while the U.S. Patent Office determines whether two of the three Moderna patents at issue are valid. U.S.-listed shares of BioNTech were down 1.2%, while Pfizers stock dipped 1%. Pete Shaw, center foreground, runs in bull horns with a Bovine Beer six-pack theme at the 1997 Bay to Breakers. Shaw will run his 50th consecutive race in 2024. Courtesy of Pete Shaw Pete Shaw was a new San Francisco resident in 1974, working on the fifth floor of 180 New Montgomery St. at Howard, when a river of humanity began flowing by on the street below. It was a relative trickle back then, but the offbeat Bay to Breakers vibes were already strong. Pete Shaw trains near his Arizona home on May 10, for the Bay to Breakers race. He has been running the race without a year off since 1975. Sonya Lynn Shaw Pete Shaw poses next to a giant kangaroo, part of a Kangaroo beer float at the 1985 Bay to Breakers. Shaw will run his 50th consecutive race this month. Courtesy of Pete Shaw Pete Shaw and friends get ready to run their 25th Bay to Breakers in 2000, with headpieces from earlier costumes on top of their float. Shaw will run his 50th consecutive Bay to Breakers in 2024. Courtesy of Pete Shaw I looked out the window and thought, What are these guys doing, and where did they come from? Shaw said. It just looked like so much fun. Advertisement Article continues below this ad So Shaw ran the next year and has run it every year since, through rain, pain, four knee surgeries, a full knee replacement and a pandemic, including in 2020, when the official race was canceled and just eight people showed up on the course. (He says he finished third.) This Sundays Bay to Breakers race will be his 50th straight. I love that every year its different, Shaw said. You might end up standing next to a naked guy. You make new friends. You go into your corral, and people are throwing tortillas everywhere. Every year is a new memory. Now 77, the former Bay Area resident (Shaw moved to Arizona in 2006) has made the most of the past half-century, running with groups most of that time, the members often dressed as a six-pack of beer. Hes seen the 12-kilometer race, which starts near San Franciscos Embarcadero and ends at Ocean Beach, go through at least nine different sponsors and the womens winning time drop a full 10 minutes. Pete Shaw relaxes in Golden Gate Park after running the 1987 Bay to Breakers as part of a Muppet-themed float. Shaw will run his 50th consecutive race in 2024. Courtesy of Pete Shaw When Shaw signed up for his first Bay to Breakers, Joe Alioto was still mayor, the band Journey hadnt yet released its first album, and his race number was 4,007. (The highest number I saw that year was maybe 5,300.) He watched as the jogging craze in the 1980s fueled the race to more than 110,000 participants. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But he measures his race history by his costumes, which he started wearing in 1980, after his friend Ron Matson lost his bearings in the packed early race crowd and slammed into a parking meter. While drinking Carlsberg beer at Tommys Joynt after the race, the group came up with a solution. We thought, Well, its getting crowded, Shaw said. Why dont we make some room for ourselves and run as a six-pack? We can get some music on board. More Information Total SF: Want more positive community stories, more fun events and more guides to explore San Francisco? Sign up for the free Total SF newsletter! Were finding the Bay Area things we love the most and sharing them with you every Thursday at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsfnewsletter They ran as Carlsberg Elephants the next year, as Moosehead beer a couple years later, then started making their own increasingly elaborate floats. As members children were born, kid-friendly themes were adopted, including Muppet Babies and The Little Mermaid. They made up beer brands, including Whack-a-Mole Beer and Duck Beer, named after Shaws beloved University of Oregon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We had a giant duck on a platform, tall enough (to reach) the Muni wires on Howard Street, Shaw said. The duck actually started to burst into flames on top. The groups high moment was its Scalded Dog Brewing float in 2000, which included heads attached to the float, representing the previous 25 years. Shaws team won a costume contest it didnt even enter; including two free tickets each on Southwest Airlines. After that, the core group started dropping off because of age or other interests. But Shaw has kept going, even through a 2006 knee surgery that occurred on Feb. 15, with race day just three months away on May 21. (Everybody was saying, What are you doing, fool? Shaw said. I made it to the finish.) Worse still was a pickleball accident a few years ago, when he strained a hamstring three weeks before the race. He went to two different physical therapists, doing everything he could to get ready before the race, said his wife, Sonya Lynn Shaw. They told him he couldnt do it, and he said, No, no, no, no. Im going. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pete Shaw, center, ran with a Moosehead Beer theme in the 1983 Bay to Breakers. Shaw will run his 50th consecutive race in 2024. Courtesy of Pete Shaw Shaw has good advice, for both running longevity (I run on trails a lot to save my knees) and for the Bay to Breakers specifically (head north after the race where its less crowded and take the 31-Balboa or 5-Fulton back to the start line). He hopes to run at least 10 more Bay to Breakers before age forces him to call it quits. His only regret about his annual tradition is the time it means away from the family. The race often falls right between (or right on) Mothers Day and Sonyas birthday. He remembers many late nights working on costumes at a shop in Stinson Beach; while it was often a family project, Bay to Breakers took away from moments with his four daughters. But his family and friends will be there on Sunday, some flying to San Francisco from across the country. Shaw, who can run sub 10-minute miles on the course when hes trying, expects the mostly 20 people in his group will walk. And hes looking forward to enjoying every step. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The vibes are good. People you meet all feel like friends, Shaw said. Im not done yet. Kim said that the enemy would be afraid of North Koreas nuclear combat posture after speeding up production of nuclear weapons read more North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has directed accelerated production to rapidly enhance the countrys nuclear capabilities. This directive coincided with his oversight of a test involving tactical ballistic missiles equipped with a new guidance system, state media KCNA said on Saturday. Kim made the production order to cope with the enemies reckless military confrontation and bolster nuclear war deterrence while visiting an arms factory on Friday, KCNA said. Kim said that the enemy would be afraid of North Koreas nuclear combat posture after speeding up production of nuclear weapons, according to reports. Advertisement North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Friday, according to South Koreas military. This launch came a day after the US and South Korea conducted joint air combat drills with stealth fighter jets. In recent months, North Korea has launched various ballistic and cruise missiles as well as tactical rockets, claiming these actions are part of an effort to enhance its defensive capabilities. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently oversaw the testing of 600 mm super-large multiple rocket launchers and 240 mm multiple launch rockets, and he visited production facilities, as reported by state media. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated since the North scrapped a 2018 pact aimed at reducing hostilities near the military border established under the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, subsequently labeling the South as enemy No. 1. Earlier on Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Koreas leader, stated that their tactical weapons are solely intended as a deterrent against South Korean military aggression, while also denying that Pyongyang is exporting weapons. U.S. and South Korean officials have accused North Korea of shipping weapons to Russia to help replenish its stocks for the war against Ukraine, an accusation both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied. Fridays launches came a day after the U.S. and South Korea conducted joint drills with stealth fighter jets simulating air combat. With inputs from agencies. Despite a significant gender gap in subjects such as math, physics, and engineering, female students make up only 23% of A-level physics candidates and 37% in math in the UK. This disparity becomes more pronounced beyond the degree level. Previous research has shown that teachers also tend to have lower expectations for girls in math, which affects their grading read more Research presented at University College London suggested that parents are more likely to overestimate the math abilities of their sons compared to their daughters, suggesting that gender stereotypes at home may impede the progress of female students. According to a report, Dr. Valentina Tonei, an economist at the University of Southampton, discussed these findings in a lecture at the Institute of Education. She stressed on the role of gender stereotypes in shaping childrens academic preferences and performance. Advertisement We know that gender stereotypes can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, Tonei remarked. The notion that girls dont like math is likely a result of years of exposure to these stereotypes. Despite a significant gender gap in subjects such as math, physics, and engineering, female students make up only 23% of A-level physics candidates and 37% in math in the UK. This disparity becomes more pronounced beyond the degree level. Previous research has shown that teachers also tend to have lower expectations for girls in math, which affects their grading. Toneis research involved analysig data from approximately 3,000 children and their parents who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Parents rated their childs abilities in math and reading, which were then compared to the childrens actual performance on Naplan tests, an Australian standardised test, taken at ages eight to nine. The study revealed a slight gender difference in test scores, with girls outperforming boys in reading and boys slightly ahead in math. While parents rated girls reading abilities in line with their test performance, they significantly overestimated boys math skills beyond their actual performance. Interestingly, this bias was not observed in parents who completed the questionnaire after receiving their childs test scores. The bias was also less pronounced among highly educated mothers and those in female-dominated professions. Advertisement Parents need clear and objective information about skills and abilities to support their children in the best way, Tonei said. She highlighted the unconscious nature of many biases and the importance of acting early in life. Providing parents with objective test scores can help alter their perceptions and support more equitable development of childrens skills. The research also suggested that parental bias could influence a childs educational trajectory. Children whose parents overestimated their abilities performed better in subsequent tests, potentially widening the gap between boys and girls in math over time. Because parents overestimate mathematical skills more in boys, it leads to an amplification of the difference in mathematical skills between boys and girls, Tonei explained. Advertisement Prof. Gina Rippon, a neuroscientist at Aston University, noted that these findings align with existing psychological research on gender stereotypes and parenting. Psychology has known for some time that parents expect different things of boys and girls, Rippon said. She found it encouraging that providing objective scores could mitigate these biases. I thought that was quite hopeful, she added. Tokyo is a major provider of overseas development assistance to the Philippines. The Philippine Coast Guard currently operates two 97-meter patrol vessels as part of a fleet deemed insufficient for patrolling the waters of the vast archipelago nation. read more Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. Reuters File Amid growing tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines is all set to purchase five patrol vessels from Japan with the cost of 23.9 billion Philippine pesos. The Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement on its website on May 17 that the deal will be financed through a Japanese loan worth about 23.9 billion Philippine pesos (S$556 million) and was signed by Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya. Advertisement This occasion signifies not only the deepening of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Japan but also underscores our unwavering commitment to enhancing our maritime safety capabilities for the benefit of our nation and the broader maritime community, Manalo said. Tokyo is a major provider of overseas development assistance to the Philippines. The Philippine Coast Guard currently operates two 97-meter patrol vessels as part of a fleet deemed insufficient for patrolling the waters of the vast archipelago nation. Recently, these vessels have been involved in several collisions with Chinese coast guard ships around disputed reefs in the South China Sea, a region Beijing claims almost entirely. Philippine Coast Guard boats have also faced water cannon attacks from the China Coast Guard, with the latest incident occurring on April 30 near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal. This triangular chain of reefs and rocks lies 240 kilometers west of the Philippines main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass. Although Japan invaded and occupied the Philippines during World War II, the two countries have since strengthened ties through trade and investment, and more recently, to counter Chinas assertiveness in the region. As part of efforts to deepen security cooperation, Manila and Tokyo are negotiating a defence pact that would allow the deployment of troops on each others territory. Last month, leaders of Japan and the Philippines, both long-time allies of the United States, attended a trilateral summit in Washington with US President Joe Biden. Advertisement Tensions over the South China Sea, along with concerns over Chinas claims to the self-governing island of Taiwan, have prompted the US to reinforce alliances in the region. Beijing claims most of the waterway, dismissing rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and ignoring an international ruling that its assertion lacks legal basis. With inputs from agencies. Since Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, relations have become even tenser, with Warsaw ramping up defence spending and accusing Minsk and Moscow of attempts to destabilise Poland. We have decided to invest 10 billion zlotys in our security, and above all in a secure eastern border, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference read more Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addresses the media as he meets with European Council President Charles Michel at the Palace on the Isle in Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw, Poland, April 11, 2024. REUTERS Poland will invest 10 billion zlotys ($2.55 billion) in a programme to secure its eastern border, the prime minister said on Saturday, in a bid to bolster its defences against what it says is a rising threat from Russia and Belarus. Polands border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021, after Minsk, a close Russian ally, opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe - a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis. Advertisement Since Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, relations have become even tenser, with Warsaw ramping up defence spending and accusing Minsk and Moscow of attempts to destabilise Poland. We have decided to invest 10 billion zlotys in our security, and above all in a secure eastern border, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference. We are starting a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications as well as landscaping and environmental decisions that will make this border impossible to pass for a potential enemy. Tusk did not give further details of what kinds of fortifications would be built. The previous government built a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border that was over 180 km long and 5.5 metres high, to protect against illegal migration. It is complemented by a system of cameras and sensors monitoring the frontier. Tusk had announced plans to strengthen the eastern border earlier in May, but without giving details. Tusk also said that he would speak with the European Investment Bank on Monday about financing of 500 million zlotys for the satellite component of the European Sky Shield Initiative. The European Sky Shield Initiative is a common air defence scheme set up by Germany in 2022 to boost European air defence. Tusk has compared it to Israels Iron Dome system. Qatar, which has been mediating between Hamas and Israel, briefly kicked out leaders of Hamas in April over the terrorist groups of talks for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to the report read more Qatar quietly and briefly kicked out leaders of Hamas in April when the talks for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were stalling, according to a report. The reported development happened at a time when Qatar was leading the mediation in the talks being facilitated between Israel and Hamas. Hamas, the terrorist group that triggered the war with Israel with its October 7 attack, has its political headquarters in Qatars capital Doha. Advertisement Following the Qatars expulsion, leaders of Hamas went to Turkey where they were hosted and praised by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the report in The Times of Israel. Turkey has had long ties with Hamas. The terrorist group has had an office in the country since 2011. Qatar expelled Hamas leaders to increase pressure for Gaza truce talks: Report Qatar expelled the leaders of Hamas to ramp-up pressure on the terrorist group to relax its position in the talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, as per ToI. The report said the expulsion order came shortly after Qatari Prime Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on April 17 said that Doha was reviewing its role as a mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks. While the statement was seen at the time as a rebuke of Israel, two officials told ToI that the review also stemmed from Qatars the frustration with Hamas, which it felt was refusing to sufficiently compromise in the talks, reported ToI. Through the several rounds of talks, Israel has maintained that Qatar has not adequately pressure Hamas to make concessions. After the reported expulsion and Qatars announcement of review of its role as a mediator, Egypt launched its initiative to facilitate the talks. The talks were said to gain momentum and the two sides were said to be close to reaching a deal, but the talks faltered and no deal has since been reached. As talks in Egypts capital Cairo reached an impasse, Qatar informed Hamas leaders that they could return to Doha with the hope that this would prevent the talks from falling apart altogether, according to the report. Advertisement Talks failed as Egypt presented different proposals to Israel & Hamas: Report The ToI report said that the reason Gaza ceasefire talks collapsed was that Egypt had presented two proposals to Israel and Hamas. While Egypt discussed a proposal with Israel that was closer to its position of continuing the war after a temporary ceasefire, the proposal discussed with Hamas was closer to the terrorist groups demand that the truce being discussed led to a permanent ceasefire, according to the newspaper. Such an approach by Egypt was not cooperated with other mediators and facilitators, such as Qatar and the United States, as per the paper. Advertisement The report added that Bill Burns, the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was particularly angered with this approach. Burns has been one of the main brokers of Hamas-Israel dialogue. Last week, Russia launched a surprise offensive in Kharkiv province and has since claimed to have captured 12 villages in the province read more Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the goal of the war is Russia's defeat. (Photo: Reuters) In a rare admission of the challenges that Ukraine faces in the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the country is facing issues with soldiers numbers and morale. He has also said that Russias ongoing offensive in the Kharkiv province is expected to intensify. Zelenskyys comments as Russia has made its biggest territorial gains in Ukraine in around a year-and-a-half. These gains in the Kharkiv province in Ukraines northeast come after months of steady gains elsewhere in the country. Advertisement For several months, Ukrainian troops have been starved of ammunition as US military aid was stuck in the US Congress. The thinly-spread Ukrainian defenders were also reported to be suffering from low morale as losses mounted and incessant Russian assaults continued while they were forced to ration their ammunition. We need to staff the reservesA large number of (brigades) are empty, said Zelenskyy in an interview with AFP news agency. The agency noted that many Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting for more than two years without the possibility of being discharged. As there is no for the war in sight, the military is facing a double whammy: while it is struggling to find new recruits, the serving soldiers are increasingly getting exhausted and angry at the lack of rotation and the morale is being affected. Russia is going deeper into our territory Zelenskyy said that Russian troops have advanced 5-10 kms (3-6 miles) along the northeastern border in the Kharkiv province. He said that while the Russian advance has been halted for now, the ongoing offensive could only be the first wave of a wider offensive yet to intensify. I wont say its a great success (for Russia) but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory, said Zelenskyy to AFP, adding that the situation in Kharkiv province has been controlled but not stabilised. Last week, Russia launched a surprise offensive in Kharkiv province. So far, Russia has claimed to have captured 12 villages in the province. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated several thousands of residents from the area to safer locations. In its ongoing offensive, Russia has used ground assaults coupled with aerial and artillery bombardment. Advertisement Zelenskyy reiterated his plea to Western allies to send more air defence systems and fighter planes to Ukraine. Through the war, he has flagged the aerial superiority of Russia and the lack of adequate air defences that Ukraine has. He doubled down on pleas to allies to send more air defence and fighter jets to combat Russias air superiority as the war grinds through its third year. Today, we have about 25 percent of what we need to defend Ukraine. Im talking about air defence, said Zelenskyy, adding that Ukraine needs 120 to 130 F-16 fighter planes or other advanced fighter aircraft to achieve air parity with Russia. Advertisement We need to staff the reserves, then morale will be improved Zelenskyy admitted the issues with recruitment and morale of soldiers and said reserve units need to be staffed. Zelenskyy further said, We need to do this so that the guys have a normal rotation. Then their morale will be improved. It is a matter of their physical strength and justice. This requires that reserves be prepared. Considering the shortage of troops, Ukraine passed a new law that lowers the minimum age of mobilisation from 27 to 25. It also streamlines mobilisation procedures. The law comes into effect on Saturday. The law has, however, stoked controversy in the country after it removed a proposal of giving soldiers the possibility of discharge after serving for more than 36 months. Advertisement Zelenskyy also highlighted the difference between the Ukrainian and Western thinking about the war. He told AFP, The West wants the war to end. Period. As soon as possible. And, for them, this is a fair peace. [But for Ukraine] Final victory will lead to Russias defeat. The update on Ficos health was issued as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him made his first court appearance, according to Slovak state media. read more The condition of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is stable but remains serious as the man accused of trying to assassinate him faced his first court appearance. Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said that several miracles have occurred in Banska Bystrica in recent days coming from the hands of doctors, nurses and the personnel at the Roosevelt Hospital. The update on Ficos health was issued as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him made his first court appearance, according to Slovak state media. Prosecutors were seeking an order from Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect. Advertisement Fico, 59, was attacked as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova. The suspect was tackled to the ground and arrested. Fico underwent a two-hour operation on Friday that increased hopes for his recovery. The attack sent shockwaves throughout Europe and raised concerns over the polarised and febrile political situation in the nation of 5.4 million people. Fico has been a polarizing figure both within Slovakia and internationally. His return to power last year, with a pro-Russia and anti-American stance, has caused concern among fellow European Union and NATO members about Slovakia potentially shifting away from its pro-Western orientation, especially regarding Ukraine. At the onset of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraines strongest allies. However, upon his return to power for the fourth time as prime minister, Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine. Ficos administration has also sought to revamp public broadcasting, a move that critics argue would allow the government to fully control public television and radio. Additionally, his plans to amend the penal code to abolish a special anti-corruption prosecutor have sparked fears among opponents that he is steering Slovakia towards a more autocratic regime. Thousands of demonstrators have consistently rallied in the capital and across the nation of 5.4 million to protest his policies. Last month, Fico expressed on Facebook that he believed escalating tensions in the country could lead to the assassination of politicians, attributing the rising tensions to the media. The business-mogul-turned politician cited the incumbents State of the Union address and claimed that Biden was high as a kite while delivering the speech read more As the race to the White House intensifies, former US President Donald Trump said that his archnemesis Joe Biden should be drug tested ahead of the two crucial presidential debates. Both the presidential candidates for the upcoming 2024 US Elections have already agreed to participate in the highly anticipated debates. The business-mogul-turned politician cited the incumbents State of the Union address and claimed that Biden was high as a kite while delivering the speech. I just want to debate this guy, but you know and Im gonna demand a drug test too, by the way, Trump told a charged-up gathering during a speech at a GOP dinner in St. Paul, Minnesota. Advertisement I am. No, I really am. I dont want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite, he added. Were going to demand a drug test, the former president reiterated. However, he did not clarify whether he would take one himself. Not the first time It is important to note that this is not the first time Trump has demanded Biden to take a drug test before debating him. In 2020, the former reality TV star argued that Bidens debate performances during the Democratic primaries had been uneven, and said he would be strongly demanding a drug test before they face each other. Im willing to take a drug test. I think he should, too." However, neither candidate ended up taking the drug test before their 2020 presidential debate. Trump also made similar claims against his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton. The Biden campaign is yet to respond to Trumps attack. The heated speech During his 90-minute-long speech in Minnesota, Trump delved into familiar topics from criticizing Bidens economic policies to illegal immigration to railing against electric cars that he often mentions during his rallies. He also slammed a CNN journalist who will be moderating one of the debates. Remember that idiot from CNN? Oh, I shouldnt say that Im doing a debate with them, theyll be slightly tougher. I have Fake Tapper," he said referring to CNNs Jake Tapper who will be moderating the debate on June 27. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford. read more Amid a new Russian offensive that some fear could target Ukraines second-largest city, a divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers. The legislation will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also offers incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses and funds toward buying a house or car, though some analysts believe Ukraine cannot afford these measures. Lawmakers delayed the passage of the law for months, finally approving it in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the draft age from 27 to 25. These actions highlight the immense strain that more than two years of war with Russia has placed on Ukraines forces, which are struggling to maintain front lines amid depleting ranks and diminishing stores of weapons and ammunition. Advertisement Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signed two other laws on Friday, permitting prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. Russia had enlisted prisoners early in the war, and Ukraines personnel shortages have now driven it to adopt similar measures. Russian troops, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in northeastern Ukraines Kharkiv region and put further pressure on Kyivs overstretched military. After weeks of probing, Moscow launched the new push knowing that Ukraine suffered personnel shortages, and that its forces have been spread thin in the northeast. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that the Russian push aims to create a buffer zone rather than capturing Kharkiv, the local capital and Ukraines second-largest city. For several months, Ukrainian troops have been starved of ammunition as US military aid was stuck in the US Congress. The thinly-spread Ukrainian defenders were also reported to be suffering from low morale as losses mounted and incessant Russian assaults continued while they were forced to ration their ammunition. Last week, Russia launched a surprise offensive in Kharkiv province. So far, Russia has claimed to have captured 12 villages in the province. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated several thousands of residents from the area to safer locations. In its ongoing offensive, Russia has used ground assaults coupled with aerial and artillery bombardment. With inputs from agencies. Japan has been making a southwest shift of its defence posture, and is further accelerating its military build-up under a 2022 security strategy that focuses on counterstrike capability with long-range cruise missiles read more The US ambassador to Japan stressed on Friday the importance of increased deterrence and his countrys commitment to its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyos tension with Beijing. Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japans westernmost island just east of Taiwan. He later visited another Japanese island, Ishigaki, home to Japan coastguard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea islands and Japanese fishermen from armed Chinese coastguard ships that routinely enter Japanese waters. Advertisement Japan has been making a southwest shift of its defence posture, and is further accelerating its military build-up under a 2022 security strategy that focuses on counterstrike capability with long-range cruise missiles. Emanuel was the first US ambassador to visit Yonaguni. Escorted by Mayor Kenichi Itokazu, he looked towards Taiwan, only 110km (68 miles) away. He met with Japanese Self Defence Force servicemembers at a local base installed in 2016 and where a missile defence system is planned. The ambassador said the main purpose of his visit was to show US support for the local fishing community. He also met with a local fisherman who was among those affected by Chinas increasingly assertive actions in the regional seas. China fired five missiles into Japans exclusive economic zone in 2022 after the visit to Taiwan of then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Emanuel said the fisherman told him he could not sell his fish for about a week after the Chinese action. If they dont have deterrence, thats going to be worse, Emanuel said in Ishigaki, the second island he visited on Friday. If you have a very robust deterrence, it ensures that there is peace, ensures that there is security, ensures economic prosperity. Without that, its more likely to be a green light to those that want to use economic coercion and confrontation as their only means of expression. Advertisement Emanuel said Yonaguni fishers still catch fish for a living, supporting the local economy and helping reinforce Japanese territorial rights. Thats what a real win looks like economic security, he said on social media platform X. In Ishigaki, Japans coastguard protects fishing boats in the disputed waters around the Diaoyu Islands, which Tokyo administers and calls the Senkakus. Beijing also claims the islands, where its coastguard ships often face off with their Japanese counterparts. Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi welcomed the ambassadors trip to the islands, saying it was meaningful for the ambassador to improve his understanding of Tokyos efforts in reinforcing its security in the southwestern region, where additional military units and missile defence systems are being deployed. Advertisement While local officials back the reinforcement of Japanese troops on the islands, local residents staged a small protest amid concerns they may be the first to be affected in a possible US-China conflict. Okinawas Governor Denny Tamaki supports the Japan-US security alliance but has called for a reduction in the number of American troops housed on the island. About half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are based in Okinawa. Tamaki also criticised the use of Yonagunis commercial airport by a US military aircraft used by the ambassador. It was reported that the US embassy in Jerusalem helped in facilitating the safe passage for the doctors read more Dr. Ammar Ghanem, an ICU specialist from Detroit volunteering with the Syrian American Medical Society at one of Gazas last functioning hospitals, second from right, poses on May 7, 2024, in Khan Younis, Gaza, with a Palestinian doctor and two other American doctors volunteering at the European General Hospital where they have been since early May. Source: File Image/ AP Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the United States evacuated 17 out of 20 American doctors who were stuck in Gaza. According to NBC News, the 17 humanitarian volunteers were received by the US officials at Kerem Shalom Crossing at the Israel border. It was reported that the US embassy in Jerusalem helped in facilitating the safe passage for the doctors. Some of the US citizen doctors who had been stuck in Gaza have now safely departed and made their way to safety with assistance from the US embassy in Jerusalem, a State Department spokesperson told the American news outlet. Advertisement We have been in close contact with the groups that these US doctors are part of, and we have been in contact with the families of these US citizens, he said. The sources also revealed that Dr Adam Hamawy who was credited for saving Senator Tammy Duckworth was among the three American doctors who chose to stay behind. The evacuation of the doctors came after they all were trapped in Gaza due to Israels closure of border crossings ahead of an expected full-scale Israeli invasion of the city of Rafah. Three stayed behind despite the risks According to the sources, the three doctors who opted to stay in Gaza were aware that the US embassy may not be able to facilitate their departure in the same manner as was done Friday. The source described the evacuation as an extremely unique operation. At least 14 from a team of 35 American and international volunteer physicians agreed to stay behind despite dire circumstances. While the Rafah crossing was touted as the main gateway for goods and people entering Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put the onus on Egypt to reopen the crossing. Egypt on the other hand has accused Israel of denying responsibility for a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and emphasised that truck drivers and aid workers do not feel safe crossing through an Israeli checkpoint. The doctors arrived at the conflict-stricken coastal enclave to help patients admitted to one of the Strips few hospitals still functioning. I did not expect that (it) will be that bad, said Dr. Ammar Ghanem, an ICU specialist from Detroit with the Syrian American Medical Society. You hear the news, but you cannot really recognize how bad until you come and see it. Advertisement The team were eventually trapped at the scheduled end of their two-week mission when Israel commenced its operation in Rafah. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said that the UN volunteers are in talks with Israel to resume the flow of humanitarian aid and workers in and out of Gaza. It is pertinent to note that nearly two dozen hospitals in Gaza are no longer operating and the remaining dozen are only working partially. The indirect talks between the United States and Iran, who do not have direct diplomatic relations, took place after Iran and Israel engaged in unprecedented exchange of fire last month, as per the report read more The United States and Iran held indirect talks in Oman this month to avoid escalation in the Middle East, according to a report. The US and Iran do not have diplomatic relations and do not engage with each-other directly. The relations were severed after Iran declared the US as its principal enemy following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and dubbed it as the Great Satan. The reported US-Iran talks took place a month after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that pushed the Middle East to the brink of war. The measured Israeli response and subsequent Iranian inaction brought the tensions down. Before last month, Iran had never struck Israel, its other principal enemy along with that of the United States. Advertisement Top Biden administration officials involved in talks: Report Two top officials of the Joe Biden administration of the US, Brett McGurk and Abram Paley were engaged in the indirect talks with Iran mediated by Oman, according to Axios. McGurk is the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Paley is the Deputy Special Envoy for Iran. The talks were intended to avoid escalating attacking in the Middle East and working towards stability in the region, as per the report. The reported talks would be the first time the US and Iran would have engaged in January when similar talks were held in Oman. Those talks took place amid rising attacks by Yemen-based Houthis in the Red Sea which disrupted the world maritime trade. Houthis are among the anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups, along with the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas, that Iran sponsors in the region. The talks involving McGurk and Paley were held on Tuesday, as per the report. We have ways to communicate with Iran when needed While the US Department of State did not comment on the reported talks in Oman, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the Biden administration has ways to communicate with Iran when needed, according to Axios. Patel further said that the Biden administrations current assessment is that Iran is not currently working to make a nuclear weapon. Patel said, The Biden administration continues to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device. Advertisement Patel further said that the US assessment does not say that the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge Iran suspended or stopped at the end of 2003. Last year, the top US military general had said that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon within months of making a decision to do so. From the time of a national decision, Iran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in approximately 10-15 days and it would only take several months to produce an actual nuclear weapon. The United States remains committed, as a matter of policy, that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon. The United States military has developed multiple options for our national leadership to consider, if or when Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon, said General Mark Milley in March 2023, who was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time. Advertisement An Iranian nuclear weapon is seen as Israel as an existential threat. It is also feared that an Iranian nuclear weapon may ignite a nuclear arms race in the region as Saudi Arabia will also then seek a weapon. Even though India has not expressed concerns publicly about the ever-growing bonhomie between China and Russia, the coming together of a historic partner and the greatest adversary is a cause of concern for New Delhi read more India has to carefully navigate the relationship with Russia as Beijing and Moscow get closer by the day. (Photo: Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping came together in Beijing this month to herald a new era of the China-Russia relationship. The bilateral relationship, which the two leaders have dubbed as one with no limits, has been on an upward trajectory for years. While the bonhomie has been most visible since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, the two countries have been cosying up for at least a decade. The China-Russia relationship has ramifications for India. While Russia is an old friend from the Cold War era when India had few partners in the West, China is Indias principal rival with whom it has fought a full-fledged war and is engaged in a military stand-off in Ladakh which is now in its fifth year. The Chinese aggression at the border has driven the relationship to its worst since 1962. Advertisement Even if New Delhi would not say it publicly, the coming together of Russia and China is a headache for India, says Swasti Rao of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). In simple terms, India is currently seeing its one-time best friend Russia becoming best friends with its longtime rival China. Russia had been Indias principal partner since the Cold War days, but, for the past many years, it has moved closer to China. Today, China has become so integral to the Russian economy and geopolitics that the relationship is indispensable for them, says Rao, an Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center of MP-IDSA. How important is China to Russia? The boom in the China-Russia relationship started picking up pace after the invasion and annexation of Ukraines Crimea in 2014. Since 2022, the two countries have taken their convergence to whole new levels. While China has provided dual-use technology used in ammunition and arms manufacturing to Russia, it has got cheap oil and gas from Russia. As Western sanctions closed several markets for both imports and exports, China filled that space by providing everything from machine components to cars and semiconductors to Russia. China has become invested in Russias victory in Ukraine. The two countries are more aligned than ever. China sees itself as the challenger to what it calls US hegemony. It wants to subvert the US-led world order in its favour and Russia is a natural partner. For Russia, China is now indispensable after Europe and much of the West are off-the-cards, says Rao. Advertisement Since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and more so since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russias approach to international relations has undergone a fundamental shift. Before 2014, Russia was much more committed to genuine multipolarity. It was engaging the European Union (EU) in the West and was working proactively with Japan and South Korea in Asia. In the podcast Global India of the Brookings Institution, Russia expert Nivedita Kapoor said, In the Russian Far East, in the Arctic, it was Japan and South Korea that were the preferred partners for Russia and there was sort of an unwritten rule that is often talked about: that Chinese companies should have a minimum role in energy projects in the Arctic. Advertisement Kapoor also mentioned that, before 2014, Russia was shaping non-Western international groupings like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) such that they dont become China-dominated. This is why Russia facilitated the entry of India into SCO to counterbalance China. But this changed after 2014. She said there are very specific ways in which the China-Russia relationship shifted after 2014. So, for instance, Russia decides to sell Sukhoi 35 fighter planes and the S-400 missile defence system. Before this, China never got the latest weapons systems from Russia. So, that happened. The cooperation in energy sector started intensifying. Because if you look at the Arctic oil and gas projects, for the first time, China gets a stake in Arctic LNG 2. Its Silk Road Fund invests in Arctic LNG. So, we see that earlier the areas that were not the main areas of cooperation or where Russia was trying to preserve its independence, even those areas, we see that China now gets a preferential treatment, said Kapoor, a Research Fellow at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at Russias HSE University. Advertisement The situation is now such that the two countries are in a co-dependent relationship where one cannot do without the other, says Anushka Saxena, a China researcher at the Takashashila Institution. Saxena tells Firstpost, Both China and Russia share similar political interests of mutual suspicion of the West and a co-dependent economic and military relationship where each matters to the other as a market for arms or as a trade partner for oil, gas, and other consumer goods. Since 2022, Rao of MP-IDSA tells Firstpost, Russia has fundamentally changed. She says that the Russian economy is now a war-based economy. Russian economy has continued to grow despite Western sanctions and expectations that it would tank, but it is not a natural growth. It is a war-fuelled growth. More and more factories are manufacturing arms and ammunition. Drones are being purchased. Even the society has been militarised as military and private militia recruitment has picked up and is changing the Russian society. The Russia of today is not the one that was there 10-20 years ago. India will have to carefully navigate the relationship in the shadow of China, says Rao. Advertisement What does China-Russia bonhomie mean for India? Both India and Russia seek a multipolar world where the post-World War II hegemony of the United States is not the only deciding factor. But while Indias multipolar world order is non-West, the one that Russia seeks with China is anti-West. Thats the first and foremost divergence of India and Russia. With SCO and BRICS, India seeks to give more space and voice to the Global South at the world stage. As a leader of the Global South, India seeks to be the bridge between the developed and the developing worlds and help fasten the progress of the developing countries. It is visible in Indias partnership with the developed countries of the United States, Australia, and Japan under the Quad framework to assist the developing countries of the Indo-Pacific region with vaccines and other therapeutics during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, China and Russia seek partnerships with the Global South to create an anti-Western bloc and undermine the West. Moreover, the two countries are clearly propping an anti-US bloc. The emergence of a strong partnership between China and Russia, and like-minded partners such as Iran, founded on an anti-West sentiment, has obvious negative implications for India. For starters, the willingness of the three countries to shape norms in the Global South and the Indo-Pacific, or in institutions such as the BRICS and the SCO, gnaws away at Indias strategic space. This is especially because the norms they promote are deeply anti-Western, but also go against values that India holds dear territorial integrity and sovereignty, democratisation, and greater representation, says Saxena, a China Studies Research Analyst with the Takshashila Institutions Indo-Pacific Studies Programme. Saxena adds that from Ukraine to Gaza, the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea bloc is finding more and more common grounds with the common goal of undermining the West particularly the United States. The differences between India and the bloc are fundamental in nature. India stands for multi-alignment, strategic autonomy, and constructive mini-lateralism, especially through groupings like the Quad. There is hence a fundamental difference and non-alignment between how India and this axis approaches values, norms, and institutions," says Saxena. There are already signs that the India-Russia relationship is not what it once was. Even though Russia was reported to have offered mediation between India and China in the initial days of the Eastern Ladakh crisis, India had opted to tread on its own. Moreover, as India faced China with near-wartime level mobilisation, the emergency supplies of winter clothing, advanced gear and weapons did not come from the traditional partner Russia. They came from the West. The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), one of the foundational pacts that the US has with key partners, was activated and supplies were sought. What should India do as Russia-China bonhomie increases? Quietly, India has been working to address the issue of China-Russia bonhomie. Much of the India-Russia relationship was always about military and security affairs. Russia (and the Soviet Union before it) was the traditional provider of military gear to India and a supporter of India at international forums like the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The centrality of Russia on both of these counts has diminished lately. During 2009-13, Russia accounted for 76% of Indians military imports, which reduced to 58% during 2014-18, and further fell to 36% in 2019-23, according to Trends In International Arms Trade 2023 report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The report says India has replaced Russia with Western partners and the shift is further reflected in new orders being placed. As for international forums like the UN, India has support from partners like the US and France. India also has the Quad initiative and holds military exercises like the Malabar to flex muscles in the Indo-Pacific region. Diversifying its imports and relationships is the only way forward and India has been doing for years very ably, says Rao of MP-IDSA. Rao tells Firstpost, India will never speak about it publicly just like Russia will never speak against India publicly, but we all know the different trajectories that the two countries are now on. The current moment is not without precedent. The changing nature of the China-Russia relationship has affected India at two very crucial moments before, noted Tanvi Madan, a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Programme at the Brookings Institution, on the Global India podcast. Referring to the India-China War of 1962, Madan said, At that time, Sino-Soviet relations were still close and, when push came to shove, Moscow chose to side with its ally China over its friend India. It provided Beijing diplomatic support as well as intelligence during the war and it encouraged India to accept Chinese terms. Furthermore, it stalled the supply of MiG fighter jets to India. In the 1971 India-Pakistan War, however, Madan highlighted that the Soviet Union supported India as Moscow and Beijing were at loggerheads because of the Sino-Soviet split and the US-China outreach at the time. To be fair, Russia has not made any antagonistic steps so far, but India still faces tough choices ahead. On the one hand, India must make concerted efforts to shape an inclusive global order to suit its interests-based partnerships amidst hindrances created by Russia, Iran, and China. On the other hand, India must preserve and manage its relations with the three actors, which have significant bearing on its economic and military standing, says Saxena of the Takshashila Institution. The war of words began after Democrats asked Greene if she knew what were here for. During the House Oversight Committee hearing, Greene slammed Crockett for wearing fake eyelashes read more A major row ensued between two US congresswomen over each others appearance. The brawl of words broke out between controversial Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and rival Democrat Jasmine Crockett. During the stormy session, Greene accused Crockett of not reading something correctly and insisted that it was her fake eyelashes that were blocking her vision. The war of words began after Democrats asked Greene if she knew what were here for. During the House Oversight Committee hearing, Greene slammed Crockett for wearing fake eyelashes. The video of the intense exchange stirred a major debate on social media. Advertisement I dont think you know what youre here for. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading, the far-right Republican leader exclaimed. The provocative remark promoted backlash from Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who asked the comments to be stricken down from the record. Catfight in Congress MTG calls out rep Crocketts fake eyelashes. AOC adds fuel to the fire Crockett fires back calling MTG a bleach blonde butch body. Tax dollars at work. #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/NbBhFZalMp Jake (@JakeCan72) May 18, 2024 That is absolutely unacceptable. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person? AOC asked. Are your feelings hurt? Aw, Greene replied sarcastically. Bleach blonde, bad-built butch body The argument escalated after Greene said that her opponents did not have enough intelligence to debate her. Moments later, Crockett asked the committee members if they would allow them to start talking about somebodys bleach blonde, bad-built butch body, referring to Greenes appearance. The comment prompted a further uproar and a visibly confused committee chairman James Comer replied: A what now? This eventually led to both sides shouting over each other. The chaos ensued while the committee was hearing a resolution to recommend that US Attorney General Merrick Garland be held in contempt of Congress. Advertisement House Speaker pushes for decorum Meanwhile, US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson condemned the fiery exchange and insisted members needed to show decorum. Its not a good look for Congress, Johnson told reporters on Friday. The Republican speaker went on to chide both parties and emphasised that while vigorous debate was welcomed, we have to treat one another with dignity and respect. Decorum is an important principle to maintain, he said. And we need people on both sides of the aisle to just, I think, just take the emotion out of it. We can have a vigorous debate. Thats what this institution is built upon. But you know, we have to treat one another with dignity and respect, Johnson added. May 18, 2024: In Russia, the wives, mothers, sisters, and girlfriends of Russian soldiers in Ukraine or on their way there are angry. While men protesting the war often get arrested and prosecuted, the women use more subtle methods. The women have found a novel way to protest. The women stand on or outside their homes or open a window and say nothing but bang pots and pans together on Saturdays at an appointed time in their area and make noise for a few minutes before going silent. Russia monitors its internet and can identify protesters there. But women banging pots and pans to make noise to protest the war are another matter. The women arrange these, noise against the war, sessions by word of mouth or via encrypted email services like WhatsApp and Telegram. The anti-war noise protests are spreading and more Russian towns and city neighborhoods hear the noise on Saturday afternoons. Russian women also organize groups to protest the war in person. They do this in ways that dont encourage the police to arrest them. The police dont want to arrest women anti-war protesters but will if ordered. Some women have been for arrested for actually, or allegedly (probably both), firebombing military mobilization centers. Other women volunteer, generally in Moscow or other large cities, to help refugees from the Ukraine War or attempt to meet with political officials about the war. Other women put anti-war posters or place flowers at war memorial sites with notes attached describing the flowers as a protest and an effort to prevent their men getting killed in Ukraine. The government has also retaliated by threatening to send military age men related to protesters to combat zones in Ukraine. Currently the government is saying nothing about the women protesters and is just hoping it will all go away. It isnt and the protests increase in size and frequency. The protesters often have to plan for some of them to look after the children of protesters who want to leave more for a protest. The protesters do the same for women who have a husband, brother, or son return from the war wounded and in need of constant care. Most of the soldiers appreciate the assistance and are not in favor of a war that involves Russian soldiers ordered to invade a neighboring country and risk getting killed or wounded there. A growing number of Russian military age men have deserted the military or fled the country to avoid being mobilized. Because of this Russia cannot find enough Russian men for the military and are turning to hiring men from other countries with promises of high pay and short service contracts. Eventually reports came back that these men did not receive the high pay promised and had their short service contracts extended by the government. The women protesters warn Russia military age men about these scams while the government tries to suppress any news about these unethical activities. The anti-war protests have included women of all ages that have no men in their lives liable for military service. The impact of the war on Russia ultimately hurts all women and women organize to oppose the war any way they can, even if it means the possibility of being arrested or otherwise punched by the government. F450 Registration In California Trust me, I hate to even bring this up. I have read dozens of posts about this over the years, on this forum and others. One thing I have determined is that even owners who are convinced they fully understand the CA regulations, likely don't. The odds of running across a DMV agent that understands the regulations are slim and none. Here is my story. I bought my pre-owned 2022 F450 on March 8th. It had 15K commercial weight stickers on the doors and no license plates.I told my salesman that this truck would not be used for hire and should be registered as such. He assured me it would be taken care of. I did not believe him, but hoped. After weeks of not receiving plates or registration I reached back out to the dealer. Turns out they failed to smog the truck so DMV was holding up registration. I got it smogged (the dealer reimbursed me) and a few weeks later I received my registration and year/month stickers but no plates. Reached out again to the dealer and was told that they would re-order my plates. Two days ago, the plates showed up along with new registration. Turns out the plate number on the first registration doesn't even match the plates that I just received. Fortunately, the registration that came with the plates aligns. Unfortunately, there were also new 15K weight stickers in the envelope. I was shocked to see that the registration fee was $1956! I expected it to be over $1000, but not nearly $2000! I suspect this is due to additional fees associated with commercial registration.I know that most 14,000 lb. GVWR trucks in CA that are intended for personal use get plates and registration minus the weight stickers. Some get weight stickers and have no idea why. It has something to do with how the original request for registration is filled out. It's probably a box that's checked or a weight that's input. I'm not clear on that. Here is an image of the registration card:Has anyone purchased a similar truck recently in CA? If so, what were your fees? Should I go down to the DMV personally and try to get this sorted out? I suspect that will be like beating my head against the wall. It also runs the risk of opening up a new can of worms from a licensing perspective. The GVWR of my trailer is 17,695 lb. and I'm almost certainly operating at over 26K combined. The final piece of the puzzles is this; I retire in 4 1/2 months and will be escaping California in 2025, so I will be renewing this registration only one more time, at most. We apologize. A page no longer exists or an error has occured on our server. Return to Our Home Page Sentinel file photo Politicians and government employees from various departments gather at the Grand Junction Air Center for a tour in this 2021 file photo. The air center provides tactical aircraft resources locally and regionally, and is the only facility that can support large air tanker coverage for wildfires in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. A lease extension approval will allow the GJ Air Center to construct a $9 million facility to replace old infrastructure. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: Council bans broadcasting activities in the European Union of four more Russia-associated media outlets European Council / Council of the European Union Council of the EU Press release 17 May 2024 14:10 The Council today decided to suspend the broadcasting activities in the European Union of four additional media outlets, which spread and support the Russian propaganda and war of aggression against Ukraine: Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta. These media outlets are under the permanent direct or indirect control of the leadership of the Russian Federation, and have been essential and instrumental in bringing forward and supporting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and for the destabilisation of its neighbouring countries. In line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the measures agreed today will not prevent the targeted media outlets and their staff from carrying out activities in the EU other than broadcasting, e.g. research and interviews. The Russian Federation has engaged in a systematic, international campaign of media and information manipulation, interference and grave distortion of facts in order to justify and support its full-scale aggression against Ukraine, and to enhance its strategy of destabilisation of its neighbouring countries, and of the EU and its member states. In particular, the propaganda, information manipulation and interference activities have repeatedly and consistently targeted the Ukrainian state and its authorities, Ukrainian citizens, as well as the European political parties, especially during election periods, as well as targeting civil society, asylum seekers, Russian ethnic minorities, gender minorities, and the functioning of democratic institutions in the EU and its member states. In its conclusions of 21 and 22 March 2024, the European Council reaffirmed the EU's steadfast support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and its legitimate right of self-defence against the Russian aggression. It also called for further steps to weaken Russia's ability to continue waging its war of aggression, including by strengthening sanctions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netherlands to bring F-35 fighters to Amari from December Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence 14. May 2024 Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur met yesterday in Tallinn with Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren, who announced that after the renovation of the Amari runway, the Netherlands will deploy fifth generation F-35 stealth fighters to Estonia within NATO enhanced Air Policing. "The Netherlands is the first country to take over Air Policing again at the renovated Amari Air Base. It is noteworthy that this will be done with state-of-the-art stealth fighters," said Minister of Defence Pevkur after the meeting. During the meeting the ministers also discussed aid to Ukraine. "Like Estonia, the Netherlands has provided substantial military assistance to Ukraine, clearly demonstrating that we share similar values and a common understanding of the need to strengthen defence. I am also pleased that the Netherlands is contributing to the IT Coalition led by us and Luxembourg, through which we support Ukraine in developing its ICT capabilities," commented Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur. Estonia and the Netherlands are the only two countries that are members of all the major defence cooperation formats in the region. Estonia has acquired a significant amount of technical equipment from the Netherlands, including armoured cars, ATVs and medical vehicles. Regionally, the Netherlands contributes to security within the framework of the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania. So far, the Netherlands has contributed to Baltic air security on four occasions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bundeswehr to continue to ensure security in Bosnia and Herzegovina Germany - Federal Government The Bundeswehr are to continue to participate in EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Federal Cabinet has extended the mandate to the end of June 2025. The Bundestag still has to agree to the resolution. Wednesday, 15 May 2024 The Federal Armed Forces previously deployed liaison and observation teams during Germany's previous involvement from 2004 to 2012. The Bundeswehr will continue to participate in EUFOR (European Union Force) ALTHEA under the leadership of the EU. In this way, the Federal Government is seeking to underline its ongoing commitment to security and stability in the Western Balkans. It will also continue to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in introducing the reforms required to obtain EU membership. Membership negotiations underway Since 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made progress towards its goal of joining the EU, so the European Council decided to initiate membership negotiations with the country on 21 March 2024. Key reforms are still pending that are to involve all stakeholders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including equal treatment of all citizens and changes to electoral legislation. Still susceptible to conflict However, the country's political institutions are being weakened by the secessionist policies and rhetoric of the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and Bosnia and Herzegovina remains at risk of domestic conflict. Its current situation also means the country is susceptible to influence from foreign powers. Through the presence of EUFOR ALTHEA, the EU is seeking to work together with the international community to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this reason, the Federal Government will be extending the deployment of German armed forces in EUFOR ALTHEA. The Federal Cabinet has now passed a resolution to this effect, with troops now to be deployed until the end of June 2025. As has been the case to date, up to 50 soldiers may be deployed. Creating a safe environment The role of the Bundeswehr remains the same, namely to create and maintain a secure environment. In addition, German service personnel are assisting with the training of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian armed forces, as well as performing advisory and monitoring tasks. By means of observation patrols and liaison with local stakeholders and state institutions, they are contributing to creating a sense of security among the population. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deputy Secretary General visits Germany ahead of NATO Summit NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 16 May. 2024 NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana underlined the importance of boosting Allies' resilience against sabotage and cyber-attacks during a speech at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin on Thursday (16 May 2024). "We need to be more resilient and better prepared to counter and contest hostile actions or attacks", he said. While NATO was stronger than ever, the current times were "nothing short of a systemic earthquake", the Deputy Secretary General stressed. But NATO also had more partners around the world, including countries, organisations, and companies. "And we are deepening our cooperation with many of them." He explained the importance of boosting resilience and investing in innovation. "A new security landscape in Europe is in the making. What we do, and do not do, will define the decades to come." Mr Geoana praised Germany as an Ally: "Your leadership makes NATO stronger", he said. "And a strong NATO is what we need in these more dangerous times." The Deputy Secretary General also thanked the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for its support in promoting democratic values. During his visit the Deputy Secretary General also met parliamentarians in the German Bundestag to plan for the NATO Summit in July. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sierra Leone to Partner with Michigan National Guard, Liberia By Capt. Andrew Layton, Michigan National Guard May 17, 2024 LANSING, Mich. -- The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) is joining the State Partnership Program as an additional member of the existing partnership between the Michigan National Guard and the Armed Forces of Liberia. Michigan and Liberia have been partners under the SPP since 2009. "This expansion is good news for each of our organizations," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Rogers, Michigan National Guard adjutant general. "Welcoming Sierra Leone to our partnership in West Africa will provide new opportunities to address security challenges through a trilateral approach. Michigan sees this as a new chapter in the history of one incredibly meaningful regional partnership." The SPP began in 1993 with 13 partners and has grown to include more than 100 nations. The Department of Defense National Guard Bureau program facilitates civil-military collaboration, broadening the pool of security partners supporting defense and security cooperation objectives worldwide. "This partnership will strengthen defense, security cooperation and will address lingering security challenges in the West African sub-region and the Gulf of Guinea," said Lt. Gen. Peter Lavahun, RSLAF chief of defense staff. "The RSLAF stands ready to embrace this partnership and anticipate opportunities to work closely with the Michigan National Guard in pursuit of our shared objectives and values." Over the past 15 years, Michigan and Liberia have partnered on various issues, including the rule of law familiarization, noncommissioned officer professional development, medical readiness, and disease control. Michigan played a role in rebuilding the Armed Forces of Liberia following Liberia's civil war era through the U.S. Africa Command-sponsored Operation Onward Liberty. "The State Partnership Program has been a big success for Liberia, and we look forward to continuing the benefits of our cooperation with Michigan alongside our counterparts in Sierra Leone," said Brig. Gen. Davidson Forleh, AFL chief of staff. "We must work together to achieve and maintain peace, security and prosperity in the region." The Michigan National Guard has also partnered with the Republic of Latvia since 1993. "Michigan has a long track record of success with the State Partnership Program dating back to 1993 when Michigan and Latvia were among the first participants," said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. "Liberia was added as an SPP partner in 2009 and our state-to-state relationship has led to a beneficial exchange of people and ideas. As we welcome Sierra Leone to this new regional partnership, we must reaffirm our commitment to our partners in Liberia and lay the foundation for successful cooperation with our new partners in Sierra Leone. Together, thanks to our skilled military leadership and brave service members, we will get it done." Situated in coastal West Africa, Sierra Leone is Liberia's neighbor to the west. While both countries enjoy vibrant cultural and ethnic distinctions, they share a common use of the English language and some historical similarities. Both countries experienced devastating civil wars during the 1990s and early 2000s. "This announcement further solidifies Sierra Leone's partnership with the U.S. to address mutual security challenges in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea," said U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone Bryan Hunt. "The SPP will provide continuity and support to bolster the professionalization of the RSLAF. Moreover, it will promote the U.S. as Sierra Leone's committed partner for bilateral security cooperation." An official signing ceremony for Sierra Leone's SPP membership is planned for late 2024. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address May 17, 2024 By Jim Garamone, DOD News Eucom Commander: NATO Is Transforming to Defend Every Inch of the Alliance The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the largest war on the European continent since World War II, but NATO is still the answer, said Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Cavoli spoke to the Atlantic Council in Washington today and said the alliance is united and reacting quickly to Russian President Vladimir Putin's war of choice in Ukraine, and the steps NATO leaders are taking today will, indeed, defend every last inch of NATO territory. Russia continues to undermine freedom and democracy throughout Europe and beyond, the general said. Even after the Ukraine war is over, Russia will remain a threat, he said. Russia's "illegal, unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine fundamentally altered our strategic landscape," Cavoli said. "The war in Ukraine has compelled us to reevaluate our long-standing goals, our ideas regarding global security and international relations, and it has consequently forced us to re-examine how the NATO alliance is structured to deter and defend against our adversaries." Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the alliance switched from massive, collective defense operations to crisis management operations, he said. These were characterized by operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Mediterranean. The general said the NATO nations built small, highly expert militaries that didn't expect to face near-peer foes and had little force in reserve. "All that has changed," he said. "The war we see in Ukraine could not be more different. This war is about hard power. And it is about scale. It is huge. Dozens of thousands dead. Hundreds of thousands wounded. Thousands of tanks lost." Where NATO forces operated as brigades in the past, the combat in Ukraine was all about big units divisions, corps, air armies, fleets, he said. The alliance had to revitalize the ability to conduct collective defense, and at the Madrid Summit in 2022, the heads of state directed NATO military leaders to do just that. This basically changes the way NATO forces are postured to "operate functionally and geographically to deny our adversaries any advantage they might seek in geography, readiness or domain," Cavoli said. "This, of course, has required a wholesale modernization of our collective defense system because we had previously been optimized for very different tasks." This was the first large change in alliance strategy since 1986. The NATO military leaders rewrote the war plans quickly. "The development and approval of these plans which involves multiple NATO headquarters, 30 and then 32 nations and their militaries and their national defense plans and their sovereignty with all of these political and military complexities has been the single most impressive, collective military feat I have seen to get these things done." The plans are in place now. These are classic defense plans with geographically specific descriptions of how, where and with what NATO militaries will defend every inch of the alliance, he said. First and foremost, the plans give military leaders force structure requirements. "For the first time in almost four decades, the alliance has objective, militarily sound plans based on the description of the forces that we require," he said. These plans will subsequently guide the NATO nations as they make spending decisions. Second, the new plans give a blueprint for different delegations of authority for operational decision making. "Such things as movement of troops from staging area to operational areas, that sort of thing, that no longer works," Cavoli said. "In order to be able to act and react at the speed of relevance, [the Supreme Allied Command, Europe] requires basic military authorities. These are working their way through the new modernized alert system." These permissions are on the verge of being approved at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Third, the alliance systems of command and control needed to change. These systems were fine for crisis management, but not for large-scale conflict. "We needed headquarters to intimately understand the terrain, know the populations and appreciate the particular adversary across the border," he said. "We're in the process now of designing specific geographic areas and have [been] assigning specific geographic areas to each corps headquarters and to maritime headquarters, and we're matching divisions and brigades to corps, which allows them to exercise and rehearse together." Cavoli said NATO is now also rigorously testing the plans through a revamped exercise program. One example of this is Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024. This is the largest NATO exercise since 1989, with more than 90,000 troops participating. "We will continue to train like this," he said. "We're taking every opportunity to rehearse and refine our plans and to deliver the right amount of deterrence required at any given time in any given place." These changes will take time, concentration and focus across NATO. They will also require nonmilitary adjustment, such as in the defense industrial base, he said. "It will be difficult, but we are well on our way," the general said. "The adaptation and transformation of the alliance in the past few years has been remarkable. I'm confident that we are ready to confront any challenge. Our nations remain committed, and they are united like never before [in] the world. The world may be turning out to be a different place than [we] would hope, but NATO is turning out to be exactly what we need." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by the Spokesperson on the progress in the border delimitation European External Action Service (EEAS) 17.05.2024 EEAS Press Team The EU welcomes progress made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process, based on the 1991 Almaty agreement, and more specifically the protocol signed during the 9th meeting of the border commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday 15 May, leading to an agreement on several sections of the border. The EU encourages the parties to take further decisive steps to tackle other outstanding bilateral issues and remains committed to supporting the efforts aimed at bringing sustainable and lasting peace to the South Caucasus region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Working group completes report on prohibition of foreign real estate transactions Finnish Ministry of Defence 17.05.2024 A working group, appointed by Minister of Defence Antti Hakkanen, has completed its report on additional restrictions on real estate acquisitions in Finland by parties outside the EU and the EEA. The group's assignment was to assess the possibility of imposing a ban on foreign real estate transactions and its effects. The assignment was based on the tense security situation and the potential of foreign-owned real estate of being exploited to prepare hostile action against the Finnish society. Such action can be used against Finnish economy, infrastructure, business opportunities and security of supply or against Finland's autonomy and capacity to provide security for its population. According to the working group's report, no permit to buy real estate should be granted to persons whose country of nationality has been found by the European Union to be in violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of another country or whose country of nationality may be a threat to Finland's national security. This prohibition would also apply to entities who are domiciled in the territory of such a country or who are owned or influenced by citizens or entities of such a country. Further provisions on such countries would be issued by government decree. The prohibition would not apply to persons who hold a permanent residence permit of Finland at the time of the transaction or a long-term resident's EU residence permit granted by Finland. Instead, the current act would apply to such persons. The prohibition would not apply to dual citizens who are citizens of Finland and some other country. Decisions on the project's further measures will be made later. The project is related to the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government, which states that the Government will examine the adequacy of the regulation on the acquisition and possession of real estate by parties outside the EU and the EEA. The Government will examine possibilities to engage in more effective ex post facto intervention and control in respect of assets central to the security of society and security of supply. The report is available in Finnish in the Gateway to Information on Government Projects (PLM005:00/2023). NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Latest indicators reveal China's economic recovery gathering steam Xinhua) 11:22, May 18, 2024 BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy has built recovery momentum in April, with key economic indicators demonstrating strong resilience and potentials to temper the impacts of external shocks, according to official data released on Friday. ACCELERATED INDUSTRIAL GROWTH China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.7 percent year on year in April, accelerating 2.2 percentage points from March, data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. On a monthly basis, industrial output edged up 0.97 percent in April from the previous month, the highest month-on-month growth rate recorded over the recent years, according to NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua, at a press conference. From January to April, industrial output rose 6.3 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher than that from January to March. Boosted by policies aimed to keep the foreign trade stable, the export delivery value of the industrial sector climbed 7.3 percent year on year in April, 5.9 percentage points faster than that of March. The uptick in export delivery value prompted the recovery of sub-sectors that have a large share in exports, such as the electronics and textile sectors, Liu said, attributing it as an important reason for the quickened industrial expansion. The industrial output is used to measure the activity of enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.82 million U.S. dollars). OTHER POSITIVE SIGNS Friday's data also showed that the surveyed urban unemployment rate in China stood at 5 percent in April, down 0.2 percentage points from a month ago. The rate was also lower than the 5.2 percent reading a year ago. Fixed-asset investment rose 4.2 percent year on year to 14.34 trillion yuan during the January-April period. China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, climbed 4.1 percent year on year in the first four months of this year. In April alone, retail sales of consumer goods increased 2.3 percent from a year ago, slower than the 3.1 percent growth in March, data showed. Although some indicators have reported an eased year-on-year growth in April due to factors such as a higher base from the same period last year, China's economy maintained generally stable expansion, sustaining a sound recovery momentum, commented Liu. RESILIENCE TO WITHSTAND EXTERNAL SHOCKS The United States on Tuesday decided to raise additional tariffs on its imports of some Chinese products including electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, critical minerals, semiconductors, steel and aluminum, and cranes, on top of existing tariffs under Section 301. In response to a media query on the additional U.S. tariffs posing possible impacts on the Chinese economy, Liu said that the Chinese economy has showed stronger resilience and potentials, which will help offset the implications from external shocks. Domestic demand has continued to recover, propelled by the country's super-large market, according to Liu, citing the 12.2 percent year-on-year increase of China's imports of goods in April. "The figure is apparently faster than the export growth, mirroring a rising trend of domestic demand." In terms of international circulation, Liu underlined the solid expansion of China's total goods imports and exports, which gained 5.7 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first four months of this year. The country is also a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, adding to the proof that China's foreign trade has strong resilience and competitive edges, Liu added. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) China urges Philippines to stop serving as pawn, following US missile deployment Global Times By Global Times Published: May 17, 2024 10:39 PM China urges the Philippines to abide by the basic norms of international communication, and stop spreading false narratives, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said at a press briefing on Friday. Following the US' deployment of medium-range ballistic missiles, China also urges the Philippines not to serve as a pawn and a tool of hegemony, Zhang said. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeated basic facts on the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has also released relevant information about the communication between the two sides. The facts are clear, the evidence is conclusive, and can't be denied, said Zhang. Based on humanitarian considerations, China has reached a "gentlemen's agreement," or internal understandings with the Philippines on properly managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, which is conducive to managing differences, avoiding conflicts, building mutual trust, and maintaining peace and stability in the relevant waters. However, the Philippines has resorted to all sorts of denials, deceiving the Filipino people and misleading the international community. Where is their credibility, and what are their intentions, Zhang asked. The Chinese military does not wish to make trouble but is not afraid of trouble. If someone wants to pull a banner and form alliances to coerce and pressure China, they are totally wrong, Zhang said in response to the Philippines' contradictory words and actions. China urges the Philippines not to act recklessly and to stop all infringement and provocation, Zhang said. China will continue to take resolute measures to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, he said. In response to the US' deployment of the "Typhon" Mid-Range Capability missile system to Luzon, the Philippines, Zhang said that the move seriously undermined China's strategic security, seriously damaging regional peace and stability. China has repeatedly expressed its firm opposition to this, said the spokesperson. During recent years, the US has continuously withdrawn from arms control agreements, undermining the arms control treaty system and causing a serious impact on global strategic security and stability. Countries that willingly serve as tools of hegemony, deploying highly aggressive strategic offensive weapons for other countries, will only increase their own security risks, Zhang noted. China urges the US to take seriously the regional security concerns and to stop dangerous moves that escalate regional tensions, Zhang said, adding that China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard its own security interests. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah fires scores of missiles at Zionist regime's positions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Over 30 missiles were fired from Lebanon in a recent attack toward Al-Jalil and Golan Heights in northern occupied Palestine, according to media sources. The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen news network reported on Friday that several missiles were fired from Lebanese territory at Zionists' positions in Upper Galilee. Some media sources also reported that missiles were launched from Lebanese territory towards the occupied Meron area, and some of them hit their target. Zionist sources confirmed on their website that at least two individuals were injured in a rocket attack from Lebanon towards the occupied territories. The Lebanese Resistance movement has been conducting regular attacks since early October against the Israeli regime's military position in retaliation for the occupying regime's offensives against Gaza and southern Lebanon. Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Zionist regime has imposed a complete siege on the densely-populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen downs US MQ-9 Reaper drone IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Yemen's Army has successfully downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in Yemen's northeast, according to the media sources. The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen news network reported on Friday that a US drone was downed in the Wadi Ubaidah region in southeastern Marib province, northeastern Yemen. Yemenis have openly declared their support for Palestine's struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7, following a surprise retaliatory attack by Palestinian Resistance movements, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. The Yemeni Armed Forces have stated that they will continue their attacks until the unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza come to an end, which have resulted in at least 35,233 deaths and 79,141 injuries. In December, the US and Britain announced a military coalition to support Israel by targeting Yemen. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah targets Israeli command headquarters with drones IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah has hit the command headquarters of the 411th battalion of the Zionist enemy with suicide drones. Lebanon's Hezbollah announced in a statement that in line with supporting the steadfast Palestinian nation in Gaza and helping its brave and honorable Resistance, and in response to the terrorist act of the Zionist enemy in the suburbs of Qana, the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon on Friday morning targeted the command headquarters of the 411th artillery battalions of the Zionist enemy in Jatoun with suicide drones. During this attack, the deployment center and dormitory of Zionist officers and soldiers were targeted, and several Zionist soldiers were killed and some others were injured. The Islamic Resistance of Lebanon also targeted the military center of the Zionist regime with an S-5 rocket. The occupying Israeli regime has repeatedly launched attacks on southern Lebanon since October 7, after commencing a genocidal war in Gaza that has killed at least 35,272 Palestinians, predominantly women and children. As a retaliatory measure, Hezbollah has been carrying out almost daily rocket attacks on Israeli positions. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas: 70% of Zionist captives killed in Israeli attacks IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- A senior Hamas official has stated that the Israeli enemy aims to release its captives through military force, but has already killed 70 percent of them in the bombings. The Israeli regime has been unsuccessful in destroying the resistance, despite eight months of invasion and numerous crimes committed in Gaza with US backing, according to Khalil al-Hayya on the Al-Manar television network. He stated that the resistance is capable of resisting the enemies for a long time. The senior Hamas politician mentioned that the resistance has restored its damaged capabilities and can adapt to different conditions based on its facilities. He also mentioned that Hamas is seeking an agreement to release its captives in exchange for Zionist prisoners. Referring to the latest proposed plan to Hamas, al-Hayya emphasized that the plan was very close to their demand, but the enemy did not respect the plan or the mediators. He reiterated that Hamas' goal in the negotiations was to completely stop the war, withdraw Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, and agree to exchange prisoners afterward. Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Zionist regime has imposed a complete siege on the densely-populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to more than two million Palestinians living there. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 4 Palestinian students martyred in Israeli attacks in Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 17, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Zionist regime has martyred four Palestinian students in the latest heinous attacks on schools in Gaza Strip, according to the media sources. The Zionist regime has conducted fresh attacks on a school located in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip which killed 4 Palestinian students, IRNA reported citing the Palestinian Samaa news agency on Friday. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported on Thursday that the number of casualties resulting from the attack on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli regime has risen to 35,272 martyrs since the invasion began. Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Zionist regime has imposed a complete siege on the densely populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Executability of the regional NATO defence plans is among our top priorities, says Minister of National Defence L. Kasciunas after meeting with Latvian counterpart Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2024-05-17 International cooperation | Security and defense policy | Uncategorized Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasciunas is on a formal visit to Riga today: he has met with Minister of Defence of Latvia Andris Spruds to discuss NATO and EU agenda, priorities ahead of the oncoming NATO Summit in Washington and nationally important topics. This is the first formal L.Kasciunas' visit to Latvia during which he and his Latvian colleague discussed the oncoming NATO Summit in Washington and shared standpoints of the Baltic states regarding the key aspects of the Summit agenda. Both Ministers pointed out executability of NATO's regional defence plans as one of the top priorities for Lithuania and Latvia alike. "We need to work together to get the Allies to commit to focus on the main capability gaps shortly. When it comes to air defence, our aim is to speed up the implementation of the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model. We are grateful to the Netherlands for dedicating their Patriot air and missile defence system for the exercise in Lithuania in July and look forward for it to kick-start further implementation of the Rotational Air Defence Model," said Minister of National Defence L. Kasciunas. Minister also discussed national themes, such as increasing defence spending, boosting defence industry, development of infrastructure and capabilities. Ministers also shared latest data concerning implementation of the Baltic line of defence. In the beginning of this year Ministers of Defence of the three Baltic states signed a Protocol of Intent on cooperation in developing counter-mobility measures on the borderline with hostile states. The project promotes development of a mutual counter-mobility barrier and thus has a special meaning in the trilateral Baltic context. Ministers of Defence of Lithuania and Latvia then discussed assistance to Ukraine, international coalitions created to facilitate it and other initiatives established to help the war-torn country resist the enemy. Minister L. Kasciunas headed to Riga immediately after a visit to Berlin where he met with Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius to discuss stationing of the German Brigade in Lithuania, he shared updates on the nearest plans and ongoing work with the Latvian counterpart as well. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Stationing of the German Brigade in Lithuania is past the point of no return, Minister L. Kasciunas is assured by Federal Minister of Defence Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2024-05-17 International cooperation | Security and defense policy On May 16 Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasciunas met with Federal Minister of Defence of Germany Boris Pistorius in Berlin. Lithuanian and German Ministers dedicated their first meeting to the most pressing defence issues: preparation for stationing the German brigade in Lithuania, planning of establishment of a Lithuanian national division, acquisition plans, and assistance to Ukraine. "Germany is our strategic partner. We are grateful for Germany's leadership and commitments to strengthen the Baltic security. Our agreement to station a German brigade is vital to Lithuania. Public opinion polls in our country indicate that nearly 70% of respondents see Germany as the Lithuania's most important strategic Ally. The strong public support is also a reflection of our dedication to offer all the needed conditions for the stationed German military," Minister of National Defence emphasized to his colleague. Ministers also discussed implementation of the Roadmap for the German brigade deployment: arrival of the headquarters initial command element a month ago, preparations for the signature of an international agreement, progress on implementation of other agreements. L. Kasciunas briefed German Minister on Lithuania's ambition to develop a national infantry division, accelerate procurement, increase defence spending, and the concept of total defence. He highlighted the planned purchases from German companies and German investments in Lithuania in the area of defence industry. "Lithuanian Government institutions signed a Letter of Intent with the German defence industry company Rheinmetall a month ago to start constructions of a 155 mm ammunition factory in Lithuania. It is a significant break-through for our aspiration to develop the defence industry and yet another meaningful aspect of strengthening bilateral German-Lithuanian relations. Such investments certainly increase deterrence and facilitate interoperability between Lithuanian and the German militaries," said L. Kasciunas while encouraging more German defence industry business to invest in Lithuania. The officials also discussed opportunities for more cooperation on cybersecurity. The Lithuanian Armed Forces is establishing a Cyber Defence Command for installation and integration of strategic and operational level communications and information systems, in which endeavor the German experience might accelerate the process, therefore Minister invited the country for bilateral talks and to joint training exercises, as well as other projects. Later on, Ministers of Defence addressed the assistance to Ukraine, the urgent need for immediate decisions to strengthen Ukraine's air defence. Lithuanian Minister assured of Lithuania's decision to contribute to an urgent air support initiative and Capability Coalition Integrated Air and Missile Defense led by Germany and thanked Germany for taking part in the Demining Coalition in the meanwhile. When discussing the upcoming NATO Summit in Warsaw, Lithuania's expectation was expressed that the regional defence plans and the Rotational Air Defence Model are approved. Minister L. Kasciunas invited his German counterpart to attend the Baltic and the Northern Group Defence Ministers' meetings in Palanga next week on May 21-23 in Palanga. On May 17 L. Kasciunas continues the formal visit trip to Latvia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 5 Israeli soldiers killed, 7 injured in Gaza by errant Israeli tank shelling People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:55, May 17, 2024 JERUSALEM, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Five Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others injured, three of them seriously, by errant Israeli tank fire in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Thursday. The casualties were with a force that entered Gaza City and seized buildings as part of a resumed attack on the refugee camp. Two IDF tanks, positioned several dozen meters away, apparently spotted a gun in a window of one of the buildings and fired two shells towards the target. The army said it was investigating why the soldiers were misidentified as Palestinian militants. A total of 626 soldiers have been killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and Israel's ensuing attacks on Gaza, according to the IDF tally. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN court holds hearing on South Africa's plea against Israel's operations in Gaza People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:53, May 17, 2024 THE HAGUE, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened its two-day hearings on Thursday regarding South Africa's request to halt Israel's military offensive in Gaza. South Africa's Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela told the judges that his country has returned to the court "due to the continuing annihilation of the Palestinian people, with over 35,000 now killed, and most of Gaza reduced to rubble." "Israel continues to show utter contempt for Palestinian life, operating with impunity," he said, explaining the reason behind South Africa's continued call for the protection of "the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people." Since its initial application to the ICJ on Dec. 29, 2023, South Africa has made subsequent requests in February and March 2024 for additional "provisional measures" to halt Israel's "persistent acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza." In the renewed request, Ambassador Madonsela emphasized the escalating "gravity of the situation in Gaza" and "the destruction of Gaza on a scale not witnessed since World War Two." Madonsela urged the court to order Israel to cease its military operations in Gaza, including in Rafah, and withdraw its troops from the entire Gaza Strip. Additionally, the ambassador called for Israel to take "all effective measures" to ensure unimpeded access to Gaza for the United Nations and humanitarian aid. Israel's argument will be presented to the ICJ on Friday, with a judgment expected in the coming weeks. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas rejects US floating pier for Gaza aid as publicity stunt Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 11:27 PM The Hamas government in Gaza has rejected America's establishment of a temporary floating pier designed to increase the amount of aid getting into the besieged strip as a publicity stunt "to beautify its ugly face." "The floating water dock off the coast of Gaza does not meet the needs of our Palestinian people for food. We demand the opening of land crossings and the immediate and urgent entry of aid and goods through them," the Gaza government media office said in a statement issued on Friday night. US President Joe Biden ordered the construction of the pier in March. Shortly afterward, the US deployed naval ships to the Eastern Mediterranean to construct the "floating pier" that will reportedly receive aid from Cyprus, and send it onward to Gaza. The US announcement came amid mounting pressure on Israel to allow aid into Gaza as the UN and other aid agencies have warned of imminent famine due to Israel's prevention of the land-based delivery of life-saving aid to Gaza. The US military said on Friday that trucks carrying humanitarian assistance will soon begin moving ashore "in the coming days." USAID response director Dan Dieckhaus said on Wednesday the construction of the pier - known as a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) system - is complete. Hundreds of tons of aid have arrived in Cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded onto ships for delivery to the pier, reports said. The US military said commercial ships would collect pallets from Cyprus and deliver them to a floating platform anchored several kilometers off the coast of Gaza. The Gaza government said in the statement that the "American administration is trying to beautify its ugly face and appear civilized by establishing a floating water dock off the coast of Gaza City, claiming its purpose is to deliver humanitarian aid and food to our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, who are subjected to policies of starvation, forced displacement, and genocide carried out by the 'Israeli' occupation army, with active participation, full involvement, and real endorsement from the American administration." "Since the start of this genocidal war, the US has continued to supply the occupation with over 200,000 rockets and bombs, some weighing 2,000 pounds of explosives, used by the occupation to annihilate entire residential neighborhoods. This has resulted in over 35,000 martyrs, more than 79,000 wounded, and 10,000 missing," the statement said. "We question the intentions of the American administration, which is managing and perpetuating the genocide war, forming a protective wall for the 'Israeli' occupation, and continuing its absolute support for the war against civilians," it added. The Gaza government said the United States "has opposed the cessation of this war against civilians, children, and women, against the housing sector, infrastructure, and humanitarian services sectors in the Security Council multiple times." "Additionally, it has not exerted real pressure on the occupation to open the crossings and allow aid to enter, but has instead been an obstacle to any solutions for the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip," it added. "Amidst the policy of starving 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip, including 2 million displaced persons who live on daily aid and require more than 7 million meals daily, what it will provide will not break the famine or cover this immense need for our people in the Gaza Strip. Instead, it will give the occupation a chance to prolong this war that has consumed everything," it noted. "We demand the immediate and urgent opening of the land crossings and the entry of various aids and fuel through them. We also express our deep astonishment at the introduction of patchwork and partial solutions, circumventing real solutions to the deep humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip that continues to affect civilians with all harshness," the statement said. The Gaza government said that it holds Israel and the American administration "fully responsible for the deliberate and premeditated policy of starvation and blockade against our defenseless Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." "We also hold them responsible for the continuation of the genocide war and the commission of crimes against humanity, international law, and global human rights principles," it stated. In March, experts said Israel backed the US plan to construct the pier in order to retain control over the aid deliveries and as a way to displace Palestinians from the besieged strip via the Mediterranean Sea, ahead of an expected invasion of the southern town of Rafah, where nearly more than half of Gaza's population of 2.4 have sought shelter from Israeli strikes elsewhere in Gaza. Israel unleashed the Gaza onslaught on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 35,303 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 79,261 others, according to the Gaza-based health ministry update on Friday. The occupying entity has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli military confirms death of another occupation force in northern Gaza Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 8:56 PM The Israeli regime's military has confirmed the death of one of its forces in Friday's heavy armed clashes with Palestinian resistance groups in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli media reports cited the occupation military as saying that Sgt. Ben Avishay had been killed in fierce exchanges of fire with Palestinians in east of the city of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. The Israeli military described the fighting in Jabalia and its refugee camp as "perhaps the fiercest we have encountered" in the area since the start of the offensive in the Gaza Strip in October last year. Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, earlier announced that its fighters "were able to snipe an Israeli soldier east of the city of Jabalia." Stressing that various areas of the Gaza Strip were witnessing fierce fighting, the al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters had infiltrated behind enemy lines east of the Jabalia refugee camp and targeted a tank and a troop carrier in the area, killing and wounding an unspecified number of its crews. The occupation army has acknowledged the death of five of its soldiers and the injury of more than 40 others over the past two days as fighting with resistance groups intensified in the north and south of the Gaza Strip amid Israel's initiation of the large-scale ground invasion of Rafah. Data announced by the occupation army indicates that 626 Israeli officers and soldiers have been killed and 1,723 others injured in Gaza since October last year, with Tel Aviv facing widespread criticism of concealing a much larger toll of its deaths and injuries. Civilians killed in Israeli aggression on Jabalia Meanwhile, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA cited local sources as saying that three civilians were killed on Friday afternoon in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia. WAFA said three civilians were killed and several others were injured when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of civilians in the northern Gaza Strip city. Israel unleashed the Gaza onslaught on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 35,303 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 79,261 others, according to the Gaza-based health ministry update on Friday. The occupying entity has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada sanctions Israeli settlers as attacks on Palestinians soar in West Bank Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 5:07 PM The Canadian government has imposed sanctions on four Israeli extremist settlers over their involvement in violent attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Canada's Global Affairs ministry announced the sanctions in a Thursday press release, saying that the bans were regarded as "a significant step in Canada's response to this ongoing violence" since the listed settlers "have engaged directly or indirectly in violence and violent acts against Palestinian civilians and their property." Stressing that the sanctions had targeted David Chai Chasdai, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef and Moshe Sharvit under Canada's Special Economic Measures Act, the statement said, "These measures will impose a prohibition on dealings related to the listed individuals and also render them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act." The ministry voiced concern over Israeli settlers' violence and vowed that Ottawa would "examine additional measures in response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank." Describing attacks by extremist Israeli settlers as a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region, the statement said the violence has escalated alarmingly in recent months and, "This has undermined the human rights of Palestinians, the prospects for a two-state solution and posed significant risks to regional security." The ministry pointed to a United Nations' report on at least 800 settler attacks against Palestinians since October 7 last year, saying, "Many Palestinian civilians have been verbally or physically assaulted or killed; private property has been damaged and farms destroyed. These attacks have resulted in the forced displacement of Palestinian communities and significantly contributed to growing regional insecurity." Ottawa further claimed that it "continues to oppose the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem [al-Quds] and is committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." Some 700,000 Israelis live in roughly 300 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds, with the international community viewing the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories. The Palestinian Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission said in a recent statistical report that the Israeli occupation forces and extremist settlers carried out a total of 12,161 attacks against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank in 2023. Israel has ramped up its aggression in the West Bank since its incessant bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip began in early October last year. Since the start of Israel's bloody campaign in Gaza, over 450 Palestinians have been killed and around 5,000 others wounded by the occupying forces in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry says. Israel unleashed the Gaza onslaught on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 35,303 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 79,261 others, according to the Gaza-based health ministry update on Friday. The occupying entity has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spain bans ships carrying weapons for Israel from docking at its ports Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 2:23 PM Spain has decided to ban ships carrying weapons for Israel from docking at its ports, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares says, a day after the country denied a vessel permission to call at a southeastern port. Albares said Spain's decision not to authorize ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports comes as the country doesn't "want to contribute to war." He noted that the ship that was denied access to a Spanish port on Thursday was the first such vessel to be blocked. Albares noted that the refusal was consistent with the government's decision to suspend weapon export licenses to Israel after it launched the war on Gaza in October. Transport Minister Oscar Puente on Thursday said Marianne Danica, an Israel-bound ship carrying arms, had requested permission to call at the port of Cartagena on May 21. According to El Pais newspaper, the Danish-flagged ship is carrying 27 tonnes of explosive material from India to the port of Haifa in the occupied territories. Spain has been one of Europe's most critical voices about Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and is working to encourage other European capitals to recognize Palestine as a state. Madrid halted weapons sales to Israel after the start of the Israeli war on Gaza. Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians. Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 35,303 Palestinians and injured tens of thousands more. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli airstrikes kill Hezbollah fighter, 2 children in S Lebanon Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 1:54 PM The Israeli regime has carried out airstrikes against two villages lying far from Lebanon's border with the occupied territories, killing a fighter with the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah and two children. The fatalities were caused in the villages of Najjariyeh and Addousiyeh, which are located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border, on Friday, the movement and the country's official National News Agency (NNA) reported. Hezbollah announced that a fighter from Najjariyeh had been killed, while the NNA said the attack on the village had also claimed the lives of two "Syrian children." An AFP photographer said the strikes hit a pickup truck in Najjariyeh and an orchard. On Thursday, the movement had launched a drone strike and a series of rocket barrages against Israeli military positions lying in the northern part of the occupied territories. A day earlier, Hezbollah had staged a raft of strikes against several Israeli targets after the regime's assassination of one of the group's senior field commanders. Hussain Ibrahim Mekky had been martyred in an Israeli attack against the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. The Israeli regime has been waging sporadic attacks against Lebanon since October 7, 2023, when it launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip. The attacks have prompted a firefight with Hezbollah. The Israeli aggression has reportedly claimed the lives of at least 418 people in Lebanon, while Hezbollah's retaliation has killed 24. Hezbollah fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, forcing a humiliating retreat upon the Tel Aviv regime's military on both occasions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address May 16: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 12:43 PM By Press TV Website Staff Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 35,300 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 Wednesday, May 16, are as follows: Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on May 16: Ambushed an Israeli military's engineering force and detonated an anti-personnel explosive device on their vehicle on George Street near Al-Tabaeen Mosque, east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in a number of casualties. Targeted and destroyed an Israeli military troop carrier with an Al-Yassin 105 shell in Block 2 area of Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip. Attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers east of Jabalia town with explosives, and destroyed two D9 bulldozers with a tandem shell and a guerrilla action device. Targeted and destroyed four D9 military bulldozers and a Merkava tank with Al-Yassin 105 shells near Jabalia town. Targeted and destroyed a D9 military bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 shell in the Al-Tanour neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza Strip. In a joint operation with Al-Quds Brigades, engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli regime force at the Abu Zeitoun junction in Jabalia camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. Targeted three "Merkava 4" tanks with Al-Yassin 105 shells east of the city of Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. Bombed a command and observation site of the Israeli military east of the city of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip with mortar shells. In a joint operation with Al-Quds Brigades, shelled the artillery unit of the Israeli military east of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, with a barrage of mortar shells. Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces on the axes of advance east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip with mortar shells. Al-Quds Brigades' operations on May 16: Targeted and destroyed a Merkava 4 tank with an anti-tank shell near the Saad Mosque in the Al-Qasasib neighborhood in the city of Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. In a joint operation with Al-Qassam Brigades, targeted a Merkava tank with an Al-Yassin 105 rocket and engaged in clashes from point blank range with a special Israeli military unit in the Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip. Engaged in fierce clashes, using appropriate weapons, against Israeli forces on the axis of advance in Block 2 of Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip, inflicting heavy casualties. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on May 16: Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers in the city of Tubas, using machine guns and explosive devices. Bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles in the Al-Salam neighborhoods east of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, with heavy mortar shells. Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers who stormed the city of Tulkarem, using machine guns and explosive devices. Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades' operations on May 16: Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces near the post office next to Abu Al-Aish Street in Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip. Bombed the "Nahal Oz" settlement with a barrage of rockets. Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Jabalia Services Club axis, and blew up their military vehicle. Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces' operations on May 16: Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood with short-range 107-type rockets. Sniped an Israeli soldier in the vicinity of the Adnan Abu Taha Junction in the Al-Jeneina neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Hezbollah's operations on May 16: Eastern sector: At around 10:00 local time, the 210th Golan Division in Nafah, the air defense system in Kila and the artillery guns in Yoav were targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 13:38 local time, the Metula site was targeted with a kamikaze drone equipped with 2 "S5" missiles. At around 17:07 local time, the Al-Marj site was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 17:30 local time, the Al-Sammaqa site in Kfar Shuba was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 18:15 local time, surveillance equipment of the Israeli military in Al-Tayhat site was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 18:50 local time, the Elbit Military Industries Company of the Israeli regime was targeted in Tel Hai with a volley of drones. At around 22:50 local time, Israeli forces were targeted in the Ramim barracks. Western sector: At around 08:35 local time, surveillance equipment of the Israeli military at the Adathar site was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 11:00 local time, the Zarit Barracks was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 11:10 local time, surveillance equipment of the Israeli military at the Jal al-Alam and Ramia sites were targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 17:30 local time, a group of Israeli soldiers in Jal al-Alam site was targeted with appropriate weapons. Islamic Resistance in Iraq's operations on May 16: Launched a barrage of drones at Haifa oil refineries in the Israeli-occupied territories. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Senegalese PM blasts French military presence, raises possibility of closing bases Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 11:33 AM Senegal's prime minister has vehemently denounced the French military presence in his country and raised the possibility of closing its bases amid a growing move by the neighboring states to expel foreign occupation troops from the Sahel region. Ousmane Sonko, who is a vociferous critic of France's meddling in its former colony, said in a wide-ranging speech that the French military presence over claims of counter-terrorism operations was a violation of his country's sovereignty. "More than 60 years after our independence ... we must question the reasons why the French army for example still benefits from several military bases in our country and the impact of this presence on our national sovereignty and our strategic autonomy," the Senegalese premier said at a joint conference with the French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon in the capital Dakar. "I reiterate here the desire of Senegal to have its own control, which is incompatible with the lasting presence of foreign military bases in Senegal ... Many countries have promised defense agreements, but this does not justify the fact that a third of the Dakar region is now occupied by foreign garrisons." Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have recently pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help in their fight against Daesh- and al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups in the restive Sahel region. They have also turned away from West African bloc ECOWAS and formed their own alliance of Sahel states. Earlier in the month, the US military ordered its troops to pull out from Niger following the cancellation of a military agreement by the African country's new leaders, who had demanded the withdrawal of American and French troops following the ouster of Western-backed president Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023. The new leaders announced on March 17 that Niger had canceled a 2012 military cooperation agreement with the US, calling for an end to the US military's "illegal" presence in the country. The Sahel region in sub-Saharan Africa has been witnessing a Takfiri militancy that started from Mali in 2015. Thousands of civilians, troops and police have been killed and more than two million people have fled their homes. More than 14 million people in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fighting rages in Rafah as Israel steps up invasion despite intl. outcry Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 11:31 AM Fighting between the Palestinian resistance forces and Israeli troops have raged in Gaza after Tel Aviv vowed to intensify its ground invasion in Rafah. Witnesses on Friday reported fierce battles overnight in and around the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Israeli helicopters carried out heavy strikes around Jabalia, while artillery units shelled homes near Kamal Adwan Hospital in the camp. According to Gaza's Civil Defense agency, the bodies of six people were retrieved and several wounded people were evacuated after an air strike targeted a house in Jabalia, Rescue teams were trying to recover people from under the rubble of the Shaaban family home on al-Faluja Street in the camp, it said. Israeli tanks also surrounded the entrance of Beit Hanoon town, where some families from Jabalia have fled to take refuge. The Israeli military vowed to "intensify" its ground invasion in Rafah despite international concerns for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the southern city. Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant on Thursday said "additional forces will enter" the Rafah area on the border with Egypt and "this activity will intensify." Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the onslaught on Rafah was a "critical" part of the regime's plans. Witnesses said Israeli warships launched strikes on Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians have been sheltering. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that it "targeted enemy forces stationed inside the Rafah border crossing... with mortar shells". In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man and injured a child as confrontations erupted during raids against Bal'a and Anabta towns. Local sources said a convoy of Israeli army vehicles stormed Bal'a, triggering clashes. Israeli soldiers then opened live bullets at local youths and teenagers, who attempted to block their entry, critically injuring 23-year-old Karim Rayeq Abdul-Raouf I'mair. I'mair was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead later on. The soldiers shot and injured another youth and prevented paramedics from reaching the scene, leaving him to bleed on the ground. During the raid, the gun-toting soldiers showed up at the family house of Mohammad Abu Yassin, who is currently behind bars in an Israeli detention center, took pictures and interrogated the family. Israeli forces also stormed the nearby town of Anabta, sparking confrontations. The soldiers fired barrages of gunfire towards local protesters. A 16-year-old teenager was struck in the thigh as a result. The teenager was rushed by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics to a nearby hospital. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen downs advanced $30 million US spy drone over Ma'rib Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 8:58 AM Yemen's army says it has shot down an American spy drone by "a locally-made missile" in the province of Ma'rib, amid escalating tensions in the region over Israel's US-backed genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. In a statement issued on Friday and carried by Yemen news agency SABA, Yemen's armed forces announced that the country's air defenses downed the MQ-9 drone using a surface-to-air missile on Thursday night. According to the statement, the drone "was carrying out hostile acts in the airspace of Ma'rib." The statement stressed that the country's armed forces are fully prepared to thwart all the enemies' plots. The Yemeni military said it was the fourth aircraft, estimated to be worth $30 million, downed as part of the country's pro-Palestine operations. In solidarity with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Yemeni armed forces have targeted ships in the Red Sea with owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied territories. In December last year, the United States formed a coalition to stop Yemen's anti-Israel attacks. The US and the UK have been carrying out numerous attacks against Yemen as a means of trying to pressure the country into stopping a series of operations that it has been conducting in support of Gazans. Yemen has been conducting operations against the British and American warships that have been dispatched to the Red Sea to confront the Yemeni strikes. Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians. Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 35,303 Palestinians and injured tens of thousands more. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Islamic Resistance in Iraq vows all-out support for Palestinian struggle against Israel Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 7:02 AM The secretary general of the Iraqi anti-terror Kata'ib Hezbollah group has stressed that his fellow resistance fighters and members of other factions are determined to provide the oppressed Palestinian nation with unwavering support. "We promise you that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq will spare no effort, or withhold no blood or money to support our brethren in Palestine," Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi told Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a telephone conversation on Thursday night. "The Iraqi nation and their Islamic Resistance are indebted to you, and feel the pain and shame for not having been able to offer more before," he added. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has been staging operations against Israeli targets since the occupying regime launched an all-out war on Gaza in early October. Hamidawi said the war on Gaza is exposing the lousy excuses that certain parties used to cite about the lack of resources and combat preparedness. The crisis, he said, requires effective mechanisms that would embolden the oppressed and help them stand up against oppressors. Hamidawi touched on Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, a coordinated armed incursion launched on October 7 from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern territories occupied by Israel. "One of the main achievements of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm is that it brought Iraq back into the sphere of the anti-Zionism struggle, which involves various Arab and Muslim groups," he said. Since early October, Israel has been targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, killing at least 35,272 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced as well. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli aggression has killed 70 percent of Zionist captives: Hamas Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 2:33 AM Hamas says the Israeli regime's bombing of the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal Israeli war, has killed 70 percent of the Zionist captives, who have been held by the Palestinian resistance movement since an October operation. Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas' Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon's al-Manar television network on Thursday. "The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing," he said. Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza's resistance groups. At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation. Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November. Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal. The Hamas' official said, "The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators." Al-Hayya reiterated the movement's demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal. 'Victory is our ally' The Hamas' official pointed to the Israeli regime's failure to realize its war goals, including defeating the resistance. "After eight months of aggression, the enemy has failed to eradicate the resistance in Gaza despite all the actions of the occupation," he said. "The resistance has rebuilt itself and can adapt its capabilities to face the occupation," the official said, asserting, "The resistance is capable of enduring for many months and will continue to defend its people as long as the battle is ongoing." "The resistance has the ability to continue because it is right, and victory is our ally, while the enemy will face defeat." Thanking regional resistance Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya expressed gratitude towards the regional resistance groups for the pro-Palestinian operations that they have been carrying out against Israeli targets and those associated with the occupying regime. "The fronts in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq support Gaza and link the cessation of [their] operations to the end of aggression on Gaza," he said. "When we meet with the resistance forces in the region, we affirm that the battle is one." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Philippines blasts Beijing's new trespass rule in contested waters as 'illegal' A Philippine lawmaker urges Manila to take Beijing again to an international court over its new policy. By Camille Elemia for BenarNews 2024.05.17 -- The Philippines hit back Friday against what it called China's "illegal" new order authorizing its coast guard to detain foreign boats and people suspected of trespassing into Beijing-claimed waters in the disputed South China Sea. The Chinese coast guard on Wednesday issued Order No. 3, which will take effect on June 15 and authorizes its personnel to hold foreign nationals for up to 30 days - and as many as 60, in some cases. The order's release took place amid rising bilateral tensions over the waterway and as a Philippine civilian resupply convoy sailed toward Scarborough Shoal, which lies within Manila's exclusive economic zone, but is also claimed by China. "This is another illegal action of China," Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela said during a press briefing Friday, as he rejected that Beijing's new policy applied to waters within Manila's EEZ. "The mere fact that they claim full sovereignty over our own exclusive economic zone and they are trying to justify their imaginary nine-dash line," he said, referring to the boundary on Chinese maps that demarcates Beijing's South China Sea claims. According to a Mandarin-language document shared by the Chinese Embassy in Manila to reporters, the order covers "administrative cases that occur in the waters under the jurisdiction" of China. While the document makes no direct mention of the South China Sea, Beijing claims the waterway almost in its entirety. Under the order, foreign vessels may be seized and a foreign person "may be detained with the approval of the person in charge of the coast guard agency" if they are suspected of illegal entry and exit, assisting others "to illegally enter and exit the country," and of "endangering national security and interests," among other activities. Foreigners may be exempted from detention if they are pregnant or nursing an infant, below 16 years old, and older than 70 years old, among others, according to excerpts from the order that were translated into English. "Administrative cases that occur in waters under the country's jurisdiction shall be under the administration of the Coast Guard agency in accordance with the law, and shall be under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard agency corresponding to the place where the violation was committed," the order stated. The new order also prohibits unauthorized conduct of surveying and mapping activities in waters under Beijing's jurisdiction, and warns that such circumstances are considered grave or serious. 'Illegal' action At the press briefing, Tarriela warned China against repercussions of implementing its new order. "China will also have to understand the fact that once they implement this law that they are saying now, it's not just the Philippines that will be affected by this. They have to implement it on waters where Vietnamese, Malaysians, Indonesians, and other Southeast Asians are pressing on the nine-dash line claim of China," he said. "It's a very big problem for them." Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia also have overlapping claims to the South China Sea. Taiwan is also a claimant. On Friday, a lawmaker and a security analyst urged the Philippine government to file a case against China before an international court over the new policy. "If any country has a right to arrest foreigners, it is the Philippines. China is the one trespassing in our territorial waters and our exclusive economic zone, and now it has the gall to say that they would arrest non-Chinese in our waters," House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro said in a statement. "The Philippines should expedite filing a case against China again in the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the United Nations. The international community, especially the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] should also speak up against China's blatant disregard of Philippine sovereignty, the 2016 arbitral ruling, and the [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]," she also said. In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark international arbitration case against China that stemmed from a bilateral standoff over Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing has virtually controlled since 2012. On Friday, the civilian convoy returned to Luzon island after an advance boat had delivered food and fuel to Filipino fishermen who were fishing near the disputed shoal, organizers said. "We see the defiance of the Filipino fisherfolk. The main reason why they went to Scarborough Shoal is to fight for their fishing rights, the [sovereign] rights of our country," Security analyst Chester Cabalza told the ABS-CBN news program "Dateline Philippines" on Friday. "The mere fact that China has pronounced the new law which they will implement by June means that they're afraid. There's fear in China right now because they've seen civilians coming to [Scarborough Shoal]," he said. Geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill called the new Chinese policy illicit and baseless. "China is quite notorious for using lawfare as a means to [establish] its de facto exclusionary policies in the greater South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea in particular," Gill told BenarNews on Friday. The West Philippine Sea is how Filipinos refer to South China Sea waters that lie within the Philippine EEZ. "From its foreign fishing ban to the recent announcement, Beijing tries to illicitly enforce so-called laws in other countries' EEZ as a show of force. However, this doesn't change the fact that such enforcements are illegal and clearly against UNCLOS," Gill said. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to BenarNews requests for comment. BenarNews also tried to contact the Chinese Embassy to seek clarification and comment, but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile on Thursday, as the Filipino civilian convoy was heading back to Luzon, the Philippine Coast Coast Guard said it had detained a Sierra Leone-flagged ship, the MT Hyperline 988, on suspicion of having turned off its its automatic identification system (AIS), and its seven-member crew. All seven crew members were Chinese nationals, the PCG said. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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 At Least 4 Killed In Attack On Foreign Tourists In Afghanistan By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi May 17, 2024 At least four people were killed in an armed attack on a group of foreign tourists at a market in Bamiyan Province in central Afghanistan on May 17, according to government and security sources. Taliban-led Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qane was quoted by AFP as saying that 11 people were shot and that four of them, including three foreigners, died. Among the other seven victims were four foreigners and three Afghans, he added. But a Taliban security source told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that the attack left eight people dead. The source, who asked not to be named, told RFE/RL that five Afghan civilians and three foreigners were shot dead. The governor of Bamiyan did not respond to RFE/RL's requests for additional information about the shooting. Qane said the foreigners were tourists but did not provide their nationalities. Hospital sources quoted by AFP said preliminary information indicated that three Spanish nationals were killed, and that the wounded were from Norway, Australia, Lithuania, and Spain. A spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed to Reuters that Spanish nationals were among the victims in the attack. The spokesman said the total number of victims had yet to be confirmed. Security forces have arrested four people in connection with the attack, Qane said. The Taliban government "strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims, and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished," Qane said in a statement. Afghanistan has been attracting more and more tourists since improvements in security following the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021 after the withdrawal of international forces. The Bamiyan region is home to many members of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara ethnic minority. The historically persecuted religious minority has been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State extremist group, which considers them heretics. In 2001, the Taliban blew up the giant, centuries-old Buddha statues that were carved into cliffs at Bamiyan. The statues once stood alongside caves, monasteries, and shrines that are among the tourist attractions in the province. Before blowing up the statues, the hard-line Islamist group declared them "false idols." Their destruction has been called the "cultural crime of the century." With reporting by AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-foreign- nationals-killed-attack/32951861.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 Intense Border Clashes Between Taliban, Pakistan Cause Deaths, Destruction By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi and Abubakar Siddique May 17, 2024 At least one Taliban border guard and one Pakistani soldier have been killed and several more injured in the latest border clashes between them. The clashes continued into the early hours of May 17 after they first erupted five days ago. Pakistani and Taliban forces targeted each other in several places along the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia and Khost, which borders Pakistan's western Kurram district. Most of the casualties occurred on May 15 when one Pakistani soldier was killed and six more injured after a Taliban rocket hit their post, according to official sources in the country. The Taliban also acknowledged the death of one of its fighters. "Intense shooting is spreading a wave of fear among locals," Imran Ali, a Pashtun tribal leader in Kurram, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on May 17. Sameer Khan, a resident of the Teri Mangal area straddling the border, said that locals are moving to safer regions after mortar shells landed in civilian homes. Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, a Taliban official in eastern Afghanistan, said they are collecting information on the human and material losses in the fighting. The clashes erupted on May 13 after Pakistani forces began repairing the barbed-wire fence it first erected in 2017 to demarcate the Durand Line border, which no government in Afghanistan has formally recognized after it was first drawn by the British Empire in India in 1893. Relations between Afghanistan's Islamist rulers and Pakistan have been tense since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Islamabad blames the Taliban for sheltering the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TPP), a longtime ideological and organizational ally of the Taliban. The recent tensions were partly flamed by an alleged Pakistani air strike in the southeastern Paktika Province, reportedly targeted by the Pakistani Taliban. On May 12, at least seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and two more injured in two separate militant attacks in Pakistan's North Waziristan district, which borders Paktika. Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, director of news at the Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, says the Taliban blames Islamabad's border fence for the tensions. At the same time, Pakistani authorities allege that the TTP is exploiting the border to infiltrate Pakistan with the help of the Taliban. "Unlike previous Afghan regimes led by Karzai and Ghani, which largely relied on verbal criticisms over border issues, the Taliban has resorted to force," he said, referring to former Afghan presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani. He said that the clashes have severely disrupted trade between the two countries, wreaking havoc among the Pashtun border communities in the two countries. "Border tensions not only disrupt trade but also undermine trust," he said. "This underscores the pressing need for a peaceful resolution to this long-standing dispute." But both the Taliban and Islamabad have been silent over the clashes, which experts say might indicate a complete breakdown in their relations. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-pakistan-taliban- border-clashes/32951833.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 Georgia's President Vowed To Veto The 'Foreign Agent' Bill. But What Options Does She Really Have? By Jimsher Rekhviashvili and Andy Heil May 17, 2024 Georgia's fractured political landscape absorbed another blow this month with the swift parliamentary approval of a "foreign agent" bill, which targets media and NGOs despite intense outcry from the public and the Caucasus nation's Western partners. Unlike the situation a year ago when the ruling Georgian Dream party bowed to popular anger over a similar bill, weeks of street unrest failed to derail what some critics describe as "the Russian law," a reminder of a painful Soviet past and invoking the specter of growing Kremlin influence. President Salome Zurabishvili, who has increasingly feuded with Georgian Dream since the party endorsed her candidacy in 2018, has opposed both iterations of the bill. She has described the latest version -- called the Law On Transparency Of Foreign Influence and passed on May 14 -- as an unpopular attempt to divert candidate Georgia from its EU path and "crush civil society." She has repeatedly vowed to "veto" it. But in 2018, after a series of constitutional amendments, power in Georgia swung power heavily away from the presidency and toward the 150-member unicameral Parliament, where Georgian Dream and its nominally distinct ally People's Power control 83 seats. And anyway the presidential equivalent of a "veto," as prescribed in Georgia's revised constitution, packs less of a punch than you might think. What Is President Zurabishvili Empowered To Do? Zurabishvili herself has characterized her option to stall the law's implementation as a "veto." But strictly speaking, neither the Georgian Constitution nor the rules of parliamentary procedure contain any provision for a presidential veto in the sense of the head of state simply "forbidding" a piece of legislation. Instead, a president has two weeks to either sign and promulgate the law or send a carefully argued alternative back to lawmakers in the form of "justified remarks." Such "remarks" cannot simply repeal legislation or demand that it be repealed, according to Vakhushti Menabde, a former constitutional and rights lawyer and activist who teaches public law at Ilia State University in Tbilisi and has commented throughout the current crisis. They must identify specific passages of the bill that are considered unacceptable, argue why they are objectionable, and lay out a new version of the bill incorporating the proposed changes. The president's version can either replace wording or exclude passages entirely. What Does Zurabishvili Intend To Do? Zurabishvili deplores the bill, which she's likened to the "old Russian Soviet propaganda tricks" familiar to many older Georgians. She has repeatedly said she will "veto" it, but she has also conceded that her moves are likely to prove merely "symbolic." And after a meeting with a handful of visiting foreign ministers on May 15, Zurabishvili discouraged Georgians and Western critics of the bill from placing hopes in such a presidential step. She expressed concern at simply enabling "false, artificial, misleading negotiations" with the ruling party over the legislation, adding, "No, and never!" She did not want to become an accessory to Georgian Dream's alleged effort at "transition from this [EU] path," she said. "No one should think that Georgia's president can be used to save some face for this government," Zurabishvili said. "Today, that's not the issue; the issue is saving Georgia." She has 14 days from the bill's submission from parliament to deliver her "justified remarks," in this case reportedly until May 28. Where Does That Leave Parliament? If Zurabishvili submits "justified remarks," a failure by parliament to vote on them indefinitely could effectively kill the bill for now, although the constitution does not address how long lawmakers can wait to conduct such a vote. At that stage, there is no room for negotiations between the legislature and the presidency for changes in either the approved bill or the "remarks" version. Lawmakers are limited to a simple up-or-down vote on the "justified remarks" in their entirety; they cannot accept some changes while rejecting others. If parliament approves the president's "remarks" version with a simple majority of those present (and a quorum of at least 50), the resulting bill goes back to the president within five days for signature and promulgation within five more days. Alternatively, parliament can reject the "remarks" and pass the initial bill with 76 (out of 150 possible) votes, sending it to the president within three days for signature and promulgation within five days. If the president declines to sign it, it goes to the speaker of parliament for their signature. Is It Going Into Force Anyway? Zurabishvili has acknowledged that governing party lawmakers will "most probably" override the "veto," barring a climbdown by Georgian Dream in the face of public and diplomatic pressure. But she also noted that parliament could effectively abandon the legislation by choosing to ignore her justified remarks ("let the veto be") or voting to block the bill themselves -- possibly with an eye to redrafting it or pushing it back until after parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26. Georgian Dream leader and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists immediately after parliament's third reading on May 14 that "no third question will be discussed." In reference to a plan by the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on issues of constitutional law, to issue an opinion on the bill by May 28, he added that "if the Venice Commission wants to present any issue [with the bill], it must do so now." Georgian Dream and People's Power lawmakers took 67 seconds to clear the bill in the legal-affairs committee on May 13 and passed it in its third and final reading by an 84-30 vote on May 14, in a plenary session convened after police forcibly dispersed protesters outside Parliament. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-foreign- agent-law-veto-president-zurabishvili/32951757.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 The Azadi Briefing: New Leaks Reveal The Luxury Dubai Properties Of Ex-Afghan Officials By Abubakar Siddique May 17, 2024 The Key Issue Leaked data has revealed that some officials of the former Western-backed Afghan government own luxury properties in Dubai. The Dubai Unlocked project, a joint investigation by more than 70 media outlets, named 10 ex-officials or their relatives as holders of multimillion-dollar apartments, houses, or villas in Dubai. They include former parliament speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, Ajmal Rahmani. The pair own more than $15 million in real estate in Dubai, according to the documents. Others named in the leaks include ex-intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid, who owns a villa worth around $5.4 million, and the brother and son of Mohammad Qasim Fahim, the late former defense minister and vice president, who own luxury properties worth more than $4.6 million. Former ministers Amirzai Sangin, Atiqullah Baryalai, Ratib Popal, a cousin of ex-President Hamid Karzai, and former Ambassador Ahmad Wali Masud also own expensive Dubai properties, according to the leaks. Why It's Important: After the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that toppled the first Taliban regime, Washington allocated billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Many ex-Afghan officials and U.S. contractors, some of them members of the new Afghan political elite, were accused of skimming some of those funds. The Dubai Unlocked project has revealed that at least some of them purchased luxury properties in the United Arab Emirates. The leaks have put the spotlight on the widespread corruption that was endemic under former Afghan administrations. "Corruption was one of the factors that led to the collapse of the republic," Khan Zaman Amarkhel, an Afghan anti-corruption expert, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. What's Next: It is unclear if all the former U.S. contractors and Afghan officials named in the leaks and accused of corruption will be held accountable. In December, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Rahmanis for "misappropriation of millions of dollars." In January, the Rahmanis filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. But in April, a court rejected their efforts to lift the Treasury sanctions until the case was settled. The lawsuit revealed that the Rahmanis continue to hold Cypriot passports and own more than $212 million worth of real estate in Germany. What To Keep An Eye On The emergency situation in areas of Afghanistan hit by flash floods that have killed hundreds of people remains dire, according to rescuers and aid organizations. Relief efforts have been hampered by the floods, which have made many roads inaccessible to trucks transporting food, medicine, and tents. Twenty-five of the country's 34 provinces have been affected by the recent floods, which were triggered by heavy rains on May 10. The northern province of Baghlan, where more than 300 people have died, remains the worst-affected region. Some of the flood victims in Baghlan said they have received little help. They include the family of Mohammad Alam, a resident of Baghlan. "The flood didn't last long, but it came over me like a mountain," he told Radio Azadi. "It took my son and wife. We have lost a total of six people." Why It's Important: Thousands of people continue to be displaced and urgently need food, shelter, and medicine. International groups and Taliban officials have warned that the death toll could rise significantly. Hundreds of people are missing and feared dead. The flash floods have exacerbated the devastating humanitarian crisis in the country, making thousands of people homeless and robbing many in agricultural areas of their livelihoods. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-dubai-unlocked- corruption/32951538.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 Events Marking 'Family Purity Day' In Georgia Contrast Sharply With 'Foreign Agent' Protests By RFE/RL's Georgian Service and RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus May 17, 2024 TBILISI -- Top officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party joined senior Orthodox clerics and conservative religious groups in rallies across the country on May 17 to mark a new holiday known as Family Purity Day, including a march in central Tbilisi, the scene of weeks of protests against a divisive "foreign agent" bill that was passed by parliament earlier this week. Family Purity Day was established by Georgia's conservative Orthodox Church in 2014 in response to the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which is marked every year on May 17 to raise awareness of LGBT rights violations around the world. To avoid confrontation, no rallies against the "foreign agent" law were scheduled during the march for Family Purity Day. The event, which is being marked for the first time with an official holiday, is backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which pushed a bill curtailing LGBT rights in March, just weeks before it reintroduced in parliament the "foreign agent" bill seen as modeled on a similar draconian Russian law. The anti-LGBT Georgian Dream bill bans transgender surgery, child adoption by same-sex couples, indicating sex that is other than male and female in official documents, and organizing public events propagating same-sex relations. Both pieces of legislation are seen as attempts by Georgian Dream, founded by Russia-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, to tout its conservative policies ahead of elections scheduled for October. In Tbilisi, the celebrations began at the Kashveti Cathedral with a Mass officiated by Shio Mujiri, the patriarchal locum tenens. A procession attended by thousands began at the Holy Trinity Cathedral attended by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who is also Georgian Dream's secretary-general, and parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, who posted a congratulatory message on social media on May 17. The official attention given to the event appears to be an attempt to tamp down the impact of weeks of massive protests against the contentious "foreign agent" bill approved by parliament earlier this week as police violently cracked down on demonstrators. Ana Subeliani, co-director of Tbilisi Pride, told RFE/RL in an interview that the LGBT topic is being used as a tool of manipulation to create anti-Western emotions in the population. The government's policies are meant to "create the narrative that the West -- our partners, our friends, from the Western countries -- that they are grabbing our values and that LGBT people are the main enemies," she said. She also said the LGBT community no longer holds events on May 17 because it doesn't want "to give them any additional reason to...attack the queer community members. "Unfortunately, this day become a day of violence and hatred...in our country," she added. It has been a "super traumatic experience" for the LGBT community that Family Purity Day events have replaced IDAHOBIT events, she said. It's already become normalized that on May 17 the LGBT community "should not do anything.... If we do, it's connected to big risk." Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili, who has been at odds with Georgian Dream, has called the "foreign agent" legislation "unacceptable" and "not consistent" with the country's path toward integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Zurabishvili has vowed to veto the law, a move for which she has 10 days following the May 14 vote of approval in parliament. But Georgian Dream's parliamentary majority will allow it to easily override the presidential veto. The law has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, and rights watchdogs, who have pointed to its similarity with legislation used by President Vladimir Putin to crush dissent in Russia and stifle independent institutions, prompting Georgians to refer to the measure as "the Russian law." Zurabishvili has warned that Georgia's survival as a state is in danger because of the legislation, which requires media outlets, NGOs, and other nonprofits to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad. "It's unacceptable because it reflects a turn of the Georgian attitudes towards the civil society, towards the media and towards the recommendations of the European Commission that are not consistent with what is our declared policy of going towards a European integration," Zurabishvili told the Associated Press in an interview on May 16. On May 15, protesters marched along with the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland in a gesture of solidarity with Georgians' Western aspirations. An RFE/RL source in Brussels said European Council President Charles Michel held talks with Zurabishvilil and Kobakhidze, where he stressed that the Georgian people must determine their own future. Michel told Kobakhidze to search for a way out of the political turbulence, the source said. Kobakhidze has accused the protesters of "following the agenda of the political minority" and charged that they were showing a "great irresponsibility" toward their country. The Georgian Dream-controlled security forces have repeatedly cracked down violently on protesters in recent weeks using water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis voiced concern about the violence employed to crack down on protesters. "It's truly worrying what we see happening in the street when it comes to intimidations and brutality," he said in an interview with RFE/RL in Tbilisi. "This has to stop." The Western foreign ministers' presence at the anti-foreign agent law protests, while not prevented by the government, has sparked irritation among Georgian Dream leaders. "This is a very big insult," Kaladze, the Tbilisi mayor and Georgian Dream party chief, told the media after attending the religious march in Tbilisi on May 17. "All developed countries would have taken these foreign ministers by the hand and kicked them out of the country," Kaladze said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/foreign-agent-tbilisi- familiy-purity-lgbt-idahobit/32951237.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. Ambassador To NATO Calls On Western Balkan Countries To Increase Defense Spending By Gjeraqina Tuhina May 17, 2024 BRUSSELS -- The United States hopes that by the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, nearly all 32 alliance members will meet the pledge made 10 years ago to increase defense spending to 2 percent of GDP, said U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith. "By this summer, when we get to the Washington summit, we expect to have roughly two-thirds of the alliance meeting the target," Smith said on May 16 in an interview with RFE/RL. NATO members Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia in particular were urged "to work harder to try and hit the 2 percent target" by the time the NATO summit takes place, she said. "They have all worked tirelessly over the last decade to increase their defense spending, and we salute those efforts," Smith said. "Those are difficult national decisions to make that are hard when there are demands on the domestic side of the house to spend money on other priorities." President Joe Biden is hoping to celebrate the largest number of allies at 2 percent than seen over the last decade at the July 9-11 summit, she said. "So, anything that our friends in the Western Balkans can do to increase that defense spending would be appreciated. And it's not just because of burden sharing, but it's because of the current security environment," Smith said. "There are threats all around us." She cited the war in Ukraine, Russia's evolving partnership with China, its increased defense production, and the support Russia is receiving from Iran and North Korean. "There are so many reasons for us all to increase our defense spending. And we really want to get to a situation where every member of this alliance spends 2 percent," she said. The alliance has come a long way since making the 2014 pledge when only three members spent 2 percent of GDP on defense. That has grown to 18, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with RFE/RL in February. Smith agreed that three other Balkan non-NATO members -- namely Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia -- have a special relationship with alliance. Bosnia is a "full-fledged aspirant" that has openly stated a desire to join, and all 32 ambassadors recently traveled to Bosnia to talk about what more could be done to deepen the partnership, help Bosnia transform and modernize its forces, and work on interoperability. Serbia has its own sovereign decision to make on whether or not it wants to pursue membership, Smith said. "Right now, the answer coming from Serbia is no. But they do have a partnership with the alliance where we are able to...train with them [and] work with them on any specific needs that they have when it comes to cybersecurity or work on modernizing their forces. They can determine how they want to work with the alliance." Kosovo is more complicated, because four NATO countries do not recognize its independence. "But the United States has a very close partnership with Kosovo, and we are not only supporting the EU-led, facilitated dialog that is working towards normalization between Kosovo and Serbia, but from a U.S. bilateral perspective, we are here to support our friends in Kosovo as they work towards their own Euro-Atlantic aspirations and work to strengthen their forces as well." Asked about U.S. concerns over about Serbia's purchase of military equipment from China and Russia, Smith said the United States had been very clear. "They should tread lightly and be cautious about working with [Chinese-]owned companies. We believe there are risks and challenges in doing so, and we also do not believe that this is the time for any country to be deepening its relationship with Russia," she said. The United States has delivered "frank and open messages" in conversations with Serbia, but also recognizes that it is their own sovereign decision. She also warned against Russian influence and disinformation, saying the United States encourages its friends in the Western Balkans to stay focused on the values they share with the West and their Euro-Atlantic aspirations. "Russia is doing its very best to put out, a whole sea of disinformation campaigns that often misrepresent what NATO is about," she said. "They often try to make the claim that NATO is directly engaged in the war in Ukraine, which is preposterous and not true." Russia puts out falsehoods about what NATO does in the Western Balkan region and refuses to acknowledge that NATO is a defensive alliance, she said. "It is, in fact Russia that is the aggressor in the case of Ukraine. Russia started this war in Ukraine and of course it could end it tomorrow if it so desires," she said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-bosnia-kosovo-macedonia- montenegro-serbia/32950589.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 Russia and Afghanistan Plan to Build Logistics Center For Oil Transit to South Asia Sputnik News 20240517 Afghanistan plans to launch talks with Russia on a logistics center in the Afghan province of Herat, which, among other things, will facilitate exports of Russian oil to South Asia, acting Afghan Minister of Industry and Trade Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Sputnik. "We would like to launch negotiations on the matter so that part of the transit of Russian oil passes through the territory of Afghanistan - it is the shortest route," Azizi said on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" in the Russian city of Kazan. He added that Kabul already has a program for the construction of a similar logistic center with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan with the participation of Afghanistan's private sector. Afghanistan has increased the imports of petroleum products from Russia, but in 2023 certain restrictions occurred, and Kabul expects that they will no longer be in place, Azizi said. "We had agreements [with Russia], we launched an oil purchase program, the private sector also became more active, after which oil supplies to Afghanistan began. Unfortunately, Russia restricted oil exports to Afghanistan last year," Azizi said on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" in Tatarstan's capital city of Kazan. Azizi added that Afghanistan needs about 4 million tonnes of petroleum products and oil per year. Afghanistan signs short-term contracts with Russian companies for the supply of petroleum products and oil, which are then renegotiated, the official explained. On May 14, the 'Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum' kicked off in the capital of the Tatarstan region. The event takes place on May 14-19 and will tackle different areas in multinational cooperation, seeking to deepen the ties between the Russian and Islamic civilizations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Nigerian Foreign Minister Tuggar US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson May 17, 2024 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary Antony J. Blinken met with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf M. Tuggar in Washington today. The Secretary thanked Foreign Minister Tuggar for hosting the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission in Abuja in April, demonstrating the importance of the bilateral partnership to advance shared priorities. The Secretary underscored the United States' commitment to a strong relationship with Nigeria focused on solving economic, governance, and security challenges that impact both nations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE The joy of being granted bail after three failed attempts was cut short when the Crown filed a notice of appeal a few hours after he was granted bail. This is the story of the lawyer, who was arrested for allegedly raping his biological daughters and helper several times. Judge Titus Mlangeni granted *Musa bail in the sum of E50 000. He was ordered to pay E7 500 in cash and to provide sureties for the balance. However, a few hours into his freedom, the Crown filed a notice of appeal against the decision to release him on bail. He had filed an application to be discharged from goal/imprisonment forthwith, as envisaged by Section 136 (1), (2) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 67 of 1938 as amended. Admitted Alternatively, Musa, applied to be admitted to bail as the court may deem fit. Section 136 (1) provides that subject to the provisions of this Act, as to the adjournment of a court, every person committed for trial or sentence whom the attorney general has decided to prosecute before the High Court shall be brought to trial at the first session of such court for the trial of criminal cases held after the date of his commitment, or else, shall be admitted to bail, if 31 days have elapsed between such date of commitment and the time of holding such session, unless (a) the court is satisfied that, in consequence of the absence of material evidence or for some other sufficient cause, such trial cannot then be proceeded with without defeating the ends of justice; or (b) before the close of such first session an order has been obtained from the court under section 137 for his removal for trial elsewhere. (2) If such person is not brought to trial at the first session of such court, held after the expiry of six months from the date of his commitment, and has not previously been removed for trial elsewhere, he shall be discharged from his imprisonment for the offence in respect of which he has been committed. Musa was arrested on September 21, 2022, on three rape charges and two other counts under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15 of 2018. Sometime in February 2023, a committal for trial, which he said he was not served with was caused to be executed and he was enrolled for trial before Judge Sabelo Masuku. Endorsed Musa stated that a roll call was accordingly held and the trial date was endorsed by the court for the April 18, 2023, where he duly appeared. It was at this juncture, that the applicant being presented and represented by counsel was able also make relevant representations to the court, in particular to ensure that his matter was heard before an impartial and fair hearing circumstances as tenants of true justice of a modern democratic legal system as ours is supposed to be professed so to be. I wish to state that the applicant threat undertook the processes and procedures of recusal proceedings, which were successfully in favour of the applicant after a long chequered show down that were concluded on August 11, 2023 with the court fully and unreservedly agreeing with the applicant, Musa submitted. Concluded He submitted that, on August 11, 2023, when the recusal proceedings were concluded and the record and file for his prosecution was referred to the registrar by the court for enrolment before another judge, there was a roll for the third session of the year 2023, which began after September 6, 2023. He said, having been committed for trial in February 2023, he was to be featured and accordingly enrolled in terms of the dictates of Section 136 (1) (2) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 67 of 1938 as amended. I wish to state that the applicant was never enrolled nor allocated for trial to the third session of the High Court that was sitting from September 2023 to December 2023 according to law. There was then the first session of the High Court that ensued from January 2024 to April 18, 2024, where the applicant was also not featured or enrolled before any court or to also appear on the roll as envisaged, said Musa. He stated that from August 11, 2023, when the recusal application and proceedings were concluded, to date, it is a period of nine months. The applicant, therefore, herein makes a humble application to be released from imprisonment in terms of Section 136 (1) (2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 67 of 1938 as amended. Prevail I wish to state that, there is nothing in law besides (a) (b) of Section 136 (1) and sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) that can prevail in law against the release and or be used to object to the applicant being ventilated to the application of Section 136 (1) (2) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938 as amended. Musa argued that he is entitled to be granted the orders he was praying for. He further submitted that he is sickly and his health has always been deteriorating due to his detention. He said his sickness was known to the court. Musa appeared in person. Marking 29 Years Since the Panchen Lama's Disappearance US Department of State Press Statement Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson May 17, 2024 Today marks 29 years since the People's Republic of China (PRC) abducted the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, as a six-year-old child. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains missing and has not appeared in public since that day. The PRC government is denying members of the Tibetan community access to this important religious figure and instead continues to promote a state-selected proxy. The United States supports Tibetans' human rights and their exercise of those rights in connection with their distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic identity. Tibetans, like members of all religious communities, should have the ability to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs and without government interference. We urge PRC authorities to immediately account for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima's whereabouts and well-being and to allow him to fully exercise his human rights in line with the PRC's international commitments. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York 17 May 2024 The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General. ** Occupied Palestinian Territory Good afternoon and happy Friday everyone, I've been asked about the floating dock in Gaza by many of you this morning, and I can tell you that the United Nations welcomes any effort towards ensuring humanitarian aid reaches Gaza. As such, we are grateful to the United States, as well as to Cyprus, with the support of other Member States, to sustain the maritime corridor as an additional route for aid to Gaza. After months of discussions with all relevant authorities, the UN has agreed to support in receiving and arranging for the dispatch of aid into Gaza from the floating dock, as long as it respects the neutrality and independence of humanitarian operations. Given the immense needs in Gaza, the floating dock is intended to supplement existing land crossings of aid into Gaza, including Rafah, Kerem Shalom and Erez. It is not meant to replace any crossings. On Friday, the first trucks carrying humanitarian assistance have moved ashore on the floating dock in Gaza. This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinians in Gaza through a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations. Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues report that since the military offensive on Rafah began, nearly 640,000 people have been displaced. Many of those who fled have sought safety in Deir al Balah, which is extremely overcrowded. Conditions there are dire. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the ongoing influx of displaced people from Rafah into Deir al Balah as well as Khan Younis continues to strain an already overstretched response. Our colleagues working on getting food to people in Gaza report that only five bakeries remain operational in all of Gaza four in Gaza City and one in Deir al Balah. Nearly a dozen others have ceased operations due to fuel and supply shortages, amid ongoing hostilities. These conditions have forced partners to conduct small-scale distributions with limited stocks, providing reduced rations and prioritizing Khan Younis and Deir al Balah governorates where, as we have mentioned, hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Rafah have arrived over the past 10 days. That ongoing displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis has exacerbated the water and sanitation crisis, with sewage overflow and solid waste spreading across roads, displacement camps and the rubble of destroyed homes with a catastrophic impact on health. Our colleagues working on ensuring that people in Gaza have adequate shelter say there are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza. Meanwhile, colleagues working on the health response say the movement of emergency medical teams in Gaza is highly constrained due to growing insecurity and access challenges. ** Ukraine From Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator there, Denise Brown, yesterday condemned new attacks that continue to devastate people's lives across the country. Yesterday, in the city of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, dozens of civilians, including two children, were injured in the strikes. Meanwhile, attacks also continued in the east, in the Kharkiv region, forcing thousands of people to flee, leaving everything behind. The humanitarian community is supporting people in Kharkiv. In coordination with the authorities, aid organizations have provided accommodation and supplies, and are exploring additional options should the number of displaced people continue to increase. ** Haiti From Haiti, our Humanitarian Coordinator, Ulrika Richardson, is calling for greater protection and assistance for people living in areas affected by the ongoing violence. Ms. Richardson said it is simply unacceptable that people going about their daily lives and children playing outside and going to school are targeted. Schools and hospitals are being looted and destroyed. In the country, some 360,000 people are displaced, the majority of them women and children, including more than 160,000 people in Port-au-Prince. Many families have been displaced multiple times and the recent coordinated attacks on the neighbourhoods of Delmas and Gressier on 25 April displaced another 10,000 people. Following assessments in Gressier, our colleagues from the World Food Programme (WFP) are telling us that close to 2,900 people will receive daily hot meals for two weeks. The agency has also continued food distributions in Cite Soleil, which, as you know, is one of Port-au-Prince's most vulnerable and poorest neighbourhoods. They have now reached 80,000 people there since last Friday. ** International Monetary Fund In a statement we issued last night, the Secretary-General welcomed the 15 May decision by the board of the International Monetary Fund to allow its members to re-channel their Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to multilateral development banks through the purchase of hybrid capital instruments. This is an important and innovative step towards expanding finance for sustainable development, in line with the Secretary-General's proposed SDG Stimulus. It could immediately unlock up to $80 billion in desperately needed resources for developing countries, including to help tackle the climate crisis. The Secretary-General calls on countries in a position to do so to seize this opportunity to re-channel their Special Drawing Rights, which can then be leveraged to increase lending to developing countries. ** Democratic Republic of the Congo Our colleagues from the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) report that their acting Force Commander, Major General Khar Diouf, along with the Operations Commander of the Congolese Armed Forces in North Kivu, visited Mubambiro, which is near Sake 25 kilometres from Goma to assess the security situation in the province. They engaged with UN peacekeepers and Congolese troops deployed in the area to protect civilians amid the continuing presence and sporadic attacks by the M23 armed group. They also visited the Operations Coordination Control Centre in Sake. MONUSCO collaborates closely with the Congolese Armed Forces through this Centre, including through exchange of information and preparation of operations, to ensure timely responses to threats against civilians. Meanwhile, in South Kivu, while the Mission has recently ceased operations as part of its disengagement plan from the country, MONUSCO is currently training Congolese army personnel on managing and securing a peacekeeping base and airport in Kavumu, which will be handed over by 30 June. As part of its disengagement process, MONUSCO has transferred two military bases to the Congolese defence and security forces. A number of premises, including in Kavumu, will be transferred to the Congolese armed forces between now and the end of June. As we have mentioned, the Mission continues to implement its mandate, including the protection of civilians, in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. ** Mali The Head of our Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simao, is going to Mali today, for a five-day visit to the capital, Bamako. He will meet with the transition authorities, members of the diplomatic corps and our colleagues from the UN country team. ** Uganda Our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva tell us that Uganda's open-door policy for refugees is being strained by arrivals from Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNHCR said that on average 2,500 people arrive in Uganda every week, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. However, the country is seeing increasing numbers of Sudanese arrivals seeking safety from a war that has raged for more than a year. UNHCR said that the influx of refugees is putting significant pressure on protection and assistance services provided to refugees and their host communities, risking Uganda's solid protection regime and refugee response model. The agency highlighted the importance of donor support in alleviating the plight of refugees and their host communities and the need for international support to help support Uganda's commitment to refugee protection. There is more information online. ** Sri Lanka A report issued today by the UN Human Rights Office calls on Sri Lanka's Government to take meaningful action to determine and disclose the fates and whereabouts of tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to enforced disappearance over the decades and hold those responsible to account. It also calls on the Government to acknowledge the involvement of State security forces and affiliated paramilitary groups, and to issue a public apology. The report is online. ** Book Launch There is an event you are invited to. The Department of Global Communications (DGC) invites you all to a book launch today at the United Nations Bookshop, from 1:30 to 2:30, on the book, The United Nations and the Question of Palestine. The book's author, Ardi Imseis, will have a conversation with Professor Karin Loevy of New York University, and Maher Nasser, Director of the DGC Outreach Division, will make opening remarks. ** International Days Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. In his messages, the Secretary-General applauded the brave work of LGBTIQ+ human rights defenders fighting to outlaw discrimination and secure equality before the law. He added that this year's theme "No one left behind: equality, freedom and justice for all" reminds us of our obligations to respect the human rights and dignity of every person. Today is also World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. This Day marks the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies. ITU is marking the event this year by exploring how digital innovation can help connect everyone and unlock sustainable prosperity for all. There are events around the world, including an ITU event that was webcast earlier and is available to screen online on ITU's website. ** Financial Contribution And last, we would like to thank our friends in Brasilia for their full payment to the Regular Budget. Brazil's payment brings the number of fully paid-up Member States to 111. And if there are any questions for me... Yes, Edie? ** Questions and Answers Question : Thank you, Farhan. A couple of questions on the aid deliveries. First, can you tell us what's happened to the aid that was in the trucks that came off the pier onto the jetty and, assumingly, were then made it to land? And secondly, can you give us some details about how the issue of neutrality involving the participation or non-participation of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) was solved to the satisfaction of the United Nations? Thank you. Deputy Spokesperson : Well, we'll have to see how this is carried out in practice. What I can tell you is that there's a logistics cluster managed by the World Food Programme that will handle the logistics on behalf of the UN, its different agencies, and the humanitarian community, and it will facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance coming from the floating dock. This will involve the coordination of the arrival of empty trucks, their registration, overseeing the loading and transfer of commodities coming through the floating dock to the trucks and the dispatch to warehouses across Gaza. And finally, that will hand over the supplies to humanitarian partners. So, this process can begin. As I said, the first trucks carrying humanitarian assistance have moved ashore on the floating dock in Gaza, and we'll try to get updates as they get loaded. Question : Yeah. Can you try and get us an update today on exactly what happened to those first trucks and whether any aid has actually moved to any Palestinians in need? Deputy Spokesperson : Yes. I mean, at this stage, I think we're at the first part of that process. And I've described what WFP is going to do as the manager of the logistics cluster, but we expect that to kick into action. Question : And on the issue of neutrality? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, on the issue of neutrality, like I said, we'll see how this carries out in practice. The basic point is that we have agreed to provide support in receiving and arranging the dispatch of aid, as long as it respects the neutrality and independence of our operations. So, we're proceeding on that understanding, and let's see how that works out. Yes. Dezhi? Question : A couple of follow ups. First, you mentioned the support in receiving and arranging for dispatch [of] the aid into Gaza. Does the UN involve in the decision-making process of where those aids are going to be delivered in Gaza? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, when the UN has aid, we dispatch it to places where people are most in need. So once aid is in our possession, that's what we do. And like I said, the World Food Programme will be managing a logistics cluster that will hand over supplies to humanitarian partners. And the idea is then to make sure that it goes to those most in need. Question : Who will protect the convoy from that floating dock? IDF, the local police or...? Deputy Spokesperson : At this stage, we have some security arrangements in place. We're going to see how this works as it goes forward. Question : One last question this round. I might have other questions. You just mentioned this floating dock cannot just replace what we have in Rafah border crossing, as well as Kerem Shalom and Erez, which leaves me this question. How's the situation in those three crossings now? Deputy Spokesperson : [sighing] Correspondent : Oh, not good. Deputy Spokesperson : Okay. All right. Let's go through them bit by bit. Correspondent : Okay. Deputy Spokesperson : Today on the Rafah, the Rafah crossing remains closed. So, that has been the situation, as you know, for several days now. Kerem Shalom crossing is operational, but over there, as we've been saying, the prevailing security and logistical conditions are hampering humanitarian aid deliveries at any scale. So, we're trying to get things through, but it's not happening. And I think I described to you yesterday about the five-and-a-half-hour delay... [cross talk] Correspondent : Many days actually. Deputy Spokesperson : So, as a result, very limited supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May, and the quantities have been insufficient to address the needs, which are immense. Basically, between 6 May and 15 May, so a nine-day period, you had 33 trucks not 33 trucks a day, but 33 trucks in all carrying food, that entered through Kerem Shalom. Then you had a 122, sorry, 121 trucks carrying food that entered through the Erez crossing. And then, 156 trucks, that were carrying flour were reported to arrive in northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing. So those are the amounts we've had, in the 6-15 May period. Question : What's the situation of fuel now for the UN agencies in Gaza? Deputy Spokesperson : What? What's the situation...? Question : The fuel. Deputy Spokesperson : Since the start of the Rafah operation, we have an extremely limited amount of fuel that has come in to Gaza, but that's been on an exceptional basis only. We're still functioning, but this is a very limited amount. Yes. Abdelhamid? Question : Thank you. I have also a couple of follow-up questions. Regarding the distribution of food from the floating dock, why resorting only to WFP when you still have UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), and UNRWA has the largest number of staff and the best qualified to do the distribution? Why excluding UNRWA? Deputy Spokesperson : You mean why is WFP doing the logistics cluster? Question : Yeah. Not UNRWA. Working in cooperation... [cross talk] Deputy Spokesperson : Okay, what I can say on that, the World Food Programme manages the logistics cluster on behalf of the UN. The cluster ensures logistics coordination, information management, and the facilitation of shared logistics services, such as storage and transport. And since 2005, the logistics cluster has supported the logistics response for more than 60 emergency operations, including most recently in Ethiopia, Syria, Turkiye and Ukraine. So, this is something that the WFP has been doing in many, many different circumstances. Question : Okay. I noticed that you always say Kerem Shalom only. The original word is Karem Salem, and my colleague Ibtisam raised it several times. At least if you don't want to say the original name Karem Salem, at least say both; Karem Salem and Kerem Shalom. Israeli took it from the Arabic word, and they put it in Hebrew. Deputy Spokesperson : I'm not making an implication by using the one. I just try not to say... When there's two equivalents for a word, I try to just use one, but certainly, we also call it Karem Abu Salem. Question : Yeah. Thank you. Today also... Yeah. Thank you for mentioning the book signing. But there was also commemoration of the seventy-sixth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba in ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council). I was wondering why you didn't mention this important ceremony taking place in ECOSOC. Deputy Spokesperson : I don't have a lot of information on Economic and Social Council events. When we get those, we announce those. Question : No, it's... the venue is the ECOSOC, but it's the Palestinian UN Committee on Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People who was conducting the ceremony, and there were many speakers and the... So, that's why I was wondering. It's... I mean, the book signing is a little bit details of what's going on the commemoration of the seventy-sixth anniversary. Deputy Spokesperson : It is part... As we get information to publicize, we put it out. Yes? Question : Thank you, Farhan. Today, the European Council banned for Russian media outlets from broadcasting on its territory. So, what's your position on that? Do you have any comment? Deputy Spokesperson : I believe this is a decision by a European body, so I don't have anything to say from here. You could check with our human rights colleagues. Correspondent : Thanks. Deputy Spokesperson : Alan, I believe you have a question online. Question : Thank you, Farhan. Actually, that was my question, so I withdrew it. Thank you. Deputy Spokesperson : Well done. Thank you. Edie? Oh, and then you. Question : Two follow-ups. First, you said that the UN has some security arrangements in place. Can you give us some details on who's involved in them? Deputy Spokesperson : In general, when it comes to security matters, there's a constraint on me being able to provide details. I don't think I would be able to. Question : Okay. And secondly, when are the fuel supplies in Gaza going to run out? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, like I said, an extremely limited amount of fuel has been coming in on an exceptional basis. So, it's precarious, but, at this stage, it does not seem as if we're at the point where we're having to shut down. And I've said that a few times in recent days, but it remains the case. Yes, please? Question : Thank you, Farhan. So, my name is Yu from Kyodo News. Just a follow-up question. How many people still there are in Rafah now? Do you have a number? As you know, so many people have left from Rafah, so how many? Deputy Spokesperson : It's hard to determine how many are there. We had said at the start that there was about a little over a million people in Rafah. Since then, we've said that nearly 640,000 people have been displaced since the start of the military offensive. So doing the math, that means approximately 400,000 or so, but it's hard to have a precise calculation, given the fluid nature of the situation. Dezhi and then Abdelhamid and then Gabriel. Question : Yes. I think some people, they are very concerning about how to make sure that maybe this is not right but how to make sure those humanitarian deliveries in Gaza wouldn't be stolen from Hamas? Deputy Spokesperson : We have oversight over the aid that we deliver. [cross talk] Question : Do you have any case like this? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, obviously, it's difficult in situations of chaos to prevent things like looting and we've reported on looting, including of our warehouses and food stocks. But we oversee the distribution of aid to make sure that it gets to those who are meant to be on the receiving end of it. Question : And speaking of looting, do you have any update on the alleged video that the Israeli authority accused UNRWA with the fighters? Do you have any update on that investigation? [cross talk] Deputy Spokesperson : Well, I told you what we said about this a few days ago and that's where we stand. [cross talk] Question : So, no update. Okay. Deputy Spokesperson : Yes. Abdelhamid. And then after that, Gabriel. Question : Yes. Do you know if these ships bringing some aid to the floating dock would be carrying back some wounded Palestinians? Deputy Spokesperson : I believe, as I said at the start, that this is an ongoing multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinians in Gaza through a maritime quarter that is entirely humanitarian in nature and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations. Question : But you don't know if they're taking any injured Palestinians? They could be. Deputy Spokesperson : The assurances that we've had are that this is what it's for; it's for the dispatch of humanitarian aid. Question : Yeah. My second question. Today, the Israeli statement in the ICJ (International Court of Justice) claimed that they are allowing humanitarian aid to come into Gaza, asking the ICJ to dispel the South African demand that they call for immediate comprehensive ceasefire. Was the Israeli speaker saying the truth, talking about allowing humanitarian aid to get into Gaza? Deputy Spokesperson : I'm going to maintain my position of not commenting on different presentations made at the International Court of Justice. That's not my role. I've been giving you a faithful, factual round-up of what the humanitarian conditions on the ground are. So, you can judge for yourself where we see the humanitarian conditions as heading. Correspondent : Thank you. Deputy Spokesperson : Gabriel? Question : Thank you, Farhan. John Kirby from the US Government said this morning in an interview with Al Jazeera, that today, on the floating dock, 300 pallets of aid were delivered. Can you confirm that, or does that sound correct to you? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, you know, like I said, I can confirm that the first trucks did move ashore on the floating dock in Gaza. I don't have amounts to give at this stage because the distribution process, the process of moving that amount is ongoing. Question : Okay. And two more. I mean, we're focused on this floating dock that the UN did not request, did not set up, and as you've already said, is insufficient for the need, if I summarized you from yesterday correctly. Deputy Spokesperson : I said it in somewhat a different way. I mean, we appreciate all alternative routes. At the end of the day, we have an objective, which is to feed people, to get them clean water, to get them medical supplies, and other vital things that will keep them alive. Any new way of ensuring that they will get aid is good. Will this solve the problem in and of itself? I think I've made it clear, and we've been making it clear for some months now, that it would not. But it helps. Question : Fair enough. And I guess the worry is then if we're focusing on this one that is insufficient for the need, do you worry about that there is not enough focus on the border crossings that you just spelled out are, clearly with the numbers you gave, not sufficient? This could give focus on an area that is not necessary, is not sufficient. Deputy Spokesperson : The thing is, Gabriel, that part is not my job. That's your job. So, I trust that you will present the whole picture what's working and what's not working. Because at the end of the day, the basic point is, will we be able to get enough aid in to keep people alive? We've made it very clear that unless things change dramatically for the better, the answer is no, and people will die. And so, we need to have improvement in many different areas. And I trust that you will get the messages out to the people around the world about what is helping and what's not helping. Question : Can I ask a follow-up just on Jabalia Refugee Camp? The Israeli military is several days into a military operation there in Jabalia. They've reached the central part of the refugee camp. People are dying. People are being arrested. How concerned is the Secretary-General about what he's seeing from there, and what is his message to the Israeli military as this operation continues? Deputy Spokesperson : Well, our message has been consistent. We're concerned about all of the fighting in different areas. We're concerned about how many of the people in Gaza have had to move not once, but five, six, even more times in a place where no area they move to is safe. So, what the Secretary-General wants, and he said it over and over again, is a humanitarian ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unimpeded humanitarian aid delivery. Edie? Question : Farhan, today or tomorrow, is there enough fuel to actually deliver aid throughout Gaza? Deputy Spokesperson : That ultimately depends, as it has every day, on how much fuel gets in. Fuel is coming in, but in limited quantities. And we want to make sure that enough is there so that we can get to where we need to go. Question : And where is that fuel coming in from? Deputy Spokesperson : It's been coming in from different places, including the Erez crossing and the Zikim crossing. All right. Have a great weekend, everyone. We'll be back on Monday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Uganda's open-door policy for refugees strained by arrivals from Sudan, DRC, and South Sudan UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 17 May 2024 GENEVA -- Uganda is welcoming increasing numbers of Sudanese arrivals - over 33,000 people, 19,000 of whom have arrived in Kampala since the start of 2024 - seeking safety from a war that has raged for more than a year. Most Sudanese arrivals are from Khartoum, and many have a university-level education. Including the Sudanese, on average 2,500 people arrive in Uganda every week, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, primarily driven by ongoing conflicts and climate-related challenges. The continuous influx of refugees is not making the headlines but combined with funding shortfalls, puts significant pressure on protection and assistance services provided to refugees and their host communities, risking Uganda's solid protection regime and refugee response model. Due to funding gaps, the health sector - which serves both refugees and the surrounding host populations - has already been hard hit. Health centre staff numbers have had to be reduced and there are insufficient supplies to meet critical health needs. An outbreak of conjunctivitis (red eye disease) around the country has also impacted several refugee settlements. For example, 141 cases have been reported in Nakivale settlement and there are concerns it could get worse due to a shortage of water and soap, impacting hygiene. Mental health concerns persist. Four attempted suicides among refugees in Adjumani - two of them young people - have been reported in the past two weeks, highlighting the vulnerability of youth and the necessity for increased targeted interventions. Schools are overcrowded and there are not enough teachers or educational materials, making it difficult for children - representing more than half of the total refugee population - to get an education. Critical protection services are also being hampered. For example, refugee registration is facing lengthy delays as there is a lack of necessary materials and equipment to make the process smoother. Investments in supporting refugees with income-generating activities have had to be curtailed, with a ripple effect on efforts to make refugees less dependent on aid. This past week, UNHCR with senior Ugandan officials have visited key partners including the Governments of Denmark, Netherlands, and Belgium as well as EU institutions, to highlight the profound impact of reduced funding, and advocate for additional resources. UNHCR highlighted the importance of donor support in alleviating the plight of refugees and their host communities, emphasizing Uganda's unwavering commitment to fulfil pledges toward greater socio-economic inclusion and self-reliance for refugees made at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum. Uganda hosts the highest number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Africa, with almost 1.7 million people mainly from South Sudan and the DRC, yet it was among UNHCR's 13 top underfunded operations globally in 2023. In 2024, the Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan (UCRRP) which is seeking $858 million for 96 partners to support over 1.67 million refugees and 2.7 million host community members, has received just 13 per cent of the required funds. For decades, Uganda has been at the forefront of assisting refugees and has been a beacon of stability in the region, embracing progressive policies that exemplify the Global Compact on Refugees, allowing refugees to have land and freedom of movement and to reside in urban areas provided they can support themselves. If those policies lose ground as funding ebbs, we may see people moving out of Uganda in search of a way to survive. In May, refugees started leaving for neighbouring countries citing the lack of support and the reduction in food rations. If there is no action, development gains and institutional capacity will be weakened and peaceful coexistence with the hosting communities hampered. More international support is needed to help support Uganda's commitment to refugee protection. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN's rights chief says horrified by Sudan escalation as famine draws nearer 17 May 2024 - The UN's top human rights official has personally intervened to try to stop spiralling violence in Sudan that's having a terrifying impact on millions of civilians, who humanitarians say are "staring famine in the face". According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, held separate phone calls on Tuesday with Lt-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the rival Rapid Support Forces. Diplomatic approach Mr. Turk urged them both to act immediately - and publicly - to de-escalate the situation, said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, who noted that the UN rights chief had previously approached the rival generals in November 2022. "He warned both commanders that fighting in El-Fasher, where more than 1.8 million residents and internally displaced people are currently encircled and at imminent risk of famine, would have a catastrophic impact on civilians, and it would deepen intercommunal conflict with disastrous humanitarian consequences," Ms. Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva. "He reminded the commanders of their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure strict compliance with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, and to put an end to any ongoing violations, as well as ensure accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed by their respective forces and allies." 13 months of heavy fighting Thirteen months of war in Sudan have left half of the population in need of humanitarian assistance - a staggering 25 million people, including 14 million children. Millions have been repeatedly displaced, becoming more vulnerable each time, and aid teams have warned repeatedly that famine is closing in, with the approach of the rainy season. The UN human rights office expressed concerns about the ongoing and lasting impact of conflict across Sudan, while highlighting the dire situation affecting civilians caught up in escalating violence in and around El Fasher in Darfur. At least 58 civilians are reported to have been killed and 213 others since fighting dramatically escalated in the North Darfur town last week, OHCHR said. Disease, famine closing in Echoing concerns about the emergency situation, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned that diseases are closing in and people are "staring famine in the face". The UN-partnered response plan aims to reach and support 15 million of the worst-affected people but $2.7 billion is needed urgently to do so. Today, humanitarians have received only 12 per cent of the total and without an immediate injection of funds, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke warned that aid teams "won't be able to scale up in time to stave off famine and prevent further deprivation". He added that funding would be used to "bring in more food, health services, shelter, water and sanitation, but also for prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, help to the victims, and support for the re-opening of schools for out-of-school children". Fleeing to Uganda The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, also highlighted the need for sufficient funding as increasing numbers of Sudanese flee to neighbouring Uganda. More than 33,000 are now in the country, 19,000 of whom have arrived in the capital, Kampala, since January. Uganda already hosts the highest number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Africa, 1.7 million people. On average, 2,500 people arrive in the country every week, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Despite this, Uganda remains among the top 13 underfunded operations globally, UNHCR said. Critical funding shortfall Humanitarians are seeking $858 million this year to support 1.6 million refugees in the country, and 2.7 million people in host communities, but received just 13 per cent of the required funds. UNHCR warned that the continuous influx of people fleeing conflict, combined with funding shortfalls, is putting pressure on the protection and assistance services provided to both refugees and local communities hosting them. The health sector has already been hard hit, with staffing numbers reduced and insufficient supplies to meet critical needs. Schools also are overcrowded and there are not enough teachers or educational materials, making it difficult for refugee children to get an education. Furthermore, critical protection services have also been affected, as refugee registration is facing lengthy delays due to the lack of necessary materials and equipment that make the process smoother. This past week, UNHCR and senior Ugandan officials visited key partners including the Governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as European Union institutions, to highlight the impact of reduced funding, and advocate for additional resources. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ACC Commander: Dominance in electromagnetic spectrum is not optional Published May 17, 2024 By Capt. Benjamin Aronson 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The Crows of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing welcomed the Air Combat Command leadership team and their spouses to Eglin Air Force Base, recently, where they saw firsthand the wing's role in providing joint and coalition partners with electromagnetic warfare capabilities needed to dominate the spectrum. The wing, activated in 2021, has its origins in the 53rd Wing at Eglin; the same wing Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, previously commanded. The now inactive 53rd Electronic Warfare Group, went on to become eight squadrons across the 350th SWW that Wilsbach had the opportunity to engage with during his visit. "Going through the 350th today and seeing how much has changed was impressive," Wilsbach said. "The advancements, changes and speed at which the wing operates enhances the focus on the primary challenge - China." Wilsbach and Chief Master Sgt. David Wolfe, ACC's command chief, were briefed on the wing's current process to rapidly reprogram critical mission data under wartime contingencies and how it is reshaping its approach to combat adversaries in the spectrum. "Electromagnetic spectrum operations are a significant part of how we operate," Wilsbach said. "The operations that are happening today in the Pacific will inform the data and what will happen here at the 350th. That data will in turn be used by those same operators for an advantage against China." Part of that reshaping includes the planned activation of the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group at Robins AFB, Georgia. The 950th SWG is projected to expand the wing's ability to assess every aircraft in the Combat Air Force inventory, ensuring readiness through assessment of EMS-based combat capabilities. The wing conveyed the resourcing challenges associated with reinvesting in spectrum-based capabilities, including the ability to gain experienced Airmen who are familiar with EWa challenge on both the officer, enlisted and civilian sides of the force. "We need to have an ecosystem for experts in electronic warfare and spectrum warfare," Wilsbach said. "The focus on creating that pipeline will develop our Airmen and prepare them to execute the mission of the Spectrum Warfare Wing." Wolfe agreed with Wilsbach and wing leadership, stating, "There's a lot of work to be done from Air Combat Command to ensure we are doing everything possible to resource a new wing." During the visit, Wolfe hosted an all-call with the 350th and 53rd Wing enlisted members touching on the readiness of the force to meet the pacing challenge of China and other adversaries in the Indo-Pacific region. "We're the only enlisted force on the planet that can do what would be needed in the Pacific," said Wolfe. "The professionalism and the excellence of our enlisted corps is a distinct advantage and is full of winners who do a job every day and make things happen." The ACC command team learned how the wing is weaponizing data and how it is essential for disrupting, degrading and destroying enemy command, control and communication systems. This is being done through efforts conducted at units such as the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron, which supports the entire Department of Defense F-35 Lightning II fleet. The wing also showcased its role in prioritizing EMSO-integration into exercises such as Red Flag, Bamboo Eagle and more, supporting Wilsbach's exercise priorities and providing warfighters and planners across the joint force realistic EW training environments and education. "EMSO needs to be integrated into our training," said Wilsbach. "As we go forward with these large force exercises...the [350th] Spectrum Warfare Wing and its mission will be integral. Electronic warfare is not a special thing; it is just what we do." The Air force's ability to generate, sustain and deliver decisive multi-domain effects to achieve air component commander objectives depends on the 350th SWW, a message that was on display during the visit. "It's been fantastic being at Eglin and interacting with the Airmen," said Wilsbach. "They're addressing the most pressing needs our service has and getting results. Dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum is required; it's no longer optional. If you don't pay attention in that area, you're going to get beat." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Leyte Gulf Returns from Final Deployment US Navy 17 May 2024 From Petty Officer 2nd Class Porsha Thompson NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. -- The guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) returned to Naval Station Norfolk, May 10, 2024, marking their final deployment. Leyte Gulf departed Norfolk, Jan. 28, 2024, to conduct maritime interdiction and theater security operations in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations. "The crew of Leyte Gulf is a model for maritime teamwork," said Vice Adm. Doug Perry, Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet. "They partnered with Navy air assets and Coast Guard interdiction teams, showcasing 2nd Fleet's ability to extend our presence and maintain homeland defense in other fleets. This is a profound final chapter for one of the Navy's finest ships, and their crew should be proud of all they accomplished." During their final deployment, Leyte Gulf embarked the "Valkyries" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 50 and partnered with U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 404. The Leyte Gulf team performed maritime interdiction operations and disrupted 4,100 kilograms of cocaine. They detected and seized a self-propelled semi-submersible containing 2,370 kilograms of illicit drugs, which was later destroyed during a sinking exercise. The LEDET boarded and took positive control of three vessels during interdiction operations and removed 15 narcotics traffickers from the narcotics trade. "I admire the resiliency of the crew aboard Leyte Gulf," said Perry. "Their commitment to the mission in the South Atlantic enhances maritime security through sustained naval presence." Leyte Gulf operated with regional partners in the 4th Fleet area and conducted theater security cooperation visits. These combined efforts aimed to strengthen maritime partnerships, enhance U.S. maritime posture, and deter threats of illicit drug trafficking. Named after one of World War II's largest naval battles, "The Battle of Leyte Gulf" was fought in 1944 in the Philippine Sea. It was a decisive battle that pushed back Japanese naval forces. The ship, which would be forever known as Leyte Gulf, was constructed in 1985 and commissioned in 1987. "This ship is full of history. Each period brings its own far-off journeys, along with generations of Sailors who have manned the helm," said Capt. Nathan Diaz, the commanding officer of Leyte Gulf. "Our last deployment was full of Sailors who made their own mark on the story of this great warship. Though our namesake comes from a battle long ago, the U.S. is still performing with a level of combat expertise and professionalism that we've always had as we protect the homeland." U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Humanitarian aid rolls into Gaza through newly assembled floating pier By VOA News May 17, 2024 Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in both the north and south Gaza Strip on Friday as trucks began delivering aid shipments through a U.S.-built temporary pier off the embattled enclave. Vehicles ferrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via the pier at 9 a.m. local time, according to U.S. Central Command. The floating pier was pre-assembled by the U.S. military at the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved to the shore of Gaza this week, allowing for aid deliveries by several countries and humanitarian organizations, CENTCOM said. No U.S. troops went ashore, it added. The World Food Program said that the aid that came through the floating dock on Friday was transported to its warehouses in Deir al-Balah and is ready to be collected and distributed by its partners. Supplies will be subject to Israeli security checks in Cyprus before arriving on the pier and will have to go through additional Israeli checkpoints once they land, U.S. administration officials have said. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the United States remains "vigilant to potential threats to the armed service members that are working on the pier and humanitarian aid organizations and workers helping with the distribution." Despite the new aid route, the U.N. said that truck convoys arriving by land were the "most viable, effective and efficient" method of getting aid into Gaza. "To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza - and for that, we need access by land now," U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said. Fierce battles throughout the enclave have hampered humanitarian aid deliveries, and aid groups warn that conditions are too dangerous and unstable for workers to safely be delivering assistance there. The Rafah crossing a key humanitarian aid corridor on the Egyptian border has been closed since the Israeli military launched what it called a limited operation in Rafah city on May 7, sparking an exodus of Palestinians seeking safety farther north in Gaza. The United Nations and other aid groups have said that Israel needs to do more to get aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by the war since Israel launched its military operation in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Hamas has been designated a terror organization by the U.S., the U.K. and other countries. Israel has said it is stepping up efforts to get aid into Gaza, and the military said 365 aid trucks had entered through the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossing points Thursday, carrying flour and fuel. In addition, hundreds of tents were delivered, intended for people evacuated from Rafah to the Al-Mawasi area, which Israel has declared a humanitarian zone. The Israel Defense Forces "will continue its efforts to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, in accordance with international law," it said in a statement. Fierce battles Meanwhile, Israeli forces were entangled in fierce urban warfare Friday in the narrow alleyways of Jabalia against reemerging Hamas cells in northern Gaza. Israeli armored vehicles rolled into the heart of the city, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, and bulldozers were flattening homes and shops in the path of the advance, said residents in the area. At the southern end of Gaza, Israel has been carrying out a military operation in Rafah that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded parts of Rafah on Friday, while the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were firing anti-tank missiles and mortars at forces massing to the east, southeast and inside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Israeli forces recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Friday. The military did not say where the bodies were found in Gaza. The White House on Friday called the discovery of the bodies "horrible news." "Our hearts go out to the families who were having to deal with this terrible news," Kirby told reporters. Hagari identified the hostages as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter, who he said were killed by Hamas at the Nova music festival and had their bodies taken into Gaza. The White House said it was sending national security adviser Jake Sullivan to the Middle East this weekend for talks on the seven-month war. Sullivan is scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The war was triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israel's subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which includes civilians and combatants in its count but says most of the dead are women and children. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gunmen kill 3 Western tourists, translator in central Afghanistan By Ayaz Gul May 17, 2024 Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Friday that unknown assailants fatally shot three Western tourists and their local translator in the central city of Bamiyan. The late-afternoon shooting in a busy central market also injured four people, including a foreigner, a spokesman for the Taliban-led Afghan Interior Ministry said. Abdul Mateen Qani shared the details on his official account on the social media platform X, but he did not disclose the foreigners' nationalities. He said Taliban security forces' efforts to apprehend the attackers led to the arrests of four suspects linked to the assault. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns this incident, expresses its sympathy to the families of the victims, and assures them that all the criminals involved will be found and brought to justice," Qani said, using the official title of the Taliban government. Area officials and residents were reported as saying that the foreign tourists came from Spain, Norway and Turkey, among other countries. However, the reports could not be verified from independent sources. A spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy of the European Union condemned the armed attack against the tourists visiting Bamiyan. "Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack," Nabila Massrali said in a statement. "The United States is deeply saddened to hear about the shooting attack in Bamiyan, which killed and wounded Afghan civilians and foreign nationals," Thomas West, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, said on X. "Our thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Violence is not the answer." Friday's attack on foreign tourists was the first since the Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Bamiyan, one of the poorest regions in impoverished Afghanistan, is a popular destination for foreign tourists because it contains Buddhist monastic ensembles and sanctuaries, according to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The scenic city was also the spot where the Taliban destroyed two large Buddha statues in March 2001 during their previous rule in Afghanistan. The group said the statues were blasphemous under Islam. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Humanitarian crisis in Sudan spins out of control as famine looms By Lisa Schlein May 17, 2024 As U.N. agencies warn of a looming famine in Sudan, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk held separate phone calls with Sudan's rival generals this week to try to deescalate the conflict. "The high commissioner warned both commanders that fighting in el-Fasher, where more than 1.8 million residents and internally displaced people are encircled and at imminent risk of famine, would have a catastrophic impact on civilians, and would deepen intercommunal conflict with disastrous humanitarian consequences," Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the high commissioner, told journalists in Geneva Friday. Since fighting for control of el-Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in western Darfur, dramatically escalated last week, the United Nations says at least 58 civilians have been killed and 213 injured. Shamdasani said during separate telephone conversations Tuesday with Sudanese Armed Forces Commander Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Turk "appealed to both generals to put the interests of the people first." She said human rights chief Turk, who has been trying to have a conversation with the two competing leaders since August, expressed his "deep distress" at the situation in Sudan and urged them "to take specific concrete steps to cease hostilities." Shamdasani said the high commissioner told them "to resume peace negotiations, to ensure that people have access to adequate humanitarian assistance, to not block humanitarian assistance, and to ensure that their troops and their allied forces fully respect international humanitarian law and human rights law." She said the generals each acknowledged the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and that SAF Commander Burhan indicated that he would facilitate visas for more U.N. human rights staff. "The visa issue is an important one," she said, noting that her office currently has only one international staff member in Port Sudan. "The high commissioner did ask for his designated expert to get access to Sudan as well as more of our staff to get access, and that was a positive outcome of the call," she said, adding that "it is very important for us to be on the ground, to be able to cover such important crises more closely." Since war between the SAF and RSF erupted in mid-April 2023, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, reports more than 15,500 people have been killed, some 33,000 others injured, and an estimated 6.8 million have been displaced within the country. "In Sudan, half of the population, 25 million people, need humanitarian aid," said Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson. "Famine is closing in. Diseases are closing in. The fighting is closing in on civilians, especially in Darfur." He said that the U.N. aims to reach and support 15 million of the worst-affected people, and that efforts to help so many citizens were under threat because the U.N.'s appeal for $2.7 billion was only 12% funded. "This is not just an underfunded appeal; it is a catastrophically underfunded appeal," he said. "People in Sudan are staring famine in the face." The World Health Organization warns famine is looming, especially in parts of Darfur and in the capital, Khartoum, with more than one-third of the population facing acute hunger. "The number of under-5 children and pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from acute malnutrition has increased by 22% from 3.9 million to 4.9 million people in 2024," Dr. Shible Sahbani, the WHO representative in Sudan, said in Port Sudan Friday. "The recent escalation of violence in Darfur, and particularly in el-Fasher, is alarming and causing more deaths and injuries among civilians as access to health facilities is hampered by the ensuing insecurity," he said. The WHO has recorded 62 verified attacks on health care. It says two-thirds of Sudan's 18 states currently are experiencing multiple outbreaks of killer diseases. It warns that disease outbreaks such as cholera, measles, dengue fever and malaria are spreading and likely to worsen during the upcoming rainy season "as people living in makeshift shelters will be more exposed to the elements" and access to those in desperate need becomes even more difficult. "We stand ready to do more and utilize all available avenues to reach the most vulnerable populations across Sudan, but we need assurances of security for our staff and supplies," Sahbani said, adding that "health cannot be ensured in the absence of peace." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Residents worry as DRC rebels frantically exploit coltan mine By Zanem Nety Zaidi May 17, 2024 Reputed to be the coltan capital of the world, the mining town of Rubaya, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has fallen into the hands of rebels. The fall of Rubaya is causing a stir among local residents who fear M23 will use profits from the coltan mines to fund their war against the DRC government. Estimated to hold more than 70 percent of the planet's coltan reserves, the town of Rubaya has been under the control of the M23 rebels since April 30. According to Mapenzi Mulume, a young man from Masisi territory, the rebels have set up teams to exploit the minerals 24 hours a day, and women and children are also invited to join, he laments. He says that since the M23 rebels occupied the mining town of Rubaya, they've been mining 24 hours a day. He noted that children are working in rotating shifts. He said he deplores child labor and calls on the international community to intervene on behalf of the people of Rubaya. The M23 rebels have been fighting the DRC government since 2021, following an earlier conflict that ended with a government victory. People in Masisi territory fear the rise in power of the rebels and their allies in the Rwandan army. Exauce Kavatsawa, a local resident, believes the rebels have achieved one of their primary objectives with the conquest of the important coltan reserve. He says that Rubaya is a really rich deposit of coltan and other raw materials, and so the fall of Rubaya is a salvation for the M23. He says the access to Rubaya will enable the rebels to find the means to finance their war. In a communique issued by the Ministry of Mines, the Congolese government asserted that, since the occupation of Rubaya by the M23, tons of raw materials from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been crossing the Rwandan border on a daily basis via the Nyiragongo territory occupied by the M23. Rwanda has not commented on the issue. These assertions are rejected by the rebels, whose military spokesman is Major Willy Ngoma. He confirms that mining continues in the mines, but he asserts it is by local indigenous populations. He says the struggle of the government is not about minerals, and asserts that none of their authorities, civil or military, can get involved in this mineral trafficking business. When a citizen is in his own backyard, he says, digging, finding something and selling it, it has nothing to do with the authorities. The population can sell because they are free in their country, and we only ensure their security. The M23 rebels have extended their zone of control beyond the town of Rubaya in recent weeks, where the minerals of cassiterite and manganese are also mined in considerable quantities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE As rare as it sounds but it is true. Siphocosini Inkhundla has broken with tradition in a response to the rampant spread of crime and they have partnered with both ex-convicts and the crime prevention unit in the Mbabane police to obliterate the ugly face of crime and stay ahead of the criminals. Dosinja Dosa Tfwala, one of the countrys most notorious car-jackers and cash-in-transit heisters, has now become a crime prevention ambassador and leads a few converts who are working with the inkhundla and the police to uproot crime and fight gangsterism. One of the heists that Tfwala pulled, together with his accomplices, is that of the E600 000 that disappeared at Limkokwing University of Technology back in 2018. Faced with the rapid spread of different forms of criminal activities from brutal gender-based violence to violent heists and burglaries, Siphocosini has had to adopt the out-of-the box approach to arrest the situation. There are four constituent chiefdoms under the Siphocosini Inkhundla and all of them have, until recently, been under siege from criminal elements, making it difficult to focus on a proper development agenda for the inkhundla. If the safety of people and property cannot be guaranteed, it is difficult to focus on development, said Indvuna Yenkhundla Wilton Jazi Mamba. Siphocosini and Mantabeni chiefdoms are battling against gangsterism perpetrated by the cultic 26s and 28s, a violent group of jailbirds, mainly teenagers whose main weapons are knives. The gangs break into homes and local grocery stores, where they steal valuables to sell so that they can feed an insatiable drug habit. Emaphara Sigangeni has been held hostage for many years by a gangster group called emaphara as revealed by Mamba. Homes would be broken into in brought daylight, and a shop keeper in an isolated store had her hand severed with a machete when she refused to cooperate with the gang. There were numerous similar cases, until the people of Sigangeni were forced to respond violently through a form of vigilantism that left the leader of the gang dead. Some members of the community who were fingered to have led the attack on the gang were arrested and face murder charges in court. Mamba said when they took office as a new Inkhundla Council, crime prevention was on the list of priority interventions after food security and job creation. The situation in the fourth chiefdom, Luhlendlweni, has been calm in recent years following the deployment of the Operational Service Support Unit (OSSU) who have a base in the border community. The community had been used to smuggle drugs, mainly dagga, to neighbouring South Africa, which bred other forms of crime. The OSSU has been so tough to drug-traffickers and other law breakers over the years, the situation has significantly calmed down. Report: China's taste for 'blood timber' may be fueling Mozambique conflict By Kate Bartlett, William Mapote May 17, 2024 Africa has long been known for its so-called "blood diamonds," a term for mineral wealth that fuels violent conflict. In the Southern Africa country of Mozambique, a report finds "blood timber" largely fueled by market demand from China is financing an insurgency in northern Mozambique. But security analysts disagree on how much the militants are profiting from the wood sales. An Islamic State-linked militant group has been waging an insurgency in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some militants fighting in the name of jihad but most driven by economic exclusion in an area rich in rubies and natural gas. A report this week by a U.K. and U.S.-based charity, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), says one of the region's other natural riches, luxury hardwood prized in China, is further fueling the fighting. "The bleeding has to stop. Mozambique has had a log export ban since 2017, but we can see clearly that China the importer of more than 90% of Mozambique's wood has continued massive volume of imports of logs," the EIA's Alex Bloom told VOA. Only some of that amount is wood coming from insurgency-wracked areas, the EIA says, estimating that about 30 percent of timber from Cabo Delgado is coming from insurgent-controlled forests. The agency says the timber is then brought to Chinese-owned sawmills in the town of Montepuez, where legal and conflict timber are processed together to disguise illegality before shipping. Throughout the process, Chinese businesses allegedly pay bribes to government officials to smooth the way for the wood to travel to port for export. Some of the wood going from Cabo Delgado to China is a rosewood known as "hongmu," which is used to make luxury furniture. As a species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), rosewood is supposed to go through inspection by Mozambican officials to ensure that trade does not threaten its survival. However, due to corruption, this rarely happens, the EIA said. Corruption allegations "What we do is talk to the Chinese nicely so that we get our share of the bribe and they take the containers through the port," one unnamed former official quoted in the report told the investigators. EIA's Bloom told VOA that because of the bribes, some Mozambican officials might not feel much incentive to stop the illegal timber trade. "Many sources interviewed for this report described corruption at many levels through the timber trade, and some described a kind of symbiotic relationship between Mozambique officials, including the (governing) Frelimo party, and 'China,' referencing both the state and the Chinese business people in the trade sector in Cabo Delgado," she said in an email. Mozambique has been a beneficiary of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's global infrastructure-building project the Belt and Road Initiative for years. "Sources said, for example, that the Frelimo party gains legitimacy from attracting both Chinese business and large infrastructure investments, and even campaign funds; and therefore is reluctant to criticize or crack down on wide-scale corrupt practices involving these players," noted Bloom. The Chinese embassy in Washington and the Chinese mission to the African Union did not reply to emailed requests for comment from VOA. VOA also attempted to contact Mozambique's minister of land and environment, Ivete Maibaze, but received no answer. Contacted for comment, police spokesperson Leonel Muchina referred reporters to the Mozambican attorney general's office. The attorney general's office then referred VOA to a report it presented to parliament in April. In that report, authorities acknowledge that "Illicit trade in species of wild flora and fauna or parts thereof has reached alarming proportions." It found there was illegal exploitation of forest resources in Cabo Delgado. "These crimes, in addition to causing damage to the common good, the environment, are closely related to the occurrence of other criminal phenomena, such as terrorist financing, money laundering and corruption," it said. Resurgence of violence Cabo Delgado was back in the news this month, after the insurgents staged a major assault on the key town of Macomia on May 10. This, as French oil company TotalEnergies had been looking at resuming a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in the province that it postponed due to the unrest. The renewed violence comes as regional forces which have been stationed in the area since 2021 begin to pull out. Jasmine Opperman, a security consultant based in South Africa, told VOA in a phone interview the withdrawal of South African troops is going to leave a vacuum. "The attack in Macomia should be a harsh wake-up call to the region, in terms of where we stand with the insurgency. Numbers is not a problem, weapons is not a problem, money is not a problem," she said. While she noted the militants were not lacking in funds, she was skeptical they were getting money from the timber trade as the EIA suggests. "That report is but speculation. The Chinese are in control of the whole illegal trade in wood, and it's a complex, complex network. ... There is no evidence that insurgents are deriving any income from illegal wood trade," Opperman said. "At level best where they could make money with this trade is if they're being paid protection money by the Chinese. That is to say, to move into an area where there are insurgents, pay them to allow them access, cut the trees, [and] get the trees out with no one being attacked," she added. Piers Pigou, at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, echoed the idea the militants could be making money that way. "Where they could be involved is extracting rents in some way or another. ... I think there are some question marks about exactly what the nature of that connectivity to the insurgency would be." Darren Olivier, director at African Defense Review, a conflict research consultancy, did not dismiss the idea either. "The insurgency is clearly getting funding from somewhere, as there's no way they'd be able to sustain this level of activity without a fairly substantial source of income," he said. VOA's Portuguese Service contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address National Security Memorandum on United States Policy on the Antarctic Region May 17, 2024 NATIONAL SECURITY MEMORANDUM/nSM-23 MEMORANDUM FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION THE CHAIR OF THE MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION SUBJECT: United States Policy on the Antarctic Region This memorandum establishes the policy of the United States with respect to the Antarctic Region. It rescinds and replaces Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-26 of June 9, 1994 (United States Policy on the Arctic and Antarctic Regions). It identifies the key objectives and mechanisms by which the United States will lead and participate in activities within or pertaining to the Antarctic Region. Section 1. Policy. (a) Due to its significant national interests in and historic ties to the Antarctic Region, and as 1 of 12 original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 (Antarctic Treaty), the United States reaffirms the importance of protecting the unique and fragile Antarctic Region and its resources and ecosystems in the face of direct and indirect pressures from human activities. The Antarctic Region plays a vital role in the global climate system, supports unique organisms and ecosystems, and provides an unparalleled platform for multi-scale environmental and cosmological research. The United States will continue to lead cooperative international efforts through the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) to maintain the Antarctic Region for peaceful purposes, protect its relatively pristine environment and ecosystems, and conduct scientific research. (b) United States policy toward the Antarctic Region has four fundamental objectives: (1) to protect the relatively unspoiled environment of the Antarctic Region and its associated ecosystems; (2) to preserve and pursue unique opportunities for scientific research and understand the Antarctic Region's relationship to global environmental changes; (3) to maintain the Antarctic Region as an area of international cooperation reserved exclusively for peaceful purposes; and (4) to assure the protection and conservation of the living resources in and ecosystems of the Antarctic Region. Sec. 2. United States Engagement with the Antarctic Treaty System. (a) The United States continues to strongly support the ATS as the legal framework that establishes the Antarctic Region as a zone for peace, international cooperation, the pursuit of science, and environmental protection. The United States has held and will continue to take a leadership role in negotiating and implementing related agreements concerning the Antarctic Region. (b) The United States reiterates its steadfast position of not recognizing sovereignty claims and of reserving all its rights throughout the whole of the Antarctic Region, consistent with the Antarctic Treaty. (c) The United States will continue to maintain an active and influential presence in the ATS led by the Department of State with participation by other executive departments and agencies (agencies) and in Antarctica through the active engagement of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF budgets for and manages the United States Antarctic Program on behalf of the Federal Government pursuant to Presidential Memorandum 6646 of February 5, 1982 (United States Antarctic Policy and Programs). Through the United States Antarctic Program, the United States maintains three year-round scientific research stations in Antarctica and, together with other agencies, undertakes and supports scientific research in the Antarctic Region. The United States will work collaboratively to conduct world-class research that also assists policymakers to advance the goals of the policy outlined in this memorandum in a manner consistent with the ATS. (d) To maintain the effectiveness and durability of the ATS, the United States will continuously strengthen its promotion of transparency, compliance, cooperation, the exchange of best practices, and adherence to relevant norms by all ATS participants. Consistent with the ATS, the United States will continue to use all tools available including expanding the Nation's polar icebreaker fleet to support the goals of the policy outlined in this memorandum, particularly to achieve United States Antarctic Program science and operations goals and Department of State-led inspections. Furthermore, the United States will advance management of human activities in the Antarctic Region proactively and consistently with its objectives of protection and conservation. This management approach reflects the United States' steadfast commitment to all aspects of the ATS, to include but not limited to arms control, the protection of vulnerable flora and fauna, and the general prohibition of activity relating to mineral resources. (e) Considering ongoing climate change and other global changes and their associated impacts to include ocean warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, pollution, threats to biodiversity, and the risk of reaching tipping points such as the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet the United States recognizes the benefits of research opportunities and scientific pursuits in the Antarctic Region to benefit all ATS participants. The United States collaboratively leverages Federal, international, academic, and public-private partnerships to advance and share data, information, and knowledge about the Antarctic Region and its role in Earth systems. For example, the United States Global Change Research Program which facilitates collaboration and cooperation across its Federal Government member agencies aims to advance global change science; engage the Nation; collaborate internationally; and inform decisions about risks, mitigation, and adaptation to global changes. (f) As a party to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention), the United States will continue to promote conservation and utilization of the best scientific information available for decision-making about Antarctic marine living resources and ecosystems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the NSF, and other relevant research-oriented agencies will maintain strong scientific programs that advance knowledge and inform decisionmaking under the CAMLR Convention, and that enable the United States to persuasively advocate for effective protection and conservation of Antarctic ecosystems and marine living resources. For any such ecosystems and resources subject to exploitation, the United States will promote the application of a precautionary, ecosystem-based approach rooted in the best available science to sustainably manage target, associated, and dependent species. Furthermore, the United States recognizes the value and importance of establishing, enforcing, monitoring, and adaptively managing fully and highly protected large-scale marine protected areas as tools to conserve Antarctic marine living resources, their ecosystems, and the benefits they provide. Sec. 3. Definitions and Area of Application. For purposes of this memorandum: (a) The ATS includes four international agreements: the Antarctic Treaty; the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals; the CAMLR Convention; and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, along with Measures, Decisions, and Resolutions in furtherance of the principles and objectives of the Antarctic Treaty and CAMLR Convention. (b) The term "Antarctic Region" applies to the fullest, cumulative extent of the ATS. The area of application of the Antarctic Treaty is the area south of 60 degrees South Latitude, including all ice shelves. The CAMLR Convention applies to the Antarctic Treaty area and to the area between 60 degrees South Latitude and the Antarctic Convergence (as defined in Article I of the CAMLR Convention) in the Southern Ocean. (c) The term "ATS participants" comprises states, multinational organizations, and non-state actors involved in ATS affairs and Antarctic activities, to include the Antarctic Treaty Contracting Parties, Observers, and Invited Experts participating in Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. The term also applies to the CAMLR Convention Contracting Parties, Acceding States, and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties. Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This memorandum rescinds and replaces Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-26. (b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States; the obligations of the United States under the treaties and other international agreements to which the United States is a party; and customary international law as recognized by the United States, including with respect to the law of the sea, and shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. (d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Meeting with Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and Chief of Cabinet Nicolas Posse of Argentina May 17, 2024 National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met yesterday with Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and Chief of Cabinet Nicolas Posse of Argentina at the White House to reaffirm the strong partnership between our two countries. The National Security Advisor recognized President Milei's ongoing efforts to stabilize Argentina's economy and reviewed areas where the United States and Argentina can strengthen their economic cooperation, including on mobilizing private sector investment in Argentina's clean energy and technology sectors. The National Security Advisor also congratulated Argentina on the recent purchase of F-16s from Denmark, and discussed further opportunities to deepen our security and defense partnership. Additionally, they discussed ways to bolster cooperation to address important regional and global challenges, including ongoing efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza and secure a ceasefire and hostage deal that would bring hostages home, including those from the United States and Argentina. National Security Advisor Sullivan thanked Argentina for speaking out to support democracy in Venezuela and condemn Russia's war against Ukraine. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Operation Iron Swords - Day 224 - 17 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) "The bodies of the Israeli abductees Yitzhak Gerlanter, Amit Busikla and Shani Lok were recovered tonight in a special operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet," stated the IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari. From verified intelligence information in IDF possession, Yitzhak Gelanter, Shani Lock and the late Amit Buskila were murdered during the brutal terrorist attack on October 7 in the Mefalim siege, and their bodies were kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. "Yitzhak, Shani and Amit were at the Nova party and ran away from there to the Mefalim area. There, according to the verified information we have, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were taken into the Gaza Strip. "The bodies of the abductees were recovered from the Gaza Strip, in a joint operation of the IDF and Shin Bet forces, including special units of the two organizations that work shoulder to shoulder, this has been going on for a long time already. This is based on the intelligence direction of the Intelligence Division and the Captives and Missing Persons Command which was also based on many investigations carried out by the Shin Bet. "The forces work with professionalism and determination, in a complex combat environment with risk, to bring murdered abductees back to the burial site of Israel. The recovered bodies were transferred to continue the identification procedure by medical officials at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. After the procedure was completed, IDF representatives notified the families. "The IDF and Shin Bet share in the grief of the families at this difficult time. "I call on the public - please refrain from spreading rumors and maintain the security of our forces. Keep our forces safe. Listen to the messages of the IDF spokesperson and the official bodies only. We will update with any information that is available, transparently, first of all the families and then the public through the media. "The intense fighting in all parts of the Strip continues, and the supreme task of returning the abductees is before the eyes of every commander and fighter in the field. We invest a lot of intelligence and operational efforts, which include fighting in complex places, taking risks, including at this time. "We will continue to act with all the means at our disposal to create the conditions - to create the conditions - to return the abductees home as quickly as possible. As for the operational activity, I will not elaborate. At this time, I will not expand, I maintain the security of our forces and that is what we will continue to do." War Termination Communications Advisor to the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said that Washington does not want Israeli forces to occupy the Gaza Strip, stressing the continuation of efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement. In an interview with Al-Hurra TV on Friday, Kirby confirmed that the American administration does not want to see Gaza occupied, in the context of his response to a question about reports that spoke of a force involving Arab countries to govern the Strip after the war. Kirby refused to delve into the details of reports that said this week that Washington is discussing with Arab countries how to contribute to managing the Strip after the war, stressing that the US administration is discussing the situation in Gaza after the war with regional partners. The British newspaper "Financial Times" revealed on Wednesday that the US administration is encouraging Arab countries to participate in a peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip as soon as the war there ends, in order to fill the security vacuum until a Palestinian security apparatus capable of carrying out this role is established. He stressed that the United States does not want Gaza to be as it was before the October 7 attack, when Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar violated the ceasefire and the movement launched a bloody attack on Israel. Washington wants to achieve what is good for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people, through a different governance model in terms of security and achieving economic stability and security for the Palestinians living there, according to Kirby. He stressed that a reviewed and reformed Palestinian Authority that would meet the expectations of the Palestinian people and truly contribute to the governance of the Gaza Strip in the long term is something that is being discussed with Washingtons regional partners. The goal of the American administration, Kirby says, is to restore calm to the Gaza Strip, protect civilians, and return the hostages to their families so that more aid can be brought in. The American official said that the floating dock built by the United States is not an alternative to land corridors, and this dock cannot replace everything that can be transported through the corridors. He explained that the role of the dock is complementary and will create a difference, noting the entry of more than 300 aid trucks, a number that the American official expects to double in the coming days. Amid an exceptional situation in the region, the Arab countries meeting in the Bahraini capital, Manama, issued a statement that mostly focused on the war in the Gaza Strip, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the two-state solution, and the deployment of international forces in the Palestinian territories. Are these calls applicable on the ground? What is Israel's expected response to these recommendations? On Thursday, Arab leaders called for the deployment of international forces in the occupied Palestinian territory until the two-state solution is implemented, at the conclusion of the thirty-third Arab summit held in Bahrain. In the final statement, the 22 Arab countries supported the call of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations, to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution. Egyptian military and strategic expert, Major General Staff Samir Farag, stresses that the Manama summit and the recommendations it issued have unified the efforts of the Arab countries towards what is happening in the Gaza Strip. These recommendations proved that there is a unified Arab position that supports the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza, according to his interview with Al-Hurra website. In a related context, the Saudi political analyst, Mubarak Al-Ati, believes that the Manama summit statement and the recommendations issued by it are realistic, according to the current circumstances, capabilities, and interactions in the Middle East region. The issue in the Middle East is intertwined with the major powers, which means that Arab countries can take decisions, but what is more important is the ability to implement them, according to his interview with the Al-Hurra website. He points out that the recommendations are very realistic, but the strong statement will clash with the will of other countries. He says: "The one who will stop the fire is Israel, and the one who can put pressure on it is the United States." Al-Ati stresses that the statement tried to win the Palestinian issue, but there are major obstacles that may hinder its implementation, given the repercussions and interactions of the issue with the strategies of other countries. The Saudi political analyst describes the proposal to deploy UN forces in the Palestinian territories as ideas that may be applicable. But the proposal requires more explanation and negotiations, and it must be clarified who will participate in this multinational force, whether the United States and Israel will agree to its presence, and who will finance its formation, according to Al-Ati. As for the Palestinian political analyst and head of the European Council for International Relations and Consultations based in Paris, Adel Al-Ghoul, he describes the Arab summit as frustrating and its statement as extremely weak. Through the summit statement, Israel cannot be forced to ceasefire, withdraw, enter aid, and rebuild, according to his talk to the Al-Hurra website. However, some provisions of the Manama Summit statement can be implemented, and an international peace conference can be held after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the ceasefire, and thus discuss the possibility of implementing the two-state solution, according to Al-Ghoul. He points out that the deployment of multinational international forces to maintain security in the Gaza Strip is possible, and there is approval from several Arab countries to participate in this force, and Hamas does not have any reservations in this regard, after the end of the war and the ceasefire, but Not before. For his part, researcher in Middle East affairs, Fadi Eid, confirms that the Arab summit came under exceptional circumstances and difficult times, given the developments taking place in the entire region. However, the statement issued by the summit was ordinary and did not meet the expectations expected before the meeting, and did not keep pace with the developments taking place in the region and did not contain any firmness or resolution, according to what he told the Al-Hurra website. Calls for deploying international forces in the Palestinian territories are unrealistic and cannot be implemented on the ground, and the decision to implement them or not is in the hands of Israel alone, Eid stresses. In a related context, political researcher at the Middle East Forum in London, Ahmed Atta, believes that some of the items of the statement tried to meet the requirements of the Arab street, but without any effect on the ground. The demands that came in the statement, most notably the calls to deploy international forces, are formal and cannot be implemented and came to flirt with the Arab street, but Israel will not accept to implement them on the ground, according to what he told the Al-Hurra website. Atta points out that the Israeli response came quickly to the Arab summit, on the same day that the Manama Statement was issued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to carrying out a "massive attack" on Rafah, which he says is "the last major stronghold of Hamas in Gaza." On Thursday, Israel announced that its army would intensify its ground operations in Rafah, which means penetrating deeper into the city where 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge to escape the 7-month-long war in the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Netanyahu said, addressing soldiers in the Rafah area, The battle in Rafah is decisive. He added, "Not only is the rest of its (Hamas) brigades (in Rafah), but it (the city) serves as a lifeline for it to escape and resupply," according to a statement issued by his office. Before that, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced that additional forces will enter Rafah and (military) activity will intensify there. Is the military operation still limited or has it become comprehensive? Questions accompany the new evacuation demands directed by the Israeli army to residents of several neighborhoods in different areas of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Why is the scope of these operations expanding? What are the causes and repercussions of this? In this context, Israeli political analyst, Mordechai Kedar, points out that only Israel decides when the military operation in the Gaza Strip in general and Rafah in particular will end. Israel will never allow the presence of international forces in the Palestinian territories, and this proposal is in the interest of its proposers, but it is not compatible with the Israeli interest, according to what he told the Al-Hurra website. He added: "With all due respect to everyone, we do not trust anyone except ourselves." Israel acts according to its security interests and what it deems appropriate according to the circumstances on the ground, according to the Israeli political analyst. Major General Faraj points out that Netanyahu ignored the Arab Summit statement and will not implement the truce and ceasefire, describing what is happening as what is expected. But there must be a unified Arab response to what Netanyahu did, provided that the joint response is through the League of Arab States, according to the Egyptian military and strategic expert. For his part, Atta believes that Netanyahu "dropped everything that was stated in the statement of the Arab summit in Manama, and put many Arab countries in a critical historical position." Leaders of Arab countries previously held an emergency summit in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in November, which was joint with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The attendees at the time condemned the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, but the summit was unable to take direct decisions against Israel, such as expelling ambassadors or cutting off oil supplies, which reflects the great popular anger in the Arab and Islamic worlds towards the continuation of the war. Therefore, Al-Ghoul links the implementation of the summit outcomes to the presence of a serious stance and an active Arab approach to pressure Israel to make concessions regarding negotiations or stop the war and not invade Rafah. But on the other hand, Kedar stresses that no one can impose a fait accompli on Israel. He says: "If they really wanted peace... they would sit with us... and negotiate with us... but we cannot sit in Bahrain and send dictates to us... and we receive them with a warm welcome." For his part, Eid does not expect "major results" beyond "joint coordination among some Arab countries to provide additional aid to Gaza." The Arabs do not currently have more than that, and although they have pressure cards, there is no desire to use them at all, according to the researcher in Middle East affairs. As for Major General Faraj, he stressed that the Arab countries have many pressure tools (ready to use) through which they can put pressure on Israel, but he refused to reveal what those tools are. There are limitations that impose on Arab countries not to use pressure tools at the present time, according to the Egyptian military and strategic expert. Operational Update A report was received about dozens of Israeli citizens who attacked and injured an Israeli driver and set fire to his truck in the area of the Kochav HaShahar intersection in the Binyamin Brigade. Upon receiving the report, the IDF force arrived at the scene, and acted to separate the Israeli citizens from the driver and provide the driver with medical treatment. Dozens of Israeli citizens reacted violently towards the force. As a result, two IDF officers and another soldier were slightly injured and treated at the scene. IDF soldiers are deployed in the sector and work to maintain the safety of the residents, law and order. The IDF condemns any display of violence against its soldiers and security forces, and will work to bring justice. The Palestinian resistance represented by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, in Gaza, is adopting new tactics in confronting the Israeli occupation, in addition to developing military and tactical capabilities to confront attacks, as well as taking steps to expand its base of popular support and strengthen its partnership with other Palestinian forces. Despite the occupation's efforts to try to suppress the resistance, these new tactics proved effective in complicating Israel's tasks and increasing the cost of Israeli attacks. Despite the air strikes and ground operations carried out by the occupation in an attempt to eliminate Hamas fighters, the battalions continued to resist and confront the attacks. With courage and determination. The northern areas of the Gaza Strip have witnessed the return of military operations recently, especially in the Jabalia camp and the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, while the suffering of refugees and residents in this small area of the Strip continues. On May 11, Israeli occupation army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced the start of a new operation in the northern Gaza Strip, after requesting the evacuation of the homes of residents of a number of neighborhoods. The operation began with an intense aerial bombardment that targeted the homes and property of citizens. The events later developed into a ground incursion, as forces from the Israeli 98th Division advanced to the eastern areas of Jabalia Camp towards its center. At the same time, the Israeli 99th Division continued its operations in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City. While the 162nd Division operates in the city of Rafah. With the escalation of fighting and aerial and artillery bombardment by the Israeli army, the neighborhoods of Jabalia camp witnessed an increase in displacement, as these attacks caused the martyrdom of dozens of Palestinian citizens. Hagari claims that the Israeli army's resumption of operations in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip is due to "Hamas' attempts to restore its military capabilities in Jabalia." At the same time, the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian resistance factions announced, in multiple statements, their readiness to repel the advancing Israeli forces and inflict new losses on their ranks. Despite its failure to storm Jabalia Camp in previous attempts, the Israeli occupation claimed that it had succeeded in dismantling the military apparatus of the Hamas movement, when Hagari announced, on January 6, the dismantling of the military structure of the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip. In conjunction with the new invasion of the northern sector, Al-Qassam is adopting new tactics against the Israeli occupation army, aiming to increase pressure on it and complicate its mission in the region. The recent period has witnessed an increasing use by the resistance of bombings as a means of destroying the structures of buildings used by the Israeli occupation forces as military sites or headquarters for military officers. On May 15, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, Hamas is rapidly restoring its capabilities and re-establishing itself again in other areas of Gaza. The newspaper reported, quoting a high-ranking Israeli officer - whose identity was not revealed - that "Israel is involved in an 'educational war with Hamas', given the latter's recent change in tactics in the conflict, as Hamas has become more focused on booby-trapping buildings." The newspaper associated with the Israeli left admitted that the recent operations in the Zaytoun neighborhood and other areas revealed the inaccuracy of the armys estimates regarding Hamas infrastructure, stressing that the majority of Israeli soldiers believe that the military operation launched by the army in Jabalia is an absurd operation. Analysis published by the Al-Mashhad digital platform, on May 15, reported that Al-Qassam uses guerrilla warfare tactics against Israeli army armored vehicles, which makes it difficult for the armys movement and increases its deaths, as a group of 2-5 resistance fighters is able to... Setting up ambushes and eliminating an entire division of the occupation army. On May 15, the Wall Street Journal quoted an Israeli reserve soldier from the 98th Commando Division, which is currently fighting in Jabalia, as saying: Hamas is attacking more aggressively, firing more anti-tank shells at soldiers who are taking shelter in homes and on... Israeli military vehicles daily. The newspaper indicated - according to analysts, security personnel and witnesses in Gaza - that the brigades use hit-and-run tactics and work in smaller groups of militants, which raises fears in Israel that the war is sliding towards an eternal war. The Al Jazeera.net website reported last March that one of the most important secrets of the resistances steadfastness in the Gaza Strip is what is known militarily as the passive defense tactic, which is a combat method that relies on the use of a set of preventive measures to neutralize the resistances military installations from enemy targets. And reduce damage. The idea of "passive defense" is based on the use of tactics that mislead the enemy's intelligence and combat weapons, thus reducing their value and effectiveness. One of the resistance cadres demonstrates this with video recordings published by the brigades, where fighters are shown approaching enemy crowds, launching their attacks from close distances, and installing explosive devices. Explosives were placed on Israeli vehicles before they withdrew to their positions without detection. This does not necessarily mean that the occupation army was unable to inflict losses on the resistance at the level of personnel and equipment, as this is part of the nature of war. However, the continuation of resistance operations despite the massive military force used by the occupation in Gaza shows the success and effectiveness of this tactic in avoiding losses. Great for resistance. Military expert Hatem Al-Falahi explains that the resistance factions have sufficient fighters, weapons, tools and equipment to enable them to successfully manage this defensive battle. Experience has shown that the military operations carried out by the resistance factions are characterized by very precise planning and confirmed intelligence information obtained through monitoring and control operations. He pointed out, during his conversation with Al-Khaleej Online, that employing military tools, capabilities, and capabilities gives a clear indication that there is a very strong command and control system that works to manage these operations by setting goals, dividing duties, and coordinating military action with the rest of the resistance factions. Al-Falahi pointed out that the results show that the military action led by "Hamas" is very successful, given the occupation army's losses that rose during this period, with the battalions continuing to use new tactics. For his part, military and strategic analyst Abdul-Jabbar Al-Abo confirms that the tactics used by the brigades are not new, but rather they are methods that were used in a previous period and then abandoned, only to be used again later if the opportunity permits, especially building booby-trapping operations. He added, while speaking to Al-Khaleej Online, that when the Israeli forces expect that the Palestinian fighters have entered a building, without knowing that this building has been booby-trapped by the Phalange in advance, and that at the bottom of this building there are underground passages that connect the buildings, then when the Israeli forces pursue them and enter To this building, it falls into the Palestinian trap, and after that the building is blown up by the Israeli forces that entered it. The war is still continuing in the southern Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah, where this city recently witnessed violent clashes between resistance forces and the Israeli occupation. Military operations in this region focused on targeting military installations and strategic sites of the occupier, as scenes broadcast by Al-Qassam military media showed them targeting Israeli forces barricaded in homes with machine guns and anti-fortified shells, in addition to targeting Israeli tanks that penetrated east of Rafah, hitting them directly. On May 10, the Al Jazeera.net website reported that Al-Qassam said that it had placed an Israeli force in a precise ambush after detonating a pre-prepared minefield inside the Saad Sayel barracks site, east of Rafah, noting that members of the force were killed or wounded. These scenes come after Tel Aviv announced, on May 6, the start of military operations in the city of Rafah, which it described as limited in scope. There were statements from some American officials about the possibility of Hamas returning to power in the Gaza Strip, which raised many questions and analyzes about the extent of this impact on the political situation in the region. On May 14, the American newspaper Politico quoted officials as saying, It is possible to disrupt Hamas, but the things that enable it to form, develop, and grow are still in place. The newspaper referred to a comment made by US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a conference held on May 13, where he stressed that "Israel is unlikely to achieve complete victory" in Gaza. Four American officials told Politico that this comment is not considered wrong, but rather reflects the administration's assessment of the prospects for the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in general. On the other hand, the Israeli government strongly rejected the idea of recognizing or negotiating with Hamas, stressing that the movement represents a threat to Israel's security and calls for its destruction. Operational Update - Gaza The 7th Brigade Combat Team led the divisional attack on Jabaliya and is now fighting in the heart of the city. In less than a week of fighting, the forces encountered dozens of terrorists, attempted contact and eliminated more than 60 terrorists from the ground and from the air. Even at this time, the forces are exchanging fire with terrorist squads in the area. The fire complex of the 7th Brigade directed dozens of airstrikes, eliminated terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure. The fighters of the 101st Battalion's combat team located a munitions warehouse with dozens of ready-to-use long-range rockets, dozens of rocket parts, charges and other munitions. The military warehouse is located about ten meters from a shelter complex from which the population was evacuated and about 20 terrorists were captured. The combat teams of the paratroopers brigades, 7 and 460 under the 98 division, expanded the fighting spaces in Jabaliya during the day and deepened the operational control in the area. Fighter jets and aircraft of the Air Force attacked a munitions warehouse at the direction of the forces and eliminated a number of terrorists who fired explosives at our forces. There are no casualties to Israeli forces. The combat teams of the commando brigades, Givati and Brigade 401 under the command of Division 162, continue the fighting in several areas in Rafah. Fighters of the TDF 401 destroyed a launch area in East Rafah where long-range rocket launchers were located. In the last day, fighter jets and aircraft of the Air Force attacked about 60 terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, including military buildings, terrorist squads, IDF warehouses, anti-aircraft positions and other terrorist infrastructure. The Nahal Brigade, the Carmeli Brigade and the Rabbi Mamedit unit raided the Zeyton neighborhood in the center of the Gaza Strip, destroying many terrorist infrastructures, attack tunnels, a lathe for the production of weapons, launch pits and Hamas headquarters that were used by the organization to plan and carry out terrorist activities against Israeli forces. In the last week, the fighters eliminated more than 90 terrorists, located and destroyed many underground infrastructures and weapons. As part of the attack, under the intelligence guidance of the Amman and the Shin Bet, a military headquarters located inside the Ein Jalot school complex was destroyed. The school served as a military headquarters for the terrorist organization Hamas and anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from it at IDF forces. The 990th Fire Brigade in cooperation with the Air Force attacked more than 100 targets in the area. At the same time as the activity in Zeytun, the forces of the 679th Israel Defense Forces operated in the area of ??the corridor of the center of the Gaza Strip and in the neighborhood of Bakshi, the fighters eliminated terrorists, exposed and destroyed underground infrastructures. This morning (Friday), during an attack by a fighter jet in the Rafah area, a weapon fell in the area of the Yad settlement. The weapon did not explode. This is an unusual event, the circumstances of which will be examined in depth. The attack on the target was completed a few minutes later. Air Force technical teams arrived at the scene and began an in-depth investigation of the incident. The investigation will be presented to the commander of the Air Force. The fallen is now being collected by the IDF forces and will be evacuated later. The public is asked to stay away from the area until the end of the activities of the security forces. The US Central Command (Centcom) said on Friday that trucks loaded with humanitarian aid began moving to the beach via a temporary floating pier off the Gaza Strip at nine in the morning local time. It was reported that none of the American soldiers landed on the Gaza beach. She added, "These are ongoing, multinational efforts to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through a sea corridor whose nature is entirely humanitarian. The aid includes relief materials donated by several countries and humanitarian organizations." The US Army announced that the first load of humanitarian aid allocated to Gaza via the floating port established by Washington had been unloaded and trucks had begun transporting it towards the besieged Palestinian Strip. The US Army completed the construction of a temporary floating pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, in preparation for the start of transporting much-needed humanitarian aid in the Strip, which has been besieged for seven months of war between Israel and Hamas. The US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday that some forces installed anchors to connect a temporary floating dock to the shore of the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. The regional spokeswoman for the US State Department, Elizabeth Stickney, told Al-Hurra TV that on Friday morning, humanitarian aid trucks began moving across the temporary floating pier to Gaza, which is considered part of American efforts by air, land and sea to increase the delivery of aid. Humanity to the people of Gaza. She spoke about the first shipment that arrived on board the British ship, saying, "We know that humanitarian aid goes from Cyprus to the temporary dock on ships from different countries, in addition to the United States." Regarding the mechanism for unloading the shipments, she added, The civilians accompanying these shipments are the ones who help in unloading the shipments, and after the shipments arrive in Gaza, the United Nations plays the leading role in distributing aid to the residents of Gaza. Regarding estimating the volume of aid that will arrive daily through the dock, she said that they "are aware of the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, so they are working to speed up the arrival of shipments in the coming days and increase the volume of aid." Regarding the Israeli role in the operation, the American official said, Inspections from the Israeli side take place in Cyprus, and after that the aid goes via ships to the temporary dock. She stressed that the sea pier is not an alternative to opening all land crossings into Gaza, explaining that this is the best way to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and therefore Washington wants to open all possible crossings to facilitate the process of delivering aid, including the Rafah crossing, and at the same time, it is trying to use every possible means to facilitate the delivery of aid. Currently possible methods of delivering aid by air, land and sea. She said, "The United States is coordinating with the Israeli side, the United Nations, the Food Program, and its partners in the humanitarian field in order to protect relief workers in Gaza," explaining that the American government believes that UNRWA is an important partner in distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The US Army completed construction of the temporary naval pier on Thursday. On Friday, US Central Command announced the start of delivering humanitarian aid from the temporary pier established by the United States off the coast of Gaza. This unique logistics capability facilitates the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid, providing a common means for the international community to use it to serve the people of Gaza, US Central Command said on the X platform. Earlier, the US Army announced that the first load of humanitarian aid allocated to Gaza via the floating port established by Washington had been unloaded and trucks had begun transporting it towards the besieged Palestinian Strip. The US Army completed the construction of a temporary floating pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, in preparation for the start of transporting much-needed humanitarian aid in the Strip, which has been besieged for seven months of war between Israel and Hamas. The US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday that some forces installed anchors to connect a temporary floating dock to the shore of the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. The United Kingdom said it had delivered its first aid shipments via the dock, and the United Nations said it was finalizing plans to distribute the aid arriving at the dock. But the United Nations confirmed that truck convoys arriving by land are the "most feasible, effective and efficient" means of delivering aid to Gaza. Aid groups, the United Nations and Israel's closest allies have demanded that the Israeli government make greater efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, which has been largely destroyed by the military campaign that Israel began last year after the Hamas attack on it on October 7. Israel said it was intensifying its efforts to deliver aid to Gaza. The Israeli army said that 365 aid trucks loaded with flour and fuel passed through the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings yesterday, Thursday. Operational Update - Judea-Samaria A fighter jet attacked in Jenin, in the Menashe Brigade. Confrontations broke out between Israeli occupation army forces and young Palestinians in the town of Kafr Qaddum, east of the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank , while the people of Tulkarm Governorate mourned the body of the martyr Karim Amir, who was martyred by bullets of the occupation army during its storming of the town of Balaa last night. Following the weekly demonstration against settlement and denouncing the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip , confrontations broke out between Israeli occupation army forces and Palestinian youth. The occupation forces used tear gas bombs and fired live bullets at the demonstrators to disperse them. Palestinian medical sources reported that a young man was injured by Israeli occupation forces bullets in the city of Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank. The occupation forces stormed the city from its southern and eastern axes, reinforced with a number of military vehicles, which led to the outbreak of confrontations between Palestinian youths and the occupation forces, which resulted in the injury of a young man. In Tulkarm Governorate, people mourned the body of the martyr Karim Amir, who was martyred by Israeli occupation bullets during the storming last night of the town of Balaa, east of the city. The funeral procession started from the government "Martyr Thabet Hospital" in the city of Tulkarm, and traveled through the streets of the city, and the mourners chanted slogans denouncing the ongoing crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authorities closed the entrances to the town of Sinjel, north of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, and kept one of them open while installing an iron gate. Settlement resistance institutions reported that this morning, occupation army bulldozers re-closed the main and secondary roads leading to the town, for the third time in weeks. The occupation army kept the iron gate that it controlled closed, obstructing the movement of citizens to enter and exit the town. Operational Update - Lebanon The Air Force attacked an infrastructure where terrorists of the Hezbollah terrorist organization were operating, which includes several compounds in the village of A-Najriyah in southern Lebanon. These compounds are used by Hezbollah's air defense system and posed a threat to Israeli aircraft. The organization's air defense system operates in a civilian environment, while risking human lives in southern Lebanon. The IDF will not tolerate a violation of the freedom of air operations and will act in attacks in the face of any threat. We warn the citizens of Lebanon against cooperating with Hezbollah, and emphasize that by doing so they are endangering themselves and their environment. An aircraft attacked in the Majdal Engr area the terrorist Sharhabil Ali Al-Said, a senior member of the terrorist organization the Islamic Jama'ah in Lebanon. Sharabil, who acted on behalf of the Islamic Jama'ah organization, led and promoted many attacks and acts of terrorism from Lebanese territory against Israel in the eastern sector in recent times, among other things in cooperation with the branch of the terrorist organization Hamas in Lebanon. Its thwarting was carried out in order to damage the organization's ability to promote and carry out terrorist operations that it had planned in the recent period and in the near future against the State of Israel on the northern border. Fighter jets attacked a launcher in the Deir Sirin area that launched towards the Golan area. In addition, warplanes attacked a military structure and operational infrastructure of the Hezbollah organization in the Kfar Hammam area and the Al Adaisa area in southern Lebanon. Following the warning in the north of the country, about 75 launches were detected from the territory of Lebanon towards the territory of the country, dozens of them were intercepted. In addition, earlier today, the IDF forces identified a launcher of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the Yaraon region that was ready to launch launches towards Israeli territory. A short time later, a fighter jet attacked and destroyed the launcher and prevented a large number of launches. Operational Update - Syria / Iraq Operational Update - Yemen The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other governorates witnessed new million-man marches in support of the Palestinian people, denouncing the continued Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and blessing the naval military operations. The demonstrations, which were under the slogan With Gaza, is a holy jihad and no red lines, condemned Western complicity and demanded that Arab rulers take practical positions to support Palestine. A renewed human flood filled dozens of squares in various Yemeni governorates in continuation of the popular movement in solidarity with Palestine. The largest of these demonstrations was in Al-Sabeen Square in Sanaa , where banners were raised denouncing the continued crimes of the Israeli entity in the Gaza Strip, and during which the crowds condemned the attacks on the people of the Strip. An Israeli-American war of annihilation for more than 7 months . Political activist Karar Al-Marani told Al-Alam channel: With Gaza, it is a holy jihad and there are no red lines. The entire Yemeni people are saying today that they are with Gaza, and it is still continuing as it launches the fifth phase and demands that the Yemeni armed forces carry out more strikes against the Zionist enemy. The demonstrations that spread throughout Yemen denounced Western complicity regarding what is happening in Palestine, and denounced the Arab and Islamic silence regarding what the people of Gaza are subjected to. Their joint statement also addressed the Arab rulers gathered at the Arab Summit in Manama with the need to move their consciences and take practical and serious positions to support Palestine, the least of which is activating the option Political and economic boycott. The popular marches carried the slogan With Gaza, it is a holy jihad and no red lines, in which the crowds affirmed their readiness for a general mobilization and actual participation in the battle to support the Palestinian people that the armed forces are waging, congratulating the continuation of naval military operations in their fourth phase, and supporting all official escalatory steps in support of Gaza. These arenas will not calm down, as the crowds say, unless the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops, praising the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance, and appreciating the jihadist operations of the support fronts in Lebanon and Iraq . 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 Hossam Zidan of Alalam News Network. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting noted that the Arab Summit in Doha concluded its work, and the final statement was read against the impact of the violent Israeli bombing in the various governorates of Gaza, exploding every bet on it issuing decisive decisions, on the scale of the catastrophe befalling the people of Gaza and the West Bank. But the bet seemed difficult at an Arab summit that came under unusual circumstances, most notably the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and its repercussions at the regional level and beyond the borders of the world. Despite the large number of files that were brought with the Arab leaders to Doha, Gaza imposed the reality on the thirty-third summit held in Bahrain. The final statement of the summit included a call to stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from all its areas and a call to deploy international protection and peacekeeping forces in The occupied Palestinian territories until the two-state solution is implemented. The summit, which concluded its work in Manama, came in light of the conflicts and crises that the Arab countries are suffering from. The internal crises in some Arab countries formed part of these files, followed by the internal crises between some Arab countries. The most important files are the regional dangers facing the Arab countries, including the Gaza issue. . Therefore, for an Arab summit to be held under these harsh circumstances, to begin with, is an achievement for the Arab leaders, and for the Arab leaders to meet after the external aggression, internal crises, and internal disputes that the Arab countries are exposed to, is considered an event that must be taken into account, especially after the spectacle of an agreement on a specific agenda was released. Far from all those crises that we talked about, and that there is an attempt this time to delve into the depth of the crucial and urgent issues in the Arab world, after trying to end the unifying title of the Arab countries, and breaking the will of agreement among the Arab leaders at least after the scene of the great massacre in Gaza, yes, Gaza, which is summed up. Many addresses should have been issued by the summit to the Islamic world and humanity as a whole. Axis of Resistance Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that after 32 weeks since October 7, the people of Gaza and their resistance are waging an unequal war and a legendary defense against the barbarism of the enemy. He said, "For long days, nights and weeks, the enemy and his Nazi government committed the most heinous crimes of genocide against our people." "The enemy army brags about the crimes it committed in Gaza as military achievements. Intimidation, crime, and systematic destruction is the consistent strategy used by the enemy in Gaza. The enemy also threatened us every time that whenever he aspires to score a victory or achievement, he will find us in front of him. The enemy, in a series of confusion, decided to launch a ground aggression against Rafah, the Zaytoun neighborhood, and Jabalia, thinking that they had become easy targets. The enemy is under the illusion that if he burned the green and dry land for more than 7 months, he would find little resistance there. The enemy enters hell again and faces stiffer resistance. Within 10 days, our mujahideen were able to target 100 Zionist military vehicles on the fighting fronts in Gaza. In all areas of its incursion, the enemy counts its dead and wounded in dozens and hardly stops extracting its soldiers. The enemy announces part of its losses, but what we observe is much greater. Our mujahideen are confronting the enemy with great momentum with all the weapons they have. We confront the enemy with anti-armor and anti-personnel weapons, bombing buildings, opening tunnels, mine fields, and sniping. "Despite the war of starvation, destruction and killing, our resistance, and behind it our people, are emerging before the enemy from everywhere. Our mujahideen face a trembling and floundering force, and they return it broken, finding nothing but disappointment. The American weapons used to annihilate our people are causing massive destruction, which is the only achievement of this crisis-ridden enemy. After 224 days, we confirm that the heroic confrontation of our resistance and our people confirms our ability to withstand and fight." Thousands of Jordanians participated in the massive march that began after Friday prayers in the Jordanian capital, Amman, under the title Gaza resists, Rafah is the graveyard of the Zionist invaders, in support of the Palestinian resistance. The participants stressed that the genocide to which the Gazans are being subjected comes with American military, political, and economic support, and that the United States is a partner in that genocide. In response to the successive victories achieved by the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza over the Israeli occupation forces, which resonated in the Jordanian capital, Amman, thousands of Jordanians came out to express their continued support for the resistance and their solidarity with the people in the Gaza Strip, stressing that they are partners in blood and destiny with the Palestinian people . A member of the National Forum for Supporting the Resistance, Saad Al-Alawin, told Al-Alam Channel: As Jordanians, we are part of the resistance, not supporters. We are an essential part of the resistance to liberate Palestine, and the Jordanian people in general consider themselves to have a cause. The Manama Summit statement was not well received by the Jordanian street because, according to their opinion, it did not meet the aspirations of the Arab street. The reason is that it did not go beyond the framework of directing condemnation and would not reach the limits of action regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip . The Secretary-General of the Islamic Action Front Party, Murad Al-Adaileh, told Al-Alam Channel: I do not think that an Arab citizen cared about this summit or paid attention to it, nor did the media pay attention to it because it is outside the coverage and outside the truth and the aspirations of the Arab peoples. The participants stressed the need for all Arab peoples to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to the worst forms of genocide and forced displacement . Believing in the unity of destiny, and with the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood entering its eighth month, crowds of Jordanians are still rising up in the streets of Jordan every day to express their position rejecting the policies of the Jordanian government in dealing with the war launched by the Israeli occupation forces against the people in Gaza, demanding that the Jordanian government must cancel all agreements. With the Israeli occupation, dropping the Wadi Araba Treaty, and stopping the land bridge. Allied for Democracy Despite all the international and American pressure and the demands of the hostage families and his political allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to calm the hard-right in his government for fear of early elections that polls indicate he may lose. Netanyahu (74 years old), who is serving his sixth term as prime minister, heads one of the most right-wing coalition governments in Israel. He is one of three in the war cabinet who have the right to vote on the war strategy in Gaza. But his approach to managing the war is frustrating his allies, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal , as the United States wants a temporary ceasefire, and Israeli security officials, including the Minister of Defense, want a plan for who will rule Gaza after the war. The families of the hostages want to see their loved ones at home. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant publicly asked Netanyahu to announce a clear strategy for the next day in Gaza, revealing deep divisions in the cabinet over the strategic goals of the war. A new division erupted between members of the Israeli War Council, after Defense Minister Yoav Galant issued a clear challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to draw up plans for the day after the war in Gaza, pledging to oppose any long-term Israeli military rule over the devastated Palestinian Strip. But the obstacle standing in the way of Netanyahu achieving these demands is his need to appease two right-wing ministers in his government whose names are not known outside Israel, according to the newspaper. The first is the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, a West Bank settler who heads the extreme right-wing Jewish Power Party. Ben Gvir (48 years old) opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and calls for the dissolution of the interim Palestinian Authority government that was formed in the 1990s. The second is Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler who heads the hardline Religious Zionism party and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. Smotrich (44 years old) is pressuring Netanyahu to go ahead with the Israeli attack, even if that means abandoning a truce with Hamas that includes the release of the hostages. More than seven months into the war in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant has publicly asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a clear strategy for the day after in Gaza, revealing deep divisions in the cabinet over the strategic goals of the war. Together, Ben Gvir and Smotrich's parties hold only 14 seats in the 120-seat parliament. However, they have enormous power. Ben Gvir and Smotrich have made clear that they will leave the ruling coalition if Netanyahu surrenders to US demands, a move that would almost certainly lead to the collapse of the government and force new elections. Opinion polls show that Netanyahu would be defeated if the elections were held now amid the chaos of war, according to the newspaper report. Ben Gvir and Smotrich may also lose power in any new elections, as opinion polls show, but Netanyahu's fear is greater, and he does not want them to withdraw from his coalition and launch early elections, according to Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum, a think tank in Washington. He advocates the two-state solution. Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States under Netanyahu, said that the prime minister has come to believe that Israel's survival is fundamentally linked to his survival. This belief enables him to withstand enormous pressure. Netanyahu said that his opponents are the ones who play political games during the war by thinking of ways to hold elections. He said he is focused only on achieving a "total victory" against Hamas and the release of the hostages, a goal he says can only be achieved through military pressure. But frustration with Netanyahu is growing within his government, and on Wednesday, the defense minister, who like Netanyahu is also a member of the Likud party, criticized him for not having a post-war plan for Gaza and called on the Palestinian Authority to oversee the Strip, something the prime minister opposes. Gallant's criticism of the Prime Minister represented a reflection of the demands of the United States, Israel's ally, which seeks to exploit the war to grant a role to the internationally supported Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu rejects this, describes the Palestinian Authority as a hostile entity, and repeated this position in his response to Gallants statements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he was "not ready to replace Hamastan with Fatehistan," in an apparent response to his Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, who also directed harsh criticism at him on Wednesday, declaring his rejection of any Israeli rule of the Gaza Strip after the war. Netanyahu's opposition to the Palestinian Authority's management of Gaza is shared by many inside Israel, as filling the power vacuum in Gaza now means closing the door to rebuilding settlements in Gaza, which is the goal of Ben Gvir and Smotrich. The two men were staunch supporters of the settlement movement and considered Israel's decision to leave Gaza in 2005 a grave mistake. Most countries, including the United States, consider the settlements illegal under international law. Almost all of President Joe Biden's demands conflict with the hard-liners in Netanyahu's government. Ben Gvir and Smotrich oppose ending the war. They want Israel to be more aggressive in its military campaign, not less, despite all the warnings, according to the report. According to the Israeli newspaper " Haaretz ", senior officials in the Israeli Defense Forces and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) had previously issued similar warnings to Netanyahu recently. Amid all these deep divisions in the Council of Ministers over the strategic goals of the war, Israel threatens to intensify its ground attack in Rafah despite international concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the city located in the far south of the Strip. The US House of Representatives voted, Thursday, in favor of passing a Republican-led bill to force the delivery of defensive weapons to Israel at a time when Republicans are intensifying pressure on President Joe Biden over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to what was reported by CNN. The network ruled out that the bill would be taken up in the Democratic-led Senate, and the White House said that Biden would veto the bill if Congress passed it. The bill prohibits the US President from withholding, stopping, reversing, or canceling arms transfers approved by Congress from the United States to Israel, and requires that any withheld weapons be delivered to Israel within 15 days of the bills enactment. The legislation would cut off funds to several key executive branch entities, including the State Department, Defense Department and National Security Council until any seized weapons are sent to Israel. The vote was by 224 votes to 187 votes. Three Republicans, members of their party, opposed and voted against this measure, while 16 Democrats voted in favor of it, according to CNN. The vote comes as Biden faces opposition from lawmakers from both parties after he said during an interview with CNN last week that he would halt some US arms shipments to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah, where he has taken refuge. More than a million civilians. Biden said that while the United States would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including the Iron Dome air defense system, other shipments would stop if a major ground invasion of Rafah were to begin. Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers In a recent interview on the Call Me Back podcast with Dan Senor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed startling statistics regarding the casualties in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu stated that the ratio of Hamas combatants to Gazan civilians killed is approximately one to one, with around 14,000 Hamas combatants and an estimated 16,000 civilians having lost their lives. 1,900,000 IDPs in Gaza 79,141 Gazans injured, 28% adult male 70,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza 70,000 Gaza housing units completely destroyed 70,000 Israeli IDPs from Lebanon border 45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza 45,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble 35,233 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 terror operatives killed in Gaza [Israeli officials] 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 8,665 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 3,600 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 620 Israeli officers and soldiers killed since the start of the war 468 West Bank Palestinians martyred 364 people [including fighters] killed in Lebanon 274 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. Some reports claimed that the UN cut in half its earlier estimates of women and children killed in Gaza. Initially, they reported 9,500 women and 14,500 children killed, but later revised it to 4,959 women and 7,797 children on 08 May 2024. The UN acknowledged its inability to independently verify casualty figures. The seeming discrepancy is that HAMAS had about 10K KIA bodies on hand for which they do not have positive ID. It is possible to report the gender and approximate age [ie, juvenile] without knowing the name of the deceased. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 17 May 2024 - Day 814 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 a surprise reshuffle the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has been replaced by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, with Shoigu replacing Nikolai Patrushev as Secretary of the Russian Security Council. Patrushev has been appointed a Presidential Aide. Shoigu and Patrushev are influential and long-term allies of Russian President Putin. Belousov is a professional economist with no military background. He was First Deputy Prime Minister from January 2020, and prior to that served as a Presidential Aide for economic issues. It is likely that he has been appointed to ensure greater efficiency in defence spending and to ensure closer coordination between defence industries and the needs of the Armed Forces. This is likely to prove extremely challenging for Belousov given the high degrees of corruption in the Russian MOD and Armed Forces. Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested in April 2024 on corruption charges, and the head of personnel General-Lieutenant Yury Kuznetsov was arrested on 14 May 2024 on suspicion of involvement in a bribery scheme. The change of Defence Minister is highly unlikely to have a major immediate impact on the prosecution of the Russian war in Ukraine. With Putin also announcing that there will be no changes to senior appointments in the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces the current Russian approach to the war is likely to continue. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that since the beginning of the day, there have been 101 combat encounters, Russia has launched 15 rockets, 70 air strikes and 452 kamikaze drone strikes, carrying out 2843 shelling of the positions of Ukrainian troops. In the Kharkiv direction, there were two Russian attempts to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops in the directions of deep-liptsi, bugruvatka-staritsa. The situation is under control by the Defense Forces. Ukrainian defenders in some areas are conducting assault operations to improve the tactical position as well as carrying out combing operations. In the area of the city of vovcans k, Ukrainian units reinforce defense in order to improve the tactical position. In the Kupans komu direction, there were six combat clashes. Ukrainian units successfully repelled three Russian attacks. There are three combat clashes in the directions of Kislivka - Ivanivka and Krohmal ne - Brestove. The situation is controlled by defenders of Ukraine. In the northern direction, Russian occupiers made five attempts to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops focusing efforts in the area of Rozdolivki. The situation is under control. In the kramators komu direction the number of boezitknen increased to 15. The defense forces have held their positions. The situation is tense but in control. In the Pokrovsk direction the number of combat clashes remained unchanged. Since the beginning of the current day, Russia has carried out 25 attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops. Also, there are fighting in the areas of settlements Novooleksandrivka, Sokil, Nevelske. The Russian invaders do not abandon attempts to advance in the direction of Novooleksandrivki. In the Kurakhivs komu direction, the Russian opponent 16 times tried to break the defense of Ukrainian troops. Fighting continues in the areas of the settlements of Paraskoviyivka and Vodyane. The situation is under control. In the Vrmivs komu direction, Russian forces made three attempts to improve the tactical position. Ukrainian troops repelled two Russian attempts to advance in the direction of Staromayorsky. Another battle is ongoing in the area of the Razdilnogo. In the Pridniprovsky direction, Russian occupants continue attempts to push Ukrainian soldiers out of placdarmiv on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Ukrainian troops repelled 13 Russian attacks in the area of the settlement of Krinki. In the course of fighting, the loss of positions is not allowed. In the Limans komu, Torets komu and Oryhivs komu directions, the Russian occupiers did not carry out offensive and assault actions today. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that from 11 to 17 May 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 28 group strikes by high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, which hit command posts, military airfield infrastructure facilities, air defence equipment, fuel bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as a production and storage workshop for uncrewed surface vehicles and strike UAVs. Moreover, the strikes also hit deployment areas of nationalist groups and foreign mercenaries. Over the past week, the units of the Sever Group of Forces have liberated 12 settlements in Kharkov region: Borisovka, Bugrovatka, Gatishche, Glubokoye, Krasnoye, Lukyantsy, Morokhovets, Ogurtsovo, Oleynikovo, Pletenyevka, Pyulnaya, Strelechya, and continue advancing to the depth of the enemy's defence. The Russian troops have launched strikes at manpower and hardware of the five brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, four territorial defence brigades, and the 15th Ukrainian border detachment near Vesyoloye, Volchansk, Dergachi, Neskuchnoye, Krasnoye, and Liptsy (Kharkov region). Twenty-one counter-attacks launched by AFU assault groups were repelled close to Glubokoye, Tikhoye, and Staritsa (Kharkov region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 1,175 Ukrainian troops, 10 tanks, 14 armoured fighting vehicles, 45 motor vehicles, 13 MLRS combat vehicles, including six Czech-made Vampire MLRS, 26 field artillery guns, as well as five Buk and Strela-10 SAM combat vehicles. The Zapad Group of Forces continues to occupy more advantageous lines and has inflicted fire damage on 18 brigades close to Artyomovka, Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic), Kislovka, Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Yampolovka, Krasny Liman, and Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Thirty-seven counter-attacks launched by assault groups of eight AFU brigades, as well as two National Guard brigades, were repelled close to Chervonaya Dibrova, Novoyegorovka, Stelmakhovka, Nevskoye (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Kislovka, and Olshana (Kharkov region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 960 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, four Grad and Verba MLRS combat vehicles, 25 field artillery guns, of which five are U.S.-made. In addition, two ammunition depots were destroyed. The Yug Group of Forces continue to advance into the depth of the enemy's defence. The Group launched strikes at manpower and hardware of six assault, ten mechanised, and seven territorial defence brigades close to Andreyevka, Antonovka, Georgiyevka, Grigorovka, Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, Paraskoviyevka, and Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic). Nine AFU counter-attacks were repelled near Belogorovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Razdolovka, Krasnoye, Spornoye, and Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy lost up to 3,725 Ukrainian troops, eight tanks, including five German-made Leopard-2A1 tanks, 13 armoured fighting vehicles, 55 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS, 47 field artillery guns, to include 22 foreign-made ones. Three Nota and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, two U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery warfare stations, and 16 field ammunition depots have been destroyed. The Tsentr Group of Forces has liberated the settlement of Keramik (Donetsk People's Republic), improved the situation along the front line, and defeated 14 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and national guard brigades near Novoaleksandrovka, Yevgenovka, Karlovka, and Rozovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The Russian Armed Forces repelled 59 counter-attacks launched by the enemy's assault groups close to Arkhangelskoye, Semyonovka, Ocheretino, Solovyevo, Novgorodskoye, Umanskoye, Netaylovo, and Berdychi (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses in this direction amounted to up to 2,475 Ukrainian troops, four tanks, including one U.S.-made Abrams, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, 27 motor vehicles, and one Croatian-made RAK-SA-12 MLRS combat vehicle. In addition, 23 field artillery guns, including five Paladin self-propelled guns and three U.S.-made M777 howitzers, were hit during counter-battery warfare. The Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and defeated the units of three brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and three territorial defence brigades near Ugledar, Velikaya Novoselka, Vodyanoye, Vladimirovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Chervonoye, and Dorozhyanka (Zaporozhye region). Two counter-attacks launched by assault groups of the AFU 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade and the 21st National Guard Brigade were repelled near Staromayorskoye and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses amounted to up to 965 Ukrainian troops, one tank, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 28 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS vehicle, and two Strela-10 SAM combat vehicles. In counter-battery warfare, 20 field artillery guns were hit, to include four Polish-made Krab self-propelled guns and four U.S.-made M777 howitzers. The Dnepr Group of Forces liberated Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) as a result of intensive actions. They have also hit manpower and hardware of two brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 35th Marine Brigade, three territorial defence brigades, as well as three national guard brigades close to Orekhov, Verbovoye, Nesteryanka, Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region), Nikopol, Kapulovka (Dnepropetrovsk region), Zolotaya Balka, and Ivanovka (Kherson region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 265 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, 15 motor vehicles, one Czech-made Vampire MLRS launcher, 35 field artillery guns, including 14 U.S.-made M777 howitzers, as well as one Buk SAM self-propelled artillery system. The Groups' Missile Troops and Artillery and UAVs have neutralised four Mi-24 helicopters at a helipad, as well as 40 uncrewed surface ships at a storage depot over the past week. In addition, one U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system battalion, ammunition and fuel depots, and aerial vehicles in parks of five military airfields were hit. Aviation and air defence systems have shot down six MiG-29 and one Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, 31 U.S.-made ATACMS and Tochka-U operational-tactical missiles, 31 French-made Hammer guided air bombs, 15 U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missiles, 199 HIMARS, Vampire, Grad, and Olkha projectiles, as well as 329 UAVs. In the last 24 hours alone, 123 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs have been shot down over the territory of Crimea and the Black Sea coast of Krasnodarsky Krai. The Black Sea Fleet destroyed 25 Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles in the Black Sea waters over the past day. Over the past week, 63 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact, 48 of them in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces. In total, 601 airplanes, 274 helicopters, 24,234 unmanned aerial vehicles, 522 anti-aircraft missile systems, 16,058 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,303 MLRS combat vehicles, 9,635 field artillery and mortar guns, and 21,763 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 David DePape Sentenced after Conviction on Assault and Attempted Kidnapping Charges Friday, May 17, 2024 For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs DePape Attempted to Kidnap Nancy Pelosi and Assaulted Paul Pelosi on Account of Her Official Duties as Then-Speaker of the House of Representatives David DePape, 44, of Richmond, California, was sentenced today to 360 months in prison and five years of supervised release, following his conviction on assault and attempted kidnapping charges in connection with his Oct. 28, 2022, intrusion into the home of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi. "This sentence is a warning: violence against those who serve the public and their families will not be tolerated," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. "The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those who target public servants and their families with violence. In a democracy, people vote, argue, and debate to achieve the policy outcome they desire. But the promise of democracy is that people will not employ violence to affect that outcome." "David DePape, when he planned his attempted kidnapping, claimed he intended to punish the Speaker Emerita and teach Congress as a whole a lesson," said U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California. "He then violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi. Today's sentence is a stern reminder to those who pursue violence against public officials and institutions that significant punishment will follow. I want to thank the FBI, the San Francisco Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the members of my prosecution team a including Helen Gilbert, Laura Vartain, and Maddie Wachs a for bringing this matter to a swift and decisive conclusion. We hope that the conclusion of the federal case brings a measure of healing to Mr. Pelosi and his family." "Today's sentencing of David DePape to a significant prison term sends a clear message that violence and intimidation have no place in our community or our political discourse," said Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp of the FBI San Francisco Field Office. "DePape's attack, fueled by misguided ideology, underscores the dangers posed by extremist beliefs. The FBI is committed to protecting all citizens and ensuring that our democracy remains strong and resilient against those who seek to harm it." The evidence at trial established that, weeks before the attack, DePape targeted Nancy Pelosi, who was then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and collected personal information about her, including her home address. DePape kept the information in a computer file he labeled "favorite politicians." DePape intended to kidnap the then-Speaker, hold her hostage, and break her kneecaps. The evidence at trial demonstrated that on the night of the assault, DePape used public transportation to travel from the East Bay to San Francisco while carrying two backpacks that contained a hammer, sledgehammer, duct tape, rope, zip ties, and electronic items, among other items. After arriving at the Pelosi residence, DePape used the hammer to break the window of a glass door and enter the home. Then-Speaker Pelosi was not home and her husband, Paul Pelosi, was sleeping on the third floor of the home. DePape roamed the home until he found Paul Pelosi in the third-floor bedroom. The trial evidence demonstrated that DePape woke Paul Pelosi and, while standing three to four feet from him holding the hammer and restraints, made various threats including, "I will take you out." Paul Pelosi managed to walk to his bathroom and call 9-1-1, during which he carefully used language to alert the emergency operator to the situation without agitating DePape. Paul Pelosi convinced the defendant to go downstairs to the first floor and continued talking to DePape. When the police arrived, Paul Pelosi opened the door and the police ordered DePape to drop the hammer he was holding. Instead, DePape struck Paul Pelosi three times with full force, fracturing his skull. The responding officers immediately tackled DePape and took him into custody. On Nov. 9, 2022, a federal grand jury indicted DePape, charging him with one count of assault upon an immediate family member of a U.S. official with the intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with the official while engaged in the performance of official duties or with intent retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties, and one count of attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official on account of the performance of official duties. A jury convicted DePape of both charges. DePape will receive credit for the little over 18 months that he has been in custody since his crime. The FBI San Francisco Field Office, U.S. Capitol Police, and San Francisco Police Department are investigating the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California's National Security and Cyber Section is prosecuting the case. Component: Office of the Attorney General Press Release Number: 24-630 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Deputy Secretary General: we must be big on cyber defence ambitions NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 17 May. 2024 Speaking at NATO's 2024 Cyber Defence Pledge Conference in the Hague on Friday (17 May), NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea GeoanA said that Allies "must be big on ambition" on cyber defence and called for "a new mindset" to strengthen our resilience against cyber threats. "Our adversaries are increasingly defying international norms and using cyber and hybrid operations against us" Mr GeoanA said, stressing that "there is no peace in cyberspace". The Cyber Defence Pledge, established in 2016, is helping boost Allies' cyber defences. It is also helping to strengthen national networks and infrastructures, and enhance NATO's collective resilience to cyber threats. Following the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies have taken further steps to develop a cyber 'maturity model' to help focus their resources more efficiently. Looking ahead, NATO's Deputy Secretary General stressed the importance of strengthening civil-military cooperation at all times, including through closer cooperation with the tech industry. He indicated that this will be a focus of the upcoming Washington Summit. He welcomed the participation, for the first time, of eighteen NATO partner countries in the Cyber Defence Pledge Conference. "Cyber is something that our partners most request from Allies," the Deputy Secretary General said. "I encourage all Allies to be open to these requests, and help all of us become stronger and more resilient in cyberspace". The Netherlands and Romania co-hosted NATO's 2024 Cyber Defence Pledge Conference. Following his address, the Deputy Secretary General met with the Dutch Minister of Defence, Kasja Ollongren, and with students from Leiden University to discuss NATO's agenda for the Washington Summit. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Exercise Balikatan turns up the heat By Flight Lieutenant Claire Burnet 17 May 2024 An extreme heatwave added to the challenge for members of the ADF deployed to the Philippines for Exercise Balikatan 2024 from April to May. The 39th iteration of the largest annual bilateral exercise between the Philippines and the US was completed despite the unusually hot weather hovering over South-East Asia for its duration. About 200 ADF personnel trained alongside 16,000 counterparts from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US forces, as well as French Navy personnel, who joined the exercise as active participants for the first time this year. Commander of the Australian Contingent, United States Air Force exchange officer Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Diamond, said 'balikatan' translated as 'shoulder to shoulder' in the Filipino language of Tagalog. "Exercise Balikatan provides the ability for allies and partners in the Pacific to work together, hand in hand, through combined joint all-domain operations in a contested environment," Lieutenant Colonel Diamond said. "By training together, multilateral forces build upon shared tactics, techniques and procedures to enhance readiness and response capabilities during real-world challenges." Australia's contribution to the exercise comprised Army command and support personnel from various units; land forces from 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR); RAAF engineering and support personnel from 65 Air Base Recovery Squadron; joint terminal attack controllers from 4 Squadron; an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and crew from 2 Squadron; and, RAAF medics and flight nurses. The ADF contingent conducted field training and live-fire exercises, flying serials, engineering tasks and airfield construction training, joint terminal attack controller functions and aeromedical evacuation exercises. Commanding Officer 1RAR, Lieutenant Colonel Brent Hughes, said Exercise Balikatan was an opportunity to integrate a variety of Australia's warfighting capabilities with Filipino and US allies. "Our aircraft coordinated strike platforms in the sky while our soldiers undertook tough, warfighting-focused training in the jungle and in urban settings," Lieutenant Colonel Hughes said. Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said the exercise showcased the US and Philippines' commitment to their bilateral partnership, as well as interoperability with other partner nations. "The Philippines is one of our closest partners and friends and our defence relationship continues to deepen under our strategic partnership," Lieutenant General Bilton said. "Australia's participation demonstrates our commitment to, and engagement with, the Indo-Pacific region." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi, Putin hold talks in Beijing, charting course for enhanced ties People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:08, May 17, 2024 BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Thursday. The two sides had a comprehensive review of the successful experience in developing the China-Russia relationship, and had an in-depth exchange of views on the relationship as well as major international and regional issues of mutual interest, charting the course forward for their cooperation across the board. FINE EXAMPLE OF MAJOR-COUNTRY RELATIONS Xi stressed that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. In the past three quarters of a century, the China-Russia relationship has grown stronger amidst wind and rain, and stood the test of changing international landscape. The relationship has become a fine example for major countries and neighboring countries to treat each other with respect and candor, and pursue amity and mutual benefit. The steady development of China-Russia relations is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples, but also conducive to peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world at large, Xi said. The most important conclusion drawn from the 75-year history of China-Russia relations is that two neighboring major countries must always promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, respect each other on an equal footing, trust each other, accommodate each other's concerns, and truly provide mutual assistance for the development and revitalization of both sides, Xi noted, adding that this is not only the correct way for China and Russia to get along, but also the direction that major-country relations should strive for in the 21st century. Putin expressed his pleasure to visit China again after he was sworn in as Russian president for a new term. Noting that President Xi also paid a state visit to Russia in March last year shortly after his re-election as Chinese president, Putin said that it is a friendly tradition between the two countries, which demonstrates that both sides attach high importance to enhancing the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era. The development of Russia-China ties is not out of expediency or targeted at any third party, Putin said, adding that it benefits international strategic stability. Li Ziguo, director of the Department for European-Central Asian Studies under the China Institute of International Studies, said that both as major countries in the world, China and Russia have been adhering to the principles of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, and finding the right way to get along, which overcomes the outdated mindset that major countries are bound to differ in interests and inevitably become competitors. COMMITMENT TO WIN-WIN COOPERATION Xi said that with concerted efforts from both sides, China-Russia relations have been moving forward steadily, with enhanced comprehensive strategic coordination and further cooperation on economy and trade, investment, energy, and people-to-people exchanges, at the subnational level and in other fields. This has made positive contributions to maintaining global strategic stability and promoting greater democracy in international relations. The two sides should take the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as a new starting point, further synergize development strategies, and continue to enrich the bilateral cooperation to bring greater benefits to the two countries and peoples, he said. Last year, China-Russia two-way trade exceeded 240 billion U.S. dollars, close to 2.7 times that of a decade ago. This is a good indication of the all-round cooperation of mutual benefit that continues to deepen between the two countries. "Chinese products are renowned for their good quality, extensive variety, and competitive pricing. In recent years, our company has maintained good cooperation with dozens of Chinese suppliers, and the trade volume has increased year by year," said Dmitry Pismennyy, a Russian businessman engaged in foreign trade in southwest China's Chongqing. The two presidents have set 2024 and 2025 as China-Russia Years of Culture, proposed a series of cultural activities that are down to earth and close to people's hearts, and encouraged closer interactions between various sectors and at subnational levels to enhance mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples. Putin said that the intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms between Russia and China are functioning well, and bilateral cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, agriculture, industry, energy, and connectivity has grown steadily. He noted that the signing of a series of cooperation documents demonstrates that the two sides are committed to further deepening win-win cooperation. Russia is willing to work with China to implement the pre-2030 development plan on economic cooperation between the two sides, well organize the Russia-China Years of Culture activities, and strengthen the alignment between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative, Putin said, adding that next year, Russia and China will hold events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. SAFEGUARDING UN-CENTERED INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM China and Russia are committed to strategic coordination as an underpinning of relations, and steer global governance in the right direction, Xi said when jointly meeting with the press with Putin. The two countries are firmly committed to safeguarding the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. They stay in close coordination and collaboration in multilateral platforms such as the UN, APEC and G20, and advance multipolarity and economic globalization in the spirit of true multilateralism, he said. With Russia chairing BRICS this year and China taking over the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) later this year, the two sides will support each other's chairmanship, build a high-quality partnership that is more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive, and build the unity and strength of the Global South, he added. China and Russia are committed to fairness and justice as the purpose of relations, and dedicated to the political settlement of hotspots, Xi said. Putin said that Russia and China have maintained close coordination on the international stage and are jointly committed to promoting the establishment of a more democratic multipolar world order. Both sides are willing to continue to strengthen cooperation within the frameworks including BRICS and SCO as well as communication on major international and regional issues, so as to promote regional and world peace and development. Li Yongquan, head of the China Society for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, said that faced with numerous challenges in global governance, a healthy development of China-Russia relations and their cooperation within such mechanisms as BRICS and SCO are pivotal for maintaining regional and international stability, and improving global governance. After the talks, Xi and Putin signed and issued the Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era in the Context of the 75th Anniversary of China-Russia Diplomatic Relations, and witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents. Prior to the talks, Xi held a grand welcoming ceremony for Putin. Xi also hosted a welcoming banquet for Putin around noon. Senior officials including Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 17, 2024 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2024-05-17 21:01 Xinhua News Agency: The 33rd Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level opened in Bahrain's capital Manama on May 16. We noted that President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to King Hamad of Bahrain who is the rotating president of the session, and the King expressed his appreciation in his opening remarks. Can you share more details with us? What is China's expectation for China-Arab relations in the future? Wang Wenbin: On May 16, the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level opened in Bahrain's capital Manama. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the rotating president King Hamad of Bahrain on the successful convening of the session. He noted that the China-Arab relationship is now at its best in history. China stands ready to work with Arab states to carry forward the friendship between the two sides, build a China-Arab community with a shared future at a higher level, and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Starting from the 24th Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level in 2013, President Xi Jinping has sent congratulatory letters to each session, which fully reflects the great importance China attaches to developing relations with Arab states. China and Arab states enjoy a traditional friendship. Our relations have stood the test of history and the evolving international landscape, setting a fine example of South-South cooperation. At the first China-Arab Summit in 2022, President Xi Jinping and leaders of Arab states agreed to work for a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, opening a new chapter for China-Arab friendship and cooperation. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and the 10th ministerial conference of the forum will be held in China. China looks forward to working with Arab states to take this as an opportunity to further deepen our traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, step up coordination on international affairs, and deepen and substantiate the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future. Shenzhen TV: We noted that in the Spring 2024 Economic Forecast released days ago, EU Commission adjusted up China's growth forecast for this year by 0.2 percentage points to 4.8 percent. Many international financial institutions have also raised their forecast for China's economic growth this year. What's your comment? Wang Wenbin: Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has continued to pick up and the socioeconomic development has been off to a good start. In the first quarter this year, the economy grew by 5.3 percent and continued to enjoy greater momentum of rebound. In April, China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.4 percent. The trade in goods with other countries grew year-on-year by 8 percent to RMB 3.64 trillion, a record high compared with the same periods of previous years. The trend of China's economic rebound further fuels international optimism about China and investing in China. International financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citibank and UBS, have recently revised upward China's growth forecast in 2024. Asian Development Bank predicted that from 2024 to 2025, China will account for 46 percent of the economic growth of Asian developing countries. US management consulting firm Kearney said that China has a large economic size and a stable and positive policy environment. In recent years, China has taken steps to abolish all market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing, which gives a strong boost to international investors' confidence. China's development is open to the world, and our opportunities are shared by the world. An increasingly open China with a steadily growing economy will surely remain a driver of global economic growth and a popular destination for foreign investment. You are more than welcome to continue investing, flourishing and succeeding in China.a a Beijing Daily: It's reported that today, Tokyo Electric Power Company will start dumping the sixth batch of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. The discharge is expected to last until June 4 and reach nearly 7,800 tonnes. What's China's comment? Wang Wenbin: We firmly oppose the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. This position is consistent and clear. The ocean discharge bears on the health of all humanity, the global marine environment and the global common good. Japan has yet to resolve its neighbors' concerns on the safety of the discharge, the long-term reliability of the purification system and the effectiveness of monitoring arrangement. China urges Japan to cooperate fully in creating an independent, effective and long-term international monitoring scheme with substantive participation of Japan's neighbors and other stakeholders, and seriously prevent irrevocable consequences stemming from the ocean discharge. When the global well-being is at stake, Japan needs to take seriously the legitimate and lawful concerns at home and abroad and properly respond to them with a responsible and constructive attitude. Global Times: It's reported the Taiwan authorities have long been bribing Guatemala's President and resorting to "dollar diplomacy" in exchange for political support. The Taiwan authorities recently took similar moves on Guatemala again. But the office of Guatemala's President indicated that President Bernardo ArAvalo might decline attending the so-called "inauguration ceremony" on May 20. What's your comment? Wang Wenbin: To squander taxpayers' money for "dollar diplomacy" is the DPP authorities' go-to tactic to buy foreign politicians' presence to keep up appearance. Such moves are designed to serve "Taiwan independence" separatism and personal political calculations. Ultimately it's the interests of the people in Taiwan that will suffer. Facts show that the DPP authorities' "dollar diplomacy" not only brings no good to the development of relevant countries, but breeds corruption. We believe the government and people of Guatemala are clear-eyed about this. We reiterate that upholding the one-China principle is the right thing to do and is where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends. This is not something you can put a price on. We hope and believe that Guatemala will make the right decision as early as possible that follows the prevailing trend and serves the interest of its people. China Daily: US State Department spokesperson said on May 16 that "the People's Republic of China cannot have its cake and eat it too. ... You can't want to have ... relationships with Europe and other countries while simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security in a long time." What's your comment on that? Wang Wenbin: Those words reflect a Manichean mindset of the United States, which drives a constant search for an enemy rather than peace. This is a reflection of the Cold War mentality that still dominates US thinking, which bears unshirkable responsibility for the eruption and escalation of the Ukraine crisis. China is not the creator of or a party to the Ukraine Crisis. We have been on the side of peace and dialogue and committed to promoting peace talks. We actively support putting in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. Our fair and objective position and constructive role have been widely recognized. "Let the person who tied the bell on the tiger untie it," to quote a Chinese saying. Our message to the US: stop shifting the blame on China; do not try to drive a wedge between China and Europe; and it is time to stop fueling the flame and start making real contribution to finding a political solution to the Ukraine crisis. Hubei Media Group: Chad's constitutional council confirmed the final result of the presidential election that interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby was elected as the President of Chad with 61 percent of the vote. What's China's comment?a Wang Wenbin: We noted the final result of the presidential election announced by Chad's constitutional council. China extends sincere congratulations to President Mahamat Idriss Deby on winning the election. We are confident that under the leadership of President Mahamat Idriss Deby, Chad will achieve greater progress in realizing national stability and development.a China deeply values its friendly ties with Chad and stands ready to work with the new government to enhance mutual support, advance mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and bring more benefits to our two peoples. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE Employees of Puma Filling Station in Manzini are very fortunate to be alive after a robber invaded the place, stealing cash amounting to around E15 000 at gunpoint. This shocking robbery happened at around 9pm yesterday in full view of the cashiers and customers who were present. According to the filling stations Director Mausim Bhagubhai, the daring robber allegedly stole from both the filling station and the restaurant next to it, leaving onlookers stunned. Gunshot After stealing the cash, the robber is said to have fired one gunshot in the air before disappearing into the thick of night. Yes, it is true, my filling station has just been robbed and cash amounting to plus or minus E15 000 was taken at gunpoint. It is a miracle that nobody was injured during this robbery even though the thief fired a gunshot outside, soon after taking the cash, he said. Bhagubhai said he suspected that the robber had a back-up of friends who were strategically placed without anybody noticing them. Robbery I am convinced that his friends were waiting somewhere around the filling station to keep an eye on him as he carried out the robbery. We are only glad that nobody was hurt during the incident, he said. The director then implored the police to start doing regular patrols around the filling station to ensure that such did not happen in future. Present in the shop during the armed robbery was the stations other Director Rasid Bhagubhai. The lives of my employees were put in serious danger and my appeal is for the police to constantly patrol this area to ensure that we are all safe, he urged. Investigations Police were called soon after the robbery to record statements from the eyewitnesses before proceeding with their investigations to bring those who committed this crime to book. Uyghur rights advocates applaud addition of Chinese companies to US blacklist The measure brings the number of entities to 65 under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. By Roseanne Gerin for RFA 2024.05.17 -- The U.S. has added 26 Chinese textile "intermediary companies" to its blacklist of entities under legislation that prohibits imports of forced labor products, winning praise from Uyghur human rights advocates. Effective Friday, goods produced by the named cotton traders and warehouse facilities will be restricted from entering the United States. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, signed into law in December 2021, blocks imports from China's Xinjiang region into the U.S. without "clear and convincing evidence" they were not made with forced labor. It also authorizes sanctions on foreign individuals and entities found responsible for human rights abuses in the northwestern region. The addition of the 26 companies - most of which operate outside Xinjiang - brings the total number of entities to 65 under the act. Adrian Zenz, senior fellow and director in China studies at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, called the addition of the companies an important and long-overdue step that helps close a loophole. "It has long been the case that the key challenge from Uyghur forced labor was not posed by direct exports from Xinjiang, but by Xinjiang products entering global supply chains through other intermediaries," said Zenz, who has researched labor transfers of Uyghurs to other Chinese provinces. "Adding substantial numbers of such intermediary companies to the entity list helps to address this loophole," he said. 'Only a fraction' U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said they endorsed the action to nearly double the number of entities, but recognized that the list contains "only a fraction" of businesses complicit in Uyghur forced labor. The co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China said they wanted to see more Chinese companies in the polysilicon, aluminum, PVC and rayon industries blacklisted, as well as companies in other parts of Asia that produce U.S.-bound goods with inputs sourced from Xinjiang. "No one should be allowed to profit from genocide," they said in a statement issued on Thursday. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, an interagency body chaired by the Department of Homeland Security, added the companies as part of the U.S. commitment to eliminating forced labor in the U.S. supply chain and promoting accountability for the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity facing Uyghurs and other Muslim groups in Xinjiang, said a statement issued by the department. The designation of the 26 textile manufacturers, which source cotton from Xinjiang, will make it easier for responsible companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains to ensure they do not include goods made with forced labor, the statement said. "We will continue to execute on our textile enforcement strategy and hold the PRC [People's Republic of China] accountable for their exploitation and abuse of the Uyghur people," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. The U.S. government and some Western parliaments have deemed China's mistreatment of the Uyghurs a genocide and crimes against humanity. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights said in an August 2022 report that "serious human rights violations" committed in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity. With reporting by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Joshua Lipes. 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 China's shrinking Arctic ambitions are seen as confined largely to Russia By Jay Heisler May 17, 2024 China's effort to establish itself as a "near-Arctic power" have become increasingly confined to the territory of its close ally Russia as other nations lose interest in cooperating with Beijing, according to Canadian security experts. The degree in which China poses a serious geopolitical threat in the Arctic region is debatable among experts. Chinese efforts to establish research stations in up to half a dozen Arctic nations ground to a halt because of travel restrictions during the COVID pandemic. Mounting concerns over China's human rights record and its aggressive actions elsewhere have made several of those countries reluctant to see operations resume, said experts. "In many ways our fear of China and the Arctic dates back to five or six years ago when China's power and influence seemed very much to be on the uptick in the region," said Adam Lajeunesse, a professor focusing on Arctic issues at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. "Its political, economic and soft power influence in the Arctic outside of Russia has collapsed. "Our fears of China are still lagging events. A lot from pre-COVID era when there was a lot of fears that China was going to dominate Arctic infrastructure. ... That didn't happen," Lajeunesse said. VOA reported in December 2022 that China had sent or announced plans to send several people to its two most important scientific outposts in Norway and Iceland after lengthy absences of Chinese scientists from both sites. But there were no signs of China trying to renew two other scientific projects in Sweden and Finland, where national organizations told VOA that Chinese activity was set to end or had ended. An earlier plan to set up a research base in Denmark's autonomous island of Greenland was shelved in the face of opposition in Copenhagen, according to Marc Lanteigne, a social studies professor at the Arctic University of Norway. That has left Beijing a which has no direct access to Arctic waters a to focus its Arctic ambitions on Russia, with which it established a "no limits" partnership days before Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. China's interests in the region are believed to include fisheries, extraction of minerals and other resources, and a shorter sea route to Europe a all of which become more viable as the Arctic ice pack recedes in the face of climate change. "China respects the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction rights of Arctic countries," Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA in an emailed statement. "Issues related to the Arctic not only affect Arctic countries but also have global significance." "China will work with all parties in getting to know more about the Arctic, as well as in its protection, exploration and management, with the view of greater peace, stability and sustainable development in the region," Liu added. Many experts are watching China's arctic activities and national security professionals told VOA on the sidelines of an April 30 conference sponsored by the Canadian Military Intelligence Association there are still limits to how much cooperation China can expect from Russia. "There is little doubt among Western nations that China will continue to seek research, infrastructure, and increased military engagement through direct and indirect means in support of its Belt and Road Initiatives," said Al Dillon, co-founder and CEO of Sapper Labs, a company that supports the intelligence and cyber defense needs of Canada and other English-speaking countries. "The collaboration with Russia is concerning in this regard, while Russia will surely want to retain its own sovereignty and independence in the Arctic. The extent of this collaboration remains to be seen; however, we can be assured it will occur." Artur Wilczynski, a former Canadian ambassador to Norway and retired senior official in several intelligence-related agencies, told VOA that Russia "was originally skeptical with non-Arctic state involvement in the region." "Given Western sanctions and the Russian need for investment, China may exert more pressure on Russia rather than other Arctic states," Wilczynski said. "It may be easier for them to meet their Arctic interests through closer collaboration with Russia in the short term than try to address increasing Western skepticism of their engagement in either the North American or Western European Arctic." Despite the focus on Russia, Samuel Jardine, head of research at London Politica, said Beijing is interested in acquiring access to the Canadian Arctic a a goal that may have led to a scandal over Chinese interference in the past two Canadian elections. "In effect Canada is a doorway for China to not being seen to be isolated merely in the 'Russian Arctic' and maintaining influence and access to the whole region," Jardine told VOA in an email. "Something fundamental for a "Polar Great Power" which claims to be a "near-Arctic" state." Michel Lipin contributed to this article. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China and Russia reinforce partnership to counter US influence By William Yang May 17, 2024 Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded his two-day trip to China Friday after Beijing and Moscow reaffirmed their "strategic relationship" by signing a joint statement and vowing to cooperate against "destructive and hostile" pressure from Washington. During meetings between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian president said Moscow is willing to work with Beijing and other global south countries toward "a multipolar world," while Xi said the two countries are committed to steering global governance "in the right direction." Some analysts say Putin and Xi are trying to emphasize that Beijing and Moscow's close partnership "is a force for good in the global system." "Both leaders want to emphasize that they are creating a more equal environment and inclusive global economic and political system," said Philipp Ivanov, a China-Russia analyst and the founder of consultancy Geopolitical Risks + Strategy Practice. In addition to challenging the existing world order led by the United States, Putin and Xi criticized the U.S. and NATO for creating negative effects on regional peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by creating "closed and exclusive groupings" and expanding military presence. "In the current geopolitical context, it is necessary to explore the establishment of a sustainable security system in the Eurasian space based on the principle of equal and indivisible security," read the joint statement signed by Xi and Putin. Some experts say Putin and Xi view Washington and NATO's expanding military presence in Asia "as a zero-sum game." "The logic of military balance is very central to their view of the international order and their target is the web of military alliances of the United States," said Mathieu Duchatel, director of international studies at the French policy group Institut Montaigne. He told VOA that one of Xi and Putin's goals to uphold their partnership is to "undermine" Washington's alliance networks in Asia. Beijing's limits As Switzerland prepares to host a peace summit dedicated to the Ukraine war next month, Xi and Putin also exchanged views on that ongoing conflict during their meeting Thursday. They believe that the war should be resolved through a political settlement. In a readout published by China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, Xi said the fundamental solution to the war is establishing "a new, balanced, effective, and sustainable security architecture." He added that China supports an international peace conference "recognized by Russia and Ukraine at an appropriate time with equal participation and fair discussion of all options." Putin said Moscow "appreciates" Beijing's "objective, just and balanced position on the Ukraine issue" and claimed that Russia is "committed to resolving the Ukraine issue through political negotiations." Ivanov said China's current efforts to help resolve the Ukraine War, including a 12-point peace plan released last February, suggest Beijing is trying to avoid making any commitment. The peace plan "is a diplomatic document rather than any substantive strategy for China's participation in resolving this war," he told VOA. Since neither Russia nor Ukraine is ready to negotiate, Ivanov thinks there is not much China can do to help end the war. "I haven't seen any concrete steps from China in trying to resolve the war. I'm skeptical about Switzerland's peace conference and China's peace plan," he said. Lack of effective pressure on China The meeting between Xi and Putin took place after Xi's five-day trip to Europe, during which some analysts say Beijing was trying to exploit the disunity within the European Union. It also follows repeated warnings from the United States about the potential consequences of Beijing's ongoing support for Russia's war against Ukraine. During a news conference Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told journalists that China can't support the Russian war efforts while simultaneously trying to improve relations with the West. "It can't have it both ways and want to have [better] relationships with Europe and other countries while simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security in a long time," he said. Some experts say China's decision to uphold its partnership with Russia reflects Beijing's belief that the West's warnings about potential sanctions against Chinese entities supporting Russia's war efforts may not materialize. "I think Beijing believes that there is nothing that Europe can do so they are asking Europe to show its hand," Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone. In his view, the U.S. seems more serious about imposing potential secondary sanctions against Chinese entities while the European Union struggles to determine their responses to Beijing's support for Moscow. An upward trajectory of the partnership Considering Washington's repeated warnings of sanctioning Chinese entities for supporting Russia's war efforts, Ivanov said Putin would try to safeguard Russia's economic relationship with China through his visit. "I'm pretty confident that there is an active discussion on how to circumvent sanctions, and we will probably see more transactions and import-export activities flowing through third countries, such as those in Central Asia," he told VOA, adding that one of China and Russia's goals is to build a geoeconomic system "that is immune from Western sanctions and export controls." Despite Western countries' attempts to pressure or persuade China to stop support for Russia, Ivanov and Duchatel say Beijing will continue to uphold its partnership with Moscow. "There is no sign that Russia's access to Chinese dual-use technology has been seriously reduced, and no actions from China suggest a reduced commitment to supporting Russia," Duchatel told VOA. Ivanov said while there might be some disagreements between China and Russia, the overall direction of their partnership is "trending upward." "I don't think the U.S. or Europe can substantively influence the course of the China-Russia partnership at the moment," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea dismisses 'absurd rumor' of arms exports to Russia Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 8:11 AM The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has dismissed outside speculation about arms dealings with Russia and military exports for use against Ukraine as "the most absurd paradox". South Korea and the United States have repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Moscow. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the accusations, but vowed last year to deepen military relations. There is speculation in the West that ramped-up testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles by North Korea could be in preparation for shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine. But Kim Yo Jong said Friday Pyongyang had "no intention to export our military technical capabilities to any country", accusing hostile forces of "misleading the public opinion with an absurd rumor". She said the North Korea-Russia arms deal "theory" made up of prejudice and fiction was the "most absurd theory" that does not deserve anyone's evaluation or interpretation. "We have no intention to export our military technical capabilities to any country or open them to the public." Her remarks came a day after the US announced fresh sanctions on two Russian individuals and three Russian companies for allegedly facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday criticized Washington and its allies for their "intimidation in the military sphere" against North Korea. Their joint statement after meeting in Beijing came as US and South Korean stealth fighters staged joint air combat drills as part of three-way exercises which also involve Japan. North and South Korea remain technically at war because their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. Kim Yo Jong said, "What is most urgent for us is not to 'advertise' or 'export' something, but to make the war readiness and war deterrent of our army more perfect in quality and quantity." On Tuesday, North Korea's leader inspected a new tactical missile weapons system and called for an "epochal change" in war preparations by achieving arsenal production targets. Kim Yo Jong said North Korea's recent weapons tests were purely performed as parts of the country's five-year arms buildup plan launched in 2021. She added that the recently tested weapons are designed to attack Seoul, the South Korean capital. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Australia sanctions entities linked to North Korea-Russia arms deal The measures came after US sanctions on Russian individuals and companies over arms transfers with the North. By Taejun Kang for RFA 2024.05.17 -- Australia has imposed targeted sanctions against entities linked to the unlawful weapons trade between North Korea and Russia. "Australia is imposing targeted financial sanctions, in coordination with international partners, on a further six entities associated with North Korea's supply of arms and related materiel to Russia," said Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in a statement on Friday. "Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea's illegal export and Russia's procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles, in support of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine." Noting the continued transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia is a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, Wong said Australia would work with Western allies to hold Russia and North Korea to account and address the security threat posed by the North. Wong's statement came a day after the United States announced sanctions on two Russian individuals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers with Pyongyang. U.S. Treasury officials said in a statement that the two countries had strengthened their military cooperation over the past year, with the North providing ballistic missiles and munitions to Russia in return for weapons and economic aid. The U.S., South Korea and others have accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons to use in its war in Ukraine - an accusation that both countries have denied. A now-defunct U.N. panel of experts tasked with investigating violations of sanctions related to North Korea's prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs, released a report in March, detailing with photographs Russia's arms dealings with North Korea. A few hours after Australia's announcement, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, the South Korean military said. "We identified several projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea [Sea of Japan] from the Wonsan area of North Korea," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The North Korean missile flew about 300 km (186 miles) before falling into the East Sea, the JCS added. This is North Korea's fifth ballistic missile test launch this year. The JCS said it was analyzing details of the missiles and shared relevant information with the U.S. and Japan. "We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launch as a clear act of provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," the JCS said, adding that South Korea will closely monitor the North's activities. Edited by Mike Firn. This story was updated to include information about North Korea's missile launch. Copyright 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPRK Missile Administration Conducts Test Fire of Tactical Ballistic Missile with New Technology Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Missile Administration conducted a test fire of tactical ballistic missile into which a new autonomous navigation system was introduced in the East Sea of Korea on Friday. 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, oversaw the test fire. The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire. The test fire is part of the regular activities of the administration and its affiliated defence science institutes for rapid technological development of weapon systems. The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , expressing great satisfaction over the military strategic value involved in the result of the independent development and successful introduction of the autonomous navigation system, highly appreciated the relevant defence science and technology group which has contributed to making a noble achievement. He was accompanied by Pak Jong Chon, Kim Jong Sik, Jang Chang Ha and Kim Yong Hwan. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address France deploys troops, declares emergency state to quell New Caledonia protests Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 11:13 AM France has deployed new troops to New Caledonia and granted its forces more authority to crush unrest in the independence-seeking Pacific archipelago near Australia. Pro-independence, largely Indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on the territory have spiraled into the deadliest protests since the 1980s. Three nights of clashes have left five dead and hundreds wounded, prompting French authorities to impose a state of emergency Thursday. They also dispatched 500 additional troops to support 1,800 forces already deployed to the region. According to a statement by the high commission, which represents the French state in New Caledonia, house searches will be carried out "in the coming hours". Since the unrest began, more than 200 protesters have been arrested. The high commission said France is establishing an "air bridge" to rapidly move in troop reinforcements. In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron offered to hold talks Thursday with New Caledonian lawmakers and called for a resumption of political dialogue. The predominantly indigenous population, advocating for independence, is expressing their opposition to a French initiative that aims to implement new voting regulations. The new bill will grant voting rights to French residents in provincial elections, who have resided there for a decade under the proposed legislation, which pro-independence leaders fear would dilute the Kanak vote. New Caledonia was incorporated into the French Empire by Emperor Napoleon III in 1853, who was the nephew and successor of Napoleon. Following World War II, it was designated as an overseas territory and in 1957, all Kanaks were granted French citizenship. Known for its palm-lined beaches and marine life-rich lagoon, New Caledonia sits atop around a quarter of the world's known nickel reserves. Tourism and nickel are the territory's two main sources of income. The region's nickel deposits are estimated to represent 25 percent of the world's. The archipelago has been part of France since 1853, but during the past few decades, relations have been strained between pro-France Caledonians a mainly the white descendants of early European settlers in the territory a and independence advocates, mainly ethnic Kanaks. During the 1980s, fighting between the two sides left more than 70 people dead in the archipelago, which is now home to roughly 270,000 people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address France Accuses Azerbaijan Of Backing An Online Campaign To Incite Violence On New Caledonia By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service May 17, 2024 France has again accused Azerbaijan of interfering in the internal politics of New Caledonia by backing a disinformation campaign that Paris says is encouraging deadly riots in the French territory located between Australia and Fiji. A French government agency said on May 17 that France has detected a "massive and coordinated" online campaign accusing French police of shooting pro-independence demonstrators. The agency linked the disinformation efforts to "Azerbaijani actors." Azerbaijan has rejected the claims. Viginum, the French government's watchdog for online disinformation campaigns, pointed to the manipulation of information on social media platforms over the recent riots in New Caledonia. "On May 15 and 16, 2024, Viginum detected massive and coordinated dissemination on various platforms of clearly inaccurate or misleading content, accusing French police of firing on pro-independence demonstrators," the agency said. In recent days New Caledonia has been engulfed in clashes between supporters and opponents of independence. The protests started over an electoral reform law that expanded the voting rights of French nationals living in New Caledonia. Opponents of the law believe that it will weaken the vote of the local population and increase the influence of Paris. French authorities in New Caledonia and at the Interior Ministry said that five people, including two police officers, have been killed in the clashes since May 13. France imposed a state of emergency and deployed military forces to protect ports and airports. High Commissioner Louis Le Franc announced stringent measures under the state of emergency, which will run for at least 11 days, including a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The accusation made on May 17 by Viginum follows the comments of French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen, who told French television that "some leaders of Caledonia's supporters of independence made a deal with Azerbaijan." The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the French official's words were "another baseless opinion" and added on May 17 that Azerbaijan was not connected to the New Caledonia protests. Darmanen's comments came after a delegation from New Caledonia visited Azerbaijan and held meetings with the chairman of the parliament, deputies, and other officials. Azerbaijani Deputy Asim Mollazadeh said that according to the information provided by the guests from New Caledonia "almost all their rights are violated. It is not suitable for anyone to live in the 21st century with the actions of the 15th century," Mollazadeh said. Mollazadeh, who participated in a conference in April dedicated to the topic New Caledonia's history, modern challenges, and future, said that Azerbaijan can provide moral support to New Caledonia. The territory is "fighting for its freedom and rights.... History also remembers the crimes committed by France," he said. New Caledonia held three referendums on independence between 2018 and 2021. None of them passed. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijan-france- new-caledonia-riots-election-interference/32952115.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 Speech of Foreign Minister Baerbock at the Council of Europe's 75th anniversary Germany Federal Foreign Office 16.05.2024 - Speech Outside this building, 50 metres from here, was the place where the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe first met 75 years ago. But as we come together today to celebrate, we cannot do so without remembering another place, 50 kilometres from here. The small village of Natzwiller. 530 inhabitants. A peaceful spot at the foot of the Vosges Mountains. In early June 1943, 86 men and women arrived in Natzwiller. 86 Jewish men and women from eight different countries. These 86 men and women went from one hell to another. They came from Auschwitz. They had been selected because the Nazis wanted to prove their cruel "race theories". For that, they brought them directly to the town of Natzwiller to kill them and examine their skeletons. At the so-called ReichsuniversitAt StraAYburg, which the Nazis had established after annexing the Alsace. In total, 22,000 people from all over Europe were murdered in this camp alone. An entire town. On the ruins of this fascism and nationalism, on the ruins of a war that had brought this continent to the brink, ruins for which my country was responsible, ten ministers from ten European countries held the first Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe 75 years ago. They dreamed the dream of reconciliation. Robert Schumann, the Foreign Minister of France at the time, described this moment as "the last chance of salvation for Europe and for our countries." It humbles me to speak to you today as German Foreign Minister as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe. For me, this marks a moment of deep gratitude. Because it was in Europe and through Europe that my country was able to grow into a democracy, a living democracy. 19 days after the founding of the Council of Europe, West Germany adopted its constitution. In it, we pledged to serve the peace of the world as an equal partner in a united Europe. A pledge that never ends. One year later, Germany joined the Council of Europe. But becoming an equal partner in a united Europe took us time. It took the trust of our neighbours, of all of you. It took the will of our citizens, of your citizens, to build and shape our democracies and your democracies - together from then on. To be able to grow, democracies need a solid foundation of rules and values. This is precisely what the Council of Europe, our Council of Europe, provides, forcing us to constantly question ourselves. Because democracies are never complete, never finished - just like people. They grow through institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights, where every single citizen can hold their government accountable for violating their rights. When the Court was established in 1959, this was nothing short of a revolution in international law. It reflected an entirely new understanding: that every individual enjoys the same rights, no matter where they were born, no matter what their gender, no matter what religion they have or who they love. An understanding that is the exact opposite of the crude "race theories" of the Nazis. But if we are honest, when people think of the strength of their constitutions, the strength of their democracies, many people do not think of the institutions of the Council of Europe. Many even confuse, I would conjecture sometimes even in our parliaments, the Council of Europe with the European Union. But the EU, a union of freedom, would be inconceivable without the Council of Europe. And to be frank, especially to my EU friends, I believe this occasion, this year, is also an important opportunity to redouble our efforts to have the European Union officially join the European Convention on Human Rights. A Convention which laid the foundation for so many other important Council of Europe documents. Documents that prepared the way for a better life in our countries. For example, and I think such examples can be found in many of our countries, the fact that it is punishable to beat your children in my country today results from the Social Charter of the Council of Europe. And without the Istanbul Convention, also in Germany, women and girls would have less protection from domestic violence. Even until recently. In German courts, the sentences of offenders who attack their partners were often lighter if the offender had had an intimate relationship with the victim before the crime. A clear contradiction of the Istanbul Convention. Therefore, last June, the German Bundestag passed a new law explicitly including gender-specific motives as aggravating factors for the crime of domestic violence. Finally. This does not only strengthen women's rights, it also makes our democracies stronger. After all, and here I quote quite an elderly woman who I met in the winter of 2022 at the former "contact line" in Ukraine who said, "if women are not safe, no one is safe. Always remember that." And I do remember that. We all do. Because women's rights are a yardstick for the state of a democracy. For the state of our democracies. And this is the strength of the Council of Europe. It makes our democracies stronger. It helps us grow, grow together as European democracies. And if you listen to the two young delegates Maurizio and Nina, who just spoke to us so eloquently, it is precisely this belief that makes young people say today: Europe is my home. However, 75 years after the founding of the Council of Europe, our way of life is under pressure as rarely before. 75 years ago, Winston Churchill said here in Strasbourg: "After 30 years of fighting, I'm confident that we have reached the end of nationalist wars." This hope has not come to fruition. And that's why today is not only a day of gratitude and joy. It's also a moment of self-reflection. Russia's war of aggression has brought suffering to millions of people in Ukraine and dealt a severe blow to the European peace order. Many of you, especially our Eastern and Baltic partners, have been warning us about Russia's behaviour for years. But frankly, we did not listen carefully enough. Today, let me assure you, if Russia's war has taught us one thing, it is that we cannot take our security, our freedom, for granted. I'm sure that Putin not only expected Ukrainian resistance to collapse, but also our unity in pan-European institutions such as the Council of Europe. But he miscalculated. We are not only standing united at Ukraine's side, but we also showed the strength of the Council of Europe. It's not Ukraine that is isolated, it's Russia. We have given a strong response to this war. We have excluded Putin's Russia from the Council of Europe and assured Ukraine of our support. But at the same time, our societies are under pressure from within. From nationalists who imprison human rights activists and censor free journalism. From extremists who attack local politicians and spread hate on social media. From forces who want to roll back everything we have built together over the last 75 years. And far too often we see how hate turns into violence. We saw this yesterday, when Prime Minister Robert Fico was violently attacked. Our thoughts are with him, his family and all of our Slovak friends. We will not accept such attacks on our democracies. Ladies and gentlemen, as we see the threats to our European democratic values growing, we need to ask ourselves: how can we ensure the success of the European project for the next 75 years and beyond? How can we strengthen the very institutions, such as the Venice Commission, for me the crown jewel for fortifying our democracies, known worldwide, that allow us to grow into stronger and better democracies every day? Last year I talked to the judges of the European Court of Human Rights who told me how difficult it is for them to do their job. That the Court is lacking lawyers, clerks and administrators. Take the "letter office", where citizens submit their complaints. A whole room full of boxes of letters from floor to ceiling. Right now, more than 75,000 complaints by citizens are pending. Citizens who put their trust in the Court, in us. Therefore, I want to be clear. If we want this Court to serve as an effective early warning system, we have to listen when it sounds the alarm. And that is why I call on all of us to adhere to the Court's judgments, especially in cases where individuals have been unfairly imprisoned. Autocrats from outside and demagogues from within have one thing in common: they see our democratic values as a weakness. But they are wrong. What could be stronger than the promise that a person has the right to a self-determined life? A life in peace and freedom. This promise is stronger than hate. A promise built on the ruins of nationalism and fascism, 75 years ago. A promise of joy. A promise of deep gratitude. And a commitment that never ends. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in the German Bundestag to mark 75 years of the Council of Europe Germany Federal Foreign Office 16.05.2024 - Speech "The last chance" of salvation for Europe - that is how the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman described the founding of the Council of Europe 75 years ago. "The last chance!" When ten states dreamt the dream of reconciliation, they did so on the ruins that fascism and nationalism had left in Europe, on ruins for which our country was responsible. That is why, for me as German Foreign Minister, today is a day of deep gratitude. Because Germany, our country, has grown into a democracy in Europe and through Europe. 19 days after the founding of the Council of Europe, our Basic Law entered into force, with these famous words in its preamble: "Inspired by the determination to promote world peace as an equal partner in a united Europe...". But it took time until we were able to shoulder this responsibility in Europe. A fully-fledged democracy does not appear instantaneously upon the adoption of a constitution and the establishment of the relevant institutions. It needs time to grow. It needs to be filled with life. More than 80 million people breathe this life into our constitution, give it heart and a passion, in freedom and in peace - in Germany and above all with our neighbours, who have become our friends. They do so on a firm foundation of common values and rules, with institutions like the Council of Europe that encourage us to constantly scrutinise ourselves, and to reflect on ourselves as democracies, because democracy isn't a stationary object, but like life itself is constantly expanding. It grows through institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights, a court that enables almost 700 million people to assert their rights - their human rights and basic freedoms - against their own governments. When this court was established in 1959, it was revolutionary. That, too, should never be forgotten. It reflected a new understanding of the relationship between the state and the individual. It embodied the conviction that every human being has the same rights regardless of their gender, origin or religion. It showed that a state can be held accountable - not only when it disregards these rights, but also when it fails to actively uphold them. That is the power of the tools developed by the Council of Europe - which we can now call our Council of Europe. And also - and this is something we shouldn't forget when we talk about values and rights in the present day - it is a power, a force that is also felt in other countries, that makes institutions like the Council of Europe so attractive. For example to Kosovo, the youngest democracy in Europe that should be part of our Council of Europe. That is why we are calling on all those involved and those in positions of responsibility in Kosovo to do everything possible to ensure we have the necessary majority for Kosovo's accession as soon as possible - and let me say I am really grateful for all the hard work being done by the democratic MPs and parliamentary groups, who are all pulling together in one direction here. But we also know, and this is part of our critical self-reflection as a democracy, that our European way of life and the values of our Council of Europe are now being challenged as never before since the end of the Cold War. From without, by autocrats like Vladimir Putin, who has brought a war of conquest back to Europe. But also from within - with hatred and the return of "vAlkisch" populists who want to imprison journalists and manipulate the courts and who are fomenting hatred against so-called "foreigners". We have repeatedly seen how hatred can lead to violence, and how it can affect anyone and everyone. Even if we do not yet know all the details of the attack on the Prime Minister of Slovakia, let me say now that our thoughts are with Robert Fico, his family and our Slovak friends. We are European democrats and we will defend our European democracy. Ladies and gentlemen, the autocrats from without and the demagogues from within have one thing in common. They think our democratic values are a weakness. But they are mistaken - and you, too, you AfD hecklers! What could be stronger than the promise that an individual has the right to lead a self-determined life in peace and in freedom, regardless of where they come from? This promise is stronger than hate. Indeed - my dear AfD - our constitution stands for this promise. Our Council of Europe has stood for this promise for the last 75 years. That is a reason to rejoice, a reason to be deeply grateful and a reason that makes it incumbent on us to live up to our commitments. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE Investing in a private-owned farm or property can come at a high cost for a squatter. This is the tale of the 29 homesteads that are at the Mahamba Gorge farm situated at Mbondzela, Nhlangano. These homesteads have a combined value of E35 823 864.75 according to a valuation that was carried out by Swaziland Realty Consultants (Pty) Ltd. The valuation report depicts that the date of inspection was on June 14, 2023 and the date of valuation was on June 16, 2023. Swaziland Realty Consultants are registered property valuers that provide a full range of real estate valuation and property consulting services. They offer services in residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural valuation and property advisory. The items that informed the valuation included construction and accommodation, fields, other auxiliary structures like poultry houses, pit latrines, piggery and goats kraal as well as fruit trees, among others. Valuable The most valuable property, as depicted in the report, is one owned by Nkosibona Nhleko at E3 715 062 and the homestead with the lowest value is owned by Muzi Mdluli at E87 600. The purpose of conducting the valuation, as narrated by Petros Mdluli, was to have a conclusive report on the value of each homestead so that they would present a proposal to the farm owner to have each homestead compensated according to the value of its property and that would be the sole condition of vacating the farm. Petros owns one of the homesteads which were demolished last week Sunday by a TLB owned by the farm owner, and it was alleged that the people who carried out the exercise were acting at the instruction of the farm owner. Petross property, which comprises of the main house, five outbuildings, a poultry house, piggery, maize crib and tank shed, among other things, is valued at E2 752 368. Compensate Petros, who is among the leaders of the squatters, revealed that the intention was to present the valuation report to the farm owner and give him the condition to compensate each homestead according to the value of each homestead. This is contrary to an offer that was made by the farm owner, where he shared to the residents that he would offer them building material to construct two-room houses and a rondavel for each homestead. The farm owners representative, Nkosingivile Dlamini from Dynasty Inc. Attorneys, revealed that his client had not received the presentation from the residents of the farm. He shared that in any event, it would have not made sense to them to compensate the residents a sum of E35.8 million because that figure was higher than the cost of purchasing the farm. Development He said the farm, even to the present day, was not worth E35.8 million because it did not have much development and it was dominantly vacant. He mentioned that for every asset that was there, the most valuable was the land. He wondered what informed the E35.8 million, because the valuation should exclude the land at which the properties are at, and to him, it was the most valuable asset. He said that his client was cooperative in that he offered to provide building material to the residents and help them construct two-room houses and a rondavel in each homestead. It would not have made sense to compensate the residents with a figure that is higher than the cost of the farm. The residents were given an offer which even government would have matched if it was to compensate them. The farm owner has always been willing to assist them and he said that within six months, he would have completed constructing their properties but they have always rejected, he said. Dlamini mentioned that they actually had four meetings to present their proposal and government officers who are responsible for the calculations of compensations in such instances were present in the meetings to ensure that their proposal was within the required and expected standards. Frustrated In a ruling that was prepared by the late Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Peter Bhembe, on July 9, 2020, the respondent (Mahamba Gorge Farm owner) submitted that he had plans to develop the property into a game reserve and a tourist attraction; however, such plans were frustrated by the residents on the farm. The respondent was asked if he had problems with the residents on the farm and the response was that in actual fact, he had no problems having them reside on the farm, except that he was concerned that they were not cooperative regarding the nature of the business he intended to do on the property. The matter was an appeal in terms of Section 9 (3) of the Farm Dwellers Control Act, 1982, against a decision of the Central Farm Dwellers Tribunal (Central Tribunal) of the October 19, 2017, wherein the said tribunal upheld a decision of the Shiselweni District Farm Dwellers Tribunal (District Tribunal) of the October 14, 2016, directing, among other things, that the residents vacate the farm by June 30, 2017. The essence of the ruling of the Central Tribunal was that the residents and the respondent could not co-exist based on the allegations of acts of violence of the people who reside on the farm against the owner of the farm. Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (May 17, 2024) India - Ministry of External Affairs May 17, 2024 Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today we will begin with an announcement and thereafter we will open the floor for questions. The announcement is in respect of our participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting which is coming up. Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs will pay a visit to Astana, Kazakhstan on May 20-21st, 2024. In Astana, he will represent the Government of India in the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers on 21st May. The meeting will discuss preparations for the upcoming Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State, review ongoing cooperation in SCO and exchange ideas of regional and global developments of common concern. During his visit, he is also expected to hold meetings with his counterparts from SCO member states and senior officials of the Government of Kazakhstan. So that is what I have for you. Now, I open the floor for questions. Pranay: Sir Pranay Upadhyaya Zee News se. Aapne dekha hoga ki haal mei Pakistan ke kabje wale Kashmir ke ilake ke ander bahut saare protests hue hain, aur usmai kai logon ki maut bhi hui hai. Bharat ka is mamle ke ander kya najariya hain, aur kyuki us ilake ko Bharat kehta hai ki woh uska abhinn ang hai, wahan par kafi sthitiyan hain, toh usko lekar Bharat ka stand kya hain? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, this is Pranay Upadhyaya from Zee News. You might have seen that recently there have been lot of protests in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir region, and many people have died in that. Since India considers that area to be an integral part of its territory, what is India's perspective on this issue? Given the current situation there, what is India's stand? Srinjoy: Sir, today the EAM said that there can be no question of forward movement with Pakistan because of what he called the terror issue, the previous government may have turned a blind eye to it but if terror continues, there will be consequences. So, could you sort of put that in the context of the POK as well? Mohammad Ghazali: Mohammad Ghazali from NDTV. I just want to ask about the Indian UN aid worker who was killed in Israel. Have you got any confirmation that it was IDF responsible for the firing or the Hamas? And the second is about the Swiss Foreign Secretary who is in India to persuade India to participate in the peace conference in Ukraine. So, has Government of India decided anything about it? Ayushi: Sir, Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. Canada has recently arrested one more Indian over killing of Nijjar. Did Ottawa provided us with any formal communication on that since it has arrested three earlier as well? Yeshi: This is Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. Are there any more...or how many more Indian officials are there in Gaza, like the army official that we lost, a former army official? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay, let's first go over these questions and then we can come back for more. Pranay aapka sawal Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan Adhikrit Kashmir ko lekar hai, toh usmai jaisa ki aap jante hain, hum logon ne report dekha hai ki pichle kuch dinon mei wahan par virodh pradarshan hua, usmai kuch log hatahat hue. Ye virodh, ye parinam hai, wahan par jis prakar ki nitiyan chal rahi hain, wahan ke sansadhanon ko jis prakar se loota ja raha hai, wahan ke logon ko jitna door rakha ja raha hai apne sansadhanon se, unka labh nahi pahuch raha hai, is karan se ye ho raha hai. Aur jo wahan ka tantra hai woh wahan par logon ko exploit kar rahe hain, unko apne jo unke sansadhan hain unka labh untak nahi pahuch pa raha hai. Hum logon ne pahle bhi kaha hai, jahan tak Pakistan Adhikrit kashmir ki baat hai, Union Territories jo Jammu ke, Ladakh ke, aur Kashmir ke jo hain, woh Bharat ke abhinn ang hain, abhinn ang rahenge, ye hamara, ispe ye hamara bal hai. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Pranay, your question is regarding Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. As you know, we have seen reports that there have been protests there in recent days, resulting in some casualties. These protests are a natural consequence of the policies being implemented there, the systemic plundering of resources, and the alienation of the local population from their own resources. The benefits of those resources are not reaching them, leading to these protests. The administration there is exploiting the people and failing to provide them with the benefits of their resources. As we have stated earlier, when it comes to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India and will remain so. This is our firm stance. Srinjoy you talked about External Affairs Minister's comments, and the Minister has spoken on this issue so I would not like to add anything more. Ghazali, your question was regarding the UN aid worker who passed away. You would have seen our statement that we released conveying condolences. Today, the Indian Mission in Tel Aviv, in collaboration with the UN authorities, the Israeli authorities, they were able to coordinate the transportation of mortal remains. The mortal remains of Colonel Kale have arrived in India today and for formalities to be done by the family. We have already conveyed our deepest condolences on his passing away. As far as the investigation of the issue is concerned, you would have seen the statement made by the UN Secretary General's Office that they have set up a fact-finding panel. As far as we are concerned, we also remain in touch with relevant authorities as far as the investigation is concerned. Mohammad Ghazali: Sir, on Swiss Peace Conference? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Swiss Peace Conference, yes, today the Swiss Foreign Secretary is in Delhi. He had a conversation with Secretary (West). As we have said this earlier as well, we have received invitation from the Swiss side. We are yet to decide on our participation. Ayushi, your question regarding Canada, yes, we have seen reports of the fourth person being arrested. We have been, so far, formally not conveyed of it and so far, we haven't received any consular access request as well. Yeshi, we understand from reports that there are some 70-odd UN personnel who are working in Gaza. Out of those, how many are Indians? I am not very sure but I will come back to you once I have clarity of the information. I will get that information for you. Abhishek: Hi Sir, Abhishek Jha from CNN News18, this side. My question is regarding the former army officer who was killed in Israel. Have we raised the issue with the Israeli government? And you said that investigations are being done and you are waiting. Which investigation are you referring to that the result of which you are waiting for? Huma: Sir, I am Huma Siddiqui from the Financial Express. I just wanted to understand, now that we have signed an agreement with Iran on the Chabahar Port. Are we also looking for starting crude procurement from them as well as from Venezuela? Madhurendra: Sir, Madhurendra, main News Nation se. Abhi Pradhan Mantri Modi ne ek sawal ke jawab mei bataya tha ki kis tarah se Bharat ne Gaza mei yuddh ko rokne ke liye apne envoy ko bheja tha. Agar uska detail Videsh Mantralaya de paye ki kaun gaya tha aur kya batchit hui thi aur uske kya parinam hue? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I am Madhurendra from News Nation. Recently, Prime Minister Modi mentioned, in response to a question, how India had sent its envoy to help stop the war in Gaza. Could the Ministry of External Affairs provide details on who went, what discussions took place, and what the outcomes were? Speaker: I'm [Inaudible], Japanese News Agency, Jiji Press. Tomorrow will be the 50th anniversary of India's first nuclear test, Operation Smiling Buddha. So I would like to one thing. Is India's 'No First Use' policy maintained, or has this policy changed? Is this policy change being discussed? Ileana: Ileana, TASS News Agency. Good afternoon. My question is related to this very important visit by Russian President, which is taking place now in China. So, how do you see this visit of the Russian President to the neighboring country? What is India's estimation of this trip? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Abhishek, on your question regarding the investigation, as I told you, the United Nations, they themselves, they have set up a fact-finding panel. As far as on our side, obviously there are several agencies which are involved. On our side, we remain in touch with all the agencies involved in regard to the investigation. Huma, your question on Chabahar, on 13th, you saw that we signed the long-term agreement for the operation of Chabahar Port. Our Minister was there. Obviously, it's a major achievement for us. We see Chabahar as India's commitment towards realizing the potential of the place as a connectivity hub for Afghanistan and for landlocked Central Asian countries. You know that this port is being operated by India Ports Global Limited since 2018. And through the port, we've been able to provide a lot of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. In the past, since 2018, we've supplied 85,000 metric tons of wheat, 200 metric tons of pulses and 40,000 litres of pesticide Malathion to Afghanistan through this port. Also, you know, there have been questions...several questions that were asked. The United States also has an understanding...understands the importance of Chabahar Port for continued humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan and to provide Afghanistan economic alternatives. Our External Affairs Minister also spoke on this matter in several forums recently, where he said that we should not take a narrow view of this particular project, it has an important role to play as far as the region is concerned, connectivity is concerned, particularly for the landlocked countries in the area. As far as your questions about Venezuela and buying of energy, etc; those are not in the scope of this particular Agreement. Madhu, kuch samay pehle aapko yaad hoga ki Press engagement mei humne bataya tha, ki hamare jo National Security Advisor wahan gaye the, toh uske baare mei hum logon ne jankari bhi di thi aapko aur ye bataya bhi tha ki wahan ja ke unhone shanti ke bahali ke liye, ramzan ke dauran, iski baat rakhi hai wahan par, toh main aapse kahunga ki woh jo Press engagement tha, usko agar aap dekhain toh aapko vistrit mei thodi aur jankari milegi. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Madhu, if you recall, we mentioned in a recent Press engagement that our National Security Advisor had gone there. We provided information about this visit and mentioned that he advocated, during Ramzan, for the restoration of peace. I would suggest that you refer to that Press engagement for more detailed information. My friend from Japan, regarding your question; yes, we continue to follow our stated policy as far as the matter that you raised is concerned, and there is no change in our policy. Ileana, your question on the visit of Russian President, this is relationship between Russia and China, and obviously we have no further comments to make on it. Ileana: Can you say from the point of BRICS cooperation, how do you see this visit? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Well, BRICS is a separate issue. BRICS is an important platform. I understand the Russian presidency is preparing a very expansive, ambitious program. I understand there are over 250-odd meetings that are planned. We, of course, look forward to participating in the BRICS meetings and to strengthen the BRICS agenda. And we also hope that the expanded BRICS becomes an important platform to give voice to the issue of multi-polarity. Preeti: Preeti, independent journalist. There are reports in the media that hundreds of Indian students are facing deportation in Canada. They think that immigration policy has been changed overnight, your comment Sir? Ayanangsha: This is Ayanangsha Maitra. Sir, recently Russian Presidential Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Kabulov, had a meeting here in New Delhi with JS (PAI). Is there any development for aid to flood-torn Afghanistan? And secondly, in the line of Chabahar development, are we making any mechanism for connecting it directly to INSTC? Thank you Sir. Emerson: Good afternoon, Sir. I am Emerson from Central News Agency. On May 20, the new government of Taiwan will take over. Nearly 700 international dignitaries from Japan, the US and other countries will attend the ceremony. India, as the largest democracy, can you please shed light on whether will there be any Indian delegation to Taipei and what will be the expectations of India from the new government in Taiwan? Thank you. Dhairya: Sir, Dhairya Maheshwari from Sputnik India. Sir, my first question is about the same topic that's asked by my colleague, Sir, about the visit of Russian presidential envoy. Was there any discussion on any joint projects in multilateral or bilateral formats between the two countries in Afghanistan? And Sir, if you allow me, there's a second question. There are some recent remarks made by US envoy saying that India was allowed to, you know, purchase Russian crude by the US to ease of prices. We are given to understand that's not the case, but would it be possible to get a clarification from the MEA Sir? Thank you. Abhishek: On the visit of Kabulov, when he was in Afghanistan talking to some of the media outlets, he said that Taliban doesn't pose any threat to India now. Would you like to have any comment on that? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let's start, Preeti, with you. I mean, you know, we have a large number of students who have gone to Canada to study. The figure is pretty significant. But what you are mentioning is that several students are facing problems that we haven't come across as of now Preeti: Sir, they are facing deportation. Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Sorry, deportation. I don't have an update on that. We are not aware of, you know, there may be one case here or one case there. That's about it. But we don't see any major problem as far as students in Canada, they are concerned. Maitra, on the visit of Special Envoy of the Russian President on Afghanistan, Ambassador Kabulov, he did have a meeting with our delegation led by Joint Secretary, Mr. J.P. Singh, who looks after Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, in the Ministry of External Affairs. They had bilateral consultations on Afghanistan. They discussed the situation that is there on ground. They also emphasized on the need to continue providing development assistance and humanitarian support to people of Afghanistan. So this was the context. They had bilateral conversation, between the two. In regard to INSTC, yes, External Affairs Minister has spoken about INSTC. He has also spoken about the Chabahar Port. He said that one should not take a narrow view of this particular project, Chabahar project. It has a wider relevance to connectivity in the region. Emerson, as you know, with Taiwan, we have ongoing exchanges in cultural field, in economic field, trade field, investment field, scientific field, and we will continue with these exchanges. Dhairya, regarding the engagement with Ambassador Kabulov, we have conveyed to you what was discussed, essentially exchange of views on the ground and the situation and how the two countries look at the situation. And we also emphasized on the need to provide development assistance and humanitarian support to the people of Afghanistan. That's very important for us. Abhishek: I have asked about what he said in the media, if you could say...he said that Taliban doesn't pose any threat to India and Russia... Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: That's Abhishek...he said to the media, but I have given you our point of view what we emphasized in our meeting with Ambassador Kabulov. On the oil purchases, Dhairya, you know, we've said this before as well, including in this Press engagement that we have that all our oil purchases abroad, they're based on our energy security requirements. And this is a decision that we take independently based on our national interest. Yes, on this particular matter, obviously, there have been conversations between us and the American side, US side. Rishabh: Good evening Sir, Rishabh from Times Now, Sir two questions; one, the Pakistani Foreign Minister and also the Deputy Prime Minister was in Beijing, Pakistan raked up Kashmir again with China, your response to that? And apart from that, US Envoy to India, Eric Garcetti, while speaking to a number of news channels including Times Now, said that on Chabahar port when the US State Department says that there is potential risk, he says there are further clarification that will come in. Has India received any communication from US on Chabahar port and their flip-flop stand from 2018 when they gave waiver in the Chabahar port which has changed to potential risk now. What's the stand of India and what's the communication between India and US? Kallol: This is Kallol Bhattacherjee from the Hindu. Sir, there is a report from the Guardian about a ship that was headed to Israel and the ship was carrying weapons, it originated from Chennai, and Spain reportedly denied the ship entry into one of its ports. And my question therefore is, it appears that India is arming Israel with killer weapons at a time when it's carrying out campaign in Rafah, so would you like to clarify what sort of weapons is or what sort of you know, arms assistance is India providing to Israel in this context? Thank you. Akhilesh: Sir, I am Akhilesh Suman. Maldivian Defense Minister has recently said that, you know, their pilots don't know how to fly the Dornier aircraft. So, in the last meeting between Foreign Minister of Maldives and EAM, Dr. Jaishankar, has there been any request to train the Maldivian pilots in India so that they can fly the Dornier aircrafts? Pranay: Sir China mei haal hi mei Pakistan ke jo Planning Minister hain woh wahan par the, aur Bharat ki tamam aapttiyon ke bawjud CPEC ke Phase 2 ko lekar kuch projects par aage baat badhi hai. Bharat ki usko lekar kya tippani hai, kyunki Bharat lagatar CPEC ka virodh bhi karta raha hai, aur aapne abhi abhi kaha Jammu Kashmir Bharat ka sampoorn ang hai? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, recently the Planning Minister of Pakistan was in China, and despite all of India's objections, there has been progress regarding some projects under Phase 2 of the CPEC. What is India's comment on this, considering that India has consistently opposed the CPEC and you just mentioned that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India? Yeshi: This is Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. MEA has always maintained that the 8th naval veteran, who hasn't returned, hasn't come because of some formalities that he has to fulfill. It's over three months since he was released from jail, seven people have come back, how much longer is he going to wait, where does he stand right now? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Rishabh, regarding your question on Jammu and Kashmir, I would like to again reiterate what we have said so far, in spite of whatever claims may be made, that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall always remain integral parts of India. In regard to the Ambassador's comments that you referred to, earlier also while answering question on Chabahar, I made this point that, what External Affairs Minister also had said that we should not take a narrow view of this issue. The project will benefit the entire region, particularly landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia, and the US has in the recent past appreciated the larger relevance of Chabahar port, particularly in the context of humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan. So our understanding is that we will take this conversation forward. Akhilesh, your question regarding training of pilots, yes, you know, capacity building is an important component in our defence and security engagement with Maldives. We have, in the past, trained their personnel on the defence side, and if we receive a request for training of pilots, we will, if this request is made, we will be happy to take it forward. Akhilesh: Have they requested yet? Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: If the request is made, we will take it forward. Pranay aapka sawal POK aur CPEC ko lekar tha, uspe hamara jo stand hai, jo position hai Bharat ka bada clear hai. Aapko pata hai ki, it impacts India's teritorial integrity and sovereignty. Aur jo Pakistan Adhikrit Kashmir hai, us kshetra pe, us bhoobhag pe bhi hamara position bada clear hai, ye jo kshetra hai, Pakistan Adhikrit Kashmir, ye Bharat ka abhinn ang hai, raha hai aur hamesha rahega. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Pranay, your question was about POK and CPEC, our stand, our position on it is very clear. You know that it impacts India's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Our position on the region of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is also very clear. This region, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India, and it always has been and will always be so. Yeshi, on your question about the 8th naval veteran, yes, as you said, yourself said that he has been released, he is staying in Doha, but he has certain formalities to clear. Once those formalities are cleared by him, it is for him to do it, he will return to India. Those charges which were there earlier, they don't exist anymore, so he is free. He is staying in Doha right now, but he has certain requirements to fulfill. Kallol, yes, regarding your question, today in the morning we saw some reports which talked about a ship, a Danish-flagged ship which are taking some supplies to...they had requested for a port call, we have seen the reports, we are looking into the matter, we will come back to you with more details as and when we have. Let me get back to you. With that, we come to the closure of this Press engagement. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 12th India-Mongolia Joint Working Group meeting to bolster bilateral defence ties held in Ulaanbaatar India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Posted On: 17 MAY 2024 10:20AM by PIB Delhi The 12th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the Defence Ministries of India and Mongolia took place in Ulaanbaatar on May 16-17, 2024. The meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary, MoD, India Shri Amitabh Prasad and State Secretary of MoD, Mongolia Brigadier General Gankhuyag Davagdorj. India's Ambassador to Mongolia Shri Atul Malhari Gotsurve also attended the meeting. During the JWG, both sides expressed satisfaction at the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries. They reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance cooperation in these areas, articulating steps in this direction. Both sides also exchanged views on the current geopolitical situation. The Joint Secretary highlighted the potential of the capacity & capability of the Indian defence industry, and looked forward to a fruitful partnership with the Armed Forces of Mongolia. The Mongolian side exuded confidence in the capacity & capability of the Indian industry. Both sides also acknowledged the growing ties between the two countries. The Joint Secretary & the Indian Ambassador also called on Deputy Defence Minister of Mongolia Mr B Bayarmagnai, and discussed bilateral cooperation issues. The delegation visited a training establishment in Ulaanbaatar and reviewed the ongoing engagements. India enjoys age-old historical, cultural and civilisational ties with Mongolia. Both countries regard each other as 'Spiritual Neighbours'. In the modern times, values like democracy, freedom and market economy hold the two nations closer. ******** ABB/Savvy (Release ID: 2020848) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran rejects 'unacceptable' Arab League statement on Persian Gulf islands Iran Press TV Friday, 17 May 2024 6:29 AM Tehran has dismissed "baseless" and "unacceptable" the Arab League statement on Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf, reiterating its sovereignty over the three Iranian islands. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani made the remarks on Thursday after the 33rd Arab League summit repeated the United Arab Emirates' claim to the trio of the Iranian islands in its final statement following a meeting in the Bahraini capital Manama. "It has been stated and emphasized time and again that the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs are an integral and eternal part of the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said. The Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the islands. The islands fell under British control in 1921 but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Iran's sovereignty over the islands was restored. Additionally in its statement, the 22-member Arab League called for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Palestinian territory, the lifting of an Israeli siege, and the opening of all crossings for the entry humanitarian aid. Kan'ani welcomed the points raised in the statement in defense of the oppressed people of Palestine and the condemnation of the Israeli war crimes in Gaza. He also emphasized the need for further unity among Muslim countries to stop Israeli atrocities. Since early October, Israel has killed at least 35,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 79,205 others. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dubai Unlocked: Convicts, Wealthy Iranians With State Ties Implicated In Leaked Property Data By RFE/RL May 17, 2024 Over 7,000 Iranians, including convicts and some with ties to the state, own what experts estimate to be billions of dollars of property in Dubai, according to a report by the Netherlands-based outlet Radio Zamaneh. The information was obtained as part of a monthslong investigative project known as Dubai Unlocked. Journalists from 75 media outlets from across the world, including Radio Zamaneh, pored over the leaked data and have gradually released their findings over the past week. Radio Zamaneh's report cites academics and experts who say the total value of properties owned by Iranians in Dubai is around $7 billion. It notes that while there is a slew of ordinary Iranians who have properties in the United Arab Emirates, there are also convicts, fugitives, and known figures with links to the Iranian establishment. An office in Dubai's Aspect Tower worth around $650,000 belongs to Abbas Iravani, a former head of the Ezam Automotive Parts Group who was sentenced to 65 years in prison earlier this year for his involvement in smuggling auto parts, disrupting the economy, and bribing officials. He has denied the charges. Another prominent figure is Mohammad Emami, an investor and TV producer who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for his involvement in financial corruption. His friend and alleged co-conspirator in the case, Amir Reza Farzanrad, is a fugitive and also implicated in the Dubai Unlocked leaks. Radio Zamaneh says Emami and Farzanrad each own a villa in the affluent Al-Merkadh neighborhood of Dubai worth $5.5 million and $12 million, respectively. Convicted steel magnate Rasul Danialzadeh, sentenced to 16 years in prison for bribery, owns $12.6 million worth of property in Dubai, including five apartments in the upscale Al-Thanyah Fifth community and a villa in Palm Jumeirah. The family of the late former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani feature prominently in the leaks. His oldest son, former Tehran City Council chairman Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, owns an apartment worth an estimated $380,000. Mohsen's son, Ehsan, has a small apartment in Dubai valued at $100,000. Yasser Hashemi Rafsanjani -- the ex-president's youngest son -- and his wife, Maryam, own two apartments in the Burj Khalifa worth a combined $1.45 million. The reports also notes that several dual national Iranians own properties in Dubai, including Mehdi Shams, a former executive at the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line Group. The report said Shams, who is sentenced to 20 years in prison over his involvement in a multibillion-dollar embezzlement case, purchased a villa valued at $20 million on his British passport. To put the figures into perspective, the average annual household income in Tehran in the Iranian year 1401 (March 2022-23) was around 2.3 billion rials. That is roughly $3,900 per year, or around $325 a month. "With a reputation for financial secrecy, low taxes, and an ever-expanding spread of valuable real estate, [Dubai] is an appealing option for those looking to launder or hide cash," says the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which along with Norwegian financial outlet E24 coordinated the investigation project. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-wealthy-leaks-property- dubai-unlocked/32951628.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 EU Urges Iran To 'Reverse Nuclear Trajectory' As Tehran Threatens To Cross Threshold By Kian Sharifi May 17, 2024 The European Union has joined the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in urging Iran to abandon suggestions that it might develop nuclear weapons. "We continue to call Iran to reverse its nuclear trajectory and show concrete steps, such as urgently improve cooperation with the IAEA," EU spokesman Peter Stano told RFE/RL in written comments on May 16. The Islamic republic has long claimed that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes, but a growing number of officials in recent weeks have openly suggested that Iran might review its nuclear doctrine if it deems it necessary. A landmark deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and world powers in 2015 restricted Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions. However, Iran expanded its program and restricted IAEA inspections of its nuclear sites after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United Staes from the deal and reimposed sanctions in 2018. The EU, which is the coordinator of the JCPOA's Joint Commission, mediated several rounds of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington from 2021 to 2022. The 27-member bloc presented a final draft of an agreement to revive the deal in August 2022, but talks broke down soon after as Tehran and Washington accused each other of making excessive demands. "Our goal has always been to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, through a diplomatic solution," Stano said, adding that the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and his team continue efforts to revive the Iran deal. Iran has particularly upped the rhetoric since last month, when it launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against its archfoe Israel in response to a deadly air strike on its embassy compound in Syria that killed several members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). An IRGC general at the time warned that an attack on Iran's nuclear sites could lead to a rethinking of its policy on nuclear weapons. Kamal Kharazi, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a former foreign minister, repeated the threat earlier this week. "We do not want nuclear weapons and the supreme leader's fatwa is to that effect. But if the enemy threatens you, what do you do?" he said. The fatwa refers to a religious decree by Khamenei in which he said the Islamic republic considers the use of nuclear weapons to be "haram" and Iran would not pursue one. The fatwa has long been cited by the Iranian authorities as evidence that Iran would never weaponize its nuclear program. Experts, however, question how effective of a barrier the fatwa really is. Farzan Sabet, a senior research associate at the Geneva Graduate Institute, said, "The nuclear fatwa does not pose an insurmountable religious or legal obstacle inside Iran for the system there to pursue nuclear weapons or potentially build them." Despite the public comments by Iranian officials, the Foreign Ministry has insisted that there has been no change in the country's nuclear doctrine. Stano said that it "is imperative to show utmost restraint" given the heightened tensions in the Middle East. "Further escalation in the region -- also in the form of statements about the nuclear posture, even if not reflecting the official position of the country -- is in no one's interest," he added. In response to in Iran's new rhetoric, the United States has said it "will not allow" Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. Separately, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has called on Iran to "stop" suggestions that it might review its nuclear posture. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-iran-nuclear- threat-weapons/32951274.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. House passes bill seeking to undo Biden's pause on arms transfer to Israel People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 11:24, May 17, 2024 WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass a bill that seeks to undo President Joe Biden's temporary suspension of arms transfer to Israel. The bill, called the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, was passed by the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress in a 224-187 vote. It is expected to go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate as the Democratic leadership vowed even not to take it up in the upper chamber. House Republicans planned to move ahead with the bill this week in response to Biden's recent decision to put one shipment of bombs -- numbering 3,500 with some of them weighing as much as 2,000 pounds -- to Israel on hold, for fear that they would otherwise be dropped during Israel's anticipated major military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million civilians are now taking refuge. The suspension outraged Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who accused the Biden administration of abandoning Israel, the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East. The administration, for its part, issued a policy statement Tuesday saying that Biden would veto the bill if it were to land on his desk. "The bill would undermine the President's ability to execute an effective foreign policy," the statement said, calling the bill "a misguided reaction to a deliberate distortion of the Administration's approach to Israel." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian authorities in Manipur state force Myanmar refugees out of border villagers Aid workers say their deportation will place civilian lives in jeopardy. By RFA Burmese 2024.05.17 -- Myanmar refugees who fled civil war and sought refuge in border villages in neighboring India's Manipur state said they are are being deported by local authorities and a paramilitary group. Manipur state Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said in a May 8 Facebook post that the deportation of nearly 5,500 "illegal immigrants" was underway, though he did not specifically refer to the Myanmar refugees. Of that number, authorities had collected the biometric data of almost 5,200 of them, he said. The Indian government has a policy to collect fingerprints of all foreigners residing in India, including refugees deemed "illegal immigrants," for security purposes. The thousands of civilians from Chin state and Sagaing region poured over the Indian border and into Manipur state to escape armed conflict between junta troops and rebel forces that followed the military's seizure of power in a February 2021 coup d'Atat. Another 60,000 Myanmar civilians from Chin state have crossed the border and sought shelter in Mizoram state, south of Manipur, according to Chin civil society groups in Myanmar and aid workers. The Mizoram government, however, has decided not to repatriate any of the Chin refugees until the situation there stabilizes. Many ethnic Mizos in Mizoram believe that they and the Chins belong to the same ethnic group. Singh's announcement contradicted an earlier statement by Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah that the government would not repatriate the refugees until peace had been restored in Myanmar. India is not a signatory of the U.N. refugee convention, which states that refugees should not be returned to countries where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. 'A disregard of lives' Soon after Singh's comment, village administrators and soldiers from the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force that protects India 's northeastern border, began removing 30 refugee households, forcing them into a forest near border post 74, said a Myanmar refugee who declined to be named for safety reasons. "We were forced to remove our shelters and leave there," said the refugee who fled Htan Ta Bin village in Myanmar after it was burned down. "Now we have to live in a yard." An official from the Burma Refugees Committee-Kabaw Valley, an organization that helps people fleeing to Manipur from war-torn Myanmar, objected to the refugees being deported and said they have not received humanitarian aid. "They crossed the border because of the conflicts with junta troops who threatened their lives," said the aid worker who declined to be identified out of fear for his safety. "They were arrested and handed over to the Myanmar junta," he said. "It is a disregard of the lives of displaced persons, and we object to it." Salai Dokhar, a New Delhi-based activist who runs India for Myanmar, a group that raises awareness of the rights of refugees, said it would not be safe for the refugees to return if biometric data collected by the Manipur government is handed over to the Myanmar junta. Before repatriating Myanmar citizens, the Indian government sends immigration documents or background information to the ruling junta based on refugee testimonies or documents they possess. "If they are handed over [to the junta] along with the biometric information, then the security of the deported persons would be worrisome," he said. Dokhar also said he would question officials about the contradictory statements on Myanmar refugee deportation made by Singh and Shah. Neither the Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi nor the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees responded to RFA's emailed requests for comments by the time of publishing. Call to stop deportations The International Commission of Jurists, a human rights NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland, called on the Manipur government to immediately stop the forced deportations and reconsider treatment of the refugees. On May 2, Singh announced on social media the deportation of 77 detained "illegal immigrants" from Myanmar, calling it the "first phase." Of these, 38 women and children were handed over to Myanmar's junta. However, the Manipur government has not yet released the remaining 39 from prison. More than 60 Myanmar refugees arrested by Indian authorities at the border are still being held in prisons, according to volunteer aid workers concerned about the refugees being deported. Translated by Aung Naing for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Joshua Lipes. 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 Gas nears US$50 per gallon amid clashes in Kachin state More than 100,000 people in Puta-O district are trapped and facing dire shortages. By RFA Burmese 2024.05.17 -- Fighting between ethnic rebels and the military has cut off access to the district of Puta-O in northern Myanmar's Kachin state, trapping more than 100,000 civilians and sending the price of food and fuel skyrocketing, residents said Friday. The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, an ethnic minority force from Kachin state in northern Myanmar, has been on the attack in recent weeks, seizing several major positions from junta forces. On May 5, the KIA captured a number of junta camps along the highway leading from its base in Laiza to the state capital Myitkyina, and launched an assault on the town of Sumprabum, midway between Myitkyina and Puta-O. But residents said Friday that roads have been blocked to Puta-O district since March 10, when the KIA first began attacking the military in Sumprabum. "The road has now been closed for more than two months and many goods are already in short supply," said one resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. The resident said the shelves of local shops are growing increasingly empty and building materials are particularly scarce. "The most challenging issue right now is the fuel shortage," he said. "Gasoline prices now range between 40,000 and 50,000 kyats per bottle, and more than 200,000 kyats (US$49) per gallon." Puta-O district comprises five townships, including Puta-O, Sumprabum, Nawngmun, Machanbaw, Khaunglanhpu and has a population of more than 100,000, according to the General Administration Department. Fuel and basic consumer goods transported from Myitkyina must first pass through Puta-O township to reach Machanbaw, Nawngmun, and Khaunglanhpu townships. But fighting has brought the flow of goods to a halt, residents said. Farming by hand A resident of Nawngmun, who also declined to be named, told RFA that farmers have been forced to pull their plows by hand, due to the lack of fuel. He said the township is "completely cut off, with nothing left." "Only a few shops remain open, and they have very little to sell," he said. Other residents said that they had been able to order goods via domestic flights to Puta-O township, but prices were prohibitively high. They said onions, which sell for only 2,500 kyats per viss (3.6 pounds) in Yangon, cost more than 10 times as much to ship by air. The fuel shortage has also complicated transportation of patients with urgent medical needs, they said, as few people can afford to drive cars or motorbikes. KIA information officer Col. Naw Bu told RFA that the Myitkyina-Puta-O highway was not closed intentionally. "The road closure on the Puta-O side was not done by the KIA, but it's also unlikely that the junta did it," he said. "The closure is probably due to the ongoing fighting. Junta troops have raided the area again, so the fighting has continued, effectively closing off the route for security reasons." RFA tried to contact Moe Min Thein, the junta's social affairs minister and spokesman for Kachin state, to inquire about the problems caused by road closures in Puta-O district, but was unable to reach him. A resident of Machanbaw township called for the reopening of roads to the area "as soon as possible." "There is absolutely no fuel for our transportation, and those who have it are selling at an exorbitant price," he said. "Our only hope is that the roads are reopened, bringing down the price of commodities." Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes. 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 Talks between Myanmar rebel alliance and junta focus on Chinese interests Unlike previous meetings, parties didn't send top representatives, a source close to the alliance said. By RFA Burmese 2024.05.17 -- Representatives of a Myanmar ethnic minority insurgent alliance met junta officials for a fifth round of Chinese-brokered talks, with key issues being Chinese border trade and stability in western Myanmar, where China has big investments, a source close to the rebel alliance said on Friday. The insurgent groups in the Three Brotherhood Alliance made significant gains against junta forces in an offensive launched on Oct. 27, and codenamed Operation 1027 after that date, until China arranged a truce on January 11. The two days of talks in the southern Chinese city of Kunming this week focused on fighting in Rakhine State and Chinese border trade issues, said the source from the insurgent alliance, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the negotiations. "It is known that the fighting in Rakhine State and China's border trade is an issue," said the alliance member. The alliance is made up of the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army. The Arakan Army draws its support from Rakhine State in the west while the other two groups are based in Shan State in the northeast. Junta forces have been involved in heavy fighting against the Arakan Army in Rakhine State, where China has several major projects including a deep sea port and special economic zone at Kyaukphyu, with plans for energy pipelines from the Indian Ocean coast across Myanmar to southern China. The fighting has stalled progress on the projects, which include a railway link. The Arakan Army has claimed control over nearly half of the state's 17 townships, with offenses underway in those still under junta control. The rebel alliance source did not give more details of the talks but said that none of the factions sent very senior representatives to Kunming. A political analyst closely monitoring the talks also said neither the insurgent groups nor the junta had sent very senior officials. "This meeting was a strange one. The decision-making levels from the Ta'ang army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army were not included," he said, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. "Only one, Dr Nyo Tun Aung from the Arakan Army, attended." Neither the junta nor any of the three members of the anti-junta alliance issued a statement on the Tuesday and Wednesday talks. Ta'ang National Liberation Army department of foreign affairs head Col. Tar Moe Hein, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army foreign affairs department head Brig. Phone Win Naing and Arakan Army vice commander-in-chief Nyo Tun Aung attended the meeting, according to the source close to the alliance. The junta sent Lt. Gen. Myo Thant Naing, a judge advocate general, and not the chairman of the National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee, Lt.Gen. Tun Tun Naing, as expected, the analyst said. During their Operation 1027 offensive, the insurgent alliance captured 16 towns in northern Shan State. However, China's intervention on Jan. 11 brought the alliance's offensive progress to a halt. The Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic minority force from Kachin State in northern Myanmar, has been on the attack in recent weeks seizing several major positions from junta forces. RFA telephoned the Ta'ang National Liberation Army's press office, but officials said they were unable to comment on the discussions. Similarly, Arakan Army spokesperson Khaing Thukha said he could not "reveal anything about the discussions." Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Transcript of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson on Friday, 17 May 2024 Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assalam-o-Alaikum, Thank you for joining us for the Weekly Briefing. The highlight of this week was the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar to Beijing, China where he co-chaired the 5th Pak-China Strategic Dialogue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He also held meetings with Chinese vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Minister for IDCPC, Liu Jianchao, and the Minister for Finance, Lan Fo'an. The two sides reached consensus to collectively take measures to safeguard their common interest, promote the socioeconomic development of peoples of the two countries, and work together to promote peace, development and prosperity in the region. The two sides will enhance exchanges at all levels, deepen experience-sharing in state governance, and further enhance cooperation in all areas. The two sides will work together to forge an "upgraded version" of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by jointly building a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor, by aligning them with Pakistan's development framework and priorities. Together, we will accelerate progress on major connectivity projects including upgradation of ML-1, the Gwadar Port, realignment of Karakoram Highway Phase II, strengthen cooperation in agriculture, industrial parks, mining, and information technology. The two sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South Asia and the need for resolution of all outstanding disputes, and their opposition to any unilateral action. The Chinese side reiterated its principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and for its peaceful resolution in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. The two sides will also strengthen communication and coordination on the situation in Afghanistan. We called for concerted efforts of the international community to encourage Afghanistan to build an inclusive political framework, adopt moderate policies, pursue good-neighbourliness, and firmly combat terrorism, including not allowing its territory to be used for terrorist acts. On 15 May 2024, Pakistan and Latvia held the 6th Round of Bilateral Political Consultations in Islamabad. Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe), Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan and Deputy State Secretary-Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr. AndAejs ViAumsons, co-chaired the talks. The two sides reviewed the wide spectrum of bilateral relations and discussed opportunities for further cooperation, especially in trade & investment, energy, parliamentary exchanges, education, technology and labour mobility. The two sides also explored opportunities for trade and investment particularly in clean and green energy, climate change and IT sectors. Additional Foreign Secretary for the UN and OIC, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, and US Department of State Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, co-chaired the Pakistan-U.S. Counterterrorism Dialogue on 10 May 2024 in Washington DC. Discussions focused on collaboration, technical expertise exchanges, investigative assistance, border security, and training of police and first-responders. The two sides committed to increasing communication and continuing joint efforts to combat violent extremism. Pakistan and the United States recognized that countering ISIS-Khorasan, TTP, and other terrorist organizations will enhance regional security and serve as a model for cooperation. The 6th round of the Pakistan - United Kingdom Dialogue on Arms Control and Non-Proliferation was held in Islamabad on 15 May 2024. Additional Foreign Secretary (Arms Control & Disarmament), Ambassador Mohammad Kamran Akhtar led the Pakistani side while the UK side was led by Director, Defence and International Security at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), United Kingdom, Ambassador Stephen Lillie. A broad spectrum of topics relating to arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation came under discussion. The two sides also shared their perspectives on issues concerning global and regional security, and new and emerging technologies, including the military use of artificial intelligence and the peaceful applications of nuclear technology. Pakistan supports the historic call by the UN General Assembly made at the tenth Emergency Special Session to admit the State of Palestine to the United Nations as a full member. The resolution determined that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership of the United Nations, and recommended the Security Council to reconsider the matter favorably. The UN General Assembly has thus provided another opportunity to the UN Security Council to lift its objection on Palestine's admission to the UN and restore the credibility of the assurances that have been given in support of the two-State solution. The adoption of this resolution is a partial yet vital step towards redressing the historic injustice against the people of Palestine. We sincerely hope that it would facilitate the revival of the peace process to realize the establishment of a viable and contiguous Palestinian State along the 4 June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Earlier this week the 'International Day of Families' was observed. In that respect, we express our solidarity with the Kashmiri families that remain divided and continue to suffer because of Indian occupation and oppression for the last several decades. The estimated number of widowed women and orphaned children, during last 35 years, exceeds 22,000 and 107,000, respectively. Besides, there are thousands of 'half widows', waiting for the return of their husbands who have presumably been killed by the Indian forces. The plight of the families of the victims of the enforced disappearance is equally lamentable. The root cause of these disturbing statistics is Indian's ruthless suppression of the people of IIOJK. India must allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to freely realize their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. I have a few announcements. At the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart, Murat Abugaliuly Nurtleu, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will lead the Pakistan delegation to the regular meeting of SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) from 20-21 May 2024 in Astana Kazakhstan. The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the CFM meeting. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of TArkiye, Hakan Fidan will undertake his first bilateral visit to Pakistan on 19-20 May 2024. He will hold delegation-level talks with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Ishaq Dar. They will review the state of bilateral cooperation and take stock of preparations for the upcoming 7th session of High-Level Strategic Coordination Council (HLSCC) between Pakistan and TArkiye. Foreign Minister Fidan will also call on the Prime Minister of Pakistan as well as Speaker of National Assembly and Chairman Senate. The visit of Foreign Minister Fidan is part of regular high-level exchanges between the two brotherly countries and would serve to further consolidate bilateral cooperation. Secretary General of SAARC, Mohammad Golam Sarwar, will visit Pakistan from 20-24 May 2024. This will be his maiden visit to Pakistan as it is customary for a new SAARC Secretary General to pay introductory visits to all member states. The visiting dignitary will call on senior leadership of Pakistan, and interact with intelligentsia and business community. He is also scheduled to visit the SAARC bodies, based in Islamabad. As a founding member, Pakistan attaches great importance to SAARC and remains committed to the principles and objectives of its Charter. Thank you! *** (Abdul Hadi, Hum Pashto1): Earlier this week, Iran and India signed an agreement on development and operational Chabahar port. My first concern is that why the United States was so lukewarm with regard to this development as against the Pakistan's deal with the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. Secondly, why we are so lethargic to Gwadar port which has been started much earlier, while the Iranian Chabahar port is only a reaction to Gwadar port. My next question is pertaining to this very issue, that why we are not taking so courageous steps as India has taken despite its strategic partnership with the United States. Spokesperson: Regarding your first question, Pakistan does not comment on relationships of other countries. Pakistan has a solid brotherly relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran and during the recent visit of His Excellency, the President of Iran, several substantive agreements and understandings were reached and this included the decision by the two sides to further strengthen connectivity, including the sister port relationship between Gwadar and Chahbahar. Pakistan will continue to work with its neighbour Iran to further enhance coordination and understanding with respect to connectivity. With regards to the reaction by any third country on a bilateral agreement that has been signed between Iran and India, Pakistan does not have any comments since this issue does not pertain to Pakistan. (Anas Mallick, Capital TV): Two questions. Firstly, we've seen that there have been sporadic clashes at the Afghanistan Pakistan border for the past one week or so. And both sides have been accusing each other. Would you apprise us on the situation of the matter including the diplomatic steps that Pakistan would have taken? Second question is with regards to we've seen that in the run up to the elections in India and the protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir there have been a lot of statements made and a lot of claims made before how does Pakistan have to say or react on the claims that have been laid? Spokesperson: Regarding your first question, Pakistan respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. We urge Afghanistan to take action against terror groups that threaten its sovereignty and the security of Pakistan. Pakistan has always said that it will defend itself against any threat to its security and sovereignty, including from terror groups that threaten Pakistan's security. With regards to your second question, we have seen some statements made by the Indian side and in that respect, Pakistan has issued a comprehensive statement earlier this week that you may have seen. We have outlined in our statement that we reject the irresponsible statements that are coming in from the Indian side amidst the ongoing election campaign. Regrettably, these statements reflect an unhealthy and entrenched obsession with Pakistan and reveal a deliberate intent to exploit hyper-nationalism for electoral gains. These also signify a desperate attempt to deflect attention from mounting domestic and international criticism. With regards to the inflammatory rhetoric about Azad Jammu and Kashmir, we reiterate that historical facts, legal principles, moral considerations and ground realities refute India's baseless claims and Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally-recognized disputed territory as the UN Security Council resolutions clearly mandate a plebiscite under auspices of the United Nations. We believe that no amount of inflated Indian statements can change this reality. (Ali Hussain, Business Recorder): Ma'am you have talked about terror groups in Afghanistan. But in current clashes, huge amount of artillery was used from 2 AM yesterday night till the morning and its happening between Pakistani and Afghan forces. As there are villages on both sides of the borders, people are worried about the use of such heavy amount of ammunition. Are there any high-level contacts between Pakistan and Afghanistan to stop such incidents because these types of incidents take place after every 2 or 4 months? Spokesperson: As I said just now Pakistan stands ready to defend itself against any threat to its security and sovereignty. Our armed forces and our security forces are ready to defend the territory and the people of Pakistan from any threat that affects or endangers our security. Pakistan has conveyed its deepest concerns about the situation and urges the Afghan authorities to ensure that the soil of Afghanistan is not used to threaten Pakistan's security and that it should take effective action against terror groups that continue to threaten Pakistan, Pakistani public and law enforcement and security officials. (Allah Noor Wazir, Mashriq TV): Ma'am, is Pakistan willing to hold discussions with TTP through Qabaili Jirga? Because some of the tribes people revealed that Pakistan is trying to contact TTP's leaders in Afghanistan through Jirgas. Spokesperson: First of all, I would not like to comment on any speculative reporting. Secondly, I would like to reiterate that Pakistan has no plans to undertake any talks with a terrorist group that continues to threaten Pakistan's security and has been involved in killings of Pakistani civilians and law enforcement officials. (Tang Binhui, Xinhua): Recently, the US think tanks and officials issued irresponsible reports and remarks on the United Nation Resolution 2758, in an attempt to deny the One-China principle and obscure Taiwan's political status. In addition, the Taiwan independence force, as well as the DDP authority, will hold the so-called inauguration ceremony next Monday. Would you please elaborate on the official policy of the Pakistani government on Taiwan question? Do you think UN member states have the obligation to follow UN Resolution 2758? Spokesperson: Pakistan's policy on the question of Taiwan is consistent, clear and principled. Pakistan adheres to One-China policy and we consider Taiwan as an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China. We have called for and we reiterate the call for non-interference in the domestic affairs of all countries as per the Charter of the United Nations. As far as the UNGA resolution 2758 is concerned, that resolution is a reaffirmation of the One-China principle by the United Nations. The resolution restored the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China at the United Nations. It unequivocally recognized the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China at the United Nations. We believe that the resolution remains as valid today as it was in 1971, when Pakistan sponsored this resolution. Pakistan has always stood for full respect for resolutions of the United Nations. (Farhan Ali, Public News): My question is regarding the recent visit of Deputy Prime Minister to China, what assurance has been made regarding the security of Chinese in Pakistan during this visit? Spokesperson: If you have read the joint statement, which was issued after the Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China, it clearly outlines Pakistan's commitment to provide security for Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan. We have been in contact with our Chinese brothers at various levels to enhance the security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan. (Rizwan Abbasi, ABN): Ma'am, there are some reports that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has been brought to Afghanistan and it was made possible in exchange of seven American soldiers from Afghanistan. Are these reports true? Spokesperson: We are not aware of any such development. (Khawaja Nayyar Iqbal, Media Today): Ma'am, Pakistan has always been a well wisher of Afghanistan. Can you tell which forces want clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan in view of recent developments between both the countries? Spokesperson: I do not want to enter into a speculative or analytic exercise from this podium. Pakistan's position with respect to its relations with Afghanistan is clear. The people of Afghanistan are our brothers and we have centuries old links with the people of Afghanistan. We would like to continue to work for peace, security and development of Afghanistan in consultation with the Afghan authorities. We have underlined, however, that Afghan authorities must take action against terror groups that threaten Pakistan's security and we hope that the reassurances that the Afghan interim authorities have given to the international community will be upheld and the Afghan soil will not be used to project terrorism against any country including Pakistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Meeting with students and faculty at Harbin Institute of Technology During his state visit to China, Vladimir Putin visited Harbin Institute of Technology and met with Chinese and Russian students and faculty at the university. May 17, 2024 12:40 Harbin The President of Russia was also shown around the institute's museum and was given information about its history and achievements. The exhibits include archival photographs and documents, as well as new projects for various industries and economic domains. Harbin Institute of Technology is one of China's leading providers of higher education in technology, with over 58,000 students, and a major R&D and innovation centre. The school's history is closely linked with the life of the Russian diaspora in Northeast China in the early 20th century and the Chinese Eastern Railway. In 1954, Harbin Institute of Technology became one of the first six schools in China that trained engineers, and which employed professors and scientists from the USSR. * * * Transcript of the meeting Xiong Sihao (retranslated): Your Excellency, President Putin. Dear guests, members of the faculty, students, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is Xiong Sihao and I am the Secretary of the Party Committee of Harbin Institute of Technology. It is a great honour for me to welcome President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on behalf of the faculty and students of this university. Along with President Putin and the Russian delegation, representatives of China are attending this event. They are Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui, Vice Governor of the Heilongjiang Province Zhang Qixiang, and President of Harbin Institute of Technology Han Jiecai. Also in attendance are representatives, members of the faculty and students of Harbin Institute of Technology. Welcome, everybody. This year, China and Russia mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. We are also launching the Year of Chinese and Russian Culture. Under the strategic leadership of our presidents, our overarching strategic partnership and cooperation maintain a high growth level in this new era. The President of Russia chose China for his first foreign visit after re-election. This step demonstrates the immense importance President Putin places on the China-Russia strategic partnership, and reflects the deep and enduring friendship between the peoples of China and Russia. Harbin Institute of Technology is well-known as a cornerstone of China-Russia cooperation in higher education. For more than 70 years, this university has exemplified the strong friendship between our two nations, fostering close ties with leading Russian universities in education, science, technology and other fields. Together, we are working on building a world-class university, and continuing to write a new chapter of friendship between our nations. Please join me in giving a warm round of applause to President Putin and inviting him to the stage. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends. I am delighted to have this opportunity to visit Harbin Institute of Technology, one of China's leading R&D and innovation centres, and to meet with its students, faculty and professors. We have just now learned about its rich history and taken a tour of an excellent exhibition about the institute's development. As you know, the institute has been inseparably connected with Russia since its establishment over a century ago. Moreover, it was established by Russian professionals as a Russian-Chinese technical college to train personnel for the Chinese Eastern Railway, a major transport route in the Pacific region. When the grain is planted correctly and given proper care, it will produce good results. A small college set up to train personnel the country needed at that time has grown into a wonderful university, which is rapidly developing and meets all the modern requirements. Thanks to the efforts of our compatriots, the college was subsequently transformed into the Harbin Sino-Russian School for Industry. As I have learned at the exhibition just now, two years after that, the length of tuition was extended from two to five years, providing a sufficient time for a quality higher education. The school was later reformed as Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), which now offers tuition in a broad range of academic and applied subjects. It is notable that HIT carefully maintains strong traditions of cooperation with our country and has fruitful partnerships with Russia's leading scientific and educational institutions, such as the Russian Academy of Sciences and its Far Eastern branch, Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Far Eastern Federal University, and the Pacific National University. The HIT Bauman Institute of Technology opened at Harbin Institute of Technology in cooperation with Bauman Moscow State Technical University several years ago. It is a unique bilateral project that gives its participants the opportunity to receive education under generally accepted tuition programmes and teaching methods while splitting their time equally between Russia and the People's Republic of China. Another leading Russian school, St Petersburg State University - incidentally, I graduated from it and worked there as an aide to the university's rector - will open an education centre in partnership with HIT soon. Over 1,500 Russian and Chinese students will study mathematics, physics, chemistry and other natural sciences under excellence programmes at this centre. I have no doubt that it will become a leader in Russian-Chinese science and education cooperation in the near future. These intensive academic exchanges are extremely important, allowing us to combine the best traditions and experience of the Russian and Chinese schools of engineering and to train top class professionals, who are in great demand in the economies of both Russia and China. During our talks with President Xi Jinping yesterday, we pointed out with satisfaction that our cooperation in research and education is of priority significance for developing the entire range of Russian-Chinese relations, comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction. I would like you to understand that these words - comprehensive partnership, strategic cooperation and interaction - hold immense importance. You can see this from the practical steps we take and the results we achieve. To date, about 50,000 Chinese citizens are receiving a higher education in Russia. At the same time, 16,000 Russian citizens are studying in China, and this is not the limit. Moreover, the number of our students has decreased during the pandemic because of the mandatory sanitary restrictions. However, I have no doubt that the number of Chinese students in Russia and Russian students in China will continue to grow. China and Russia have 167 bilateral education programmes and there are 28 institutes with Russian participation in China. Overall, there are 12 Russian-Chinese university associations, which include about 600 institutes. The largest among them is the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities, which comprises 40 Russian and 36 Chinese universities, including Harbin Institute of Technology. It is noteworthy that in 2023, Russian and Chinese consular offices collectively issued a total of 34,000 student visas, which is a twofold increase compared to 2022. I want to emphasise that all bilateral educational programmes are conducted in both the Russian and Chinese languages, which are undoubtedly challenging to learn. I believe that both the Russian and Chinese students present here are well aware of this. However, I believe you would also agree that proficiency in a second language always broadens horizons, not only for personal communication but also for career advancement and the pursuit of innovative scientific research. Moreover, the ability to speak any foreign language serves as a gateway to a new world and another culture. It is true that without knowledge of a foreign language one can still read and explore various materials, especially in today's digital age with the help of the internet and translation tools, but there is a distinct difference. When you speak a language fluently, you gain an insight into the soul of the people who speak it as their own, and that is an entirely different story. It is notable that active contacts are not only maintained between our universities but also between our scientists, who are doing research at the forefront of technological progress and in widely different fields, such as medicine, biology, innovative materials, space exploration and microelectronics. In this context, I would like to mention the successful cross years of scientific, technical, and innovative cooperation held between 2020 and 2022. During this period, over a thousand joint studies were conducted with the participation of leading scientific institutions and departments from both Russia and China. In this context, it is worth noting that Harbin Institute of Technology serves as a key talent pool for the nuclear industry in the People's Republic of China. Interestingly, its graduates play an active role in the execution of Rosatom projects for building Russian-designed power units at the Tianwan NPP and the Xudapu NPP in China. The construction of these critical energy facilities is progressing according to schedule. Upon completion, these new nuclear units will significantly bolster China's energy supply, providing affordable and clean energy to both Chinese enterprises and households. Moreover, in China, with Russian participation, an experimental fast neutron facility has been built, facilitating joint research projects. Concurrently, the construction of a new demonstration fast reactor is underway. With active support from Chinese partners, a unique NICA accelerator complex is being built in Dubna, near Moscow, based on Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. I am confident that experiments conducted at this collider will lead to groundbreaking discoveries and advance scientific and technological progress, benefiting not only our two nations but also, without exaggeration, humanity as a whole. The short-term agenda for Russian-Chinese applied scientific cooperation includes the implementation of additional groundbreaking mega-science projects that surpass the capacities of any single country in the world. By pooling our expertise, we can undoubtedly achieve remarkable results together. Significant progress is being made in cutting-edge fields such as the integration of artificial intelligence across various economic sectors, big data processing, and quantum computing. Collaboratively, Russia and China are engaged in initiatives focused on nature conservation, safeguarding biodiversity, and combatting climate change. The scientific communities of both countries are currently collaborating on technical solutions aimed at significantly reducing carbon emissions. A programme to establish the so-called carbon measurement supersites is underway, with projects already in progress in Russia. Technological solutions for minimising hydrocarbon emissions are being actively tested. Additionally, joint efforts are planned for certifying green electricity, hydrogen, and wind power. Naturally, Russian and Chinese students and educators are not only engaged in educational and scientific exchanges but also actively participate in bilateral cultural, social, creative, and volunteer initiatives. Each of you, dear friends, is making a tangible contribution to the advancement of friendly and neighbourly relations between Russia and China. Allow me to extend my sincere wishes for your success, new discoveries, and accomplishments. May you enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding career, personal achievements, and contribute to the betterment of your homeland, China, and its people, as well as to the advancement of Russian-Chinese relations and the friendship between our two nations. Thank you for your attention. <...> NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Conversation with Vice President of China Han Zheng Vladimir Putin had a conversation with Vice President of the People's Republic of China Han Zheng. May 17, 2024 08:45 Harbin Vice President of China Han Zheng (retranslated):Mr President, I would like to congratulate you on your re-election as President with a record number of votes. It is convincing proof of the Russian people's solid support and confidence in you. I have no doubt that Russia will attain its high national development goals under your guidance. Yesterday, you held friendly and substantive talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where you reached extremely important agreements. We will certainly fulfil all of your instructions. You also coordinated a plan for building up our partnership. Once again, welcome to China. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Vice President of China Han Zheng, First, I would like to thank you for accompanying our delegation and me in Harbin. We held extremely substantive and extensive talks with the President of China yesterday. Our meetings were informative and useful. You yourself, when you were head of the intergovernmental commission, made a valuable contribution to the development of bilateral relations. I hope that we will yet do more together to attain the goals we set to ourselves. We would be happy to see you at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. North-East China and Russia share a long history of cooperation and joint struggle for independence and for strengthening sovereignty. Our comradeship - in the literal sense of the word - grew even stronger during the Second World War. It is the foundation we will use to accomplish even more together. <...> NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Opening of the Russia-China EXPO and the Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony of the 8th Russia-China EXPO and the 4th Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation together with Vice President of China Han Zheng. May 17, 2024 08:20 Harbin The President of Russia has also toured exhibition stands presented by Russia and China. The 8th Russia-China EXPO is taking place in Harbin on May 17-21, 2024. Held since 2014 as an annual exhibition, its venue alternates between the two countries. The EXPO emerged as a major trade and manufacturing platform focusing on expanding and diversifying Russia-China partnerships. The EXPO has a tradition of holding a large-scale exhibition. In 2024, it presents innovative solutions and joint Russian-Chinese projects in machine engineering, metals, as well as solutions for the energy and IT sectors, manufacturing financing, logistics and other domains. Russia placed a special emphasis at the exhibition on presenting its potential as a tourist destination. There are 16 regions representing Russia at the EXPO: Moscow, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Yakutia, Udmurtia, Primorye, Khabarovsk, Kamchatka and Trans-Baikal territories, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Amur, Arkhangelsk, Tula, Vladimir and Tver regions. This year, the 4th Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation is taking place as part of the EXPO with 28 constituent entities of the Russian Federation taking part in it. * * * Remarks at the opening ceremony: Han Zheng (retranslated): Mr Putin, Esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends. Good afternoon! I am delighted to see you in Harbin and to join you at the opening ceremony of the 8th Russia-China EXPO. I would like to welcome all the participants and congratulate them on behalf of the Chinese Government on holding this exhibition. First, I will read out a message from President Xi Jinping. "I offer you my best greetings on the occasion of the 8th China-Russia EXPO. China and Russia have been working together to achieve steady progress in their relations, making one step forward after another, and people in our countries have reaped the fruits of this cooperative effort. This year, we are marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. Having reached this new milestone, we have new historical opportunities opening up ahead and ever growing potential. Ever since its founding all those years ago, the China-Russia EXPO has established itself as a major platform for promoting bilateral trade and economic cooperation. I hope that this platform will enable our business communities to hold meaningful discussions and expand their contacts so that they can work together to promote our mutually beneficial cooperation and provide a new impetus to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia. I wish the 8th China-Russia EXPO every success. President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. May 17, 2024." I will now make a statement on my own behalf. Yesterday, the heads of our states held talks in Beijing. Together, they outlined a new plan for developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia and set new benchmarks for further strengthening our practical cooperation. Today, President Xi Jinping sent us his message of greetings, and Vladimir Putin is here with us and will deliver his remarks. I believe that our cooperation will yield even more tangible results under the strategic guidance of our heads of state and with the contribution from all stakeholders. This year, we are marking the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Over these years, we have made steady progress in forging deeper ties. The same goes for the way we view our trade and economic cooperation. In 2023, our mutual trade totalled $240 billion. China has been Russia's biggest trading partner for 14 years now. We must also note that mutual investment has been on the rise, and there has been positive momentum in carrying out strategic projects in energy, chemical industry, aircraft manufacturing, space and transport. We have every reason to affirm that the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia serves the interests of both our nations and injects positive momentum into efforts to further expand our ties. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, Over the past 10 years, the China-Russia Expo has become an important venue for establishing interregional ties and business contacts. The main theme of the 8th Expo is Cooperation, Mutual Trust and Opportunities. We are ready to continue promoting business cooperation, acting jointly with our Russian colleagues and based on our leaders' instructions. In this connection, I would like to highlight the following priorities. First, we should bolster the dynamic growth trend in trade, utilising the untapped potential and expanding the range of commodities, trade in services and e-commerce. It would be practical to upgrade cross-border infrastructure, increase the freight-handling capacity of checkpoints and create favourable conditions for the movement of cargo and people. We are giving priority attention to agriculture. We must increase access to agricultural markets. Food security and quality foods are a common goal for us. Second, we must revitalise interregional ties. Interregional cooperation is a major driver of our countries' interaction. It is symbolic that over 40 Chinese and Russian regions are represented here. It is very important for our regions, with their advantages and benefits for promoting trade and investment, to connect with each other. The China-Russia Years of Culture were officially launched yesterday. We propose coordinating an engaging programme involving many regions and, of course, people. Third, we must work together in new spheres. Our countries have common goals when it comes to national development and people's well-being. Therefore, we propose applying our future efforts in new fields, such as smart cities, research and technological innovations, the digital economy, green development and healthcare, in order to enrich our relationship. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, As the saying goes, seek and you shall find. I have no doubt that high-level political and economic ties provide a solid foundation for helping our businesspeople find reliable partners. Cooperation with Russia has always been a priority for the Heilongjiang Province, which keeps its doors open to its neighbour. I hope that the Expo participants are looking for and will find ways to expand their businesses. In conclusion, I would like to wish success to the 8th China-Russia Expo. Thank you. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues. I am delighted to welcome you to the opening ceremony of this major joint exhibition, the 8th Russia-China EXPO, as well as the 4th Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation, which is taking place as part of the EXPO. The fact that Harbin is hosting these two important events is highly symbolic, since Harbin is one of China's biggest centres for research, education and innovation. This is the first time I am visiting this city, and I have to say that it is very impressive. What a modern, beautiful and vibrant metropolis! At the same time, it has its own unique identity, rich history and traditions. Since its founding in the late 19th century, Harbin has been a symbol of the close ties linking Russia and China and their intertwined destinies, and the mutual enrichment of their cultures and traditions. By the way, as we drove through the city centre, it was immediately apparent that the historical district has a distinct Russian feel. Russian engineers and scientists played a significant role in the city's economic development at the time, and to building its production base, major plants, factories and infrastructure facilities. Harbin is a city that commemorates our nations' brotherhood-in-arms. More than 12,000 Soviet fighters perished in the battles to liberate Northeast China from Japanese invaders. It was Harbin that on September 16, 1945, hosted the joint Victory Parade to commemorate the end of hostilities on the Pacific Front and of World War II. More than 300,000 people took part in the ceremony. It was a joyful celebration of the long-awaited peace and unity of the two peoples. We have just laid flowers at the memorial to Soviet soldiers and officers. I am extremely grateful to the people of Harbin and the Chinese officials for preserving the memory of our liberators and our shared history of military glory. They have taken great care of our shared historical, spiritual and cultural heritage. Building upon the glorious traditions of neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation, we can confidently look forward and embark on ambitious projects together, charting and implementing our grandest plans. President Xi Jinping and I discussed in detail the prospects of developing this close and multi-dimensional cooperation during our talks last night. I believe we can take pride in the products of Russia-China economic links and cooperation. Just a few years ago, a turnover of $100 billion in bilateral trade was considered a major success. Today, we have exceeded $200 billion. Chinese data shows $240 billion, to be more precise. And we can go even further. The inseparable partnership between Russia and China directly contributes to the growth of both economies, ensuring our energy security, creating new production facilities and high-paying jobs, and ultimately improving the wealth and quality of life of our citizens. I am confident that our strategic alliance in the energy sector, which serves as a key pillar of the entire global energy market, will continue to grow stronger. Russia is ready and able to provide the Chinese economy, companies, cities and towns with sustainable, clean and affordable energy, electricity and heating as a reliable and failsafe supplier. We also have large-scale joint projects in industrial cooperation. Chinese automobile manufacturers are actively entering the Russian market. We are promoting the programme for developing a wide-body long-range aircraft and a heavy-lift civilian helicopter. I want to stress: not only does Russia welcome Chinese businesses' interest in localising their production in our country, but we are ready to provide investors from China with economic incentives, support and assistance. They will have access to Russia's unique technology base and highly qualified personnel. In a world on the cusp of the next technological revolution, we intend to consistently intensify bilateral cooperation in high technologies and innovations to harness our scientific and research potential. This is essential for us to secure leading positions and bolster the competitiveness of Russia and China in the global economy of tomorrow. I would like to emphasise the dynamic development of our shared transport infrastructure that closely links our two countries. For example, in 2022, we opened two border bridges over the Amur River - a motor and a rail bridge - which already carry substantial passenger and freight traffic. Reliable and high-speed logistic corridors are crucial for both businesses and individuals in the border regions of Russia and China. We are committed to modernising border checkpoints and reducing the processing time for cargoes and vehicles at the border. Our two countries are working jointly to diversify bilateral trade by providing incentives to a change in its structure. In particular, we are building up Russian agricultural exports to China. President Xi Jinping and I discussed this in detail yesterday. These agricultural products are distinguished by their high quality and environmental friendliness. Russia supplies to China growing amounts of fish and other seafoods, as well as grain and pork. In effect, we are nearing the creation of a strategic Russian-Chinese production partnership similar to our close cooperation in energy. Traditionally, the EXPO exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to promote industry-specific ties. Russia and China have taken turns in hosting this event for a number of years, and each time it attracts the keen attention of a growing number of participants, representatives of business and public circles, and regions of our two countries. The 8th EXPO, which opens in Harbin today, is no exception in this regard. Russia is represented at the EXPO by the CEOs of its major companies and industry leaders, such as Rosatom, Rostekh, Russian Railways, and many others. The spectrum of economic sectors represented is extensive, ranging from mineral production and the petrochemical industry to construction, iron-and-steel, the light industry, and digital technologies. The numerous EXPO events, panel discussions, workshops and roundtables are designed to familiarise the Russian and Chinese participants with both countries' vast economic potential, help them find new opportunities for commercial partnerships, investment, and technology exchanges. Moreover, these evets facilitate the negotiation of new joint projects and agreements, which, I am sure, will be supported in every way by the governments of Russia and China. In keeping with our Chinese friends' wishes, a Made in Russia trade fair has been organised on the EXPO sidelines, whose visitors will be able to taste or purchase high-quality Russian products from more than 1,000 brands. The highlight of this year's exhibition is a Russian-Chinese forum on inter-regional cooperation. It is worth noting that now a vast majority of Russian regions maintain ties with their Chinese partners. Similarly, this cooperation involves nearly all provinces and administrative entities on the Chinese side. Over 300 cities and municipalities in both countries have established twin-city relations. Russia's network of direct contacts and inter-regional agreements on trade and economic cooperation and on cooperation in humanitarian areas with China are more extensive than with any other country in the world. The forum is attended by delegations from 25 regions of the Russian Federation, 17 of them led by the highest-ranking officials. Moscow, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, the Tula, Nizhny Novgorod, and Amur regions, and the Khabarovsk Territory will present plans to create new mutually beneficial partnerships to their Chinese colleagues. These Russian regions have thoroughly studied their initiatives in depth and made them industry-specific. The Kaluga Region, for example, intends to promote cooperation in car manufacturing and create a cluster of plants to produce building materials. It goes without saying that we believe there is great potential in fostering ties between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. I would also like to take this opportunity to invite our Chinese friends to the 9th Eastern Economic Forum, which will be held in Vladivostok in early September. There, we will be able to continue our detailed discussion of opportunities for cooperation with Russia, including in territories of priority socioeconomic development, where convenient preferential regimes are being established for foreign investors. In conclusion, dear friends, I would like to wish the organisers, participants and guests of the EXPO, this large and important forum, productive work, useful and constructive discussions, and all the best. Thank you for your attention. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's representative handed a diplomatic note expressing strong protest over illegal actions against Lithuanian citizens Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024.05.16 Updated: 2024.05.17 On May 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania summoned a representative of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Lithuania and handed a diplomatic note expressing strong protest over the Russian Federation's decision to include Lithuanian politicians in the list of wanted persons for decisions taken in the performance of their direct duties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly stressed to the Russian representative that these Russian Federation decisions were contrary to universally recognised norms of international law, demonstrated efforts to falsify historical facts, and expressed disrespect for the Republic of Lithuania. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania demanded to end the politically motivated persecution of Lithuanian citizens immediately. This is the second protest note issued to Russian diplomats this year regarding the political persecution of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania. The first note was handed on February 14, 2024. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin talks tech, energy cooperation in China's Harbin Russia's president seeks partnerships with China to aid the war effort and boost the Russian economy. By Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin 2024.05.17 -- Flanked by goose-stepping Chinese soldiers, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a bunch of red roses at a World War II memorial to Soviet soldiers in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin a known as China's "Little Moscow" a on Friday. It was the second day of a state visit analysts said was also an urgent shopping trip for Chinese resources amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin's visit to Harbin, a city built by Russian and European architects to demonstrate Russian imperial power in the Far East with the extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway to northeastern China in the late 19th century, took in the Harbin Institute of Technology, where he met with students and lecturers. In a speech to the 8th Sino-Russian Expo in Harbin, Putin said Sino-Russian cooperation would be important to jointly develop new technologies. "Russia is ready and able to continuously power the Chinese economy, businesses, cities and towns with affordable and environmentally clean energy," he said. "As the world is on the threshold of the next technological revolution, we are determined to consistently deepen bilateral cooperation in the field of high technologies and innovations," he added. The northeastern region is the base for much of China's heavy industry and would potentially benefit from Russian investment to further develop the military-industrial sector, a Chinese scholar living in Japan who gave only the surname Hong for fear of reprisal. "The Harbin Institute of Technology is a military school that is half under military management," Hong said. "The military-industrial and heavy industrial sectors in Harbin are pretty good, although there are some areas in which they're no longer very good." "We shall see if the northeast is able to make a comeback with Russian support," Hong said. "That would also strengthen Russia's base in the Far East." Desperate for resources U.S.-based current affairs commentator Ma Ju said Putin is currently desperate for resources to continue the war in Ukraine. "Putin is looking to gain even stronger support from China [on this trip] to prop up the faltering Russian economy," Ma said. "That would give him more time and capabilities, and more cards to play in the war in Ukraine." The Russian leader also relies on China's political support on the world stage, and at the United Nations, he said. "China has become an important ally for Putin as he shores up his grip on power," Ma said. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin have a long-standing agreement to visit each other's countries once a year, and Xi was welcomed at the Kremlin last year. As Putin visits China for the first time since beginning a new term as president, he and Xi have been at pains to underline their "long and strong" friendship, and a strategic partnership that has been described as having "no upper limits." Analysts told Radio Free Asia that Thursday's symbolic statements about upholding global peace and stability are actually closely linked to concrete military and economic goals, as well as a common cause in counterbalancing the global power of the United States. An important part of bilateral cooperation has been seen in skyrocketing Chinese exports to Russia, although the figures have been impacted by the threat of U.S. sanctions against Chinese banks, hampering trade settlements and international payments. While China has repeatedly denied sending weapons or military equipment to aid Putin's war effort, Ukrainian forces on the ground have reported finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Week In Russia: The War Is His Everything By Steve Gutterman May 17, 2024 Over a two-week period that has encompassed an inauguration, a military shake-up, a new offensive in Ukraine, and a trip to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin's words and actions underscore the extent to which the war he started will be Russia's main focus for years to come. Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward. 'Putin's Priority' Issue a nuclear threat. Start a new Kremlin term. Celebrate a victory won 79 years ago. Shake up Russia's military leadership, open a new front in the invasion of Ukraine, and travel to China. Putin did all those things over the past two weeks, and the main takeaway can be boiled down to this: He is intent on continuing the war in Ukraine, and Moscow's confrontation with the West, for the foreseeable future. In a busy period that began with an announcement that Russia would hold military exercises to ensure its readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons, there were few surprises and a lot of same-old, same-old. Putin has reminded the West and the world of Russia's nuclear arsenal in saber-rattling remarks many times before, both before and since he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has lashed out at the United States and the European Union countless times, of course, including during celebrations of the greatest feat of cooperation between Moscow and the West: The Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. No Partnership For Peace And Putin has been cozying up to China since he came to power a quarter-century ago. It's just that, because of its war on Ukraine and confrontation with the West, the stakes are higher than ever for Russia -- and so are the risks run by the junior member of what Moscow and Beijing call their "no-limits" partnership. Following talk of a possibly sizable cabinet shake-up ahead of Putin's inauguration to a new term on May 7, he made few major changes, leaving Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and several others in place. While there have been signs that long-time Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu could be ousted since an embarrassing mutiny by Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin last June -- followed by his death in a plane crash that is widely believed to have been the Kremlin's doing - Putin's choice of a replacement, Andrei Belousov, an economist who has worked in the Kremlin or the government for years, was unexpected. But many observers said that it made sense - and that it underscored the preeminence of the war in Putin's plans for his new six-year term. "Putin's priority is war," Aleksandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank analyst and now a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. She added that a "war of attrition is won by economics. Belousov is in favor of stimulating demand from the budget, which means that military spending will at least not decrease but rather increase." Digging In "Putin's primary objective is to enhance the state's capacity to support military needs more effectively," Tatyana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the same think tank, wrote on X. Belousov's appointment "very much speaks to the fact that Putin is aware that this war is not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon," author and analyst Mark Galeotti told RFE/RL. "As he digs in for the long term -- and we see this in his rhetoric, but also we're now seeing it within the government apparatus -- from his point of view, this is a war that is going to be one to a large extent on industrial production." Exiled Kremlin opponent and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky echoed that assessment, saying the appointment "shows that Putin views winning the arms manufacturing race with the West as crucial for success in Ukraine." "By installing an economist at the helm of the military, Putin is signaling his readiness for a protracted war of attrition, betting that Russia's economic resilience will outlast the West's resolve to support Kyiv," Khodorkovsky wrote. Whether Belousov will succeed is another matter. Officials on both sides in Russia's war on Ukraine have spoken of the need for technological advances, but the hurdles - including corruption and entrenched bureaucracy within the Russian military - are high. Shoigu's 'High Bar' Belousov's appointment "suggests that the Kremlin wants more where this came from and is focused on modernizing the military with more hi-tech equipment such as unmanned vehicles, AI, and advanced intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance systems," Kirill Shamiev, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations," wrote in a May 14 article. "But technical modernization will be meaningless without improving the skills of Russian officers and the command-and-control system," Shamiev wrote. "For that, Belousov, an outsider to the military world, needs allies within the army's general staff to implement and enforce his reforms." So far, the chief of the armed forces' General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, who Galeotti said is "even more despised amongst his own men than Shoigu was, which is quite a high bar to vault," remains in place. And Shoigu has not gone very far: Putin made him secretary of the presidential Security Council, and he was at the president's side on the visit to China this week. Belousov was not -- and has not been named to the Security Council despite his new role as defense chief. The person Shoigu replaced didn't go far, either: Nikolai Patrushev -- the close Putin ally, former Federal Security Service (FSB) chief, and anti-Western conspiracy enthusiast who had headed the Security Council since 2008 -- is now an aide to Putin, a demotion for sure but one whose effects are not yet clear. How much Putin's personnel moves will matter is just one of many factors that will affect the course of the war in Ukraine, which is still raging more than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion. Other factors include efforts to boost manpower in both countries, how quickly Ukraine's forces can benefit from the adoption a long-delayed $61 billion U.S. aid package - the bulk of it for weapons, and the outcome of Russia's new offensive in the Kharkiv region. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-war-ukraine-putin- shoigu-belousov/32951790.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 Northern Fleet detachment led by frigate Admiral Gorshkov goes on long-distance mission 17.05.2024 Today, a Northern Fleet detachment has left the roadstead of Severomorsk and went on a long-distance mission. The detachment's ships set course to the Atlantic through the designated areas of the Barents Sea. The detachment comprises the missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, medium sea tanker Akademik Pashin, and rescue tug Nikolay Chiker. Before leaving the main base of the Northern Fleet, the city of Severomorsk, a solemn meeting was held on board the frigate, during which the sailors were guided by the commander of the formation of missile ships rank Oleg Glachy, Capt. I. In the next few months, ships and vessels will perform long-distance missions in various parts of the World's Ocean. The main tasks of the mission are to demonstrate the flag and ensure a naval presence in important areas of the far ocean zone. 'The crew is 100% ready, all set tasks will be fully performed,' said commander of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, Capt. 2nd rank Pavel Konov. Before sailing off, the ships underwent a full range of training, were checked by the flagship specialists of the Northern Fleet, and performed tasks in the Barents Sea in accordance with the combat training plan for the surface ships and vessels of the Russian Navy. Information Activities Office of the Northern region (Severomorsk) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan urged to speed up military reform, demonstrate self-defense ability ROC Central News Agency 05/17/2024 08:48 PM Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Taiwan should expedite its military reforms and send a clear message to China about what the costs of potential aggression would be, China expert Amanda Hsiao (eac) told a panel discussion Friday, while noting the increasing challenge the country faces in responding to Chinese pressure. "Taiwan needs to signal more clearly to China the costs of potential aggression," said Hsiao, a senior China analyst from the International Crisis Group, at the event in Taipei, noting that one aspect of that would be for the incoming government to "move much faster on defense reform." While the current administration led by President Tsai Ing-wen (ee) has taken positive steps concerning the issue, "a lot more has to be done for Taiwan to really embrace an optimal defense strategy." "There remains considerable debate within Taiwan's elite policy community [and] within society about what exactly is the threat from China and how we respond to it," she said. "That debate has implications for defense reform," she said, adding that there was currently a lack of "consensus around what the best strategy is and how best to get there." According to Hsiao, such signals are important given the fact that China's pressure on Taiwan has become more difficult to deal with and thus created "a new dilemma" for both Taiwan and the international community. Beijing has shifted airline routes in the Taiwan Strait unilaterally, a decision that was frowned upon but "technically within the rules," Hsiao told the discussion that was focused on discussing Taiwan's new government led by President-elect Lai Ching-te (ea), who takes up the presidency on May 20. She added that the same applied to the Chinese law enforcement's patrols around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Island, which Beijing claimed were conducted according to its law. However, Chen Ming-chi (eZc), chief executive officer of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said such reforms would be "a big challenge" for the new government given the current dynamic in the Legislature. The CEO of Taiwan's state-funded think tank was referring to the dominance of the opposition, namely the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party, in the Legislature. He expressed concern about the divergent approaches toward China by Taiwan's executive and legislative branches, fearing that this could "send a very mixed signal" regarding Taiwan's commitment to self-defense to its allies and partners. Nevertheless, the panelists, including Tetsuo Kotani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, remained optimistic about Taiwan's continued collaborations with its partners after Lai assumes office. According to Kotani, Taiwan and Japan have been working closely on cybersecurity for a couple of years but such collaborations have been so far restricted to fighting cybercrime. He encouraged the two sides to "upgrade" their cooperation and work together on bolstering cyber defense, particularly regarding tackling China's information operations. The Japanese scholar also called for defense industrial cooperation. He argued that even though it "is not so easy to do arms export[s]" with Taiwan immediately, "there should be some room for maneuver." However, Kotani contended that Japan would not send troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, noting that Japan's primary role would be to defend itself and the southwest island chain, from where the United States military would initiate operations. "We believe our primary role in a possible Taiwan contingency scenario would be defending ourselves, and by doing so, we can indirectly contribute to the security of Taiwan," he added. (By Teng Pei-ju) Enditem/kb NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 508 foreign dignitaries to attend Lai's inauguration: MOFA ROC Central News Agency 05/17/2024 06:23 PM Taipei, May 17 (CNA) A total of 51 groups comprising 508 foreign dignitaries will attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Lai Ching-te (ea) and related activities on May 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement released on Friday. Among them, 12 groups are from countries with which the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's formal name, has diplomatic relations, MOFA said, noting that the Holy See, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, will send a special envoy to attend the ceremony. The ministry said Eswatini King Mswati III, President of the Marshall Islands Hilda Heine, Palauan President Surangel Whipps, Jr., and Paraguayan President Santiago PeAa Palacios will all attend the May 20 event. Despite not having formal ties with the ROC, the attendees will also include congratulatory groups from the United States, Canada and Singapore, members of the European Parliament's Taiwan Friendship Group, as well as lawmakers from the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and South Korea, MOFA said. According to the ministry, the dignitaries will attend a banquet given by outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen (ee) and a welcoming party hosted by MOFA at the Taipei Guest House on May 19. On May 20, they will attend Lai's inauguration ceremony in the morning and a state banquet later that day at the Formosa Yacht Resort in Tainan, MOFA said. (By Henry Wu and Ko Lin) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. lawmakers reject China's mischaracterization of U.N. resolution 2758 ROC Central News Agency 05/17/2024 07:47 PM Washington, May 16 (CNA) U.S. senators across party lines on Thursday proposed a resolution to reject China's mischaracterization of United Nations Resolution 2758, saying Beijing's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan based on the U.N. resolution is not accepted by the world. U.S. Republican Senator Jim Risch, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Jeanne Shaheen proposed the resolution, reaffirming that the "one China policy" of the United States is not equivalent to the "One China Principle" of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). "The passage of United Nations General Assembly resolution 2758 in 1971 does not mean the world accepts China's claimed sovereignty over Taiwan. Moreover, the United States' 'one China policy' is not the same as China's 'One China Principle'," Risch said in a statement. "Chinese leaders know this, but spread this propaganda to deny Taiwan's ability to engage with international organizations. This resolution sets the record straight. The United States can and should push back on China's false narratives at every opportunity," Risch added. Resolution 2758 was adopted by the 26th U.N. General Assembly in 1971 to solve the issue of China's representation in the U.N. system. It ultimately led to Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC) withdrawing from the U.N. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) taking its place. The resolution passed on Oct. 25, 1971, recognizes the PRC as the "only lawful representative of China." However, Taiwan and U.S. governments have repeatedly argued, that the resolution does not mention Taiwan, does not state that Taiwan is part of the PRC, and does not explicitly authorize Beijing to represent Taiwan in the U.N. system. According to the seven-page resolution introduced by the two American lawmakers, China has weaponized resolution 2758 and the "One China Principle" to isolate Taiwan and prevent the island's meaningful participation at the U.N., U.N.-affiliated agencies, and other international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and International Criminal Police Organization (Intrpol). In 2005, then U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon even cited the resolution 2758 to refuse Taiwan's accession to the U.N. in 2007, using the incorrect assertion that the resolution supported China's claim that Taiwan is part of China, the proposed resolution said. In addition, China took advantage of the U.N. resolution to coerce, intimidate, or punish sovereign nations for engagement and partnership with Taiwan, the proposal resolution added. The proposed resolution indicated the U.N. resolution does not make a position on Taiwan's ultimate political status and does not represent a consensus of the U.N. on Taiwan's status. It also offers support to Taiwan's diplomatic allies for continuing official relationships with Taiwan, and other nations around the world for strengthening their partnerships with Taiwan. "The United States remains committed to Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations and to a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues," Shaheen said in the statement. "I'm proud to help introduce this bipartisan resolution that firmly pushes back on the PRC's dangerous and disingenuous mischaracterization of UN resolution 2758," Shaheen added. Meanwhile, Risch, Democratic senators Ben Cardin and Chris Coons and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday wrote a letter to the WHO General Secretary Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling for support of Taiwan's meaningful participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the WHO. Taiwan took part in the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016, when relations between Taipei and Beijing were smoother under the then Kuomintang government in Taiwan. However, since 2017, China has pressured the WHO not to invite Taiwan to the WHA, in retaliation against President Tsai Ing-wen (ee) from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, who took a harder line against Beijing. (By Chung Yu-chen and Frances Huang) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bishkek, May 18 (UNI) The Kyrgyzstan government has lashed out against destructive forces in media and social media, especially in Pakistan for deliberately disseminating absolutely false and untrue information about the situation in Bishkek following widespread clashes between locals and foreign students. In a statement, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said that the situation in Bishkek on Saturday is absolutely calm and completely controlled and that all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, maintain peace and stability. It asked the representatives of the media, the blogging community, and their foreign colleagues to be guided only by official and verified information from the competent authorities of Kyrgyzstan. The statement follows media reports of widespread mob violence against foreign students, mainly Pakistanis, that erupted in Bishkek and ended only on Saturday morning. Police managed to come to an agreement with protesters and they opened Chui Avenue and dispersed. According to the Ministry of Health, 29 people were injured during the protests. According to the police, four citizens of Egypt were detained for a brawl in a hostel on May 13 that triggered the violence. According to Pakistani media reports, over a dozen Pakistani students were injured the mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek. Disturbing videos are circling on social media showing locals thrashing South Asian students, mostly Pakistanis. Violent clashes erupted between student groups in Bishkek, with reports of the attackers using batons to beat the foreign students. The attackers forcefully entered the hostel rooms and beat and wounded several international students, mostly Pakistanis, media reports said. Pakistans Ambassador to the Kyrgyzstan Hassan Ali Zaigham on Saturday raised concerns with Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Imangaziev Almaz about the safety and welfare of Pakistani nationals, particularly the large number of affected Pakistani students and their families. The ambassador met the Kyrgyz Deputy FM on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release. The Kyrgyz minister informed that their authorities had controlled the situation which was now back to normal. He said that Kyrgyz police was providing security to all the hostels and the matter was being directly supervised by the Kyrgyz President. Deputy FM Almaz assured the ambassador that the government of Kyrgyzstan would take legal action against the perpetrators yesterdays attack. He shared that 14 foreign nationals including some Pakistanis were discharged after first aid while one Pakistani national remained under treatment. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also took note of the violent situation in Bishkek and expressed concern for Pakistani students. Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistans Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance, he wrote on X. UNI RN U.S. senators urge WHO to support Taiwan's inclusion ahead of WHA ROC Central News Agency 05/17/2024 07:27 PM Washington, May 16 (CNA) Four United States senators across party lines wrote to the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this week, calling for its support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in the organization and the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting. In a letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the senators urged him to make every effort to oppose prospective efforts to circumscribe Taiwan's engagement. The senators were Democrats Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Chris Coons, along with Republicans Jim Risch, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Lindsey Graham. "As our experience with the COVID pandemic has demonstrated, it is imperative that global health diplomacy channels remain open and inclusive of all jurisdictions so that we are best able to address challenges in the complex landscape of international health crises," they wrote. Taiwan, which is not a member of the United Nations, did not receive an invitation to the WHA for an eighth consecutive time this year. The Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, withdrew from the WHO in 1972 following a decision by the United Nations to expel the ROC and recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the only "legitimate representative of China." Since then, Taiwan has been unable to attend the WHA even as an observer due to Chinese pressure, except from 2009 to 2016, when relations with China were warmer under Taiwan's then-Kuomintang (KMT) government and Beijing supported Taiwan's participation. In the letter sent on May 15, the senators also criticized China's use of the U.N.'s General Assembly Resolution 2758 as a pretext to obstruct Taiwan's engagement with the international community. According to the senators, it is crucial to clarify that the resolution addressed only the issue of China's representation in the U.N. They also said the resolution did not determine Taiwan's status or explicitly prohibit Taiwan's participation in U.N. agencies and other international fora, including the WHO and the WHA. Furthermore, they argued, the resolution does not restrict any state from maintaining or pursuing diplomatic relationships with Taiwan. "Denying Taiwan the opportunity to participate in the WHO and the WHA weakens the global health architecture's ability to respond effectively to health challenges," they wrote. The WHA is to be held from May 27 to June 1 in Geneva, Switzerland. (By Chung Yu-chen and Lee Hsin-Yin) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. should stop "using Taiwan to contain China," take concrete actions to preserve bilateral ties, says Chinese embassy People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 16:06, May 17, 2024 WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China urges the U.S. side "to stop arming Taiwan and its provocative moves of using Taiwan to contain China," the Chinese Embassy in the United States has said at a press briefing. "The U.S. side needs to take concrete actions to preserve the overall as well as mil-to-mil ties between China and the U.S., and safeguard regional peace and stability," Minister Counselor Liu Pengyu said Tuesday as he elaborated on China's position on the Taiwan question. On the upcoming "inauguration" on May 20 in the Taiwan region, Liu, also the embassy's spokesperson, said the elections in Taiwan are local elections. The result cannot change the basic fact that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China; nor can it alter the historical trend of Taiwan's reunification with the motherland, Liu said. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, which is an undeniable, universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations, said Liu. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities are constantly promoting "de-sinicization" and undertaking separatist activities step by step and attempting to expand Taiwan's so-called "international space," Liu noted. Promoting peace across the Taiwan Strait means opposing separatist moves, and the stronger the commitment to the one-China principle, the more peaceful the Strait will be, he said. Noting that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests and the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations, Liu said China urges the U.S. side to act on U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" and not taking Taiwan as a tool to contain China. The U.S. side should stop official interactions with the Taiwan authorities and not make them feel supported in seeking "Taiwan independence," he added. The Taiwan question is China's internal affair, which should be left to the Chinese people, Liu stressed. "We will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and the utmost effort. In the meantime, we will not allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China by any means. No one should underestimate China's determination, resolve and capability to safeguard her sovereignty and territorial integrity," Liu said. Noting the recent negative moves and statements by the U.S. side on the Taiwan question, Liu said that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. The U.S. side invited the Taiwan region to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, and certain U.S. officials have made misleading remarks on United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758. "We stress that UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 fully reflect and recognize the one-China principle. They should not be challenged or tempered with. Taiwan's participation in international organizations must be and can only be approached under the one-China principle," Liu said. On U.S. congressional visits to Taiwan and the second phase of negotiations under the so-called "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade," Liu said that China firmly opposes official interactions between the United States and the island or U.S. interference in Taiwan affairs that are China's internal affairs. Liu also pointed out that U.S. arms sales to the Taiwan region is a "dangerous bet," which violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan's incoming president faces tough balancing act, analysts say By William Yang May 17, 2024 When Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te is sworn into office on May 20, he will be facing what is perhaps the toughest first term of any leader the democratically ruled island of 23 million has ever elected since 1996. Analysts say that Lai will not only need to carefully manage relations with China but also need to work to maintain steady ties with Washington during an election year. Branded a secessionist by Beijing, China has beefed up the scale and frequency of military activities and coast guard patrols near Taiwan since Lai was elected in January. Beijing has also opened new flight routes near Taiwan's outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu in April, which some analysts view as an attempt to redefine the longstanding status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Such efforts are widely seen as part of China's pressure campaign towards Taiwan. But unlike the large-scale military exercises the Chinese military held around the island in 2022 and 2023, Beijing's recent actions are "quieter" by comparison, said Amanda Hsiao, a senior China analyst at the International Crisis Group. China is trying "to present itself as seeking peaceful unification and doesn't want to be seen as a provocateur," Hsiao said. China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly vowed to reunite with the island, by force if necessary. Lai's four-year presidency falls within the time fame U.S. military and intelligence officials have publicly said Chinese leader Xi Jinping has set for the Chinese military to have an invasion plan in place by 2027. The date also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. Some Taiwanese experts say while the Lai administration should be aware of the significance of 2027, they shouldn't arrange Taiwan's preparation for a potential Chinese invasion around this timeframe. "2027 shouldn't be viewed as the definitive year that China will invade Taiwan, because Beijing's calculation involves a lot of factors, including the dynamics across the Taiwan Strait," said Li Da-Jung, director of the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Taiwan's Tamkang University. In his view, the Lai administration should prioritize efforts to strengthen Taiwan's capabilities to defend itself and deter China from invading the island. Boosting exchanges Since Taiwan's pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2016, China has cut off all official communication and increased the level of pressure against Taiwan. Beijing has also suggested that it's open to increasing exchange with Taipei by lifting some travel restrictions and hosting several delegations from Taiwan's China-friendly opposition party Kuomintang. Increasing exchanges with China-friendly actors in Taiwan "will be a major focus in the near term for China," Hsiao said. For his part, Lai has said he is committed to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and that he is willing to engage with Beijing on the basis of dignity and parity. In a pre-recorded speech this week at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2024, he said, "I will not rule out dialogue with China on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefits, and dignity, with no preconditions." China's offer to reopen cross-strait exchanges, especially resuming group tourism between China and Taiwan, is both an opportunity and a challenge for Taiwan's new government. "The Lai administration could point to the return of group tourism as an early success in their term and this would be a useful way of signaling to international partners that they are responsibly handling their relationship with Beijing," Hsiao said. However, she added that the Lai administration should also be mindful of the potential costs of accepting offers from Beijing. "A return to group tourism could create some dependencies on China that Beijing could leverage and exploit next time they are unhappy with the relationship," Hsiao told VOA. For now, she thinks the Chinese government will try to "lean on" the United States and opposition parties in Taiwan to keep the new Taiwanese government "on a more moderate course." Lai's inauguration speech will be "a key indicator" of his administration's approach to China. "How he talks about and defines cross-strait relationships will be significant," Hsiao told VOA. Washington announced this week that they will send an unofficial delegation - which includes two former senior U.S. officials and a scholar - to attend the inauguration. Continuity in U.S.-Taiwan relations While tensions between China and Taiwan will likely remain high, some experts say relations between the United States and Taiwan will largely remain unchanged under the new Taiwanese government, since bilateral ties have reached a new level of stability during Tsai Ing-wen's tenure. "So much of what we are looking forward to in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, whether [it] is meaningful bilateral trade agreement or more robust defensive military sales, are all things that rely on the groundwork laid out by Tsai and previous administrations in Taiwan," said Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. However, despite the predictability of the new Taiwanese government's policy direction toward the U.S., Nachman said the U.S. Presidential election in November, which will likely be a rematch between current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, could add uncertainties to relations between Taipei and Washington. "What Biden represents is a level of predictability and certainty and that's important in this part of the world when both sides of the Taiwan Strait are operating off imperfect information about what the other side is going to do," he told VOA in a video interview. But if Trump wins the election in November, Nachman said Taiwan's new administration should be prepared for some uncertainties. A potential Trump presidency "brings uncertainty, imperfect information, and a level of no pragmatism from the U.S. that would be the biggest challenge for Taiwan and the entire [Indo-Pacific] region to navigate," he added. Tamkang University's Li said the Lai administration should start engaging with Trump's advisors as soon as possible. "Taiwan's incoming government should maintain close communication with Trump's advisors and highlight the importance of Taiwan during bilateral conversations," he told VOA. Efforts to diversify Taiwan's foreign relations While relations with China and the U.S. dominate Taiwan's foreign policy agenda, the island has increased its diplomatic engagements with European countries during Tsai's second term. "The EU and Taiwan have been thinking about how they can strengthen cooperation in certain areas while being mindful of potential limitations [over the last four years,]" Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an expert on EU-Taiwan relations at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, told VOA in a video interview. Since 2020, Taiwan has deepened its economic engagement with some Central and Eastern European countries. In 2021, Taiwan opened a trade office in Lithuania under the name "Taiwan" instead of the island's official name, the Republic of China. Since then, it has signed several cooperation agreements related to bilateral tech collaboration with countries like Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Additionally, Taiwan has hosted several high-level parliamentary delegations from Lithuania and the Czech Republic in recent years. Ferenczy and Nachman both said that while these visits have helped to elevate mutual understanding and interests between Taiwan and some European countries, the new government under Lai should focus on adding substance to these newly elevated ties. The Lai administration "needs to approach these newfound allies with a level of pragmatism [by] pursuing meaningful alliances in trade or [increase] exchanges," Nachman told VOA. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan May 18, 2024 ROC Ministry of National Defense 2024/05/18 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1. Dateis 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Friday to Saturday, May 17-18 2.PLA activitiesis 18 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 12 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern and 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish court hands pro-Kurdish politicians lengthy sentences over deadly protests By Mahmut Bozarslan, Ezel Sahinkaya May 17, 2024 A Turkish court gave several lengthy prison sentences to pro-Kurdish politicians for instigating protests in southeastern Turkey in 2014 when the Islamic State group attacked the Syrian border town of Kobani. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, the former co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), on Thursday received the longest sentences among the 108 defendants, 18 of whom had been in pretrial detention. Demirtas was sentenced to 42 years for a total of 47 crimes, including "disrupting the unity and the integrity of the state," while Yuksekdag received just over 30 years in prison for "attempts to challenge the unity of the state, of inciting criminal acts, and of engaging in propaganda on behalf of a terror organization." The trial stemmed from the 2014 Kobani protests, in which hundreds of pro-Kurdish protesters took to the streets in predominantly Kurdish provinces of Turkey over the government's inaction toward IS militants who were advancing to capture Kobani in October 2014. HDP, which initiated the call for protests, demanded the opening of a corridor to Kobani through Turkey so that military aid from other parts of Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan could reach the IS-besieged town. During the protests, in which 37 people died and 761 people were injured, clashes occurred between the security forces and protesters and between the Islamist Kurdish groups and protesters. HDP later called for de-escalation. At the time of the protests, Ankara was involved in a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. However, the peace process ended in 2015, and Ankara accused the HDP in connection with the deaths in the 2014 protests. The party denies any involvement. Convictions The first hearing in the Kobani trial was held in 2021. In the more than 3,000-page indictment, senior HDP members were listed as defendants and charged with 29 offenses, including "homicide and harming the unity of the state." In the end, 12 defendants were acquitted of all charges and 24 defendants were convicted. The other 72 defendants at large are to be tried in the future. The defendants' lawyers and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the HDP's successor, view the trial as political. Lawyer Nahit Eren, the head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association and a member of the legal team, told VOA Turkish that they would appeal the verdict. On Friday, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said, "There is no place for calls for violence in democracies." "Therefore, in this sense, it is a decision made by our independent and impartial judiciary. This is the decision of the first level court, there are the first and second level of appeal processes. We will wait for the result of these processes together," he added. Turkish Deputy Minister of Interior Bulent Turan noted that there were acquittals and sentences in the verdict. "Although it did not please some people, justice was served," Turan said in a post on X. Following the verdict on Thursday, local governors imposed a four-day ban on protests in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Diyarbakir, Siirt, Tunceli and Batman. On Friday, police officers did not let DEM Party members gather for a demonstration in Diyarbakir but allowed them to make a media statement. Reactions Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday that the trial was "manifestly political and unjust." "The conviction of Selahattin DemirtaAY, Figen Yuksekdag and other leading Kurdish opposition politicians in a mass trial is the latest move in a campaign of persecution that has robbed mainly Kurdish voters of their chosen representatives, undermined the democratic process and criminalized lawful political speech," Hugh Williamson, HRW's Europe and Central Asia director, said in the statement. The convictions of pro-Kurdish politicians come at a time when "normalization" between the ruling Justice and Development Party and the opposition is a hot topic on the Turkish political agenda. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met main opposition Republican People's Party leader Ozgur Ozel on May 2, and both leaders have been vocal about ending Turkey's polarized political environment. Some experts think that the convictions are causing the Kurdish public to question the statements on normalization. "While the normalization is talked about so much, the fact that such a normalization was not reflected in the judiciary will cause serious damage to the Kurdish public," Roj Girasun, the director of Diyarbakir-based Rawest Research, told VOA Turkish. "Is this final verdict a postponement of normalization or a complete shelving? It is too early to answer," Girasun said. Another expert and political scientist, Vedat Kacal, thinks that the verdict is a bureaucratic move to try to discourage Kurdish voters from hoping for a solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey through elections. "[The verdict] can be interpreted as a psychological method of pushing Kurdish voters back into the narrow patterns of the Kurdish right by making them despair about the ballot box and the future of Turkish politics," Kacal told VOA Turkish. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey sends Syrian mercenaries to Niger to secure strategic interests By Sirwan Kajjo May 17, 2024 Hundreds of Syrian mercenaries have been sent by Turkey to Niger in recent months to protect Ankara's economic and military interests in the West African nation, a rights group and experts said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has researchers throughout Syria, reports that recruitment of Syrian fighters for deployment to Niger has been going on for several months. "We have confirmed that about 1,100 Syrian fighters have already been deployed to Niger since September of last year," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory. Syrian nationals are being recruited from areas under the control of Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups in northwest Syria, Abdulrahman told VOA. Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), a France-based advocacy group, said it has also documented such recruitments. "These Syrian fighters are being transported from Syria into Turkey, and then using Turkish airports, they are sent [to Niger] by Turkish military airplanes," Bassam Alahmad, executive director of STJ, told VOA. Turkey has in the past deployed Syrian fighters to other conflict zones, including Azerbaijan and Libya, through SADAT International Defense Consultancy, a private military company that reportedly has close ties with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "It's very clear that in Niger, Turkey is just extending a policy that views Africa as clear area of growth for Turkey in terms of commercial and military interests, and in terms of extending Turkey's power in the world," says Nicholas Heras, a Middle East expert at the New Lines Institute, a research organization in Washington. Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory also said that SADAT was behind the recruitment of Syrian nationals from areas under the control of Turkey. The Istanbul-based company declined to comment. VOA also contacted Turkey's Foreign Ministry but has received no response. A Syrian fighter, who went by the name Ahmed, told AFP this week that a Turkey-backed Syrian militia called the Sultan Murad Division was involved in recruiting him for the Niger deployment. The Syrian fighter, who was in Aleppo province, said new recruits will be trained at camps before participating in battles in Niger. "The first two batches of fighters have already gone, and a third batch will follow soon," he said. Another Syrian fighter told AFP that he was recruited for duty in Niger "on a six-month contract with a salary of $1,500." A third Syrian fighter said that after two weeks of military training, he was tasked with guarding a site near a mine in Niger, according to AFP. Syrian fighters have cited economic incentives as the main motive for accepting such job offers. The Syrian Observatory said the Turkey-backed Syrian mercenaries have been stationed in the tri-border area between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. "For those getting wounded in battle, they receive up to $30,000 in compensation," Abdulrahman said. "For those getting killed, their families receive up to $60,000." The United Nations says the tri-border region in recent years has become a major hotspot for insecurity, including terror activities carried out by militant groups. This comes at a time when Nigerien and U.S. defense officials are discussing plans to withdraw all American forces from the country. Niger's military junta, which overthrew the country's democratically elected president in July of last year, has demanded an end to U.S. military presence in the country. In December 2023, France also ended its military presence in Niger after a similar demand was made by the junta leaders. Experts say Niger's junta recognizes a continued need for security support, so they are increasingly relying on mercenaries deployed by Russia and Turkey. "France and the United States were security partners that were there supporting Nigerien forces through cooperation and agreements that didn't cost the Nigerien public significant tax dollars," said Daniel Eizenga, a research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington. "Now upon their departure you have smaller contingents of Russian mercenaries, or these reports of Syrian mercenaries being sent by Turkey." "You're just witnessing this very strange rhetoric around the reclaiming of national sovereignty by Niger's junta, which has no legitimate claim to popular political support, and then them ceding that sovereignty to these mercenaries and spending Nigerien tax dollars on hiring these groups whether they be Russian or Turkish," he told VOA. Eizenga said the number of fatalities linked to attacks by Islamist militant groups in Niger has increased significantly since the junta took power in July 2023, arguing that coup leaders' interests are not aligned with national interests in Niger. "The fact that they are inviting and courting these mercenary groups to come in is another example of exactly that," he said. This story originated in VOA's Kurdish Service with some information from AFP. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lithuania transferred ammunition, drone jamming equipment and UAVs to Ukraine Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2024-05-17 International cooperation | Security and defense policy Lithuania continues rendering military assistance to Ukraine on a steady basis - 5.56A45 mm ammunition, anti-drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, 100 Kw power generators and folding field beds. Responding to Ukraine's requests, this year Lithuania has delivered to Ukraine 155 mm ammunition, M577 armored personnel carriers, drone jamming equipment, power generators, cold season gear and warm clothing sets, Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle ammunition, RISE-1 long-range smart initiation system, disassembled L-39ZA Albatros aircraft and other aid so far. Lithuania's enduring assistance to Ukraine has reached over a billion euros to date, while the military assistance this far amounts to over EUR 616 million. Over this year approx. EUR 95 million of assistance has been provided already and the dynamic is planned to hold. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A New Russian Offensive Stretches Ukrainian Forces. Possibly To The Breaking Point. By Mike Eckel May 17, 2024 Ukrainian civilians evacuated from border regions with Russia. An important east-west highway in the eastern Donetsk region threatened by encroaching Russian forces. A village captured by Ukraine during last year's counteroffensive about to return to Russian control. Ukraine's president cancels all foreign trips. The news from Ukraine's battlefield these days is grim: Russia is advancing. Ukraine is struggling to hold its positions, if not outright retreating. Ukrainian forces were already under severe pressure in several locations along the 1,100-kilometer front line even before Russia launched a localized offensive north of Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, last week. Troops moved into a "gray zone" -- Ukrainian territory that's not fully controlled by either Ukrainian or Russian forces. On May 16, Russian units appeared to have entered the town of Vovchansk, about 5 kilometers from the border, and the site of the fiercest fighting in the north. By some estimates, the amount of territory Ukrainian troops have ceded in recent months is greater than the earliest months after the full Russian invasion in February 2022. Western military officials, however, downplay Russian chances for a wider breakthrough. "They don't have the skill and the capability to do it, to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage," U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli said on May 17. "They do have the ability to make local advances and they have done some of that." Still, there's little doubt that Ukraine's exhausted, outmanned, and possibly still-outgunned forces are struggling in a way not seen possibly since the opening days of the invasion. "By stretching Ukrainian forces along a wide front, Russia is overcoming the limitations of its undertrained army," Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said in a report released this week. "Russia has now started the early phases of its anticipated summer offensive with renewed attacks on Kharkiv." Here's where things stand at present on Ukraine's battlefield. What's Happening On The Ground? After Ukraine's much-hyped counteroffensive fizzled late last year both sides began retooling and resupply, girding for the next major clashes. Russia, however, seized the initiative to push into the industrial city of Avdiyivka, where Ukraine was able to threaten the Russian-controlled regional administrative center of Donetsk to the southeast. The city fell to Russian forces in February. Last month, Russian troops took advantage of a Ukrainian troop rotation -- some reports say botched -- and pushed northwest of Avdiyivka to take control of the village of Ocheretyne. Creeping north and northwest, Russian forces have moved closer to threatening the N32 highway, which runs from Pokrovsk, northeast to the railway town of Kostyantynivka. Just east of Kostyantynivka is Chasiv Yar, a village on high ground that Russia is hellbent on capturing. Ukrainian forces have repelled the effort so far, in part by using a water canal that runs through its eastern district as a holding line. Captain Oleh Kalashnikov, a spokesman for the 26th Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Current Time that Russia had fielded as many as 25,000 troops, including elite paratroop units, in their push to take the city. Seizing Chasiv Yar would allow Russia to threaten Kostyantynivka and its rail and roadway used by Ukraine to resupply its forces. It would crack the door toward Kramatorsk to the north, and Slovyansk, both large population centers and redoubts of Ukrainian troops and supplies. On May 10, meanwhile, Russian infantry crossed the border north and northeast of Kharkiv, attacking in two different locations, seizing a handful of small settlements, and opening a new front The village of Vovchansk came under some of the worst shelling, forcing rescuers to rush to evacuate civilians. Ukraine's General Staff claimed that its forces pushed back some of the Russians units. However, on May 14, officials said troops were "moving to more advantageous positions" near Vovchansk and Lukyantsi -- suggesting some sort of withdrawal, or even retreat. Two days later, officials announced Ukrainian troops were withdrawing to "more advantageous positions" near Kupyansk, a town east of Kharkiv that has been under pressure from Russia in recent months. Colonel General Oleksandyr Syrskiy, the country's top military commander, said the situation had "significantly deteriorated." "We understand that there will be tough battles ahead and the enemy is preparing for it," he said on May 17. A further sign of difficulties: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy postponed foreign travels and visited Kharkiv a day earlier. He also dismissed the Ukrainian commander in charge of the Kharkiv front. Hundreds of kilometers to the southwest, in the Zaporizhzhya region, Russian forces claimed to have retaken Robotyne, one of a handful of villages that Ukraine succeeded in capturing in its counteroffensive -- their biggest to date. Ukrainian officials denied the claim, but if the village does fall, its loss would be a symbolic blow. "It's a challenging situation on the battlefield right now in Ukraine," U.S. Major General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said this week. "The Russians have exploited the situation on the battlefield, and are attempting to make advances," he said. "Incremental as they may be, it's certainly concerning." Why Is It Happening? From Ukraine's side, there are at least two primary reasons why it's been knocked back on its heels. First is the monthslong pause in U.S. weaponry that resulted from political deadlock among congressional lawmakers in Washington, D.C. A group of Republican lawmakers blocked a $60 billion package, conditioning its passage on sweeping changes to U.S. immigration and border policies. Ukraine scrambled to keep firing pace with Russia, then fell behind sharply, as stocks dwindled and Russia leveraged its bigger industrial capacity. Analysts said Russia was outfiring Ukraine 10-to-1 in some locations. Russia also leveraged its use of "glide bombs" -- heavy-explosive "dumb" bombs retrofitted with wings and satellite navigation -- to devastating effect. The weapons package finally passed the U.S. Congress on April 23, and the Defense Department quickly announced shipments of air defense missiles, ammunition, and precision artillery systems. But it will still require time and logistics to get the weaponry to the hands of gunners or infantrymen in trenches and forests. Just as important an explanation for Ukraine's struggles is the lack of men. Ukrainian troops are outmanned and exhausted, and casualty rates are soaring. They are for Russia as well, but Russia has a bigger population to draw from, and authorities there have come up with an improvised system of recruiting - using high wages, and lucrative perks - to attract men to the fight. As many as 510,000 Russians are employed in the overall invasion at present, Watling estimated. Ukraine has struggled to keep troop levels up, and units rotated and rested. The government dragged its feet in updating its system of mobilization, highlighted by public comments by Syrskiy's predecessor, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, in comments to The Economist magazine last fall. Zaluzhniy was ultimately pushed out. The mobilization reforms were signed into law last month. But as with the weaponry, it will take time to get new troops trained, equipped, and ready to deploy to the front. Oleksandr Demchenko, a staff sergeant deployed to the Kharkiv region with the 516th Separate Special Purpose Battalion, said the Russian breakthrough along the border forced commanders to redeploy units exhausted after Avdiyivka. "Instead of rest and recovery, they are again forced to take part in battles. And this will have other consequences, since in the future these brigades will not be able to be used by Ukrainian command," Demchenko, who has also worked for RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, said in a message. "There is a critical shortage of personnel," he said. "Big problems with ammunition." Also problematic for Ukraine: officials were slow to build defensive networks in trouble spots. Experts say Ukraine should have prioritized digging trenches, laying mine fields, and erecting anti-tank barriers months before, anticipating Russian pressure on Avdiyivka and elsewhere. What Happens Next? That depends on how quickly Ukraine musters its reserves, redeploys experienced units, stabilizes its lines, and reinforces its defenses. The size of the Kharkiv-invasion force isn't large enough to capture the city, which had a prewar population of more than 1 million, experts said. "They are likely leveraging their numerical advantage in units and personnel to extend the active front line, thereby stretching Ukrainian troops thinner and forcing Ukraine to shift units away from the Donbas region," according to Frontelligence Insight, an open-source organization run by a Ukrainian reserve officer. Ukraine has already shown that it is using the newly supplied U.S. weaponry. Longer-range missiles known as Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, were reportedly used to attack Russian targets in occupied Crimea on May 16; Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it shot down the missiles. But it's unclear if it's enough to stem the new Russian advance. Adding to the grim prognosis: predictions by Ukrainian and Western analysts that a bigger Russian offensive is in the offing, possibly by summer. "The outlook in Ukraine is bleak," Watling said in his analysis. "However, if Ukraine's allies engage now to replenish Ukrainian munitions stockpiles, help to establish a robust training pipeline, and make the industrial investments to sustain the effort, then Russia's summer offensive can be blunted, and Ukraine will receive the breathing space it needs to regain the initiative," he said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-offensive-ukraine- forces-stretched-front-kharkiv-donetsk/32951414.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 Russia Pounds Kharkiv Region As Putin Looks To Create 'Buffer Zone By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 17, 2024 Russia continues to pound Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region in an offensive that has seen the active combat zone grow as Moscow looks to establish what President Vladimir Putin called a "buffer zone." The Ukrainian military's commander in chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said on May 17 that the combat zone had expanded by some 70 kilometers in a move meant to force Kyiv, already at a troop disadvantage on the battlefield, to concentrate more soldiers in the area and stretch it thin elsewhere. Speaking during a trip to China on May 17, Putin said Russia needed to create a safe zone, as Ukraine was regularly launching attacks on border regions such as Belgorod, around 80 kilometers north of the city of Kharkiv. "Civilians are dying there. It's obvious. They are shooting directly at the city center, at residential areas. And I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a buffer zone. That is what we are doing," Putin said. Syrskiy said in a message on Telegram that Moscow's attack failed because it was launched prematurely. "The enemy launched an offensive well ahead of schedule when it noticed the movement of our troops. However, it failed to break through our defenses," Syskiy wrote, adding that Ukraine "understands that there will be tough battles ahead." The fiercest battles have been under way for the town of Vovchansk, some 5 kilometers from the Russian border. Kharkiv's regional administrator, Oleh Synyehubov, said on May 17 that Russian forces had been attempting to encircle the small town that has all but been abandoned by its inhabitants with the exception of some 200 people trapped inside. "The enemy has actually started to destroy the city. It is not just dangerous to be there, but impossible," Synyehubov said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on May 16 that Russian shelling continued, but Ukrainian forces "have managed to increase confidence in the Vovchansk area." Meanwhile, a source told RFE/RL that a joint operation of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) targeted Russian military-logistics facilities in Sevastopol in the occupied Crimea and in Russia's Krasnodar region along the Black Sea coast. Separately, authorities in the Krasnodar region said a drone attack early on May 17 caused a fire at an oil refinery in Tuapse but it was contained and there were no casualties. In Sevastopol, a drone strike on a power station caused power cuts, according to reports. The Russian-appointed head of the city, Mikhail Razvozhayev, claimed that Russian defense systems destroyed "dozens of drones and more than five unmanned boats." The Russian Defense Ministry said on May 17 that 51 drones were destroyed over occupied Crimea, 44 over Krasnodar, six over Belgorod, and one over the Kursk region. Overnight, naval aviation and patrol boats destroyed six Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea, the ministry said. The Russian claims could not be independently confirmed immediately. Ukraine's Air Force said early on May 17 its air defenses shot down all 20 drones that were launched by Russia at five of its regions overnight. The drones were downed over the Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsya, Odesa and Mykolayiv regions, it reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-pounds-kharkiv-putin-buffer- zone/32951521.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 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's comment on Kiev regime's terrorist attacks on Russian regions 17 May 2024 16:50 907-17-05-2024 On May 16 and 17, the Kiev neo-Nazi regime used fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned speedboats to launch another massive attack on Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory and other Russian regions. Russian air defence forces destroyed and intercepted more than 100 UAVs (51 over the Crimean Peninsula, 44 over the Krasnodar Territory, six over the Belgorod Region, and one over the Kursk Region). The Black Sea Fleet naval aviation and patrol boats destroyed six unmanned speedboats. Earlier this week, Russian Defence Ministry reported the destruction of 20 US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, over 130 missiles, including US-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire, over 20 French-made Hammer guided bombs, and four British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles. These barbaric attacks with the use of Western-made weapons are clearly backed by the US and British curators overseeing Zelensky's regime. They go beyond supplying it with ever longer-range missiles and heavy weapons and now authorise their use against Russia, further escalating the conflict. This Banderite clique seems to have come to believe in its own impunity amid the Western emissaries' frequent visits to Kiev lately. Once again, we would like to issue a stark warning to Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kiev which is controlled by them, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave unanswered these acts of aggression against its territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Three Spanish nationals killed in Afghan's Bamyan shooting Kabul, May 18 (UNI) The three foreign nationals who died in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday. Four foreign nationals were also wounded in the attack, respectively from Spain, Norway, Australia, and Lithuania. Of them, two were women, Bamyan's provincial police spokesperson, Muhammad Khawani Rasa, told Xinhua. Besides the foreign nationals, one Afghan was killed while three other Afghans were injured in the shooting attack, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X on Friday. Zelensky Signs Law Allowing Ukrainian Convicts to Join Army - Parliament Sputnik News 20240517 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill on the mobilization of jailed convicts in the country as it battles against Russia, the parliamentary database showed on Friday. The bill amends Ukraine's criminal code and other laws to introduce "the institution of parole of persons from serving their sentences for their direct participation in the defense of the country, the protection of its independence and territorial integrity." The updated bill now says that it is certified by Zelensky's signature. On April 11, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a bill tightening mobilization rules. Aimed at replenishing Ukrainian forces depleted by two years of armed conflict with Russia, it mandates all Ukrainians liable for military service to report to conscription offices within 60 days after the law's going into force. The bill was signed by Zelensky into law on April 16 and will go into effect on Saturday. Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The next day, Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The martial law and mobilization have been continuously extended since then. On May 9, the Ukrainian president signed bills to extend mobilization and martial law in the country for another 90 days. Under martial law, men aged from 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Won't Accept Any Ultimatums on Ukraine - Putin Sputnik News 20240517 Russia wants to understand whom it can trust before engaging with partners on the Ukrainian conflict, President Vladimir Putin said during a trip to China on Friday. "We must understand with whom and how we can engage and whom and to what degree we can trust. We are of course analyzing everything that is going on," Putin told a press conference in Harbin. The president pointed to China as a stakeholder that was sincerely trying to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine. "We believe that China is sincere about its efforts to solve this problem. It has suggested different options and has been very flexible about it," Putin said. Commenting on the Swiss initiative on Ukrainian peace, the Russian president stressed that Moscow would not accept ultimatums. "It is clear what this event is all about: bringing together as many countries as possible to claim that they have everything agreed on and then giving Russia an ultimatum," Putin said, adding he would not have it. Russia is keeping tabs on the preparations for the Swiss conference on Ukraine, which is due on June 15-16, the president said. "We are of course analyzing everything happening in this regard. We are watching everything that has to do with the planned meeting in Switzerland," he confirmed. Putin suggested that Ukraine and its donors were trying to force Kiev's vision of a peace deal on Russia but warned that such attempts were doomed to fail. "First they tried to deal a strategic defeat but failed. Any attempt to force [Russia's] hand will have the same result," the president warned. Russia will accept an invitation to peace negotiations as agreed in Istanbul in 2022, Putin said. "We have a framework for negotiating process, which is what we agreed on in Istanbul ... The head of the Ukrainian delegation signed up to that long document. He initialed it. We have a document with his signature on it," the president said. The Russian president again accused the regime in Kiev of usurping power illegally and allowing a simmering conflict in Donbas to boil over. "They allowed a coup to happen with the support of Western sponsors. They organized it and created conditions for a simmering conflict to become an armed one. They are to blame for this, but they are trying to ... hold Russia responsible for these tragic events," he explained. Putin said that he was in constant contact with Volodymyr Zelensky before the acute phase of the conflict. "We communicated with him [Zelensky] before, were in constant contact before the conflict entered the acute phase of armed struggle," Putin said. When asked about Zelensky's legitimacy as the president of Ukraine, Putin said that this question must first be answered by the political and legal system of Ukraine itself, adding that his legitimacy is important for Russia if it is necessary to sign documents. Ukraine was due to hold a presidential election on March 31, but it was called off due to martial law and general mobilization. Zelensky, who was sworn into office in May 2019, said it was "not the right time" for elections. The agreements reached in Istanbul on Ukraine should be in force and all possible peace talks need to be based on them, Putin said. "Well, of course it is a basis, you know? They initialed it, the document itself is not signed. There are very serious issues there. You know, there are issues related to ensuring the security of Ukraine. They are written in such a way that we still have to think about it. But in general, this is the basis," Putin told a press conference following his visit to China. Russia is ready to participate in peace talks on Ukraine, but it is not invited to the conference in Switzerland, Putin added. "They do not invite us. Moreover, they say that they do not see us there," Putin said at a press conference following his visit to China. Russia not going to discuss something it does not know about, but any attempts to impose on Russia its terms for settlement in Ukraine will end in same way as attempt to inflict strategic defeat, Putin said, adding that even Kiev sees that it is unable to inflict strategic defeat on Russia. Russia will be forced to create a buffer zone because of shelling by Ukrainian armed forces of residential neighborhoods in the the Russian city of Belgorod, Vladimir Putin stressed. "They are shelling the city center, in residential areas. And I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a buffer zone," Putin said. Russia's Belgorod Region, bordering Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkov regions, has been targeted repeatedly by the Ukrainian military, including in drone attacks. It if necessary to understand whether French troops will be deployed to Ukraine, and then consider possible options, Putin added. "I am not the French president, I do not make decisions ... First, you will get an answer to your question: if there will be troops there or not. And then we will consider the possible consequences of this step," Putin told a press conference following his visit to China. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Has No Plans to Take Kharkov Under Control Now - Putin Sputnik News 20240517 Russia has no plans to take control of Kharkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with students and teachers of the Harbin Institute of Technology. "As for Kharkov, there are no such plans as of today," the president said. Russia is making gains in the fighting in the Kharkov region, he also said, adding that the Russian armed forces are moving every day strictly according to plan. Putin blamed the Ukrainian forces for what was happening in Kharkov region. "They are shooting directly at the center of the city, at residential areas. And I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone," Putin said. On May 12, Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the "extremely difficult" situation in the Kharkov region for the Ukrainian military amid Russia's advance. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its North battlegroup had taken control over the villages of Gatyshche, Krasnoe, Morokhovets, Olenekovoe, Borysovka, Ogurtsovo, Pleteneevka, Pilna and Strelecha in the Kharkov region. The head of Russia-controlled territories in the Kharkov region, Vitaly Ganchev, said that the Russian troops were now controlling the western and northern parts of the border city of Volchansk, while Ukraine was sending reinforcements. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Slams US for Sparking & Worsening Ukrainian Crisis Sputnik News 20240517 BEIJING (Sputnik) - The United States with its Cold War mentality is responsible for the emergence and aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday. On Thursday, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that China cannot bolster its ties with European countries and support Russia simultaneously. "In fact, the United States, with its Cold War mentality, bears inevitable responsibility for the emergence and aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis," Wang told reporters. The PRC hit back at the United States, telling Washington to cease pointing the finger at Beijing for the Ukrainian crisis, and also warned not to try to drive a wedge between Beijing and Europe, the diplomat said. "China advises the United States ... not to add fuel to the fire, but to still do something practical for a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis," the spokesman added. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Over 100 Drones Intercepted Over Russia's Territory Overnight - MoD Sputnik News 20240517 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defense systems and the Black Sea fleet intercepted 102 Ukrainian drones and destroyed six drone boats overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. "Last night, a number of attempts by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks with the use of aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats of the Ukrainian navy on the territory of the Russian Federation were foiled," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said air defenses intercepted 51 drones over Crimea, 44 drones over the Krasnodar Territory, six drones over the Belgorod Region and a drone over the Kursk Region. Russian warplanes also destroyed six drone boats in the waters of the Black Sea, the statement read. Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian territory, emphasized that Kiev continues terrorist activities, but that the Russian military is on alert and doing everything necessary. Ukraine has been sending drones and missiles into Russia almost daily since it launched its counteroffensive in early June 2023. The United Nations said in August last year, following a botched drone strike on Moscow, that it did not want to see any targeting of civilian infrastructure. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Our Energy Sector Has Lost a Significant Part of Its Production, there is a Need for a Rational Consumption of Electricity Again a Address by the President President of Ukraine 17 May 2024 - 19:47 Dear Ukrainians! A brief summary of this day. Our military. The Commander-in-Chief reported on the situation at the front. The Kharkiv directions: Vovchansk, Lyptsi, Kupyansk. We are deterring Russian pressure. I thank each brigade, each unit. We also continue to focus on the Donetsk directions, first of all, the Pokrovsk one a where the situation is the most difficult, with the highest number of battles. In fact, the entire Kharkiv operation of the occupier is aimed at weakening our overall forces along the front, and, at the same time, it is an attempt to strengthen its propaganda a propaganda aimed also at world leaders. Russia wants to show that they are the ones who determine what happens next in the war. Our task is to thwart Russia's attempt to expand the war and to prevent the occupier from breaking both the frontline and our diplomacy a our way of bringing a just peace closer. I have just had a long meeting on the preparations for the first Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland in June. This is the first real opportunity to bring a just end to this war closer. The Office team, our international experts, and all those involved in working with partners on the Summit were present at today's meeting. We have almost a month to go before the Summit, a month of our work. We already have the confirmations of states from all the continents to participate in the Summit. We will definitely continue to work at all levels to make the event effective. I will continue my communication with the leaders, the team will keep working at the level of national security advisors, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Parliament, civic leaders... And we also use our informal ties with partners. Ukraine and many other countries have already been through so many Russian meannesses and deceptions a Russian violations of agreements and promises, that only the world majority together can ensure that Russia is effectively forced to respect the UN Charter, the international law, and real peace. And there was another important meeting today. We had a very detailed and long conversation about the protection and restoration of our energy sector, and the situation in the energy industry in general. Prime Minister Shmyhal, the Minister of Energy, the military, and the representatives of energy companies. Now, after the Russian strikes, our energy sector has lost a significant part of its production. Time is needed to restore it. Much effort is needed to further develop the energy sector a the new energy sector, which will be able to function despite the threats of Russian terror. In addition, we are already preparing for the next heating season, which includes, in particular, scheduled repairs and preparation of nuclear generation. Therefore, there is a need for a very rational, thoughtful consumption of electricity again. Both at the Government level and at the level of regional and local authorities, as well as at the level of energy companies, we need to ensure that the public is fully informed about how power cuts happen now, when there is a peak load, and why we need everyone to be conscious of their consumption. Of course, we are working to provide Ukraine with more air defense protection. We are working with all our partners on a regular basis, and we are convincing them. And one more thing. Russian terror will never remain unpunished. Step by step, we are making sure that the Russian state feels the consequences and the price of its evil. I thank everyone who works for this, who produces our drones, our weapons. And everyone who uses them a and uses them accurately. Thank you! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We Urgently Need Our Air Defense to Be Strengthened and the Military Aid from NATO Member States to Be Delivered as Soon as Possible a Ihor Zhovkva President of Ukraine 17 May 2024 - 19:06 The Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Ihor Zhovkva, met with NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Marie-Doha Besancenot. Ihor Zhovkva informed her about the security situation in Ukraine, in particular about the Russian occupiers' offensive in the Kharkiv region and the intensification of missile attacks by the Russian aggressor state. "Ukraine and the Ukrainian army have been protecting NATO's eastern flank for more than two years. We urgently need our air defense to be strengthened and the necessary military aid from the member states to be delivered as soon as possible,' Ihor Zhovkva noted. During the meeting, the parties also discussed preparations for the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. The Deputy Head of the Office of the President emphasized that it is important for Ukraine that the Summit adopts strong decisions on our country's movement towards NATO membership. Apart from that, Ihor Zhovkva spoke about the signing of bilateral agreements with partner countries that should ensure Ukraine's comprehensive security until it becomes a NATO member. Our country has already signed such documents with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Latvia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Has Done Everything Necessary to Launch Negotiations on Accession to the EU - President at the Meeting with Journalists President of Ukraine 17 May 2024 - 12:54 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with media representatives before the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, the start of EU accession negotiations and the NATO Summit. He spoke about Ukraine's steps to restore a just peace and his expectations from these international events. The Head of State noted that Ukraine has done everything possible to open negotiations on accession to the European Union. "Only politics remains. Instrumentally and operationally, we have done everything to ensure that the EU opens negotiations with Ukraine in June. I think everything will work out. Even with complicated partners, things have become a little easier today. We have been actively working with them," the President noted. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that he and his entire team are actively preparing for the Global Peace Summit to be held on June 15-16 in Switzerland. "We want to get energy security, including nuclear security. I believe that everyone is interested in this, and it can enable us to predict a different winter. We want to get free navigation. Any cargo through the Ukrainian sea should be risk-free. This means the safety of people in Odesa and the South in general. We also need to take a serious step towards the exchange of prisoners," the President emphasized. Volodymyr Zelenskyy added: "We need a detailed plan that the whole world will agree upon. And it should be based on the Ukrainian Peace Formula." "If there is a solid number of countries and a corresponding communiquA, I believe it will be our diplomatic advantage," the Head of State summarized. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow blames West for Ukraine's long-range weapon strikes inside Russia By VOA News May 17, 2024 Russia's Foreign Ministry accused Western nations Friday of "playing with fire" by allowing Ukraine to use the long-range rockets and weapons they had supplied to strike targets inside Russia. "Once again, we should like to unequivocally warn Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kyiv, which is under their control, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave such encroachments on its territory unanswered," a ministry statement said. The statement also singled out the United States and Britain and accused them of escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons inside Russia. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that the Biden administration does not encourage or enable attacks with U.S.-supplied weapons inside Russia. At least one person was killed and another injured in Russia's southern Belgorod region when a Ukrainian drone hit the border village of Novaya Nomovka, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote Friday on the Telegram social media app. The Russian Defense Ministry reported later that it intercepted and destroyed 14 multiple-launch rockets originating from Ukraine. In the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, another Ukrainian drone attack struck the electric grid of the city of Sevastopol, while an earlier strike at a Russian airbase damaged aircraft and fuel storage. Earlier Friday, a Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at an at oil refinery in the Russian town of Tuapse, on the northeast shore of the Black Sea. The refinery was forced to carry out an emergency shutdown, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. The fire at the refinery, owned by Rosneft, was later put out, Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported, citing local authorities. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the war-ravaged town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometers from the Russian border. At least two people were killed and 19 others were wounded in the Russian bombing of Kharkiv, regional chief Oleh Syniehubov said on his Telegram posting Friday. Four of the wounded were in critical condition. Russia's advancing forces have "expanded the zone of active hostilities by almost 70 kilometers," pressing outgunned and outmanned Ukraine to spread its forces and use reserve troops, Ukraine's military chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Friday. In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces have advanced 10 kilometers from the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday. "Our task is to thwart Russia's attempt to expand the war and to prevent the occupier from breaking both the front line and our diplomacy a our way of bringing a just peace closer," he said. During a visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow's offensive in the Kharkiv region aims at building a buffer zone against Ukrainian attacks, but that Moscow has no plans to capture Ukraine's second-largest city. "I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone," he said. "That's what we are doing." Russian troops are "advancing daily according to plan," he said. Meanwhile, in an effort to increase the number of Ukrainian troops, Zelenskyy signed two laws on Friday allowing prisoners to join the army while imposing steep fines for draft dodgers. The controversial mobilization law goes into effect Saturday. Ukraine recently lowered the draft age for soldiers from 27 to 25 and stiffened punishments for those who avoid being called up. Ukrainian men are also obligated, under the new law, to update their personal data at military conscription centers across the country a a measure that is supposed to streamline army recruitment. Consular services that provide Ukrainians abroad with passport services reopened Friday after shuttering last month. The services were suspended April 23 to apply pressure on Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 living abroad to register for the army in order to qualify for passports and other services. "Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X, formerly Twitter. "Our country is at war." However, following a backlash, consular services resumed Friday. Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO states 'considering' sending troops to Ukraine: Report Iran Press TV Saturday, 18 May 2024 2:25 AM A US media report has said that a number of American allies within NATO are moving closer to sending troops into Ukraine to train its armed forces. The New York Times reported on Friday that many US military contractors are already in Ukraine to repair Washington-supplied weapons systems. The Ukrainian government has asked the US and NATO to "help train 150,000 new recruits" inside Ukraine, which is facing a troops shortage in its war against Russia, the report said. The move "would be another blurring of a previous red line" and could draw the US and the EU "more directly into the war," the newspaper noted. The Biden administration has publicly opposed sending instructors, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thinks it is inevitable. "We'll get there eventually, over time," General Charles Q. Brown Jr. told reporters on Thursday while traveling to Brussels. According to the Times, the US would be required to defend any NATO instructors inside Ukraine from attack, "potentially dragging America into the war." In February, French President Emmanuel Macron first raised the issue of sending NATO troops to Ukraine back. Estonia and Lithuania have backed either sending instructors or support troops, to free up Ukrainian soldiers for combat duty. An anonymous White House official told the Times that the Biden administration is "adamant" that it will not put US troops on the ground in Ukraine and has urged NATO allies not to do it either. This comes as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has told reporters a new arms package would be announced "in the coming days." Russia launched the military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Western countries have responded to the Russian military operation by backing Ukraine with cash and heavy weaponry while imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russian officials and entities. Moscow has repeatedly warned that such a flow of weapons to Kiev will only prolong the conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 1st Beijing-Madrid-Havana flight arrives in Cuba Xinhua) 12:49, May 18, 2024 This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Xinhua/Lin Zhaohui) HAVANA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of Air China was received at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with the traditional water salute. Starting with two flights per week, it is hoped that the airline frequency will increase as passenger traffic between the two countries grows. There were no direct flights from China to Cuba until Air China resumed the Beijing-Madrid-Havana route, the only direct one between China and Cuba. The air links were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrives at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2024. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Xinhua/Lin Zhaohui) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) NEW YORK, May 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Globe Life, Inc. (Globe Life or the Company) (NYSE: GL) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Globe Life common stock between May 8, 2019 and April 10, 2024, both dates inclusive (the Class Period). Investors have until July 1, 2024 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Click here to participate in the action. Globe Life, an insurance company, offers various insurance products, including low-cost life insurance policies that provide comparatively lower payouts. Operating through its subsidiaries, American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL) being the largest, Globe Life has been accused of engaging in fraudulent activities. According to the complaint, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements during the Class Period, particularly regarding Globe Lifes premium revenue growth, attributed to increased agent count and productivity. The Companys Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which emphasized an inclusive and welcoming environment with strict policies against violence, illegal drugs, and threatening behavior, is alleged to have been misrepresented. On April 11, 2024, an investment research firm published a report exposing allegations of widespread insurance fraud by Globe Life since 2017. The report claimed that the companys subsidiaries underwrote policies for deceased and fictitious individuals while adding policies to customers accounts without their consent. The research also revealed evidence of a hostile workplace environment marred by sexual harassment, drug use, and sexual assault. According to the filed complaint, these revelations led to a significant decline in the price of Globe Life common stock. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Globe Life shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Contact Information: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Brandon Walker, Esq. Marion Passmore, Esq. (212) 355-4648 investigations@bespc.com www.bespc.com TORONTO, May 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FT Portfolios Canada Co. (First Trust Canada), announced today that the cap, buffer and dates for the next Target Outcome Period for the First Trust Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF May (MAYB.F) (the fund or May Buffer ETF) are as follows: TICKER CAP BUFFER OUTCOME PERIOD MAYB.F 16.08% (Gross) 10% 21/05/2024 16/05/2025 The previous Target Outcome Period for MAYB.F concluded on May 17, 2024 and the upside cap for the new Target Outcome Period has been reset to prevailing market conditions. The fund seeks an outcome that provides investors with returns (before fees, expenses and taxes) that match the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY or underlying ETF), up to a predetermined upside cap, while providing a buffer against potential SPY losses. The fund is managed and sub-advised by Vest Financial LLC (Vest) using a target outcome strategy or pre-determined target investment outcome. If an investor purchases hedged units after the first day of the Target Outcome Period, they will likely have a different return potential than an investor who purchased hedged units at the start of the Target Outcome Period and the buffer the fund seeks may not be available. First Trust Canada believes a buffer against a level of losses can help investors stay invested during volatile times. The fund offers a way to gain access to outcome-based investingspecifically to buffer against a level of downside risk while allowing growth to a maximum cap eliminating bank credit risk, in a convenient, flexible investment vehicle. Karan Sood and Howard Rubin, of Vest, serve as portfolio managers for the fund. The portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for making investment management decisions for the fund. For further information: Media Contact: Susan Johnson, FT Portfolios Canada Co., 40 King Street West, Suite 5102, Email: susanjohnson@firsttrust.ca, 1-877-622-5552. About First Trust First Trust Canada is the trustee, manager and promoter of the fund. First Trust Canada and its affiliates First Trust Advisors L.P. (FTA), portfolio advisor to the fund, an Ontario Securities Commission registered portfolio manager and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisor, and First Trust Portfolios L.P., a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately held companies that provide a variety of investment services. FTA has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately U.S.$211.21 billion as of January 31, 2024 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. For more information, visit www.firsttrust.ca. About Vest: Vest (formerly, Cboe Vest) is the creator of Target Outcome Investments, which strive to buffer losses, amplify gains or provide consistent income to a diverse spectrum of investors. Today, Vests Target Outcome Strategies are available in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts (UITs), collective investment trusts (CITs), and customizable managed accounts / sub-advisory services. For more information about Vest and the evolution of Target Outcome Investments, visit www.vestfin.com or contact Linda Werner at lwerner@vestfin.com or 703-864-5483. There may be commissions, management fees and expenses associated with ETF investments. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Please read the prospectus of the fund before investing. Contact FT Portfolios Canada at 1-877-622-5552 or visit www.firsttrust.ca to obtain a copy of the prospectus and ETF Facts for the fund. Important Information The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. Financial advisors are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients. First Trust Advisors L.P. is the portfolio advisor to the fund. First Trust Advisors L.P. is an affiliate of FT Portfolios Canada Co., the trustee, manager and promoter of the fund. Further information about First Trust Canadas ETFs can be found at www.firsttrust.ca. PHILADELPHIA, May 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investor protection law firm Kaskela Law LLC announces that it is investigating the recently announced buyout of Squarespace, Inc. (NYSE: SQSP) shareholders by private equity firm Permia. On May 13, 2024, Squarespace announced that it had agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Permia at a price of $44.00 per share in cash in a transaction valued at $6.9 billion. Following the closing of the proposed transaction, Squarespaces public shareholders will be cashed out of their investment position and the companys shares will no longer be publicly traded. The investigation seeks to determine whether Squarespace investors will be receiving sufficient consideration for their shares, and whether the companys officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties or violated the securities laws in agreeing to sell the company at $44.00 per share. Notably, at the time the proposed transaction was announced, at least one stock analyst was maintaining a price target for Squarespaces shares of $50.00 per share. Squarespace shareholders who believe the current buyout price undervalues the companys shares are encouraged to contact Kaskela Law LLC (D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.) at (484) 229 0750 or (888) 715 1740, or by email (skaskela@kaskelalaw.com / abell@kaskelalaw.com) or online at https://kaskelalaw.com/case/squarespace/ , for additional information about this investigation and their legal rights and options. Kaskela Law LLC exclusively represents investors in securities fraud, corporate governance, and merger & acquisition litigation on a contingent basis, and has assisted investors in the recovery of over $300 million since 2020. For additional information about Kaskela Law LLC please visit www.kaskelalaw.com. CONTACT: KASKELA LAW LLC D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. Adrienne Bell, Esq. 18 Campus Blvd., Suite 100 Newtown Square, PA 19073 (888) 715 1740 (484) 229 0750 www.kaskelalaw.com This notice may constitute attorney advertising in certain jurisdictions. Vancouver, May 17, 2024 - Tower Resources Ltd. (TSXV: TWR) ("Tower" or the "Company") announces it has closed its non-brokered private placement, for aggregate gross proceeds of $300,000 (the "Offering"). Under the Offering, the Company issued 3,000,000 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of $300,000. Each Unit is comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one (1) non-transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one (1) Common Share at a price of $0.18 until May 17, 2026. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general working capital. All securities issued under the Offering, including securities issuable on exercise thereof, are subject to a hold period expiring September 18, 2024, in accordance with the rules and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities laws. The Offering included participation from director Stuart Averill and constituted a "related party transaction" as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as he acquired an aggregate of 200,000 Units. Following the acquisition, Mr. Averill holds 2,808,621 Common Shares or 1.87% of the Company. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the participation in the Offering by the insider does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. About Tower Resources Tower is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and advancement of economic mineral projects in the Americas. The Company's key exploration assets, all in B.C., are the Rabbit North copper-gold porphyry project located between the New Afton copper-gold and Highland Valley copper mines in the Kamloops mining district, the Nechako porphyry-associated gold-silver project near Artemis' Blackwater project and the More Creek epithermal gold project on the critical "red line" structural zone connecting the mineral deposits of the Golden Triangle. On behalf of the Board of Directors Tower Resources Ltd. Joe Dhami, President and CEO (778) 996-4730 www.towerresources.ca Reader Advisory This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information," including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may," "would," "could," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "must," "next," "propose," "new," "potential," "prospective," "target," "future," "verge," "favourable," "implications," and "ongoing," and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking information. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing statements, the proposed use of the proceeds of the Offering, is forward-looking information. Investors are cautioned that statements including forward-looking information are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including but not limited to fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, and business conditions. There can be no assurances that such forward-looking information will prove accurate, and therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of the risks and uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the 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. 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/209699 Vancouver, May 17, 2024 - Atco Mining Inc. (the "Company" or "Atco") (CSE: ATCM); (OTC: ATMGF); (Frankfurt: QP9) is pleased to announce that it has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") and has issued 4,114,870 flow-through units (each, an "FT Unit") at a price of $0.0575 per FT Unit for gross proceeds of $236,605. Each FT Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") entitling the holder thereof to purchase one additional share at a price of $0.15 until May 17, 2026. The proceeds raised from the Offering will be used to incur Canadian exploration expenses as defined in Subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada). All securities issued in the Offering are subject to a statutory four-month-and-one-day hold period expiring on September 18, 2024. In connection with closing of the Offering, the Company paid finders' fees of $19,580 and issued 141,395 units (each, a "Finders' Unit") and 22,400 Warrants to certain arms-length parties who assisted in introducing subscribers. Each Finders' Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company and one Warrant. About Atco Mining (CSE: ATCM): Atco is a junior exploration mining company focused on exploring for green energy metals throughout Canada. Atco is exploring for uranium in the Athabasca Basin as well as salt opportunities in Western Newfoundland. Investors are encouraged to visit the company's website here: www.atcomining.com For further information contact: Atco Mining Inc. Email: info@atcomining.com Telephone: (604) 681-0084 www.atcomining.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain information in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Vancouver - Hanstone Gold Corp. (TSX.V:HANS) (FRA:HGO) (the "Company" or "Hanstone") is pleased to announce that it has closed its acquisition of three mineral exploration claims (the "Purchased Claims") comprising approximately 355.37 hectares in the Province of British Columbia pursuant to an asset purchase agreement dated as of May 6, 2024 (the "APA") with Richard Mill ("Mill"). As consideration for the Purchased Claims the Company issued 650,000 common shares of the Company (each, a "Share") to Mill at a deemed price of $0.05 per Share, representing an aggregate value of $32,500. The Shares were issued in accordance with applicable securities laws and are subject to a four month hold period that will expire on September 17, 2024. In addition, the Company granted to Mill a royalty equal to 2% of the net smelter returns on the Purchased Claims (the "NSR Royalty"), provided that the Company may purchase 1/2 of the NSR Royalty (so that a 1% royalty will remain) for total consideration of $500,000 at any time. About Hanstone Gold Corp Hanstone is a precious and base metals explorer with its current focus on the Doc and Snip North Projects optimally located in the heart of the prolific mineralized area of British Columbia known as the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is an area which hosts numerous producing and past-producing mines and several large deposits that are approaching potential development. The Company holds a 100% earn-in option on the 1,704-hectare Doc Project and owns a 100% interest in the 3,336-hectare Snip North Project. Hanstone has a highly experienced team of industry professionals with a successful track record in the discovery of gold deposits and in developing mineral exploration projects through discovery to production. For Further Information Contact: Ray Marks, President +1-(778)-896-7778, ray.marks@hanstonegold.com Or visit the Company's website at www.hanstonegold.com Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified using words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events, or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking information and statements are based on the then current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about Hanstone's business and the industry and markets in which it operates and will operate. Forward-looking information and statements are made based upon numerous assumptions, including among others, the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the price of gold, the cost of planned exploration activities, that financing will be available if needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment, supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct Hanstone's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate. 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. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Bearman cruising towards 2025 Haas race seat Oliver Bearman appears to be marching towards a full-time Haas race seat for 2025. Oliver Bearman, Emilio Romagna GP 2024 Haas It emerged recently that the small American team will lose the services of its on-form German driver Nico Hulkenberg to the newly Audi-owned Sauber project. Team boss Ayao Komatsu admits it is a bitter pill to swallow. Of course we'll feel it, he said at Imola. "He's been providing us with an amazing reference, especially in a team like ours - not as big as those other guys. And it really depends on who we're going to get for next year as well. Indeed, the team has another highly-experienced driver - Kevin Magnussen - in the sister car, but he has been consistently outperformed by Hulkenberg since 2023 and is currently on the cusp of a race ban for his driving tactics. Even Hulkenberg and Komatsu were not supportive of Magnussen's driving last time out in Miami, even if the Dane insists he was doing it for the team. In his mind, he was trying his best to help Nico, said Komatsu. Whether we completely agree with that methodology or not is another matter. Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher said recently he is convinced Haas will replace Magnussen with another experienced driver for 2025 - perhaps Valtteri Bottas. But irrespective of Magnussen's future, the Ferrari-linked 18-year-old 'Ollie' Bearman seems a shoo-in for at least one of the Haas seats next year. Having already impressed this year when substituting for unwell Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, Bearman had his first of six practice outings in the Haas at Imola on Friday. When asked what he needs to do to secure a full-time seat for 2025, Komatsu said at Imola: "I think continue to deliver like this. "At first glance, we can't fault what he's done today. And that was the case last year when we ran him in two sessions as well. Newey closer and closer to Ferrari contract Adrian Newey is inching "closer and closer" to a sensational move to Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, Emilio Romagna GP 2024 Ferrari From Imola, Britain's Daily Mail claims the departing Red Bull technical guru has even put pen-to-paper on a forthcoming switch to Ferrari, where he will be united for 2025 and beyond with Lewis Hamilton. Italy's Corriere della Sera is not so sure an actual contract has been signed, but correspondent Daniele Sparisci - also at Imola - believes a deal is getting closer and closer by the day. Newey, admitting he was tired , said in his most recent interview that he will probably return to Formula 1 after a break with his wife Amanda. But when asked at Imola what he thinks Newey's next move will be, Red Bull consultant Dr Helmut Marko told Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "He will stay in Formula 1. I'm sure of that. The 81-year-old admits losing Newey is a huge blow to Red Bull, having utterly dominated the new ground effect regulations era to date. Adrian Newey is the most successful designer since the founding of Formula 1, he told the same Austrian newspaper. "When you lose someone like that, it is always a huge loss. On the other hand, we have set up our technical team very well with young people. There is Ben Waterhouse and the established Pierre Wache. That's why I don't think there will be a drop in technical performance. (GMM) Two candidates shape up to replace Ocon, Gasly Alpine can thrive even without its two current race drivers, team boss Bruno Famin insists. Esteban Ocon, Emilio Romagna GP 2024 Alpine Although the Renault-linked team is showing signs of emerging from its deep performance slump, there is no doubt that Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have been looking around on the driver market. Ocon hinted at Imola that he would accept even a one-year contract to drive for his manager Toto Wolff at Mercedes next year, while fellow Frenchman Gasly has been linked with Haas, Williams and Sauber. There is no pressure on us, Famin said at Imola. We are satisfied with our drivers, but right now we want to focus on the technical side of things. We can deal with the driver issue later. He insists that having an all-French driver lineup was never a priority. Alpine's project is to become a global brand, said Famin, who is French. We are happy to have a French driver on the team, but we are just as happy to have others. Ocon and Gasly are also highly experienced F1 drivers, so losing that experience just when Alpine is needing to recover and build would be a blow. We are open to everything, Famin said when asked about that. Naturally it's good to have at least one experienced driver, but we're happy to give young people a chance too, if the opportunity arises. Mick Schumacher, with two years of experience at Haas under his belt, is currently not only Mercedes' F1 reserve, but races for Alpine in the French marque's Le Mans program. Of course he is a possibility, Famin said, "as are many others. Mick does an amazing job in endurance and his mentality is really impressive. He's fast, of course, but I think everyone knows that, but what's really incredible to me is how he's been able to adapt to the mentality required in endurance. Another obvious candidate is Alpine reserve Jack Doohan. The son of motorcycle racing legend Mick Doohan was at the wheel of a two-year old Alpine last week at Zandvoort - running a program that involved qualifying and grand prix simulations and even practice starts. I have to put in the kilometres and get used to race weekends, the 21-year-old Australian rookie told the Dutch source NOS after the Zandvoort test. "For now, I do my work on the track when I get the chance, but also the work off the track or in the simulator. That's all I can do. I hope I'll be in the car next year, said Doohan. "Hopefully the guys see that I'm giving it my all. I have been with the team for a number of years, but this year I'm a full reserve driver with my full focus on this program. It would be nice to use that. Doohan concluded that he hopes the next time he is at Zandvoort is as an Alpine race driver. That would mean this test was worth it, he smiled. That's what we work towards as drivers. (GMM) European green industries look to China for upturn, debunk overcapacity claim * A beacon of the successful collaboration between China and Croatia, the wind farm also epitomizes the trend in recent years that the cooperation between China and European countries boasts great potential, particularly in green energy development. * The BYD plant will boost Europe's green transformation and improve the wellbeing of local people. Moreover, healthy competition with Chinese companies has also promoted innovation and R&D by European companies, said Kiszelly. * The China-Europe cooperation in the green sector is poised to lead to more significant advancements in the global drive for sustainability. * However, given the rise of China's EVs, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, as well as its promising green cooperation with the globe, some American politicians and media have employed the rhetoric of China's overcapacity in new energy industry. by Xinhua writers Che Yunlong, Chu Yi BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Situated on the Adriatic coast of western Croatia, the Senj Wind Farm has reduced the country's carbon dioxide emissions by about 460,000 tons annually since it was inaugurated in 2021. The cheaper green electricity it generates satisfies the demand of more than 100,000 households in the country. The green project, developed by China's Norinco International Cooperation Ltd., is a "model of cooperation" that benefits both countries, said Senj Mayor Jurica Tomljanovic. The revenue from its operation has been used to invest in infrastructure, water supply, sewerage, beaches and "everything important for the residents" in the city. A beacon of the successful collaboration between China and Croatia, the wind farm also epitomizes the trend in recent years that the cooperation between China and European countries boasts great potential, particularly in green energy development. WIN-WIN GREEN COOPERATION As Chinese battery producer CATL announced the decision to build its second European battery plant in Hungary in 2022, the two countries have witnessed increasing cooperation in advancing many green projects. Chinese carmaker BYD also decided to invest in a production base for its electric vehicles (EVs) in the European country. Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy regarded the investment that came along with the rise of China's EV industry as an opportunity. By welcoming Chinese companies, Hungary has become a hub for electric car and battery manufacturing. Cooperation with China is not only beneficial to Hungary, but also to the EU as a whole, Zoltan Kiszelly, director of the Center of Political Analyses at Hungary's Szazadveg Institute, told Xinhua in a recent interview. The BYD plant will boost Europe's green transformation and improve the wellbeing of local people. Moreover, healthy competition with Chinese companies has also promoted innovation and R&D by European companies, said Kiszelly. The entry of Arcfox, the EV brand of Chinese giant automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation, into the European market through Spain last week made another significant mark in China-Europe energy cooperation. In collaboration with Spanish Atium Logistic Group, Arcfox has established a logistics center for vehicle storage, deposit, and exportation at the port of Ferrol in northwest Spain. The center will cover a storage area of 9,000 square meters. By 2025, the Chinese firm expects sales of 5,000-8,000 units in the European market. "This is an initiative with a long-term vision that promotes Ferrol's prominence on the map of global logistics and, of course, of China, which could be a magnet for new investments," said Francisco Barea, president of the Port Authority of Ferrol. In the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona, a new pact signed in April between Spain's Ebro-EV Motors and China's Chery Automobile will not only turn the city into an EV production center but also deliver benefits to its residents. The joint venture created by the pact will re-employ some 1,250 former auto manufacturing workers, who lost their jobs in 2021 when Nissan closed its Barcelona plant. Rosa Maria Jimenez was one of them. "For such a large and important company in China as Chery to come here means that we'll be able to continue doing what we know best, which is making cars," Jimenez told Xinhua. "This is going to create many jobs and not only for the workers in the company itself but all those jobs around that are connected to a car manufacturer," Jimenez added. The joint venture is expected to produce 150,000 vehicles a year in the Zona Franca port area. HIGHLY ANTICIPATED The China-Europe cooperation in the green sector is poised to lead to more significant advancements in the global drive for sustainability. Committed to providing high-quality products in coping with climate change, the Chinese new energy sector has contributed remarkably to the green transformation of countries worldwide, not least the EU members, said China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong in April. As manufacturing powerhouses, China and Germany are reinforcing collaboration in emerging sectors, including EVs and other green transformations. A growing number of Chinese enterprises are seizing new opportunities in Europe's largest economy by joining hands with local partners. A report by the Germany Trade & Invest earlier this week showed the country's foreign direct investment projects from China in 2023 surged by 42 percent year-on-year. According to the report, one-fifth of investment projects by Chinese companies went to Germany's renewable energy sector, tripling the number in 2022. The increasing global engagement of Chinese firms has benefited Germany, as their investments have contributed to Germany's goal of achieving climate-neutral production by 2045, said Thomas Bozoyan, author of the report. "China and Germany could be important partners in the global climate goals, which can only be achieved together. We would welcome Chinese companies coming to Germany and producing here," Hildegard Mueller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. She noted the rapid ramp-up of the Chinese EV market has benefited the European country technologically. In April, Zhu Jing, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Mission to the EU, also highlighted the strong consensus between China and Europe on green and low-carbon development at a tech forum held in Brussels. He emphasized eco-friendly cooperation between the two parties, pointing to substantial opportunities for collaboration in technology research and development, standardization, and industrial development. "The pressing challenges of climate change entails enhanced green cooperation between China and the EU, which will not only expedite their green transformation but also contribute significantly to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Zhu said. OVERCAPACITY FALLACY However, given the rise of China's EVs, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, as well as its promising green cooperation with the globe, some American politicians and media have employed the rhetoric of China's overcapacity in new energy industry. Experts and officials from countries and international organizations refuted this fallacy and pointed out that politicizing China's new energy industry out of conservative protectionism to curb its development momentum shows no good signs for the global consensus and trend towards green and low-carbon pursuits, or for the burgeoning development of electric vehicles worldwide. "The fact that buyers still desire Chinese EVs suggests that the global market is not saturated yet and the assertion of overcapacity in China may be misplaced," said Eunice Kamwendo, a senior official from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Mueller also regarded the claim as "questionable", saying that "the Chinese numbers do not speak for it." The German auto association chief said that around 16 percent of the cars produced in China are exported, while the German car industry has higher export figures, with three out of every four produced cars exported. "We are not the right people to complain about overcapacity," instead, fair competition should be embraced globally and that is good for all parties, she emphasized. Against the background of huge demand for new energy in the world, China's production capacity advantages have played an important role in promoting the globe's carbon-neutral goal. The green cooperation with China taking place in multiple European countries naturally dispels the unfounded claim. From a global perspective, overcapacity in EVs is not happening, said Wu Kegang, a former China adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce. He suggested that more Chinese companies should consider deepening cooperation and building EV manufacturing closer to the UK and EU markets. As to reducing global carbon emissions, Carl Fey, a professor of strategy at BI Norwegian Business School, told Xinhua, "The Chinese government deserves a lot of credit for early recognizing and believing that electric vehicles could be a solution." In the short term, it's good that the Chinese companies produce more "good quality, affordable electric cars from several manufacturers" to the world; in the long run, it's also good that the European and U.S. vehicle-makers can compete in the global arena, Fey said. "China has done a lot to help the world move towards a green future. And that is encouraging," he added. (Xinhua reporters Zhao Xiuzhi in London and Zhang Baoping in Harare also contributed to the story.) (Video reporters: Zhang Yuliang, Zhang Zhaoqing, Li Hanlin, Che Yunlong, Kang Yi, Chen Hao, Li Chao, Yuan Hengrui, Attila Volgyi, Geza Molnar; Video editors: Zhang Mocheng, Wei Yin, Zheng Xin, Zhang Yichi) A 23-year-old man is accused of helping steal equipment from the Yona Mayors Office. Shawn Michael Quichocho was charged with burglary via complicity as second-degree felony, criminal mischief and theft via complicity as misdemeanors all with special allegation of crimes against the community, a magistrates complaint filed in the Superior Court states. On May 14, a man told police he heard dogs barking in the early morning hours and saw they were barking at two men, one of them being Quichocho. The two men were carrying an air compressor and a hedger, and the man said he found it odd because the two didnt have jobs and he had seen the Yona mayors staff using the items the day before. When the man asked where they got the equipment they responded, a friend. On the same day, Guam Police Department received a report of a burglary at the Yona Mayors Office. An employee told police the gate to the maintenance building was damaged and the air compressor and hedger were missing. On May 16, the officer met with an employee who said he knew who stole the items and identified the two men. The officer met with Quichocho who initially denied involvement, but then said around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. May 14 he went over to the Yona Mayors Office and saw the other man there, the complaint states. He saw the man cutting the side of the fence and Quichocho waited by the trailer side and when the man asked him to help carry the items he agreed, documents state. Quichocho said he never went into the building and saw the man bring out an air compressor and later a hedger. He agreed to carry the equipment back to the mans house and overheard him tell someone on the phone he would sell the items. He told the officer he knew what he was doing was wrong and that carrying the hedger away still counted as stealing, the complaint states. Forecasters continue to watch a weather disturbance south of Guam, but still are unclear where it will head in the coming days. National Weather Service Guam issued a special weather statement Friday for Chuuk, Yap and Palau to provide general details on the evolution of Invest 93W and weather conditions across the region. A tropical disturbance, Invest Area 93W, sits nearly stationary southeast of Koror, Palau. Flaring convection with showers and thunderstorms exist around the loosely defined circulation center and extend outward to near the eastern coastal waters of Palau, and over the islands of Yap State, from south of Yap Proper to southwest of Woleai. Another weaker circulation is centered southwest of Weno, Chuuk near 4N150E, and is drifting slowly westward. Forecasts regarding the track, timing and intensification of 93W have varied considerably over the last few days. Latest trends indicate 93W will likely remain poorly organized in the region through the weekend before making a possible west-northwestward trek near Palau and/or Yap around midweek. Interaction between 93W and the circulation south of Weno remains unclear at this time, but could result in a possible eastward shift of 93W, NWS said. Forecast conditions will vary significantly across the western Micronesia region, depending on whether you are in Palau, Yap Proper, within the Chuuk Lagoon, or across the outer islands of Yap and Chuuk States. Showers and thunderstorms are likely across much of the region between Koror and Chuuk Lagoon with locally heavy rainfall possible. However, the location and coverage of showers and thunderstorms may shift, depending on the location and interaction of 93W and the circulation south of Weno. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has maintained a rating of sub-low for development of 93W, as significant development is still not expected in the coming days. Prolonged periods of heavy showers could result in saturated soils. This could result in increased potential for landslides in areas of steep terrain. Winds, seas and surf may become elevated at times, particularly near heavy showers. Residents across Yap and Chuuk States, and the Republic of Palau, should monitor local weather forecasts through the weekend from the National Weather Service in Guam, and for additional information from your local Weather Service Office and emergency management. Visit weather.gov/gum/PublicForecasts for the latest weather information from the National Weather Service. Kate Mackenzie and Tim Sahay in Polycrisis: Bidens announcement this week to sharply raise tariffs on Chinese imports is an escalation in the yearslong tariff war on China. The new tariffs specifically target green goods, most notably electric vehicles, duties on which have now quadrupled to 100 percent. Tariffs on lithium-ion batteries, critical minerals, and solar cells will also be substantially increased. The measures are set to take effect in 2024 (with the exception of graphite, where Chinese dominance is most stark and tariffs begin 2026). Why now? There is no doubt that the announcement of these tariffs are performative. With Trump leading the polls in several swing states, Bidens decision to fly the protectionist flag is intended to win over voters. The performative aspect is also to reassure investors in domestic manufacturing, who despite the IRAs generous manufacturer and consumer subsidies, are worried about the flood of cheaper Chinese imports outcompeting domestically made green goods. The combination of new protective tariffs plus IRA subsidies is meant to buy time for US-based firms to catch up in green technologies. Bidens tariffs are more targeted than those on over $300 billion of Chinese imports introduced by Trump in 2018. But the signal they send is that tariffs on China are bipartisan; given this broad anti-China sentiment in Congress, they will be almost impossible to unwind. Tariffs on EVs are already at 27.5 percent (Trump slapped an extra 25 on top of the standard 2.5 percent US tariff). That combined with the IRAs anti-China tax credit design has meant that only Polestar (owned by Chinas Geely) has been exporting Chinese EVs to the US. Chinese batteries, on the other hand, are still being imported but the IRAs foreign entity of concern rules aim to bar the $3,750 tax subsidy from going to EVs containing battery metals processed in China, whether by foreign or Chinese firms. More here. Haiti - FLASH : Ekuru Aukot in Kenya, once again tries to block the Mission in Haiti As Port-au-Prince prepares to welcome in a few days, the first contingent of the Multinational Security Support Mission, led by Kenya hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42354-haiti-news-zapping.html the opponent Ekuru Aukot one of the leaders of the "Thirdway Alliance" Party, a small opposition party which had already taken legal action to temporarily suspend the Mission in Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40701-haiti-politic-the-high-court-of-kenya-suspends-for-2-weeks-the-deployment-of-the-mission-in-haiti.html to refile a request before a court of Nairobi to try to prevent the imminent deployment of Kenyan police officers in Haiti Ekuru Aukot said in his appeal that President Ruto and the police had blatantly disobeyed the order of High Court Judge Enock Chacha Mwita banning the deployment of police officers in Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41519-haiti-flash-the-high-court-of-nairobi-blocks-the-deployment-of-the-mission-in-haiti.html , by signing the reciprocity instrument with Haiti, declaring that the government would be in contempt of court if it continued with the deployment. The Presidency did not react publicly to this approach. Let's recall that Dr. Ekuru Aukot, Leader of the Thirdway Alliance party, is the latest presidential candidate to have been rejected by the electoral commission for not having respected its strict rules for presidential nomination by failing to provide copies of the cards identity of his supporters. In addition, Aukot has also not reached the minimum number of signatures required from supporters to register as a presidential candidate. Note that Ekuru ran for president in 2017 and obtained 27,311 votes, or 0.18% of the votes cast... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42354-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41519-haiti-flash-the-high-court-of-nairobi-blocks-the-deployment-of-the-mission-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40701-haiti-politic-the-high-court-of-kenya-suspends-for-2-weeks-the-deployment-of-the-mission-in-haiti.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Barbecue affirms that its men are ready to fight the Mission led by Kenya In an interview this week on NPR, a broadcasting and public service network in the USA, Jimmy Cherizier aka "Babecue", head of the "G9" coalition, and leader of the alliance of the two largest gang coalitions in Haiti "G9" and "G pep" better known as "Viv Ansanm", suggested that the members of the alliance are ready to confront non-UN forces (but authorized by the UN hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40642-haiti-flash-the-security-council-approves-the-intervention-of-a-multinational-force-in-haiti.htmlc ), of the Multinational Mission to Support the National Police of Haiti (PNH) in its fight against gangs, led by Kenya, who are preparing to land in Haiti by the end of May https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42337-haiti-flash-the-first-kenyan-contingent-regroups-for-departure.html Jimmy Cherizier said the gangs are preparing for a long fight, expecting a lot of blood to be shed before international forces [of at least 3,000 men] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42293-haiti-flash-more-than-100-us-army-flights-expected-in-the-coming-days-in-port-au-prince.html ] does not tire and withdraws from Haiti. Asked about his chances of survival, "Barbecue", convinced of being a liberating revolutionary, declared "My life depends on God and my ancestors. If Jean-Jacques Dessalines had worried about his life, Haiti would not be free today." However, it is good to remember that last week during a demonstration of force where a large number of heavily armed gang members marched in the streets of the capital against the arrival of the Multinational Mission. In the midst of these demonstrations, gang leaders put pressure on their members not to flee to the provinces before the arrival of international forces. Members visibly divided and who fear having to confront experienced soldiers and troops well-trained and poorly equipped elite police officers. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42337-haiti-flash-the-first-kenyan-contingent-regroups-for-departure.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42323-haiti-flash-gangs-worried-about-the-arrival-of-the-multinational-force.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42270-haiti-flash-$60-million-of-american-military-equipment-for-the-mission-some-details.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42142-haiti-flash-appointment-of-a-special-envoy-to-prepare-the-arrival-of-2-000-beninese-soldiers.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42217-haiti-flash-7-countries-from-africa-asia-and-the-caribbean-will-support-the-pnh.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42214-haiti-security-the-caricom-military-contingent-ready-to-intervene-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40642-haiti-flash-the-security-council-approves-the-intervention-of-a-multinational-force-in-haiti.html SL/ HaitiLibre A recent survey conducted by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises reveals that a significant majority of entrepreneurs believe there are insufficient incentives in Finland to expand their businesses. The Yrittajagallup survey shows that 70% of respondents feel the current business environment lacks the necessary support to foster growth, with only 14% expressing satisfaction with the existing incentives. Urgent Need for Enhanced Growth Incentives "The message is clear: we have a lot of work to do to provide more incentives for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses," said Petri Salminen, Chairman of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises. "Encouraging business growth is crucial because expanding companies create jobs and invest in the economy. It's important to remember that Finland's economic growth stems from the growth of Finnish businesses." Salminen emphasized that no single solution can ignite business growth. Instead, a comprehensive approach is needed across various areas to make Finland an attractive platform for investment and business expansion. This includes enhancing the attractiveness of entrepreneurial risk-taking, ownership, investment, and employment. Declining Growth Ambition Among SMEs The SME Barometer indicates a clear and ongoing decline in the number of growth-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Currently, just over one-third of SMEs are pursuing growth, down from approximately half in 2016. The Yrittajagallup survey conducted in April highlights a particularly strong demand for increased growth incentives in the industrial sector (79%) and among companies employing 5-9 people (79%). Conversely, the construction sector (21%) and entrepreneurs in the Helsinki metropolitan area (21%) are the most satisfied with the current growth incentives. Strategies to Strengthen Growth Incentives Entrepreneurs identified several key measures to bolster business growth incentives. The most popular suggestions include simplifying labor laws to facilitate hiring (57%), increasing the appreciation of entrepreneurship (57%), expanding local agreements (50%), improving the quality of the workforce (31%), and adjusting corporate taxation (30%). Other frequently mentioned factors include the availability of labor (29%), business financing (29%), dividend taxation (28%), acceptance of failure (27%), and easing the process of starting anew (21%). Among companies with over ten employees, there is a particular emphasis on regulatory changes to make hiring easier (73%) and on local agreements (65%). "The survey shows that the government is on the right track by making it easier to hire workers, for instance, by simplifying fixed-term employment contracts and personal grounds for dismissal, as well as introducing an unpaid first sick day," said Salminen. "Increasing local agreements is also a significant incentive for growth, especially for employers. The government is taking the right steps, although the right to negotiate different agreements will still need to be addressed by future administrations." Valuing Entrepreneurship The appreciation of entrepreneurship is a consistently important growth incentive across all entrepreneurial groups, including solo entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs. "Increasing the appreciation of entrepreneurship is a task for all of us. While there has been significant improvement, there is still room for growth." Taxation as a Growth Catalyst In the industrial sector, dividend and corporate taxation, labor availability, and financing are highlighted as critical growth incentives. Dividend taxation is significantly more important for male entrepreneurs (35%) compared to female entrepreneurs (17%). "Taxation also plays a crucial role in growth. Corporate taxation needs to be competitive, and dividend taxation should encourage entrepreneurship and risk-taking. The significance of these factors increases with the size of the company, as larger companies typically have greater profitability and dividend distribution capacity," noted Salminen. Regionally, financing issues are more pronounced in Eastern Finland, while dividend taxation is a key concern in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Younger entrepreneurs place greater emphasis on the acceptance of failure (40%) and the ease of starting anew (35%) compared to their older counterparts. For a detailed look at the survey results, click here. Survey Details The survey, commissioned by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises and conducted by Verianilla, included responses from 1,076 representatives of SMEs between April 3 and April 15, 2024. The margin of error for the survey results is 3.1 percentage points. HT James Stewart in The New York Times: Its been 14 years since Goldman Sachs was vilified as a vampire squid by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. Organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy, he concluded then. Goldman has since experienced some hard times, tarred by scandal (the looting of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund) and forced to bail out of consumer banking. Big companies like Walt Disney are under attack not so much from the socialist left, but by conservatives for being too woke. Yet organized greed lives on, a seemingly intractable aspect of human nature, as three new business books make clear. The age-old swing of the pendulum between greed, excess and regulation is the subject of TAMING THE OCTOPUS: The Long Battle for the Soul of the Corporation (Norton, 290 pp., $29.99), by Kyle Edward Williams, a history of efforts to temper capitalist excess through social responsibility, whether self-directed by corporations or imposed by regulators. Inevitably, greed and scandal breed regulation, which in turn provokes proponents of the free market to decry government overreach. Consider the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banking from more speculative investment banking during the Great Depression only to be relaxed by the Clinton administration more than six decades later. The cycle then begins anew. More here. Fact and fiction have become synonyms as AI tools manufacture information quicker than the speed of thought. At the crucial juncture of electing its next leader, the Indian voter now has, the additional, task of distinguishing between the truth and a synthesised version of it. Rapid technological advancements have enabled political parties to freely employ deepfakes while campaigning during the ongoing elections. Though manipulated information and deceit have often been tabled by parties in the past, deepfakes are hyper-realistic audio, images, or videos generated using sophisticated algorithms challenging the human capabilities to decipher them as real or fake. Deepfake Misinformation Blitzkrieg Videos with unclear sources have surfaced depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a series of Indian voters by name. The precision targeting enabled by AI allows campaigners to tailor avatar videos or audio calls in any of India's myriad regional languages and dialects to connect more directly with diverse voter blocs. On May 6, Modi's X account reshared an AI-generated video of him rocking a stage on a Bollywood track, stating, "Such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight."' Social media is drenched in videos of Modi tuning to various Bollywood songs and trends conceivably boosting his popularity amongst young voters. The use of AI is not limited to impersonation of politicians. In viral videos, Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh can be seen delivering a critique of Modi's tenure. The AI-synthesised doppelgangers accuse the incumbent of failing to deliver on key campaign promises and inadequately addressing pressing economic woes over his two terms at the helm. Both the actors have filed police complaints against the viral clips. The 2024 Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum suggest that Indian experts flagged misinformation and disinformation as the "biggest threat" to their country in the next two years. The generative AI ordeal only exacerbates such threats. Tech-Fuelled Hate Narratives Another tech-enabled campaigning move that raised concerns was a provocative animated video put out by BJP Karnataka's social handle. The clip deployed caricatures to depict Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah placing an egg labelled "Muslims" alongside three others marked "SC" (Scheduled Castes), "ST" (Scheduled Tribes), and "OBC" (Other Backward Classes) in a nest. The disturbing allegory showed Gandhi selectively "feeding funds" to the egg representing Muslims, which then hatched into a bird donning a skullcap. As the Muslim bird emerged, it shoved away the nascent fledglings from the SC, ST, and OBC eggs while ominous laughter played in the background crudely implying partisan favouritism towards the Muslim community at the expense of other minority groups. Though targeted at the Congress party, the arrow seemed to have landed on the Muslim community equally. Nitasha Kaul, a professor of politics at the University of Westminster, took to X and called the video "a straightforward 1930s Germany-style cartoon; one of many violations of electoral conduct rules." Battling the Ghosts of AI Identifying deepfakes is imperative during the ongoing elections. Efforts are already in place. The global social conglomerate Meta recently collaborated with the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) to form a WhatsApp fact-checking helpline to aid people in recognising AI-fabricated materials and be better informed. The director of public policy at Meta India, Shivnath Thukral, underlined the importance of the detection system, saying that it facilitates people on our platforms with resources and tools that make it simpler for them to identify content that has been generated using AI tools and curb the spread of misinformation. Similarly, OpenAI, the company that gestated ChatGPT, has formulated a deepfake detector for disinformation researchers. The tool is built to detect primarily the images generated by the company's own popular image generator, DALL-E. While OpenAI claims that the detector can whistleblow 98.8 % of images created by its latest model, DALL-E 3, it acknowledges that the tool isn't designed for other prevalent generators like Midjourney and Stability. Forensics outwitted Despite these steadfast efforts, the sheer volume and sophistication of deepfake content continue to outpace detection capabilities. Moreover, the reliance on user reports to flag potential deepfakes means that many false or misleading videos may go unnoticed until significant damage has been done. "The quality of deepfakes is so good that even forensic labs can take days to establish the veracity of a medium," cyber security expert Jiten Jain was quoted as saying in a media report. In addition, it is common knowledge that no AI algorithm is 100% accurate. When it comes to a subject so instrumental to electing the next leader of the country, a fallacy by even a minor estimation could be nothing short of monumental. Public awareness and digital literacy are crucial to mitigate the impact of deepfakes but they are often lacking. Many people, especially the older and less tech-savvy generations, are not familiar with the notion of deepfakes or how to recognise them, making them more susceptible to believing and sharing false information. As technology becomes democratised, ironically, the democratic principles of a nation could be compromised because of its misuse. Innovation in detection technologies, enhanced public education and constant awareness, robust legal reforms, and greater international collaboration seem the only plausible guardians of the fragile truth. Ultimately, all this casts the Indian voter into a deliberate scepticism where all information is guilty until proven authentic through rigorous scrutiny because the devil often lies in the details. Suvrat Arora is an independent writer based in Bengaluru, India. His works have appeared in Al Jazeera, The Telegraph, Outlook India and elsewhere. He can be reached at suvratarora06@gmail.com Pisces (19th February to 20th March) Weekly Horoscope Prediction says, You have the spirit to question challenges Weekly Horoscope Pisces, May 19-25, 2024. Value the love affair and ensure you spend more time together. Deep love and success at the job are the highlights. Look for the best moments to excel in your career. Handle wealth diligently and your health is also normal. Keep the love life intact. At the office, you will get opportunities to prove your mettle. Consider safe and reliable monetary investment options. Ensure you take care of your lifestyle. Pisces Love Horoscope This Week Value the love affair and ensure you spend more time together. Provide personal space to the lover. You must be a good listener and should also be ready to open up wherever required. Some Pisces natives may get in touch with the ex-lover. However, married Pisces natives should avoid any activity that may seriously impact their marital life. The newly married natives will find the week to be engaging. The two of you would complement each other. Pisces Career Horoscope This Week You will come across new job opportunities which will also provide chances to prove the professional mettle. Those who have job interviews scheduled can be confident about the result. Ensure you are creative at work and utilize communication skills to support professional performance. If you are into business, you will find appropriate investors who will prove to be successful in the coming months. Students looking for admission to foreign universities can expect positive news. Pisces Money Horoscope This Week Have a proper financial plan to overcome the monetary challenges. You will need to save money to repay a long-pending due. You may utilize this period to renovate the house or even to donate to charity. A few seniors will also distribute property among the children. Some entrepreneurs will get funding from foreign investors, especially in the second half of the week. Pisces Health Horoscope This Week Your normal health will be good but it is wise to be careful. You may face issues related to blood pressure or heart but that can be kept under control with extra care. For elderly people, bone, joint, and breathing-related issues may happen. Some Pisces natives may have stomach aches, migraine, viral fever, and sore throat. It is good to skip aerated drinks and opt for healthy beverages including fresh fruit juice. Pisces Sign Attributes Strength: Conscious, Aesthetic, Kind-hearted Weakness: Sentimental, Indecisive, Unrealistic Symbol: Fish Element: Water Body Part: Blood Circulation Sign Ruler: Neptune Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Purple Lucky Number: 11 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Pisces Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Good compatibility: Virgo, Pisces Fair compatibility: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Less compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert E-mail: djnpandey@gmail.com Phone: 9811107060 (WhatsApp Only) When I look at a literary shortlist, I want to read all the books on it. Theres something about making up my own mind and deciding which book deserves the prize. I am curious about my own taste. Will I choose the book the expert panel of judges chooses will we be in literary sync? Or will the judges pick a book Ive been struggling with, a book I cant even finish, as the ultimate prize winner? A book shortlist pops up on my Instagram feed. It is a challenge I cant resist. It features six titles, all in the running for the Women's Prize for Fiction. The shortlist is enticing. The books are set in different countries and times River East, River West in China, Enter Ghost in Israel-Palestine, Brotherless Night in Sri Lanka, Restless Dolly Maunder in nineteenth-century Australia, The Wren, The Wren and Soldier Sailor in Ireland. It feels like reading the world in six books. Motherhood is my first port of call with Soldier Sailor. I am in my Mumbai house, once rambunctious and riotous with the peals and squeals of our three girls. Now theyre all far away, in their own homes in New York, Bengaluru and New Delhi. I miss the noise, I even miss the mess. I head for my favourite reading spot, on the big chair by the window, and pick up my Kindle to read Claire Kilroys Soldier Sailor, a story of motherhood charting extreme highs and lows, and how life turns upside down with the birth of a child. It feels like Rachel Cusks A Lifes Work: On Becoming a Mother, only more raw and extreme. My memories of mommyhood are now so sepia-tinged in short, I simply cant relate. I put aside Soldier Sailor. Next on, is Enter Ghost. I am now in seat 6D on a flight to Chandigarh, and quickly absorbed in the world of the actor Sonia Nasir, who has returned to Haifa in Israel to visit her sister, as she tries to recover from a failed love affair. She gets drawn into an Arabic production of Hamlet, playing Gertrude and even Ophelia. I love this part how the setting of a Shakespearian play in another culture makes you look at the play so differently. Enter Ghost(Sonya Dutta Choudhury) Next on my list is Anne Enright. Id read her The Gathering years ago and still remember the emotions this powerful book about sexual abuse evoked. The Wren, The Wren is different, more distant and cerebral it experiments with form and plays with points of view. I admire the sentences but I am not drawn in any visceral way. An hour after landing at Chandigarh airport, I am joined by my middle daughter. Together we drive into the mountains, speeding through gigantic tunnels cut into the hillsides, until we reach Manali in the early evening. Our family house is shuttered, and we unpack in practised efficiency, pulling out mattresses, laying sheets and setting the kettle on for tea. And then I am lost again. This time in River East, River West in China. The next morning is a sunny summer day. My daughter pulls out a durrie on the overgrown lawn in front of the house. She snuggles up with our favourite person, our beautiful brown and golden dog. I take my Kindle and go join them, as I read the story of fourteen-year-old Alva, who is half-Chinese and half-American. The story moves back and forth between the threads of the lives of the daughter, Alva and her mother, Sloane. How profoundly our parents' pasts impact our present, I realise as I read on. The book has the relaxed feel of a family saga. River East, River West(Sonya Dutta Choudhury) In Restless Dolly Maunder, author Kate Grenville constructs a fictional story about her grandmother. The novel is set in 1880s Australia, and traces Dollys struggles with the patriarchy and society. It feels worthy, but dry and uninspiring. And then there is Brotherless Night. I recently sent a letter to a terrorist I used to know. says the first line. From here I fell headlong into Jaffna in Sri Lanka, where I met the child Sashi who dreams of being a doctor. She has five brothers, a mother, and a father who is away a lot. The girl and her family started to feel like my own. With each page, I get more emotionally invested. I taste the fragrant curry leaves, the yellow-green snake gourds, the burnished eggplants and the hot chillies of their cooking. I hold my breath when the girl and her brothers walk to the Jaffna library to study their science textbooks. I am petrified when the Sri Lankan army rounds up all the Tamil boys and I am distraught when the militant Tiger Eelam group tries to take away all the others. Its been ages since I cried over a book, and now I cant stop. In Manali, the wedding we have come to attend is over, and my husband and children have left. I moon around the empty family house, unearthing every historical detail of the traumatic Tamil years and researching the people and personalities that inspired this story. Of all the books I have read set in this tragic time, including the very hard-hitting The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, this one is the saddest, the most heart-rending, the most interrogative of what is terrorism. Brotherless Night shows us what the worlds greatest fiction is capable of. It makes me think of Toni Morrison saying: Reading fiction allows us to explore the depths of our own emotions, question the world around us, and find solace in the transformative power of storytelling. River East, River West(Sonya Dutta Choudhury ) Brotherless Night has my vote for the Womans Prize. But even still, I tell myself not to get too intense. If this book doesnt win the prize, I will be disappointed and not just because I love this book. I will be disappointed because too often South Asian books dont make the literary canon, and they dont win the big prizes. I will be disappointed because I would like a story that deals with the DNA of terrorism and the effect of war and violence on both men and women to get the sort of global platform the winner of this prize will get. But I will try not to take it personally. After all, evaluations are subjective one womans Brotherless Night is another womans Restless Dolly Maunder. Winning the Womens Prize is special it was established in 1996 only for women authors because the big prizes like the Booker Prize were ignoring women authors and their themes. The winners in the last few years have all been quite glorious, everything from Demon Copperhead to We Need to Talk About Kevin, Piranesi, The Book of Form and Emptiness and An American Marriage. Some of these books, like Demon Copperhead, achieved larger recognition as it won the Pulitzer Prize as well, but many were ignored by the bigger prizes. I am grateful to the Womens Prize for spotlighting them. This year, a jury of five women will announce the winning novel on June 13; till then, we are in suspense. In other news, the literary world lost a grand dame earlier this week. Nobel Prize-winning Alice Munro passed away at 92. Her short stories capture the desires and dynamics of human relationships. Theyre powerful and also dark and disturbing. Listen here to Margaret Atwood read aloud an Alice Munro short story. Or pick an Alice Munro story from 25 of her best stories here. And until next week, happy reading. Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonyas Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at sonyasbookbox@gmail.com The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday termed the attack on Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal as a stain on the face of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Maheshinder Singh Grewal (HT Photo) Addressing a press conference, former cabinet minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal said that as per the the FIR registered in this regard, the accused should be sentenced to seven years. This is a heinous crime and the AAP will have to answer the people, he said. On Sanjay Singh calling Swati Maliwal an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said, This raises questions on the Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi) government. If Maliwal was an agent of the BJP, why was she made a MP. He said that Kejriwal will have to answer these questions and demanded a fair investigation into the matter. Grewal added that the Congress and AAP were playing a friendly match in Punjab. Grewal ridiculed the claims made by the BJP in its manifesto. He said that BJP nominee MP Ravneet Singh Bittu does not even know that the matter of upgrading the civil hospital relates to the state government. The responsibility of the MP is to solve the issues related to the Centre, he said. He questioned Bittus claim of spending 600 crore on the beautification of Buddha Nullah. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal dared him to arrest all the top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and said that they will march to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters on Sunday, to protest against the arrest of his personal assistant (PA), Bibhav Kumar. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convenor Arvind Kejriwal (ANI) Swati Maliwal assault: AAP blames ACB case fear for FIR against Bibhav Kumar Kumar was arrested on Saturday evening for allegedly assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on May 13 at the CMs official residence, a day after she lodged a first information report against Kejriwals aide. The AAP dismissed the allegations as lies and claimed that the allegations are part of BJPs conspiracy against Kejriwal. During a virtual press conference at his residence around an hour after Kumar was arrested, Kejriwal said, People are watching how these people (BJP) are after the AAP. They are putting our leaders in jail one after the other. They put me, Manish Sisodia (former deputy CM), Satyendar Jain (former Delhi minister) and Sanjay Singh (Rajya Sabha MP) in jail. Today, my PA was put in jail. They are saying that they will put Raghav Chaddha (AAP MP), who has just returned from London, in jail. They are saying in a few days, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi (both Delhi ministers) will also be put behind bars, Kejriwal said. On May 10, Kejriwal was granted an interim bail till June 1, more than 50 day after he was arrested in connection with the Delhi excise policy. Sisodia is currently in jail and Singh is out on bail in connection with the same case. Jain is still in prison in a separate money laundering case. AAP releases new Swati Maliwal CCTV video: 'What is this game?' I want to tell the PM, you are playing this Jail ka khel by putting one person after the other in prison... I am coming to the BJP headquarters with all my big leaders, MLAs, MPs, everyone, at noon tomorrow. Put whoever you want in jail all at once. You think that you will crush the AAP by putting its leaders in jail, it is not going to be crushed like this, Kejriwal said. The AAP chief said that the party leaders are being targeted because the AAP government has done good work in Delhi such as improving schools, healthcare services and power supply as well as providing free electricity. ......they cannot do this, so they want to stop government schools in Delhi, they want to stop functioning of Delhi hospitals, they want to stop free electricity, Kejriwal said. The CM said that the arrest of the AAP leaders will not affect the party much. The AAP is an idea that has reached the hearts of the people across the country. This country will produce 100 times more leaders than the number of AAP leaders you put in jail, Kejriwal said. Arvind Kejriwals PA Bibhav arrested in Swati Maliwal assault case, sent to 5-day police custody Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that with every passing day the meodramas of Kejriwal are getting exposed before the people of Delhi. Tomorrows demonstration at the BJP office is one more melodrama and despite all such dramas, the people of Delhi will reject the AAP and Congress alliance on May 25. Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Saturday sent Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar to five days in police custody in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi Women Commission chief Swati Maliwal. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar being brought to Tis Hazari Court in the case of alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal(PTI) Kumar was arrested from Kejriwals residence at Flagstaff Road in north Delhis Civil Lines earlier on Saturday while his anticipatory bail petition was subsequently observed as becoming "infructuous" by the court. Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar arrested from Delhi CM house in Maliwal assault case The Delhi Police produced Kumar before Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal and had sought seven-day custody to question him in connection with the assault case. However, the court sentenced him five-day custody. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the Delhi Police said Kumar was arrested because the complainant is a public figure and member of Parliament and that the prosecution feared Kumar could influence witnesses since he had gone back to the CMs residence. Meanwhile, Kumar's lawyer said the entire incident was a concocted one and his client was not even given a notice before being taken into custody. The entire place is covered by CCTV to get into the office and meet CM you need to have prior appointment and she did not have any prior appointment There was a security breach and a report was filed by the security personnel, he said. Injuries to left leg, right cheek: What Swati Maliwal's medical report shows The AAP MP in her complaint has alleged Kumar slapped her at least seven to eight times without any provocation and brutally dragged her while kicking her, forcing her to fall and hit her head on a table at the CMs residence on May 13. Kumar has filed a counter complaint, accusing Maliwal of forcefully entering the CMs premises and using abusive language. The Delhi Police on Thursday registered the FIR against Kumar under the Indian Penal Codes Section 354 (assault or criminal force with the intent to outrage modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt). Meanwhile, a political slugfest has also triggered after AAP leader Atishi said that Maliwal was sent to the Kejriwal's residence by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a part of a conspiracy so that "false accusations" could be levelled against the Delhi CM. The saffron party has dismissed the charge. Maliwal slapped 7-8 times, kicked in chest, stomach, pelvis: FIR "Ever since Arvind Kejriwal has got bail, the BJP is rattled. Due to this, the BJP hatched a conspiracy, under which Swati Maliwal was sent to Arvind Kejriwal's house on the morning of May 13. Swati Maliwal was the face and pawn of this conspiracy. She went there unannounced without an appointment. They intended to accuse the CM but the CM was not there at that time and he got saved," Atishi said. However, Maliwal hit back at her own party, and said, The leaders who joined the party yesterday dubbed a party worker active for 20 years as a BJP agent. Two days ago, the party had accepted the truth in a press conference and now a U-turn. (With inputs from agencies) A 36-year-old man, a resident of Gurugram's Sector 49, was arrested on Thursday for killing his neighbour - an IT company manager - in a road rage incident. According to the police, the accused, identified as Manoj Bharadwaj alias Manav, lost control of his anger during a dispute over parking with the victim. IT manager killed in fit of rage in Gurugram, accused arrested(Representational image) During interrogation, the accused admitted that he, along with his accomplices, severely thrashed the victim before running over him with his car and dragging him for around 20 meters on the bonnet of the vehicle. The accused persons also thrashed the 31-year-old victim's brother, the police said, reported PTI. Bharadwaj was produced before a city court on Friday, following which he was sent to a two-day police remand for further questioning. The police have also seized the car - a Hyundai Creta - used to run over the victim. The incident took place late Sunday night in South City 2 on Sohna Road in Gurgram, when a brawl broke out between the victim, his brother, and Bharadwaj over parking. According to the accused, the victim and his brother had bought a PG near his residence, which caused the road leading to his house to be often clogged with vehicles. On the day of the incident, Bharadwaj went to the PG and asked the IT company manager to remove the car. However, the two refused, leading to a fight between them. Bhardwaj's uncle's son Surendra and his friend also reached the spot, and they thrashed the victim and his brother. Later, Bhardwaj killed the 31-year-old victim by crushing him with his car in a fit of rage and fled the scene, the investigating officer said, as quoted by PTI. The accused also dragged the victim's brother by the car. However, he is being treated at a hospital and is in a stable condition, the police said. We are trying to nab the accomplices of the accused who are absconding. We are also questioning the accused, and the other suspects will be arrested soon, the police said. (With inputs from PTI) Indore, Have you seen a gun that looks like a stick from the outside but is capable of killing someone when its trigger is pulled and the bullet hits the target? HT Image At least three such "stick guns" are on display at the Arms Museum of the Central School of Armament and Warfare Skills of the Border Security Force in Madhya Pradesh's Indore. Set up in 1967 based on the vision of BSF Director General K F Rustomjee, the museum is home to 300 rare weapons, officials said on Friday on the eve of International Museum Day, observed on May 18. The museum's collection, sourced from different places, includes big weapons such as rocket launchers and machine guns of various sizes to mini pistols that can fit into one's palm, they said. Talking to PTI, CSWT Inspector General BS Rawat said the museum displays weapons from the 14th century to the later periods. "The museum gives you a glimpse of weapons used by man since the beginning and how they gradually evolved by the first and second World Wars, he said. Rawat said the facility had also housed the pistol that freedom fighter Bhagat Singh used to kill British officer JP Saunders on December 17, 1928, in Lahore. The semi-automatic pistol, developed by US-based weapons manufacturer Colts, was sent to Punjab in 2017 following the directions of the Union Home Ministry and is currently on display at a museum at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur district. A portrait of this pistol is at the arms museum in honour of the martyred freedom fighter, he said. The senior officer further said personnel who train at CSWT are introduced to these weapons to learn the shortcomings of the indigenous and foreign weapons of various periods. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday censured Humayun Kabir, Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator from Bharatpur in Murshidabad for allegedly threatening voters and rival parties while addressing an election rally earlier this month. TMC MLA Humayun Kabir In another development, the ECI issued a show cause notice to West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday for an advertisement published by the BJP in vernacular dailies on May 5, which the ruling-TMC claimed was false, unverified and misleading. It stated that the state has become a cradle of corruption while mounting attack on the TMC over various alleged scams. Kabir, in a rally in Murshidabads Kajipara earlier this month, had reportedly said, I will quit politics if I fail to drown you in the Bhagirathi River. I will leave Shaktipur for ever . . . I am warning BJP. If you think that you constitute the major chunk of population at Kamnagar and that gives you the right to demolish the mosque in Kajipara and the Muslim brothers would sit idle, you are mistaken. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a BJP rally at Bardhaman Durgapur on May 3, had slammed the TMC legislator for his controversial comments. The BJP lodged a complaint with the poll panel on May 2. The next day Modi attacked the TMC over alleged appeasement politics. I saw on TV a TMC MLA threatening Hindus that in two hours he would drown them in the River Bhagirathi. What type of language and political culture is this? Modi had said while adding that that Hindus have been relegated in the state into second class citizens in TMCs regime. The poll panel had issued a show cause notice to Kabir to which he replied on May 10 saying that his comments were taken in isolation to make it seem like a threat. The poll panel was, however, convinced that TMC MLA violated the MCC and strongly condemned the statement while censuring him on Saturday. Meanwhile, Majumdar has been asked to show cause by 5pm on May 21 as to why the advertisement shouldnt be treated as a violation of the MCC and action be taken against him. Electioneering for the nine parliamentary seats in the Gorakhpur and Basti divisions that are going to polls in the final two phases of elections on May 25 and June 1 has picked up. (File) To bolster the support to the party and in the hope of bettering its 2019 performance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a poll rally in Basti coming Wednesday, confirmed BJP district unit president Vivekananda Mishra. The meeting, which was earlier scheduled for Tuesday, will be organised at GIC Grounds. The same day, BJP national president JP Nadda will campaign for the partys Kushinagar candidate Vijay Dubey. On Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath will address three election rallies in Basti. Cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar will also address two election meetings on May 19 in Basti to boost the prospects of BJP candidate Harish Dwivedi. Meanwhile, defence minister Rajnath Singh held a public meeting at Harraiya in Basti and claimed that after 2024 elections the Congress would lose its existence as the opposition party had no issues to grill PM Modi on. Singh claimed that while opposition parties were in the race for chair the BJP was concerned for the welfare of poor and marginalised communities. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been campaigning for the party across the country. She camped in Rae Bareli for the past two weeks to seek votes for her brother Rahul Gandhi here and KL Sharma in Amethi. At the end of campaigning, Priyanka Gandhi spoke to Hindustan Times about the issues ranging from her assessment, the political discourse, Prime Minister Narendra Modis attacks on the Congress and the BJPs 400-plus slogan. Edited excerpts from the interview. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says the alliance leaders will take a decision collectively on who will be PM if the INDIA bloc wins the polls. (Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times) Q: More than half the election is done. You have been actively engaged with the campaign and strategy. Your assessment of the polls so far? A: I think there is an upsurge against the BJP. I see it everywhere I go. People are fed up with the politics that does not address the very real hardships they are facing. The people have immense problems. Whether they are the poor, the farmers, the labourers or the middle class. They are facing problems. They want answers, they want politicians to take responsibility for their actions and they want a politics that delivers development and prosperity to them. I believe this sentiment is reflected in the polling that has taken place so far. Q: Where is the political discourse going? A: The political discourse is being taken to a totally different level. Its about stealing the buffaloes, stealing the mangalsutras. They (BJP) are not saying what they are going to do to reduce the rate of unemployment and price rise. The Congress main pitch is what we will do for the people, and how we will alleviate them from the problems they are facing. Q: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP campaign has shifted to allegations of the Congress intending to usurp the Hindu rights and give their wealth to Muslims. The mangalsutra debate. Religious reservation charge. The BJP says it is just decoding the Congress manifesto? How do you respond? A. My advice to them (the prime minister and BJP leaders) is that they should first read the Congress manifesto. You can only decode what you have read in depth. They (BJP leaders) clearly havent done so. Inventing and imagining things that are not in our manifesto is very different from decoding it. The manifesto is a public document, yet their biggest leaders seem shockingly unconcerned about lying outright about it. Besides, why are they talking incessantly about our manifesto? Do they not have one of their own? What are they offering the public except lies and distractions? Whats their plan for the people of India? Or do they not have one? All they (BJP leaders) have to say is that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru did not do this, or the Congress did not do this after remaining in government for 70 years. Q: Why are they (BJP leaders) doing this? A: Because they have nothing. They have won two elections on the basis of polarisation. They have used religious rhetoric to win two elections and they think they can win a third election like that. I think the public has been able to see through, sorry to say this, the kind of propaganda that is being fed to them daily in the media. So, through other means, YouTube, internet, social media they are now getting to see a different truth. And frankly, there is a truth in their (peoples) own lives. What is the common man facing? He wakes up in the morning, he has done everything to educate his child. His child is unable to get a job despite that. There are BScs, BTechs and MScs everywhere and in every village. Every family, no matter how poor they (people) are, or no matter how far flung the village is, they want to first educate their child. They do everything possible to educate their child. They take loans or whatever possible and yet there is no job. There is joblessness and huge price rise. When women go to market, and they are able to pick up half of the things they are thinking of (to buy) and these are not very extravagant things. These are very regular items vegetables, oil and pulses. They expect their problems to be addressed. Q: For the first time, the prime minister has alleged Ambani, Adani are giving funds, black money to the Congress. Why this attack? A: Well, if the prime minister is aware of black money being given to a political party and being transported in tempos, as he alleges, then why hasnt he had the tempos impounded and used the agencies at his command to confiscate it? He is supposedly one of the most powerful prime ministers this country has seen, why isnt he using his immense powers to take action? Why is he suddenly whining about it at public rallies instead? Q: Your take on the BJP slogan of 400 paar? Has it boomeranged? A: Well, they have stopped talking about that. So, you should ask them. I think it was an unnecessary overstatement rooted in arrogance. In fact, after four phases of polling, it has miraculously disappeared not just from the repertoire of BJP leaders but also from that of the mainstream media. What has rightly alarmed a large section of the public is the claim made by many BJP candidates and leaders that if they do indeed cross 400 seats, they will change the Constitution of India. The rights of the Indian people are enshrined in the Constitution. It gives us the right to vote, the right to reservations, the right to food, education, protest and so on. Considering that this government has done all it could to weaken democracy in the last 10 years, it cannot be trusted to uphold constitutional values and strengthen our democratic principles. They have already shown us proof of this by subverting democratically elected state governments, imprisoning two chief ministers at the time of the elections, blocking the Congress partys accounts and by taking numerous other undemocratic actions like throwing MPs out of Parliament, not debating laws before they are passed and using government agencies to attack the opposition. People are right to be alarmed and wary. Modi and his government are capable of doing anything to retain absolute power. Q: The INDIA bloc and the Congress campaign seems to be sticking to fixed issues of caste census, unemployment, price rise and misgovernance. You are confident that these are matters which relate more to people? A: Its not a question of being confident about these issues, its a question of looking around us and seeing what really affects the lives of the common man. Everyone is struggling today, the poor, the farmers, the middle class. Price rise is at an all-time high and unemployment is higher than it has ever been in 45 years. Seventy crore Indians are unemployed today. These are issues that touch every family, every household. Not addressing them and attempting to distract the electorate by taking public discourse to unimaginably low and facile levels is an insult to the people of India who are desperate for recourse. Dont you think the people are affected by these issues. What the Prime Minister is saying about the Congress manifesto- stealing buffaloes- the people are laughing. Ordinary people either laugh or they get angry. They say this is my prime minister who must have a certain dignity and level. He (PM) is now telling me this. Am I going to believe him. Is it a joke? What about the fact that I cannot feed my children? What about the fact that how many people in my family are working and they are unable to make two ends meet? What about the fact that the farmers are drowning in debt, and you are not helping them at all? GST is being imposed on everything that the farmers need for farming. Q. But the BJP is confident about Modi ki guarantee. Your take? A: Practically everything Modiji has promised in the last 10 years has not been delivered. Why should his so-called guarantees be taken seriously? Q: Do you feel this election is also about the idea of India? A: It most certainly is. For the last ten years, as I said, we have experienced a form of governance based on the ideology of the RSS and the BJP. Democratic institutions have been subverted, Parliament has been reduced to a rubber stamp, historical facts and figures have been wiped out of educational curriculums to reflect their ideology, the judiciary has been imposed upon, particular sections of society have been vilified, suspicion and hatred has been spread amongst people, the media has been brought to its knees, government agencies have been used to harass and muzzle the opposition and every constitutional value has been undermined. The very fabric of our democracy is being torn today. Our fight is a fight for the nation Gandhiji, Nehruji, Sardar Patel and lakhs of freedom fighters fought for, the nation they built. The only country in the entire subcontinent that has survived as a strong, independent, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation. It is our democratic and secular foundation that has enabled us to flourish and prevented us from turning into a failed state like many around us. The value of our democracy cannot be overemphasized. Q: It really took very long for finalising candidates in Rae Bareli/Amethi. Why? Was it a dilemma or a strategy? A: It didnt take long to decide at all in fact, we simply decided to put it out in public at what we thought was the correct time to do so. It worked fine for us strategically. Q: BJP leaders say Rahul developed cold feet in Amethi. Why did Rahul Gandhi not contest Amethi and shifted to Rae Bareli? A: Why didnt Modi ji fight from Gujarat anymore ? Has he developed cold feet? Why is he fighting from Varanasi, all the way in U.P? How come the whole nations media is so invested in which seat Rahul Gandhi should fight from but not a word is said about where the prime minister is fighting from? Q: You didnt contest. Why? A: These are not the kind of constituencies where you can contest by remote control. Here we have a family relationship. We have worked here for years. The people expect us to come to their houses. They expect us to be among them. You know that I have been here for 15 days. So, it was a very practical decision. Both of us (Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi) were campaigning throughout the country. If both of us were to contest both of us would have to come here and meet everybody. Frankly, that is the way it should be. So, we decided that one of us should continue to campaign in the country, and naturally that would be Rahul and I look after these two elections. Q: But you have made the Amethi battle as you versus her (Smriti Irani). A: Not really, the battle is between the BJP candidate and Mr Kishori Lal Sharma and I am confident that he will win it. Q: We have seen you being at the forefront of hitting back at the BJP on matters of personal attack against your family, especially your late father and grandmother. Is your response political or very personal and emotive? A: No, it doesnt pain at all in fact, because when you experience the martyrdom of someone you love so deeply, when you lose them to something greater than yourself, it is a devastating truth that no one can redefine for you. They can say all they want, it simply washes over me. My response to them is neither political nor personal. I feel that personal attacks are the hallmark of political weakness. Modiji is a weak prime minister who hides behind power and lies. He and his party have carried out a massively funded campaign to spread calumny about my family for years now. I simply feel that our truth needs to be told as well. My parents and my grandmother believed that the truth would speak for itself, that they did not need to speak out to defend themselves against lies and propaganda being spread about them. They believed in their duty towards the nation and the values they upheld. I differ slightly from them in this regard. I feel that in todays world lies have to be countered with the truth vociferously because there is so much noise around us that it is easy to lose sight of what is true and what is not. By keeping quiet all the time, we have allowed the BJP, the RSS and their friends in the media to build a totally false narrative about us. I feel its important to set that straight. Q: Your brother is almost regularly referred as shehzada by Modi. The issue is of dynastic politics. How do you respond to it? A: Well, he seems to have relaxed his views to take many sons, daughters, nephews and nieces of so-called political dynasties into his own party and filled it with them. I have a feeling there are more such people in the BJP now than in any other party. The problem with the prime minister is that his words count for nothing, they apply selectively to everyone but himself and his party. Q: There is an increased assertion in the Congress ranks. Rahul says INDIA storm is sweeping U.P. What do you expect the U.P. story to be in the polls? A: I think there is an undercurrent that is becoming more and more visible as the elections progress. The alliance is working very effectively and cohesively as a team here. I believe the results in U.P. should be very positive for us. Q: Presuming INDIA wins on June 4, will Rahul be the PM as the leader of the biggest party in the INDIA bloc? A: The alliance leaders will take this decision collectively if such a situation arises. Q: Leaders in your party and the SP are already saying the Congress-SP alliance is a hit and will continue in 2027. Do you think the same? A: As I said, it is working very well as a team. Even on the ground, all our workers are putting in all theyve got. I do believe it will bring us success. Apna Dal (Sonelal) national president Anupriya Patel on Friday took on Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) president Raghuraj Pratap Singh for his decision to stay neutral in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. She, however, did not take any name. Time to break illusion of self-proclaimed kings: Anupriya hits out at Raja Bhaiya Singh, also popular as Raja Bhaiya, is the son of the erstwhile king of the Bhadri estate of Pratapgarh Uday Pratap Singh. A seven-time MLA from Kunda, he recently spoke about his decision not to ally with any specific party despite being approached by the ruling BJP. His party has not fielded any candidate this poll season. During a public rally in Pratapgarhs Kunda, which falls under the Kaushambi parliamentary constituency, on Saturday, Patel said this was a golden opportunity to break the illusion of self-proclaimed kings who think that Kunda is their fiefdom. In a free country, only voter is all-powerful. The task of making kings and paupers is in the hands of voters, she said. Patel, who was campaigning for the BJPs Kaushambi candidate Vinod Sonkar at Manikpur Military Bagh area, said 75 years have passed since the country got independence. Quoting Apna Dal founder and her father Sonelal Patel, she said, He used to say that in a democracy, kings are born not from the womb of a queen, but by EVMs. Vinod Sonkar, the sitting MP, has changed the picture of the area over the past 10 years. We have to move forward with a bigger goal now and re-elect him, she added. Patel also addressed an election rally in Kaushambi, the last day of campaigning before the seat went to polls on Monday. Here too, she took her late fathers name to give an emotional speech about how he worked to uplift the society without holding any official post. The NDA government is going to get a hat-trick under the leadership of PM Modi in 2024... we will form the government at the Centre for the third consecutive time. The deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Moradabad region, Muniraj G, has ordered the transfer of the investigation against BJPs Dhampur MLA Ashok Rana and his son Priyankar Rana to Sambhal Police. For representation only (HT File Photo) The Bijnor police was investigating the case of arson and firing at the site of a road construction company at Feena village in district Bijnor in which Rana and Priyankar were accused. Bijnor SP Neeraj Kumar Jadaun confirmed that the investigation in the case has been transferred to Sambhal police. The case has been transferred to Sambhal police and we will extend our support to them in their investigation, said Jadaun. The transfer of investigation was confirmed on Thursday while Bijnor police moved the court the same day seeking a non-bailable arrest warrant against the MLAs son in a Bijnor court. Sources said that the defendants had given an application to the state government for transfer of investigation from Bijnor police. The transfer of investigation is being seen as a relief to the MLA and his son because the Bijnor police was very close to solving the case with the arrest of Priyankar. A case was registered against MLA Ashok Rana and his son Priyankar Rana on the complaint of road construction companys manager Ravi Pundeer. He accused them of demanding money since the company was given the contract of widening the road in Bijnor district and his men put vehicles and machines on fire and also opened fire at the companys plant site in village Feena on April 29. Police arrested three accused immediately after the incident along with weapons. Later, it identified eight others who were also involved in the incident. Three of them later surrendered and were sent to jail, while raids were being conducted to arrest the remaining five accused. Sources said that police had enough evidence to arrest the MLAs son after interrogating the arrested persons, hence it moved the court to seek an NBW against Priyankar Rana. Earlier, a local court rejected the application of the MLA and his son for anticipatory bail, and they moved the Allahabad high court for it, but withdrew their application. A day later the investigation was transferred to the Sambhal police. Efforts of resident welfare associations (RWAs) will be recognised if the residential societies they are associated with record a high voting percentage, divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob announced on Saturday. District officials at a meeting hosted at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan where members of over 200 RWAs and public welfare committees pledged to celebrate Monday as a mahaparv or grand festival. (HT) The senior official spoke at a meeting hosted at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan where members of over 200 RWAs and public welfare committees pledged to celebrate Monday, when Lucknow votes, as a mahaparv or grand festival. The meeting resulted from the HT Spotlight initiative hosted at the HT office here on Wednesday. Lucknow Development Authority vice-chairperson Indramani Tripathi had announced to organise a mega outreach programme with RWAs. Those living in high-rises are privileged. Hence, they should set an example for others. RWAs are partners of the administration in the elections, said Jacob. While the administration is doing its best in providing facilities to voters, including equipping 14 apartment premises with polling booths, it is also the duty of RWAs to ensure that residents come out in large numbers and vote, she said. The event was also attended by district magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar and municipal commissioner Indrajeet Singh, and convened by the LDA V-C. Meanwhile, Tripathi said transport officials were deploying e-rickshaws at housing colonies for the sake of the elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities. Election fever Post-vote selfie We have asked voters to post their selfies in the societys WhatsApp group. The first 100 voters will be rewarded. If the district administration participates in our initiative, more people will turn up. Anju Varshney, Nehru Enclave Door-to-door visits A team of four to five people will go to every apartment asking people to come out and vote Vivek Sharma of LDA apartments in Jankipuram Lucky draw contests Five lucky draw contests will be held for 260 voters. The five lucky voters will be rewarded. To ensure maximum voting, the association has decided that the lotteries will not be conducted if the turnout is less than 260. Only after 260 out of 325 votes from our society are cast, we will go ahead with the lottery. Vidya Sagar Pandey, Parijat Apartment Owners Association Masterstroke of a move Its a masterstroke to build polling booths in high-rise societies. We should encourage all our neighbours to actively vote in this election. Anish Mathew from, Sunrise Apartments The Pimpri-Chinchwad police have arrested a 30-year-old security guard for allegedly cutting two holes on her wifes genitals and attach a padlock on her private parts. The police have arrested the accused, identified as Upendra Balbahhadur Hudke, 30, from Wakad and hailing from Nepal. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO) The police have arrested the accused, identified as Upendra Balbahhadur Hudke, 30, from Wakad and hailing from Nepal. According to the police, the incident that took place at their Wakad residence was reported at 10 pm on May 11. The accuseds 28-year-old wife, who filed the complaint, underwent surgery at a private hospital and her condition is stated to be stable. As per the complainant, the accused allegedly physically abused her and tied her with dupatta before cutting two holes on her private parts with a kitchen knife and put a lock on her genital area. Wakad police station officials said, The couple moved to Pune in May this year in search of job. The accused committed the brutality as he was suspicious of his wifes character. The police have filed a case under Sections 326 (causing grievous hurt), 506(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Demon Slayer Season 4 premiered only last week, and it's already slaying the anime TV rankings for the second week of May 2024 (May 6 to May 12). Titled To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, the one-hour-long first episode of the Hashira Training Arc finally kicked off the highly anticipated comeback anime chapter of the beloved series based on Koyoharu Gotouge's manga. Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 1 aired on May 12 and earned a rating of 6.9%, whereas My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 2 released on May 11 and secured a viewership score of 3.2%. Ufotable's TV series has climbed the ranks as one of the indisputable shows fleshed out by the Japanese animation industry in the contemporary timeline. Its source text material reigns as one of the best-selling manga series ever. Taking the cake, the cumulative combination of all pop culture content derived from the mangaTV anime, movies, and video gameshas also bolstered Demon Slayer's dominance as one of the highest-grossing media franchises in history. Upon Season 4's premiere on Sunday, May 12, the Hashira Training Arc opening episode banked an average household rating of 6.9%, earning the 2nd rank. These figures were based on the Japanese marketing research company Video Research's audience measurement for TV in the Kanto Region. Also read | Wind Breaker Episode 8: Exact release date, where to watch and more Household anime staples Sazae-san, Detective Conan, Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, One Piece, and Wonderful Precure firmly held onto their constant weekly stations on the chart. Worldwide Otakus also particularly cheered for yet another shonen anime's May premiere: My Hero Academia Season 7. The superhero series based on Kohei Horikoshi's manga launched its seventh installment on Saturday, May 4. Nippon Television aired the second episode of the latest season on May 11. It earned an average household viewership rating of 3.2% and ranked No. 5 on the weekly anime TV chart. Anime films/drama on air during May Week 2 Some prominent anime movies also graced the small screens during the week. Nippon Television played Studio Ghibli's 1995 romantic drama film on Friday, May 10, at 9 p.m. Despite being a years-old premiere, the heartwarming broadcast earned a 6.5% rating. Also read | Weekend anime box office rankings: Detective Conan, Blue Lock Episode Nagi films hold steady, Haikyu slips down Rohan at the Louvre, the live-action film based on the popular anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's spinoff manga, played on NHK on May 6 at 3:55 pm. It secured a 2.4% rating. Lastly, an episode of the Blue Moment manga live-action series adaptation aired on Fuji TV on May 8 at 10 pm. It also earned a top-ranking spot in the Drama category with a 6.9% rating. May Anime TV Rankings (Week 2 for Kanto region) Anime Broadcasting Channel Premiere Date/Time Averahe Household Rate 1. Sazae-San Fuji TV May 12 / 6:30 pm 7.5% 2. Demon Slayer Season 4 premiere (Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc Episode 1) Fuji TV May 12 / 11:15 pm 6.9% 3. Detective Conan Nippon TV May 11 / 6 pm 5.9% 4. Chibi Maruko-chan Fuji TV May 12 / 6 pm 5.2.% 5. My Hero Academia Season 7 Nippon TV May 11 / 5:30 pm 3.2% 6. Wonderful Precure TV Asahi May 12 / 8:30 am 3.0% 7. Doraemon TV Asahi May 11 / 5 pm 3.0% 8. Crayon Shin-chan TV Asahi May 11 / 4:30 pm 2.7% 9. One Piece Fuji TV May 12 / 9:30 am 2.7% 10. Gigantosaurus Season 3 NHK-E May 11 / 8:10 am 1.6% 11. Curious George NHK-E May 11 / 8:35 am 1.6% Source: Video Research CloverWorks' latest anime that adapts Satoru Nii's manga, serialised in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket publication is persistently landing punches and hard hits right on the target each week. The Friday Japanese TV program revolves around a group of high school troublemakers, whose stories profoundly map out a network of connections, as they search for their purpose amidst it all. It's all over as soon as they let their fists fly and do the talking. Stills from the Wind Breaker anime.(CloverWorks) Crunchyroll describes the series as: Welcome to Furin High School, an institution infamous for its population of brawny brutes who solve every conflict with a show of strength. Some of the students even formed a group, Bofurin, which protects the town. Haruka Sakura, a first-year student who moved in from out of town, is only interested in one thing: fighting his way to the top. Here's what you can expect from Wind Breaker Episode 8, as the action-packed series hurtles into the latter half chapters of the 13-episode run. Also read | My Hero Academia Chapter 423 spoilers: Deku-Shigaraki's foreboding team up for One For All vs All For One climax Wind Breaker Episode 8 Release date According to several media sources, the next Wind Breaker episode will air in Japan on Friday, May 24, 2024, at 12:26 am JST. Where to watch Wind Breaker Episode 8? After local Japanese TV networks broadcast the episode, international audiences may rely on Crunchyroll to watch the episode. Global audiences may refer to the following estimated release schedule for its eventual Crunchyroll premiere: Pacific Daylight Time: Thursday, May 23, at 8:26 am Eastern Daylight Time: Thursday, May 23, at 11:26 am Central European Summer Time: Thursday, May 23, at 5:26 pm Indian Standard Time: Thursday, May 23, at 8:56 pm Australian Central Standard Time: Friday, May 24, at 12:56 am Also read | Ludicrous reason why Amazon dumped Silk: Spider Society despite ordering Nicolas Cage-led Spider-Man Noir | Report Wind Breaker Episode 7 Recap Kodansha's official manga platform on X/Twitter revealed earlier that the anime program's Episode 7 (broadcasted on May 17) picked up the action-laden storyline right off the manga, beginning from Chapter 16. As also highlighted in the Episode 7 preview, the last anime episode jumped into a flashback, centred around Togame as he seemingly reels from the loss of someone close to him. Eventually, the present moment takes over again, setting the mood for Togame and Sakura's showdown. Togame earns the upper hand in the fight. Ultimately, Sakura can't hold back from calling out his opponent's side as bullies. Things don't end on a mellow note for them. Togama is once again pulled back by his retrospective memories of the past, linked to his and Tomiyama's beginnings in the Shishitoren. Scratching the surface of the bittersweet history, he recalls how things started off bright for them. However, once Tomiyama took on the leader's mantle, Togame helped enforce his new vicious hierearchy. And so, these visions of shifting dynamics from the past set up the continuation of Togame and Sakura's fight in the next episode, which will likely conclude with the latter biting the dust. Bofurin's future hangs in the balance, as another much-awaited epic crossfire between Hajime Umemiya and Choji Tomiyama may unfold soon. It's Cannes Film Festival season again, which means another reunion for L'Oreal ambassadors Aishwarya Rai and Eva Longoria. The actors walked the red carpet together ahead of the premiere of Emma Stone's Kinds of Kindness. Now, we have landed on a sweet video of the two from Friday night's event. (Also read: Aishwarya Rai goes all out with dramatic blue look for second Cannes 2024 appearance. Watch) Eva Longoria and Aishwarya Rai made sure to share the love on the Cannes red carpet. Aishwarya and Eva take over Cannes The video, shared on Aishwarya and Eva's fan pages, on social media, shows Eva and her entourage making their way to the red carpet when they spot Aishwarya sitting in her car with her own team. Eva and Aishwarya scream for each other as those around them smile and laugh. Eva rushes to greet Aishwarya inside the car, holds her hand and they talk about catching up. The rest of it is quite inaudible. Watch the video: However, we can confirm that Aishwarya and Eva did catch up on the red carpet. Eva wore a sizzling white-silver sequinned dress while Aishwarya brought blue feathery fury to the red carpet. They hugged and cuddled for the cameras and struck cute poses together. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (R) pose with US actress, producer, director Eva Longoria as they arrive for the screening of the film Kinds Of Kindness at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.(AFP) Aishwarya's Cannes looks On Thursday, Aishwarya walked the Cannes red carpet for the premiere of Francis Ford Coppolas Megalopolis in a black gown by designers Falguni & Shane Peacock. A regular at the Cannes Film Festival for the past two decades, Aishwarya struck a pose in the monochrome gown adorned with 3D metallic elements and golden accents while walking the red carpet. The custom-made creation showcased a corset-inspired silhouette and a floor-sweeping train. The 50-year-old actor was attending the premiere of Hollywood legend Coppolas latest movie Megalopolis, starring Adam Driver. Her right hand had a cast, which she has been wearing for an unspecified injury. Aishwarya and her daughter, Aaradhya, who has been attending the film gala for the past few years as well, arrived at Cannes on Thursday afternoon. Aishwarya was last seen in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan I and II. Kiara Advani's Cannes debut is breaking the internet. The actor who made her first appearance at the 77th Cannes Film Festival was seen attending the Red Sea Film Festival at French Riviera on Day 2. Kiara looked stunning in her orange gown as the pictures went viral. (Also read: Kiara Advani stuns in ivory outfit ahead of her 77th Cannes Film Festival debut, calls it rendezvous at the Riviera) Kiara Advani made her second Cannes 2024 appearance in an orange outfit. Kiara represents India at Women in Cinema event Kiara was captured heading to Cannes at the Mumbai airport on May 16. She is representing India at Red Sea Film Foundation's Women in Cinema Gala dinner at the festival, hosted by Vanity Fair. It will emphasise on India's growing influence in the global cinema landscape. Women artists from around the globe will come together as their contribution to cinema shall be acknowledged at the event. On her first day at Cannes, Kiara mesmerised her fans as she mmade her debut in a white ivory outfit with a deep neckline and thigh-high slit. She was styled by Lakshmi Lehr Prabal Gurung. About Kiara Advani Kiara made her Bollywood debut with Fugly. However, she shot to fame with films like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Lust Stories, Kabir Singh, Sherhshaah, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Satyaprem Ki Katha. She married her Shershaah co-star Sidharth Malhotra on February 7, 2023. Kiara Advani's upcoming projects Kiara will be next seen in S Shankar's action-thriller Game Changer opposite Ram Charan. The Telugu action saga also features Anjali, S. J. Suryah, Jayaram, Sunil, Srikanth, Samuthirakani and Nassar in crucial roles. She is also geared up to her entry into YRF spy universe alongside Hrithik Roshan-Jr NTR in War 2. The film will be directed by Ayan Mukerji. Kiara is also a part of Farhan Akhtar's Ranveer Singh starrer action-thriller Don 3. There is yet to be an official confirmation about her addtion to Yash starrer Toxic. Shyam Benegal's Manthan was screened at the Cannes Film Festival at the Cannes Classics segment on Friday. Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah and Prateik Babbar were seen attending the screening, as they walked the red carpet. Film Heritage Foundation also shared a bunch of pictures from the screening of the film. (Also read: Cannes Film Festival competition entry The Girl With The Needle may be dark and Dickensian but has a ray of hope) Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah and Prateik Babbar pose for the restored version of film "Manthan" (The Churning) presented as part Cannes Classics. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe(REUTERS) Manthan team at Cannes For the special screening, Naseeruddin opted for a cream-coloured sherwani. Meanwhile, Ratna looked radiant in a golden sari paired with a redesigned lavender blouse. Prateik opted for a black suit, and accessorized it was a scarf on his neck which belonged to his late mother, actor Smita Patil. He also shared pictures of look on his Instagram profile. More details Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of Film Heritage Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation behind the restored print, also attended the film's screening. Meanwhile, Film Heritage Foundation took to their Instagram handle and shared a bunch of pictures from the screening of Manthan. "It was a truly memorable evening as FHF's restoration of 'Manthan' had its world premiere yesterday at the Festival de Cannes 2024 ending with a standing ovation for Naseeruddin Shah and much appreciation for the quality of the restoration the audience. We wish Shyam Benegal had been with us to enjoy the moment," read the caption. Manthan was co-written by Shyam Benegal and celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar, and it was also entirely crowdfunded by 5 lakh farmers who donated 2 each. According to the festival's official website, the restoration of Manthan was carried out using the 35mm original camera negative preserved at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India with sound digitised from the 35 mm release print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. Actor Richa Chadha is all set to welcome her first baby with husband actor Ali Fazal in July. She reveals they are yet to tweak their life as well as their house for the arrival of the baby. (Also read: Exclusive| Richa Chadha on her pregnancy: Ali and I are excited for new phase) In February, Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal announced that they're expecting their first baby. In a recent interview with News18, Richa says she is looking forward to finding some time with Ali to discuss a lot of things, including baby names. Till now, Richa was busy with work and promotion of her web show, Heeramandi. Meanwhile, Ali is in Delhi shooting for Mani Ratnams action-drama Thug Life along with Kamal Haasan. Trying to find the time Talking about their preparation to welcome their bundle of joy, Richa said, We havent discussed names yet! We havent had the time. I was so busy with Heeramandi and some production work before that. And Ali has been shooting non-stop. Were looking forward to finding some time for ourselves soon and that will be a good time to reset and look at the home environment. When she got to know about her pregnancy, Richa went into planning mode and fix her schedule. The 37-year-old confessed that she started pondering whether she will have to push the film she was producing from March to October. She also thought about changing things around in her house to make space for the little one. While her thoughts were practical, her pregnancy hit her only after a week. Since then, Richa is enjoying this phase, but trying to find time from her hectic schedule to discuss things with Ali. A chill pregnancy The actor reveals that she is managing her pregnancy well, calling it pretty chill. Richa said, Im not nervous at all. Im still working every day. I want to continue to be chill. I think we make a big deal out of it, especially today. Women are told what to do and what to watch when theyre pregnant. Im enjoying watching true crime at this point. However, there is one thing she is staying away from during this period, and it is social media. About their pregnancy announcement In February, Richa and Ali took to Instagram to break the news in a creative, adorable way. The first photo had an unusual equation: 1 + 1 = 3. The second photo was of the couple staring into each other's eyes. While Ali wore a colourful shirt and a white overcoat, Richa sported a black dress with frilled sleeves. A pregnant emoji was used at the bottom of the picture. The caption of their post read, A tiny heartbeat is the loudest sound in our world" (loved emoji). Richa and Ali met on the sets of their popular franchise Fukrey. They got married in 2020, and celebrated their wedding in 2022. Shah Rukh Khan typically avoids discussing political issues. However, the actor taught his fans the meaning of democracy in his monologue from Atlee's Jawan. Shah Rukh has once again appealed to the citizens of India to consider the best interests of the country. (Also read: Salman Khan urges fans to vote in 2024 elections: 'Don't trouble your Bharat Mata') Shah Rukh Khan has appealed to his fans to vote on May 20 for Phase 5 elections. Shah Rukh Khan urges fans to vote on May 20 The Dunki actor took to his Instagram stories and wrote, As responsible Indian citizens we must exercise our right to vote this Monday in Maharashtra. Let's carry out our duty as Indians and vote keeping our country's best interests in mind. Go forth promote, our right to vote. He also tweeted it too. A user posted his Jawan monologue in the comment and captioned it as, Way to go @iamsrk (fire emoji) Vote against hatred. Vote for development. Another fan captioned his comment as, Vote keeping our countrys best interests in mind Thank You King for asking the people of Maharashtra to Vote for India. (tricolour emoji) A user also wrote, Indirectly he's saying Vote for India (tricolour emoji). Another fan opined, Every vote is a step towards a brighter future. Let's make Monday count! (ballot box emoji). Shah Rukh often posts about issues concerning national awareness linked to the government initiatives. He had congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the new parliament building was inaugurated in 2023. The phase 5 of general elections 2024 will be held on May 20. On the same day polls will be conducted in different constituencies in Maharashtra. As the voting day is nearing, politicians and Bollywood artistes are appealing to the citizens to exercise their democratic rights. Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming projects Shah Rukh was last seen in Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki, co-starring Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Boman Irani, Vikram Kochchar and others in crucial roles. The actor will be next seen in YRF's Tiger Vs Pathaan with Salman Khan. Cannes, Veteran director Shyam Benegal's "Manthan", a film financed by 5 lakh farmers of Gujarat 48 years ago, made a triumphant return to the spotlight and public consciousness with its screening at the Cannes Film Festival. HT Image A restored version of the 1976 movie, inspired by the groundbreaking milk cooperative movement by Dr Verghese Kurien that transformed India into one of the largest milk producers in the world, was showcased under the Cannes Classics segment on Friday. Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah walked the red carpet at Cannes along with wife Ratna Pathak Shah, late co-star Smita Patil's son Prateik Babbar, Dr Kurien's daughter Nirmala Kurien, and Amul MD Jayen Mehta. "'Manthan' team of Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Prateik Babbar, Ms Nirmala Kurien, @FHF_Official team, & Shri @Jayen_Mehta , MD, Amul, representing 3.6 million farmer producers of the film at @Festival_Cannes #ManthanAtCannes," the official X page of Amul posted. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of Film Heritage Foundation , the not-for-profit organisation behind the restored print, also attended the film's screening. "Film Heritage Foundation returned to the red carpet at Cannes for a third year in a row last night at the world premiere of our restoration of Shyam Benegals landmark film 'Manthan', produced by 500,000 dairy farmers, at the Cannes Film Festival 2024," FHF posted on X. Fronted by Patil, the film was inspired by the milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, who led 'Operation Flood' to transform India from a milk-deficient country to one of the world's biggest milk producer and is credited for creating the billion-dollar brand Amul. Co-written by Benegal and celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Gujarat-set "Manthan" was one of its kind as it was entirely crowdfunded by 5 lakh farmers who donated 2 each. The film won two National Film Awards in 1977: for best feature film in Hindi and for best screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also India's official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category. Benegal, who skipped the premiere due to health reasons, recalled how the farmers of Gujarat also made the film a hit by watching it en masse in theatres. "The farmers, who had produced the film, helped make it successful. Once the film opened in Saurashtra, Gujarat, it had an excellent run. It was because of the farmers, they were the original audience of the film. They got their families. "They wanted everybody to see it as they believed it was their film. They all would come on bullock carts to see the film, be it from Ahmedabad, Baroda or other places in Gujarat. We didn't do any kind of publicity, the film developed its own momentum," the 89-year-old filmmaker told PTI earlier this week. "Manthan" is the third consecutive movie restored by the FHF to head to Cannes, one of the most prestigious film galas around the world. The FHF brought a restoration of G Aravindan's Malayalam movie "Thampu" to Cannes Classics in 2022, followed by the restored "Ishanou" directed by Manipuri auteur Aribam Syam Sharma under the same segment last year. According to the festival's official website, the restoration of "Manthan" was carried out using the 35mm original camera negative preserved at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India with sound digitised from the 35 mm release print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. It was restored at Prasad Corporation Pvt. Ltd.s PostStudios, Chennai and LImmagine Ritrovata Laboratory, in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, cinematographer Govind Nihalani and Benegal. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Amid divorce rumours swirling online, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reunited for a brief rendevous on Thursday evening. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez look on from the front row during the first half of a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.(Getty Images via AFP) Leading media reports still suggest that the couple, who wedded less than two years ago, is no longer living under the same roof. Moreover, amid the alleged growing marital tensions, the Hollywood stars reportedly embarked on solo house-hunting tours for their next chapter apart from each other. Page Six claimed that with Bennifer's new-age breakup possibly on the cards, Affleck has moved into the same neighbourhood as his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner. Despite the messy entanglement, Bennifer seemed to have buried the hatchet for their kids' sake. They crossed paths for Fin's (Ben's kid) school play and publicly got together for the first time in over a month. Also read | Kanye tried to tell everyone: Candace Owens endorses theory why Diddy is not in jail despite triggering hotel video Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez splitting up? According to TMZ's sources, The Accountant star and JLo arrived at the venue separately. They were both photographed holding flower bouquets for Fin. Ben and Jen kept their distance despite being seen filling the air with conversations, Ben and Jen kept their distance. Lopez's child, Emme, also attended the school play event. Fans of the It couple presumed that Ben and Jen came out in public together to shut down the rumours and noise surrounding their relationship. While there's no official confirmation of how they're swinging in their marriage, one thing stands they no longer live together. After the play, Ben was seen giving Jennifer and Emme a ride back to their Beverly Hills mansion, which the couple purchased for $60 million last year. Also read | Ludicrous reason why Amazon dumped Silk: Spider Society despite ordering Nicolas Cage-led Spider-Man Noir | Report TMZ reported that the Air actor turned his car around and headed to his Brentwood rental. Earlier that day, Affleck also spent quality time with his mother, Chris, minus JLo. With several sources citing varying stories, it's hard to say what the true picture will look like in its final strands. Despite rumours about them splitting up arising from the ground on all sides, the pair reportedly still keeps their wedding rings on in public. This will fuel their tumultuous relationship history if they choose to part ways. They first got together in 2002 after filming Gigli as costars. Thereafter, they were engaged for some time but called it quits in 2004. Their love story intertwined their red threads of fate twenty laters later as they again got engaged in 2022, paving the way for a Las Vegas wedding ceremony. All five members of NewJeans, including Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, have reportedly filed a petition in court expressing their support for Min Hee Jin. The controversial CEO, who manages the Billboard-performing artists, is currently engaged in a feud with HYBE Labels, the parent company of ADOR. The petition letter submitted to the Seoul Central District Court is said to be drafted in favor of Min Hee Jin; however, the exact details are yet to be revealed. NewJeans(BBMA) NewJeans members voices support for Min Hee Jin Previously, only the parents of NewJeans members openly supported Min Hee Jin against HYBE's CEO Bang Si Hyuk, accusing him of alleged exploitation and mistreatment towards NewJeans. The email detailing the incident also mentioned instances of blatant plagiarism and constant attempts to undermine the group. In a recent development, media reporters uncovered that court documents from the May 17 hearing included petition letters submitted by Danielle Marsh, Kim Minji, Hanni Pham, Kang Haerin, and Lee Hyein as per Yonhap. Also read: BTS Jungkook's Golden found dumped in toilets after SEVENTEEN's mass discard on Japans streets NewJeans picks side in HYBE vs Min Hee Jin This is the first time that the rising K-pop girl group has picked a side every since the authority battle between Hybe and ADOR started. Previously, it was noted that the parents of the group members also filed a petition supporting Min Hee Jin in court. In the meantime, in an effort to avoid the civil court stripping their voting privileges at ADORs upcoming shareholders meeting, which is set to take place on May 31, KST, HYBE must provide evidence to support the accusations against Min Hee Jin that would allow her termination as CEO. Responding to the petition filed, a rep of Hybe said, "Min Hee Jin has no interest in protecting the artists. If she truly considers herself the 'Mother of NewJeans', she would act as a shield and stand in front of them to protect them from hardships; however, she is instead using the members as a shield to protect herself." Reported by AllKpop. Also read: Ben Affleck in search for new home in LA, Jennifer Lopez caught doing the same amid split rumours The alleged collective support for Min Hee Jin comes a day after reports surfaced that HYBE was planning to send NewJeans on an indefinite hiatus. As disclosed by one of the parents, the K-pop giant intended to give the group a break after their Tokyo Dome concerts in Japan next month. While not specifying the duration of the break, the representative who spoke to NewJeans also mentioned that they would collaborate with a Grammy-winning music producer but it will take some time, around one and a half years. Every year, the Cannes Film Festival sets the ball rolling in picking some of the best films of the year. The 77th edition of one of the most prestigious festival boasts an array of exciting new titles from filmmakers all over the world. We pick a few films- in no particular order- that are on our must-watch radar. (Also read: Emma Stone dances on Cannes red carpet, makes funny faces as her Kinds of Kindness gets a standing ovation) Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14- 25. All We Imagine as Light An Indian feature film in competition after three decades? Count us excited for All We Imagine as Light by director Payal Kapadia the most. This Indo- French production follows Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a nurse, who receives an unexpected gift from her long estranged husband. Her younger friend and roommate, Anu (Divya Prabha) is in search of a quiet spot with her lover. The two women take a road trip to a beach town where they find space for their dreams and desires to flow. This is also Kapadia's first feature debut, with her previous work: the documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing had clinched the Golden Eye award at Cannes a few years ago. Also read: Kerala nurses' story breaks India's Palme d'Or jinx in Cannes Kinds of Kindness Yorgos Lanthimos seems to have embraced his Dogtooth-era fascination with weirdly funny and non-conformist roots with his latest competition feature. Kinds of Kindness arrives with amusing trivia. It was made during the post-production of Poor Things, and reunites him with stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley. At 165 minutes, this is also a triptych of separate stories rolled into one. If the wild early reviews are any indication, this one is definitely a ride. Also read: Kinds of Kindness premieres at Cannes 2024: Emma Stone leads cast on the red carpet Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola marks his return to the French Riveira after decades with his magnum opus Megalopolis. It is definitely some kind of a cinema event. That he self-produced Megalopolis with an entire portion of his wine fortune sells a story of a celebrated director finally taking a swing of creative abandon to tell a story the way he wants to. Starring Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Laurence Fishburne, the film has already divided critics after its premiere. Also read: Megalopolis first reactions: Francis Ford Coppolas delirious fever dream of a film divides audience Santosh Apart from All We Imagine as Light, also making a case for India at Cannes this year is Sandhya Suri-directed drama Santosh which screens at the Un Certain Regard section. The film follows a widowed woman (Shahana Goswami) who is given the job of her dead husband: a cop. The Apprentice Is the world ready for a film on a young Donald Trump? Cannes sure is. Sebastian Stan plays the former President in Ali Abbasis The Apprentice, which tells the journey of his early days, where Trump was mentored by a lawyer named Roy Cohn (played by Succession's Kendall Roy, Jeremy Strong). Abbasi has even gone on to say that The Apprentice isnt a satire. There is also the casting of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm star Maria Bakalova, who essays Ivana Trump. The Balconettes The closest that Portrait of a Lady on Fire fans can think of a reunion of sorts. Noemie Merlant wrote the script of her sophomore feature The Balconettes in collaboration with Celine Sciamma. This dark comedy follows the story of three women, played by Merlant, Sanda Codreneau, and Soheila Yacoub, as they start to obsess over their neighbors lives during a massive heat wave. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga George Miller's much-awaited prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road made its first stop at Cannes earlier this week. The early reviews are euphoric, and the action spectacle received a rapturous response at the premiere, culminating into a 7-minute long standing ovation. Furiosa has The Queen's Gambit actor Anya Taylor-Joy take over the role played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, whereas Chris Hemsworth steps in as a demented warlord. Furiosa releases in India on May 23. Also read: Cannes 2024: Chris Hemsworth-starrer Furiosa A Mad Max Saga gets 7-minute standing ovation Scenarios and Expose du film annonce du film Scenario The final film by Jean-Luc Godard was completed a day before the master of the French New Wave died by assisted suicide at 91 in his home in Rolle, Switzerland. The 18-minute film, Scenarios, will be shown at Cannes alongside Expose du film annonce du film Scenario, a 34-minute film which goes behind the scenes to document how the film was made in the first place. Bird Will director Andrea Arnold snatch another Jury Prize for her Competition entry Bird? The British auteur has been a permanent at the festival, and has snagged the Jury Prize three times before: for Red Road, Fish Tank, and American Honey. Bird sees the director tell the story of a 12 year-old girl named Bailey, and the bond she shares with her father (played by Saltburn star Barry Keoghan) and a stranger named Bird (German actor Franz Rogowski). The early reviews have been universally positive, picking it as an early contender for the Palme d'Or. Oh, Canada Paul Schraders is back in Cannes with Oh, Canada, which is deemed to be his most autobographical project yet. Based on the novel Foregone by Russell Banks, this Competition entry stars Richard Gere as the writer Leonard Fife and his journey to Canada. Jacob Elordi plays the younger version of him, and the supporting cast include Michael Imperioli, Kristine Froseth, and Uma Thurman. What Gurucharan told police after returning home As per the report, Gurucharan Singh told the police officials during the interrogation that he had left his worldly life and was on a religious journey. In the last few days, the actor stopped at gurudwaras in many cities including Amritsar and Ludhiana. However, he later realised that he should return home. According to the report, the police also during its investigation also found that Gurucharan Singh was a follower of a sect that practices meditation. He even showed interest in going to the Himalayas for meditation. The Delhi Police had filed a case of kidnapping and an investigation was underway to find him. About Gurucharan Singh Gurucharan Singh, who was visiting his parents in Delhi, was expected to return to Mumbai. His family registered a complaint, informing the police that he had been missing since April 22. About Gurucharan Singh's financial situation Reportedly, Gurucharan Singh was a frequent user of credit cards and kept many bank accounts for financial activities. Police also found that he operated more than 10 bank accounts. As per a Free Press Journal report, he withdrew 14,000 from an ATM. He took out cash and used credit cards to settle the balance on one card with another. Recently, Gurucharan Singh's father, Hargit Singh, had said that he was unaware of his son not being in a good financial condition. Speaking with Bombay Times, Hargit had said, "I had no idea about my son's financial situation. He never told me anything about it. So I am not aware of all this." Gurucharan Singh poses for camera In the picture, Gurucharan Singh smiled as he stood next to the cop. The actor looked tired. Reacting to ANI's post, a person wrote, "Mans aged." In the photo, Gurucharan Singh wore a striped turban and black T-shirt. What Gurucharan Singh said after returning home Soon after he returned to his residence, the actor was questioned by Delhi Police, and his statement was recorded before a local court. The actor deposed that he left home for a spiritual journey, the police informed. Gurucharan Singh's disappearance Earlier in April, Gurucharan Singh's father filed a complaint with Delhi Police, detailing his son's sudden disappearance since his departure for Mumbai. According to his father's statement, Gurucharan Singh, who was visiting his parents in Delhi, was expected to return to Mumbai. But he never reached the city. During the initial investigation, the police also found that the actor was operating multiple bank accounts for financial transactions and was frequently using credit cards despite not being in a sound fiscal state. Friends and relatives of the actor initially told police that Gurucharan Singh was indulging his spiritual side and had even put forward the thought of going to the mountains. Earlier, the president of the All Indian Cine Workers Association, Suresh Shyamlal Gupta, urged Delhi's lieutenant governor VK Saxena and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to ensure an expeditious probe into the matter. After finding fame essaying the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, the actor quit the popular show a few years ago. with ANI inputs If you have watched British dark comedy drama-thriller Baby Reindeer, it is possible that you have been looking over your shoulder in dark alleyways. You may be thinking twice before sharing your email ID with strangers and keeping your phone number safe. You may be terrified of offering anyone a glass of drink out of kindness because what if the next morning you wake up and find a message that ends with these haunting words: Sent from my iPhone! Martha Scotts character has prompted all the viewers to ask a common question: is she just an abuser or a victim too? (Netflix screenshots) Martha Scotts character has prompted all the viewers to ask a common question: is she just an abuser or a victim too? Considering that the story is true and the real stalker exists, HindustanTimes.com spoke to Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist Sohom Das, who weighed in on the character and her personality traits. Das, who lives and works in London, treats and rehabilitates criminals who are mentally disordered. He provides evidence to criminal trials about defendants with various mental illnesses. Richard Gadd, who created and starred in the Netflix drama, has played a fictionalised version of himself in the show. He has claimed that it is a true story and that he has indeed been a victim of a stalking. The story revolves around struggling comedian Donny Dunn (Gadd), who befriends a lawyer named Martha Scott, played by actress Jessica Gunning, when she visits the bar he was working at. He offers her a free drink out of kindness, prompting an everlasting nightmare. Martha begins to relentlessly stalk Donny, turn up at his work and home, and spend days and nights outside his house. Is Martha Scott just an abuser or a victim too? There is some reference near the end of the series that Martha grew up in a chaotic household. So, it appears that she was a victim in childhood. Tragically, this pattern is far too familiar for me, within my line of work. There is very often some kind of developmental trauma, said Das, whose YouTube channel explores the crossroads of mental illness and offending.. However, speaking of the dynamics between Martha and Donny, she is clearly the aggressor, and not the victim, even though she was potentially encouraged at times, he added. Richard Gadd (Donny Dunn) and Jessica Gunning (Martha Scott) in Baby Reindeer (Netflix screenshot) Gadd was fairly self-reflective in the drama, admitting despite his terrifying stalking experience that he, at times, had led Martha on. So was Donny just a victim of stalking or was he, in any way, responsible for the situation getting worse? Das said, I dont think those two categories are mutually exclusive. Gadds character, Donny, was both. He was undoubtedly the victim of stalking, but he occasionally enticed Martha. This seemingly was related to sympathy for her and also to his own insecurities, fragile ego and need for admiration. Marthas character seemed delusional and obsessive, so even the slightest encouragement was hugely exaggerated in her mind. Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist Sohom Das weighed in on Martha Scott's character and her personality traits (Sohom Das/Facebook) Did Martha Scott battle any mental illness? Das analysed Marthas (or Gadds stalkers) character and asserted that we must separate errant personality traits from actual mental illness. Martha clearly was obsessive, narcissistic, deceptive, fanatical and a fantasist. She was also extremely stubborn and obstinate, not taking no for an answer. Additionally, she was vindictive when she did not get her own way, Das said. In my opinion, Martha very likely had some kind of personality disorder - i.e. there is something wrong with her inherent disposition, which bleeds into a skewed perspective of the world and herself. However, this is different from an actual mental illness, which is a chemically imbalanced change from one's normal baseline mental state, he continued. Jessica Gunning (Martha Scott) in Baby Reindeer (Netflix screenshot) Das added, It is possible that Martha additionally had a degree of depression. In my opinion, she may have had a delusional disorder as well; i.e. she fully believed that she was in a relationship with Donny and was psychologically unwilling and unable to absorb any evidence to the contrary. Struggles of sexual assault victims Donny revealed in the series that he was sexually assaulted by an older man. This, too, is based on Gadds own experience and we don't know whether it was fictionalised. Later in life, he said he pitied Martha and hesitated to report her to the police because he never reported the man who assaulted him, and he thought the man was a bigger monster. Das opened up on whether it is common for survivors of sexual assault to find it difficult to navigate through life and make important decisions. I have assessed several victims. As well as developing mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, there are often chronic issues with their behaviours and interactions. This can range from being promiscuous, using alcohol and drugs, being overprotective of their children, mistrusting other people and struggling to make daily decisions because of high levels of self-doubt and low levels of self-esteem, he said. What mental health issues do stalkers have? Das also explained whether all stalkers suffer from mental health issues. Most stalkers have specific hazardous personality traits (similar to Martha), and some white cross the threshold for an actual personality disorder, he said. He added, However, only a very small proportion will have a literal diagnosable and treatable mental illness. When this does happen, it is often Erotomania (also known as De Clerambault's Syndrome). This is a mental health condition where someone has a fixed and false belief that another person, usually of higher social status or someone they don't know well, is intensely in love with them. This belief is not based on reality and persists despite evidence to the contrary. The person with erotomania may misinterpret everyday events as signs of love from the other person. The exact cause of erotomania is unknown, but it's thought to be linked to a combination of factors, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Take a look at Das video on 5 myths about stalkers: We commonly hear about women being stalked. Das stressed the same fact, claiming that women are disproportionately affected. However, we also have to consider that men may be less likely to report stalking, due to social stigma or not recognising it as a crime. We see these factors at play in Baby Reindeer, delaying Donny in reporting his stalker to the police, he concluded. Meanwhile, despite Gadds efforts to keep his stalkers identity concealed, internet sleuths tracked down a woman named Fiona Harvey, who has now admitted to being the woman Gadd portrayed as his stalker. However, appearing on an interview with English broadcaster Piers Morgan, she dismissed the stalking claims, accusing both Gadd and Netflix of lying. The unique baobab trees, also known as Malagasy baobabs or upside-down trees, have a distinctive structure and are often called the mother of the forest. The name upside down comes from their appearance, as if their roots are upwards, unlike that of other trees. The various names, including mother of the forest in the Malagasy language, the upside-down tree, and the tree of life, because of their unique features, which you will explore as you read this.(Getty Images via BBC) According to a study published in Nature, ancient Egyptians might have marvelled at these trees dating back to around 2,300 BC. Baobabs belong to the Adansonia genus in the Malvaceae family (specifically in the Bombacoideae subfamily). There are eight different species of baobabs, each with its own unique characteristics. Interestingly, baobabs have an unusual distribution, with one species found widely across continental Africa, another restricted to Northwestern Australia, and six species endemic to Madagascar. Also Read | Climate change to intensify heatwave in India: Scientists The various names, including mother of the forest in the Malagasy language, the upside-down tree, and the tree of life, because of their unique features, which you will explore as you read this. Origin The research suggests that the ancestor of eight baobab species originated in Africa's Madagascar about 41.1 million years ago while the first baobab tree appeared around 21 million years ago. Between 20.6 million and 12.6 million years ago, the daughter species diversified, partly due to a process called reticulate evolution, which involves hybridisation. The separation into different species was also influenced by geological changes like mountain formation and volcanic activity, creating new habitats with unique climates and soils. How would these trees have crossed oceans? According to the study, these baobab plants probably reached Africa and Australia by floating on or with vegetation rafts. The Indian Ocean gyre, a strong circular ocean current, likely played a crucial role in transporting baobab seed pods over long distances. Baobab seed pods may have travelled an astonishing 4,000 miles from Madagascar to Australia with the assistance of the Indian Ocean gyre. After reaching Australia, the gyre circulated back towards Africa, potentially depositing the pods around 250 miles from their original location. What does the study say - All baobab species except A. digitata are listed in The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2023. - Three Malagasy species are at risk of extinction: Adansonia perrieri is critically endangered, and Adansonia grandidieri and Adansonia suarezensis are endangered. - The study further said that the conservation efforts should focus on protecting Malagasy baobabs, particularly Adansonia suarezensis and Adansonia grandidieri. Features of this tree - Baobab trees are majestic, growing up to 82 feet (25 meters) tall and living for thousands of years. They are known as the tree of life because they can store water, provide food, and offer medicinal benefits from their leaves. - Baobab fruits and seeds are edible, and their trunks can store thousands of litres of water during dry seasons. According to a BBC report, these trees can weigh several hundred tonnes, equivalent to at least 14 African elephants, and their trunks can reach a diameter of 11 meters. - Multiple species of baobab trees are found across different regions: Adansonia digitata in Africa, Adansonia gregorii in northwestern Australia, and six endemic species in Madagascar. - Baobab fruits are considered a superfood, and their trunk fibres can be used to make ropes or clothing. They produce large white flowers that bloom at dusk, attracting bats for pollination and serving as important bird nesting sites. Dont let the idea of planning a date intimidate you any more! Young couples in Delhi-NCR are here to serve the inspo with museum dates becoming the new in-thing. On International Museum Day, today, some duos share what excites them to explore the exhibits at the museums through their phones lens while donning the rose-tinted glasses of love. In addition, the new-age museum founders and curators share how they are making these spaces more interactive for the serial daters. A still from Bollywood film Ki & Ka (2016), which shows actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arjun Kapoor on a date at the National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri. Embarking on the trend, in the age of #MuseumAesthetic, some couples are heading to museums to capture their lovey-dovey moments forever. A lot has to do with the aesthetics of the place since its a constant demand to make ones gram that much more exciting, especially when theres the presence of a mystery lover, says Vanya Malhotra. This final-year student of Delhi University is a fan of Museo Camera in Gurugrams sector 28, and has been visiting it regularly along with her boyfriend Ahaan Yadav, a final-year engineering student. Malhotra adds, Museums are best places to click aesthetical pictures, and these places are also less expensive to hang out and much convenient way to spend longer duration of time with your partner. Museo Camera has in fact has added a totally different touch and taste to our dates. Museo Camera in Gurugram is fast emerging as a fav hang out spot for youngsters who like to visit for not coffee and conversations. The online demand for aesthetics is among the top reasons why this trend has risen, and why so many of my generation are opting for museum dates, opines Sidakpreet Singh, a Delhi-based software engineer, who has explored quite a few museums with his partner. Its not about clicking each others photos, but also about capturing the aesthetics of ones date. The best way to do this is by clicking a photo of your partner from the back with the gallery or an exhibit showing in the backdrop. The idea is to show that they are looking at the artefact on display, but you are just looking at them! Shinni Mehta and Saksham Arora on a date at the Museum of Illusions in Connaught Place. Its also an effort to connect with one's inner child thats making many gravitate towards museums because these places offer a release of inhibitions. Like when we visit the Museum of Illusions, in Connaught Place, it leaves us astonished and befuddled, shares Shinni Mehta, a final-year student of DU who visited this place with her boyfriend Saksham Arora, a graduate in physiotherapy. We had been dating for quite a few years and got bored of sitting in cafes and stuffing ourselves with carbs. The urge to find an alternative landed us to this museum that is filled with illusions and must say, it was our best date ever! We didnt just connect with our inner child but also built a more deeper connect with each other while exploring our goofy side. The illusions tricked our senses and made us question what lays in front of us and how much we trust each other. May like Delhiite Jay Singh keep their Insta profiles happening by creating a sense of mystery around their current dating partner. Here's one such example of how he did it while visiting the Partition Museum inside Dara Shikoh Library Building at Kashmere Gate.(Photo: Instagram) Be it the National Museum or the Partition Museum, theres something about these places of historical significance that pulls history buffs to share their love for the old artefacts, with their partners. More often than not, Ive gone to a museum with my partner, armed with a notebook and a pen. Who would believe thats my backpack for a date? But its actually not just about meeting, its also a learning experience, says Jay Singh, a history student at Delhi University, adding, Museums are honestly a haven for us because they offer an insight into what we study as a primary subject, as well as allow us the time and space to discuss about their politics. Hats off to those to preserve these treasure troves. And now its become cool to even bring along those friends who are not actually studying history or interested in this subject since there are also some quirky museums in the city. Love amid Muse-eums Capturing the essence of museum aesthetic is only possible when its curators make it interactive and engaging, feels Aditya Arya, founder of Museo Camera, adding, Young couples visit us in scores of thousands, and I find them sitting across the museum... Dating surrounded by art! I think thats how it should be because todays museums are not just repositories of the past. These are also places that engage with the present, and create spaces that are experiential. Thats why we have visitors constantly making reels. And to serve that purpose, we recently set-up a space outside, under a tree, with furniture made of old railroad sleepers. This is the place to sit, have a cup of coffee, and talk to somebody. Noticing a similar influx of couples at the Partition Museum in Kashmere Gate is Kishwer Desai, its curator, who feels, Its not the technicalities of an object but the narrative of stories of love that excites many. The subject of the museum is very serious, and youngsters have the curiosity to explore these stories... Its always interesting to embark on this discovery of knowledge with a person you care for! Besides, our staff aged between 20s and 30s in a way encourages more young people to visit since its not a static museum and we keep organising events that most find fascinating. What is #MuseumAesthetic? Museums are not just explored with the naked eye, but also through the lens in todays day and age. Keeping this at the core, the trend of museum aesthetic highlights the acquired habit of clicking pictures of ones date with the museum exhibits in the backdrop. Yes, it might look at quite arty-farty, but thats what gets Insta likes! For more, follow @htcity.delhijunction Actor Raj Arjun does not mind wearing the Secret Superstar (2017) actor tag. He feels its its a prized recognition that he earned after years of waiting. Actor Raj Arjun at La Martiniere College during his recent visit to Lucknow for the shoot of film Match Fixing I came from Bhopal in 1999 to become an actor and it took me nearly 18 years to arrive. I hardly had any work in all these years. Earlier, I used to wonder why everyone associated me with just one film but my life indeed changed after Secret Superstar. So, I took it as a benchmark to try multidimensional roles which adds more feather to my cap, says the Article 370 actor on his visit to Lucknow. He adds, Now, during my silver jubilee year in the industry, I can say that I am in the best phase of my career. Regional, Hindi and pan-India films all is happening and all different kinds of work and very powerful roles Arjun recently shot for the film Match Fixing with actor Vineet Kumar Singh in city. Last seen in Razakar Silent Genocide of Hyderabad, the actor says, My role of Kasim Razvi in my last release, Khawar Ali in Article 370 and RN Veerappan in Thalaivii (2021) got me a lot of love from the audience. Industry people are coming to me with praise and offering me good roles. So, I just need to be focused and keep working hard. The Pilibhit (2021) actor has completed multiple projects of late. I play a Pakistani counterpart in political-drama Match Fixing, I play the antagonist in Telugu film Gum Gum Ganesha, again antagonist in Farhan Akhtars production film Yudhra followed by Ram Gopal Vermas film Rush that I am still shooting. Arjun adds, For me content and what I am doing in the project is very important. I have politely refused many projects still many makes took offense to it which I had to suffer. But, I am content. Good work is happening and kaafi alag tarah ka kaam aney wala hai! On shooting in Lucknow, he says, Yahan to bas there is one agenda food! From chaat to kebabs, biryani and sweets I have tried my best to savour all the delicacies. Khud ja kar sab cheezon ka maza liya and have enjoyed everything. Its truly a food heaven! Nine people were killed, and several others have been injured after a bus they were travelling in caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Haryana's Nuh district on Friday night. According to officials, the incident took place around 2:30 am. 8 killed as bus catches fire on expressway near Haryana's Nuh (PTI) Reportedly, the bus was carrying devotees - who were on their way to Chandigarh from Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh when the incident occurred. According to the police, there were around 60 people onboard - all pilgrims from Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, and Chandigarh. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Meanwhile, the injured people have been brought to the Nuh Medical College for treatment, reported ANI. The police also informed that the fire was brought under control within an hour with the help of locals and a police team. Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed expressed grief over the incident and said that several people, including the elderly, women, and children, have been injured in the incident. A video posted by news agency PTI shows the charred bus on the expressway. Several people and ambulances can also be seen at the incident spot. In a similar incident this week, six people, including an eight-year-old girl, were charred to death, and 13 others were injured when a private bus they were travelling in burst into flames after colliding with a tipper truck laden with gravel in Andhra Pradeshs Palnadu district in the wee hours of Wednesday. According to the police, the accident took place around 1.30 am between Annambatlavari Palem and Pasumarru villages near Chilakaluripet when the private bus was going to Hyderabad from Chinnaganjam town in Bapatla district with around 40 passengers. Following the incident, Andhra Pradesh governor S Abdul Nazeer, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telugu Desam Party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief and offered their condolences to the bereaved family members. The governor also instructed the officials to provide proper medical facilities to the injured persons. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday claimed Swati Maliwal filed the assault FIR against Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the behest of the ruling BJP. AAP leader Atishi claimed that the former DCW chief was made to "hatch this conspiracy" using an old Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) case as leverage. AAP MP Swati Maliwal leaves Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence, in New Delhi.(PTI) "The way ED, CBI, anti-corruption bureau, Income tax dept, Economic Offences Wing were used to blackmail opposition leaders and make them join BJP, similarly in the Swati Maliwal case the same formula was used. There is a case against Swati Maliwal by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, an FIR has been made and a probe is underway and using this, Swati Maliwal was made to hatch this conspiracy and was used as a pawn," Atishi told ANI. Atishi alleged that Swati Maliwal had been in touch with BJP leaders. "There should be an unbiased probe on who was in contact with whom. Swati Maliwali met all BJP members and when, what conversation they had on call and on WhatsApp," she added. In 2016, ACB had filed a charge sheet against Maliwal for allegedly making illegal appointments in the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). It claimed she favoured AAP workers. Swati Mailwal has alleged that Bibhav Kumar thrashed her inside Arvind Kejriwal's drawing room on Monday. She has filed a police complaint against Arvind Kejriwal's aide. Bibhav Kumar has also lodged a complaint against Swati Maliwal, claiming she abused him with the intent to assault him. Also read: Swati Maliwal barged in, abused Delhi CM staff: Bibhav Kumars charges Meanwhile, BJP chief JP Nadda slammed the AAP for claiming that his party had sent Swati Maliwal to entrap Arvind Kejriwal. He said AAP has no credibility. "Aam Aadmi Party is a party built on the foundation of lies and its credibility is not zero, it is in minus. Today Arvind Kejriwal has been exposed in front of the people of the country and the people of Delhi, he has been exposed in every way... If this thing has been hatched by BJP then why were you moving the mic (during PC in Lucknow) from here to there? Why are you silent? What is stopping you?" he told ANI. JP Nadda further said no BJP leader was in touch with Swati Maliwal. According to Maliwal's FIR, Arvind Kejriwal was present in the house when the alleged assault took place. She claimed Bibhav Kumar had slapped her 8 times and kicked her in the stomach. The AAP on Friday claimed Swati Maliwal wanted to target Arvind Kejriwal. The party also claimed that she was seen arguing with security personnel and abusing Kumar, in a video. Kumar said Swati Maliwal wanted to meet Arvind Kejriwal without an appointment and barged into his house. Just two weeks after US President Joe Biden referred to India as xenophobic, White House national security communications advisor, John Kirby, has described India as a vibrant democracy. Responding to a question on the country's ongoing general elections, Kirby said that there are not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India. White House national security communications advisor John Kirby(AP) Not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India. And we applaud the Indian people for exercising, you know, their ability to vote, and to have a voice in their future government. And we wish them well throughout the process, of course, Kirby told reporters at a press conference. John Kirby added that the India-US relationship has strengthened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last three years. Our relationship with India is extremely close and getting closer, he said. You saw it on a State Visit (last June). We launched all kinds of new initiatives, working on critical emerging technologies together, and bolstering and expanding the relevance of the Indo-Pacific quad, of course, which India is a part of. And then, just the people-to-people exchanges, and the military that we share with India It's a very vibrant, very active partnership We are grateful for Prime Minister Modi's leadership, said the senior White House official. When asked if President Joe Biden believes that India and Japan are xenophobic countries, Kirby replied in the negative. He said the president was making a broader point. I mean, the president was making a broader point here about the vibrancy of our own democracy, here in the United States, and how inclusive and participatory it is, he said. In a statement made earlier this month, US President Joe Biden said, You know, one of the reasons our economy is growing is because we welcome immigrants" Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because theyre xenophobic, they dont want immigrants, he added. Meanwhile, national security communications advisor John Kirby said, The broader point that the president was making and I think people all around the world recognize this is that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and its in our DNA Were better for it, were stronger for it. Were not going to walk away from it. With inputs from PTI Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah's recent Kashmir visit amid the Lok Sabha elections was to help candidates from the BJP's proxy parties in the ongoing national polls. National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah is contesting from Baramulla. (PTI) While the BJP has not fielded its own candidates, its B, C, and D teams, be it the bucket, apple, cricket bat or ink-pot, have been working on its directions, Abdullah told reporters in Gurez. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) vice-president was referring to the election symbols of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), People's Conference, Apni Party and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), respectively. Incidentally, both JKNC and PDP are among members of the opposition INDIA group of opposition parties. The four parties, Abdullah claimed, had come together on the BJP-led Centre's directions to attack his party. Also Read | BJP fighting Lok Sabha polls in Kashmir through proxies: Omar Abdullah Recently, (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad declared support for (jailed ex-MLA) Engineer Rashid. As far as I know Azad, he would not have taken such a decision without the permission of the Prime Minister or the home minister. So, it is a possibility that all these parties have come together only to target the National Conference, he stated. Rashid, who is lodged in Tihar jail, filed his nomination from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency, which is also being contested by the former chief minister. Voting for the Baramulla will be held on May 20, in the fifth leg of the seven-phase elections. Meanwhile, the politician, 54, also called for a relationship of friendship with Pakistan. There is a new government in Pakistan and we will have a new government (referring to INDIA bloc) here after June 4. The people will decide who the Prime Minister will be. But we hope that both the countries will create such an atmosphere that we are able to establish a relationship of friendship, Abdullah said. (With PTI inputs) Silchar: The Assam police announced that it will carry out the third round of fitness tests to detect overweight employees in the department in August. Director general of Assam Police, Gyanendra Pratap Singh, during a BMI test last year (HT Photo) 97.53% of candidates passed the first-ever Body Mass Index (BMI) test conducted by the Assam Police in August last year. Assam director general of police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh took to X on May 16, he wrote, One year since we announced the first of the annual BMI test for@assampolicepersonnel. Buoyed by encouraging first steps, its time to start preparing for 2024 BMI test scheduled to start from August 16th 2024. Singh on May 16 last year issued an order and asked all the police personnel to prepare themselves to go through professional recording of BMI. According to the official records, over 70,000 police personnel went through the tests at 36 locations across the state. Singh was the first officer to attend the test to encourage other officers. According to Singh, the standard for the first BMI test was 30 and all the officials recorded 30+ were considered obese or overweight. While announcing the BMI test, the DGP had said those who fail after the second phase will be sent to voluntary retirement. There will be exceptions for those suffering from medical conditions for which body weight cannot be reduced. However, he later said that their motto was not to punish anyone but to bring them under discipline. Well increase the stand year by year and after the success in the first two phases, we are optimistic that in the next few years, Assam Police will emerge as the fittest force in the country, Singh had told HT in January this year. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a widely used measure to determine whether a persons weight falls within the healthy range. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms into meters by the square of your height (BMI = weight (kg)/ height (m2). BMI provides a rough estimate of the percentage of body fat and helps the individual to divide into different categories, a senior police officer said. In line with directions of the Hon@CMOfficeAssam,@assampoliceHq has decided to go in for professional recording of Body Mass Index (BMI) of all Assam Police personnel including IPS/APS officers and all DEF/Bn/Organisations. We plan to give three months time to all Assam Police personnel including IPS & APS officers till August 15th and then start BMI assessment in next fifteen days. All those who are in obese (BMI 30+) category would be offered another three months time to reduce weight (till November End) and after that VRS option except those who have genuine medical ground like thyroidism etc.@DGPAssamPolicewould be the first to have the BMI taken on August 16th, Singh informed via X on May 16. Baramulla, Independent candidate from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat Abdul Rashid Sheikh, who is lodged in Tihar for alleged terror-funding activities, has significantly reduced his liabilities and increased assets in the last five years, his poll affidavit shows. Baramulla: In jail since 2019, Engineer Rashid declares assets increased, liabilities reduced in five years Better known as 'Engineer Rashid', the former MLA's assets are now valued at 1.55 crore compared to 80 lakh in 2019. It includes a 41,072 sq ft non-agriculture land in his home town Langate and a house in Srinagar worth 90 lakh. A science graduate with a diploma in civil engineering, Rashid has declared 11.31 lakh home loan and 3.11 lakh Kissan Credit Card loan as liabilities. The 59-year-old former MLA has only 1,424 in his sole bank account, his financial disclosures show. In the affidavit, he has cited pension as his source of income and his spouse works as a "housemaid". Five years earlier, he had declared a residential house in the posh Jawahar Nagar locality of Srinagar, purchased in 2017, as his only asset and also stated that he had a liability of 60 lakh towards a home loan from a bank. Rashid was arrested in 2019 after his name cropped up in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency related to money laundering and waging war against the country. This case also names the designated terrorist and chief of banned Lashker-e-Taiba Hafeez Saeed as an accused. He has been navigating a complex web of allegations and forging ahead in his political pursuits with the help of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party led by Ghulam Nabi Azad. Rashid won the Langate assembly segment in 2008 and 2014 and also unsuccessfully contested the 2019 parliamentary elections. On October 7, 2017, he sparked a major controversy by hosting a beef party on the lawns of the MLA hostel in Srinagar and said, "No court or legislature can prevent the people from eating what they want." He was assaulted by BJP MLAs inside the assembly the next day. Rashid has floated the Awami Itihad Party and is fighting the Lok Sabha polls this time as an Independent. Claiming that he is innocent, the former MLA's supporters are seeking votes by raising the slogan "jail ka badla vote se". His son Abrar and ex-Congress MLA Shoib Lone are leading Rashid's campaign from his traditional Langate seat in North Kashmir. According to the FIR by the NIA, the case against Rashid was registered for raising, receiving and collecting funds through illegal means to fund separatist and militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir and for causing disruption in the Valley by way of pelting stones on the security forces, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India. His name cropped up during the interrogation of businessman and co-accused Zahoor Watali. Later, Rashid's bail application was rejected by a special court in Delhi, stating that the accused had received unaccounted funds from Watali against whom there had already been reasonable grounds for a prima facie case under the Unlawful Activities Act. Besides Rashid, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, People's Conference president Sajad Lone, PDP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Mir Fayaz are the notable contestants in the Baramulla seat. Polling in the Baramulla parliamentary constituency will be held in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. After Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police on Saturday on charges of assaulting Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, Bibhav's father told news agency ANI that the BJP only wanted Bibhav to leave Kejriwal. He said he spoke to his son in the wake of the controversy and got to know that Bibhav was having his breakfast when the incident with Swati Maliwal took place. "You can ask anyone about Bibhav's nature and he was never violent. He said she (Swati Maliwal) came to do something big. But he did not even touch her and she was removed by the security guards," Maheshwar Rai said. Bibhav Kumar's father said Bibhav is good-natured and has never been violent with anyone Bibhav was taken into custody on Saturday, five days after the incident took place. As Bibhav's lawyer moved for an anticipatory bail, Delhi Police arrested him making his anticipatory bail infructuous in the court. Anticipatory bail is only valid before an arrest. Kejriwal mentioned Bibhav's arrest as he announced that he along with all other AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday at 12 noon so that the BJP can arrest whoever they want instead of arresting them one by one. Kejriwal said he got to know that Raghav Chadha who returned from London after an eye operation, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj are all on the list to get arrested eventually. In her FIR, Swati Maliwal said she was slapped, kicked and beaten up by Bibhav on May 13 when she called the police from Kejriwal's residence. Though the party initially admitted the incident and promised action against the culprit, now AAP stood by Bibhav and said Swati Maliwal was sent by the BJP. The party also claimed that in the videos that came to the surface, Swati Maliwal did not look injured. Rather, she was seen shouting at Bibhav Kumar in a video which Maliwal termed 'out of context'. Bodies of three hostages were recovered from the war-torn Gaza Strip on Friday amid fierce fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas, the Israeli military announced in a statement. Palestinians walk past damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza City on May 17, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by AFP) The victims are Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, and Shani Louk, and their bodies were discovered in an overnight operation, according to the statement, which quoted IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The victims were at the Supernova music festival on the morning of the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, where they then fled to the Mefalsim area. There, they were killed by the Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were taken to Gaza, Rear Admiral Hagari said. Of the three hostages, two Gelerenter and Buskila were earlier presumed to be alive, while Louk was confirmed dead in late October after a piece of her skull was identified following widely-shared footage of the terrorists kidnapping her. The recovery operations have been going on for a long time already, the IDF spokesperson further stated, adding that the intelligence came from some of the arrested Palestinian terror suspects. "The intense fighting in all parts of the Gaza Strip continues. The task of utmost importance of returning the hostages is on the mind of every commander and fighter in the field," he added. The Israeli military also called on the public to refrain from spreading rumours. Keep our forces safe. Listen to the IDF spokesperson's messages and the official bodies only. We will update with any information that is available, transparently, first of all the families and then the public through the media, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel claimed more than 1170 people, mostly civilians, with several others taken as hostages, as per the Israeli official figures. The IDF's military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda said in an interview that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the party's "ideological front". Replying to a query on how the RSS' presence within the BJP has changed compared to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's era, JP Nadda said the party's structure has become stronger, and now it runs itself. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda with party candidate from Bhubaneswar, Aparajita Sarangi. (ANI file photo) JP Nadda said in the interview that during Vajpayee's time, the party needed the RSS (to run itself) because it would have been less capable, smaller. Shuru mein hum aksham honge, thora kum honge, RSS ki zaroorat padti thi Aaj hum badh gaye hain, saksham hai toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai (In the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself). Thats the difference," the BJP chief said in an interview with The Indian Express. When asked if the BJP needs RSS' support, JP Nadda said the party has grown and its leaders perform their own duties and roles. He said the RSS is a "cultural and social" outfit, whereas the BJP is a political party. JP Nadda said the RSS has been working ideologically. "We are managing our affairs in our own way. And thats what political parties should do," he told the newspaper. JP Nadda further said the BJP doesn't have immediate plans to construct temples in Mathura and Varanasi's dispute sites. The BJP does not have any such idea, plan or desire. There are no discussions either," he claimed. RSS was founded on 27 September, 1925. It has been the BJP's ideological mentor and is known to have helped the party grow from a fledgling outfit to a political behemoth. Many of the BJP's senior leaders have been RSS workers and members. Mohan Bhagwat leads the organisation. The BJP's Lok Sabha election campaign has so far centered around its promise of development and its allegation that the Congress would snatch away reservation granted to SC, ST and OBC communities. In a joint declaration signed on May 16, 1974, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Bangladesh Premier Mujibur Rehman announced a series of joint measures aimed at augmenting Bangladeshs industrial potential and achieving the targets fixed in the balanced trade and payments agreement signed by the two countries last year. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with Bangladesh premier Mujibur Rehman at the signing of the agreement on May 16, 1974. (HT Archive) While various economic cooperation agreements were fairly smoothly processed and finalised well in time for the joint declaration, the talks on the question of border demarcation and the sharing of the Ganga waters claimed nearly four hours of extra time, delaying the signing of the declaration. The last-minute efforts led to a final agreement on the border question, but only an interim one on the Ganga waters. India agreed that the Farakka barrage would be commissioned only after a final accord was reached on the basis of augmenting the water resources of the Ganga during the dry season by harnessing the water potential of the eastern rivers. The details of the decisions on these issues as also the texts of the protocols on trade and joint ventures were not made public immediately. But officials indicated that the agreement on border demarcation would involve a package deal, including the transfer of Berubari to Bangladesh and the exchange of the 130 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh with the 95 Bangladesh enclaves in India. The residents of these enclaves, by implication, would be given the option to migrate to their respective countries. Another noteworthy decision of long-term benefit, mentioned in the joint declaration, related to steps aimed at resuming railway traffic between Calcutta and Agartala across Bangladesh, which would cut down the travelling time by nearly 40 hours. The declaration laid special emphasis on jute since an important position the commodity enjoyed as a foreign exchange earner for both the nations. It announced the appointment of a joint commission (at the level of Ministers) to promote co-operation in production, technical development and marketing. A joint committee (also with Ministers) will be set up to tackle the problem of clandestine trade in a variety of goods between India and Bangladesh. Before the declaration was issued the commerce ministers of the two countries DP Chattopadhyaya and Khandker Moshtaq Ahmed signed a protocol setting out a timebound schedule of delivery of the commodities listed in the trade agreement, coal for Bangladesh and newsprint and fresh and dry fish for India among the important items of merchandise. A similar protocol was signed on behalf of the Planning Commissions by Sukhomoy Chakravarti for India and Nurul Islam for Bangladesh on joint industrial ventures. The agreement listed three new industrial projects to be established in Bangladesh for the production of cement, fertilisers and sponge, iron and a clinker factory in India (Meghalaya) meant exclusively to feed a Bangladesh cement plant at Chittagong. Later, separate agreements were signed by finance ministry officials of the two governments formalising the Indian credit commitments a total of 79 crores to back the industrial ventures and the purchase by Bangladesh of machinery and a host of consumer goods from India. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs reviewed the Indo-Bangladesh talks before the Prime Ministers signed the joint declaration and the border demarcation agreement. The meeting was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The economic cooperation agreement provides for the establishment of a sponge iron plant with a capacity of five lakh tonnes per year at Shatnal, 64km from Dacca, a natural gas-based fertiliser plant with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of urea at the same place and a cement plant at Chatak with a capacity of 315,000 tonnes per year. For the sponge iron plant for which a feasibility study has already been made. India will supply 7.5 lakh tonnes of iron ore. Out of its estimated production of five lakh tonnes the Bangladesh steel plant will require 250,000 tonnes and the remaining will be sold to India. Indias assistance to this plant will amount to about 5 crores in the form of equipment, machinery and services. The two countries have come to the understanding that urea from the proposed fertiliser plant can be exported to India. The sponge iron plant and the fertiliser plant are planned in the same place from the point of view of transport economy. Carriers of iron ore to Shatnal can take back fertilisers to India. For the proposed cement plant, India will supply limestone and machinery. This plant is expected to be commissioned by 1977. India will extend credits to Bangladesh on mutually acceptable terms and conditions to finance the procurement of equipment, goods and services as may be available from India for these projects. The modalities of implementing the aforementioned decisions will be worked out immediately by officials of the two Governments and a programme of action submitted to their respective Governments. The Tamil Nadu government's initiative to restore all the traditional elephant corridors in the state to facilitate unrestricted movement of wildlife without running into conflict with humans has become a flashpoint with major political parties and prominent farmers' organisations objecting to the plan. The ambitious move claimed to be part of mitigation measures against the increasing cases of human-animal conflict, is now being termed an attempt to place conservation over the basic rights of people living close to forests for generations. The ruling DMK government under MK Stalin is under pressure with protest meetings having been held against the move across the state. If implemented, the plan will trigger large-scale displacement of land-owning farmers as well as traditional forest-dwelling tribal communities. While the opposition AIADMK and BJP have voiced strong concerns against reviving the corridors, DMK's alliance partner the CPI is also urging farmers living along the fringes of forests to resist the initiative. The plan Last year, the state government constituted an expert panel to identify elephant corridors in the state under V. Naganathan, additional principal chief conservator of forests. The panel reassessed the existing corridors in the state, including those identified in early studies conducted by the Project Elephant Division of the Union environment, forest and climate change ministry and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The panel released a list of 42 elephant corridors in April, and invited feedback from citizens on the draft report, setting a deadline of May 5. Environmentalists supported the report as it doubled the number of corridors in the state against the 20 corridors identified under the Project Elephant Division's report in 2023 and the 19 corridors identified by the WTI. Soon, farmers and political parties weighed in, finding faults with the report after the panel members confirmed that they recommended the revival of all the corridors by clearing obstructions including human settlements on the routes. Farmers' organisations accused the panel of being unrealistic. Most affected areas The synchronised wildlife census done in southern states in 2023 said Tamil Nadu was home to 2961 elephants. The state has witnessed intense wildlife conflict involving mainly elephants, tigers and wild boars, especially on the periphery of forests in Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Hosur and Sathyamangalam. The conflict is comparatively less in the Kalaikkad-Mudanthurai and Meghamalai forests in the south. Among the affected regions, the O-Valley panchayat in the Gudalur assembly constituency in the Nilgiris has become the hub of anti-corridor protests. The Gudalur constituency witnessed dawn-to-dusk strikes and the raising of black flags last week; protestors claim that as many as 37856 houses located in the O-Valley need to be relocated to restore the corridor. Once a prime forest, O-Valley is now a settlement of migrants, especially the Tamils of Sri Lankan origin who came to the state as refugees because of the ethnic violence in the island nation. Gudalur, which shares a border with Wayanad and Malappuram forests in Kerala and Chamarajanagar and Bandipur forests in Karnataka, is home to numerous small-scale farmers, agricultural workers, and plantation labourers. The land holdings are relatively small and extend to a maximum of five cents. They face displacement and an uncertain future now that 31 of the 42 corridors listed remain within the Gudalur constituency, local AIADMK MLA Pon Jayaseelan said. "We will not allow any attempt to place animals above humans," he said. Across Tamil Nadu, farmers' organisations are questioning the forest departments haste in releasing the draft when the poll code was in place and electioneering was at its peak. They said the corridor consolidation plan was drafted without taking the local communities into confidence or conducting discussions with them. However, Srinivas R Reddy, the states chief conservator of forest told HT that residents will not be moved from their current locations and the draft plan will soon be taken up for discussion with farmers and other concerned parties through district collectors. According to him, the elephant corridor in the area will be a narrow stretch, and will not affect the general public. But PL Sunadram, CPI leader and former MLA of Bhavanisagar expressed strong reservations about the move and questioned the forest departments intentions. "The draft plan was released on the Forest Department website on April 29, and people were told to give suggestions by May 7. The draft was in English, and it had 186 pages. Asking people to understand the content and give their suggestions in just a few days is completely unfair," he said. Sundaram also said the government should have published the draft in Tamil and given people 60 days to express their views. Former chief minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswami expressed strong reservations against the alleged arbitrary nature of the corridor proposal, saying that the draft plan did not adhere to the criteria for the 'right of passage' that is elaborated in the Centre's elephant project. According to tribal rights activist C R Bijoy, the Forest Rights Act of 2006 has given village forest committees in forest areas the right to protect forests and wildlife. He blamed the state government for failing to implement the Act properly in Tamil Nadu. According to him, as per the Act, the approval of village forest committees should be taken before new projects are taken up within forests. However, the opinion of the local people was not obtained before preparing the draft plan, he said. Meanwhile, the forest department has said in a statement that a strategic plan for connecting the fragmented habitats of elephants in the state will be compiled only with the public's cooperation and there would be separate plans for each corridor identified. The statement promises an Elephant Corridor Consolidation Plan after discussions with all those who are concerned. "All possible measures will be taken to avoid man-animal negative interactions and to ensure the safety of the local public. Therefore, people are requested not to believe the rumours or misinformation about the draft elephant corridor consolidation plan," the statement said. In 2023, the Project Elephant division identified 20 elephant corridors15 within Tamil Nadu and five interstate corridors between Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The Elephant Corridor Committee identified the 42 elephant corridors through ground validation, mapping, and surveys. In its report, the committee said human-elephant conflict has been widespread across 20 forest divisions in Tamil Nadu, with the highest number of cases reported from the Coimbatore, Gudalur, and Hosur forest divisions and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve. It also suggested steps against brick kilns in the Thadagam forest fringe region of Coimbatore where the units were set up after damaging elephant corridors. Elephant deaths and the importance of animal corridors Electrocution is said to be the main cause of unnatural elephant deaths, followed by bait bombs, poisoning, road accidents, train collisions, and hunting. Most unnatural deaths occur outside forests when elephants traverse the forest peripheries, as they prefer flat lands for movement between habitats. When attempting to enter plantations that farmers have secured with illegally powered fences, they frequently end up electrocuted. Biologists and experts believe securing elephant corridors and ensuring safe elephant movement paths could curtail deaths. These corridors also help maintain sustainable populations of national heritage animals with rich genetic diversity. Wildlife expert AJT Johnsingh said elephants are a critical species because their nomadic behaviour is immensely important to the environment. Herds of roaming elephants are landscape architects, facilitate seed dispersal, provide nutrition to plants and animals, are part of the forest food chain, and have an umbrella effect. Elephant corridors allow them to continue their nomadic survival mode despite shrinking forest cover by facilitating travel between distinct forest habitats. The corridors are often narrow, linear patches that establish connectivity across habitats. Additionally, elephants are genetically predisposed to never inbreed within their birth family, necessitating migration between gene pools to reproduce, he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power for two consecutive terms in Haryana since October 2014. It was a marginal player in the state before it swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by winning seven of the 10 seats with a 34.8% vote share. Since then, the party has been a dominant force in the state. Here are the five questions that will matter in deciding the 2024 Lok Sabha contest in Haryana: Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has led the Congresss campaign. (HT PHOTO) Can the BJP overcome 10-year anti-incumbency? The party is unlikely to repeat its 2019 Lok Sabha poll performance of winning all 10 seats with a vote share of 58%. It faces anti-incumbency in both urban and rural areas. The BJPs gambit of replacing Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister after over nine years with Naib Singh Saini, an Other Backward Class face, two months before the Lok Sabha polls was meant to partly to buck the anti-incumbency trend. However, it may not have the desired results. The withdrawal of the support of three Independent lawmakers to the Saini government and their backing of the opposition Congress made for bad optics for the BJP amid the election. Can the Congress overcome the factionalism to bounce back? Going by an unexpectedly smooth Lok Sabha ticket distribution, the Congresss balancing act seems to have brought a truce between the warring factions of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his detractors Randeep Hooda, Kumari Selja and Kiran Chaudhary. The choice of candidates is seemingly based on merit and winnability this time. Hooda, who played a key role in ticket selection, is leading the partys campaign. Riding on a groundswell of support for change, the Congress appears on a rebound and is poised to do better than its 2019 tally of zero. Will the BJP gain from the Modi factor and social coalition? The BJP can count on Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity, its time-tested trump card since 2014, to shore up its prospects. Consolidation of the non-Jats may not pay it the same dividends as in the last elections. The BJPs hard sell on the benefits of having the same party in power at the Centre and in the state now has diminishing returns. Its strategy of forging a social coalition of Punjabis, Brahmins, and other upper castes and Dalits may not work. The Dalits appear to gravitating towards the Congress which has fielded only two Jat candidates to defeat BJPs polarisation plans. What is in store for the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)? Led by the members of the Chaudhary Devi Lals family, both JJP and INLD are fighting a stay afloat. INLD, led by aging patriarch Om Prakash Chautala, is only a fringe player. JJP forged a post-2019 assembly poll tie-up with the BJP to form the government. It was ousted from power on March 12. JJP has since suffered a rebellion of at least seven of its 10 assembly members against the party chief Dushyant Chautala. In the wake of protests from farmers, which it claims to be its core base, JJP will find it hard to make much impact in the Lok Sabha and subsequent assembly polls this year. How will the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls influence the assembly elections due in October? The outcome can make or break BJPs prospects of returning to power for a third time. The 58.21% vote share of the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha in Haryana came down to 36.49% in assembly polls a few months later. The BJP, which won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state with leads in 79 assembly segments, could only get 40 of the 90 seats in the assembly polls. Saini is contesting an assembly by-poll and Khattar his first Lok Sabha election. The outcome will also decide the trajectories of their political careers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not foresee anti-incumbency derailing its bid to return to power with a resounding majority as people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modis development agenda, party president JP Nadda said in an interview with Smriti Kak Ramachandran on Friday, rejecting the Oppositions charge that the government was relying on polarisation to meet its electoral target. Edited excerpts: BJP president JP Nadda (HT) The BJP is chasing what seems to be a difficult target. How confident are you of bagging 400-plus seats? We will cross 370 seats on our own and 400 with our allies. We will retain the seats that we currently have, and in addition to that, we will win the majority of the seats in West Bengal, there will be a landslide win in Odisha, and in Andhra Pradesh (where, like Odisha, assembly polls are also being held) we will form the government with our alliance partner. In Telangana, we will double the seats we have. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, we will open our account. Does RSS help BJP politically? JP Nadda's 'runs itself' reply What about states such as Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka where reports indicate a loss in tally? Even in these states, we will win. There are some seats where there is a tight fight, but we do not foresee any losses. The BJP has been in power for 10 years. Why are you certain that there will be no anti-incumbency against the party? This government has been proactive, responsive and accountable. Because of this, the people of the country have accepted the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Look at G-20 Summit, even an ordinary rickshaw puller now knows what it is because Modiji linked it to the people of this country. Look at the war in Ukraine, a vegetable seller also knows how Modi put Indias stand up front. A common man agrees that Modiji saved the lives of 140 crore people during Covid (pandemic). And they also know what the role of the Opposition in all these three events was. There is pro-incumbency and people want national security. Earlier, our MiG21 pilots crashed during test flights, today we have the Rafale. We didnt have bullet-proof jackets. We couldnt make our own fighter aircraft. We couldnt make our helicopters ...today we do all of that. People can see how the surgical strikes and [the Balakot] air strikes were conducted and what has been the trajectory of our relations with Pakistan. They have realised that Modi is the best choice. Your rivals say that the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine has been politicised by the BJP. It [the evacuation] was never done before. When did PM Indira Gandhi intervene? She was such a powerful woman. ...So youre saying it was more than just evacuation, there was also intervention? I double checked with the external affairs minister before going on record...he (the PM) first spoke to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and then (Ukraines Volodymyr) Zelensky and saw to it that it (evacuation) happened accordingly. Our cabinet ministers were sent as envoys to bring people back. When was this done before?... We carried out evacuation from Afghanistan and YemenAll of this was done during our government and the common man agrees, Modi hai to mumkin hai (its possible if there is Modi). The Congress and other opposition parties allege the BJP needs 400-plus seats to be able to carry out changes to the Constitution and scrap caste-based reservation. Rahul Gandhis knowledge is limited. It was his great grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) who first tinkered with the Constitution and an attempt was made to infringe on freedom of speech. Then his grandmother (Indira Gandhi) tried to do it... when the Allahabad high court judgment came against her, and she tried to save her seat. Then it was done by his father (Rajiv Gandhi) in the Shah Bano case for the sake of vote bank politics. Then he himself publicly tore the ordinance (passed by the Manmohan Singh government that gave convicted lawmakers a three-month reprieve to retain their seats). A government is a constitutionally elected body, it can be any government or any Prime Minister, but he tore the ordinance passed by his own government. PM Modi has unequivocally said that till he is there, no changes will be made to the Constitution or to reservation. We have been in power for the last 10 years, barring Jammu and Kashmir, have you ever heard of Presidents Rule being imposed anywhere? Congress has a record of dismissing more than 100 state governments. You (Rahul) carry a copy of the Constitution around, but have you ever read it? Baba Sahab Ambedkar had clearly said there will be no reservation on religious basis. What did your government in Karnataka do? They impinged on the reservation for SC, ST and OBC. (The state announced a 6% reservation in Muslims, Buddhists, and Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity under category More Backward). Your government was dismissed in 2019, and we removed that reservation, but (CM) Siddaramaiah again got it back. Rahul Gandhi should go to Karnataka to make changes and then speak on the Constitution. They (opposition) are misleading the country and its people. Because they are bewildered, they are trying to create fear psychosis. The regional parties have been able to stall the BJPs electoral juggernaut. Now, some of them, together with the Congress, have forged an alliance. What is your take on the INDIA bloc? There is no clarity in the alliance. There is no common minimum programme, there is an ideological void, and such an alliance cannot go far. The BJP-led NDA on the other hand is moving ahead with ideological conviction and our numbers will be far more There is a broad consensus between them on issues like opposing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) or the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Do you think these issues are not good enough? Not at all. These are not good enough because the country is standing with NRC and UCC, the country supports CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). These people dont know what the country wants...while opposing PM Modi, they have begun to oppose the nation. Do you perceive regional parties as a bigger challenge than the Congress? The regional parties came up because the Congress that was ruling the country, made no effort to understand and acknowledge regional aspirations In Kerala they (Congress) are reduced in strength and in Tamil Nadu, they became a fringe party. And who took their place in all these states... it was the regional parties. The Congress has now become a regional party too; it is now a family-run party. Its existence is limited to three people, Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi. ... And the Congress has been behaving like a regional party. Why did they oppose the abrogation of Article 370? If they had any understanding of how this country works, they would have never opposed it. They were only interested in their alliance with the regional party in Jammu and Kashmir. In West Bengal, the BJP did quite well in the last election and you are hoping to do better. But CM Mamata Banerjee is a formidable opponent and has accused the BJP of fomenting lies about Sandeshkhali. Mamata Banerjee does not know anything except lying. To stay in power, she ends up compromising on issues of national interest. She refuses to speak about the changes in demography. She makes compromises for the sake of appeasing her vote bank. And with impunity and shamelessness, she has been making a concerted effort to hide her sins. It is painful that a woman is making efforts to hide the crimes against women in her state. The BJP has been able to accomplish two major ideological promises -- the revocation of Article 370 and the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. How do you see these impacting the elections? They are not electoral but national issues for us. The day we got the mandate from the people, we abrogated Article 370. This has nothing to do with elections. In 1989, (at the national executive meeting) in Palampur, we passed a resolution for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. For us, these issues are associated with the sentiments of the people of this country, and the BJP gets support and blessings of the people based on these issues, and we will continue to get that. How does the BJP respond to allegations of breaking up political parties, and engineering dissent that was seen during the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh? People need to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. In Himachal Pradesh, 9 MLAs voted against you and the chief minister did not even get wind of it. You are on a weak footing, youve not been able to keep your house in order, but youre blaming others. There is a perception that the government misuses the Enforcement Directorate. ED has acted against those who have done wrong. Has any of these leaders got relief from a court? Has any court said these cases are wrong? Even in the case of (Delhi CM) Arvind Kejriwal who is out on bail...has the court said the charges are wrong? The truth is that during the Congress rule, ED was not doing its work and now it is. The Congress says the BJP is a super-deluxe washing machine. They say had the government acted fairly, then action would have been taken against former Congress leaders who are now in the BJP. There is no such thing. We have not stopped any cases against anyone. We do not disturb the legal and constitutional process. Theres been an influx of leaders from other parties to the BJP. Does this not create problems between the old guard and the new joinees? Since ours is a cadre-based, ideological party, we must increase our footprint. But we ensure that our ideological commitment doesnt get diluted. Its not like everyone can join our party. We assess what benefit we get from a certain person joining us. We also see if somebody is joining the party with a precondition, and the third is can we take care of the aspirations of our existing cadre. So far, we have been able to strike a balance. Take the case of Uttarakhand, we have the Bahuguna family and the ND Tewary family with us. These are two big families, but has the balance been disturbed? The internal strength of a party is such that whoever comes here will become ours, and those who cannot adjust will automatically be out. There was a time when the BJP was seen dependent on the RSS cadre for increasing its footprint on the ground. It [RSS] was also accused of wielding power. The RSS is a cultural and social organisation that works for the country and stands with those who put the nation first. We draw our ideological stance from the RSS. We have learnt the concept of nation first and unity of its people from them. As for taking political decisions is concerned, the BJP has a constitutional framework for running the party and taking its own decisions. We are a political party committed to ideology. Assembly polls are expected in J&K by September. Do you think the BJP cadre is demoralised and you have ceded space by not contesting the LS polls in the Valley? Where we think we have a chance of winning, we strengthen the organisation. Kashmir for us is not a party issue but a national issue. Today, we are very happy that Kashmir is in the mainstream and is participating in elections. We will fight the state election and we are capable enough to mobilise the cadre. Your party says justice for all, appeasement for none. But of late, even the PMs speeches have come under criticism for stoking polarisation. The PM has exposed what the Congress had tried to stealthily do... disturb the demography and social fabric of the country by honey-coating poison. In the (52nd) National Development Council meeting, the then PM Manmohan Singh clearly said minorities mean Muslim and they have the first right on the resources. In December (2006) at a press conference in Mumbai, he reiterated that for you (Congress) minorities means Muslims. You oppose CAA, which grants citizenship to Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis and only bars Muslims... for them Islamic issues are so important that they oppose a national issue. So, PM Modi exposed this honey-coated poison and for that, you have to use certain words such as Muslim or minority, but the intention was different. We are trying to unify the polity and join the country and they are trying to divide everyone. Do you think Kejriwal getting bail was special treatment and what do you make of his statements about Modi seeking votes to make home minister Amit Shah the PM. Also, what is your comment on Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwals allegations. The Supreme Court gave him relief and we respect the court. But peoples perception of this is in the public domain. Nothing remains hidden and what is to happen will happen. Nadda slams Rahul for leaving Amethi, bats for Smriti Irani The BJP is very clear that we will move ahead under the leadership of PM Modi. Everything that Kejriwal says is khayali pulao (day dreaming). There is no constitutional provision for it (an age limit on contesting polls), we take decisions as per our needs. As for the allegations by Maliwal, this is manifestation of his [Kejriwals] hypocrisy. A man who protested on the streets during the Nirbhaya incident, has been silent on what happened in his own drawing room. Other than being the largest party, the BJP is also one of the richest, and this has become a key election issue, particularly because of electoral bonds. We should understand how elections were conducted for 75 years and what kind of dhanda (business) was going on with these people (Congress) being the leaders of the pack. PM Modi introduced electoral bonds to ensure transparency. You should look at the proceedings in Parliament, people praised. Now. the Supreme Court has given an order which we respect, but how were you able to trace the donations, because there was transparency. You should look at the collections of parties that are not even half the size of the BJP. There are some companies that gave money and are under the scanner of some agency. It was a leap forward and a few steps backwards, but we will make efforts to improve. China-funded project helps preserve cultural heritage in Pakistan Xinhua) 13:05, May 18, 2024 Aerial photo taken on May 5, 2024 shows the archaeological site of the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, a UNESCO world heritage site, in northwest Pakistan's Mardan district. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) Pakistan is rich in cultural heritage with a large number of historical cultural sites sprawling across the South Asian country. China and Pakistan take an extra mile to preserve the sites, including Takht-i-Bahi, under the Guardians of Gandhara program run by Chinese and Pakistani scholars and volunteers. ISLAMABAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Walking up the stone stairs ascending to the archaeological site of an ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, Muhammad Haasan immersed himself in Buddhist history and culture as the exceptionally well-preserved majestic beauty of ruins bewildered the teenager. UNESCO World Heritage Site Takht-i-Bahi, one of the most prestigious Buddhist religious establishments in the ancient Gandhara region, is located in the country's northwest Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Pakistan is rich in cultural heritage with a large number of historical cultural sites sprawling across the South Asian country. China and Pakistan took an extra mile to preserve the sites, including Takht-i-Bahi, under the Guardians of Gandhara program run by Chinese and Pakistani scholars and volunteers. Students visit the archaeological site of the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, a UNESCO world heritage site, in northwest Pakistan's Mardan district, on May 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) "Every two weeks I come here with at least 50 students to learn about the Buddhist monastery, stupas, kings and their residential facilities. Our teachers have also organized tours to other museums in various cities and teach us about civilizations and historic sites," said the 13-year-old student of the heritage conservation classes launched under the Guardians of Gandhara program. "With the help of China, we will protect and conserve the heritage sites for future generations as the heritage sites are the connection to our history, community and identity," the student said. "The stories of ancient kings are very interesting. This archeological site provides us with important information as to how people about 2,000 years ago used to live, meditate and educate themselves. It's quite fascinating," said another student Tahira. Tourists visit the archaeological site of the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, a UNESCO world heritage site, in northwest Pakistan's Mardan district, on May 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) Talking to Xinhua, Maaz Ali, a teacher and conservation assistant at the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, KP, said that the main purpose of various educational projects was to make locals living near archeological sites aware about the heritage sites of Pakistan and rebuild their connection with cultural heritage. "Especially, young generation is in charge of Guardians of Gandhara as they will take a lead in preserving these important archeological sites of Pakistan in the future," he said. According to him, Pakistani and Chinese teams have been working together on the restoration of various archeological sites in Pakistan, adding that more sites are being identified for the conservation work. With restoration work done on several sites, Ali said that the number of tourists, especially Chinese and Japanese, have increased over the past years. "Thousands of tourists have been visiting the historical sites recently, injecting new impetus into the tourism sector of Pakistan and national development." Tourists visit the archaeological site of the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, a UNESCO world heritage site, in northwest Pakistan's Mardan district, on May 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) As International Museum Day is observed on May 18, Pakistan sought cooperation with China to further strengthen the protection of cultural heritage. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China and the National Heritage and Culture Division of Pakistan have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly implement archaeology, cultural heritage protection and restoration, exhibition exchanges, and prevent illegal trafficking of relics. Director of Archaeology and Museums of KP Abdul Samad told Xinhua that China always walks the talk and its commitment towards preserving cultural heritage in Asia is practical, highlighting that China is collaborating with Pakistani archaeologists to preserve and restore the archeological sites using modern technologies. He said that Pakistan needs to further strengthen cooperation with China to protect heritage sites, maintain academic collaborations between universities and cultural heritage institutions in the two countries, and initiate joint scientific and technological preservation initiatives. Samad believed that China's cultural heritage cooperation and exchanges programs with various countries including Pakistan are exemplary, adding that China's effective measures for harmonious coexistence of different civilizations set examples for the world. Students visit the archaeological site of the ancient Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, a UNESCO world heritage site, in northwest Pakistan's Mardan district, on May 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) Chen Zhigang, associate professor at Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts and director of the Guardians of Gandhara program, said that China has established multi-level exchange relations with Pakistani governments, the archaeological bureau, museums and heritage sites. Commenting on the future cooperation plans for the protection of cultural sites and relics of Pakistan, he told Xinhua that both countries need to further focus on tourism infrastructure improvement, basic maintenance, and archaeological excavation of sites. Besides that, digitization of cultural heritage, joint scientific research projects as well as heritage education and cultural exchanges would be further encouraged in the future, he said. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Swati Maliwal sustained injuries to her left leg and right cheek in the alleged attack by Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, according to her medico-legal case (MLC) report. AAP MP Swati Maliwal and Delhi Police officials at CM's residence on Friday/ "Swati Maliwal has a 3x2 centimeter bruise over her proximal left leg dorsal aspect and another bruise of 2x2 centimeter bruise over her right cheek below her right eye', the report, filed on Saturday, stated. The AAP Rajya Sabha member's medical examination was conducted at AIIMS on Thursday night. In her FIR, the former DCW chief has accused Bibhav Kumar of slapping her at least seven to eight times, in addition to kicking on her chest, stomach, and pelvis. The FIR also states that Bibhav pounced on her, dragged her, and in the process, her shirt was pulled up and its buttons got opened. My head hit the centre table but he continued to beat me, the FIR quoted Maliwal as saying. The alleged assault took place on Monday at the official residence of Kejriwal, who is also the national convenor of the Aam Admi Party. While the party remained silent on the day of the incident, it acknowledged a day later that Kumar misbehaved with Maliwal. On Friday, however, the AAP took a U-turn, and accused the BJP of colluding with Maliwal to target Kejriwal. The saffron party has dismissed the charge. The Delhi Police, meanwhile, has arrested prime accused Bibhav Kumar, who was found at the chief minister's residence in the Civil Lines area in the national capital. He went missing after accompanying the Delhi CM to Lucknow and Amritsar on Thursday. (With agency inputs) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of provoking voters and called for the Election Commission to take action after the BJP leader's repeated claims that the opposition INDIA bloc would "run bulldozer over Ram Temple if voted to power." Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with NCP (Sharad) Chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray during an INDIA alliance press conference, in Mumbai, Saturday, May 18, 2024.(PTI) "We have not used bulldozers to date... The Election Commission should take action against those who make instigating speeches. The Prime Minister himself is doing it. He is provoking people. After our government comes, everything will be protected as per our Constitution, we will follow the Constitution," Kharge said. Read: INDIA bloc has chosen its PM candidate, says Uddhav Thackeray Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai alongside NCP-SP leader Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Kharge lamented the Election Commission's decision to grant party symbols to factions supporting the BJP, rather than the "real parties" in Maharashtra. "The illegal 'Mahayuti' government of Maharashtra was formed on the basis of betrayal and conspiracy and the Prime Minister himself is supporting it and his rallies are also being held in Maharashtra and wherever he goes, he tries to create a rift among the people," he alleged. "The party symbol was taken away from the real parties and given to the parties supporting BJP. This is the decision of the court, ECI but everything happens on the instructions of Modi ji," Kharge asserted. Read: Rahul Gandhi recollects childhood memories in Rae Bareli: For years its been' The Congress chief expressed confidence in the INDIA bloc's performance in Maharashtra, predicting a sweeping victory. "INDIA bloc will win 46 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra. People are saying this themselves. Our alliance will win maximum seats and defeat BJP," Kharge claimed. When asked about the alliance dynamics between the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress the two parties are fighting together against BJP in Delhi and against each other in Punjab Kharge said, This is a democracy, it is not autocracy. We will do whatever has to be done to defeat BJP. The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, which includes six constituencies in Mumba, is scheduled for May 20. The other constituencies of Maharashtra that will be part of the ongoing election in the fifth phase include Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi and Thane. May 18, 2024 10:02 PM IST Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Amid the row over alleged assault of AAP leader Swati Maliwal, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla has taken a dig over Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his announcement of reaching BJP headquarters tomorrow. Kejriwal has announced "Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP HQ with all my top leaders. Put in jail whoever you want" "...Instead of 'emotional atyachar', you should have given clear answers for clear questions...Why are you shielding Bibhav Kumar?...When Sanjay Singh did press conference, he said that Bibhav Kunar misbehaved with the woman MP. Was that correct or was the U-turn you took after 72 hours correct? Which version is correct? Why are you scared Arvind Kejriwal? Why are you silent? Does Bibhav Kumar know any of your secrets that you are not able to speak on this and shielding him?...AAP has become 'anti-aurat' party...," said Shehzad Poonawalla. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in India will soon launch a pilot program to test Calling Name Presentation (CNAP), which will display the callers name to a receiver, a senior government official said on Friday. The DoT has also taken action against cyber crimes on telecom networks based on reports filed by subscribers on the Chakshu module of the Sanchar Saathi portal. (Representational image) Depending on the results from the pilot, the DoT will decide on the technical specifications for implementing CNAP. The move follows recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in February. The official declined to comment on the technical aspects of implementing CNAP, saying it would depend on the pilots progress. The pilot will start shortly, the official said, asking not to be named. TRAI had recommended that CNAP a universal caller ID based on information that people provide in KYC documentation for their connections --- be offered as an optional feature across Indian telecom networks and on all devices sold in the country. It suggested that each network provider, such as Airtel or Jio, should first conduct a trial in one licensed service area with their subscriber base. During the consultation process, major private telecom service providers (TSPs) Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea, along with industry body IAMAI, told TRAI that displaying the name mentioned in the KYC form could undermine subscribers privacy and adversely impact womens safety. The TSPs also raised concerns about increased call set-up time, latency, and the need for significant investments to implement CNAP. They noted that currently, only 4G-enabled devices can support the feature, limiting its availability to a large portion of the market. Responding to reports of potential tariff hikes after the elections, the official said the government has not instructed TSPs to raise prices and has not received any communication from them indicating such plans. However, the official acknowledged that India has one of the lowest average revenue per user (ARPU) in the world, while emphasising the presence of sufficient market competition. The DoT is also collaborating with the ministry of civil aviation to introduce 5G services near airports, with some in-building solutions already being piloted. The official stressed the governments sensitivity to aircraft security and the ongoing efforts to ensure a safe implementation, without providing a specific timeline. Inside places, they will have to change altimeters, refit them, retrofit them. All that is happening as we speak. I dont think I can give any timeline as there is a huge supply chain [required] to change the altimeters, the official said. In November 2022, the DoT instructed TSPs to avoid operating 5G sites in certain frequency bands near runways. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation rejected a proposal from TSPs in December 2023 to provide 5G services within airport premises using low-frequency power output due to concerns about interference with aircraft altimeters. The DoT has also taken action against cyber crimes on telecom networks based on reports filed by subscribers on the Chakshu module of the Sanchar Saathi portal. As a result, 577 WhatsApp accounts linked to +92 numbers [we cant say they are linked to Pakistan because what if someone was using a VPN to get the number or a VoIP service] were banned for impersonating Indian government officials. +92 is the ISD code for Pakistan. 348 mobile handsets were blocked across India for involvement in cybercrimes and financial frauds. The Chakshu module was launched on March 4 that allows users to report suspected fraud communications that people receive over call, SMS or WhatsApp. The official addressed the issue of cyber scams executed using international numbers, stating that the DoT is taking measures to block offenders and share relevant data with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The official clarified that exchanging information across borders falls under the MHAs jurisdiction, not the DoTs. The Chakshu module was launched on March 4 that allows users to report suspected fraud communications that people receive over call, SMS or WhatsApp. It module received 28,412 complaints until May 17 of which 10,834 connections were flagged for re-verification. Of the flagged connections, 8,772 connections, or about 81% connections, were disconnected for failing re-verification. 86 principal entities all their linked SMS headers and content templates were also suspended based on user reports while seven principal entities, whose templates were being misused for fraud purposes, deactivated 1,350 SMS templates. Kottayam , The Metropolitan of the Knanaya archdiocese of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church has been suspended and relieved of all his powers and responsibilities by the Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Aphrem II. In an official communication conveying the suspension to Mor Severios Kuriakose, who was the Metropolitan and Samudaya Metropolitan of the Knanaya archdiocese, the Patriarch said that he was "not setting a good example in the clergy and believers" as mandated in the Constitution of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The action was taken on Friday following a hearing on the same day with regard to the charges against Kuriakose of alleged lack of concern and action from his side on the issue of Indian Orthodox priests conducting 'Passion Week' services in Knanaya parishes in USA. The Patriarch said the explanations given by Kuriakose were not satisfactory. "We are unconvinced about your explanation regarding the reception given to the Catholicos of the Indian Orthodox Church," the Patriarch said in the communication. It also said that Kuriakose's actions amounted to "challenging the authority of the Holy Throne of Antioch". It also reminded him that his titles of Archbishop and Chief Metropolitan of the Knanaya Archdiocese of India were taken back "because you were found unworthy of it". "The present charges against you show that you did not introspect and mend your ways even after that," it further said. "Hence, with a heavy heart, we are constrained to hereby suspend you. You are relieved of all your powers and responsibilities as a Metropolitan and the 'Samudaya Metropolitan' of our Knanaya Archdiocese during the period of suspension. "You are restrained from all episcopal and priestly functions and duties until further proceedings and order from us. We are praying for your repentance after thorough reflection and remorse," the order of May 17 said. The Patriarch's order further said that the suspension of Kuriakose will be reconsidered and reviewed if the church was convinced of his repentance. Following the decision, supporters of Kuriakose in the managing committee protested in front of the Knanaya Church headquarters at Chingavanam here. Metropolitan of Knanaya archdiocese of Syrian Orthodox Church suspended Bolangir, A member of the erstwhile royal family, a tribal and a filmstar are contesting from the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency in western Odisha where migration and irrigation are major issues. Migration, irrigation major issues in Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency The major issue in the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency is migration and irrigation, said Narasingha Mishra sitting Congress MLA of the Bolangir Assembly segment. "The people from here migrate in large numbers as they are unable to get work here. The farmers also face difficulties due to lack of irrigation facilities. The CM recently inaugurated the Lower Suk Tel irrigation project but the water do not reach the tail end," Mishra said "blaming" the 24-year-old BJD government headed by Naveen Patnaik. The BJP has fielded its sitting MP Sangeeta Singhdeo, a member of the erstwhile Patna royal family in the district again from the seat. Sangeeta's husband K V Singhdeo is a veteran BJP leader. The ruling Biju Janata Dal's candidate is Surendra Singh Bhoi, a tribal while the Congress nominee is Manoj Mishra, an Odia film actor. Sangeeta had won the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2019. A member of the erswhile Patna Royal family in the district has won the Bolangir Lok Sabha seat since 1988. Sangeeta's brother-in-law Kalikesh Singhdeo who is with the BJD had won the seat in 2009 and 2014 but lost to Sangeeta in 2019 by a margin of 19,516 votes. Sangeeta's father-in-law Raj Raj Singhdeo had won the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency for two consecutive terms in 1967 and 1971 as a Swatantra Party candidate. The Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency is important for the BJD as Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is also contesting from the Kantabanji Assembly segment which is one of the seven assembly segments under this parliamentary constituency. The seven assembly constituencies under Bolangir Lok Sabha seat are Birmaharajpur, Sonepur, Loisingha, Patnagarh, Bolangir, Titlagarh and Kantabanji. Of the seven assembly seats under Bolangir parliamentary constituency, Congress won two assembly seats in 2019, BJD in four seats and BJP in one. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity will help me to sail through the elections. Being the lone woman candidates, the female voters are in my support. My priority is to arrange jobs for the youths and reduce the migration of people from Bolangir district. The people have blessed me four times and they will continue to do so this time also," said Sangeeta. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have addressed election rallies in Bolangir in support of saffron party candidate Sangeeta Singhdeo. BJD candidate Surendra Singh Bhoi claimed his victory is a foregone conclusion as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is a candidate from the Kantabanji Assembly segment in Bolangir district. "BJD government's several welfare schemes like Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana and announcement of free electricity will fetch a good vote for me. This apart, I am also confident that tribals will vote for BJD's Conch symbol as I belonged to their community," said Singh Bhoi. During the campaign, the BJD leaders claimed that BJP is an "anti-tribal and anti-poor party". It stopped financial assistance for the KBK region and also discontinued the Backward Region Grant Fund, which had aided people here to a large extent in the past. Manoj Mishra, the Congress candidate, a greenhorn in electoral politics, is optimistic about winning the seat. "The people are fed up with the BJD and the BJP. They are also frustrated over the works of these royal family members. I will win the seat as a commoner," said Mishra, adding that people still believe in Congress in this part of the state. The Congress had won the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency last time in 1996 polls. Bolangir which has over 18 lakh electorate will go to the polls on May 20. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on course to secure a third term in office. Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Union Minister and BJP candidate from Amethi constituency Smriti Irani and others during an election roadshow for the Lok Sabha polls, in Amethi district, Saturday, May 18, 2024.(PTI) In the last four phases, Modiji has acquired 270 seats and is heading towards the third century, Amit Shah said at an election rally in Jhansi. On the other hand, the INDI Alliance of Rahul Gandhi has been wiped out. Modi ji is going to be the prime minister of India for the third term, he added. Highlighting Modis humble beginnings, Shah said, On one hand, there is Rahul Baba born with a silver spoon in his mouth and on the other hand, there is Modi ji born to the family of a poor tea seller belonging to the backward class. Modi ji has not taken a leave for the last 23 years and spends Diwali with soldiers on the border. He also hit out at the opposition parties for their stance on the Ram Temple issue. Shah accused the Samajwadi Party and Congress of obstructing the Ram Temple construction for decades and applauded Modi for fulfilling the promise. For seventy years, the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and the Bahujan Samaj Party obstructed the building of the Ram Temple. But Modi Ji won the case, laid the foundation, and consecrated the Ram Temple. The home minister raked up the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir issue and said, Their (Congress) greed for the vote bank has burgeoned to the extent that Mani Shankar Aiyar, one of their leaders has asked us not to talk about the PoK. He is saying that Pakistan has atom bombs and we should not demand our rights over the PoK. I want to tell you that this is the Narendra Modi government and we are not afraid of atom bombs. PoK belongs to India and we will take it back, he said. Read: Within 6 months PoK will become part of India in PM Modi's third term, says Yogi Adityanath Shah also took jabs at political dynasties, saying leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar are more interested in promoting their family members. The people who are into politics for the benefit of their sons and daughters cannot benefit the youth. Only Narendra Modi Ji can brighten the future of the youth of this nation. Making a case for a strong government in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Pakistan had been troubling India for 70 years with bombs in its hands but is now holding a begging bowl. Addressing an election rally in Ambala, PM Modi asserted that robust leadership makes adversaries think twice before challenging India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during a public meeting for Lok Sabha polls, in Ambala, Saturday, May 18, 2024.(PTI) When there is a 'dhakad' government in the country, enemies too think 100 times before doing any harm, Modi said. Pakistan had been troubling India for 70 years, it had bombs in its hands. Today it has 'bheekh ka katora' (begging bowl) in its hands, he said, referring to bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The enemies shiver like this when there is a 'dhakad' government, the prime minister added. With just over two weeks remaining until the vote counting on June 4, Modi expressed confidence in his party's performance in the ongoing elections. "Only 17 days remain to go for 4th June. After four phases of elections, the Congress and INDI alliance and all their friends, parties have been completely destroyed," he said. "Whatever tactics the INDI alliance used for the country have all been defeated by the public itself. Haryana is a state which has patriotism in its veins. Haryana knows anti-national forces very well...Haryana recognises anti-national forces very well." Read: Number Theory: Can BJP pull off a massive win in Uttar Pradesh again? Patriotism runs in the veins of Haryana, Modi said, adding that the "state understands anti-national forces. Therefore, each house in Haryana is saying -- phir ek baar" and the crowd responded, saying "Modi sarkar". Modi accused the Congress party of a history of deceit and corruption involving the armed forces. "Congress did the first scam of the country with the armed forces. Congress continued this track record with new scams as long as it remained in power. Bofors scam, Submarine scam, Helicopter scam - Congress kept the armed forces of India weak. Do you know why? So that they can make earnings in the name of importing weapons from outside. They took no note of the requirements of our jawans," Modi alleged. "The jawans didn't even have good rifles. They were given batons and told to face the bullets of terrorists. When Modi came to power, he said that this will not go on now. I started the initiative to make India's armed forces aatmanirbhar," Modi said. Read: HT Interview: Modi magic will work in Punjab this time, says state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar Among those present at the rally were former Haryana chief minister and the BJP's Lok Sabha poll candidate from Karnal, Manohar Lal Khattar, the party's Ambala and Kurukshetra candidates, Banto Kataria and Naveen Jindal. Voting for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth phase of the seven-phase election on May 25. New Delhi, Four people including two MBBS students were arrested for allegedly running a paper solver gang for NEET exams here, police said on Saturday. NEET paper solver gang busted in Delhi, four held The matter came to the fore on May 5 when a student's biometric data was mismatched during the NEET exam at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Mehta Vidyalaya located in Tilak Marg area, police said. Deputy Commissioner of Police Devesh Kumar Mahla said the two proxy students Sumit Mandoliya and Krishan Kesarwani, were caught from the centre. Given the seriousness of the offence, the case was transferred to the Special Staff of New Delhi District and a dedicated team led by Inspector Sanjay Kumar Gupta was formed to conduct the investigations, the DCP said. During sustained interrogation, Sumit Mandoliya and Krishan Kesarwani, both MBBS students, revealed the names of their handlers Prabhat Kumar, 27, and Kishor Lal, 37 who were nabbed from a hotel in Noida on Friday. The officer said Kumar and Lal are residents of Rajasthan and Bihar, respectively. The duo, who works as medical school admissions consultants, would charge the amount of 20 to 25 lakhs from the aspirants to provide them proxy students for the NEET exams. They would also mix the photos of the proxy and original students to create another photo digitally to paste on the form. This helped them to mislead the examiners, the officer said. Another officer said, that Mandoliya and Kesarwani, hailing from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, are MBBS students from different colleges. Mandoliya is a second-year MBBS student at a Medical College in West Bengal and Kesarwani is a first-year student of MBBS at a Medical College in Uttarakhand, he said. The police have recovered four mobile phones and one Kia Seltos car from their possession. The police said the accused were further interrogated to know their involvement in previous exams. Investigation into the matter is underway. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Bengaluru, JD patriarch H D Deve Gowda, who turned 92 on Saturday, broke his silence over the sexual abuse charges levelled against his grandson and MP Prajwal Revanna and said he has no objection to the action taken against him if found guilty. However, he said the cases against his son and JD MLA H D Revanna, who is facing charges of sexual harassment and kidnap of a woman, were "created", but refrained from commenting further, as the matter was subjudice. Recently, Gowda had announced his decision not to celebrate his birthday and requested well wishers and party workers to wish him from wherever they are. "... I don't want to comment on things that are going on in the court regarding Revanna. Prajwal Revanna has gone abroad, regarding that Kumaraswamy chief) has on behalf of our family said it is the duty of the government to take action in accordance with the law of the land," Gowda said. Addressing reporters here, the former PM said, "There are several people connected to this , I don't want to take anyone's names. Kumaraswamy has said that those who are involved in this matter, action should be taken against all of them, and the affected women should get justice and compensation." "There is no objection from us for taking action against Prajwal. But people have come to know about the allegations made against Revanna, how the case has been created. In one case he has got the bail, in another case there is judgment day-after-tomorrow...I don't want to comment on it," he said as he concurred with Kumaraswamy's statement that if found guilty no one should be spared. Prajwal is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women. The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD engaged in a slugfest. Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27 and is still at large. An Interpol Blue Corner Notice has been issued against him, in an effort to bring him back. He was BJP-JD alliance's joint candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls on April 26. Meanwhile, Gowda's 66-year-old son, Revanna, a former Minister, has got interim anticipatory bail from a court here, in a sexual harassment case, in which his son Prajwal is also an accused. Asked whether there was a conspiracy to defame and scuttle his family politically, Gowda said, "It is true... over all what all has happened, several people are involved, I won't take names. Kumaraswamy will say on what action to be taken." Responding to a query on BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda's allegations that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is behind the circulation of pen drive containing explicit videos involving Prajwal Revanna, Gowda said, Kumaraswamy will respond to all of this. "We have seen in the media as to what Devaraje Gowda has said. Kumaraswamy has been reacting to all this actively as the party's state President, he will speak, I won't at this point. I had campaigned for Lok Sabha polls, on June 4 after Lok Sabha polls results are announced, I will meet you ," he added. Gowda also appealed to media persons campaign near his house to end it. "I also appeal to your owners." No objection to action against grandson if he is found guilty: Deve Gowda on sexual abuse case On an August afternoon 16 years ago, Sukant Nayak, a Dalit Christian teacher, saw his house being torched by a mob at G Udaygiri block in Kandhamal district of Odisha. His wife, who was hiding in the bush nearby, froze in horror as their semi-pucca (non-mortar roof) house, two motorcycles and all belongings burnt before her eyes, even as the marauding mob advanced. The 74-year-old teacher recalls how he, his wife, their son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters two-year-old and two-month-old ran for their lives to a hillock a kilometre away where they hid without food and water for the next three days till they were rescued. The 2008 riots claimed 43 lives and destroyed thousands of houses and churches in the Kandhamal district. (REUTERS) My daughter-in-law was deranged for several months after her 2-month-old daughter died in her lap when we were hiding. It took our family several years and counselling to get over the loss that we suffered, Nayak recollects, sitting in his newly built pucca house at Nilungia village in G Udaygiri block. Last week, all those memories of the fateful August 26, 2008 afternoon came rushing back, courtesy the high-decibel poll campaign in the eastern state. Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 11 took a swipe at VK Pandian, the bureaucrat-turned-politician and presumptive successor to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, accusing him of acting as a super chief minister, Pandian said whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a losing situation, its leaders start raking up caste, region and religion. The newly joined Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader also referred to the Kandhamal riots of 2008. In Kandhamal, there was a bomb blast and bullets were fired. It (BJP) triggered riots. Naveen babu took strong steps and brought peace to Kandhamal, Pandian claimed. Two days later, the BJP hit back, accusing the Naveen Patnaik government of withdrawing the security cover of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, whose murder on August 23, 2008 triggered the riots. Everything happened on the instructions of Naveen Patnaik and he is responsible as security cannot be withdrawn without home departments order, BJP lawmaker Pratap Sarangi alleged, wondering as to why the report of the judicial commission that probed the VHP leaders murder and the riots that followed has not been published yet. As the Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency heads to polls on May 20, the 2008 riots that claimed 43 lives and destroyed thousands of houses and churches in the district are a distant but painful memory for local residents. For some like Nayak, though, the pain lingered. Having seen the violence from close quarters, I could finally return to my village six years ago with my family, Nayak said. Spread across seven assembly constituencies Baliguda, G Udayagiri, Phulbani, Kantamal, Boudh, Daspalla, and Bhanjanagar the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, which was carved out after the 2009 delimitation exercise, has 1.33 million eligible voters. While the BJD has renominated its sitting MP and educationist Achyuta Samanta, the BJP has given ticket to RSS veteran Sukanta Panigrahi. The Congress has fielded former GST commissioner Amir Chand Nayak, who took voluntary retirement from service in 2019. The constituency is a BJD stronghold, with the states ruling party winning all seven assembly segments in the last state polls while Samanta defeated BJPs Kharabela Swain by a margin of over 150,000 votes in the parliamentary polls. The BJP has never won the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat. Both Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha are held simultaneously. Despite Pandian raking up the Kandhamal riots, much of the riot victims as well as those who were accused of participating in the riots would rather forget the episode. For many, employment and drinking water are more pressing issues. Shankar Pradhan, a tribal Hindu of Nilungia village, spent a couple of years in jail after being accused of participating in the 2008 riots. He was finally acquitted last year. The riot cases took toll on our family as we spent most of our earnings on lawyers and bribing the officials. The riots were inevitable, but we have forgotten it now, his wife Radhefula said. In Dadda Padia village under Ratingia panchayat, Shravan Kumar Pradhan, a 26-year-old Kondh tribal, hopes to crack the Odisha Techers Education test scheduled for December this year. Hailing from a landless family, Pradhan worked as a newspaper hawker, daily wager and house painter to complete his graduation from a local college. Last Saturday, he went to attend Modis public meeting in Phulbani town, but couldnt make it on time. I like Modi because he talks of employment for youths like us and a strong India, the 26-year-old said. In Nilungia village, 60-year-old Kabir Nayak, a Dalit Christian, is unhappy over erratic drinking water supply and lack of jobs in the district. My daughter-in-law has to walk at least a kilometre to get water as supply drinking water comes every alternate day. My son has migrated to Kerala as there is little work available here, Nayak said. In Katringia gram panchayat, most Dalit Hindus say they would vote for the BJP only due to Modi. Now, no one remembers riots. We have been getting free rice from Modi government since Covid. The Naveen Patnaik government could have added more rice and may be pulses. The local school does not have enough teachers. I want a change in the state, Luisi Digal, a local, said. Emmanuel Rath, a local Christian leader of Kandhamal, however, said despite people rooting for a change, the BJD would again romp home in the constituency due to its strong booth-level presence. Though the Congress candidate is a local person, the party lacks resources to take on the might of BJD candidate Samanta, who has got hundreds of tribal students from the district admitted in his university [KIIT]. The BJD winning margin would come down due to anti-incumbency, but the party would win, Rath added. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed that the Central government's announcement that it granted citizenship to 14 people under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was a "lie". She dubbed the announcement as "politics" during the Lok Sabha elections. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee leading a road show in Kanthi on Thursday. (HT file photo) Mamata Banerjee alleged at rallies in West Bengal that the Central government will throw those granted citizenship behind bars after declaring them foreigners. Mamata Banerjee warned people against applying for citizenship under CAA. She also accused the BJP of publishing advertisements with false information. "The BJP is publishing advertisements with false information. One such advertisement says that migrant Hindu and Sikh communities can apply for citizenship under the CAA. Please don't believe them, you (the electorate) are all already bona fide citizens. If you apply, you will be driven out by being branded as a foreigner," she claimed, reported PTI. Mamata Banerjee claimed the "entire thing is a lie orchestrated by the BJP just as they did in Sandeshkhali". She appealed to the people of the Matua community to not fall for the alleged lie. "This is falsehood and only a part of the politics before the elections. After the polls are over, people will be expelled from their homes and put in jails. Do not trust the BJP," she added. The CAA was enacted in 2019. However, in March this year, the Central government finally notified its rules. The law makes it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh -- who were persecuted and entered India before December 31, 2014 get citizenship. Mamata Banerjee claims the law discriminates against Muslims. She has vowed that she will not implement the law in West Bengal and revoke it if the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre. On Wednesday, the Central government handed over the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to 14 people. The BJP has promised in its Lok Sabha elections manifesto that it will grant citizenship to eligible people under CAA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Amit Shah have said in their rallies that CAA won't be revoked. With inputs from PTI Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha on Saturday made his first appearance in months as he arrived at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence in the national capital. A video posted by news agency ANI showed Chadha arriving in a car at the CM's residence. Raghav Chadha (PTI) Chadha, a close aide of Kejriwal who handled important departments in the party, had undergone emergency eye surgeryvitrectomyearlier this month in the United Kingdom. Several questions were also raised over his absence amid a series of setbacks, including Kejriwal's arrest, but the party had said that the AAP MP would join the party's Lok Sabha poll campaigning once he felt better. Issuing a statement on May 2, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had said, Raghav Chadha has undergone a major eye surgery in the UK. It is said that his condition was serious, and there was a possibility of blindness. As soon as he gets better, he will return to India and join us in the election campaigning. While Chadha's physical presence was missing amid several setbacks for the Kejriwal-led party, he remained active on social media from time to time to support and lead the partys attacks on political rivals. On May 10 when the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 in the excise policy case, Chadha wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that 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. The jail locks will be broken this evening, and Kejriwal will be released. Heartfelt gratitude to the Honorable Supreme Court for protecting democracy. Long live the revolution, long live Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP MP said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed he can influence Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches, suggesting that the BJP leader adopts his phrases and talking points. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with party candidates Udit Raj and Kanhaiya Kumar during a rally for Lok Sabha elections, in New Delhi, Saturday, May 18, 2024.(PTI) Speaking at an election rally in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said, Tell me whatever you want Narendra Modi to say, I will make him say that in his speeches. I told him, 'Narendra Modi, you don't mention the names of Adani-Ambani. You should mention their names.' 2-3 days later, Narendra Modi said Adani-Ambani, Adani-Ambani, Gandhi said, referring to the prime minister's recent speech in Telangana where he accused the Congress of having a "deal" with billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. Read: Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav hit out at PM Modi on Rae Bareli-Amethi campaign trail The Congress leader reiterated his promise to the underprivileged women of India, wherein the INDIA bloc would prepare a list of impoverished families and deposit 1 lakh per annum into the accounts of selected women from these families. " 8000 per month thaka thak, thaka thak, thaka thak," Rahul Gandhi said. Sharing another instance where he felt the prime minister had mimicked his rhetoric, he added, I used 'thaka thak' in my speech. Narendra Modi has now started using 'thaka thak, phata phat' in all his speeches. Tell me whatever you want him to say, I will make him say it. Read: Rahul Gandhi displaying red Chinese constitution, ours blue: Himanta Biswa Sarma Gandhi urged workers of the Congress party and of the Aam Aadmi Party to work together and ensure victory for their alliance on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. "It's interesting that I'll vote for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal will vote for Congress in these elections," he said. Continuing his attack on the prime minister, the Congress leader said, "PM Modi is giving non-stop interviews to his favourite journalists but he will not have a debate with me because he knows he cannot answer my questions." "PM Modi talks about the Congress getting tempo-loads of money from Adani-Ambani, but he doesn't dare to get it probed," he said. "I'm ready to debate with PM Modi whenever and wherever he wants, but I'm sure he won't come. The first question I would ask PM Modi is what is his relationship with Adani, next I want to ask him about electoral bonds," the former Congress chief said. Gandhi also hit out at the media, alleging they were "friends of 2-3 industrialists" as they would either show Ambani weddings, Bollywood stars or Narendra Modi on their channels round the clock. "Still, stringers and cameramen working for these media houses will vote for Congress only," he said. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stirred a controversy by claiming that the Constitution book that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has often been seen displaying at his rallies was not the Indian Constitution. Himanta said the Indian Constitution has a blue cover and it needed to be verified whether Rahul Gandhi was carrying a Chinese constitution. Rahul Gandhi at several rallies amid the ongoing Lok Sabha election displayed the Constitution as he appealed to voters to save it from the BJP-RSS.(PTI) The Assam chief minister made his first post on this issue on Friday. On Saturday, he said he was sure that Rahul Gandhi was carrying a Chinese constitution. "Our constitution, in blue, includes a chapter called the Directive Principles of State Policy, which makes it a sacred duty to enact a Uniform Civil Code in our country; Rahul is now opposing this," the Assam CM posted drawing flak from many political leaders who mentioned that the red book was the coat pocket edition of the Constitution of India published by Eastern Book Company. Lok Sabha election 2024: Full coverage Assam Congress leader Bhupen Kumar Borah called Himanta colour-blind and intellect-deficit and explained that unlike Indian passport, the Constitution book does not need to have any fixed colour. "Himanta, while I accept you are not colour-blind, you are definitely intellect-deficit. The cover of the Constitution of India, unlike an Indian Passport, need not be of a fixed colour. It could be red, green, blue, anything," the Congress leader posted. "Hilarious! Ask all BJP MPs in the LS and RS this is the copy everyone carries with them! It is available in the table office too and Sec Gen of both houses. Get a grip!" Uddhav Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi posted. Amid the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha election, Rahul Gandhi made it a point to carry and display the Constitution as he appealed to the people to save the Constitution from the attack of the BJP and the RSS. Earlier, BJP national president JP Nadda took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi carrying and displaying the Constitution at rallies, video addresses and said Rahul Gandhi only carried the Constitution along but never read it. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recollected his childhood memories while passing through the Rae Bareli constituency recently. Rahul Gandhi said Rae Bareli, which has for years been Uttar Pradesh's political and ideological centre, should once again show the path to development in Uttar Pradesh and the country. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra seen during a public rally in Rae Bareli.(ANI) In a video posted on social media platform X, Gandhi was seen with his sister, Priyanka Vadra, recollecting memories from the constituency where the former is contesting the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress leader wrote on X, While going to Raebareli, Priyanka and I also passed through the streets of our childhood for some time. There are so many sweet and sour memories, Grandma's wisdom, Papa's favourite Jalebis, the cakes made by Priyanka, it all seems like it all happened just yesterday We have had a deep relationship with politics since childhood, but politics never came between our relationships." The Congress leader is heard saying in the video further, "Rae Bareli has an important role in India's progress, in giving direction to the country. Rae Bareli has for years been Uttar Pradesh's political and ideological centre, and it was Rae Bareli that showed the path in the freedom struggle." "Today, the role of Rae Bareli should be one that first shows the path to Uttar Pradesh's progress and development and then Uttar Pradesh should once again show the path of progress and development to India," he added. Meanwhile, backing her brother's candidature from the seat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, Do not get diverted at any level in this election Your vote is the biggest weapon in your hand. Use it effectively and this will change your future. A three-time MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi lost it to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019 and this year chose Rae Bareli as his second seat after Wayanad. Sonia Gandhi campaigned for her son on Friday and told the Rae Bareli people that she was handing over her son to them and that he wouldn't disappoint them. "Main aapko apna beta saup rahi hoon (I am handing over my son to you) Jaisa aapne mujhe apna maana, waise hi Rahul ko apna maan kar rakhna hai. Ye Rahul aap ko niraash nahi karenge (The way you treated me as yours, now treat Rahul the same way. He will not disappoint you)," she said. New Delhi, The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court which had dismissed an application seeking quashing of a charge sheet and proceedings in a case lodged under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities Act, 1986. SC agrees to hear plea for quashing of case, charge sheet under UP Gangsters Act A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Sanjay Kumar sought response from the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea filed by petitioner Raj Khan, against whom an FIR was lodged under the provision of the UP Gangsters Act in Pilibhit district. "The impugned order of the high court dismissing the application of the petitioner under section 482 CrPC is causing immense hardship and injustice to the petitioner as his freedom of life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India has been restrained," said the plea, filed through advocate Tanvi Dubey. It alleged that the FIR under the UP Gangsters Act has been registered merely on the basis of an earlier FIR, which was in total abuse of process of law. The plea said the petitioner has no criminal antecedents other than the alleged case and invoking the Gangsters Act against him was not only causing prejudice to him but would lead to "serious misuse of the police and judicial machinery purely for personal vendetta". "The filing of impugned charge sheet and initiation of proceedings against the petitioner is prima facie malicious with ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance upon the petitioner due to personal grudge and him lodging a complaint with the chairman, Sunni Central Waqf Board, Uttar Pradesh with regard to financial irregularities and misdeeds...," it said. The plea has urged the apex court to quash the charge sheet and entire proceedings of the case. "The high court failed to consider that the petitioner who is an innocent citizen has fallen prey to the hands of miscreants for raising his voice against the fraud, misdeeds and misuse of the income generated from the Waqf properties," it claimed. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi returned to her Lok Sabha constituency of Rae Bareli on Friday, making an emotional pitch for her son Rahul Gandhi who is contesting from the family pocket borough this time in what was her first physical campaign stop in the Uttar Pradesh town this election season. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Rae Bareli on Friday. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photo) Sonia Gandhi who won Rae Bareli by 167,000 votes in 2019, making it the only seat the party won in Uttar Pradesh said she was handing over her son to the people of the constituency. I am giving you my son (Rahul Gandhi). Treat him like your own as you treated me. Rahul will never disappoint you, said Sonia Gandhi at a large public rally in the constituency she represented for 20 years, winning the seat in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stood behind Sonia Gandhi, who moved to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, along with other senior leaders of the Congress and the SP, was also present on the stage. Polling in Rae Bareli will be held on May 20. Rae Bareli is my family in the same way as Amethi is my home. I have fond memories attached to these places. Our familys roots are attached to this land for the past 100 years. Our relationship is pure like the Ganga. It began with the farmers agitation of Rae Bareli (1921) and continues even now... I have closely seen Indira Gandhi working. She had a place for the people (of Rae Bareli) in her heart. I have given Rahul and Priyanka the same education that Indira Gandhi and the people of Rae Bareli gave me..., Sonia Gandhi said. I taught the same lessons to Rahul and Priyanka which Indira Gandhi and the people of Rae Bareli had taught me. To respect all, protect the weak, fight against injustice for the rights of people. Dont be afraid, because your roots of struggle and traditions are very deep, she said. I have never (felt) myself alone because of your love. You have given me whatever I haveYou gave me a chance to serve you as an MP for 20 years. This is the biggest asset of my life, she said. Rahul Gandhi is facing Dinesh Pratap Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Bahujan Samaj Partys Thakur Prasad Yadav. At the rally on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said the youth across the country have made up their mind that they dont want Narendra Modi, adding that the Opposition will form the government this time. Narendra Modi will not remain Prime Minister after June 4 and the INDIA alliance government will be formed. That government will be of the public, said Rahul Gandhi. Earlier at the rally, Priyanka Gandhi said the current government neglected the voices of the farmers, women, poor and the youth. Today a storm has kicked up in the country. It is the voice of the nation that the dictatorship of the BJP government should be removed and a new politics with a new awakening be established in the country. Send a message from Rae Bareli to the nation that you need clean politics and throw away the government of Narendra Modi, she said. Hitting out at Modi and the BJP, Akhilesh said, Let them also see and hear that Rahul Gandhijis true relationship is with Rae Bareli. If Ra is for Rae Bareli then Ra is also for Rahul. Accusing the Modi government of drowning the country in debt, he said, Now, the public is telling them that they will remove you fata-fatt (quickly). At a rally in Fatehpur, Modi mocked Rahul Gandhi for contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi which he lost to the BJPs Smriti Irani in 2019. He said that the voting in the first four phases alone is in favour of BJP. Currently, four phases of elections have been held in the country. But, the common man has defeated the INDI Alliance in these 4 phases only, he said alleging that the Opposition alliance is falling apart. Gandhi family has treated Rae Bareli and Amethi as its property. The people there are, however, not willing to tolerate them and will teach them a lesson in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Avnish Tyagi. Swati Maliwal had no appointment to meet Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 13, Bibhav Kumar's counsel senior advocate N Hariharan told the court moving his anticipatory bail application. Bibhav, accused of assaulting Swati Maliwal, was taken into custody by the Delhi Police on Saturday. His lawyer produced in the court the videos which are already in circulation -- disputing Swati Maliwal's assault allegations. Swati Maliwal assault case: Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar moved the court for bail after Delhi Police took him into custody.(PTI) Bibhav's lawyer said the entire incident was a concocted one and his client was not even given a notice before being taken into custody. The entire place is covered by CCTV to get into the office and meet CM you need to have prior appointment and she did not have any prior appointment There was a security breach and a report was filed by the security personnel, Bibhav's lawyer argued. Willing to cooperate but: Bibhav Kumar's email to Delhi Police before arrest in Swati Maliwal case "She (Swati Maliwal) was made a chairperson of DCW and presently she is an RS member of our party. Why she is having angst against Bibhav, I don't know. The motive seems to be elsewhere the target is elsewhere. I am not a flight risk, I am not going anywhere. Kindly protect meWithout notice, you cannot call me to the police station and you cannot make me sit there for hours on endAn interim protection can be granted and then a reply can be filed," Bibhav's lawyer said in the court. She had gone to the SHO on May 13 and came out without making any complaint and then she went and made a complaint on May 16. This has to be read in my favour. This means that she is contemplating and conspiring. Kindly grant us protection, the lawyer said. The court disposed of the anticipatory bail as infructuous after additional public prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava submitted that Bibhav was arrested at 4.15pm, while the bail hearing was underway. After presenting his side, Hariharan told the media, "I have argued that there is no case and it is a case for interim bail...I have made a pitch for anticipatory bail because what is seen in the CCTV footage and coverage is not borne by the statement which is belated for a period of three days. The order has been reserved for today." AAP MP Swati Maliwal's allegations that she was assaulted inside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's house by the latter's personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar, has descended into a massive political controversy, with the Aam Aadmi Party refuting her charges. While the former DCW chief claimed she was beaten inside Kejriwal's drawing room, Kumar claimed she is trying to implicate him in a false case. AAP MP Swati Maliwal leaves the residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after investigation of alleged assault case in New Delhi, India, on Friday, May 17, 2024. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna / Hindustan Times) The Delhi Police have arrested Bibhav Kumar for allegedly assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal inside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's house in the national capital. Bibhav Kumar. (File) Swati Maliwal has accused Bibhav Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistant, of repeatedly slapping her and kicking her in the stomach and pelvic area. The Delhi Police have booked Kumar under stringent sections of the IPC. Kumar was arrested from the Delhi chief minister's house. The Aam Aadmi Party is firmly standing behind Kumar, claiming Swati Maliwal wanted to target Arvind Kejriwal at the behest of the BJP. On Saturday, Delhi minister Atishi claimed the BJP made Swati Maliwal file the FIR using an old ACB case as leverage. "Anti Corruption Bureau of the BJP has filed a case against Swati Maliwal regarding the illegal recruitment of contractual employees in DCW. A chargesheet has been filed and the time of conviction is coming, we believe that Swati Maliwal is being included in the conspiracy by using this case. How the entire machinery of BJP, from MHA to Delhi Police is working, was seen yesterday in Tis Hazari Court," Atishi claimed in a press conference. Also read: AAP releases new Swati Maliwal CCTV video: What is this game? Bibhav Kumar has also filed a police complaint against Swati Maliwal saying the latter had abused him with the intent of assault. "Yesterday, the whole day the court kept asking for a copy of the FIR from the police on the demand of Bibhav Kumar, but the copy was not given. The court had given time till this morning. Today Delhi Police has replied that the FIR is sensitive so it cannot be submitted to the court and cannot be given to the accused. This FIR has been sent to all the media houses by the BJP but BJP's police are saying that we can't give it to the accused," he added. Bibhav Kumar's lawyer, Karan Sharma, told ANI that the latter will cooperate with the police in the investigation. Meanwhile, the BJP has slammed AAP for the alleged assault. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said misconduct and disinformation has become the "standard operating procedure" of the Kejriwal-led party. " From corruption to misconduct to disinformation, standard operating procedure of Aam Aadmi Party, it has become their idea and etiquette to indulge in this kind of modus operandi...in modern time, not just 'cheerharan' happened with 'Draupadi' but also character assassination...this incident happened with Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on 13th May...at first, they (AAP) remained silent, then after that a little bit acceptance (about the incident) was done by them, after that brazen defence of the accused was done," he added. With inputs from ANI, PTI BJP national president JP Nadda on Saturday dismissed the AAP's conspiracy charge against the saffron party in the Swati Maliwal alleged assault case, saying that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has minus credibility. BJP chief JP Nadda (File Photo) AAP is built on a foundation of liesits credibility is not zero, it has minus credibility, Nadda told ANI editor Smita Prakash in an interview, adding that the entire episode has exposed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor, in front of the people of Delhi and the country. Why did Kejriwal, in his Thursday's joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, refuse to take questions on Swati Maliwal, asked the BJP chief. If the BJP has hatched this conspiracy, then why were you (Kejriwal) moving the mic from here to there? Why are you silent? What is stopping you? It is the AAP's culture to call people home, and then beat them up, Nadda said. Also Read: Swati Maliwal alleges CCTV video of Kejriwal residence being tampered with We never spoke to her (Maliwal), nor did anyone from our party contact her. This is not how we function. We are very straightforward. Now the AAP's theft has been caught. They can stoop to any level, he added. Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant to the Delhi CM, is accused of assaulting Maliwal, a Rajya Sabha member of the Aam Aadmi Party and a former head of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). She was allegedly beaten up by Kumar on Monday at the chief minister's official residence in the national capital's Civil Lines area. Her FIR states that the CM was at his residence at that time. Also Read: AAP claims Swati Maliwal filed FIR against Bibhav Kumar due to ACB case against her Currently, Kejriwal is out on interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case, granted by the Supreme Court on May 10. The apex court has directed him to surrender on June 2. Campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls reached a fever pitch on Saturday, with both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi holding rallies in the national capital where polling is due in the sixth, and penultimate, round of voting on May 25. PM Narendra Modi(Bloomberg) While Modi, at his first rally in the city for the general elections, accused the opposition INDIA bloc of pursuing vote bank politics, alleging that the former Congress government in Delhi handed over 123 properties at prime locations to the Waqf Board for Muslim votes ahead of the 2014 elections, the Wayanad MP launched a direct attack on the PM over alleged links with a few businessmen and over the misused electoral bonds. Rahul Gandhi claims he can influence Narendra Modi's speeches: 'Thaka thak, phata phat' Addressing a rally Yamuna Khadar area of Usmanpur in North East Delhi constituency where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded MP Manoj Tiwari, Modi slammed the opportunistic Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance, saying the world is watching how one corrupt party is covering for another corrupt party. Tiwari is contesting against Congresss Kanhaiya Kumar. Modi also sought votes for the BJPs East Delhi candidate Harsh Malhotra and Chandni Chowk candidate Praveen Khandelwal. While Delhi witnesses progress, the INDI Alliance is bent on its destruction. Their betrayal of trust and rampant corruption schemes have disillusioned millions. From false promises to embracing corruption, their hypocrisy knows no bounds. Its time to expose their deceit and choose integrity over dishonesty, he said. Modi said the Congress had joined hands with those advocating for vote jihad for its vote bank during the 2014 elections. It was agreed that they would vote for the Congress, and its government in turn handed over the countrys properties to the Waqf Board. These properties were spread across prime locations where a yard of land costs many lakhs of rupees, Modi said. Modi asserted that if he has any heir, it is the 1.4 billion Indians whose bright future he has dedicated himself to. His every moment is for the country and his life is dedicated to realising the dreams of its citizens, the PM said. I have never lived for myself. I am working very hard for you and the bright future of your children. The 140 crore countrymen are my waris (heirs). I am working day and night for you, every second of my life is for the country. Your dreams are my Sankalp, and I dedicate my life to making your dreams come true. 24x7 for 2047 is the guarantee of Modi, he said. Though he made no direct reference, Modis remarks came amid repeated claims of Delhi chief minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal that Modi will make way for Union home minister Amit Shah after he turns 75 next year. He has chosen Shah as his successor, Kejriwal said, an assertion refuted by top BJP leaders who have said Modi will lead the party even after 2029. Listing several signature projects, including the new Parliament building and the war memorial, Prime Minister Modi asserted that he lives and works hard for democracy. It is Modi in whose heart democracy is alive, he said, noting that his government has built a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers. This Congress-AAP alliance seems determined to destroy Delhi, he said, adding that its leaders are responsible for fall in political standards and breaking peoples faith. The INDI alliance is ...responsible for breaking the trust of millions of countrymen. They are not leaving any chance to loot Delhi. They had come to eradicate corruption and they are facing jail in scams worth thousands of crores, Modi said in a swipe at CM Kejriwal. Kejriwal and AAP have been embroiled in a financial irregularities probe regarding the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for the past two years, with his former deputy Manish Sisodia incarcerated for the last 15 months. The chief minister is also an accused in the case, and served 50 days behind the bars until Supreme Court granted him interim bail on May 10 on account of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the case and named Kejriwal and AAP as accused. Modi further hit out at the Congress, saying that earlier the party would not tire of taking credit for exposing the AAP governments scams but its Delhi leaders were forced by the Gandhi family to join hands with the citys ruling party. The Congress has been completely exposed. Earlier Congress leaders used to claim credit for exposing the liquor scam. But on the directions of the shahi parivar, they embraced the corrupt. The local leaders of Congress are helpless. The world is watching how a corrupt is covering the other corrupt, Modi in his 35-minute address. The Congress and the AAP, both key constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), are contesting the seven seats in Delhi in alliance. Under a seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress has fielded candidates from three of the seven Lok Sabha seats North East Delhi, North West Delhi and Chandni Chowk while AAP is contesting the remaining four New Delhi, East Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi. Keeping up his attack on the opposition alliance for its alleged pro-Muslim politics, Modi said that the opportunist opposition alliance can incite violence for its appeasement politics. He also blamed the opposition for the 2020 Delhi riots following the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. This opportunistic alliance can also cause violence in Delhi for appeasement. When CAA was introduced, they held Delhi captive for months. First they blocked the roads and then triggered riots. But today the entire country is watching and their lies have been exposed, said Modi. The opposition alliance supports reservation on religious ground, restoration of Article 370 and abolition of Indias nuclear bombs, he claimed. At his rally in Ashok Vihar for the Congresss Chandni Chowk candidate Jai Prakash Agarwal, Rahul Gandhi said he was ready for a face-to-face debate with the PM, but Modi would never agree for one as he cannot answer questions about his links with businessmen and how he misused electoral bonds. Gandhi urged the workers of his party and those of the AAP to work together and ensure victory for their alliance on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. Its interesting that Ill vote for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal will vote for Congress in these elections, he said. Narendra Modi takes bombs to begging bowl dig at Pakistan, hails dhakad govt at Haryana rally Gandhi said the first aim of everyone should be to save the Constitution from those hell-bent on destroying it. Attacking the Prime Minister, the Congress leader said, PM Modi is giving non-stop interviews to his favourite journalists but he will not have a debate with me because he knows he cannot answer my questions. PM Modi talks about the Congress getting tempo-loads of money from Adani-Ambani, but he doesnt dare to get it probed, he said. Im ready to debate with PM Modi whenever and wherever he wants, but Im sure he wont come. The first question I would ask PM Modi is what is his relationship with Adani, next I want to ask him about electoral bonds, the former Congress chief said. Gandhi said the debate would end after these two questions only, but he also wants to ask the Prime Minister why did he ask the public to bang plates and flash mobile phones when people were suffering from the Covid pandemic. On leaders from his party switching over to the BJP, Gandhi said, We dont want darpok (coward) leaders, we want Babbar Sher. We dont want those who cower fearing CBI-ED action. Talking about Congress and INDIA bloc plans if they are able to form government, Gandhi said, We will throw the Agniveer scheme in the dustbin, simplify GST and help small businessmen rather than big industrialists. He alleged that Prime Minister Modi has done nothing for small businessmen, but gave 16 lakh crore to industrialists like Adani and Ambani. I urge Congress workers to vote for Congress candidates on three seats of Delhi and for AAP candidates on four seats. Similarly, I urge AAP workers to vote for their party leaders in four seats and for Congress candidates in three constituencies, he said. On April 28, Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post of Delhi Congress chief, citing differences over the partys alliance with the AAP. Days later, Lovely and four other Congress leaders joined the BJP. Earlier addressing the rally, Kanhaiya Kumar said that the candidates were not scared of the small time goons of BJP. The Prime Minister lives here in New Delhi, but it took him 10 years to go to the other side of Yamuna (Jamna-paar). Now that we have got him jamna paar, we will bring him to the very end to the banks of the river, said Kumar. Delhi police on Saturday arrested chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide and personal assistant Bibhav Kumar for allegedly assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal inside the CM's residence in the national capital. The police have booked Kumar under stringent sections of the IPC. Follow LIVE updates Bibhav Kumar. (File) Kumar's arrest came five days after Maliwal accused him of repeatedly slapping her and kicking her in the stomach and pelvic area. However, Kumar also filed a police complaint against Maliwal, saying the latter had abused him with the intent of assault. Who is Bibhav Kumar? Bibhav Kumar is Arvind Kejriwal's close aide and manager, both personal and political. During his initial working days, Kumar worked at Kabir - an NGO run by former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. In 2015, he was hired as Kejriwal's private secretary on a co-terminus basis, following which he was re-engaged in 2020 when the AAP formed the government in Delhi for the second time. He has been facing ED scrutiny in the excise policy-linked money laundering probe as well as alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board. In April this year, the Directorate of Vigilance terminated Kumar's services as Kejriwal's PA following a probe into the excise policy case. While Kumar filed an OA before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) challenging the termination order, the CAT refused, stating that granting such a relief would be premature. According to the termination order against Kumar, the charges were grave in nature. AAP charges at Maliwal; BJP hits out While the AAP earlier admitted that Kumar had "misbehaved" with the former DCW chief, it also hit out at her, claiming that Maliwal wanted to target Kejriwal at the behest of BJP. Delhi minister Atishi on Saturday claimed that the BJP made Maliwal file the FIR using an old ACB case. Anti Corruption Bureau of the BJP has filed a case against Swati Maliwal regarding the illegal recruitment of contractual employees in DCW. A chargesheet has been filed and the time of conviction is coming, we believe that Swati Maliwal is being included in the conspiracy by using this case. How the entire machinery of BJP, from MHA to Delhi Police is working, was seen yesterday in Tis Hazari Court, she told the media. The Kejriwal-led party also released some videos on social media wherein Maliwal can be seen having an argument with security personnel. Another video showed her walking out of the CM's residence in the Civil Lines. Meanwhile, the BJP accused AAP leaders of circulating "edited" videos to tarnish the image of their own party MP. The saffron party also accused AAP of working on misconduct and misinformation. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would become a part of India within six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi secures his third term in office. Adityanath made the bold remarks while addressing a public rally in Maharashtra's Palghar. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath(File photo) "We will not worship our enemy. If someone kills our people we will not worship them but give them an answer that they deserve. It has become difficult for Pakistan to save Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Let PM Modi become the Prime Minister for the third time and within six months PoK will become part of India...," said Yogi Adityanath as quoted by news agency ANI. Yogi Adityanath said that for such a move, courage is required. During his speech, he also took a dig at the Congress party and the INDIA bloc leaders, saying "They used to say we can't do anything about terrorism from Pakistan". ALSO READ| Bloodsuckers, Ramdrohis: Yogis jibe at SP-Cong alliance On Saturday, Adityanath also addressed a poll rally in Mumbai where he campaigned for BJP candidate Ujjwal Nikam from Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency. At the rally, Adityanath said the ongoing elections are about choosing between Ram bhakts and Ram drohis. Ram bhakt is a rashtra bhakt who will serve the people of India and work for the country's progress. A Ram bhakt who paved the way for the construction of Ram temple can ensure respect for the people and the country as well as safety and security, he said. Taking a jibe at the Congress over the issue of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Adityanath said that Lord Ram wouldn't allow the Congress to come to power after the Lok Sabha election 2024. Congress leaders say Ram temple shouldnt have been constructed. If the Congress is so upset about it, it can construct a Ram temple in Italy. If they dont want a Ram temple, they can build one dedicated to Bajrangbali (Lord Hanuman), he said as quoted by news agency PTI. Some Congress leaders say that if their party comes to power, they will destroy the Ram temple, claimed the senior BJP leader. Ram Lalla will not allow you to come to power, he said. The first time Yajur Madan wrote a song for someone was in 2018. It was a gift for a friend on her birthday, and he spent six hours composing it, recording it and creating a video to go with it, featuring highlights from their years as best friends. He was 17 at the time, still in school, but the memory of her reaction stayed with him. She had tears of joy in her eyes, he says. Back then, as he dreamed of a career in music, this gift showed him, first-hand, the impact that his art could have. But life had other plans. By 2021, Madan was pursuing a degree in business management at Singapore Management University, majoring in entrepreneurship. As he considered what kind of business he would eventually like to run, his gift and his friends reaction came to mind. He decided to find a way to weave his original dream into his new path, and launched My Creative Factory, which received its first paid commission in January. The company doesnt just offer personalised songs. Songs are worked on by students and graduates from the Berklee College of Music, Boston. The result is essentially a bespoke work of art. The aim is to remain an intimate offering in a niche space, focused on stories about human relationships, says Madan, 22. And so, love of a different kind plays out in a Hindi song commissioned by a 21-year-old UK-based student, Janhavi Mahajan, for her mother Divya Mahajan, back home in Punjab. This one features music and lyrics by Madan: Mumma, kaise kiya? / Sabki khushi mein khush reh liya Mumma, socha na tha / Tere bina hum karenge kya Mumma, kya dooriyan / Jab dil mein saath ho saari jaga (Mom, how do you do it? / How do you find your joy in others happiness Mom, I have never tried to imagine / What I would do without you Mom, what distance can there be / When you go everywhere with me in my heart) Divya Mahajan, who is 46 and runs a womens initiative in Jalandhar, says she was taken completely by surprise by the gift. She added it to her playlist, of course, and so it sometimes starts to play unexpectedly, and I am transported to the moment when I first received it and was so touched that my two children had captured the journey of motherhood for me so beautifully. Yajur Madan. Madan talks to every client, conducting the first 30-minute call in which they lay out the story they wish to tell. He takes copious notes as they share fond memories, beloved mishaps and more, and passes these on to the musicians. A song typically takes four to six days to compose, with prices starting at $250 (about 20,000) for an audio recording and $300 (about 25,000) for a video version. Radhika Shankar, 39, a senior product manager in California, has commissioned one such music video, for her husbands 40th birthday this month. In addition to notes on their life together, she has sent in details of their banter, references to the music they enjoy, and voice notes from their children. It was fun reaching out to old friends to pull out pictures from his college years, and family members for childhood photos, bringing together a community of people celebrating a person we all love so much in different ways, she says. As his business helps people create new memories, Madan likes to credit his grandfather too. The young man was back home in Delhi during the pandemic, confused and directionless, when he lost his grandad, a math professor named Vasudev Madan. He remembers sitting in his grandfathers study soon after, surrounded by his books, and just writing about how he felt: Still wear your watch on my left hand / I miss the way you made me laugh... / If there was some magic in this world / (Id) sing this song loud and make sure youll hear it. It was his first tribute song since the one at 17. It was a turning point for me and my music. It confirmed for me that this was what I wanted to do with my life, he says. This is also when I realised that a lot of people struggle to put their feelings into words, and I realised thats where music can help. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's breathtaking Cannes looks are making waves in the fashion world and on social media. After turning heads on the first day in a jaw-dropping black and white ensemble embellished with gold flowers for the screening of "Megalopolis" on May 16, the global icon once again made jaws drop with her second look. The OG diva graced the screening of "Kinds of Kindness" in a custom avant-garde silhouette designed by Falguni Shane Peacock. Aishwarya has been a game changer when it comes to red-carpet appearances, and this time is no exception as she has proved her fashion savvy. Scroll down to know more about her second appearance. (Also read: Cannes 2024: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stuns on red carpet in dramatic floor-sweeping gown by Falguni Shane Peacock. Watch ) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan adorns a Falguni Shane Peacock tinsel gown for her second appearance at the 77th Cannes Film Festival 2024.(Instagram) Decoding Aishwarya Rai's second Cannes look Aishwarya's second look is as dramatic as the first and is meticulously crafted by popular Indian designer Falguni Shane Peacock. It comes in an enchanting shade of silver and has a delicate silhouette adorned with sequins all over. The bodycon fit hugged her body perfectly, the fishtail hemline and larger-than-life embellishments with turquoise accents made her look a complete showstopper. The floor-sweeping train at the back added an extra touch of drama. Her stunning gown, with its perfect blend of sequins and fringes, screamed sartorial elegance. Assisted by celebrity stylist Akshay Tyagi, Aishwarya accessorised her look with statement diamond drop earrings, a sleek silver bracelet on her wrist, a ring on her finger and a pair of high heels. Her glam makeup look included green eyeshadow, smudged eyeliner, mascaraed lashes, defined brows, stroke of kajal, blushed cheeks, dewy base, luminous highlighter and a shade of glossy nude lipstick. She rounded off her stunning look with her lustrous locks styled in soft curls, and left open at the centre, cascading beautifully down her shoulders. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her 21st appearance at Cannes this year. She first attended the prestigious film festival in 2002, wearing a Neeta Lulla sari and heavy gold jewellery for the premiere of her film Devdas. Apart from Aishwarya, Sobhita Dhulipala and Kiara Advani are also walking the prestigious red carpet this year. Ladies and gentlemen hold onto your hearts as Kiara Advani has arrived at Cannes 2024. In the midst of her much-anticipated debut, the diva revealed her first look as she took to Instagram and uploaded a stunning video of herself accompanied by the caption "Rendezvous at the Riviera (blue heart emoji)". In the video, she can be seen looking ethereal in an enchanting white gown. Fashion lovers have been eagerly awaiting Kiara's first look and we have to say she didn't disappoint. Kiara Advani wows at Cannes 2024 in Prabal Gurung white gown.(Instagram/@kiaraaliaadvani) The actress is a total stunner who never fails to hit fashion targets like a pro. And her latest look for prestigious 77th Cannes Film Festival is no exception, as she steals hearts with her incredible fashion sense and undeniable beauty. As we await her red carpet-appearance, let's decode her latest look and take some style notes. (Also read: Kiara Advani serves airport fashion goals as she jets off to Cannes in stylish beige trench coat and trousers. Watch ) Decoding Kiara Advani's first Cannes look Kiara's first look from Cannes is all about grace, glamour and effortless flair. The diva stunned as the epitome of elegance in an ethereal white floor-skimming gown. Her outfit is from the shelves of renowned designer Prabal Gurung's Fall 2024 collection. It comes in an enchanting ivory shade and features a luxurious satin fabric, a deep v plunging neckline, a fluid silhouette and a striking thigh-high slit at either side exuding chic vibes. The floor-sweeping train at the back adds an extra dose of drama. With a perfect combination of sartorial elegance and just the right amount of sass, her outfit is a true showstopper. Assisted by celebrity fashion stylist Lakshmi Lehr, Kiara accessorised her stunning look with a pair of statement bow-shaped pearl jewellery, an oversized diamond ring adorning her finger and a pair of white Christian Louboutin high heels that perfectly complemented her look. With the help of makeup artist Lekha Gupta, Kiara got decked up in shimmering nude eyeshadow, winged eyeliner, mascaraed lashes, defined brows, contoured cheekbones, luminous highlighter, dewy base, rosy cheeks and a shade of nude lipstick. With the help of hairstylist Priyanka Borkar, Kiara styled her luscious locks into a half updo hairstyle and adorned it with a white clip studded with pearls. Over-the-top services such as Facebook, WhatsApp, X, Instagram and Signal may come under a regulatory regime as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is looking forward to coming up with recommendations on them. This development comes at a time when the government, in a recently passed telecom act, had kept these services out of the regulatory regime. Whatsapp logo(REUTERS) TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lohti said that the telecom regulator will now proceed with open house discussions on framing a regulatory mechanism for these OTT services, Times of India said in a report. I know we have an ongoing consultation on OTT communication. It is just that in the last few months we are burning the midnight oil clearing the number of references pending with us, and OTT communication is also in the line, TOI quoted Lohti. ALSO READ | 18 OTT platforms blocked by I&B ministry over vulgar content: Xtramood, Uncut Adda, Besharams Speaking further he said, The OTT consultation was initiated after the recommendation of a parliamentary committee so this consultation will be completed, and we will give our recommendations which act it becomes a part of and which ministry or which regulator deals with it, is a separate matter. The Lok Sabha passed the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, through a voice vote in December last year. The bill [seeks] to amend and consolidate the law relating to development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services and telecommunication networks; assignment of spectrum; and for connected matters, communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while introducing the bill. The bill replaced the Indian Telegraph Act (1885) and the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1933). Industry bodies such as the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Broadband India Forum (BIF) welcomed the bill. However, some MPs and technology activists expressed concern on three fronts: inclusion of online services including OTT messaging ones; stringent user verification norms; and fears of heightened surveillance. ALSO READ | Kerala to launch India's first government-owned OTT platform on March 7; check more details here The Internet Society, in a statement after the passage of the bill, said, The Bill must contain provisions for distinguishing between traditional telecom services and Internet-based services. Renowned author and audio storyteller Neelesh Misra took to X to share his unpleasant experience while flying on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Lucknow. He shared that the situation he faced was chaotic, as the airline kept delaying the flight and changing boarding gates, causing problems for the passengers, especially the elderly. Neelesh Misra recollected his experience while flying with an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Lucknow. (PTI) Chaos for Delhi-Lucknow passengers for IndiGo 6E 2258 at Delhi Terminal 2. Flight delayed, plane load of passengers waiting, then told to rush to Gate 33, one floor above. A plane load of passengers including senior citizens, wheelchair-bound passengers, mothers with babies rush via stairs to Gate 33. After half an hour of lining up, they are told to go back one floor down its again Gate 21. They rush back, the entire plane load. The neon sign now has a strip running: Please rush to Gate 26, he wrote. In the following lines, he added, Indigos tales of arrogance and lack of empathy abound, especially after they became number 1. If there were options available, I would never fly them. IndiGo commented on the post and wrote, We sincerely apologise for the delay and inconvenience caused by the multiple gate changes, which was done to ensure a quick departure. Additionally, the updated departure information was communicated through timely announcements. However, Misra slammed the airline by saying how IndiGo claims to ensure a quick departure by delaying the flight multiple times. You have the gall to say that you inconvenienced a planeload of people like this again and again to ensure a quick departure and still were one and a half hours late for a 45-minute flight? Do take us for granted, IndiGo by all means but dont express it in a formal tweet please, he replied. Take a look at the exchange here: The initial post by Mirsa has accumulated over 64,000 views. The share has further collected more than 300 likes. The share has prompted people to post varied comments. What did X users say about this post on IndiGo? Indigo is pathetic. I had a horrible experience very recently. Their theory behind every delay is ludicrous, wrote an X user. Horrible airline. Usually, the experience is bad. On my last flight from Delhi to Bhubaneswar on 11.5.24, we had to wait long at the check-in counter as half of them were unmanned. There is a shortage of staff, I guess. Number one position due to lack of competition, shared another. It's utter arrogance! I had a similar episode earlier this year. They kept people waiting in a queue without informing about the delay. When I complained, there no resolution. It is sad to see utter abdication of responsibilities, added a third. Indigo simply takes advantage of no option being available to customer, joined a fourth. Neelesh Misra is most popularly known for his FM show Yaadon Ka IdiotBox. A journalist, his compelling storytelling always captures the listener's hearts. All Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai are going to polls on Monday, May 20. Ahead of the big day, Ratan Tata took to X to share a special message with Mumbaikars. He urged everyone to go out to vote and exercise their constitutional right. Ratan Tata's post on voting in Mumbai has resonated with many. (Instagram/@ratantata) Monday is voting day in Mumbai. I urge all Mumbaikars to go out and vote responsibly, Ratan Tata wrote in his post. The fifth phase of voting will begin at 7 am on Monday and conclude at 6 pm. There are six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai City and Mumbai suburban, where voting will take place on Monday. Take a look at Ratan Tatas X post here: Since being shared less than an hour ago, the X post has gone viral. Till now, it has collected more than 30,000 views - and the numbers are quickly increasing. The share has further accumulated nearly 3,800 likes. People posted varied comments while reacting to the share. A few also reposted the X post. What did X users say about Ratan Tatas post? Lots of love, sir, posted an X user. All Mumbaikars use their voting power for stability, prosperity and equality, shared another. India is so lucky to have a person like you, sir, expressed a third. Your appeal to the people of Mumbai will work for the country's benefit, and everyone will contribute to the country's welfare. This is the hope, commented a fourth. Remember responsibility, wrote a fifth. In addition to Maharashtra, phase five of the general elections will take place from specific seats in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. A Vermont university has bestowed the honorary degree of doctor of litter-ature on Max the cat, a beloved member of its community, ahead of students' graduation on Saturday. This photo shows Max the Cat in Vermont State University Castleton. (AP) Vermont State Universitys Castleton campus is honoring the feline not for his mousing or napping, but for his friendliness. Max the Cat has been an affectionate member of the Castleton family for years, the school said in a Facebook post. Take a look at the post: How did Facebook users react? The viral Facebook post prompted people to post various reactions. A few also shared heart emoticons. This is wonderful! Thank you VTSU for doing this! wrote a Facebook user. This is so cool, added another. Great. Now my accomplishments as an senior computer specialists are being outstripped by a cat who graduated college. Great, joked a third. The popular tabby lives in a house with his human family on the street that leads to the main entrance to campus. So he decided that he would go up on campus, and he just started hanging out with the college students, and they love him," owner Ashley Dow said Thursday. He's been socializing on campus for about four years, and students get excited when they see him. They pick him up and take selfies with him, and he even likes to go on tours with prospective students that meet at a building across from the family's house, she said. I don't even know how he knows to go, but he does," Dow said. And then he'll follow them on their tour. The students refer to Dow as Max's mom, and graduates who return to town sometimes ask her how Max is doing. Max won't be participating in the graduation, though. His degree will be delivered to Dow later. Three Spanish citizens and three Afghans were killed when gunmen opened fire in central Afghanistan, Taliban and Spanish officials said Saturday. Three Spanish citizens and three Afghans were killed when gunmen opened fire in central Afghanistan, Taliban and Spanish officials said Saturday.(File photo) Officials had earlier said that four people died. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Friday evening attack. Seven suspects were arrested at the scene in Bamiyan province, a major tourist area, and an investigation is underway, said Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the interior minister, on Saturday. He said seven other people were wounded. Qani did not give the nationality of the foreign citizens, but the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that three Spaniards had died in the attack and that at least one more had been wounded. A Taliban official in Bamiyan who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that the four wounded foreigners were from Spain, Norway, Australia and Latvia. ALSO READ| Afghanistan Floods: 50 dead due to heavy rains Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social media platform X that he was overwhelmed by the news. Qani said that all those who were wounded have been transferred to capital Kabul for treatment and they are in stable condition. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said that it was deeply shocked and appalled by the attack on civilians. We express our condolences to the victims of the attack, and are providing assistance following the incident, UNAMA said on X. Blame for the attack is likely to fall on the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, a major Taliban rival. IS militants have carried out scores of attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and minority Shiite areas throughout the country. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war. In April The Associated Press visited the Taliban-run institute training tourism and hospitality professionals in Kabul. The Taliban is seeking to increase the number of tourists coming to the country. In 2021, there were 691 foreign tourists; in 2022, that figure rose to 2,300; and last year, it topped 7,000. Bamiyan is probably best known as the site of two massive Buddha statues that were carved into the cliff face between the 4th and 6th century and which were destroyed by the Taliban at al-Qaida's urging in early 2001. BANGKOK A powerful ethnic armed group fighting Myanmars military government in the countrys western state of Rakhine claimed Saturday to have seized a town near the border with Bangladesh, marking the latest in a series of victories for foes of the countrys military government. As ethnic armed group claims to have captured a town in western Myanmar, Muslim Rohingyas flee again Members of the states Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, targets of deadly army-directed violence in 2017, appear to have been the main victims of fighting in the town of Buthidaung, where the Arakan Army claims to have chased out forces of the military government. There are contradictory accounts of who is to blame for the reported burning of the town, compelling its Rohingya residents to flee. The competing claims could not be verified independently, with access to the internet and mobile phone services in the area mostly cut off. Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told The Associated Press by text message from an undisclosed location that his group had seized Buthidaung after capturing all the militarys outposts there. The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmars central government. It is also a member of an armed ethnic group alliance that recently gained strategic territory in the countrys northeast on the border with China. The group said in a Saturday statement on the Telegram messaging platform that fighting was ongoing on the outskirts of Buthidaung as its troops chased after the retreating army soldiers and local Muslims it said were fighting alongside them. Khaing Thukha said the Arakan Armys troops were caring for Muslim villagers fleeing the fighting. He denied allegations by Rohingya activists on social media that the Arakan Army had set fire to the town, which is mostly populated by Rohingya. Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, but they are widely regarded by many in the countrys Buddhist majority, including members of the Rakhine minority, as having illegally migrated from Bangladesh. The Rohingya face a great amount of prejudice and are generally denied citizenship and other basic rights. The Rohingya were the targets of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign incorporating rape and murder that saw an estimated 740,000 flee to neighboring Bangladesh as their villages were burned down by government troops in 2017. Ethnic Rakhine nationalist supporters of the Arakan Army were also among the persecutors of the Rohingya minority. However, the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi shifted political alignments, with a resistance movement against military rule a position shared by the Arakan Army counting the Rohingya population among its allies. Lingering tensions between the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the more than 600,000 Rohingya are still living in Rakhine flared when the government in February recruited Rohingya living in displacement camps to do military service. Both coercion and promises of citizenship were reportedly employed to get them to join. Nay San Lwin, a co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition group based outside of Myanmar, said in a Friday email to the that the Arakan Army had warned Buthidaungs Rohingya residents to evacuate the town by 10 a.m. on Saturday, and that more than 200,000 Rohingya seeking refuge there in houses, government buildings, a hospital, and schools, were in an extremely dangerous situation. He also alleged that the Arakan Army had fired on a school and a hospital where displaced Rohingya are sheltering, resulting in deaths and injuries. Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya who is deputy minister for human rights in the resistance movements shadow National Unity Government, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday that Buthidaung had been burned to a pile of ash and that its residents had fled to rice fields outside of town. He did not clearly lay blame for the arson, but said the situation was dire for those who fled. A comprehensive and impartial investigation needs to be carried out and those responsible must be held accountable," he wrote. "Revolution against the military dictatorship is not a license to do anything you want. War has rules. The Arakan Armys Khaing Thukha described the allegations his group was responsible were baseless, claiming the houses caught fire due to the airstrikes by the military government. He also said retreating army troops and what he called their allies in terrorist organizations" meaning Rohingya guerrilla groups and local Muslims inducted into the military also set fire to houses as they retreated. The military government has a well-established record of burning down villages as it battles pro-democracy and ethnic separatist groups opposed to military rule This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Once every five years or so, each UN member state has to have its human-rights record examined under a so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) overseen by the bodys Human Rights Council. Every country in the UN may pose questions and recommendations to the state under review. This week China had its turn. The event merely illustrated its success in creating a split between most countries in the global south, which tended to flatter China with friendly questions, and Western democracies, which castigated it. Rights campaigners had hoped the UPR would offer scrutiny of Chinas many abuses since its last review in 2018. It would be the first discussion of Chinas human rights within the UN since the body published a report in 2022 alleging possible crimes against humanity in the region of Xinjiang, home to the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. China has since blocked attempts to discuss the report. This latest review was largely farcical. More than 160 countries had asked to make speeches; thus each got just 45 seconds. China had reportedly lobbied non-Western countries beforehand to fill up the time with praise and talking points. Most of them lauded China for alleviating poverty. Most effusive were those in heavy debt or in tight geopolitical alignment, such as Iran, Laos and Russia. Few Muslim countries mentioned Chinas brutal treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs. Many countries echoed Chinese terms such as people-oriented philosophy of human rights and whole-process democracy. These are jargon for the idea that security, stability and rising living standards should take priority over individual freedoms. Western countries and some democracies elsewhere spoke up against Chinas abuses, with an emphasis on Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. At least 50 states made recommendations such as ending arbitrary detention and forced disappearances. Six states said China should stop residential surveillance at a designated location, a form of extralegal pre-trial detention used by Chinas ministry of state security. Twenty states touched on Tibet, more than double the number who raised it in 2018. Several called for China to abolish a boarding-school system that separates Tibetan children from their families to assimilate them into majority Han Chinese culture. Some developing countries also made criticisms, albeit couched in soft language. Thirteen states, including several Latin American democracies, urged China to allow unfettered visits by UN experts. This shows that some countries in the global south do want China to stop flouting UN rules, says Raphael Viana David of the International Service for Human Rights, a campaigning group. But the UPR has no enforcement teeth. So China still happily uses it to promote the notion of the bullying West versus the righteous rest. Correction (February 13th 2024): In an earlier version of this article we referred to the Universal Periodic Review as the Universal Procedural Review. Sorry. Subscribers can sign up to Drum Tower, our new weekly newsletter, to understand what the world makes of Chinaand what China makes of the world. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com The Indian mission in Kyrgyzstan has advised its nationals to stay indoors as large-scale mob violence directed against international students has been reported in the central asian country. Large-scale mob violence targets international students in Kyrgyzstan. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue, the statement said. The embassy also provided helpine number. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041. ALSO READ- Another donkey flight? Dubai flight with Indians sent back from Jamaica, says MEA Why violence directed on international students in Kyrgyzstan? Local media reports say that protesters gathered in large numbers in Bishkek following a May 13 clash between locals and international students at a hostel. Some demonstrators blocked traffic and vandalised buildings. Security forces have made several arrest. Kyrgyzstan is a popular destination for education, especially in the medical field, attracting a large number of students from the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. As of April 2023, data from various medical universities in Kyrgyzstan indicates that approximately 9,500 students are currently pursuing their studies there, a government report said. Kyrgyzstan assures situation calm The ministry of foreign affairs of Kyrgyzstan said that the situation in Bishkek is under control. "In connection with the incident that occurred on the night of May 18 in Bishkek with the participation of foreign citizens, the Ministry reports the following. From the moment information about the incident was received, law enforcement agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic took prompt measures to detain persons involved in the event, both foreign citizens and citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry assured that security forces have maintained public order and ensured the safety of citizens. While about 15 people sought medical examinations, there were no serious injuries. Additionally, the ministry reported it did not receive any messages regarding injured foreign citizens. ALSO READ- Got job offers from Cambodia or Laos? You may land up in a scam. Check advisory Pakistan issues advisory too The Pakistan embassy in Bishkek issued an advisory for international students, including Pakistanis, amid reports of mob violence against foreign students in the city. The statement mentioned incidents of violence against foreign students, particularly after videos of a fight between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students surfaced online on May 13. Several hostels of medical universities and private residences of international students, including Pakistanis, have been targeted. While there are reports of minor injuries to Pakistani students, there have been no confirmed reports of deaths or rapes, the statement said. ALSO READ- MEA reacts to death of ex-India Army officer Col Waibhav Anil Kale in Gaza The embassy has advised Pakistani students to stay indoors until the situation stabilizes. It has also managed to contact over 250 students and their families in Pakistan, it said. The violence seems to be targeting all foreign students and is not specific to Pakistanis, the statement added. The parents of an Israeli-German girl, who got killed amid war in Gaza last year, spoke about identifying their daughter's body seven months after her murder. Shani Louk's remains were recovered in Rafah by Israeli soldiers on Friday amid the bodies of two other war hostages. Shani Louk was a tattoo artist and had visited Israel to participate in a music festival for peace near the Gaza border fence.(HT File) Shani Louk was seen lying with her face down in the back of a pick-up truck filled with armed Hamas men before being declared dead amid a war between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza. She was paraded naked by Hamas men. Shanis parents expressed relief that their daughters remains have been returned to Israel following the October 7 attack, which included a killing spree at the music festival Shani attended. The body is back, we can bury her. Its a little bit of relief we know where her body is and that she will be here in Israel buried, said Shanis mother, Ricarda Louk, told The New York Post. Meanwhile, Shani Louk's father, Nissim Louk, considered it a miracle. The body that we have now is complete and beautiful and looks like shes alive actually, said Shanis father, Nissim Louk, speaking to the New York Post on Friday. I think shed been in one of the tunnels which was very, very coldthats why the body is complete and beautiful and the skin is still the same colour, you still see the tattoos, its amazing, he added. Thousands of young people gathered at the festival held near the Reim kibbutz close to the Gaza border on October 6 and 7. Fighters from the Palestinian militant group Hamas crossed into Israel and killed over 360 people at the festival, The Post reported. "This terrible loss is heartbreaking We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after the announcement. The Nova festival victims made up nearly a third of the approximately 1,170 people killed in the October 7 attack, AFP said in its report. Of the 252 people taken hostage that day, 125 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 37 whom the army says are dead. Meanwhile, Israel's devastating military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people. The Hostages Families Forum described the recovery of the bodies as a "painful and stark reminder that we must swiftly bring back all our brothers and sisters from their cruel captivity." (With inputs from AFP) The Kyrgyz government on Saturday cautioned against false information being spread in foreign media and on social media platforms, particularly in Pakistan, after the reported attack on international students. Kyrgyz Republic's ministry of foreign affairs stressed that the situation in Bishkek is calm and fully under control, urging media, bloggers, and foreign governments to rely solely on verified information from Kyrgyz authorities. Large-scale mob violence targets international students in Kyrgyzstan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of Pakistan, a release said. The Ministry informs that the situation in the city of Bishkek of the Kyrgyz Republic is calm and under full control, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, maintain peace and stability, it added, urging media, bloggers, and foreign governments to rely solely on verified information from Kyrgyz authorities. This assurance follows a violent attack on Friday in which hundreds of Kyrgyz men attacked buildings housing foreign students, including Pakistanis. The police claimed that the attack was prompted by foreigners beating up locals in the city. In response, Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned Kyrgyzstan's top diplomat in Islamabad and handed a note of protest. "It was impressed on the Kyrgyz charge d'affaires that the Kyrgyz government should take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens," Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement. Read: MBBS student from Andhra Pradesh dies at frozen waterfall in Kyrgyzstan According to the Kyrgyz health ministry, four Pakistani students received first aid and were discharged, while one remains under medical care. Pakistan has established emergency hotlines to support its nationals affected by the violence. Meanwhile, India has asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar advised the Indian students to stay in regular touch with the Indian embassy. "Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy," he said in a post on X. The Indian embassy said, We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. The number of Indian students in Kyrgyzstan is estimated to be around 15,000. It was not immediately known how many of them are in Bishkek. CAIRO Clashes between government-allied militias rocked a coastal town in western Libya, trapping families inside their homes and forcing the closure of schools Saturday, officials said. At least one civilian was killed. Militia clashes rock western Libyan town. At least 1 civilian was killed, officials say The latest bout of violence in the chaos-stricken Mediterranean nation broke out early Saturday in the town of Zawiya, 40 kilometers west of the capital Tripoli, health officials said. The Health Ministrys Ambulance and Emergency Services reported that at least one civilian was killed and at least 22 others were wounded in the clashes which were centered in the southern part of the town. A number of families have been evacuated during a short pause in the fighting, it said. The Libyan Red Crescent, which helped evacuate the trapped families, appealed to the parties involved to open safe corridors for the remaining families in the area where fighting took place. The Health Ministry said the clashes subsided by mid-day Saturday thanks to tribal elders in the town. The situation is now quiet in southern Zawiya, it said. The clashing sides are allied with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, which is based in the capital of Tripoli. A spokesman for Dbeibahs government didnt respond to a request for comment. The cause of the fighting was not immediately clear. Local media, however, reported that the clashes erupted when security forces attempted to arrest a man suspected of murder earlier this year. The clashes also came after security authorities found three young men and a woman dead on a roadside in the town. The circumstances of their killing were not immediately clear. The fighting was the latest bout of violence to rock western Libya, which is controlled by an array of lawless militias allied with Dbeibahs government. In August last year, a 24-hour period of fighting between rival militias in Tripoli killed at least 45 people. The oil-rich North African country has been wrecked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country has been divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. The country is now governed by Dbehibas government in Tripoli and the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in eastern Libya. In the eastern town of Benghazi, lawmaker Ibarhim al-Darai went missing after a robbery of his home earlier this week, the Interior Ministry of Hamads government said late Friday. The ministry said it was investigating al-Darsis disappearance. Al-Darsis disappearance recalled the case of another lawmaker, Sigam Sergiwa, who was abducted in Benghazi in July 2019. Sergiwa was taken from her home by gunmen wearing military uniforms on July 17, hours after she criticized a failed offensive in 2019 by east Libya forces of powerful commander Khalifa Hifter to seize Tripoli, according to Amnesty International. Benghazi is the stronghold of Hifter's forces, which control eastern and southern Libya, and back Hammads government. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. In January, Kate Middleton underwent an abdominal surgery that was reportedly performed by a distinguished team of Italian doctors, the same team that has operated on Pope Francis. Italian experts perform critical surgery on Kate Middleton leading to cancer discovery, (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)(AP) This group of specialists was brought to the UK specifically for this high-stakes operation, which led to a cancer diagnosis for Kate, a mother of three. The procedure was conducted by physicians from Romes esteemed Gemelli Clinic, as per the Italian publication Gente. Renowned for its medical expertise, the Gemelli Clinic has a long-standing history of treating notable figures, including Pope Francis. Recent speculations suggest that this medical team made the journey to a London clinic in January to attend to the Princess of Wales. ALSO READ| King Charles III is ready to step out of UK for the first time since his cancer diagnosis While the British royal family typically relies on its own cadre of medical experts, the clinic is known to engage numerous international specialists for particular cases. A patient at the hospital told Bild, In an exceptional case like Kates, this is not unusual. How is Kate Middleton? William says she is doing well Since the revelation that Kate has been diagnosed with cancer, the rumour mill has started churning, and a whirlwind of speculation is flooding the internet about the Princess's current health condition. The Mirror reported that at least one staff member at the London hospital where Kate was diagnosed with cancer tried to gain access to health data belonging to the Princess of Wales This is a major security breach and incredibly damaging for the hospital, given its unblemished reputation for treating members of the Royal Family, an insider told the outlet. Senior hospital bosses contacted Kensington Palace immediately after the incident was brought to their attention and assured the palace there would be a full investigation. ALSO READ| Good news for King Charles: His personal net worth sees dramatic surge, and it's far more than Queen Elizabeth II Weeks ago, while talking to BBC, Prince William said that Kate is doing well during his visit to St Mary's Community Hospital. My family is very upset I'm here without them, he said. The children will kill me if I don't go home later. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP in an exclusive interview he expects Russia to step up its offensive in the northeast and warned Kyiv only has a quarter of the air defences it needs to hold the front line. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (AFP) Russian forces, which had made only moderate advances in recent months, launched an assault in the Kharkiv region on May 10 that has brought them their biggest territorial gains in a year-and-a-half. Zelensky said Russian troops had managed to advance between five to 10 kilometres (three to six miles) along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces. But he warned it may only be the "first wave" in a wider offensive. "I won't say it's a great success (for Russia) but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory," he said, speaking from Kyiv on Friday in his first interview with foreign media since the offensive began. Zelensky said the situation in the Kharkiv region has been "controlled" but "not stabilised". He doubled down on pleas to allies to send more air defence and fighter jets to combat Russia's air superiority as the war grinds through its third year. "Today, we have about 25 percent of what we need to defend Ukraine. I'm talking about air defence," he said. Ukraine needs "120 to 130" F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft to achieve air "parity" with Russia, Zelensky said. Kharkiv assault Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week the northeastern offensive was in retaliation for Ukraine's shelling of border regions and that Moscow was trying to create a "security zone". Russian forces have taken 278 square kilometres (107 square miles) between May 9 and 15, their biggest gains since the end of 2022, AFP calculated using data from the Institute for the Study of War. Russia said Saturday it had seized another village in the Kharkiv region, while Ukraine's defence forces said they "were focusing their main efforts on preventing the Russian occupants from advancing". In his evening address Saturday, Zelensky said Moscow was paying a heavy price. "The invaders are losing their infantry and equipment -- it's a significant loss," he said. Like the initial invasion in 2022, Russia was "counting on a rapid advance through our land", he added. Ukraine has evacuated almost 10,000 people from the northeast border area since Russia launched the assault. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian soldiers in the eastern town of Vovchansk of using dozens of captured civilians as "human shields" to defend their command headquarters -- a claim AFP was not able to verify. Two civilians -- aged 70 and 83 -- were killed when trying to leave Vovchansk by car, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor said. "The battle in the area of Vovchansk is ongoing," Ukraine's armed defences said. Mobilisation age lowered Putin said there was no intention at this stage to take Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, about 30 kilometres from the border. More than one million people still live there. With no end to the war in sight, Ukraine's army is struggling to recruit, while fighters are growing exhausted and angry at the lack of rotation. Zelensky has acknowledged issues with staffing and "morale" within Ukraine's often outgunned and outnumbered ranks, signing a mobilisation law that came into force on Saturday. "We need to staff the reserves... A large number of (brigades) are empty," Zelensky told AFP. Many Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting for more than two years without the possibility of being discharged. Kyiv has lowered the age at which men can be drafted from 27 to 25 and tightened punishments for those who avoid the call-up. The authorities have created an online registration system for anyone liable for military service to update their details. On Saturday morning, more than 150,000 people had logged on. Nonsense situation Ukraine's strongest allies, the Baltic states and Poland, have grown nervous that Russia may try to attack them. Poland announced it would spend $2.5 billion to fortify its eastern border, which includes Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. As other Western allies press for a quick end to the war, Zelensky insisted Ukraine was still playing the long game. "The West wants the war to end. Period. As soon as possible. And, for them, this is a fair peace," he said. He pushed his allies to taker a firmer approach to Russia, including by allowing his armed forces to strike into Russian territory with Western weapons. "We are in a nonsense situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And it does not want Ukraine to lose it," Zelensky said. But Russia said its air defences on Saturday had destroyed French-made guided bombs and US-made anti-radar missiles over the western Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Last summer, a state ethics panel quite unceremoniously chucked a complaint made against Juan M. Merchan of New York, who is currently overseeing former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. On Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)(AP) The specific claim was associated with the small-dollar contributions (Judge Merchan) that went to entities steeped in Democrats political campaigns, including President Joe Bidens campaign. The total amount donated by Judge Merchan in 2020 was $35, which included a $15 contribution specifically earmarked for the Biden campaign and a $10 donation to a group called Stop Republicans. Under state judicial ethics rules, judges are prohibited from making political contributions of any kind. Still, Judge Merchan made these donations, which led to the complaint being filed against him. ALSO READ| Congratulations Barron! Trump & Melania cheer for their son as he graduates from Oxbridge Academy Trump Trial Judge cleared of ethics complaint Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution, stated Al Baker, a spokesman for the court system. The commission did not release the letter outlining the caution due to its confidentiality rules, and Justice Merchan chose not to make the letter public. The Commission on Judicial Conduct is governed by a confidentiality statute and cannot comment on nonpublic dispositions, explained Robert Tembeckjian, the commissions administrator. NY judges often break political donations rules The 2024 annual report of the commission showed that several New York judges broke the rule prohibiting political contributions from court employees in the last couple of years. Frequently cited infringements were punished with minimal, and judges seemed to think that the limitation of rules was meant for official organisations' administration only. As a matter of fact, judges are forbidden by law to make donations to political campaigns, which include contributions for candidacy to federal offices. The commission noted, Like so much of the misconduct the Commission encounters, making a prohibited political contribution is a self-inflicted mistake. Trumps legal team also scrutinized Justice Merchans adult daughter for her work at a Democratic consulting firm. Despite several claims, Justice Merchan declined to recuse himself, and appeals court judges did not intervene. The trial is now nearing its conclusion. ALSO READ| Supreme Court Justice Alito under fire for flying upside-down US flag following Donald Trump's Stop the Steal claim The case against Trump centres on a $130,000 hush-money payment made to pornstar Stormy Daniels during the last days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels claims to have had a sexual encounter with the former president, and the payment, made by Trumps fixer Michael Cohen, was intended to buy her silence. Now, the 45th US president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen, misrepresenting them as routine legal expenses. Trump has consistently denied the accusations and has lashed out at both Justice Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, who brought the case, saying that both are Democrats and they are colluding. IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who accused the Justice Department of attempting to cover up the investigation in the Hunter Biden case, filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to dismiss the lawsuit against the tax agency filed by the first son. Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs following a closed deposition with members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee conducting an impeachment inquiry into the president, at the O'Neill House Office Building in Washington, U.S., February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo(REUTERS) Biden, who is just 54 years old, took the IRS to court last September, demanding the court investigate the leaked tax information, which he considered was tampered with inappropriately. He alleged that the tax whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, an IRS supervisory special agent who published his tax information publicly, deprived him of his right to privacy and tried to embarrass him. Nor Shapley nor Ziegler are being named as defendants in the lawsuit; the only party name is IRS, which they tend to be accused of having a conflict of interests between the parties involved that may result in the IRS failing to defend their legally authorized protected disclosures as legally authorized. ALSO READ| Joe Biden's aides concerned about his growing anxiety over son Hunter's gun case trial: He worries every single day Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight and representative for Shapley, noted, Normally a lawsuit like this would be defended by DOJs Federal Programs Branch. He pointed out, But instead, DOJ assigned two attorneys from the Tax Division one of the very offices Shapley and Ziegler blew the whistle on. DOJs client here is the IRS the same agency that took the whistleblowers off the Hunter Biden case, imposed illegal gag orders on them, and tried to make it look in Hunters criminal prosecution like the whistleblowers are under investigation. DOJ reluctance exposes conflict in Hunter Biden IRS lawsuit, whistleblowers say The whistleblowers' motion to intervene underscores the DOJ Tax Divisions reluctance to dismiss the lawsuit and defend the whistleblowers disclosures in earlier filings, which exposes the clear conflict between the interests of the Plaintiff Hunter Biden, the whistleblowers, and the governmental entities on which they blew the whistle. The legal document asserts, The bottom line remains that Shapley and Ziegler did not violate the law in their disclosures and need the opportunity to intervene to defend their interests. Leavitt dropped a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland last month expressing his apprehension that the DOJ was bizarrely ignoring the key statutory provision that legitimized the disclosures made by Shapley and Ziegler. Only then did DOJ finally drop a footnote in a filing last Friday that they dont believe the IRS whistleblowers broke the law. Yet DOJ is still not moving to dismiss Hunter Bidens case in its entirety, despite several good-faith bases for doing so, Leavitt said. ALSO READ| Hunter Biden threatens Fox News with imminent defamation suit over alleged conspiracy Shapley and Ziegler had made their protected disclosures to the House Ways and Means Committee, which preceded the collapse of Bidens plea deal in Delaware related to tax and gun charges. The committee decided to make those interviews public, and subsequently, Shapley and Ziegler testified that the DOJ had hindered their investigation, including barring them from interviewing witnesses and examining evidence from Hunter Bidens discarded laptop. Bidens legal battle against the IRS includes a demand for a $1,000 compensation for each instance of unauthorized tax disclosure, along with litigation charges and an unspecified sum in punitive damages. Meghan Markle, who has stood up for women's rights and believes they can change the world, is reportedly considering a future in politics following her recent unofficial "royal tour" to her adopted homeland Nigeria with Prince Harry. According to Sky News, a royal expert Richard Kay stated that Meghan and Harry's Nigeria trips was a "soft launch" for her potential US presidential campaign.(AP) The Duchess of Sussex's supporters also feel she is destined to make her journey to the Oval Office, with her Suits co-star Erika Alexander stating this week that Meghan is "heading to the White House". Since the the royal couple's departure from the royal family in 2020, there have been speculations that Meghan intends to pursue a political career. However, she has never addressed such rumors. A tilt at the White House? According to Sky News, a royal expert Richard Kay stated that Meghan and Harry's Nigeria trips was a "soft launch" for her potential US presidential campaign. It could be, she could be dipping her toe into the water. Who knows? I think she has a long way to go before she has a tilt at the White House, Kay said, according to Palace Confidential. During their 3-day Nigeria tour, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex promoted the Invictus Games and interacted with the country's highest officials. The mother of two has a history of openly immersing herself in political causes, the move which has been criticised by working royals who are expected to remain politically neutral. In 2021, she personally approached members of the United States Senate to lobby for paid leave, reportedly referring to herself as "the Duchess" despite the fact that the US doesn't recognise such titles. Also Read: Will the royal family extend an olive branch for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles anniversary? Will Prince Harry face any troubles if Meghan enters White House? According to MailOnline, experts believe Meghan might be just a few steps away from the US presidency if she follows in the footsteps of one of her most vociferous opponents, Donald Trump. Interestingly, if Meghan seriously wants to move to the White House, Harry would have to become an American citizen. Otherwise, experts think she would lose her credibility. Christopher Phelps, a specialist on US politics, said: It would be a great story. The British prince who loved her so much he gave up his British citizenship to become an American. There would be no requirement for him to do it - but he would have to if she wanted to have any credibility. Last year, there were rumours that California Governor Gavin Newsom would choose Meghan to be a Senator for the state following Dianne Feinstein's death. Meghan reportedly held a meeting with Governor Newsom and even networked with prominent Democrats to establish a grassroots campaign. However, Newsom finally chose Laphonza Butler. US President Joe Biden and his reelection campaign have closed doors for any speculations about additional debates with GOP rival Donald Trump. This comes after Trump's campaign agreed to two more presidential debates with POTUS. Trump campaign spokeswoman slammed Biden team after they said, The debate about debates is over, adding that there will be no more games.(AP) While first proposal called for an NBC News and Telemundo debate, the other was for a Fox News VP debate. Taking to Truth Social on Friday, Trump stated that he has agreed to a fourth Presidential debate against Biden, hosted by NBC and Telemundo. The former president also mentioned that he has accepted an invitation from Fox News to host the VP debate at Virginia State University. Trump campaign reacts as Biden team rejects more debates proposal Speaking to NBC News, a Biden campaign official said, The debate about debates is over, adding that there will be no more games. Responding to Biden's team statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez slammed the president's decision. The Trump team's official stated that Hispanic voters will watch the Telemundo/NBC, but Biden's advisers are petrified to allow him to defend his disastrous record. Crooked Joe Biden is too cobarde to address the Hispanic community and answer for his failures on the debate stage, Alvarez added. Earlier this week, Trump and Biden announced they would face off each other in two presidential debates one hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27, and another by ABC News on September 10 at an unknown location. Also Read: Coward Donald Trump takes U-turn, puts crucial precondition before first debate with Biden Trump, Biden require to meet certain conditions for debate Meanwhile, CNN in a statement made it clear that it will not allow crowds in its studio to watch the debate. Ahead of their appearance on stage for presidential debates, the candidates must meet particular criteria. They are required to be on the ballot in sufficient states to receive at least 270 electoral votes, consenting to the rules and format of the debate, and garnering at least 15 percent in four national polls of enrolled or likely voters. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon stated that there will be no more debate about debates. President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms, she stated. No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates. Well see Donald Trump on June 27th in Atlanta if he shows up. King Charles III will be travelling for the first time outside the UK this Friday when he will attend and celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, per the Buckingham Palace. King Charles III plans to travel to France next month for British ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, while skipping the larger international event a few miles away as he continues to be treated for cancer. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)(AP) The 75yearold British monarch will attend a celebrative event held at the British Normandy Memorial in northern France on June 6, the statement said. Charles recently resumed his public engagements. The announcement comes after a period of speculation regarding the Kings health and his ability to attend such events, following the Palaces disclosure of his diagnosis in February. Charles himself revealed that he lost his sense of taste due to cancer. ALSO READ| Good news for King Charles: His personal net worth sees dramatic surge, and it's far more than Queen Elizabeth II Despite these concerns, it has been confirmed that King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince William will actively engage in the D-Day celebrations. Prior to their departure for France, the royal trio will be present at a ceremony in Portsmouth on June 5. This event serves as a solemn remembrance of the Allied landings during World War Two, which played a pivotal role in liberating France from Nazi occupation. Princess Anne to unveil statue honouring Canadian forces Princess Anne is scheduled to unveil a statue in Normandy that honours the Canadian forces huge contributions to the D-Day operations. She will participate in a remembrance service at the Bayeux Cathedral after the unveiling. The following June 6, will witness King Charles and Queen Camilla attending a ceremony at the British Normandy Memorial located in Ver-sur-Mer, France. This memorial bears the names of over 20,000 soldiers who served under British command and sacrificed their lives during the Battle of Normandy. ALSO READ| Don McLean reignites his feud with Prince Harry: You dont criticise America when Prince William, 41, is also set to attend a ceremony at Omaha Beach in Saint Laurent sur Mer, an event anticipated to be graced by the presence of 25 heads of state. However, Prince Williams wife, Kate Middleton, will not be there, as she continues her recovery following her own cancer diagnosis. The Princess of Wales, 42, is currently undergoing preventative chemotherapy and is convalescing at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Be it long ruffled or floaty dresses, Meghan Markle is recognised for her elegant style, which has developed significantly since she relocated to California with Prince Harry to start a new chapter of life. The Duchess of Sussex was seen following a new fashion trend during her recent visit to Nigeria with Harry. She looked absolutely gorgeous at every public event as she chose to wear trousers, skirts, and dresses that were too long for her 5ft 6in frame. The Duchess of Sussex was seen following a new fashion trend during her recent visit to Nigeria with Harry. She looked absolutely gorgeous at every public event as she chose to wear trousers, skirts, and dresses that were too long for her 5ft 6in frame. Rather than tailoring her maxi costumes precisely to fit her length, she frequently wears outfits that not only add a charm to her fashion sense, but even drags over the ground as she walks. Meghan Markle's Nigeria tour During her first stop at Abuja, she chose the aptly called Windsor dress in blush silk, which costs 1,106. The Duchess spent her evening with Harry at Wuse Lightway Academy, and she sported a frock that swept the floor as she cheerfully jumped around while dancing. In Lagos, the mother of two donned a Carolina Herrera Silk Overlay Column gown, which is from the Fall 2019 RTW Collection, in 'Taxi Cab' yellow. For Lagos State Governor's Office visit, she again wore a long, vivid, and flashy attire that dragged across the grass yard. Last summer, Meghan donned an all-brown outfit when she attended the Invictus Games with Harry in Frankfurt and a NATO conference. This was composed of a chocolate-colored blouse and pleated taupe trousers that dropped toward the ground's surface. Also Read: Is Meghan Markle eyeing career in politics following unofficial royal tour of Nigeria? Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (L), welcomes Britain's Meghan (R), Duchess of Sussex, as she and Britain's Prince Harry (unseen), Duke of Sussex arrive at the State Governor House in Lagos on May 12, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Photo by Kola SULAIMON / AFP)(AFP) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, co-hosts an event of Women in Leadership with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization in Abuja, Nigeria, May 11, 2024. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye(REUTERS) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, co-hosts an event of Women in Leadership with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization in Abuja, Nigeria, May 11, 2024. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye(REUTERS) Here's what Celebrity stylist Rochelle White has to say Speaking to Daily Mail, celebrity stylist Rochelle White stated Meghan likes to wear long clothes in order to cover her feet to create the illusion of height. "Long dresses and trousers, depending on body type, can help to elongate the body and shape. They can make you look taller and depending on the styles can help to define areas of the body you either want to highlight or cover up," she noted. According to Rochelle, Meghan appears taller when she stands next to Prince Harry, who is 6ft 2inches tall, due to her wardrobe choice. Stressing that these styles allow the Duchess to showcase her silhouette, the style expert said she believes Meghan fully understands her body and materials that function best for her. Rochelle went on to compare Meghan's wardrobe with Kate Middleton's, mentioning that the Princess of Wales prefers conventional dressing, While Meghan loves trendy and modern look that represents her personality, she said, Kate's fits and style are very classic and chic. Meghan's style is seen as more easygoing and personal, whereas Kate prefers tight gowns and tailored pants, she concluded. Barron, Donald Trump's youngest son, recently graduated, bringing pride to his parents as he received his degree. Despite his legal concerns, the former president and his wife, Melania, took the opportunity to enjoy some family time by attending the ceremony in Florida. However, while everyone celebrated the moment, attention was showered on Barron's resemblance to Melania, highlighting the influence and traits he shares with his mother. Barron Trump, son of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump, receives his diploma during his graduation ceremony at Oxbridge Academy, Friday, May 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)(AP) Trump cheers as Barron graduates On May 17, Barron successfully graduated from Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, FL. Earlier, the judge in Trumps hush money trial allowed him to attend his son's graduation by not scheduling any hearings that day. As a result, both Trump and his wife Melania occupied the front row, cheering on Barron as he accepted his high school diploma. Barron Trump showcases Mother Melanias traits at Graduation ceremony The ceremony began with its usual traditions. Barron lined up with his classmates, and when his name was called, he stepped onto the stage to receive his diploma. From where he paused to take a photo with the officiants, and accepted his diploma with a handshake, to when he walked down a ramp, where he posed for another photo with what seemed to be school officials, the fresh graduate didnt even smile for a bit not for the slightest as well. While we werent expecting fist bumps, victory signs, or even caps flying, which is quite different from Barron's usual demeanour, his stoic appearance in front of the camera on such a big day gave huge Melania vibes. An X user commented on the video, "I can hear someone say, right, look, no emotion. Another chimed in, It's a similar sentiment to one made by Melania, she's never shown ANY emotion of ANY kind. Am I right? The former first lady is often photographed maintaining a stoic expression. During the ceremony, Donald Trump wore a classic black suit, while Melania opted for a white skirt, blue jacket, and a straw boater hat. Many users claimed that Barron is just like his mother, refraining from showing any kind of emotion in public, in contrast to Trumps over-expressive personality. Be it elders or children, royal family members are subject to several grave protocols, ranging from how they travel and what is their dress code. However, Kate Middleton and Prince William's eldest son Prince George violated the royal rule by donning a robe to meet heads of state, Hello Magazine reported. Kate Middleton and Prince William's eldest son Prince George violated the royal rule by donning a robe to meet heads of state.(Reuters) Before we delve into when and where Prince George breached the sartorial standard, let's first understand what the royal dress code is all about. All you need to know about royal dress code In a video posted on YouTube's The Royal Family Channel, Debrett's etiquette expert Lucy Hume has outlined the three major royal dress codes necessary to maintain while meeting guests. The first dress code includes white tie, which is appropriate for state banquets or royal events. This is similar to males wearing black tie and a white tuxedo with a wing collar, while women would traditionally sport a long, formal evening gown. Black tie events require a shorter dinner jacket for men and a black bowtie as the next degree of formality. However, women have more choices when it comes to opting a dress for themselves, as they can pick between a trouser suit and a cocktail dress. The last smart casual dress code allows the royals to wear comfy attire, such as a jumper and collared shirt. According to the royal expert, A royal event is not necessarily a time to go too unconventional or too alternative. Its just one of those occasions where it makes sense to stick with tradition. Also Read: Prince William vs Kate Middleton: Princess heartbroken by standoff over son George Prince George meets Barack Obama in bathrobe In 2016, little George met then-President of the United States Barack Obama during his state visit to Buckingham Palace. Bleary-eyed With sleep, the Prince was photographed wearing robe paired with gingham pyjamas and cute airplane slippers. As Prince and Princess of Wales hosted a grand dinner for Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at at Kensington Palace in London, George, now aged 10, stayed up past his bedtime to greet them. Prince George meets the President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Kensington Palace, London, with Britain's Prince William on April 22, 2016. (Pete Souza / The White House via Reuters) While generally royal children are not permitted to meet with leaders of state, the Wales children have earlier met with world leaders like Canada's PM Justin Trudeau and former UK PM Boris Johnson. Noticing Little George's clothing, which was against protocol, Obama quipped, it was a "slap in the face". Last week Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe. That was a slap in the face. A clear breach of protocol, he said. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle photographed with royal family members prior to a private dinner. (.Chris Radburn / Pool via AP) George, born on July 22, 2013, is King Charles' eldest grandchild and ranks second in line of succession to the British throne after Prince William. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, had an unexpected surprise at his 80th birthday party on Friday. While he was enjoying a great time with 200 guests, two officials from the Arizona Attorney General's Office issued him with notice of his indictment in the Arizona 'fake electors' case, charging him and others of attempting to alter the 2020 election results in favour of Donald Trump. Contrary to the media reports, Giuliani took to X to declared that his early 80th birthday celebration wasn't ruined or interrupted, calling it an incredible night with friends.(X) The guests included American conservative political consultant Roger Stone and ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon. They all attended the party in Palm Beach, Florida, where Giuliani performed 'New York, New York' with a Frank Sinatra cover band. However, the birthday bash turned sour when Giuliani exited the party just after 11 pm. Giuliani's b'day chaos: Some guests were left in tears & shock The mayor was completely unfazed and even laughed as he was handed the papers and drove away, a miffed guest said, as per Daily Mail. "Guests were visibly angry as they shouted at the individuals that served the former mayor," the attendee added. According to a source, some of the guests were left in tears, as if it was all part of a plot to disgrace and intimidate Giuliani and his supporters. Giuliani appeared to be having a good time throughout the party, which was held 11 days before his official birthday on May 28. He even posed for a selfie with a slew of blonde bombshells, which he shared on X while insulting Mayes. "If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes," Giuliani stated in the post, which he deleted later. Also Read: Rudy Giuliani blasts WABC radio for firing him at very suspicious time Prosecutors had been attempting for weeks to send him official notice that he is required to appear in court on May 21. Meanwhile, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes proclaimed victory in a tweet on X on Friday. "The final defendant was served moments ago," she posted on X. @RudyGiuliani, nobody is above the law. The incident occurred after guests had socialized on the patio and watched Giuliani film an episode of his 'America's Mayor Live' show. "It was a wonderful evening celebrating an America hero, Rudy Giuliani," stated top GOP consultant, Caroline Wren, who hosted the birthday party at her residence in Palm Beach. Rudy Giuliani reacts Contrary to the media reports, Giuliani took to X to declared that his early 80th birthday celebration wasn't ruined or interrupted, calling it an incredible night with friends. "FAKE NEWS ALERT: Contrary to reports from journalists who weren't there, our early 80th birthday celebration wasn't "ruined" or interrupted," he said in a tweet. It was an incredible night w/ friends, including Steve Bannon & Roger Stone. It felt like a strategy session on how to save America! he added. Responding to his post, Raheem Kassam, the NatPulse Edior-in-Chief, wrote: They hate us coz they aint us! Happy birthday, Mr. Mayor! It was an incredible time. Great to be there! one more reacted. Happy birthday! Im so glad to hear ur birthday wasnt ruined, so glad it was a wonderful night! another X user chimed in. Several people of Trump's inner circle, including ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadow and former campaign assistant Mike Roman, have been charged in the Arizona investigation. The indictment does not name Trump, but he is considered to be 'Unindicted Coconspirator 1.' An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trumps false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported. An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported May 16. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)(AP) A photo obtained and published by the newspaper on Thursday shows the flag flying on Jan. 17, 2021, days after the Republican's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like Stop the Steal. The report could raise concerns about Alitos impartiality as the court considers two major cases related to the Capitol attack, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges. The justice said the flag was placed there by his wife amid a dispute with neighbors. ALSO READ| Taking presidential debates out of commission's hands virtually guarantees fewer viewers Sen. Durbin urges Alitos recusal over Stop the Steal flag display Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Alito to recuse himself Friday from cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Flying an upside-down American flag a symbol of the so-called Stop the Steal movement clearly creates the appearance of bias," Durbin said in a statement. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, meanwhile, called the report an attempt to intimidate justices, in a social-media post. It comes as another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election over his wife, Ginni Thomas, support for Trump and as public trust in the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in at least 50 years. Judicial experts said the flag clearly violates ethics rules set to avoid even the appearance of bias. Republican Sen. Cotton denounces report on Alitos flag as intimidation At the time the flag was flying, the court was still considering whether to take up cases over the 2020 election. It ultimately rejected them over dissent from three conservative justices, including Alito, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. He wrote that the courts consideration of the cases would have no impact on the 2020 election but would provide invaluable guidance for future elections. ALSO READ| US issues worldwide alert amid threat of violence against LGBT community Alito acknowledged the presence of the flag at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, but said he had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs, Alito said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. Martha-Ann Alito had been in a dispute with another family in the neighborhood over an anti-Trump sign on their lawn, and neighbors also interpreted the flag as a political statement, the Times reported. It's unclear how long the flag was flying. Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The code lacks a means of enforcement, however. Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told the newspaper that flying the flag upside down is the equivalent of putting a Stop the Steal sign in your yard, which is a problem if youre deciding election-related cases." Even if it was placed by his spouse or someone else living in the home, he shouldnt have it in his yard as his message to the world, she said. ALSO READ| AOC, MTG engage in verbal battle over fake eyelashes and butch body jab: Are your feelings hurt? The Supreme Court has warned its employees about public displays indicating partisan leanings, the newspaper reported. The court did not respond to questions about whether those rules apply to justices. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property. It has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades. It took off as a symbol of Trump's Stop the Steal campaign as he spread false claims that the election he lost to Biden had been stolen. Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday claimed to have shot down an American drone, hours after footage circulated online of what appeared to be the wreckage of an MQ-9 Reaper drone. Early Saturday, a vessel also came under attack in the Red Sea. U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits in a hanger at Amari Air Base, Estonia. REUTERS/Janis Laizans/File Photo(REUTERS) The two incidents likely represent just the latest attacks by the Houthis as they press their campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that rebels shot down the Reaper on Thursday with a surface-to-air missile. He described the drone as carrying out hostile actions" in Yemen's Marib province, which remains held by allies of Yemen's exiled, internationally recognized government. ALSO READ| Widespread power outages from deadly Houston storm raise new risk: hot weather Houthis have release footage of the wrecked drone The Houthis later released footage they claimed showed the surface-to-air-missile being launched at night, along with night-vision footage of the missile hitting the drone. A man, whose voice had been digitally altered to apparently prevent identification, chanted the Houthi slogan: "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam. Online video showed wreckage resembling the pieces of the Reaper on the ground, as well as footage of that wreckage on fire. The U.S. military did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press over the Houthi claim. While the rebels have made claims about attacks that turned out later not to be true, they have a history of shooting down U.S. drones and have been armed by their main benefactor, Iran, with weapons capable of high-altitude attack. Since the Houthis seized the countrys north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the U.S. military has previously lost at least five drones to the rebels. ALSO READ| Bodies of three hostages recovered from Gaza in overnight operation: IDF What are Remaper drones? Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Early Saturday, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a ship came under attack off the coast of Yemen's port city of Hodeida. The captain has confirmed sustaining slight damage after being struck by an unknown object on his port quarter, the UKMTO said. The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call. ALSO READ| I pray Boeing pays: Whistleblower John Barnetts shocking 'suicide' note, autopsy results revealed The private security firm Ambrey said it believed the vessel struck was a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker. Radio traffic suggested the ship was hit by a missile and that there was a fire in the steering gear flat, Ambrey said. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack, though it typically takes them hours to issue a claim. Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden still remains low because of the threat, however. The United States has reacted to the recent meeting between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's Premier Xi Jinping. During their meeting, Putin and Jinping exchanged hugs in a display of increasing friendship between the two countries. The United States has reacted to the recent meeting between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's Premier Xi Jinping. (AFP) "Exchanging hugs? Well, that's nice for them," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a briefing when asked about the significance of photos showing the two US adversaries locked in an embrace. "I'm not good at talking about personal human bodily affection one way or the other. I think I'll leave it to these two gents to talk about why they thought it was good to hug one another," said Kirby. The National Security Council spokesman Kirby further said that the United States wasn't surprised by the outcomes of the meeting between Putin and Jinping. "We didn't see anything coming out of this meeting that we were necessarily surprised by," said Kirby. "I wouldn't go so far as to say we weren't concerned about this relationship and where it's going. "We're watching," he added. ALSO READ| Russia's Putin meets Xi Jinping in Beijing seeking support for war effort After being re-elected as Russia's President, Putin embarked on his first foreign visit and landed in China on Thursday. Putin's visit came amid US accusations that Chinese companies have been aiding Russia with technology amid the war in Ukraine. Amid the ongoing war against Ukraine, China has indirectly stood in support of Russia. The economic ties between Russia and China have also been growing. During his China visit, Putin had hailed the support of the country. "I will inform the President of the People's Republic of China about the situation surrounding the Ukraine crisis. We are grateful to our Chinese friends and colleagues for the initiatives they are putting forward to resolve this problem," Putin had said. Meanwhile, Taiwan has publicly claimed that China and Russia support each other's expansionism. Taiwan has been facing increased Chinese surveillance and interference in its territory. HOUSTON As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to thousands after deadly storms, it will do so Saturday under a smog warning and as all of southern Texas starts to feel the heat. Widespread power outages from deadly Houston storm raise new risk: hot weather The National Weather Service in Houston warned that with temperatures hitting around 90 degrees this weekend, people should know the symptoms of heat exhaustion. Dont overdo yourself during the cleanup process," it said in a post on the social platform X. The balmy weather is a concern in a region where more than 555,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity Friday night down from nearly 1 million, according to PowerOutage.us. Fierce storms Thursday with winds of up to 100 mph blew out windows downtown, while a tornado touched down near the the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress. At least four people were killed when the storms swept through Harris County, which includes Houston. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Friday that it could take weeks for power to be restored in some areas. With multiple transmission towers down, Hidalgo urged patience. Another 26,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, where strong winds and a suspected tornado hit, down from a peak of 215,000. We are going to have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days, Hidalgo said. She said she had heard horror stories of just terror and powerlessness as the storm came through. The weather service also reported straight-line winds of up to 100 mph in the suburbs of Baytown and Galena Park. The Houston Health Department said it would distribute 400 free portable air conditioners to area seniors, people with disabilities and caregivers of disabled children. In addition to the heat, the Houston area has also been warned about poor air quality over the weekend. While to the east, heavy rainfall was possible in eastern Louisiana into central Alabama, while parts of Louisiana were warned of the risk of flash floods through Saturday. The widespread destruction brought much of Houston to a standstill. Trees, debris and shattered glass littered the streets. One buildings brick wall was ripped off. School districts in the Houston area canceled classes Friday for more than 400,000 students and government offices were closed. City officials urged people to avoid downtown and stay off roads, many of which were flooded or lined with downed power lines and malfunctioning traffic lights. Houston Mayor John Whitmire warned that police were out in force, including state troopers sent to the area to prevent looting. He said the speed and intensity of the storm caught many off guard. "Most Houstonians didnt have time to place themselves out of harms way, Whitmire said at a news conference. Noelle Delgados pulled up Thursday night to Houston Pets Alive, the animal rescue organization where she is executive director to find the dogs and cats more than 30 in all were uninjured, but the awning had been ripped off, the sign was mangled and water was leaking inside. She hoped to find foster homes for the animals. I could definitely tell that this storm was a little different, she said. It felt terrifying. Yesenia Guzman worried whether she would get paid with the power still out at the restaurant where she works in the Houston suburb of Katy. We dont really know whats going to happen, she said. Whitmire signed disaster declaration, which paves the way for state and federal storm recovery assistance. President Joe Biden also issued a disaster declaration, his for seven counties in Texas, including Harris, over severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding since April 26. His action makes federal funding available to people affected by the storms. Emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County described the damage to transmission lines as catastrophic. High-voltage transmission towers that were torn apart and downed power lines pose a twofold challenge for the utility company because the damage affected transmission and distribution systems, according to Alexandria von Meier, a power and energy expert who called that a rare thing. Damage to just the distribution system is more typical, von Meier said. How quickly repairs are made will depend on a variety of factors, including the time it takes to assess the damage, equipment replacement, roadwork access issues and workforce availability. Centerpoint Energy deployed 1,000 employees on Friday and had requested 5,000 more line workers and vegetation professionals. Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. As Republican lawmakers continue to attack Hunter Biden's past international business dealings, former Trump administation senior White House adviser Jared Kusher just nailed down a $500 million luxury hotel deal in Belgrade, Serbia, officials have revealed. Investment firm Affinity Partners controlled by Trump's real-estate developer son-in-law and backed by a $2 billion Saudi sovereign fund investment has officially secured a 99-year permit to develop a luxury compound on the Belgrade site. Negotiations to develop the site reach back to 2013, Politico reported, before Donald Trump became president and he appointed Kusher as a senior aide, even though neither had any experience in politics. The deal will be carried out in partnership with Richard Grenell, also a former Trump administration aide. Grenell first proposed that American investors redevelop the bombed-out site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense while he was a serving as a special envoy to the Balkans, the New York Times reported. The project is hugely controversial in Serbia because of the sensitive historical significance of the spot. The former army and intelligence center on the site was targeted by American bombing in 1999 during NATO's assault on Serbia amid that nation's bloody conflicts with other former Yugoslav countries. Protests against the project erupted in Belgrade on Thursday. But the development plan is backed by what Politico characterized as the Serbian "political elite." Goran Vesic, Serbia's construction and infrastructure minister, hailed Affinity as a "reputable American company" interested in developing the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense, which has long been a goal of Serbian leaders, Vesic noted in a statement. To assuage critics the site will include a memorial, according to Vesic. That may be a difficult juggling act since criticism of bombing at the site by both the U.S. and NATO would likely be expected to be part of any memorial. Joe Biden's son, Hunter, has come under heavy criticsm for business dealings while his father was vice president. But similar scrutiny has not been brought to bear on Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump or her husband Kushner, even though they were both senior White House aides, while Hunter Biden never held a White House role. In 2018 China granted 18 trademarks to businesses linked to Donald and Ivanka Trump while they were both working in the White House. And just months after Trump lost the White House, Kushner secured $2 billion from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for a new investment company he launched after currying favor with the Saudis while he worked in the White House for his father-in-law. The sovereign fund is controlled by Sauid Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who U.S. intelligence determined ordered the dismemberment murder of Washington Post columnis Jamal Khashoggi, thought Trump defended the prince from the White House. Kushner will be recieving "concessions" from Sebia for the new project, the Times noted, raising concerns about a close family member of a potential future president financially profiting from a foreigh government. "It is a conflict of interest in the most stark sense: The president of the United States needs to be advancing the interest of the United States and not the financial interests of family members," Adav Noti, executive director of Campaign Legal Center, which tracks ethics issues in the federal government, told the Times. up to late March, 99% of the money placed with Kushner's firm by investors has come from foreign sources, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Times reported. The man who attacked Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, inside his San Francisco home with a hammer in 2022, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced David DePape's sentence on Friday, after he was convicted by a federal jury of assault and attempted kidnapping charges in November 2023. Prosecutors sought the maximum 40-year sentence. According to the Associated Press, DePape's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley to sentence him to just 14 years, saying he had no criminal history and was going through a difficult time. Corley imposed a 20-year sentence for one count and a 30-year sentence for the other, to run concurrently. DePape was given credit for 18 months served in custody since the attack. "The Pelosi family couldn't be prouder of their Pop and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case," read a statement from the Pelosi family, shared by spokesperson Aaron Bennet. "Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to all who have sent love and prayers over the last eighteen months, as Mr. Pelosi continues his recovery." DePape still faces an upcoming trial on state charges in connection with the attack, including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment and threatening the life of or serious bodily harm to a public official. -- with reporting by TMX Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing mounting calls for him to recuse himself from cases dealing with the 2020 election after the New York Times published photos of an upside-down flag flying outside his Virginia home. The inverted flag, adopted by Trump supporters as a symbol of the "Stop the Steal" movement, was seen waving on the front lawn of his Alexandria home a little more than a week after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an effort to disrupt the counting of the 2020 vote. Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Alito's flying the inverted flag "creates the appearance of bias." The Illinois Democrat said the justice should remove himself from cases involving the 2020 election, the Jan. 6 riot and former President Donald Trump immunity claims, which the Supreme Court is currently considering. "The Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making, and Justice Alito and the rest of the Court should be doing everything in their power to regain public trust," he said in a statement. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who sits on the judiciary committee, said the flag raises serious questions about Alito's ability to be impartial. "If a judge on any other federal court had done this, the allegation would be investigated because it calls into question a person's ability to fairly decide a case," Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, told CNN in a statement. "Through a long string of problematic behavior that has leaked out in the press, the far-right justices have demonstrated that they too should be subject to an enforceable ethics code," he said. "They are not capable of policing themselves." Another member of the panel, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said the story is an attempt by the New York Times to "smear" Alito and "incite another mod to try to intimidate justices, harass them at home, or worse. Shameful!" Alito blamed his wife for flying the flag. "I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag," Alito said in an emailed statement to the New York Times. "It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." In an interview Friday with Fox News, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, got into a dustup with some neighbors over a "F--- Trump" flag displayed near a children's bus stop. The justice said the neighbors blamed her for Jan. 6 and one called her derogatory names, "including the C-word." Justice Clarence Thomas is also under pressure to recuse himself from similar Trump cases since his wife, longtime conservative activist and Trump booster Virginia Thomas, was a key leader in the "Stop the Steal" campaign to overturn 2020 election results, despite a lack of evidence that there were anything but legimtimate. She attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally outside the Capitol, but did not storm the building with other Trump supporters. The ranking Democrat of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Jamie Raskin said it's "worth investigating" if some lawmakers were drinking during an off-the-rails hearing. "I didn't see the drinking," Raskin said told reporters following the hearing on Thursday. But he noted that the issue was raised by Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who reported that lawmakers were "drinking in the room," he added. "That is something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place," the Maryland lawmaker emphasized. Stansbury complained during the hearing that "we have some members in the room who are drinking inside the hearing room ... who are not on this committee," Axios reported. She did not identify the drinkers. The Oversight Committee hearing on whether or not to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over an investigative recording slipped its tether as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) went at it after Greene bizarrely mocked Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) for wearing "fake eyelashes." At one point Ocasio-Cortez sternly warned Greene: "Baby girl, don't even play." Greene set off the donnybrook when she snidely attacked the daughter of the Manhattan judge hearing the hush-money trial against former President Donald Trump. Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, implying that he is incapable of being unbaised in the case. Crocket then demanded what Merchan's daughter has to do with Garland. "I don't think you know what you're here for ... I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading," Greene fired back. "That is absolutely unacceptable," Ocasio-Cortez shouted. "How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person." "Are your feelings hurt?" Greene replied. "Aww." But Crockett later attacked Greene as a "bleach" blonde with a with a "bad built, butch body." Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) tried to restore order and Raskin blasted Greene for the remarks that set off the dumpster fire. Comer then asked Greene to take her words out of the hearing record, which she agreed to do. But "I'm not apologizing," she added. The dustup was just part of a free-for-hall hearing that had Democrats and Republicans shouting out and heckling one another. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) said the performance made Congress look "chaotic, stupid, childish and undignified." The panel eventually voted to advance the contempt charge against Garland for not releasing the audio recording of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur over classified documents found in Biden's Delaware home. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States and Western nations to send more air defense weapons, including F-16 jet fighters, to his nation as Russian forces have made critical gains in northeast Ukraine in the past week. He also argued for lifting restrictions against using the arms to strike inside Russia. "They can fire any weapons from their territory at ours. This is the biggest advantage that Russia has. We can't do anything to their systems, which are located on the territory of Russia, with Western weapons," he said. In an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday, Zelenskyy said his country only has "about 25% of what we need" to defend itself against Russia in terms of air defense. He estimated that Ukraine would need up to 130 F-16 jets or similar advanced aircraft to reach "parity" with Russia. But despite the critical gains Russian troops have made in northeast Ukraine in the past week, Zelenskyy, who has rallied the country since the February 2022 invasion, vowed: "No one is going to give up." He said that Russia troops have advanced up to 6 miles along the northeast border before being halted by Ukrainian forces. The region has been "controlled" not "stabilized," he said. "I won't say it's a great success [for Russia[ but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory," he said in the interview from Kyiv. Although Ukrainian forces are outmanned and outgunned in the region, Zelenskyy said they will continue to resist Russia. Addressing President Vladimir Putin's comments that Russia has no plans to capture Kharkiv "as of today," Zelenskyy said Russian forces could find it "very difficult." They "understand that we have forces that will fight for a long time," he said. Zelenskyy said Moscow lacks the forces for "a full-scale offensive on the capital like the one they had at the beginning of the offensive." But he warned the U.S. and its Western allies not to show weakness, and reiterated his call for Patriot missile systems to protect the skies around Kharkiv from Russia. "They are like a beast. ... If they feel a weakness somewhere in this direction, they will press on," he said. Police removed and arrested demonstrators occupying buildings at both the Univeristy of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago campuses Friday night as protests erupted once again over the Israel-Hamas War. The police action occurred on the East Coast as a group of protesters tried to storm Fisher-Bennett Hall on Penn's campus, the university reported in a statement on its website. "Penn Police, with support from Philadelphia Police, escorted them out and secured the building, taking several individuals into custody," it said. "The situation remains active," the statement added. The attempts coincide with Penn's Alumni Weekend events, taking place just days before the university's commencement Monday. Meanwhile, at the University of Chicago, protesters were briefly able to take over a campus building on Friday before they were ejected and arrested by police, Bloomberg reported. Officer were "able to enter the building, and the protesters inside the building exited," confirmed university spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan in a statement. Friday's clashes were among the most serious since colleges, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Penn, cleared protest encampments last week. Universities nationwide continue to grapple with a wave of protests as students demand that Israeli assaults on Gaza cease, and call for college divestment from entities linked to Israel. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks launched in retaliation for a Hamas assault on Israel that killed some 1,200 people and seized hundreds of hostages. Rudy Giuliani was served an indictment in an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona at 80th birthday bash in Florida after his off-key karaoke rendition of "New York, New York." Two officials with the Arizona attorney general's office showed up Friday night in Palm Beach featuring a patriotic-themed cake to hand Giuliani the papers in front of about 75 guests including Steve Bannon and convicted felon Roger Stone. The New York Post reported that some partygoers began screaming and one woman began crying. Rudy does karaoke before getting served with the Arizona indictment. pic.twitter.com/qlDutkw7ro Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 18, 2024 Sources compared the officials' arrival to the storming of Normandy, according to the Post a sentiment echoed by Giuliani's spokesman Ted Goodman. "It's unfortunate that they chose to barge up and startle guests during a celebration of this man's 80th birthday," Goodman told the Post. "They could've shown a little more respect for the man who comforted the nation following September 11 and who stands up for law enforcement and the men and women in blue," he said. The indictment accuses Giuliani and 17 other allies of former President Donald Trump of launching a "fake electors" plot to reverse the outcome of the election in the state in favor of Trump The serving of the papers finally ended a cat-and-mouse game between Giuliani and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who had a difficult time locating Giuliani, who was the last to be served of all the defendants. Giuliani had just boasted on a now deleted post on X Friday night: "If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning. 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count the votes." It was followed by a posting from Mayes. "The final defendant was served moments ago," she said on X. "@RudyGiuliani Nobody is above the law." Mayes linked to Giuliani's posting. The Travel Sector in 2024 is Breaking Boundaries According Mastercard Research The travel sector in 2024 is breaking boundaries. Through March 2024, consumer spending on travel is robust with significant increases in passenger traffic, according to the latest global report from the Mastercard Economics Institute. Released today, Travel Trends 2024 provides comprehensive insights into the evolving landscape of the travel industry across 74 markets. Despite fluctuating exchange rates and varying levels of affordability, the desire to travel remains stronger than ever. In 2024 the travel sector is flourishing, with nine out of the last 10 record-setting spending days in the global cruise and airline industry occurring this year. Further, travelers are also extending their trips by an extra day compared to pre-pandemic. Drawing on a unique analysis of aggregated and anonymized transaction data, including Mastercard SpendingPulse, and third-party data sources, the report takes a deep dive into key travel trends globally for the year and beyond, including: Image Credit Mastercard Record traveling. An all-time high of 15.9 million Americans traveled internationally in Q1 2024, while Japan welcomed over 3 million passenger arrivals in March 2024 alone. The surge in travel reflects greater activity, fueled by a strong labor market and a stronger desire to travel. Leisure for longer. Tourists worldwide have spent an extra day on vacation on average those from Europe and the Middle East and Africa roughly two with the trend driven by affordable destinations and warmer climates. For each extra 6 degrees Celsius of temperature, the estimated increase in length of stay is approximately 1 day. Experience economy on the go. Consumers have prioritized meaningful experiences over material goods, even when traveling. Spending on experiences now totals 12% of tourism sales, according to SpendingPulse Destinations which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment - the highest point in at least five years as of March 2024. Ahead of the pack, Australians tend to spend one of every five dollars on experiences and nightlife compared to the global average, which is closer to one in every 10. Cruising full steam ahead. Cruises are making a remarkable comeback with the count of global cruise passenger transactions roughly 16% above 2019 levels in Q1. Booming cruise demand is also seen at key ports. Over the last 12 months, The Bahamas has welcomed an additional 2.9 million passengers arriving by sea versus 2019 levels. For many travelers, the widening price difference between cruises and hotels has made cruises a more budget-friendly option for a getaway. Top 10 trending destinations and dupes. While Japan has emerged as the global frontrunner for top destination in the last 12 months, Munich ranks as the top trending destination for this summer (June-August 2024). Notably, Albania ranks third in the list of top trending destinations this summer according to the Mastercard Economics Institute, driven largely by savvy travelers seeking authentic Euro-vibes a la neighboring Italy and Croatia, but for less. The resilience and adaptability of the travel sector paired with persistent consumer demand has translated to a strong tourism rebound, said Michelle Meyer, chief economist and head of the Mastercard Economics Institute. Just like at home, travelers are prioritizing experiences over goods while abroad. Yet, today's travelers are discerning, choosing destinations that offer both value and authenticity. They are savvy enough to stretch their funds and extend their stays, immersing themselves fully in the experiences and wonders of each locale. Comprehensive support to travelers and tourism sector Mastercard is dedicated to helping the global tourism sector welcome travelers through a range of services, from market analysis and high-frequency data insights that help make sense of changing consumer trends to customer engagement strategies that personalize the travel experience and drive brand loyalty. And with comprehensive travel benefits and convenience, cardholders can enjoy their travel experiences and everyday purchases with peace of mind. You can view the full Travel Trends 2024: Breaking Boundaries report here. ADAMS, Mass. On Friday morning the Hoosac Valley Elementary School community gathered on the school's lawn to welcome the school's first sign. Nearly seven years ago, Cheshire Elementary School and CT Plunkett Elementary School joined together to become Hoosac Valley Elementary School. After the closing of Cheshire Elementary School, the school district voted to rename CT Plunkett as Hoosac Valley Elementary School. "At HVES, we share the importance of identity and belonging in every classroom as part of our Responsive Classroom approach," Principal Erin Beaulac said in a statement Friday. "Every student is called by their name and everyone is a part of our community. With that being said, we felt it was very important for our school's exterior to match our school's interior. There hasn't been a sign of the school's name on the outside of the building. This morning, all of that changed." Letter: Look for Facts in Bias Incidents To the Editor: The May 13, 2024, article entitled "'The Roof is Caving In': Mount Greylock School Committee Hears Details of Bias Incidents." If reported accurately, and if I interpreted the article correctly, Mr. Dravis brought to light some extremely troublesome issues. If prejudice is occurring routinely in our schools and elsewhere in town, especially in those institutions under the auspice of town governance, a clearly reasoned plan must be created and implemented. Also troubling in the article was " the meeting also features some of the most frank commentary to date from district administrators about the shortcomings of the preK-12 district's efforts to address the problem." There are other quotes from the district leadership that indicated that as Superintendent McCandless said, "We are really just trying to find mechanisms that actually work. We have invested a great deal of money into this work, and as evidenced tonight by the things people didn't want to be saying because they're living in pain at home-the things we're doing aren't working." Was any conclusion reached that indicated the next step? It seemed that some believed adding additional DEI efforts were in order. It seemed that others believed we should rethink the whole DEI movement. Might the next step in addressing the prejudice "crisis" be to look for facts? Narratives are extremely important, and should be taken very seriously, but a closer investigation that values the facts of the alleged incidents might reveal different and/or additional perspectives. Donna Wied Williamstown, Mass. iciHaiti - Biden Program : More than 184,000 Haitians have been approved and 90% are in the USA Wednesday May 15, 2024, according to the latest statistics communicated by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 184,000 Haitians were approved under the conditional stay program ("Humanitarian parole"), more known as the Biden program Among the four countries benefiting from the program (Haiti, Venezuela Cuba and Nicaragua) the Haitians are in first position with more than 180,000 citizens approved far ahead of the Venezuelans in second position with 109,200 citizens approved. From January 2023 to the end of April 2024, 184,600 Haitians received their travel authorization to enter the United States. However, only 90% are currently on American territory, indicates the CBP. This could be explained by the difficulties encountered by 17,900 approved Haitians trapped in Haiti for 2 months before the closure of the airports... Conditions and steps to follow for the Conditional Residence Program: https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38566-haiti-flash-new-us-entry-program-for-haitian-migrants-conditions-and-steps-to-follow.html See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39606-haiti-flash-conditional-stay-program-more-than-580-000-haitian-files-pending.html S/ iciHaiti 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 BBC viewers have blasted the broadcasters decision to make a Motherland spin-off, Amandaland, while seemingly cancelling the original award-winning series. The Bafta-acclaimed comedy series Motherland, which explores the challenges faced by a group of frazzled middle-class mothers in Londons suburbs, ran for three series until 2021 and returned for a one-off Christmas special in 2022. Despite the shows success, there has been speculation about its future as rumours mounted suggesting it has been axed indefinitely. One of the shows original stars, Cunk on Earth actor Diane Morgan, best known for playing the sarcastic single mum Liz in the series, said in March that the programme wasnt returning but said that a spin-off was in the works, led by Lucy Punchs wealthy and overbearing character, Amanda. The BBC has now announced that spin-off, titled Amandaland, which follows the middle-class mum as she navigates her divorce from her wealthy husband and has to downsize to South Harlesden. Amandas mother, Felicity, is still to be played by Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley. The BBC announced on Saturday (18 May) that the spin-off begins with Amandas two sons Manus and George now at secondary school. Amanda has to grapple with raising teenagers and deal with modern motherhood horrors like teenage drinking, fake Instagram accounts and eco-anxiety. BBC viewers have been left disappointed by the spin-off announcement, as the BBC seemingly failed to address whether Motherland is cancelled indefinitely. Others criticised the broadcaster for centring the spin-off on Amanda, who some viewers have called the least likeable character in the series. open image in gallery Anne (Phillippa Dunne), Amanda (Lucy Punch) and Felicity (Joanna Lumley) are the only cast members confirmed for the spin-off so far ( BBC ) Sharing the BBCs new announcement on X/Twitter, one viewer branded the decision a strange move while another said: Just bring back Motherland! Another said: But why make a series about the least interesting character in Motherland? Bit off-putting making Amanda the focal point. I will lose interest if she is the purpose of the series and Joanna Lumley [sic], added another viewer. Others speculated that the decision to make a spin-off series may have resulted from scheduling conflicts, or the fact that other actors did not want to continue with a fourth series. The BBC declined to comment. 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 open image in gallery The original Motherland cast ( BBC/Merman/Scott Kershaw ) One viewer speculated: I LOVE amandas character, and I do think this will be really interesting to see! However, its clear that either the other cast didnt want to return or the production team wanted to find a cheaper way to remake :( such a shame that it got cancelled its one of my faves ever. Another disappointed viewer hit out at the BBCs renewal of critically maligned shows that continue to dominate the broadcasters prime-time programming: Cancelled Motherland but keep making Mrs Browns [Boys] and Not Going Out Meanwhile, others were more positive about the announcement: Will definitely give it a whirl but still grieving for the loss of Motherland! open image in gallery Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Liz (Diane Morgan) as dishevelled, overworked mums in Motherland ( BBC/Merman ) The BBC said in its announcement that Phillippa Dunne, who plays Amandas minion, Anne, will join Lumley and Punch in the new series, and it will centre around the trio more generally. After a brief spell of freedom from Amandas reign, Anne is sucked back into being her full-time helper as she assists her in navigating the social scene with the other parents at the childrens new school. It is unconfirmed whether the shows original stars, including Bleak House actor Anna Maxwell Martin, who plays Julia, Bodyguard star Paul Ready, who plays the stay-at-home dad Kevin, Tanya Moodie, who plays Meg, and Morgan, will be involved in the spin-off. The BBC says a full casting announcement will follow soon. 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 Warning: this review is also a recap, meaning it contains spoilers for the episode Doctor Who is putting the band back together. Returning showrunner Russell T Davies was the driving force behind the Doctors rebirth in the 2005 Christopher Eccleston/Billie Piper era. Meanwhile, the writer of this third episode, Steven Moffat, made perhaps the most significant modern contribution to Whovian lore as the creator of the Weeping Angels. Scarier than the Daleks, weirder than the Zygons, and more aesthetically pleasing than the Cybermen, they are, hands down, the greatest Doctor Who monsters ever. How do you top that? Well, not with Boom, a so-so episode best enjoyed as a showcase for the excellent new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa. Hes on screen practically the entire runtime, and has to laugh, cry and recite poetry while balanced on a flashing green plinth that could explode at any moment a daunting mission he effortlessly completes. Thats just as well, because Boom is otherwise a bit of a damp squib. It wrestles with chunky themes the dangers of AI, religious extremism, and the parasitic wickedness of the arms industry. And it introduces us to the Doctors future companion, space marine Mundy Flynn (Varada Sethu). But the execution is wishy-washy, and on more than one occasion, Moffat risks contradicting himself (hardly a surprise given the mind-bending leaps of logic in his scripts for Benedict Cumberbatchs Sherlock). For instance, Boom tells us in no uncertain terms that the Doctor is hostile to religion, which he declares to have been a militarised force for most of the history of humanity. But at the end, he advises another character to keep the faith, adding, Just because I dont like it, doesnt mean I dont need it. So which is it? Do make up your mind, Mr Moffat. The action begins with two figures wandering across the smoke-filled desert planet of Kastarion 3. Back in the day, this scene would have been shot in one of those 1970s quarries the BBC sci-fi department used to have on permanent speed dial. Nowadays, alas, its wall-to-wall CGI visually more impressive but at the expense of the cheesy charm of yore. The duo are holy soldiers from a faraway future in which and yes, I am typing these words space-going Anglican Ministers travel around the universe waging war. Its Starship Troopers meets The Vicar of Dibley, with some Warhammer 40K sprinkled on top and entirely as silly as that sounds. One of the pair, John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson), who has bandages over his eyes and is blinded, calls his daughter, Splice (Caoilinn Springall), to check shes remembered to brush her teeth. It turns out that phone call is one of the last things he does. open image in gallery Gatwa in Boom' ( James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios ) Things suddenly take a turn for the disastrous. A robotic mobile ambulance unit appears through the fog, its screen flashing the face of a scary old lady (Susan Twist). Vaters companion accidentally steps on a mine and is reduced to atoms. Unperturbed, the ambulance scans Vaters body, notes his blindness and decides the most cost-effective course is to zap him to oblivion which it does. Scarcely has the dust settled than the Doctor and companion Ruby (Millie Gibson) arrive by Tardis. The Doctor twigs theyre in a war zone, but then the smartest person in the universe does something uncharacteristically stupid by stomping on a mine. Its a special bomb that doesnt detonate until it satisfies itself that the object standing upon it is a living thing (how does this make sense surely it would be cleverer for the mine to just go for it and blow up?). 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 The Doctor is trembling on one leg. He needs to redistribute his weight so that he can shift his body and put his foot down (much like Indiana Jones, the bag of sand and the Mayan idol at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark). So its a lucky thing Ruby has discovered a tube lying around nearby. Only its not actually a tube its the vacuum-sealed remains of Vater, whose digital ghost they accidentally conjure by pressing a random button. The Doctor is still trapped on the mine but his imminent destruction becomes the least of his worries when Vaters daughter shows up, along with another Anglican soldier, Mundy. Mundy has blue tidings for the Doctor. The bomb has a timer and will go off eventually, no matter what he does. And he has a bombshell of his own. Because of the Doctors special Time Lord physiology, the detonation will turn him into a living explosive, eviscerating everything for miles. open image in gallery Holy soldiers from a faraway future in Boom' ( James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios ) Meanwhile, Ruby is struggling to work out who the heroes are fighting exactly. Nobody has ever laid eyes on the supposedly cruel and vicious Kastarions though there are rumours they live in the smoke or the mud. Then another ambulance bot turns up, and sets its sights on the Doctor. Ruby tries to lead it away but, in the confusion, is shot by Canterbury (Bhav Joshi), a soldier from HQ who has a crush on Mundy and wrongly believed Ruby was about to kill her (by now everyone is essentially running around waving weapons in the air). Finally, the Doctor cracks it: there are no baddies. Instead, a nefarious weapons manufacturing conglomerate has tricked Vater and his crew into waging war against a non-existent foe to help corporate profits tick along. Their algorithm keeps the death count up by eliminating soldiers with minor injuries, such as Vater thus fuelling the Space Vicars paranoia about being locked in a deadly conflagration. At this point, dozens more ambulance ladies swarm around. All is lost until Vaters spectral AI downloads himself into the lead lady-bot, disarms the mine and sends the killer ambulances packing after they have healed Ruby. Its a reasonably satisfying if mind-boggling conclusion to a tense situation, albeit reminiscent of the end of ancient sci-fi movie Independence Day, where a computer virus defeats the aliens. But theres a queasy turn when little Splice informs the Doctor shes OK with her dad having been atomised because hes not gone hes just dead. He tells her to keep the faith having spent the previous 40 minutes dissing religion and its warlike tendencies. Her dad is dead, notes Ruby. Were all dead eventually is the Doctors chirpy reply (note to Mr Moffat: please dont consider becoming a grief counsellor). Its a weird full stop to a wonky episode that also features more of that mysterious snow that follows Ruby around, and will (presumably) be eventually explained. Gatwa and Gibson fizzle with charisma and have genuine chemistry, while newcomer Sethu brings a nice low-key warmth although she doesnt have a lot to do in the episode beyond looking sad when Canterbury is atomised by the killer ambulance robots. Sethu isnt a big, attention-grabbing presence like Gatwa and Gibson, but you can imagine her understated acting style playing nicely off other two residents of the Tardis when she joins on a permanent basis (the indications are it will be next season). And its just as well that the performances are so accomplished, because the off-kilter script needs all the help it can get. Forget Weeping Angels. Here, the only tears will be those shed by frustrated Whovians wondering why, despite a great cast and top-notch production values, the new Who cant seem to get its mojo running. 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 Police in Delhi arrested an aide of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday after a woman parliamentarian accused him of assaulting her. Swati Maliwal, the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) member from the Aam Aadmi Party that governs the capital region, filed a police complaint alleging that Mr Kejriwals secretary, Bibhav Kumar, assaulted her when she visited the chief ministers residence this week. Ms Maliwal, who is also the former chair of Delhi Womens Commission, alleged that she was kicked, punched and abused by Mr Kumar. Ms Maliwal, 39, said her clothes were torn, and she received severe injuries on her head and her leg during the assault, according to NDTV. Mr Kumar was arrested from Mr Kejriwals official residence by a Delhi Police team around noon and taken to the police station for interrogation, NDTV reported. Weve not received any information from the police yet. Weve sent them an e-mail that we will cooperate in the investigation, Bibhav Kumars lawyer Karan Sharma told news agency ANI. Ms Maliwal alleged that Mr Kumar slapped her seven or eight times, kicked her on the chest, stomach and pelvis area, according to the First Information Report the first step in any police procedure in India quoted by the Indian Express newspaper. The CMs house has hundreds of people. Bibhavs screaming and shouting didnt attract anyones attention? the lawyers said in Mr Kumars defence during an anticipatory bail plea hearing in the citys Tis Hazari court, according to the newspaper. Mr Kumar, in an email submitted to the Delhi Police, promised to cooperate and join the investigation as and when called upon to do so by the Investigating officer. The incident has triggered a political storm in the capital during the ongoing seven-phase general elections as rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and AAP traded barbs over the alleged incident. Mr Kejriwals party posted footage, purportedly from CCTV installed at the gate of Mr Kejriwals residence, on X suggesting that Ms Maliwal could be seen walking away from the house without any visible injuries. By getting his people to tweet and playing videos without any context, he thinks he can save himself by committing this crime. Who makes a video of someone being beaten up? The truth will be revealed to everyone as soon as the CCTV footage of the house and the room is checked, Ms Maliwal countered on X. AAP has alleged that Ms Maliwals complaint was politically motivated amid AAP and BJPs bitter rivalry during the high-stakes election season and denied any wrongdoing. AAP member Atishi said the former DCW chief went to meet the chief minister without an appointment. Why did she barge in? Why did she land up at the chief ministers residence without an appointment? Arvind Kejriwal was busy that day and did not meet her. If he had met her that day, the allegations levelled against Bibhav Kumar could have been levelled against him, Atishi told PTI Videos. BJPs Delhi unit has criticised Mr Kejriwal for remaining silent on the matter. Now that the entire Aam Aadmi Party is tarnishing the image of Swati Maliwal, its time Kejriwal comes forward and speaks on the matter, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said. Mr Kejriwal, a key figure in the Indian opposition, and a vocal critic of prime minister Narendra Modi, became Indias first sitting chief minister to be arrested, a month before the countrys general elections started. The Delhi leader was arrested by Indias Enforcement Directorate (ED) the countrys main agency for fighting financial crimes over accusations that his party and state ministers accepted 1bn Indian rupees (9.5m) in bribes from liquor contractors some two years ago. Hours after Indias apex court granted him bail, the opposition leader launched an attack against the ruling Modi government, urging voters in the ongoing general election to bring an end to dictatorship. Mr Kejriwals party is part of a broad opposition alliance called INDIA, the primary challenger to Mr Modis BJP. 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 Three Spanish tourists and an Afghan civilian were killed by gunmen in central Afghanistans Bamiyan city on Friday, Spains government said. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X that he was shocked by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan. He added that the foreign ministry was working to offer all necessary assistance and he was following the situation closely. Abdul Mateen Qani, Afghanistans interior ministry spokesperson, said while no group has claimed responsibility for the late-evening attack, four people had been arrested. The Taliban government strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished, Mr Qani said. Mr Qani also added that an Afghan civilian was also killed, and four other foreigners and three Afghans wounded in the attack. A resident, who preferred not to be named, said he heard the sounds of successive gunshots, and the city streets leading to the site were blocked immediately by the security forces, reported The Guardian. Bamiyan is home to a Unesco world heritage site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001. Afghanistan has seen a surge in terror attacks in the recent months after the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021 post the exit of the US and Nato forces. The Taliban government has vowed to restore security in a bid to encourage tourism. This attack is among the most serious in which foreign nationals have been killed or wounded since the Taliban retook power. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province, an affiliate of the terrorist group Isis and Talibans biggest rival in the region, have frequently targeted schools, hospitals and mosques after the departure of the US and Nato forces. 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 }} Texas officials say power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston after thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds tore through the city and killed at least four people. The storm knocked out electricity to nearly 1 million homes and businesses in the region as temperatures hover around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 Celsius). Multiple transmission towers were downed, and thousands of utility workers have headed to the area, said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the countys top elected official. What should you do to stay cool and safe at home when summer power outages prevent you from using fans and air conditioners? Emergency response and medical experts share their tips. HOW TO STAY COOL To avoid overheating, it's key to stay hydrated. If your home is without water during a power outage, be sure to stock up on bottled water. It's also important to refrain from exertion, if possible. Avoid the sun, especially during the hottest part of the day, and stay in the shade when outside. When it's hot, the body cools off by sweating. Soaking T-shirts or other clothing with water, or frequently spraying your skin with water, can help boost this effect, said Zachary McKenna, post-doctoral fellow in the department of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern. That does two things that are pretty beneficial: One, you have the potential for all of that water to evaporate off the skin and actually cool the body. And two, it lowers the need for your own body to produce that sweat, he said. McKenna says such strategies could be particularly helpful for older people because our bodies produce less sweat as we age. If the temperature inside your house during the day is the same, or warmer, than it is outside, you can open windows to increase air flow but make sure to keep curtains closed, especially if windows are receiving direct sunlight, he added. At night, if temperatures drop, open windows help increase the flow of cooler air. FOOD SAFETY If the power goes out, the food that's in your refrigerator can keep cold for about four hours, and what's in your freezer can keep cold for up to two days, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. You can transfer food to a cooler. But make sure there is enough ice and cold packs to keep the cooler temperature below 40 degrees (4.4 C), says the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Add more ice as it melts. If food that must be kept cold has been exposed to temperatures of at least 40 degrees (4.4 C) for longer than four or 48 hours, depending on whether it was refrigerated or frozen, it should be thrown away so that you don't give yourself food poisoning, according to FEMA. If food in your fridge starts to have an unusual odor, texture or color, it should also be tossed. People should seek out nonperishable foods, such as canned goods, that don't require refrigeration. If using camp stoves or charcoal barbecues to cook, make sure to use them outside and at least 20 feet away from windows, FEMA says. HOW TO CHARGE PHONES AND DEVICES One way to preserve your cellphone's battery is to limit calling, texting and app use. Dimming the brightness of the display screen, or putting a phone in low power mode, can also help. Turning it off can also help save battery. A number of vendors offer affordable solar-powered chargers for phones and other devices. You can also charge your phone in your car. But FEMA warns that you should always run your car outside, and not in an enclosed space like a garage, to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Generators, which are largely fueled by gasoline and diesel, can be used as an external power source during an outage. But it is essential to know how to use one safely. Generators should always be used outdoors, at least 20 feet away from windows, doors and garages, according to FEMA. Those who use generators should install battery-powered carbon monoxide alarms inside their home, FEMA says, as the gas is odorless and colorless. Carbon monoxide poisoning can be deadly. Generators should be kept dry and protected from rain or flooding, as FEMA warns that touching a wet generator can cause electrical shock. Before refueling, make sure they have cooled down. Heavy-duty extension cords should be used to connect appliances or devices to generators. And extra precaution should be taken when hooking up a generator to a home power source, as doing so could cause a dangerous surge in electricity, according to FEMA. You don't want to hook your generator into your system without having an isolation switch to keep it from charging the power lines going out from your house, said Kenneth Gray, a senior lecturer at the University of New Haven. Because you may, as a result, electrocute people working in the area, such as crews restoring downed power lines, he said. Generator transfer switches and any other necessary equipment should be installed by an electrician, per FEMA recommendations. OTHER SAFETY TIPS Officials recommend unplugging electronics in your home so as to avoid damage from electrical surges. And battery-powered flashlights and lanterns should be used for lighting instead of candles, which can be a fire hazard. It's also important to check in on older people and those with disabilities or living alone when you can, McKenna said. Make sure that they know the strategies and that they have somebody that they can reach out to and if they need help, he said. 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 pink and green strobes of the northern lights could return to UK skies soon, space weather forecasters have said. Also known as aurora borealis, the bands of pink and green light were seen across the UK and in parts of Europe last week after an extreme geomagnetic storm caused them to be more visible, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The latest sun storm activity follows a period of flares and mass ejections of coronal plasma that threatened to disrupt power and communications on Earth and in orbit. Met Office space weather expert Krista Hammond said the sunspot region will be rotated back towards Earth in 10 to 12 days time, paving the way for further geomagnetic storms and displays of the Northern Lights. Northern lights are seen over a roadside cross near Mchowo, Poland May 12, 2024 ( REUTERS ) The sunspot region will be coming back round onto the Earth facing side of the sun, she said. Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earths atmosphere around the magnetic poles. The sun is currently in the most active period of its 11-year cycle. Said Ms Hammond: Were currently at solar maximum and were seeing more sunspots. If we see more sunspots, we see this increased frequency in space weather and therefore the aurora. The forecaster downplayed the chances of a full repeat of last weekends display, but said more solar activity would mean a good chance of sightings in the coming weeks, months and years. The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse, late Friday, May 10, 2024, in Brunswick, Maine ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) It was such a unique set of circumstances that happened last weekend. The chances of the same sunspots doing the same thing again Its probably quite slim. I wouldnt be surprised if it comes around and theres some activity on it, but it wont be I doubt, a repeat performance. Where displays can be seen in the UK is dictated by the strength of geomagnetic storming, she said. There may even be some smaller mass ejections on their way to Earth in the coming days with the potential to create more beautiful displays, Ms Hammond said. There are a couple of mass ejections on their way to Earth. Theyre a lot less powerful than what we saw last weekend, but they could bring aurora displays across predominantly northern parts of the UK, such as Scotland, Northern Ireland, north of England. Just because were not seeing aurora across the whole of the UK, it doesnt mean that were not going to see it in some areas, she said. 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 }} After a report found that millions of litres of untreated sewage was illegally discharged into Lake Windermere, campaigners have raised concerns about the levels of pollution in British waters. Raw sewage was pumped into the Unesco world heritage site for nearly 10 hours in February after a telecommunication failure at a pumping station operated by United Utilities, a major water and wastewater services provider in the North West. The discharge happened at the companys pumping station at Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria on the night of 28 February and intermittently the following day. The emergency pumps discharged more than 10 million litres of raw sewage into the lake after the main pumps abruptly stopped due to a telecoms fault, insiders at the firm told BBC News, whose report also cited internal documents from the company. The discharge happened at the companys pumping station at Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria on the night of 28 February and the next day ( Getty ) The latest incident comes amid warnings from environmental agencies that swimming and other activities in and around some of the countrys rivers and lakes could be hazardous due to high levels of sewage pollution. There were 68,481 incidents of sewage released into Englands seas last year, totalling 440,446 hours, campaign group Friends of the Earth said on Wednesday after analysing Environment Agency data. Surfers Against Sewage monitors water quality at more than 450 river and coastal locations. The map below shows the most recent update for alerts on Saturday 18 May, and you can see an interactive version on its website. On Saturday, the map showed approximately 60 red crosses which represent sewage pollution alerts ( Surfers Against Sewage ) On Saturday, the map showed approximately 60 red crosses, which represent sewage pollution alerts. The latest spills come as campaigners gathered across the UK on Saturday to protest against the state of the nations waterways. Activists gathered at over 30 spots across the UK including London and Brighton, where people were seen paddleboarding out into the sea. Some were seen holding signs and placards calling for clean oceans while others wore costumes to draw attention to the event. Olympian and paddleboarder Kelly Holmes during Surfers Against Sewages Paddle-Out Protest in Brighton ( PA ) According to the regulator Ofwat, sewage spills come from storm overflows (relief valves designed to release water when the system is at risk of being overwhelmed); for example, if there are sewer blockages or equipment failures at wastewater treatment works. The network then discharges a mixture of rainwater, groundwater and sewage. The incident at Windermere was not reported to the Environment Agency until around 13 hours later. Failure to promptly notify the agency about such an incident constitutes a criminal offence. In a statement to The Independent, the Environment Agency said an officer attended the scene to confirm with UU [United Utilities] that the discharge had ceased and to carry out water sampling in areas affected. It added: We are undertaking a thorough investigation into the incident which involves examining further evidence from United Utilities. If we determine a permit breach has taken place, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action. If any water company is found to be in breach of an environmental permit, the Environment Agency will take the appropriate enforcement action up to and including a criminal prosecution. 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 }} Teachers could be given protection from claims of blasphemy under proposals reportedly set out in a new government-commissioned report. According to The Times, the report will urge the Department for Education (DfE) to issue schools with statutory guidance to protect teachers freedom of expression including that schools should not automatically suspend teachers over blasphemy claims. It would also prevent schools from publicly identifying teachers involved and, unlike sex education, schools would not be obliged to consult parents, faith or community groups on educational content that might insult religious groups. It is thought the report has been influenced by recent blasphemy cases in the UK which have seen some teachers being forced into hiding. The guidance comes after a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 teachers found 16 per cent admitted to having self-censored in order to avoid causing religious offence. The Policy Exchange think tank claimed this had created a de facto blasphemy code in schools across the country. It made reference to the Batley Grammar School incident in March 2021, where a teacher was forced into hiding and received death threats after showing a class a picture of the prophet Muhammad, and said it had clearly scared the teaching profession. The teacher remains in hiding with his partner and four young children and has said he felt let down by his school and police after his identity became known. Some 55 per cent of teachers polled said they would never use an image of the Islamic prophet in class and a further nine per cent cited the Batley incident as the reason they would not do so. Protesters outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire in 2021 ( PA ) Another incident thought to have informed the report was when parents attempted to stop LGBT+-inclusive education at a school in Birmingham in 2019 on religious grounds. The report advised that anti-blasphemy activists should still be allowed to protest in a responsible way, but said teachers accused of blasphemy should not be named. The report by the Governments adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, is expected to be published next week with more than 40 recommendations for government and public bodies. Officials in the Department for Education (DfE) are understood to be already drafting new guidance that could be issued to schools before the next academic year in September. Lord Walney declined to comment on the report but a government spokesperson said: Extremism of any kind has no place in our society and we will not tolerate tactics that set out to intimidate, threaten or cause disruption to the law-abiding majority. In recent months, we have also witnessed a small number of protesters display violent and hateful behaviour, and the police have our full support in tackling extremism and hate crime. We will consider the reports final recommendations extremely carefully and will respond in due course. 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 Colorado man pleaded guilty to murder charges on Friday for starting a 2020 house fire that killed five members of a Senegalese family out of misplaced revenge for a stolen iPhone that he mistakenly tracked to the house. Kevin Bui, now 20, was a teenager at the time of the fire but prosecuted as an adult. He has been portrayed by prosecutors as the ringleader of three friends who started the 5 August, 2020, fire in the middle of the night in a Denver neighborhood. Bui wrongly believed people who had recently robbed him lived in the home after using an app to track his stolen iPhone to the general area, according to prior testimony in the case. A mugshot of Kevin Bui, who pleaded guilty to murder charges after he started a house fire in August 2020 in Denvers Green Valley Ranch neighborhood, mistakenly believing the occupants had stolen his iPhone ( Denver District Attorneys Office ) Bui pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. A plea deal reached between the defendant and prosecutors proposes a sentence of up to 60 years in prison -- 30 years for each count. The maximum penalty for each count of second-degree murder is 48 years and a $1 million fine. Judge Karen Brody set sentencing for July 2. Bui was seated at the table with his lawyers during the hearing with his hands cuffed in front of him and wearing a green jail uniform. 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 }} Ed Dwight, the first Black man to train to be an astronaut, never ended up making it to space 60 years ago. But that will all change this weekend. On Sunday, Mr Dwight, aged 90, will join five others on a Blue Origin flight, the space travel company owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. The 11-minute flight will take them into zero gravity, so passengers can experience weightlessness and view the Earths horizon, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr Dwight, who grew up in Kentucky under segregation, joined the Air Force in 1953. The decision lead him to almost becoming one of the countrys first astronauts. Ed Dwight, the first Black man to train as an astronaut, pictured in 2023. On Sunday, he will become the oldest person to go to space ( Getty Images for National Geogra ) In 1961, the US established the Aerospace Research Pilot School. President John F Kennedys administration urged them to recruit a Black Air Force officer, and soon afterwards, Mr Dwight received a letter inviting him to attend, the Associated Press reported. While there, he experienced racism from his colleagues including First Commandant of the school, Chuck Yaeger, who died in 2020. They were all instructed to give me the cold shoulder, Mr Dwight said of his fellow trainees earlier this year. Yeager had a meeting with the students and the staff in the auditorium and announced it that Washington was trying to shove this N-word down our throats. Ed Dwight (centre) pictured with fellow trainees in 1963 at the Aerospace Research Pilot School. Mr Dwight retired from the Air Force in 1966 ( Getty Images ) As the program went on, Mr Dwight became one of 26 people recommended by Air Force officials to join NASA. But when the space organisation released their list of chosen astronauts in 1963, Mr Dwight didnt make the cut, according to the Associated Press. After JFK was assassinated, Mr Dwight said that he thought his career as an astronaut was finished, The Wall Street Journal reports. He retired from the Air Force in 1966. Ed Dwight, centre, with the five others who will join him in space on Sunday. Mr Dwight, the first Black man to train to be an astronaut, was rejected by NASA just before President John F Kennedy was assassinated ( BLUE ORIGIN/AFP via Getty Images ) On Sunday, Mr Dwight will become the oldest person to go to space, surpassing Star Trek actor William Shatner by a matter of months after he flew in 2021 at the age of 90 with Blue Origin. Mr Dwight told the Associated Press that he is proud to have been a role model for the Black astronauts who came after him. Its good for them in that they didnt have to go through this crap that I went through, it was a goddamn distraction, he said. Its like wanting to have eyes in the back of your head for all the stuff that was coming at you. I had to absorb that graciously. If I talked about it Oh, crybaby! You couldnt do this and you couldnt do that. Thats what would have happened if I stepped up to the mic and complained, he continued. The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket pictured launching. Mr Dwights son and grandchildren will watch him take off in the aircraft on Sunday ( AFP via Getty Images ) Mr Dwights son, Chris Dwight, told The Wall Street Journal he will be watching his father take off on Sunday. Mr Dwights grandchildren will be there to cheer him on, too. Its really going to hit home for them what their grandfather has accomplished, Chris Dwight told the Journal. I think its going to be one of those things like, Wow, that is my family, my forebears, that is going into space, something not many people have done. 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 }} Thousands of protesters are expected to turn out for a rally in the nation's capital Saturday in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza. The event commemorates the 76th anniversary of what is called the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe, and refers to the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from what is now Israel when the state was created in 1948. Rally organizers, in an unusual step, did not apply for any permits from the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall. These permits, which include estimates on attendance, are a traditional step for large rallies or protests. Permits are required for any organized activity in order to provide for public and participant safety, protection of park resources, and maintaining a commemorative mood where appropriate, said Mike Litterst, the agency's chief of communications for the National Mall. However, in the event no permit application was submitted, we make every effort to support the First Amendment rights of all visitors to the areas we protect with the priority being placed on safety and protection of park resources. In the absence of permit applications, there were no estimates as to the size of the protest, and the Park Service no longer provides official crowd estimates for gatherings on the National Mall. In January, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists flooded the National Mall in one of the larger protests in recent memory in the District of Columbia. This years event is fueled by anger over the ongoing siege of Gaza. The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israels military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The rally is also being fueled by anger over the violent crackdown on multiple pro-Palestinian protest camps at universities across the country. In recent weeks, long-term encampments have been broken up by police at more than 60 schools, including George Washington University not far from the White House. In addition to pressing Israel and the Biden administration for an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, the protestors are expected to push for the right of return for Palestinian refugees a longstanding Israeli red line in decades of start-and-stop negotiations. After the Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel's establishment, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within Israel's borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, the refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population. 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 }} Sexual diversity activists protested in Perus capital in front of the health ministry Friday to demand that the government repeal a decree that characterizes seven gender identities, including transgenderism, as mental illnesses. Protesters also gathered outside the Peruvian embassy in Ecuador's capital, Quito. The demonstrations coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia, celebrated since 2005 to mark May 17, 1990, when homosexuality then considered a mental illness was removed from the World Health Organizations International Classification of Diseases. In Lima, hundreds protested last week's decree by president Dina Boluartes administration. The Ministry of Health said the action would guarantee comprehensive mental health care coverage to those affiliated with public, private or mixed health plans, saying it relied on WHO disease categories ended in 2022. Peru does not recognize same-sex marriage. Demonstrators carried signs with a variety of messages, among them My life is freedom, not a disorder, Health is not legislated in the past, The disease is you, transphobia kills and No diversity with Dina. Several people beat on drums and others chanted, Trans people are love. We have had conservative governments for many years. We had military governments, then right-wing governments linked to Catholic and evangelical churches, so the position regarding us they have revived again, said Gia Cruzado, a transgender woman and writer. The decree is a step backwards and is a way to continue closing the doors to progress for our community, Cruzado said. Gahela Cari, a transgender woman who unsuccessfully ran for congress in 2021, said that being gay, lesbian, non-binary or bisexual is not a disease, it is a human condition. In Ecuador, dozens of members of a collective defending the rights of the LGTBQ+ community marched to Peru's embassy. They staged a sit-in outside while waving flags and signed declaring that being trans is not a disease. 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 }} A top-ranking House Democrat has accused Republicans who attended Donald Trumps hush money trial of drinking on the trip before attending an explosive House hearing on Thursday. A meeting of the House Oversight Committee descended into chaos after GOP firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene insulted Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett over her fake eyelashes. Ms Crockett then suggested that Ms Greene had a bleach blond, bad-built butch body. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle later said that alcohol may have been involved. Senior Democrat Jamie Raskin blamed Republican members who had travelled to New York from DC to support Mr Trump in court. There was drinking going on in the hearing room on the Republican side, he told The Hill on Friday, without naming any names. From left to right, Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, Andy Ogles, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, and Lauren Boebert stand outside the Manhattan criminal court on Thursday to support Donald Trump at his hush money trial ( AP ) You had a bunch of members who had skipped legislative votes yesterday in order to go to Donald Trumps trial...I dont even want to imagine how much drinking was taking place on the train or up in New York. And these members came back out of control. And the chairman did not rein them in, and the institution pays the price. The Republicans who showed up at Mr Trumps trial on Thursday included Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Michael Cloud, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Diana Harshbarger, Anna Paulina Luna, Ralph Norman and Andy Ogles. They were part of a wave of GOP supporters of the president who attended the Manhattan courthouse in the past week. No lawmaker directly involved in the Oversight Committee hearing incident, including Ms Greene, attended the trial. On Thursday, Mr Gaetz invoked Donald Trumps notorious, and widely condemned, call to the far-right group, the Proud Boys Standing back and standing by, Mr. President, Mr Gaetz wrote on X, along with a photo of himself at the courthouse. The Independent has contacted lawmakers who attended the trial on Thursday for comment. Mr Gaetz told The Independent that he did not travel with the group to New York and did not observe any drinking on Thursday. Mr Raskin called for an investigation into the potential involvement of alcohol surrounding the events at the hearing. Jasmine Crockett, pictured at the hearing on Thursday, called Marjorie Taylor Greene a bleach blonde bad-built butch body after she insulted her fake eyelashes ( US House of Representatives/YouTube ) I didnt see the drinking but the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, raised it, Mr Raskin told Fox News at the US Capitol on Friday. She said there are members drinking in the room, and thats something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place. Additional unnamed representatives from both parties told Politico they saw members drinking. Thursdays hearing was to decide if US Attorney General Merrick Garland could be held in contempt of Congress but turned chaotic when Ms Greene attacked Ms Crocketts fake eyelashes. Id like to know if any Democrats on the committee are employing Judge [Juan] Merchans daughter? Ms Greene asked. Judge Juan Merchan presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial in New York. The former president and other Republicans have attacked Judge Merchan as partisan and highlighted that his daughter has worked for Democrats. Marjorie Taylor Greene clashes with AOC during House Oversight Committee hearing Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland, Ms Crockett, a Texas Democrat, asked. Do you know what were here for? I dont think you know what youre here for, Ms Greene said. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, interjected. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person, she said. Ms Greene then taunted Ms Ocasio-Cortez, asking if her feelings had been hurt. Oh girl, oh baby girl, dont even play, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, pictured at the House Oversight Committee hearing, clashed on Thursday ( Independent TV ) When Chairman James Comer ruled that Ms Greenes comments did not violate House rules, Ms Crockett responded. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? she asked the chairman. Ms Crockett later called Ms Greene absolutely racist for her comments. She is racist. I mean, I dont have any questions about that, she said. She went on to say that Ms Greene and Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert arent getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes it looks like. I dont know. But she doesnt attack her for any of that, Ms Crockett 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 }} A top-ranking Democrat has said that its worth investigating whether alcohol was involved in an explosive, insult-ridden House Oversight Committee hearing earlier this week. Representative Jamie Raskin called for the investigation after Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, said non-committee members were drinking in the chamber during a hearing where Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene kicked off a fiery exchange by insulting lawmaker Jasmine Crockett. I didnt see the drinking but the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, raised it, Mr Raskin told Fox Newsoutside the US Capitol on Friday. She said there are members drinking in the room, and thats something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place. Mr Raskin pointed the finger at lawmakers from across the aisle. Representative Jamie Raskin, pictured on Friday, said its worth investigating if alcohol was involved in the explosive House Oversight Committee hearing ( Getty Images ) There was drinking going on in the hearing room on the Republican side, he told The Hill. You had a bunch of members who had skipped legislative votes yesterday in order to go to Donald Trumps trial...I dont even want to imagine how much drinking was taking place on the train or up in New York, he said. And these members came back out of control. And the chairman did not rein them in, and the institution pays the price. Additional unnamed representatives from both parties also told Politicothey saw members drinking. The incident took place during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday to decide if US Attorney General Merrick Garland could be held in contempt of Congress. It began when Rep. Greene attacked Democratic lawmaker Jasmine Crocketts fake eyelashes. Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), pictured at a hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, called Marjorie Taylor Greene a bleach blonde bad-built butch body ( US House of Representatives/YouTube ) Id like to know if any Democrats on the committee are employing Judge [Juan] Merchans daughter? Ms Greene asked. Judge Juan Merchan presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial in New York. The former president and other Republicans have attacked Judge Merchan as partisan and highlighted that his daughter has worked for Democrats. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland, Ms Crockett, a Texas Democrat, asked. Do you know what were here for? I dont think you know what youre here for, Ms Greene said. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. Marjorie Taylor Greene clashes with AOC during House Oversight Committee hearing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, interjected. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person, she said. Ms Greene then taunted Ms Ocasio-Cortez, asking if her feelings had been hurt. Oh girl, oh baby girl, dont even play, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. Mr Raskin, the top Democrat on the panel, then stepped in and told Ms Greene the comments were beneath even you. Ms Greene struck her words from the Congressional record but did not apologise to Ms Crockett. When Chairman James Comer ruled that Ms Greenes comments did not violate House rules, Ms Crockett responded. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? she asked the chairman. After a fellow representative asked her to calm down, Ms Crockett continued. Im trying to get clarification, Ms Crockett said. Dont tell me to calm down, because yall talk noise and then you cant take it, because if I come and talk s*** about her, yall gonna have a problem. Ms Crockett later called Ms Greene absolutely racist for her comments. She is racist. I mean, I dont have any questions about that, she said. She went on to say that Ms Greene and Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert arent getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes it looks like. I dont know. But she doesnt attack her for any of that, Ms Crockett said. Ms Ocasio-Cortez made a similar point, Punchbowl News reported. It is not lost on me that Ms Greene targeted one of the only Black women on the committee for some of the most egregious and disgusting comments and with the expectation that it will be ignored, she said. Meanwhile, Ms Greene said shes completely over it in a Friday post on X. Pardon me if I dont talk as nicely as some people would like to hear, she wrote. Im not going to keep you all addicted to outrage and hopium that never solves a problem or stops the inevitable implosion of the United States of America. Millie Alder has been left without a suitcase for over a week after travelling to Marseille in France with British Airways. As winter looms and temperatures cool around the country, many Aussies are preparing to extend their summer by jetting off to the Northern Hemisphere. One mum did just that earlier this month, embarking on a month-long adventure across Europe having saved for over two years for the trip of a lifetime. But just days into the trip, she has been left living every traveller's worst nightmare her luggage has gone missing. Millie Alder, from Queenslands Gold Coast arrived in Marseille, France, from London on British Airways flight 370 on May 10, but soon discovered that her distinctive purple suitcase had never made it onto the plane. With a wedding to attend in the south of France the next day, she was left frantically trying to track down the missing suitcase, which had all of her and her two-year-old daughters clothes inside. With no idea where in the world her suitcase is, the mum was left making a desperate plea to the public to help her track it down. We waited for all the bags to come out and my husbands came out first and then the conveyor belt just stopped and I thought where is my bag?" she told Yahoo News Australia. "It's been so awful." A British Airways flight taking off. Source: Getty Passenger in 'utter shock' after suitcase goes missing An airport employee soon approached her to explain that her purple suitcase never made the flight. I was in utter shock," she told Yahoo. "I had an outfit in [the suitcase] which I bought well over six months ago and had it perfectly altered to my body and all of my babys clothes and medication. The mum, who says she usually puts an Apple AirTag in her luggage to use as a tracking device, was distracted with her child and forgot. The mum was forced to borrow a dress for the black tie wedding from another guest at the hotel where she was staying and shoes from the bride. Seven days on, she is yet to be reunited with the bag and says that she has no idea where it is and claims the airline cant tell me. She now says shes over $1,000 out of pocket for items shes had to replace on clothes and makeup and toiletries. While she has travel insurance, shes been unable to make contact with them yet. Alder said that the missing suitcase has put a dampener on the month-long family holiday. Ive been saving up for this trip for 2 years and Im so so sad, she told Yahoo. British Airways did not respond to Yahoo's request for comment on the matter. British Airways passenger Millie Alder was forced to borrow clothes from a stranger for the black-tie wedding. Source: Supplied Mum's desperate plea to track down bag Posting to social media, Alder made a desperate plea to the public to help track down her distinctive purple suitcase. I am begging anyone with the kindness of their heart to do anything they can to help me find it, she said. Countless followers tagged British Airways in the comments of her post in a bid to help her track down the suitcase, which is still missing. So devastated for you, said one. You would think a brightly coloured suitcase would be easy enough to spot, added another viewer. Good luck, I know the feeling, said another. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. 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 }} Leo Brent Bozell IV, the scion of a prominent family of conservative activists, was sentenced to 45 months in prison in a Washington, DC, federal court for his role in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. During the insurrection, Bozell pushed past police, broke a windowpane in the Senate building, chased a Capitol Police officer toward the Senate chamber, and entered both then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office and the Senate floor, according to prosecutors, as hundreds of Trump supporters sought to stop the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election win. Without people like Mr Bozell, the riot doesnt happen, prosecutor Ashley Akers said during sentencing. He himself facilitated access to the Capitol building for hundreds of other rioters, she added. The sentence from Judge John D Bates was considerably less than the more than 11 years the government sought in the case. The federal judge held Friday that the sentence, including a terrorism enhancement sought by prosecutors, didnt match the circumstances of Bozells crimes. Im not sure that label is an appropriate label for the defendant to have to carry with him, he said. However, the judge condemned the 44-year-olds conduct, alongside that of other January 6 participants. Not for a moment should January 6 rioters be considered true patriots, Judge Bates said. Theyre not political prisoners. Theyre not hostages. During Fridays sentencing hearing, Bozell apologised and said his conduct put a stain on my family forever. Bozells sentence also includes $4,727 in restitution. The Pennsylvania man was convicted in September on 10 charges. The January 6 riots marked the latest appearance of the Bozell family name in right-wing history. Leo Leo Brent Bozell, Jr, ghost-wrote Arizona senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwaters influential book The Conscience of a Conservative, while Leo Leo Brent Bozell, III, founded the Media Research Center, a group that monitored and critiqued liberal media. 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 as protesters take to the streets of Madrid on Saturday 18 May to rally against the meeting of far-right leaders organised by Spain's Vox party ahead of the EU election. The European elections will take place from Thursday 6 June to Sunday 9 June, with around 400 million people expected to cast their ballot. Argentinas president Javier Milei arrived in Spain for a three-day visit yesterday and is expected to take part in a European election campaign launch event for the Vox Party. He is expected to speak at Madrids Palacio de Vistalegre on Sunday. Mr Milei will meet with Vox leader, Santiago Abascal, who was one of the Argentine's main foreign guests in Buenos Aires when he won power and also for his inauguration as president. Other leaders expected in the city this weekend are Italys Giorgia Meloni and Hungarys Victor Orban, as well as former French presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen. 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 }} Slovakias prime minister Robert Fico had a second operation on Friday, two days after being shot multiple times in an assassination attempt. Mr Fico, 59, was injured after five shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova where the leader was meeting with supporters. Health minister Zuzana Dolinkova said two-hour surgery on Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot wounds contributed to a positive prognosis for Mr Fico. His condition was stable but serious on Saturday, Ms Dolinkova said as the man accused of trying to assassinate him faced his first court appearance. He had an almost two-hour-long operation, said the deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica where Mr Fico is being treated. His state is still very serious. I think it would take a couple of days to see the course of the development of his state. Mr Kalinak added that they would consider moving Mr Fico to the capital Bratislava only when there is further improvement in his condition. Hospital director Miriam Lapunikova said Mr Fico was conscious and stable in the intensive unit after the surgery. Slovak defence minister and deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak (C), flanked by director of the FD Roosevelt University Hospital Miriam Lapunikova (L), addresses the media outside the hospital ( EPA ) Mr Kalinak, who also serves as defence minister, is currently standing in for Mr Fico during the prime ministers absence. A 71-year-old man named Juraj Cintula was arrested and charged with attempted murder for the attack. Unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the countrys southwest. Prosecutors are seeking an order from Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect. Government authorities on Thursday described the suspect as a lone wolf who did not belong to any political groups, though they said the attack itself was politically motivated. This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential election since he was dissatisfied with its outcome, said interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok. Markiza, a Slovak television station, showed footage of the suspect being taken to his home in the town of Levice on Friday morning, and reported that police had seized a computer and some documents. Police did not comment due to a ban by prosecutors on publicising the suspects identity and other details about the case. On Wednesday, after Mr Fico underwent five hours of surgery immediately after he was shot, deputy prime minister Tomas Taraba said: Fortunately as far as I know the operation went well and I guess in the end he will survive ... hes not in a life-threatening situation at this moment. He is able to speak but only a few sentences and then he is really tired because he is on some medication, president-elect Peter Pellegrini said on Thursday. Mr Pellegrini added that if the bullets struck just a few millimetres either side, Mr Fico would have been killed. Mr Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and Nato members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine. Mr Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the murder of politicians, and he blamed the media for fuelling tensions. 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 Panama-flagged crude oil tanker was attacked approximately 10 nautical miles southwest of Yemens Mokha, British security firm Ambrey said on Saturday. Ambrey said radio communication they received indicated the vessel was hit by a missile and that a fire broke out onboard, Reuters reported. The security firm said the tanker had received assistance and one steering unit was functional, but did not expand on who provided the assistance. Ambrey stated in an advisory note that vessels in the vicinity should exercise caution and report suspicious activity. Earlier on Saturday, a vessel in the Red Sea, about 76 nautical miles northwest of Yemens Hodeidah, was hit by an unknown object and sustained minor damage, reported the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency. Yemens Houthi militia has been staging several attacks on ships in its waters for months amid Israels ongoing war on Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping and forced firms to use longer and more expensive routes, as well as adding to fears of a wider war in the Middle East. The US and UK have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping. 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 forces battled Hamas fighters in the narrow alleyways of Jabalia in northern Gaza on Friday in some of the fiercest engagements since they returned to the area a week ago, while in the south militants attacked tanks massing around Rafah. Residents said Israeli armour had thrust as far as the market at the heart of Jabalia, the largest of Gazas eight historic refugee camps, and that bulldozers were demolishing homes and shops in the path of the advance. Tanks and planes are wiping out residential districts and markets, shops, restaurants, everything. It is all happening before the one-eyed world, Ayman Rajab, a resident of western Jabalia, said via a chat app. Israel had said its forces cleared Jabalia months earlier in the Gaza war, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, but said last week it was returning to prevent Islamist militants from regrouping there. In southern Gaza bordering Egypt, thick smoke rose over Rafah, where an escalating Israeli assault has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from what was one of the few remaining places of refuge. People are terrified and theyre trying to get away, Jens Laerke, UN humanitarian office spokesperson, said in Geneva, adding that most were following orders to move north towards the coast but that there were no safe routes or destinations. As the fighting raged, the US military said trucks started moving aid ashore from a temporary pier, the first to reach the besieged enclave by sea in weeks. The World Food Programme, which expects food, water, shelter and medical supplies to arrive through the floating dock, said the aid was transported to its warehouses in Deir al Balah in central Gaza and told partners it was ready for distribution. The United Nations earlier reiterated that truck convoys by land disrupted this month by the assault on Rafah were still the most efficient way of getting aid in. To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza and for that, we need access by land now, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said. Israeli tanks drive across the security fence with Jabalia in northern part of the Gaza Strip ( EPA ) US aid was arriving in Cyprus for delivery to Gaza via the new pier, Washington said. Hamas demanded an end to Israels siege and accused Washington of complicity with an Israeli policy of starvation and blockade. The White House said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan would visit Israel on Sunday and stress the need for a targeted offensive against Hamas militants rather than a full-scale assault on Rafah. A group of US medical workers left the Gaza Strip after getting stuck at the hospital where they were providing care, the White House said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops killed more than 60 militants in Jabalia in recent days and located a weapons warehouse in a divisional-level offensive. A divisional operation would typically involve several brigades of thousands of troops each, making it one of the biggest of the war. The 7th Brigades fire control centre directed dozens of airstrikes, eliminated terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure, the IDF said. At least 35,303 Palestinians have now been killed, according to figures from the enclaves health ministry, while aid agencies have repeatedly warned of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies. Israel says it must capture Rafah to destroy Hamas and ensure the countrys safety. In the Hamas attack on 7 October, 1,200 people died in Israel and 253 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. About 128 hostages are still being held in Gaza. Israel said on Friday that its forces retrieved the bodies of three people killed at the Nova music festival in Israel and taken into Gaza. In response, Hamas said negotiations were the only way for Israel to retrieve hostages alive: The enemy will not get its prisoners except as lifeless corpses or through an honourable exchange deal for our people and our resistance. Talks on a ceasefire have been at an impasse. Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded parts of Rafah on Friday, while the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they fired anti-tank missiles and mortars at forces massing to the east, southeast and inside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. UNRWA, the main UN aid agency for Palestinians, said more than 630,000 people had fled Rafah since the offensive began on 6 May. Theyre moving to areas where there is no water weve got to truck it in and people arent getting enough food, Sam Rose, director of planning at UNRWA, told Reuters on Friday by telephone from Rafah, where he said it was eerily quiet. At the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, where South Africa has accused Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noam defended the operation. The South African legal team, which set out its case for fresh emergency measures the previous day, framed the Israeli military operation as part of a genocidal plan aimed at bringing about the destruction of the Palestinian people. Reuters 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 former OpenAI leader who resigned from the company earlier this week said that safety has taken a backseat to shiny products at the influential artificial intelligence company. Jan Leike, who ran OpenAIs Super Alignment team alongside a company co-founder who also resigned this week, wrote in a series of Friday posts on the social media platform X that he joined the San Francisco-based company because he thought it would be the best place to do AI research. However, I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the companys core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point, wrote Mr Leike, whose last day with the company was on Thursday. An AI researcher by training, Leike said he believes there should be more focus on preparing for the next generation of AI models, including on things like safety and analyzing the societal impacts of such technologies. He said building smarter-than-human machines is an inherently dangerous endeavor and that the company is shouldering an enormous responsibility on behalf of all of humanity. open image in gallery Jan Leike, who ran OpenAIs Super Alignment team, announced his resignation this week, as did a company co-founder (stock image) ( AP ) OpenAI must become a safety-first AGI company, wrote Leike using the abbreviated version of artificial general intelligence, a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can. Mr Leikes resignation came after OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said Tuesday that he was leaving the company after nearly a decade. Sutskever was one of four board members last fall who voted to push out CEO Sam Altman only to quickly reinstate him. It was Mr Sutskever who told Mr Altman last November that he was being fired, but he later said he regretted doing so. Sutskever said he is working on a new project thats meaningful to him without offering additional details. He will be replaced by Jakub Pachocki as chief scientist. Mr Altman called Mr Pachocki also easily one of the greatest minds of our generation and said he is very confident he will lead us to make rapid and safe progress towards our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits everyone. On Monday, OpenAI showed off the latest update to its artificial intelligence model, which can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect peoples moods. French police shot and killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is suspected of having started a fire that charred and blackened the insides of a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen early on Friday 17 May. Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack was clearly antisemitic, while it infuriated Jewish leaders facing a surge in hate crimes since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The suspected arsonist was an Algerian national who wasnt flagged as a suspected extremist, Mr Darmanin said after inspecting the fire-damaged synagogue. Footage from inside the synagogue shows the window through which the Molotov Cocktail was thrown. Rudy Giuliani sang New York, New York at his 80th birthday party before being served with notice of his Arizona indictment. According to the New York Post, two officials with Arizonas attorney generals office arrived at the gathering around 11pm to hand Mr Giuliani the papers in the case alleging he and 17 others were involved in a 2020 election interference plot. The former New York City mayor was celebrating his birthday in Palm Beach, and a video shows him signing during the party. Its unfortunate that they chose to barge up and startle guests during a celebration of this mans 80th birthday, Mr Giulianis political advisor, Ted Goodman, told the Post. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes confirmed via social media that Mr Giuliani had been served. A tale of two speeches, by Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, kicked off what party strategists call the long campaign for the general election. It will be very long probably lasting six months. Although their target audience was the voters, in the short term the two leaders will probably be more successful in cheering up their own troops. Senior Conservative MPs welcomed Sunaks focus on defence and national security and his first attempt to talk about what five more years of Tory government would mean. The Tories have belatedly realised they must defend their record in the past 14 years, however embarrassing the Johnson and Truss chapters. If they dont, it is easier for Labour to make the election a referendum on that record. One minister told me Sunaks speech might just mark a turning point when the 20-point opinion poll gap starts to close, arguing the PM can finally point to genuine progress in meeting his five pledges to answer the charge of presiding over broken Britain. I suspect this is wildly optimistic, and Starmers speech reminded us why when he said the Tories had beaten the hope out of people. They do not feel that broken Britain has been fixed. Starmers pitch at his slick launch event in Essex offered gradual change, ending the Tories chaos without inflicting even more disruption. Hence his claim that stability is change. His other goal was to tackle voter scepticism and, in some cases, cynicism about whether Labour would really be any different. Labour MPs have been crying out for a retail offer to sell on the doorsteps because Starmers five missions are too vague; his six first steps will help. But only two on teachers and NHS appointments have numbers attached, and they should be made more specific, like Tony Blairs 1997 pledge card. Starmer should be firmer about when voters will notice a difference, rather than resort to platitudes like as quickly as possible, straight away and pretty swiftly. As Peter Mandelson, one of New Labours architects, told the UCL Policy Labs Britain Renewed conference on Wednesday: In government, you only know whats being achieved if it is measured. Thats the difference between words and action, taking a decision and being accountable for it. So monitoring the output and outcomes of mission, and publishing them, is indispensable. However, I suspect Labours six steps are not its final offer, and that some goodies are being held back until nearer the election, such as on childcare. Starmers caution has a purpose. As he put it, he will not make promises he cannot deliver. As well as inheriting a deficit in the public finances, the Tories will bequeath a trust deficit in politics generally, ensuring only a short honeymoon for Labour. Starmer has seen the dangers of overpromising with Sunaks undeliverable pledge to stop the boats. So he plays safe with the structural change of a new border security command, and can at least argue Labour is not dodging the issue. Starmer was less convincing on his biggest weakness. He argued that only a few of the pledges he made while running for the Labour leadership had been dropped. A quick glance at the list suggests several have gone, including tax rises for the top 5 per cent of earners; abolition of university tuition fees and universal credit; common ownership of mail, energy and water and free movement with the EU. This matters because the Tories can claim Starmer says one thing before an election and does another afterwards. Its another reason why the Labour leader makes limited promises. So is Jeremy Corbyns long list of policies at the 2019 election which, while individually popular, were judged by voters as too good to be true. Starmers limited prospectus will not stop the Tories making up their own shopping list of what Labour would do. On Friday, Jeremy Hunt said a cautious assessment of Labours plans by Treasury officials had identified a 38bn black hole which would have to be filled by tax rises. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has made no proposals to raise income tax, but nor has she adopted Blairs 1997 pledge of no rise in income tax rates. Yet. Hunt tried to puncture the myth there is little difference between the two main parties on economic policy an unintended compliment to Reeves for achieving that impression. The chancellor argued that what happens to the tax burden after the election is the biggest divide in British politics today. But voters may have other priorities; polls suggest more people want any spare resources spent on public services rather than tax cuts. However, Hunts warning will strike a chord with wavering 2019 Tory voters. I think his intervention earnt the Tories a late equaliser, so they sneaked a 2-2 draw over the week. Their problem is they were already 0-2 down, given Labours poll lead. Crucially, Starmers clever pitch will enable him to retain that advantage. The European Union has opened fresh investigations into Facebook and Instagram over suspicions they are failing to protect children online by using algorithms that send them down disturbing rabbit holes. It is the latest round of scrutiny for parent company Meta Platforms under the 27-nation EUs Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping set of regulations that took effect last year with the goal of cleaning up online platforms and protecting internet users. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said it was concerned that the algorithmic systems used by Facebook and Instagram to recommend content like videos and posts could exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of children and stimulate addictive behaviour. It is worried that these systems could reinforce the so-called rabbit hole effect that leads users to increasingly disturbing content. The commission is also looking into Metas use of age verification tools to prevent children from accessing Facebook or Instagram, or be shown inappropriate content. Only children aged 13 and older are allowed to use the platforms. It is also looking into whether the company is complying with DSA rules requiring a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors. We want young people to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and have spent a decade developing more than 50 tools and policies designed to protect them, Meta said in a prepared statement. This is a challenge the whole industry is facing and we look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission. They are the latest cases to focus on child protection under the DSA, which requires platforms to put in place stringent measures to protect minors. The commission opened two separate investigations earlier this year into TikTok over concerns about risks to kids. We are not convinced that Meta has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations to mitigate the risks of negative effects to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms Facebook and Instagram, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a social media post. The cases announced yesterday are not the first for Facebook and Instagram. They are already being investigated under the DSA over concerns they are not doing enough to stop foreign disinformation ahead of the EU elections next month. Social media platform X and e-commerce site AliExpress are also being investigated over their compliance with the EU rules. There is no deadline for the investigations to wrap up. Violations could result in fines of up to 6pc of a companys annual worldwide revenue. Parents are weighing in on how they think parent parking bays should be used by drivers. Source: TikTok The widespread debate around who can use parent parking bays has been reignited after one mum claims they should only be used by a someone with their child or a pram in tow. Aussie mum Rhiannon shared her opinion after watching a video of a woman using one of the bays while taking a solo trip to the supermarket. "Does this irritate anybody else? Those are designed for parents with a pram or at least have your child with you," she said online. Rhiannon said she didn't have her son with her at the time, "so it was fine", but the shopper in question just had "balloons in her trolley". "Not a child balloons! Oh my god ... just don't park in them!" Many parents say it's a widespread problem in car parks Earlier this week, another pregnant mum was left exhausted from squeezing her two children, her groceries and her "big pregnant belly" into her car parked in a standard sized bay after the parent parking bays were all being used. Mum-of-two Montana was left feeling "really frustrated" from the struggle this week and believes the larger parking bays are designed specifically to help parents like her in moments like that, not just parents broadly. "It's parent with pram parking ... I don't think that just means if you're a parent you get to use it or if you're pregnant you get to use it," she said. "I'm pregnant and I would never take up a parent park just for myself." "Too many times I have seen parents either get their older kids out of the car, like 10 or 12 year old kids, or parents get out the car with no kids. I'm like, 'what are you doing?'" A stream of parents replied to Montana in the comments, agreeing with her opinion. However, parent parking bays are not enforceable by law, meaning there is no legal implications for those drivers who don't fall into the criteria but park in the bay anyway. "Meh might be morally wrong but not illegal," one person wrote online, while another said if the parent parking bay is free she will "always" pull her car in. "And when I did have prams I never needed a special parking spot, [I] managed just fine," she added. Extra space is what parents want Parent parking bays are usually positioned closer to store entrances and can be enticing for drivers who simply need a park, however, parents say it's all about the extra space. Having extra space allows parents to load and unload their car with bulky items like prams without fear of hitting another car with their door. The debate around parent parking bays and who should use them has become a contentious topic with one mum claiming in 2019 a woman in her 40s assaulted her in Smithfield Shopping Centre, north of Cairns, for using a bay without a pram. The mum claims the woman spat on her and even inflicted a deep scratch on her car. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. In Ransom 79, the late RTE reporter and Colin Murphy dig into a bizarre plot to blackmail the government. Paul Whitington talks to director Colm Quinn In the last two years of his life, when most people in his position would have been resting and guarding every ounce of energy, Charlie Bird was busy. He went on Liveline and The Late Late Show to heighten awareness about motor neurone disease, he climbed mountains to raise money for charity, he talked openly and honestly about his disease and his end-of-life plans and turned a dreadful personal situation into an inspiring national moment. He also worked on a story his last as it turned out the intriguing tale of a 1979 attempt to blackmail the government. Shortly before being diagnosed with MND, Charlie had done a podcast for the Irish Senior Times about the plot, until then publicly unknown. Last year, Bird, his good friend and fellow journalist Colin Murphy and director Colm Quinn began making a documentary called Ransom 79. Ransom '79 The incident itself was fascinating enough, as Bird and Murphy uncovered a republican splinter groups plot to extort millions of punts from the Irish government. But then there was Charlie, forgetting his illness as he plunged headfirst into the thing he loved best following a story. For Quinn, making the film was an extraordinary experience. Id listened to the podcast, and there was so much great stuff in it, and so it was a really interesting first chat in terms of where it could go as a documentary, he says. And I think even before the diagnosis came out, there was a sense that Charlie was going to be the protagonist in this. I grew up with Charlie Bird on TV, and I was almost a bit starstruck meeting the guy to be honest; hes one of these people with just a bit of legendary status about them. But Charlie had this ability to put people at their ease, and we got straight into talking about the story. We had a couple more meetings about where it was going, but then the diagnosis happened, that was in October 2021. Wed been having conversations about Ransom, and then there was this terrible, terrible shock for Charlie. After that diagnosis, the film was put on hold. What happened then was that Charlie became interested in the idea of doing a doc around the impact of the diagnosis, dealing with motor neurone, losing his voice, developing the voice bank, and that ultimately became an interview that Tommy Gorman conducted in Charlies home, Quinn says. It was just two days of non-stop talking between Tommy and Charlie, and it was absolutely fascinating, Those interviews by themselves are a cultural artefact. But ultimately that became the basis for the documentary, Loud and Clear. That documentary culminated in Charlies emotional ascent of Croagh Patrick, an event that became a kind of national coming together. But doing it had taken a lot out of him. Then the question of Ransom came up again, Quinn says. And obviously the disease was progressing for Charlie, so there was a question of whether he would still want to do it, but it turned out he was as enthusiastic as he had been at the start. He was absolutely determined. And we brought in Colin Murphy, who wed worked with before they did a play together and the great thing about Colin and Charlie is they just have this amazing connection. Theyre mates as much as they are collaborators, and theres a real directness to the way they communicate. The great thing about Colin and Charlie is they just have this amazing connection. Theyre mates as much as they are collaborators Using Charlies old contacts, the pair came up with an impressive list of interviewees, from Bertie Ahern to former IRA men, guards and civil servants who had been intimately involved in this strange plot. On Wednesday, August 29, 1979, the Department of Agriculture received a typed letter that began To get straight to the point, this is a demand for 5 million. The blackmailers threatened that, unless their demand was met, foot and mouth disease would be introduced to the national herd, a potential calamity. As politicians vacillated over how to respond, terse communications with the gang were conducted in coded messages in the Irish Times personal ad columns, and civil servants skilfully managed to kick the can down the road. How serious was the threat? Its hard to say it was the work of Saor Eire, a republican splinter group that specialised in bank robberies. The whole thing culminated in a bizarre cat-and-mouse road trip from Dublin to Wexford and back, as the gang sought to execute a payoff that was never going to happen. Bird and Murphy managed to speak to almost everyone involved civil servants, politicians, the guard who drove that car. It was incredible to watch them when they were doing interviews, Quinn says. Theres one bit of the film where theyre interviewing Bertie Ahern and you can see Berties answering a question and Charlies scribbling notes on a notepad, and he hands it to Colin and Colin then voices the question. So it was this kind of dynamic, a shorthand that developed between them. Of course, Charlie was using the voice bank considerably as well, and that allowed him to lead conversations too. Ransom '79 director Colm Quinn During the film, a former IRA man pats Charlie on the arm and calls him a good man Bird had once been the IRAs primary media contact in the Republic. Listening to all these amazing voices really gave you a sense of the era. I was born in 1981, so I wasnt around for it, so it was fascinating to get a sense of just how different the country was back then, Quinn says. And that threat of releasing foot and mouth in 1979, the devastation that could have caused was unthinkable in a country so dependent on agriculture. That was why the threat was taken so seriously, and all resources were mobilised to counter it. And no better man than Charlie to unearth it all 40 years later. Did he get to see the finished film? We really hoped that Charlie would be there for the premiere, Colm Quinn says, and that he would have made it until May, and obviously we were heartbroken that he didnt. Colin did call out to himself and [his wife] Claire, and showed them a fairly advanced cut, and I remember it was around half six in the evening and I was just putting the three-year-old to bed, and we got this lovely video call from Charlie with his reaction to the film, and he was just so effusive about what hed seen. It was a lovely moment, that he got to see what was more or less the finished film. Bonnie & Clyde the musical comes to Dublin: He ruined her ideas of fame and fortune but she stood by him With the hit stage musical coming to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, stars Katie Tonkinson and Alex James-Hatton talk about finding empathy for the fabled characters who died in a bloody shootout 90 years ago this month Katie Tonkinson and Alex James-Hatton in Bonnie & Clyde. Photo: Richard Davenport Katy Hayes Fri 17 May 2024 at 03:30 Bad people make good stories. This was never more true than in the tale of Bonnie and Clyde, the Depression-era gangsters who shot their way around the central states of the US on a robbing and killing spree that left at least 13 dead, including nine police officers. Tanaiste Micheal Martin says Opposition leader has to say sorry for attending Provisional IRA send-off of Bobby Storey during pandemic Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams at the funeral of Bobby Storey in west Belfast on June 30th 2020. Photo: Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph He never held any elected public office, yet the late Bobby Storeys funeral was deeply political. The former Provisional IRA commander died in June 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. A crowd lined the route and the cortege, including the Sinn Fein leadership, was followed at a distance by a large group of mourners. Sinn Fein was accused of breaching coronavirus guidelines around social distancing and gatherings. A PSNI investigation followed and a decision was made not to prosecute anyone in connection with the funeral. Sinn Fein had stood firmly by its actions, merely saying it was sorry for any upset caused. Michelle ONeill: Im sorry for attending Bobby Storey funeral during pandemic But this position has clearly shifted in the past week. After previously saying she would never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend, Northern Ireland first minister Michelle ONeill has now done just that. I also know that my actions angered the families and for that Im truly sorry. Im sorry for going and Im sorry for the hurt thats been caused after that and I want to make that statement very clear, she told the UK Covid inquiry. The Sinn Fein deputy leader accepted her actions had undermined the Covid-19 health message around public gatherings. The large-scale funeral sparked a major political row in the Stormont Executive at the height of the pandemic. But the presence of Sinn Fein ministers is also blamed for the publics loss of confidence in the actions being taken by the devolved government. Ms ONeills statement followed that of former Sinn Fein minister Caral Ni Chuilin, who also says she accepts she should not have attended the funeral. The party has clearly decided an expression of contrition is appropriate at this stage. Mary Lou McDonald was also a prominent mourner, marching in the cortege alongside Ms ONeill and former party leader Gerry Adams. She has obviously not been called before the UK inquiry, but she is the leader of the party on an all-island basis. Sinn Fein says Ms McDonald shares the views expressed by Michelle ONeill. Tanaiste Micheal Martin is calling on Ms McDonald to absolutely and unequivocally apologise for attending the funeral. Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Martin said: When it comes to Sinn Fein, theres one set of rules for the public and theres one set of rules for Sinn Fein. If you remember at the time, very hard decisions had to be made and many ordinary people, including the family of John Hume, had to observe the Covid rules. But when it came to Sinn Fein and the Bobby Storey funeral it was OK for them to break the rules. They always denied they broke any rules until the Covid inquiry in the North took place. Crowds line the Belfast streets for Bobby Storey's funeral. Photo: PA Mr Martin said Sinn Feins actions were very offensive. Mary Lou McDonald should absolutely and unequivocally apologise for what she did, he added. It hurt a lot of people, particularly people who had to have funerals with very small numbers of the family attending. I think it was very offensive for Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle ONeill and other senior Sinn Fein figures to attend the funeral because those who set the rules should always obey the rules. Following Ms ONeills statement, the Irish Independent asked Sinn Fein if Ms McDonald also apologises for attending the funeral of Bobby Storey and the hurt that this caused. The party did not respond, so the query had to be sent again the next day. Yes, Mary Lou McDonald shares the views expressed by Michelle ONeill to the Covid Inquiry, a party spokesman said. When asked if Ms McDonald also apologises for attending the funeral and the hurt that this caused, the party spokesman replied: Yes. When asked if the party leader intends to actually say sorry, there was no response. Sinn Fein has always maintained it acted within the guidelines and broke no rules with the funeral. Ms McDonald was apologetic a month afterwards for busy pathways at the funeral, but not for her attendance. I do understand that looking at the images of very busy pathways in west Belfast and taking all of that in obviously has jolted and has caused some hurt among some of those families, and for that I am very sorry, she said. That certainly would never have been my intention, or Michelles intention, or the intention of the Storey family as they laid Bobby to rest. Now the spotlight falls on Ms McDonald to publicly express similar sentiments as Ms ONeills. Ms McDonald is in the USA this weekend, attending events in Massachusetts. An estimated 1 million worth of suspected cannabis was seized from a warehouse in Ashbourne, Co Meath on Thursday. The drugs were recovered in vacuum packed bags on the afternoon of May 16. Gardai attached to the Meath South Task Force, with assistance from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Revenue, carried out the seizure. The suspected cannabis is pending analysis and the drugs are now subject to analysis by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI). No arrests have been made in relation to this investigation at this time, a garda spokesperson said. Investigations are ongoing. Latest | Suspected gunman in Joshua Itseli murder probe flees to England The 20-year-old was shot dead in Drimnagh, Dublin, in the early hours of Monday, May 6 Joshua Itseli was shot dead during an incident in Drimnagh, Dublin, last week Robin Schiller Sat 18 May 2024 at 03:30 A criminal suspected of fatally shooting Joshua Itseli last week has fled to England. Traffic on the north-bound carriageway of the M50 between Clondalkin and Lucan is brought to a standstill by yesterday's collision. Photo: Collins A motorcyclist in his 40s who died in a collision with a lorry on the M50 yesterday is the third person killed on Irelands roads this past week and the 75th this year. The collision happened shortly after 10.15am on the north-bound carriageway of the M50 between Junction 7 (N4 Liffey Valley) and Junction 6 (N3 Castleknock). He was pronounced dead at the scene. The M50 was brought to a standstill for several hours and the build-up of traffic caused major disruption across the capital, resulted in Dublin Airport authorities warning passengers of delays in travelling times getting there. In another fatal accident, a woman who died in a collision on the N17 in Co Mayo on Thursday morning was named locally. Andrea Gornowicz, who was aged in her 50s, died after being involved in a crash on the N17 at Ballindine. Described as a woman who was nothing but pure kindness, she was a German national who moved to Ireland 40 years ago to learn English. She settled in Claremorris and had worked in the local Tesco store for 17 years. Sean Brennan, a neighbour of Ms Gornowicz for more than 20 years, described her as a very solid protector of the local area. Any time I had ever spoken to her, it was always a good word and she was lovely, he said. She would have been always on the watch, keeping an eye on things, and if there was any suspicious activity, or if there was any littering, she would always keep guard and keep the neighbours informed. On Wednesday, a man aged in his 60s died after a hit-and-run incident on Saturday in Co Donegal. The tragedy happened on Main Street, Clonmany, and the man was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital before being transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, where he died. PUBLIC servants have backed a motion calling for the introduction of abortion leave for workers. Delegates at Forsas biennial conference in Killarney voted in favour of the motion tabled by the North Dublin, North Leinster SNA branch urging the union to engage with the government to implement legislation for abortion leave. The motion says no woman should be forced to take ordinary sick leave or unpaid leave and be at a financial loss when accessing this healthcare. Linda OSullivan, a special needs assistant and equality officer of the unions SNA branch, said the leave should be made available to workers in the public and private sector. She said a legal entitlement to five days paid leave might be introduced as a minimum, which is the entitlement for those who need to take time off work due to domestic violence since last November. Ms OSullivan said the branch tabled the motion to ensure members are not at any kind of financial loss when accessing abortion services. So all of these motions are progressive and I think as a country we are progressive after we repealed the eighth amendment, she said. We are not asking members whether they agree or disagree with abortion. We are simply asking members to show care and compassion to those that are accessing abortion services in Ireland. In a separate motion, the branch called on the union to engage with the government to abolish a three day wait for those accessing abortion services. Forsa conference delegates also vote to de-automate in order to protect jobs from rise of AI Public servants backed a motion calling for the introduction of abortion leave for workers at a Forsa conference yesterday. Delegates at the unions biennial conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, voted in favour of the motion, urging the union to engage with the Government to implement legislation for abortion leave. The motion says no woman should be forced to take ordinary sick leave or unpaid leave and be at a financial loss when accessing this healthcare. Linda OSullivan, a special needs assistant and equality officer of the unions SNA branch, said that the leave should also be made available to workers in the public and private sector. She said a legal entitlement to five days paid leave might be introduced as a minimum, which is the entitlement for those who need to take time off work due to domestic violence since last November. Ms OSullivan said the motion was tabled to ensure members are not at any kind of financial loss when accessing abortion services. So all of these motions are progressive and I think as a country we are progressive after we repealed the Eighth Amendment. We are not asking members whether they agree or disagree with abortion. We are simply asking members to show care and compassion to those that are accessing abortion services in Ireland. In a separate motion, public servants backed calls to de-automate government services after being warned that robots could steal their jobs. Delegates narrowly voted in favour of the motion tabled by Department of Social Protection staff seeking a de-automation policy. The motion said this would protect government service provision to the general public and enhance value for money services for the taxpayer. It was passed despite being opposed by the unions national executive committee, however, public servants are committed to co-operate with the digitisation of services under the latest public service agreement. Francis McHugh, who spoke on the de-automation motion, asked delegates if they want the robots to take over their jobs and pay more PRSI for less civil and public services. He said in-person human-led government services are better value for taxpayers. Were spiralling headfirst towards the destruction of humanity, said delegate Ursula Cox, who spoke on a separate motion on AI tabled by the unions executive committee. Now, depending on which news stories youve been reading this week, you might take that comment to be about climate collapse, the increase in armed conflict across the globe or the amount of time were all spending on social media. In actual fact, its none of those things. She said Artificial Intelligence or AI has been likened to nuclear war and global pandemics in its capacity for harm, and those comparisons are not being made by conspiracy theorists or technophobes. Much as Robert Oppenheimer agonised about his own destructive creation, the architects of AI have warned us that it could threaten our existence, she said. Others have been less fatalistic, but are, nevertheless, warning governments that regulation of this technology is absolutely necessary. The motion, which was passed, directed the national executive committee to prepare for the changes to the world of work brought about by AI. Ms Cox said many members are already engaged in the world of AI, from management information systems and the use of customer service chatbots, to Apples Siri or Amazons Alexa in their everyday lives. We apply ethical principles in our working lives, and this is where AI poses a challenge. We need to ensure that when developing AI systems, ethical principles are applied and adhered to, in order to safeguard society. She said there are concerns in relation to the impact of AI on the labour market and jobs being destroyed by automation, mentioning IMF research this year that indicated that 40pc of jobs globally will be affected by AI. One delegate said that AI is often worse than useless and gives people the wrong information. Another asked if delegates remembered a grade of typist in the public service that no longer exists because of the introduction of computers. He said their jobs had become defunct and any change in technology will result in jobs being eroded. The delegate said he was at a loss why a member of the NEC wants to oppose the protection of workers by seeking the de-automation of services. However, the NEC opposed the motion on the basis that public servants are committed to co-operate with digitalisation under government agreements. Gardai at the entrance to the Thornton Hall site, which has been earmarked as a possible site to house asylum seekers. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin The Thornton Hall site, once earmarked for a super prison, has cost the taxpayer around 30,000 per year to maintain and is equipped with electricity, water, gas and CCTV. The Government now hopes to use a part of the state-owned site to accommodate asylum seekers in military-style tents. Around 30,000 was spent last year and in 2022 to maintain the site, according to figures obtained from the Justice Minister Helen McEntee by Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy. Over 27,000 has been spent this year alone on maintenance to service chambers on the perimeter of the site by Gas Networks. These service chambers allow access to cabling and other infrastructure which connect the site to essential services, such as electricity and gas. The Government is currently carrying out assessments of the site and hopes to house asylum seekers there in the next four to six weeks. Ms McEntee also told Ms Murphy in a parliamentary question that she was setting up a review group to look at plans for a super prison at Thornton Hall. This suggests that a part of the site will still be used to build a prison and another part of the site will be used to house asylum seekers. The review group will review the previous plans to develop a prison at Thornton Hall and consider the part that this available site can play in meeting the future accommodation requirements of the prison system, Ms McEntee said on May 8. It will also have regard to international best practice in effective sanctions and rehabilitative practice and effective alternatives to imprisonment. Ms McEntee also told Ms Murphy that a portion of the site will be kept for any future prison needs and that another part of the site has been made available to other state agencies. The Department of Justice has made the Thornton Hall site at north county Dublin available to other agencies, said Ms McEntee. Taoiseach Simon Harris said using the Thornton Hall site is logical. I believe the best thing to do is secure some state land land in the ownership of this country and provide space for tented accommodation with access to sanitation, he said. There are a number of potential sites; Ive heard ones mooted. Thornton Hall is logical in that sense. But its a matter for the Department of Integration to come forward with specific proposals in relation to that. Barry Cowen picks himself as lead candidate as he buries hatchet with Micheal Martin Pair were on the streets Longford, canvassing for European seats Hatchet between Barry Cowen and Micheal Martin long since buried as they try to woo Longford Gabija Gataveckaite Sat 18 May 2024 at 03:30 The hatchet is long since buried between the two men who share a relationship that has been one of the most fraught in Irish politics. Most of the bikes Alan finds on the side of the road only require minor repairs, including one that simply needed air in its tyres. Alan Ventress collects bikes dumped on the street, fixes them, and then gives them away to charity. Source: Supplied A clever Aussie grandfather has learned a new skill set to give abandoned push bikes a second life. 74-year-old Alan Ventress was inspired to fix up broken bikes after being shocked by dozens of broken push bikes discarded on his street. Having grown up poor in 1950s rural England, 74-year-old Alan Ventress learned to value possessions, particularly the bike his grandmother gave him for his eighth birthday. Decades on, he was shocked at what a throwaway society his adopted home has become. Id see bikes discarded for minor faults, he told Yahoo News. One of them was a very new looking and all that was wrong with it was it needed its tyres pumping up, but there it was in a pile of rubbish. It seems to me that people just don't have the time, energy or commitment to the environment anymore. When you consider these bikes could be easily fixed with a modicum of mechanical ability, it seems rather depressing really. What does Alan do with the bikes he fixes? Alan first noticed the problem when he was cooped up inside during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Frustrated by the waste, he began driving around in his yellow Kombi van and taking bikes back to his garage. Since then he's fixed an estimated 450 bikes, and then handed them on to those in need. Alan hauls the bikes into his ageing Kombi van and drives them home to be fixed. Source: Supplied Alan places the bikes on the side of the road so those in need can take them home. Source: Supplied Many of the bikes were sent to Indigenous families in the rural NSW town of Walgett through a local council initiative, while some have gone to a childrens home. But others hes simply put out on the street with a Free sign on them, and been able to delight in seeing them taken away. Occasionally I have met people who have been quite grateful to get the bike. I recall one Chilean student had just arrived in Australia and she was very grateful to get the bike because she didnt have much money, he said. Another time there was a single mother who needed a bike for her son, and I was able to give them a particularly good one. How many bikes are thrown away in Australia? Because he doesnt see where most of the bikes go, he has copped some criticism from friends speculating theyre being sold by greedy people on eBay. Alan Ventress enjoys cycling around Manly Vale where he lives. Source: Supplied Really I couldnt care less. My main aim is just to keep them momentarily out of landfill. And if I give life to a bike for an extra six months, my aim has been fulfilled. About 300,000 bikes thrown into landfill every year If you imagine that discarded bikes are a minor issue youd be wrong. An estimated 300,000 bikes are thrown into landfill every year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours to fix up a bike. While the number fluctuates, Alan generally finds around two dumped on the street every week. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. I hate broccoli. It's boring and there's no fun to be had with it. Photo: Getty First of all, I have to apologise to the Brussels Sprouts Growers Association, the BSG, and the Boy and Girl Sprouts who eat up these traditional vegetables most children shun. I was always down on sprouts and only ever ate a few on Christmas Day. A few as in two. For the sake of peace on Earth. Portal of shame? The long history of infamous Dublin monuments, amid 'outrageous' flashing and 9/11 pranks The Chime in the Slime, the Floozy in the Jacuzzi, the Stiletto in the Ghetto. These are just a few of the dubious nicknames Dubliners have given to certain notorious landmarks that have left an impression over the years. And now, the Dublin Portal dubbed The Eye in the Sty joins the ranks of the headline-generating monuments that have caused tongues to wag on the capitals main thoroughfare. A slew of X-rated hi-jinks has seen the artful two-way webcam link with New York shut down, while a host of international media outlets have lined up to pour scorn on Irish peoples apparent lack of morals and self-control. As the portal is temporarily switched off due to inappropriate behaviour, is it time to bow our heads in collective shame? Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnan Sheahan is joined by Donal Fallon, author, historian and host of the Three Castles Burning podcast, for a walking tour of OConnell Street as we consider our troublesome portal into chaos, and look back on the questionable monuments of our past. You can listen to Donals Dublin history podcast Three Castles Burning here. Certain legal steps would have to be taken to officially change the name from Ballyclerahan to Clerihan, heard this month's meeting of Clonmel Borough Council, held on May 15 The uncertain nature of the name of the village situated 7.8km north of Clonmel came to light at this months meeting of Clonmel Borough Council, which has authority over the village. Fine Gael Cllr John Fitzgerald called on the local authority to initiate the relevant procedure to facilitate Clerihan Community Councils request, that two vintage signs may be erected on the Clonmel and Cashel Roads from the village, stating: Welcome to Clerihan Village. This request is supported by both Clerihan Community Council and Clerihan Tidy Towns, said Cllr Fitzgerald. Follow Independent Tipperary on Facebook Clonmel Borough District is willing to erect the vintage signs, funded by Clonmel Community Council, in Ballyclerahan provided that the official placename is on the sign, responded the District Engineer. Currently, in accordance with Logainm.ie, which is the Placenames Database of Ireland and is under the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the official placename for the village is Ballyclerahan. This is also listed on the Placenames Order for County Tipperary. If Clonmel Borough District members wish to change the official placename, the procedure for same is set out in Part 18, Section 189 of the Local Government Act 2001, stated the Engineer, who outlined that certain legal steps would be required to enact a name change. A town council may by resolution, for which at least one-half of the total number of members of the council vote in favour, adopt a proposal to change the name of the town to a proposed new name. Meanwhile, Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG), Cllr Pat English requested that Clonmel Borough District provide an additional safe pedestrian crossing on the Davis Road, Clonmel, adjacent to the old Barlow Factory to cater for the large number of pedestrians from the local area who shop in Dunnes Stores and Lidl. There are two pedestrian crossings proposed for the Davis Road Active Travel Scheme, one each either side of the entrance to Dunnes Stores. It is hoped that the scheme will go to Part 8 this year, responded the District Engineer. Councillor English also called on the Irish Government to hand back the upkeep and maintenance of public water and sewerage services to Local Authorities and to make water a constitutional right by holding a Referendum on same. Management responded that if members agreed, the District will write to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with the request to hand back the upkeep and maintenance of public water and sewerage services to Local Authorities. Councillor English requested an upgrade to the public lighting in Gortmalogue Housing estate as the existing lighting is in very poor condition. All public lighting upgrades in Tipperary County Council will be carried out as part of the PLEEP - Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project, responded the Engineer. This will take a couple of years to complete. Fianna Fail Cllr Siobhan Ambrose requested that signs be erected at Beechwood Drive, Glenaleamy Drive, Knockaun Court and Linden Lea, in addition to a 30km speed limit sign being erected at the entrance to Beechwood Close. These signs have been added to the list of signs to be erected in Clonmel Borough District, responded management. Councillor Ambrose asked that they carry out a speed survey on the Silverspring road and also on the adjoining St Patrick's Road with a view to rolling out traffic calming measures. A speed survey on Silversprings Road was carried out in January 2023, responded management. The results of the survey indicate that the 85th percentile speed was below speed limit, therefore there is no requirement for traffic calming on this road. A speed survey on St Patrick's Road was carried out in January 2023. The results of the survey indicate that the average speed was below speed limit and the 85th percentile speed was above the speed limit by 2km/hr therefore this road would be considered marginal and a lower priority requirement for traffic calming. Cllr Ambrose also called on Clonmel Borough District to carry out another speed survey on Prior Park Road with a view to rolling out traffic calming measures. A speed survey will be carried out at Prior Park Road, responded the District Engineer. The results will be reviewed to assess whether traffic calming is required at this location. If traffic calming is required, then it will be assessed on a priority basis and will be subject to the availability of funding. On the back of their enterprising study on the dangers of electric vehicles, two Young Social Innovators from Colaiste Bhride in Carnew gave their insights at the inaugural RSA Youth Forum in Dublin, before later appearing on the evening RTE news. Held in the Office of the Ombudsman, The Road Safety Authoritys inaugural Youth Forum welcomed 20 young people aged between 12 and 25 to start a conversation and provide a safe space for youths to discuss their common road safety concerns. Among those in attendance were Colaiste Bhride Young Social Innovators (YSI) Amy Cowman and Ben Neville, two of the students behind Hear to Stop the Fear, a YSI group that formulated an inventive study on the audibility of electric vehicles, to spread awareness of the associated hazards, particularly in car parks. After being invited by the RSA to attend the youth forum, names were drawn from a hat of willing Colaiste Bhride YSI participants, with Amy and Ben being the lucky two making the trip to the capital. Outlining insights they had gleaned from their study, which showed the extremely shocking inaudibility of electric cars compared to their diesel counterparts, Amy and Ben engaged with RSA Chair Liz ODonnell and Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and were interviewed by a string of media outlets. We knew that they had interviewed a lot of people, but we didnt know it was actually going to be on the news Praising Amy, Ben and the YSI group, Colaiste Bhride teacher Ms Karen Murphy said it was very exciting to see the students appear on the evening RTE news just hours after the youth forum. I was at a pitch that evening at about 6 p.m., and my phone just exploded, Karen joked. We knew that they had interviewed a lot of people, but we didnt know it was actually going to be on the news because we didnt think there would be time for them to turn it around that quickly. We had been in touch with a Road Safety Promotion Officer from the RSA, who told us they were setting up this forum and offered us a place on it a couple of months ago. So, I put it out to the YSI group, and four of them came forward. We put the names into the hat, and Amy and Ben came out of it. Amy and Ben had a great time up in Dublin, met loads of famous people, and were interviewed by RTE, Newstalk and Today FM. Ministers Liz ODonnell and Jack Chambers were sitting in the middle with them, so it was very hands-on, and they all got stuck in. The students really deserved it, as they have been working so hard on their project, and its a bit of a commitment on their part because I think they have seven or eight sessions over the next two or three years its great to see that dedication. As part of the development of the current Government Road Safety Strategy, Minister O Donnell had requested the inclusion of an action to involve young people in the future of road safety, which prompted the commencement of the youth forum. Delighted to be involved in the decision-making process and to see young peoples voices heard on rural road safety issues, Karen said that the prospect of having input into new safety regulations, guidelines and testing around electric vehicles was of particular interest to her YSI students. One thing the students really liked about the RSA Youth Forum is that they had the opportunity to give a rural perspective, Karen explained. For example, Amy is into horses, and she was saying that if youre on a horse on a back country road and a traditional car comes along, you can hear the car and have the horse calm down. With electric, the car is on your back before you know it, and the horse gets spooked. There is nothing in the drivers lessons on how to handle those situations and how you might need to approach situations differently as an electric car driver. Normally, they dont talk to young people from the country, and make the rules for Dublin as they are for Carnew, but the rural students got to put that side into it as well and let the RSA know how different things are down here. They got to have their say and felt so valued and listened to. Another aspect the students are very keen on exploring is how we could get our study incorporated into the RSAs review of driving and theory tests, she added. We had previously put in a consultation paper to the Oireachtas Transport Committee, and we have been in touch with the RSA about looking at our YSI project, as electric cars are not mentioned at all in driving and theory tests. It would be great for the students to have a hand in that, and Ive been saying to them, because theyre TYs and 16 or thereabouts, they will be looking at the theory test in the next year to year and a half, so it is very relevant for them. There was success for Ramsgrange Community School in the final of the St. Louis Schools Debating League which was held last month. The young Ramsgrange team, consisting of four students; Holly Cassidy (2nd Year (Captain)), Grace French (1st Year), Gemma Carroll Nugent (1st Year) and Aidan Kind (2nd Year) defeated their opponents, St. Louis Carrickmacross in what the adjudicators described as an extremely close final. Prior to reaching the final, which was hosted by Blakestown Community School, the team debated a variety of motions relevant to todays world against teams from St. Louis Dundalk and also St. Louis Monaghan, overcoming each of their opponents to earn a well-deserved place in the final. The motion to be debated on the day was There is fair access to education in Ireland and the Ramsgrange team were in opposition of the motion in question. Ramsgrange Community School students Holly Cassidy, Grace French, Gemma Carroll Nugent, Aidan King at the debating competition. Preparation for the final began three weeks prior when the motion was released. The team then got busy brainstorming relevant points with the help of other members of the schools debating team and under the guidance of their two teachers, Ms. Niamh Cantwell and Ms. Sarah Gilchrist. Once the points were decided, each debating team member was assigned a point and they then individually developed their speeches. The group met bi-weekly in the run up to the final where they practiced their arguments and potential rebuttals. The win tops off a very successful year for debating in Ramsgrange Community School which as an extracurricular club is growing from strength to strength with every passing year. The teams members, who are still only very young, will certainly improve further as they navigate through their time in school as well as inspiring those who follow. You can see her eyes light up when she hears a word or phrase she hasnt come across before Budding Wicklow writer Lyla Stenson was left beyond words when she was awarded the exclusive Edna O'Brien Young Writers Award 2024, which will see her embark on a week-long, all-expenses-paid writing retreat in Dublin this summer. The fifth-year student at St. Kevins Community College in Dunlavin is one of 15 young wordsmiths from across the country who will now be mentored through the Museum of Literature Irelands (MOLI) creative writing programme by a leading Irish writer, and meet with publishers, authors, literature academics and fellow writing enthusiasts. As part of her submission for the award, Lyla entered two short pieces of writing, with the first explaining why she wanted to apply for the award and the second a sample of her creative writing, which wowed MOLI judges. Below is an extract from Lylas winning submission. The sky pinwheeled with stars. Humming streetlamps pooled puddles of orange glow onto the faded, crack-ridden pavement. Her heartbeat was a thrum in her fingertips, as fast as a rabbits, too fast to be human. Her bare feet graced the concrete in silent, eldritch footsteps, a soft breath of night threatening to murmur her secrets. The edges of the world shimmered, stretching at the corners of her vision, warping like the rainbow sheen on the glassy face of a bubble. The sleeping neighbourhood curled around her, a forest of slate, a maze of stone. Their dreams whispered to her, tendrils of intoxicating smoke, hissing of curved realities and vivid colour. In their dreams, they were safe, and the Fae did not walk among them. Her footsteps carried her down an unlit street, where shadows bled into the cloak of night. The sky was violet, contused and smeared with plum paint, threaded with shards of diamond. Cars growled on a far distant road, the buzz like a roar in her ears. This built-up world was no home to her. Her reflection stared back at her from the black glass of the window, all wide eyes and shimmering edges. Beyond the windowpane, a child slept. She could see the outline of its tiny, fragile figure, swathed in sheets and breathing young, sweet and small. Her hands itched. By morning, its crib should be empty, its blankets cold. Her skittering heart was not supposed to feel. But her chest twanged, and she turned away from the window, reality stretching. Tears, hot and foreign, spilled over. They dried on her cheeks in the electric vibrancy of the summer night, itching tightly. The world snapped back into place like an elastic band. Her lips were salted with tears. Her hands were blooded phantom scarlet. Its lovely to see someone following their passion and making sure that is where they end up As Lylas English Teacher Emily-Anne Doyle explained, Lyla had entered the awards on two previous occasions, and with this being the final year she would be eligible to apply, the tenacious students face was beaming with excitement when news of her win came through. Lyla had to submit a short sample of her writing and an overview of why she wanted to be involved, and she came to me to look over them, and both pieces were lovely, Emily-Anne said. When she heard she got the award, she was absolutely glowing. She came to tell me that she had won and wanted to thank me, but I told her I barely had to move a comma! Theres an age requirement on the award, from 15 to 17, and Lyla has entered the last two years, but this would have been her last year to be eligible for it. She was so anxious because she felt that the pieces she had submitted in previous years weren't good enough for whatever reason, but there are only 15 of these awards given out in the country each year, so its a massive achievement for her and the school. She showed great tenacity and said she was absolutely going for it again. Its lovely to see someone following their passion and making sure that is where they end up. An avid reader and linguist with a penchant for words, phrases and their origins and meanings, Lylas primary passion is writing fiction, a genre through which she fully intends to become part of the Irish literary landscape. Im sure shell be visiting us in a few years as a published author Describing Lyra as a dream to teach, Emily-Anne said that her infectious interest in the written word has spread throughout St Kevins and encouraged others to immerse themselves in the creative arts. She is going to be a writer, and Im sure shell be visiting us in a few years as a published author, Emily-Anne joked. Lyla loves to read, and she is very strong across the board academically, but it is really writing that she is passionate about and the creation of a work. She really wants to be a writer, and I know she has explored writing her own novel. She loves words, and you can see her eyes light up when she hears a word or phrase she hasnt come across before, and then she goes off home later to learn about the origin of it. It is an absolute privilege to teach her English. I suppose teaching is a loose word for it. Its more like Lyla sits in my class and nods in approval, reassuring that Im doing an okay job! Herself and a group of girls asked me last year if we could form a creative writing group in the school, and much more than just meet up themselves, they try to facilitate initiatives and competitions within the school to promote creative writing and next year theyre looking to get local writers in to do workshops, she continued. They are a fabulous group, and Lyla is certainly one of the driving forces behind it. Honestly, she is so talented, but youd never meet a more modest and humble student. I couldnt be prouder of her, and they could not have picked a more deserving student for this award. Loreto Bray students were triumphant at the recent National Finals of the Student Enterprise Programme, which was held in Mullingar, on Thursday, May 10. Three 2nd Year students, Nancy Wang, Eva Yu and Ellen Wu, won the Folens Smart Business Award, while Robyn Fitzsimons and Ayla Ryan, both 2nd Year, represented Wicklow in the Intermediate Category of the National Finals. Their company Bling customised glassware and key chains and presented an eye-catching display. Loreto Brays Student Enterprise Programme is facilitated by Ms Hennessy. There were 81 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the final, in what is Irelands largest entrepreneurship programme for second level students. The initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw 28,000 students from almost 500 secondary schools across the country take part. The students were all attendance on the day exhibiting their businesses which were judged by a team of national businesses experts. Deputy Slovakian PM Robert Kalinak speaks to media at the FD Roosevelt Teaching Hospital in Banska Bystrica where Prime Minister Robert Fico has been treated since he was shot on Wednesday. File Photo: Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images Slovakias Prime Minister Robert Fico underwent a two-hour operation yesterday that has increased hopes for his recovery, the deputy prime minister said, following an assassination attempt this week that sent shockwaves through Europe. Robert Kalinak also said any decision to transfer Mr Fico back to the capital Bratislava from the central city of Banska Bystrica would only be taken when there had been further improvement in his condition. We had this fear, but its still shocking knifeman who set fire to French synagogue in antisemitic attack is shot dead by police Minister said Algerian attackers bid for residency had been rejected but he was not on police radar Rabbi Shmuel Lubecki shows the inside of the synagogue in Rouen after police shot dead an armed man who set fire to the building. Photo: Reuters Gonzalo Fuentes Sat 18 May 2024 at 03:30 French police shot dead a knife-wielding Algerian man who set fire to a synagogue and threatened police in the city of Rouen on Friday in the latest antisemitic attack, officials said. Israeli military says it has retrieved remains of three people taken from Nova music festival on October 7 Spokesman did not say where the bodies of two women and a man had been found American singer Montana Tucker performs for her video, on the day she pays tribute to members of her group who were killed when they attended the Nova festival, where partygoers were killed and kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas. Photo: Israel Reim/Reuters Henriette Chacar and Nidal al Mughrabi Sat 18 May 2024 at 03:30 Israeli forces retrieved the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said yesterday. The snout of a crocodile poking out of an underground burrow. Source: Jam Press A reptile lover has issued a warning to both locals and tourists after discovering a massive crocodile hidden under the ground. Andre Rocha was visiting Tabasco State in Mexico when he spotted the crocodile emerging from a hole below his feet a little-known tactic used by crocs. Documenting the moment, Rocha took several images of his feet standing on the ground above the predator in a burrow below. I came across this while crocodiling in Tabasco and I wanted to share it with you, he said before issuing an important warning about crocs in the region. When you are visiting areas where crocodiles are known to live, dont only pay attention to the water, he said. They can dig and create tunnels that connect to where they live both in and out of the water and are almost invisible to the eye. A crocodile is seen below the earth in a burrow. Source: Jam Press These underground tunnels help them hide underground while out of the water. They are found where they walk around and where they swim. It's understood that more than half of all crocodilian species, including freshwater crocs found in Australia, dig and live in burrows during times of environmental stress such as droughts. Locals express surprise at hidden croc Remarkably, locals to the region were surprised by the hidden danger, with one saying they would never go down to the river at my mums house again! They protect themselves from the heat, they dig holes in lagoons and can go very deep, another explained. "Ive seen them entering and leaving tree trunks and caves in dried-up bodies of water,' said a third. Crocodiles are abundant in the Mexican states of Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Yucatan and Sinaloa. - Jam Press Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. I just knew I wanted to have children. In my 20s I reached the point where I just knew. But girls didnt want to have children until their late 30s Photo Courtesy:PIB The 12th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the Defence Ministries of India and Mongolia took place in Ulaanbaatar on May 16-17, 2024 when officials from both countries discussed bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and means of further enhancing it. The meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary, MoD, India Amitabh Prasad and State Secretary of MoD, Mongolia Brigadier General Gankhuyag Davagdorj. Indias Ambassador to Mongolia Atul Malhari Gotsurve also attended the meeting. During the JWG, both sides expressed satisfaction at the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries. "They reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance cooperation in these areas, articulating steps in this direction. Both sides also exchanged views on the current geopolitical situation," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. The Joint Secretary highlighted the potential of the capacity & capability of the Indian defence industry, and looked forward to a fruitful partnership with the Armed Forces of Mongolia. The Mongolian side exuded confidence in the capacity & capability of the Indian industry. Both sides also acknowledged the growing ties between the two countries. The Joint Secretary & the Indian Ambassador also called on Deputy Defence Minister of Mongolia B Bayarmagnai, and discussed bilateral cooperation issues. The delegation visited a training establishment in Ulaanbaatar and reviewed the ongoing engagements. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash The Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh has alerted people to be cautious about travelling to Cambodia for jobs. In its advisory, the Indian Embassy said: " All Indian nationals who are travelling for jobs in Cambodia and the Southeast Asian region, are advised that there are many fake agents operating in the region, who along with agents in India, are luring people to scam companies, involved especially in cyber crimes." The Embassy said people who are taking up jobs should do so only through the Ministry of External Affairs-approved agents. India and Cambodia enjoy warm and cordial relations. In the 1950s, India was associated with the International Control Commission on Indo-China. Indias contribution as Co-Chairman of this Commission came in for widespread appreciation in Cambodia, read a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Cambodia. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime, India was the first country to recognize the new government and reopened its Embassy in 1981. Image Credit: X/Prajwal Revanna Bengaluru: Police have issued an arrest warrant for suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna, who became embroiled in controversy after multiple obscene videos allegedly involving him went viral last month, media reported. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed an application and obtained court permission to issue the arrest warrant for Prajwal Revanna, reported India Express. Several videos, allegedly showing 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna sexually abusing women, surfaced ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 26. Revanna was the JD(S)-BJP joint candidate from Haasan. According to media reports, Prajwal Revanna left soon after the sex tape scandal emerged and is now believed to be in Germany. He faces charges of rape, molestation, intimidation, blackmail, and threatening. Interpol has issued a blue corner notice to arrest him. Meanwhile, a Bengaluru court extended the interim anticipatory bail granted to Prajwal Revanna's father, HD Revanna, until May 20. HD Revanna, a 66-year-old former minister, was arrested by the state police on May 4 in connection with an alleged kidnapping case of a woman allegedly raped by Prajwal Revanna. The Congress government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe these cases. Image Credit: x.com/yadavakhilesh New Delhi: Departments like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI are unnecessary and should be shut down, according to Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, reported Indian Express. Yadav went a step further, saying that he plans to propose this idea to the INDIA bloc. CBI aur ED band hone chahiye (The CBI and ED should be shut) If you have cheated, there is the Income Tax department to deal with it. Why do you need the CBI? Every state has an Anti-Corruption Department, use it if needed, Akhilesh said in an interview with The Indian Express. He justified his argument, saying that the Central agencies are being used only against political adversaries of the BJP. They are used agar sarkar banaani hai, ya giraani hai (to form governments, or break governments), Akhilesh said. He questioned why hadnt the agencies probed what went wrong during demonetisation. How did people convert their black money into white? Asked if an INDIA government be ready to take such a measure with far-reaching consequences if it came to power. This is my proposal and I will put this before the INDIA alliance, Akhilesh was quoted as saying by Indian Express. Speaking to The Indian Express while traveling from Lucknow to Amethi and Rae Barelitwo key constituencies for the CongressSamajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stated that the alliance would last beyond the elections. Alliance chalega, chalayenge (will continue, we will ensure it continues). And it will be there for whichever election comes But for the moment, our effort is to form the (national) government, Akhilesh told Indian Express. The SP chief campaigned for the Congress in the final stages, with Rahul Gandhi running as the party's candidate from Rae Bareli. When asked if the alliance would continue even if the Congress performs poorly again, as it did in 2019 with only 1 seat in UP and 51 overall, Akhilesh Yadav replied with a firm, "Yes." According to Akhilesh Yadav, the "game changer" is the "PDA (Pichada, Dalit, and Alpsankhyak) vote" that the SP has been targeting. He added that Congress is also on the same page. Photo courtesy: Pixabay Anantnag: A former sarpanch was killed, and a couple from Rajasthan's Jaipur was injured in two separate incidents of terrorist firing in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, just two days before polling. The couple from Jaipur sustained injuries after being shot by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag on Saturday. They were promptly rushed to a hospital in a critical condition. "Terrorists fired upon and injured a lady, Farha, a resident of Jaipur, and her spouse, Tabrez, at Yannar, Anantnag. The injured were evacuated to the hospital for treatment. The area was cordoned off," Kashmir Zone Police tweeted. The area where the attack occurred was cordoned off, and security forces arrived at the scene to conduct an investigation. A search and combing operation was launched to locate the terrorists responsible for the attack. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack on non-locals. This incident is the most recent in a series of attacks on non-locals in Jammu and Kashmir in recent months. The other two attacks occurred in April in the Shopian district and in February in Srinagar. In both cases, non-locals were targeted by terrorists. Bodies of three hostages recovered. Photo Courtesy: IDF X page The Israel Defense Forces on Friday said the bodies of three hostages have been recovered from the Gaza strip. The recovered people were identified as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Itzhak Gelerenter. The IDF said they were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas 'terrorists' on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival. "Overnight, our troops recovered their bodies and brought them back home to Israel," IDF said in a statement. Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzhak Gelernter were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival. Overnight, our troops recovered their bodies and brought them back home to Israel. We will continue operating to bring all of our hostages pic.twitter.com/ya8IoZ8Dvb Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 17, 2024 "We will continue operating to bring all of our hostages home," the forces said. Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his grief over the finding of bodies and posted on X: "Heartbroken for the great loss. My wife Sara and I grieve with the families." . . . , . . Benjamin Netanyahu - (@netanyahu) May 17, 2024 Trucks carrying desperately needed aid into Gaza have started moving ashore on the temporary floating dock built by the United States military, but this is not enough to meet the needs of civilians, UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday. OCHA warned that the maritime corridor cannot replace critical land routes, which are the quickest and most effective way of delivering humanitarian aid in the besieged enclave, where more than two million Palestinians desperately need food, shelter and other assistance. Any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route, spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva. But, it is an addition, and it doesnt take away the fact that land crossings will be more important. The US militarys Central Command announced that the trucks began rolling at approximately 9am, local time, on Friday, and that no troops went ashore. The floating dock was anchored to a beach in Gaza the previous day. With most border crossings to the enclave closed or unsafe, it will provide an additional path for aid delivery to the embattled enclave. The United Nations welcomes any effort towards ensuring that aid reaches Gaza, said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, speaking in New York later on Friday. As such, we are grateful to the United States, as well as to Cyprus, with the support of other Member States, to sustain the maritime corridor as an additional route for aid to Gaza, he said. He explained that after months of discussions with all relevant authorities, the UN has agreed to support in receiving and arranging for the dispatch of aid into Gaza from the floating dock, as long as it respects the neutrality and independence of humanitarian operations. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed that the biggest issue now is fuel. Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic reported that only 13 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are now partially functioning, emphasizing that fuel is required for electricity and to run generators. He said health partners require between 1.4 million to 1.8 million litres monthly so that hospitals can function, but only 159,000 litres have entered Gaza since the border closure, and thats clearly not sufficient. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash At least four people, including three Spanish nationals, died in a shooting incident in Central Afghanistan on Friday, media reports said. A Spanish person is also among the wounded, a Spanish diplomatic source told CNN. The Spanish diplomatic source told the American news channell that Spains Foreign Ministry is working with its Emergency Consular Unit to clarify the circumstances, attend to those affected in every way possible, and contact their families. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the deceased Spanish nationals were tourists. He posted on X: "I want to convey all my affection to his family and friends." Sobrecogido por la noticia del asesinato de turistas espanoles en Afganistan. Sigo la situacion puntualmente. La Unidad de Emergencia Consular del @MAECgob esta trabajando para ofrecer toda la asistencia necesaria. Quiero trasladar todo mi afecto a sus familiares y amigos. Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 17, 2024 Afghanistans Interior Ministry spokesperson Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said four people have been arrested for being involved in the shooting incident. "Unfortunately, this evening in the Bamyan city, there was a shooting against the public, in which three foreigners including one Afghan were killed and four foreigners including three Afghans were injured," he posted on X. details an event in Bamyan Province: Unfortunately This evening in the Bamyan city, there was a shooting against the public, in which three foreigners including one Afghan were killed and four foreigners including three Afghans were injured. 1/3 Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani - (@abdulmateenqani) May 17, 2024 Afghanistan has been ruled by Taliban forces since 2021 when foreign forces left the country. A view towards the border in Pakistan, taken in Paktia Province of Afghanistan. Photo Courtesy: 2.0 Generic/Wikimedia Commons At least five people died after Islamic Emirate forces and Pakistani military clashed along Durand Line in Afghanistan's Paktia region recently. The clashes reportedly left five people hurt. The clashes forced some people who were staying close to the borders to leave their homes. Hamidullah, a family member of the victims, told Tolo News: "It has been three days that shells are being fired from Pakistan to this side. We had guests in our house, and as a result of the shelling, one of our guests was also injured." Zahir, a displaced person, told the news portal: "The war between the Taliban and Pakistan is ongoing, and we have taken shelter elsewhere. We are moving from here." Locals claimed rockets fired from Pakistan not only caused casualty but also financial losses. Jumma Gul, a resident of Paktia, told Tolo News: "For three days now, shells have been fired from Pakistan, displacing people and causing deaths." The 'bad habit' has left the mum making a vow to swear off vaping for good. A young mum has sworn off vaping after discovering it could be deadly. Source: Kennedy News & Pics A mum claims vaping almost killed her - when she discovered the "popping" sound as she breathed was due to the habit "frying her lungs like hot chicken". Hannah Roth says she had never smoked before but picked up vaping as a "bad habit" due to the stress of the pandemic lockdown and was soon vaping "every hour of the day". The 30-year-old began to hear a "popping" sound in her lungs last month when breathing and developed a fever of 40C. The mum-of-two was horrified when doctors revealed she had pneumonia specifically caused by vaping as she had no idea this was a potential side effect. Scans revealed her lungs were like someone in their 80s or who had been smoking for a decade and an x-ray reportedly shows the deterioration of her lung. An X-ray of the mum's lungs. Source: Kennedy News & Pics Doctor warns if she continues vaping, Mum will 'die' The receptionist says she has refused to touch a vape ever since that day as the doctor threw her menthol vape in the bin and warned her that if she continued she would 'die'. "The doctor came in and showed me my x-ray and said 'do you vape?' and he said 'that's why you have pneumonia. Hannah, from Tennessee, US, said. "He told me that if I kept on [vaping] then I was going to die pretty much. He took my vape out of my purse and threw it in the trash can. He said 'if you keep smoking these then you're not going to be able to breathe'." "It was quite scary as a mother. I knew I couldn't vape again as I've got two kids to take care of. He said 'This is not what the lungs of a 30-year-old woman should look like, they look like a smoker of ten years'. "I looked like I had the lungs of someone in their 80s, someone much older, when he showed me that first scan. I was really mad at myself because I had no idea that vaping could do that. "The doctor told me 'every time that you're hitting that vape, that vapour is going into your lungs and it's like frying hot chicken in there'. That's why it was making a popping sound when I was breathing." Hannah estimates that she was vaping every hour of the day for four years. Mum vows of hourly vaping habit Now, Hannah has vowed to stay away from vaping in order to look after her seven and ten-year old sons and hopes to warn others to ditch the vapes. "I've been vape free ever since I went to hospital and my lungs aren't making the popping sound anymore, Hannah said. "The doctor said if I stop vaping, my lungs will be able to heal as long as I don't vape anymore. "I still get cravings for the vape but I chew a lot of gum and that helps. Overall I feel a lot healthier and I'm saving money now too because I'm not buying a vape every week. "My advice would be just don't vape, don't pick it up and hit it. Even if you think you have control over it, sometimes you just don't." Kennedy News & Pics Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Pakistani police have rescued five Okara-based transpersons 30 hours after they were abducted by a group of robbers. According to reports, they were subjected to tortures and molested by their kidnappers. The victims were returning home following a wedding ceremony when the suspects kidnapped them near Tarikhni Mor on the morning of May 13, reported Dawn News. Arifwala DSP Tariq Javed said an encounter took place between the police and the dacoits near village 66/EB, leading to the rescue of the transpersons, the newspaper reported. DPO Tariq Valayat told Dawn News police arrested gang leader Rana Phool, a resident of village 145/EB, along with Asif Ali, while their accomplices Shahid, Mustafa, and an unidentified person managed their escape. Police recovered cache of stolen items, valued at Rs10.3 million, including Rs433,500 cash, two iPhones, seven mobile phones, a one-tola gold locket, and a rented car worth Rs6m. The rescued people were identified as Ali Raza alias Titlee, Arbab alias Muni, Waqas alias Sapna, Fasil alias Bobi, Shaheen Allah Dita, and driver of the rented car, Waheed Siraj. Ali Raza told Dawn News on the phone that they had been rescued by the Arifwala Saddar police from an abandoned house at village 84/EB. Photo Courtesy: Screengrab from viral video on X Several Pakistani students were injured in mob violence around student hostels in Kyrgyzstans capital Bishkek, media reports said. Several viral videos of the incidents have gone viral on the social media platforms. Violent clashes have erupted between student groups in Kyrgyzstans Bishkek, with reports of attackers using batons. The attackers forcefully entered the hostel rooms and wounded several international students including Pakistanis, reported ARY News. The violence reportedly erupted due to a harassment incident involving Egyptian female students on May 13, the Pakistan news channel reported. Pakistans embassy in Kyrgyzstan directed its nationals to stay indoors amid the recent violence in the city. Pakistans ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Hasan Zaigham wrote on X: "IN VIEW OF MOB VIOLENCE AROUND STUDENT HOSTELS IN BISHKEK, THE EMBASSY STONGLY ADVISE ALL PAKISTANI STUDENTS IN BISHKEK TO STAY INDOORS UNTIL THE SITUATION RETURN TO NORMAL. WE ARE LIAISING WITH THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE SAFETY OF OUR STUDENT FRATERNITY." Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation. Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 18, 2024 The Pakistani government confirmed none of its nationals died in the mob violence. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply concerned over the recent developments in the city. Kyrgyz government has confirmed that there is no death of Pakistani student in the recent mob violences against international students. Moreover, Kygyz Ministry of Internal Affairs has also issued press releases stating that the situation is under control. Pakistan Embassy Kyrgyzstan (@PakinKyrgyzstan) May 18, 2024 "Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation," he posted on X Photo Courtesy: Unsplash An indictment was unsealed at a court in the US state of California recently, charging two Chinese nationals alleging they played leading roles in a scheme to launder proceeds from cryptocurrency investment scams. "Daren Li, 41, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, and a resident of China, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates, was arrested on April 12 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and subsequently transported to the Central District of California," US Department of Justice said in a statement. Yicheng Zhang, 38, a Chinese national and resident of Temple City, California, was arrested in Los Angeles. Cryptocurrency investment scams exploit the borderless nature of virtual currency and online communications to defraud victims, said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. While fraud in the crypto markets takes on many forms and hides in many far-off places, its perpetrators arent beyond the laws reach. Today, we announce the arrests of two foreign nationals charged for leading a scheme to launder funds to the tune of at least $73 million tied to an international crypto investment scam. These arrests made possible through the assistance of our international and U.S. partners reflect the Justice Departments ongoing commitment to disrupting the entire cybercrime ecosystem and stopping fraud across all financial markets. According to court documents, Li, Zhang, and other conspirators allegedly managed an international syndicate that laundered proceeds of cryptocurrency investment scams, which are also known as pig butchering. Victims of the schemes under investigation were fraudulently induced into transferring millions of dollars to U.S. bank accounts opened in the names of dozens of shell companies whose sole apparent purpose was to facilitate the laundering of fraud proceeds. A network of money launderers then facilitated the transfer of those funds to other domestic and international bank accounts and cryptocurrency platforms in a manner designed to conceal the source, nature, ownership, and control of the funds. The fraud scheme involved more than $73 million laundered through U.S. financial institutions to bank accounts in The Bahamas, and converted to the virtual asset USDT, or Tether. A cryptocurrency wallet involved in the scheme received more than $341 million in virtual assets. As alleged in the indictment, Li and Zhang helped launder millions of dollars obtained from victims of cryptocurrency investment scams, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Money laundering is critical to the success of these scams, allowing fraudsters to quickly move illicit proceeds and try to make them appear legitimate. The arrests announced today demonstrate the Criminal Divisions commitment to disrupting the sophisticated financial networks on which these scams depend and holding those involved accountable, no matter where they may be found. Sophisticated financial scams such as these are a dangerous threat to the financial wellbeing of all Americans, said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. While my office will continue to root out and punish these deceitful schemes, I encourage everyone to educate themselves on pig butchering and other kinds of financial fraud to protect their families against such predatory activity. Vigilance is key. Li and Zhang allegedly instructed co-conspirators in the laundering network to open bank accounts in the names of various shell companies. Once the victims sent funds to the shell companies, Li and Zhang monitored the lower-level co-conspirators who transferred the proceeds overseas to bank accounts at Deltec Bank in The Bahamas. One of the Deltec Bank accounts was operated with the financial assistance of Li. The funds were then allegedly converted into cryptocurrency and sent to virtual-asset wallets, including at least one controlled by Li. Zhang allegedly also directly received victim funds. Communications revealed extensive coordination to facilitate the international money laundering, including chats discussing the commission structure for the network, various shell companies used, victim information, and at least one video from a conspirator calling a U.S. financial institution. Complex financial fraud schemes such as pig butchering present a clear and present threat to the financial infrastructure of the United States as countless numbers of Americans continue to be victimized by this predatory activity, said Assistant Director of Investigations Brian Lambert of the U.S. Secret Service. In 2023, the Secret Service with our partners recovered more than $1.1 billion in financial fraud and we are on pace to exceed that number this year. A special thank you to the special agents, support teams, and our prosecutorial partners for their exceptional work in bringing this case to justice. Li and Zhang are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and six substantive counts of international money laundering. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count. The U.S. Secret Services Global Investigative Operations Center is investigating the case. The Homeland Security Investigations El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, Customs and Border Protections National Targeting Center, Dominican Republic National Drug Directorate Sensitive Investigative Unit and Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Justice Departments Office of International Affairs provided assistance. The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California are jointly prosecuting the case. CCIPS/NCET Trial Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Maxwell Coll for the Central District of California, CCIPS/NCET Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nisha Chandran for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case. They say that success is the best revenge, and Mala Papalkar has been proving it every day of her life for the past 25 years. Born blind, Mala grew up in a rehabilitation home, not knowing who her parents were. This is because she was abandoned by them and found in a dustbin at Jalgaon railway station in Maharashtra. She grew up under the care of social worker Shankar Baba Papalkar in a home for the blind and deaf in Paratwada, Amravati. Brought up by Padma-awardee social worker The 81-year-old, who devoted his life to the welfare and rehabilitation of divyang (differently-abled), orphaned, and destitute children and was awarded the Padma Shri this year, named the young girl Mala and also gave her his surname, Papalkar. Also read: Blind Daughter Of Labourer Achieves Remarkable 96% In Class 10 Boards BCCL Bright student Like other blind and destitute children under the care of Papalkar, Mala started schooling in Braille. Supported by the National Federation of the Blind in Maharashtra (NFBM), Mala completed her high school and higher secondary education with flying colours. A bright student, Mala went on to complete her graduation in 2018 from Amravati University and post-graduation in arts from Govt Vidarbha Institute of Science and Humanities. Also read: Andhra Girl Who Escaped Becoming A Child Bride Tops SSC Exam Clears MPSC Clerk 'Group C' exam Mala continued to excel in her studies against the odds and, after two failed attempts, cleared the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) Clerk 'Group C' Main Examination. BCCL Wants to be an IAS officer Mala said that she is delighted to have cleared the exam but will not stop here and will continue her efforts to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. "God sent angels to rescue me and take me to where I am today. I won't stop here. I will sit for the UPSC exams and become an IAS officer," Mala told The Times of India. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. The battle to claim the invention of one of India's most famous chicken dishes, butter chicken, is heating up. This tasty dispute is being fought, not in kitchens by chefs, but in a courtroom by lawyers. The Delhi High Court will decide which of two iconic restaurants will get a mouth-watering outcome and who will be left with a sour taste in their mouth. Moti Mahal Vs Daryaganj Moti Mahal Restaurant in Delhi has been involved in a court battle over the origins of the world-famous butter chicken with another iconic eatery, Daryaganj, since January. The bone of contention is who the true inventor of butter chicken is, with both restaurants arguing that their respective founders created the now-iconic recipe. Also read: Man Travels 32 Km For Butter Chicken In Melbourne Pexels What Moti Mahal wants Moti Mahal took its rival to court, claiming it had the sole right to be recognized as the inventor of butter chicken and demanded that Daryaganj stop claiming credit and pay damages. Moti Mahal also accused Daryaganj of copying "the look and feel" of its outlets' interiors, which Daryaganj denies, countering that Moti Mahal copied its "design of floor tiles." Moti Mahal's argument As the court battle heats up, both sides have submitted evidence to back their claims. According to a Reuters report, Moti Mahal stated that its founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, created butter chicken in the 1930s at an eatery in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, before relocating to Delhi. Also read: American Man Tries Butter Chicken-Garlic Naan For The First Time MOTI MAHAL What Daryaganj said Daryaganj countered these claims, arguing that the "story of the invention of butter chicken does not ring true" and is aimed at misleading the court. Daryaganj claims a late member of its founding family, Kundan Lal Jaggi, created the dish when he helmed the kitchen at the relocated Delhi eatery, while Gujral, his friend and partner from Peshawar, only handled marketing. Daryaganj New evidence Evidence submitted in court includes a black-and-white photograph from the 1930s showing the two friends in Peshawar, a 1949 partnership agreement, Jaggi's business card after relocating to Delhi, and his 2017 video talking about the dish's origin. Can both restaurants share the credit Daryaganj argued that by virtue of the friends' partnership, "both parties can claim that their respective ancestors created the dish." THINKSTOCK A key point of contention, which the court will have to rule on, is where, when, and by whom the dish was first madeby Gujral in Peshawar, Jaggi in New Delhi, or if both should be credited. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Rishi Sunak Net Worth: Rishi Sunak made history when he became Britain's first Prime Minister of Indian descent. Sunak, aged 42, a devoted Hindu, is the youngest British Prime Minister in 210 years. He's also the first Hindu Prime Minister of Indian heritage in the UK. Sunak has been a member of the Conservative Party for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015. Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have made a lot of money in the past year and are now among the top 250 richest people in the UK. The Prime Minister and his wife were already the richest people ever to live in No.10 Downing Street, and their wealth keeps growing. Rishi Sunak's net worth British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have moved up in the rankings of the annual 'Sunday Times Rich List' for 2024, released on Friday. They made their debut in the list two years ago and have climbed to 245th place this year with an estimated wealth of GBP 651 million. This makes them the wealthiest people ever to live in 10 Downing Street. Akshata Murty's wealth is reported to be much higher than her husband's. Financial statements published in February show that Rishi Sunak earned GBP 2.2 million in 2022-23, while Akshata Murty received an estimated GBP 13 million in dividends over the past year. PM Rishi Sunak And Akshata Murty | X.com Akshata Murty's stake in Infosys The couple's most valuable asset is Akshata Murty's stake in Infosys, an IT company based in Bangalore, co-founded by her father Narayan Murthy. The latest annual Sunday Times Rich List revealed Sunak and Murty's wealth stood at 68.89 billion compared to 55.98 billion in the previous year. Murty's shares in Infosys saw a significant rise in value, increasing by 108.8 million pounds to nearly 590 million pounds in just one year, as reported by iTV. READ ALSO: UK PM Rishi Sunak Begins Speech With Jai Siya Ram At Cambridge; Watch Video Hinduja family remains at the top The Hinduja family, of Indian origin, remains at the top of the 'Sunday Times Rich List' for 2024, with a wealth of GBP 37.196 billion. Their wealth increased over the past year, partly due to the opening of their new luxury hotel in London. The Reuben brothers, also of Indian origin, rose to third place on the list with an estimated wealth of around GBP 24.977 billion. Lakshmi N. Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal steelworks, slipped two places to eighth with GBP 14.921 billion, while Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Resources dropped one place to 23rd with GBP 7 billion. UK PM Rishi Sunak's Net Worth: Know All About His Lifestyle, Mansions, Cars Collection And More Other Indian-origin billionaires on the list include Prakash Lohia at No. 30 with GBP 6.23 billion, Mohsin and Zuber Issa at No. 39 with GBP 5 billion, and Navin and Varsha Engineer at 58 with GBP 3 billion. Overall, the 36th edition of the Rich List shows the largest decrease in billionaires in its history, dropping from 177 in 2022 to 165 this year. Compiler Robert Watts suggests that Britain's billionaire boom may have come to an end, with many entrepreneurs seeing their fortunes fall and some global super-rich individuals moving away from the country. For more of such interesting and latest financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Greek Coast guard have rescued 51 migrants in the latest landing of refugees on the tiny Greek island of Gavdos. The migrants, who were rescued after notifying local authorities with a distress call, were rescued with the help of a Liberian-flagged tanker in the region. No injuries were reported. All have since then been transferred to refugee camps to be documented. The rescue is the latest of a rising trend of migrant landings on Gavdos. On Europes southernmost point, Gavdos and Crete, have become a new focal point for migrants, mainly from Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The number of arrivals thas surged, with more than 1,180 migrants reaching the islands since the beginning of the year, a significant jump from the previous year. The local infrastructure of Gavdos, which lacks dedicated migrant facilities, is under strain due to the influx. Authorities are calling for additional support to address the immediate needs of the migrants before they can be relocated to larger facilities in Crete. This shift in migration patterns highlights the evolving challenges faced by the European Union in managing new migration routes, as increased patrols in traditional paths push smugglers to seek alternative routes, including the dangerous crossing from Libya to southern Crete. iefimerida.gr Seun Kuti, a Nigerian artist, claimed that Africans taught Europeans the importance of daily bathing. Kuti asserted that Queen Elizabeth I used to bathe once a month to encourage her subjects to bathe, prior to Africans introducing Europeans to the habit of bathing daily on the most recent episode of the Fresh Off The Boat podcast via Skype. He said: The first bathhouses were in Africa. It is a shame that many Africans dont know that we taught the Europeans that they had to bathe every day. Advertisement READ MORE: Why Some Wizkids Collaborations With Nigerian Artists Often Go Unreleased Slimcase Queen Elizabeths grandmother, Elizabeth I, then started bathing once a month as an example to her people to become tidy and clean. Its a shame that Africans dont know that their ancestors started the idea of spa. Africans taught British people how to bathe. They didnt use to bathe regularly. Read their history. Watch the interview below Emeka Okonkwo, a Nigerian billionaire businessman better known as E-Money, and his musician brother, KCee, have made a promise to the family of late actor Junior Pope. It is no longer news that the gifted and jovial actor died in April after drowning in Anam River in Anambra State while returning from a film set. Following his death, the actor was laid to rest on Friday, May 17, 2024. Advertisement Celebrities who attended the actors burial included E-Money and KCee, who were close to him before his death. While giving a speech, E-Money promised his family that he would care for his three children until they reached adulthood. He revealed that the actors final words, Na me go train my children, moved him and inspired him and KCee to help his family. He claimed that he would be responsible for food, clothing, shoes, and holidays. He made it clear that he was doing it not to brag, but because of his previous comment and because Junior Pope was like his blood. READ MORE: Junior Pope Laid To Rest As Funeral Service Holds In Enugu They said, First of all, I want to say may his gentle soul rest in peace. On behalf of me my brother, and friends that are here, we want to say Sorry to the family. Junior Pope was a blessing to this generation; he was a lovely guy, contented and someone we wouldnt forget in this generation. It was a shocking story when we heard we lost him because he was like blood to us. I have a message for everyone here today: before you leave, make sure you touch a life; its very important. Some of us are taking this for granted; when we lost this young man, a lot of people did a lot of messy things, but let us remember our own selves if we were in his shoes. Thanks to everyone who has shown love and support in their own little way. For the family, my brother KCee is the godfather of the first son. My brother said to me, we are going to pick up the three kids and take of them till they grow. We are saying openly today that we are ready to take care of the kids to the level they can take care of themselves. As far as food, clothes, shoes, and holidays are concerned, we would do it. We are not doing it to show off, but because of the last comment he said, Na only me my mama born and I get 3 children and na me go train them; those words cant leave my heart, and we took it upon ourselves that we would support the family. SEE VIDEO: An Aurora native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of a helicopter squadron deployed to Japan. Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Morris, a 2019 graduate of Southern Cayuga High School, joined the Navy four years ago. He now serves as a naval aircrewman, the Navy said in a news release. Morris said he joined the Navy to travel, and because his brother also served there. I would like to thank my English teacher Bill Mullarney, Morris said. "He helped show me that going straight to college after high school was not the only option for a successful career and he helped prepare me for starting a career in the Navy." Morris' helicopter squadron is part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which works with allies and partners to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the Navy said. Through the Navy, Morris has also graduated from rescue swimmer school. Serving in the Navy means having a lot of opportunities for financial security, education and travel, he said. "I learned the importance of having a strong work ethic." The Ogun State Police Command, at the weekend, urged State residents to be conscious of new tactics deployed by kidnappers to abduct their victims. Omolola Odutola, Commands Public Relations Officer (PRO), in a chat with Punch, said kidnappers now lay siege for their victims at their gates and attack when they are about to enter their homes. Advertisement Having disclosed that a manhunt has been launched for the kidnapping syndicate, she stressed that the incidents have become prevalent in the eastern part of the State. The spokesperson disclosed that areas where the syndicates operate include Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode in the Ogun East Senatorial District. The tactics they (the kidnapping syndicate) adopt is to lay wait for their unsuspecting victims at the gate, and when their victims alight from the vehicle with the engine running, towards opening the gate, the armed hoodlums will suddenly emerge from their hiding spot and zoom off with the car and the remaining occupants in the vehicle. This is a syndicate operating within Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode, she said. READ ALSO: No Worker Can Survive On Less Than N100,000 Monthly Shehu Sani While revealing recent incidents of such attacks, Odutola said, Last week at Ikenne, there was a case where someone got down from the car to open the gate. Immediately the man got down from his car to open the gate, criminals unknown to him were waiting outside. They drove the car away with his baby inside it. She added that a similar report was made by a member of the public about the kidnapping of his wife in the same manner. Odutola added, He reported that his wife, Nimota Busari and their two children were returning home in her unregistered navy blue 2010 Toyota Corolla from her shop in Ibepa Area, Sagamu. Three armed men intercepted her at the gate, snatched the car, threw the children out, abducted her, and drove off. The PRO noted that people living in remote areas where the police may not be able to access easily were the targets of the syndicate. She, however, urged people living in places with distant proximity to the nearest police station to avoid night movement. The CP directs business owners who live in quiet places, where immediate help cannot reach them or people who live at new sites to arrive at their homes before dark, so the police can study the situation better, she added. The police spokesperson further noted that patrol teams have been deployed to the hotspots of the attacks while reiterating the commands commitment to ending crime and criminality. Former governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has disclosed that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party is no longer relevant in the state. Oyetola on Friday, expressed confidence that All Progressives Congress will defeat PDP in the 2026 governorship election in the South West state. The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy led this out at a rally organised to receive PDP ex-National Deputy Chairman, Shuaib Oyedokun and ex-governorship aspirant on the platform of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi and their supporters into APC. Advertisement Oyetola said that the defection into the party by Babayemi and his people was an indication that more people from the ruling party would join APC from the PDP before 2026 gubernatorial poll. He said: It is an irony that we lost an election over a year ago and there has been no major defection from the party. What we have is the reverse. READ MORE: Gov. Adeleke, Drums Supports For APCs Oyetolas Ministerial Nomination It is the ruling party that is coming to us, which shows that APC remains a party to beat. We have done so well, and people are starting to see that when it comes to governance, the progressive knows how to. The way President Tinubu has been governing us, that is what the APC governors in their respective states have been doing. I am delighted by the fact that we are not just getting anybody, but people of substance. Like Baba Suaibu, he is a veteran member of the PDP, decamping to the APC. It shows that PDP doesnt exist any longer here. I am confident that in 2026, we are going to take over the state. This is just the beginning because several people are willing to come back to us, and a lot of political heavyweights are coming to join us. I welcome Dotun Babayemi and Alhaji Suiabu Oyedokun to the progressives. A sample of hair from George Washington is seen in a book at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Read more In the 19th century, Philadelphia lawyer and naturalist Peter Browne was a major collector of human hair: strands from George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, and hundreds of others, famous and unknown. He amassed enough to fill more than a dozen books of hair, including animal fur, in his pursuit of understanding humanity. Brownes ignorant theories on race for instance, that different races were actually different species have not stood the test of time, but his large collection of human hair has only grown in the publics interest; it was the subject of a 2018 book and a 2008 exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on the hair of American presidents. Advertisement Earlier this year, his name resurfaced in the halls of the Mutter Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences, where his books are held, after new federal regulations were announced regarding the repatriation of human remains and objects of cultural significance to Native American tribes. As museums in New York and Chicago removed or covered up displays to comply, the update impacted several Philadelphia-area institutions, largely behind the scenes. Among the changes they needed to make: taking a closer look at Brownes books of hair. A national registry The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990 to compel museums, universities, and other institutions to return human remains and important objects to federally recognized tribes. It created a registry where institutions must report their inventories to allow tribes to potentially claim those remains and objects. The acts updates this year followed decades of slow-moving progress at museums nationwide. In January 2023, a ProPublica investigation exposed more than 600 institutions who still had Native American human remains in their collections and had not yet returned or in some cases, even resisted efforts to return them to tribes. It included the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, the Mutter, and a dozen others in the Philadelphia and South Jersey region who reported housing the remains of 2,368 Native American people. As of late 2023, the remains of more than 96,000 Native American individuals were still in museum and university collections, including 90,803 that are considered culturally unidentifiable, meaning that the institution has not determined to which present-day tribe the remains belong. President Joe Bidens administration has prioritized accelerating the repatriation efforts in recent years, working with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. Institutions must report human remains, funerary objects, and other objects of cultural significance in their holdings, and conduct outreach to connect and consult with Native American tribes. Effective this year, the Department of the Interior has implemented a five-year deadline for institutions to take inventory and return the remains and objects to tribes, expediting the process and granting tribes greater authority in the decision-making. Theyve also expanded the types of items that need to be added to the registry. Why the hair collection matters The definition of human remains has been expanded, and now includes human hair, said Kate Quinn, executive director of the Mutter, which holds one of Brownes books and is in the middle of auditing its entire collection. Within the collections here, we do have human hair that was Native American, so were putting that on the [federal] registry. In total, the Mutter has reported holding the remains of 60 Native American people. Quinn says since ProPublicas investigation, the museum has finalized two repatriations and has seven more pending. During that time, the Mutter has been embroiled in debates about the ethics of keeping and displaying its vast collection of human remains from around the world. The Academy of Natural Sciences also plans to report some of Brownes collection to comply with the updates to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. A spokesperson for Drexel, which owns the academy, said the museum houses about 300 locks of human hair, including 20 locks from Native American people whose tribal affiliations were noted by Browne. The academy will communicate with those tribes, whose names they did not disclose, to determine their wishes on how best to care for and/or restitute these hair locks, said the spokesperson. The updated regulations now also require that museums get consent from tribes before displaying or researching cultural objects. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one artifact may require consent to continue displaying: a Kaskasian Beaver Bowl that a judge took from present-day Illinois in 1795. It is on loan from the Penn Museum; a spokesperson says they are consulting the tribe about the display. New findings at Penn The Penn Museum holds the largest collection of Native American human remains in Philadelphia, with a total of 632 remains reported. So far, Penn says it has transferred 274 sets of human remains and 752 associated funerary objects back to tribes. Director of collections Laura Hortz Stanton says they are continuing to make progress and are prepared to meet the new deadline with a team of new staffers. Earlier this year, the museum came under fire for its handling of human remains that were part of white supremacist and scientist Samuel G. Mortons crania collection. After the skulls of 19 Black Philadelphians were identified in 2019, the museum moved forward with a burial service that experts said was rushed and unethical. The museum initially planned to bury 20 skulls, but a group of volunteer researchers who have been critical of Penns repatriation efforts uncovered archival evidence showing that one of the individuals had Native American ancestry a porter from Chester County named John Voorhees. Days before the burial, Penn decided to withhold Voorhees skull with the plan of making it available for tribes to claim. Though he would have been considered culturally unidentifiable, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has now expanded the criteria for tribes that are eligible to make claims. One of the really wonderful things within the new [regulations] is that they allow for geographic affiliation. We dont necessarily have to have an exact cultural affiliation, but we can move forward based on geography, said Stanton. Knowing that John Voorhees was in Philadelphia and Chester County, we can then move forward by consulting with geographically affiliated tribes. Those tribes should include the Delaware Tribe, among others, but the museum did not disclose who they will contact. As area museums continue to make progress, these updates should make the process easier for them to return remains to descendants, so that the remains may be respectfully put to rest. The remaining question is whether these institutions will deliver. Staff writer Peter Dobrin contributed to this article. More travelers will soon be able to skip security lines at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), part of American Airlines expansion of its bus program, which launched last year. Travelers flying with American out of PHL can clear security at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) and Wilmington Airport (ILG), and then ride a Landline Company bus to PHL to catch their flight, AVP and the Delaware River and Bay Authority announced this week. Advertisement We cant wait to greet new guests from Wilmington and Wilkes-Barre Scranton airports, PHL CEO Atif Saeed said in a statement. Landline has been a game changer for regional passengers. It provides them with access to hundreds of flights from Philadelphia International Airport, from the convenience of their local airport. American began the bus program from Atlantic City and Lehigh Valley International Airports in 2022, transporting travelers from the curb of one airport to another, pre-security. The expansion of the program, which allowed travelers to go through security at the smaller, less crowded airports before being dropped off at PHL gates, launched in 2023. Since 2022, approximately 150,000 passengers have taken advantage of the service to connect to or from PHL, according to Saeed. Starting on Aug. 6, travelers who buy a special ticket will be able to board a bus out of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport with four daily round trips, the airport announced this week. The buses out of Wilmington Airport will begin operating on Oct. 7, with six daily round trips, according to a statement from the Delaware River and Bay Authority. Travelers can also board a bus at PHL and ride back to their local airport when returning from a trip. When travelers book a flight online that originates at their local airport, theyll see options to connect via a bus to PHL to catch an American flight. Being able to start your trip from [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport] and connect through Philadelphia alleviates some of the stress when starting your travel from a larger airport, Carl R. Beardsley Jr., executive director of the airport, said in a statement this week. The buses seat 35 people and have WiFi and power outlets, The Inquirer reported in 2023. The program also avoids having several people drive or take a car to the airport, which can have an environmental benefit, says Nicholas Johnson, vice president and head of revenue at Landline. This takes those cars off the road, takes those emissions out of the air, he said. Although the air travel industry took a hit during the pandemic, PHL expects passenger volume to increase by 18% between June and August compared to last summer, putting it on par with 2019 levels, according to a statement from the airport on Thursday. Officials credit the anticipated increase in part to the expansion of American Airlines service to Europe, new Frontier flights, and airlines using larger planes with more seats since the pandemic. American also announced on Thursday that beginning this winter, it will offer flights out of PHL to Bridgetown in Barbados, and Liberia in Costa Rica. A still from the documentary "The Philadelphia Eleven" that follows the story of the first women to be ordained as priests by the Episcopal Church. Read more In 1974, a group of 11 women, all Episcopal deacons from around the country, sought to be ordained as priests, something then unheard of in the Episcopal Church, whose roots date back to shortly after the American Revolution. Why did the ordinations end up happening in Philadelphia, of all places, at the height of the Frank Rizzo era? Advertisement The women had asked Episcopal churches around the country to host the ordinations, and the Church of the Advocate at 18th and Diamond Streets in North Philadelphia a predominantly Black church active in the civil rights movement which had hosted events with the Black Panther Party was the only one that agreed. Paul Washington, the Church of the Advocate rector and a Philadelphia activist fixture who later served on the MOVE Commission, played a crucial part in the decision and participated in the ordination. And so, on July 29, 1974, a trio of male bishops Robert L. DeWitt, Daniel Corrigan, and Edward R. Welles II held an irregular ordination of 11 women (collectively known as the Philadelphia Eleven) as priests in the Episcopal Church, defying the churchs General Convention. Its an unheralded moment in American religious history that changed that Church forever. As the events 50th anniversary approaches, the story of the ordination and everything that followed is the subject of a new documentary called The Philadelphia Eleven. The 1974 ordination was seen as an act of civil disobedience and was highly controversial at the time. As the documentary tells us, the Episcopal Churchs Rev. Canon Charles Osborn called the ordinations unlawful and schismatical, constituting a grave injury to Christs Church. We do not gain 11 priests today, the Rev. George Rutler said after the ordinations. We lose four bishops . you may break the laws, sirs our savior broke many laws what you break today is a law he did not break. That law is this, God shall be called Father, and so should his priests. The film notes that the bishop of Kentucky declared hed respond to the ordination of women by returning to his home state to ordain the great racehorse Secretariat. Later that year, a separate ordination in Washington of women known as the Washington Four was held. The Episcopal House of Bishops voted to invalidate the ordinations, punish the bishops, and take up the issue at the Church Convention in 1976. While the Philadelphia Eleven were present at that meeting in Chicago, they were not allowed in the room, where the Church voted to recognize the ordinations and to allow the ordination of women. Today, more than 6,000 women serve as Episcopal priests throughout the United States, with women making up more than 40% of the ranks of active priests in the Church. The 11 women ordained in Philadelphia on that July day were the Revs. Merrill Bittner, Alla Renee Bozarth, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield Fleischer, Jeanette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig. While all were previously deacons, the women came from all over the country and from many different backgrounds, ages, walks of life, and political worldviews. Their story is so historically underknown that Margo Guernsey, the films director, was unaware of it until shortly before beginning work on the project. Back in 2012, while researching an unrelated project, Guernsey spoke with Heyward, by then a well-known feminist theologian and priest. In the course of their conversation, Guernsey said Heyward had to share a little bit of her story, to give some context, and I was blown away that as a student of the civil rights movement, as a student of history of that era, that I had never heard of this. It very much became almost a call to tell the story, Guernsey said. I really think it should be part of our understanding of American history in the 20th century and of the various movements for greater equality. The films lengthy production process began in 2015. The documentary had its first screening last September at the Church of the Advocate, in the same room where the ordinations took place. All of that archival footage in the church, to see it projected in the same space, was really quite moving, Guernsey said of the premiere. Five of the six Philadelphia Eleven still living Bittner, Moorefield, Hewitt, Heyward, and Wittig were present on a panel for the Church of the Advocate premiere. (Alla Bozarth-Campbell is still alive but was unable to travel.) The Rev. Betty Powell, one of the Washington Four who now lives in Delaware, was also there. What we did was about more than making the ordination of women to the priesthood a reality in the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Merrill Bittner said in a post-screening conversation at the September event. We did do that, and I believe it has transformed the Church. I think every one of us is given opportunities to make the world a better place. The challenge for us is to recognize those times in our lives, and to be willing to say yes to them and say Here I am. Send me. What can we take away from those events nearly 50 years later? More than anything else, what I hope viewers take away is the ways in which these women stood in solidarity with each other. They did not always agree; in fact they often disagreed, Guernsey said. [But] they figured out ways to stand in solidarity around issues that really mattered and have civil conversations and respect differences where they disagreed. I think thats a lesson we can all learn from today. The Philadelphia Eleven screens May 21 at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 Lancaster Ave, Bryn Mawr. A post-screening Q&A will be held, with the Rev. JoAnn Bradley Jones, the Rev. Thomas Szczerba, and the Rev. Dr. Flora Keshgegian, with Roberta Torian moderating. brynmawrfilm.org/event/the-philadelphia-eleven/ Phil Faragalli had worried that he'd never be able to reopen his South Philly family bakery after the oven was damaged. But a fundraising effort has helped him seek repairs. Read more It was a strange feeling, watching another man crawl inside his oven, but Phil Faragalli had nowhere else to turn. Faragalli, 72, had shuttered his family bakery in Passyunk Square in early April after portions of his century-old, firebrick oven collapsed shortly after water department workers drilled into the street just outside. For years, Faragallis has baked their distinctive, old-world Italian loaves on flames kindled by South Philly scrapwood. Advertisement Now, the oven was cold. The cavernous hearth, which is about the size of a spacious rowhouse living room, has long been Phil Faragallis domain. But the damage was far more extensive and expensive than the minor repairs he was accustomed to handle. He feared if hed ever be able to reopen the venerable bakery, which his father, Anthony, opened in 1945 in the corner shop below the family apartment, and which his son Phil Jr., now planned to take over some day. But what happened next occurred so quickly and took on such a life of its own that it has left Phil Faragalli reeling with gratitude. In just four days earlier this month, hundreds of Faragallis customers, friends, and neighbors donated nearly $34,000 to a GoFundMe campaign called: Operation: Save Faragallis. Although still short of the $50,000 goal, the effort, which was started by a Faragalli family friend, has raised enough money for Faragalli to hire a repairman. The oven mechanic told Faragalli he is confident he can mend the ancient kiln. Faragalli now expects to reopen his bakery around August, when repairs can be completed. Its so overwhelming, Phil Faragalli said, on a recent afternoon. Everybody and their mother gave. I cant go nowhere without people coming up to me and saying they want to help. I just want to say thank you to everybody. Faragalli said he is also going to take the opportunity to transition the oven, which was built in a Washington Avenue factory before World War I, to gas. The bakery has burned wood since a fateful day in the 1970s when the coal delivery never showed and Anthony Faragalli burned some of the apartment doors to fire his bread. But Faragalli said collecting barrels of construction scraps from neighborhood contractors had become laborious and that he hears the complaints of neighbors who worry he could be burning wood treated with chemicals (Faragalli says the bakery only ever used untreated wood). He is not worried the change will affect the dense and chewy taste of his loaves, which are made the old way: no preservatives, with only flour, water, yeast, and a little salt. If anything, he believes the ovens high-arched roof allows the bread to rise easier. The bread tasted the same when we used coal, and then we went to wood, and it tasted the same, he said. I know how to make bread. But it was more than delicious bread that has long made the bakery a 13th Street mainstay, say those who rushed to save Faragallis. Eric Scola, 37, who grew up with Phil Faragallis daughters and works as a waiter at nearby Ristorante Pesto, said he started the GoFundMe after so many in the neighborhood expressed wanting to help. Theyre just the nicest people, he said of the family of bakers. But even he said he was amazed at how quickly the donations poured in. I couldnt believe at how much [was donated] in such a short amount of time, he said. I just cant get over it. Greg Di Stefano, owner of the Victor Cafe, was one of many local business owners who gave. The restaurant, which opened in 1918, has served Faragallis loaves for decades. Its the best bread in Philadelphia, Di Stefano said. But more than anything, he added, it was a friend in need. Were both institutions down here, Di Stefano said. And when one goes down, we all try to rally around them. Faragalli said his lawyers have filed a claim with the city over the damage, but that he has not heard anything back. Richard Bredbenner, the president of a refractory installation company based in Berks County that Faragalli has hired to mend the oven, said the vibration from the street work likely loosened masonry supporting the top of the oven, causing its fire box and parts of its side wall to collapse. Repairs will run around $44,000, according to his estimate. Where you been all these years? Faragalli had joked with Bredbenner, when he crawled inside the oven on a recent afternoon, the first person to do so beside Faragalli in forever. The veteran repairman said he was awed by the old ovens craftsmanship. It was like stepping into a time capsule, he said. Like being exposed to a part of history. Asad Ghumman would always hear the same thing from regulars at his restaurant Kabobeesh, which has been open in University City since 2000. You need to open a chai spot, theyd urge. But it was his 19-year-old daughter, Halima Ghumman, whose voice was the loudest. Im always in the city and never find, number one, a spot thats open late and, number two, a spot thats Pakistani, she said. Ghumman finally convinced her father to take the leap by coming up with the plan and a pitch to run it. The whole concept is just what I would want to see in Philly that hasnt happened yet, she said. So let me just do it myself. In Philadelphia, chai is regularly found on restaurant menus theres masala chai at Ammas South Indian Cuisine and Masala Kitchen in Center City. But across the country, there are chai spots that serve as third places a term that describes social environments outside home and work, most commonly associated in the U.S. with Starbucks, thanks to its assiduous co-opting of the concept for South Asian communities to gather while they drink tea and eat traditional snacks. We all know that chai is a must, Halima said. Its the one thing that every brown person can agree on. After visiting chai spots in Virginia, New Jersey, and Toronto, Ghummans father decided that its a need in Philly he wanted to fulfill. Advertisement Karak Cha House officially opened inside a renovated deck next to Kabobeesh in University City on Friday. Open until midnight the Ghummans tentatively plan to extend the hours until 2 a.m. guests can play board games, sip chai, and eat street food late into the night. What to expect at Karak Cha House A pink neon sign with the words chai & friends the perfect blend welcomes visitors into the cafe. The walls are adorned with wood paneling, greenery, Urdu phrases (loog kya kahengy, which translates to what will people say) and handmade roti plates from Pakistan. There are hanging bamboo lights, colorful chairs, and a plush couch perfect for lounging in for hours. Its a mix of keeping it modern and not too desi-style, but it also has a lot Pakistan in there, Ghumman said. There are four kinds of chai (which just means tea, for the record) on the menu, all brewed with milk: masala (what most people in the U.S. think of as chai, with an aromatic blend of spices); doodh pathi (similar to masala chai, but brewed entirely in milk); Kashmiri (a pink-hued tea); and Peshawari qahwa (green tea with cardamom). The Kashmiri and Peshawari qahwa tea leaves are imported from Pakistan. Currently, all the drinks are made with cows milk, but the Ghummans hope to offer alternative milks in the future. In addition to chai, Karak Cha offers a halal menu with a variety of classic and reinvented Pakistani street food dishes and plenty of board games, including Ludo, a popular Pakistani strategy game, to play as you dine. Food-wise, theres the pappu burger, inspired by the popular snacks often found on college campuses in Pakistan, which is filled with shami tikki (pressed beef kebabs), onions, and an egg, all slathered with sweet chutney. Youll also find katori chaat (chickpea salad topped with chutneys and herbs nestled in a fried samosa shell) and gol guppa (crispy puffed balls, made of flour or semolina, filled with spices, herbs, onions, chickpeas, and chutneys). Ghummans father will also serve freshly made jalebi (deep-fried batter twisted into pretzel or circular shapes then soaked in sugar syrup) with a recipe he brought back from his travels. There is a very famous place in Lahore called Grato Jalebi, and the last time I went there, I requested their jalebi recipe, he said. They were so kind and gave me the recipe. Also inspired by fusion recipes Instagram and TikTok, Ghumman created a waffle dripping with sticky, sweet gulab jamun syrup topped with homemade kulfi ice cream and rose petals, as well as a milkshake that mimics the taste of meetha paan, a sweet, triangle-shaped betel leaf treat thats often filled with rose jam, shaved coconut, candied fruit, and other aromatics. Im trying to appeal to people like my dad and his generation and the older generations, but Im also trying to bring in kids who are my age, maybe even younger, she said. Karak Cha House 4201 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104, instagram.com/karakchahouse, Monday to Sunday, 3 p.m. to midnight A sample of nitazene powder, a drug more potent than fentanyl, is examined at the Center for Forensic Science Research, a toxicology lab in Montgomery County, where a person recently died of an overdose involving a nitazene analogue. Read more The animal tranquilizer xylazines spread into Philadelphias illicit opioid supply has introduced new hazards to an already-dangerous drug crisis, sending people in addiction into intense blackouts and leaving them with severe skin wounds. Now, another veterinary sedative more potent than xylazine has emerged. The discovery of the drug, known as medetomidine, in drug samples in the city is another sign of increasing toxicity in the Philadelphia regions illicit drugs. Advertisement Yet another emerging danger recently showed up in Montgomery County, where a person who died of an overdose showed signs of having another powerful additive in their system: a nitazene analogue. Part of a class of synthetic opioids more powerful than fentanyl, nitazene analogues have already been found in several overdoses in Philadelphia. Health officials say the public and physicians need to know about these new dangers and the unknown threat posed by medetomidine. The Philadelphia health department issued a warning in the last week to share all it knows with physicians and alert them to look out for patients with unusual symptoms. We dont really know the effect on humans, said Daniel Teixeira da Silva, the medical director of the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction at Philadelphias health department. Our health alert is really to inform clinicians about this new drug in the drug supply, and how to be aware of some of the symptoms they might expect and how to manage it. Medetomidine is a veterinary sedative like xylazine. Its not approved for human use, and research on its effects in humans is scant. The drug has also been found in Maryland, Ohio, Florida, and Canada. The health department regularly tests drug samples purchased in Philadelphia, especially those connected to overdoses. In late April and early May, two samples tested positive for medetomidine, Teixeira da Silva said. That testing took place about the same time that patients visited Philadelphia hospitals with prolonged sedation, a low heart rate, and low blood pressure all symptoms that could suggest they had taken medetomidine. With little research on its effects in humans, its difficult to connect the drug to specific symptoms. New sedatives in street drugs Xylazine, also known as tranq, began turning up in Philadelphia about four years ago. Health officials believe it may have initially been added to fentanyl to deliver a longer-lasting high. Fentanyl is more powerful than heroin, which it has largely replaced in the city, but its effects wear off quickly, sometimes within a few hours. Xylazines sedative effects can cause blackouts and overdoses that are more difficult to treat than ones solely involving fentanyl. Naloxone, a medication used to treat opioid overdoses, can reverse the effects of fentanyl but not xylazine; victims might need supplemental oxygen in addition to naloxone to be revived. Xylazine can cause skin sores that are quick to open and slow to heal. These wounds are not limited to the sites of injection, as is typical with other injection drug use. Its unclear whether medetomidine causes similar effects, although it can narrow blood vessels, which could result in wounds, Teixeira da Silva said. Among drugs approved for humans, however, medetomidine is most similar to a drug called dexmedetomidine, a painkiller used as a sedative during operations, which does not produce those symptoms. Xylazine was recently categorized as a schedule III drug in Pennsylvania, which increased restrictions on its sale and usage. Health officials are watching for new threats in the drug supply as regulations change and dealers and distributors react. Thats the reality of illicit substances, Teixeira da Silva said. Those pressures [in the drug market] cause changes: Prohibiting xylazine causes changes. Its an expected change that really requires ongoing surveillance. New synthetic opioid reaches Phillys suburbs The emergence of nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids up to 40 times more potent than fentanyl, is also a sign of a shifting drug market in the region. The federal government has banned some nitazene analogues, which have never been approved for human use. Several weeks ago, McDonald said, a local lab identified a nitazene analogue in the toxicology results of a person who died of an overdose in Montgomery County the first nitazene-related death the county has seen. Philadelphia reported at least five nitazene-related overdose deaths in the last two years, and suspects that the drugs contributed to a dozen more overdose deaths. Experts in the area say that illicit drug distributors may be producing nitazene analogues to get around law enforcement crackdowns on fentanyl. Nitazenes are relatively cheap to make, and theyre very high potency, said Greg McDonald, the chief forensic pathologist at the Montgomery County coroners office. Law enforcement has to play catch-up and make a new designer drug illegal. Many medical examiners offices are not yet testing for nitazene analogues, so its difficult to assess their spread in the region, health officials say. And toxicology experts may not be testing for all of the drugs classified as nitazenes. Now that its on their radar, theyre testing for some of the more common ones, McDonald said. The problem is, tomorrow there may be a whole new set of analogues out there they havent been able to test for. A protester with the Penn Gaza Solidarity Encampment is arrested at South 34th Street near the Penn campus in Philadelphia on Friday, May 17, 2024 Read more Penn students launched a new, short-lived, pro-Palestinian encampment Friday night, leading to multiple arrests and additional protests spreading across campus. The encampment inside the schools Fisher-Bennett Hall came one week after Philadelphia and campus police disbanded one that had lasted a little more than two weeks and had led to 33 arrests. Advertisement Members of the Penn Gaza Solidarity Encampment announced the new installation at about 8 p.m. Within the hour, police could be seen closing in. By 9:20 p.m. there were reports from the scene that police had some people in custody. Thats when groups began to spill into nearby streets. Encampment organizers said they had renamed Fisher-Bennett Hall the Refaat Alareer Hall during their takeover in honor of the late Palestinian poet and professor who was killed in an airstrike in Northern Gaza in December. A group of individuals entered Fisher-Bennett Hall on Penns campus and attempted to occupy it, a school spokesperson said. Penn Police, with support from Philadelphia Police, escorted them out and secured the building, taking several individuals into custody. Pro-Palestinian faculty and students had held protests on campus and erected an encampment on the College Green in late April. Since the launch of that encampment, organizers have demanded that school administrators disclose the universitys investments, divest from Israel, and defend pro-Palestinian protesters and scholars. Over the next two weeks, protesters and counter-protesters clashed, while Penn faced criticism from all sides. Some blamed the school for not dismantling the encampment; others chastised it for not supporting student protesters and their right to free speech. University police, backed by city police, ultimately moved in early on the morning of May 10 and dismantled the encampment, arresting 33 people, nine of them students. School leaders cited threatening, loud, and discriminatory speech and behavior, an expansion of the encampment, and vandalism as reasons. Gov. Josh Shapiro had called for the dismantling of the encampment. Organizers of the new encampment said it was a direct response to how Penn administration reacted to their past negotiation attempts and the College Green encampment. They refused to negotiate in good faith, lording threats of arrest and discipline over students and training the Penn police in civil disorder tactics while still actively meeting with the negotiations team, a statement from Penn Gaza Solidarity said. Following the arrests, protests flowed onto 34th Street with participants chanting things like, No more bombs with our tuition while clapping their hands, playing small drums, and waving flags. Arms locked, a group of protesters faced police holding their shields and batons. A crowd surrounding law enforcement chanted Who do you serve, who do you protect? as police cars continued to close off nearby roads From there, the movement extended across campus, reaching Penn Museum Courtyard, where an alumni party was taking place inside, before dispersing shortly after. At around 10:30 p.m. protest organizers advised supporters to go home, disband. Some migrated to Philadelphia Police headquarters. Organizers noted that the encampments are the latest in a deep history between the West Philadelphia Ivy League university and antiwar demonstrations. These last few weeks, Penn has shown its true colors, organizers said. It is complicit in the oppression of people from Philly to Palestine and will silence anyone who demands change. The latest protest came at the start of Alumni Weekend on campus. Graduation is scheduled for Monday. Staff writer Jesse Bunch contributed to this article. Pro-Palestinian protesters and Philadelphia and Penn police have a standoff along 34th Street at the University of Pennsylvania Friday night. Read more Within a frenzied 24-hour period, 19 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested Friday after attempting to occupy a building on the University of Pennsylvania campus, and hundreds of others on Saturday set up a protest encampment in the heart of nearby Drexel University. The attempted takeover of the Penn building and the new Drexel encampment are the latest in an escalating series of campus demonstrations against the war in Gaza, roiling colleges throughout the region. Advertisement Six of the 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested Friday night were Penn students, the school said Saturday. Twelve were issued citations, for failure to disperse and failure to follow police commands, then later released. Seven remained in custody awaiting felony charges as of Saturday, including one for allegedly assaulting a police officer. The brief encampment inside Fisher-Bennett Hall came a week after Philadelphia and campus police disbanded another that lasted about two weeks and led to 33 arrests. The encampment at Drexel capped a march from Center City to University City to commemorate the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba. A group of protesters began setting up tents on Drexels Academic Quadrangle, near 33rd and Market Streets. About 6:45 p.m., hundreds of protesters descended on the college green and locked arms in a circle while demonstrators erected more than a dozen tents. Lawn chairs and tables were also arranged to create a barrier around the crowd. As has been the cry at encampment protests from the neighboring Penn campus, the crowd directed chants toward Drexel leaders to disclose and divest from any military-related spending aiding Israel. Earlier Saturday, Penn officials painted a picture of plans by Friday nights protesters for an apparent prolonged takeover. Once Fisher-Bennett Hall was cleared, the university said, Penn police found lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums. Exit doors had been secured with zip ties and barbed wire, and barricaded with metal chairs and desks. Windows were covered with newspaper and cardboard, and bicycle racks and metal chairs were found blocking outside entrances, the school said. Penn remains focused on maintaining the safety and security of our campus, the university said in a statement on Saturday. The new, short-lived encampment came as Penn marks alumni weekend, and with the main university graduation ceremony scheduled for Monday at Franklin Field. At about 8 p.m. Friday, members of the Penn Gaza Solidarity Encampment announced the new installation. Police acted within the hour, and by 9:20 p.m. there were reports that people were in custody. At that point other groups began spilling into nearby streets. Encampment organizers said they had renamed Fisher-Bennett Hall the Refaat Alareer Hall in memory of the Palestinian poet and professor who was killed in an airstrike in Northern Gaza in December. Pro-Palestinian faculty and students held protests on campus and erected an encampment on the College Green in late April. Since the launch of that encampment, organizers have demanded that school administrators disclose the universitys investments (Penn, a private university, does not disclose its investments), divest from Israel, and defend pro-Palestinian protesters and scholars. Protesters and counter-protesters clashed over the next two weeks, while Penn faced criticism from all sides. Some blamed the school for not dismantling the encampment while others chastised the university for not supporting student demonstrators and their right to free speech. University police, backed by city police, ultimately moved early on the morning of May 10 and dismantled the encampment, arresting 33 people, nine of them students. School administrators cited threatening, loud, and discriminatory speech and behavior, an expansion of the encampment, and vandalism as reasons. Gov. Josh Shapiro had called for the dismantling of the encampment. Organizers of the new Penn encampment Friday said it was a direct response to how the Penn administration reacted to their past negotiation attempts and the College Green encampment. They refused to negotiate in good faith, lording threats of arrest and discipline over students and training the Penn police in civil disorder tactics while still actively meeting with the negotiations team, a statement from Penn Gaza Solidarity said. Philadelphia police referred questions about the Friday night demonstration to Penn. Elsewhere, commencement exercises at both Haverford and Bryn Mawr colleges, which had pro-Palestinian encampments earlier this semester, were held Saturday without incident. At Haverford, there were a few handmade banners and shouts that lasted briefly, a spokesperson said, but commencement was not interrupted. Haverfords encampment lasted a short time and came down voluntarily last month when students decided to join the encampment at Bryn Mawr College. At Bryn Mawr, the 25-tent encampment that was on Merion Green also came down voluntarily in recent days. But the Peoples College for the Liberation of Palestine lives on, the group wrote on Instagram on Thursday. We will continue to work with and pressure administration in the coming semesters to meet our goals and do our part toward a free Palestine. The college on Monday announced it was relocating commencement from its traditional Merion Green location to Applebee Field next to Cambrian Row on the western end of campus because of the encampment. The situation at Penn and other campuses loomed heavily over a protest Saturday in Center City. Amid steady rain, hundreds marched to University City to commemorate the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homes during the war that followed Israels founding. Leading the crowd in a chant that reiterated demands to university leaders Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest activist Gabriel Bryant said the shutdown of the encampments only added fuel to the pro-Palestinian movement. All it did was bring everybody stronger into the movement, he said through a megaphone outside City Hall. All they did was bring us together into a lifelong encampment toward liberation. Hani White, 45, and her family are protest regulars from South Philly. When she considers the situation unraveling on campus, she looks at her two teenage boys by her side at the rally, wearing keffiyehs and holding a homemade sign with a Palestinian flag. White supports the divestment and disclosure campaign because she wants to send her boys to a school that is transparent about how it spends her tuition dollars. My kids are going to go to college one day, said White, who is originally from Indonesia. I dont want to pay tuition to a company that is going to promote war. Watching Benjamin Netanyahu blunder into Rafah with no plan for the day after is like watching a Greek tragedy whose end is foreseen but can no longer be blocked. Netanyahus push into the city at Gazas southern edge with no strategy for an endgame will force Israeli troops to reoccupy the entire strip. It will ensure Hamas political and military survival, and trap Israeli troops in an unending insurgency. Advertisement It will probably doom most of the remaining Israeli hostages. It may also doom thousands more Palestinian civilians, including children. Worst of all, it will hand both Hamas terrorists and Israeli extremists a devastating win that will continue to wreak havoc on the Palestinian people and on the Jewish state. Netanyahus focus on total victory over Hamas blindly mistakes the Gaza war for a conventional 20th-century land war that can be ended solely by military means. He falsely compares Israel to the Allied forces that defeated Adolf Hitler in World War II. Supposed allies of Israel such as GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham encourage Netanyahus delusions when they cite the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a template for bombing Gaza. Not only is such talk morally repugnant, but it shows zero grasp of how to defeat Hamas. President Joe Biden was absolutely correct to ban a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that can wipe out whole neighborhoods in pursuit of a single Hamas commander. Such actions only increase support for Hamas globally and in the Arab world (even in moderate Arab states whose leaders despise Hamas). The Gaza war is a nontraditional struggle with an unconventional force Hamas that is fighting a guerilla war from underground tunnels. The civilian population of two million is trapped in a territory no bigger than Philadelphia, with no possibility to escape. Yes, Hamas uses civilians as a shield, but Israels indifference to civilian casualties plays into the terror groups hands. The proper military comparison for the Gaza war is the situation the United States faced in Afghanistan after 9/11 or what Israel faced in Lebanon after 1983. Both countries got mired for years in trying to defeat an insurgency. In both cases, the military alone couldnt win because there was no concurrent political strategy to isolate the Islamist militias. Continued military attacks further alienated civilians. Smashing into Rafah, to which half the Gazan population has fled, wont destroy Hamas many of its leaders and fighters will survive in tunnels or houses, blend into the remaining population, or even escape to Sinai. Israeli bombs will doom many of the hostages who are still alive. After thousands more Palestinian civilian deaths, even Gazans angered at Hamas for their plight will adopt its ideology of a one-state Palestinian solution minus Israel. A continued insurgency will bubble under the surface and expand into the West Bank. Israel will be trapped in Gaza, endlessly trying to crush insurgents. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gets it. He has publicly protested his governments lack of a Gaza endgame, telling a news conference last week that he wouldnt allow the establishment of military rule in the Gaza Strip. [Netanyahus] not taking a decision on a day after strategy is tantamount to a dangerous decision to install Israeli military and civil rule in the Gaza Strip, Gallant said. The end of the military campaign must be a political act, he warned. The day after Hamas will only be achieved through the rule of Palestinian elements that form an alternative to Hamas. Above all, this is an Israeli interest. Unfortunately, no such plan has been brought for debate. In other words, the only way to doom Hamas is to provide Palestinians with an alternative option that separates civilians from Hamas fighters. That would leave Hamas politically and physically exposed. The Biden administration, along with moderate Gulf Arab states, has put forward the only plausible alternative: plans that would involve a possible Arab peacekeeping force, along with Arab and international funding to rebuild from Israeli bombing. But such plans were contingent on two steps by Israel the first being putting a stop to the reckless killing of civilians. Had Netanyahu thought strategically, he would have made every effort to establish real safe zones for civilians with water and sanitation that would have separated noncombatants from fighters. This strategy would have given Israel more time and more leeway to destroy Hamas terrorists in tunnels and aboveground. Instead, Israel let vengeance rule, bombing indiscriminately and blocking aid. After the horrors of Hamas Oct. 7 rampage, this may be understandable from an emotional standpoint, but was strategically stupid and morally ugly. Even today, after Israel has closed almost all entry points of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Netanyahu permits followers of his right-wing political allies to block the few food shipments still headed there via Israeli roads. Second, the Biden plan is contingent on Israel facilitating the return to Gaza of rule by a rejuvenated Palestinian Authority, or PA, the governing body that exercises partial control over the West Bank. The PAs return depends, in turn, on Israel endorsing a political path forward toward the end of occupation, a path that ultimately would lead to a two-state solution. Yet, Netanyahu has vehemently opposed any role for the PA. He has fantasized that apolitical Palestinians or tribal leaders will somehow emerge to run daily life in Gaza, and Israeli forces will continue to police Gaza, which will be demilitarized and de-radicalized. Israel will be left ruling over the ruins of Gaza. That is a pipe dream, as Hamas will survive in the wings, and no tribal leaders will help Israel maintain a military occupation. Moreover, with most of Gazas housing destroyed or broken, the majority of Palestinians will be living in rubble, unable to function or feed themselves. Israel will be left ruling over the ruins. Moderate Arab states will not finance the rebuilding of the strip if the war there continues; no international force will police those ruins. Continued Israeli military occupation of Gaza will seriously undermine Israels peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and prevent any future normalization with Saudi Arabia. It will alienate large segments of the public in Europe and the United States, and make the country an international pariah. It will undercut one of Israels closest friends ever, who tried and failed to force Israels leaders to face reality: President Biden. It may be too late to reverse Netanyahus self-defeating course, even with more U.S. pressure. Yet, the road he has chosen in order to retain power and avoid jail time for corruption will keep Hamas alive and intimidate any nascent opposition. It will cause too many more Israelis and Palestinians to die. As The Undertones memorably proclaimed: Teenage dreams are hard to beat. While todays teens might struggle to identify the iconic tune, many of them still dream like previous generations did of the first time theyll venture out to a disco or club, taking their first tentative steps into adulthood. For girls especially, it really is hard to beat that combination of anticipation and excitement fused with the simple joy of getting ready with your friends. That ritual and all its attendant emotions is an inspired choice for Irish photographer Eimear Lynchs first major project, Girls Night. Her evocative images of teenage Irish girls preparing for their big night out have been compiled in a photobook, which was snapped up by a publisher and launched earlier this week as part of the prestigious Photo London event. Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I thought I would love to do something about teen discos, and then my friend suggested I should do something about getting ready for them." The 29-year-old, originally from Enniskerry, Wicklow, is now based in Brighton. She studied media at Maynooth University, but is largely self-taught as a photographer, garnering a lot of experience while working as a model booker for a Dublin agency. She says the project was sparked by her reflections on her own teenage years. The older Im getting, the more Im thinking about my own teenage years and how formative they actually are, which you dont really think about at the time, Lynch says. Also how special they are as well just having those girl friends that you see every single day. I thought I would love to do something about teen discos, and then my friend suggested I should do something about getting ready for them. Its something that only girls have access to, says Lynch. Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "I wanted to do a positive look on that time in your life. I didnt want to include any photos of people kissing or anything like that I took boys out of the equation." She travelled to homes and venues throughout Ireland, from Belfast and Dublin to Ennis and Cork, photographing teenage girls. In the best tradition of documentary photography, the images resonate with subtext, whether thats how much mobile phones feature or the emphasis on Instagram-ready looks. However, for Lynch, the priority was to avoid the negative and capture the joy involved in getting ready and heading out. Indeed, there is a real pleasure in looking at the images and seeing a generation that has been under so much pressure, especially during the pandemic, just letting loose. I wanted to do a positive look on that time in your life. I didnt want to include any photos of people kissing or anything like that I took boys out of the equation. I wanted to focus on the nice times you have with your friends and the good memories. In some of the photos you can see other aspects, but my goal was to celebrate the good things, Lynch adds. Everyone knows the stresses that come with being a teenager, but I feel like people dont always talk about how amazing and exciting and fun it is. Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "With some of the older girls, the 16/17-year-olds, thats when I saw more of the insecurities." What also comes through is that wonderful blend of idealism and fierceness that teenage girls possess. Yes, you could feel that power. I think at that age, like 14/15, theyre so naive to the world yet so confident. It seems that they have everyone wrapped around their fingers. They just have such an ideal view of life, which is amazing. With some of the older girls, the 16/17-year-olds, thats when I saw more of the insecurities. But the younger ones, they were just so excited to pretend to be a woman for a night. Lynch moved back in with her parents when working on the project, which brought her own teenage memories further to the surface. I felt like I was a teenager again I was really jealous of the girls when they were in their bedrooms getting ready. I was thinking I wish I was going out, but then they were treating me like this old lady and I remembered that Im actually double their age, she laughs. Life inevitably teaches us that reality sometimes doesnt live up to expectation, and this theme can also be seen in the anticipation jumping out from the page. They werent even that excited to go, they just loved doing the make-up and getting photos taken, but didnt really care that much about the actual disco, Lynch says. Girls Night by Eimear Lynch: "They all use so many products and contour and do so many different looks. And theyre all really good at it." Something that has demonstrably changed, even since Lynchs days of teen discos, is the effort that now goes into make-up. Readers of a certain age will recall a time when the most sophisticated routine consisted of a dab of panstick and Rimmel concealer, a clumsy application of pound-shop eyeshadow and mascara, topped off with a spritz of Impulse body spray. They all use so many products and contour and do so many different looks. And theyre all really good at it. Their tan is a lot better than mine was at that age, because we we were all using instant tan that would just come off in the rain. But when I was arriving to these girls houses, their tan was done the night before, then they wash it off and it was all quite nice. Whereas I would have just worn foundation and eyeliner. Lynch says she has been pleasantly surprised by the response to the photos, which have been championed by Irish designer Simone Rocha, who has also written a poem to accompany the images in the photobook. Initially when I had the idea, I thought that only girls would care about it that Irish girls would think it was cool and nostalgic but I didnt realise that other people would find it interesting as well. Her future plans include delving into the rituals of Irish girlhood even further. I have started working on my next book thats going to be a broader look at teenage girls in Ireland. I have photographed Miss Ireland Teen, an Irish dancing feis, and I want to photograph communions and confirmations, for a book about growing up as a girl. Girls Night by Eimear Lynch Eimear Lynch's Girls Night is out now - foreword by Simone Rocha, with writing by Grainne McCullough and Marley Nolan. www.ideanow.online/eimear-lynch-girls-night Image from Girls Night by Eimear Lynch Extract from Simone Rocha Taney disco Which I think was in a church It was almost like going to church The equivalent, a teenage rite of passage How ironic to have all these teenagers in a church hall in short skirts, socks and runners looking for something... from boys from girls from your parents My first shift but I just wanted to slow dance My head on his shoulder, him looking around Disco lights in the church hall up a hill meet shift score kiss A baby blue and synthetic top with a strappy open back, Bought in St Stephen's Green shopping centre with tight black trousers with a flare and silver kitten heels from the Harlequin Teenage bedrooms Ironing your hair flat on the ironing board, taking turns to do your friends To a backdrop of music videos on MTV on tiny TVs in bedrooms, Little small ones in red which you could put a video tape in Outside lining up against the wall in the dark in the queue Then waiting for your friends parents to pick you up behind the petrol station The best nights of your life A measles alert has been issued to people who were in certain areas of the emergency department or Puffin Ward in Cork University Hospital on two days last week. Contact tracing teams are trying to get in touch with contacts of anyone known to have been there at specific times on Sunday or Monday and warn them to watch out for measles symptoms. The alert, issued by the Department of Public Health HSE South West, is for these specific times and places only: CUH's main emergency department waiting area or registration on Sunday (May 12) between 1.10pm and 3.30pm The Childrens Emergency Department on Sunday between 1.30pm and 11.20pm and/or: The Puffin Ward between 9.20pm on Sunday and 3pm on Monday (May 13) The HSE advised people potentially exposed and who are also pregnant or immunocompromised or guardian of an infant under 12 months old to immediately contact them on 1800 700 700. Dr Margaret OSullivan, consultant in Public Health Medicine, said they wish to reassure people public health measures are being followed. Contact tracing means that we will be in direct touch with close contacts. Anyone who is concerned about symptoms should contact their GP, she advised. We would also like to remind anyone who has missed or is not up to date with their MMR vaccinations, that there is now a free catch-up MMR vaccination option available from GPs. The HSE advised looking out for symptoms for 21 days from possible contact which would be up to June 2 or 3. We are reassured by the fact that many of the close contacts have received two doses of the MMR vaccines. Adults born in Ireland before 1978 (45 years and over) are also considered to be immune, it said. Symptoms which appear before the distinctive red rash include runny nose, sneezing, cough, sore red eyes or a temperature of 38C or above. Other early symptoms include small grey-white spots in the mouth, loss of appetite, tiredness, irritability and a general lack of energy. People with suspected measles are advised to phone their GP or hospital before attending so precautions can be taken against this extremely contagious disease. There have now been 27 confirmed cases of measles in Ireland this year with a further 17 cases under investigation. Many are linked to five outbreaks in homes with between two and four confirmed cases in each, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said. The 27 people are aged between one and 54, with most infections in the 25 to 34 age group followed by children aged between one and two as well as children aged 10 to 14. On 23 November, Dublin was set ablaze. Anger raged as rioters seized streets in the capital, attacking gardai and setting fire to public transport. The riots came about after a child was senselessly attacked earlier in the day. Now the mother of the child, neither of whom can be identified for legal reasons, wants the world to know, none of it was justified and it wasnt done in her little girls name. "We do not want hate to be the narrative of what happened to our daughter," she tells the Irish Examiner, six months on from the day that changed her familys life forever. The riots were nothing to do with our daughter, which was anger and hate, says the mother of the strong-willed little fighter who remains in a Dublin hospital nearly six months on. The little girl was left with life-changing injuries after being stabbed on Parnell Street on that overcast November day. After the attack, Dublin city centre quickly descended into a violent hellscape, as rioters burned, looted and destroyed. They used the attack on the little girl, two of her classmates, and their creche minder as an excuse to rampage across the city. In her first interview since that dark day, the mother, in a softly spoken voice, says she does not want anyone to "respond with hate to the incident. Her daughter, she says, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time". The main message we have is that we dont want any hate over this and that hate only generates more hate," the mother says. A car burns on Parnell Street as members of the Garda Public Order Unit set up cordons on O'Connell Street and Parnell Street during the Dublin riot in November 2023. Photo: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie We dont have time for hate, we just want to focus on our daughter, she said, speaking under the condition of anonymity. "I never wanted to receive that call." The girl's parents met in Ireland and decided to start a family here. The childs father is Eastern European, and the mother grew up in South America. Like most young couples starting out, they secured a home and employment in Dublin and were delighted when they discovered they were expecting their first child in 2018. We decided to remain in Ireland because we knew it was a safer place to raise children, said the mother. The couple decided to send their daughter to an Irish-speaking school because the child is already multilingual Irish is her fourth language. She was born in the Rotunda Hospital. She loves Ireland and this is her home. She used to love going out in the rain, splashing in puddles, and being out in the wind. She never really liked too much heat. We knew she was more than ready for national school. She is very sociable and a great communicator. Most people believe her school is full of Irish children only, but there is a big mix of pupils from all backgrounds there. The little girl was only a few months into Junior Infants class in her new school when the attack happened, shortly after lunch on a bright winter's day. She was settling into school well and had made many new friends. On the morning of Thursday, November 23, the little girl was dropped off at after-school with all of her classmates, as normal. It was a typical day. At around 1.30pm, the kids, having finished school, formed a line with their creche minder, when the attack happened. The mother, tears flowing down her face, said: I never wanted to receive a call telling me that my child had been injured, so we chose Ireland to have our children. But I got that call anyway. It was like something out of a movie or watching the Twin Towers collapse. I was at work and my phone rang. The creche owner told me my daughter was stabbed. "I work in the city centre, and I ran non-stop to her school. I saw my daughter, she was there lying on the ground being worked on by medical staff. "There was so much shock and numbness. I wanted to go to her, but all I did was stand there because that was the moment my daughter needed medical attention. I stood back and let them work on her. I called my husband and then I saw her being taken away in the ambulance. Two of the girl's schoolmates, a boy aged five and a girl aged six, were also injured in the attack but were discharged from hospital in the days afterwards. Creche worker Leanne Flynn was seriously injured and wasn't discharged until earlier this year. The five-year-old girl was critically injured, undergoing emergency surgery to keep her alive. Her distraught parents quickly made their way to the nearby Temple Street Childrens Hospital and waited in agony while their child went into emergency theatre. Only five years earlier, she had taken her first breath, just 600 metres away at the Rotunda Hospital, and now medics were battling to keep her breathing. We didnt ask for updates even though we wanted them, said Mum. We needed the doctors to focus on our child who was in surgery for three hours. Recovery The woman recalls having to relay the dreadful news to her family back home in South America. The parents rang relatives from the hospital while their daughter was undergoing surgery. "It was very difficult to break the news to my family, at first," she said. "My father became emotional and took his time to speak with me over the phone. My brother made and received calls for me when I couldnt, they gave me a lot of help. "Other family members and friends sent their love and positive vibes." Her mother has now come to Ireland to help her. Im happy my mother is here now." After months of treatment, she describes her daughter as an angel and a warrior, who has fought back from the edge of death. She remains in Temple Street Childrens Hospital but is now in the rehabilitation phase of her journey, and the family say they are taking her recovery day by day. We had to explain to her that she was in hospital. When she first woke up from surgery the first thing we told her was that she is safe, and that we are with her. There was confusion for her at first, but reassurance was the most important thing. We do not know if she remembers the incident. "The hospital has been a blessing too. They are doing all they can. But you are still the mother, and you have to be there to help them understand what my daughter is signalling to us. As she wiped away the tears, she said: It is good to cry. I allow myself to cry once a week. The family are in hospital every day, taking turns by their childs bedside. The hardest part was watching her in pain, said Mum. But she is on the ward now and has gone through so much. When she was in intensive care and on oxygen that was extremely hard for her, you feel helpless. After three weeks, doctors said they wanted to remove the tubes to see how she would manage. 'We have to try', they said, and we agreed. "They placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, and I knew she was struggling, and I said, Can we remove the mask? Once it was taken away, she settled down and has been breathing on her own since then. She is non-verbal right now and there is no prognosis. It is too early to say, but my daughter is not someone who goes backwards, she keeps moving forward. Her daughter is now communicating with her family and medical team "using her eyes" to tell them what she wants. I know when she does or doesnt want something, she sometimes rolls her eyes. Even the doctors can see that." In February, she was returned to the Intensive Care Unit for pain management. She is now back on the ward. The family are in a more settled routine now that their daughter is out of immediate danger. Ive gone back to work for a few hours every week and so has my husband." She said there have been great milestones for our little warrior, she has started on feeds now (not orally yet) and moving her arms a good bit. "She is enjoying her Irish lessons with the hospital school and loves watching Paddington 1 and 2 for laughs. These are huge achievements. Support The future is unknown, but its only been a few months, so for now, our daughter is where she needs to be. We are with her, and we want everyone to know we are very grateful for all their support. We have to keep going for her because she wants to keep going, and she is telling us that very clearly. My husband and I help each other. When he is down, I help him, and he then helps me. She is very resilient and has shown us how determined and strong she is. We have to match her determination. "We talk to her and ask her things and she can definitely hear and understand us, and we are being guided by her. The questions regarding her future and ours are there. "Despite all the mights and maybes, we have to believe in her, mainly because she does. Candles and tributes after a vigil held outside Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire school on Parnell Square in the days following the attack on Parnell Square East. The girl's mother said: 'I am so grateful for the huge generosity and support we have received.' Photo: Niall Carson/PA Even with all the heartache, there was not the slightest hint of anger or resentment from the parents. Instead, the mother said: I am so grateful for the huge generosity and support we have received, and I never underestimate the power of prayer. While no one can truly imagine the pain endured by the family, the childs mother said at times, she feels guilty over the support they have received when other parents are suffering with sick and injured children too". I have spoken to one of the other childrens parents. I havent spoken to anyone else yet, but I dont want to put on any pressure. It is a lot to deal with. Everyone deals with things in their own way." Since her daughters admission to Temple Street, the family has remained in regular contact with her school, which they described as extremely supportive". They are very helpful and have given regular updates to the families there. I am in contact with some parents. At Christmas, I went to the school with gifts for the children from my daughter, I felt that was important. "I did also speak to the Deliveroo cyclist, Caio Benicio. A number of GoFundMe pages were also set up including one called Barrog do Chailin Beag (A Hug for A Little Girl)." Roisin Fitzgerald runs the page a family friend, who is helping to raise funds for the little girl and her family. Despite the devastating trauma they have suffered, the childs mother was deeply mindful that well-wishers across the world wanted to know how her daughter was doing in hospital. With that in mind, she began to write inspiring updates on the GoFundMe page, including a beautiful poem called Land of memory and hope. It includes the words: "I see every morning when you would wake up and walk towards me for a hug, even without being able to open your eyes properly. I see your eyes glisten when the swing in the playground was free, I can picture every laugh, jump, word, tantrum, fall, I can feel your hugs, your love, your lust for life, I can almost touch you... that is how much I remember of you, I remember everything." During our two-hour conversation, this remarkable, compassionate woman displays a powerful sense of empathy for others. Its about pain, we are all feeling pain over our children," she said. Adjusting to a new way of life has taken its toll on the family. She is not the same child even though she is our child, so we are learning to live a new way of life and we know she is in there. We just have to wait for her to be ready to come out. Its just going to be a very slow road and we dont know what will happen. We have moved to a more adaptable house for her, and we are just taking each day as it comes. We take all the help we can get, we can't afford not to. She was always a positive child. My mother is in the hospital now with her and Ill go shortly. There is always someone there. Life has to go on, we have no choice, and it is very early days, but she has made a lot of progress." A 50-year-old man, Riad Bouchaker, appeared in Dublin District Court in December, charged with the attempted murder of three children and the assault of the creche worker. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings on May 17, 1974, Joe Duffy took a series of callers on his Liveline programme on RTE Radio One. The callers were predominantly survivors of the day, recalling the trauma of ordinary lives being extraordinarily interrupted in the most violent, devastating way. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost 90 minutes later. The bombs, later claimed by the Ulster Volunteer Force, killed 34 civilians, including an unborn child, and injured almost 300. The attacks were among the deadliest of the Troubles, and by far the most devastating in the 26 counties during the period. Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from 19 up to 80 years. 'Obliterated' Possibly the most harrowing contribution came from Niall ONeill, whose father Edward was killed instantly, and whose older brothers - Billy and Eddie were severely injured. Billy, who was 4, has had more surgeries than birthdays to manage the shrapnel in his body, which his brother Niall described as large lumps of metal in his body, but its all of the smaller fragments that are making their way through his body, through his head, through his ear, through his spine, through his feethes literally riddled with shrapnel. Being mid-May, it was Communion season, and Nialls mother had taken his sister for her haircut ahead of the celebration due to take place the following day. To compound matters, there was a bus strike, meaning the streets were even busier than normal with pedestrians. Mrs ONeill who was five months pregnant at the time (her baby Martha would later arrive stillborn) would quickly learn that her husband and two young boys were badly injured. Widowed by the explosion, she then had to care for two children who suffered horrific injuries, as well as three others who would grow up without their father. Another family, the OBriens, were as Duffy so devastatingly put it completely obliterated. All four of them: John and Anna, both 23, and their children Jacqueline and Anna Marie, 18 and 6 months respectively. The scene outside The Welcome Inn on Parnell Street, Dublin, on May 18, 1974. Horrific memories Those who spoke did so with incredible clarity of the chaos and horror, and the horrific injuries suffered by innocent bystanders, many of them like the ONeills and the OBriens children and teenagers. Many recalled hearing the first blast on Parnell St at 5.28pm and running outside towards Talbot St, which detonated at 5.30pm. A third detonation occurred on South Leinster St at 5.32pm. It was a compelling, distressing listen, as testimony followed testimony of young nurses into old age now and eyewitnesses, many of them injured, spoke of the terror they lived through, the friends and family they lost, and the incomprehensibility of it all. If you were sat in your car listening to the radio, your blood would have run cold, and your body rendered limp, as mine was. If you were old enough to remember the images from Omagh, when 29 people were killed in a Real IRA bomb, you will have some idea what the people of Dublin lived through and with since. Many Irish soldiers, too, will be familiar with the terror of explosions above them in the sky, or the impact of mortar rounds on their positions. Those of us who were in Beirut on August 4, 2020, will never forget the Guernica-like scenes on the ground, as anonymous people ran shoeless through glass-covered streets to save children who werent even their own. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, May 17, 2024. Picture: AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov Dublin horror by five More than anything, however, you cant help listening to all of it without thinking of Gaza, a strip of land much, much smaller than Ireland. To put their current nightmare into perspective; if we are to accept that at least 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza in 224 days of terror, that averages out at 170 people a day. That's the Dublin bombings, times 5, every day, for 224 days, with no sign of it slowing down. If you were to go to one funeral per day of every child killed in Gaza, it would take 37 years. Which means youd stop going to the burials of little children in little white coffins in 2061. Displaced Palestinians children take the coastal Rashid road to return to Gaza City as they pass through Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on April 14, 2024. Picture: AFP via Getty Images Grief and trauma is not a competition, but we should all think of these cold numbers when we dare belittle student protests, or equivocate on genocide, or the next time a candidate for the upcoming European parliamentary elections comes knocking on your door, all smiles and bombast. Thirty-seven years of funerals. And remember, thats just for the children. Protesters in Peru are demanding that the government repeals a decree characterising seven gender identities, including transgenderism, as mental illnesses. Demonstrators gathered in front of the health ministry in Perus capital city, Lima, and the Peruvian Embassy in Ecuadors capital, Quito. The demonstrations coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia, celebrated since 2005 to mark May 17, 1990, when homosexuality then considered a mental illness was removed from the World Health Organisations International Classification of Diseases. In Lima, hundreds protested against last weeks decree by Peruvian President Dina Boluartes administration. The Ministry of Health said the action would guarantee comprehensive mental health care coverage to those affiliated with public, private or mixed health plans. Members of the LGBTQ+ community protested outside Perus Health Ministry (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Peru does not recognise same-sex marriage. Demonstrators carried signs with a variety of messages including My life is freedom, not a disorder, Health is not legislated in the past, The disease is you, transphobia kills and No diversity with Dina. Several people beat on drums and others chanted: Trans people are love. We have had conservative governments for many years. We had military governments, then right-wing governments linked to Catholic and evangelical churches, so the position regarding us they have revived again, said Gia Cruzado, a transgender woman and writer. The decree is a step backwards and is a way to continue closing the doors to progress for our community, Ms Cruzado said. A protester argues with a police officer in Quito, Ecuador (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) Gahela Cari, a transgender woman who unsuccessfully ran for congress in 2021, said that being gay, lesbian, non-binary or bisexual is not a disease, it is a human condition. In Ecuador, dozens of members of a collective defending the rights of the LGBTQ+ community marched to Perus embassy. They staged a sit-in outside while waving flags and signs declaring that being trans is not a disease. French security forces have reported another death in armed clashes in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The fatality is the sixth in nearly a week of violent unrest wracking the archipelago whose indigenous population has long sought independence. The person was killed in an exchange of fire at one of the many impromptu barricades blocking roads on the island, said a security official. Two other people were seriously injured in the clash, the official said, confirming French media reports. The official said the firefight erupted at a blockade in the north of the main island, at Kaala-Gomen. Le Monde and other French news outlets said the person killed was a man and that his son was among the injured. French Army embarking a plane to New Caledonia at the Istres military base, southern France (Etat Major des Armees via AP) This weeks violence erupted on Monday after protests over voting reforms opposed by pro-independence supporters who have long pushed to break free from France. Armed clashes, looting and arson have turned parts of the capital, Noumea, into no-go zones and left a vast trail of destruction. Charred hulks of burned out cars litter roads, businesses and shops have been ransacked and buildings turned into smoking ruins, with fires sending billowing clouds of smoke into the South Pacific skies. Despite a state of emergency imposed on the archipelago by the government in Paris and hundreds of reinforcements for security services that lost control of some neighbourhoods, residents say violence continues to make venturing out perilous. Protesters have blocked roads with barricades, as have residents banding together to protect their homes, neighbourhoods and livelihoods. Noumeas mayor, Sonia Lagarde, said on Saturday that while overnight violence has eased somewhat, with a 6pm to 6am curfew in effect, we are far from a return to normal. The damage is incredible, she said, speaking to broadcaster BFM-TV. Its a spectacle of desolation. The situation is not improving quite the contrary despite all the appeals for calm, she said, describing Noumea as under siege. The state of emergency gives authorities greater powers to tackle violent protesters, including the possibility of house detention for people deemed a threat to public order and expanded powers to conduct searches, seize weapons and restrict movements, with possible jail time for violators. The last time France imposed such measures on one of its overseas territories was in 1985, also in New Caledonia, the Interior Ministry said. There have been decades of tensions on the archipelago between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonisers who want to remain part of France. The unrest erupted as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to voter lists in New Caledonia. The National Assembly approved a bill on Wednesday that will, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections. Opponents say the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalise indigenous Kanak people. They once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination. The vast archipelago of about 270,000 people east of Australia is 10 time zones ahead of Paris. Georgias president has vetoed the so-called Russian law targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests in the country. The law would require media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. French police are hunting for armed robbers who targeted a jewellery store on one of the poshest streets in Paris. Media reports said the target was the exclusive Harry Winston boutique, self-described as jeweller to the stars. Paris police said the armed robbers arrived and left on motorbikes, firing a shot outside without causing any casualties. Police officers at the scene of the robbery in Paris (Thibault Camus/AP) Video broadcast by BFM-TV showed people dressed in black speeding away on two motorbikes. The luxury boutique was cordoned off as police investigators went in and out on Saturday afternoon. The Paris prosecutors office overseeing the investigation gave the robbery location as Avenue Montaigne, where Harry Winston has its dazzling, by-appointment store, but would not confirm that the jeweller was the target. A police forensic officer inspects the scene (Thibault Camus/AP) Neither the police nor the prosecutors office said whether the robbers made off with jewels and, if so, how much they were worth. This is not the first time the luxury store has been robbed. Eight people were convicted in 2015 in connection with a spectacular 2008 hold-up in which three gunmen stole about 92 million dollars in loot. Yin Ruins shed new light on 3000-year-old civilization in C China's Henan People's Daily Online) 09:34, May 18, 2024 Editor's Note: Chinese civilization has moved forward with enduring vitality throughout history. Discoveries at the Liangzhu archaeological site that reveal the origins of Chinese civilization, along with the ancient Chinese characters on oracle bones from the Yin Ruins and the cultural treasures of the Sanxingdui Ruins, all testify to China's splendid civilization. Chinese civilization, spanning ancient and modern times, radiates brilliance. It is deeply rooted in the nation's identity and the wisdom of its people. To truly understand China, one must grasp the essence of this civilization. People's Daily Online presents the "Tracing the origins of Chinese civilization" series of promotional videos. These videos explore the treasured aspects of Chinese culture, decipher the ancient codes of civilization that have been passed down over thousands of years, and share how China's ancient civilization continues to thrive in modern times. "I have long been yearning to visit here. This time I come here to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese civilization so that we can make the past serve the present, and draw inspiration for better building modern Chinese civilization," said Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the Yin Ruins in Anyang city, central China's Henan Province, in October 2022. The Yin Ruins, dating back over 3,000 years, were once the capital of the late Shang (Yin) Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.), confirmed through documented evidence and archaeological excavations. The Yin Ruins and the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed there provide conclusive proof of the dynasty, extending recorded Chinese history by nearly 1,000 years earlier than previously believed. A new building of Yinxu Museum in Anyang city officially opened to the public on Feb. 26, 2024. The museum showcases nearly 4,000 items or sets of cultural relics, including bronzeware, pottery, oracle bones, and jade objects. Over three-fourths of these relics are being shown to the public for the first time. Chinese civilization boasts a rich and uninterrupted history, and archaeology has played a crucial role in preserving and passing down its cultural heritage. It is essential for understanding the depth and significance of Chinese culture. In the outskirts of Anyang, Jiao Peng, a senior technician at the Anyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and his colleagues were conducting excavations, battling against wind and sand. Archaeological work is physically demanding, often taking place in harsh and challenging environments. Jiao developed a deep passion for archeology as a child, thanks to his father's influence. Despite moments of exhaustion, his unwavering love for archaeology has always prevailed. As a grassroots archaeologist, Jiao takes on various responsibilities. In the initial stages, he draws, scrapes, takes photographs, and cleans skeletons. Later, he restores pottery and writes reports. "When the artifacts I excavated are displayed in the museum and receive praise from viewers, I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It is the ultimate reward for me," Jiao expressed. Many archaeologists, like Jiao, dedicate their efforts to excavating ancient sites and unearthing buried cultural relics, bringing them to museums and revealing history to the world. "Ancient people are able to communicate their thoughts to modern people through these picture-like symbols. I find this truly amazing," said Li Xiaoyang, head of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Anyang. The character formation methods in oracle bone inscriptions reflect our ancestors' views on the relationship between humanity and nature, their understanding of nature, and their perspectives on human relationships. The structure of Chinese characters has remained unchanged. This continuation is the true Chinese gene, Li explained. To date, more than 160,000 oracle bone inscriptions have been excavated from the Yin Ruins, revealing around 4,500 characters. About 1,500 characters have been deciphered, while many still require further verification. The pressing task is to digitize the inscriptions and sort them through computer calculations, according to Li. "When General Secretary Xi visited the old exhibition hall of Yinxu Museum, he showed great interest in almost every artifact from the Yin Ruins. I was very excited. His profound knowledge of history quickly facilitated a state of communication between us," Li recalled of Xi's visit in 2022. "Everyone present felt inspired. We believe that through archaeological work and the exhibition of cultural relics, we can allow Chinese people and even our international friends to better understand Chinese culture and gain deeper insights into the endearing, lovable, recognizable, and tangible aspects of our culture. This can also contribute to cultural communication and exchanges between China and other countries," stated Li. Oracle bones have a fragile texture and gradually deteriorate over time, making digital preservation urgent and necessary. A digital platform developed by a research team at Anyang Normal University aids in deciphering the inscriptions, bringing new opportunities for their inheritance and protection. In the Oracle Bone Inscription Information Processing Laboratory at Anyang Normal University, a graduate student named Yin Yiran scanned and inputted rubbings of oracle bone inscriptions. After completing her undergraduate studies, Yin decided to pursue a graduate program in oracle bone inscriptions. She cited her curiosity as the primary motivation when asked about her choice. To digitize the inscriptions, Anyang Normal University has established a big data platform that is freely and publicly accessible. It is the most comprehensive, standardized, and authoritative oracle bone inscription data platform in the world. In addition, the university has launched a dedicated app, allowing users to learn and practice oracle bone inscriptions anytime, anywhere. "The work we're doing now is to revive the understanding of oracle bone inscriptions, and help everyone learn about and recognize them," Yin said, expressing optimism about the future of this field. "Through the integration of computer technology, our goal is to enhance the awareness of oracle bone inscriptions. As interest grows, we anticipate a rise in the number of researchers dedicated to this field, ensuring its ongoing development," Yin explained. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chengliang) ( RFE/RL) 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. Hindustan Times Video: Irans Khamenei Warns MBS; Lambasts U.S. For Forcing Saudi Arabia To Normalise Ties with Israel 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. Copyright (c)2024 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Via RFE/RL Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The story has it that Russian noble and officer Grigory Potemkin, who stole the Crimea from the Ottoman Empire in 1783, faced a dilemma. The place was a mess after the Russian conquest, but Tsarina Catherine the Great wanted to see her new possession. So Potemkin set up fake facades in pasteboard that looked like a village, and brought in some smiling peasants to stand before them, as Catherine sailed by. Then he had them dismantled and reassembled downriver so that she would think there was a whole set of such thriving villages. The tale is untrue, but worked its way into a popular biography of Potemkin and became the stuff of legend. President Joe Bidens floating pier off Gaza, which went operational on Friday, is such a Potemkin Village. While it isnt completely useless, it cannot replace overland truck deliveries of food and aid. At most it will supply 150 trucks worth of aid daily, when 500 are needed. It is a PR band aid on the gaping wound of Israeli genocidal blockage of aid to the civilian population. The piers operation is interrupted anytime there are high winds or sea swells. It is far from population centers. It is vulnerable to Israeli indiscriminate artillery and drone fire. It can be hit by Hamas sabotage. It depends on the delivery of the aid by United Nations workers (including UNRWA, which Biden hysterically defunded because of Israeli lies that it is a Hamas front). These aid workers, as with those of the World Central Kitchen, have sometimes been struck by Israeli fire, apparently in some cases deliberately. The floating pier cost $320 million, which could have fed a lot of Palestinians if the Israelis hadnt closed off almost all aid truck routes into the Strip. Al Jazeera English: Aid agencies: Land routes are more effective Meanwhile, in the real world the Israeli attempt to make Gaza uninhabitable and to ethnically cleanse its Palestinian inhabitants accelerated. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the Israeli army has in recent days forced 640,000 Palestinian refugees out of Rafah (to which it had earlier exiled them). Embed from Getty Images Displaced Palestinians pack their belongings before leaving an unsafe area in Rafah on May 15, 2024 (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images). This expulsion of nearly a fourth of the entire population is problematic because, OCHA says, Our colleagues working on ensuring that people in Gaza have adequate shelter say there are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza. No shelter, no shelter materials. People dont have a pot to piss in. Or defecate in. The mass displacement at Israeli hands has exacerbated the water and sanitation crisis, with sewage overflow and solid waste spreading across roads, displacement camps, and the rubble of destroyed homes with a catastrophic impact on health. I repeat, sewage overflow and solid waste are spreading across roads and through the makeshift camps. Aid workers have talked about Gaza being awash in green slime, with the toxic brew spread to humans by a cloud of aggressive black flies that try to get into your mouth. The NGO Action for Humanity (AFH) says that some 270,000 tons of garbage and sewage have piled up in Gaza, with the Israelis interdicting access to the major landfill and preventing it from being disposed of. AFH continues, The lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation conditions continue to fuel rising cases of acute jaundice syndrome and bloody watery diarrhoea, posing a significant public health challenge. These refugees, hungry, sick, and some wounded by Israeli indiscriminate fire, have been death-marched to Deir al-Balah governorate or to Khan Younis, both of which have been destroyed and left bereft of shelter, toilets, functioning hospitals and bakeries. The World Health Organization says of hospitals that they are themselves on life support because the Israelis have embargoed the fuel they need to operate: Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic reported that only 13 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are now partially functioning, emphasizing that fuel is required for electricity and to run generators. He said health partners require between 1.4 million to 1.8 million litres monthly so that hospitals can function, but only 159,000 litres have entered Gaza since the border closure, and thats clearly not sufficient.' The Israelis are letting in a tenth of the fuel needed to run the hospitals. Imagine being told you have to hit the road carrying your few possessions and children, after months of starvation and drinking dirty water, and to try to find shelter in Khan Younis, which looks like this: Embed from Getty Images A displaced Palestinian woman pushes a stroller as she walks in front of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) Or perhaps you might prefer the well appointed apartments of Deir al-Balah after theyve been the recipients of the tender mercies of the Israeli military: Embed from Getty Images DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA MAY 15: A general view of the completely destroyed house belonging to the Berash family and the damaged buildings around it as a result of the Israeli attack on Bureij refugee camp in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on May 15, 2024. As a result of the Israeli attack, one building was completely destroyed and many houses and structures in the surrounding area were damaged as Israels attacks on the Gaza Strip continue uninterruptedly for 222 days. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images) Grain is essential to the human diet. In central Gaza, there are only five bakeries still functioning that Israel shells havent pulverized, four in Gaza City and one in Deir Balah. About twelve more are physically intact but have the severe disadvantage of having no fuel or flour, which would not make for what you might call a bakery. UN and volunteer aid workers can therefore only provide tiny meals, and are concentrating on Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. Lee Geon (Suho) looked for clues to clear his name. Meanwhile, Choi Myung Yoon (Hong Ye Ji) learns about her father's malicious reality in "Missing Crown Prince" episode 10. 'Missing Crown Prince' Episode 10: Lee Geon Plans for Counterattack Against His Enemies Lee Geon arrived in Hanyang and met the followers of his grandfather, Hyeon Mok (Nam Gyeong Eup). When he heard that a ceremony for Prince Do Seong (Kim Min Gyu) was set, he accelerated his plan to launch a counterattack. Afterward, Lee Geon met the doctor who had treated Hae Jong (Jeon Jin Oh), whom he had heard about from Han Sang Soo, an internal officer of the royal palace. It was then he found out that Choi Sang Rok (Kim Ju Hun) used an antidote to poison someone. Accordingly, Lee Geon disguised himself as an assassin and sneaked into Sang Rok's house to find the antidote, but failed to find it. He returned after secretly looking at Choi Myung Yoon (Hong Ye Ji), whom he had just seen, with sad eyes. As he was struggling to find a solution to the situation, Lee Geon got angry when he heard that Left Councilor Yoon I Gyeom resigned and that Choi Myung Yoon's wedding ceremony would be held at the Crown Prince's investiture ceremony. Lee Gun Recruits Yoon I Gyeom for His Planned Revenge Elsewhere, Han Sang Su brought the court lady, who had told Lee Geon about the secret affair between Queen Min Soo Ryun (Myung Se Bin) and Choi Sang Rok, and told the shocking news that Lady Kimisang who was said to have died after poisoning was alive. Meanwhile, Lee Geon and Gap Seok dug up Lady Kimisang's grave and found out that the coffin was empty, through the story of the old man weaving the coffin, he was convinced that Min Soo Ryun and Sang Rok had taken Lady Kimisang out. Lee Geon tried his best to look for Kimisang's hiding place, but gave up and requested to ask for help. He went to Yoon I Gyeom while in disguise as an assassin. He then took out the slave documents stolen from Jang Yewon, the government officer in charge of document management and lawsuits. He made a request to Gyeom. As Lee Geon launched a plan to recruit Gyeom, who was one of the axes of evil deeds, expectations for an all-time cider counterattack exploded. Choi Myung Yoon Discovers Choi Sang Rok's Evil Deeds On the other hand, Soo Ryun visited Sang Rok who was shot while saving her. She promised to protect him and the next day, he directly presided over a coordination meeting, held responsibility for the situation, and demoted all of Yoon I Gyeom's people to important positions. In addition, Choi Myung Yoon's wedding to Prince Do Seong was announced. Despite the opposition from the ministers, Min Soo Ryun stood still and made sure that the wedding would happen. Choi Myung Yoon then entered the palace to prepare for the wedding. She saw Choi Sang Rok, her father suddenly enter and take refuge. Myung Yoon was secretly spying on her father who was watching Haejong. And that's when she discovered the devastating truth about her father's identity at the palace. For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Shai San Miguel wrote this. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Detectives have arrested two Nigerian nationals and a Kikuyu lady for their suspected involvement in the trafficking of Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine. The suspects, Stephen Emenike, Chijioke Andrew Maduka and Margaret Wanjiku Kioni, were ambushed by anti-narcotics detectives at their hideout within Clay City, Kasarani Sub-County yesterday, through an intelligence-led operation. The prohibited drugs estimated at a street value of over Sh1.3 million, three weighing machines, and various packaging materials were recovered from the suspects. The suspects were taken into custody pending court process. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Detectives in Nyali, Mombasa County are investigating a case where a 35-year-old man allegedly jumped from the 4th floor balcony of his rented house after his alleged three friends showed up at his door two days ago. Reporting to the police on phone, the panic-stricken caretaker at Executive Apartment within Kadzandani area explained how he saw a fellow human land on the cabros of his workplace, only to realize it was one of his tenants. Visiting the scene, police learned from the injured man's wife that she had heard a knock at their door, and as she went to answer it, her husband who peeped from the bedroom window flung to the balcony and flew all the way down. Realizing what had just happened, the then confused "friends" scampered away like terrified rats before curious neighbours, most of whom watched in dismay from the periphery, had a chat with them. Luckily, the man survived his tussle with gravity, but not without several broken limbs. He is recuperating at the Coast General Hospital. Whereas the motive behind the jump remain unestablished, search for the three friends who holed up since has been launched. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Saturday, May 18, 2024 Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi had a hard time defending his insatiable appetite for money, even as the country goes through a rough patch. While appearing before the Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations, Mudavadi was hard-pressed to explain why his docket sought additional funds despite the Ksh1.74 billion already allocated to the purchase of the London chancery. MPs questioned Mudavadi's request for an additional Ksh350 million towards purchasing a new London embassy and renovating the New York facility. Kenya has been seeking to purchase a new office block for its mission in the United Kingdom, following the expiry of the lease for the chancery for the High Commissioner and staff in October 2021. According to lawmakers, the project stalled despite the monies being allocated because the tender for the same (purchase of chancery building) was invalidated after Kenya failed to get a conveyancing lawyer to handle the purchase process. A previous audit by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu showed that the country had spent around Ksh58.63 million yearly to rent the chancery in London from 2021 to August 2023. Thereafter, the price was hiked to Ksh95.18 million. The audit report by Gathungu highlighted the poor conditions for some of the buildings that house Kenya's diplomats. To mitigate the issue, the government allocated Ksh2.3 billion for the construction and repairs of Kenyan embassies situated globally in the 2024/25 budget estimates. Repair of government properties in New York is set to cost Ksh841 million, followed by embassies in Lusaka (Ksh30 million), Mogadishu (Ksh25 million), Rome (Ksh21 million), Washington DC (Ksh20 million) and Dar es Salaam (Ksh20 million). Other embassies lined up for construction include Kinshasa (Ksh20 million), Addis Ababa (Ksh20 million), Hague (Ksh15 million), Pretoria (Ksh10 million) and Kampala (Ksh10 million). The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was over the moon yesterday after he held talks with Azimio Leader Raila Odinga. In a statement on X, Murkomen disclosed details of his discussion with Raila Odinga, following their participation in the send-off ceremony for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's three-day state visit. During their encounter, Murkomen and Raila engaged in discussions concerning national affairs, particularly focusing on infrastructure development and regional transport connectivity. Murkomen extended his best wishes to Raila in his pursuit of the African Union Commission Chairmanship. "It was a pleasure meeting my friend, the former Prime Minister Rt. Hon Raila Odinga, as we saw off Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni at the airport. "We had a brief consultation on national matters, including infrastructure and regional transport connectivity. "I also wished him well in his bid to become the next African Union Commission chairman. "We shall make great strides as a nation and as a continent when leaders work together," Murkomen stated in a statement on his X account. Murkomen also highlighted the discussions and bilateral agreements signed between President William Ruto and President Museveni during Museveni's visit. These agreements encompassed trade and transport infrastructure development, with a notable focus on extending the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Malaba, Kampala, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Both Heads of State emphasized the significance of this expansion as an efficient and sustainable infrastructure for regional transport. The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, May 17, 2024 - Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro is a very dirty and uncouth politician, going by how he treated students of Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE). According to blogger Cyprian Nyakundi, Nyoro had invited over 250 students to the Safari Park Hotel where he was to address them and buy them dinner. Initially, during the planning session, Ndindi told the students to utilize their resources, and when he came, he would sort the bills and facilitate student leaders, and refund all expenses. However, when he came, Nyoro, who is the chairman of the National Assembly Budget Committee, gave the talk and when he finished, he sneaked through the back door and left the students stranded. Imagine he came, gave his talk, and sneaked out without honoring the promise, leaving us stranded. " You can imagine most of our students' leaders sought refuge at KISE because we didn't have a place to sleep, having used all our resources to plan for that meeting... "Actually, the Principal of the School Mr. Norman Kiogora didn't want us to spend there despite being paid to allow a political function there, One student told Nyakundi. The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, May 18, 2024 President William Ruto and his Deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, have lost substantial support of the Mt. Kenya region as Kikuyus dont recognize them as their leaders anymore. This is after they resolved to retain former President Uhuru Kenyatta as the regions kingpin to chart a way forward ahead of the 2027 General Election. The meeting dubbed Limuru III was convened in Kabuku to air out issues affecting the Mt Kenya region. Several leaders who attended the meeting include Martha Karua (NARC-Kenya party leader), Jeremiah Kioni (Jubilee Secretary General), Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri MP), Ndiritu Muriithi (former Laikipia governor), Ferdinand Waititu (former Kiambu governor) among others. The leaders noted they would continue to recognize Uhuru Kenyatta as the Mt Kenya kingpin until such a time that the former head of state would officially step down. During the meeting, the leaders called on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Uhuru Kenyatta to convene a meeting and unanimously agree on the regions direction ahead of the upcoming elections. The Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Kiago stated that the region failed Uhuru by declining the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which constituted the one man one shilling one vote policy. "He stood with the region at all times and went out of his way to ensure that we (the Mt Kenya people) were catered for. The moment he issued a direction with the BBI, we failed to back him," he stated. "He had informed the elders to help him to popularise the BBI because if it sailed through, then the Mt Kenya region would be sorted upon his exit." He added the region should unite regardless of political affiliation to ensure that Mt Kenya speaks in one voice on matters politics and economic development. His sentiments were echoed by former political aspirant George Maara who clarified that the regions did not have any intention to install another kingpin but Uhuru. The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Mt Kenya region electorate and businesspeople have resolved to retain former President Uhuru Kenyatta as the community political kingpin until 2027. The leaders who met at the Jumuiya Conference in Limuru during a community fete dubbed Limuru III noted they would continue to recognize Uhuru Kenyatta as the Mt Kenya kingpin until such a time that the former head of state would officially step down. The Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Kiago stated that the region failed Uhuru by declining the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which constituted the one man one shilling one vote policy. "He stood with the region at all times and went out of his way to ensure that we (the Mt Kenya people) were catered for. The moment he issued a direction with the BBI, we failed to back him," he stated. "He had informed the elders to help him to popularise the BBI because if it sailed through, then the Mt Kenya region would be sorted upon his exit." The leaders who attended the conference are; Martha Karua (NARC-Kenya party leader), Jeremiah Kioni (Jubilee Secretary General), Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri MP), Ndiritu Muriithi (former Laikipia governor), Ferdinand Waititu (former Kiambu governor) among others. The Kenyan DAILY POST In a world where the path to medical school is often depicted as a one-size-fits-all journey, my story is a testament to the fact that there is no cookie-cutter method for current or prospective doctors. I am now a third-year osteopathic medical student, but my path to get here has taken many detours. A nontraditional medical applicant is anyone who has followed an unorthodox path to medical school. We exhibit qualities such as taking two or more gap years before entering medical school, pursuing a career change from another profession into medicine, switching majors from an unrelated field to premed coursework, or holding a degree in the arts or humanities rather than the traditional sciences. The truth is, the road to medicine is as diverse as the patients we eventually serve, and it is OK not to fit the traditional mold. If you are on a nontraditional journey, try to enjoy the rideyour life experiences will help you relate to your patients. As I share my story, I hope to illuminate the many ways to pursue a career in medicine. Behind the wheel of a bus My alternative journey into the world of medicine began during college. While pursuing a neurobiology major, I took on the role of a bus driver for the student-run company on campus. As I navigated the city streets, I discovered that although I was responsible for taking passengers safely from point A to point B, I had also become an observer of the various qualities of human beings. Regardless of age, background, or circumstance, every passenger carried a story to share, a life to live, and a journey to undertake. My time as a bus driver, whether it involved helping passengers navigate bus routes or providing clear instructions, reinforced the critical roles of communication and dependability, as well as the responsibility of being entrusted with the lives of othersskills I now apply during my clinical rotations. Beyond the desk: unconventional classrooms Intrigued by the world of orthopedics, I embarked on a journey into research after college. At the laboratory bench, I learned how innovations in orthopedics could translate into real-world solutions for patients. This opportunity expanded my intellectual horizons and allowed me to see the practical applications of medical advancements. After gaining valuable research experience, I transitioned into a role as a front desk clerk in an HIV/AIDS clinic. This role exposed me to the inner workings of health care, albeit from a different angle. I wasnt donning a white coat, but I was absorbing the complexities of patient care, the importance of efficient health care systems, and the power of compassionate communication. My time at the front desk wasnt just about answering phones and scheduling appointmentsit was about witnessing the impact of health care on individuals lives. These two experiences further confirmed my desire to pursue medicine. Witnessing the impact of health care firsthand, from the bench to the front desk, made me eager to help my own future patients. I also saw how research can influence the clinical side of medicine, and when working behind the desk, I experienced the humanistic side of patient interaction. Application cycle persistence My path to medical school wasnt without its challenges. I faced rejection not once but twice during my first two application cycles before finally receiving acceptance on my third attempt. Each rejection could have been a roadblock, a reason to give up, but I chose a different path: persistence. With each setback, I was further determined to strengthen my application for the next cycle. As I continued to gather insight into varying medical applications, I decided to pursue a masters degree in physiology and biophysics. This degree taught me critical thinking and the value of interdisciplinary learning, both of which would later prove invaluable in the medical world. Its never too late to try I entered medical school at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) when I was 27 years old. Society often associates medical school with youth, but I have found and proven that age is just one end of a much broader spectrum of characteristics. My unique path, enriched by my masters degree, research, work at the front desk, and even my time as a bus driver, has given me a multifaceted perspective on medicine. It has shown me that what is taught in medical school is not confined to textbooks and stethoscopes. The experiences we bring to medical school can allow us to better connect with individuals, empathize with their stories, and be part of their healing journey. One common question that arises when considering medical school is whether its ever too late to start, based on agefor me, that answer is no. As the former vice president during my first year and president during my second year of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) chapter at my school, I had the privilege of organizing premedical workshops for the local community college. During these workshops, I encountered enthusiastic students, some of whom were older yet equally committed to their aspirations of becoming physicians. One common concern among aspiring medical students is whether their age poses a barrier to applying to medical school. It is a valid concern, especially when you look around and see that many of your classmates are a few years younger. However, it is important to note that the landscape of medical school applicants is diverse in terms of age. While the mean age of matriculating students is 24, there are still many applicants and students who enter medical school at a much older age. In fact, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) 2021 Applicant and Matriculation report, matriculants into medical school over age 26 account for 17.3 percent of people who entered colleges of osteopathic medicine, with 3.6 percent being over the age of 31. Seeing so many older students at community college wanting to pursue medicine made me realize that I am a testament to the fact that it is never too late. Many were worried it was too late for them, but I wanted to share my story to reassure them that age should not be a barrier to pursuing their dreams in medicine. Ive come to realize that we shouldnt hide from being nontraditional students. At times, the age difference between yourself and your classmates can lead to a sense of shame or the feeling that you dont quite belong. Rather, I suggest we should proudly wear this title on our sleeves. The term nontraditional student comes with a unique sense of honor and a wealth of experience under our belts. One daywhether in the classroom, on clinical rotations, or in residencythese qualities will shine through, not as markers of difference, but as the strengths that make us exceptional. We bring unique backgrounds, diverse sets of skills, and a passion for health care to the table. Were not here just to earn degrees; were here to transform the health care landscape. My pathas well as that of other nontraditional peers before meto medical school may not fit the typical standard, and that is perfectly acceptable. It is a reminder that the future of medicine is diverse, innovative, and inclusive. Age is just one variable in the equation, and life experiences are invaluable assets that should be cherished. So let us welcome individuality, question conventions, and recognize that nontraditional medical students are reshaping the definition of how to become a doctor, one step at a time. Editors note: The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the views of The DO or the AOA. Yasi Arabi is a medical student. This article originally appeared in The DO. 12 family members of the Njiri cult have been arrested by police in Busia for refusing to be enumerated. Michael Kibwika the Busia Resident Districts Commissioner says The suspects arrested from Buyanga sub-county include two brothers; Joseph Wanyama Wabwire Siphoza. Taking todays action is because we do not want this to sabotage proper planning of Uganda, and they were saying that God has already counted them already, but it is God who have created us and He says that you have to obey to your leaders, so if do not obey to your leaders who were brought by God then you will have a problem with Him and even Jesus Crist was counted on his horse so I wonder whether they have different Jesus from us. Mr. Kibwika said. These add to the scores that have been arrested in various parts of the country for sabotaging the census exercise that closes tomorrow. The exercise will however continue for an extra day in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso where the first day was disrupted by technical glitches. - - Bruce Springsteen fans are being urged to have tickets ready ahead of tomorrow's (May 19) Croke Park gig. Concert-goers are being asked to add tickets to mobile wallets or access them on the Ticketmaster app for convenience and quicker entry to the stadium. In a post published on X (formerly Twitter), a Ticketmaster spokesperson stated, "If you're heading to see the legendary Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at Croke Park this Sunday, make sure to add your tickets to your mobile wallet in advance for easier access to the stadium." To ensure tickets are ready to go, download the app to add your tickets to your phone wallet by going to 'My Events', and choose 'Transfer' to transfer every ticket that isn't yours. Your friends will get an email to accept their ticket and, once in your wallet, just tap your phone to enter the venue, similar to contactless payment. Fans should note that screenshots won't be accepted. Springsteen and his E-Street Band are finishing their Irish dates at Croke Park after electric performances in Kilkenny, Cork and Belfast. The gig at Croke Park is due to start at 7pm. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Auburn, IN (46706) Today Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 72F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 53F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. While MYs always have wholesome relationships with aespa members, NingNing drew the line when a lot of fans started to call her THESE names. Among fourth-gen girl groups, aespa is one of the acts that is known for actively communicating with fans through various social media platforms such as Bubble and Instagram. As a result, they formed a close relationship with their fandom, MYs and they became comfortable throwing jokes and banters. However, there are still boundaries that shouldn't be crossed, and NingNing reminded fans about this line when she felt displeased by netizens intentionally spelling her name wrongly. Recently, NingNing posted a crying cat meme, explaining that she forgot to take a photo from the music show. As soon as she uploaded it, she drew fans' laughter, leading them to leave light-hearted comments such as: "So cute." "NingNing joined the cat meme-ing." "What's the story here, spill the tea." ALSO READ: aespa Ningning Garners Praise For Upgraded Visuals in Latest 'Supernova' Stage: 'In Her Legendary Days...' While it was supposed to be fun and all while communicating with each other, some MYs decided to tease NingNing even more as they left comments like: "Hi, KingKing." "LingLing?" "Okay, NingNong." Seeing this, NingNing immediately called them out tagging them one by one but as the teasing intensified, the female star firmly commented: "I'm not xingxingdingdinglinglingringring." it's clear that it bothers ningning enough to respond, but y'all continue with this unfunny "joke" pic.twitter.com/q77UhyAtwD May 17, 2024 In particular, it has been a long time since NingNing has been drawing the line about misspelling and making fun of her name, and even Karina last year mentioned that their maknae is sensitive about people making other variations of it. She is clear about wanting to be properly called NingNing and feels frustrated with those who are getting it wrong. While some MYs insisted that it was just an "inside joke," a lot of NingNing supporters emphasized that it is not a "joke" at this point, but blatant sinophobia and a form of racism. As a Chinese K-pop idol, calling her "LingLing" and other variations is undoubtedly a form of disrespect especially if done intentionally. kpop stans and their inability to treat chinese idols normally this is just blatant sinophobia https://t.co/Zm4GpRf5ZW (@DICKDOH) May 17, 2024 yall are fucking crazy for doing this to her when yall know damn that she's chinese and the whole "lingling" thing is very much used as a form to be racists towards chinese people. it's not just about "it bothers her" you're being racist you fucking donkey. https://t.co/Ra7VSRJNFj May 17, 2024 OMG making fun of Asian names is the oldest racist drag of Asians along with making slant eyes. Those racist a**holes dont get how much it scars Asian American kids when they do that to them, makes them hate being Asian. https://t.co/Ulw2AA7Kki Matthew L (@MattLae1) May 17, 2024 Sinophobia is so fucking normalised amongst kpop fans and it pisses me off so much. Calling a Chinese person who isnt called lingling lingling is so fucking racist you have no idea https://t.co/OjJ0d6p63Q stan (@chuuphey) May 17, 2024 Meanwhile, aespa, the group to which NingNing belongs is actively promoting various music broadcasts with the release of its new song. On the 13th, the quartet unveiled one of its double title tracks, "Supernova," which is included in its first studio album, "Armageddon." Upon its release, it became a big hit in both local and international charts, even earning about 11M streams on Spotify, just five days since it was dropped. The comeback track particularly impressed Koreans as the song is consistently ranked 1st on Bugs for 5 consecutive days, 1st on Melon Hot 100, 2nd on the Top 100 (based on peak ranking), and 6th on Daily Chart. On May 18th, the group will appear on MBC's "Show! Music Core," and on SBS's "Inkigayo" on the 19th. READ MORE: Pop Reporter Explains Why aespa NingNing Is 'Hidden Gem,' Describes Idol's Vocals For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Beatrice Public Schools held an open house for all four of the elementary buildings on Wednesday afternoon. Administrator Missy Timmerman said it was an opportunity to honor the buildings. 'Walk the Halls' open house was about honoring the buildings, she said. I appreciate the people who took the time to be here. Its obviously meaningful. Timmerman said there was a wide array of ages that came to visit the buildings. About 40 people attended the Lincoln Elementary open house. Its been fun, she said. Lincoln Elementary Secretary Julie Stuart said she had gotten a call from a previous student several weeks ago who had come to Lincoln. That woman was the first one to come in this afternoon, she said. The cool thing is that Carol Shelbourne and Debbie Smith were here. They were her teachers when she was a young student here. Tom Robertson of Lincoln came to walk the halls of Cedar, Stoddard and Lincoln elementary schools on Wednesday evening. I went to third and fourth grade at Stoddard, he said. Second, fifth and sixth grades I was at Lincoln. When I was in fifth grade, Mrs. Maxine Stone started an orchestra program. I had to walk to Lincoln Elementary to get my cello and catch a bus to Cedar Elementary for practice. Robertson talked about all of his elementary teachers and his memories of them. Im just a memory lane nut, he said. Everything in the school seemed a lot bigger then. He graduated from Beatrice High School in 1972. Recently he and his wife took a trip with some friends and their wives that he met while attending Beatrice Jr. High. They went to Paddock Lane Elementary, and weve just been lifelong friends. Robertson had plans to drive by the homes where his family lived while in Beatrice. Paddock Lane Elementary Principal Betty Replogle said about 30 people came to the school during the open house to visit the classrooms one final time. Everyone who came in could name all of their elementary teachers, she said. It was a lot of fun. Elementary students are being dismissed on Friday afternoon for the summer while Beatrice Middle School and high school students will complete the school year on Thursday. The pre-kindergarten and three elementary buildings will be moved to the new elementary site in July and ready for students in August. Srinagar, May 18 (PTI) Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla. The first attack took place on an open tourist camp near Pahalgam and the second on the former sarpanch at Hirpora in south Kashmir, officials said Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir Terrorist Attack: Terrorists Kill Former Sarpanch in Shopian, Injure Tourist Couple in Anantnag (Watch Video). "Terrorists fired upon and injured a woman, Farha, a resident of Jaipur (in Rajasthan) and her spouse Tabrez at Yannar in Anantnag. The injured were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone Police posted on X. In another attack, within half-an-hour, terrorists shot dead former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh in Shopian's Hirpora around 10.30 pm, the officials said. Also Read | Raebareli Lok Sabha Election 2024: Rahul Gandhi to Take on BJPs Dinesh Pratap Singh at Congress Bastion. Sheikh, who was associated with the BJP, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, they said. The areas in Anantnag and Shopian have been cordoned off and search operations have been launched to nab the attackers, the officials said. The back-to-back attacks come at a time when campaigning for the parliamentary polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is going on. Polling in Baramulla will be held on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections. Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference, PDP and the BJP, condemned the attacks. Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, said on X, "While we condemn the attack in Pahalgam today that resulted in injuries to two tourists followed by another attack on a (former) sarpanch in Hirpora, Shopian - the timing of these attacks given that the south election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by GOI (Government of India)." Polling for the seat was scheduled to be conducted on May 7 but was deferred after few political parties in Jammu and Kashmir raised concerns over weather conditions. Polling will now being held on May 25. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah also condemned the terror attacks. "They have said that such acts of brutality remain a serious impediment to achieving long-term peace in J-K. They urged all communities to come together in these challenging times and support efforts towards lasting harmony. Their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult period," a statement from the party said. The BJP in a statement said, "We strongly condemn the killing of ex-sarpanch Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh in Hirpora, Shopian, South Kashmir, by terrorists today." "Aijaz Ahmad was a brave soldier of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP firmly stands with the family of Aijaz Ahmad, who lost his life in this terror attack," it said. PTI SSB MIJ (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jalaun (UP), May 18 (PTI) Ram Babu Nishad looks back to a time when locals would avoid even attending weddings in the night. "Pata nahi hota tha ghar sahi salamat lautenge ki nahi," he says. Once infamous as a haven for dacoits and mafia, the BJP is banking on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's law-and-order and development pitch to secure a third consecutive victory from the Jalaun Lok Sabha seat. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 'Overworked' 13-Year-Old Girl Strangles Two Stepsisters to Death to 'Reduce Her Workload' in Bijnor. The opposition, however, has been accusing the BJP of lying over its claims. A Samajwadi Party leader says the BJP is spreading "lies" about the party patronising goons while governing the state and lauded its chief Akhilesh Yadav who, he said, "is always ready to solve people's problems". Also Read | Arvind Kejriwal Challenges PM Narendra Modi To Arrest AAP Leaders, Announces Protest at BJP Office on May 19 (Watch Video). During a recent poll rally in the constituency, Adityanath said, "Jalaun serves as a gateway to Bundelkhand. What was its condition a decade ago? The Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress surrendered Bundelkhand to the mafia, depleting its resources and pushing the region into chaos. Development was hindered, leading to youngsters migrating, farmers killing themselves, and even industrialists and women living in fear." According to some locals and BJP leaders, the region -- that includes "bandit queen" Phoolan Devi's native Khedpur Gudha village -- shivered from the fear of dacoits during governments led by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. People used to carry arms to protect themselves from criminals. Nishad and others of the Kalpi assembly segment say such was the fear of dacoits during the Samajwadi Party's government that people dared not venture outside after evening. The Adityanath government has given "kitab aur kalam (books and pens)" to youngsters to build their futures, says Ram Dayal of Kalpi. Hardeo Singh of Urkara Kala village and Mahendra Singh of Satrahju village echoed similar views. Banking on the "Modi-Yogi" factor, the BJP is confident of winning the elections from the reserved Jalaun seat. It has fielded Bhanu Pratap Verma, who is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha. Hoping to break his stranglehold on the seat, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Narayan Das while the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has nominated Suresh Chandra Gautam. Jalaun, located in the Bundelkhand region, goes to the polls on May 20. Besides making people aware of the advantages of a double-engine government, the saffron party leaders are highlighting the "dark days" of the Samajwadi Party rule. "Now, there is no fear of any goons or mafia People can stay out even late in the night," says Surya Naik, a district leader of the BJP's Kisan Morcha. Narendra Singh Yadav, a BJP ex-MLA, dismissed any notion of the Samajwadi Party posing a challenge and said people regale in the development work and law and order situation in the area now. Asked about locals complaining that he was not available to them, Union Minister of State Verma told PTI, "The constituency is vast. Hence, it becomes difficult to go to every village. But I am sensitive towards the problems and try to solve those." Campaigning in Jalaun earlier this week, Adityanath trained his guns on Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders, drawing a parallel between the current election and the Mahabharata while portraying Prime Minister Modi as Krishna and the opposition as Duryodhana and Dushasana. "On one side are those who betray Lord Ram, who fired at Ram devotees, praise Pakistan. Against these Duryodhana and Dushasana of this Mahabharata, Prime Minister Modi has assumed the role of Krishna, guiding the BJP," Adityanath said. Throughout history, those opposing Lord Ram have faced defeat, he said. "They (opposition) only care about their own families. They are unconcerned about the country, faith, the poor, farmers or women. Their only concern is their family. In contrast, for Modi ji, India's 140 crore people are his family," the chief minister said. He also claimed that attacks on Ram devotees were common during the Congress and the Samajwadi Party regimes. "Now, we can proudly say Ram Lalla is in a grand temple for which countless Hindus sacrificed their lives," he said. The opposition parties, however, dismissed the BJP's claims of improving law and order and bringing development in the area. Deep Raj Singh Gujjar, the Samajwadi Party's Jalaun district president, said, "Blaming the Samajwadi Party on law and order is a political ploy by the BJP to hide its own failure on 'kanun vyavastha'. Criminal incidents are rampant today." Local Bahujan Samaj Party leaders asserted that it will be wrong to underestimate the party. "Weaker sections of society got a voice during Mayawati's tenure as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. People have seen it and that's why they are silently supporting us," said a district unit leader of the party. One local reposed his faith in the double-engine government -- a term used by BJP leaders when their party is in power both in the state and at the Centre -- for the area's development. "We have faith in the double-engine government of Narendra Modi at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh for development," says Devendra Sharma. Israr Ahmad, who runs a dhaba along the national highway in Kalpi, says, "There is no fear of running the outlet even late in the night " "Nobody can dare disturb peace in the regime of "Bulldozer Baba," he adds, using an epithet used for Adityanath. The constituency covers five assembly segments in the Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat and Jhansi districts. The incumbent MP Verma has served five times in the Lok Sabha, securing victories in 1996, 1998, 2004, 2014 and 2019. PTI (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Hyderabad Madhavi Latha addressed a public rally here in support of the party's New Delhi Lok Sabha nominee Bansuri Swaraj and took a jibe at Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal over corruption and the recent controversy involving the assault on Swati Maliwal. Taking a jibe at AAP, she said, "Tell me, the party's name is Aam Aadmi Party but they are eating the money of common people." Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir Terrorist Attack: Terrorists Kill Former Sarpanch in Shopian, Injure Tourist Couple in Anantnag (Watch Video). Targeting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, she added, "Where have you left your principles?... When your stomach gets filled, you forget the common people. Is politics this easy? When ED raids his place, then also, he blames the BJP for this. This shows that he doesn't want people to know from where he gets the money." The Hyderabad BJP candidate also targeted the Delhi CM over the recent controversy involving the assault on Swati Maliwal and said, "The politics have made you so bad that you will call a woman at your place and will assault her? You have stooped to such low level? I want to ask him, if the same thing happened with your child, will you stay silent?... Also Read | Raebareli Lok Sabha Election 2024: Rahul Gandhi to Take on BJPs Dinesh Pratap Singh at Congress Bastion. Won't you ask any questions? Keep aside the politics? Won't you ask what happened Swati, what was the issue?" Latha further claimed that Swati Maliwal has been an MP in Rajyasabha and Kejriwal wants to give that MP ticket to the lawyer who is contesting his case... Tell me, how will a common man get justice?... I would say that the AAP should name themselves as 'Khudgarz Party', because you eat money for yourself... you beat a woman for yourself." Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Latha said, "The country needs women's power and there is only one person who understands this need-- PM Narendra Modi." She added, "During the time of vote, they form an alliance... Is it some kind of brokerage? They don't think about the people... Nobody has the courage to do the amount of work that is done by PM Modi in the past 10 years." Notably, voting in Delhi for all seven Lok Sabha seats will be held in a single phase on May 25. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Saturday night claimed that the CCTV footage of the May 13 incident where she was allegedly assaulted at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence has "disappeared" and edited videos were being released. Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was picked up at the CM's residence and arrested in connection with the assault case on Saturday. Also Read | Raebareli Lok Sabha Election 2024: Rahul Gandhi to Take on BJPs Dinesh Pratap Singh at Congress Bastion. "First I was thrashed brutally by Bibhav. He slapped and kicked me. When I freed myself and called 112, he went outside, called security personnel and started making a video. I was shouting and telling the security that Bibhav has thrashed me brutally," Maliwal claimed. "That long portion of the video has been edited. Only a 50-second video was released when I was fed up of telling the security. Also Read | DRDO Helicopter Theft: Defence Ministry Refutes Reports of DRDO-Installed Chinook Helicopter Model Going Missing. "Now the phone has been formatted and the full video deleted? The CCTV footage has also disappeared. This is the height of conspiracy," she said in a post on X in Hindi. Kumar was on Saturday produced before a magisterial court here, with police contending that his custody was necessary for questioning him about the reason behind the alleged assault on Maliwal. They said Kumar did not provide the password of his mobile phone to the investigating agency and had also informed that his phone had been formatted in Mumbai due to some malfunctioning in the device. The police said before being formatted, the data of a mobile phone had to be cloned, and Kumar was required to be taken to Mumbai to retrieve the data. The presence of the accused was also needed when an expert accesses his mobile-phone, they said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said opposition INDIA bloc can go to any extent in pursuing its "vote bank" politics, claiming that the then Congress government during the 2014 elections had handed over 123 properties spread across prime locations in Delhi to the Waqf Board for votes. In his first rally in the national capital for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Modi slammed the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi as opportunistic, saying the world is watching how one corrupt party is covering for another corrupt party. Also Read | Calcium Carbide: FSSAI Asks Fruit Traders, Food Business Not To Use Banned Product 'Calcium Carbide' for Fruit Ripening. Modi asserted that if he has any heir, it is the 140 crore Indians for whose bright future he has dedicated himself. His every moment is for the country and his life is dedicated to realising the dreams of its citizens, the prime ministers said while addressing the rally in North-East Delhi. Though he made no direct reference, Modi's remarks came amid repeated claims of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal that he will make way for Home Minister Amit Shah after he turns 75 next year. Also Read | Mehbooba Mufti Convoy Meets With Accident in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag, One ITBP Jawan Injured. He has chosen Shah as his successor, Kejriwal has claimed, an assertion refuted by top BJP leaders who have said Modi will lead the party even after 2029. Listing several signature projects, including the new Parliament building and the war memorial, Prime Minister Modi asserted that he lives and works hard for democracy. It is Modi in whose heart democracy is alive, he said, noting that his government has built a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers. This Congress-AAP alliance seems determined to destroy Delhi, he said, adding that its leaders are responsible for fall in political standards and breaking people's faith. Those who arrived to root out corruption are doing the rounds of jail in scams running into thousands of crores of rupees, Modi said in a swipe at Chief Minister Kejriwal. The Congress, he said, would not tire of taking credit for exposing the AAP government's scams but its Delhi leaders were forced by the Gandhi family to join hands with the city's ruling party. Keeping up his attack on the opposition alliance for its alleged pro-Muslim politics, Modi said the Congress had joined hands with those advocating for "vote jihad" for its vote bank during the 2014 elections. It was agreed that they would vote for the Congress, and its government in turn handed over the country's properties to the Waqf Board, he said. These properties were spread across prime locations where a yard of land costs many lakhs of rupees, Modi said, claiming that the opportunist opposition alliance can incite violence for its appeasement politics. Prime Minister Modi blamed them (opposition) for the 2020 Delhi riots following the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and noted that many people, mostly Dalits, who were persecuted in neighbouring countries were recently granted citizenship under the law. The opposition alliance supports reservation on religious ground, restoration of Article 370 and abolition of India's nuclear bombs, he claimed. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kannur/Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 (PTI) The CPI(M) faced criticism from the Congress in Kerala on Saturday after reports emerged that the ruling party's state secretary is set to inaugurate a martyr's memorial for two individuals who died while making country bombs in Kannur district nine years ago. Criticising the decision of the CPI(M) to build a memorial for persons involved in "criminal activities," the Congress asked what kind of message this action sends to the people of Kerala. Also Read | Calcium Carbide: FSSAI Asks Fruit Traders, Food Business Not To Use Banned Product 'Calcium Carbide' for Fruit Ripening. "The CPI(M) in Kerala is mirroring the actions of terrorist organisations and the Taliban globally. The inauguration of this memorial by the CPI(M) state secretary demonstrates the extent to which the Left party condones terrorism," KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said in a statement in Thiruvananthapuram. According to reports, the memorial named after Shaiju and Subish, who were killed on June 6, 2015, while making bombs on Kakrut hill in East Chettakandi near Panur, will be inaugurated by CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on May 22. Also Read | Mehbooba Mufti Convoy Meets With Accident in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag, One ITBP Jawan Injured. The CPI(M) has not denied the reports. In a statement, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, V D Satheesan, alleged that the CPI(M) is challenging Kerala society by constructing a martyr's memorial for two individuals who were killed while making a bomb. He accused the CPI(M) of betraying Kerala people who seek a peaceful life, alleging that the party has degenerated into a mafia group that condones and encourages anti-social activities. Launching a scathing attack on the ruling party, the LoP alleged that the Left government is a party that even allows the manufacture of bombs to kill political opponents. "History (of CPI(M)) shows that heinous criminals who pose a threat to society are often later protected. The police should take action against leaders who engage in and justify such activities," he said. Satheesan also said CPI(M) state secretary Govindan should also be held accountable if he participates in the ceremony honouring "criminals" who died while making bombs. He noted that the then party secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, had claimed the party had no involvement in the 2015 blast. "Despite that, the then Kannur District Secretary, P Jayarajan, received the bodies of those killed after the post-mortem. Now the CPI(M) is building a martyr's memorial. What a double standard this is!" he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed the entire country is seething in anger against the BJP and will end its "dictatorial" rule on June 4, the counting day of the Lok Sabha polls. Addressing a street meeting in West Delhi's Najafgarh area, he claimed the BJP would soon arrest AAP leaders such as Raghav Chaddha, Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to crush the opposition. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Uddhav Thackeray Says BJP Has No Need for RSS, Will 'Ban' It. The AAP national convener made the comments on the day his aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested in connection with the alleged assault on party MP Swati Maliwal. He appealed to the people to vote for his party to stop him from going to jail again. "It's in your hands. If you want me to go to jail choose the BJP, otherwise choose the AAP." Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Campaigning Ends for 13 Seats in Final Phase of LS Polls in Maharashtra; 264 Candidates in Fray. Kejriwal said the Lok Sabha poll results will prove to the BJP that the entire country is angry with its "dictatorial" rule. He exuded confidence that people will oust the BJP from power. Kejriwal, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, has been granted interim bail till June 1 by the Supreme Court to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. He will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2, a day after the last phase of polling in the general elections. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): New Delhi District police busted a NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) paper-solving gang and on Saturday also arrested four persons, including two MBBS students. Devesh Kumar Mahla, DCP, New Delhi, while speaking with ANI, said that they had received a complaint of proxy students appearing for the medical entrance test. He said, "On May 5, during the examination of NEET, we received a complaint that instead of real students, proxy students have come to give the exam. Taking cognizance of the matter, we registered an FIR and transferred the case to Special Staff..." Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 'Overworked' 13-Year-Old Girl Strangles Two Stepsisters to Death to 'Reduce Her Workload' in Bijnor. Mahla added, "During the investigation, we found that the consultant agents had misguided the children. They talked with the students and told them that they would arrange for proxy students who could give the examination on their behalf and clear it as well." Elaborating on the investigation, Mahla stated, "For this, they take huge amounts of money from their family. We got to know that these people used to mix the photos of real and proxy students with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) so that their identification becomes difficult at the exam centre." Also Read | Swati Maliwal Assault Case: Arvind Kejriwal's Aide Bibhav Kumar Arrested, His Anticipatory Bail Plea Infructuous, Says Court. The DCP also gave information about the arrest of people related to the case. "We have arrested two people, who are agents. These are Kishori Lal, a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Prabhat Kumar, who hails from Bihar," he said. Mahla added further, "Along with these, we have also arrested proxy students. We are searching for more agents involved in this incident." Notably, Rajasthan's Bharatpur police had also arrested four accused, including the dummy candidate in the NEET exam. Mridul Kachhawa, SP, Bharatpur, had said, "At an exam centre in Bharatpur, during the biometric investigation, the agencies present there observed a mismatch in the biometrics of a candidate. Upon questioning, it was revealed that a dummy candidate had come in place of the real candidate..." Kachhawa said that during a police investigation, it was revealed that the dummy candidate was Abhishek Gupta, who was a third-year MBBS student. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): Former Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) director Dheeraj Wadhawan, accused in a bank fraud case, withdrew his bail plea from the Delhi High Court on Friday. He had moved his bail plea after his arrest in the DHFL bank loan case. Also Read | Kanhaiya Kumar Attacked: Congress Candidate From North-East Delhi Assaulted, Delhi Police Register Complaint as Video Goes Viral. He has sought bail on medical grounds, which is fixed for a hearing on Saturday. Justice Jyoti Singh allowed the counsel of Wadhawan to withdraw his bail application. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: PM Narendra Modi Slams Uddhav Thackeray for 'Betraying Balasaheb Thackeray and Sacrifices of Shiv Sainiks' at Rally in Mumbai (Watch Video). On May 11, the High Court issued notice to the CBI on a plea by Dheeraj Wadhawan seeking bail on medical grounds. He is an accused in a CBI case related to the DHFL multi-crore bank loan fraud case. He had approached the High Court against the trial court order refusing him bail on medical grounds. He is under treatment at his home in Mumbai after being discharged from the hospital after spinal surgery. The Rouse Avenue court's Special Judge, AK Sarpal, dismissed his bail application on the ground of maintainability on May 10. The court has also said that the bail application is premature. The court had also directed the CBI to arrest him after May 11 and to produce him before the CBI court as per the direction of the Supreme Court, passed on January 24. While rejecting the bail application, the CBI Court at Rouse Avenue said that the accused is at liberty to move a fresh bail application for bail after he is arrested and comes into the custody of this court. At that time, his request for the grant of interim bail on medical grounds or regular bail, if moved, will be considered. The trial court also said that at this stage, the first order of the Supreme Court of January 24, 2024, has to be complied with for taking the accused into physical custody. Earlier, he was granted protection by the Bombay High Court until May 11 on medical grounds. He was hospitalised and underwent surgery. He was taking treatment at home after being discharged from the hospital. Senior advocate Amit Desai and N Hariharan appeared and submitted that Medical bail was granted by Bombay High court. Temporary protection ending today Interim medical bail, rejected based on its maintainability. It was also submitted that Trial court directed CBI to arrest the accused. We are seeking stay on this. They submitted that the Man is undergoing medical treatment at home as per the advice of doctors. The senior counsel for the accused also submitted that he was arrested during the investigation and was in custody. Later on, he was granted bail. The Supreme court had reversed his bail. They had argued that Now he is judicial custody, under court's constructive custody. Justice Jyoti Singh said, "Let him surrender and apply for bail." At this point, senior advocate N Hariharan submitted that the prima facie man is unwell. Justice Singh said that It is contrary to the medical record. I am not going to give any stay. Senior advocate Hariharan argued that the high court is well within its power to grant stay in this extraordinary situation. Justice Singh rejected the submission and said that There is no extraordinary situation in this case Senior advocate Hariharan submitted that Trial court said his physical presence is required. It is not required. He argued, "It amounts to surrender when a person moves an application and it is before the court." The bench said that the trial court said you should surrender and apply for bail. Has anyone denied you bail. Has the trial court denied you bail? The High Court said that the Supreme Court said that custody means physical custody. Appearance and custody can not be confused. At this point, senior advocate Desai submitted that the accused is extremely ill. The court also went through the medical records of Leelawati Hospital, Mumbai. CBI' s counsel, Anupam Sharma, opposed the submissions. He read Bombay High Court. He submitted that they are asking the same from the two courts. "Matter is before this court. They took interim order from Bombay High court. So why they are here," CBI counsel argued. The Court asked, "Where was the protection given?" The CBI had said that the Bombay High Court granted the protection. Thereafter, Justice Singh asked, "How does my jurisdiction arise? Go to trial court. Ask for an interim court. Don't waste time." The counsel for the accused argued that he was already before the court when he filed an application. " I will have to set a new law : custody through video conferencing. Please see the order of the Supreme Court on custody. It said that custody means physical custody," Justice Singh said. The Court said that the law of custody has not changed. At this point, Senior advocate Hariharan suggested that he be arrested at Bombay. It is a suggestion. The court had asked, " Is there any procedure to do that?" CBI can arrest the accused anywhere in the country, Hariharan submitted. The counsel stressed that the accused can appear through video conferencing (VC). The Court questioned, " Does appearance through vc amounts to custody?" It was also argued that the accused can not be arrested as the charge sheet has already been filed and cognizance has been taken. The court can issue warrant to secure presence of accused. It is between the court and accused. The Supreme Court on January 24 set aside a Delhi High Court order granting statutory bail to former Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan in connection with a multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case. The apex court had cancelled the bail granted to the Wadhawan brothers. It said the High Court and trial court have erred in providing default bail to the Wadhawans. "We have no hesitation that the chargesheet having been filed and cognizance being taken in due time, respondents could not have claimed statutory bail as a right. The high court and lower court greatly erred. Trial court to hear afresh on regular bail. Appeals are allowed accordingly," the bench said while pronouncing the order. The top court had set aside the findings of the High Court and the trial court, saying the Wadhawan brothers cannot claim the statutory right to default bail on the ground that the investigation is pending against other accused. In this case, the CBI filed the chargesheet on the 88th day after the registration of the FIR and the trial court granted default bail to them and the Delhi High Court upheld the order. The charge sheet was filed on October 15, 2022 and cognizance was taken. The trial court had granted bail to them, noting that the charge sheet filed by the CBI is incomplete. On July 19, 2023, they were arrested in this case. The FIR in the case was based on a complaint made by the Union Bank of India. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 18: The Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday fixed May 20 for consideration on ED's Supplementary chargesheet (prosecution complaint) filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as accused in connection with a money laundering case related to Excise Policy case. The Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Saturday fixed the matter for Monday for arguments and ED's submissions on cognizance point. On Friday Enforcement Directorate officials along with Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Naveen Kumar Matta along with two ED officials filed the chargesheet in Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi. Last week, the Enforcement Directorate during the hearing of Manish Sisodia's bail in Delhi High Court informed that the Aam Aadmi Party will also be made accused in the case and supplementary chargesheet. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Supreme Court that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be made co-accused in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy case. Excise Policy Scam: Delhi High Court Lists for July 11 Arvind Kejriwals Plea Against ED Summons Appearing before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, for the ED, said a complaint against AAP is in the pipeline and there is direct evidence of its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding Rs 100 crore as kickbacks in the case. Raju said there is evidence that Kejriwal demanded a bribe of Rs 100 crores which went to the AAP for Goa election expenses. The ASG further contended that apart from vicarious liability as the head of the AAP, Kejriwal is also directly liable as the person who played a key role in formulating the excise policy. He said there was evidence to show that Kejriwal's stay in a seven-star hotel in Goa was partly funded by an accused. The bench asked the ED whether the investigating officer could ignore exculpatory materials while exercising the powers of arrest. The question was asked as Kejriwal's counsel had earlier claimed that there were several witness statements exculpating him, which were ignored by the ED, and that the officers cherry-picked incriminating materials to arrest him. On May 10, the top court granted him interim bail till June 1 in the money laundering case registered by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy, however, ordered that he not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat. The bench had asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2. Swati Maliwal Assault Case: Fresh CCTV Footage Emerges, Shows AAP MP Exiting CM Arvind Kejriwal's Residence The apex court was hearing Kejriwal's appeal against a Delhi High Court judgment which dismissed his plea against arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case. Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court had contended that his arrest after 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 the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 18 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set up an auxiliary polling station in Solan's Lohanji for the convenience of leprosy patients so that they can cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections. A spokesperson of the Election Department said that a total of five voters will cast their votes at this station. Also Read | Swati Maliwal Assault Case: Arvind Kejriwals Aide Bibhav Kumar Arrested; AAP Chief Says He Will Go to BJP Headquarters on May 19. "For the convenience of leprosy patients, an auxiliary polling station has been set up at 27A-Dhillon, Zonal Leprosy Hospital, Lohanji, where five voters will cast their votes," an official release said. According to the release, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has accorded approval to the State Election Department for setting-up auxiliary polling stations at 99-Bada-Bhangal of 20-Baijnath (SC) assembly constituency of Kangra district, in which a total of 469 voters are registered, while in 27-Dhillon of the 54-Kasauli AC of District Solan, there are 805 voters registered. Also Read | 'I'm Ready To Debate With PM Modi': Rahul Gandhi Claims PM Narendra Modi Won't Debate With Him As He Can't Answer Questions on Adani Links and Electoral Bonds. The spokesperson said that the polling station of 99-Bada-Bhangal of Kangra district is in Government Primary School, Bada-Bhangal, at Beer, where now 310 voters will exercise their franchise and in view of the difficult geographical conditions of the area, an auxiliary polling station will also be setup at, Government High School, Bada-Bhangal 99A-Bada-Bhangal, where the remaining 159 voters will cast their votes. The spokesperson said that now the number of polling stations in the state has increased to 7992. Polling in Himachal, which is scheduled for June 1, will not only pit candidates vying for Lok Sabha membership from four seats but also elect members for six assembly seats that fell vacant following the resignation and switchover of dissident Congress lawmakers. The BJP, which won all four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2019 elections, is eyeing an encore this time. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ranchi, May 18 (PTI) Five people, including three women, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and selling a nine-month-old boy at Rs 58,500, police said on Saturday. The kidnapping had happened on May 12 at Ranchi Railway Station when three persons, including a woman, had allegedly stolen the boy from his parents. Also Read | Kerala Weather Forecast: State to Receive Heavy Rains; IMD Issues Red Alert in Some Districts for Three Days from May 18. They sold him at Puri in Odisha on May 13, he said. Ranchi senior superintendent of police (SSP) Chandan Kumar Sinha, in a press conference, said that the child was rescued from Puri and five people involved in the crime were arrested. Also Read | Swati Maliwal Assault Case: Arvind Kejriwals Aide Bibhav Kumar Arrested; AAP Chief Says He Will Go to BJP Headquarters on May 19. According to a police statement, Pradip Lohra, along with his wife, child and a friend, had returned from Agartala in Tripura where they worked as labourers. They arrived at Ranchi Railway Station at 4.30 pm on May 11. "Since they are residents of Ghagar in Latehar district and found no communication to reach the destination, they decided to stay there. They slept at the railway station that night," the statement said. "The next day, two men and a woman came and befriended them," it said. At an opportune moment, the trio kidnapped the little boy and fled. They then sold the baby boy to a woman in Puri in Odisha, it stated. After the child's father registered a complaint, the Ranchi police set up a special team and solved the case, the statement said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Leh/Kargil, May 18: As Ladakh votes to elect its MP for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, safeguards under the sixth schedule, statehood and employment are the key issues in the two distant districts of the constituency that is the largest in the country in terms of area. Spread over more than 59,000 square kilometres -- around 40 times the size of Delhi -- the two districts of Leh and Kargil are divided by geography and religion. Buddhist-dominated Leh and Shia Muslim-majority Kargil have come together over four demands -- safeguards under the sixth schedule of the Constitution, statehood, reservation in jobs for locals and a separate public service commission and two Lok Sabha seats for the region. After the abrogation of Article 370, Ladakh, which shares its border with both Pakistan and China, was carved out as a Union Territory without legislature. While Leh welcomed the move initially, people in Kargil were unhappy about the split. However, soon the concerns over safeguards for land and jobs took over, and protests erupted. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress Fields Tsering Namgyal From Ladakh LS Seat. Padma Stanzin, a student leader from Leh, said employment is a major concern as not a single recruitment on a gazetted post has taken place since 2019. "We were assured of better employment opportunities but that has failed. Some government recruitment has taken place, but all for class-4 posts," Stanzin told PTI. Similar concerns were raised by Nordon, a young woman from Leh who stressed that the sixth schedule is not just a political demand but that of the people. "More than 90 per cent of the population here is tribal. Jobs are a major concern as Ladakh has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country," she said. "Any party that promises to fulfil our demands will get our support," Nordon said. The two main political parties in Ladakh are the BJP, which has fielded Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council Chairman Tashi Gyalson in the election, and the Congress, which has picked the Leader of Opposition in the council, Tsering Namgyal, as its candidate. The third candidate is Mohammad Haneefa Jan from Kargil, popularly known as Haji Haneefa, who is contesting the polls as an independent after quitting the National Conference. Ladakh Lok Sabha Election 2024: BJP Names Tashi Gyalson as Ladakh Candidate, Dropped MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal in Defiant Mood (Watch Video). In its manifesto, the Congress has promised safeguards under the sixth schedule, while Haneefa has mentioned all four demands. The BJP's manifesto is silent on the sixth schedule and statehood, but Gyalson and other leaders of the party, during their campaign, have assured the locals that the talks will continue. Locals say there is anger against the BJP for not keeping its word on the sixth schedule, which was promised in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well as during the Leh hill council polls in 2020. "We were assured safeguards, but nothing has happened so far. That is why we are demanding the sixth schedule so that our interests can be protected. For that a rally was held on March 3 and then from March 6, Sonam Wangchuk sat on a fast," Stanzin said. A sit-in protest that started in Leh on March 6 went on for 66 days and was suspended ahead of the election. Renowned educationist and social reformer Sonam Wangchuk had led the protest. Mehdi Shah from Turtuk, one of the remotest villages of India, says there is fear over losing the cultural identity as well as damage to the environment. "There is a fear of losing our cultural identity and the fragile ecosystem being damaged if rampant development takes place. That is why the demand for the sixth schedule has become the main issue in this election," he said. Haji Riyaz Ahmed, a septuagenarian who runs a shop in the Leh market, agrees that employment and livelihood are a major concern. "Earlier, one could get a job after graduation. Now, even with a PhD, people are unable to get jobs. The employment that comes in the tourist season is temporary. Even in this market, there are only a few shops that belong to Ladakhis," he said. He stressed that the focus should be on promoting cottage industry centred around local products like apricots, Leh berry and Pashmina. He also countered the Leh versus Kargil narrative and said the voters are focused on their demands for preserving their culture and environment. More than 200 kilometres away in Kargil, people voice similar concerns. While they say the Union Territory status was the demand of Leh, the four-point demand is now the key issue. Haji Mohammad Qasim says Article 370 is not an issue for them, but they want someone from Kargil to represent them this time. "Article 370 is not an issue. This time people want someone from Kargil to represent the constituency. Had the Congress fielded someone from here, we would have supported him. Now, we have an independent candidate and we are united in backing him," he said. Fayaz Hojazi said employment and education opportunities are the main concern, along with the sixth schedule and statehood. He added that with most administrative departments and officials stationed in Leh, it is a problem for the locals. The journey from Kargil to Leh takes more than five hours and locals have to depend on private transport or taxis. Mohammad Ishaq, a local journalist, said while the BJP is facing anti-incumbency, the other parties are banking on the fact that they have been backing the demands of the locals. Ladakh has around 1.84 lakh voters, of whom around 96,000 are in Kargil district and more than 88,000 in Leh district. The constituency goes to polls on May 20. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi May 18: Voting for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be held on May 20, which will cover 49 seats across 6 States and two Union Territories. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The fifth phase will witness key contests in various constituencies. Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya will be looking for electoral success. Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 5 polls Raebareli Rahul Gandhi, who also contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, is facing Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP in Raebareli. Rahul represented Amethi from 2004 until 2019. In her first public address in the ongoing election campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader and AICC President Sonia Gandhi urged the people of Raebarelli to accept his son Rahul Gandhi just like they accepted her, while assuring that "he won't disappoint them". "I am very happy that I got the opportunity to come among you after so long...You all gave me the opportunity to serve you as an MP, this is the biggest treasure of my life. For the last 100 years, the roots of our family have been connected to the soil of this land. This relationship is as pure as Ganga Maa. It started with the farmer's agitation for Awadh and Raebareli," Sonia Gandhi said, addressing the public meeting. Sonia Gandhi held the seat for four consecutive terms since 2004, before she took the Rajya Sabha route to the Parliament this year. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday expressed confidence that BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh will defeat Rahul Gandhi here and took a dig at the Congress leader, stating that he should have told people of Wayanad in Kerala that he will contest from two seats. "Anyone can contest from anywhere but Rahul Gandhi should have said before the elections that he is going to contest on two seats. I think, from a democratic point of view, it is not right to hide it. He should have told the people of Wayanad about it and then asked them to make their choice. When you see a threat in a post-poll survey, and then you come to Raebaerli, I think it is not correct," he said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Uttar Pradesh paves the way for the country and BJP will face its heaviest defeat here. "INDIA Alliance and Akhilesh Yadav are going to win here. I give it to you in writing, a storm of INDIA Alliance is coming to Uttar Pradesh. I give it to you in writing, BJP is going to face its biggest defeat in the country, here in Uttar Pradesh," Gandhi said. "Uttar Pradesh has made up its mind that a change has to set in here, that a change has to set in in India and that is why the decision has been made. The public has made up its mind," he added. Amethi Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma, also the Gandhi family's close aide has been fielded against Smriti Irani in Amethi. Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma has expressed confidence in winning the polls."Not contesting to lose. I have faith in the alliance," Sharma said in an interview with ANI. He said that the Amethi constituency was developed by the Gandhi family and urged voters to vote for the INDIA bloc based on their development work."The Gandhi family developed this constituency. Vote for us based on our development work and our (the Gandhi family's) legacy. Vote for them (BJP) for development work they have done," he said. Kishori Lal Sharma, a close associate and loyalist of the Gandhi family, is originally from Punjab's Ludhiana. He has been working for the Congress Party in Amethi for years. BJP candidate Smriti Irani said that people in the constituency have understood that development is possible when the leader has good character and the government has clarity in its policies. "The people of Amethi have accepted me as their family. I am a voter in Amethi now. The people have understood that if the government is clear with its policy and the leader has good character, then a lot of development is possible in very little time," Smriti Irani told ANI here on Monday. The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul since 2004, and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency until 2019. His father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, was an elected member of Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991. Sonia Gandhi contested elections from there in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004. Lucknow Defence Minister and BJP candidate Rajnath Singh will face Samajwadi Party candidate Ravidas Mehrotra in this seat. Rajnath Singh will be aiming for a third straight win in Lucknow. Rajnath Singh in 2019 had defeated Samajwadi Party Poonam Shatrughan Sinha with over 6.3 lakh votes. He had defeated Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi by a margin of 2,72,749 votes in 2014. Rajnath Singh said that he tried to fulfil the dreams of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and left no stone unturned for the city's development. "We have diligently worked towards realising Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji's vision for Lucknow, and we remain committed to advancing it further in the future. Lucknow currently ranks tenth globally, and we aim to elevate it to the fifth position," Singh said. Mumbai North The BJP has fielded Union Minister Piyush Goyal against Congress' Bhushan Patil from the Mumbai North seat. Union Minister and BJP candidate from Mumbai North, Piyush Goyal expressed confidence in the party's victory."I have faith in the work done under PM Modi's 10 years of governance. The public has made up its mind to give 400+ seats to PM Modi and the Mumbai North parliamentary seat will be won with a record margin," Goyal said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gopal Shetty from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Lok Sabha seat, defeating Congress actor-politician Urmila Matondkar by over 4.65 lakh votes. There were 16.47 lakh eligible voters in the 2019 elections from this constituency. Congress candidate Bhushan Patil said that him being a local will benefit his constituency. "There are a lot of issues which need to be solved in my constituency. Piyush Goyal is a high-profile personality and meeting him is a bit difficult for common people I am local and connected to the people of the area, which will be a beneficial thing for me," he said. Mumbai North Central In a bid to retain the sitting seat, the BJP has fielded 26/11 special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, replacing two-time MP Poonam Mahajan against Congress' Varsha Gaikwad from Maharashtra's Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat. Varsha Gaikwad is currently serving as Dharavi MLA. Nikam, a senior Public Prosecutor, has appeared for the government in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. On his candidature, Nikam called it an "important step" in his life. "For the common masses, Prime Minister Modi has worked a lot. He has increased the prestige of the country around the globe and he wants to contribute to his vision. No one can call our nation a banana country. I am not in politics for any gain. I have fought against organised crime, I have never fought from the accused side ever. A post as public prosecutor was not even well known in those days. I am glad I could put a stamp on it," Ujjwal Nikam told ANI during one of his campaigns. Kaiserganj After dropping sitting MP Brij Bhushan Singh from the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat and going with his son Karan Bhushan Singh, the move from the Bharatiya Janata Party retains the seat's contest within the family, highlighting the influence of the six-time Member of Parliament. The 67-year-old BJP's strong man was not given a ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief has been accused of sexual harassment by six women wrestlers, who had protested against him for a long period last year. Earlier this month, a Delhi court ordered that charges be levied against him. Brij Bhushan Singh's son Karan Bhushan Singh is in the electoral fray against the Samajwadi Party's candidate Ram Bhagat Mishra, the elder brother of Shravasti zila panchayat president and former BJP MP from Shravasti, Daddan Mishra, while Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Narendra Pandey. Karan, Singh's younger son, will look to keep the family's hold on the seat tight, with his father Brij Bhushan having won from there six times, while his mother Ketaki was also a former MP from Gonda. Brij Bhushan's elder son, Prateek, was also an MLA from Gonda twice. In the 2019 election, Brij Bhusan Singh got 5,81,358 votes, beating BSP candidate 3,19,757. Hajipur LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan is aiming to carry forward father Ram Vilas Paswan's legacy. He is pitted against RJD's Shiv Chandra Ram. From 1977 to 2014, the seat was won eight times by Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost only twice, in 1984 and 2009. Chirag's decision to shift his constituency from Jamui to Hajipur, which has been a stronghold for the LJP, is aimed at asserting his position as the political heir to his father. In the 2019 elections, LJP candidate and Chirag Paswan's uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras emerged victorious, securing the seat for the first time, defeating RJD's Shiv Chandra Ram with a margin of 2,05,449 votes. Saran Rohini Acharya, the daughter of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, is contesting against BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy. BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy recorded resounding wins against Lalu Prasad's kin in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2014, he defeated former CM Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Yadav, from Saran. In the 2019 polls, he trounced Chandrika Rai, the father-in-law of Lalu's son Tej Pratap Yadav. Dismissing the Opposition claims, the BJP's Saran Lok Sabha candidate and former Union Minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said the electoral outcome in Bihar was a foregone conclusion as his party was well on course to win all 40 seats in the state. "As far as I can see, there is no election in Bihar as we are well on the way to winning all 40 seats in the state and are also confident of sailing past 400 seats across the country," he said. Meanwhile, RJD leader Rohini Acharya has criticised BJP's manifesto saying the issue of employment has disappeared from it. "They should raise the issues of the people. The issue of employment has disappeared from the BJP's manifesto. They are only targeting Lalu Prasad's family," she said. Baramulla National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah is pitted against Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference (PC) and Mir Mohammad Fayaz of Peoples Democratic Party. People's Conference President Sajad Lone slammed the National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah, and urged the people of Kashmir to stop him from humiliating the region by defeating him from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. Lone said, "Let him stop humiliating the people of Kashmir. I am 100 per cent sure that for all this humiliation, he will get a gift on the result day. If there has been a saffron debut, then it was for Omar Abdullah. He was a minister whose party had passed an autonomy resolution that the Vajpayee government rejected in Parliament and he still stayed as a minister for two years." (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Hamirpur (HP), May 18 (PTI) India's borders and its soldiers are safe under the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Saturday and alleged that the Congress' "hand" is always with foreign powers. Thakur made the remarks while campaigning in the Chintpurni and the Jaswan-Pragpur assembly segments of the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency, from where he is seeking a fifth consecutive victory. Also Read | 'I'm Ready To Debate With PM Modi': Rahul Gandhi Claims PM Narendra Modi Won't Debate With Him As He Can't Answer Questions on Adani Links and Electoral Bonds. He said, "Our Army became stronger, its morale was boosted and the borders were strengthened under Modi's rule while nothing was safe during the Congress regime." Hitting out at the grand old party while referring to its election symbol, Thakur said, "The Congress' 'hand' is always with foreign powers. It handed over thousands of acres of Indian land to the enemies and even today, when our soldiers are showing their bravery in Doklam, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is meeting with Chinese officials." Also Read | Mumbai Shocker: Boy Poses as Cop, Calls Girl's Father to Obtain Her Phone Number, Later Sends Him Morphed Nude Images of Her. He also attacked the Congress over the 2016 surgical strike. Thakur said, "When our Army entered Pakistan and killed the terrorists, these people were demanding proof. Even today, when elections are around the corner, these people are saying that India's nuclear weapons should be abolished." India had conducted the surgical strike in September 2016 across the Line of Control as a response to a terror attack on an Army base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. Thakur added that even "our daughters" are today holding AK-47s and have the courage to "bury" enemies. He noted that there used to be direct interference by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir and every day there were reports of terror incidents and stone pelting but the Modi-led government removed Article 370 and instilled peace and tranquillity in the Valley. As a result, stone pelting has completely stopped and the terrorists are counting their last breaths, the minister claimed. Thakur also hit out at the state's Congress government. He alleged that the Congress formed the government in Himachal Pradesh by making false promises. Now, during the Lok Sabha elections, it is once again trying to cheat women by making them fill forms to get Rs 1,500 per month. "Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had openly said after coming to power that 'we have formed the government by defeating 97 per cent Hindus'," Thakur claimed. "Do they intend to cut the reservation meant for SCs, STs and OBCs and give it to Muslims, along the lines of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh?" The BJP leader said that 10 years ago, the country uprooted a "corrupt and chaotic" government and replaced it with an honest one. In these 10 years, Modi gave his 100 per cent and worked to live up to the hopes and aspirations of the people and today India has earned its place in the "top five", Thakur said. All this happened with the power of the public's vote, he asserted. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said on Saturday that Chief Minister Kejriwal should clarify on whose behest attack on MP Swati Maliwal was carried out by his former personal secretary Bibhav Kumar. Tarun Chugh said, "At the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal the dignity of a woman was being assaulted. His own MP was being kicked, and beaten by sticks and she was appealing for mercy. Medical reports also state that there are internal injuries on her face and body. CM Kejriwal should come out and speak the truth that the assault on his own MP Swati Maliwal by his former personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was done on whose behest." Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Uddhav Thackeray Says BJP Has No Need for RSS, Will 'Ban' It. He further said that the silence of INDIA bloc members on this incident was alarming. "Why are Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi silent on the issue? Why are the alliance members trying to save the culprit?" he added. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Campaigning Ends for 13 Seats in Final Phase of LS Polls in Maharashtra; 264 Candidates in Fray. Bibhav Kumar has been detained by the Delhi Police. The former aide of the AAP supremo, meanwhile, emailed Delhi Police stating that he was ready to cooperate in the ongoing probe into Maliwal's assault claim while adding that they should also take cognisance of his complaint. Reacting to the arrest of the CM's former aide, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma posted from her official X handle, "Delhi CM's aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested from his house. So, the CM was giving shelter to an alleged criminal. Bibhav, on Friday, lodged a counter-complaint with the police accusing Maliwal of gaining 'unauthorised entry' into the CM's Civil Lines residence and 'verbally abusing' him. In his complaint, Kejriwal's former PA charged Maliwal with unauthorised entry, verbal abuse, and threats while also claiming the BJP's involvement in the matter. Meanwhile, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed that Swati Maliwal filed the assault FIR against Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the behest of the ruling BJP. The AAP leader said that the former DCW chief was being used as a 'pawn' and was made to 'hatch this conspiracy' using an old Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) case as leverage. Maliwal in her complaint has alleged that Kejriwal's Personal Secretary Bibhav Kumar "slapped" her "at least seven to eight times" while she "continued screaming" and "brutally dragged" her while "kicking" her in her "chest, stomach and pelvis area." Notably, the Vigilance Department had last month terminated the service of Bibhav Kumar, personal assistant (PA) to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, over a pending criminal case. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Srinagar, May 18 (PTI) Terrorists on Saturday shot at and injured a former sarpanch in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh was shot at in Hirpora in Shopian around 10.30 pm, the officials said, adding that his condition is very critical. Also Read | Kerala Weather Forecast: State to Receive Heavy Rains; IMD Issues Red Alert in Some Districts for Three Days from May 18. Further details are awaited. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Hyderabad, May 18 (PTI) A case was registered against BRS MLAs Ch Malla Reddy and Marri Rajasekhar Reddy and others here on Saturday following arguments over fencing around a disputed land, police said. Police said they also registered a counter case at Petbasheerabad police station against another group of people, who claimed ownership of that land measuring over one acre, based on the complaint lodged by Malla Reddy. Also Read | Swati Maliwal Assault Case: Arvind Kejriwals Aide Bibhav Kumar Arrested; AAP Chief Says He Will Go to BJP Headquarters on May 19. The former Telangana minister and Medchal MLA Malla Reddy and his son-in-law Malkajgiri MLA Rajasekhar Reddy along with their followers reached the spot and alleged that some persons tried to encroach upon the land belonging to them by erecting a boundary fence. However, another group of people claimed that they had purchased the land. Also Read | 'I'm Ready To Debate With PM Modi': Rahul Gandhi Claims PM Narendra Modi Won't Debate With Him As He Can't Answer Questions on Adani Links and Electoral Bonds. In a video, Malla Reddy was seen arguing with the police and ordering his men to remove the fencing. The boundary fence was removed even as police tried to prevent them. As mild tension prevailed, police dispersed both the groups. Cases were registered on charges of trespass, vandalism, obstructing the duties of police officials among others under relevant IPC sections, a senior police official said. Both parties have documents pertaining to the land and a survey will be conducted, the official said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 18 (ANI): At least three workers were injured when a wall collapsed at a construction site in Collectorganj area in Kanpur on Saturday, police said. All three workers were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment where doctors confirmed that they were out of danger, Collectorganj Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mohd Mohshin Khan said. Also Read | 'I'm Ready To Debate With PM Modi': Rahul Gandhi Claims PM Narendra Modi Won't Debate With Him As He Can't Answer Questions on Adani Links and Electoral Bonds. The situation is under control. If anyone is found guilty action would be taken, the ACP said. "Today in the Collectorganj police station area near Manjushree talkies three workers were injured due to a wall collapse at a construction site. All three workers have been sent to the hospital for treatment. Doctors have said that they are out of danger," ACP Khan said. (ANI) Also Read | Haryana School Holiday: Directorate of School Education Announces Summer Vacation in All Government and Private Schools From June 1 to June 30. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) Veteran banker N Vaghul, who led the transformation of ICICI into a private sector lender, died on Saturday afternoon due to health complications. He was 88. Vaghul took over the reins of ICICI, then a public finance institution, in 1985 and turned it into a universal bank during his 11-year stint at the helm with the help of a young team as the economy liberalised. Also Read | JEE Advanced 2024 Admit Card Out at jeeadv.ac.in: Hall Ticket for Joint Entrance Examination Advanced Exam Released, Know Steps To Download. He fell down at his Chennai home a few days ago and had to be put on ventilator support at a private hospital, where he breathed his last, sources said. Vaghul is survived by his wife Padma, son Mohan and daughter Sudha, family sources said, adding that both the children are settled abroad. Also Read | Sikkim Day 2024 Date: Know the History and Significance of Sikkim Foundation Day That Marks the Formation of the 22nd State of India. The last rites of Vaghul are expected to be held in Chennai on Sunday, according to sources. Vaghul was honoured with the country's third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2010. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman paid condolences on the demise, calling Vaghul an eminent banker, team builder and mentor. Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said Vaghul was a visionary who made huge contributions to India's financial sector. Vaghul started his career as an officer with the State Bank of India in the pre-liberalisation era of the 1960s and quit the country's largest lender to take up a teaching job at the National Institute of Banking Management. Within two years, he became the director at the Pune-based institute but returned to banking soon after as an executive director in the state-owned Central Bank of India. In 1981, he became the chairman and managing director of the Bank of India at 44, becoming one of the youngest heads to steer any state-owned lender. He was soon tasked as the ICICI CMD, where he led a team of young bankers and oversaw the transformation of the institution into a private sector bank. K V Kamath, one of his ICICI colleagues, called Vaghul as a mentor and reminisced how he focused on doing something different, innovative and at scale, and executed the same to build the new ICICI. "He was always supportive and encouraging of all the bold moves that we wanted to execute be it our foray into retail, the setting up of new businesses such as asset management, insurance and the merger of the parent and the bank," Kamath said. The Madras University graduate, hailing from a rural family, served ICICI till 1996 and took up a slew of assignments in corporate India by serving company boards. Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra was among the boards he served on. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra termed him as the "Bhishma Pitamaha" and called himself blessed to have known him and been guided by him. Speaking to PTI, one of his family members said, Vaghul's visionary leadership and unwavering dedication have left an indelible mark on all. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said Vaghul played a crucial role in the financial sector reforms initiated by Dr Manmohan Singh. "He left his indelible mark both on public sector and private sector institutions, and will be remembered most for his impactful tenure at ICICI," Ramesh said, adding that Vaghul had an uncanny talent-spotting instinct. Vaghul played an active role in deepening corporate philanthropy and was deeply associated with bodies like Pratham, which works on education. At one point, he got industry leaders like Mukesh Ambani, Ajay Piramal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Thapar and L N Mittal on the board of Pratham India Education Initiative. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Rekindling the cultural, traditional and spiritual relationship Indian tribes have with bison through restoration and relocation of the species to reservations is a noble goal. To that end, 414 disease-free bison have been moved to 26 tribes in 12 states since 2018 under Yellowstone National Parks Bison Transfer Program. It is a cause for celebration that progress is being made. Yet the program is also a blunt reminder of how far the nation still has to go. Scars remain evident from the near extirpation of the species more than a century ago, especially among those who for thousands of years had built their lives around the bisons existence. With the destruction and near-extinction of buffalo, that was consistent with what happened to Indians in this country, said Majel Russell, an Assiniboine and Sioux attorney for the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC). So its a huge, healing effort for tribes to receive buffalo, especially tribes long separated from interaction with the animals. The IBMP Yet doing the right thing is a frustratingly slow process, as well as a politically fraught topic to negotiate. Nowhere is that more evident than when members of the Interagency Bison Management Program (IBMP) meet, as they did on May 15 at Chico Hot Springs Resort. The daylong gathering of state and federal officials, as well as tribal representatives, is testament to the incremental gains that have been made in returning Yellowstone National Park bison to native peoples as well as allowing tribal hunting. Thanks to Yellowstone providing the animals a much-needed safe haven in the late 1800s, a small contingent of the burly animals continue to roam across a large, unfenced landscape. But as the parks bison population has grown, the animals have run into an invisible boundary fence in parts of southwest Montana. Crossing these lines can mean capture for slaughter or quarantine for the transfer program, as well as hunter firing lines and even agency extermination. Emblematic of a nations frontier past and intimately linked to western tribes, bison embody one of the greatest conservation success stories while at the same time representing the constraints of modern wildlife management. Park position Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly would like to see all eight tribes with treaty rights to hunt park bison at the IBMP meetings so they can agree to harvest goals. So far, only the Confederated Salish & Kootenai and Nez Perce tribes are partners. Right now, if we come out with a recommendation for a removal target and everybody says great there are tribes not at the table who are not a part of that agreement, Sholly said. Russell, who helped develop a proposed partner protocol with CSKT attorney John Harrison, said it appears the group is stalling by leaving the Blackfeet Tribe waiting two years following its request for admission. Yet theres also concern that if representatives of all treaty hunting tribes were present at an IBMP meeting, the group could become unwieldy. Russell said some tribes may not be willing to accept the requirements of being partners, which includes sharing in the expense of putting on the meetings. Erik Holt, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Fish and Wildlife Commission, expressed another fear. Youre involving all of those other interest groups or tribes that may not have direct ties to Yellowstone buffalo, he said. Whos at the table Since the IBMP governs by consensus, and only meets twice a year, reaching agreement on any issue including admittance protocols can be painstakingly slow. For example, at the recent meeting the groups partners deconstructed sentences and challenged the usage of specific words, including management. To Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks director, and IBMP partner, Dustin Temple, the state has sole management of wildlife. Not so, said the tribal representatives. We believe we have just as much management authority on federal lands as you have on state lands, actually more, said Tom McDonald, vice-chair of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. Holt agreed with McDonald, noting the Nez Perce Tribe has agreements with 13 national forests recognizing their treaty rights. Bison planning Yellowstone will unveil its new bison management plan this summer, a document that drew heavy criticism from the governor of Montana when the draft was released last year. One of the biggest concerns Gov. Greg Gianforte raised is the parks proposed bison population target. The Gianforte administration wants no more than 3,000 animals in the park to lessen the chance they may migrate into the state. Since bison may carry brucellosis, which can cause pregnant cattle to abort, Montana livestock producers dont want the wild animals anywhere near cows. Yet infected elk are also known to roam the landscape without such restrictions. Laurel veterinarian Don Woerner told the IBMP he believes theres room on the landscape for both cattle and bison. He advocated for treating bison like other wildlife in the state. Ellie Brighton, speaking for the Montana Stockgrowers Association, advocated for reducing the park bison herd to 3,000 animals to protect ranchers. Treaty hunt tribes, on the other hand, want more bison and more room for the bison to roam out of the park onto Custer Gallatin National Forest land. In these so-called tolerance zones, the bison could be hunted, an idea shared by some conservation groups. We need a new plan that represents a different paradigm, said Scott Christensen, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. I would encourage the partners around the table to keep working together to find ways to make those tolerance zones more accessible to bison. Yet when Yellowstones bison plan didnt reflect the states lower population target, Gianforte threatened to remove bison tolerance zones. Population control To control the bison population, Yellowstone has proposed prioritizing its Bison Transfer Program, followed by tribal treaty hunts and then shipment of bison to slaughter with the meat given to tribes. Complications arise when winters are severe and the bison population is large. In the winter of 2022-23, such conditions resulted in the largest removal of bison by mostly tribal hunters more than 1,500 animals. This year, with one of the mildest winters in recent decades, few bison left the park, so hunters shot only 41. By the end of this summer, following spring calving, park officials are estimating the park's herd will be about 5,500 animals. Emphasizing live transfer of bison comes with its own problems. The process is slowed by the requirement that bison be placed in quarantine to assure they arent infected with brucellosis. It takes 300 days for bull bison to pass that hurdle, and 2.5 to 3 years for females. After that, the bison are shipped to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation for another year of testing to assure they are brucellosis free. Only then can they be distributed to other tribes. When the parks quarantine corrals are full, as they are this year, no new animals will be admitted next winter. Right now, 81 bison are being held in the park with 60 in another nearby facility. The Nez Perce Tribes Holt bristled at quarantine and shipment to slaughter, since those methods have the possibility of lessening the number of animals available to tribal hunters. We are losing out when all of these other tribes are receiving buffalo and were not, he said. Its just conflicting for me to talk about establishing a free-ranging herd but then youre taking it outside of the area and giving it to other tribes. Endangered? One of the presentations at the IBMP meeting was from Amity Bass, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena. Her agency is conducting a species status assessment of Yellowstone bison to see if they qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Bass noted the USFWS is examining issues like range curtailment, disease, loss of genetic diversity, inadequacy of existing regulations and overutilization as it conducts its research. The Fish and Wildlife Service has set a goal to publish its decision by Sept. 30, 2026. Historically we have used primarily western science in these species status assessments, but Indigenous knowledge is important, she said. So the USFWS is working with the InterTribal Buffalo Council to collect Indigenous knowledge regarding Yellowstone bison. The information ITBC gathers will be provided in a report at the end of 2025 to the agency to help guide its decision. Similar information was collected for the archipelago wolf assessment in southeast Alaska, Bass said. Should Yellowstone bison be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should automatically be granted a seat at the IBMP table, some members said. Twice before, USFWS has rejected protections for bison. They should have to go through the same process as anybody else who wants to be a partner, FWP director Temple said, just like the Blackfeet Tribe. Setting the scene The first American Indian Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland who is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe, has certainly helped drive the United States, and on a smaller scale the IBMP, toward reconciliation with the nations past violence against tribal peoples as well as highlighted the importance of bison. Will that continue as political regimes change, or has the fuse been lit? For now, the Custer Gallatin National Forest is adding its first tribal liaison, who was introduced at the IBMP meeting. The Montana Department of Transportation is working toward constructing a new bridge over Cougar Creek, along Highway 191 east of West Yellowstone, to allow safe bison passage underneath. The Nez Perce have adopted copper ammunition, as opposed to lead, to lessen the chance for animals to be poisoned when consuming carcasses left by hunters. Temple, of the FWP, suggested all IBMP meetings be broadcast live to the public. And the IBMP is considering forming a citizens working group to provide fresh ideas and perspectives. Including stakeholders from livestock interests to nongovernmental organizations in an working group could be a positive thing, said the CSKTs McDonald. Holt and Ervin Carlson, president of the ITBC, agreed. The idea of creating a new citizens group will be on the fall agenda when the IBMP meets on Oct. 29 in Missoula. As a suggested topic for discussion, McDonald recommended a citizens group take on the issue of expanded habitat for bison in the Taylor Fork drainage of the Gallatin River on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, an idea considered a decade ago that has been shelved. I think its worthy to really look at that, he said. McDonald, now the longest serving member of the IBMP, lamented the lack of engagement with the public since the last working group dissolved. There are a lot of people with good, sincere issues and solutions and trying to think out of the box about how to manage this wild population of buffalo, which is unique in the United States and North America, he said. We dont have another one like it. Faridabad (Haryana), May 18 (PTI) The Congress aims to turn 32 lakh unemployed people into government employees within a year, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Saturday. Hooda, who campaigned for the Congress' Faridabad candidate Mahendra Pratap Singh, also said the people of Haryana have made up their mind to shatter the BJP's "arrogance". Also Read | JEE Advanced 2024 Admit Card Out at jeeadv.ac.in: Hall Ticket for Joint Entrance Examination Advanced Exam Released, Know Steps To Download. All communities are going to vote unanimously for the Congress to protect the country's Constitution and democracy, he said. After a victory in the Lok Sabha elections, it is certain that a Congress government will also be formed in Haryana, the former chief minister said. Also Read | Sikkim Day 2024 Date: Know the History and Significance of Sikkim Foundation Day That Marks the Formation of the 22nd State of India. "A Congress government will not allow unemployment and criminals to remain in Haryana. The Congress' guarantee is to provide (legal) guarantee for minimum support prices for crops, Rs 6,000 as pensions to the elderly, fill 30 lakh vacant posts in the Centre and two lakh vacant posts in Haryana," he said. Hooda, the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, also said, "For the last 10 years, the people of Faridabad have been suffering from a lack of basic facilities. Getting rid of these problems will be the Congress' priority. The Congress has fielded a strong and honest candidate in Mahendra Pratap Singh, who is connected with the public. People will ensure victory for the Congress candidate with a huge margin" The grand old party's Haryana unit chief Udai Bhan said these elections are not a Congress versus BJP contest but a choice between democracy and dictatorship. "The BJP wants to end democracy in India by establishing a one-party government like in China and Russia. That is why the BJP talks about only one party whereas the Congress wants participation of every section," he said. "The Congress manifesto of five justices and 25 guarantees is a revolutionary document. That is why the BJP is worried, because whoever reads the manifesto will definitely vote for the Congress," he added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Zagreb (Croatia), May 18 (AP) Croatian lawmakers on Friday voted into office a new government that marks a tilt to the right in another European Union nation ahead of the 27-nation bloc's parliamentary election next month. Although it is still dominated by conservative Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, the new Croatian government now also includes hard-right Homeland Movement, a relatively new party that emerged as a kingmaker after an inconclusive parliamentary election in April. Also Read | Mehar Ashfaq Siyal Shot Dead in Pakistan: Journalist Killed by Unidentified Assailants in Punjab Province. The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who started his third consecutive term in office, was approved in a 79-61 vote in the 151-member Sabor, or the Croatian assembly. The HDZ won the most votes in the April 17 election but not enough to rule alone. A relatively slim majority for the new coalition government could usher in a period of political instability after HDZ's years-long domination. Also Read | European Union Directs Microsoft To Provide More Information on Generative AI Features in Its Search Engine 'Bing' or Face Fine. In his speech, Plenkovic said that his new government will focus on further economic growth and modernisation, saying that so far the citizens have recognized our effort. Croatia's economy was among the weakest in the EU when it joined the bloc in 2013 but has since managed to join the single currency market last year. The country of 3.8 million people relies heavily on income from tourism along its stunning Adriatic Sea coastline. For the first time in years, Croatia's government does not include a party representing Croatia's ethnic Serb minority after the Homeland Movement, known as DP, objected to their participation. This has sparked concerns that Croatia's hard-won ethnic balance following the 1991-95 Serb-Croatian war could be disrupted. Plenkovic pledged that we will take care of the rights of national minorities, respect them, protect achieved rights and make sure that everyone in Croatia, each and everyone of our citizens, feel good. But Anja Simpraga, a former government minister from the Independent Democratic Serb Party, or SDSS, warned during Friday's debate that already we are witnessing radicalization." Liberal lawmaker Sandra Bencic, from left-green Mozemo, or We Can, party ironically evoked what she described as homeland spirit" fueling divisions in the society. The Homeland Movement party is made up mostly of radical nationalists and social conservatives who had left HDZ. The party is led by the hard-line mayor of the eastern town of Vukovar, which was destroyed in 1991 at the start of Croatia's war for independence after it split from the former Yugoslavia. The party has demanded that the Croatian state abolish financing of a critical liberal news outlet Novosti, which is issued by the Serb minority and funded from the budget. The Croatian Journalists' Association has reported that Novosti journalists have received threats and been deemed as enemies of the state. The organization said the threats are the result of DP's campaign against Novosti, and have demanded a response from the authorities. The DP also has advocated a return to the traditional, stay-at-home role for women in Croatia's society, which is predominantly Catholic and conservative, and where women already face problems accessing abortion. HDZ has largely held office since Croatia gained independence. The Balkan nation became an EU member in 2013, and joined Europe's passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year. With hard=right and populist parties now part of or leading a half dozen governments in the EU, they appear positioned to make gains in the June 6-9 election for the European Parliament. The vote takes place as the continent faces a war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, migration and other problems. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], May 18 (ANI): The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, announced his intention to draft a letter to Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, citing the nation's current issues as his motivation, Dawn reported. In a transcript of his media address from Adiala Jail, disseminated by the PTI, Imran Khan declared, "I will write a letter to the army chief -- not for myself, but for the country. [My] lawyers have been instructed to prepare a letter and inform me." Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Volodymyr Zelensky Signs Legislation To Allow Some Convicts To Join Armed Forces. He highlighted the significance of addressing the unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where recent clashes led to the tragic deaths of a police official and three civilians. "In the letter, I will tell [him] what is happening... and where the country is going. We have to think about it," Imran expressed. Acknowledging the crucial role of the army as an institution, he stressed the importance of not pitting it against the people, as reported by Dawn. Also Read | US Shocker: Man Shoots His 6-Month-Old Baby Multiple Times at Home Near Phoenix After Taking Infant and Mother Captive, but Child Expected To Survive. Reflecting on the polarised political climate, Imran remarked, "the beneficiaries of [manipulation] of Form 47s start attacking (anyone) who questions them." He voiced concerns about alleged pressure on the judiciary and media to "protect lies," criticising the incumbents occupying top governmental positions as products of a flawed system. "The president, the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister are all representatives of this false system who have been given these seats through deceit and they have no authority whatsoever," Imran asserted. Addressing a recent altercation between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Imran criticised Kundi as a "Form 47 beneficiary" engaging in personal attacks against Gandapur. Further denouncing what he termed as "fake representatives" and their actions against Justice Babar Sattar, Imran singled out politicians Mustafa Kamal, Faisal Vawda, Talal Chaudhry, Awn Chaudhry, and Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori for their critical stance on the judiciary. Imran's disdain extended to specific individuals like Awn, whom he accused of benefiting from a fraudulent electoral process to become an MNA and subsequently attacking Justice Babar Sattar at the behest of others. Responding to questions regarding negotiations, Imran categorically stated, "There will be no negotiations with the (beneficiaries) of Form 47s." He questioned the legitimacy of the current government following statements made by the caretaker prime minister and highlighted a message allegedly sent by Anwaarul Haq Kakar to Shehbaz Sharif regarding the wheat scandal. Imran also expressed readiness to speak and lamented the missed opportunity. He advocated for live telecast of court proceedings and expressed hope for a chance to address the court directly in the future. Describing Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa as "fearless," Imran invoked the memory of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and questioned the fairness of his own trial. "We hope that justice will be done," Imran concluded, referencing the ongoing legal proceedings against him, Dawn reported. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Protest calling for a deal and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, outside the U.S. Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv (File Photo/Reuters) Tel Aviv [Israel], May 18 (ANI): The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday recovered the bodies of three hostages from the war-torn Gaza Strip amid intense fighting raging between Israeli forces and Hamas, The Times of Israel reported. The three were identified as Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, and Shani Louk. Also Read | Mehar Ashfaq Siyal Shot Dead in Pakistan: Journalist Killed by Unidentified Assailants in Punjab Province. In a press statement, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the bodies were recovered in an overnight operation carried out by the military and Shin Bet. The three were at the Supernova music festival near Re'im on the morning of the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, where they then fled to the Mefalsim area. Also Read | European Union Directs Microsoft To Provide More Information on Generative AI Features in Its Search Engine 'Bing' or Face Fine. Hagari said they were killed there by Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were then kidnapped to Gaza. Until recently, both Gelerenter and Buskila were presumed to be alive, while Louk was confirmed dead in late October after a piece of her skull was identified following widely shared footage of terrorists kidnapping her, The Times of Israel reported. The military had initially not planned to make the announcement of the recovery of the bodies on Friday, but rather wait until the operation had concluded. However, due to rumours spreading on social media about the operation, it was decided to release some information, including the names of the three hostages. "I call on the public -- please refrain from spreading rumours and maintain the security of our forces. Keep our forces safe. Listen to the messages of the IDF spokesperson and the official bodies only," Hagari said. "We will update with any information that is available, transparently, first of all the families and then the public through the media." According to Hagari, the recovery efforts have "been going on for a long time already." He also said some of the intelligence for the operation came from Palestinian terror suspects captured by the IDF and interrogated by the Shin Bet, The Times of Israel reported. "The intense fighting in all parts of the Strip continues, and the task of utmost importance of returning the hostages is [on the mind] of every commander and fighter in the field," he added. The Times of Israel reported citing Shani Louk's father Nissim statement he gave to Channel 12 news while the announcement that the IDF recovered her body was difficult to receive, it was also news that he had been waiting for, since he had been officially informed more than six months ago that Shani was dead. Nissim said military representatives showed him a picture of Shani's body when they informed him that her remains were recovered from Gaza, while praising the "brave soldiers" who did so. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Astana [Kazakhstan], May 18 (ANI):Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chaired the 28th session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK), titled "Unity. Creation. Progress," during which he focused on his government's efforts to aid those impacted by severe floods that began nearly a month ago. According to a release by the Embassy of Kazakhstan, participants in the session included Senate deputies from the APK, leaders and members of republican ethnocultural associations, APK volunteers, and regional delegates of the Assembly via video conference. Also Read | US: Nancy Pelosis Husbands Attacker, David DePape, Sentenced To 30 Years in Prison After One Year of Brutal Attack; Video Surfaces. On flooding in Kazakhstan, President Tokayev emphasised that the people of Kazakhstan showed unity and togetherness during the difficult days experienced by the country during the flooding. He said, "As a result of coordinated actions by the government, state agencies, specialised services, and the assistance of volunteers, more than 119,000 people, including almost 45,000 children, were evacuated in a timely manner." Also Read | Taiwan Detects 18 Chinese PLA Aircraft, Four Navy Vessels Near Island. "In a very short time, the national and regional headquarters of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan were established to provide comprehensive support to the victims of flooding. A large-scale campaign, "From Heart to Heart," is underway, having already dispatched over 1,500 tonnes of food and essential goods worth approximately 770 million tenge to the disaster areas," he also said. The involvement of 12,000 volunteers from ethnic-cultural associations in collecting charitable and humanitarian aid, organising evacuations, and informing citizens exemplifies the unity and mutual aid among citizens. The primary task is to ensure the safety of citizens. "The government is taking all necessary measures, and appropriate funds have been allocated. Large companies and business representatives are also providing assistance. The government will reduce budgetary expenses in favour of urgent tasks to eliminate the consequences of the floods. A regime of strict economy of state funds will be introduced in the country," the President also said. The government is committed to a rapid and comprehensive response to natural disasters, including compensation for damages, construction of housing, and restoration of infrastructure. A significant financial commitment from the state to ensure the well-being of its citizens, with an expedited timeline of 5 months for major reconstruction efforts, the Embassy of Kazakhstan said. The President announced that the affected families will receive a one-time payment and compensation for damaged or destroyed property after assessments. The state will repair damaged housing and construct new homes, replacing those destroyed in the floods. Large-scale construction is expected to provide new opportunities for citizens to relocate to areas with better economic and environmental conditions, he also said. President Tokayev also shed light on tackling floods and preventing natural disasters in the future "There is a need to fundamentally rebuild the interaction between the state and science to create an effective system for combating natural disasters. The Kazakh Hydromeliorative Construction Institute will be reestablished, and the work of the Institute of Seismology in Almaty will be enhanced. There needs to be special focus on studying and mitigating climate change impacts," he said. The entire water management system will be reorganised, including modernising companies like "Kazvodhoz" and "Nurinsky Group Water Supply." Twenty new reservoirs will be constructed, and 15 existing ones will be reconstructed across 11 regions of Kazakhstan to reduce flooding risks in 134 settlements. The Development Concept for Water Resources Management will be enhanced to include advanced international practices for flood prevention and impact reduction, according to the Embassy of Kazakhstan. "The technical resources of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will be updated and its supply of specialised equipment will be enhanced, including helicopters and airplanes. The National Hydrogeological Service will be reestablished to explore and protect underground water resources. Ongoing initiatives to green and clean territories across all regions, urging local community engagement to improve living conditions," he also said. President Tokayev briefly touched upon the reforms in the country, noting that all branches of power are now operating in a new coordinate system, centred on protecting and promoting the legitimate interests, rights, and freedoms of the individual. "Kazakhstan has begun transitioning to a new economic model based on principles of fairness, inclusivity, pragmatism, and laying a solid foundation for improving the welfare of its citizens. Kazakhstan is building a country of equal opportunities, where everyone will have a decent standard of living," he added. Meanwhile, in international relations and foreign affairs, Tokayev covered several issues related to global affairs and challenges. Citizens of Kazakhstan can visit dozens of countries without a visa, and this list is continually expanding thanks to the country's targeted efforts. Kazakhstan is currently ranked 66th in the World Passport Index. Every citizen of Kazakhstan enjoys all the privileges regardless of ethnic background, views, and beliefs. The turquoise passport of Kazakhstan symbolises the high values upon which our country is built. It is recognised worldwide as the document of a progressive, modern state, according to the Embassy of Kazakhstan. Founded in 1995, the assembly is a constitutional body aimed at strengthening the ethnic accord in the country and ensuring all rights and freedoms of citizens are observed regardless of one's ethnic affiliation. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kuala Lumpur, May 18 (AP) The young man who attacked a Malaysian police station and killed two officers was a recluse and believed to have acted on his own, despite suspected links to the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, the country's home minister said Saturday. The man stormed a police station in southern Johor state near Singapore in the early hours of Friday with a machete. He hacked a police constable to death and then used the dead officer's weapon to kill another. He injured a third officer before being shot dead. Police initially said the man could have been attempting to take firearms from the station. Also Read | US: Nancy Pelosis Husbands Attacker, David DePape, Sentenced To 30 Years in Prison After One Year of Brutal Attack; Video Surfaces. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution called it a lone wolf attack, based on the initial investigation, and said there was no threat to the wider public. We have established that the attacker acted on his own ... a lone wolf driven by certain motivation and his own understanding, Saifuddin said. His action is not linked to any larger mission. Also Read | Taiwan Detects 18 Chinese PLA Aircraft, Four Navy Vessels Near Island. Police have said the man's father was a known member of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terror network linked to al-Qaida, and that they found materials linked to the group in their home. Seven people including the man's parents and three siblings were detained and police were searching for some 20 Jemaah Islamiyah members in the state. The incident sparked concerns over a possible wider terror threat, prompting Singapore to issue a warning to its citizens to be vigilant when traveling to Johor. Police initially said the attacker was 34, but Saifudin said he was 21 years old, with no criminal record. He said the man did not interact much with his neighbors, and nor does his family. Investigations are ongoing to determine what the man's motive was, he added. Jemaah Islamiyah, designated a terror group by the U.S and banned in Indonesia, is widely blamed for attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia including the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The group has been considerably weakened by security crackdowns in the region. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], May 18 (ANI): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has fixed the hearing of appeals against the conviction of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for May 21, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. According to details, a two-member bench comprising Pakistan's Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb will hear the pleas. Previously, the hearing was adjourned on May 15 due to the cancellation of the cause list. Also Read | Singapore Faces New COVID-19 Wave With Over 25,900 Cases Recorded in One Week, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung Advises Wearing of Masks. The FIA Special Prosecutor, Hafiz Hamad Ali Shah, is expected to complete his arguments during the court's next hearing. Following the completion of the prosecution's arguments, Imran Khan will present his defence arguments. Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan filed pleas in the Islamabad High Court against convictions in the cypher and Toshakhana case, ARY News reported. Also Read | US Horror: 33-Year-Old Man Kills Roommate With Hammer, Dismembers and Scatters Body in Three Different Locations in Pennsylvania, Arrested. On January 30, a special court hearing cipher case handed a 10-year jail term, each, to Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The two leaders were accused of conspiracy to misuse the contents of the cypher to fulfill nefarious purposes. In its verdict, the court said the prosecution had enough evidence to prove the charges against Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi. On August 15, the first information report (FIR) was registered under the Official Secrets Act on the complaint of the Home Secretary. In the report, Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were nominated while names of former principal secretary to then Pakistan PM Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also included, according to ARY News report. According to the FIR, the former Pakistan PM and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cypher. The FIR further added, "A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes," ARY News reported. The FIR further stated that Khan and Qureshi endangered the state interests. According to the report, Imran Khan asked the then principal secretary Azam Khan - the then principal secretary - to "manipulate" cypher's content. It added, "The former premier deliberately kept the copy of diplomatic cipher, which was sent to the PM office." The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday approved former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's bail application in the Pound 190 million corruption case, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. A two-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, had reserved the verdict on Tuesday after the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) prosecution team and Imran Khan's lawyer, Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, concluded their arguments, according to Dawn report. The court set Imran Khan's bail at Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 1 million. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan will not be released from prison as he is still serving out his sentences in the cypher case and the iddat case. His sentences in two separate Toshakhana cases were suspended by the IHC. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Moscow [Russia], May 18 (ANI): Escalating its military operation in Ukraine, Russian forces have advanced towards the village of Borovaya in the Izyum district of the Kharkiv region, as reported by the Russian News Agency TASS, citing Vitaly Ganchev, head of the military-civilian administration of the Kharkiv region. "There are certain results in other areas of the Kharkiv front. One of them is in the Svatovo-Kupyansk area, where our soldiers managed to advance towards Borovaya, and they are continuing to improve their positions there," Ganchev wrote on his Telegram channel. Also Read | Mehar Ashfaq Siyal Shot Dead in Pakistan: Journalist Killed by Unidentified Assailants in Punjab Province. The official added that as of today, more than 200 square kilometers of the region had been liberated from the Ukrainian armed forces. "The main city, on the verge of liberation of which we are now, is Volchansk. Fighting is ongoing, and we can say that each street retaken from the enemy is the result of severe and difficult battles," the official concluded. Also Read | European Union Directs Microsoft To Provide More Information on Generative AI Features in Its Search Engine 'Bing' or Face Fine. Russia has escalated its aggressive campaign in Ukraine, employing psychological, tactical, and economic tactics to complicate Kyiv's defence. The recent developments have prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to acknowledge the challenges at hand, remarking on the "challenging moment" unfolding, Al Jazeera reported. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko highlighted the intensification, revealing Russian soldiers' training with Belarusian military in tactical nuclear weapons. This move, coupled with the Kremlin's insinuation of battlefield use in Ukraine, has heightened concerns. "An escalation is ongoing. What should we do in this situation? We need to keep powder dry, including these lethal weapons," Russian official news agency TASS quoted him as saying. The Russian Army has opened a new front in Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region, capturing villages near the border - an offensive Ukrainian officials had warned about days earlier, as reported by Al Jazeera. President Putin has also made strategic manoeuvers, appointing an economist to streamline the Ministry of Defence and nationalise Russian defence industries. This action is interpreted by some observers as a signal of long-term preparations for potential conflict with NATO. Russian forces have opened a new front in Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region, seizing villages near the border, despite earlier warnings from Ukrainian officials. This escalation aims to divert resources, sow panic, and facilitate territorial gains, particularly in Ukraine's eastern regions. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation, acknowledging the intention behind the strikes in Kharkiv Oblast to undermine Ukraine's defensive capabilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his Sunday evening address: "The intention of the strikes in Kharkiv Oblast is to stretch our forces and undermine the moral and motivational basis of Ukrainians' ability to defend themselves." (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bratislava [Slovakia], May 18 (ANI): Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico remained in "serious condition" in hospital while the court decided that the man accused in the assassination attempt would be held in custody, Al Jazeera reported. On Saturday, Slovakian Minister of Health Zuzana Dolinkova said that Fico underwent a two-hour surgery on Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot injuries, which "contributed to a positive prognosis". Also Read | Middle East Crisis: Yemen's Houthi Rebels Launch Missile That Strikes Oil Tanker in Red Sea, Says US Military. Slovakian Deputy PM Robert Kalinak said it was unlikely that Fico will be transferred from the hospital in Banska Bystrica to Bratislava, in the coming days as he remains in "serious condition." On May 15, Robert Fico (59) was shot five times as he was leaving a government meeting and greeting people in Handlova. Also Read | Singapore Faces New COVID-19 Wave With Over 25,900 Cases Recorded in One Week, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung Advises Wearing of Masks. Meanwhile, a court in Pezinok on Saturday said that the suspect will be held in pre-trial detention, a spokesperson said, according to Al Jazeera report. The prosecutor requested the court that the suspect, reportedly a 71-year-old former security guard at a shopping mall and the author of three collections of poetry be placed in custody after he had been charged with a premeditated attempted murder. Slovakian Minister of Interior Matus Sutaj Estok said, "If the shot went just a few centimetres higher, it would have hit the prime minister's liver," Al Jazeera reported, citing broadcaster TA3. Earlier, prosecutors asked police not to publicly identify the suspect or release other information about the case. However, some details were reported by local media outlets. Officers wearing balaclavas and carrying rifles guarded the court while the journalists were not allowed inside. Police on Friday had taken the suspect to his residence in Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Al Jazeera reported, citing Slovak broadcaster Markiza. Prosecutors said the attacker acted alone. However, Fico's supporters said the opposition is partly to blame for raising political tensions. Fico's closest ally Kalinak criticized opposition lawmakers and "selected media" on Friday for calling PM Fico a criminal, dictator or Russian President Vladimir Putin's servant before the attack. In an emotional message posted on the website of their political party, Smer said, "All these lies are the main reason why Robert Fico is fighting for his life today." He accused political parties and the media of fanning acrimony by encouraging protests against the policies of the government. Slovak opposition party leader Michal Simecka termed the shooting as an attack on democracy and said that he, his wife, and child had received death threats. Outgoing pro-Western President Zuzana Caputova and her successor, Peter Pellegrini, another Fico ally who will assume office in June, called on the people of Slovakia to refrain from "confrontation". (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Taipei, May 18: Tensions reached a boiling point within the legislature as ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed both physically and verbally over a series of contentious reform bills, sparking a chaotic scene that persisted well into the night, Focus Taiwan reported. The turmoil unfolded during Friday's legislative floor session, where legislators grappled for over 10 hours with amendments that would grant the Legislature expanded powers. The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan's People Party (TPP) sought to prolong the session to push through amendments to four bills aimed at promoting legislative reforms. Taiwan Parliament Chaos Video: Taiwanese MP Steals Bill, Runs Away Amid Ruckus in House. The mayhem followed a fruitless five-hour cross-caucus negotiation on Thursday, leaving unresolved tensions that erupted into full-blown conflict the next day. Adding fuel to the fire, the KMT and TPP had previously bypassed customary committee deliberations, opting instead to fast-track their versions of the bills directly to a floor vote. Ahead of Friday's session, KMT and TPP lawmakers staked out the main gate of the building to prevent their counterparts from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from gaining early access, vying for procedural advantages, as reported by Focus Taiwan. Earthquake in Taiwan: Quake of Magnitude 6.1 Jolts Taiwan Day After Five Earthquakes Shook the Country. Tensions peaked in the morning when TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang engaged in a heated confrontation with DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming and DPP lawmaker Kuo Kuo-wen, accusing them of queue-jumping. Tempers flared as Kuo allegedly pushed Huang's face away in response to the accusations, prompting further escalation. Mayhem Inside Taiwan Parliament: Context/Details: Lawmakers in Taiwan clashed in parliament over chamber reform disputes. A ruling DPP member, trying to stop the bill from passing, snatched the voting papers and ran out of parliament. The scuffle left at least one lawmaker hospitalized with a head injury. pic.twitter.com/7Y8c12ymsx BoreCure (@CureBore) May 17, 2024 Despite the scheduled 9 am start, the session struggled to gain traction as DPP lawmakers attempted sporadically to seize control of the speaker's podium, fiercely guarded by KMT counterparts. Amid the chaos, scenes unfolded of lawmakers physically grappling for control, including attempts to jump onto the podium and obstruct proceedings. Scuffle Erupts Between Lawmakers: So why was this guy trying to double leg a female politician in Taiwan's parliament today?? pic.twitter.com/kTirdtuGu0 Censored Men (@CensoredMen) May 18, 2024 As tensions peaked, Speaker Han Kuo-yu's announcement of the meeting's resumption around 6 pm triggered yet another round of scuffles. DPP lawmakers employed procedural manoeuvers to stall proceedings, intensifying the standoff. The confrontations took a toll, with five legislators requiring hospitalisation for injuries sustained during the clashes, including prominent figures from both the DPP and KMT, according to Focus Taiwan. Throughout the session, cross-caucus negotiations faltered, further exacerbating the deadlock and prolonging the chaotic scenes playing out within the legislative chamber. In a dramatic turn of events, DPP lawmaker Kuo found himself in the spotlight once again as he snatched bill documents from Chou Wan-lai, the Legislative Yuan's secretary-general, in a last-ditch effort to disrupt proceedings. As the night wore on, the session showed no signs of abating, with lawmakers entrenched in their positions and tensions running high. The protracted standoff underscored deep divisions within the legislature, highlighting the challenges of navigating contentious reform measures amidst heightened political polarisation, Focus Taiwan reported. Tel Aviv [Israel], May 18 (ANI/TPS): The United Arab Emirates is emerging as a hardline critic of the Palestinian Authority at the annual Arab League summit in Bahrain, refusing to back a significant budget until Ramallah makes sweeping changes such as halting payments to terrorists and ending incitement. "In this way, the Emirates is aligning itself with the American position that strives for a new Palestinian Authority," a high-level Arab diplomat told The Press Service of Israel. Also Read | Taiwan Parliament Pandemonium Pic and Videos: Ruling, Opposition Lawmakers Engage in Physical Scuffles, Verbal Attacks Over Controversial Bills Granting Expanded Powers To Legislature. Behind the scenes, tensions have escalated as the Emirates blocked a proposed resolution to allocate USD 100 million monthly to the PA, citing concerns about corruption and ineffective leadership. The Emiratis also demanded measures for PA financial transparency and preventing corruption in the PA, which infuriated the Palestinian delegation. "The Emiratis practically emptied the initiative to budget the Palestinian Authority of any content," the diplomatic source explained to TPS-IL. "The refusal of the Emiratis to budget a corrupt authority should not surprise anyone." Also Read | US: Nancy Pelosis Husbands Attacker, David DePape, Sentenced To 30 Years in Prison After One Year of Brutal Attack; Video Surfaces. The UAE's stance challenging President Mahmoud Abbas's leadership has garnered support from Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Galant, who would recognise PA authority in a post-war Gaza. However, the PA continues to boycott the US, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, following the US veto of a UN Security Resolution that would have given the Palestinians full UN membership. "The Emirates have openly decided to align themselves with the Biden administration, which repeats and claims that only a new and reformed Palestinian Authority can be a partner in the eyes of the Americans the day after the war in the Gaza Strip," the source told TPS-IL. "The Emiratis have decided to teach the Palestinian Authority a lesson, and they are demanding from it a long series of reforms that will transform it from a Palestinian Authority into a completely different entity. Only when the Palestinian Authority is not Palestinian will it be kosher in the eyes of the Emirates," he added mockingly. The UAE is backing Abbas rival Muhammed Dahlan. In conversations with several Arab sources, Dahlan's name repeatedly comes up as someone who would win their support in managing post-war Gaza. Dahlan, once a high-level figure within Fatah, was the PA's "strong man" in Gaza when Hamas violently seized control of the Strip in 2007. But as Dahlan regained influence within Fatah, he fell out with Abbas and was expelled from the party in 2011. He was later tried in absentia in Ramallah on charges of corruption, which Dahlan denies. TPS-IL has learned that during a recent conference of Arab diplomats on Zoom in April, participants voiced opposition to Abbas's rule. Palestinians have not held national elections since 2005 and Abbas is now in the 19th year of what was supposed to be a four-year term. Since then, Abbas has cancelled several attempted elections amid Fatah-Hamas disagreements, most recently in 2021. The US has been pressuring Abbas to reform the PA as a precursor to taking responsibility for the administration and reconstruction of Gaza. Reforms include cutting down the PA's bloated and inefficient bureaucracy, replacing diplomats representing the PA abroad, and initiating an internal self-investigation mechanism within the Palestinian Preventive Security. Ramallah is hoping to satisfy US demands with, among other things, a Palestinian technocratic government that includes "softcore" Hamas members and indirect "pay-for-slay" funding. However, nobody in Ramallah believes Abbas will see the reforms through. A March survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research found 81 per cent of the Palestinians polled in Judea, Samaria and Gaza dissatisfied with Abbas's leadership and 84 per cent said they wanted him to resign. Palestinians have not held national elections since 2005 and Abbas is now in the 19th year of what was supposed to be a four-year term. Since then, Abbas has cancelled several attempted elections amid Fatah-Hamas disagreements, most recently in 2021. At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 132 hostages are believed to be dead. (ANI/TPS) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Tokyo, May 18 (AP) The US ambassador to Japan stressed Friday the importance of increased deterrence and his country's commitment to its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyo's tension with Beijing. Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island just east of Taiwan, a self-governed island also claimed by China. He later visited another Japanese island, Ishigaki, home to Japan Coast Guard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea islands and Japanese fishermen from armed Chinese coast guard ships that routinely enter Japanese waters. Also Read | Live News Updates Today. Japan has been making a southwest shift of its defense posture, and is further accelerating its military buildup under a 2022 security strategy that focuses on counter-strike capability with long-range cruise missiles. Emanuel was the first US ambassador to visit Yonaguni. Escorted by Mayor Kenichi Itokazu, he looked toward Taiwan, only 110 kilometres (68 miles) away. He met with Japanese Self Defense Force service members at a local base installed in 2016 and where a missile defense system is planned. Also Read | Mehar Ashfaq Siyal Shot Dead in Pakistan: Journalist Killed by Unidentified Assailants in Punjab Province. The ambassador said the main purpose of his visit was to show U.S. support for the local fishing community. He also met with a local fisherman who was among those affected by China's increasingly assertive actions in the regional seas. China fired five missiles into Japan's exclusive economic zone in 2022 after the visit to Taiwan of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Emanuel said the fisherman told him he could not sell his fish for about a week after the Chinese action. If they don't have deterrence, that's going to be worse, Emanuel told The Associated Press from Ishigaki, the second island he visited Friday. If you have a very robust deterrence, it ensures that there is peace, ensures that there is security, ensures economic prosperity. Without that, it's more likely to be a green light to those that want to use economic coercion and confrontation as their only means of expression. Emanuel said Yonaguni fishers still catch fish for a living, supporting the local economy and helping reinforce Japanese territorial rights. That's what a real win looks like economic security, he said on social platform X. In Ishigaki, Japan's coast guard protects fishing boats in the disputed waters around the Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls Senkaku. Beijing also claims the islands and calls them Diaoyu, and its coast guard ships often face off with their Japanese counterparts. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi welcomed the ambassador's trip to the islands, saying it was meaningful for the ambassador to improve his understanding of Tokyo's efforts in reinforcing its security in the southwestern region, where additional military units and missile defense systems are being deployed. While local officials back the reinforcement of Japanese troops on the islands, local residents staged a small protest amid concerns they may be the first to be affected in a possible US-China conflict. Okinawa's Gov. Denny Tamaki supports the Japan-US security alliance but has called for a reduction in the number of American troops housed on the island. About half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are based in Okinawa. Tamaki also criticized the use of Yonaguni's commercial airport by a U.S. military aircraft used by the ambassador. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Beijing, May 16: China's President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed and issued a joint statement on deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries state media Xinhua reported. Xi rolled out the red carpet for Putin, who arrived in Beijing for a two-day state visit, signalling the deepening alignment between the two nations amidst Russia's ongoing advances in Ukraine, CNN reported. The grand reception, complete with a military band serenade and multiple gun salute outside the Great Hall of the People, underscored the significance of the leaders' close relationship amid escalating tensions with the West. Vladimir Putin's China Visit: Russian President Hold Talks With Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping, Discuss Future Strategic Ties Amid Prolonged Ukraine War (Watch Video). In their discussions, Thursday morning, Xi said China-Russia relations have "stood the test of a changing international landscape" and should be "cherished and nourished" by both sides, according to a readout from China's Foreign Ministry. "China is ready to work with Russia to stay each other's good neighbour, a good friend and good partner that trust each other, continue to consolidate the lasting friendship between the two peoples, and jointly pursue respective national development and revitalisation and uphold fairness and justice in the world," Xi said. Vladimir Putin Takes Oath As Russia President for Record Fifth Term in Office (Watch Videos). Putin's visit to Beijing, his first overseas trip since beginning his new presidential term coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to suspend all upcoming international engagements as his country faced a sudden Russian offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, as reported by CNN. Vladimir Putin Takes Oath As Russia President for Record Fifth Term in Office (Watch Videos). Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping Issue Join Statement: Putin and Xi Jinping signed a joint statement on deepening comprehensive partnership relations and strategic interaction in various fields. pic.twitter.com/wZ8zj35BYs Sprinter infofactory (@Sprinter00000) May 16, 2024 Against this backdrop, the fourth face-to-face meeting between Putin and Xi took on added significance, highlighting the international concern surrounding the conflict in Ukraine and the need for diplomatic efforts to address the crisis. The visit also occurred amidst mounting pressure on China to ensure that its extensive trade relationship with Russia does not inadvertently support Moscow's military activities. Concerns have been raised about the substantial exports from China to Russia, which include crucial goods for Russia's defence industry. While the US has accused China of providing significant support to Russia's defence complex, Beijing has dismissed these claims as baseless and emphasised the importance of normal trade relations between the two countries. Discussions between Xi and Putin in Beijing were expected to cover a range of topics, including the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as bilateral trade, security, and energy cooperation. Putin praised the unprecedented level of strategic partnership between China and Russia, highlighting their shared goals of enhancing foreign policy coordination and expanding cooperation in various sectors, including industry, technology, and energy. Both leaders have maintained a strong personal rapport and have worked closely to strengthen diplomatic, trade, and security ties between their countries. Xi's visit to Moscow in 2023 marked a significant milestone in their relationship, demonstrating the importance of high-level engagement in advancing mutual interests. The leaders view each other as essential partners in their efforts to counter what they perceive as Western dominance in global affairs, according to CNN. As part of Putin's visit to China, he was scheduled to travel to Harbin, the capital of China's northeastern Heilongjiang province, where he would attend trade and cooperation forums. The region, historically plagued by border tensions between China and Russia, has seen increased connectivity in recent years, fostering closer economic and cultural ties between the two neighbours. Additionally, Putin's itinerary included a visit to the Harbin Institute of Technology, a university sanctioned by the US government for its alleged involvement in supplying items to China's military. This engagement underscored the importance of educational and scientific cooperation in enhancing bilateral relations between China and Russia, CNN reported. Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the situation was "completely under the control of law enforcement agencies" after the incident of mob violence in capital Bishkek involving foreign students and locals left many injured, including a Pakistani citizen with a fractured jawbone. It was a chaotic hearing on Friday for the House Oversight Committee as Democrats Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez had a shouting match against Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial Republican congresswoman from Georgia. The two Democrats traded heated insults with Greene in a chaotic hearing about a contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland as Republican House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky failed to control the situation for over an hour. The hearing actually started out in a very civil manner. However, it devolved into chaos as soon as Greene hurled personal insults against Crockett, claiming that the Texas Democrat was wearing "fake eyelashes." Of course, the fiery freshman congresswoman fired back, with AOC joining in on the shouting match as Comer struggled to control his committee. "I don't think you know what you're here for," said Greene in the statement that led to the argument. "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading." Crockett fired back by asking Comer a parliamentary inquiry that was also a subtle jab at Greene, telling the Republican chair that having "a bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?" According to Politico, Comer looked very confused at the question, asking, "Uh, what now? I have no idea what you just said." This escalated into a shouting match along party lines. The argument was ultimately called "disgusting," "embarrassing," and a "middle school fight." Marjorie Taylor Greene's Attack on Jasmine Crockett Had Racial Undertones While many lawmakers were not happy with the exchange between the two sides, others stated that Crockett had every right to shoot back at Greene as her barb at the Democrat's physical appearance had racial undertones. READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Calling Lauren Boebert a Wh*re to Other Republicans as Feud With Colorado Rep. Continues "She is racist. I mean, I don't have any questions about that. Because, I mean, I don't know that she's ever attacked her own colleagues," said Crockett after the House Oversight Committee hearing. "Her and Boebert aren't getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes - it looks like. I don't know. But she doesn't attack her for any of her [physical embellishments]. She doesn't do that, right? But she decided to do it to me. So absolutely [she's a racist]." This alluded to Greene's fractured relationship with Lauren Boebert, whom she did not insult the same way as Crockett despite doing what Greene insinuated Crockett was doing. The two MAGA Republicans got into a massive fight inside the Capitol several times and have hurled very personal insults against one another as well. Lauren Boebert Shocks Many During Chaotic House Oversight Committee Hearing Ultimately, the Democrats lost the vote along party lines, but the result was overshadowed by the chaos that was started by Marjorie Taylor Greene. However, Greene's archnemesis, within her own party, Lauren Boebert, shocked many when she actually voted with the Democrats against the resolution to let the Georgia Republican continue speaking. "It was embarrassing what was going on," said the Colorado Republican. "...I couldn't bring myself to stand in defense of that, I wouldn't do it for the other side." READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Might Get Censured for Racism and Anti-Semitism This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Wow! Boebert SILENCES Marjorie Taylor Greene on House Floor - MeidasTouch Colombia prison director Elmer Fernandez, a 57-year-old retired police colonel, was killed by gunmen on a motorcycle who fired a single shot to his head as he was returning home in western Bogota after dropping off a prison employee. Fernandez had received death threats after implementing stringent policies to clean up the prison, including unannounced searches of inmates and their cells. Justice Minister Nestor Osuna condemned the killing and launched a major police operation to apprehend the assailants, Al Jazeera reports. President Gustavo Petro also condemned the murder, vowing that such acts would not intimidate the government. General William Salamanca, head of Colombia's national police, ordered a lockdown in Bogota to find the suspects. La Modelo is notorious for housing some of Colombia's most dangerous criminals and has a history of violent incidents, including a deadly riot in 2020 and a fire during a riot in 2022 that killed 49 people. READ NEXT: Colombia: ELN Rebels to Resume Kidnappings After Peace Talks Fail Organized Crime and Ongoing Threats Authorities claim organized gangs run drug smuggling and extortion rackets from inside Colombia's overcrowded prisons. Jorge Restrepo, a political analyst, suggested that the murder of Elmer Fernandez, the director of Bogota's La Modelo prison, was likely orchestrated by these groups. Colombia prison director had been leading efforts to separate gang members within the prison, according to Mail Online. Since the start of the year, five guards have been killed, and six others have survived assassination attempts. Over the past two years, at least 550 officials have received death threats. Daniel Gutierrez, director of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC), admitted that resource limitations prevented providing Fernandez an armored vehicle, a protection no director currently has. Fernandez had received explicit and alarming threats, including one from an inmate named Pedro Caro, who warned, "If you get involved with the patio search, I will kill your family." Following these threats, Caro and nine other prisoners were transferred to different jails. Justice Minister Nestor Osuna stated that investigators had several leads and assured that police investigations were "very advanced." Elmer Fernandez, director of Bogota's La Modelo prison, filed a report with the National Protection Unit about death threats on Tuesday. INPEC director Nestor Morales noted Fernandez requested protection but faced regulatory barriers preventing access to armored vehicles. The National Protection Unit later stated that Fernandez did not directly request protection but had informed the Attorney General's Office about the threats. Security Measures and Prison Transfers Following Colombia prison director Elmer Fernandez's murder, La Modelo assistant director Oscar Tovar resigned abruptly. Fernandez, a former colonel of the Bogota Metropolitan Police, joined INPEC five years ago and previously directed La Esperanza prison. About 15 inmates were transferred from La Modelo after Fernandez's murder, which was triggered by his order to search cells, angering an inmate involved in illegal activities, Colombia One noted. Police special forces guarded La Modelo prison, which houses approximately 3,000 inmates, after the incident. Official data shows 506 threats against prison authorities in the past two years. Justice Minister Nestor Osuna confirmed Fernandez's death and conveyed condolences, asserting that the government would not be intimidated. Oscar Robayo, president of the INPEC union, lamented Fernandez's death and highlighted the dangers faced by those working in Colombia's prisons. READ MORE: Haiti Transitional Council Implements Leadership Rotation Amid Gang Violence This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Ross Key WATCH: Colombian prison director shot dead, police at the scene - From Sharjah24 News Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo are meeting near their shared border. Their main agendas include migration, security, and development. The two Latin American leaders met in the Mexican border city of Tapachula as migrants traverse both countries in order to make it to the US-Mexico border and try their luck at either being granted asylum or entering the US illegally and finding a better life there. "We want a border that unites, a border that unites our people, the Mexican people and the Guatemalan people, a border that allows us to develop and grow together, with reciprocal benefit, trust, enthusiasm and collaboration," said Arevalo in a statement. Tapachula was also where his father, Juan Jose Arevalo, a former Guatemalan president, met with then-Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho back in 1946. The two countries are meeting amid US pressure to increase the control of their shared border and help stem the flow of migrants to the US, according to The Independent. Aside from migration, the two countries also discussed security as two major Mexican drug cartels are vying for control of the border area with Guatemala. Guatemala has been concerned about this development as the country fears the violence might spill over the border. AMLO stated that he and Arevalo will be discussing how best to tackle the situation. Biden Administration Helping Mexico and Guatemala in Economic Development Meanwhile, the destination of all these migrants arriving in Mexico and Guatemala is also trying to give economic opportunities for citizens of these countries so they would not migrate to the US, particularly Guatemala. READ NEXT: Guatemala Authorities Raid Save the Children Charity's Offices After Reported Mistreatment of Migrant Children Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Barcena stated that the three North American countries are in agreement that they will direct more resources to the Mexico-Guatemala border. This would ensure that development programs, commerce, and job creation would be accelerated and ease the social hardships that would make people want to migrate. However, Barcena acknowledged that the shared Mexico-Guatemala-Belize border, an important migration route, would be challenging to police as it is long, mountainous, and remote. It is also an area where both the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are warring for supremacy. Mexico Doing More to Stop Border Migration Than Previous Years Meanwhile, it seems that the Biden administration's pressure campaign on Mexico to act on immigration is working, as the US's southern neighbor is s stopping nearly three times as many migrants who have crossed its southern border as it was a year ago, according to NBC News. This increased cooperation with Mexico has also helped slow migration down. The same can be said in Guatemala, as Bernardo Arevalo has also been stricter with migrants than his predecessors. This year, more migrants have been stopped in Mexico rather than being captured by US border patrol. Over 280,000 migrants were interdicted in Mexico this year, and this is far more that the 189,000 captured in the US, which means the Mexican government is indeed slowing the migrants down. However, these numbers are not well known to the public as the Mexican government does not share migrant interdiction numbers like the US. READ MORE: Mexico Elections Primer: Who Are the Top 3 Candidates Vying to Replace AMLO? This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Mexico-Guatemala border: Families flee their homes over cartel violence - Al Jazeera English In Irvine, a senseless act of violence claimed the life of California UPS driver Expedito Cuesta De Leon, 50, who was fatally shot while on duty in his delivery truck. The incident, which unfolded at an industrial park near Chrysler and Bendix, shocked the community and prompted a massive police response. The California fatal shooting occurred around 3 PM on Thursday, with witnesses reporting multiple gunshots echoing through the industrial area, ABC7 reports. Surveillance footage later revealed a silver Honda Ridgeline, driven by the suspect, Rhean Fontanoza, 46, pulling up alongside Cuesta De Leon's UPS truck before speeding away towards Jeronimo. Upon arrival at the scene, officers found Cuesta De Leon slumped over in the driver's seat. Despite immediate efforts to save him, he succumbed to his injuries. Irvine Police swiftly launched an investigation, ruling out robbery and indicating the incident was targeted. Hours after the shooting, a California gunman's vehicle was located on Santiago Canyon Road, sparking a tense standoff. SWAT teams, supported by armored vehicles and negotiators, surrounded the suspect's pickup truck. The standoff intensified when Fontanoza refused to surrender peacefully. Authorities deployed tear gas and a police K-9 to apprehend Fontanoza, who initially resisted exiting the vehicle. Following a brief struggle, officers successfully removed him from the truck and took him into custody. Fontanoza, also a UPS employee and resident of Aliso Viejo, remains under investigation as authorities work to establish a motive for the shooting. READ NEXT: California: Juvenile, Teen, and Man Arrested for Deadly Mass Shooting in King City Community and Company Responses In response to the tragedy, UPS issued a heartfelt statement expressing condolences and solidarity with Cuesta De Leon's family and coworkers. The company pledged full cooperation with law enforcement to understand the circumstances surrounding the shooting. UPS emphasized their commitment to supporting employees affected by the loss, providing counseling and resources during this difficult time, according to CBS News. Residents and community members expressed shock and grief over the incident, describing the California UPS driver as a dedicated professional and a familiar face in the neighborhood. Friends and colleagues gathered near the scene to mourn his untimely death, remembering him for his hard work, kindness, and positive impact on those around him. Investigation Continues As investigations continue, authorities are focusing on uncovering the relationship between Cuesta De Leon and Fontanoza, as well as any potential motives for the shooting. Irvine Police Sgt. Karie Davies emphasized the targeted nature of the attack, highlighting ongoing efforts to piece together the events leading up to the tragic loss of life. The shooting has deeply affected the Irvine community, underscoring concerns about safety and highlighting the vulnerability of essential workers, Yahoo! News noted. Vigils and tributes are planned to honor Cuesta De Leon's memory, reflecting on his contributions and the profound loss felt by those who knew him. The California fatal shooting of Expedito Cuesta De Leon has left a lasting impact on Irvine, prompting reflection on community safety and support for essential workers. As investigations progress, the community remains united in mourning the loss of a dedicated California UPS driver while authorities work diligently to bring justice and closure to those affected by this senseless act of violence. READ MORE: Indiana Boy's Suicide Due to Bullying Draws Hundreds to Funeral This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Ross Key WATCH: Victim and suspected gunman are identified after UPS driver is fatally shot in Irvine - From ABC7 By Kyle Miller During the most recent federal election in 2022, some troubling things unfolded here in Pennsylvania. Three counties Allegheny, Berks, and Fayette delayed certification of their primary election results until compelled to do so by court order, nearly two months after the statutory deadline. Certification is that usually mundane but critical process in which local election boards make official their vote tallies and send them on to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Following that Novembers general election, over 170 recount petitions were filed in at least 27 counties. And these precinct recount petitions, in the races for United States Senate and governor, presented not a single specific allegation of fraud or error. In some cases these recount petitions were filed by the very same poll workers who signed off on the election night vote tallies they were now petitioning to be recounted. Under Pennsylvania law, any three voters can file a recount request without providing a reason to compel a recount. The myriad recount petitions led to the most delayed statewide certification date in years Dec. 22. While these events had little to no impact on the outcome of the 2022 general election, similar baseless delays in certification this November could put the status of Pennsylvanias presidential electors in serious jeopardy. By now, Pennsylvanians are familiar with the Electoral College, the vote-by-proxy system of choosing presidential electors, who assemble in Harrisburg on Dec. 17 to formally cast ballots for the prevailing candidate, based on the certified votes of Pennsylvanians. These results are then transmitted to Congress for counting on Jan. 6. But the transmission of electoral college ballots to Congress is the final step in a chain-reaction of procedures that begin well before a single vote is even cast. That chain of procedures includes the initial tallying of precinct and mail-in vote totals on election night, the official canvass and reporting of county results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and final certification by counties on or before the third Monday following Election Day. Each step requires tremendous effort and diligence on behalf of nonpartisan election directors and their staffs, elected and appointed poll workers, and the members of a county Board of Elections. Uncorroborated disruptions or delays in any of these steps could result in undermining, even overturning, the will of Pennsylvanias nearly 7 million voters. In 2022, Congress adopted the Electoral Count Reform Act, to prevent a repeat of the dangerous exploitation of ambiguities in the electoral college process that were leveraged up to and including Jan. 6, 2021. Under the new law, Pennsylvanias presidential electors, awarded to the candidate who received the most votes statewide, must be appointed by the Governor no later than Dec. 11, 2024. And in order for that critical piece of the electoral process to happen, each and every one of Pennsylvanias 67 counties must certify their election results. If Pennsylvania experiences extended court challenges similar to those in 2022, thus pushing certification beyond Dec. 11, what happens? Well, no one truly knows as the new law has not yet been tested (it includes an expedited federal court process to help resolve some certification problems). But almost certainly, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania could again be called upon to interpret Pennsylvanias election code and, again, potentially based on hundreds or thousands of recount petitions filed with absolutely no specific evidence or allegation of fraud having been presented. Heres the thing, there is a relatively simple solution to this looming (unnecessary) threat. The legislature must do what it can to help ensure that votes are counted and legitimate challenges resolved as quickly as possible and without baseless disruptions or delays. That includes making minor, administrative tweaks to the election code, including simply to require that all challenges allege a specific case of fraud or error; and/or mandating that the monetary threshold to file such challenges reflect the actual cost associated with conducting a recount. Currently, the fee for doing so is $50, which hasnt changed since it was created in the 1930s. For perspective, adjusted for 2024, that fee would amount to over $1,000. If youre thinking that such administrative tweaks seem logical and, hey, lets get this done agreed, but this requires a coalition of lawmakers from across the aisle to join together and resist their usual urge to add unnecessary amendments at the last minute. Given the historic lack of trust between the chambers, that, in itself, is no small task. But its achievable. And worth it. In the 2020 election, local election officials did everything in their power a truly Herculean effort in the midst of a pandemic to assure that every lawful voter had the opportunity to safely cast their ballots. Going into 2024, Pennsylvanias legislators are presented with an opportunity to make such easy and common-sensical fixes, to pass a bill that would be a win-win for their constituents, for themselves and for democracy. Kyle Miller is a policy strategist at Protect Democracy, an anti-authoritarianism nonprofit organization. He previously served as an executive director for the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee and a leadership staffer for the Senate Democratic Caucus. Click NEXT or on the arrows above to see next picture This year's programme of events for Laois Cruinniu na nOg, a day of free creativity for children and young people has been launched. This year's festival will take place on Saturday, June 15, with 24 separate events spread right across the county with everything from circus skills to wildlife photography included. Laois Cruinniu na nOg 2024 was launched outside Portlaoise Library with children from Scoil Bhride, Portlaoise helping to build the excitement ahead of this year's festival. The children, who are involved in the Music Rich programme, played some lively tunes from their ukuleles and were guided by Terry Byrne from Music Generation. Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council, Cllr Paschal McEvoy was in attendance along with Rossa Bracken who is the Laois Cruinniu na nOg ambassador for 2024. Wildlife and photography enthusiast Rossa is facilitating his own Get Out workshop at Mountmellick Library while Jeca the clown was also in attendance to bring a bit of much needed mayhem to the photo shoot and was of great assistance to Alf Harvey in making everyone smile for the photos! Ireland is the first, and only, country in the world to have a national day of free creativity for children and young people under 18. Cruinniu na nOg is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programmes Creative Youth Plan to enable the creative potential of children and young people. Since 2018 young people and families have come together to enjoy, a wide range of creative activities including workshops and tutorials to recitals and readings in every county across the country. Delivered in partnership with the 31 Local Authorities and supported by RTE, all are invited to participate in this programme of fun, free, creative activities. For details on the events that are live so far visit The HSE is appealing for volunteers in Laois to join the Patient and Public network to help shape Irelands four national screening programmes - bowel, breast, cervical and retinopathy. Encouraging people to come forward and join the network, Fiona Murphy, Chief Executive, HSE National Screening Service, explains, We are asking people to share their valuable ideas, energy and life experiences to help improve Irelands health service by volunteering with our Patient and Public Partnership network. No matter how much time you have to give, your contribution will make a difference by helping people to choose screening. We are looking for people from all backgrounds to join us in delivering these life-saving programmes to people across Ireland. Together we can make a difference. Becoming a volunteer with the HSE National Screening Service gives you an opportunity to be involved in developing and evaluating four national screening programmes, which work to reduce the incidence and impact of bowel, breast and cervical cancer, and diabetic retinopathy take part in training, learning opportunities and professional development play a key role in improving participant information materials, enabling more people across all communities to make an informed choice about screening be a member of the teams delivering internationally-leading, quality assured health services. Fiona Murphy continued, We are looking for people who have a genuine interest in improving screening services for everyone. We need people who want equal opportunity and access to screening for everyone living in Ireland and are open to sharing their opinions while also respectfully listening to others. The level of commitment is entirely up to each person, there is no minimum required - any amount of time pledged is deeply appreciated. Also, meetings can be either attended in person or online and no experience is needed as full training is provided. If this sounds of interest please dont hesitate to contact us for more information by emailing ppplead@screeningservice.ie. Grace Reck, volunteer with the National Screening Service from Kildare, shares insight into their experiences, Being part of the Patient and Public Partnership has always been a rewarding and enriching experience. I never imagined Id feel as involved. Its a welcoming environment that allows me to feel like, no matter how big or small, Im making a difference. Patient and Public Partnership aims to: empower patients and the public to play a meaningful and active role in the screening service; embed partnership working across the screening service and strengthen accountability, assurance and learning. For further information, please visit the HSE website here or email ppplead@screeningservice.ie 39 residential units have been granted planning permission on site of the former Malt House in Monasterevin. A planning application by Clonmel Enterprises Limited was approved by Kildare County Council. The three-storey Malt House dates from 1850 and was refurbished in the 1980s. The former store managers house was built around 1885. The planning application sets out a scheme of 16 houses, eight one-bed apartments and 15 two-bed apartments. Being planned is the demolition of a blockwork section of boundary wall at the entrance to the site as well as the existing bungalow. The plans include the redevelopment of existing buildings and the site of 1.1 hectares to provide 39 residential units. Also planned are internal access roads, footpaths, 55 car parking spaces, cycle parking, landscaping,. There will also be proposed alterations to both the existing vehicular entrance and the entrance to station house which is a protected structure. The estimated construction value of the project is almost 5m, according to Construction Information Ireland database. A person who has been helping house Ukrainians in this area spoke to the Leitrim Observer about the government's decision to move 170 residents from a hotel in Leitrim. "They were given notice on Wednesday that they were to pack their bags more or less and be gone by the end of the month," the individual told the Observer. "Where to, they don't know. It's predominantly women and children in the hotel and a lot of the women work in the locality and their children all go to school. I believe there has been correspondence from the Government and apparently they can make these decisions and that's what they've done. The Government has pulled the contract and are moving all the Ukranians out and why they did, I don't know," they continued. There are around 170 people living in the hotel, said the person, who asked not to be named. "They have been there for the better part of two years so they are very much part of society. There are a lot of people working locally in the various shops and the industries up there in Drumshanbo; the distillery and various kitchens and there are women doing courses in the SOLAS centre in Drumshanbo. "They've basically had the rug pulled out from underneath them. They've been given no reason and have no idea where they're going. They know they are going before May 31 and were told this on Wednesday at an informal meeting." They said, "They have been living here the last two years and are part of the community and Drumshanbo is flourishing because of the Ukrainian population. It's a vibrant town and you're taking a sizable chunk of the population and shipping them off to God knows where." The speaker described the housing crisis as a "catastrophe but this is happening. There's no health and safety reasons for it or anything like that." Under a revised plan in March, Ukrainian refugees go to designated accommodation centres for up to 90 days and are provided with food, laundry and integration support during this time. They are paid a 38.80 subsistence allowance per week and an additional 29.80 per child. Arrivals had previously been entitled to a jobseekers allowance of 220 per week and unlimited time in State accommodation. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) sent a letter to residents stating that, under the The Temporary Protection Directive, the DCEDIY "provided you with short-term temporary accommodation. In accordance with your current accommodation provide, Lough Allen Hotel, DCEDIY wishes to inform you that we must move you to new accommodation by 31/05/2024." The letter goes on to say that arrangements for their next accommodation are currently being finalised and they will soon receive a letter from the hotel management with details. A letter from the management of Lough Allen Hotel sent to residents said that they wanted them to know that "we have done everything within our power to ask the Government to allow you to stay here with us in the hotel. Unfortunately, the Department has come to this decision without any consultation with the management of the hotel. We are very shocked and saddened at this sudden decision but it is now beyond our control". The person who spoke to us went to say that the residents are "devastated and there were women in floods of tears all day Thursday and all day Friday. They are looking at the news every day of their country being bombed and have done their best to make this place home and now all of a sudden, they don't know if they can continue in their employment, in their education, if their kids can go to school; they don't know anything and it's all been decided by the swipe of a pen." They stated that the departure of the 170 residents will be a "problem for businesses in town because they will be down a lot of money as it's a cyclical economy; they are working in the shops and then spending their money in the shops." They continued, "this needs to be stopped; you can't do this to people; it's pure inhumane. Everyone gets on well with each other; they've integrated very well into this locality. Children are up and dressed every morning and go to school and women are up and gone to work or education and the only ones at home are mothers who have very young children. "Their safety, security and sanctuary is gone for all these residents. My overall experience of these people has been extremely positive." LIMERICK gardai are urging people to be vigilant about leaving valuable items where they cannot see them. A woman in her mid twenties was travelling by bus from Dublin to Abbeyfeale on Wednesday, May 10 at 8.15 in the evening. She put her luggage in the compartment of the bus, but when she got to Abbeyfeale, she saw it had been taken. Her suitcase contained valuable items including an Apple laptop, bringing the value of the stolen property to 5,000. Sergeant Ber Leech of Henry Street garda station has this advice: "It is more secure to keep all of your valuable property on your person and near you when travelling. "If your luggage is too big to fit in the bus and must go in the luggage compartment, make sure that you do not have any valuable items in the suitcase." Girls Aloud fans are really excited to watch the group kick off their first tour in more than a decade. Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding won Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and formed Girls Aloud, going on to achieve four UK number one singles and a Brit award for track The Promise. They reunited with new music for their 10th anniversary in 2012, while a second reunion was planned for their 20th anniversary when Harding was diagnosed with cancer. Harding died in September 2021 aged 39. Updated stage time tonight due to Dublin motorway closures 9:15pm pic.twitter.com/iw4kabjG8h Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) May 17, 2024 The new tour from Girls Aloud, which will play major UK cities including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Liverpool, is dedicated to bandmate Harding. Less than an hour before their expected arrival at the 3Arena in Dublin, the group issued an updated stage time on X. It said due to Dublin motorway closures, the foursome would arrive 30 minutes later than expected at 9.15pm. Rehearsals? Done Choreography? Ready Outfits? Fitted Girls? Aloud #TheGirlsAloudTour begins tomorrow! Weve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you Comment with the city youre coming to below https://t.co/SuTKm7U9Gl pic.twitter.com/YVlpwGFZMU Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) May 16, 2024 Aaron ORegan, based in Waterford, Ireland, told the PA news agency: Im really excited for it! My boyfriend got us tickets last year for our first anniversary so its going to be a great night. We love Girls Aloud, its fantastic to see them back together again and touring. My boyfriend even got us T-shirts for tonight, its going to be so fun! Rehearsals? Done Choreography? Ready Outfits? Fitted Girls? Aloud #TheGirlsAloudTour begins tomorrow! Weve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you Comment with the city youre coming to below https://t.co/SuTKm7U9Gl pic.twitter.com/YVlpwGFZMU Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) May 16, 2024 Ahead of the show, a post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: Rehearsals? Done. Choreography? Ready. Outfits? Fitted. Girls? Aloud. Weve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you. After two back-to-back opening nights in Dublins 3Arena, Girls Aloud will play two concerts at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday, before heading to the Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday. In November, the group had to add six extra dates to their UK and Ireland 2024 arena tour due to unprecedented demand following ticket pre-sales. A security guard required hospital treatment after security workers were assaulted at a site for modular homes in Clonmel overnight, with a number of cars also damaged. "Gardai are investigating an incident of assault and criminal damage at a site in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary on Thursday 16th May 2024 where security personnel contracted to work on the site were assaulted by a number of individuals. One of the workers required hospital treatment," garda spokesperson confirmed. "A number of vehicles were also damaged during the incident," they added. "No arrests have been made at this time," the garda spokesperson said. Gardai are appealing for any person with any information on this incident to contact Clonmel Garda Station on 052 617 7640, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Gardai are also appealing for any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling near the Heywood road and Clonmel Rugby Club areas between 10.45pm and 11:30pm to make this footage available to Gardai. The site is the subject of plans by the Department of Integration and the OPW to install 82 modular homes for Ukrainian refugees. While modular homes are not expected to arrive there until near the end of the years, preparation work has been taking place at the site. A number of security workers were assaulted and vehicles were damaged by fire at a site that has been earmarked for refugees in Co Tipperary. The incident happened in Clonmel on Thursday. Security personnel contracted to work on the site were attacked by a number of people. One of the workers required hospital treatment and a number of vehicles were damaged. Gardai said no arrests have been made. Some work had begun at the site, where a number of modular homes are expected to be built. Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to contact Clonmel Garda Station on 052 617 7640, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. They have also asked for any road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam, and were near the Heywood Road and Clonmel Rugby Club areas between 10.45pm and 11.30pm, to make this footage available to gardai. NXG Cushing Midstream Energy Fund (NYSE: SRV) Announces At-the-Market Offering Program DALLAS, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NXG Cushing Midstream Energy Fund (NYSE: SRV) (the "Fund") announced today that it has established an "at-the-market" offering program (the "Offer"), pursuant to which the Fund may offer and sell common shares of beneficial interest, par value $0.001 per share ("Common Shares") through a distribution agreement with Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the "Distributor"). The sales, if any, of Common Shares made under the program will be made through the Distributor in transactions that are deemed to be "at-the-market offerings" as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Fund intends to invest the net proceeds of any sales of Common Shares in the Offer in accordance with its investment objective and policies. The Common Shares will be offered under the Fund's effective registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The Fund has filed a prospectus supplement, dated May 17, 2024, with the SEC in connection with the Offer. The Fund will pay expenses associated with the Offer which will be borne indirectly by the Fund's common shareholders. The information herein is not complete and is subject to change. This document is not an offer to sell any securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. This document is not an offering, which can only be made by a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. Investors should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. The Fund's prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus contain this and additional information about the Fund and additional information about the Offer, and should be read carefully before investing. Additional Information About the Fund The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company with an investment objective of seeking a high after-tax total return from a combination of capital appreciation and current income. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in a portfolio of midstream energy investments. The Fund considers midstream energy investments to be investments that offer economic exposure to securities of midstream energy companies, which are companies that engage provide midstream services in the energy infrastructure sector, including the gathering, transporting, processing, fractionation, storing, refining and distribution of natural resources, such as natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil refined petroleum products, biofuels, carbon sequestration, solar, and wind. The Fund considers a company to be a midstream energy company if at least 50% of its assets, income, sales or profits are committed to, derived from or otherwise related to midstream energy services. The Fund's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SRV." About NXG Investment Management Cushing Asset Management, LP ("Cushing") is an SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Cushing serves as investment adviser to affiliated funds and managed accounts. Cushing is doing business as NXG Investment Management providing Next Generation investment strategies to investors seeking long-term growth in companies focused on a clean and sustainable future as well as traditional and transformational infrastructure companies. IMPORTANT INFORMATION This press release contains certain statements that may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are "forward-looking statements." Although the Fund and NXG Investment Management believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the company's reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Other than as required by law, the Fund and Cushing do not assume a duty to update this forward-looking statement. Contact: Blake Nelson NXG Investment Management 214-692-6334 www.nxgim.com NOT FDIC INSURED NO BANK GUARANTEE MAY LOSE VALUE SOURCE NXG Investment Management 17 may 2024 at 18:37 News published onand distributed by: Statement by the Prime Minister on Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day OTTAWA, ON, May 18, 2024 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day: "Fifteen years ago, the quarter-century-long armed conflict in Sri Lanka came to an end. Tens of thousands of Tamils tragically lost their lives, including at the massacre in Mullivaikal. To this day, many more remain missing, injured, or displaced. Today, we honour the victims, survivors, and their loved ones, who live with the lasting pain caused by this senseless violence. "Two years ago, Canada's Parliament unanimously voted to recognize May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. We will always advocate for justice and accountability for the crimes committed during the conflict, as well as for the hardships faced by all in Sri Lanka. In 2023, we imposed sanctions against four former Sri Lankan government officials in response to their violations of human rights in the country during the armed conflict. "Canada is a strong defender of human rights in Sri Lanka. We are advancing our work with international partners to fully implement the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution adopted in October 2022, which calls for greater reconciliation, justice, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka. And we continue to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to respect freedom of religion, belief, and pluralism ? essential values to build lasting peace. "Today reminds us of our shared responsibility to stand up for human rights, justice, and accountability ? values that cannot be taken for granted. Canada will never stop its work to protect human rights across the world. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I invite Canadians to join in honouring the victims of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. Together, let us reflect on how we can foster a better, more inclusive, and more peaceful world for everyone." This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca SOURCE Prime Minister's Office 18 may 2024 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: The highway entrance to the A620 in Saarbrucken is flooded as heavy continuous rain has caused multiple floods and landslides in Saarland, western Germany, Saturday, May 18, 2024. LASZLO PINTER / AP Heavy rains caused flooding in parts of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands overnight into Saturday, May 18, swamping streets and buildings and sparking evacuations. In the southwestern German state of Saarland, streets were deep underwater and images on social media showed emergency workers carrying local residents to safety in boats. State capital Saarbrucken was hard hit. No deaths were reported but at least one person was injured. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to visit the area later Saturday. Saarland state premier Anke Rehlinger described the situation as "very tense" and warned there could be widespread damage. But the picture had improved early Saturday with a severe weather warning for the area lifted and water levels falling, said Saarbrucken Mayor Uwe Conradt. Hundreds of emergency service workers were still on the ground helping with the clean-up. In Belgium, the province of Liege was hit by severe flooding, with authorities receiving hundreds of requests for assistance and 150 firefighters deployed, Governor Herve Jamar said. The main help provided by emergency services was pumping water out of flooded buildings, he said. A local resident holds squeegees and sweepers in a flooded street the day after an episode of heavy rain in Trooz, Belgium, on May 18, 2024. BRUNO FAHY / AFP Over the border in the Dutch province of Limburg, two campsites were evacuated early Saturday as they were threatened by rising floodwaters, officials said. Meanwhile, the Moselle area in France's northeast was placed on flood alert as water levels rose in rivers following heavy rains. A group of armed robbers snatched jewels Saturday, May 18, from a high-end shop near Paris' world-famous Champs-Elysees avenue before making their escape on motorbikes, a police source said. The three-strong team, one of them armed with a long weapon, may have made off with several million euros in loot, based on a double robbery at the same Harry Winston jeweller's in 2007 and 2008. A gunshot was heard outside the shop on Avenue Montaigne, a police source familiar with the case said, with the source saying the robbery happened around 11:45 am (0945 GMT). It had been a "warning shot" with "no-one injured," the source familiar with the case added. Paris prosecutors said an investigation was underway. The source close to the case said it could be "several days" before the precise value of the robbery, first reported by Actu17, is known. In the 2007-08 case, 900 items worth a total of 78.9 million ($86 million at today's rates) were stolen in one of the largest such heists anywhere in the world. A Paris court sentenced eight men in 2015 to jail terms from nine months to 15 years over the robbery. Ousmane Sonko speaks after he was appointed prime minister by Senegal's newly-elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in Dakar, Senegal April 2, 2024. ABDOU KARIM NDOYE / REUTERS Senegal's new prime minister, who was freed from jail weeks before the presidential election earlier this year and propelled his party to victory, has criticized the French military presence in the West African country. Ousmane Sonko also criticized efforts by France and the West to promote values that he said didn't fit with those held by Senegal and other African countries, including LGBTQ rights and monogamy. Polygamy is widely practiced in Senegal. Sonko was speaking late Thursday at an event held jointly with the French far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon in the capital, Dakar. Sonko is known for his criticism of interference by France, which is Senegal's former colonial ruler. His fiery views in a region where other neighbors have already taken steps to cut ties with France helped his chosen candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye win the presidential election in March. "I want to reiterate Senegals desire for self-determination, which is incompatible with the long-term presence of foreign military bases in Senegal," Sonko said. He said the desire to question the presence of French and other foreign forces didn't undermine existing defense treaties that Senegal has signed with those countries. France has about 350 troops in Senegal. While Sonko warned that promoting LGBTQ rights could cause conflict between Senegal and France, Melenchon responded that he had introduced legislation permitting same-sex marriage in France. "I thought that this freedom to love anyone had to be open to all that wanted to enjoy it," the French politician said. Senegal is considered a pillar of stability in a region that has experienced a wave of coups in recent years, and Sonkos remarks are likely to draw attention from Western allies. Read more Subscribers only Melenchon seeks African allies with Senegal trip Following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all three nations have expelled French troops and turned to Russia instead for help fighting yearslong insurgencies there. The three nations also formed their own alliance of Sahel states, causing a split within the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. Sonko, whose party has said ECOWAS needs to be reformed, reiterated criticism of the regional bloc for allowing the divisions to grow. "We will not abandon our brothers in the Sahel and will do everything necessary to strengthen our ties," he said. SHANNON Chamber has been short-listed in three categories in this years Chamber Awards. The business group put forward entries into the sustainability and biodiversity category, event of the year and local authority engagement. Its chief executive Helen Downes said it is honoured that all three entries were deemed worthy of being short-listed. Its entries highlighted the hosting of an inaugural Sustainability Week in September 2023, via its member-led Mid-West Sustainability Network; the Mid-West Lean Network conference 2023, themed Maintaining Lean Momentum; and its expanded engagement with Clare County Council. READ MORE: Enterprising Limerick students honoured for their innovation Ms Downes added: It is very rewarding when the work that goes into organising initiatives of this nature is recognised. Its not about us as chamber executives; its about what we do, why we do it and the results we achieve. The decision to host a week focused on sustainability was described by our members as a brave and progressive step as it has helped to place sustainability and the four key themes (waste, water, energy, and biodiversity) the Mid-West Sustainability Network is concentrating on to the fore. Our team works tirelessly to ensure that our activities deliver value and remain relevant to our membership, and we are now looking forward to attending The Chamber Awards on Thursday, June 6 in the Killashee Hotel, Co Kildare, Ms Downes said. The Chamber Awards is an annual celebration recognising the hard work and dedication of chambers across the country in representing their members, engaging stakeholders and fostering thriving local communities. LIMERICK European hopeful Cian Prendiville has warned that a measure designed to protect Irelands military neutrality is under threat. The former City North councillor, who is seeking election to the European Parliament for People Before Profit, says the removal of the so-called triple lock could lead to Irish involvement in international conflicts. Introduced following the 2001 rejection of the Nice Treaty, the triple lock involves three forms of authorisation before Irish troops enter into battle. For troops to take part, the operation must be mandated by the United Nations; it must be approved by the Government; and it must be approved by Dail Eireann. The government has prepared legislation to remove the protections. However, Mr Prendiville has expressed fears at what this might lead to. They wont say what wars they are thinking of sending troops to? This is part of a EU-wide push for militarisation, despite the fact EU countries already spend almost a quarter of a trillion euro on the military, the election candidate said. He described the attack on the triple lock as deeply undemocratic. As late as 2020, the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael programme for government stated that the Government will ensure that all overseas operations will be conducted in line with our position of military neutrality and will be subject to a triple lock of UN, government and Dail Eireann approval, he added. Mr Prendiville believes the governments change of heart comes because of a growing arms industry. There are currently 550 firms in Ireland active in the Irish defence industry. Military equipment exports more than doubled in one year, from 42.3 million in 2019 to 108.5 million in 2020, he said. FIANNA Fail Justice spokesperson, Jim O'Callaghan TD, visited Bruff garda station during a trip to County Limerick. He joined mayoral candidate Dee Ryan and Al Fitzgerald, who is running for the council. The trio were briefed on issues surrounding local policing and safety by Sergeant Tadgh Reeves of Bruff Garda Station who also showed the party's Justice Spokesperson around the top-of-the-range facilities at the station. READ MORE: Neighbours at war in Limerick over barking dogs and trespassing cat Finding solutions to issues ranging from road safety to rural burglaries and an uptick in drug usage were among the topics discussed on the day. Speaking after the briefing, Mr Fitzgerald said: This was an extremely insightful briefing from Sergeant Reeves, who provided an invaluable insight into our local gardai's efforts to tackle everything from road safety to burglaries and make Bruff and the surrounding areas safer. "One thing that is abundantly clear from the briefing is that rural garda stations have to cover vast stretches of geography and require increased resources to do so effectively. I am pleased to confirm that Deputy O'Callaghan pledged to bring the various issues raised on the ground to the attention of the Minister for Justice and her officials." THERE is a craft to being a police, says a retiring sergeant who has An Garda Siochana in his DNA. Mike Brennan served his last day in Bruff Garda Station last week after 34 years in the force. He is a third generation garda following in the footsteps of his father Sean Brennan (pictured below with Mike) and his grandfather Michael. Mike's granduncle John also wore the uniform. It is over 100 years of service and counting as Mikes sister Valerie is a sergeant in Store Street in Dublin. Despite the family history, Mike said there was no pressure on him to go to Templemore. From a young age thats what I wanted to do. My granduncle John was one of the first guards to join in 1923. He was at my graduation - I didnt appreciate it at the time - but I knew that it was a special moment for them. Now that Im retiring it's like it is joining the dots back to 1923 and the foundation of the State but my sister will carry it on. There is something unique about it and I definitely appreciate it now, said Mike, who gave his one and only interview to the Limerick Leader in Bruff garda station on a sunny Sunday morning. Mike entered Templemore in 1990. His first posting was a place called Dromad. Id never heard of it. There was a map but I couldnt find it and there was no Google in those days. So I had to ask the fellow calling out the names, where is it? I was hoping that it was somewhere down in the south east or the south west coast of Ireland but it couldn't have been further away! It was right on the border, outside Dundalk, beautiful countryside. The Limerick city man set off for Co Louth where he cut his teeth in the guards. After he served his time he applied to be transferred closer to home and was assigned to Anglesea Street in Cork city. I was down there for seven years. I loved it. It's a great city with great people. I was given opportunities down there which helped me develop my craft, if you want to call it that. I was in the drugs squad for two years in plain clothes, said Mike, who met his wife Noelle during this time. They have two grown up children - Conor and Ciara. Next stop was Henry Street where he went straight into the drug squad in 1999. Mike said at the time the notorious gang feud was moving from a spark to a flame. We were really straight in at the deep end once that kicked off. The amount of investigations, serious crime, murders and attempted murders that followed - they were probably the biggest challenges that the city ever had to deal with. I worked with some fantastic people. Their names won't really be known, and rightly so. They just went about their business in a fabulous, professional way, and did so much to keep a lid on things in the city. I can clearly remember the determination and co-operation of the people of Limerick. Ive never experienced anything as challenging as that time. Thankfully, we've moved to a much better place now. The son of Sean and Maeve was promoted to sergeant in Kilrush in 2005. But it was Kilmallock and not Kilkee that was his next port of call. The first man he met in the station was Garda John Curtin, of Ballylanders, and they remain friends to this day. Mike said rural policing taught him that not everything is black and white. The best guards do the best work in the grey area. Not everybody wants law or recourse to the law. They want somebody they can go to that can mitigate and mediate in a way that you can maintain the status quo. Now the status quo mightn't be brilliant, but it might be better than if you go one way or the other. And very often, I've seen really good people do really good work in managing that. I think that's an important element of our craft that we are losing - our discretion and our way to manage things. The amount of simmering stuff that was going on over there and we brought it into the floor of the station and we said: This is no court, have it out here between yourselves, and once you walk out there, that's it, it's over and done with. READ MORE: Neighbours at war in Limerick over barking dogs and trespassing cat In 2008, Mike moved the short distance to Bruff and it was where he would stay the longest - 16 years. There is a craft to being a police and that craft isn't spending most of your time in front of a computer. Most of your time should be spent walking the street and talking to somebody because at the end of the day that's all people want - to know and see a policeman or policewoman that they can relate to. Not because they want them but it's a tangible sense of security - theres a policeman around. Mike has now walked the beat for the last time after 34 years. It's been a good job to me. I've met fabulous people. I've met people who saw something in me and gave me opportunities that I don't know how I would have got otherwise. I've been mentored very, very well by excellent people. And I've had the absolute privilege of meeting the public the length and breadth of the country. As Elon Musk chases a robot future, the Tesla board is trying to pull off its own breakthrough: time travel. Specifically, Chair Robyn Denholm is doing her best to put shareholders in a 2018 state of mind as she asks them to re-approve the record pay package given to Musk six years agowhich has since been rescinded by a Delaware judge. She is also trying to persuade them, in her public messages, that the pay package with its holding requirements motivates the chief executive to drive the same growth that weve seen over the past five years for many years to come." The challenge for Denholm and the board is that it is actually 2024. And the vote can also be seen as a referendum on how much Tesla needs Musk going forwardeven when he is not 100% focused on the electric automaker. Rejection at Junes shareholder meeting would be a clear signal that investors have grown weary of a less-than-fully engaged CEOeven as he has accomplished incredible things and hit the milestones of the original pay package. That dealapproved by shareholders in 2018was intended, according to board committee notes, to ensure Musk remained Teslas fully engaged CEO." Yet, by some measures, Musk has more on his plate today than he did thensix companies instead of four, with the addition in 2022 of Twitter-turned-X and last years creation of artificial intelligence startup xAI. Plus, Musk has become more active in contentious social and political issues that are beginning to show signs of turning buyers off to Teslas core business. All of which comes as Teslas growth story has grown murky with pressing competition in China and the companys product road map turning toward robotaxis and humanoid robots. Musk defenders argue he devotes significant time and effort to the company that reached achievements impossible without his involvement. They say he juggles his multiple companies in parallel and that allowing his extracurricular activities is how the board keeps him engaged at Tesla. Still, the board is clearly vying to compete for the superstar CEOs attention, raising a question: Does he want to work at Tesla, or not? Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos eventually stepped aside as CEO and now spends his time pursuing his other interests, including life as a superyacht mogul, keeping swole and tending to the Washington Post and his own outer-space dreams. Other CEOs have juggled multiple businesses or sprawling conglomerates. But when it came to General Electric, for example, there was one share price. In Musks case, there are five companies outside of Tesla, all privately held. And the judge in the Delaware case has suggested that Musk should have been motivated by his pre-existing equity stake in Tesla. After all, he stood to benefit by over $10 billion for every $50 billion increase" in market value, she wrote. His equity stake was also a powerful incentive to avoid allowing Tesla to fall in what Musk might consider to be incapable hands." The company argues that shareholders approved the plan, Musk delivered on it, and now it is only fair for him to get what he was promised. As shareholders reconsider the matter, it is easy to understand why Denholm and the board would want to evoke 2018. In so many ways, 2018 was a simpler time. Then, the company was a fraction of its current sizein both valuation and sales volumeand there was a real question of whether Tesla could pull off a bet-the-company gambit to bring out a mainstream EV sedan called the Model 3. The comp planincluding taking Teslas market value to $650 billion from around $60 billionwas seen as a long shot, especially as the company was months behind in ramping up production of the car. It was also another era for the entrepreneurone before Musk had pulled off one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds in a generation and become, in the process, one of the worlds richest men. It was the era of Elon as the underdog, the guy with a chip on his shoulder trying to prove Motor City and Big Oil wrong as well as all of those short sellers bettingno, rootingagainst him. Hungry Elon; sleeping on the factory floor Elon; staring into the abyss, chewing glass Elon. There were also echoes of an Elon we know today, one with a wandering sense of imagination, driven to start ambitious new things even if his hands were already full. Then, he had SpaceX and his goal of going to Mars; his brain-computer startup Neuralink and his tunneling company Boring. Given all of that, it is easy to understand why the board might have felt they needed to make Tesla worth his while, so to speak. In January, before the judges ruling, Musk roiled Tesla investors with tweets that suggested he might take his ideas for AI and robotics elsewhere if he wasnt given more control of the car company. Im not looking for additional economics," Musk said. I just want to be an effective steward of very powerful technology." Some on the board, according to people familiar with the thinking, feel Musks tweets were misunderstood. What Musk really intended to say was that he wants new safeguards around the companys AI, which he argues could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Whatever the case, Musk has created the perception in the market that he has one foot out the door with Teslas most exciting technologies if he doesnt get his way. At the same time, Musk needs a successful Tesla. He certainly has other things to do rather than run Tesla, but the core part of his financial empire is based on Teslas sky-high valuation, which many on Wall Street think would take a big hit without him at the helm. Because of that, one cant help but think this is all just a giant game of chicken. During the Delaware compensation trial held in late 2022, Musk reiterated a previous statement that he intended to stay at Tesla for life and confirmed he never intended to leave the company had shareholders rejected the original pay package in 2018. You viewed Tesla as part of your family, right?" a lawyer asked Musk. Yes, Musk responded, he did. Write to Tim Higgins at tim.higgins@wsj.com New Delhi: India is looking to fortify its imports of LNG, a crucial ingredient in industrial applications and partly in transportation, through long-term contracts with overseas exporters. This week, state-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd signed a long-term contract with French energy giant TotalEnergies in France for supply of LNG (liquefied natural gas), two people aware of the development said. Under the contract, TotalEnergies would supply 1 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) of LNG to IOCL for a period of around 10 years. This is the second long-term contract between the two companies in the past one year. Last July, they had signed an agreement for supply of 0.8 mmtpa of LNG. Around the same period last year, the public sector refining and marketing major also signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for supply of 1.2 mmtpa of LNG starting 2026. Queries mailed to IndianOil and TotalEnergies remained unanswered till press time. Eyes on long-term contracts The push for long-term contracts has gained momentum after the gas market witnessed volatility in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The prices had soared in 2022 amid the crisis, leading to Gazprom defaulting on its long-term contract with another state-run major GAIL (India) Ltd for about a year starting May 2022. This happened as Gazproms German subsidiary found it lucrative to sell its produce in the spot market rather than fulfilling contractual commitments. Now, all Indian PSUs dealing in gas, such as IOCL, GAIL, and Petronet LNG have been looking out for long-term contracts to ensure adequate availability of gas and avoid purchases in the volatile spot markets. On similar lines, Petronet LNG extended its contract with QatarEnergy LNG in February by signing a long-term deal for buying 7.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum. "The gas market is expected to witness a glut starting 2026 with the US and Qatar ramping up their gas liquefaction capacities and that is when most of the long-term contracts would come into effect. India has a lot of appetite and that is why it is still looking for long-term contracts," said Prashant Vasisht, senior vice president & co-group head, corporate rating, ICRA Ltd. Gas prices down "Gas prices are relatively lower now as demand for both the Europe and China has somewhat declined. Even during the last winter, they did not rise as the winter was warmer than expected," he added. Spot prices of natural gas currently stand around $10 per mmbtu (metric million British thermal unit). Prices had touched $50-60 mmbtu in 2022 at the height of the energy crisis due to the Ukraine war. Also read | The US is trying to cripple Russias vast Arctic LNG project India is a net importer of natural gas and imports about 55% of its total gas requirement. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), Indias LNG imports increased 17.5% year-on-year in FY24 in terms of volumes to 30,917 million standard cubic metre (mmscm). That figure equates to about 23.5 mmtpa. However, despite increase in import volumes, India's gas import bill fell 22% to $13.3 billion from $17.1 billion in FY23 due to the global fall in prices. India's gas consumption (including LNG, CNG and PNG) increased 11.1% on year in FY24 to 66,634 mmscm aided by fertilizer, power, and city gas distribution sectors. Before it was one of the worlds most valuable companies, Nvidia was a company on the verge of going out of business. Jensen Huangs startup had been around for a few years in the 1990s when it looked like it wouldnt be around for much longer. Its first chip was a flop. Its next chip was doomed to fail. Huang himself says this was nothing less than an existential moment for his nascent company. And it survived only because of a man he calls Irimajiri-san. Nvidia was running out of money when Huang asked one of the top executives at the videogame giant Sega for a $5 million lifeline to keep his company afloat. There was absolutely no reason for Irimajiri-san to do it. He did it anyway. To his credit," Huang recently said, and my amazement." Huang has been the chief executive of the chip maker since the day it was born. Nvidia wouldnt exist without him. But even he says it wouldnt exist today without the help of Irimajiri-san. The way he saved the company taught Huang one of the most important and least appreciated lessons in business. You cant discount the kindness of people when youre starting your company," Huang said on a Sequoia Capital podcast last year. When he started his company more than 30 years ago, it would have sounded completely preposterous that Nvidia would become the worlds third-most valuable company, behind Microsoft and Apple. Even one year ago, it was highly unlikely. But since the beginning of Nvidia mania, the companys market capitalization has tripled. Last year, it cracked $1 trillion. This year, it broke $2 trillion. It could touch $3 trillion if demand for artificial-intelligence chips helps the company deliver another blowout earnings report this coming week. But every company needs a little luck and a lot of goodwill on its way to success. Even a $2 trillion company. Especially a $2 trillion company! One of the peculiar things about this company behind the AI boom is that it would have gone bust a long time ago if not for the human benevolence of someone who never worked there. That someone was Shoichiro Irimajiri, aka Irimajiri-san, Iri-san or just Iri. A brilliant engineer and charismatic executive, he was one of Japans most admired business leaders, first at Honda and then at Sega, where he played an essential role in Nvidias history. Today, hes 84 years old, not that youd know it from looking at him. Hes still consulting and was in his office past 5 p.m. when I spoke with him this week. Irimajiri worked with Huang for a brief time. Like Huang, hes never forgotten that time. The presence of Nvidia in my mind is quite large," he told me through an interpreter. So how did Shoichiro Irimajiri end up saving Jensen Huangs company from thousands of miles away? As a boy in postwar Japan, Irimajiri dreamed of being an aeronautical engineer from the day he read about Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier. After college, he took a job with Honda Motor designing engines in Grand Prix motorcycles and Formula One cars that challenged the limits of speed on the ground. His work on the worlds fastest racing machines made him a legendary figure in his own right. He had ideas that other engineers considered impossible," motorcycle journalist Mat Oxley says. That put his career on the fast track. The youngest managing director in the companys history, Irimajiri was sent to America to run Hondas U.S. manufacturing in 1984. When he moved to Ohio, the name on his badge was his nickname, Iri." He was known for his easy smile" and forceful leadership," according to Wall Street Journal profiles. He was also known for loving McDonalds burgers, which he still devours every week. Believe it or not," he says. After four years of driving Hondas growth in the U.S., he returned to Japan in 1988 as a contender to run the company but abruptly resigned in 1992, citing stress and health. He was hired in 1993 by Sega, which had leapfrogged Nintendo to become the dominant force in videogames. He was promoted to chairman and CEO of the American business in 1996 and elevated to president of the entire company by 1998. Meanwhile, three guys in a Dennys booth were starting a company in Silicon Valley that would catch his attention. Nvidia was founded by Huang and two buddies in 1993 as games were shifting from 2-D to 3-D graphics. At the time, Sega was under pressure to create a hit product, and it developed the Dreamcast console in response to the incredible popularity of Sonys PlayStation. Nvidia was tapped to build the Dreamcasts graphics-processing unit, or GPU, after Irimajiri met with Huang and left impressed by his passion and vision. The young entrepreneur didnt have a signature leather jacket back then or fans who fill arenas to hear him talk about chips, but he already carried himself with a swagger. He had a very, very strong confidence," Irimajiri told me. The contract with Sega funded Huangs company. But risky decisions and crucial mistakes in the early days of Nvidia nearly destroyed it. The most consequential one was the startups flawed strategy for rendering images. Nvidia took an unconventional approach to 3-D graphics that used quadrilaterals, while other companies pursued a technique based on triangles. It soon became clear that Nvidia was betting on the wrong shape. Nvidia had been working on the Sega project for a year when Huang realized that he would have to abandon its strategy. The inferior chip left the company in a pickle: finish and die slowly, or quit and die immediately. He reflected on this seemingly impossible situation last year in a commencement address at National Taiwan University, where he revealed the humiliating and embarrassing" failures that laid the foundation for Nvidias success. If the company kept plugging away on the console to fulfill its contract, he said, it would be too far behind the competition to catch up. But if it stopped working on the Sega chip, it would be out of money. Either way," Huang said, we would be out of business." He feared the worst when Irimajiri came to his office and told Huang that Sega would be launching the Dreamcast with a GPU made by another company. Nvidia had failed. But by then, Irimajiri knew Huang. He still believed in him. He still liked him, too. I wanted to make Nvidia successful," Irimajiri says. Somehow." He called back to Japan with a surprising idea: Sega should invest in Nvidia. It wasnt easy to persuade his boss to pump money into a precarious startup that hadnt delivered on its existing contract. But after some negotiating, Irimajiri secured the additional $5 million that Nvidia desperately needed. Somehow. It was all the money that we had," Huang said. His understanding and generosity gave us six months to live." In those six months, Nvidia hunkered down and scrambled to develop the breakthrough chip that was released in 1997 and rescued the company, which went public in 1999. The following year, Irimajiri stepped down as Segas president. It was only after he left the company when his best decision paid off: Sega sold its Nvidia stock for about $15 million, he says. Today, he runs his own private consulting business from a Tokyo office. Behind his desk is a framed portrait of his friend Ayrton Senna, the beloved late Formula One champion whose dominance was powered by Hondas engines. At home is a photo of Chuck Yeager flying a jet fighter in his 80s. He lost touch with the CEO of Nvidia until Irimajiri was asked to organize a seminar on AI in 2017. Thats when he tracked down Huangs email address and sent a note in English to the billionaire he hadnt seen in 20 years. From: Shoichiro IrimajiriTo: Jensen HuangSubject: from old friend Hi Jensen-san," he wrote. This is Shoichiro Irimajiri, one of your business counterpart in 1990s. You might remember that in those days we struggled together to develop advanced graphic chips for Sega Dreamcast. Also, this is one of my happy memory in my life." Then he made the ask. He wanted to know if Huang or some Nvidia person" would visit Japan and give a lecture to an intimate group of business leaders. If possible, I would appreciate greatly," Irimajiri wrote. Very sorry to disturb your busy time, but also very much thank you to read my letter. Best regards and hope your future more success. Sincerely, Iri." It reads like an email that everyone has written and rewritten at some point in their lives. He wasnt expecting a response. He got one the next day. Dear Irimajiri-san," replied Huang, now 61 with silver hair. What a wonderful and pleasant surprise to hear from you. Working with Sega in the beginning of Nvidia is one of the happy memories of my life as well." As it happened, he would soon be in Tokyo for a glitzy Nvidia conference where he would take the stage and give a keynote speech about the future. But of course he would speak to a much smaller audience and repay a debt from his past. Anything for Irimajiri-san. I am delighted to be of service to you," Huang wrote to his old friend. Write to Ben Cohen at ben.cohen@wsj.com In response to a surge of false information circulating in foreign media and social networks, particularly within Pakistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic has stressed that the situation in Bishkek is calm and fully under control, urging media, bloggers, and foreign governments to rely solely on verified information from Kyrgyz authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of Pakistan, a release said. Amidst the misinformation campaign the Ministry urges media representatives, bloggers, and foreign counterparts to rely solely on official and verified information from the competent authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic. Also Read | Kejriwal to visit Delhi BJP HQ on Sunday, dares PM Modi to arrest him The Ministry informs that the situation in the city of Bishkek of the Kyrgyz Republic is calm and under full control, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, maintain peace and stability, the release added. It further urged the media representatives, bloggers, and foreign governments to rely solely on verified information from Kyrgyz authorities. The move aims to combat the dissemination of untrue and deceptive narratives, safeguarding the reputation and integrity of the Kyrgyz Republic while fostering transparency and trust in international communications. Background Earlier on Friday, hundreds of Kyrgyz men attacked buildings housing foreign students, including Pakistanis in Bishkek. The Kyrgyz police claimed that the attack was prompted by foreigners,-- whose nationality was not immediately clear--beating up locals in the city. Also Read | BJP runs itself: What JP Nadda said on RSS presence within party After the Kyrgyz health ministry confirmed that four Pakistanis were given first aid and discharged while one was still under treatment for injury, Islamabad summoned Kyrgyzstan's top diplomat and handed a note of protest. "It was impressed on the Kyrgyz charge d'affaires that the Kyrgyz government should take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens," Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, India has asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041, the Indian mission in the Kyrgyz Republic said in a post on X. Also Read | DK Shivakumar rejects BJP leaders claim of offering 100 cr to defame PM External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also advised the Indian students to stay in regular touch with the Indian embassy. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday censured Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir after his remark sparked a controversy. The TMC leader had threatened voters and rival party workers through statements based on religious lines. Also Read: EC issues show cause notice to West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar over ads targeting TMC According to reports, while delivering a speech in Kazipara area of West Bengal's Murshidabad district, Humayun Kabir threatened to throw BJP supporters into river Bhagirathi, a tributary of river Ganga in West Bengal, within two hours. If I can't throw BJP (supporters) into the river Bhagirathi Ganga within two hours, I will leave politics. I will not let you guys stay in Shaktipur, Kabir allegedly said in a viral video, reported India Today. After EC's show-cause notice, the TMC leader had also defended himself and said the remarks were deliberately taken in isolation to make it seem as a threat and a violation of the model code of conduct. While delivering a speech, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader had threatened the voters and the workers of rival parties and the Election Commission believed that his remarks sought to create religious divide, reported PTI. The poll authority said it is convinced that he made the statement and thus violated the provisions of the model code of conduct. Dubbing his remarks as a misconduct, the commission "strongly condemned" and censured him. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has also issued a show cause notice to West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar over advertisement targeting Trinamool Congress. The EC has asked him to submit his reply by 5 pm on May 21. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday issued a show cause notice to West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar over advertisement targeting Trinamool Congress. The EC has asked him to submit his reply by 5 pm on May 21, as to why the advertisement is not treated as violation of provisions of Model Code of Conduct and directions issued by the Commission. The Commission received a complaint from All India Trinamool Congress, dated 05.05.2024 (copy enclosed), wherein it is alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party on 05.05.2024 published an advertisement in newspaper containing, false, unverified and misleading statement to unduly influence the minds of the voter through false reporting, 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 the Election Commission will take appropriate action or decision in the matter without making any further reference to you, EC said in a show cause notice to Majumdar. On May 4, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) complained to ECI that BJP advertisement in some regional newspapers were highly derogatory, false, and appealed to voters to vote on religious grounds. In its complaint, TMC had stated that it appears that the BJP has attempted to pass off paid advertisement(s) as news. Political strategist Prashant Kishor said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being challenged by the people of the country if not by any political party or a leader. "People are seeing in this election that brand Modi is not invincible. It's not like no one can challenge him. People are giving him a challenge, whether a political party or a leader challenges him or not," Kishor said in an interview with RTV Andhra Pradesh earlier this week. 'Opposition parties may be weak but opposition to govt is not weak' "In a country where more than 60 crore people don't earn more than 100 per day, there the Opposition against the government can never be weakened. Never make that mistake," Prashant Kishor said. He said that opposition parties and or the formation of opposition parties can be weak. "But in this country, opposition [to the government] is not weak," he added. He went on to share numbers to support his argument. Kishor said, "Nobody here [India] gets 50 percent votes. In simple terms, if 100 people vote, only 40 support PM Modi, his ideology, his work, Hindutva, Ram Mandir, Article 370 this collectively, only 40 people are happy and 60-62 are unhappy." He said there's a challenge before PM Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "...rural distress is a major issue in the country...even after this if BJP is winning, that means the opposition parties are not strong enough or reliable." "...but that doesn't mean that every person of this country is happy with" the Modi government," the political strategist added. Power of brand Modi declining Kishore compared the power of PM Modi as a "brand" in the 2024 elections to that of the 2014 elections. He said, "In 2024, people are feeling that there's no one else to vote for... Brand Modi is weakening...the power of brand Modi is declining in comparison to what was seen in 2014 and 2019." He said that in 2014, there was "excitement" among BJP voters and in 2019, people felt the party should get five years more for development in the country. There was a large section of people who believed in 2014 that the country will transform if Modi comes to power, the strategist said. However, in 2024, people feel ab kya karen, koi doosra hai nahi to vote inhi ko dena padega [What shall we do, there's no one else so let's vote for him only]there's a change in narrative, Kishor said. "The excitement among people have declined," he said. Kishor further explained, "Between 2014 and 2019, the BJP's under-performance in all the assembly polls as compared to the Lok Sabha polls was 3 percentage points this means if the BJP got 40 percent votes in a state Lok Sabha polls, the party received 37 percent votes in that state's assembly elections...This under-performance has now increased to 9-10 percent between 2019 and 2024." 'No incremental benefit of Ram Mandir' Prashant Kishor said the BJP is not getting even one extra vote in the name of Ram mandir. "Ram Mandir is a big issue for BJP supporters. I didn't find anyone who was not giving the BJP vote in the name of Ram madir earlier and will vote based on it today...there's no incremental benefit," he said in the interview. Urging Congress and Aam Aadmi Party workers to work together and ensure victory for their alliance on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi shared an interesting observation: While he will vote for the AAP, Arvind Kejriwal will vote for the Congress. Are banks open today? Banks will remain open this Saturday, May 18, as the Reserve Bank of India's order has allowed the closure of all private and PSU banks on all second and fourth Saturdays of each month. However, the Saturday falling on May 18 is the third Saturday of May, hence all the official work at banks will continue as it is today. People who are unwilling to visit the bank because of rampant heatwave-like conditions and weekends can also explore the option of online banking. Nowadays, banks provide many services to their customers via online or mobile banking. Bank Holidays list of May In addition to all Sundays and second and third Saturdays, banks remain closed on Holidays classified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under three categories: Negotiable Instruments Act Holiday, Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday, and bank account closures. Take a look at the Bank Holidays in the remaining month of May, according to the RBI calendar: Bank Holiday on May 20: All banks in Maharashtra will remain shut on May 20 because of Lok Sabha General Elections 2024. Bank Holiday on May 23: All PSU and private banks will remain closed in several regions, including Tripura, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Bank Holiday on May 25: Banks will remain closed in the Agartala and Bhubaneshwar regions. (Note: The holidays mentioned above have been announced by the RBI under the Negotiable Instruments Act and may, hence, be applied to selective states and regions.) In addition to the above mentioned holidays, banks like the Punjab National Bank (PNB), SBI, CBI, ICICI, HDFC, will remain closed on national holidays like Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti, and Christmas Day. Excitable Chinese netizens have long inveighed against foreign brands perceived insults of Chinese culture. Nike, an American shoemaker, was once attacked for depicting a man beating a dragon in a game of basketball. Marriott, an American hotel chain, was hit with an online campaign after it listed Taiwan and Tibet as countries. Dolce & Gabbana, an Italian fashion label, got an earful in 2018 over an ad that showed a Chinese model clumsily eating Italian food with chopsticks. Now Chinas online nationalists are taking aim at a new target. In the past two weeks they have besieged Nongfu, a bottler of spring water whose founder, Zhong Shanshan, is Chinas richest man. Its sin? Typography. The Chinese character for tea used on Nongfus new beverage includes four brushstrokes resembling plus signs. To the online nationalists, the stylisation resembles the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where Japanese generals who committed war crimes in China are commemorated. It takes a wild imagination to spot the likeness. But Nongfus critics are, it seems, a wildly imaginative bunch. They have unearthed other pro-Japanese symbolism. A mountain on its water bottles, one of Chinas most recognisable logos, is Mount Fuji, supposedly. Set against a white backdrop, Nongfus red plastic bottle cap becomes, unmistakably, the Japanese flag. What is more, the name of Mr Zhongs son, Zhong Shuzi, sure sounds Japanese (in a worse betrayal, he is an American citizen). A few local brands have been accused of mimicking Japanese style in the past. Miniso, a homeware retailer, was pilloried in 2022 for selling figurines in Chinese garb and labelling them as geishas. But the latest furore looks both more severe and broader. The Nongfu imaginings are already doing real damage. Daily sales of the spring water fell by more than 30% over the past fortnight. A few 7-Eleven convenience stores have vowed to stop carrying the products. The companys market value is down by about 5% since the drama began, costing shareholders some $4bn. And Nongfu is not the only firm in the nationalists sights. Li-Ning, a Nike rival known for tracksuits with China" emblazoned in Chinese characters on the back, has drawn criticism over the supposed likeness between a new line of jackets and Japanese military uniforms from the second world war. One netizen wrote on Chinese social media that if he were caught wearing one, his grandfather would shoot him dead. Even Huawei, a technology giant that in the West is synonymous with Chinese patriotism and pride, has come under fire. Its transgression was to call its new homegrown semiconductors Kirin in English. The word is a Japanification of Qilin, the chips Chinese name, which refers to a mythical beast. State media have told the self-appointed culture police to calm down. One prominent nationalist, Hu Xijin, has called for an end to the madness. That only infuriated many of his erstwhile supporters, who turned on him instead and now call him a traitorous running dog" on social sites. As Mr Hu is finding out the hard way, nationalism, both online and in the real world, is easier to whip up than it is to contain. 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com Vilangu , a police procedural set in a village near Trichy with its narrative marred by caste, culture and politics, is one of the better web series to come out of south India. In an interview to YouTube channel Galatta Plus last year, its writer-director, Prasanth Pandiyaraj, elaborated on the challenges facing long-form series creators in the south. He mentioned Mumbai" at least three times. He spoke about how he must convey his pitch and story to the local team of an OTT platform, then impress the head, after which the they take it to Mumbai for a final call. There could be many challenges in the intervening stages, like his inability to articulate his ideas in English or adopt an exacting approach to express a local cultural setting. He spoke about how much gets lost in this process and the underlying difficulties in conveying even an idea for a web series. The web series landscape on OTT platformslong-form storytelling that is not mainstream soap operasis still at a nascent stage in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. In Hindi, or Mumbai to use Prasanths nomenclature, it has burgeoned to now boast its own awards categories. It has also become cross-cultural: Amazon Primes Poacher (2024) has at least half the characters speaking in Malayalam, and The Family Man and Farzi have south stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Vijay Sethupathi, respectively. Hindi streaming is now its own ecosystem that shares top talent with Hindi cinema, creating avenues for lesser-known actors and writers. The pandemic aided its growth, and the stagnation of Hindi cinema pushed bolder stories towards streaming. But this growth has not trickled down to south India, whose filmic styles and big names have been co-opted by Bollywoodfrom Atlee to S.S. Rajamouli to Allu Arjun and Prabhas. An Ormax Media report published in May 2023 found that in 2022, there were 44 OTT originals released on streaming in the four south Indian languages (more than 90% in Tamil and Telugu), while in Hindi, it was more than double that number. But why, apart from a few meagre names, has long-form storytelling from the south not grown at a similar pace? A few show have made an impact: Vilangu, Muthukumars Ayali (Zee5), the Sharath Jothi-directed docu-series Koose Munisamy Veerappan (Zee5) and Pushkar-Gayathris Suzhal: The Vortex (Amazon Prime). Ormax Medias yearly report on streaming originals in India is yet to look at the numbers and viewership of non-Hindi shows. Its simply not big enough. View Full Image 'Suzhal' One would think that at a time when mainstream cinema is unable to look beyond stars and action entertainers to attract audiences to theatres, there would be intervention to widen the slate through OTT. According to Pushkar, a significant stream of new shows, Hindi and otherwise, were being greenlit till about mid-2023, but the breaks have been applied all over due to a global churn. Yet, for streaming in the south, the issues are both creative and financial. The biggest challenge is writing specifically for long form. Filmmaker Madhumita (K.D, Mouname Paarvayaai in Amazon Primes anthology Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa), says a lot of them are still trying to understand writing for a web series. Its not a three-act structure like film. In a series, we must write a five-act structure, the process is different, and the writing room is different." Suman Kumar, co-writer of The Family Man, Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs, and Pushkar-Gayathri agree. Suman Kumar says there arent enough writers to handle this kind of effort. In the series space, the writer is the hero. Availability of writers and understanding the difference between a two-hour film and a web series is key." Pushkar believes that filmic beats can still be followed in the series format but with some tweaks. Narrative long-form storytelling is a new craft for most writers. We get a lot of pitches and show bibles and out of those there will be one or two that have the legs to go forward." Pushkar-Gayathri receive several elevator pitches, but they rarely get an episodic outline. In a feature we can get away with some things. But in long form, plotting and character development are things people are still coming to terms with." Another challenge is that popular culture in the south is film- and star-obsessed in a way that audiences up north are not. The Ormax Media report revealed that OTT content in south Indian markets is largely driven by film. Films always have priority over long-form streaming originals because the audience down south is drawn in by stars and cinema-going is habitual. Sharath Jothi talks about a vicious cycle. It is not financially viable for someone to take a year or two and get into a world, research and write a proper screenplay. So, the solution then is to quickly do what we know for sure the audience will like. Filmmakers are stuck in this cycle." Malayalam cinema today has a great ecosystem dedicated to writing, while Tamil and Telugu have more writer-directors. Sharath feels that the Malayalam industry has a respect for writers that is lacking in Tamil. I feel we have to groom talent who could only write for screen." Insiders believe this transition will happen soon. The other transition is getting star actors to streaming. Most south series are small scale nowthe networks bet on the story. But as their scale grows, even a great story will need a big name to push for production. Pushkar says film directors will gravitate towards this medium if they have a ready script in front of them. But we are a few years away from star actors warming up to the idea of web series (Sethupathi is an eternal outlier). It is also currently impossible to create a star culture around streaming: the fidelity of the theatrical fan doesnt exist in the OTT space. Even if an actor makes it big with one show, theres no guarantee his next show will attract the same numbers," says Pushkar. With films, you can at least expect the opening to be similar." View Full Image 'Vilangu' Networks too have their work cut out. Prasanth mentioned that Mumbai remains the decision-maker for all streaming. Economics dictates that more shows are made for a Hindi-speaking audience. It is still a new market, which is why we see more thrillers and procedurals. But the platforms are also limited by the decision-makers worldview. A former content executive from a popular OTT platform, on the condition of anonymity, talked about an idea that came up, a show set in an elite school in Chennai. An executive in Mumbai compared it to Ashim AhluwaliasHindi show Class (Netflix) and asked why they should do something similar. It becomes difficult to demonstrate that an elite school in Chennai can be very different to an elite school in Mumbai or New Delhi. A kid can still come to this school on a bicycle. How do I explain that the behavioral patterns of the rich in Tamil Nadu are very different to those of the multimillionaires in Mumbai?" Pushkar-Gayathri say that this is the time to go for small shows. OTT platforms, indeed, are looking for hyperlocal stories. A young writer had pitched the duo a show set in the IT industry in Bengaluru; they wanted to make the show bigger and set it in Singapore or Hong Kong. When we took this to a very senior person at a platform, they said they have experimented with such an idea, like a trans-European show, and found that it doesnt work. Unless you can identify who your primary audience is, it is not going to cross over." Gayathri says the audience needs to take ownership of a showeither at a linguistic or cultural or state level. This ownership is especially important when looking at multiple seasons. Suman mentions how a little show on Hotstar like Save the Tigers found loyal fans in the Telugu audience with its relatable characters and humour. The second season recently dropped. For Sharath, the challenge with Koose Munisamy was to contend with pre-conceived notions of Veerappan. It took a lot of back and forth to get through the idea that his series was about the people caught between the law enforcement and Veerappan. Madhumita believes the Mumbai heads help balance the business side of things, while the localised creative team is more attuned with a shows cultural sensibilities. With a single producer, filmmakers often have more independence. But with the set systems of OTT platforms, they must adapt. Madhumita sees it as a marriage. As filmmakers we must get used to the idea that someone is bringing business acumen, and we get feedback on our work even before going to floors. At the same time, the platforms will have to understand that this person knows best, it is their story, something theyve created in a universe familiar to them." The challenge is to meet halfwayhow open filmmakers are to feedback? And platforms to this collaboration? It cannot be the filmmakers fault alone and it cannot be the platforms fault alone." What is now required, says Pushkar, is a larger investment from the networks in the south ecosystem. He feels the global churn happened too early in the journey of Tamil and Telugu shows. We need to take the start of the Tamil and Telugu web series market as 2021-22. We are only two years into this OTT journey. We need five more years for it to stand on its own legs. As of now, it is an adjunct of the larger space that is the Hindi series industry." Aditya Shrikrishna is a freelance writer and film critic. Delhi Police has made special traffic arrangements in the national capital ahead of two major political rallies for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address his first poll meeting in North East Delhi, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will campaign at the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency today. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Delhi Traffic Police wrote, Traffic Advisory: Special traffic arrangements will be effective around Ram Lila Ground, Ashok Vihar Phase-IV) on 18th May, 2024 from 2:00 PM onwards. Kindly follow the advisory. Commuters are expected to avoid various roads including Chaudhari Gulab Singh Road, KC Goel Marg, Nahar Singh Marg, Satyawati College Road in Ashok Vihar, Swami Narayan Marg, Nirankari Marg, and others, the advisory read. Traffic Advisory: Special traffic arrangements will be effective around Yamuna Khadar area, Kartarpur (Shastri Park Pusta Road) on 18th May, 2024 from 2:00 PM onwards. Kindly follow the advisory, Delhi Traffic Police wrote in another advisory. The cops suggested commuters to also avoid travelling on Wazirabad Road including Signature Bridge, Pusta Road from Shastri Park to Khajuri Chowk, and others. Since traffic will remain closed on Pusta Road from Shastri Park to Khajuri Chowk on both carriageways from 2 pm onwards till the completion of the program, commuters are advised to go straight on Khajuri flyover towards Loni, the advisory read. Security beefed up in Delhi There will be at least a four-layer security cordon involving the Special Protection Group (SPG), the security wing of the Delhi Police, and the local police, according to two officers familiar with the security arrangements as quoted by Hindustan Times. Over 2,000 security and traffic personnel will be stationed in and around the venue to manage the crowd, control traffic, and prevent any untoward incidents during the PM's rally. All security measures, including venue and area scanning, have been completed. A final inspection, involving sniffer dogs, bomb detection and disposal squads, and other relevant teams, will take place on Saturday before the rally begins. The internal security cordon of the PM will be formed by special protection group commandos, while the Delhi Police's PM security wing officials will be positioned in the second layer of security. Haryana Nuh bus fire: Nearly eight passengers were dead, and several others were injured after the bus they were travelling in from Vrindavan caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Nuh, Haryana, in the early hours of Saturday. The people who were injured in the accident were brought to Nuh Medical College and are undergoing treatment. Initially, there was some cracking sound inside the bus, followed by a foul burning smell, a passenger told news agency PTI. The bus was stopped by a two-wheeler driver after he signalled the bus driver about the fire at the back of the bus. Later, passengers quickly deboarded the bus. However, the fire grew, and the vehicle was turned into ashes within minutes, recounted another passenger. The passenger also said that the police came to the accident spot nearly three hours after the fire incident. Soon after the accident, Haryana's Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed has expressed condolence on the death of the passengers. I would say that this is a very painful, sad and heart-wrenching incident. The devotees were returning from Vrindavan. The bus caught fire and several people inclduing elderly, women, and children got injured, Aftab Ahmed told ANI. In a very sad incident more than eight people have died and many are injured due to fire burn, they were pilgrims, I am going to the hospital to see them, said Congress leader and party's candidate from Gurgaon (Haryana) Lok Sabha seat Raj Babbar. We were returning from Vrindavan. We don't know how the fire broke out. 10 people have died. 64 people were there on the bus, said Meena Rani, another passenger injured in the accident. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all of whom were residents of Punjab and Chandigarh and were returning from Mathura-Vrindavan, reported PTI, referring to the police. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday stated that the Indian government is monitoring the welfare of Indians students in Bishkek amid mob violence targeting international students erupted Kyrgyzstan's capital city. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jaishankar wrote, Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. The students have also been advised to stay indoors. Currently, the Indian embassy in Kyrgyz Republic is in contact with the students. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue," it said. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voiced "deep concerns" about the situation in Bishkek and stated that he has instructed the country's envoy there to "provide all necessary help and assistance" to the students. Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation, he wrote on the microblogging site. Some social media posts claimed that three Pakistani students were killed in the attack, but the government stated they have not received any reports of fatalities. The Pakistan embassy mentioned that the situation intensified after videos of a fight between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students on May 13 went viral online on Friday. The mob targeted hostels of medical universities in Bishkek, where students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh reside. So far, a few hostels of medical universities in Bishkek and private residences of international students including Pakistanis have been attacked. The hostels are inhabited by students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There have been reports of light injuries to several students from Pakistan, Pakistan's Kyrgyzstan consulate said in a post on X. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was detained on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal, said officials, adding that he was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team around noon. We've not received any information from the police yet. We've sent them an e-mail that we will cooperate in the investigation, Advocate Karan Sharma representing Bibhav Kumar told media persons. The Rajya Sabha MP has alleged that Kumar assaulted her at Kejriwal's residence on May 13 when she had gone to meet the chief minister. An FIR was registered in the Swati Maliwal assault case, naming Bibhav Kumar. Delhi Police registered the case under Indian Penal Code sections: 354 (Assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (Word gesture or act of intent to insult), 323 (Assault) and other sections of IPC. Arvind Kejriwal is being slammed for not speaking on the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused him of evading questions on the incident. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the Aam Aadmi Party over Swati Maliwal assault case, saying corruption, misconduct, and disinformation have become the standard operating procedure of Kejriwal-led party. From corruption to misconduct to disinformation, standard operating procedure of Aam Aadmi Party, it has become their idea and etiquette to indulge in this kind of modus operandi...in modern time, not just 'cheerharan' happened with 'Draupadi' but also character assassination, Poonawalla said. This incident happened with Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on 13th May...at first, they (AAP) remained silent, then after that a little bit acceptance (about the incident) was done by them, after that brazen defence of the accused was done, he added. It is surprising in fact shocking that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has not spoken a word about his party MP Rajya Sabha Swati Maliwal who was misbehaved with and beaten up in CM's residence. The CM has not acted, responded or spoken about it," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said. Today, I am being told that in Uttar Pradesh, he was seen walking around with the accused...It is utterly shameful that a woman who headed the Delhi Commission for Women is treated like this," she added. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal, even as the party claimed she was "blackmailed" by the BJP as she faces a corruption case. Kumar was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team, a senior police officer said, a day after Maliwal recorded her statement before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court. Meanwhile, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said he and other party leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday and dared the "prime minister to send anyone he wants to jail". Top Events on May 18: Congress and BJP will intensify their Lok Sabha election campaigns in Delhi on Saturday, with Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi both are scheduled to hold public rallies in different parts of the national capital today. BJP's JP Nadda will also address public rallies in Himachal Pradesh today, while the Varanasi court will hear Gyanvapi case on May 18. Take a look at top events of the day below, - Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold first public rally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national capital at Yamuna Khadar in northeast Delhi on May 18. He will also address two rallies for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana's Sonipat and Ambala today. - BJP national president JP Nadda will hold three rallies in Kangra and Shimla constituencies of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as a part of poll campaign. - Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will also address an election campaign in Chandni Chowk, Delhi on May 18. - The hearing of Gyanvapi case in the Varanasi court of the district judge will take place on May 18. - Telangana cabinet will hold a meeting to discuss various issues including farm loan waiver before August 15, State Formation Day celebrations, pending issues under AP Reorganisation Act, revenue generation sources, and others today. - Severe heatwave conditions are expected in Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi from May 18 to 20. On the other hand, the weather office has also issued orange alert for rainfall in several districts in Kerala from May 18 to 20. - The federation of pro-people movements in Hassan, Hassan Zilla Janapara Chalavaligala Okkuta, will convene a state-level consultative meeting in Hassan on May 18 to discuss their plans on protest against Prajwal Revanna. - BJP-led Tripura government is planning to organise a statewide agitation on Saturday against the Communist Party Of India (Marxist) (CPI-M). - The Indian Army will get first Hermes-900 drone on May 18 to boost surveillance on Pakistan border (India). - Bharat Gaurav train to start from New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal on May 18. - In Pakistan, the PML-N will pick interim party president today. - A new US visa processing requirements will take effect on May 18. - Indian stock exchanges, NSE and BSE will test disaster preparedness with Special Trading Session in Maharashtra today. Good news for globetrotters! Indians may soon be able to travel to Russia without a visa. Both countries are planning to ease travel conditions to boost the tourism sector. Consultations to finalise the criteria under a bilateral agreement will begin in June. Indians can travel easily to Russia after the launch of visa-free group tourist exchanges. The director of the Russian Economic Development Ministrys Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, Nikita Kondratyev, said India is at the final stage of internal state coordination, reported PTI, referring to an RT News report on Wednesday. Take a look at all the details you need to know about visa-free travel to Russia. Visa-free travel to Russia: All you need to know Talks between Russia and India are still underway, and the two nations will begin consultations on a bilateral agreement to ease travel in June. After the finalisation, Russia and India will collectively launch visa-free group tourist exchanges, reported PTI, referring to the Russian minister. When will Indians be able to travel to Russia without visa? The minister told RT News at the sidelines of the International Economic Forum RussiaIslamic World: KazanForum 2024 in Kazan that the agreement's finalisation is expected by the end of the year. "Russia and India are set to strengthen their tourism ties as they gear up for the launch of visa-free group tourist exchanges. The first round of consultations between the two nations is scheduled for June, with an aim to finalise a bilateral agreement by the end of the year," the minister said. Reader's Digest, widely read and respected, has announced that it is shutting down its United Kingdom edition after 86 years. The magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Eva Mackevic, recently made the announcement on LinkedIn. In the post, she said it was a privilege and joy to contribute to this iconic publication for nearly eight years, leading its talented team for the last six. "After 86 wonderful years, I am very sad to share that Readers Digest UK has come to an end. It has been my privilege and joy to contribute to this iconic publication for nearly eight years, leading its talented team for the last six," the post read. Also read: Ola shuts down international ops 'in its current form' to focus on India expansion: 'Future is...' Unfortunately, the company just couldnt withstand the financial pressures of today's unforgiving magazine publishing landscape and has ceased to trade. She also extended heartfelt gratitude to all the incredible colleagues, writers, PRs, and brands which collaborated with the magazine over the years. Also read: Google's Podcast app to shut down from tomorrow. Here's how you can transfer your subscriptions Your passion and expertise have made this journey unforgettable, and I've been fortunate enough to make some amazing friends along the way, she said. Mackevic also assured the writer that they would receive their pending payments. "To any writers awaiting payment for their work, Ive been assured that the insolvency practitioners are working to communicate with everyone about the next steps. I sincerely hope this process goes smoothly and swiftly for you," she said. Also read: 'The Body Shop' files for bankruptcy: UK-based cosmetics major to shut down all US stores The post attracted a lot of attention and awe from readers across the globe. I read your message about end of prestigious and historical reader digest it is painful news for journalism keep up best journalistic work with same integrity and honesty stay blessed, a user said. Another user commented: Sad to hear that. Ive enjoyed its spread of features. All the best to all staff affected. Saudi Arabia hosted its inaugural fashion show featuring swimsuit models on Friday, marking a significant shift in a country where, less than a decade ago, women were required to wear body-covering abaya robes. As reported by AFP, the poolside event showcased Moroccan designer Yasmina Qanzal's collection, which included predominantly one-piece swimsuits in shades of red, beige, and blue. Many models had exposed shoulders, and some displayed partially visible midriffs. It's true that this country is very conservative but we tried to show elegant swimsuits which represent the Arab world, Qanzal told AFP. When we came here, we understood that a swimsuit fashion show in Saudi Arabia is a historic moment, because it is the first time to have such event, she said, adding it was an honour to be involved. A model presents a creation from the summer beachwear collection by Moroccan designer Yasmina Q, during the Red Sea Fashion Week in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea resort of Ummahat Island on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) The show occurred on the second day of the inaugural Red Sea Fashion Week at the St. Regis Red Sea Resort, located off Saudi Arabia's western coast. The resort is part of Red Sea Global, one of the mega-projects central to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 social and economic reform program, overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Since becoming first in line to the throne in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a series of social reforms aimed at softening Saudi Arabia's austere image, historically influenced by a strict form of Islam known as Wahhabism. These reforms have included sidelining the stick-wielding religious police who once enforced prayer times in malls, reintroducing cinemas, and organizing mixed-gender music festivals. However, these changes have been accompanied by increased repression of dissent, including crackdowns on conservative clerics who might oppose such moves. AFP reported that Shouq Mohammed, a Syrian fashion influencer who attended Friday's show, remarked that it was unsurprising given Saudi Arabia's efforts to open up to the world and expand its fashion and tourism sectors. In 2022, the fashion industry contributed $12.5 billion, or 1.4 percent of the national GDP, and employed 230,000 people, according to a report published by the official Saudi Fashion Commission last year. Italian geologist Ann Pizzorusso has presented a new theory to identify the exact location where Leonardo da Vinci painted the world-famous Mona Lisa 500 years ago. The location of the Mona Lisa painting has remained one of the most debated topics among historians. However, this time, Pizzorusso has utilised her expertise in geology to prove her theory. According to Italian Renaissance specialist Ann Pizzorusso, Monalisa was painted in Lecco in northern Italy. "When I came to Lecco, I realised he had painted the Mona Lisa here," news agency Reuters quoted Pizzorusso as saying. Lecco is a small town on the shores of Lake Como, hitherto best known as the setting of Alessandro Manzoni's masterpiece novel "The Betrothed". Geologist and Renaissance Art Historian Ann Pizzorusso poses for a portrait in Lecco, Italy, May 13, 2024. A study by Geologist and Renaissance Art Historian Ann Pizzorusso suggests that the scenery could be the setting for the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. What proves Lecco is Mona Lisa's origin city? The backdrop of Mona Lisa's painting features an arched bridge. According to the scholar, the arched bridge would correspond to the 14th-century Ponte Azzone Visconti. A drone view shows Azzone Visconti bridge in Lecco, Italy, May 13, 2024. A study by Geologist and Renaissance Art Historian Ann Pizzorusso suggests that the scenery could be the setting for the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci Previous theories by historians associate the bridge with similar structures in other Italian cities, such as Arezzo and Bobbio. 'Earlier theories about Mona Lisa's origin have incorrect geology' According to Pizzorusso, her knowledge of geology makes her claims more realistic than those of historians earlier. She has cited some incorrections in previous theories. "The bridge to me was not the important aspect of painting. In the other hypotheses the geology was just incorrect," Reuters quoted Pizzorusso. The geologist found that rock formations in Lecco were limestone, which matched what is depicted behind the noblewoman. "When you look at the Mona Lisa, you see this part of the Adda River, and you see another lake behind it, which are perfectly shown underneath these sawtooth mountains," she said from the spot where the scene could have been painted. Protesters amassed in large numbers in Kyrgyzstan's capital city Bishkek after a May 13 clash between locals and international students at a hostel, according to local media reports. Some demonstrators obstructed traffic and vandalized buildings, leading to several arrests by security forces. It is pertinent to note that Kyrgyzstan is a favored destination for education, particularly in the medical field, attracting numerous students from the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. As of April 2023, data from various medical universities in Kyrgyzstan shows that around 9,500 students are currently pursuing their studies there, a government report said as quoted by Hindustan Times. The Pakistan embassy mentioned that the situation intensified after videos of a fight between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students on May 13 went viral online on Friday. The mob targeted hostels of medical universities in Bishkek, where students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh reside. Indian students in Kyrgyzstan External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday stated that the Indian government is monitoring the welfare of Indians students in Bishkek amid mob violence targeting international students erupted Kyrgyzstan's capital city. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jaishankar wrote, Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. The students have also been advised to stay indoors. Currently, the Indian embassy in Kyrgyz Republic is in contact with the students. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue," it said. Pakistani students in Bishkek Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voiced "deep concerns" about the situation in Kyrgyzstan's Bishkek and stated that he has instructed the country's envoy there to "provide all necessary help and assistance" to the students. Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Some social media posts claimed that three Pakistani students were killed in the attack, but the government stated they have not received any reports of fatalities. So far, a few hostels of medical universities in Bishkek and private residences of international students including Pakistanis have been attacked. The hostels are inhabited by students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There have been reports of light injuries to several students from Pakistan," Pakistan's Kyrgyzstan consulate said in a post on X. Nippon Steel Corp. is stepping up efforts to win over US workers and politicians for its $14.1 billion takeover of United States Steel Corp. despite stiff opposition from union leaders and the Biden administration. Japans top steelmaker is sending Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori to Pittsburgh next week where hell meet with local staff and elected officials, said people briefed on the matter. Its also dispatching technical teams to review US Steel mills as the firm assesses how it can boost investment and labor commitments to convince union leaders and authorities of the deals merits, the people said. Nippon Steel agreed to buy US Steel in December, but opposition from the United Steelworkers and President Joe Biden has left investors uncertain of the deals fate. Biden last month vowed to keep US Steel American-owned, in front of union workers ahead of Novembers election. While Nippon Steel would like to complete the deal before the election, it may have a better chance to garner support afterward given the USWs current political leverage will disappear, Mori told analysts earlier this month. US Steel recently pushed back the expected time frame for completion to the second half of the year. USW President David McCall has rebuffed efforts by Nippon Steel to continue discussions. The veteran union leader says the firms plans raise national defense concerns and its commitments are conditional to broader business plans that tend to change. Nippon Steel denies those assertions. Options for sweetening Nippon Steels offer to unions include increasing a $1.4 billion investment pledge and providing greater guarantees around the labor agreement, said people familiar with the companys thinking. Separately, Nippon Steel has hired banks to raise as much as $1.6 billion via bond sales and loans. Meanwhile, US Steel, whose shareholders approved the transaction last month, has been holding meetings with employees to discuss Nippons investment plans and correct any misperceptions, the company said in a statement. On Friday, the USW accused the firms of misleading workers by alleging concerns over labor obligations had been laid to rest. We will continue to fight to enforce our contracts and keep our communities and country safe, the union wrote. Another American steelmaker, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., is hoping US authorities block Nippon Steels takeover. Cliffs Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves said he still wants to buy US Steel or some of its assets after losing a bidding war to the Japanese firm. The Nippon bid for US Steel is up for review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. Its also subject to a national security review despite Japan being a close ally. With assistance from Guillermo Molero. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday warned Russia could intensify its offensive. In an interview with AFP, he said Kyiv would only accept a "fair peace" despite the West's calls for a quick solution. He also urged its allies to send more air defense and fighter jets, saying the "biggest advantage" for Russia was a ban on Ukraine using Western-donated weapons to strike Russian territory. Zelensky said Ukraine would hold its defensive lines and stop any major Russian breakthrough. With a mobilisation law set to take effect on Saturday, he acknowledged challenges with staffing and "morale" among Ukrainian forces, who have frequently been outgunned and outnumbered as the war enters its third year. Although Russian troops have made gradual advances in recent months, they have achieved more significant gains along the northeastern border since launching an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10. 'Nonsense situation' Zelensky also dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal for an Olympic truce during the Paris Games, arguing that it would provide Moscow with an "advantage" by allowing it time to reposition troops and artillery. "We are in a nonsense situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And it does not want Ukraine to lose it. Everyone wants to find some model for the war to end faster," he told AFP, when asked about the possibility of a scenario for ending hostilities like the one that established a dividing line on the Korean peninsula. The president called on China and developing nations to participate in a peace summit next month in neutral Switzerland, which will be attended by dozens of leaders but not Russia. "We want the war to end with a fair peace for us, while the West wants the war to end. Period. As soon as possible. And for them, this is a fair peace," he said. They are like a beast Russian President Vladimir Putin said the offensive during a visit to China was a response to Ukraine shelling border regions. I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone. As for Kharkiv, there are no such plans as of today, he told AFP. However, Zelensky said Russian forces "want to attack" the city although they realise it would be "very difficult". "They understand that we have forces that will fight for a long time," he said, adding that Russia did not have enough forces for "a full-scale offensive on the capital like the one they had at the beginning of the offensive". He emphasised that Ukraine and its Western allies should not show weakness and called for the deployment of two Patriot batteries to defend the skies over the Kharkiv region and show Ukraine's resilience. "They are like a beast... If they feel a weakness somewhere in this direction, they will press on," he said. Biggest advantage for Russia Zelensky said Ukraine only had about 25% of what it need to defend the country in terms of air defense. "120 to 130" F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft were needed in order to have parity with Russia," he said as quoted by AFP. He was highly critical of restrictions on striking Russian territory with Western arms, although Britain and the United States have hinted in recent days that these bans could be eased. "They can fire any weapons from their territory at ours. This is the biggest advantage that Russia has. We can't do anything to their systems, which are located on the territory of Russia, with Western weapons," he said. Several foreign students, including those from Pakistan, are reportedly still facing threats from locals amid ongoing mob violence against international students in Kyrgyzstan's Bishkek. Both India and Pakistan have asked students to stay indoors and to get in touch with their embassies. Meanwhile, Kyrgyz Republic said that the situation was completely under the control of the security forces. Here are 10 crucial updates What happened The attack on several foreign students, including from Pakistan, reportedly took place after a fight between some foreigners and locals in Bishkek city on May 13. Kyrgyz police said they had mobilised forces on Friday, May 17, to quell the violence. In touch with our students, says Indian Embassy Embassy of India in Bishkek said that they are in touch with Indian students. "The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041," said India Embassy in a post on X. Monitoring situation, says S Jaishankar Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted on X. Kyrgyzstan foreign ministry says From the moment information about the incident was received, law enforcement agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic took prompt measures to detain persons involved in the event, both foreign citizens and citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. Situation under control Kyrgyz Republic said that the situation was completely under the control of the security forces and added that the safety of citizens and public order were ensured. Destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of Pakistan. No serious injuries to students, says Kyrgyzstan There are no seriously injured people among those involved in the incident. About 15 citizens applied to medical institutions for examination, said Kyrgyzstan Pakistan issues advisory to students In view of mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek, the embassy strongly advise all Pakistani students in Bishkek to stay indoors until the situation return to normal. We are liaising with the local law enforcement authorities to ensure safety of our student fraternity, said Hasan Zaigham, Pakistan's Ambassador to Kyrgyz Republic. No Pakistani national killed in violence Hasan Zaigham also said that Kyrgyz government has confirmed that there is no death of Pakistani student in the recent mob violence against international students. Four Pakistani students given first aid The statement said the Kyrgyz health ministry had confirmed four Pakistanis were given first aid and discharged while one was still under treatment for injury, reported Reuters. 'Demarche made with Kyrgyz Republic', says Pakistan Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch said that a demarche has been made with Kyrgyzstan at the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. She said that the government of Pakistan has been in contact with the Kyrghyz Government to ensure the safety & security of its nationals at risk in view of the mob riots of last night. They have expressed regret at the incidents of violence, pledged to hold an inquiry & punish the perpetrators. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that the this party National Conference's fight during Lok Sabha Elections 2024 was primarily to reclaim what was snatched by them (Centre) on August 5, 2019. Abdullah, who is contesting from Baramulla seat, was referring to abrogation of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on August 5, 2019. For us, it was a fight of principles. For us, it was a fight of getting back what they took away from us on August 5, 2019, Abdullah is heard saying the video that he shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on May 18, the last day of campaigning for Baramulla seat. One of the three seats of Kashmir, Baramulla is voting on May 20, the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Omar Abdullah, the National Conference Vice President, is pitted against Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) chief Sajad Lone in the Baramulla seat. Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has also entered the fray as independent candidate. Rashid is currently in lodged in Tihar jail on UAPA charges. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Fayaz Ahmad Mir is also contesting from Baramulla seat. 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. The NC and the PDP the two regional satraps of the UT have been in principle against the abrogation of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir. Both the parties have sought votes in these election against the August 5, 2019 decision. Though the NC and the PDP are parties in INDIA bloc, they are contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election for three seats of Kashmir valley separately. They, however, supported the Congress party in two seats of Jammu. The BJP has not fielded any candidate in any of the three seats of Kashmir valley -- Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri. Srinagar voted in phase 4 on May 13. Baramulla will vote on May 20 and Anantnag-Rajouri on May 25. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the record about 40 per cent voter turnout in the Srinagar constituency is the greatest testament to the success of abrogation of Article 370. Kanhaiya Kumar, the Congress candidate from Northeast Delhi, was allegedly assaulted on Friday, May 18, outside the AAP office in the New Usmanpur area. Some unknown men reportedly attacked the leader with ink just after Kahnhaiya Kumar held a party meeting with local Councillor Chhaya Sharma. Some persons came and put garland around Kanhaiya Kumar. After garlanding him, some persons threw ink on Kanhaiya Kumar and tried to assault him. When Chhaya Sharma tried to intervene, they misbehaved and threatened her, news agency PTI quoted, citing the complaint registered by Chhaya Sharma. Also read: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar meets jailed Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita in Delhi: We are not fighting Kanhaiya Kumar accused Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Tiwari of carrying out the attack out of frustration and sending "goons." He stated, The attack was ordered by rival contender from the constituency Manoj Tiwari, reported PTI. He added, " Manoj Tiwari, the sitting MP, is frustrated with his rising popularity, and that is why he sent "goons" to attack me. Also read: Top Events on May 18: Modi-Rahul in Delhi, Gyanvapi case in Varanasi court, heatwave alert, and more Kanhaiya Kumar noted that the public will give its answer to the violence. The voting in the national capital, Delhi, is scheduled for May 25 in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha election. The video footage of the incident has gone viral, where some people threw ink on the Congress leader and tried to assault him while garlanding him. The police informed that AAP leader Chhaya Sharma attempted to intervene to stop these people who misbehaved in turn with her and threatened her. Also read: Tiger is back: How Arvind Kejriwals bail alters Lok Sabha poll campaign dynamics in Delhi and beyond Congress leader Abhishek Dutta took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he accused the BJP of assaulting Kanhaiya Kumar and further said that this would cost them the seat. The post read, "This one slap is going to make the Bharatiya Janata Party lose the elections in Delhi. @kanhaiyakumar will win the elections, now it remains to be seen how many more these cowardly BJP people beat an innocent Bihari. The Congress is contesting three seats in Delhi as part of the seat-sharing arrangement between Congress and AAP, while the latter fielded candidates from four constituencies in Delhi. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday rebuked party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary over his remarks against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjeee, and said she is with INDIA alliance. Kharge made the statement when he was asked about Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary's remarks against Banerjee, while addressing a joint press conference along with Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. "Mamata Banerjee is with the alliance. She has recently said that she will join the government. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary will not take the decision. The decision will be taken by me and the high command those who don't agree will go out," reported PTI quoting Kharge. Earlier, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary had remarked that the Bengal CM cannot be trusted and she might go with the BJP. After taking a u-turn from her remark that she will extend outside support to the opposition front INDIA after it comes to power, on May 16, Banerjee said she is very much part of the anti-BJP alliance at the national level and would form the next government with it. However, the West Bengal CM alleged that the West Bengal units of both CPI(M) and Congress, who are part of the INDIA alliance, have joined hands and helped the BJP in the state. The TMC had walked out of the INDIA bloc in West Bengal in January. Reacting to her remark, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary also said that Mamata Banerjee was endorsing INDIA bloc recognising its growing momentum. Meanwhile, addressing press conference, Kharge also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his claim that the opposition alliance would bulldoze the Ayodhya Ram temple if voted to power. The Congress chief said they were committed to protecting the religious freedom of all citizens and ensuring that the country runs as per the Constitution. A war of words has erupted over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark asking Opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party to take 'tuition' from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on "where to run bulldozers". The Congress party has hit-back demanding action over PM's remarks. Here's how things are unfolding Modi addresses rally in UP - On May 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a Lok Sabha election campaign rally in Barabanki in which he raised the Ram temple issue to hit out at the SP and Congress. Modi slams Congress, SP - During the rally, Modi said that the Congress is preparing to overturn the Supreme Court's decision on Ram Temple. - PM Modi also alleged that if the SP-Congress come to power, they will send Ram Lalla back to the tent and bulldoze the temple, further asking both the parties to take "tuition" from Adityanath as to where bulldozers should be used. Congress hits back - Taking strong objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back and said it is the BJP that uses the bulldozer. "It is the BJP that uses the bulldozer. We have never run a bulldozer on anyone till date," said Kharge. Mallikarjun Kharge demands EC action The Congress chief has demanded that the Election Commission take action on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Election Commission should take action against Modi ji and the BJP for saying such things about the temple of God which is currently under construction by the trust. By saying such things, they are creating anger among the public. They are inciting the public, they are instigating them," said Kharge. Chidambaram slams BJP Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram slams BJP and said "Bulldozer justice may be the signature tune of the chief minister of U.P., but it is anathema to the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc." Congress' Manifesto has the following promise on page 22, point 16: "We promise to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice." That is a complete answer to the outrageous and false charge that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will take bulldozers to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Anurag Thakur asks why Congress leaders call Lord Ram fictional Amid Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanding action on Modi's remark, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday, May 18, questioned why Congress leaders call Lord Ram fictional. For years security experts have warned that a technology at the heart of global communications is dangerously insecure. Now there is proof that it has been used to snoop on people in America. Kevin Briggs, an official at Americas Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a regulator, earlier this year that there had been numerous incidents of successful, unauthorised attempts" not only to steal location data and monitor voice and text messages in America, but also to deliver spyware (software that can take over a phone) and influence American voters from abroad via text messages. The comments were first reported recently by 404 Media, a website that covers technology. The hacks were related to an obscure protocol known as Signalling System 7 (SS7). Developed in the 1970s to allow telecom firms to exchange data to set up and manage calls, nowadays SS7 has more users than the internet. Security was not a big issue when SS7 was first introduced because only a few fixed-line operators could get access to the system. That changed in the mobile age. SS7 and a newer protocol, Diameter, became crucial for a wide range of tasks, including roaming. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, SS7 is a particular risk because there are tens of thousands of entry points worldwide, many of which are controlled by states that support terrorism or espionage". Security experts have known for more than 15 years that the protocol was vulnerable in several ways. In 2008 Tobias Engel, a security researcher, showed that SS7 could be used to identify a users location. In 2014 German researchers went further, demonstrating that it could also be exploited to listen to calls or record and store voice and text data. Attackers could forward data to themselves or, if they were close to the phone, hoover it up and tell the system to give them the decryption key. Spy agencies had known about the issue for a lot longer. Many were taking advantage of it. In April 2014 Russian hackers exploited SS7 to locate and spy on Ukrainian political figures. In 2017 a German telecoms firm acknowledged that attackers had stolen money from customers by intercepting SMS authentication codes sent from banks. In 2018 an Israeli private intelligence company used a mobile operator in the Channel Islands, a British territory, to get access to SS7 and thus users around the world. That route is thought to have been used to track an Emirati princess who was abducted by the United Arab Emirates in 2018. And in 2022 Cathal McDaid of ENEA, a Swedish telecoms and cybersecurity company, assessed that Russian hackers had long been tracking and eavesdropping on Russian dissidents abroad by the same means. Beginning in 2014 Chinese hackers stole huge amounts of data from the Office of Personnel Management, the government agency that manages Americas federal civil service. The most sensitive data were security-clearance records, which contain highly personal details about government employees. But phone numbers were also stolen. According to semi-redacted slides published by the US Department of Homeland Security, American officials noticed SS7 anomalous traffic" that summer which they believed was related to the breach. Mr Briggss comments to the FCC bring the scope of the SS7 problem into sharper focus. Overall", he said, the incidents he reported were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of SS7- and Diameter-based location and monitoring exploits that have been used successfully." That is a reminder that, even as unencrypted phone calls and SMS text messages have become rarer, the backbone of mobile networks remains woefully insecure. Mobile-network operators can block some of these attacks, but most have failed to take the proper precautions, say insiders. Phone users can protect themselves against SS7-based eavesdropping (but not location tracking) by using end-to-end encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Signal or iMessage. But these, too, can be circumvented by spyware that takes over a device, recording keystrokes and the screen. In April Apple warned users in 92 countries that they had been targeted by a mercenary spyware attack". On May 1st Amnesty International published a report showing how a murky ecosystem of surveillance suppliers, brokers and resellers" from Israel, Greece, Singapore and Malaysia had put powerful spyware into the hands of multiple state agencies in Indonesia. That, too, is the tip of the iceberg. 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com Vote for Colton Bennett I had the privilege of serving in the Army with Sgt. Colton Bennett from 2021-22. I was first introduced to him as my team leader and, while he hadnt been in the Army much longer than I, he took his role seriously and his leadership made my transition from training to regular Army easier. Shortly after I arrived, our unit was deployed across Europe. During this deployment, I worked with Bennett nearly every day. Bennett consistently showed an unwavering commitment to his duties and responsibilities, whether it was in training exercises, operational missions or day-to-day tasks. His work ethic and professionalism set him apart and he earned the trust and respect of his peers and leaders. As medics, we were often thrown into stressful situations, and Sgt. Bennett always handled himself with composure and confidence. He openly displayed an eagerness to learn from both the medical providers and Army leadership. Colton embodies the Army values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. His devotion to his country and fellow soldiers is fostered and guided by his relationship with God. I would strongly encourage you to consider voting for him for state representative Tuesday. Colton Bennett embraces servant leadership and I know that he would prioritize his service to the citizens of Idaho. Sadie Sanders Vineyard, Utah Proud of John Roy This editorial was published in The Seattle Times. A naked attempt to make mischief in Washingtons open gubernatorial race was a shameful stunt with no place in state politics. Its also illegal under state law. A longtime Republican political agitator recruited two other Bob Fergusons to file for governor last week, apparently to draw votes from, well, Bob Ferguson, the states attorney general of 12 years. The states chief law enforcement officer threatened, well, enforcement of the longtime state law that bans such shenanigans. Bob 2 and Bob 3 likely did not want to tangle with Bob 1 and withdrew from the race by Mondays deadline. In statements neither has given interviews both lamented their sincere effort to serve the state. Nonsense. Only days prior, the man pulling the strings for their candidacies, Glen Morgan, of Tenino, all but fessed up to a Seattle Times reporter that his motivation was to find people whose names were Bob Ferguson. Morgan, a property rights activist known for his propensity to file campaign-finance complaints against Democrats, lamented that hed discovered about a dozen Ferguson namesakes in the state and ran out of time to put more on the ballot. A woman studying at the Berklee College of Music was punched in the face in broad daylight last week by a man she did not know, according to a report by the Boston Police Department. It was around 1:30 p.m. on May 10 when the student left a building owned by the college on Massachusetts Avenue and saw two of her friends walking toward her, the police report said. Her friends called out to her and she acknowledged them, the report read. A man who was on the sidewalk in between the group then said something to the woman along the lines of, Do I know you? Then, he closed his fist and struck her on the right side of her face, the report read, causing her to fall and strike the back of her head. The womans friends told police the man then ran across Massachusetts Avenue and onto Clearway Street, headed in the direction of Belvidere Street. First responders treated the woman at the scene and brought her to Brigham and Womens Hospital to evaluate her further, the report read. Police searched the area for the suspect, but no arrests have been made in connection with the incident. The suspect was described as a Black man about 6 feet tall wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and dark red or black pants, and carrying a black bubble style jacket. A spokesperson for the school confirmed the incident and said its campus police has shared CCTV footage of the incident widely with law enforcement throughout the city, including the Boston PD. A 22-year-old woman named Payton Taylor interviewed with NBC10 Boston on Monday and identified herself as the student whod been punched. Somebody behind me was yelling, she told the outlet. I turned around, this man was like, Oh, what are you looking at? and he came up to me and just hit me in the face. I fell back, Taylor told NBC. Slammed my head on the curb. She said her friends ran over and tackled the man to the ground, the outlet reported. He was yelling, said Julian Scott, one of Taylors friends. He was wrestling, he was fighting back, he was difficult to pin down... We just had to let him go, said Scott. And just handle what was really more important, which was making sure Payton was okay. She told the outlet she was strong enough to go to graduation the next day. Taylors attack is one of several similar incidents reported in from a major U.S. city in recent months. Several women have reported theyd been punched in the face in New York City, according to the New York Times, and other self-reports have gone viral on TikTok. Ed Sheeran, Tyler Childers and The Killers will headline Boston Calling this year, but they are not the only notable acts taking the stage at the 3-day festival. The headliners will be joined by more than 50 artists, including more than 20 acts from the Northeast. To highlight these local artists, MassLive will publish profiles on the acts leading up to the festivals May 24 start date. Cakeswagg Cakeswagg is one of more than 20 local acts performing at Boston Calling 2024.Ben Dimick Boston rapper Cakeswagg is excited about connecting with a wider audience during her first-ever Boston Calling performance this year. The rapper told MassLive that her upcoming performance is a chance to share my music and message with people who may not have encountered it before, and hopefully, leave a lasting impression. Additionally, being able to perform on such a renowned stage alongside established and emerging artists is so exciting, she added. Im eager to showcase my unique blend of lyrical skill, energetic stage presence, and infectious personality to the festival attendees and leave them wanting more. Cakeswagg has been drawn to music for as long as she can remember. From the beats, rhymes and energy of hip-hop, music was always present during the rappers childhood. The Roxbury native started writing her own rhymes as a teenager as a means of pouring her thoughts and feelings into her lyrics. Therefore, Cakeswagg said it will be an honor to represent the vibrant hip-hop scene of Boston on such a grand platform when she plays the Orange Stage on Saturday, May 25. Being among the local acts gracing the stage at Boston Calling this year feels incredibly validating and humbling, Cakeswagg said. Knowing that my hard work, dedication, and passion for music have earned me a spot alongside other talented artists fills me with a sense of pride and excitement. Once she hops off the stage, Cakeswagg is looking forward to seeing performances from Megan Thee Stallion and Ed Sheeran. You can keep up with Cakeswagg by following the rapper on her Instagram. Boston Calling will take place Memorial Day Weekend from Friday, May 24, until Sunday, May 26, at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston. Fans looking to purchase tickets for Boston Calling can visit StubHub and VividSeats. More information about this years lineup and how to purchase tickets can be found here. A New England food influencer is fighting for his life in the hospital after he was the last car in a pile-up on Interstate 93 in Andover on Tuesday, according to a GoFundMe made by his family. Joey Calvecchia, also known as The Roaming Foodie, was heading home from a work event around 1:45 a.m. on May 14 when a deer ran across the northbound side of the road, his family said. It caused multiple cars ahead of him to crash, and Calvecchia was the last one behind them. It is truly a miracle that Joey is still alive, his sister, Jenna Calcavecchia, wrote in the Derry Village, New Hampshire-based fundraiser. She said her brother was extricated from the car, and air-lifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston with serious injuries. Joey is in the ICU and has a few broken ribs, both lungs collapsed, fractures on his face, a crack in the front of his skull, and is currently on a ventilator, his family said. With a long road to recovery for the popular influencer ahead, the Calvecchia family is now pleading for help. Their fundraiser had an initial goal of $50,000, but its since been raised to $100,000 after the family learned just how serious his condition is. For those that know Joey, he is best son, brother, cousin, uncle, and friend that ANYONE could ask for, his sister wrote. He is kind, funny, smart, sociable, creative, and hardworking. But Calvecchia is also known around the region for his takes on the most delicious pizza, pasta, burgers, donuts and more, his sister wrote. With over 300,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, his family said hes an avid supporter of local businesses and is constantly collaborating with members of the community. The Roaming Foodie is the cornerstone of food culture in the Northeast and beyond, his family said. The family said theyll use the funds to pay for Calvecchias time spent in the ICU and for any medical procedures or medicine hell need. Its also going towards lost camera equipment from the crash, a new car as his was totaled and money to use as livelihood, as his job is on hold for the foreseeable future. In an update on May 15, Jenna Calvecchia thanked everyone whod prayed, supported or donated to her family, and said doctors are monitoring swelling on her brothers brain. Two teenagers and a 22-year-old man were arrested on Monday after a gun was found at a Boston playground, the citys police department announced on Saturday. A report came on Monday morning that there was a gun found at a park on 30 Mt. Pleasant Ave. in the city, police said. As officers were getting to Mount Pleasant Play Area, they discovered the owner of the gun had gone back to the park to get it. When officers arrived around 9:40 a.m., they came into contact with the three suspects and arrested them after a short foot chase, police said. They were later identified as two boys, aged 13 and 14, and a 22-year-old man from Charlestown named Jamuan Terrell Coakley-Thomason. During a search of the 13-year-old boys backpack, they found a black gun a Glock 34 with 10 rounds in the magazine, and a capacity to hold 30 rounds, police said. Crack cocaine was also discovered on Coakley-Thomasons person, police said. The 13-year-old boy is facing charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a large-capacity feeding device. The 14-year-old boy was charged with trespassing. Coakley-Thomason was charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute, police said. He will be arraigned at a later date in Roxbury District Court, and the teens will be arranged in Boston Juvenile Court. A recent report by the social media site Stacker appears to confirm what anyone whos tried to buy a house in Greater Boston over the last year or so already knows: Theres so little stock, and prices are so high, that many folks are looking beyond the Bay States borders for their dream house. With mortgage rates high, and hybrid work and work-from-home an option thats undeniably on the table, potential buyers are expanding their searches outside costly urban cores, Stackers analysts noted. Stackers analysts said they examined data from Realtor.coms Cross-Market Demand Report to see where people in Boston are looking to buy homes, adding that the 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. Here, then, are the top 10 most-viewed communities, according to Stacker, with additional analysis from Niche: 10. Lebanon, N.H., 2.6% of views: Lebanon, which is just about two hours from Boston, was ranked the second-best place to live in Grafton County, according to Niche. It scored an A-grade overall on Niches report card. 9. Miami, Fla., 2.7% of views: The South Florida art deco mecca finished 34th among the nations top retirement destinations, according to Niche. It scored a B-Plus overall on Niches report card. But caveat emptor: Housing scored a D-Plus, and it nabbed a C-Minus for crime and safety, according to Niche. 8. Springfield, Mass., 3.3% of views: Springfield finished 205th overall nationwide among the best cities for young professionals, according to Niche. It scored a C-Plus overall on Niches report card, nabbing a D-Plus for crime and safety. 7. New Haven, Conn., 3.3% of views: The Elm City was ranked the 57th best place nationwide for young professionals, scoring a B on Niches report card. Caveat emptor: The city got a D-Plus for housing and C-Minuses for schools and safety, according to Niche. 6. Manchester, N.H., 4 % of views: Manchester was ranked the 106th best place nationwide for young professionals, according to Niche. It got a B-Minus on Niches report card, scoring Cs across most metrics. 5. Barnstable Town, Mass., 4.4% of views: The Cape Cod community was ranked the 16th best place to live in Barnstable County, according to Niche, netting a B-Plus on its report card. Housing scored particularly poorly, grabbing a C-Minus, from Niche. 4. Portland, Maine, 4.7% of views: Portland was ranked the 14th best place to live, overall, in the Pine Tree State, according to Niche, grabbing an A grade for its amenities and services. 3. Worcester, Mass., 6.1% of views: Worcester was ranked the 103rd best city nationwide for young professionals, according to Niche, netting an overall grade of B for its amenities. The citys nightlife and diversity both got A grades on Niches report card. 2. Hartford, Conn., 6.2% of views: Connecticuts capital city was ranked the 204th best city nationwide for young professionals, according to Niche. It nabbed an overall grade of C-minus in Niches report card, scoring particularly poorly for its safety, housing, and public schools. 1. Providence, R.I., 8.3% of views: Rhode Islands state capital was ranked the 43rd best nationwide for young professionals, according to Niche. The city offers residents an urban suburban mix feel and most residents rent their homes. In Providence, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks, the website noted in its report card. A rollover car crash on Interstate 495 in Milford on Friday killed one man and sent two other people to the hospital, according to Massachusetts State Police. Louis Marano, 90, of Franklin, was identified as the man killed in the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. It was at 11:40 a.m. on May 17 when troopers got to the scene of the fatal two-car rollover crash on the southbound side of I-495. A 2022 Lexus SUV had struck a 2015 Nissan Juke on the highway, then drove off the road into a tree, police said. The collision caused the SUV to roll over, police said. The driver of the Lexus was seriously injured and brought to a Worcester hospital, police said. The Nissans driver had minor injuries and was also brought to a nearby hospital. Marano had been a passenger in the Lexus, and was declared dead at the scene, police said. The department is still investigating what caused the Lexus to veer into the SUV. The crash is under investigation by Massachusetts State Police and its Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, along with its Crime Scene Services Section. As more than 3,000 adults remain unable to attend day or employment services due to a serious shortage of staff who provide direct care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, The Arc of Massachusetts celebrated an award of more than $1.6 million in federal funds for its workforce recruitment program. The organization said U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey reeled in $1.635 million in federal money to help create a statewide marketing campaign to promote staff recruitment at the 17 non-profit chapters of The Arc of Massachusetts. The hope is that other service-providing agencies will be able to replicate the program, The Arc said. Im delighted that The Arc of Massachusetts is receiving $1.635 million in federal funding that Senator Markey and I helped secure for their workforce recruitment program, Warren said in a statement. With this federal funding, The Arc of Massachusetts will be able to recruit more direct care workers who provide critical care for people with disabilities. The Arcs executive director, Leo Sarkissian, said the funding is expected to significantly increase staffing. It will provide hope to the many adults and families who are desperately waiting for services. The lack of services has a ripple effect: families and other caregivers face cutting back or quitting employment to care for loved ones, while people who cannot attend programs experience isolation and behavioral regression, he said. ST. LOUIS Garrett Whitlock wont return to the Red Sox rotation as expected early next week and theres at least some concern about a new elbow injury keeping him potentially keeping him out for an extended period. Whitlock, who has been sidelined since April 17 with a left oblique strain, felt soreness in his pitching elbow in the aftermath of his rehab start at Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday. Manager Alex Cora said Whitlocks pain began Friday and was severe enough for the Red Sox to take some precautions. The right-hander has been shut down from throwing and is back in Boston, where hell undergo tests over the weekend. Garrett felt, yesterday, soreness around the elbow area, Cora said Friday before Bostons series opener at Busch Stadiumn. Were gonna shut him down for now and see whats going on this weekend. Well know more on Monday. He stayed back home so theyll do the whole thing over the weekend. Well gather information and see where were at. Fanatics Sportsbook 10X$100 BONUS BET BET MATCH BONUS CLAIM OFFER Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV) Whitlock allowed two hits and struck out five in 4 scoreless innings in Worcester on Wednesday in what was expected to be his only rehab outing before returning to the big league rotation. The expectation was that Whitlock would pitch Monday at Tropicana Field against the Rays. Unfortunately for him, that wont happen. He felt great during the outing, Cora said. Throughout the night, felt really good. Yesterday, he was doing OK. And then we stretched him out and he was tight, it was sore. With Whitlock still out, the Red Sox will move forward with the five starters who are currently in their rotation, meaning no decision will be due for righty Cooper Criswell, who may have been the odd man out when Whitlock came back despite having a 2.67 ERA in 27 innings out of the rotation this season. Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta will face the Cardinals and Tanner Houck is expected to pitch on regular rest Monday, five days after throwing a career-high 112 pitches against the Rays on Wednesday night. Criswell is then expected to pitch Tuesday in St. Petersburg with Bello going again in Wednesdays road trip finale. The Red Sox may have used a six-man rotation with Whitlock back in the fold but wont now. Whitlocks elbow issue is the latest health-related setback in what has been a difficult three years for the 27-year-old righty. After an excellent rookie season in 2021, Whitlock was limited to just 150 innings over the last two years while being placed on the injured list five times with hip and elbow injuries (including three stints in 2023). He entered this year healthy, won a rotation spot out of spring training and posted a 1.96 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 18 innings over four starts to start the year. That Whitlock is dealing with yet another injury is an obvious blow. I think its more about the last few years than anything else, Cora said. But one thing about this kid, hes resilient. Hes strong. He has been through worse. Hopefully, its nothing, but we have to wait and see. In the meantime, well stay the course with the same guys in the rotation and keep going. ST. LOUIS The Red Sox scrambled to replace Triston Casas production at first base by adding not one, but two, veteran first basemen to replace him after Casas tore cartilage in his ribcage and was placed on the 60-day injured list. So far, the loss has proven to be a massive one in terms of production. The two veterans, Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith, entered Fridays game combining to hit .192 since joining the Red Sox. Cooper, who came over in a minor trade with the Cubs, is 7-for-34 (.206) with three doubles, three RBIs and 10 strikeouts. Smith, who was signed a couple days later after opting out a minor league deal with the Rays, is hitting just .179 (7-for-39) with two doubles, six RBIs and 10 strikeouts. Cooper boasts an OPS of .584. Smiths is .450. In May, the Red Sox have gotten next to nothing from either veteran and both are playing most days with one serving as the designated hitter during Masataka Yoshidas absence due to a serious left thumb strain. Fanatics Sportsbook 10X$100 BONUS BET BET MATCH BONUS CLAIM OFFER Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV) On Friday night, against righty Kyle Gibson, manager Alex Cora had Smith hitting sixth and Cooper hitting seventh. Other than utility man Romy Gonzalez, who got one start at first base on May 8, the Red Sox dont have much in the way of better options at the major league level with Casas sidelined at least another month (he can first return June 21). Just keep playing, Cora said of his message to Cooper and Smith. They put better at-bats yesterday and we expect that from them. While Cooper (a 2022 All-Star with Miami) and Smith (who received MVP votes in 2020) have both amassed more than 500 major league games and are known quantities at this stage of their careers, they were readily available for a reason. Cooper made the Cubs Opening Day roster but was designated for assignment after just 12 games. Smith was also in camp with Chicago but didnt make the team, ended up with the Rays on a minor league deal and spent the first month of the year at Triple-A Durham until the Red Sox came calling. The drop-off from Casas to two players who were out of jobs has been significant. There might be an option in Worcester, however, and its not Bobby Dalbec, who hit .132 in 22 big league games this season and was the immediate replacement for Casas before Cooper and Smith were brought in. 25-year-old Niko Kavadas is tearing up Triple-A to the tune of a .310 average, nine homers and 1.124 OPS through 34 games, entering Friday. The output is something Cora has noticed from afar. Hes a good at-bat. Hes hitting the ball in the air and hes hitting homers. Even in the past, you see him, hes a guy that controls the strike zone. Theres always the swing and miss part of it. Its there, but hes a good hitter. He was our (offensive) minor league player of the year two years ago. Theres upside there and hes doing a good job. Kavadas, an 11th-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2021, isnt a highly touted prospect. MassLive didnt have him on its list of the top 25 prospects in Bostons system entering the year and SoxProspects has him just 57th on its most recent list. Thats in large part because of the limitations in his game. As Alex Speier of The Boston Globe recently pointed out, Kavadas is not considered a good defender and despite limiting his strikeout rate (28.4% in 2024), he struggles to hit breaking balls and fastball velocity. Those offensive weaknesses wouldnt be hard for big league pitchers to exploit at the highest level. With that in mind, the floor may be higher for Cooper and Smith, who each have nearly a decade of big league at-bats under their belt. Its possible, though, if the Red Sox are looking for some instant offense with Casas and Yoshida down, that Kavadas could get a look. NORTHAMPTON Smith College has pledged $500,000 to the city of Northampton to be given over two years, to be spread over the next three years to support the Northampton Public Schools in advancing its educational mission, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced Friday Smith Colleges contribution is a welcome support for our schools, said Sciarra in a statement. While we continue to seek comprehensive solutions to our budgetary challenges, this donation highlights the importance of community partnerships. We will keep working together with Smith to maximize the impact of their giving and find sustainable ways to support our community. I hope youre all doing well and enjoying this New England spring. Although if anyone out there is a suffering from spring allergies, my best goes out to you. As we push further into the fiscal year 2025 budget process, my staff and I have had full schedules taking meetings with stakeholders from all across the district to find how the Legislature can best work for Western Massachusetts. Community leaders, local organizations, and my fellow constituents have all been working with my team to make sure everyones voice is heard. Monday morning, I was proud to join many from across the region at the Westfield-Barnes Municipal Airport for the ribbon cutting of their new taxiway on the airfield. This project represents the collaboration of so many agencies and organizations from every level of government and community. I was proud to have done my part to help see this to fruition and I cant wait to see all the positive effects this will have on the air base, the municipal airport, and our entire community. If Trump assumes the presidency again, it will not be by force. Instead, he will have been returned to the White House by voters in a free election. An authoritarian who has nothing but disdain for the rule of law and who hates the debates, compromises and checks upon executive authority inherent in our republican form of government will be given the constitutional means to destroy our democracy. Joseph Goebbels, Hitlers minister of propaganda, once said, The big joke on democracy is that it gives its mortal enemies the tools to its own destruction. Hitler despised democracy and repeatedly declared that he would use democratic means to destroy it. In his review (The New Yorker, March 25) of historian Timothy Rybacks new book, Takeover: Hitlers Final Rise to Power, Adam Gopnik states that Hitler didnt grab power; he was given it. Rybacks book details how Germany, with a functional but flawed democracy, turned absolute power over to a demagogue who never achieved an electoral majority and who was regarded as a chaotic clown with a violent following by traditional conservative politicians. While some Worcester residents went to work or school on the morning of May 17, Daphnee Alerte spent her morning with some of her closest friends as they danced, marched and sung in the citys downtown areas during the annual Haitian Flag Day ceremony. Hosted by the Haitian-American Socio-Cultural Association of Worcester since 2016, the Haitian Flag Day ceremony celebrates the anniversary of Haitis flag being first created on May 18, 1803. More than 100 members of Worcesters Haitian-American community marched from Gala Foods Supermarket on 664 Main St. to Worcester City Hall, waving the red and blue Haitian flag inscribed with the countrys motto of LUnion fait la force, which translates to unity makes strength. Alerte, who moved to Worcester from Haiti 15 years ago, told MassLive she has attended flag day celebrations in Worcester since they began in 2016. Despite living in the United States for 15 years, Alerte still cares deeply about Haiti and said that this holiday reminds her of where she and her heritage are from. As Haitians, we are very resilient, Alerte said. We never give up. A mix of traditional Haitian music and pop songs played by a disc jockey echoed throughout the area, while marchers sang La Dessalinienne, the countrys national anthem. As the parade marched on Main Street, onlookers cheered and clapped along the sidewalks and some were given flags to show their appreciation. As the marchers reached their destination of City Hall, the music became louder as participants spontaneously started to dance. The group then gathered to the flagpole that stood outside of City Hall as Rosette Gazemar, the organizer of the parade, raised the flag alongside Worcester City Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King and State Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester. For Alerte, the celebration was not just a moment of happiness but also a moment of reflection, as many Haitians are still grappling with financial and political hardships in their home country. For others, this year will be the first time they celebrate Haitian Flag Day outside of the country, as many Haitians have fled the country and are immigrating to Massachusetts, seeking asylum. When we think of how bad the situation is, we have to think of the good times, Alerte said. This was the day we decided on the color of the flag. The happiest people in the world The first Haitian Flag Day Ceremony in Worcester took place in May 2016 and was the creation of Rosette Gazemar. Gazemar told MassLive she first arrived in Worcester from Haiti in 2012 to obtain her masters degree at Clark University. She said many Haitians immigrated to the United States to start a new life, just as she did. She said that Haiti has been facing economic and political turmoil since 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country, severely damaged its capital city and killed 222,570 people, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The economic and political situations are very bad, Gazemar said. Nobody is safe. In an attempt to bring the Haitian-American community together, Gazemar helped the Haitian-American Socio-Cultural Association of Worcester establish the Haitian Flag Day ceremony in 2016, where members of the community could participate in a parade and flag raising event to commemorate the creation of the flag. According to Gazemar, the ceremony symbolizes the strength and pride of the Haitian-American community, even during moments of despair. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, Massachusetts has the third-highest Haitian population in the country, only falling behind to Florida and New York respectively. Even as the country continues to see continuing crises, including an uptick in violence this year, Gazemar said she is still proud of who she is. We are the happiest people in the world, Gazemar said. I love my country. I love being Haitian. So thats where it is. Being an ally While the parade mostly featured members from Worcesters Haitian community, others, such as Nat Needle, joined in a show of solidarity. A piano teacher, Needle told MassLive he used to live near a predominantly Haitian neighborhood by Piedmont and Pleasant streets. During that time, Needle said he established friendships with some of the residents in the area. Those friendships would eventually vanish when he moved to Shrewsbury Street but Needle said he became aware of the issues facing the Haitian community through these friendships and his piano lessons, as one of the parents of his students was from Haiti. He learned about how the 2021 earthquake had affected families and about the repercussions of the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise, which would eventually lead to Needle wanting to help in some way. I was looking for some place to donate money, Needle said. It was very hard to find people in the general activist community who knew where money should be spent. I reached out to family shelters and restaurants. From then on, Needle became an ally for the Haitian-American community by helping raise awareness about the issues Haitian-Americans face daily. Prior to the parade, Needle sent out flyers and information about the event in an attempt to increase participation. He has also been an active member in community events and said he still is looking for ways to teach people about the struggles that Haitian-Americans face daily. Youre not doing this to get a kick out of promoting your own agency, Needle said. I am an educator. My main interest was about how to use what agency I have to transfer to other people so they can have that agency. We all have the power but we dont always have the equipment to use it. READER DISCRETION ADVISED A woman who 'lost four years of her life' after she was sexually assaulted has said the culprit is a dangerous sexual predator and everyone should know his name. The woman, who doesnt wish to be identified, told Limerick Circuit Court that everything the defendant has done to me has completely destroyed my life. Denis ODonovan, aged 38, of Ballyryan, Donohill, Co Tipperary was found guilty by a jury of two sexual assaults, false imprisonment and assault causing harm at a two week trial in April. The defendant was before Judge Dermot Sheehan for judgement on Thursday, May 16. Lily Buckley, prosecuting barrister, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, gave a summary of the evidence with the assistance of Detective Garda Chris Cowan. She said the offences occurred on a date in January 2020. It was at a property in County Limerick. She was at home alone in the evening. There was a knock on her door. The light outside was not working. She had a torch. A car was on her drive. She was pulled into the car and kept against her will. The car went down the road and it stopped. She was grabbed by the neck and choked by the accused. Her hips were pinned between the front seats. Her tracksuit pants and panties were pulled down. He jabbed his fingers into her vagina repeatedly. He licked her vagina. At the time she had her period and was using an improvised sanitary towel, said Ms Buckley. The court heard the victim, a woman in her 40s, made good her escape by saying she wanted to get more comfortable. She fell out of the car, pulled up her tracksuit and panties and was so desperate to get away that she went through a ditch with briars where she stayed, said Ms Buckley. She said the victim returned to her home and rang 999. Gardai took her to a sexual assault treatment unit where it was found she had a scratch on her forehead, bruise below her clitoris, and marks on her neck which were consistent with sexual assault and choking. ODonovan was arrested in January 2020 and was interviewed five times. Det Garda Cowan said ODonovan was adamant the victim was not in his car and he did not touch her. The detective garda said ODonovan told gardai that the victim was mad. Ms Buckley said Forensic Science Ireland found fibres from ODonovans top on the victims cardigan which is consistent with a struggle. The prosecuting barrister said ODonovans DNA was in saliva found in the gusset of the victims panties. When this evidence was put to him by gardai after he was rearrested and questioned in September 2020, Det Garda Cowan said ODonovan put it down to the hoppin and trottin. I falsely imprisoned her but did not sexually assault her, ODonovan told gardai. Det Garda Cowan said ODonovan has a number of convictions for public order, possession of drugs, driving offences and an aggravated burglary, which occurred on March 17, 2019 in Tipperary. He was on bail for that matter at the time (of this incident). He had an axe and broke in the back door. A woman was asleep on a couch. He chased her up the stairs. A 16-year-old was asleep upstairs. When he realised there was another person there he fled, said Det Garda Cowan. Mark Nicholas SC, who represented ODonovan, said his client and the woman asleep on the couch were on-and-off partners at the time. He said they have a four-year-old child so there was some reconciliation following the aggravated burglary. Mr Nicholas said the mother of their child has died. The victim read out her own impact statement in Limerick Circuit Court. She said everything Denis ODonovan has "done to me has completely destroyed my life and what happened on the night in question was terrifying, traumatising, degrading and disgusting. To be dragged into his car, driven at speed down the road, to have to try to escape by jumping out of a moving car, only for him to grab me with both hands choking me violently, pinning me down with one hand on my throat while he sexually assaulted me in a disgusting degrading way, made even more degrading and disgusting by the fact that I had my period, she said. The woman said no words can ever fully describe the absolute terror of being choked, and believing she was going to die. After the attack, she said she couldn't eat or sleep and lay awake at night listening for fear of him returning. She told the court she was going to kill myself and spent weeks in a secure mental health unit due to the trauma. I have suffered panic attacks, flashbacks and nightmares since the attack on an almost daily basis. I became confined to home because the fear and panic was overwhelming. I changed from being a happy confident person who loved the outdoors - hiking and walking - to not being able to leave my house for years. He has taken everything I enjoyed about life away from me, she said. The woman said she knows the importance of cervical screening but can't bring herself to go for a smear test. I turned to alcohol to try to block out the trauma. I went from never really being a big drinker to developing a serious alcohol problem. For him to put me through a trial which was so daunting, as I had never been to court in my life, and to have to sit and listen to his outrageous and disgusting lies, felt like another attack. "He has taken years of my life that I will never get back. He may be going to jail, but I feel like I've been in jail for the last four years. She said it has been an incredibly difficult and dark time in her life, but today she is a stronger person for surviving everything he has done to her. I refuse to let him destroy the rest of my life. He is a dangerous sexual predator and everyone should know his name, said the woman. She thanked Judge Dermot Sheehan, the DPP and all the guards involved in this case, in particular Garda Noelle Fitzgerald and Garda Robert Young. I especially want to thank Det Garda Chris Cowan for all his hard work on this case and for the kindness and compassion he has shown to me. I cannot speak highly enough of him, said the woman, who also thanked a friend for the strength and love she gave her through the darkest times which saved her. Mr Nicholas said ODonovans position, still, is that there was no sexual assault element. He made admissions he was there. She tried to get out (of the car) and he pulled her back in and there was a scuffle. He does express regret. There is a softening of his position within the limited narrative. "He comes from a fine family. He tragically lost his mother when he was four. He did an apprenticeship in engineering maintenance and has worked in ground works ever since, said Mr Nicholas, who added that it was a well-paid role but ODonovan spent a lot of it on drink. He described ODonovan previous convictions as drink sodden and said he had consumed alcohol prior to the aggravated burglary. The court heard that he had been in pubs before he sexually assaulted the victim in this case. He has a four-year-old girl. Her mother died tragically last year. He has access and pays maintenance, said Mr Nicholas, who asked Judge Sheehan to measure matters as best he can. Judge Sheehan said he needed time to consider sentencing and adjourned matters until June 7. ODonovan was remanded in continuing custody. He has been in prison for 107 days on this matter. Judge Sheehan said nothing should be published that would identify the victim but the accused can be named. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 17, 2024 In an attempt to avoid a jury trial, Google has tendered a cashier's check to the U.S. government for monetary damages resulting from alleged antitrust violations. The company said in court papers filed Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema that the check was for triple the amount of damages the government sought and interest, but the exact dollar figure was blacked out of the version available to the public. Google -- which disputes that it violated antitrust laws -- contends that the Department of Justice's request for a jury trial is now moot, essentially arguing that there's no justification for a jury to decide on a damage award if the federal government has already received the maximum amount. Google additionally says the Justice Department isn't entitled to a jury trial because the federal agencies that advertised through Google didn't "directly" purchase ads from the company, but instead purchased ads through agencies. The company noted last month in a separate filing that the Supreme Court previously said entities that purchase indirectly or through intermediaries aren't entitled to monetary damages in antitrust cases. advertisement advertisement A company spokesperson said Friday that the Justice Department's claim for damages was manufactured in order to "secure a jury trial in a case even they describe as highly technical and outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors.' If Brinkema accepts Google's argument regarding mootness, there could still be a trial in the case, but a non-jury trial at which she would decide whether Google violated antitrust laws and, if so, what the remedy should be. "Google continues to dispute liability and welcomes a full resolution by this court," the company wrote. "While the tender moots the claim for damages, questions of liability and equitable relief on the United States remaining claims should be fully considered and decided by the court, either through dispositive motion practice or at trial." Google's tactic comes in a battle dating to January 2023, when the Department of Justice and a group of states alleged that the company used anticompetitive tactics to monopolize digital display advertising. Google corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising, the complaint alleged. The plaintiffs sought monetary damages and a court order that would require Google to unwind its 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick and 2011 purchase of AdMeld. Google's attempt to dodge a jury trial comes several months after a jury in California sided against the company in a Epic Games' antitrust lawsuit over Play store policies. In that case, the jury found that Google created or maintained an illegal monopoly in two markets -- Android app distribution, and Android in-app billing. That jury verdict came more than two years after a different federal judge -- U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers -- ruled after a non-jury trial that Epic failed to prove similar claims against Apple. It's not clear whether Brinkema will agree that Google's tender of a cashier's check moots the government's request for a jury trial. In 2016, the Supreme Court considered -- but didn't resolve -- a similar question in a dispute involving the agency Campbell-Ewald, which was sued for allegedly sending sending unsolicited text messages to a consumer as part of an ad campaign for the Navy. In that case, Campbell-Ewald attempted to end the litigation by attempting to pay $1,500 to Jose Gomez -- the consumer who brought the case and hoped to serve as class representative. The most that Gomez could have obtained as an individual was $1,500. Campbell-Ewald argued that its settlement offer rendered Gomez's claim moot. The Supreme Court rejected the agency's argument 6-3, ruling that an unaccepted offer to pay damages did not moot the case. The opinion, authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, left open whether the case would have been mooted had Gomez accepted Campbell-Ewald's payment. Last month, Google urged Brinkema to award it summary judgment on the antitrust charges -- meaning a verdict in its favor based on evidence that was developed in preparation for trial. Its simply not an antitrust violation to develop a product that is particularly (or even uniquely) suited to serving customers needs, Google argued in a written motion. Google also claimed that competition in the ad-tech space has grown since 2009, when real-time bidding emerged. The number of ad exchanges alone grew from fewer than 10 ad exchanges in 2010 to more than 100 today. And Google, for all of its technological innovation in this space, has never had more than 15% of digital display advertising spend (with that share falling) and has never raised prices, the company wrote. That motion is still pending. by Danielle Oster , May 18, 2024 Coca-Cola further leverages its focus on digital marketing channels with the launch of Coca-Cola Lens, a platform that aims to shares actionable insights for its retail and food service partners. Coca-Cola Lens was designed to deliver on the promise to create value beyond beverages to our customers, while serving as thought partners and consultants, Pamela Stewart, chief customer officer retail for Coca-Cola North America, said in a statement. The platform launched with 16 articles by internal subject-matter experts at the company, informed by both proprietary and third-party consumer data, as well as macroeconomic context. Topics included the growth of the premium water category, menu strategy, and how to optimize cold vault inventory practices. advertisement advertisement In announcing the launch, the company touted Coca-Cola North Americas customer base across 250,000 retail stores and 500,000 foodservice outlets, as well a longstanding legacy of value-added partnership focused on growth.. The company debuted Coca-Cola Lens ahead of the 2024 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, which runs May 18-May 21. Coca-Cola will introduce event attendees to the platform during a session entitled, Data and Dining: Feeding Growth with Actionable Insights. Did You Know? In the North West of England, depression prevalence soared by 43%, underscoring widening mental health inequalities. #mentalhealth #regionaldisparities #medindia In the North West of England, depression prevalence soared by 43%, underscoring widening mental health inequalities. #mentalhealth #regionaldisparities #medindia Mapping Mental Health Disparities Trusted Source Study identifies hot-spots of high rates of depression linked to deprivation Go to source Trusted Source Advertisement Depression and Deprivation Patterns: A Decadal Examination Advertisement Study identifies hot-spots of high rates of depression linked to deprivation - (https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2024/05/17/study-identifies-hot-spots-of-high-rates-of-depression-linked-to-deprivation/) Research conducted by the University of Southampton indicates that certain regions in England have faced rising mental health inequalities over the past decade, although the extent of these issues varies significantly across the country.This study, carried out in partnership with the University of Liverpool, investigates the connection between local socioeconomic conditions and the mental health of residents.The researchers analyzed data spanning a 12-year period and identified hot-spots across the country where residents have been enduring very low living standards and consistently high levels of depression in the community ().They found deprivation accounted for up to 39 percent of the recorded levels of depression across all the regions of England. However, the link between the two is highly variable across the nation, with pockets of the country where the association is very strong and other areas where it is not.This suggests that different interventions are needed in different areas to tackle depression.Dr Dalia Tsimpida, Lecturer in Gerontology at the University of Southampton and honorary Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Liverpool, explains: "Understanding where and why depression rates are increasing is key to tackling widening mental health inequalities. Our study provides the first comprehensive nationwide picture of these patterns, offering valuable insights for targeted public mental health interventions.Our research underscores the importance of spatial context in understanding mental health outcomes. Populations with similar characteristics living in close proximity often share common experiences and mental health challenges, leading to varying levels of spatial mental burden across different areas. Findings are published in the journal SSM Population Health.The researchers examined rates and geographical distribution of depression using an NHS database which records the annual percentage of adults diagnosed with the condition across some 32 thousand small census areas of England. By combining this with a corresponding index showing rates of deprivation, they were able to be the first to analyze in detail the spatial relationship between the two. The research covers a period between 2011 and 2022.The study revealed that during these 12 years, the North West and North East of England experienced very significant hot-spots of both depression and deprivation. In the North West these clusters accounted for around 17 percent of the geographical area of the region and in the North East, 10 percent.The North West had the largest percentage in England of areas with a high rate of increase in depression prevalence, at 43 percent. This indicates that mental health inequalities are widening rapidly here. In the North East, mental health inequalities are also widening at a higher rate compared to other regions in the country. Here, one in three people reside in areas marked by persistently high depression rates, which stands as the highest proportion among all regions nationwide.By contrast, London had the lowest percentage of hotspots for depression and deprivation, with only 0.38 percent of its overall area falling into this category. The city also had a very low percentage (0.005 percent) of its population living in these areas.These low levels are echoed across much of the South East of England, leading the researchers to suggest there is a North / South divide in mental health outcomes, with areas around Newcastle, Preston, Liverpool, Manchester and Leicester all showing high levels of both depression and deprivation. Towns and cities in the South show much lower rates, although hotspots still occur in areas of the South West, near Bristol, Plymouth, the Dorset coast and the east of Kent.Dr Tsimpida comments: The relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and depression is complex and varies across different regions, suggesting that traditional randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may not fully capture these spatial influences. To better understand depression, future mental health research should consider contextual factors beyond individual characteristics.The study authors say their results show a need for region-specific strategies to effectively target areas with the highest need, particularly in the North West and North East. By identifying hotspots, policymakers can allocate resources more effectively, focusing on prevention and intervention strategies that address the root causes of mental health inequalities.Source-Medindia Trusted Source Imprinting of serum neutralizing antibodies by Wuhan-1 mRNA vaccines Go to source Trusted Source Receiving multiple #COVID-19 vaccines produced antibodies effective against various #SARS-CoV-2 variants and even some other #coronaviruses. #vaccination Impact of Initial COVID-19 Vaccination on Subsequent Immune Response Advertisement Advertisement Imprinting of serum neutralizing antibodies by Wuhan-1 mRNA vaccines - (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07539-1) The COVID-19 pandemic may have receded, but the virus persists, leading to numerous hospitalizations weekly and generating new variants regularly. Given its adeptness at mutation and evasion of immune defenses, the WHO suggests annual updates to COVID-19 vaccines . However, concerns arise regarding potential interference between initial vaccine success and subsequent updates, reminiscent of challenges seen in annual flu vaccination campaigns.A recent study from Washington University School of Medicine highlights a contrasting outcome: prior immunity to).The study, available online inshows that people who were repeatedly vaccinated for COVID-19 initially receiving shots aimed at the original variant, followed by boosters and updated vaccines targeting variants generated antibodies capable of neutralizing a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants and even some distantly related coronaviruses.The findings suggest thatmay instead cause people to gradually build up a stock of broadly neutralizing antibodies that protect them from emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and some other coronavirus species as well, even ones that have not yet emerged to infect humans.The first vaccine an individual receives induces a strong primary immune response that shapes responses to subsequent infection and vaccination , an effect known as imprinting, said senior author Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine. In principle, imprinting can be positive, negative or neutral. In this case, we see strong imprinting that is positive, because its coupled to the development of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with remarkable breadth of activity.Imprinting is the natural result of how immunological memory works. A first vaccination triggers the development of memory immune cells. When people receive a second vaccination quite similar to the first, it reactivates memory cells elicited by the first vaccine. These memory cells dominate and shape the immune response to the subsequent vaccine.In the case of the flu vaccine, imprinting has negative effects. Antibody-producing memory cells crowd out new antibody-producing cells, and people develop relatively few neutralizing antibodies against the strains in the newer vaccine. But in other cases, imprinting can be positive, by promoting the development of cross-reactive antibodies that neutralize strains in both the initial and subsequent vaccines.To understand how imprinting influences the immune response to repeat COVID-19 vaccination , Diamond and colleagues including first author Chieh-Yu Liang, a graduate student, studied the antibodies from mice or people who had received a sequence of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters targeting first the original and then omicron variants. Some of the human participants also had been naturally infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.The first question was the strength of the imprinting effect. The researchers measured how many of the participants neutralizing antibodies were specific for the original variant, the omicron variant or both. They found that very few people had developed any antibodies unique to omicron, a pattern indicative of strong imprinting by the initial vaccination. But they also found few antibodies unique to the original variant. The vast majority of neutralizing antibodies cross-reacted with both.The next question was how far the cross-reactive effect extended. Cross-reactive antibodies, by definition, recognize a feature shared by two or more variants. Some features are shared only by similar variants, others by all SARS-CoV-2 variants or even all coronaviruses. To assess the breadth of the neutralizing antibodies, the researchers tested them against a panel of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 viruses from two omicron lineages; a coronavirus from pangolins; the SARS-1 virus that caused the 2002-03 SARS epidemic; and the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus. The antibodies neutralized all the viruses except MERS virus, which comes from a different branch of the coronavirus family tree than the others.Further experiments revealed that this remarkable breadth was due to the combination of original and variant vaccines. People who received only the vaccines targeting the original SARS-CoV-2 variant developed some cross-reactive antibodies that neutralized the pangolin coronavirus and SARS-1 virus, but the levels were low. After boosting with an omicron vaccine, though, the cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against the two coronavirus species increased.Taken together, the findings suggest that regular re-vaccination with updated COVID-19 vaccines against variants might give people the tools to fight off not only the SARS-CoV-2 variants represented in the vaccines, but also other SARS-CoV-2 variants and related coronaviruses, possibly including ones that have not yet emerged.At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world population was immunologically naive, which is part of the reason the virus was able to spread so fast and do so much damage, said Diamond, also a professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology & immunology. We do not know for certain whether getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine every year would protect people against emerging coronaviruses, but its plausible. These data suggest that if these cross-reactive antibodies do not rapidly wane we would need to follow their levels over time to know for certain they may confer some or even substantial protection against a pandemic caused by a related coronavirus.Source-Eurekalert News / Local by Staff reporter Christopher Mutsvangwa's son Neville will remain in remand prison for another weekend as the High Court has reserved judgment on his bail appeal. Mutsvangwa faces three charges of illegal foreign currency dealings and one charge of possessing an unlicensed Starlink router.Initially denied bail by Harare magistrate Mr. Denis Mangosi, Mutsvangwa and his two accomplices were remanded in custody until May 30. Mutsvangwa appealed this decision, and his legal counsel, Ms. Josephine Sande, took the case to the High Court. Justice Esther Muremba heard the appeal and reserved judgment until Wednesday next week.Ms. Sande argued that the prosecution has no substantial case against Mutsvangwa and his co-accused, Elias Majachani and Simbarashe Tichingana. She contended that the remand court erred in denying bail, basing its decision on the possession of Visa cards found at Mutsvangwa's Mount Pleasant home. Ms. Sande maintained that owning Visa cards is not a crime and does not indicate involvement in illegal currency dealings or money laundering.Magistrate Mangosi denied bail on the grounds that Mutsvangwa and his co-accused might abscond. He cited the overwhelming evidence police found, including that Mutsvangwa's company, Mumba Money Transfer, was an unregistered entity dealing in foreign currency. The police also faced difficulties arresting Mutsvangwa, who initially denied them entry to his home. When police cut the electric fence and climbed over the gate, they found him hiding between a precast wall and a pile of sacks containing waste.Magistrate Mangosi also noted that Mutsvangwa has connections and could potentially sustain himself outside the country, making him a flight risk. During a raid on the Mumba Money Transfer office in the city center, police found US$3,890 in cash, computers, a transaction register, and over 20 Visa cards.The State opposed bail, citing the serious nature of the charges, particularly money laundering. Its like watching that friend who enjoyed playing dress up to actually dressing up and making it big in life. Thats exactly how we feel watching our favourite creators like Ankush Bahuguna and Vishnu Kaushal attend the prestigious Cannes 2024 Film Festival. They followed in the footsteps of Dolly Singh and Kusha Kapila who made their Cannes debut last year. How would you feel if the neighbourhood kid, who was your tuition buddy and cycling partner, suddenly went on to represent India at an international event? Youd probably go, Arre ye yahan kaise? Ye toh mera dost tha bachpan me (Hows he here? We were childhood friends). Instagram/Ankush Bahuguna Truth be told, there is something utterly relatable about seeing someone who once lip-synced to Bollywood dialogues and makes funny sketches on Instagram now strut down the Cannes red carpet. It has us filled with a mix of pride, joy, and just a hint of Well, if they can do it, maybe I can too? I mean, who hasnt dreamt of going from tapri wali chai to champagne and croissants on the French Riviera? Seeing these social media stars, the people we follow for relatable rants and hilarious skits, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, like RJ Karishma with Chris Hemsworth, on the world stage feels quite aspirational, to say the least. Most of these influencers started off like us a middle-class upbringing, simple college life, starting off with corporate jobs only to realise how soul-sucking and exhausting it was and take a leap of faith to quit their jobs and work on their own brand. A brand that has taken them everywhere from high-profile fashion shows to the Cannes red carpet. Ankush Bahuguna, known for his relatable sense of humour, brought his signature charm and fashion sense to Cannes. His Ombre brows look are redefining the way we look at men in the beauty scene and his Instagram stories from Cannes are the perfect mix of glamorous red carpet shots and hilarious behind-the-scenes moments. But true fans know that hes just as nervous as any of us would be, thinking about how not to trip on his own two feet! Vishnu Kaushal brought his boy-next-door-energy to the red carpet in a Rahul Mishra outfit. Hes the kind of guy who makes you believe that we too could go from making funny videos in our bedroom to slaying the red carpet in the French riviera. Both Vishnu and Ankush are current and former creators of Hypp, respectively. Their journey started with funny and relatable content for MensXP that, over the years, turned them into household names. Since then, Ankush Bahuguna has become a force to reckon with in the beauty industry with his own makeup channel, Wing It With Ankush, while VIshnu went on to launch his own fashion label, Peach by Vishnu. Similarly, last year's Cannes debutantes, Dolly Singh and Kusha Kapila, began their content creation journey with iDiva's massively popular series on 'South Delhi Girls'. Today they are chasing acting dreams and slaying red carpet looks! Air Force Col. Patrick Dierig took the stage at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Friday afternoon and looked out at the somber crowd. On one side of the auditorium were rows of people dressed in black, and on another were rows of airmen in their dress blue uniforms -- all gathered to grieve and mourn the death of Roger Fortson, a senior airman shot to death by police in his apartment near Hurlburt Field in Florida earlier this month. Dierig, commander of the base's 1st Special Operations Wing, was there to eulogize the 23-year-old Fortson, who died May 3 after a sheriff's deputy fired on him just seconds after Fortson opened his door while holding a legally owned handgun at his side. Read Next: Marijuana Testing for Recruits Could End Under House's Must-Pass Defense Policy Bill "We would love to take credit for making him great, but the truth is he was great before he came to us. The Air Force merely polished a diamond that you forged," Dierig said, acknowledging Fortson's family and mother in attendance at the funeral near Atlanta, Georgia. The scene of a funeral for a Black man killed during an encounter with police is unfortunately familiar -- the latest in a series of such incidents that have rocked the country in recent years -- but the military connection and the attendance and participation by Air Force officials made the service an event without any recent precedent. Dierig as well as Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command, spoke at the funeral, praising and remembering the airman alongside Fortson's family, friends, and religious and civil rights leaders. Dierig pointed to the Air Force's core values of service, integrity and excellence -- all words that he said Fortson, in his short life, already knew how to embody before deciding to join the ranks. "He was living those values before we met him because of how you raised him," Dierig said. Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse, a spokesperson for Air Force Special Operations Command, told Military.com that an estimated 200 airmen were present from a variety of installations. "Unfortunately, Senior Airman Fortson was taken away from us too soon, and we are grieving because of that loss," Bauernfeind said. "But know as we move forward, Senior Airman Fortson will always be in our lives. He will always be in our hearts, because he is now one of those giants on [whose] shoulders we stand and protect our nation." Earlier this week, the 1st Special Operations Wing held a stand-down from training to help airmen grieve and talk with leadership about the loss, Military.com previously reported. Fortson, an AC-130J gunner based with the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was shot and killed by an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy who was directed to his off-base apartment door for a reported disturbance. Police body camera footage shows Fortson opening the door after the deputy knocked multiple times. The airman was holding a handgun at his side, and the deputy can be heard ordering him to step back before immediately shooting him about six times. The entire exchange took just seconds. Only after Fortson was on the ground did the deputy tell him to drop the gun, the body camera footage shows. Fortson's family and legal team believe the shooting was unjustified and that the police went to the wrong apartment, and have raised questions about how the incident unfolded. The sheriff's office said last week that the deputy involved, who has not been identified, was placed on leave and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office are examining the incident. Records from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office obtained by Military.com on Friday show that since the beginning of 2023 there had been 10 police calls to another unit in Fortson's building, apartment 1412. Those included calls for a disturbance, a welfare checks and an emergency medical service call for a hemorrhage. Fortson's unit, apartment 1401, had no police calls within that time frame. At the time of the shooting, Fortson was home alone with his dog, a small Shih Tzu named Chloe, and was on a video call with his girlfriend, according to attorneys representing his family. Police radio chatter from that day reviewed by Military.com as well as the body camera footage showed there was seemingly spotty second-hand information about the reported 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. A man and a woman seen in the body camera footage both told the deputy they didn't know what was going on or where the disturbance call originated from. The news of the prior police calls to another unit in Fortson's apartment building were first reported by the Miami Herald and confirmed by Military.com after obtaining the records Friday. Ben Crump, the attorney representing Fortson's family, has repeatedly pushed back against Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden's claim that the deputy went to the right apartment. "That was Roger's home. I mean, he was in the sanctity of his own apartment," Crump said at the airman's funeral Friday. "If we can't be safe in the sanctity of our home, where can we be safe?" Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said, in video remarks played at the funeral, that he believes Fortson's case is an example of a double standard in America. "If you see a Black man in his own home, you have the right to shoot first and ask questions later," Sharpton said. He added that he and his organization, the National Action Network, would continue to support the airman's family and fight for justice. "He as a young Black man stood up, signed up to fight for this country. The question now is will the country stand up and fight for him?" Sharpton said. "As he is laid to rest, we are called to arms, non-violent arms, but battle it will be. We're not going to rest till we get justice for Roger." Related: 'It's OK Not to Be OK': Special Operations Wing Orders Stand-Down After Roger Fortson's Police Killing 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... News / National by Mandla Ndlovu The City of Bulawayo is in mourning following the passing of former Senator and Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister, Eunice Sandi Moyo. The news has been met with profound sadness across the city and beyond, as residents remember a dedicated leader who devoted her life to the development of the region.In an official statement, His Worship Senator David Coltart, alongside the Mayor, Councillors, Town Clerk Mr. C. Dube, Heads of Departments, and city staff, expressed their deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the late Senator."Hon. Sandi Moyo is remembered for the unwavering commitment and passion for the development of the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, the Matabeleland region and the country as a whole," stated Mayor Coltart. He emphasized the significant impact she had on the community, noting, "The Council and the people of Bulawayo express their deepest sorrow and condolence at the loss of a leader and mother figure, who was always available to serve diligently and faithfully. We will miss her dedication and efforts towards the revival of Bulawayo."Ward 28 Councillor Ntando Ndlovu extended his heartfelt sympathies to Sandi Moyo's family and friends. "Our hearts go out to her family and friends. May they find comfort and strength in the legacy she leaves behind. May her soul rest in eternal peace," said Ndlovu.Senator Eunice Sandi Moyo's legacy as a passionate advocate for her community ensures that her memory will continue to inspire future generations in Bulawayo and beyond. The Red Sox are pausing Garrett Whitlocks throwing program after the right-hander reported elbow soreness, manager Alex Cora told reporters on Friday (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Hell head for imaging over the weekend to determine the severity. Whitlock has spent exactly one month on the injured list, but not for an elbow problem. A left oblique strain knocked him out of action after four starts. He made a rehab appearance at Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday. Whitlock looked good in that outing, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Cora indicated he felt fine during the appearance before experiencing the elbow discomfort the following day. Boston expected that Whitlock would return to the MLB rotation at the start of next week. Thats no longer the case. The test results will determine how long hes out of action. Whitlock had two elbow-related injured list stints in 2023, the latter of which cost him five weeks between July and August. Back in 2019, he underwent Tommy John surgery while a prospect in the Yankee organization. Ironically, that procedure is likely a big reason Whitlock ever landed in Boston, as it presumably contributed to New Yorks mistake of leaving him off their 40-man roster before the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Whitlock hasnt had a full season as a starting pitcher since his time in the minors. He was an excellent multi-inning relief weapon for his first two MLB campaigns. Boston gave him 10 starts last year before his July injured list placement. He worked out of the bullpen after returning. The Sox moved him back into the starting staff to open this year. He allowed only four runs in 18 1/3 innings prior to the oblique injury. Cooper Criswell has stepped into the rotation behind Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck. Signed to a $1MM contract last winter after being non-tendered by the Rays, Criswell has been quietly excellent through his first 29 1/3 frames for the Sox. He owns a 2.76 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout percentage and a tidy 5.8% walk rate. Outfielder Rafael Ortega cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The outfielder was designated for assignment by the White Sox earlier this week. He had the right to elect free agency but has chosen to accept his outright assignment. Ortega, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason and was added to their roster in late April. He was put into 14 games but mostly off the bench, getting just 17 plate appearances. He hit .071/.176/.071 in those and was designated for assignment when the club acquired Corey Julks from the Astros a couple of days ago. Its been a rough few years for Ortega after a strong 2021 campaign that now looks like it may have been his peak. He hit 11 home runs in 330 plate appearances for the Cubs that year. His .291/.360/.463 batting line translated to a 122 wRC+. He also stole 12 bases and spent a lot of time covering center field. But his production dipped to .241/.331/.358 in 2022 and he was non-tendered at the end of that season. He eventually got back to the majors late in 2023, getting called up by the Mets after the trade deadline to play out the final months of a lost season for that club. He hit just .219/.341/.272 in that time and was sent back to the open market at seasons end. Ortega will now head to Charlotte and try to get back into good form. Its not hard to imagine a path opening up that would allow him to get back to the big leagues. The rebuilding Sox will likely make any veteran player available this year and have already traded Robbie Grossman to the Rangers. 36-year-old Tommy Pham is on a one-year deal and will almost certainly be moved if hes healthy and playing well. Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jimenez are also trade possibilities who could, along with Pham, open up playing time in the outfield/designated hitter mix. For now, the Sox will keep running out those guys and Andrew Benintendi, as well as younger players like Julks and Dominic Fletcher. ANN ARBOR, MI - An $18-million renovation at one of University of Michigan Healths hospitals aims to compensate for beds soon to be lost in an intra-hospital agreement. University Hospital South on the Ann Arbor health systems medical campus currently shares a 26-bed inpatient unit with Trinity Health Ann Arbor. Those beds will revert to Trinity Health this fall, necessitating University of Michigan Health to add a 26-bed unit of its own, hospital officials said Thursday. The creation of this new unit was approved by the universitys Board of Regents during its May 16 meeting. The renovation will create an observation patient unit of 26 beds, offsetting the loss of capacity at Trinity Health Ann Arbor, officials said. The agreement with Trinity Health addresses high adult inpatient demand upwards of 90% across the university health system, officials said. The agreement allows for many of the UM emergency patients that need to stay overnight to go to Trinity Healths 26-bed unit, officials said. Trinity Healths own high inpatient demand resulted in the health system asking for its own unit back starting this October, officials said. A full turnover of the unit is expected by April 2025, officials added. The renovation plan will use University Hospital South space on level five, which is currently used for non-clinical purposes, officials said. Health system resources will fund the renovation, officials said. The design firm is Troy-based Integrated Design Solutions. The completion timeline for the renovation is estimated for spring 2025. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. LANSING, MI - A Montague woman is facing prison time after she allegedly lied about providing in-home care to collect Medicaid dollars. Julia Bland, 28, was arraigned at Ingham Countys 54-B District Court Friday, May 17 on one count of Medicaid fraud, a four-year felony, according to a news release from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Bland, who was hired by a Medicaid recipient to provide in-home services, is accused of submitting false claims between Feb. 23 and July 13, 2023. These claims were then paid by the Medicaid program. Investigators found Bland used a smartphone app to report the dates and hours she provided services, according to the attorney generals office. But the apps GPS location data shows Bland allegedly submitted claims for services when she was not in the area of the Medicaid beneficiarys home. Ingham County Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt issued Bland a $50,000 bond. Providing Medicaid-funded in-home care is critical to keeping vulnerable people in their own homes as long as possible, said Nessel. Caregivers who use the program to commit fraud will be held accountable. The Michigan Attorney Generals Health Care Fraud Division, a state and federally funded program, investigated this case. About 75% of the divisions funding comes from a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25% totaling $1.8 million is funded by the state. Bland will next appear in court for a probable cause conference on May 31. GRAND BLANC, MI High fashion was on full display as Burton Atherton High School students went to prom on Friday, May 17. Beautiful dresses. Dapper suits. Some couples matched, and others showed off interesting bling and accessories that shined bright. This years prom theme was Midnight Masquerade. Kaylen Neal and Savannah Bray were named prom king and queen while Logan Reid and MiKayla Voss were named prom prince and princess. Freelance photojournalist Anthony Summers covered the event for MLive. Check out 49 photos in the gallery above. You must be a subscriber to view the photo gallery. Subscribers click the Get photo link to download high-resolution images right to their device for free as part of their subscription. To subscribe, click this link. To see all of MLives prom coverage, click this link. Read more on MLive.com: Grand Blanc stuns with high fashion on red carpet at 2024 prom Davison shows off high fashion for prom at Lafayette Grand Fenton shines on red carpet at Mardi Gras theme prom At 2 years old, he became the face of the Flint water crisis. He still has questions One-of-a-kind wine cellar, rooftop terrace make $2.2 million condo an urban oasis Letter from the Editor: Flints identity isnt defined by the water crisis. Its defined by its people. Sauna, billiards room and home theater: Lakeside Michigan mansion hits market at $2.79 million It looks like a banana: Grand Blanc elementary students awestruck by solar eclipse Gio Urshela will be at third base and Carson Kelly will be behind the plate on Saturday night when the Detroit Tigers face the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers (22-22) and Diamondbacks (21-24) meet at 8:10 p.m. Eastern time at Chase Field in Phoenix. Catcher Jake Rogers; infielders Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibanez; and infielder/outfielder Matt Vierling will be available off the bench. The full lineup is below. Yesterday was fun. Night two pic.twitter.com/y4AFuaANqv Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 18, 2024 Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-3, 3.88 ERA) will face right-hander Zac Gallen (5-2, 2.86). Flaherty has 63 strikeouts and six walks in 48 2/3 innings of work, giving him a league-best 10.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Due to a lack of run support, hes still searching for his first victory since signing a one-year, $14-million deal with the Tigers. The Tigers are 3-5 in the eight games he has started. Gallen, 28, has finished in the top five in Cy Young balloting in each of the last two seasons. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals out of the University of North Carolina in 2016, was traded to the Miami Marlins before the 2018 season and then got dealt to the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline in 2019 in exchange for Jazz Chisholm. The Diamondbacks lineup is below. DETROIT -- Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda will make a rehab start with Triple-A Toledo on Sunday. Maeda was placed on the injured list seven days ago with a viral illness from which he has now recovered. If all goes well, Maeda would be in line to start for the Tigers on Friday, May 24, in Detroit against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers will probably wait to see how things go in Toledo before making such an announcement. Tigers right-hander Matt Manning will start for the Tigers on Sunday in Arizona. If Maeda looks ready to return, the Tigers could option Manning after Sundays game and then add an extra bullpen arm for the next four days until Maeda is activated on Friday. If Maeda looks shaky in Toledo, the Tigers could suggest another rehab start before bringing him back to the big leagues. Maeda, 36, signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Nov. 26, 2023. Hes been the Tigers least effective starter in 2024 in an otherwise sterling rotation. In seven starts, he has a 6.75 ERA in 30 2/3 innings with 10 walks, 23 strikeouts. Hes given up nine home runs. His last start before going on the IL was May 7 in Cleveland when he allowed seven runs on five hits and three walks in two innings. In other injury news, right-handed reliever Shelby Miller received a hydrodissection procedure this week, according to the clubs medical report. The procedure involves injecting fluid to clear scar tissue away from the right ulnar nerve, which runs down the arm. Miller was playing light catch on Friday in Arizona. The 33-year-old veteran signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract with the Detroit Tigers last December. Hes 3-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings this year with 15 strikeouts and six walks. News / National by Staff reporter Kavango Resources, a metal exploration company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is focusing on consolidating bulk-mining efforts to boost gold production in Zimbabwe, according to a report by NewsDay Business.The company has initiated operations at its Hillside gold project in Matabeleland South province, revealing that the nation's potential for bulk-mining remains largely untapped due to the requirement of open-pit mining of extensive ore bodies for economic viability."Kavango has strategically consolidated land packages around several historic high-grade gold mines in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe," the mining firm stated in response to the release of assay results for its Hillside project."The company's objective is to explore their broader, underdeveloped potential for bulk-mining. Bulk-mining involves extracting large-scale near-surface gold from expansive open-pit mines. This method allows for economically feasible gold extraction from lower-grade material compared to high-grade underground mining."Open-pit mining has become the predominant mining style in Western Australia and has contributed significantly to Australia's rise as the world's leading gold producer in recent years.The company believes that Zimbabwe's geological characteristics are akin to those of Western Australia, given the country's rich history of high-grade gold mining in its greenstone belts.However, it noted that Zimbabwe's capacity to host numerous large-scale, bulk-minable gold deposits remains largely untapped, presenting a substantial economic opportunity for the nation.Kavango highlighted that many of Zimbabwe's historic high-grade mines and their surrounding areas are fragmented into small claims held by different owners.As part of its efforts to consolidate claims into economically viable packages for bulk mining, the company stated that it is employing modern exploration and drilling techniques to evaluate the potential for open-pit mining, thus modernizing Zimbabwe's gold mining sector."Kavango initiated an exploration and drilling program across its three existing projects late last year, commencing with its Hillside project. Initial work at Hillside has yielded results surpassing the company's expectations, indicating strong evidence of the project's potential for open-pit mining," it stated."Last month, Kavango announced that assays from drilling at Hillside Prospects 2 and 4 had identified extensive areas of significant gold at shallow depths."The company's future plans at Hillside involve testing the gold-bearing potential of interpreted shears at Prospects two and three through a series of drill holes to assess the possibility of a bulk-minable gold deposit along the entire shear zone at both prospects.Additionally, Kavango is awaiting assay results from Hillside Prospects 1 and 4. It is also conducting drilling activities at its Nara project to investigate a 200-meter wide by five-kilometer long strike corridor, interpreted as a potential shear zone. Further drilling is planned at the Leopard project. News / National by Staff reporter Mines Minister Winston Chitando, representing the Government of Zimbabwe, has been extended an invitation to attend this year's World Gold Council's China Gold Congress, a premier gathering in the global minerals sector.Scheduled to take place at the National Convention Centre in Shanghai from July 26 to 28, the conference serves as a prominent platform that brings together government officials, investors, miners, and potential buyers.This forthcoming event marks the fourth edition of the conference, following the successful organization of three previous gatherings in China over the past three years.Themed "Innovation-Driven, Green Development, and Shared Future," the congress aims to advocate for ethical mining practices."We sincerely invite you to attend and present at the conference to strengthen cooperation between Zimbabwe and China in the gold sector," states the invitation letter.The letter further extends the invitation to Zimbabwe's gold industry stakeholders, encouraging their participation in the event for technical exchanges and investment collaboration.The congress anticipates the attendance of over 2,000 delegates and industry leaders, along with the presence of 100 exhibitors representing 20 countries.It's worth noting that China ranks as Zimbabwe's second-largest trading partner following South Africa. A red alert was issued for Indias capital Delhi on Sunday as an intense heatwave gripped parts of northern India over the weekend. For the second consecutive day on Sunday, parts of Delhi met heatwave conditions, with the maximum temperature hitting 46.8C in the northwest of the national capital region. Red alerts are issued when unexpected weather consequences lead to a very high likelihood of developing heat illness or stroke as well as serious health concerns for vulnerable people, according to officials. Severe heatwave conditions are very likely in some parts of west Rajasthan during 17-20 May and in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi during 18-20 May, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Saturday. The IMD has issued orange alerts for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, stating that heatwave conditions are set to continue and residents needed to be prepared for possible symptoms of illness if they were exposed to the heat for prolonged periods. Northern states like Haryana and Punjab are also expected to see severe heatwave conditions. Rajasthan recorded a maximum temperature of 46C on Thursday as the heatwave days in April were the highest in 15 and nine years in the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha respectively, according to IMD data. Parts of New Delhi recorded temperatures up to 47.1C on Friday. The heatwave comes at the same time as Indias 6-week ongoing national elections, which has experts concerned as citizens wait in long lines to cast their votes. A polling officer covers himself with a scarf, to protect from heat on a hot summer day head of the second phase of the general elections, in Barmer, Rajasthan (REUTERS) Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his primary challenger from the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, are both expected to hold rallies in New Delhi on Saturday evening. The extreme heat has been at least partly blamed for the low voter turnout in the second phase of the national elections which saw polling across 13 states and union territories voting last week. It saw 63 per cent of those eligible voting, down further from the 66 per cent turnout in the first phase on 19 April. Two people died from suspected heat stroke in the southern state of Kerala in April, where temperatures soared to 41.9C, nearly 5.5C above normal. Since the beginning of April, dozens of countries in Asia from India to the Philippines have seen record-high temperatures leading to school closures and the triggering of urgent health warnings across the region. A study conducted by scientists from World Weather Attribution (WWA), has found that this years heatwave would have been virtually impossible in the Philippines and a lot less extreme in South and West Asia without the climate crisis caused by burning oil, coal and gas. The conditions for a heatwave are met in India when the maximum temperature of a weather station touches 40C in the plains, 37C in coastal areas, and 30C in hilly regions, or the departure from normal is at least 4.5 degrees. A severe heatwave is declared if the temperature is at least 6.4 degrees above normal. People fill up canisters and containers with water from a tanker at a makeshift settlement in Chankyapuri in New Delhi (EPA) April to June are usually the hottest months in most of India, but the country has seen more intense temperatures over the past decade, which leads to severe water shortages as well. The Met department has warned that India could see more heatwave days between April and June this year than it normally does. Billed the Trollywood of the North for its close ties to talent, the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Vast in Swedens Trollhattan has boarded the Noomi Rapace starrer Mother, to be helmed by Macedonias Teona Stugar Mitevska. The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya. More from Variety I am Macedonian, and I grew up in Skopje- Mother Teresas birth place, Mitevska told Variety. I didnt grow up religious, as it was Yugoslavia at the time and we were all atheist or existentialists, but I grew up in a vast family of strong dominant women, almost a matriarchy. The director says she got the idea for the pic while working on the docu series Teresa and I for Macedonian television, more than a decade ago. Mother Teresa s inspiring persona, not as a religious icon but as an empowering female figure, is what sparked Mitevskas wish to make this feature. During the making of the documentary, I discovered an army of women within her religious community: The missionaries of charity and yes: I was hooked. Just as Mary Ward proclaims: Women for women, so did she. She had a rebel punk rock energy that spreads like a virus; she was a general of an army of women, says Mitevska. The story will focus on seven consecutive days at a pivotal moment of Mother Teresas life, when aged 39, and at the time Mother Superior of Loreto Entally convent in Calcutta, she is about to leave the order and create her own, Mitevska explains. These decisive moments inform the Mother Teresa we revere today. We will show her human side, her fragility and doubts, but also her stamina. According to Teonas sister and producer Labina, the project is structured as a five-country co-production between Macedonias Sisters and Brother Mitevski, Belgiums Entre Chien et Loup, Denmarks Frau Film, the Netherlands Baldar Film, Swedens Spark Film & TV and Film i Vast. Kinology handles global sales, and of course, we have a partner in India-Kolkata Raging Films, added Labina. Discussing the pivotal financial contribution from Film i Vast, the producer said she first partnered with the Scandi film fund on Nury Bilge Ceylans Cannes 2018 competition entry The Wild Pear Tree. This is when I realised that it was a fund with excellent taste, she said. Mother will be shot between Belgium and India, with a pencilled delivery date set for 2026. Five titles in Cannes Film i Vasts excellent taste in film is reflected in its hit rate in Cannes, where the film fund will feature in the main competition for the eighth year in a row. Alongside The Apprentice and The Girl with the Needle, rounding off its Cannes slate are Un Certain Regards Armand, Critics Weeks Julie Keeps Quiet and Directors Fortnights Sister Midnight. We always aim for the big five festivals Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin and Sundance, explains Film i Vasts head of production Kristina Borjeson. The enviable Cannes hit rate might be down to pure luck, she said, but most certainly to the head of co-production Anthony Muirs year-round efforts, the funds strategy to bet on talent, and to build long-term relationships with indie producers, mostly in the Nordics, in Europe and sometimes beyond, Borjeson underscored. So far, the Western Sweden-based film fund, wholly-owned by Vastra Gotalandsregionen, the county of West Sweden, has co-produced more than 1,500 films, series, shorts and documentaries since 1992, including Ruben Ostlunds Palme dor winners The Square and Triangle of Sadness. Its current annual co-production budget stands at SEK 90 million ($8.4 million). Going forward, Film i Vast CEO Mikael Fellenius said the fund, whose principal aim is to attract productions in the Swedish region to boost the local economy and film workforce, will look into upping its TV drama investments, next to feature films. We are starting the dialogue with politicians. We might get an answer by 2026, but we will never give up and will stick to our long-term strategy, he said. In Cannes, Film i Vast is holding seminars about overproduction, sustainability and the challenge of private equity in European cinema. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user. OK OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Modi's 'dhakad' government brought down wall of Article 370: PM Modi in Ambala Follow us on: 'Pakistan has gone from bombs in hands to...', PM Modi's dig at neighbouring nation Follow us on: Security beefed up ahead of rallies by PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi in Delhi Follow us on: The fight for Rae Bareli: Beyond 'emotions', when local issues find resonance Follow us on: UP Lok Sabha polls 2024: With an emotional appeal in Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan leads son's campaign Follow us on: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to undergo her wrist surgery after returning from Cannes 2024 Rory Korte, a junior at Lakeview High School, is looking to be the fifth generation of his family to run the family farm. Its something hes always loved, straight from the beginning. We live on a farm, so I believe Ive always been involved in that. When I was eight, I joined 4-H, Rory said. My older sisters were both involved in that showing goats at the Platte County fair and other shows. I was involved in that during my childhood and helping out with the farm stuff. Indeed he was, said his father, Jon. From a very young age, Jon and his wife, Shelly, could tell Rory loved farming. When he was little, his toys he always wanted tractors, little toy machinery to play with, he was always wanting to come with me down to the farm, Jon said. He was always interested in what I was doing, always wearing the same clothes, work boots, seed corn cap, pair of pliers. When it comes to farming, Jon said, theres an element of it that you have to have starting out and he believes Rory has it. When hes ready someday, hell be poised to take over the family farming operation as the fifth generation. With Jons great-grandfather coming over from Germany and homesteading to start the operation they have today, Jon said that Rory knows what it means to carry on that vision from so long ago. Shelly, Rorys mother, has also supported this dream over the years, Jon said, and they wouldnt have gotten this far without her help along the way either. Its what my dad always wanted to see, he just wanted to see the family farm getting passed down to the next generation, Jon said. Its unfortunate some kids dont have that opportunity and would like to, but Rory, if he wants to, me and my wife would be very grateful and feel blessed that he would want to take it. Its one of those things with farming, you either have it in your blood or you dont. Rory definitely has it in his blood to do whatever in ag. He loves farming, the livestock, the crops. Its just in his blood, Jon said. Theres a lot of opportunities, its going to take a lot of hard work. Hes not afraid of that. Currently, he helps on the farm with raising cattle, feeding pigs for Pillen Family Farms and gathering crops. Jon said he knows Rory was looking at college at one point, for something like diversified ag before he returns to the family operation, but hes already got a knack for helping him buy cattle. Hes got a good eye. Hes been in livestock judging. I always take him along to bull sales or to buy heifers and hes got a good eye to pick out good livestock, good breed stock, Jon said. Having been in 4-H, once he got to high school Rory joined Future Farmers of America (FFA) out of curiosity, and now hes eyeing the president position for his senior year. Put simply, he said he just loves being involved in ag and all the things that that career track brings with it. Ive always had a kind of passion for agriculture, being on a farm and getting to work with a bunch of different people and meeting new people every day, its always something different, and theres connections you can make down the road, Rory said. I hope to be able to keep farming the family farm, able to keep that going. Thats always what I wanted to do growing up. Helping his father before and after school and living on the farm all his life also taught him valuable things that have bolstered his ability to pick up that torch and carry on the family legacy, Rory said. Responsibility is a big thing, making sure your chores are done every day, keeping all the livestock healthy and making sure theyre doing well, he said. Hard work is another one, making sure things are done correctly and giving your best effort. As he goes into this field, Rory said he has seen things change already in his lifetime, and the future could change even more. That doesnt deter him, but he knows things are likely to be different when he takes over. Technology is obviously a big thing. Theyre talking about 10 years or so from now, nobody will even have to be in the tractor cab, youll run it from your home or pick-up, Rory said. And I think theres less people, not just in farming but in other areas as well, even though theres a lot of great opportunities. Nonetheless, hes optimistic as he eyes his future in a career he loves. Ive got a passion for it and I think agriculture is a really important thing, you know, being able to feed the world basically with less and less land every day and more people to seed. Thats kind of what Im looking at, Rory said. Follow us on: Diipa Khosla turns heads with her stunning, futuristic look as she attends the Cannes seventh time OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck spotted together after 47 days amid divorce rumours Follow us on: Kartik Aaryan spotted leaving for 'Chandu Champion' trailer launch in Gwalior, a day after the tragic death of his relatives Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years. OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Amitabh Kant predicts India will contribute 30% of global GDP growth between 2035-2040 Big Story NCGTC audit on Bandhan Bank's books should get over soon, says CEO Ghosh Private-sector lender Bandhan Bank is expecting the National Credit Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) audit of its claims under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) and Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to be completed soon, said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, the bank's managing director and chief executive officer (MD and CEO). Read more OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Maitri Setu, Agartala-Akhaura rail link to be made operational soon: Tripura CM Follow us on: Maliwal facing corruption case, blackmailed by BJP to be part of conspiracy against Kejriwal: AAP OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Mamata Banerjee has an unstable mind, TMC providing shelter to infiltrators: BJP chief Nadda No objection to action against grandson if he is found guilty: Deve Gowda on sexual abuse case The communications director for the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania state treasurer is also a reporter for United Press International; he's doing both jobs at the same time, and has referenced the race and his candidate in a recent article he wrote about student protests at Columbia University. That's raising eyebrows among experts. Chris Benson, 35 has been the communications director for Democratic candidate Erin McClelland since late January, according to a post on X. During that time, Benson also has been a freelance reporter with UPI and northcentralpa.com, an online news source. In an April 29 article that Benson wrote for UPI about student protests at Columbia University, where students were protesting among other things the university's investments in Israeli-backed financial institutions, Benson said the call for divestment has made its way into the Pennsylvania state treasurer's race. In the story, Benson compared current treasurer and Republican candidate Stacy Garrity's decision to increase the state's investment in Israel Bonds by $20 million with McClelland's criticism of that decision. "The Democratic nominee, Erin McClelland, has been critical of the state's direct investments in foreign holdings, citing Israel's labor protests and their credit downgrades since the October war began," he wrote. There was no disclosure in the story of Mr. Benson's involvement with the campaign of McClelland, a native of Harrison, Allegheny County. Benson told the Post-Gazette that his roles as a reporter and as McClelland's communications director do not constitute a conflict of interest because he works for the candidate on a volunteer basis and is not a full-time employee at either news outlet. "I am contractual with those [two outlets]," he said, "which affords me greater legal and ethical freedoms to fringe the political and news world." Experts disagreed. "Whether you're paid or not, the public doesn't make distinctions like that, nor should they," said Rod Hicks, director of ethics and diversity for the Society of Professional Journalists. "If you worked for a candidate ... you shouldn't cover any issues that the candidate, should they win, would have to deal with. You certainly should not be covering the candidate." "It is textbook what not to do for good journalism," said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University. "I think this sounds like a very basic breach of journalistic ethics." Benson said he would not cover the actual race for either of the outlets. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm on solid ethical ground," he said. "Which is important to me." Jennifer Oris, the senior director for publishing and local news at Poynter, disagreed. "This seems like a clear conflict of interest," she said. "Journalists cover candidates and politicians, they do not campaign for them." Oris said some outlets have different rules for their freelancers compared to full-time staff, but she said she "found it hard to believe" mentioning the race in other coverage "would not cross that line." "At most news organizations, there are rules about journalists having yard signs or bumper stickers [for a candidate] let alone campaigning for them," she said. Neither UPI nor northcentralpa.com responded to requests for comment. McClelland also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hicks said avoiding such conflicts is important, particularly in an age where trust in the media is low. "The whole conflict of interest thing is to give confidence to the public about what you're writing," he said. "You don't want people to suggest that ... you would give this particular candidate more favorable coverage or avoid negative things." With people more and more critical of the media, this could be one more reason for people to be wary of reporters, Chimbel said. "To have somebody who is publicly working as a journalist and [for] a candidate for public office just underscores why someone would not trust journalism," he said. Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Upper St. Clair, on Thursday called on McClelland to fire Benson, and said "McClelland's failure to recognize this situation for what it is a mile-wide conflict-of-interest shows that she lacks the standards needed to oversee a statewide office." "Chris Benson's stunning failure to see an obvious ethical problem, and Erin McClelland's failure to act on it are a combination Pennsylvania's voters cannot risk in an office charged with handling taxpayer dollars," Mihalek said in a press release. "Benson needs to go. Right now." McClelland won the Democratic primary in an upset against state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, D-Erie. She previously ran and lost in a crowded field for the Democratic nomination for the Allegheny County executive seat. She'll face Garrity, who has held the treasurer's seat since being elected in 2020. Prior to her time in politics, Garrity spent 30 years in the military. Follow us on: 'Will show victory belongs to truth': YS Sharmila after SC decision in Vivekananda Reddy murder case 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 OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All 'Coming to BJP headquarters tomorrow with AAP leaders...': Kejriwal challenges PM Modi after Bibhav Kumar's arrest Best cities to find a job in the US Follow us on: This airline is giving its staff 8 months of salary as bonus Follow us on: UN experts say South Sudan is close to securing a $13 billion oil-backed loan from a UAE company Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce's new logo View Photo Sonora, CA The Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce has adopted a new strategic plan for 2024. Chamber officials say, This plan outlines our goals and initiatives for the upcoming year that aim to foster a healthy environment for local businesses. The chamber provided this outline of the key parts of its new 2024 strategic plan, including its brand identity and two new members: Economic Development: Were providing targeted support and resources to strengthen local businesses. Initiatives include securing grants and collaborating with other agencies to provide resources to member businesses. Additionally, were partnering with local chambers to facilitate future events. Education: Were focusing on providing our members with the tools they need to succeed in a modern marketplace. This summer, were scheduling workshops covering topics such as crafting a business plan, company culture, and best hiring practices. Advocacy: Government affairs is back! Were representing the interests of local businesses at regional and state levels. Our efforts include engaging with policymakers and local leaders to influence legislation impacting local businesses, advocating for economic development, fair housing, infrastructure improvements, and more. New Brand Identity: The Chamber has also launched a new brand identity. This refreshed look will be featured across all our communications and promotional materials, emphasizing our commitment to supporting local businesses. Welcoming New Board Members: We are excited to welcome two new board members: Ginger McKinsey: As the General Manager of the Heritage Inn Yosemite/Sonora, Ginger brings a wealth of experience spanning healthcare to hospitality. Her upbringing in community service has fueled her commitment to volunteer work, supporting soup kitchens, pantries, and fundraisers for the homeless in Stockton and Sacramento. During the pandemic, she partnered with Adventist Health to provide accommodations for patients recovering from procedures. Ginger continues to collaborate with county programs and agencies to enhance community support. Matt Kiolbassa: The owner of NTE Logic, Matts career began as a volunteer firefighter and has since encompassed roles in Government Relations, Public Service, Fire Safety, Broadband, and Park Management. He has served with the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior, and the Presidio Trust, and has led a start-up focused on expanding internet access in rural areas. His business, NTE Logic, is dedicated to helping manufacturers and small business owners in the Mother Lode and Central Valley optimize their digital infrastructure and security. We are confident that Ginger and Matt will be invaluable assets to our Board, and we look forward to the positive impact they will bring to our community, according to chamber officials. Its been another tough weekend for Neville Mutsvangwa, the son of Zimbabwes political power couple, after he failed to secure bail and forced to spend more time in remand prison. The 35-year-old, son of ZANU-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa and Womens Affairs Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, is facing a slew of criminal charges related to alleged illegal foreign currency dealings and possession of an unlicensed Starlink router. On Wednesday, Mutsvangwas hopes for freedom were dashed when the High Court reserved judgment on his appeal against the earlier denial of bail by a lower court magistrate. Justice Esther Muremba heard arguments from Mutsvangwas lawyer, Josphine Sande, who argued that the prosecution had no real case against her client. But the state remained adamant, opposing bail on the grounds that the charges, including money laundering, were of a serious nature. Magistrate Denis Mangosi had previously denied bail, citing concerns that Mutsvangwa was a flight risk with his connections and ability to sustain a livelihood outside the country. The younger Mutsvangwas legal troubles began when police raided his upscale Mount Pleasant home in Harare, encountering resistance at first. After cutting through his electric fence and scaling his gate, officers ultimately found Mutsvangwa hiding between a precast wall and sacks of waste. With the High Courts judgment now delayed until next week, Neville Mutsvangwa and his two co-accused, Elias Majachani and Simbarashe Tichingana, will have to continue their unwanted stay in remand prison. The fate of the politically-connected scion now hangs in the balance as the judicial process grinds on. Breaking News via Email Related Zimbabwe Latest News Yves here. Weve long said that the US actually does have industrial policy. You can see it via which sectors get big tax breaks, subsidized lending, and even explicit gimmies. Real estate is one of those alpha beneficiaries. The irony with the complaint post is the US once had a good affordable housing program, as in Section 8 housing. We also built low income housing but it was too often intended to be and succeeded in being punitively dreary. By contrast, in the UK, some council flat developments, like the Barbican in the City, have been converted to market price housing and sells for pretty handsome prices. That would be an extreme outlier for US projects. By Algernon Austin, a Senior Research Fellow at CEPR. Originally published at Common Dreams Affordable rental housing policy fails to provide sufficient affordable rental housing decade after decade, yet policymakers continue to do largely the same things. A researcher at the Joint Center for Housing Studies recently observed that in 1960, about 45% of renters in the bottom income quintile spent more than 50% of their income on housing costs. Today, it is about 65%. Renters below the official poverty line spend on average 78% of their income on housing. At what point will policymakers admit that their policies have failed renters? It Doesnt Make Sense: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Affordable rental housing policy now primarily relies on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). LIHTC seems like a rather bad idea if one is interested in addressing the affordable rental housing crisis. LIHTC has a number of problems, but two of them should be considered fatal flaws. First, LIHTC is not very good at providing low-income rental housing. The Joint Center for Housing Studies states, LIHTC does not necessarily protect a renter from cost burdens and that lower-income renters living in LIHTC units often require additional subsidies to make this housing affordable. The primary policy to create affordable rental housing does not do a very good job at creating affordable rental housing, yet policymakers rely on it more and more. The second major problem is that LIHTC rentals typically convert to market rate after 30 years (in some cases 15 years). This transition rate might be reasonable if there were an adequate supply of affordable rental housing, but there isnt. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition estimates that the United States has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes for the lowest-income renters. The Joint Center for Housing Studies finds that the country lost 2.1 million rental units for these lowest-income renters between 2012 and 2022. Affordable rentals are too scarce to allow them to be converted to market-rate housing. The current estimate is that 325,000 LIHTC rental units will transition to market rate by 2029. LIHTC creates a rental housing bucket with a hole in the bottom. Since more and more of our affordable rental housing is created by LIHTC, the amount of affordable rentals lost to market conversion will increase over time. The United States already does not build enough affordable rental housing to keep up with demand, but policymakers have created a system that will lead to accelerating losses of affordable rental housing over time. This doesnt make sense. Affordable Rental Policy Is Working Well for Corporations and Investors Current affordable rental housing policy doesnt make sense if the goal is to provide affordable housing. If the goal is to create market conditions beneficial to real estate developers and investors, it appears to be working quite well. Public housing, especially when adequately funded, is a far more effective method of providing affordable rental housing than LIHTC. The rate of cost-burdened renters is quite low in public housingmuch lower than in LIHTC housing. Because of this fact, there are very long waiting lists and tremendous demand for public housing. From the private real estate industrys perspective, public housing is a serious threat. From the beginning, the real estate industry bitterly fought public housing of any kind, Richard Rothstein stated in The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Rothstein adds that the industry later lobbied to structure public housing so that it would be underfunded. Today, after the passing of the Faircloth Amendment, Congress has prohibited the increase in the number of public housing units built by the federal government in spite of the fact that people are, in some cases, waiting for decades to get into public housing. In addition to investors receiving more and more via tax credits from the LIHTC program, the Joint Center for Housing Studies reports that corporate owners make up a growing share of the rental housing market. (The corporate share of rental properties ranging from 5 to 24 units nearly doubled between 2001 and 2021.) More private equity firms have also moved into the rental housing market. While more and more renters are being cost-burdened, it appears that more corporations and investors are making good profits. It is possible to create affordable rental housing policies that work well for renters. There are good social housing models in Europe and Asia. Social housing is nonprofit housing. In the European models, it is not restricted to just the lowest income households, which tends to provide it with a stronger political and economic base. The good news is that U.S. city and state governments are beginning to explore these models. In Congress, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), and other members of Congress have recognized the need to repeal the Faircloth Amendment. Once that amendment is gone, the federal government can move toward constructing affordable, quality social housing. Anti-Trump impeachment counsel, congressman, sent money DIRECTLY to Judge Merchans family Representative Daniel Goldman (D-NY) appears to have sent over $160,000 in checks to the home address of Loren Merchan the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan , who presides over former President Donald J. Trump s Manhattan hush money trial . The National Pulse reported Tuesday that Goldman acknowledged preparing disgraced serial perjurer Michael Cohen for his cross-examination by Trumps defense attorneys, which occurred during the trial this week. (Article by William Upton republished from TheNationalPulse.com) Judge Merchan placed a gag order on former President Trump, preventing him from discussing the judges daughter and her company, which raises money for numerous Democrat politicians and campaign organizations. The close personal relationship between Goldman and Loren Merchan suggests a clear conflict of interest for Judge Juan Merchan. Former President Trumps legal team has already pushed the judge several times to recuse himself. Investigative reporter Laura Loomer first uncovered that Goldmans Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings showed that his campaign sent its payments to Loren Merchans personal home address in Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, not a single check from the Goldman campaign was sent to the Authentic Campaign offices address in Chicago. Goldmans last public payment to Authentic Campaigns was made just days before the start of the hush money trial. EXCLUSIVE EXPOSE: ???NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN SENDING MONEY TO JUDGE MERCHANS DAUGHTERS PERSONAL HOME RESIDENCE IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA AND DECEPTIVELY DISTORTING FEC RECORDS TO COVER UP PAYMENTS TO LOREN MERCHANS COMPANY??? I was searching through https://t.co/R9U8sM2YQEpic.twitter.com/Ssv2PicORe Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 17, 2024 MERCHAN REFUSED TO RECUSE. At the start of the hush money trial in April, attorneys for former President Trump filed a motion demanding Judge Merchan recuse himself from the proceedings. Trumps lead counsel, Todd Blanche, argued: In August 2023, the Court reasoned that recusal was not warranted because President Trump had presented only speculative and hypothetical scenarios. The scenarios identified by the defense have come to pass. Blanche continued: The trial in this case will benefit Authentic financially by providing its clients more fodder for fundraising, Authentic will make more money by assisting with those communications, and Your Honors daughter will continue to earn money from these developments by virtue of her senior role at Authentic. The Democrat-aligned judge rejected the motion. LORENS DEMOCRAT TIES. The National Pulse has reported extensively on Judge Merchan and his daughters ties to powerful national Democrats and anti-Trump lawfare groups, including the Brennan Center, which sought to keep Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot. In early March, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that former President Trump would remain on the ballot for the 2024 election, where he leads the 81-year-old Democrat incumbent, Joe Biden, in almost every major poll. Read more at: TheNationalPulse.com Biden admin claims border island seized by Texas is now federal land The Biden administration claims that a border island Texas reclaimed from cartel control is federal land , ordering authorities of the Lone Star State to clear out obstructions. According to YourNews, the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) has asserted that Fronton Island in Texas' Starr County is a property of the federal government. But the Texas state government recently cleared the island of cartel activity, secured it and cleared it of underbrush as part of its efforts to uphold border security. The IBWC was established in 1889 by the U.S. and Mexico, with Washington and Mexico City having two separate commissioners overseeing their side of the border. The U.S. Department of State administers the IBWC's American portion, while the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs administers the Mexican portion. "IWBC asserts that Fronton Island is federal property and is under the jurisdiction of the IWBC," wrote IBWC Principal Engineer Ramon Macias in his April 30 letter to the Texas General Land Office (GLO). "We respectfully request that the GLO remove the obstructions." In his letter to the GLO, Macias pertained to two sediment bridges installed by the Texas National Guard (TNG) on the island. The said bridges were installed after Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham the head of the GLO certified Fronton Island as state-owned property. "Our respective survey office discussed ownership of the island between August 2023 and September 2023. In our review of the GLO's submitted documentation, we cannot confirm when or how the state of Texas formally acquired Fronton Island. The IBWC asserts that Fronton Island became federal property between 1970 and 1978 pursuant to the 1970 treaty with Mexico." 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. Aside from disputing the Lone Star State's claim to the island, Macias accused Texas of trespassing on federal land during the clearing operation that ended the cartel's use of the island. He then requested Texas authorities to submit documentation proving that Fronton Island is a state-owned property "within 30 days of the date of this letter." Biden admin wants Fronton Island to facilitate MORE MIGRANT INVASIONS Macias' letter appears to be a move by the Biden administration to acquire Fronton Island. Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has espoused an open borders policy at the cost of public safety and national security. This also empowered Mexican cartels to use the island as a base for their operations. But in October of last year, Mexican cartels lost a significant tactical advantage as state military units cleared the 215-acre island. The cartels had used the formerly brush-covered island for years as a staging area for human and drug trafficking. Unsurprisingly, authorities in Texas did not take too kindly to the IBWC's request. (Related: Texas liberates island near U.S.-Mexico border occupied by criminal cartels.) "The Biden administration has had nearly four years to secure the southern border, but they have chosen to neglect the safety of Texas citizens. Fronton Island and the cartel operations that persisted there demonstrated a clear and present danger to our communities. Bombs, weaponry and the smuggling of humans and drugs have plagued this area of south Texas for too long," said Buckingham. "Texas has stepped up, and we have no intention of relinquishing our claim of ownership of Fronton Island. As long as the people in that far away U.S. Capitol continue to ignore the people who sent them there, Texas and the GLO under my direction will continue to do everything in its power to keep our families and communities safe." Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), said that "for decades, Fronton Island has been utilized by the Mexican drug cartels as a refuge when fleeing from rival cartels and the Mexican military. Still, it has primarily been used to facilitate transnational criminal activity involving human and drug smuggling." "With the authorization through Land Commissioner Buckingham, the state of Texas has taken over the island by clearing and fortifying it, allowing DPS and the TNG to gain operational control in preventing cross-border crime," Olivarez added. Watch this clip of border guards in Texas being overwhelmed and knocked to the ground by illegals. This video is from the Recharge Freedom channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Abbott insists on Texas' right to defend itself amid federal injunction on state law that allows state authorities to deport illegals. Texas developing plan to protect, defend its own border from migrant invasion, drug-smuggling after Biden refuses to act. Biden regime threatens WAR with Texas over border security: "Give us access, or else." Sources include: YourNews.com Brighteon.com BILLIONS still expected to die in coming years from COVID vaccines, says analyst Things are about to get really ugly across our land now that Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "vaccines" have had several years to do the damage they were programmed to do inside the bodies of the tens of millions of people who took them. "Richard's Substack" reports that an "onrushing death wave" is coming our way that will result in mass death, followed by mass destruction. "Governments, public health ministries and Big Pharma are not talking about what is coming because they are deeply complicit in despicable, genocidal crimes but there are a number of prominent, world class, medical scientists explaining what is in the cards over the next few years: a tsunami of death, due to the billions of so-called Covid-19 vaccines that were injected into hordes of victims in countries all over the world," the report reads. Richard Sauder, who runs the site, linked to this article from Slay News citing Dr. Dolores Cahill, who says that everyone who got vaccinated for the Chinese Virus, at least with the mRNA (modRNA) variety, will be dead within three to five years, "even if they have had only one injection." Cahill, by the way, has more than 25 years of experience under her belt dealing with high-throughput protein array, antibody array, proteomics technology development and automation. "The experience includes work on how proteins and antibodies can be used in biomedical applications, including in biomarker discovery, diagnostics and personalized medicine," Slay News reported about Cahill, who works as a professor of translational science at University College Dublin School of Medicine's Conway Institute. 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. (Related: Did you hear that Pfizer just agreed, albeit quietly, to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits linking its Zantac antacid drug to cancer?) Insurance companies going kaput from too many death claims So many people are already dying that some insurance companies, including the well-known "gecko" insurance company that we will not name, which Sauder says "is in very serious trouble" and "swirling around the corporate failure drain due to the burgeoning death rate." If the gecko company is struggling to stay afloat, one can only imagine how badly all of its competitors must also be doing. "Too many people are dying," Sauder writes. "The normal actuarial tables no longer apply." In many ways, Operation Warp Speed threw a wrench into the current world order and its trajectory by taking out large numbers of people. Some of these people are already deceased while others are too sick to work, with their early mortality coming soon. As the insurance industry collapses from all this, so will the global financial industry, of which the insurance industry is an integral component. What we are seeing, in essence, is a mass culling of the human "herd." "It appears that casket and coffin manufacturers, funeral homes, morticians, morgues, graveyards, cemeteries, backhoe operators and grave diggers, crematoriums and the like will have plenty of work if they can avoid dying themselves!" Sauder says. "Other industries and the great bulk of the work force will take it on the chin." Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche is another who is warning about the "massive tsunami" of deaths that is still to come. Also calling it a "huge, huge wave," the high volume of illnesses and deaths among the injected population "will bring down the financial, economic and social order," Sauder warns. "The chaos across society will be complete," he adds. "From what I can see the growing death and disability are already underway here in Ecuador. I am seeing fewer little babies and pregnant females than I formerly used to. There are still some, but noticeably fewer than before the 'jab' campaign began in 2021. I am also noticing more death and incapacity among people in my personal circle." The worst is yet to come for the fully vaccinated. Learn more at ChemicalViolence.com. Sources for this article include: RichardSauder.substack.com SlayNews.com NaturalNews.com Blinken stresses importance of Ukrainians embracing mobilization as a necessary step to NATO membership During a visit to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the need for Ukrainians to embrace further mobilization efforts as a crucial step toward their country's eventual membership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Addressing students at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Blinken underscored that while Ukrainians can rely on continued support from the United States, they must also recognize the significance of the military draft in countering so-called Russian aggression. "The recent mobilization was a tough decision, but a vital one. The brave defenders who valiantly held the line for over two years need assistance. They require respite," Blinken said. He emphasized that successful military mobilization efforts would strengthen Ukraine's defenses, bolster unit numbers and better enable Ukrainians to confront Russian forces. Blinken acknowledged members of the university community who volunteered, noting that 88 of them have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict. He also reiterated the U.S. commitment to Ukraine's future as a free, prosperous democracy fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community. "We are advancing Ukraine's NATO membership, ensuring a robust and illuminated pathway," he pledged, believing that there will be significant progress on this front. This comes as Russian officials claim that Ukraine incurred over 111,000 casualties this year alone, as of early May. Western powers assert that their support for Ukraine is a means of countering Russia's imperial ambitions over Eastern Europe, while the Kremlin asserts that the conflict is part of a U.S.-led proxy war against Russia. Russian officials cite NATO's growing presence in Ukraine as its primary motive for military action. 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. Ukraine's new military mobilization law requires all men aged 18 to 60 to be available for draft Ukraine has passed a series of sweeping military reforms, marking the biggest overhaul of the country's military mobilization regulations. Under the new law, all men aged 18 to 60 are mandated to register with Ukraine's military and carry their military registration documents at all times and be available when needed to be called up for military service. Kyiv hopes to streamline and enhance transparency in the recruitment process through this measure. Men eligible for service residing outside Ukraine will be unable to renew their passports at Ukrainian consulates and embassies without presenting up-to-date military registration documentation, hoping that such a move will compel Ukrainian men of fighting age to return home and join the war effort. Other reforms include higher penalties for draft evasion. The legislation does not address any potential increase in the number of individuals subject to military service, nor does it include provisions for demobilizing soldiers who have served extended periods on the front lines. (Related: No escape from the meat grinder: Zelensky signs tyrannical mobilization bill that lets no man escape.) Ukrainian lawmakers deliberated for months on whether to allow rotation for the longest-serving soldiers amidst Russias renewed offensives. Ultimately, the parliament opted to retain as many soldiers at the front lines as possible, disappointing families hoping for fixed service periods. The draft underwent over 4,000 amendments, highlighting the political challenges in crafting the legislation. Despite public outcry, the parliament passed the law, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky granting presidential approval. Last year, the leader of Zelenskys parliamentary faction stated that the military sought an additional half million servicemen and women. However, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsyki recently indicated that any increase in personnel would likely be considerably lower. Zelenskys endorsement of the law followed a warning from Ukraines eastern front commander that Russian troops outnumbered Ukrainian forces by up to tenfold. Following the laws passage, numerous wives and relatives of servicemen staged protests outside the parliament, demanding the inclusion of mobilization deadlines. Learn more about the war effort in Ukraine at UkraineWitness.com. Watch this clip from Fox News reporting on how NATO member nations are stepping up to help Ukraine. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Kyiv to penalize, block bank accounts of draft dodgers amid serious shortage of soldiers. Hungary offers sanctuary for Ukrainians dodging Kyiv's draconian military draft. Ukraine RUNNING OUT of soldiers to fight Russia. Ukrainian general: NOBODY can sit out the draft, and ALL MUST FIGHT. NATO tells Ukraine to bolster troop numbers through accelerated conscription. Sources include: RT.com CNN.com Brighteon.com Britains support for Zionism has caused 76 years of conflict. It is time this barbarism stops US President Joe Biden, the US Congress and the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron are living in a parallel world. (Article republished from MiddleEastEye.net) In their world, Hamas could have had a ceasefire tomorrow if it handed over the captives. In their world, only continued pressure on Hamas will force them to release the captives and therefore weapons must be supplied to Israel to do that. Israeli forces are still mounting "pin-point operations" to the east of Rafah and hence not crossing the red line set by Biden on the use of US-supplied heavy bombs. US Senator Lindsey Graham is grotesque, but he could as well be their most eloquent spokesman. Just as the US had "rightly" ended the Second World War by dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Israel should be given the bombs it needs to end this war, Graham said. By dropping one of its 200 nuclear warheads on Gaza? In the real world, the US walked away from an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal that Hamas signed and that CIA Director Bill Burns sponsored; Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has called Biden's bluff by launching the biggest offensive on all parts of Gaza since the war began and cutting off all but token amounts of aid. In the real world, Israeli forces are carpet bombing eastern Rafah and central and northern Gaza. Jabalia in the north, Zeitoun in Gaza City, Nuseirat in the centre and Rafah in the south are simultaneously under massive bombardment. Rafah, the main entry point of aid, has been closed completely, and a fraction of what is needed on a daily basis is let through other crossings. Since taking control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, Israel has let just six trucks of aid through its crossing at Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and 157,000 litres of fuel. The very minimum Gaza needs is 500 trucks and 300,000 litres a day. Unrwa says that nearly 450,000 people have been pushed north, heading to the devastated towns of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, while tens of thousands in Gaza City are heading south fleeing what the World Food Programme has called a "full-blown famine". In the real world, half of Gaza's population could be about to converge on central Gaza which has no food or fresh water to cope with such an influx of refugees. There is nowhere safe to flee to. Israel is seeing to that by bombing the shelters. Calling Biden's bluff Netanyahu has called Biden's bluff. It's not as if he is acting regardless of the human costs. For him, the human cost is a war aim. A good part of him, the Israeli defence establishment and a clear majority of Israelis themselves want that human cost to be as high as possible. Eight months of this slaughter have not sated their thirst for revenge. So what is Biden's reaction to being ignored by his chief ally? He has offered two responses: the assault on Rafah is not happening so no red lines have been crossed; and the blame for this offensive, if it actually exists, lies with Hamas itself. "It's just one shipment that was delayed, Israel did not cross the red line in Rafah," the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lowe, shrugged. Biden agreed with Israel: "Israel said it's up to Hamas; if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would begin tomorrow," Biden told a fundraiser in Seattle on Saturday. Both excuses are palpable nonsense. If Hamas could "end it all now" there would have been a permanent ceasefire months ago, and certainly after the first captive and prisoner exchange. It is Israel's refusal to "end it all now" before Hamas is eradicated that has caused the collapse of the latest negotiations. Hamas signed up to a ceasefire deal that would have ensured a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel rejected it. And now the US is backing it. This war is not about bringing the hostages home alive. The longer the war goes on, the fewer of the 128 captives thought to be still living will survive. For as the families of the hostages all know, it is Israel's bombing that is killing them, not Hamas. UK fully aligned with Israel Cameron has been even worse than Biden, if that is possible. In a series of interviews, he said cutting arms to Israel would strengthen Hamas and castigated the BBC for not calling it a terrorist organisation. He refused to reinstate Britain's funding for Unrwa, despite the fact that an independent UN review headed by a former French foreign minister found no evidence to substantiate Israel's claims that Unrwa staff were members of terrorist groups. "We are more demanding than that," Lord Cameron scoffed. Really? So demanding that the UK cut funding without even investigating the claims, and base its action, according to sources who spoke to Middle East Eye, purely on "information in the public domain". Over 50 MPs and members of the House of Lords urged Cameron to restore funding, saying that it would send "a powerful message of solidarity to those affected by the crisis in Gaza and reaffirm the UK's leadership in global humanitarian efforts". All ignored. Under Cameron, Britain has now become fully aligned with the most right-wing government in Israel's history. Like Israel, Britain is intent on destroying Unrwa and with it the only international legal protection Palestinian refugees around the world have. Cameron apparently agrees with Stalin's proposition: "No man, no problem", only this time it is "no refugees, no problem". Like Israel, Britain only wants this war to end when Hamas is destroyed. As this war's aim is unachievable, Britain is in effect supporting the permanent reoccupation of Gaza. Like Netanyahu, Cameron ignored the death of the British-Israeli captive, Nadav Popplewell, who died of wounds sustained in Israeli bombing. Cameron has been silent, too, on the closure of Rafah. And when he finally spoke, he told the BBC over the weekend that the UK "does not support a major operation in Rafah without a plan". He is also silent on the movement of up to half a million refugees northwards from Rafah to an area which has no capacity to feed and water them. Britain rejects supporting any legal action in the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the International Court of Justice (ICJ), using the fig leaf that it would impede negotiations that Israel has already walked away from. For the second time in this war, Biden and Cameron are giving Netanyahu a clear green light to continue this war as he started it; a war clearly and indisputably targeting the people of Gaza as a whole. But this is not to say that the Rafah campaign has not had regional consequences. A Bridge Too Far In walking away from the ceasefire plan that Hamas signed, Biden is overlooking one uncomfortable fact. It was not a Hamas counter-proposal, as one US official put it, but an Egyptian-drafted document. Its rejection as a peace plan sparked fury and humiliation in equal quantities in Cairo. Israeli leaks to the media did not improve the dark mood in Cairo. On the night the Israeli army occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, Israeli media quoted an unnamed source saying that Israel had told Egypt that this was a limited incursion, and it would finish by the morning. The day dawned and a big Israeli flag erected on the Palestinian side of Rafah was still fluttering in Egyptian faces. Meanwhile, Israeli security sources kept feeding the Israeli media about Egypt's under-the-table cooperation - that Cairo would work with Israel to end the tunnels under the border; that Cairo had agreed to a plan to have a US private company administering Rafah. Overnight, Egypt's officially licensed media swapped sides. Major news anchors like Amr Adib praised what the Qassam Brigades had done. On Sunday, Adib proclaimed that Israel had lost Egypt, as the decision was announced of Egypt's intention to join South Africa in its case for genocide against Israel in the ICJ. Israel and the US should ask themselves why a key neighbour, who towed the line on Gaza for seven months, has cracked now. In retrospect, there probably was a tacit understanding between Israel and Egypt on the reoccupation of the Rafah crossing. As far back as January, Israel's Channel 13, citing unnamed officials, reported that Israel had informed Egypt of its intention to send troops into Rafah and the Philadelphi Corrido allegedly to rid the area of Palestinian resistance fighters. Channel 13 added that Cairo had expressed concern about the plan, warning that such action could lead to a mass Palestinian exodus to Sinai. However, the Israeli sources said this would be a "temporary step" and that "Israel will not remain there after the end of the operation, on which a final decision has not yet been taken". Israel has clearly broken its word to Cairo that the reoccupation would be temporary, and the plan has gone much further than Egypt can tolerate. Thus far, Israeli forces have reoccupied three kilometres of the 16 kilometres of no man's land called the Philadelphi Corridor. But what happens to Egypt if Israel occupies the whole frontier? A common interest in getting rid of Hamas in Gaza will have turned into a conflict of interest, which clearly harms the Egyptian state. If the whole corridor is reoccupied, Egypt would lose all control over access to Gaza, as well as a lucrative source of revenue. Having lost all its interests in its biggest neighbours Libya and Sudan, Cairo now stands to lose its last remaining card on the regional stage. No Egyptian state, under any leader, could tolerate that. It is after all the state, not President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi himself, that has closed the border to a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza into Sinai. In reality, the reoccupation of Rafah has become a bridge too far for Egypt. Not only them. The biggest supporters of normalisation with Israel, the United Arab Emirates, replied angrily to a suggestion by Netanyahu that the UAE could help run Gaza after Hamas. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan rebuked Netanyahu in a post on X, saying Abu Dhabi denounced the Israeli leader's comments. "The UAE stresses that the Israeli prime minister does not have any legal capacity to take this step, and the UAE refuses to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip," he said. From Balfour to Cameron Rafah has become a poisoned chalice for any Arab leader, irrespective of their hatred for the Muslim Brotherhood or Hamas. And so, barring another lurch of Biden's doomed foreign policy, this war is set to run right through his election campaign and into next year. Israel's colonial creators are continuing to form. From Lord Balfour, whose declaration in 1917 paved the way for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, to Lord Cameron, the policy has not changed. Balfour did not give Palestinians a name, nor did he talk about their political rights. He talked about indigenous communities as if they were a minority. In fact, Jews made up just 10 percent of the population of Palestine at the time. Cameron is doing nothing to create a Palestinian state. He gives it lip service only. In the meantime, in backing this war, he is doing his best to help Israel destroy a Palestinian state in Gaza. The Balfour Declaration was as controversial then as it is now. Edwin Montagu was only the third practising Jew to serve in the British Cabinet. In August 1917, he wrote a lengthy and eloquent denunciation of Zionism calling it a "mischievous political creed" and predicted with remarkable accuracy how a Zionist state would behave. "I assume that it means that Mahommedans [Muslims] and Christians are to make way for the Jews and that the Jews should be put in all positions of preference and should be peculiarly associated with Palestine in the same way that England is with the English or France with the French, that Turks and other Mahommedans in Palestine will be regarded as foreigners, just in the same way as Jews will hereafter be treated as foreigners in every country but Palestine. Perhaps also citizenship must be granted only as a result of a religious test." Zionism, he argued, was deeply antisemitic. Following in Balfour's footsteps, Cameron is dooming Britain to irrelevance in the Middle East. It is well nigh time for the entire political class to retire and for a new generation to throw this policy into the only place it deserves to reside: into the dustbin of history. Britain's support for Zionism has caused 75 years of conflict. It is time for this to stop. The excuses for its barbarism are running thin. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net Check out Andrew Wakefields new film Protocol-7 chronicling the TRUE STORY about historic lawsuit against Merck, creator of deadly MMR vaccine Andrew Wakefield is releasing a new film called "Protocol-7" that tells the true story of a small-town lawyer who filed an historic lawsuit against Merck & Co., maker of the deadly and ineffective MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. The corporate thriller shares the real-life story of Alexis "Lexi" Koprowski, a devoted mother and small-town family lawyer who took on one of the world's biggest and most corrupt pharmaceutical corporations. With the help of Steve Schilling, a renegade doctor who was exiled from the medical profession, Koprowski helped Dr. William Thompson, a virologist-turned-whistleblower at a prominent vaccine laboratory, to hold Merck accountable for producing fraudulent test results for its then-failing mumps vaccine. "He was an orphan of conflict in Africa," a person states at the start of the movie trailer below about a young child who was injured by the fraudulent shot. "He was smart and bright, and we got him home and he crashed right in front of us." Check out the official trailer for "Protocol-7" below: (Related: Did you catch our 2015 report from Wakefield tying vaccines to autism and inflammatory bowel disease?) Check out "Protocol-7" at a theater near you The film appears very well made based on the trailer, but keep in mind that it bears an R rating, meaning it is restricted for adults only due to sensitive content. Wakefield has been through the ringer himself for trying to tell the truth about what he observed in his vaccinated patients while working as one of the world's leading gastroenterologists, so this film is near and dear to his heart. 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. We know from what his new film covers that Merck was well aware of the fraud taking place behind closed doors at its company, but that the mumps vaccine it was trying to push was a farce. "Some people, some very important people, are saying our vaccine does not work," one of the characters representing a corporate Merck employee says in the trailer. "We have a U.S. monopoly, and a major share of the world market for MMR and we own the only one that works," the character continues. "Except that it does not," responds one of the characters going after Merck. The film is about scandal, corruption and cheating at the corporate level and about getting away with all that, at least for a time, due to power, money and influence. "'Protocol-7' takes us behind the corporate curtain, exposing a chain of command that devolves responsibility, prioritizes profits over people, and fosters an amoral mindset of 'just following orders,'" reads a summary of the film. On YouTube, a supporter of Wakefield commended him for putting his heart and soul into this film, which is coming soon. "Bravo to Andy for following his heart all these years, for doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, and for listening to that still small voice inside that brought him to yet another unexpected turn film making," this person wrote. "This man is one of my heroes and like all heroes, he's humble. Can't wait to see this." Another wrote that "Protocol-7" is not a movie: "It is reality." "I can't wait to see this!" celebrated someone else. "I already know the story from personal experience, unfortunately. But this is going to be an amazingly eye-opening film for so many." "God bless Dr. William Thompson for demonstrating integrity and bringing this to light in 2014," said another. "God knows and it will all come to light trust and pray." More related news about the dangers and ineffectiveness of vaccines can be found at ChemicalViolence.com. Sources for this article include: IMDB.com NaturalNews.com Chinese EV hatchback threatening to disrupt U.S. auto sales with very low price and claims of efficiency A Chinese electric hatchback car has ignited fears among American automakers and politicians as it makes itself more marketable to Americans while it carves a path through the global automotive industry. In 2023, Chinese electric car manufacturing giant BYD launched Seagull, a budget-friendly electric hatchback or city car billed as performing and having craftsmanship comparable to American-made electric vehicles that have triple the price. The Seagull is priced at a modest $12,000 in the Chinese market. This EV can travel 252 miles on a single charge and weighs about 2,734 pounds roughly 900 pounds lighter than the slightly larger Chevrolet Bolt EV. It has a shorter-range version sold for under $10,000. According to Terry Woychowski, the president of Caresoft Global, who conducted a meticulous disassembly of the Seagull, this EV is an "exercise in efficiency" given that its design and manufacturing are fundamentally different from traditional American methods. (Related: Low-cost China-made Volvo EV to be sold in the U.S. this summer, threatening Tesla and other EV makers.) "Things will have to change in some radical ways in order to be able to compete," he said. "You're going to have to come and be extremely serious about this, and you better park your paradigms at the door. Because youre going to have to do things differently." For now, tariffs prevent the Seagull from reaching American shores, but industry experts and politicians predict its inevitable entry into the U.S. market. "Any car company thats not paying attention to them as a competitor is going to be lost when they hit their market," said Sam Fiorani, the vice president at AutoForecast Solutions. "BYDs entry into the U.S. market isnt an if. It's a when." 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. Meanwhile, the Alliance for American Manufacturing stated in a report that government-subsidized Chinese EVs "could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector." In response to industry fears, the administration of President Joe Biden is expected to announce 100 percent tariffs on EVs imported from China due to its potential threat to U.S. jobs and national security. Cost-effective and efficient Chinese EV designs gain an edge in the American EV market According to several reports, Chinese automakers possess several advantages in the U.S. market, especially with the lower cost of their vehicles compared to American brands. For instance, BYD specializes in lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are cheaper and sufficient for shorter ranges than the more common lithium-ion batteries used in many American EVs. Additionally, BYD produces many of its own parts, including electric motors, dashboards, bodies and even headlights, while meticulously eliminating unnecessary components, such as using only one windshield wiper to save on weight, cost and labor. This minimalist design extends to the entire vehicle, from streamlined hoses to integrated electronic motors and dashboards. All this, without compromising the quality of the Seagull, which in turn, led to the selling of three million EVs worldwide in 2023. On the other hand, U.S. automakers often have to deal with higher engineering costs by adhering to traditional design requirements that are a lot of the time unnecessary for EVs. This difference in design and manufacturing practices results in the Seagull being significantly lighter and more efficient than comparable U.S. models, such as the Chevrolet Bolt. Besides, the U.S. is still developing cheaper battery production methods, with Ford building a factory using technology from Chinese battery maker CATL. In turn, Woychowski suggests that Detroit needs to quickly learn a lot of design and engineering while shedding practices from a century of building vehicles to determine which procedures to keep or not for safety and quality. Or if not, they could just let China dominate the American EV market even without selling a single car. Visit CommunistChina.news for stories related to China's moves to dominate the global economy. Watch the video below that talks about the dangers of America's supply chain dependence on CCP. This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: China continues to rely on coal while pushing expensive renewable energy and EVs on America. TikTok ban, Tesla's Chinese partnerships mark new phase in brewing U.S.-China data security war. Report suggests legacy automakers and EV manufacturers are "at risk of ties" to Uyghur FORCED LABOR in China. Experts: Biden's push for China-made EVs poses NATIONAL SECURITY risk. Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD OVERTAKES Tesla as world's top seller of EVs. Sources include: Detroitnews.com BusinessInsider.com Brighteon.com Who were the men in black? In the fallout since the University of Virginias controversial decision to have Virginia State Police break up a small encampment of anti-war protesters on May 4, UVa officials have cited a number of justifications. Among them is a claim that four mysterious men in black, wearing helmets and backpacks, joined the encampment the night before. At least two of these [men] were known to law enforcement personnel as participating in violent acts elsewhere in the commonwealth, UVa President Jim Ryan said in a virtual town hall days after the incident. This became a safety and security issue, especially when the four men came in on Friday night. Since then, the university has offered almost no further details on the mysterious quartet, so far declining to share their identities or name the violent acts in which they had allegedly participated. Twenty-seven people were arrested at the scene of the protest on May 4. None of them appear to fit the limited descriptions of the four men dressed in black provided by UVa. At this time, we are unable to provide additional information about law enforcement intelligence or the methods used to collect it, UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress when asked for more details. Since May 4, weve done our best to provide as much information as we can, and we will continue to do that going forward. Almost everything UVa has said about the four men was said during the May 7 town hall. It was there that UVa Police Chief Tim Longo said the presence of the four men on the night of May 3 is what he found most troubling. According to his intelligence sources on the ground, the four men were known to law enforcement and had been engaged in organized work in the past around historical events that have occurred here that resulted in violence. At a Faculty Senate meeting on May 10, Longo again alluded to the four men. People showed up that I know dont belong here. Theyre not students here. Theyre not members of this faculty. And my law enforcement resources on the ground said these are people that make the temperature go up, he said. Longos description eliminates the possibility that the foursome included students or faculty. In UVas breakdown of the arrest numbers, it said there were only eight arrestees who were not affiliated with the school. While the university has not provided the names of those individuals, an examination of court records indicates nine people may have been labeled unaffiliated. Of those nine, five are men. Morgan Ashcom is one of them. The co-founder of Visible Records, a local art gallery and studio, was not part of the encampment. He has no criminal record and said he stopped by the encampment multiple times to bring protesters groceries and art supplies. Ashcom brought his 14-month-old child to the encampment on the night of May 3, along with many other parents who brought their young children to the site for a vigil organized by the protesters memorializing the thousands of women and children who have died in the Palestinian territory of Gaza since Israel declared war on Palestinian terror group Hamas on Oct. 7. He, like every other witness The Daily Progress has spoken to, has no idea who the four men could be. Ashcom is suspicious about the vague innuendo UVa has used regarding the individuals. Its, to me, designed to activate everyones imagination to create a falsehood. I havent spoken to anybody who saw people like that at the encampment, Ashcom told The Daily Progress. He also pointed out that multiple UVa professors were serving as liaisons between the protesters and administrators since the protest began on April 30, the last day of spring semester classes. The liaisons were in regular contact with Longo, including the night of May 3. If there was something the encampment was doing that Longo didnt like, he immediately let faculty liaisons know about it, Ashcom said. So the idea that this scary group of people came into the encampment Friday night and Longo didnt say anything to liaisons strikes me as improbable, especially as much as he was communicating with them about other issues. UVa professors Levi Vonk and Walt Heinecke both served as liaisons and were at the encampment the night of May 3. Neither recall Longo or administrators raising concerns about four potentially dangerous men joining the protest that night or the following morning. Faculty has asked for more information about the mystery men but have yet to receive any. What is curious to me is no details are provided, so we dont know if its exaggerated or if there was a necessity for any serious concern about these people, Heinecke told The Daily Progress. He thinks that the vague language used to describe the men creates a phantom threat. To me, it sounds like something Longo or administration or someone has created after the fact, Vonk told The Daily Progress. Part of me really thinks they didnt exist. Among the other arrested individuals who UVa may have considered unaffiliated: a Charlottesville High School teacher, a local freelance photographer, a local freelance journalist and a farmer with a beekeeping business. None have a criminal record. Only two of the 27 people arrested do have criminal records. Both appear to be unaffiliated with UVa, but only one of them is a man. That individual was charged with assaulting a family member in 2018. He pleaded not guilty, the charge was dismissed and he was put on probation for a year. The charge does not match Longos description of organized work in the past around historical events. Many who have lived in Charlottesville for years have speculated that those historical events were Aug. 11 and 12 of 2017, when hundreds of White supremacists descended on the city protesting the removal of its Confederate memorials. On Aug. 11, many of those self-avowed racists carried torches across UVa Grounds before attacking peaceful counterprotesters, many of them students, at the base of a statue of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. The next day, the planned Unite the Right rally devolved into a chaotic riot, during which one of the White supremacists drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring several others. Heinecke wants to know if thats the incident UVa is referring to. Because if thats the case, those details should come out. Whats the historical event theyre talking about, and what did they actually get arrested for? he said. People did get arrested in 2017 for fighting neo-Nazis, and I want to know if thats who theyre referring to. Sara Tansey is the lone arrestee to have a criminal record connected to the events of 2017. In February of 2017, five days after Charlottesville City Council voted 3-2 to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Market Street Park, then Lee Park, Corey Stewart, a former Republican candidate for governor, organized a rally there. White nationalist Jason Kessler, who would later go on to be the lead organizer of Unite the Right, was in attendance. Tansey took Kesslers phone from him while he was using it to livestream the campaign rally. It resulted in Tansey being charged and convicted of destruction of property. She received a $50 fine, which was suspended, and had to pay court fees. At the May 4 protest, Tansey was arrested and charged with trespassing. She and four other arrestees will appear in court on July 16, where they will have to decide whether to accept a plea deal or go to trial. The majority of those arrested have already agreed to a deferred dismissal after being charged with trespassing, which means they will have to be on good behavior for 90 days and then pay a court fee for their charges to be dropped. The remaining individuals had their cases outright dismissed on Wednesday. It remains unclear who first alerted Longo to the four men in black or how they were determined to be security threats. At the virtual town hall, Longo said UVa received intelligence from law enforcement entities across the commonwealth. Charlottesville Police Department Chief Michael Kochis told The Daily Progress that while his officers were at the protest on May 4, they were only tasked with keeping a perimeter around the encampment. They were not the assets on the ground that Longo has referenced. Neither were officers from the Albemarle County Police Department. ACPD was not actively engaged in joint operations with UVA or UPD on Friday, May 3, and we did not identify any individuals, Albemarle County police spokeswoman Logan Bogert told The Daily Progress. Virginia State Police will not say if they were involved in identifying the mystery men. For operational and investigative purposes, sensitive intelligence information shared among law enforcement agencies is not for public release, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller told The Daily Progress. The university has referred to the men as outside agitators that posed a safety threat. There are people who are disruptive who will come to events like this for the sole purpose of creating a disruption that oftentimes results in violence. So that was our fear, Longo said. That fear was a key element of UVas decision to enlist state police, who used pepper spray and riot shields to push students, faculty and members of the public off Grounds on May 4. But if the four men were at the encampment the night of May 3, it appears they either left by the time police arrived or evaded arrest. We could say they avoided arrest, but if these are scary outside agitators who police are concerned about because theyre there to cause mayhem and violence, why arent they in the encampment? asked Vonk. To me it seems like a fiction of Tim Longos imagination, or he made it up. Heinecke said there has been a lot of ambiguity in the details offered by UVa, particularly with what he called the external agitator trope. I dont think people who are listening to these presentations know if this is a basis for actual fear, and they may be wondering if this is exaggerated in order to justify actions that were taken by Virginia State Police and by the president, Heinecke said. Draft official tells Spanish newspaper El Pais: Ukrainians are rejecting the army Ukrainian troops assigned to search for draft dodgers have complained of "large-scale" public resistance, based on a report from the Spanish newspaper El Pais. In early May, a reporter from the news outlet was embedded with a military patrol tracking down draft dodgers in Sumy Region in northern Ukraine. The report was issued recently on the condition that no photo evidence of conflicts between the troops and civilians would be included. "We have a large-scale social rejection of the army," the PR officer who organized the opportunity and set the restriction said. The newspaper did not mention whether it saw any arguments. The military group was mostly manned by veteran soldiers who had suffered mental and physical injuries in combat and were considered unfit for frontline duty. A ranking officer named Igor showed resentment for people who obtained exemptions from recruitment. "We have met men over 40 who are studying at university. When the war ends, we will be the most educated country in the world," Igor mockingly said alluding to one of the legal ways to evade the draft. The patrol searched a small town since rural areas have greater mobilization possibility because "people in the city are more educated and have more ways to get away," Igor stated. The settlement, Stepanovka, has a population of about 5,000. Its administration told El Pais that 25 percent of fighting-age men there have already been enlisted. Resistance grew last year after Kyiv's costly "counteroffensive" against Russian positions in the east. 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. A 29-year-old taxi driver in Sumy named Oleksi, who has an exemption, said he would probably volunteer if his city was under direct threat. "Among my friends who are fighting, the only ones who have returned have done so crippled or in a coffin," Oleksi said. Last month, Kyiv approved a mobilization reform intended to substantially increase recruitment which will enter into force later in May. At that point, the complete approach will change, as stated by Defense Ministry spokesman Dmitry Lazutkin. "This situation where some people are fighting at the front lines while others are living their quiet lives, is obviously coming to an end. The whole country and the whole of society need to mobilize," Lazutkin said in an interview with Espresso TV on May 11. As reported by the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military has suffered over 111,000 casualties this year alone. Kyiv urgently needs more troops. Tens of thousands of casualties and a tired army after over two years of war against Russia have destroyed the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A new mobilization law, passed in April after months of delays because of its unpopularity, will come into effect on May 18. Under the new mobilization law, disregarding these summonses will mean higher fines, with the risk of having your accounts frozen in addition to losing your driver's license. (Related: Kyiv to penalize, block bank accounts of draft dodgers amid serious shortage of soldiers.) New mobilization law aims to recruit 400,000 new soldiers between the ages of 25 and 60 The goal is to recruit some 400,000 new soldiers between the ages of 25 and 60. On the streets, military personnel searching for men willing to go to the front lines are experiencing first-hand the hesitation of citizens to be mobilized. Surveys suggest that only about 30 percent of the population is willing to join in the defense of the country. Meanwhile, Ukraine's parliament has passed draft law No. 11079-1 on the voluntary mobilization of convicts to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The bill was approved in its second reading on May 8, with President Volodymyr Zelensky's signature required for it to be enforced. Olena Shulyak, people's deputy and head of the pro-presidential "Servant of the People" party said the unification of all forces is necessary to survive in the face of "a total war against a more resourceful enemy." Shulyak added that "this draft law is about our struggle and preservation of Ukrainian statehood." Those with longer sentences, particularly life sentences, will be instantly refused without the chance of review. The draft law specifically forbids the mobilization of people convicted of the most serious crimes that threaten the national security of Ukraine like pre-meditated murder of two or more people; rape, sexual violence, molestation of minors; causing death while driving under the influence; illegal drug-related activities; and corruption offenses. Shulyak stated that the approved draft law permits parole to be reviewed for military service for those convicted of involuntary manslaughter. In all cases, no more than three years should remain before the end of their sentence. The bill permits prisoners to be released on parole for military service under contract. They can join the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces at their request but only after court approval. The prisoners will be able to submit a statement at their penitentiary institution, go through a medical examination in prison, and then advance to the Territorial Recruitment Center. Only those prisoners who have an adequate level of physical training and are mentally healthy will be mobilized. Follow UkraineWitness.com for more news about the military draft in Ukraine. Watch the video below about Ukrainian border guards moving the bodies of drowned draft dodgers. This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ukrainian general: NOBODY can sit out the draft, and ALL MUST FIGHT. Hungary offers sanctuary for Ukrainians dodging Kyivs draconian military draft. Ukrainian men paying DISABLED WOMEN for marriage to escape the draft. Sources include: RT.com El Pais.com Kyiv Post.com Brighteon.com Google and Amazon cloud services linked to Israeli weapons firms supporting bloodshed in Gaza Two top Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturers are contractually required to use Google and Amazons cloud services, documents show, even as both tech companies have gone out of their way to downplay any connections to the genocide in Gaza. The firms in question are responsible for manufacturing many of the weapons that Israel has been using to attack Gaza, including missiles and drones, and The Intercept reports that a 63-page government procurement document explains how they acquire software services from the joint contract, known as Project Nimbus. Many experts want to see these tech firms held accountable for the support they are providing to Israel. Amnesty International tech researcher Matt Mahmoudi said: If tech companies, including Google and Amazon, are engaged in business activities that could impact Palestinians in Gaza, or indeed Palestinians living under apartheid in general, they must abide by their responsibility to carry out heightened human rights due diligence along the entirety of the lifecycle of their products. He called on them to provide plans for preventing, mitigating and addressing the human rights violations that stem from their connections to the weapons manufacturers. Google employees protested against Nimbus Under Project Nimbus, Google and Amazon team up to provide the Israeli government with a range of cloud services. While some pertain to basic and relatively innocuous activities such as Google Meet video chats, others involve the use of more elaborate machine learning tools. Both companies have been dealing with backlash over the relationship, including protests and major employee uprisings. 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. Although workers from both companies have launched public protests against the Nimbus contract, those at Google have made headlines with their revolts. They carried out a series of sit-ins at Google's headquarters in New York and California, and the company subsequently fired 50 employees who participated in the protests. One employee who was fired said that she believed employees have a right to know what their labor is contributing to as many chose to work at Google in the first place because they did not want to work for unethical companies. The tender document outlines the rules and regulations governing the relationship and how the state of Israel will buy cloud computing services from Google and Amazon. It was originally published in 2021, when the two companies won the $1.2 billion contract, and has been subject to a series of updates since then. An appendix in the document lists Israeli government offices and companies that are required to purchase services from Google and Amazon if they need them rather than turning to other providers. Among those state entities that are required to purchase cloud services from the two tech giants are the Israel Airports Authority, the Bank of Israel and more controversially, the Settlement Division, which has had a hand in expanding Israeli colonies in the West Bank. The list also includes two major state-owned arms manufacturers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace industries. Both companies have supplied aircraft and weapons that have been used by the Israeli military in its bloody war in Gaza. This means that Project Nimbus is far more involved and potentially culpable in the genocide taking place in Gaza than previously believed. It is not the first time that the tech companies have been pressed on their role in human rights violations. Following a report last month that the Israeli military had been using facial recognition from Google Photos to map and develop a hit list of Palestinians in Gaza, the company declined to state whether it permitted them to use their software in this manner. Sources for this article include: TheIntercept.com Axios.com House GOP members pull out all the stops to protect Israel but do very little to denounce lawfare tactics targeting Trump U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are reportedly gearing up for a bill that would bestow sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), should it proceed to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials due to crimes they are committing in Gaza. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) acknowledged on Tuesday that legislation imposing sanctions is in the drafting stage. According to him, the move is merely precautionary at the moment. "We want to emphasize to him that going down this road of arrest warrants is a really bad idea and it's going to blow up the relationship," McCaul said. "We're not sure if the arrest warrants are imminent, but it's sort of a precaution to let them know that, if they do, we have this legislation ready to go. It won't be put on the floor unless we have to." He also said that lawmakers continue to communicate with ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, stressing the repercussions should the ICC proceed with warrants. McCaul said the House sanctions legislation would be an extension of a Senate bill introduced last year that targets ICC officials involved in investigating U.S. allies who are not members of the international court, including Israel. McCaul said the bill would be a House companion to Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-AK.) legislation, introduced last February, to sanction ICC officials involved in probes of U.S. allies who are not ICC members, such as Israel, Axios reported. Cotton, along with a dozen of his Senate Republican colleagues, issued a letter to Khan on Monday warning him against prosecuting Israeli officials. According to him, Khan, his staff and his family could all be the targets of sanctions and barred from entering the United States. Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions. The news outlet further reported that a bipartisan group of senators held a virtual meeting with ICC officials last week to express concerns about the possible arrest warrants. (Related: Like THUGS, members of U.S. Congress make threats against ICC if arrest warrants are issued against Netanyahu for Israeli war crimes.) On the other side, Khan said in a statement last Friday that his office seeks to engage constructively with all stakeholders whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate so that it acts independently and impartially. "That independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or Court personnel," he said. "The Office insists that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials cease immediately." Statement of the #ICC Office of the Prosecutor pic.twitter.com/Cw331pMcDm Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 3, 2024 Meanwhile, conservatives are pointing out how the United States lawmakers, especially from the right wing, are focusing on fiercer legislation to protect genocidal Israel compared to their efforts to stop the lawfare against former President Donald Trump. Palestinian American representative urges ICC to arrest Netanyahu, officials Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian American in Congress, called on the ICC to proceed with the issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials after Israels military seized control of the Rafah crossing, the entry point for aid and major lifeline thoroughfare between Gaza and Egypt, a few days ago. "I urge the ICC to swiftly issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide, as is obviously warranted by these well-documented violations of the Genocide Convention under international law," Tlaib said in a statement. She also called for a cease-fire and to halt all military funding to Israel. "It is now more apparent than ever that we must end all U.S. military funding for the Israeli apartheid regime, and demand that President Biden facilitate an immediate, permanent ceasefire that includes a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians," she added. Meanwhile, there were reports that the idea of being issued with an arrest warrant made Netanyahu stressed out and "scared." He even asked U.S. President Joe Biden for assistance during a phone call back in April. The officials said Netanyahu expressed his concern to Biden. During the call, the two leaders also discussed hostage negotiations, Israel's defense against Iran's missile attack and the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the White House. "Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense," Netanyahu said back then. "While the ICC will not affect Israel's actions, it would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression." Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense. The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle Easts only democracy and the worlds only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it. Israel Benjamin Netanyahu - ?????? ?????? (@netanyahu) April 26, 2024 Read more situational updates about Israel and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East at IsraelCollapse.com. Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com Axios.com TheHill.com The Sheriff Mack Show: Leigh Dundas shares how to overcome the COMMUNIST TAKEOVER targeting America Brighteon.TV Human rights lawyer Leigh Dundas has warned that the communist takeover of America has started , and Americans must fight and win against it to save the country. She issued this warning to Sheriff Richard Mack and Sam Bushman during the May 14 episode of "The Sheriff Mack Show" on Brighteon.TV. Dundas said it is high time to fight tyranny and win even in a blue state in the midst of a communist overthrow of American schools, politics or the entire country. "There are winning strategies for how to do this," said the renowned human rights attorney. "It starts with the mindset, it starts with the spiritual component and it ends with having the right tools. You got to have the right tools for the problem." Bushman mentioned that universities across America have been turned into protest centers with their recent demonstrations against Israel. American campuses are literally on fire with these meltdowns because of communist money and decades-long propaganda education that have made them uncontrollable. Meanwhile, Mack said organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights and the Anti-Defamation League have been silent about how American college campuses have become educational centers for racism especially anti-Jew and anti-Israel racism. Dundas commented these groups are not doing what their mission says and the past few weeks have confirmed it. She mentioned that people involved in the campus protests have zero connection to the campuses and they are using the campuses as staging grounds. (Related: America Unhinged: COMMUNISTS have infiltrated and taken over American education Brighteon.TV.) 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. Mack: Communist groups seek to promote communist takeover of America The Brighteon.TV host and former sheriff of Arizona's Graham County pointed out that these groups don't care about racism at all because their goal is to promote the communist takeover of America. For them, racism is a tool to achieve their goal and an excuse to go after people from the right that are standing for liberty and civil rights. "We're simply trying to promote that and say, leave people alone, get government out of our lives and off our backs and let us make our own choices," Mack said. "And these people will have none of that, because their ultimate goal is the destruction of America and turning America into a communist state." Bushman also mentioned that a lot of people have now realized that communists have taken over American universities, and are indoctrinating students instead of educating them. Dundas agreed, even noting that Christian universities are falling into the woke agenda. She cited the infiltration of the woke Christian Accreditation Council in California as one example of this. Dundas said the people need to be taught how to fight and win against communism. According to the human rights lawyer, Americans are already at war a fifth-generation war for the hearts and minds of the average citizen. Bushman then remarked that Americans need to be taught the truth about the nation's founding. He also stressed that people need to learn about the psy-ops that have been happening in America for decades and how they can spot, combat and confront these psy-ops in meaningful and productive ways. Follow Communism.news for more news related to communism. Watch the full May 14 episode of "The Sheriff Mack Show" below. "The Sheriff Mack Show" airs every Tuesday at 10 a.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: Human rights lawyer Leigh Dundas tells Doug Billings: Totalitarian takeovers have similar telltale signs Brighteon.TV. Top 10 indoctrinations of Communism taking place in America right now. The COMMUNIST INFILTRATION of Americas educational curriculum and children's minds. Sources include: Brighteon.com LeighDundas.com Report finds more than half of immigrants who have entered the U.S. since 2022 are JOBLESS A recent Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report reveals that only 46 percent of immigrants who arrived in the United States in the past two years have secured employment According to the think tank's report, the foreign-born population of the U.S. as of March has soared to around 52 million, constituting 15.6 percent of the total population. This surge includes both legal and illegal immigrants, with America's foreign-born population increasing by 5.1 million in just two years and 6.6 million since the beginning of President Joe Biden's administration the largest such spike in American history. CIS estimates that the current illegal immigrant population exceeds 14 million. But despite the dramatic increase in the U.S. immigrant population, the report still shows that approximately 8.5 percent of newcomers are unemployed. This figure is higher than that of U.S.-born citizens and immigrants overall. (Related: Chicago holds JOB FAIR for MIGRANTS amid rising number of unemployed Black residents in the city.) Study authors Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler did acknowledge that it would have been surprising if most new immigrants found jobs right away given how "adapting to life in a new country is never easy." They further acknowledged that many new immigrants are not in a position to work, either due to age, disability, caregiving responsibilities or other valid reasons. "Many new immigrants are children, elderly, disabled, caregivers or others with no ability or interest in working. Immigration clearly adds workers to the country, but it just as clearly adds non-workers who need to be supported by the labor of others," the authors wrote. "This was the case in the past, it is true today, and it will surely be the case for immigrants who arrive in the future. Those who simply see immigration as a source of labor need to understand it is also a source of school children, retirees and many other non-workers." 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. Marlow: Biden favors open borders to keep wages down and democrats in power The result raises fundamental questions about Biden's migration policies and the capacity of America to integrate and assimilate this growing population. "The current scale of immigration (legal and illegal) into the United States is without any precedent in the nations history," the authors wrote. "If the trends since President Biden took office continue, the foreign-born population would reach 62.5 million in 2030 and 82.2 million by 2040 larger than the current combined populations of 30 states plus the District of Columbia." However, in an Oct. 17 interview with YouTuber Stephen Gardner, Breitbart Editor-In-Chief Alex Marlow explained how the Biden administration has been using the immigrants to keep wages down and Democrats in power. First, open borders benefit Big Business, now largely aligned with the Democratic Party and some Republicans, by increasing the consumer base and lowering wages for working-class people. "The more immigration we have, the less they have to pay their workers. That makes their stock go up, [and] their expenses go down. Big Business loves an open border, [and] Big Business loves Biden." Second, it helps the Democratic Party gain a new voter base to replace older voters who tend to vote Republican. Therefore, Democrats prioritize open borders despite any resulting humanitarian issues or wage declines. "Republican millennials have some children, [while] Democrat millennials don't want to have kids as much," he told Gardner. "They're not interested in replacing their voters with new people that they can raise up. They have to figure out a way to get their voters, so they import them. Even though the illegal aliens aren't supposed to vote, they now vote in local elections. Their kids will vote, and they will vote typically for Democrats for a number of reasons [such as] the handouts [given by] the Big Government nanny state." Head over to Migrants.news for more stories about the migrant crisis in the United States. Watch former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas Homan as he explains why the Biden administration doesn't care about American employment with its open borders policy. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: REPLACEMENTS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to issue work permits for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Breitbart's Alex Marlow: Biden favoring OPEN BORDERS to keep wages down and Democrats in power. PLANNED DESTRUCTION: Coronavirus lockdowns eliminated African American employment gains from the past decade. THE REPLACEMENTS: Biden regime to offer nearly half a million jobs to Venezuelan migrants flooding through America's southern border. GOVERNMENT WASTE: Workers at illegal migrant shelters in Chicago are earning up to $200 AN HOUR. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com MSN.com Breitbart.com Brighteon.com Musk: Trump will continue to RISE in polls as Biden accelerates political persecution X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has predicted that former President Donald Trump will continue to rise in opinion polls as long as his rival, incumbent President Joe Biden, continues persecuting him politically. As per the Post Millennial, Trump faces four criminal prosecutions two under the Biden administration's Department of Justice, one served by Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg in New York and another by Fulton County DA Fani Willis in Georgia. The former president himself has denounced these unfair prosecutions as "witch hunts," while many have called the cases against the real estate mogul as "political prosecution." "The more unfair the attacks on Trump seem to the public, the higher he will rise in the polls," Musk wrote. His post was a reply to Mike Benz, executive director for the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO). According to Benz, two personalities in Trump's hush money trial which stemmed from payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels were problematic. The FFO executive director pointed out that New York State Supreme Court Acting Justice Juan Merchan, who oversees the hush money trial, is "financially conflicted." He also blasted former Trump attorney-turned-prosecution star witness Michael Cohen, calling him "a multi-crime convicted felon who, [in] most states, wouldn't even be allowed to vote." In turn, Benz's post was a reply to an earlier post by venture capitalist Blake Masters, who is running as a candidate to represent Arizona in the U.S. Congress. He also pointed to the absurdity of the ongoing hush money trial against Trump. "It's hard to put into words the staggering corruption of Bragg's kangaroo court in New York City," Masters wrote. 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. According to Masters, Bragg "lowers half of all felonies to misdemeanors yet raised a misdemeanor to a felony in order to indict Trump." Two of the lead prosecutors also had clear conflicts of interest. One lead prosecutor previously served as a consultant for the Democratic National Committee, and was the No. 3 official at the Biden administration's Department of Justice before Bragg hired him to go after Trump. The other lead prosecutor donated over $1,000 to the Biden campaign and the Democratic political action committee ActBlue in 2020. Judge Merchan has a clear conflict of interest via his daughter According to the Post Millennial, Bragg has elevated 34 charges of falsification of business records considered misdemeanors to Class E felonies. However, he has not said what felony he believes those misdemeanors were in service to. Ironically, Bragg a Democrat has had a history of refusing to prosecute violent criminals in the Big Apple. Benz pointed out that Cohen is a convicted felon who has lied to Congress and [has] been found guilty of tax evasion. Masters also attested to this, calling the former Trump attorney "a convicted perjurer who is selling T-shirts of Trump in jail on TikTok." Both Masters and Benz were equally critical of the judge and Biden donor, as his daughter Loren Merchan is a Democratic operative who has used the hush money trial to raise funds for the party. The younger Merchan, a left-wing activist, works in marketing for Democratic causes and on behalf of Democratic candidates through the Chicago-based Authentic Campaigns. (Related: Company run by Judge Merchans daughter works for group pushing Trump ballot exclusion efforts.) "This whole thing is a joke, and [it] wouldn't be happening if [former] President Trump wasn't leading in every swing state poll," Masters ultimately concluded. In contrast, Musk favors neither candidate. "I would not vote for Biden," the South African-born tech mogul said in an interview. He has also declined to donate funds to either presidential candidate. Visit Trump.news for more similar stories. Watch former President Donald Trump speaking to reporters after Michael Cohen's testimony. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Trump will be found guilty in NYC and Bragg will try to imprison him. Evidence mounts that DA Bragg's indictment of Trump is pure political persecution. ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Daughter of judge in Trump case boasts Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff as corporate clients. RIGGED: Daughter of judge overseeing Trump's Manhattan DA case is Democrat activist who worked to elect Biden. Check out the worst NYC criminals who were repeatedly released by Manhattan DA Bragg while he focused on indicting Trump. Sources include: ThePostMillennial.com Brighteon.com The Nakba on screen: Five must watch films about the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 Palestinians are marking 75 years since the Nakba (also known as the Catastrophe), the name given to the expulsion of more than 750,000 people from their homes and land in the lead up to the establishment of Israel (Article by Sarah Agha republished from MiddleEastEye.net) Many of those Palestinians now live in camps in the occupied West Bank, or in exile in surrounding Arab countries or in a blockaded Gaza. To understand the current situation, we need to acknowledge the Nakba of 1948. In a previous article for Middle East Eye, I wrote about my journey co-presenting the BBC documentary, The Holy Land and Us, on this turbulent period in Palestinian history. From a young age, I had been told that my grandparents had fled their village in fear in 1948. Not only are most of the family today barred entry from the village, but it has been wiped from the map and renamed, as though it never existed. This has been part of Israels campaign, a tool it has used for 75 years, the complete and utter denial of Palestinian existence. But the documentary revealed hard, tangible evidence to prove my great, great, great grandfather was a Bedouin sheikh in Palestine and that by the 1930s, we owned thousands of square metres of land in the village my family were eventually displaced from, never to return. It also exposed what happened to Shereen Malherbes family who were villagers in the Deir Yassin massacre, and explored how Joanna Carolans family lost their orange groves and a thriving business during the violent chaos of the Nakba. I believe in the power of art, culture and visual media to educate and inspire. In my last article, I expressed that, while I believe The Holy Land and Us is an important watch using family stories to explore the sense of loss and injustice suffered, its two episodes cannot tackle everything. Factual films are valuable in terms of laying out history, archives and evidence, while scripted films can paint a picture through characters and stories. So here are five other important productions which represent the Nakba on screen. Al Nakba by Rawan Damen (documentary series, 2008) In 2008, Al Jazeera made a four-part documentary on the Nakba. Fifteen years on I still consider it to be crucial watching for anyone keen to grasp what happened and how. For Palestinians, 1948 was the year that dramatically affected everything. Lives were shattered in such a violent way and yet there has been little recognition of the injustice that occurred. Many of us cite this year as the starting point. But this Al Jazeera documentary begins the narrative almost 150 years earlier, with Napoleon Bonapartes siege on the city of Acre (known as Akka to Palestinians) to establish a French presence in Palestine. In search of allies, Napoleon issued a letter offering Palestine as a homeland to the Jews. The plan was revived by the British and also by French aristocrat Baron Edmund De Rothschild who spent 14 million French francs to establish 30 Jewish settlements in Palestine in the 1880s. The documentary dwells on how his later involvement led to 60,000 Palestinians being forced to leave their home in the Marj Ibn Amer area in 1910. One of the historians featured in the documentary states: If the Nakba signifies the expulsion of the Palestinian citizen from his land and the seizure of his land, then the Nakba started decades before 1948." The colonisation of Palestine started earlier than we think, and to explore the detail and extent of this is key in terms of understanding the greater picture. The documentary starts in 1799, amid the French revolution, and continues all the way through to the great exodus of 1948. It succeeds in mapping out the history and facts in a clear, comprehensive way. It is thoroughly researched, sensitively packaged and deeply engaging and, being spread out over four episodes, affords the story the space and time it deserves. You can watch all episodes for free on Al Jazeera English. The Time That Remains by Elia Suleiman (scripted feature, 2009) Like all of Suleimans films, The Time That Remains is a semi-autobiographical collection of stylised scenes - theres tragedy, heartache but also moments of comedy. Despite the depiction of blindfolded Palestinian men awaiting their execution in olive groves or the exploration of generational trauma, the film has an absurd and disarming playful style. It does not aim to be a historical dramatisation, but provides an inventive, artistic portrayal of what happened in Nazareth starting in 1948 then jumping forward to the present day. Suleimans style is often absurdist, but some of the storys most bizarre moments are rooted in events that actually took place. For example, the Zionist forces donning keffiyeh in order to fool Palestinian villagers as they advanced, or enjoying a cigarette with Arabic music while clearing out the former homes of Palestinian residents. I personally find any visual representations of the Nakba deeply upsetting. Certain images or scenes will haunt my mood for weeks. So I feel Elias style of filmmaking is a clever, thoughtful way to encourage an audience to watch and reflect on the injustices that took place. It is also beautifully shot with impeccable production design and a standout performance from the reliably brilliant actor Saleh Bakri. I often thought this film should be called The People Who Remain, rather than The Time That Remains, as it explores the lives of some of the communities who were able to remain after the Nakba and how this catastrophic event still affects them today. But apparently the title is a comment on the reality that Suleiman has never experienced Palestinian independence in his lifetime - and wonders whether he ever will. The Time That Remains is available on online platforms including Google Play, Amazon Prime and Apple TV, among others 1948 by Mohammad Bakri (documentary feature, 1998) We have already mentioned Saleh Bakri. Now we move on to his father, Mohammad Bakri. As well as having a long and successful career as an actor, the elder Bakri has also directed and produced a number of documentaries about the history of Palestine. 1948 is a 54-minute film featuring testimonials from eyewitnesses of the Nakba. It includes villagers who escaped the massacres of Deir Yassin (near Jerusalem) and Al Dawayima (near Hebron) and former inhabitants from destroyed towns in Tiberius. In their own words, Palestinians describe the moments when they became refugees never to return. As well as providing a platform for these survivors to immortalise their story, Bakri beautifully narrates verses by national poet Mahmoud Darwish. The interviews are also intercut with footage of Bakri performing scenes from his one-man play The Pessoptimist, which was adapted from the satirical fiction novel by Emile Habibi. Palestine has a long history of civil society, but also literature, poetry and art. The interweaving of Darwish and Habibis work between the testimonials reflects the many ways in which Palestinians creatively express themselves. Despite hardships and obstacles, Palestinians prove their existence through cultural resistance, humanising their struggle with art. After 1948, Bakri went on to make Zahara (2009), which follows the life and memories of a 78-year-old woman born in Galilee before the Nakba and Jenin, Jenin (2002) about the siege of the occupied city in the West Bank during the Second Intifada. 1948 was Bakris directorial debut and was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Nakba. Now, another 25 years on, you might ask, "What has changed? How many more anniversaries must be realised before Palestinians are granted their freedom and dignity?" All Bakris documentaries can be found online Tantura by Alon Schwarz (documentary feature, 2022) In a recent video interview for Middle East Eye, Israeli director Alon Schwarz stated, Most Israelis believe the naive story that Palestinians ran away in 1948. "They dont know that the Israeli army went into village after village and drove the people out, sometimes committing war crimes like the massacre at Tantura. His film features interviews with former Israeli soldiers, mostly all in their 90s now, as they recount what happened at Tantura and the role that they had played in the killings. It also features tapes from research conducted by Teddy Katz and explores the way in which his investigation into the massacre was shut down. Many of the accounts are horrifying. What happened at Tantura was not an isolated event. It was one of the many villages which were targeted in 1948, but information about this has never been widespread, even though Palestinians have been saying it for decades. It is interesting to note that in 2020 Palestinian-American filmmaker Hala Gabriel Yahya made a similar documentary featuring testimonies called One Night In Tantura. Her own parents fled Tantura in 1948 and yet her film is certainly the lesser known project on the topic. It did not have the same outreach, response or distribution that Schwarzs production had. There is a whole conversation to be had about how or who should tell these stories, but this does not take away from how important Tantura is in terms of exposing the sheer violence and brutality of what occurred. The film is a triggering watch, but the testimonies speak for themselves and is a powerful contribution to modern Nakba representation. The former site of Tantura now lies under a car park of a beach resort in Israel. As Yahya says, this is the history which has long been denied and almost forgotten. While Schwarz asserts: "My message to Israelis is that they need to recognise what actually happened.'' Tantura can be watched online and is being screened by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians at BAFTA on 22 May Farha by Darin J Sallam (scripted feature, 2021) Of course this list would not be complete without Farha. The film on everyones lips including the Israeli government who rallied for its ban in 2021. The move unmistakably drew even more attention to the film made by the talented Jordanian-Palestinian filmmaker Darin J Sallam. Such bullying or intimidation might have been effective in the past, convincing organisations to withdraw support. But Netflix defending its decision to host the film on its platform reveals the distinct shift that has occurred in the discourse. The fact that this critically acclaimed film about the Nakba is now on such a popular mainstream platform is a real breakthrough. Sallam says that Farha is based on a true story, which she had heard as a child, about what happened to a young girl in a Palestinian village in 1948. When we meet her, she is voraciously reading a novel in what appears to be a luscious, green, peaceful country and is keen to convince her father to allow her to pursue an education in the city. We see Farha as a spirited girl with ambition and ability discussing future plans with her best friend who visits by car from the city. What happens next is hard to watch. A dramatisation of harrowing turmoil and violence brought to life by moving, meaningful performances. The final text at the end of the film explains how she shared her story and kept it alive for generations to come. This defies the notion that the "old will die and the young will forget", and instead shows that these stories have been passed down from generation to generation, and will finally be heard by millions of people around the world. I am sure Sallams success will pave the way for other Palestinian filmmakers to tackle this topic with bravery and confidence - these stories matter and will be heard. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net Rumble files $1 billion lawsuit against Google over lost ad revenue Independent online video hosting platform Rumble has filed a lawsuit against search engine giant Google, alleging that its parent company Alphabet is responsible for over $1 billion in lost advertising revenue The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks damages exceeding $1 billion from Google for lost advertising revenue. Rumble alleges that Google has used its dominant position in advertising technology to undercut Rumble's competitive edge. (Related: Google helping Democrats by BANNING Trump campaign ad showing how life is worse under Biden.) Rumble claims that it could have received billions in advertising revenue if not for Google's anticompetitive conduct. Rumble claims that Google has monopolized the advertising technology industry "by buying companies up and down the chain, concurrently representing both ad buyers and sellers, while also running the exchange that connects those parties." Rumble's full-year revenue for 2023 was only $81 million. The vast majority of this revenue came from Rumble selling ads against the user-generated content on its website. "Google exploits significant conflicts of interest that stem from its multiple roles in this electronically traded marketplace," reads Rumble's complaint. "As a result, it is able to pocket a supra-competitive portion of every advertising dollar that passes through the Ad Tech markets it controls, ad revenue that rightly should have passed through to publishers like Rumble and its content creators." We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance. This builds on an accusation by Rumble that Google has been able to maintain its monopoly following a "price-fixing agreement" with Facebook's parent company Meta that prevents Facebook from offering an alternative to Google's ad tech ecosystem. "Google unlawfully forecloses competition in the market for publisher ad servers in the market for ad buying tools for small advertisers, and in the separate markets for ad exchanges and ad networks," further reads the complaint. "Google excludes competition by engaging in conduct unlawful under settled antitrust precedent, including through unlawful tying arrangements, a pattern and practice of exclusionary conduct targeting actual and potential rivals." Other lawsuits accuse Google of exploiting its dominance in digital advertising for profit This is the second time Rumble has filed a lawsuit against Google. Back in 2021, Rumble accused the tech giant of favoring itself and its massively popular video hosting and sharing platform YouTube in its search results to the detriment of alternatives like Rumble. This lawsuit is currently in discovery after a judge in August 2022 decided against Google in its motion to dismiss the case. This was followed in 2021 by a lawsuit from the Department of Justice that accused Google of abusing its dominance in the digital advertising industry, arguing that the courts should force Google to sell its ad manager suite. Google's advertising business is responsible for about three-quarters of its revenue. It has denied Rumble's claims in its most recent lawsuit, calling them "simply wrong" and claiming that Rumble is successfully utilizing "dozens" of competing advertising services in addition to Google's ad manager. "We'll show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online," said a Google spokesperson who insisted that publishers get to keep the vast majority of their revenue when they choose to advertise using Google's tools. Learn more about how terrible Google is at EvilGoogle.news. Watch this video from David Freiheit of "Viva Frei" discussing how Russia banned Rumble and yet mainstream media outlets are unwilling to report on it. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Google fires dozens of pro-Palestinian employees who protested against company's cloud deal with Israel. Dr. Mercola brands Google as a "surveillance agency" and shares some tips on how to DE-GOOGLE. Google plans to charge users for new "premium" search features powered by AI. Google receives request from federal authorities for identities of people who watched "certain YouTube videos." Google plans to develop AI systems specifically for CENSORSHIP enforcement. Sources include: ReclaimTheNet.org Reuters.com Axios.com Brighteon.com At least seven individuals were dead following the stormy weather that struck Houston, Texas. Weather officials disclosed that up to 100 mph of strong winds had hit through the area, which resulted in power outages that could even continue for weeks despite the rising temperatures. Increase In Fatalities Authorities disclosed that the number of deaths had increased from the initial four fatalities that were earlier reported. The Houston Fire Department chief Samuel Pena disclosed that fallen trees appeared to have caused the death of the two victims while a crane incident claimed the life of another individual. The Harris County Sheriff's Office already identified three others in the county who died from the storm. Officials bared that a man had collapsed while attempting to move a downed electrical pole while a woman died after a lightning had hit the trailer where she was staying, later prompting a fire. So far, more than 900,000 residences and business facilities and establishments had lost power in Houston's Harris County as the bad weather brought violent winds. Officials said that nearly 600,000 still suffered from loss of power on Friday evening. They said that the power restoration could even take days and not hours for some families. Unfortunately, it could also take weeks for other affected residents. Weather experts warned that serious, life-threatening flash flooding within the severe weather zones into the weekend could also bring a greater threat to life and property. They said this could be worse than the dangers brought by hail, damaging winds, and lightning strikes combined. Meanwhile, the risky heat and humidity will continue to build as thousands wait for power to be restored. Read Also: South US Weather Forecast: Heavy Rain, Severe Weather Expected for the Region Starting Friday Storm Despite Rising Temperature Meteorologists said that the hottest weather so far this year has been in the forecast for Texas and Louisiana in the wake of the deadly storms. The weather conditions may potentially reach dangerous levels for those who experience extended power outages. Officials warned that this would be the first extended stretch of widespread 90-degree or higher heat this year. They mentioned that for those without power and with no air conditioning or electric fans, the weather comes at the worst possible time. The National Weather Service said that a continued risk of thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain could have an adverse impact on the Gulf Coast and Southeast in the afternoon after a very wet and stormy 24 hours for the region. So far, meteorologists forecasted that there would be additional instances of heavy rain and damaging wind gusts from the central Gulf Coast to southern Georgia in the evening. This will be highlighted by a Slight Risk (level 2/5) of severe thunderstorms as well as a Moderate Risk (level 3/4) of excessive rainfall. Further, areas of heavy rain and wet weather are also seen to continue on Saturday across the Mid-Atlantic and central Appalachians. Meteorologists said that scattered instances of flash flooding are very possible in these places. Related Article: Gulf Coast States Forecast: Severe Weather Threat to Bring Isolated Tornadoes, Flash Flood This Weekend A water parasite outbreak is potentially becoming an emerging threat in southwest England, United Kingdom, after some people became ill, according to government sources. Due to the threat, UK health authorities are on high alert, investigating related cases in Devon where people tested positive for a microscopic parasite, called cryptosporidium, which causes the disease cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium is known for causing illness in humans and some animals, with symptoms including stomach upsets and diarrhea. The water parasite can be detected from samples of human and animal feces, which can contaminate natural and anthropogenic bodies of water, including rivers, lakes, waterways, and swimming pools. Similar cases have been reported before outside the UK. Water Parasite Outbreak The current water parasite outbreak is being investigated by UK health authorities, with the UK Health and Security Agency is attempting to find the source of the infections. In Devon, small traces of the pathogen were detected in Brixham, according to local reports. On Wednesday, May 15, local water company South West Water issued a notice to 40,000 residents to boil their water first. According to the UK Health Security Agency, acquiring the parasite can be prevented by following some of these steps: Avoid drinking unsafe or untreated water. Do not swallow water from lakes or swimming pools. Ensure handwashing is done always after making contact with any farms. Also Read: Parasite Outbreak Plagues Arizona Swimming Pools What is Cryptosporidiosis? Cryptosporidiosis causes water diarrhea and it is mainly caused by the microscopic germ or parasite cryptosporidium, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Found in the United States and other parts of the world, the parasitic pathogen can live not only in water but also in food, soil, or surfaces that have been contaminated by a cryptosporidiosis-infected poop. The diarrhea-causing disease includes the germ that lives in the feces of infected humans and animals, as mentioned earlier. Cryptosporidiosis symptoms begin as early as 2 to 10 days (with an average of 7 days) after infection. The illness can last for 1 to 2 weeks, wherein an infected individual can experience watery diarrhea or no symptoms at all, the CDC adds. Parasites in Drinking Water Parasites are pathogens that need a living host in order to thrive and survive. Unlike bacteria and viruses, parasitic organisms do not always kill their hosts. However, they often carry diseases that can be life-threatening to the host, which can be humans or animals. Parasites can dwell in different environments, including sites like local water reservoirs which communities use for drinking water. Parasites in drinking water has been a problem in the US, where natural surface waters like lakes and rivers are susceptible to cryptosporidium but also to giardia. Both of these bugs can survive for a long time in their environment, whether they are in swimming pools, hot tubs, streams, or ponds. Currently, approximately 7.2 million Americans become sick every year from water-borne diseases, according to the Vermont Department of Health. Related Article: Study: Disease-Causing Parasites May Hitch a Ride on Trash and Eventually Spread Throughout Oceans Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meets filmmakers Ram Gopal Varma, Anil Ravipudi, Harish Shankar A s the Telugu Film Directors' Association (TFDA) is preparing for a grand celebration of Director's Day on May 19, 2024, renowned filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma, Anil Ravipudi and Harish Shankar met with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at his residence in Hyderabad on Friday. The members of the Telugu film industry invited the CM to be a part of the special programme organized to celebrate Directors' Day. During their meeting with Revanth Reddy, the members of Telugu film fraternity also posed for pictures with the CM and greeted him with a flower bouquet. The event will be held on May 19 at LB Stadium in Hyderabad. The star-studded event will honour late filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao for his immense contributions to Indian cinema. Stars like Chiranjeevi, Prabhas, and Allu Arjun are expected to attend the special event. Reportedly, Prabhas donated a huge sum of money to the Telugu Film Directors Association for Director's Day celebrations. Dasari Narayana was a film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician. He worked predominantly in Telugu films apart from Hindi cinema. His works emphasised on social injustice, corruption and gender discrimination. Dasari Narayana directed 150 Telugu movies and holds the Limca World Record for directing most number of films worldwide. He directed his first film in the early 1970s. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honors from the Andhra Pradesh government. He passed away on 30 May 2017. He was 75 when he breathed his last. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meets filmmakers Ram Gopal Varma, Anil Ravipudi, Harish Shankar Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Amul celebrates Cannes premiere of Smita Patil's 'Manthan' in signature style W ith the screening of filmmaker Shyam Benegal's film 'Manthan' at the ongoing 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on Friday evening, every fan of Indiana cinema beamed with pride. Inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, who led 'Operation Flood', transforming India from a milk-deficient country to the world's biggest producer of milk and dairy products, 'Manthan' was released in 1976 and featured late actor Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah. The visionary social entrepreneur, who turned Gujarat into the global dairy capital, was also the founder of the billion-dollar brand 'Amul'. The film bringing this revolutionary transformation on celluloid features in golden letters on the pages of the history of Indian cinema, which has been around for more than 100 years.The screening saw the presence of Naseeruddin Shah, his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, Prateik Babbar, actor and son of Smita Patil, Nirmala Kurien, daughter of the legendary Dr Verghese Kurien, Father of the White Revolution, Anita Patil Deshmukh and Manya Patil Seth, sisters of Smita Patil, and Dr Jayen Mehta, Managing Director, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., the producers of the film. Praise is pouring in from all corners to celebrate the Cannes premiere of 'Manthan'. Even Amul India, known for its creative advertisements, has joined the chorus of well-wishers. In their signature style, Amul created a doodle to honour the feat. In the creation, the Amul girl representing late actor Smita Patil can be seen holding a glass of milk in one hand and bread and butter in the other. "Humara makhan, humara manthan...Amul Toast of Cannes," the doodle read. Reacting to the creative, a social media user commented, "Hahah love the way Amul celebrates all the achievements.""Manthan, the churning," another one wrote.Ahead of the film's screening, Dr Jayen Mehta and Verghese Kurien's daughter Nirmala Kurien shed light on Amul's significant role at Bharat Pavilion. They revealed not only Amul's support in bringing 'Manthan' back to the big screen but also the cooperative's unique involvement in the film's production. 'Manthan', set in Gujarat, was the first Indian film that was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers, who donated Rs 2 each. Kurien, along with Vijay Tendulkar, penned the script for the movie. 'Manthan' won two National Film Awards in 1977-- for Best Feature Film in Hindi and the Best Screenplay for Tendulkar. It was also India's official entry to the 1976 Academy Awards in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.The restored version of the movie by Film Heritage Foundation was premiered at Cannes. Here are some images of the 'Manthan' team walking the iconic red carpet. Cannes Film Festival 2024, which opened on May 14, will run till May 25. Amul celebrates Cannes premiere of Smita Patil's 'Manthan' in signature style Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Why congenital heart disease remains a health concern in India W ith a whopping 200,000 cases per year, congenital heart disease remains a significant concern in India, said health experts on Saturday. Congenital heart defects (CHDs) can be defined as cardiac anomalies present since birth and cover a wide spectrum from small defects. The prevalence of congenital heart disease is about 9/1000, which is approximately 200,000 per year. However, it is difficult to know the exact incidence rate due to a lot of disparity in the availability of facilities in rural areas in India, Dr Mayur Jain, Consultant - Cardiothoracic Surgeon & Heart and Lung Transplant Surgeon, P. D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC, Mahim, told IANS. Dr Swati Garekar, Senior Consultant-Paediatric Cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Mulund noted that the number of babies with congenital heart defects (CHD) appears to be rising. A big reason for this is that we are able to pick up more cases that were earlier undetected: Doctors are now more aware of how babies with CHD present to them in the OPD. They masquerade commonly as failure to gain weight or as repeated cough/cold/pneumonia episodes, she told IANS. Atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are the common types of CHDs. Newborns typically show symptoms such as rapid breathing, poor feeding, poor weight gain, bluish discolouration of skin, and recurrent chest infections. On the other hand, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache, inadequate growth as per age, bluish discoloration of nails and lips, and recurrent chest infections may be common representations of CHD in older children. Dr Swati noted that the reasons for CHD are multifactorial. It includes the state of mother's nutrition, vaccine status (like German measles), exposure to pollutants in her food, water, air, skin, medicines in the first two months of pregnancy. Dr Mayur recommended maternal vaccination against rubella and flu, and abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy. He also advised daily folic acid supplements during the first trimester (first 12 weeks) of pregnancy to lower the risk of giving birth to a child with congenital heart disease and other birth defects. The doctor also advised women to keep diabetes under control and to avoid exposure to organic solvents, such as those used in dry cleaning, paint thinners, and nail polish remover during pregnancy. Why congenital heart disease remains a health concern in India Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Difficult to get good balance: Max Verstappen as he brushes off close-call with Hamilton A t the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had a difficult first day of competition and the Dutchman said that Saturday's running "can't be worse" than Friday's after finding it difficult to settle into his Red Bull. Verstappen's luck did not improve much in the second practice hour of the day as he continued to have the same problem with his RB20 after complaining of a lack of grip during Free Practice 1, a session in which he had multiple trips across the grass. He finally concluded the session in P7 on the timesheets and then discussed the issues he had encountered after hopping out of the car. "A difficult day. [It was] just difficult to get a good balance, and [I was] just not really feeling comfortable in the car. Moving around a lot, it's very easy to lose the car, so [there are] a few things that we have to look at because today [was] just bad, just not comfortable," Verstappen said as quoted by Formula 1. Talking about whether he and the team can carry out work overnight and bounce back on this weekend's race, Verstappen said, "Also the long run was really bad, so definitely a few things that we have to improve if we want to be competitive tomorrow. I guess it can't be worse than what we had today! We'll look at a few things that we can do better for tomorrow, but it looks a bit like the others took a bit of a step forward, and from our side just a bad day." In addition to the problems with his vehicle, Verstappen expressed his annoyance during Free Practice 2 when he came across a slow-moving Lewis Hamilton approaching the hairpin. The Mercedes driver then raised his hand to apologise for the mishap. "It's not the first time. You try to of course always stay calm about it, but it happened again. I also don't really want to talk about it too much because that's not our issue. Today we were just severely off the pace, which we need to fix," he added. Meanwhile, Hamilton gave his version of events and accepted responsibility for his run-in with Verstappen. "I was on a cool-down lap. I thought I was well clear, would've been well clear, but all of a sudden he was right on me. Ultimately it was my mistake and I tried to apologise, but he was too frustrated," Hamilton said. Difficult to get good balance: Max Verstappen as he brushes off close-call with Hamilton Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Veteran banker N Vaghul died on Saturday afternoon due to health complications, according to a statement issued by his family. He was on ventilator support for some time. He was 88. Vaghul is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. Sincerely regret to inform you that Padma Bhushan Narayanan Vaghul sir, passed away this afternoon at Apollo Hospitals Chennai, the family said in a statement. Who is N Vaghul? Vaghul, who held many leadership positions in the banking industry, is credited with transforming ICICI from a public finance institution to a private sector bank in his 11-year stint as the chairman and managing director, starting in 1985. He was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai due to some health complications and was on ventilator support. The last rites of Vaghul, who was honoured with the countrys third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2006, are expected to be held in Chennai later this evening, according to a PTI report citing sources. Vaghul started his career as an officer with the State Bank of India in the pre-liberalisation era of the 1960s and quit the countrys largest lender to take up a teaching job at the National Institute of Banking Management. Within two years, he became the director at the Pune-based institute but returned to banking soon after as an executive director in the state-owned Central Bank of India. In 1981, he became the chairman and managing director of the Bank of India at 44, becoming one of the youngest heads to steer any state-owned lender. However, he was soon appointed as the ICICI CMD, where he led a team of young bankers and oversaw the transformation of the institution into a private sector bank. The Madras University graduate, hailing from a rural family, served ICICI till 1996 and took up a slew of assignments in corporate India by serving company boards. Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra was among the boards he served on. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra termed him as the Bhishma Pitamaha and called himself blessed to have known him and been guided by him. Vaghul played an active role in deepening corporate philanthropy and was deeply associated with bodies like Pratham, which works on education. At one point, he got industry leaders like Mukesh Ambani, Ajay Piramal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Thapar and L N Mittal on the board of Pratham India Education Initiative. Maharashtra HSC and SSC Result 2024: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education or MSBSHSE SSC and HSC results 2024 are anticipated to be announced soon. MSBSHSE has announced the official date or time for the HSC results. The Maharashtra HSC results 2024 will be announced tomorrow, May 21 at 1 PM. This year, almost 26 lakh applicants took the Maharashtra board HSC and SSC exams. Candidates can access the Maharashtra board result 2024 through the official websites at mahahsscboard.in, mahresult.nic.in, hscresult.mkcl.org and hsc.mahresults.org.in, after it is announced. Students will need to input their mothers name and roll number to view the results. The exams for MSBSHSE Class 10 were held from March 1 to March 26, and exams for Class 12 were given from February 21 to March 19. Students must obtain a minimum of 35 per cent marks in each subject, encompassing both theory and practical exams, whether main or optional to pass the exams. Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website. Rajasthan Board 10th, 12th Result 2024: Documents Needed to Check Marks RBSE 12th arts, commerce and science students must have their roll number and date of birth to check and download the results tomorrow. Rajasthan 12th Result 2024: No Merit List This Year For the past five years, the Rajasthan Board has not released the merit list. The board aims to move the focus from marks to learning. The same is likely to be followed this year too. Rajasthan Board Result 2024: RBSE 12th Arts Stream Pass Percentage Last Year A total of 92.35% of RBSE arts stream students passed the examination in 2023. In 2022, it was 96.33% while 99.19% had cleared the RBSE 12th in 2021. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024: Websites to Check rajresults.nic.in, rajasthan.indiaresults.com, rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in. Rajasthan Board Result 2024: RBSE 12th Commerce Stream Performance Last Year According to the Rajasthan Board 12th results 2023, commerce students performed better than science and arts stream students. The pass percentage was the highest for commerce students with 96.60 per cent of students passing the exam last year. For arts and science, the pass percentage was 92.35 per cent and 95.65 per cent, respectively. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024: Will RBSE Announce All Three Stream Results Tomorrow? Yes. RBSE will announce science, arts, and commerce results tomorrow unlike last year when RBSE announced the arts stream results on May 25 and science and commerce results on May 18, 2023. Rajasthan Board 10th, 12th Result 2024: Marks Needed to Pass Exam RBSE students need to get at least 33 per cent marks or grade D in each subject as well in the aggregate to pass the exam. How to Check Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024? 1- To check Rajasthan Board 12th Arts, Science, Commerce Result 2024, visit the official website of RBSE rajresults.nic.in or rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in. 2- Click on the direct link of RBSE 12th Board Result 2024 on the homepage of the website (the link will be activated only after the release of the result). 3- You will be redirected to a new tab. Enter login details like roll number, roll code, and DOB there. 4- Then click on Submit. RBSE Board Result 2024 will be displayed on the screen. Download it and check it thoroughly. Also, take a printout of RBSE Result 2024 for future reference. What About Rajasthan Board 10th Result 2024? Rajasthan Board 10th Result 2024 is expected to be released next week. An official confirmation by RBSE is awaited. Major Change in Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024 Rajasthan Board is going to release the results of 12th Arts, Science, and Commerce together for the first time this year. In 2023, Rajasthan Board 12th Science result pass percentage stood at 97.39%, Commerce at 98.01% and Arts at 92.35%. 8,66,270 Students Awaiting Rajasthan Board 12th Arts, Science, and Commerce Result 2024 The administrator of the Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan, Mahesh Chandra Sharma will release the results of RBSE 12th. Secretary of the Board of Secondary Education Kailash Chandra Sharma said that the examinations of the Rajasthan Board were conducted from February 26 to April 4. The result has been prepared amidst high security. 866270 students had registered for the Rajasthan Board 12th Arts, Science, and Commerce examinations. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024: When & Where to Check? The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education 12th Science, Commerce and Arts result 2024 will be released simultaneously tomorrow, May 20, 2024. The results are being announced 45 days after the examination concluded. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024 will be released at 12.15 pm in the Board of Secondary Education Auditorium. The board administration has completed all preparations for releasing the results. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024 Date and Time Announced RBSE has announced the date and time of the results for the Class 12 board exams 2024. It will be released tomorrow, May 20 at 12:15 pm. Once out, it will be available at rajresults.nic.in. Rajasthan 10th, 12th Board Result 2024: How to Check? Step 1. Search the official website, rajresults.nic.in. Step 2. Click on the Class 10th or 12th Result 2024 link that is visible on the homepage. Step 3. Provide the required information, such as your date of birth and roll number, then press the submit button. Step 4. RBSE Class 10th and 12th Result 2024 will then be shown on your screen. Step 5. Download and save. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024: What Happened Last Year? Last year, a total of 21,12,206 candidates registered for the RBSE Class 10th and Class 12th board exams. Of which, 10,31,072 students had enrolled themselves for the Rajasthan Class 12th board exams 2023. The overall pass percentage was 92.35%. Rajasthan 10th, 12th Result 2024: Top Things to Check Out on Mark Sheets Once the results are released, the next step for the students is to check if there are any errors in it. In case of an error, students need to get in touch with authorities at the earliest. Spellings: Spelling of the name of the student. Surname should also be added or not added as per requirement. Marking: Students need to get their marks checked not only for total and % calculation but also for subject-wise marks. Pass/ Fail Status, and Grades: Students will also get grades along with marks. They need to ensure that the grades given to them are corresponding to the marks obtained by them. RBSE Rajasthan Board 10th, 12th Results 2024: When Were Exams Held? The RBSE Class 10 exams took place from March 7 to March 30, the Class 12 board exams started on February 29 and ran until April 4, 2024. Rajasthan Board 12th Result 2024: Will RBSE Announce All Three Stream Results Together? Last year, RBSE announced the arts stream results on May 25 and science and commerce results on May 18, 2023. The same is expected to be followed this year too. Rajasthan Board 10th Results 2024: Top-performing District Last Year Jhunjhunu district topped with 95.70 per cent in RBSE class 10th examination last year. The silence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the Swati Maliwal assault row has riled up ally Congress. While the Grand Old Partys hand is forced by coalition maryada, in private, there are calls for action. Top sources in the Congress told News18 that they have got in touch with the AAP leadership and told them that the party needs to do more and not give a handle to the BJP with polls in the national capital on May 25. It also conveyed that it needs to do more to control the narrative and not look like it is taking sides against Maliwal. In fact, Congress was not too happy with AAP leader Atishis press conference as it felt it gave the impression that AAP was running down Maliwal and was anti-women. The problem for the Congress is manifold. As an alliance partner, it will be forced to remain silent or mildly raise its voice. However, as a party which has been hit by similar allegations of not standing by women colleagues, Congress will not be happy with the development. In fact, Radhika Khera who just quit the Congress to join the BJP has accused the top leadership of remaining silent when she complained of harassment by male colleagues of the Chhattisgarh Congress. On the Maliwal issue, Khera accused Priyanka Vadra of duplicity. On the Maliwal issue, Congress spokespersons have been asked to be reticent and restrained. Priyanka Vadras response has given a cue as she said: We always support women and we are waiting to see what the facts are. Commenting on the issue, Congress in-charge of Delhi and Haryana, Deepak Babaria, said: Senior leader of our party, Priyanka-ji, has made it clear that we are with the victim whenever there is any incident of misbehaviour towards women. Whatever has happened in the Swati Maliwal row, a case has been filed and all issues will be investigated. If something has happened to her, our sympathies are with her but its the AAPs internal matter. We dont want to get tangled in the internal matter of our friends in the alliance. I dont trust the statement of the Delhi Police as I have experienced that be it ED, CBI or Delhi Police, BJP manipulates all these. The truth will come out only through courts. The Congress is uncomfortable with the way many AAP leaders are attacking Maliwal on social media and projecting her as a BJP stooge. While some in Congress are watching to see whether Maliwal joins the BJP, the Grand Old Party doesnt think it would be a good idea to be seen as rubbishing Maliwal on the eve of polls. For now, the dilemma with an unusual alliance continues. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website It was January 2024 when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal nominated 39-year-old Swati Maliwal to the Upper House, axing Sushil Gupta and re-nominating sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta. For the young activist, it was an unprecedented honour to enter Parliament. The AAP did not have a woman MP in Parliament and the top leadership of the party had expected that Maliwal would be its woman face in the House. An old colleague of both Kejriwal and his former PS Bibhav Kumar their association goes back more than 15 years. The party had never doubted that Maliwal would be loyal and work to strengthen it. And, by rewarding an old face, the signal was that volunteers and work matter. After all, Maliwal had carved a space for herself as an outspoken and fearless voice. Elections in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana and Assam states where the AAP is contesting were roughly five months away. Additionally, other top leaders of the party Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and communication in-charge Vijay Nair were already behind bars. There was strong speculation that the Delhi chief minister would be next. It is in this backdrop that Maliwal was made an MP with the expectation that she would lend her shoulder to the AAPs wheel in protests and campaigns, hold the party together and be available for other leaders. It was evident that she enjoyed the trust of the chief minister. That, however, was January 2024. Barely a month later, Maliwal left for the US, even while three former AAP ministers and its communication in-charge fought and lost court battles for a bail, and speculation was rife that the next to be arrested would be Kejriwal. She left despite hints being dropped that she should stay in India and be available for party work. On February 18, 2024, Maliwal posted on social networking site X: Honoured to speak at the Harvard University @HarvardIndiaCon USA, with National Award filmmaker Vibha Bakshi & @rahulsen_ on the topic Building Bridges: Gender, Allyship and Social Change. #ICH2024.I thank Harvard University for this opportunity. Her prolonged absence continued despite Kejriwals arrest on March 21. This compounded her problems as resentment against her within the party grew and even the BJP taunted the AAP. Maliwal did not cut short her trip even then. While several of AAPs Rajya Sabha MPs notably from Punjab, including Raghav Chadha were missing on the ground as the party went through its worst crisis, Maliwal was different precisely because of the reasons that she has highlighted after all, she is a two-decade-old karyarta of the party. The MP returned to India almost a month after Kejriwals arrest and started campaigning for AAP from April 26. Kejriwal was released on interim bail just 14 days later on May 10. One of the reasons that Maliwal was away for so long was clarified by her on X in reply to BJPs Amit Malviya on March 29. Bas thoda sa waqt khair maan lo IT cell fake news factory behen ka ilaz pura ho rha hai aur bahut zaldi aa rhi hun. In other words, she said she would be back as soon as her sisters treatment was over. Unfortunately, for Maliwal, post her US trip, neither Kejriwal nor his wife Sunita Kejriwal gave her an appointment for a meeting. While nearly all others had a meeting with Kejriwal or his wife who led the AAPs campaign in his absence and got their pictures clicked, Maliwal did not. She had clearly misread the signals and perhaps understood that neither her boss nor her colleagues were keen to accommodate her interests. Perhaps, if she had been patient, Kejriwal would have met her. But Maliwal did not wait. On May 13, three days after Kejriwals release on interim bail, Maliwal reached his house early morning without an appointment and demanded to meet him. This is confirmed from both sides as Maliwal, even in her complaint, has not mentioned that she had taken an appointment. Bibhav Kumar, the one she has accused of grievous charges of assault, abuse and more, mentioned clearly that she did not have an appointment. Vandana Singh, an AAP volunteer sympathising with Maliwal, posted on X saying: Even if she did not have an appointment will you get her beaten up? In any case, she always met the chief minister without any appointments. Maliwals call to 112 from the chief ministers residence and her going to the Civil Lines police station was perhaps the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Despite the unpleasantness, AAP and Maliwal did try for a reconciliation. AAP MP Sanjay Singh met Maliwal and issued a statement admitting to the alleged assault and promising action against Kumar. Singh was confident that Maliwal would not file an FIR. However, after Kumar was spotted in Lucknow with Kejriwal and Singh, Maliwal dialled the police again. Effectively, Maliwal has burnt all bridges with all the senior leaders in the party. Maliwal was not with the AAP as the party fought its first elections in 2013 as she did not agree with the anti-corruption movement splitting to go political. She returned in 2014 when her former husband Naveen Jaihind was given a ticket to contest from Haryana. She stayed on and, for a brief while, was in-charge of Swaraj Sabhas. Her big opportunity came when she was appointed as the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson in 2015, a position she held until she quit to become a member of Parliament. AAP suspects that Maliwal is in touch with a BJP leader and had come to Kejriwals residence to harm him. AAP minister Atishi claimed that the BJP hatched a conspiracy and sent Maliwal. Swati Maliwal is the face of BJPs conspiracy, she claimed. The BJP, meanwhile, rubbished AAPs charges while mounting pressure on Kejriwal. Delhi elections are less than 10 days away and the Swati Maliwal controversy could not have come at a worse time for AAP especially with Dalit-Muslim-Woman consolidation in favour of the AAP-Congress alliance. On the other hand, the BJP will milk the controversy to raise questions about AAPs commitment to safety and dignity of women. Repeated requests to Swati Maliwal did not elicit any response. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Shyam Babu Agrahari, a farmer who hails from Uttar Pradeshs Raebareli district, was always of the belief that youngsters should be made aware of the selfless contributions of martyrs. To put his words into action, Agrahari bought a 1,500-square-feet piece of land in Raebarelis historically significant Munshiganj near the main city. Settled on the banks of River Sai, Munshiganj has been witness to the 1921 Farmers Massacre also known as UPs Jallianwala Bagh Kand in which over 700 unarmed farmers were killed by the British Police for protesting against heavy taxation by Zamindars. Agrahari thought shifting to the urban pocket, which also has a historical connect, would not only give quality life to his two sons but also help inculcate a feeling of patriotism among his children. Unfortunately, the move turned out to be the farmers biggest mistake in life. I never thought that Munshiganj, despite having such great historical significance, would be left abandoned by the government. I dont know what are the political reasons behind it but the step-motherly treatment has ruined our life, said Agrahari. Not only Munshiganj but several neighbouring villages such as Jagatpur, Korad, Jagrasi, Manheru, Karsa and Dalmau have similar stories to share about their areas in Raebareli which goes to poll on May 20 in the fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. Munshiganj, which also houses a Bharat Mata Temple and Shaheed Smarak bearing a plaque inscribed with the history of the Munshiganj Massacre lies in a decrepit state, mainly due to the absence of a bridge to connect it to the main city. There is only a small bridge at the Shaheed Smarak, which connects the area to the main city. But this bridge is too narrow and is unfit for two- and four-wheelers. People have to travel 10 kilometres extra to reach the city in absence of any facility, Suraj Mohanlal, another local from Munshiganj area, said. Mohanlal blamed poor connectivity issues for the sluggish development of the area. I am surprised by the apathy as none of the politicians paid any heed towards our long-pending demand for the connecting bridge, which is a basic amenity, he told News18. People said some work, which included the construction of the Shaheed Smarak, was done during the regime of the previous government but the issue of the bridge is yet to be addressed. Locals said it was tragic that despite being of great historical importance, the area was subjected to utter neglect. Recalling the 1921 incident, Sanjiv Bharti, a senior journalist who hails from Raebareli district, said: Many farmers gathered on January 5 for a public meeting led by Amol Sharma, Baba Jankidas, Baba Ramchandra, Chandrapal Singh, and others. Farmers from nearby villages joined in solidarity. To undermine the meeting, the Talukdar collaborated with the District Magistrate to arrest Sharma and Baba Jankidas and send them to Lucknow jail. Bharti said rumours began the next day in Raebareli that the jailed leaders had been murdered, igniting widespread anger among the farmers. In protest, on January 7, 1921, a large group of farmers gathered by the sacred Sai River in Munshiganj to demonstrate against the administration. The British government, adopting a repressive stance, deployed numerous police contingents at the site, said Bharti. He added that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, upon learning of the situation, attempted to reach Raebareli but was stopped by the administration at the railway station, possibly because the British feared his presence could escalate the situation if he were harmed. As tensions rose, the administration ordered the police to suppress the protest swiftly, leading to indiscriminate firing on unarmed farmers. The brutal crackdown resulted in approximately 800 farmers being martyred and thousands being injured, he said. Bharti said it was widely believed that the river turned red with the blood of the farmers, symbolising the tragic loss. The massacre remains a poignant reminder of the farmers struggle and sacrifice in Raebarelis history. While celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark the 75 years of Indias Independence, the UP government introduced its mega plans to develop the Shaheed Smarak into a grand tourist spot. There were also talks to build a museum and give a grand look to the Bharat Mata Temple adjacent to the Shaheed Stambh. The plan was chalked out on the orders of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who made the announcement during his visit to Raebareli on the birth anniversary of the 1857 Revolution hero Rana Beni Madhav. However, locals said barring some cosmetic changes, nothing much was done. For them, the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls are not just an election but an opportunity to make sure that their demands are noticed. Though many governments came and went, nothing much was done. But we are hopeful that our long-pending demands will be heard, another local said. Residents of the area said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi visited Shaheed Smarak recently to pay homage to the martyrs. However, no other leaders followed her. We are hopeful that politicians will visit the place and lend an ear to our problems, Subhash Singh, another local, said. Raebareli, which falls under Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, will go to polls on May 20. Congress has fielded Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and party loyalist KL Sharma from Amethi, keeping Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra out of the electoral contest. Rahul Gandhi represented Amethi from 2004 until 2019, but he lost the seat to BJPs Smriti Irani in 2019. He contested from Keralas Wayanad in 2019 as a second seat and won it to retain his MP status. He will face Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh of BJP in Raebareli. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 5,34,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 3,67,740 votes. Raebareli has been a Congress stronghold since the first general elections in 1952 when the seat was held by Feroze Gandhi, the husband of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. After he died in 1960, the Congress fielded RP Singh in the by-elections and retained the seat. Post this, Sonia Gandhi picked Raebareli, a seat she won for four consecutive terms. In February 2024, when Gandhi announced her decision to not contest the next Lok Sabha elections, she wrote a letter to the Raebareli electorate, who supported her for two decades. My family in Delhi is incomplete; its you all in Raebareli who complete it, wrote the former Congress president. She added that her familys ties with Raebareli run deep and she received it as a saubhagya (good fortune) from her in-laws. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Kalyan, which is going to polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20, is all set to witness a Sena vs Sena contest. Dr Shrikant Shinde, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shindes son, is contesting for a third term from the Shiv Sena (Eknath), while Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded its own candidate but with complications. While the NDA candidates campaign runs united, the opposition has perplexed voters and party workers alike with its recent decisions. Initially having fielded Vaishali Darekar Rane, who went on to file her nomination, Uddhav Thackeray backed off with only three weeks to spare before polling day and encouraged Ramesh Jadhav to attempt to take her place. But, with the party symbol already with Rane, Jadhav went on to enter the fray as an independent. Reports suggest that Jadhav may serve as the partys backup in case Darekars papers fail scrutiny. Kalyan is classified under the general category and is one of 48 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra. It comprises a portion of Thane district and has six assembly segments Ambernath (SC), Ulhas Nagar, Kalyan East, Dombivali, Kalyan Rural and Mumbra-Kalwa. Shrikant Shinde in pole position The NDA is in a favourable position in Kalyan. Backed by the BJP, MNS and NCP (Ajit Pawar), Shrikant Shinde a doctor with an MS in orthopaedics is all but certain to score a hat-trick in the constituency and is targeting a winning margin larger than his previous one of more than 3.44 lakh votes in 2019. With a tagline of Aamche kaam bolte, which means that his work speaks for itself, he has been campaigning despite a weak opposition. Observers said the aim is to grab one of the highest winning margins in India and stake his claim on a cabinet ministry in Delhi. Shinde is credited with an evident transformation of the internal road network in Kalyan, which was previously prone to potholes, but has been revamped since to withstand the weather. Congestion and road-accident related issues of the people have been addressed through these measures. Moreover, the MP has pushed for improved railway access and enhanced platforms to address the problem of dangerously inflated crowds which line up to take local trains during rush hour. Moreover, he has maintained appearances in public, establishing a connection across communities based in Kalyan. With formidable ambitions for the the future, Shinde, backed by his father at the helm in government, has left no stone unturned to woo his constituents. In 2014, Shinde made an incredible debut with 54.1% of the vote and a lead of 2.5 lakh votes at a young age of 27. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shinde raised this margin and scored a vote share of almost 63% against undivided NCP candidate Babaji Balaram Patil who was seen at the time as a strong candidate. Patil scored only 24.19% of the vote. While the last two elections were fought against undivided NCP, this time around, the opposition is in a state of disarray, with a large number of the local leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) joining the Shinde camp. The Ajit Pawar faction of NCP has wholly participated in Shindes rallies, while the BJP, with three assembly segments under its MLAs has also thrown its weight behind the leader. Raj Thackerays MNS is also with the alliance, with its only MLA in the state, Pramod Ratan Patil hailing from Kalyan Rural. Other than the Mumbra-Kalwa assembly seat, where the Leader of Opposition, Jitendra Awhad of NCP (Sharad Pawar), was elected as MLA in 2019, all seats may lean towards Shinde, paving the way for an easy victory. The seat also has a major Modi factor at play, which bolsters Shindes position significantly. With three MLAs in the constituency, a section of BJP leaders had demanded for the seat to be allotted to the party, and even expressed their disapproval with Shinde getting the ticket. While those differences are not visible in the alliances campaign, it is clear that the BJP is a formidable player in the constituency, banking on the Prime Ministers popularity. MVA in Disarray Shiv Sena (UBT) was expected to put up a tough fight for this seat but it has been unable to re-emerge from the political setback of desertion. It now faces a complicated situation, where its candidate Vaishali Darekar Rane faces internal opposition from party workers and leaders and another leader, Ramesh Jha, has also been purportedly fielded by Uddhav Thackeray as an independent. With days left before polling day, it is unclear who the real candidate of this Sena is. Vaishali Darekar Rane is being seen as a weak candidate before Shrikant Shinde. In fact, a large number of local party leaders switched to the other Shiv Sena even as she filed her nomination alongside Aditya Thackeray. With little support from local party units, the Rane is also facing opposition from the alliance member Congress whose workers are not wholeheartedly onboard as far as her campaign Is concerned. With the Mahayuti alliance cashing on this situation, it was quipped by MNS MLA Pramod Patil that she could be made to pull out of the race. Vaishali Darekar-Rane began her political career in 2000 as a municipal corporator in the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation. She later joined Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) after he left Shiv Sena. In 2009, she contested the Lok Sabha elections as an MNS candidate but finished third. She then won a seat in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation and became the leader of the opposition in KDMC. Due to electoral ward restructuring, she did not contest in 2015 and later, returned to Shiv Sena in March 2016. Backed by one NCP-SP MLA in the constituency, the Sena (UBT) has limited support to lean on. It is hoping to stir up sympathy over the mega split it witnessed between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde camps. Posing as the real inheritor of the partys legacy, it may find some support, but by no means will it be a saving grace as far as public mood on the ground goes. Here are the key issues in Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency: Haji Malang dargah issue: Haji Malang Dargah is a site congestion between Hindu groups who claim it as a temple, and the Muslim who claim it as their site of prayer. Politicians such as Owaisi and Shinde have exchanged words and people believe the issue is being raked up at this time as the elections are close by. Nevertheless, people want a Ram Mandir-esque resolution to the issue and are hoping that it is resolved peacefully. Some also believe that by raking the dargah issue, there will be an increase in communal tensions and voters will be polarised on communal lines rather than vote on issues of development, civic amenities, etc. Haji Malang Dargah is a site congestion between Hindu groups who claim it as a temple, and the Muslim who claim it as their site of prayer. Politicians such as Owaisi and Shinde have exchanged words and people believe the issue is being raked up at this time as the elections are close by. Nevertheless, people want a Ram Mandir-esque resolution to the issue and are hoping that it is resolved peacefully. Some also believe that by raking the dargah issue, there will be an increase in communal tensions and voters will be polarised on communal lines rather than vote on issues of development, civic amenities, etc. Water contamination: People in Kalyan West are getting increasingly frustrated with the ongoing water issues. For residents of Beturkarpada, contaminated water and low pressure have become a persistent problem. Theyve repeatedly asked for repairs and maintenance, especially because the bad water is leading to more cases of waterborne diseases, which is even worse in areas with limited healthcare options. This isnt just a Beturkarpada issue Ramabai area, Juna Phadke Road, Chikanghar, Kala Talao, Khadakpada, and Gauripada are all struggling with similar problems. The ageing pipelines, some over 40 years old, are damaged and leaking, but the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation seems to be ignoring the residents complaints and requests for repairs. People in Kalyan West are getting increasingly frustrated with the ongoing water issues. For residents of Beturkarpada, contaminated water and low pressure have become a persistent problem. Theyve repeatedly asked for repairs and maintenance, especially because the bad water is leading to more cases of waterborne diseases, which is even worse in areas with limited healthcare options. This isnt just a Beturkarpada issue Ramabai area, Juna Phadke Road, Chikanghar, Kala Talao, Khadakpada, and Gauripada are all struggling with similar problems. The ageing pipelines, some over 40 years old, are damaged and leaking, but the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation seems to be ignoring the residents complaints and requests for repairs. Water shortage: The areas of Kalyan and Dombivili have witnessed rapid urbanisation and a population boom which has increased the pressure on the groundwater resources and existing infrastructure to cater to the needs of the increasing water consumption. As a result of the governments inability to keep up with the growth and expansion of the citys needs, several housing complexes face acute water shortage. The current demands of the city are not being met. People have raised demands to address the water shortage and it will play a big role in the upcoming elections. The areas of Kalyan and Dombivili have witnessed rapid urbanisation and a population boom which has increased the pressure on the groundwater resources and existing infrastructure to cater to the needs of the increasing water consumption. As a result of the governments inability to keep up with the growth and expansion of the citys needs, several housing complexes face acute water shortage. The current demands of the city are not being met. People have raised demands to address the water shortage and it will play a big role in the upcoming elections. Power cuts: Kalyan-Dombivli is struggling with frequent power cuts, especially as summer temperatures soar. Residents are feeling the heat, literally, with everyone from work-from-home employees to senior citizens and children suffering. Areas like Kalyan East, Tata Naka, and Dombivli East and West are particularly hard hit. While load shedding plays a role, a lot of the problem is due to ongoing construction that damages power lines and infrastructure. Electricity theft also adds to the strain on the system, causing further outages. Residents are fed up and are demanding action, including cutting off power to illegal structures to stabilise the supply for everyone. Kalyan-Dombivli is struggling with frequent power cuts, especially as summer temperatures soar. Residents are feeling the heat, literally, with everyone from work-from-home employees to senior citizens and children suffering. Areas like Kalyan East, Tata Naka, and Dombivli East and West are particularly hard hit. While load shedding plays a role, a lot of the problem is due to ongoing construction that damages power lines and infrastructure. Electricity theft also adds to the strain on the system, causing further outages. Residents are fed up and are demanding action, including cutting off power to illegal structures to stabilise the supply for everyone. Traffic congestion: Correcting and construction works along with the increasing number of private vehicles in the region due to rising population has made the traffic congestion in the region unbearable. The government has moved rapidly to address all issues and has started construction of additional roads, ring roads and double decker roads to ease the traffic congestion between Kon and Shilphata. Correcting and construction works along with the increasing number of private vehicles in the region due to rising population has made the traffic congestion in the region unbearable. The government has moved rapidly to address all issues and has started construction of additional roads, ring roads and double decker roads to ease the traffic congestion between Kon and Shilphata. Maratha agitation: Up until last year, Maratha reservation issue did play a big role in the region. There were many protests and marches in support of Jarange. However, as the government declared 10% reservation for the Marathas, people felt heard and have refused to pursue it further in order to get increased quotas by including Marathas in the OBC category. According to on-ground reports the issue will not play a major role in the upcoming elections and whatever little impact it might have will not be decisive. Voter Demographic (as per the 2011 Census) Total Voters (2019): 19,79,481 Urban areas: 84% Rural areas: 16% Literacy rate: 74.39% Social Composition SC: 8.5% ST: 2.3% Religious Composition Hindu: ~82% Muslim: 10.9% Buddhist: 4.07% Christian: 0.5% The Mumbai police will press into service nearly 30,000 cops to ensure smooth voting during the Lok Sabha elections in the city, officials said on Saturday. The six constituencies in Mumbai and seven others in Maharashtra will go to polls in the fifth phase of general elections on May 20. According to a police official, 2,752 officers and 27,460 cops, including personnel from three units of the riot control police, will be on bandobast duty on election day in the metropolis, where polling will be held between 7 am and 6 pm. The official said that five officers in the rank of Additional Commissioner of Police, 25 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) and 77 Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP) will be leading various teams during the bandobast. About 5,000 policemen, 6,200 home guards and 36 units of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) will also brought from outside for the voting day, he said. Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar has appealed to citizens to cast their vote, he added. Union minister making his poll debut or bhoomiputra who will win Mumbai North constituency, which is going to polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections? In this saffron bastion, senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal faces the challenge of overcoming the outsider tag, while Bhushan Patil of the Congress is riding on the badge of being a local. Goyal is pitted in a straight fight with Patil. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad called Goyal an outsider earlier this month. Slamming the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi for labelling him as an outsider, Goyal said, There can be nobody more Mumbaikar than me. That is a very ridiculous argument. Not even worth responding to. I am a born Mumbaikar. Lived in Mumbai all my life, worked in Mumbai all my life, Goyal told PTI during a roadshow. The Rajya Sabha MP, who started his career as a chartered accountant, is the son of former BJP minister Vedprakash Goyal and Chandrakanta Goyal, three-term BJP MLA from Matunga. He said he was born in Mumbai, studied in HR College and Government Law College, and started his chartered accountancy practice in Lalbaug and worked as an investment banker on Nepean Sea Road. The opportunity of proving his salt as a Mumbaikar comes with the challenge of matching up to the big winning margin of 4.65 lakh votes recorded by sitting MP Gopal Shetty in the last election. Out of the 9.88 lakh votes polled in 2019, Shetty got 7.05 lakh while actor and Congress nominee Urmila Matondkar polled 2.41 lakh. Patil, meanwhile, is asserting his identity as a local resident and a Maharashtrian to garner maximum votes for his party. The Congress leader is also attempting to tap the BJPs traditional vote bank, the Gujarati community, by involving his wife, a Gujarati Jain, in his campaign. Patil enjoys the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinod Ghosalkar whose son, former corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar, was killed in Borivali earlier this year during a Facebook Live interaction with his constituents. He said he is a bhoomiputra (son of the soil), who will continue to live among his voters in Borivali and be approachable 247 to resolve their grievances. Mumbai North is one of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra, comprising six assembly segments Borivali (BJP), Dahisar (BJP), Magathane (Ekanth Shinde-led Shiv Sena), Kandivali East (BJP), Charkop (BJP) and Malad West (Congress). It is presently represented by the BJPs Gopal Shetty. The key contenders are Goyal and Patil. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadis advocate Sonal D Gondane is another candidate in the fray. BJP retains edge in its safe seat There are no two bits about who has the lead in this constituency. Considered a BJP bastion for long and a safe seat of sorts, the result of the election here appears to be a foregone conclusion as the party has represented this seat in the Lok Sabha for seven terms since 1991. The BJP has dropped its sitting MP Gopal Shetty and fielded Goyal, who is expected to comfortably sail to victory. Despite being considered a safe seat for the party, it is trying to ensure that neither its top leaders nor cadre and volunteers get complacent. Goyal has campaigned in this constituency for close to two months now. The party has a significant voter base in Mumbai North, as the constituency has a large population of Marathis, Gujaratis, Marwaris and north Indians. While the first three communities have traditionally supported the BJP, the north Indians have also jumped to the saffron camp after 2014 driven by their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP is keeping its campaign rhetoric largely simple vote for Modi to build a developed India. That is the overarching message from the BJP campaign across North Mumbai. Goyal has promised to turn north Mumbai into a model constituency. His promise of in-situ slum rehabilitation and expediting redevelopment of old buildings is turning out to be an attraction for middle-class voters. In 2019, the BJP won the seat by a margin of over 4.6 lakh votes, registering a mammoth victory against the Congress and its then candidate, Urmila Matondkar. Now, the saffron party is keen to win the seat with an even bigger margin, setting a new record of sorts in this seat. Ground inputs suggest that the BJP has done good work in the constituency in the last 10 years. Shetty, who had to give up the seat, is said to have been initially upset with Goyals candidature. But, the BJP has since sorted these issues out, so much so that Shetty is now on the campaign trail as well, canvassing for votes alongside the union minister. Shetty is seen as a good MP, who has consistently performed well. During his 10-year term, he gained popularity for transforming encroached land to open spaces for the public. The BJP is also leveraging its contacts in gated communities and resident societies. Congress appears to have accepted defeat The Congress, which last represented Mumbai North from 2004 to 2014, has fielded Patil, a local party worker to take on Goyal. However, his winning prospects look slim at best. The Congress appears to have accepted defeat already. This is the sense one picks from the ground, where neither the voters at large nor the cadre knows much about who Patil is and what he has to offer to Mumbai North. The Congress did not help its case by delaying the announcement of its candidate to the very last moment. While the BJP had announced Goyal as its candidate in March, Patils name came up days ahead of the last day of filing nominations. In the intervening period, the minister reached out to a cross-section of voters and established a significant head start. After his candidature was finally announced, Patil hit the ground and began campaigning through the lanes and bylanes of Mumbai North. He has been visiting households and carrying out roadshows across the constituency. He hails from the indigenous Koli community, and also visited fishing hamlets in Madh and Gorai. He believes that Mumbai North is no longer a safe seat for the BJP, especially because Shetty has been replaced with Goyal. Patil has said Shetty won the constituency for two consecutive terms because he is a local resident. As such, the subtle message is that Goyal is not a native of Mumbai North and is only contesting because the BJP considers this a safe seat. He has said he has lived in Mumbai North for more than 30 years, and is asking for votes on issues such as unemployment, improvement and upgrade of railway stations. Here are the key issues in Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency: Fishermen issues: The Kolis, Mumbais long-standing fishing community, are facing a multitude of challenges. Data from the Marine Fishery Census of India shows a decline in fishing families in Mumbais 30 fishing villages, dropping from 10,082 in 2005 to 9,304 in 2010. This decline is compounded by dwindling fish populations near the Mumbai coast due to increasing pollution. Fishermen have proposed designating the silver-skinned pomfret as Maharashtras official fish to promote conservation efforts. Unseasonal rain also pose a significant problem, leading to reduced catches and financial hardship. Unlike farmers, who receive compensation for crop failures, fishermen lack similar support. They are advocating for equal treatment, demanding government compensation during seasons with low catches. The Kolis, Mumbais long-standing fishing community, are facing a multitude of challenges. Data from the Marine Fishery Census of India shows a decline in fishing families in Mumbais 30 fishing villages, dropping from 10,082 in 2005 to 9,304 in 2010. This decline is compounded by dwindling fish populations near the Mumbai coast due to increasing pollution. Fishermen have proposed designating the silver-skinned pomfret as Maharashtras official fish to promote conservation efforts. Unseasonal rain also pose a significant problem, leading to reduced catches and financial hardship. Unlike farmers, who receive compensation for crop failures, fishermen lack similar support. They are advocating for equal treatment, demanding government compensation during seasons with low catches. Slum rehabilitation: People in the constituency have implored the government to keep their promises of slum rehabilitation and to implement related schemes. On March 6, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde approved the slum redevelopment project aimed at rehabilitating over 15,000 slums across Mumbai. But, people have complained that only two houses have been constructed in the constituency. In addition, people have urged the government to take full responsibility for slum improvement by leveraging available funds from various sources, including the BMCs fixed deposits, MHADA, the Centre and the PM Awas Yojna. People in the constituency have implored the government to keep their promises of slum rehabilitation and to implement related schemes. On March 6, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde approved the slum redevelopment project aimed at rehabilitating over 15,000 slums across Mumbai. But, people have complained that only two houses have been constructed in the constituency. In addition, people have urged the government to take full responsibility for slum improvement by leveraging available funds from various sources, including the BMCs fixed deposits, MHADA, the Centre and the PM Awas Yojna. Adivasi rehabilitation: The Adivasi population resides at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park with 20 acres available to them. But, they have no access to basic amenities like water and electricity. The adivasis are considered trespassers by the high court, though the Supreme Court has issued a stay on their eviction. They have been termed as encroachers and their farms and fruit trees have been destroyed. Additionally, on 320 acres, there are conflicts between humans and animals, exacerbated by issues such as plastic pollution, alcohol consumption, noise and vehicle emissions. The Adivasi population resides at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park with 20 acres available to them. But, they have no access to basic amenities like water and electricity. The adivasis are considered trespassers by the high court, though the Supreme Court has issued a stay on their eviction. They have been termed as encroachers and their farms and fruit trees have been destroyed. Additionally, on 320 acres, there are conflicts between humans and animals, exacerbated by issues such as plastic pollution, alcohol consumption, noise and vehicle emissions. Preservation of green cover and landscape: The preservation of green spaces in Mumbai faces several challenges. Turzon Hill and the lake in Charkop a habitat for migratory birds, reptiles and even golden jackals has experienced increased encroachment since the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting calls for its designation as a bird sanctuary. Dindoshi Hill in Goregaon, the source of the Oshiwara and Valbhat rivers, is also threatened by encroachment from builders despite its no development zone status and leopard population. The hills preservation is crucial to mitigate flood risks, as any alteration to its landscape could have significant consequences. The destruction of mangrove trees and the expansion of informal settlements, particularly in mangroves, wetlands and national park land are also major concerns. Furthermore, the unauthorised parking of buses in mangrove areas is not only promoting encroachment but also endangering the ecosystem and the surrounding forests. The preservation of green spaces in Mumbai faces several challenges. Turzon Hill and the lake in Charkop a habitat for migratory birds, reptiles and even golden jackals has experienced increased encroachment since the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting calls for its designation as a bird sanctuary. Dindoshi Hill in Goregaon, the source of the Oshiwara and Valbhat rivers, is also threatened by encroachment from builders despite its no development zone status and leopard population. The hills preservation is crucial to mitigate flood risks, as any alteration to its landscape could have significant consequences. The destruction of mangrove trees and the expansion of informal settlements, particularly in mangroves, wetlands and national park land are also major concerns. Furthermore, the unauthorised parking of buses in mangrove areas is not only promoting encroachment but also endangering the ecosystem and the surrounding forests. Infrastructure: Mumbai North faces significant infrastructural challenges, particularly in terms of public transport. The lack of a direct connection between Andheri and Dahisar, impacting areas like Kulupwadi, Devipada, Magathane, Siddharth Nagar, Thakur Village, Lokhandwala Kandivali, and Dindoshi Film City, contributes to severe traffic congestion. Residents are calling for improved connectivity and traffic management solutions. Additionally, there is a proposal for an animal bypass on the Ahmedabad-Thane Road near Ghodbunder to provide safe passage to leopards, reducing the risk of accidents and man-animal faceoffs. Residents also advocate for an outstation bus terminal at Dahisar check naka, using available octroi land. Borivali, while emerging as a transport hub, lacks adequate supporting infrastructure. State transport bus terminals are in poor condition and private buses are forced to stop along highways due to a lack of facilities. Similarly, the Borivali railway station faces space constraints, and is expanding vertically much to the inconvenience to the commuters. Mumbai North faces significant infrastructural challenges, particularly in terms of public transport. The lack of a direct connection between Andheri and Dahisar, impacting areas like Kulupwadi, Devipada, Magathane, Siddharth Nagar, Thakur Village, Lokhandwala Kandivali, and Dindoshi Film City, contributes to severe traffic congestion. Residents are calling for improved connectivity and traffic management solutions. Additionally, there is a proposal for an animal bypass on the Ahmedabad-Thane Road near Ghodbunder to provide safe passage to leopards, reducing the risk of accidents and man-animal faceoffs. Residents also advocate for an outstation bus terminal at Dahisar check naka, using available octroi land. Borivali, while emerging as a transport hub, lacks adequate supporting infrastructure. State transport bus terminals are in poor condition and private buses are forced to stop along highways due to a lack of facilities. Similarly, the Borivali railway station faces space constraints, and is expanding vertically much to the inconvenience to the commuters. Traffic congestion: This has become a major issue in north Mumbai. The rising population coupled with the increasing number of private vehicles in the constituency is a major contributor. People have demanded better traffic management systems and decongestion. Congestion due to parking buses and passengers congregating to board them in the middle of the road at bus stops along Borivali, Malad, Goregaon highway and SV Road are contributing to traffic congestion. In addition, unauthorised parking of private vehicles and buses on the streets also leads to logjams. Voter demographic Total Voters: 16,29,374 Voter Turnout in 2019 Elections: 60% SC: 60,287 (3.7%) ST: 16,294 (1%) Urban Voters: 1,629,374 (100%) Hindu: 84.7% Muslim: 9.2% Christians: 1.3% Buddhist: 5% Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and candidate from the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat Chirag Paswan has said in an exclusive interview with News18 that the politics of the opposition is based on the appeasement of Muslims. The 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases of the general elections. As part of the National Democratic Alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) will contest for 17 and 16 seats, respectively. Chirag Paswans party will contest five seats, and Jitan Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest one seat each. In the interview, Paswan also said that his fight has always been for Bihar first and Bihari first, while for opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, it is always family first. Edited excerpts: Your father late Ram Vilas Paswan represented Hajipur for a long time since 1977 and then he gave the baton to your uncle Paras. But you, despite winning Jamui two times, fought hard against your uncle. Why Hajipur and not Jamui? I never fought with my uncle. Yes, I wanted to serve the people of Hajipur because of my father and to carry forward his work. It was my responsibility to take over and fulfill the work that was left over. Your opponent Shiv Chandra Ram says that he has the advantage of being the son of Hajipur and he can bag the upper caste vote also because of the Munna Shukla factor. Whats your calculation keeping caste data in mind? I have no calculation. I am just seeking the blessings of the people. I dont have any equation of upper and lower caste and dont see caste as a factor. I am a Bihari and I seek blessings. 4 out of 6 assembly seats of the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency went to the mahagathbandhan. Why will people vote for you? What is your agenda? The agenda is development. The people of Hajipur will vote for my fathers work and the work which I have done. In 10 years, Jamui has become the number 1 aspirational constituency in the country according to the Niti Aayog. It was in the 99th position. Looking at my work, people believe that I can deliver. Your father gave a railway zonal office to Hajipur. But many long-distance trains dont stop here. People have to catch a train to Delhi from Patna. Are you going to raise this issue? These are things that are yet to be done. My father has worked a lot in this constituency but some works are left and I am working on these issues. I have to fulfill the dreams of my father. Bananas of Hajipur are famous across the country but no industrialisation has been done so far. Do you have any vision to get some industries here? Yes, when the same bananas go down south, they are converted into banana chips. If we have a processing and packaging unit in Hajipur, it will be beneficial for the farmers and generate more revenue. Certainly, industrial development is one of our agendas. Tejashwi Yadav is doing a one-man show in this election garnering huge crowds wherever he goes. Do you think he is going to dent the NDA in Bihar with his job card? Yes, you rightly said that he is doing a one-man show in Bihar. This exposes the INDI alliance. No one from his allies is accompanying him in the campaign. No senior leader of Congress shares the stage with him. Rahul Gandhi and Kharge came only once. On the other side, our PM has been visiting Bihar in every phase. Tejashwi called you selfish and said that your house was taken away, your fathers statue was toppled, and a rift was created between you and your uncle, yet you chose to become the Hanuman of PM Modi. He is younger than me. I give him all liberty to speak whatever he wishes. My fight was never for my house or car and other luxuries. My fight has always been for Bihar first and Bihari first. These guys wont understand this because for them its family first. Allegations of selling tickets and promoting nepotism were made by your own party members who in big numbers resigned from your party. Whats your explanation? There is no explanation. I respect the feelings of those who left me. They wanted to contest but I cant accommodate all as I am contesting only five seats. I understand that they worked hard and expected to get tickets but I had limitations. Nevertheless, I respect their decision. Having said that, the answer to the allegations will be out on June 4. Your opposition INDIA accuses the PM of being a dictator. They also say that if NDA comes to power, then the Constitution will be changed and democracy will perish. Whats your counter? The ones who actually imposed the Emergency in 1975 are talking about democracy. Why will anybody demolish the Constitution? My PM was Gujarats CM three times because of this Constitution. He is going to become the PM of this country for a third time because of this Constitution. On the one hand, the PM says that the day he will do Hindu-Muslim, he will leave public life, and on the other hand Lalu Prasad advocates Muslim reservation in full. Has the issue of reservation become a major factor in this election? Who all are actually disrespecting the Constitution? Its clearly mentioned in the Constitution that reservation wont be given on the basis of religion. The people for whom they are concerned are already getting reservations. The SC and backward-class Muslims are already getting reservations. The poor upper-caste Muslims are also getting reservations. These statements are given just for appeasing the minorities. The politics of opposition is based on the appeasement of Muslims. One chief minister of AAP and another one from JMM have already been in jail and recently a senior Congress minister of Jharkhand was arrested. Allegations are made that the NDA government wants to finish off the opposition. What is your view on this? Lets have faith in our judicial system. If someone is clean, no one will touch him or her, but if someone is corrupt, this is the Modi government, none will be spared. Kejriwal is out on bail. He said that Amit Shah will become the PM next year when Modi ji turns 75. How do you see this statement and how much difference would Kejriwals bail make in this election? See what happened to Swati Maliwal in CM Kejriwals house. Its shameful what happened. He should be answering about that rather than commenting on my PM. Just two days left in the fifth phase. Whats your message to the people? The people of my state know well what is good and bad for them. I can see the caste barrier fading away. The people of my state are voting only and only for development and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a begging bowl dig at neighbouring Pakistan while addressing a rally in Haryanas Ambala. The prime minister also stressed that robust leadership makes enemies think twice before challenging India. Pakistan had been troubling India for 70 years, it had bombs in its hands. Today it has bheekh ka katora (begging bowl) in its hands, PM Modi said, referring to bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). When there is a dhaakad government in the country, enemies too think 100 times before doing any harm. When there is a dhaakad government, enemies tremble, he added. The prime minister further stated that his dhaakad government demolished the walls of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Could a weak government have changed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir? Remember the time when there was a Congress government and the brave mothers of Haryana used to be worried day and night? Today, it has been 10 yearsall of that has stopped. Modis dhaakad government demolished the wall of Article 370 and Kashmir started walking on the path of development, he said. PM Modi also accused Congress of betraying the armed forces and soldiers saying the opposition party wanted to import arms and other materials from abroad to earn commission and make profits. Congress kept the Indian armed forcess capabilities weak so that they could earn huge profits in the name of importing arms from abroad. Our soldiers were not provided with proper clothes, shoes, bulletproof jackets. They did not even get good rifles. I started a campaign to make the Indian army Atmanirbhar. Today, the army is getting Made in India weapons. India, which once used to import weapons from other countries, is now selling weapons to other countries, he said. With a little over two weeks until the vote counting on June 4, PM Modi expressed confidence in his partys victory in the Lok Sabha elections and asserted that Congress, INDI alliance and all their friends have been destroyed after four phases of elections. Only 17 days remain to go for June 4 (day of counting). In four phases of elections, Congress and the INDI Alliance, chaaron khaane chitt ho chuke hain. Whatever tactics the INDI Alliance used for the country have all been defeated by the public itself. Haryana is a state which has patriotism in its veins. Haryana knows anti-national forces very well, the prime minister said. (With ANI inputs) Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website The decision to part ways with the Samajwadi Party (SP) was a fallout of ideological differences, Manoj Pandey, the rebel SP MLA from Unchahar assembly seat who joined the BJP in Raebareli, told News18 in an interview, adding that the country needs leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take development to new heights. Pandey also slammed Swami Prasad Maurya, former SP leader and president of Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party, for making derogatory remarks against the Ramcharitmanas as well as burning its pages. On his decision to join BJP, Pandey said the move was expected. Almost two years ago, when Maurya first spoke ill of the Ramcharitmanas, I was the first one to register my protest. It took me a mere 27 seconds to react. I told him that this is beyond what I can tolerate, he said. In January 2023, Lucknow Police had named Maurya and nine others belonging to an outfit called Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha for burning pages of the Ramcharitmanas in the capitals Vrindavan area. The FIR was lodged on a complaint by BJP leader Satnam Singh Lavi. Pandey said he had also opposed Mauryas controversial remark mocking the Pran Pratishtha or consecration ceremony of Lord Rams statue in Ayodhya. Being a part of the party, I took the matter to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, demanding his intervention. But, surprisingly, he was okay with the statement and asked me to let it slide, said Pandey. Pandey the former chief whip of SP who had cross-voted in favour of BJP candidates during the Rajya Sabha elections held in February this year said that was the day he decided to part ways. Sanatan ka support bhi aur virodh bhi, aisa toh nahi chal sakta na [We cant support and oppose Sanatan at the same time], he said. Pandey also expressed gratitude to Shah for visiting him at his residence. The home minister had paid a visit to the ex-SP leader two days ago to persuade him to join the BJP. The saffron partys Raebareli candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh was also present at the meeting. Pandey said the country needs leaders like PM Modi, Shah and Adityanath and he is with them in their mission to take the nations development to another level. Besides, he said in the remaining phases of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he would campaign for the BJPs candidates in the fray. On Friday, Pandey shared the dais with Shah during a rally which was called in support of the party candidates from Raebareli and Amethi. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Security in parts of the national capital was beefed up in view of two different rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the local police having planned to deploy around 3,000-personnel strong force on the day. On Friday, the Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, along with other senior officers, visited the northeast district and took stock of the security arrangements, where PM Modi will address a rally. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will campaign at the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency. A senior officer said, Modi is likely to arrive at the rally site by a chopper after addressing another election rally in Sonipat in Haryana. At least four-layer security arrangements comprising the SPG, security wing of the Delhi Police, and the local police will be in place. Meetings were held with other agencies responsible for the prime ministers security. We have identified buildings and trees on all possible routes where police personnel have already been deployed to keep a strict vigil on all activities. Every single personnel has been directed to report immediately in case of any emergency, a senior police officer said. A Delhi Development Authority (DDA) ground at pushta number 4 of Yamuna Khadar has been selected as the venue for the election gathering. The ground comes under the Ghonda assembly, which is a part of the Northeast Delhi parliamentary constituency. The rally of PM Modi will likely begin at 4 pm, whereas Gandhi will address his rally in Ashok Vihar (Chandni Chowk) at around 6 pm. Robust security arrangements have been made for both the rallies. No one will be allowed to breach law and order at any cost. Around 3,000 police personnel along with paramilitary forces will be deployed to maintain law and order, said the officer. The officer said police have already intensified night patrolling near the rally ground at both the places and PCR vehicles are already on alert. We have restricted the area for public use since we came to know about the rally. Additional police force deployment has already been made and teams are keeping a strict vigil round the clock, said the officer, adding that they have also directed the traffic police to find alternative routes for diversions for the daily commuters. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal has accused Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwals personal assistant Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the CMs residence. AAP though has tried to shift the blame to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Delhi minister Atishi called it a conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP whose face is Swati Maliwal. But what does the BJP have to say about its alleged involvement? Ask BJPs national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla and he is surprised at the allegation. The person who ordered the hit is from AAP. The person who actually hit is from AAP. The person who confirmed the incident is from AAP. The person who called up the police is from AAP. An eyewitness is also from AAP. Yet the accusation is that its a BJP ploy, he told News18. On Friday, Maliwal filed an FIR with graphic details of what allegedly happened to her, something that could derail Kejriwals Lok Sabha election campaign while he is out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court. The Aam Aadmi Party, which recently propped up the then jailed CMs wife Sunita Kejriwal as the face of its election campaign, is facing considerable flak on a women-centric issue. In her First Information Report (FIR), former Delhi Commission for Women chief Maliwal has alleged that Bibhav Kumar, who has now been arrested, slapped her seven-eight times, deliberately pulled up her shirt, kicked her in the chest, stomach and pelvis area, and called her a neech aurat. While AAP has released some video clips purportedly to contradict the claims, Atishi alleged that Maliwal was neither assaulted nor abused. Instead, she accused the MP of using threatening language against Kumar and the security personnel present and also suggested that Maliwal had the BJPs backing. But leaders from the BJP, which is raising this issue both in Delhi and Punjab where AAP has been expecting some gains in these elections, say they are confused about what their role is in the whole row. BJPs Delhi leader Kapil Mishra says AAP should first decide its political stance. First Sanjay Singh accepted that Swati Maliwal received abusive behaviour and Arvind Kejriwal would take action against Bibhav Kumar. Now, Atishi is claiming Swati is lying. Does that mean Sanjay Singh too was lying? AAP while not addressing this contradiction has come up with more theories. When the police asked Swati Maliwal to undergo MLC on the said date, she refused. But after three days, the BJP brings out Swati Maliwal with a new lie. The video shows the truth, claimed Atishi on Friday. Defence came from Swati Maliwals close associate, an old hand of AAP and DCW member Vandana Singh who wrote on social media site X asking for the full video. BJP spokesperson Sanju Verma said, Whether Swati Maliwal had had medical examination after 24 or 48 or 72 hours is not the question. The crux of the matter is she had a 4.5-hour medical examination at AIIMS in Delhi which corroborated she was indeed physically assaulted. As BJP starts asking counter questions on the contradictions between Sanjay Singh and Atishi or Swati Maliwals medical report corroborating her accusations, AAP seems to be short of answers. As Delhi a city known to have come to the streets after the Nirbhaya gang rape warms up to vote on May 25, the row may cost AAP dear. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Palak Sindhwani is widely known for her portrayal of Sonalika Aatmaram Bhide (Sonu) on Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. The actress joined the popular sitcom in 2019, replacing Nidhi Bhanushali. She has been portraying the character of Sonu for over four years now. Currently, the young actress is taking a break from her on-screen commitments and enjoying a vacation in Europe. She recently shared a series of pictures, flaunting a stylish outfit that accentuates her impeccable fashion sense and radiates her beauty. In a series of snapshots, Palak is seen posing in the middle of quaint streets, with sun rays falling on her face, giving her a radiant glow. She wears a white schiffli dress paired with a plunging neckline and a tie knot in front. Completing her ensemble, she opts for light blue sliders, a golden necklace, black sunglasses and a black bag. Alongside the photo, Palak captioned it, Lost on the streets of Altea. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Palak Sindhwani (@palaksindhwani) Fans and followers flooded the comment section with love and adoration for the young actress. One user wrote, Lost in you, while another commented, I cant express how beautiful you are looking, maam. Just a day ago, she delighted her followers by sharing a video of herself sailing through the city. Clad in an all-black ensemble, she appeared to be thoroughly enjoying her time with her loved ones. In the video, she can also be seen confidently maneuvering the water boat, adding an extra element of excitement to her European adventure. The post was shared with the caption, POV : Living my Zindagi na Milegi Dobara moment! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Palak Sindhwani (@palaksindhwani) Palak Sidhwani hails from the small town of Manasa in Madhya Pradesh. She is an Indian actress and influencer who gained fame with her role in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Before this, she appeared in several television commercials for well-known brands such as Google, HP, Amul and ICICI. Additionally, she featured in the web series Hostages, directed by Sudheer Mishra and starred in the short film The Bar for Hamaramovies. Palak has also worked as a directors assistant and an assistant in various casting projects. Moreover, she is a trained classical dancer. A Bengaluru-bound Air India Express flight, carrying around 137 passengers, made an emergency landing in Tamil Nadus Tiruchirappalli due to a technical glitch. The Thiruvananthapuram-Bengaluru service encountered the issue mid-air, prompting the safe landing, according to sources at the airport. Following the landing, all passengers disembarked from the flight, while the technical crew commenced attending to the fault. An Air India Express spokesperson confirmed that the flight was diverted to Tiruchirappalli due to a technical issue. A replacement aircraft is being organised to operate the flight to Bengaluru. We are providing all administrative arrangements and regret the inconvenience caused to the travel schedule (of passengers), the spokesperson added. In a similar incident on Friday, a Bengaluru-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The flight, AI 807, departed from Delhi with 175 passengers bound for Bengaluru but was forced to turn back and safely land at the national capitals Indira Gandhi International Airport around 6:38 pm. This decision came after a fire was reported in its air conditioning unit. Air India flight AI807 flying from Delhi to Bengaluru Air returned to Delhi this evening after a fire warning from its auxiliary power unit. After the pilots exercised the necessary protocols, the aircraft made an uneventful landing and all passengers and crew deplaned at the aerobridge safely, Air India spokesperson stated. In another incident on Thursday, an Air India flight bound for Delhi collided with a luggage tractor while taxiing towards the runway for takeoff at Pune Airport. As a result of the collision, around 200 passengers were left stranded at Pune Airport following the incident. According to airport officials, the collision caused damage to one of the aircrafts wings and a tire. The incident occurred while approximately 180 passengers were on board. The aircraft, carrying around 180 passengers, suffered damage to its nose and a tyre near the landing gear. Despite the collision, all passengers and crew on board are reported to be safe, an official said. (With inputs from agencies) Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website As many as ten devotees were killed and several others injured after the bus they were travelling in caught fire near Tauru in Haryanas Nuh district on Saturday. The devotees were returning from a pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The bus was carrying around 64 people, including women and children, all of whom were residents of Punjab and Chandigarh. Watch: Eight people were killed and around two dozen injured when a tourist bus caught fire in Nuh, Haryana. pic.twitter.com/on1DG64moK IANS (@ians_india) May 18, 2024 Locals noticed the fire, chased the bus and asked the driver to stop. They also informed the police and the fire department. The injured people have been brought to Nuh Medical College. #WATCH | Haryana: Several people injured after the bus they were travelling in caught fire in Nuh. The injured have been brought to Nuh Medical College. We were returning from Vrindavan. We dont know how the fire broke out. 10 people have died. 64 people were there on the bus, said Meena Rani, one of the survivors. Meanwhile, Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed consoled the incident and said, I would say that this is a very painful, sad and heart-wrenching incident. The devotees were returning from Vrindavan. The bus caught fire and several people including elderly, women, and children got injured. Congress leader and Partys candidate from Gurgaon (Haryana) Lok Sabha seat Raj Babbar went to the hospital to meet the injured. In a very sad incident more than eight people have died and many are injured due to fire burn, they were pilgrims, I am going to the hospital to see them, he said. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website The Defence Ministry on Saturday dismissed reports claiming that a model of a Chinook chopper, installed by the DRDO at the 2020 edition of DefExpo in Lucknow, had gone missing. The ministrys spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu stated that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) never installed any helicopter model in Lucknow. The news circulating about a DRDO installed Chinook Helicopter Model at Lucknow during DefExpo 2020 missing is misleading, Bharat Bhushan Babu stated in a brief statement. He further added, Chinook is made by Boeing and DRDO has never installed any helicopter model at Lucknow anytime. DefExpo2020 was an incident-free exhibition and no product or model went missing during its conduct. At the 2020 Defence Expo in Lucknow, DRDO displayed a model of the Chinook helicopter made from scrap near the entry gate. However, in February 2023, during the G-20 summit program, the citys municipal corporation removed the model, citing a weak helicopter pillar and VIP movement in the area. Since then, the helicopter model has not been seen or reported, as per Lokmat Times report. Authorities also reported the presence of a deteriorating helicopter model at Sector 20 of the Vrindavan Yojna area in Lucknow. Following a recommendation by security personnel, it was removed as a helipad had to be constructed for the Prime Ministers visit to the city for an event relating to G20. After the helicopter went missing, a formal complaint regarding its disappearance was lodged with Kalyan Banerjee, the Joint Secretary of the Urban Development Department, in April 2023. Banerjee subsequently reached out to officials from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation to inquire about the helicopters location. During this period, Rajesh Jha, the Zonal Sanitary Officer of Municipal Corporation Zone-8, responded in writing, indicating that the helicopter had been sent for repairs to the Rubbish and Removable (RR) workshop situated in Gomti Nagar in the city. However, the current RR chief Manoj Prabhat, contradicted this claim, asserting that no such helicopter had been received at the workshop, and there was no record of its arrival in the past. (With inputs from PTI) Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Hello, readers! In todays evening digest, News18 brings you the latest updates on Swati Maliwals assault case, Lok Sabha elections-related coverage, and other stories. Coming To BJP HQ Tomorrow With My Leaders: Kejriwals Jail Bharo Dare After Bibhav Kumars Arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of playing jail khel, a few hours after his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was arrested in the Swati Maliwal assault case. The Delhi CM, while addressing a media briefing announced that he, along with AAP leaders, MPs and MLAs will march towards BJP headquarters on Sunday at noon and you can put in jail whoever you want. READ MORE From Rajya Sabha Pick to BJP Pawn: How Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Lost Trust in Swati Maliwal in 3 Months It was January 2024 when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal nominated 39-year-old Swati Maliwal to the Upper House, axing Sushil Gupta and re-nominating sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta. For the young activist, it was an unprecedented honour to enter Parliament. READ MORE Mamata Will Never Be PM: TMC Turncoat Tapas Roy Tells News18 He Will Snatch Kolkata Uttar Seat for BJP from Trinamools 5-time MP Trinamool Congresss Sudip Bandyopadhyay is a five-time MP from the Kolkata Uttar constituency, but this time he faces a tough fight from former party colleague and now Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Tapas Roy. READ MORE Kangana Ranaut Makes BIG Claim, Will QUIT Bollywood If She Wins Mandi Seat: Ek Acchi Heroine Hai Par Kangana Ranaut has confirmed that if she wins the Mandi seat in Lok Sabha Elections 2024, she will quit Bollywood. The actress recently turned politician and is contesting from her hometown, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kangana submitted her nomination on Tuesday and has dedicated all her time to campaigning. READ MORE New Covid-19 Wave In Singapore, Minister Advises Wearing Of Masks After 25,900 Cases Recorded In A Week Singapore is seeing a new Covid-19 wave as the authorities recorded more than 25,900 cases from May 5 to 11 even as Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday advised the wearing of masks again. READ MORE Telugu Actor Chandrakanth Dies By Suicide After Co-Star Pavithra Jayarams Death In Car Accident Telugu television actor Chandrakanth, widely recognized as Chandu, has reportedly died by suicide at his home in Alkapur, Telangana. The news of his passing on Friday has deeply saddened the Telugu television industry, especially following the recent tragic loss of his co-star and dear friend Pavithra Jayaram in a fatal road accident. According to a statement given to the police by Chandrakanths father, the actor had been battling depression in the days leading up to his untimely demise. READ MORE Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Two days after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)s Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted by Bibhav Kumar, the former personal secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the latter has filed a counter-complaint against the former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief. As per sources, Kumar, in his complaint, alleged forced entry by Maliwal into the chief ministers residence, breaching security and assaulting the ex-PS. Kumar was last seen with Kejriwal in Lucknow but his location since then is unknown. He was not spotted with the Delhi chief minister during his Mumbai rally on Friday. The FIR followed by a counter-complaint could make it more challenging for Delhi Police to ascertain the truth. Culpable Homicide and delay in FIR The FIR filed by Delhi Police has accused Kumar of culpable homicide under Section 308 of the IPC. I was slapped, unprovoked, 7-8 times by Bibhav Kumar. I was kicked on my stomach and pelvic region, Malwal had alleged in her complaint. Lawyer Shilpi Jain, however, questioned the culpable homicide charge. The charge will stand in court if medical report proves a grievous, life-threatening injury. Slapping attracts Section 323 which is a bailable offence, she said. Jain also pointed out that the delay in filing an FIR and conducting the medical examination of the victim always goes in favour of the defence. Maliwal reached the Civil Lines police station on Monday after making a PCR call alleging assault at the CMs residence but did not register a formal complaint till Thursday. Her medical examination at AIIMS was carried out on Thursday night more than 48 hours after the alleged incident. Supreme Courts Advocate on Record Prerna Singh said the delay in lodging the FIR and conducting the medical examination could also vitiate the investigation process. Although the delay in lodging the FIR is not inordinate, considering the high-profile nature of the case and the prevailing circumstances, the same could pose issues like tampering of evidence and tutoring of witnesses present at the place of occurrence. Since the FIR has been lodged belatedly, the medico legal finding might also vary. Lastly, the delay can also be used by the defence to cast aspersions on the genuineness of the prosecution case by alleging it is an afterthought and to be a coloured version of the incident, thereby corroding the credibility of the version of the prosecutorix, Singh told News18. Non-disclosure of full facts In the FIR, Maliwal has alleged that when she was waiting at Kejriwals residence, Kumar entered and asked: How dare you not follow and accept what we have asked you to? Delhi High Court lawyer Soni Singh pointed out that it is not clear in the FIR as to what was the context of such a statement or the motive of Maliwals visit to the chief ministers residence. No motive or reason is mentioned in the FIR. It does not say why she was attacked or what was she being asked to do which she refused? Singh said. She also pointed out that in the absence of any witness, this could be construed as a case of the victims words versus that of the accused. At the camp office during elections, it is also noteworthy that no one else is stated to have been present or witness to the entire incident, Singh told news18. As per Maliwal, after she called 112 to complain about the assault, the security personnel at Kejriwals residence walked in to the place of incidence and asked her to leave at Bibhav kumars behest. Delhi Police is likely to question the personnel on duty to understand the state in which they saw Maliwal. CCTV footage The CCTV footage of the waiting area could hold the key for the Delhi Police. AAP questioned Maliwal on the basis of a video that was leaked to the media on Friday which is believed to be recorded after the alleged assault. It shows Maliwal sitting in the CMs residence surrounded by security personnel and getting into a verbal altercation. The video, which Maliwal alleged was edited, does not conclusively establish the injuries to the Rajya Sabha MP. Maliwal, however, was captured limping by media cameras outside AIIMS and Kejriwals residence on Thursday and Friday. Maliwal demanded that the full CCTV footage be released to establish the truth. She also posted on X about her apprehensions of CCTV footage being tampered. I have received information that now these people are tampering with the CCTV of the house, the former Delhi womens panel chief posted. Delhi Police visited the CMs residence on Friday with Maliwal. Recreating the crime scene and speaking to security personnel on duty have been undertaken to establish the sequence of events. Maliwal reportedly arrived in a cab and left in an auto after the alleged assault. The cab and the auto drivers could be crucial witnesses in the case. Police is also likely to question AAP MP Sanjay Singh who on Wednesday acknowledged in a press conference that Maliwal was misbehaved with by Bibhav Kumar. Yesterday, Maliwal had gone to meet Arvind Kejriwal at his residence. While she was waiting to meet him in the drawing room, Bibhav Kumar misbehaved with her. This is a highly condemnable incident. Kejriwal has taken cognisance of it and will take strict action in the incident, Singh had said on Tuesday. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla, terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag. An open tourist camp near Pahalgam and a former sarpanch at Hirpora in south Kashmir were targeted. Terrorists fired upon and injured a woman, Farha, a resident of Jaipur (in Rajasthan) and her spouse Tabrez at Yannar in Anantnag. The injured were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off. Further details shall follow, the Kashmir Zone Police posted on X. The tourist couples father Aslam Khan said, My younger son went on a tour on May 13. When they were going to a hotel, two people came on a motorbike and opened fire on them. Both of them got injured. I request the Indian government to bring them from Srinagar to AIIMS Delhi and provide them with the best medical facilities. Back-to-back attacks In another attack, within half an hour, terrorists shot dead former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh in Shopians Hirpora around 10.30 pm, the officials said. Sheikh, who was associated with the BJP, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries. The areas in Anantnag and Shopian have been cordoned off and search operations have been launched to nab the attackers. The back-to-back attacks come at a time when campaigning for the parliamentary polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is going on. Polling in Baramulla will be held on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections. Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference, PDP and the BJP, condemned the attacks. Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, said on X, While we condemn the attack in Pahalgam today that resulted in injuries to two tourists followed by another attack on a (former) sarpanch in Hirpora, Shopian the timing of these attacks given that the south election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by GOI (Government of India). Polling for the seat was scheduled to be conducted on May 7 but was deferred after few political parties in Jammu and Kashmir raised concerns over weather conditions. Polling will now being held on May 25. National Conference President Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah also condemned the terror attacks. They have said that such acts of brutality remain a serious impediment to achieving long-term peace in J-K. They urged all communities to come together in these challenging times and support efforts towards lasting harmony. Their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult period, a statement from the party said. #WATCH | Jammu & Kashmir BJP spokesperson, Altaf Thakur says, Its a sad thing that tourists are being attacked and one party worker of the BJP, Aijaz Ahmad being killed. Its an output of the frustration of Pakistan and militants due to heavy voter turnout in Srinagar Today https://t.co/GF4LTK64r4 pic.twitter.com/666pj8ssHP ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2024 The BJP in a statement said, We strongly condemn the killing of ex-sarpanch Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh in Hirpora, Shopian, South Kashmir, by terrorists today. Aijaz Ahmad was a brave soldier of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP firmly stands with the family of Aijaz Ahmad, who lost his life in this terror attack, it said. BJP spokesperson for Kashmir Altaf Thakur said, Its a sad thing that tourists are being attacked and one party worker of the BJP, Aijaz Ahmad being killed. Its an output of the frustration of Pakistan and militants due to heavy voter turnout in Srinagar. Today Kashmiris want to vote and have denied terrorism. They want to take part in mainstream politics and by using the constitutional right and through democracy they want to establish their representative. I think the administration is also responsible for this incident. A few days back the BJP wrote to the DC that he (Aijaz Ahmad) had a threat and asked the administration to provide him the accommodation, but the DC hasnt taken it seriously. I think the DC is responsible for the killing of Aijaz Saheb. Today, we will hold a protest for the same in Srinagar. The day after tomorrow, we will do gherao of the DC office and seek answers from him, he added. (With agency inputs) Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website A woman has reached Uttar Pradesh police in Lucknow alleging that she was raped by a man, whom she was later forced to marry after being coerced into changing her religion. In her complaint, the victim said that later her tormentor deceived her into aborting her five-month-old fetus that was conceived as a result of rape. According to a report by Times of India, the woman is a Lucknow resident. She met the accused Saifuddin, a Karnataka resident, in Bahrain, where she worked for about seven years. The woman told police that she and Saifuddin grew close while working in Bahrain, where he raped her one day. I lodged a rape complaint there. While the matter was under investigation, Saifuddin and his family members persuaded me to withdraw the complaint after I became five months pregnant as a result of the rape, TOI reported citing the womans complaint. She said that the accused and his family pressured her to change her religion from Hindu to Muslim and get married to him. On February 13, 2024, I was married to Saifuddin according to Muslim law. In due course, Saifuddin tricked me into visiting Mumbai for a medical consultation, and I was admitted to a hospital where the doctors secretly aborted the five-month-old fetus, she alleged. Besides Saifuddin, the woman also accused his former fiancee and his family members of harassing her for dowry. She said she was taken to Saifuddins house in Karnatakas Beedar, where his former fiancee, Monika, his elder brother, and other family members tortured her mentally and physically. Police have, meanwhile, registered a case into the matter for dowry-related harassment against all accused. Police are looking for Saifuddin, who remains untraceable, the report said. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website We wish to look half as fabulous as Hollywood star Demi Moore did in her Cannes 2024 outfit. The actress, 61, returned to the Cannes red carpet after 27 years and it didnt fail to make waves. To mark her appearance at the 77th edition of the prestigious film festival, Demi Moore rested her faith in the craftsmanship of Giorgio Armani. She attended the screening of Kind of Kindness at the Cannes Film Festival in an embellished gown. The strapless number came with a figure-hugging silhouette. The red ensemble featured overall sequin detailing, along with floral work with beads. The dress highlighted a corseted bodice with a V-shaped cutout around the neck, it flew down to form a straight floor-gazing hem. Demis glitzy dress further got its bling through Chopard diamond statement earrings, which were the only piece of jewellery she picked from the accessory aisle. The actress left her silky tresses loosened. Just the right amount of pink glam sealed the deal for her. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Demi Moore (@demimoore) It turns out that Demi Moores return to Cannes is going to be a blingy affair. We say this because the actress opted for another shimmery gown as her second outfit. Demi slipped into a strapless, dazzling gown with an overall sequin work. Coming from the shelves of Balenciaga, the blue number highlighted the corseted bodice, which, with a straight neckline, flew downwards to form a flowy hem. The actress teamed it with a gleaming Chopard diamond necklace set. Yet again, she left her silky tresses loosened. For the glam, she went with matte pink lips and generously blushed cheekbones. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brad Goreski (@bradgoreski) Demi Moores appearance at Gucci Cruise 25 was even worth bookmarking. The actress wore a sheer ankle-length dress, crafted out of lace. The outfit came with a black bodice adorned with overall sequin work and lace detailing, around its plunging neckline, which was held together with barely-there spaghetti straps. She styled the back dress with a halter neck embellished piece, creating a visual contrast. For the final touch, she picked shiny black boots and a chunky gold necklace. Yet again, she left her tresses loosened, to feel the breeze. A small black handbag gave her look a finishing touch. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Demi Moore (@demimoore) Thank you, Demi Moore, for inspiring us with your stunning red carpet-looks! World Whisky Day is a celebration of one of the worlds most beloved spirits, inviting enthusiasts from around the globe to raise a glass in honor of their favorite whiskies. As we toast to the craftsmanship and complexity of this revered libation, what better way to enhance the experience than by pairing whisky with delectable dishes that complement its flavors? Whether youre a Scotch aficionado, a bourbon connoisseur, or a fan of Japanese whisky, theres a perfect pairing awaiting everyone. Join us as we explore seven exquisite whisky and food pairings that are sure to delight the palate and elevate your World Whisky Day celebration. Cheers! Indri and World CuisineIndri-Trini, Indias first triple cask single malt whisky, boasts a unique flavor profile of light fruity notes, sweet vanilla, spice, subtle nuttiness, and a medium to long finish, making it versatile for pairing with diverse cuisines. Owing to its distinct flavor profile, it pairs perfectly well with Indian dishes like Mughlai kebabs, tikkas, biryani, and curries like Kosha Mangsho, while complementing Japanese sushi, sashimi, and yakitori as well. From Italian risottos to French coq au vin and cheese platters, Middle Eastern lamb tagine and mezze platters, Mexican mole poblano and carnitas tacos, to American barbecue ribs, Indri-Trini pairs exquisitely with world cuisine, creating a harmonious blend of tradition and sophistication that elevates the culinary journey. Ballantines and Grilled SteakBallantines 7 American Barrel Whisky is exclusively matured in barrels that have previously been used to age American whiskies, like Bourbon. This lends it a smooth and sweet flavour profile, with notes of vanilla, toffee and orchard fruits. Due to the amalgamation of various notes in its flavor profile, Ballantimes 7 American Barrel Whisky is best consumed in cocktails, pairing beautifully with grilled steak. Seagrams Longitude 77 with Ker Sangri TacoSeagrams Longitude 77 Indian Single Malt Whisky from the House of Pernod Ricard India is a homage to the enchanting spirit of India and reimagines an India of unparalleled luxury and sophistication. Its a tribute to a land rich in culture, heritage, and natural beauty, told through the art of whisky-making. The spirit goes well with reimagined Indian contemporary makeover of Rajasthans beloved dish, one-of-a-kind Ker Sangri Taco bar with earthy robust flavours of chillies, nutmeg, mustard, and more. Samosas and Jack Daniels Tennessee AppleIndulge in the dynamic duo of crispy samosas and smooth Jack Daniels Tennessee Apple. The savory spices of the samosas perfectly complement the sweet, tangy notes of Tennessee Apple, creating a refreshing and satiating snack experience. Whether youre enjoying a casual gathering or a cozy night in, this pairing celebrates the best of both worlds. Cheers to delicious indulgence! The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old: Elevating Sea BassIntroducing a new dimension to your culinary journey, pair the distinguished Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old with succulent sea bass. This exquisite whisky, aged to perfection in a harmonious blend of American and European oak casks, adds depth and sophistication to the delicate flavors of the sea bass. The rich, complex notes of The Macallan, with hints of vanilla, caramel, and dried fruits, complement the buttery texture and subtle sweetness of the sea bass, creating a symphony of flavors that tantalize the palate. Whether grilled, pan-seared, or baked, sea bass paired with The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old is a culinary experience like no other, where each bite is elevated to new heights of indulgence and refinement. Cheers to the perfect harmony of whisky and seafood! GianChand Single Malt WhiskyFrom the house DeVANS, the OG of the alcobev industry, GianChand Single Malt Whisky is worth every sip. It has been hailed by Jim Murray, the global whisky critic as one of the finest single malt he has tasted from India in recent times. As you sit with friends enjoying this whisky with a backbone of vanilla, sweetness of pineapple drop and that tiny little hint of barley, you can include some interesting vegetarian and non-vegetarian starters to go with it. The smokey grilled chicken for non veg lovers will complement the taste of this whisky. For vegetarians, paneer achari tikka is an amazing food pairing, elevating the taste of the drink. The thin oils in the whisky adding delicate notes give you the perfect finish that you can savour. Kiara Advani made a dramatic entrance announcing her arrival at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Looking vivacious in renowned fashion designer Prabal Gurungs exquisite draped dress, Kiara shared a sneak peek of her Rendezvous at the Riviera on Instagram. Fresh as a daisy, Kiaras ivory crepe back satin dress featured a thigh-high slit and dramatic sleeves. The statement piece is part of Prabals Fall Winter 2024 Fragmented Memories collection. The collection which was presented at the New York Fashion Week in 2024, acknowledges the blurred lines between memory and reality, inviting introspection. Kiara looked ethereal in the soft pastel shade of ivory which played the perfect canvas to highlight the risque cut-outs in the ensemble. Draped and styled with perfection by celebrity fashion stylist Lakshmi Lehr and assisted by Elsie Chetry and Abhimanyu Desai. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KIARA (@kiaraaliaadvani) Complementing her stylish, chic look were the twisted fancy diamond pearl earrings from Tara Fine Jewellery and the heritage ring from Mahesh Notandass. Kiara who is known for her love for gold, adorned a handcrafted handcuff from Ishhaara jewellery. Her sun-kissed flawless features were highlighted with Lekha Guptas makeup artistry. As for her crowning glory, her hair was styled by Priyanka Borkar. The half-tie hairstyle was accentuated with soft waves and pearl accessories. With a spring in her step and the wind in her hair, Kiara took to Instagram to announce her arrival at Cannes with a cute caption: She said, Rendezvous at the Riviera. With compliments pouring in for the stylish look she adorned by her industry friends, we also spotted Prabal Gurung leave a Yessss comment on her post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KIARA (@kiaraaliaadvani) We love this Prabal Gurung and Kiara Advani collaboration and hope to see more of his designs on this Indian diva. If her arrival announcement was so magical and stylish we cant wait for Kiara to make her red carpet debut at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Kiara will be attending the Women in Cinema initiative organised by the Red Sea Film Foundation. The gala will take place on the sidelines of the 6th round of the Cannes Film Festival and Kiara Advani will be honoured. The Italian luxury fashion brand Valentino has officially launched its flagship store at the Jio World Plaza in Mumbai. The grand opening was nothing short of a glamorous affair, drawing in a crowd of A-listers who added their signature sparkle to the event. One standout was none other than the style icon herself, Malaika Arora. Like always, she managed to make heads turn at the event. For the grand launch, Malaika made a killer choicea sleek black shimmery mini dress straight from its collection. The outfit had all the details, like eye-catching white trims along the neckline, sleeves and pocket hem, which added extra oomph to her look. With its fitted silhouette and flared A-line skirt, the dress grabbed the attention of the fashion enthusiasts. And lets not forget the signature V logo on the pockets, giving an extra dose of Valentino magic to the ensemble. With Malaika rocking it, the dress became an instant hit. Now, lets zoom in on her accessories, they were total game-changers. Keeping it sleek and chic, Malaika Arora opted for minimalistic gold logo Valentino earrings that added just the right amount of sparkle. She carried a white mini bag that was a total showstopper. Those black pointed pumps were another statement highlight of the ensemble that pulled her entire look together flawlessly. Her glam game up was on point, featuring mesmerising makeup with a blend of nude eyeshadow, defined brows and mascara-coated lashes. Her dewy base, topped with a touch of luminous highlighter, took things to the next level. Those bold red lips added a fierce and bossy vibe to the whole look. Malaika opted for a stunning hairdo with a sleek centre-parting. The side flicks were like the perfect frame, enhancing her already flawless features. She truly knows how to slay every detail. See her look here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani) Earlier, Malaika commanded attention in a resplendent Duchess yellow satin gown from the luxury fashion label Gauri & Nainika. The corset-inspired bodice, a plunging halter neckline, and a subtle train on one side, imparted a sense of elegance to the ensemble, while black floral motifs added a striking contrast. Accessories like a stack of silver bangles, a statement ring and drop earrings enhanced the ensemble flawlessly. Her makeup featured a matte base, accentuated with nude eyeshadow, mascara-laden lashes and a nude lip shade. Malaika swept her tresses back gracefully, cascading beautifully over her neck and shoulders. World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is marked on May 18. Its a day to raise awareness about the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS and the importance of developing a vaccine. It recognises researchers, volunteers, and healthcare workers dedicated to developing a vaccine. The day marks the anniversary of a 1997 speech by US President Bill Clinton highlighting the importance of an HIV vaccine. What Is AIDS? AIDS is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a serious condition which is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This virus attacks the bodys immune system targeting CD4 cells which are crucial in fighting infections and diseases. AIDS is diagnosed when a person with HIV has a severely compromised immune system indicated by a low CD4 cell count. It can become life-threatening when left untreated. Causes And Symptoms HIV could transmit through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, anal fluids and breast milk. The virus can be transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse and sharing needles or syringes contaminated with HIV-infected blood. It can also be transmitted from an HIV-infected mother to a child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. The symptoms include fever, joint pain, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, enlarged glands, sweating (particularly at night), red rashes on the body, and fatigue. World AIDS Vaccine Day History World AIDS Vaccine Day, initiated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) in 1998, commemorates the then United States President Bill Clintons call to action for an HIV vaccine. His speech at Morgan State University in 1997 highlighted the urgency to develop a vaccine for AIDS. World AIDS Vaccine Day Significance World AIDS Vaccine Day serves as a platform to raise awareness about the critical need for HIV vaccine research. On this day, people across the globe pay their tribute to the millions who have lost their lives to AIDS, highlighting the adverse impact of the disease globally. World AIDS Vaccine Day also provides an opportunity for education and debunking myths surrounding HIV/AIDS. World AIDS Vaccine Day 2024 Quotes Disturbing footage that reportedly shows rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura is making rounds. The CCTV footage, dated March 3, 2016, was first aired by CNN earlier this week. The video shows Ventura leaving a hotel room and waiting at the row of elevators when a shirtless man, presumed to be Combs, runs towards her. He then grabs her and shoves her to the ground along with her luggage. He then kicks her, before dragging her across the floor by her shirt. As per CNN, this footage was taken at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Last year on November 16, Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs that accused him of rape, sex trafficking, and physical abuse. The next day, the two reached an undisclosed settlement and the lawsuit was dismissed. In light of the above-mentioned CCTV footage, the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office said that even though the images were extremely disturbing and difficult to watch, the state might not be able to file charges, as the assault case was too old to prosecute. In California, the statute of limitations for misdemeanour assault is one year and for most felony assault charges, its three years. The CCTV footage here is eight years old. Venturas lawyer responded to the video in a statement and said, The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behaviour of Mr Combs. He added, Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light. Throughout his career Combs has settled several physical assault cases, dating as far as 1999, when record executive Steve Stoute sued Combs for beating him in his office. The lawsuit was dismissed after they reached an out-of-court settlement. Just a few days after Ventura made her lawsuit public in November 2023, two more people came forward and filed lawsuits against Combs. On December 6, another woman filed a lawsuit against the record producer for raping her in 2003 when she was 17 years old. Previously, in May 2017, Cindy Ruela, who worked as Combs personal chef, filed a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2019. This year, music producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones also filed a lawsuit against Combs. He alleges that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him. Jones also claimed that the multiple Grammy-winning rapper was also participating in sex and drug trafficking. DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata). The upcoming biopic titled Slow Joe recently received a significant boost with its new collaboration. The celebrated French actress and director Sandrine Bonnaire joined forces with Bollywood veteran Jackie Shroff for the much-anticipated flick. The biopic, based on the life of the late Indian musician Joseph Manuel Da Rocha, is produced by Isabella Sreyashii Sen and Olivier Dock. Sen and Dock are the co-CEOs of Singapore production house Hazelnut Media. Bonnaire is set to bring her expertise to helm the upcoming film. In a statement, she shared, Joseph Manuel Da Rochas story is moving and extraordinary, demonstrating that its never too late to overcome adversity and achieve your dreams. I am truly excited to be a part of this film with its talented cast and cannot wait to begin filming. Well, Shroff is equally excited about the collaboration. Expressing his views on the same, he remarked, I am thrilled to have Sandrine Bonnaire on board to direct Slow Joe. Her exceptional talent and vision will undoubtedly elevate the film to new heights. Working alongside such a respected filmmaker is an honour, and I am eager to bring Slow Joes extraordinary journey to audiences worldwide. Bonnaires directorial prowess, coupled with Jackie Shroffs impeccable acting skills promises a captivating cinematic experience for the audience. additionally, the poignant portrayal of Slow Joes remarkable story is likely to mark a significant milestone in the illustrious career of both Bonnaire and Shroff. For those unversed, Da Rocha aka Slow Joe was disowned by his family due to his addiction to drugs and heroin. Heartbroken at 50, he decided to embark on a new journey of sobriety and moved to Goa. During a trip in 2007, his paths crossed with Lyon-based French Musician Cedric de la Chapelle. Joe who was also a poet and musician sang for the musician. He was quite impressed with Joes captivating talent and allowed him to record some of the cappella songs. Kangana Ranaut has confirmed that if she wins the Mandi seat in Lok Sabha Elections 2024, she will quit Bollywood. The actress recently turned politician and is contesting from her hometown, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kangana submitted her nomination on Tuesday and has dedicated all her time to campaigning. In a recent interview with Aaj Tak, Kangana was asked if she wins the seat in Mandi in the Lok Sabha Elections, then she will gradually quit the film industry after fulfilling her commitments. She said, Yes mujhe bohot saare filmmakers kehte hain ki humare paas ek acchi heroine hai, please mat jao. Main acchi acting karti hoon, par chalo voh bhi ek accha compliment hai. I take it in my stride. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KANGANA (AGENT AGNI) (@kangannaranauut) Kangana is taking her election duties very seriously. She recently declared her assets ahead of polling in Himachal Pradesh. It has been revealed that Kangana Ranaut has assets worth Rs 91 crore, which include jewellery, cars, and immovable assets. She also has a debt of Rs 17 crore. According to Indian Express, Kangana has submitted documents to reveal she has movable assets worth Rs 28.7 crore and Rs 62.9 crore in immovable assets. The Tanu Weds Manu actress revealed she owns properties across the country. These include three houses in Mumbai which is worth Rs 16 crore and a bungalow in Manali, which is worth Rs 15 crore. She also revealed she owns four properties in Chandigarh, a commercial property in Mumbai, and a commercial building in Manali. The Queen star also declared in the affidavit that she has 6.7 kilos of gold jewellery, amounting to a worth of Rs 5 crore, 60 kgs silver jewellery, which is worth Rs 50 lakhs, and diamond jewellery worth Rs 3 crore. She also owns three luxury cars a BMW worth Rs 98 lakh, a Mercedes Benz worth Rs 58 lakh, and a Mercedes Maybach worth Rs 3.91 crore. She has declared a scooter worth Rs 53,000. Kangana also shared that she currently has a bank balance of Rs 1.35 crore with Rs 2 lakhs in cash. She highlighted that she has a debt of Rs 17 crore. The report also claimed that Kangana declared her highest education qualification is 12th standard, which she did at a private school in Chandigarh. For the unversed, Kangana entered the film industry when she was 18 years old with the film Gangster. Kangana has also claimed that her income in 2022-2023 was Rs 4 crore whereas in the year before that, she earned Rs 12.3 crore. The actress has hosted several rallies in Himachal Pradesh since she got a ticket from Mandi and has been making headlines for her statements. The polling in HP will take place on June 1. Shivangi Joshi is celebrating her 26th birthday on Saturday, May 18. On this special day, her rumoured boyfriend Kushal Tandon also wrote a sweet note for her. He took to his Instagram handle and dropped a picture with Shivangi in which the two were seen twinning in blue. In the heartwarming caption, Kushal called Shivangi gorgeous and told her he is grateful to have her in his life. He also hoped that they celebrate many more birthdays together. @shivangijoshi18 Happy Birthday my gorgeous, Today, I celebrate you and the incredible person you are. You are so kind, you are so gentle, you are so, you are so funny, you are everything a girl needs to be, and Im so grateful to have you in my life. Cheers to many more birthdays together, creating beautiful memories , he wrote. Check it out here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by KUSHAL TANDON (@therealkushaltandon) Kushal Tandons post has left everyone wondering if the actor is indirectly confirming that he is in a romantic relationship with Shivangi. Mard apni Pasandida aurat ko wish story se nhi post krke krta hai , one of the fans wrote. Kush just made my day with announcing his girl officially , added another. ok rumors was right congratulations guys Happy Birthday , a third comment read. Several others wrote, Yes, they are dating. News18 Showsha was the first to exclusively report that Shivangi Joshi and Kushal Tandon are dating. Earlier this month, a reliable source that the actors are in a romantic relationship. We learnt that Shivangi and Kushal fell in love with each other on sets of Barsatein and since then, they have been together. The insider also shared that the two actors are serious and are willing to take their relationship to the next level. Shivangi and Kushal developed a liking for one another when they used to shoot for Barsatein. They are now dating and are serious with each other. They are also planning to get engaged soon, the source said. When asked why the two actors have never accepted their relationship in public, the insider added, Both of them are very private people and therefore, want to keep their relationship away from the public eye. They might announce their relationship when they feel the time is right. However, later, Kushal dismissed their dating report and wrote on his Instagram stories, Yaar media wallloooo. Ek bhath bathaooo, meri engagement horahiiii hain; our muje he nah pata? Im in Thailand training martial arts.(Hey media portals, can you tell me something? Im getting engaged and I have no idea. I am in Thailand practising in martial arts.) Bollywood actresses always make headlines with their appearances on the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival annually. But this year, a popular Marathi actress, Trupti Bhoir, has also attended the festival. She is known for her roles in notable Marathi films such as Agadbam and Touring Talkies. Upon arriving at Cannes, Trupti shared photos of her visit on her Instagram. She attended the Cannes Film Festival in France on a particular mission. Trupti has brought her film Paro The Untold Story of Slavery to the festival to receive a wider reach. The films trailer is set to be unveiled at the Bharat Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Gajendra Ahire, the film stars Taha Shah Bahusha and Trupti Bhoir and it highlights the harrowing reality of bride slavery. Trupti Bhoir has already made a name for herself as an actress, be it on stage, television or in films. Hailing from Mumbai, Trupti was initially involved in theatre before joining mainstream cinema. Her journey began with the stage, followed by television serials and films. During her college days, she participated in acting competitions and also learned classical dance. This stood her in good stead when she ventured into this field. During her college years, Trupti has already won awards for best acting at the state level. The superhit drama Sahi Re Sahi was her first break in professional Marathi theatre. Trupti has been a part of this industry for the past three years and has acted in films like Ishya, Ovalte Bhauraya, Tujhya Majhya Sansarala and Paulkhuna, while her television serials include the famous Vadalvaat and Char Divas Sasuche. Trupti always tries to experiment with the characters she plays. In the film Agadbam, she played the role of an overweight girl named Najuka. Is she or is she not? Rakhi Sawants viral pictures from a Hospital in Mumbai recently left everyone shocked and confused. While some expressed concern for her health, others argued that it might merely be some drama. However, Nakshatra Multispeciality Hospital in Mumbai has finally revealed that the actress is indeed admitted there. Rakhi Sawants Surgery Confirmed On late Friday night, hospital authorities confirmed that Rakhi Sawant is admitted there and revealed that she will undergo a surgery on Saturday (today) afternoon. Rakhi is undergoing a surgery on Saturday. She is getting operated. The actress is being overlooked by a gynaecologist, the hospital authorities told Times Now. However, the hospital did not confirm or provide any information about tumour in Rakhis uteres. Please contact her family or friends to get the reports amid further health updates, the authorities added. What Has Happened To Rakhi Sawant? After Rakhi Sawants photos from hospital went viral on social media earlier this week, Ritesh Raj Singh, ex-husband of Rakhi, told News18 Showsha that doctors discovered a tumour in her uterus after a couple of tests were performed. They have suspected Rakhi has cancer, according to Ritesh. She was admitted to the hospital last night after she complained of chest pain. Doctors are looking after her. They have discovered a tumour in her uterus. She had pain in her stomach too. Doctors have suspected that it might be cancer. Tests are being done. Doctors have proposed a surgery but they want to check first if it is cancer or not, Ritesh told us. Rakhi Sawant Urges All To Pray For Her On Friday night, Rakhi Sawant shared her health update via a video statement. In the clip, the Bigg Boss fame was seen on a hospital bed as she urged everyone to pray for her. Ae mere dosto. Miss kar rahi hu bahar jaana, ghoomna firna. Hospital mein hu main, subah surgery hai meri. Bohot miss kar rahi hu main. Ye kaisi dress pehen rakhi hai maine? Mujhe poore kapde pehen ne ki aadat nahi hai. Aap samajh rahe ho na? Mujhe achcha nahi lagta ye hospital ka dress. Mujhe jaldi theek hoke aana hai, bohot saari masti karna hai mujhe, she said. What Is Adil Khan Durrani Calling Rakhis Surgery a Drama? Meanwhile, Rakhi Sawants former husband Adil Khan Durrani claims that her hospitalisation is merely a drama in order to escape jail in the leak video case. Doctors havent said anything. We dont know which hospital she is in. If it is a heart attack, I think patients generally need oxygen masks but she (Rakhi Sawant) does not have that too. She is doing this only because she has to surrender to cops soon. This is only a drama to escape going to jail, he told us. Actor Ryan Gosling appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show and talked about his Oscar performance and what went behind the scenes. Gosling gave an entertaining performance of Im Just Ken song, from his movie Barbie, at the 96th Academy Awards. However, the bigger surprise of the night was when Slash, the iconic guitarist, joined him during his performance on stage. This unexpected appearance surely ended up being one of the highlights of the evening. The Fall Guy actor also talked about how nervous he was before the gig and in a conversation with Jimmy, he revealed that he now wonders what made him so tensed and nervous about the whole thing. When Jimmy appreciated Ryan for pulling off such a great performance while being nervous, the actor added, I wonder why. Ryan also talked about the uncertainty regarding Slashs appearance as he had other commitments at that time. Gosling revealed that it wasnt clear if he could make it to the performance on time or not. It was very tense because he had a gig in China the night before and then one in Thailand the night after. So it was like, Slash is never going to be able to be here, Gosling said. He further explained that there was a lot of stress as the guitarist had a tight schedule. During the conversation, the actor also said that it was very important to have Slash perform with him during the event. We had to have Slash. Hes an enigma. How can you have Slash? You cant have Slash, he added. Remembering the night of the actual performance, Gosling said that there was tension all around backstage as Slash had a concert in China the night before and another one in Thailand the night after. Hence, it didnt seem like he would be able to make it on time for the performance. Gosling mentions that Slash had also missed most of their rehearsals together. However, Slash had finally arrived. Suddenly, as I was walking into dress rehearsal, I saw a guitar case with a skull and a top hat on it, Gosling said. After their performance on the beloved Barbie song, Slash playing guitar became one of the most talked-about moments of the Oscars 2024. On his work front, Ryan Gosling has been busy with several things. He recently appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the third time this year. He has also starred in the movie The Fall Guy, alongside Emily Blunt. It was released in theatres on May 3 and has been well-received by his fans. Salman Khan fans have been concerned ever since the firing incident outside his house took place. While the actors security has been increased, netizens were shocked to see the Bollywood superstar when he arrived at the Mumbai airport on Friday night. In a video that surfaced on social media, the Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan actor was seen reaching the Mumbai airport with extremely tight security arrangements. Khans car was accompanied by several other security vehicles. Not just this, the moment the actor stepped out of his car, he was surrounded by his bodyguards. Watch the video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani) Soon after the video of Salman Khans tight security surfaced online, fans expressed shock and concern for the actor. Why the gangsters want to attack him???? I dont understand! Salman helped so many people! one of the users wrote. Jitne Salman khan ke aspas log chal rahe hai itne to Lawrence Bishnoi gang ki abaadi bbi nhi hogi India me, added another. For the unversed, Salman Khans security was reviewed and upgraded after the firing incident outside his Mumbai apartment recently. On April 14, 2024, gunshots were fired outside Khans Galaxy Apartments in Mumbais Bandra area. Later, it was reported that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was alleged to be behind the attack. The gangsters brother, Anmol Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the shooting incident via a Facebook post. A team of Mumbai police is investigating the firing case and has arrested five accused as of now. Earlier this month, one of the arrested accused, Anuj Thapan, allegedly died by suicide in Mumbai Police custody. While the police claimed that Thapan killed himself in prison, his family alleged foul play and claimed that he was killed. Recently, the President of the All India Bishnoi Society, Devendra Budiya, also issued a statement and argued that the Bollywood superstars apology would be considered if he seeks forgiveness. If Salman himself apologizes, the Bishnoi society will consider the apology. The mistake was not made by Somy Ali, but it was committed by Salman, the Bishnoi gang leader told IANS, as quoted by Pinkvilla. Therefore, he should propose to the Bishnoi society that he wants to apologize. He should come to the temple and seek forgiveness. He should further take an oath that he will never make such a mistake in the future and will always work to protect wildlife and conserve the environment. If he does this, a decision of the society to forgive him will be considered, he added. It should also be noted that Salman Khan has not issued any official statement regarding the firing incident. Sanjay Leela Bhansali repeatedly incorporates the portrayal of courtesans and sex workers in his films. Whether its showcasing Rani Mukerji in Saawariya, Madhuri Dixit in Devdas, Alia Bhatt in Gangubai Kathiawadi, or now in Heeramandi, these characters have been a constant presence in his work. In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, the director shared his deep interest in exploring this particular archetype in his films. He expressed, I feel they are women who have a lot of enigma, a lot of mystery. The courtesan, or the tawaif, or the prostitute they are different. But they always exude a certain kind of power which I find very interesting to look at I found that very fascinating, that these women are very interesting. Where they sing, they dance. Where they express themselves; their joy and their grief in music and dance. They understand the art of living, the importance of architecture, the use of fabric, and the kind of jewelery they wear. They are connoisseurs of art. He elaborated further, stating, Hum log kya hein? Hum log artist log hain. Usko ap samajhgir bolo, bhand bolo jo chahe bolo. Mere ko to woh chahiye. I have to create something that is very enigmatic. As a child, all those people that would pass by mein school mein jaata hu toh ye chehre mujhe fascinate karte he. Waha pe jo ration ki line mein jo chaar middle-class housewives khade hain woh mujhe fascinate nahi karti (Who are we? We are artists. Whatever you might call them, I still need them. When I used to go to school, I was fascinated by those faces. Those four middle-class women in the ration line do not interest me). Bhansali also discussed his inspiration drawn from Madhubala in Mughal-E-Azam and Nargis Dutt in Adaalat. Additionally, he mentioned being influenced by the works of V Shantaram, with a special mention of Ritwik Ghataks Meghe Dhaka Tara. Heeramandi is set against the backdrop of the pre-Independence era in the 1940s. It explores the cultural reality of a prominent red-light district through the lens of courtesans and nawabs. The series boasts a star-studded cast, including Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sharmin Segal. News18 gave Showsha 4.5 stars and wrote, Bhansali pens a near-perfect screenplay, and it is this rich writing that already forms an impressive foundation for the show. Each character is written with a lot of courage, empathy, and sensitivity. Here, each female character is so well-fleshed out, including those in the periphery, that they all deserve a spin-off of their own. It further read, With Heeramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali creates a world thats exquisite and is rich and vibrant in its culture and texture. Inhabiting this realm are some characters that are as unapologetic, complex, and imperfect as a human can be. Here, the women call their own shots and is unafraid of what the civil society might think of them. Theyre pitted against each other, sometimes one even wishing for and conspiring against anothers downfall and shattering their self-worth, pride and ego. They can tear apart and even love like tigresses. And when the right time comes, they dont bat an eyelid before fiercely protecting one another. Despite deep and dark ambition plaguing their hearts, theyve their conscience clear. Maybe thats why Fareedan in a scene reprimands a British officer for robbing her aunt Mallikajaan off her aabru when all she wanted was for her to have her guroor crumbled. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor, Gurucharan Singh, has finally returned home. The actor, who was missing since April 22, 2024, returned home in Delhi on Friday. Soon after Singh returned home, he was interrogated by Delhi Police officials following which it was discovered that the actor had left home to be on a religious journey. Police officials say that Singh visited Gurudwaras in many cities like Amritsar and Ludhiana ever since he was reported missing. However, he later realised that he should return home. Gurucharan Singh was last seen on April 22, 2024. Even though he was supposed to take a flight from Delhi to Mumbai but never reached the airport in the national capital. Singhs father filed a missing complaint four days later which stated, My son Gurucharan Singh, Age: 50 years, had left at 8:30 am on 22nd April to go to Mumbai. He went to the airport to catch a flight. He didnt reach Mumbai, neither has he returned home and his phone is not reachable. He is mentally stable and we had been searching for him but now he has been missing. Later, Delhi police stepped into action and took all possible measures to find Gurucharan Singh. Last week, News18 Showsha exclusively learnt that a team of police officials even visited the sets of TMKOC and questioned Singhs former co-stars. This week Delhi police visited our sets and spoke with the actors who were in touch with Gurucharan Singh. Everyone has co-operated well with the police, a source close to the shows production told us. Also, there were some rumours related to Gurucharan Singhs payments being due from the production house. But, the police found that the payment of the actor was cleared long ago, the insider added. Gurcharan Singh played the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi a fun-loving man who is always in party mode and never shies away from expressing love for his wife. He was one of the popular characters on the show, and also a founding cast member. Gurcharan, however, left the show in 2013 only to return next year due to public demand. After his exit in 2020, he was replaced by actor Balwinder Singh Suri. There were speculations that Gurucharan Singh exited the show due to delays in his payment, however, the actor had remained tight-lipped on the issue. Hum pyaar mohabbat se aage badhna pasand karna chahte hain (I want to move forward with love and respect.). There are some other reasons I dont want to talk about, he had said. Telugu television actor Chandrakanth, widely recognized as Chandu, has reportedly died by suicide at his home in Alkapur, Telangana. The news of his passing on Friday has deeply saddened the Telugu television industry, especially following the recent tragic loss of his co-star and dear friend Pavithra Jayaram in a fatal road accident. According to a statement given to the police by Chandrakanths father, the actor had been battling depression in the days leading up to his untimely demise. Going by the reports, Chandrakanth was discovered deceased at his home in Alkapur, Rangareddy District, Telangana, following the demise of his Trinayani co-actor, Pavitra Jayaram, in a tragic accident. Reports also indicate that actor Chandrakanth was found hanging at the same residence in Alkapur where he and Pavitra Jayaram resided together. He was profoundly impacted by Pavitras untimely passing and was also involved in the accident that led to her demise. On Sunday, May 12, in Hyderabad, Pavitra Jayaram tragically lost her life in a road accident when a bus collided with her car. Reports indicate that at the time of the accident, Pavitra was accompanied by her sister, Apeksha, the driver Srikant, and also Chandrakanth. Chandrakanth, deeply affected by Pavithras passing, expressed his grief through heartfelt tributes dedicated to his Trinayani co-star. His final Instagram post was a poignant homage to Pavithra, with rumors circulating about the two being in a relationship. One of his posts read, Papa netho digina last pic raa. not able to digest to left me alone, okasari mama aniii piluveee plsss @pavithrajayaram_chandar. My Pavi is no more, pls ra come back plsss. (Papa, this is the last picture we took together. I cant bear being without you. Just call me mama once please @pavithrajayaram_chandar. My beloved Pavi is gone, please come back). His Instagram profile is brimming with memories captured with Pavithra Jayaram. Chandrakanth gained fame for his role in the TV series Trinayani, while Pavithra was a renowned TV personality who had been previously married and had two children. Their tragic deaths have reignited conversations about mental health awareness. DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata). Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor, Gurucharan Singh, has finally returned home. The actor, who was missing since April 22, 2024, returned home in Delhi on Friday. Soon after Singh returned home, he was interrogated by Delhi Police officials following which it was discovered that the actor had left home to be on a religious journey. Police officials say that Singh visited Gurudwaras in many cities like Amritsar and Ludhiana ever since he was reported missing. Read More: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmahs Gurucharan Singh RETURNS Home After 26 Days, Reveals Where He Was Sharmin Segal was put on the chopping block for her expressionless acting and monotone delivery in Heeramandi. While Sharmin has been on everyones minds recently, not much is known about her husband, Aman Mehta. Aman Mehta is the Executive Director for Torrent Pharmaceuticals, a division of the Torrent Group. Read More: Meet Sharmin Segals Husband Aman Mehta, Heir To Billionaire Familys Whopping Rs 54,000 Cr Net Worth Telugu television actor Chandrakanth, widely recognized as Chandu, has reportedly died by suicide at his home in Alkapur, Telangana. The news of his passing on Friday has deeply saddened the Telugu television industry, especially following the recent tragic loss of his co-star and dear friend Pavithra Jayaram in a fatal road accident. According to a statement given to the police by Chandrakanths father, the actor had been battling depression in the days leading up to his untimely demise. Read More: Telugu Actor Chandrakanth Dies By Suicide After Co-Star Pavithra Jayarams Death In Car Accident Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who are also expecting their first child together, are couple goals. On Saturday, the actor took to social media to cheer for his mom-to-be wife as she became the first Indian star to feature on Deadlines Global Disruptors 2024 list. Ranveer Singh shared a screenshot of the Deadline article on his Instagram stories and wrote, Baby Momma got em shook, yeaahh. Read More: Ranveer Singh Cheers For Mom-To-Be Deepika Padukone, Calls Her Baby Mama Hours after Gurucharan Singh returned home, the first picture of the former Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor surfaced on social media. Singh, who used to play the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi in the popular sitcom, was missing since April 22 but came back to his house in New Delhi on Friday night. In the photo, the actor looked unrecognisable in a long beard. He was seen smiling as he posed for the camera with a police official. Read More: Gurucharan Singhs FIRST Photo After Returning Home Goes Viral; TMKOC Actor Looks Unrecognisable The Constitution of India is in the news, but not because it will complete 75 years of its adoption soon. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and the heir apparent of the party, Rahul Gandhi, have both alleged that the Constitution of India is at risk from Narendra Modi. Modis re-election, particularly with a 400-plus margin, could spell doom for the Constitution, especially its features like Parliamentary elections and reservation for members of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities etc. Rahul Gandhi, in his election speeches, is repeatedly vowing to protect the Constitution at any cost. This stance has elicited a response from the BJP. The most laconic one came from BJP President J.P. Nadda, who recently stated that though Rahul Gandhi always carried a copy of the Constitution, he never read it. Previously Rahul Gandhi had affirmed at Cambridge University on May 25, 2022, that India is not a nation, but a union of states, as the Constitution describes it. He compared the Indian Republic with the European Union- Think of India that it is politically and economically united, that is what India achieved 70 years ago. Ironically, it tells more about Rahul Gandhi than either about India or the Indian Constitution. If India is not a nation, then his illustrious predecessors must have erred in naming the party the Indian National Congress. Renaming it as Indian Union Congress is perhaps overdue. The purpose of the Constitution is not to describe the historical or cultural identity of India. It is to lay down a framework for governing the Republic. Article 1 (1) of the Constitution famously states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. The verb used in the sentence is shall be and not is unlike what Rahul Gandhi thinks. The verb shall be is not merely a matter of future tense, but something for a specific purpose only. When, say, an official gazette notifies that somebody has been appointed as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry or general manager of a PSU, it merely states an official fact. It says nothing about his/her station in family or social life because that is not the purpose of an office order. That, however, does not mean that those identities are abrogated. The same is true about the Constitution whose Part I describes Union and its Territory and not the cultural or civilisational identity of India. Rahul Gandhi seems to be labouring under the mistaken belief that the Constitution nowhere refers to India as a nation. It is most manifestly there in the Preamble which speaks of fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The expression and integrity (to make the affirmation stronger) was inserted through the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 by his grandmother Indira Gandhi, perhaps because she wanted to make unity more stronger, something Rahul Gandhi is now refuting. Article 249 establishes the power of Parliament to legislate with respect to a matter in the State List in the national interest. How could, without a nation, there would be national interest, in pursuit of which the Constitution allows the Parliament to override conventional boundaries of Union List, State List and Concurrent List subjects mandated under Article 246 and elaborated in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution? The Directive Principles of State Policy uses expressions like national life, objects of national importance, whereas Fundamental Duties (Article 51A), interpolated by Indira Gandhi through the 42nd Amendment exhort us inter alia to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom, to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so. Even while protecting certain draconic laws like MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), Indira Gandhi invoked nationhood. Article 31D, inserted through the 42nd Amendment but abrogated by the Janata government through the 43rd Amendment, spoke of the saving of laws in respect of anti-national activities. To Indira Gandhi, leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan were indulging in anti-national activities! India has a national anthem and a national flag, which must be respected under Article 51A (a). There exists a law called the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 that is again a legacy of Indira Gandhi. Therein lies the story of the deterioration of national sentiment in the grand old party. Indira Gandhi used (or misused) nationalist sentiments in a bid to project herself as an unrivalled leader. The present Congress, which is fighting on the least number of seats (324) since the first general elections, ceased to be at the centre of politics. This explains anti-centricity in its approach, to create a collage of peripheral interests to take on the BJP that has occupied the centre space. Even Rahul Gandhi is increasingly invoking figures like Dr BR Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia rather than Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi. II The Constitution of India has been amended 106 times, affecting many more number of articles and schedules. Nearly every provision of the original Constitution, says Justice Durga Das Basu (1995), has acquired a gloss either from formal amendment or from judicial interpretation, and on working of the Constitution (Introduction to the Constitution of India, 17th Edition, P.393). The idea of amending the Constitution is not an abomination of desolation, to borrow that Biblical phrase. Since the Constitution of India goes into minute details in some matters, an amendment might become necessary even to affect a small change. One might find it difficult to believe that one of its articles deals with a mundane subject like grants in lieu of export duty on jute and jute products (Article 273). The Constitution of Japan (1947), a concise document, obviated the need for any change in over 75 years. One of the reasons is that it leaves many things to be determined by statutory laws passed by Parliament. The Modi government has amended the Constitution merely six times in the last ten years. Some of the subjects of these amendments like land enclave exchange with Bangladesh (100th amendment, 2015), Goods and Services Tax (101st amendment, 2016) or granting women one-third of reservation in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies (106th amendment, 2023), the Congress could claim as their brainchild. The majority of the Constitutional amendments actually came during the Congress regimes. Indira Gandhi desired to take Constitutional amendments to a different level altogether. She would brook no limitation imposed by a written constitution, ipso facto, on Parliamentary superiority. While speaking during the introduction of the Constitution (24th Amendment) Bill, 1971 in Lok Sabha on July 28, 1971, she said, A controversy has been generated as regards supremacy of Parliament as against the supremacy of the Constitution, as if these were two distinct concepts mutually exclusive and even perhaps antagonistic. Those who describe the issue in the manner conveniently forget that our Constitution was drafted on the fundamental assumption that our people owed unalterable allegiance to the principles of democracy. This faith in our people permeates our Constitution. It was a valid and philosophical statement indeed. However, one needs to read between the lines here. The Bill in question, introduced by Law Minister H.R. Gokhale, pertained to the amendment of Articles 13 and 368. Article 13 stood between the legislative supremacy and citizens fundamental rights. Article 13 (2) decrees that the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges rights conferred by this Part (i.e. Part III titled Fundamental Rights), in so far as they are inconsistent with its provision, shall to be extent of inconsistency, be void. Now, a Constitution amendment is also a law, since it is introduced in Parliament like any other bill, though it requires a greater majority in each House to pass the same (a majority of total membership of the House, and two-thirds of the members present and voting). Should it be allowed to ride roughshod over Fundamental Rights? Let us understand the historical perspective as well. It was the judgment of Golak Nath v State of Punjab (1967). An eleven-judge bench decided by a majority of 6:5 that though there was no explicit restriction on Article 368 to amend any part of the Constitution, Part III viz. Fundamental Rights should be shielded from this unrestricted authority. The Constitution (24th Amendment) Bill, 1971 was brought to nullify the ruling in the Golak Nath case. The semantic change in Article 368 is also revealing. Whereas the title in the original Constitution (1949) read, Procedure for amendment of the Constitution, it was changed into Power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure thereof (in a bid to affirm Parliamentary supremacy). A new passage inserted in the text read- Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article. The use of the term constituent power was no less suggestive. Could the Parliament assume the powers of a Constituent Assembly, and rewrite the Constitution, if it so desired? While Indira Gandhi felt yes, the Supreme Court reached a different conclusion. In the Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala, which was heard by a 13-judge bench, the path-breaking basic structure doctrine was devised. In short, the Supreme Court held that Parliaments Constitution amending power under Article 368 was not absolute, but subject to implied limitations that the amendments could not abrogate to destroy the foundations on which the Constitution rested. The basic structure doctrine, says a Supreme Court publication (2016), soon acquired a life of its own. In various subsequent decisions, the court crystallised the basic structure doctrine to include judicial review, democracy, federalism, and secularism. Independence of judiciary, separation of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary, democracy, free elections and the Rule of law (Courts of India: Past to Present, P.254). Was Indira Gandhi contented with the verdict of the apex court? Did she respect the verdict of the judiciary, an essential limb of the Constitution? No. As the subsequent developments proved, she was waiting to avenge herself upon the Supreme Court; force it to revisit the basic structure doctrine; and quell peoples Right to Constitutional Remedy under the cover of Emergency. This is Part I of the two-part series. The writer is author of the book The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. A local Christian nonprofit started providing sexual education at Moscow High School through guest lectures this week. WISH Medical was approved to provide a guest speaker at the high school May 16-24. WISH Medical is part of the nonprofit Palouse Care Network, which describes itself in its volunteer forms as an outreach ministry of Jesus Christ. Moscow School District Superintendent Shawn Tiegs said the curriculum for the lectures, which were opt-in and required parental permission, was vetted prior to approval by a group of administrators, teachers and parents, and that the curriculum does not contain religious materials. It is 100% not religious in nature, he said. I feel very confident saying that as a superintendent. The presentation itself, its fact-based. It has the same focus that the state of Idaho content standards have for sexual education. Idaho standards for sexual education require a focus, among other things, on abstinence, which the unit provides. WISH Medical is an anti-abortion medical clinic that provides services including sexually transmitted infections testing, pregnancy testing, ultrasound and abortion pill reversal. But Palouse Care Network chief executive officer Amy McNelly said the speaker also provides medically accurate information about things like condom use. We address that if students choose to not be abstinent, kind of what risks there are, and what safer practices of sex are, she said. The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends that if you are choosing to engage in sexual activity that a condom will reduce risk of contracting STDs. McNelly said the organization focuses on sharing medical information from sources such as the CDC, the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The guest lectures cover units on personal values, including how students values are impacted by engaging in sex outside of marriage; definitions of sexual experiences; setting boundaries; healthy relationships; sexually transmitted diseases; and male and female anatomy. The lectures also cover the CARE plan to talk to students about creating and reinforcing boundaries, McNelly said. CARE stands for communicating boundaries, avoiding dangerous situations, reinforcing boundaries and exiting a situation. McNelly said although individuals may have personal religious convictions that shape their beliefs, the organization is careful not to promote specific religious beliefs. That is certainly something that we abide by and make really clear to schools, she said. Jade Stellmon said she opted in for her 14-year-old son Hamilton Stellmon, despite some reservations, because she also makes sure to educate her children at home. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of playing jail khel, a few hours after his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was arrested in the Swati Maliwal assault case. The Delhi CM, while addressing a media briefing announced that he, along with AAP leaders, MPs and MLAs will march towards BJP headquarters on Sunday at noon and you can put in jail whoever you want. You can see how they are after AAPI would like to tell the Prime Minister you are playing this jail ka khelTomorrow, I am coming to the BJP HQ with all my top leaders, MLAs, MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you want Kejriwal said. #WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says, You can see how they are after AAPI would like to tell the Prime Minister you are playing this jail ka khelTomorrow, I am coming to the BJP HQ with all my top leaders, MLAs, MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you pic.twitter.com/7Hpau6REeu ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024 Earlier in the day, Delhi police arrested former personal secretary of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Bibhav Kumar, in connection with the AAP MP Swati Maliwal assault case. In her complaint to the police, Maliwal had alleged Kumar attacked her at Kejriwals residence on May 14 with full force, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen. Bibhav Kumar filed an anticipatory bail plea in Delhis Tis Hazari court, which later became infructuous as he had already been arrested by the time the hearing concluded. We were not allowed to meet Bibhav Kumar after he was called to the police station. We had applied for anticipatory bail and while arguing in court, the government lawyer did not inform us that Bibhav Kumar had been arrested in the meantime. Since the arrest has already been made, our application of bail has become infructuous and we will have to file a fresh application, said advocate Sanjeev Nasiar. On the other hand, reacting to Arvind Kejriwals you can put in jail whoever you want stance, Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdev slammed the AAP national convenor over the jail bharo drama and questioned his silence for six days after a woman MP was beaten up at his residence. Stop doing this drama. We are asking you just one thing you did not break your silence even 6 days after your woman MP was beaten up at your residenceTell us who is responsible for the misbehaviour with the woman MP. Why have you not broken your silence over it? Sachdev said. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Delhi police on Saturday arrested former personal secretary of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Bibhav Kumar, in connection with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal assault case. In her complaint to the police, Maliwal alleged Kumar attacked her at Kejriwals residence on May 14 with full force, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen. He is being taken for his medical checkup following which hell be produced in Delhis Tiz Hazari court to record his statement in front of a magistrate. Kumar Says Ready To Cooperate Earlier, in a mail to Delhi police, Kumar said he was ready to cooperate in the investigation and urged police to consider his complaint against Maliwal. I am ready to cooperate in the investigation, but police should also consider my complaint against Swati Maliwal, he said. I am ready to cooperate in the investigation, but police should also consider my complaint against Swati Maliwal, reads an email written by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar to police earlier in the day. pic.twitter.com/SGJvjmW5Gf Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2024 NCW Chief Accused Kejriwal Of Sheltering Criminal According to National Commission For Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma, Kumar was arrested from CM Kejriwals home. Delhi CMs aid Bibhav Kumar got arrested from his house. So CM was giving shelter to alleged criminal, she said in a post on X. AAP Say Kumar Arrested Without Notice On the arrest of Kumar, Sanjeev Nasiar, state president of AAP legal cell said, We have filed an application in the court saying that we have not yet received a copy of the FIR. The order was reserved till 4 pm but now I have come to know that he has been brought here without any notice. Now we want to go inside (Civil Lines PS) but we are being stopped from going inside. The Case In its probe into the incident, the Delhi Police on Friday took Maliwal to the CMs residence to recreate the crime scene, an official said, adding that her statement was also recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court. In the FIR, Maliwal claimed that Kumar hit her with full force again and again and she was kicked and slapped seven to eight times. She also alleged that despite telling him that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge. Meanwhile, Kumar has also filed a counter-complaint saying Maliwal breached the security of the CMs residence, gained access forcibly and unauthorisedly, and created a ruckus there. When Kumar tried to stop her, she hurled abuses at him with the intent to physically assault him, according to the complaint. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Delhi Court Reserves Order Bibhav Kumar's Remand Delhis Tis Hazari Court has reserved the order on Bibhav Kumars police custody. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Delhi Police Says Bibhav Kumar Accused Of Assaulting A Govt Employee In The Past Delhi Police said that an old case is also registered against the accused in Swati Maliwal case, Bibhav Kumar. He has also been accused of assaulting a government employee in Noida. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar's Lawyer Says He Was Arrested In Haste Bibhav Kumars lawyer Rajiv Mohan said, There is no mention of any medical documents not even an MLC on recordThere is no CCTV in drawing room. CCTV data can be only from the main gate to the residential areaCan I (Bibhav) be compelled to give the password of my phone? Accused cannot be compelled to give password Defence counsel also submitted that the accused was arrested at 4:15 pm on Saturday in haste as he filed an anticipatory bail application. Bibhav Kumar's Lawyer Says Swati Maliwal Entered CM Arvind Kejriwal's Residence Without Permission Bibhav Kumars lawyer Rajiv Mohan argued before the court that AAP MP Swati Maliwal Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals residence without permission and it was even reported by security personnel. The incident is at the CM residence where no entry is allowed with a prior appointment, the FIR shows that she entered without permission and this was reported by security personnel, he said. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar's Lawyer Accuses Delhi Police Of 'Twisting Facts' In Case Bibhav Kumars lawyer Rajiv Mohan asked why did Delhi Police not file an FIR immediately if the person sustained bodily injuries. A person with common prudence would always have the first thought that they would be taken to hospital when bodily injuries are there instead of thinking that FIR will be filed, he said. She (Swati Maliwal) went to the SHO of Civil Lines police station. All the SHOs know that an injury sheet is to be created when a person with an injury comes to the police station. She meets the SHO and comes out without filing any complaint. She said that the purpose of going to the police station was to file a complaint but no complaint was filed, he added. Bibhav Kumar's Lawyer Accuses Swati Maliwal Of 'Distorting' Facts Bibhav Kumars lawyer Rajiv Mohan argued before the court that the alleged incident could be cross-checked by the security personnel from the Delhi Police present at the place at that time. He also questioned Swati Maliwals statement to the Delhi police in which she alleged she was dragged and her shirt flew up saying the AAP MP could be seen wearing a kurti, not a shirt in the video circulating on social media. She said that she was dragged and my shirt flew up but according to a video which is circulating in the media she was not wearing a shirt but is wearing a kurti. She has also admitted that when she fell her head banged with the centre table but they are saying that her head was banged. This is a distortion of facts, he said. Bibhav Kumar's Lawyer Questions Swati Maliwal's Intent Behind Her Visit To CM Arvind Kejriwal's House Bibhav Kumars lawyer Rajiv Mohan questioned Swati Maliwals intent behind her visit to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals residence on the day of the incident and said, The time when she went to the Chief Ministers residence was not an official or appropriate time to meet anyone, she did not go to the Chief Ministers office, she went to his residence, and sat on the sofa in the drawing room. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Delhi Police Says Bibhav Kumar Not Sharing Password Of His Phone, CCTV Footage Provided In DVR Was Blank Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing for Delhi Police, Atul Srivastava, arguing on custody of Bibhav Kumar, said, We asked for the DVR, that was provided in a pen driveFootage was found to be blank. An iPhone has been given to the Police, but now the accused is not sharing the password. The phone has been formatted. Additional public prosecutor submits that the accused was present even today at the place of occurrence. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Delhi Police Arrives At Swati Maliwal's Residence Delhi Police personnel have reached the residence of AAP MP Swati Maliwal in Delhi. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Delhi Police Says Bibhav Kumar's Phone Formatted In Mumbai Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar Produced In Tis Hazari Court, Delhi Police Seeks 7 Days Custody Bibhav Kumar, who was arrested by the Delhi Police over allegations of assault by AAP MP Swati Maliwal, was produced in Delhis Tis Hazari Court on Saturday. Delhi Police has sought a 7-day custody for Kumar. His legal team, on the other hand, has sought time to go through the remand application. BJP Cannot Digest That Arvind Kejriwal Is Out Of Jail For 20 Days: Atishi On Bibhav Kumar's Arrest In Swati Maliwal Case On Bibhav Kumars arrest, AAP leader Atishi said, Today morning, Bibhav Kumar ji was taken for questioning to Civil Lines PS by Police. From the time he was taken for questioning, BJP & Delhi Police through their sources were telling that Bibhav Kumar ji is going to be arrested. All this clearly means, it was BJPs and its political tool Delhi Polices intention to arrest Bibhav Kumar. Due to this, we had moved an anticipatory bail application in Tis Hazari court. At 3.55pm, hearing on Bibhav Kumars anticipatory bail began. As soon as BJP & Delhi Police understood that they had a weak and fake case, and to prevent its case from being dismissed, at 4.15pm Bibhav Kumar was arrested at Civil Lines PS. BJP cannot digest the fact that Arvind Kejriwal is out of jail for 20 days. One by one, BJP is putting AAP leaders behind jail. This is why Arvind Kejriwal has said that all AAP leaders will go to BJP HQ tomorrow Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar Taken To Aruna Asaf Ali Govt Hospital For Medical Bibhav Kumar is being taken to Aruna Asaf Ali Govt Hospital for medical examination by Delhi Police. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar's Father Calls His Arrest 'Injustice' On the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals aide Bibhav Kumar, his father Maheshwar Rai said, This is injustice. My son is a simple manThere is BJP Government in power, it can do whatever it wantsThey are telling him to abandon Arvind Kejriwal, then he will not be harmed. But he has been with Kejriwal for the last 15 years, but I have never heard any complaint against himI spoke with him over phone, he told me that he was having his breakfast and she (Swati Maliwal) came to do something big. Guards stopped her and he went there. Guards removed her from there. He didnt touch her even once. He only told her that he wont let her meet Kejriwal without asking him. Hearing this, she got angry and threatened him Swati Maliwal News LIVE: 'PM Modi Has Zero Tolerance Towards Crime,' Says Manoj Tiwari On Arvind Kejriwals march towards BJP HQ tomorrow remark, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, An arrest is made by investigation agencies, not the BJP. Sending one to jail or granting bail is the work of the court. If he thinks that he will assault Swati Maliwal and the law wont say anything then I think they are not only mentally bankrupt but also facing character bankruptcy.PM Modi has zero tolerance towards crime. If you assault a woman, then you will be punished. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar's Father Says He Has Worked With Arvind Kejriwal Since He Formed The Government On assault allegations by AAP MP Swati Maliwal against his son, Bibhav Kumar, his father Maheshwar Rai said, He used to practice journalism there (in Delhi). Later, he worked in Arvind Kejriwals organisation. After he (Arvind Kejriwal) formed the government, he has been with Kejriwal. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar To Be Produced In Court Today Bibhav Kumar will be produced in court today and Delhi Police will seek custody. Swati Maliwal News LIVE: Bibhav Kumar's Anticipatory Bail 'Infructuous' Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals personal secretary Bibhav Kumars anticipatory bail plea has become infructuous. After the conclusion of the arguments, the Public Prosecutor informed the court that Bibhav Kumar has been arrested at 4:15 PM. We were not allowed to meet Bibhav Kumar after he was called to the police station. We had applied for anticipatory bail and while arguing in court, the government lawyer did not inform us that Bibhav Kumar had been arrested in the meantime. Since the arrest has already been made, our application of bail has become infructuous and we will have to file a fresh application, said advocate Sanjeev Nasiar. 'Coming To BJP HQ Tomorrow With My Leaders': Kejriwal Announces 'Jail Bharo' Programme After Bibhav Kumar's Arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of playing jail khel, a few hours after his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was arrested in the Swati Maliwal assault case. The Delhi CM, while addressing a media briefing announced that he, along with AAP leaders, MPs and MLAs will march towards BJP headquarters on Sunday at noon and you can put in jail whoever you want. A Vermont University awarded Max the cat, a cherished member of the community, the honorary degree of doctor of litter-ature" before the students graduation on Saturday. A tabby cat, well-known for his need for attention and his amiable attitude, has established himself as a campus staple at the New England school. The well-liked tabby and his human family reside in a home on the street that leads to the universitys main entrance. The Castleton campus of Vermont State University wrote on Facebook, Max the Cat has been an affectionate member of the Castleton family for years." Max has been delighting students and staff by meandering through the universitys hallways for many years. The social-media post read, With a resounding purr of approval from the faculty, the Board of Trustees of the Vermont State Cat-leges has bestowed upon Max Dow the prestigious title of Doctor of Litter-ature, complete with all the catnip perks, scratching post privileges, and litter box responsibilities that come with it." Ashley Dow, Maxs owner, told the Associated Press that the inquisitive cat began coming onto campus some years ago in an attempt to engage with the students. He seems to know when and when to meet potential students because he likes to be picked up, played with and even take part in campus tours. Students even pick him up to snap photographs with him, according to the Associated Press. I dont even know how he knows to go, but he does," Dow said. And then hell follow them on their tour." Dow, who goes as Maxs mom" in the Castleton community, claimed to have chatted with graduates who come back to the town and inquire about Maxs well-being. Dow laughs as she tells Vermont Public that once the cat stopped coming up to school, they built a shrine for him. It included candles and the print of Maxs photo that they had framed. The institution has assured that Maxs degree will be delivered shortly, but the friendly cat wont be making an appearance on stage at the next commencement event. The graduating ceremony is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m., according to Vermont Public. Delhi, the capital city of India, is known for its beauty and rich history. Throughout the centuries, many rulers have left behind famous buildings, each with intriguing names and stories. One such structure is the ancient gate known as Khooni Darwaza. The origins of its name are steeped in history. Its one of the 13 remaining gates in Delhi. Located just south of the fortified Old Delhi, it was built by Sher Shah Suri. According to a report by the India Heritage website, this gate was built by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century. It was originally called Kabuli Darwaza because caravans travelling to Kabul passed through it. Even then, this gate was often stained with blood, as the heads of criminals were shown as a warning to others. This practice was meant to deter people from committing crimes and taking the law into their own hands. In recent years, many crimes have happened near this gate. Because of this, its been closed to the public. Khooni Darwaza is closely associated with the first war of independence. On September 22, 1857, an incident occurred that led to the gate being renamed. On May 10, 1857, soldiers in Meerut initiated a rebellion against the British rulers. That same night, they marched towards Delhi, and upon reaching the Red Fort on May 11, they requested Bahadur Shah Zafar to lead them. Under his leadership, they killed many British officials and seized control of Delhi. The British retreated and set up camps in the surrounding areas. In September, the British army arrived, reigniting the war in Delhi between Indian soldiers and the British forces. After bloodshed, the British army regained control of Delhi. Bahadur Shah Zafar fled the Red Fort and sought refuge in Humayuns Tomb. Captain William Hodson was sent as an arbitrator. Zafar agreed to surrender on the condition that his life be spared, a request which was granted. On September 22, Hodson went to Humayuns Tomb to hold Zafars two sons, Mirza Mughal and Khizar Sultan, and his grandson Mirza Abu Bakr. The princes were executed at Khooni Darwaza. After agreeing to surrender, Captain Hodson and his army led the three princes towards the Red Fort. When they arrived at Khooni Darwaza, a group of people threatened to rescue the princes. Hodson halted the bullock carts and instructed the princes to disembark. He informed the crowd that the princes were responsible for harming women and children, and he was tasked with punishing them. Hodson then pulled out his gun, instructed the princes to undress from the waist up, and shot each one. Their bodies hung at Khooni Darwaza for three days. Taiwanese lawmakers went in for an all-out brawl in parliament on Friday in a dispute about reforms to the chamber, just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te takes office without a legislative majority. Even before votes started to be cast, some lawmakers screamed at and shoved each other outside the legislative chamber, before the action moved onto the floor of parliament itself. On May 17, lawmakers surged around the speakers seat, some leaping over tables and pulling colleagues to the floor. Though calm soon returned, there were more scuffles in the afternoon. Lai, who is to be inaugurated on Monday, won Januarys election, but his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament. Taiwanese lawmakers shoved, tackled and hit each other in parliament in a bitter dispute about reforms to the chamber, just days before president-elect Lai Ching-te takes office without a legislative majorityhttps://t.co/IO33n6gEEG pic.twitter.com/lxxwMQ6uUS Reuters (@Reuters) May 17, 2024 The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has more seats than the DPP but not enough to form a majority on its own, so it has been working with small Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas. The opposition wants to give parliament greater scrutiny powers over the government, including a controversial proposal to criminalise officials who are deemed to make false statements in parliament. The DPP says the KMT and TPP are improperly trying to force through the proposals without the customary consultation process in what the DPP calls an unconstitutional abuse of power. Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country, DPP lawmaker Wang Mei-hui, representing the southern city of Chiayi, told Reuters. Lawmakers from all three parties were involved in the altercations, and traded accusations about who was to blame. The KMTs Jessica Chen, from the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands that sit next to the Chinese coast, said the reforms were to enable better legislative oversight of the executive branch. The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolising power, she told Reuters. (With agency inputs) Six climate activists broke through a security fence at Munich airport on Saturday and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, temporarily shutting down flights. On Saturday, 60 flights had to be canceled completely at Munich International Airport (MUC) as Climate protection activists have once again invaded the grounds of an airport. 14 planes that were supposed to land in Munich were diverted to other airports. The activists entered pic.twitter.com/l0BD0YyrHm FL360aero (@fl360aero) May 18, 2024 The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying as the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa. Police detained the six. Some 60 flights were canceled during the disruption that lasted a couple of hours and passengers were rebooked on alternative flights, airport spokesperson Robert Wilhelm told dpa. Fourteen flights that were due to land in Munich were diverted to other airports, according to police. Last Generation accused the German government of downplaying the negative effects of flying on the environment instead of finally acting sincerely, in a post on the social media platform X. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for an end to such protests. Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger, she wrote on X. Fraser also applauded police efforts to bring order back to the airport and called for airport safety measures to be checked. Minister for Transport Volker Wissing said that his ministry was already working on further tightening existing laws. The general manager of the German Airports Association, Ralph Beisel, also criticized the activists actions. Trespassing the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday, he told dpa. Beisel also called for harsher penalties for activists who break into airports. Climate activities blocked flights at Hamburg and Duesseldorf airports for several hours in July. In January, Last Generation known for gluing themselves to streets to block traffic which has infuriated many Germans said it would abandon the tactic and move on to holding what it calls disobedient assemblies. Their actions have been widely criticised, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz described them as completely nutty. At least 46 people were taken ill in the UK after a cryptosporidium outbreak, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhoea, was reported around the Brixham area of Devon, a scenic fishing village in southwestern England. Authorities said that the situation has been brought under control and water supplier in the area, South West Water, said that it lifted its boil notice for most of the 17,000 homes and businesses after it was issued earlier this week after cryptosporidium was found in the water. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also issued an urgent warning after a sharp rise in cases of norovirus. The virus is also known as the winter vomiting bug and is a highly contagious disease. Cryptosporidium is a waterborne parasite that can cause violent diarrhoea and vomiting for weeks and is contagious. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it is probing 46 cases of these infections in South Devon, and warned that hundreds more could fall ill. The water company said it consulted with public health officials before lifting the boil warning for all but about 2,500 customers after rigorous testing showed the water was safe for most of the area. This situation has caused an immense amount of disruption, distress and anxiety. We are truly sorry this has happened. The public rightly expect a safe, clean and reliable source of drinking water and on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of expectations, water company spokesperson Laura Flowerdew said. A primary school was forced to close Thursday because it didnt have clean drinking water. The water company said it provided 386,000 water bottles to its customers. The outbreak was announced on Wednesday. For over a year, water companies have faced backlash for frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans. These incidents have not only emitted unpleasant odours but have also sickened swimmers, polluted fishing streams, and sparked public outrage, demanding that these companies change their practices. The Kyrgyz foreign ministry in a statement issued Saturday urged Pakistani social media users and also its mass media to refrain from spreading false information after hundreds of Kyrgyz men attacked buildings housing foreign students. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces in foreign mass media, social networks, especially in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan deliberately spread totally false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic that does not correspond to reality, the Kyrgyz ministry of foreign affairs said in a press release. The Ministry asks representatives of the media, the blogging community and foreign colleagues to be guided only by official and verified information from the competent authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic, the press release further said. The statement came on the same day Pakistan summoned and handed a note of protest to Kyrgyzstans top diplomat in the country in response to violence against Pakistani students in Bishkek. The charge daffaires of the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Islamabad, Miles Moldaliev, was summoned by the foreign office of Pakistan, where officials apprised him of the deep concern over the reports of incidents against Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan. It was impressed on the Kyrgyz charge daffaires that the Kyrgyz government should take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens, Pakistans foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement said the Kyrgyz health ministry had confirmed four Pakistanis were given first aid and discharged while one was still under treatment for injury. The Pakistan embassy maintained that it did not receive any confirmed report regarding the alleged death and rape of Pakistani students in Bishkek. Pakistani media outlets said that over 12,000 Pakistani students study in Kyrgyzstan. Social media went abuzz with reports of Pakistani students being beaten as hashtags #SavePakistaniStudents, #Kyrgyzstan trended on X. News18 could not independently verify the videos shared and claims made regarding the state of Pakistani students on social media. Pakistani students speaking to BBC Urdu said that armed mobs attacked student quarters and residences where students were living on rent. They also said that female students were harassed. I tried to lock the door of the hostel room along with my roommate but they broke the door and entered. All three of us were brutally tortured, a final year student of a medical college in Bishkek was quoted as saying by BBC Urdu. !#savePakistanistudents #Kyrgyzstan pic.twitter.com/O7L5PgB2oN khadija siddiqi (@khadijasid751) May 18, 2024 Khadija Siddiqui, a barrister, also posted a video of Pakistanis protesting outside the Kyrgyz embassy demanding safety of Pakistani students. Kyrgyz police said they had mobilised forces in the Central Asian nations capital on Friday to quell the violence, where local mobs attacked buildings housing foreign students, including Pakistanis. The attack, the police said, was prompted by foreigners whose nationality was not immediately clear beating up locals in the city. Former US president Donald Trump on Friday demanded that his contender Joe Biden be drug tested ahead of the two presidential debates which will be held in the months of June and September. Joe Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to debate each other on June 27 (on news channel CNN) and September 10 (on news channel ABC). Trump claimed that Bidens State of the Union address in March was delivered in a state of being high. The former president said his successor was high as a kite when he delivered the speech. NEW: Donald Trumps Minnesota rally practically turns into a stand up comedy skit as he ditches the teleprompter.Amazing. Trump even used props including a Biden Tic Tac dispenser to highlight Bidenflation. At one point, Trump said Biden was high as a kite and demanded that pic.twitter.com/fM5P7hAY5e Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 18, 2024 I just want to debate this guy, but you know and Im gonna demand a drug test too, by the way. I am. No, I really am. I dont want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite, Trump told Republicans during a speech at a GOP dinner in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Were going to demand a drug test, Trump reiterated. He did not specify whether he would take one himself. Donald Trump almost turned his campaign speech into a stand-up comedy set and even ditched the teleprompter at one point. He poked fun at the organisers for giving him a dais that was apparently tilting and said it is moving to the left, like a lot of things these days, in an apparent dig at detractors from the left-wing political groups. Is that Joe up there? It is a beautiful rope, Trump said, accompanied by cheers and laughs. US President Joe Biden delivered a fiery state of the union speech in March and launched a scathing attack on November presidential election rival Donald Trump where he warned that his rival was bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, putting Americas freedom and democracy in danger. Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War, have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas, Biden said. Biden did not name his rival and instead chose to refer to him as my predecessor, a former Republican president. Rep. Greg Murphy, a North Carolina Republican and member of the House of Representatives, who is also the co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus, alleged after the speech that Biden must have been jacked up on something that day. The annual set-piece presidential speech was a unique chance for Biden to pitch his reelection message in front of his closest political allies and foes and a national TV audience. At just over an hour long, it was also a high-stakes test of his ability, at 81 and making history as the oldest ever US president, to think on his feet. In 2020, he claimed that Bidens debate performances during the Democratic primaries had been uneven and insisted on a drug test before their debates in the general election. However, neither candidate ended up taking a drug test before their two debates. Compared to the rest of the country, Washington already has a robust college prison program funded by the state but thanks to new federal dollars, offerings for students behind bars are set to expand. Thats because the U.S. Department of Education last summer restored federal Pell Grants for incarcerated students, following a nearly 30-year ban as part of the 1994 federal tough on crime bill signed by President Bill Clinton. Washington, alongside states across the country, is rushing to put these new funds to use and passed legislation in 2024 to use federal funding for the states college prison courses. Advocates are excited about the new model because federal money could allow prison college programs to expand available courses and enroll more students. Its more challenging to fund college prison programs with state dollars because budgets change based on tax revenue and politics, said Ruth Delaney, who helps scale up college programs in prisons as part of her work with the Vera Institute of Justice. Nationwide, more than 750,000 incarcerated students could be eligible for Pell Grants. To qualify, they must be below family income limits. They also have to be at a prison offering a college program approved by the federal government. In Washington, all state prisons already have college programs. But they still need federal approval to access Pell Grant money one of many administrative hurdles prolonging the process of moving Washingtons existing system toward a Pell-based model. The states original goal was to implement the new model this fall. Now, the plan is to make it available sometime in 2025, said Hanan Al-Zubaidy, associate director of corrections education at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The process is taking a lot longer [than expected], said Al-Zubaidy. There are a lot of students who are anxious to jump in. Were really knee-deep in the details of trying to figure out when and how were going to make this happen. Washingtons prison programs Nearly 3,000 of the states 13,538 prisoners were enrolled in postsecondary education from July 2022 to June 2023, according to a report last year from the Department of Corrections. In Washington, theres a good strong history of providing post-secondary education [in prison], said Delaney. In the vacuum of no federal financial aid, some states figured out how to keep college in prison going, and Washingtons one of them. Research shows recidivism decreases as education level increases. Prisoners say that college helped them rehabilitate and engage in civic responsibilities. Ralph Dunuan, who got his associates degree while imprisoned at Monroe Correctional Complex, said many of his friends involved in criminal justice reform while in prison got into advocacy due to college classes. We started expanding our thinking, said Dunuan, who has since been transferred to Washington Corrections Center. I really started challenging not only my beliefs, but my actions based upon those beliefs. An Indian delegation on Friday paid a visit to the UAE for the first time to hold discussions with the key entities there on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). The IMEC trade corridor, announced in February, aims to integrate part of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The visit, which took place within three months of signing the agreement, reflects the importance both governments attach to the IMEEC project. The Corridor will provide effective alternate supply routes generating efficiencies and reducing costs. Both sides agreed to continue discussions for early implementation of the Agreement, it said. India Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEEC) takes shape with the 1st visit of n Inter-Ministerial Delegation to for Intergovernmental Framework Agreement on IMEEC. Amb @sunjaysudhir led the discussions with key UAE entities like @DPWorldUAE @ADPortsGroup @CUSTOMSUAE. pic.twitter.com/njEjrQHdbS India in UAE (@IndembAbuDhabi) May 17, 2024 India Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEEC) takes shape with the 1st visit of an Indian Inter-Ministerial Delegation to the UAE for the India-UAE Intergovernmental Framework Agreement on IMEEC. Amb @sunjaysudhir led the discussions with key UAE entities like @DPWorldUAE, @ADPortsGroup @CUSTOMSUAE, the Indian mission posted on X. The IMEEC will comprise two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe. The corridor will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime routes. It intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, enhance economic cooperation, generate jobs and lower greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East (West Asia). The IMEC corridor, which aims at integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East involves multiple stakeholders and is at an incipient stage. The visit by the Indian delegation to hold meetings under the Framework Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concerning cooperation for the empowerment and operation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) to the UAE took place from May 15 to 17, the statement said. The Framework Agreement was signed between India and the UAE on February 13 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. The Agreement provides for cooperation towards developing the IMEEC and exploring potential joint investment and technical collaboration towards this objective. (With agency inputs) Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website The bodies of three Spanish tourists and three Afghans shot dead while on a tour in Afghanistan were transported to the capital along with multiple wounded, the Taliban government said Saturday. The group were fired on while walking through a market in the mountainous city of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, around 180 kilometres (100 miles) from the capital Kabul, on Friday evening. All dead bodies have been shifted to Kabul and are in the forensic department and the wounded are also in Kabul. Both dead and wounded include women, the governments interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP. Among the eight wounded, of whom four are foreigners, only one elderly foreign woman is not in a very stable situation. Qani said the death toll had risen to six, including two Afghan civilians and one Taliban member. Spains foreign ministry on Friday announced that three of the dead were Spanish tourists, adding that at least one other Spanish national was wounded. According to preliminary information provided by hospital sources, the wounded were from Norway, Australia, Lithuania and Spain. They were roaming in the bazaar when they were attacked, Qani added. Seven suspects have been arrested of which one is wounded, the investigation is still going on and the Islamic Emirate is seriously looking into the matter. He did not say if there had been multiple shooters. Fledgling tourism sector Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X, formerly Twitter: Overwhelmed by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan. The European Union condemned the attack in the strongest terms. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack, the bloc said in a statement. The Taliban government, which took power in 2021 after a decade-long insurgency against foreign forces, has yet to be officially recognised by any government. It has, however, supported a fledgling tourism sector, with more than 5,000 foreign tourists visiting Afghanistan in 2023, according to official figures. Tourists holiday without consular support, after most embassies were evacuated, and many Western nations advise against all travel to the country, warning of kidnap and attack risks. Alongside security concerns, the country has limited road infrastructure and a dilapidated health service. Bamiyan is Afghanistans top tourist destination, known for turquoise lakes and striking mountains, and once home to the giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban in 2001 during their previous rule. The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has reduced dramatically since the Taliban authorities took power and deadly attacks on foreigners are rare. However, a number of armed groups, including the Islamic State group, remain a threat. The jihadist group has waged a campaign of attacks on foreign interests in a bid to weaken the Taliban government, targeting Pakistan and Russian embassies as well as Chinese businessmen. A sixth grader from the US city of Las Vegas killed herself after she was bullied throughout the school year, according to her family, who claim the city authorities refused their request to transfer their daughter. Flora Martinez, 12, took her life on May 7. The news of her death came just two days after 10-year-old Sammy Teusch in Indiana state suffered the same fate after horrific bullying. Look how hard it was on my daughter. My daughter was literally bullied to death, her mother, Alice Martinez, told a local TV station on Thursday. Blaming Clark County School District for their daughters death, Floras parents said the district failed to protect their little girl. Floras family said they reported the preteens torment to the schools assistant principal, but the bullying from her classmates continued. NEW: The parents of a 12-year-old girl say bullying at Las Vegas-area school led to their daughters suicide12-year-old Flora Martinez died by suicide on May 7 Her parents say they noticed a change in her behavior after she started sixth grade at Keller Middle School in August pic.twitter.com/3GW6bBOVlE Unlimited Ls (@unlimited_ls) May 18, 2024 According to the grieving mother, the bullies set their sights on Flora at the start of the 2023-24 academic year. Things got so bad that Alice submitted paperwork to transfer her daughter out of the middle school. The plea was however denied on Oct. 6, 2023. At that point, I already had her out of school for two weeks because of all the incidents. Just that short amount of time into the school year, Martinez was quoted as saying by New York Post. Floras father, Joshua Parker said this wasnt just one incident that happened, and you know, she decided to take her life. This was months and months and months of bullying that built up, and finally, she just couldnt take it no more, he said. Floras parents accused the school district of doing nothing to protect their 12-year-old. I feel like the school had a duty to keep her safe, while she was in their care and they just failed miserably, her mother Alice said. Everybody that had a hand in that request to transfer her failed her If youre a parent and youre not outraged by this, youre part of the problem too. A bus caught fire on a busy street in west Londons Twickenham on Saturday. The video footage has gone viral on social media where a bus is seen engulfed in huge flames in Twickenham as firefighters battle flames and billowing black smoke in the middle of the street. Happened in Twickenham today a bus on fire pic.twitter.com/J6OQEHssb6 London & UK Street News (@CrimeLdn) May 18, 2024 The 490 bus burst into flames, shortly after midday (local time), on Richmond Road. The London Fire Brigade said that no one was hurt and the road will remain closed for the rest of the day while investigations continue. Crews have tackled a single decker diesel bus fire on Richmond Road in Twickenham. There are no reports of any injuries. The road remains closed following the incident and people are advised to avoid the area for the rest of the day, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement on social media site X. It further added that five fire engines and about 30 firefighters attended the scene. They took over an hour to extinguish the fire. One diesel single decker bus was destroyed by the fire. All passengers and the driver left the bus before the brigades arrival, a spokesperson said while speaking to broadcaster BBC. I live very close to where the fire was and I was going out to run some errands. I looked up and saw a massive plume of smoke, and my neighbours and I went down an alleyway and saw the bus on fire, an eyewitness said while speaking to the broadcaster. As far as I know, no one was hurt and everyone got off safely. There were definitely people on the bus, but they all got off before something bad could happen, the person further added. This is the fourth London bus to catch fire this year. A double decker bus exploded in west London earlier this January. A blast destroyed a bus completely in east London and another buss back was ripped off in an explosion in south London. Both incidents happened in January, according to a report by The Sun. The Kyrgyz foreign ministry on Saturday assured that the situation was under control hours after the Indian mission in the country advised its nationals to stay indoors, following reports of mob violence targeting foreign students in Bishkek. The Kyrgyz government said about 15 locals sought medical check-ups and there were no deaths among foreign students. From the moment information about the incident was received, law enforcement agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic took prompt measures to detain persons involved in the event, both foreign citizens and citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Kyrgyz foreign ministry said in a statement. Statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic on the current incidents in Bishkek. pic.twitter.com/vt1FEwGVka India in Kyrgyz Republic (@IndiaInKyrgyz) May 18, 2024 We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041. India in Kyrgyz Republic (@IndiaInKyrgyz) May 18, 2024 Situation is presently calm The Kyrgyz government said the situation was completely under the control of the security forces. The safety of citizens and public order were ensured. There are no seriously injured people among those involved in the incident. About 15 citizens applied to medical institutions for examination, the statement added. In the statement, the Kyrgyz government called on representatives of the media and foreign diplomatic missions not to disseminate false and unverified information. We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041, the Indian mission in the Kyrgyz Republic said in a post on X. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that he is monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. The situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy, he said. Message from Pakistani Students studying in Kyrgyzstan!!Pakistan Govt and Authorities must Help our students! pic.twitter.com/ce7FHD5mND PTI Politics Update (@PTI_Politics) May 17, 2024 WAKE UP @ForeignOfficePk.Reportedly they are killing and raping Pakistani Students.@MIshaqDar50 u should be on your way to Kyrgyzstan on next flight.(Courtesy @iihtishamm)#Kyrgyzstan I #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/4rkFcMKZnB Dr Ahmad Rehan Khan (@AhmadRehanKhan) May 17, 2024 Pakistani embassy in Kyrgyzstan Shame on you. Pakistani students are getting murdered and they are doing nothing.#Kyrgyzstan #ImranKhan pic.twitter.com/UFgvvB4SXn Bilal Khan (@bilal_khan126) May 17, 2024 Earlier, reports said several Pakistani students studying in Bishkek faced mob violence late Friday night, sustaining injuries. However, no deaths have been confirmed. The violence followed a brawl between foreign students, including Pakistanis, and Egyptian nationals. Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistans Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X. Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan said the reports of mob attacks on students in the country are extremely concerning. We have established contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure the protection of Pakistani students. I have instructed our Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan to fully facilitate them, he said. Explore in-depth coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule, Voter Turnout, Upcoming Phase And Much More At News18 Website Pickard must also complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the victim. Pickard is accused of assaulting the victim in his car in November 2022. The victim first reported the incident to a Moscow High School counselor. Pickard was initially charged with felony forcible penetration by use of foreign object, misdemeanor indecent exposure and misdemeanor sexual battery. He pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor sexual battery in January. David Azadi Scott is a long-time storyteller and theater enthusiast. He was born right here in the beautiful Black Hills but has also spent time living in Utah and Missouri. In his spare time he enjoys writing, exploring the hills, and letting his nerd flag fly with a game of D&D. For Ann Pizzorusso, the most fascinating mystery of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa sits just over her shoulders. A geologist and Italian Renaissance scholar, Pizzorusso spent years puzzling out the painting's setting, and she used his diaries to track down where he traveled during that period. The CBC reports that 20 years after she landed on a location, she has presented her theory at a geology conference in the very place she sees in the painting's backdrop, Lecco, Italy. Situated on Lake Como, Lecco's Limestone Alps (behind the city) and a 14th-century bridge fit the puzzle she longed to connect. "By using geology as an analytical tool, it opened up the art world to me because, while I couldn't comment on brushstrokes or figures, I could certainly look at the rocks," she said. Jacques Franck, an art historian who encouraged Pizzorusso to present her findings, told the Guardian he doesn't "doubt for one second" her theory. Another supporter, Michael Daley of ArtWatch UK, notes that Pizzorusso's background uniquely positions her to track it down. "Because she has bona fide scientific knowledge, when she notices things in Leonardothe most scientific artist everthey're momentous." Pizzorusso calls da Vinci, who was also an inventor, architect, and engineer, the "father of geology" for his astounding accuracy. "I have analyzed every painting in which he has had a rock in it, and it's perfect," she said. "It's like looking at a photograph." Pizzorusso isn't the only one to theorize where the painting was set. Bobbio and Arezzo, both places in Italy with ancient bridges, have been put forth as contenders, though neither has a lake, and Pizzorusso particularly likes the painting's grey-white mountain hue, which matches the Alps' limestone rocks. But not everyone's convinced. Some art historians, like leading da Vinci scholar Martin Kemp, don't believe the background is even set in the real world. While Kemp appreciates the impulse to ground these mysteries, he believes "to target it to get the location of the images is just fanciful," per the CBC. (A new Mona Lisa secret has been revealed via X-ray.) The State Department renewed a global security warning Friday for Americans overseas, adding to it that LGBTQ people and events in particular face an "increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence." The alert is a standard renewal of travel advice telling Americans to exercise increased caution against possible attacks by violent extremist groups while they're overseas. However, the last alertissued in Octoberdidn't mention the increased threats to the LGBTQ community, per the AP . The global notice came three days after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a similar public warning that armed foreign extremist groups or their followers may target events and venues linked to June's Pride month. US officials released no details of the threats that are prompting the warnings. Some countries, however, recently have passed anti-LGBTQ laws, including one the Iraqi Parliament approved late last month that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people. A Uganda court upheld a law last month that allows the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" and up to 14 years in prison for a suspect convicted of "attempted aggravated homosexuality." Both have drawn harsh criticism from the US and others around the world. The State Department says US citizens abroad should stay alert in places frequented by tourists, including at Pride events, and pay attention to the agency's updates on social media. Pride month, held in June in the US and some parts of the world, is meant to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities and protest against attacks on their gains. (More LGBTQ stories.) Georgia's president on Saturday vetoed the so-called "Russian law" targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests. The law would require media and nongovernmental organizations to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Critics of the bill say that it closely resembles legislation used by the Kremlin to silence opponents, the AP reports, and that it will obstruct Georgia's bid to join the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with Georgia's ruling party, said on Saturday that the law contradicts Georgia's constitution and "all European standards," adding that it "must be abolished." The ruling party, Georgian Dream, has a majority sufficient to override Zourabichvili's veto and is widely expected to do so in the coming days. The Georgian government insists that the law is intended to promote transparency and curb what it deems harmful foreign influence in the country of 3.7 million. Many Georgian journalists and campaigners fiercely dispute this characterization, saying they are already subject to audit and monitoring requirements. They say that the law's true goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. The EU offered Georgia candidate status last December while making it clear that the government needs to implement key policy recommendations for its membership bid to progress. The recommendations include keeping elections free and fair, fighting disinformation "against the EU and its values," and safeguarding the independence of public institutions such as the central bank and anti-corruption bodies. The bill is nearly identical to one that the party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests, per the AP. Renewed demonstrations have rocked Georgia for weeks, with demonstrators scuffling with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. (More Republic of Georgia stories.) For the bay window restoration, LCHS chose to restore rather than replace the windows because of their prominence on the house, the longevity and sustainability of restoration work, and to preserve the historic character of the house that is integral to the Eastlake style. Preservation maximizes the use of existing materials, which are oftentimes superior to their modern replacements. Most pre-World War II wood is denser than new wood and will wear better when properly maintained. Rehabbing the existing materials makes use of that denser wood and requires less waste when compared to replacements. Additionally, many studies have been conducted to analyze the energy efficiency and cost of rehabilitating wood windows versus replacing with modern windows. Those studies found that retrofits for historic windows perform comparably to new replacements windows, and almost every retrofit option offers a better return on investment in the long run. In a world that is trying to be more green and environmentally responsible, preservation is one way to do that. Historic preservation is not just a greener alternative to new development it also plays a major role in cultural heritage tourism, which is integral to our economy. Historic sites play a vital role in tourism and each year studies show that domestic and international travelers participate in cultural or heritage activities while traveling. Plus, those that do those activities stay longer, spend more, and travel more often. According to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, heritage tourism creates jobs and business opportunities, helps protect resources, and often improves the quality of life for local residents. As one of only two museums in Moscow, the McConnell Mansion can attest that each year we receive visitors from all over the world interested in our local history. In terms of quality of life for residents, historic preservation creates environments that are attractive to live, work, or visit. They preserve walkable neighborhoods and traditional development patterns. When preservation is considered, cities have found that innovative businesses prefer older buildings because of their individualistic and interesting characteristics, which draw people in. Aside from the quality of life and economic benefits, historic buildings can be great education tools and reminders of our shared histories. Buildings are visible records of our past and physically visiting historic places where people can touch and experience that history sparks something that is often lacking in a classroom setting. Lastly, you cannot discuss historic preservation without talking about cost. Do I think every historic building should be saved? No, that is not remotely feasible. Im not going to say preservation is cheap because its not. But what we can do is have appreciation for the historic buildings around us and have discussions when alterations are proposed. There is also a very real lack of diversity when discussing historic preservation. In most places, properties that are deemed worthy of saving are connected to disproportionately white and wealthy communities. There is a large movement within the preservation field to create more equitable conditions across race and other identities in terms of whats saved. Additionally, cities are using historic preservation to address the housing crisis and think creatively about uses of space and zoning. As you can see, historic preservation is a huge topic, and one that requires nuance and further discussions. But when preservation is considered when thinking about our built environments, it can be more sustainable, greener, benefit our economy and communitys quality of life, attract tourists, educate the public, combat urban renewal efforts, and creatively address other social issues. This Preservation Month, think about which buildings in our community you love and why, and Id hazard a guess that many of them are historic structures. Noble is the executive director of the Latah County Historical Society. A decisive vote against the United Auto Workers at two Mercedes factories in Alabama on Friday sidetracked the UAW's plan to sign up workers at nonunion plants mainly in the South. But President Shawn Fain said the union will return and will press on with efforts to organize about 150,000 workers at more than a dozen auto factories across the nation. Employees at Mercedes battery and assembly plants near Tuscaloosa voted 56% against the union in an election run by the National Labor Relations Board, the AP reports. The union setback came a month after the UAW scored a breakthrough victory at Volkswagen's 4,300-worker assembly factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The NLRB showed a vote of 2,642 against the union, 2,045 in favor. Nearly 93% of workers eligible to vote cast ballots. Marick Masters, a professor emeritus at Wayne State University's business school who has long studied the union, said the UAW will have to analyze what went wrong and apply those lessons at other nonunion factories. "Do they need to assess more realistically the actual level of grievances and how passionately workers are to stay committed to a union organizing effort in the face of opposition?" Masters asked. The union might need to get more workers to sign cards seeking an election before calling for a vote, Masters said, and may want to respond faster to management opposition. "I think we'll have a different result down the road," Fain told workers. The NLRB said that both sides have five business days to file objections to the election and that the union must wait a year before seeking another vote at Mercedes. The union has filed unfair labor practice complaints alleging that management and anti-union consultants tried to intimidate workers. Mercedes denied the allegations. Worker Melissa Howell said she thought the UAW was making promises that it couldn't put in writing, including pay of $40 per hour, pensions, and better benefits. Kirk Garner said he and other workers were shown an anti-union video every day before the vote, while UAW opponents targeted employees they thought could be persuaded to vote no. "I'm disappointed in the people that flipped and believed the persuaders," Garner said. (More UAW stories.) "If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning; 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes," Rudy Giuliani posted Friday night on X . The Arizona attorney general's office accepted the challenge, NBC News reports. An hour or so later, two agents served Giuliani with official notice of his indictment in Arizona's prosecution in connection with the 2020 presidential election. Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, then posted : "The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani, nobody is above the law." The presentation was made at a party celebrating Giuliani's upcoming 80th birthday in Palm Beach, Florida; his post included a photo of him posing with several people, balloons floating behind them. The agents "stormed him on his way out," a partygoer told CNN, saying "many of the guests were visibly upset." A spokesperson for Donald Trump's former personal lawyer said the guest of honor wasn't disturbed by the intrusion, which he called an attempt to embarrass Giuliani. "He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love him," Ted Goodman said. The party was hosted by Caroline Wren, an adviser to Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. Arizona's proceedings against the other defendants in its fake electors case are progressing, but prosecutors said they were unable to locate Giuliani to present him with the summonsa formal notice that he's been criminally charged, per the Hill. He had not been named by authorities until the attorney general's post. The agents had gone to Florida earlier Friday expecting to find the defendant because he does livestreams nightly, per the Arizona Republic. Giuliani's mocking post later was deleted. (More Rudy Giuliani stories.) Ever wonder what on earth Supergroove is saying in their hit 'Can't Get Enough?' You're not alone. "No one has ever known them," Kiwi music industry mainstay Morgan Donoghue told Newshub. "Karl was embarrassed of his raps, he never released the lyrics." But now you can know, for a price. The never-before-seen lyrics are to be auctioned off, raising awareness of a proposed mining project in the Coromandel called the Waihi North Project. Mining company OceanaGold's latest operation would tunnel for nearly 7km underneath conservation land between Waihi and Whangamata. Critical air vents would rise to the surface, where 8m-tall stacks would be constructed. OceanaGold said the combined surface area of the raised clearings would be less than 600 square metres. But Donoghue said that's nothing to celebrate. He's also the founder of 'Ours Not Mines,' a movement fighting against mining. He warns that storm events could send harmful heavy metals into our environment, causing more damage than the planned deforestation for the vents. "Lead, cadmium, arsenic... if it leaks out of the mine, all the aqua-culture could be gone. All your mussel farming, all your fishing that Shane Jones is so into, all of that could be destroyed." Donoghue said the Hauraki District Council has already given consents for the air vents. "The council, without any consultation of iwi or public, granted them a $1 a year licence for 40 years. And that, for me, was wrong." But OceanaGold still needs to apply for consents for tunnel and mining rights. This could be approved under the Government's controversial fast-track legislation, if passed. One of the potential impacts could be habitat damage for the rare Archey's frog, or pepeketua. While OceanaGold has promised to protect them, the Government says local economies must come first. Resources Minister Shane Jones said in December last year: "If there is a mineral, if there is a mining opportunity and it's impeded by a blind frog... goodbye, Freddy." In a statement to Newshub OceanGold said: "We respect people have a view and we welcome engagement. Our 30-year track record includes maintaining high standards of environmental stewardship." But artists like Rodney Fisher from Goodshirt are now among the dozens of artists voicing concern. "It's so brand New Zealand to be thinking about nature and protect what we got," Fisher told Newshub. Kirsten Morrell from Goldenhorse is on board too. "We were exported as a taonga, as a product of New Zealand," she said. "It wasn't about the music. It was about the image of New Zealand as clean and green." And DJ Sir-Vere agrees. "Basically fast-tracking things so you don't see... and all of a sudden it's happening. That to me is a massive red flag. Because what are politicians' jobs? To be the voice of the people. But then they want to sneak things through." Musicians like Benee and P-Money are also on board. Proceeds from their signed lyrics - historic pieces of paper - will go towards legal costs. Many of us need our daily coffee fix. Now a group of Kiwis at the cutting edge of caffeine have opened a world-first facility in Auckland, catering for the booming global market for coffee in a can. While the ribbon-cutting ceremony was pretty low-tech, the facility it opened is anything but. "We started out trying to make good-tasting instant and provide an alternative to Moccona," said New Ground founder Connor Nestor. "We very quickly found out that there was no one to take that idea to who could help us. And so we pivoted into what ended up being a three-year engineering journey." "We are ready to fly and await approval from French authorities as to when our flights are safe to proceed." More than 200 New Zealanders are registered as being in New Caledonia currently, although Peters has urged anyone not already registered on the Safe Travel site to do so immediately. One of the issues, according to New Zealanders on the ground, is how to get to the airport due to roadblocks and violence on the main highway. Bahrain sets sights on boosting green spaces with new tree-planting drive Bahrain sets sights on boosting green spaces with new tree-planting drive TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Authorities here are set to embark on an extensive plan in an ambitious bid to further boost Bahrains green cover. The Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture is spearheading this initiative, focusing on planting resilient tree species tailored to thrive in Bahrains unique climate. This effort is part of Bahrains larger environmental commitment made at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). The Kingdom pledged to cut emissions by 30% by 2035 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. Key components of these goals include quadrupling mangrove coverage and doubling tree coverage across Bahrain. To achieve these targets, Bahrain unveiled its National Plan for Afforestation (2022-2035), which aims to increase the tree population from 1.8 million to 3.6 million by 2035. This translates to planting 270,000 trees annually, underscoring the critical role of trees and mangroves in combating climate change. The current move is also backed by the ministry issuing a tender seeking supplier for a variety of tree species. These trees, with an overall height of 1000mm, will be nursery-grown in containers of 5 litres with a calliper not less than 5-6mm, the tender says, offering a five-month contract. They must be free from disease and harmful insects, with well-branched, healthy growth. The tender process requires a BD500 bond valid for 180 days and necessitates the submission of compliance and price determination certificates. Failure to submit these documents will result in disqualification. Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can benefit from a 10% preference during the financial evaluation stage if they present the SMEs Classification Certificate. As Bahrain gears up for this large-scale greening project, the initiative is poised to transform the Kingdoms landscape, enhancing its natural beauty and contributing significantly to global climate efforts. Micro, small and medium enterprises are eligible to obtain 10% preference in the financial evaluation stage, when submitting the SMEs Classification Certificate during bidding for this tender. Patricia Juarene Cary Peek passed away Friday, May 10, 2024, at Paradise Creek Health in Moscow from Parkinsons-related causes. She was born on Aug. 25, 1937, in Hobbs, N.M., where her father worked in the oil fields. Patricia is a good example of the American dream. Born under humble circumstances, she worked hard to acquire an education and continued on to help others and live a highly diverse life. Her family moved to Prairie City, Ore., while she was in school, and her teachers recognized her intellect and encouraged her to go to college. She found employment as a messenger in Portland, Ore., but her employers also encouraged her to go on. With the help of the National Defense Education Act, she graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in education and a masters degree in special education. She taught special education in Eugene, Ore., for many years, got married, and then divorced. She married James Peek on Aug 27, 1980, and moved to a residence east of Viola. She taught special education for children at Potlatch, retiring at age 55. She was an active member of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness and the Palouse LaTreks in Moscow. She authored three books: One Winter in the Wilderness, Cougar Dave and Silver Threads. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB) has taken a significant stride towards modernising Bahrains national 3D mapping infrastructure by attracting four companies to offer their expertise in Modernising National 3D Mapping for the Kingdom of Bahrain Phase B. This move aims to update and enhance the countrys geospatial data capabilities, providing accurate and current information for various developmental projects. The tender board has accepted all bids, indicating a positive response from interested parties. The project is estimated to cost the exchequer between BHD 212,880.800 and BHD 499,950.000 if one of the bids is approved. SLRB followed a two-envelope process for the project, ensuring a thorough evaluation of technical capabilities before financial considerations are made. Companies must submit their technical response in one envelope and their financial proposal in another. Notably, the technical response must exclude pricing information and will be evaluated first. Only bids meeting the required technical standards will proceed to the financial evaluation stage. This project aligns with Bahrains broader strategy of integrating advanced technologies into its national infrastructure, reflecting the Kingdoms commitment to innovation and modernisation. The successful implementation of this project will enhance the accuracy and reliability of Bahrains geospatial data, providing a solid foundation for development and growth across various sectors. Its important to note that 3D mapping a country offers a comprehensive spatial dataset supporting numerous applications, leading to improved efficiency, sustainability, and informed decision-making. This technology not only enhances the understanding and management of physical spaces but also stimulates innovation and economic growth. Reportedly, Ordnance Survey (OS) has created the first 3D-enabled national spatial data model for Bahrain with the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB) mapping authority. The model was built to Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) industry standards. AFP | New Delhi The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Japan next week, where he will hold talks on energy while hunting more opportunities in gaming. The reputed Call of Duty fan has launched a multi-billion-dollar push into the gaming sector -- from tiny eSports to game development -- as part of his Vision 2030 transformation strategy for the oil-rich kingdom. The Saudi Crown Prince finds Japanese soft power, particularly in gaming and eSports, highly appealing, said Mohammed Soliman from the Middle East Institute in Washington. It aligns with Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 and builds the kingdoms soft power in this rapidly growing area beyond Riyadhs religious leadership, he told AFP. Prince Mohammed, 38, known by his initials MBS, will meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the emperor on his first visit to Japan since 2019. When Kishida visited Saudi Arabia last July, the focus was on energy, particularly green energy and decarbonisation. But this time the scope will likely be broader as Riyadh eyes partnerships with major Asian powers -- chiefly Japan and Korea -- on manufacturing, trade, and technologies, Soliman said. Global hub Saudi Crown Prince in 2022 announced a $38-billion investment strategy for the kingdoms Savvy Games Group, owned by the deep-pocketed sovereign wealth fund. Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund also reportedly holds stakes in Japanese Street Fighter maker Capcom, and US giants Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard. Serkan Toto of Tokyo-based firm Kantan Games said there was ample potential for Prince Mohammed to meet gaming executives in Japan. Japan is the third biggest gaming market in the world, there are thousands of game companies here, and Saudi Arabia already has experience investing and... outright acquiring Japanese game companies, he said. So of course Japan might be on the map for Savvy. David Gibson, senior analyst at MST Financial, said Prince Mohammed will also want to encourage Japanese gaming companies to invest in Saudi Arabias game development capability. But this could be challenging as the gaming industry faces upheaval with restructuring and layoffs worldwide, he said. REUSING PLASTIC SANDWICH BAGS Dear Heloise: Growing up on a farm in the 1960s, there werent a lot of reusable sandwich bag options on the market. My mother, who was Dutch and loved tulips, had a dowel cut into 9-inch pieces and drilled three holes into a wooden base to stick them inside. The tops of the dowels were three tulip shapes cut out of wood. Not having a dishwasher, we would turn plastic bags inside out, scrub them clean in the soapy water and hang them to dry on the tulip rack. Fast forward 60 years, and my son and daughter-in-law gave me a baby-bottle-drying rack, which functions similarly. We havent bought plastic bags in years! -- Laura G., via email ROLLING COINS Dear Heloise: A helpful hint regarding rolling coins was recently published in my newspaper. My husband and I sorted and rolled coins for hours, then took them to our Firefighters Credit Union. Unfortunately, rolled coins are not accepted by our bank. We had to unroll all those coins and use the coin sorter. Luckily, we didnt get charged the 10% fee that most bank and grocery store sorters charge. -- Suzanne Ibers, via email PUBLIC BATHROOM ETIQUETTE Dear Heloise: Be a helpful person! Next time you use a public restroom, leave a tail of toilet paper hanging from the dispenser so that the next occupant doesnt have to search for the beginning of the roll. -- E.T., in Arkansas DEALING WITH NAILS Dear Heloise: I saw a letter in the Orange County Register about a a man who smashed his thumb while trying to drive in a nail. Instead of using a tool to hold the nail, he could use a piece of paper to hold the nail in place. Just pierce the paper with the nail and tap the nail into place. Then pull the paper away to finish pounding the nail into place. -- Paul Bartlomain, via email STUFFED WALLET Dear Heloise: I carry too many cards in my wallet. They make my trifold wallet flair out, making it extremely hard to pull the wallet out of my pocket at the checkout line. I solved the problem by learning to pinch my wallet closed while it is still in my pocket before I pull it out. -- Dale, via email MEASURING PEANUT BUTTER Dear Heloise: I love making peanut butter cookies. My recipe calls for 1 cup of peanut butter and a 1/2 cup of solid shortening. I used to dread measuring these two ingredients, as the measuring cup was difficult to clean afterward. One day, I used a nonstick spray inside the measuring cup first. The shortening and peanut butter were easy to scoop out, and the measuring cup was easy to clean. I no longer dread measuring solid shortening or peanut butter for my recipes. Thanks for your column. Ive been reading it in the Hamilton Ohio Journal-News for years. -- T.V., in Ohio PET PAL Dear Heloise: Beatrice, our 8-year-old British shorthair cat, mesmerizes us with her noble gaze. -- Sharon Phillips, Columbia City, Indiana BeatriceHeloise Readers, to see Beatrice and our other Pet Pals, go to Heloise.com and click on Pet of the Week. Do you have a furry friend to share with our readers? Send a photo and a brief description to Heloise@Heloise.com. -- Heloise SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise@Heloise.com (c) 2024 by King Features Syndicate Inc. The U.S. State Department reissued an increased caution travel advisory to Tunisia due to terrorism. The State Department reissued the Level 2: Increased Caution advisory as an update to inform the public about high-risk areas in Tunisia prone to terrorism, including: Within 10 miles of the Algerian border except for Tabarka and Ain Draham. Within 10 miles of the border with Libya. The Mount Chaambi National Park, Mount Salloum, Mount Sammamma, and Mount Mghila in Kasserine governorate. The Mount Orbata area in the Gafsa governorate. Despite the warnings, Tunisia remains in the second-lowest category of travel advisories, and it is on par with countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and more. Tunisia is a popular destination among travelers in North America, with its capital city Tunis ranking as one of the most popular destinations for Canadians for the summer due to its history and vast stretches of Mediterranean beaches. Tunisia is expecting 8.5 million tourists throughout the year, and to meet that demand, hotels such as Marriott and Club Med are opening resorts. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. The wife of a man killed two years ago when he was struck by a driver being chased by police in Paterson has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Passaic County. Haiyan Wei, of New York, states in court papers that police officers and sheriffs deputies acted recklessly on May 17, 2022, when they pursued a driver who ultimately crashed into Jun Ting Pan, 40, who was crossing at Market and Main streets. A spokesman for the county did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Harold Rasbin, 33, had allegedly taken an SUV without permission and was fleeing police when he crashed into a crowd, killing Pan and sending multiple people to the hospital, according to the suit, filed May 16 in Superior Court of Passaic County. The SUV came to rest when it struck a light pole head-on in the 200 block of Main Street and became disabled, investigators said at the time. Video from the scene showed the silver SUV in the street with heavy front end damage. Nearby, a victim lay injured on the sidewalk. Video posted to social media showed a chaotic scene with police officers handcuffing Rasbin on the ground. Pan died at the scene, while six other people were taken to St. Josephs University Medical Center in Paterson with various injuries. Records show Rasbin has been in the Passaic County Jail for two years on dozens of charges related to the crash, including first-degree vehicular homicide, second-degree leaving the scene of an accident and multiple counts of aggravated assault. A surviving victim has joined Wei as a plaintiff, claiming she was seriously injured, disabled and disfigured in the crash. The lawsuit alleges members of the city police department and sheriffs office operated their vehicles carelessly, recklessly and with wanton disregard for the safety of others. The suit also claims county and city officials failed to properly hire, train and supervise the officers involved in the chase. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 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. Thunder Road Theatre have announced their 2024 Autumn UK tour of Shock Horror: A Ghost Story, including a visit to Queens Theatre Barnstaple from 19 23 November. Shock Horror has been described as Stranger Things meets The Woman in Black; inspired by classic theatre ghost stories and cinemas greatest frights, the show is a chilling journey into a haunted past. Combining live performance and big-screen action, its full of shivers, shrieks and shocking revelations. Herbert grew up in the Metropol. The eerie old cinema was his playground and prison a place where endless late-night horror films were his only window to the world. Forbidden from leaving by his disturbed parents, Herbert hid in its shadows and gorged on its movies. But what lurked in the Metropols darkness? And how did he manage to escape? Now Herberts back at the abandoned cinema, searching for answers to long-buried questions. But for him, and for you, the real horror has only just begun The cast includes Alex Moran (War Horse, National Theatre; Quality Street UK Tour,Northern Broadsides) as Herbert, Chloe Proctor (Emmerdale, ITV; Doctors, BBC) as Norma, Joseph Carter as Jack (Hollyoaks, Channel Four; Yizkor, New Vic Theatre; 100 Years On, Everyman Theatre) and Chris Blackwood as Karras (Miss Julie, Gulbenkian Arts Centre; The Little Mermaid, Kings Theatre). Alex Moran, producer and actor (Herbert) said: Were delighted with the excitement and demand the show has generated since it began. Supported by a fantastic tour this year across three countries. We cant wait to start scaring again. Ryan Simons, writer and director said: The venues were visiting this year are brilliant, full of atmosphere for a ghost story. Its our third time touring this show and each time it grows into something creepier. We cant wait to be in the dark again with an auditorium full of scared people! Shock Horror will visit Queens Theatre, Barnstaple, from Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 November at 7.30pm each night, with 2.30pm matinees on Thursday 21 and Saturday 23 November. Further information and ticket details can be found at: www.thunderroadtheatre.org/shockhorror A state ethics panel quietly dismissed a complaint last summer against the New York judge presiding over the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, issuing a warning over small donations the judge had made to groups supporting Democrats, including the campaign of Joseph R. Biden Jr. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, donated a total of $35 to the groups in 2020, including a $15 donation earmarked for the Biden campaign, and $10 to a group called Stop Republicans. Political contributions of any kind are prohibited under state judicial ethics rules. Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution, the spokesman for the court system, Al Baker, said in a statement. A caution does not include any penalty, but it can be considered in any future cases reviewed by the states Commission on Judicial Conduct. A letter outlining the caution was not released because of the commissions rules, and Justice Merchan did not make the letter available. Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp was sitting in her second floor office at the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics, preparing to appear on a television news show on Friday afternoon, when three pro-Palestinian protesters in masks and sunglasses burst in and ordered her to leave the building. Ms. Heitkamp, the director of the institute and the only staff member left in the building, refused to go, slowing what had apparently been an effort to take over the building, the latest tactic in demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war that have taken place on the University of Chicago campus and across the country. They desperately wanted me out, Ms. Heitkamp recalled. I told them, Im not going to leave. This is our building. And I planted my feet. She added, Im a stubborn old woman. Ms. Heitkamp, who represented North Dakota as a Democrat in the Senate, said she tried to engage in a dialogue with the protesters about their goals and why they had targeted the institute, even as she heard others smashing furniture in other rooms. The Academic Senate at the University of California, Los Angeles, voted against two resolutions seeking to rebuke the schools chancellor, Gene Block, largely over his handling of an attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment two weeks ago. The results of the votes, conducted after a three-hour meeting on Thursday, were released on Friday and showed that only 43 percent of voting members had backed a no-confidence motion. A motion to censure Dr. Block was evenly split, 88 for and 88 against, failing to achieve a simple majority of support. It is clear that we are not united in how we view the major events of the past weeks and the campus response to them, Andrea M. Kasko, the Senate chair, said in a statement. I hope that we can try to find common ground as colleagues, and have the courage to listen with open minds and open hearts even when we do not agree. Formal rebukes by faculty were unlikely to have practical implications for Dr. Block, 75, who is set to step down as chancellor in July, said William G. Tierney, a professor emeritus of higher education at the University of Southern California who has written about the response to campus protests across the nation. Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia vetoed on Friday two bills that would have revoked tax exemptions for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a century-old organization that has often been at the center of debates over the states Confederate past and its racial history. In doing so, Mr. Youngkin sided with fellow Republicans in the legislature who almost unanimously opposed the bills and the efforts by the states Democrats to curtail the Commonwealths relationship with Confederate heritage organizations. The bills had nearly unanimous Democratic support in both chambers of the legislature. (One Democrat did not participate in one of the votes.) The organizations property tax exemptions were added to the state code in the 1950s, during segregation and when the Commonwealth maintained a closer relationship with the group. The organizations Virginia division is also exempt from paying recordation taxes, which are levied when property sales are registered for public record. In a statement explaining his decision, Mr. Youngkin acknowledged that the property tax exemption was ripe for reform, delineated by inconsistencies and discrepancies. But, he said that the bills were too narrow, specifically targeting the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and approving them would set an inappropriate precedent. Saturated in sunlight on a recent afternoon, the spacious TriBeCa loft that once housed Roulette somehow feels smaller than it looms in memory. For nearly 25 years, a stellar array of established and emerging composers, improvisers, electronic producers and choreographers held court in the long, tall main room. Visitors had to pass through a kitchen: a reminder that the loft was also the home of Jim Staley, the trombonist and composer who was a founder of Roulette. Unlike many similar experimental arts venues now lost to time, Roulette has thrived and grown, now occupying a 14,000-square-foot space in Downtown Brooklyn. But Staley, 73, who still lives in the TriBeCa loft, has decided that after 45 years of leading Roulette, the time has come to step away. When this season ends in June, he will give up his role as artistic director. Its another evolution for a vital institution that has seen many. Roulette was established in Chicago in 1978 as a way for five recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates, including Staley, to produce their own work. But the collaborative changed course after Staley, a well-traveled Army veteran, moved to New York. Joined by two other Roulette founders, the graphic artist Laurie Szujewska and the composer David Weinstein, Staley hosted a modest five-concert series at his loft in 1980. After that, We got a lot of proposals, Staley said. And we just decided, lets do em all. We ended up doing about 30 concerts in the fall. After suffering a setback at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama on Friday, the United Automobile Workers unions efforts to organize other auto factories in the South are likely to slow and could struggle to make headway. About 56 percent of the Mercedes workers who voted rejected the U.A.W. in an election after the union chalked up two major wins this year. In April, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee voted to join the union, the first large nonunion auto plant in the South to do so. Weeks later, the union negotiated a new contract bringing significant pay and benefit improvements for its members at several North Carolina factories owned by Daimler Truck. Losing at Mercedes is not death for the union, said Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. It just means theyll have less confidence going to the next plant. The U.A.W. is in it for the long run. I dont think theyre going to stop just because they lost here. Since its founding in 1935, the U.A.W. has almost exclusively represented workers employed by the three Michigan-based automakers: General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler, now part of Stellantis. And it has long struggled to make headway at plants owned by foreign manufacturers, especially in Southern states where anti-union sentiment runs deep. In Word Through The Times, we trace how one word or phrase has changed throughout the history of the newspaper. In 1898, The New York Times reported that an American soldier had died from a disease so rare that it caused considerable comment among physicians: nostalgia. According to a medical authority quoted in The Times, nostalgia was a form of melancholy brought about by an unsatisfied longing for home. As a medical condition, nostalgia was likened to severe homesickness. Those suffering from it often, soldiers were consumed by sadness; some would lose their appetite; others would become weak or lethargic. Most accounts trace the words origin to 1688, when Johannes Hofer used it in his medical dissertation to describe an affliction affecting Swiss mercenaries. The term permeated continents and warfare over the next two centuries; much has been written about nostalgia during the Civil War. Over the next few decades, according to Clay Routledge, a psychologist who studies nostalgia, the conditions symptoms were folded into the diagnostic criteria of other mental health disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. By the 20th century, the definition of nostalgia had broadened to mean an everyday feeling of sentimentality or longing, the etymologist Grant Barrett said in an interview. He attributed this to semantic weakening, a process in which a word loses intensity. At one corner of Baxter Street in Lower Manhattan this week, former President Donald J. Trump transformed a shabby New York courthouse where hes on trial into the backdrop for his comeback campaign. He vented to a lineup of cameras. The speaker of the House stopped by. Supporters waved purple and red Trump flags through a spring mist. Things were far quieter just down the block, but still plenty noteworthy. There, at a different courthouse, another uncommonly high-powered defendant, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, shuffled silently through a metal detector each morning to face his own criminal trial. The two men one a Republican, one a Democrat are longtime political adversaries with far different styles and stories. Their cases share little beyond tawdriness, with one centered on a hush-money payment to a porn star and the other on alleged bribes paid in gold bars. But in an extraordinary twist, the paths to their fates have physically crossed this week, with the prosecution of a former president playing out all of 500 feet from where another jury of New Yorkers began hearing one of the gravest cases ever leveled against a sitting U.S. senator. Now that President Biden is pressuring Israel to back away from an all-out invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, some supporters of Israel feel betrayed. They ask: How can Israel protect itself and ensure its security if it cant eliminate Hamas leaders hiding in tunnels under Rafah? Why sacrifice thousands of lives, Palestinian and Israeli alike, but stop short of a definitive end to the war that would lay the groundwork for rebuilding Gaza? They raise legitimate questions, but I think they misunderstand Bidens motivations as purely humanitarian and intended simply to avert a blood bath in Rafah. Saving lives is an important factor and for my part, I wish Biden would apply more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect Palestinian civilians but even if you put aside humanitarian concerns, many observers also believe that Israel itself would be better off if it showed restraint. It may be in Netanyahus interest to flatten Rafah, because anything that prolongs the war keeps him in office, but its not in Israels interest. Even when Bebe Neuwirth isnt dancing, shes dancing. I am a dancer first, she said in a phone interview from her apartment in Greenwich Village. Im a physical performer, and that impulse, that expression doesnt go away even if Im standing still and listening to someone. Neuwirth, 65, is a Tony Award nominee for her performance as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret and is already a two-time winner for her roles in Sweet Charity in 1986 and Chicago in 1997. She has also gained fans for her television work on the Julia Child dramedy Julia and the long-running sitcom Cheers. But its theater that keeps calling her back. Ive been onstage since I was 7, she said. Its my home. On a rainy afternoon, Neuwirth discussed her love for the citys Art Deco buildings, why the Jersey Shore is magical in winter and where to find the best softball in Manhattan. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. 1 Flea Markets Some of my first flea markets were at the Rose Bowl, and now I seek them out wherever I am. I go down to the one under the Manhattan Bridge sometimes. Most of my house is filled with things Ive collected from flea markets, but Im always looking. The official purpose of Joseph R. Biden Jr.s trip to Georgia in the final days of 2020 was to rally support for two Democratic Senate candidates facing tight runoffs. But the visit looked an awful lot like a victory lap. I have to say, it feels pretty good, Mr. Biden told a crowd in Atlanta, reveling in the distinction of being the first Democrat to win Georgia in a presidential election in nearly 30 years. The moment along with the Democrats win of both Senate seats a few weeks later, tipping control of the chamber seemed to affirm the partys resurgence in a state long dominated by Republicans. This weekend, as Mr. Biden returns to Atlanta with ambitions of winning the state again in a rematch with former President Donald J. Trump, he faces a much different climate. The optimism that soared among Georgia Democrats after his win has been overtaken by frustration and worry, not just about his campaign prospects but also about the direction of the country. Brig. Gen. Bud Anderson, who single-handedly shot down 16 German planes over Europe in World War II and became Americas last living triple ace, a fighter pilot with 15 or more kills, died on Friday at his home in Auburn, Calif., northeast of Sacramento. General Anderson, who teamed with the renowned Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager in combat and later in the storied age of pioneering test pilots, was 102. His family, in a statement on General Andersons website, said he died in his sleep. In his 30 years of military service, General Anderson flew more than 130 types of aircraft, logging some 7,500 hours in the air. Piloting P-51 Mustang propeller fighters in World War II he named them Old Crow, for his favorite brand of whiskey he logged 116 missions totaling some 480 hours of combat without aborting a single foray. In Milwaukee on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted her work to close the racial wealth gap. In Atlanta on Sunday, President Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, an all-male historically Black institution. And in Detroit the same day, he is expected to speak at an N.A.A.C.P. dinner. But as Mr. Biden and his team intensify their efforts to engage Black voters, evidence keeps emerging that he faces serious challenges among that politically powerful, heavily Democratic group of Americans, threatening his ability to resurrect his victorious 2020 coalition. And perhaps nowhere are those problems more striking than in Philadelphia, the largest city in Mr. Bidens birth state and a place he visits seemingly constantly pulled back by his roots, its proximity to his current homes and an awareness that Pennsylvania delivered him the presidency four years ago and could decide his re-election bid this fall. In interviews with nearly two dozen voters in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Philadelphia this week, as well as with elected officials and strategists, signs of softness in Mr. Bidens standing were palpable. May 19 update: Representative Elise Stefanik addressed some Israeli lawmakers at Parliament. Representative Elise Stefanik of New York will be the highest-ranking House Republican to address lawmakers at Israels Parliament since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack with a speech on Sunday that is expected to deliver a forceful rebuke of President Biden and his fellow Democrats while presenting her party as the true allies of the Jewish state. Ms. Stefaniks speech comes as the Biden White House is urging Israel to end the war in Gaza, and it builds on the Republican political strategy to capitalize on Democratic divisions over Israels response to the terrorist attacks. That strategy, which has played out in Congress for the past six months, has included a largely symbolic House vote on Thursday aimed at rebuking Mr. Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel and compelling his administration to deliver those weapons quickly. Mr. Biden recently put a hold on military aid out of concern that Israel would use the weapons on Rafah, a crowded city in southern Gaza. The administration has also told Congress that it plans to sell more than $1 billion in new weapons to Israel. Since an American therapist from Texas disappeared while visiting Syria in 2017, his family has navigated years of milestones in uncertainty: his 41st wedding anniversary, the births of four grandchildren, his wifes cancer diagnosis. Earlier this month, at a hotel in Washington, national security officials told the family that highly credible, classified information indicated the therapist, Majd Kamalmaz, had died in captivity, held in one of the worlds most notorious prison systems. Mr. Kamalmazs relatives intend to grieve soon, finally, at a mosque and at the familys home in Grand Prairie, Texas. They had hoped for a different outcome, but now that they have accepted the news, his daughters said they would fight to hold Syria accountable for their fathers detainment and death. The family plans to sue the Syrian government for damages and to seek justice for others still in detention. In Mexico City, one of the worlds largest cities, the struggle for water is constant. Poor planning, urban sprawl and scorching dry weather have strained the water supply. One key system may soon be unable to provide water. ELKO Elko Countys general fund for the fiscal year that begins June 30 will have an ending balance of a little more than $5.11 million and expenditures in the proposed final budget are estimated at nearly $48.01 million, which is more than anticipated revenue. A general fund budget preview Comptroller Susan Paprocki presented in advance of the final budget hearing at noon Tuesday shows revenues are expected to be a little more than $43.63 million, but the beginning fund balance is nearly $10.49 million. Thats a pretty good wake-up call, when we overspend revenues, said Commissioner Rex Steninger. According to the proposed budget, most of the revenue will come from consolidated taxes at nearly $17.97 million, and that is mostly from sales taxes. Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi said property taxes are stable, but the consolidated tax can grow with more people shopping at home. I agree. The more you spend at home, the better the tax revenue, Paprocki told commissioners on May 15. Property tax collections estimated at $11.08 million are the second highest revenue generator for the general fund. Other revenue coming to the county includes $3.32 million for charges for services, $1.63 million for intergovernmental revenue, $939,000 from licenses and permits, $660,000 from fines and forfeitures and miscellaneous revenue of nearly $1.77 million. The revenue for the fiscal year 2024-2025 also includes a transfer into the general fund of nearly $6.27 million, Paprockis presentation shows. The public safety category has the largest chunk of expenditure, at $18.02 million, followed by judicial costs at $13.97 million and general government costs at $12.89 million. Health costs are estimated at $1.28 million, and public works expenses at $385,212. This category also includes a contingency of $1 million and a transfer out of $1.47 million. Paprockis presentation also breaks down expenditures by category, showing that salaries and wages total $19.46 million and employee benefits, nearly $12.6 million, while services and supplies are expected to cost $14.46 million. There is $1 million for contingency in the budget, a transfer out of $1.47 million and $25,000 in capital outlay. In other words, salaries and wages make up about 40% of expenditures from the general fund, reflecting a 2% cost-of-living raise approved last September, and employee benefits are 26% of costs. The general fund is the countys operating budget, but there are additional funds in the budget, including government funds ranging from the library and recreation to juvenile probation. There also are separate budgets to be approved May 21 for the communities of Jackpot, Jarbidge, Montello, Mountain City, Starr Valley and Tuscarora, and there is a budget hearing for the Elko County Fire Protection District Budget at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The countys introduction to the full budget states we continue to be conservative in our budgeting of revenues, excluding net proceeds of minerals due to the volatility of the revenue, and budgeting consolidated tax at 95% of base projections. We have budgeted only moderate increases to expenditures where needed in operating funds. The budgeted ending fund balance in the general fund is anticipated at 10.97% of expenditures, which is in line with goals set during the budget process. This includes a 2% contingency budget, the introduction says. The final budget also states the new funds for the upcoming fiscal year include the Elko County Facilities Capital Project Fund, Elko County Communications Fund and Communications Equipment Fund, formerly Elko Central Dispatch Administrative Authority, and Elko County Ambulance Special Revenue Fund, formerly budgeted as an enterprise fund. The fire districts operating fund shows estimated revenue of nearly $5.04 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and estimated expenses of $6.49 million, with an expected beginning fund balance of a little more than $2.39 million. The estimated revenues for the current fiscal year are a little less than $5.68 million and expenditures, nearly $5.99 million. The ending fund balance is anticipated as $940,801, which is 14.5% of expenditures, according to the budget, and the district continues to have $1 million in an emergency fund for the new fiscal year. The draft and final budget presentations include figures for assessed valuation and figures with and without net proceeds of minerals. The final presentation is included in the agenda for the May 21 hearing. Elko Countys final assessed valuation for the 2024-2025 fiscal year from the Nevada Department of Taxation shows the valuation climbed 7.65% to a little more than $2.54 billion, without the net proceeds of minerals that are down more than 70% for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. We were able to climb on Shishapangma and were able to bring them down the mountain and cross the border, Nimsdai wrote on X. From there we brought them to Kathmandu and onward to be reunited with their families. Nimsdai, who has summited peaks higher than 8,000 meters 45 times more than anyone else in history said the retrieval mission was one of the most challenging tasks he had ever undertaken. Another American woman, Gina Marie Rzucidlo, and her guide, Tenjen Lama, were on Mount Shishapangma at the same time as Ms. Gutu and Mr. Sherpa, trying to best Ms. Gutu to achieve the record. Pushing herself to reach the summit before her competitor, Ms. Rzucidlo and Mr. Lama were caught in a separate avalanche and buried. Both died. Mr. Lama, a renowned mountain guide working with a Norwegian climber, Kristin Harila, had already set a world record, for having climbed the 14 tallest peaks in 92 days, faster than anyone. Seven Summit Treks, another expedition company, arranged for Mr. Lama to work with Ms. Rzucidlo. An effort to bring back the bodies of Ms. Rzucidlo and Mr. Lama this spring was postponed after China denied the rescuers permission to enter Tibet. The two bodies remain on the mountain. Mr. Lamas former climbing partner, Ms. Harila, had become involved in trying to bring his body back to Nepal. Days after returning from a trip to Europe where he was lectured about the need to rein in Russia, Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, used a summit with President Vladimir V. Putin to convey an uncomfortable reality to the West: His support for Mr. Putin remains steadfast. Mr. Xis talks with Mr. Putin this week were a show of solidarity between two autocrats battling Western pressure. The two leaders put out a lengthy statement that denounced what they saw as American interference and bullying and laid out their alignment on Chinas claim to self-ruled Taiwan and Russias legitimate security interests in Ukraine. They pledged to expand economic and military ties, highlighted by Mr. Putins visit to a cutting-edge Chinese institute for defense research. Mr. Xi even initiated a cheek-to-cheek hug as he bade Mr. Putin farewell on Thursday after an evening stroll in the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound in Beijing. Rex Murphy, a Canadian newspaper, radio and television commentator who delighted his countrys conservatives with sharp attacks on environmentalists, liberal politicians and what he called their woke politics, died on May 9 in Toronto. He was 77. His death, from cancer, was announced on the front page of The National Post, the widely read daily newspaper for which he wrote a column, one of several he had over the years in Canadian papers, including The Globe and Mail in Toronto. His editor at The National Post, Kevin Libin, said Mr. Murphy died in a hospital. In his heyday, in the 1990s, Mr. Murphy was the rare political commentator who commanded a countrywide audience, skewering Canadas elites as well as its sometimes fragile sense of nationhood. His roots in Newfoundland Canadas youngest province, and one of its most rugged informed a combative patriotism and an affinity for the countrys working class. For 21 years, from 1994 to 2015, he was the host of Cross Country Checkup, a popular weekly call-in radio show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He would listen patiently as cranky listeners aired their views, then delivered his own back, pointedly. For much of that period he gave a weekly segment of commentary on the CBCs main nightly TV news program, The National. Dmitri A. Medvedev, the former Russian president and regular forecaster of a third World War, had no hesitation in comparing the would-be assassin of Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia to the young man who ignited World War I. Europe, he suggested, was once more on the brink. The individual who shot Mr. Fico, a nationalist leader who favors friendly relations with Russia, was a certain topsy-turvy version of Gavrilo Princip, Mr. Medvedev said on the social network X. Princip was the 19-year-old Bosnian Serb nationalist whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, started what Churchill called the hardest, the cruelest of all wars. It was on many levels a wild association to make. The Europe of empires that unraveled between 1914 and 1918 is long gone, as is the Europe that replaced it and produced Auschwitz. In their place the painstakingly constructed European Union of 27 members, including Slovakia, has been put in place with the overriding goal of making war impossible on a long-ravaged continent. Yet, with elections to the European Parliament just three weeks way, ominous indications of brewing violence go well beyond the shooting of Mr. Fico, whose condition remains serious. Joining the ranks of the screen goddess Brigitte Bardot and the Eiffel Tower, another French treasure is being celebrated with its own postage stamp: the baguette. And this one is scratch-and-sniff. The latest showcasing of French cultural heritage as Paris prepares to host millions of visitors for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the new stamp features a cartoon image of a baguette wrapped in a tricolor ribbon. It was unveiled by Frances postal service on Thursday May 16, the feast day of Saint Honore, the patron saint of bakers. The baguette, the bread of our daily lives, the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture, the usually not-flashy postal service raved in its description of its new offering. Russian forces continued to press a grinding advance on Saturday into northeastern Ukraine, moving closer to a village about 10 miles from the outer ring of Kharkiv and raising fears that the city, Ukraines second largest, could soon be within range of Russian artillery. The Ukrainian Army said on Saturday that Russian troops had tried to break through its defenses near the village of Lyptsi, which lies directly north of Kharkiv. It said the attacks had been repelled, but maps of the battlefield compiled by independent groups analyzing publicly available video of the fighting showed that Russian troops had almost reached the outskirts of the village. Ukraines Khartia Brigade, which is defending Lyptsi, posted a video on Telegram on Friday afternoon that it said showed Russian soldiers advancing on the village on foot, and attacking in small groups between tree lines. The brigade said it had targeted the Russians with rockets, forcing them to withdraw. Russian troops opened a new front in Ukraines northeast a week ago, surging across the border and quickly capturing about 10 settlements in what Ukrainian officials and military analysts described as an attempt to stretch Ukraines already outnumbered forces. Slovakias prime minister, Robert Fico, was in improving health on Saturday morning, the countrys deputy minister said, after having a second surgery on the wounds he sustained when he was shot in an assassination attempt on Wednesday. Several miracles happened, the deputy minister, Robert Kalinak, told reporters. He added of Mr. Fico, He is conscious, with all the limitations of this serious injury. Mr. Kalinak made the remarks in front of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica, where Mr. Fico was taken after he was shot multiple times by a lone gunman. Earlier Saturday morning, in a different part of the country, the 71-year-old suspect in the shooting, a man identified by the authorities only as Juraj C., was presented to a judge, who ordered that he would remain in custody until trial. He wrote dark, erotic verse and poems featuring torture and pain. He also self-published a book that railed against Roma people and asked why Slovakia had not produced a homegrown version of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist. Where is the Slovak Breivik? Has he not been born yet? And what if he has been? he asked in the book. I didnt shoot anyone. I told myself Ill write a book. Then on Wednesday, the 71-year-old former coal mine worker, onetime stone mason and lifelong malcontent was charged with opening fire at point-blank range on Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia. As soon as news broke that an unidentified man had shot Mr. Fico in central Slovakia, it was obvious to Milan Maruniak, a retired coal miner, who must be responsible. Russian troops punched across Ukraines northern border with such speed and force last week that Ukraines meager fortifications offered almost no obstacle. Some Ukrainian soldiers, caught totally by surprise, fell back from their positions, and villages that had been liberated nearly two years earlier suddenly came under relentless shelling, forcing hundreds to flee in scenes reminiscent of the early days of the war. They are erasing streets, said Tetiana Novikova, 55, a retired factory worker who said she barely escaped with her life on Friday when her village of Vovchansk came under withering fire from Russian forces. As she fled the village where she had spent her whole life, she said, not a single Ukrainian soldier was in sight. The stunning incursion into the Kharkiv Region lays bare the challenges facing Ukraines weary and thinly stretched forces as Russia ramps up its summer offensive. The Russian troops pouring over the border enjoyed a huge advantage in artillery shells and employed air power, including fighter jets and heavy glide bombs, to disastrous effect, unhindered by depleted Ukrainian air defenses. Once over the border, the Russian soldiers easily pushed past fortifications like trenches, land mines and tank barriers some of which, Ukrainian troops said, were insufficient or sloppily constructed. The U.S. built a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza as part of an effort to stave off famine in the enclave. Which group will be responsible for distributing aid that arrives there? TWELVE videos which highlight Daingean's rich heritage and provide a platform for its renewal were launched on Thursday evening. The videos were produced a couple of years ago but they will now be more accessible by the location of explanatory plaques with QR codes around the town, Malachy Mangan, chair of Daingean Development Association said. Speaking in Daingean's historic town hall, which is itself the subject of an exciting refurbishment plan, Mr Mangan hailed it an important night for the area. He recalled that Daingean was formerly the capital of the county for about 400 years when it was known as Philipstown from 1556 until reverting to its Irish language name upon national independence in 1922. He spoke of an historical reference to it being a town full of idlers and beggars before the Grand Canal arrived in the 1800s, ushering a period of prosperity. Daingean had a boom time when the canal came and that lasted for about 10 years because then the canal did reach Tullamore, he noted. Philipstown was further usurped in the 1830s when the powerful Lord Charleville in Tullamore helped ensure that his town acquired the county assizes (court sittings) which had been sitting in Daingean's courthouse, the imposing building which is now the town hall. The rest is history, remarked Mr Mangan. Speaking of Daingean's current standing, he explained: Yes, it has village status, but it is a proud village status and its significance to us is what we do with the town and what we make of it. I think it's a very, very fabulous place to live. There is so much action in this town. He stressed how the town hall itself is a nerve centre for local activity each evening, with everything from community groups to Pilates sessions and the kayaking club's meetings taking place there. Here tonight we're honouring our past and the stories that will be told but we're also celebrating what we do ourselves at present and the control we take of our future. The dozen videos, entitled Daingean: A Grand Canal Town, each focus on a different part of Daingean's history and were first made available to view on YouTube. Uptake was low but the use of the QR codes (which can be scanned on a mobile phone giving instant access to the video) will ensure much greater visibility for the videos and heritage trail. Three of the video shorts were shown on Thursday evening on a big screen in the town hall, with the first explaining that the word 'daingean' means fortress, stronghold or citadel. The original Daingean was an important settlement for the powerful O'Connor clan, frequent raiders of the Pale to the east, resulting in the English Tudors deciding to quell the resistance once and for all by establishing a fort there in the 1500s. The name Philipstown is from the Spanish King Philip II who was married to Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII. A second video focused on one of Daingean's many curiosities, the cemetery and belfry in the town centre beside the town hall. The tower and belfry are all that remain of a church built in 1835 but to its rear is the graveyard on 'Bully's Acre', a burial ground which contains the resting place of Captain Charles Dodgson, grandfather of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a man better known by his penname, Lewis Carroll, creator of Alice in Wonderland. The third video shown was entitled Erasmus Smith and it tells the story of the Protestant boarding school established in Philipstown by the man who established the educational trust bearing his name. Those attending on Thursday evening were also told about Daingean's original jail and the plan to build a new one in 1826. Though the jail was never constructed (that honour fell to Tullamore) its foundation stone was recovered and remains a priceless part of Daingean's story. The videos also provide information about Philipstown's Methodist meeting house; the remains of its first English fort; the area around Brady's shop (a 19th century post office); Bell Well, so named because of a bell that would ring when a barge was approaching on the canal; the reformatory for boys; the importance of local bogland and much more. The videos are narrated by local woman Martina McGlynn, Offaly historian James Scully, local man Johnny Brady, and the late John Kearney from Offaly Historical Society. Six of the plaques with the QR codes have already been installed around the town and the remainder will be rolled out to complete the project. Brendan Darcy outlined the plan for the refurbishment of the town hall building, saying that when complete it will house a theatre and several multi-function rooms. A more detailed plan will be presented on May 30 next but Mr Darcy's message to the local community was: It's your hall. You guys decide what way you want this hall. It has to make financial sense as well. We're going to have hub spaces and meeting rooms that can be hired out. Cllr Liam Quinn explained that the project will be funded partly from the proceeds of the LPT (local property tax), which will enable the release of much larger amounts of grant-aid from the Government. The event also heard from Margaret Edgill of Mount Briscoe farm who hopes an annual walking festival can be established in Daingean, capitalising on the local heritage and potential for regenerative and slow tourism where the emphasis is on reconnecting with nature. We can put Daingean on the map and it can be a social experience, said Ms Edgill. Prize winners in the annual local tidy community competition were then announced by Martina McGlynn. The Achievement in Window Dressing prize went to Bernie McGrath and Joe Hanlon and the Achievement in Biodiversity was won by Philips Vale for the No Mow May project. Meadow Court was named as Best Estate and Coologue was the runner-up in that category. The Best on Main Street prize went to Kathleen Connolly, a resident known for her beautiful floral displays. A Nevada ballot initiative to require valid voter photo IDs could be up for a statewide vote in November. The initiative seeks to amend Nevadas Constitution by requiring in-person voters to provide valid photo identification before receiving a ballot. That can include a drivers license, passport, student photo ID card or concealed weapon permit. The proposal would also require those voting by mail to provide part of a personally identifiable number such as a drivers license number or Social Security number alongside their signature. Thirty-six states now have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. Nevada is among only 14 states without voter ID rules. Democrats in the Legislature refused to even hear Republican-sponsored bills on voter ID in 2021 and 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2008), held 6-3 that an Indiana law requiring voters to provide photographic identification did not violate the U.S. Constitution. An overwhelming majority of voters support laws that require individuals to show photo identification before voting. A Rasmussen Report poll in 2021 found 75% of voters believe a photo ID should be required, including 69% of Black voters. Only 21% opposed voter ID laws. Similarly, a Monmouth survey that year reported 81% of voters supported voter ID requirements, including 62% of Democrats. An earlier Gallup Poll measured 80% support for voter identification. Nevadans across all demographic groups support requiring a photo ID when voting. A February 2023 poll conducted by the Nevada Independent found 74% of Nevada registered voters support voters having to show ID when voting: 62% of Democrats, 93% of Republicans, and 68% of Independents/Non-Partisans. In 2005, the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and former Secretary of State James Baker III, a Republican, recommended a photo ID system. Other Democrats on the commission, including former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton, joined in making what seemed at the time to be a common sense proposal. How things have changed. Some of the commissions members, including Carter, came out in 2021 to disavow the commissions work. Democrats now bitterly resist voter ID as racist voter suppression. President Joe Biden in a January 2022 speech engaged in outrageous demagoguery by likening voter ID laws to the country returning to Jim Crow 2.0. It was reckless political nonsense. Nevadas Voter ID initiative is proposed by Repair the Vote, a political action committee, led by former Clark County GOP Chair David Gibbs. This initiative is the second time this PAC has tried to place a voter ID ballot measure before voters. Last year, it failed to receive enough signatures. Gibbs claims supporters currently have 60,000 signed-up. To qualify for the ballot, petition supporters must gather 102,362 signatures from voters by June 26, with at least 25,591 signatures coming from each of the states four congressional districts. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardos political advisers have connected the PAC to donors who will help fund the signature gathering campaign. The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments on May 8 on legal challenges to the proposed ballot measure brought by Nevada and Washington, D.C.- based attorneys who typically represent Democrat-backed causes. A district court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the initiative in February. The Supreme Courts ruling will determine whether supporters can continue their ongoing signature-gathering effort as the June 26 deadline looms. The U.S. is an outlier among the worlds democracies in not requiring voter ID. Of the 47 countries in Europe today, all 47 of them require government-issued photos to vote. Whether its buying prescription drugs, driving a car, flying on a plane, photo ID is a requirement of everyday life. Requiring voter photo ID is a common sense measure to ensure election integrity. Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (R) on May 17 receives newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki. (Photo: VNA) Congratulating the ambassador on starting his tenure in Vietnam, Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuan believed that with his experience in diplomacy and his contributions to the Vietnam-Japan ties in various previous positions, the ambassador will continue to contribute to promoting bilateral relations in the coming time. She affirmed that the State, ministries, agencies, and localities of Vietnam will create favourable conditions for the ambassador to complete his duties. Stressing Vietnam considers Japan a leading and long-term partner, the leader noted that in the coming time, the two sides should continue to practically and effectively implement their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was upgraded in November 2023, ensuring the interests of the two countries' people and making positive contributions to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world. The two countries will enhance political trust through contacts and exchanges of delegations at all levels; continue to coordinate and support each other at regional and international forums, and promote Mekong - Japan cooperation. Regarding economic cooperation - the main pillar of the two countries' relationship, the Acting President asked the two sides to continue to strengthen economic links and ensure economic security through investment and trade cooperation. She hoped that Japan will continue to support Vietnam in its industrialisation and modernisation process, building an independent and self-reliant economy and implementing three strategic breakthroughs; provide new generation official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in the fields of strategic infrastructure development, climate change response, and health care. Besides, the two countries will promote cooperation in new fields such as semiconductors, digital transformation, and green transition. Welcoming Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuans suggestions, the Japanese ambassador stated that Japan will support Vietnam at the United Nations and regional and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to which Vietnam and Japan are members. The diplomat said that the Japanese Government supports Vietnam in realising its goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045 with ODA loans as well as expanding cooperation in the fields which are strengths of both sides. He expressed his wish that Vietnam will continue to improve the business and investment environment and create more favourable conditions for Japanese businesses to operate in the country./. Douglas A. Olson, Oregons new FBI special agent in charge, joined the FBI shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States. He got out of the military in spring 2001 after eight and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a scout-sniper platoon commander and intelligence officer. An organization that supports Jewish college students in Portland has declared Reed College an increasingly hostile environment after an on-campus attack of a Jewish student earlier this month. The targeting of a student on May 5 and 6 follows two acts of vandalism when people scrawled swastikas in bathrooms. The latest case occurred on May 5, when a vandal smashed a students mezuzah, a small scroll inscribed with verses from the Torah, that had been hanging on the students dorm room door, said Phyllis Esposito, vice president and dean for institutional diversity, in an email to the campus community. The following day, someone threw rocks through the same students open window and hit the student, Esposito said in an email to the campus community. She described the attack as a clear act of antisemitism directed at a student on our campus. Hannah Sherman a spokesperson for PDX Hillel, which supports Jewish college students said in a statement Friday that Jewish students at Reed have increasingly reported feeling targeted, ostracized, intimidated, and harassed. Sheena McFarland, a spokesperson for the private liberal arts college in Southeast Portland, said the attack has been reported to Portland police and the FBI. Campus security reports and the student newspaper have noted at least two other instances of antisemitic graffiti: A student found a swastika and the numbers 1488, a white supremacist symbol, in a college bathroom on Oct. 27 and a student reported a swastika written in Sharpie in the womens bathroom of the Vollum College Center on Nov. 12. Tatum Todd covers crime and public safety. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com, or 503-221-4313. The event was attended by representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos and Consulate General in Sanvannakhet, Khammouane's administration, and the Vietnamese people association in the host nation. Right after the ceremony, the delegates and overseas Vietnamese visited the complexs memorial house highlighting President Ho Chi Minhs significant contributions to national liberation and the Vietnam Laos special friendship. The over-1.5-hectare commemorative site is a cooperative project between the two parties, the two states and the people of Vietnam and Laos. The place marks the activities of President Ho Chi Minh and the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos, aiming to communicate and educate young generations of the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh as well as the special ties between the two nations. The site was put into operation on December 7, 2012. This is also an important tourist destination of history and culture of Khammouane province and Laos in general./. Oregon is on track to see fewer than 40% of registered voters cast their ballot in Tuesdays primary, as is customary in years without more than one well-known contender for either major partys presidential nomination. As of Thursday, 14.1% of Oregon voters had returned their ballots to county election offices, the state reported Friday. That compares to the 14.6% who had returned ballots at the same stage of the 2022 primary. Ultimately, the May 2022 election generated statewide turnout of 37.8%. That was weak compared to recent years with hot or at least unsettled presidential nomination races. In 2016, for example, when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were still dueling and Republicans hadnt fully given up on Ted Cruzs bid against Donald Trump, turnout in Oregons May primary reached 54%. But in 2018, a non-presidential year in which the major parties nominees for governor were largely settled, turnout sunk to 34.7%. Its not that there are not hot contests to be decided this month, particularly for many Democratic voters. Races for the Democratic nominations in the 3rd and 5th Congressional Districts have drawn national attention and eye-popping amounts of money from inside and outside Oregon to decide who will succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer in the 3rd and which Democrat will get to face first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the 5th this fall. Major party voters are also selecting their picks for Oregons secretary of state and attorney general. And voters of all affiliations are choosing county commissioners, district attorneys, sheriffs and other nonpartisan public officials. In the Portland metro area, the race for Multnomah County district attorney is particularly hot, pitting incumbent criminal justice reformer Mike Schmidt against a career prosecutor in the office, Nathan Vasquez. There are also high-profile races for the Multnomah and Clackamas county commissions. And money measures ranging from school bonds to renewal of Portlands gas tax to a bond for the Oregon Zoo dot ballots. And in many places around the state, including in Portland, there are hotly contested races for seats in the Oregon Legislature. As is always the case, registered Republicans and Democrats are proving much more likely to vote in the primary than voters not affiliated with a political party. As of Thursday, 21% of Republicans and 18.3% of Democrats had gotten their ballots to the county elections office. Just 6% of unaffiliated voters could make the same claim. As is also traditional, an outsized share of Portland-area voters, particularly those in Multnomah County, seem to be holding onto their ballots until the final days or hours of the election. As of Thursday, just 13% of Washington County voters, 13.5% of Clackamas voters and 11% of Multnomah voters had returned ballots. In May 2022, fully one-third of all ballots cast more than 320,000 poured into elections offices on Election Day. Voters have until Tuesday to ensure their vote counts. Ballots can be dropped into official ballot collection bins until 8 p.m. Tuesday or they can be postmarked Tuesday and will count even if they dont reach the elections office until later in the week. Betsy Hammond oversees coverage of state politics and government as well as education, Portland City Hall and homelessness. Reach her at betsyhammond@oregonian.com or follow her at @OregonPolEds Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe Maxine Dexters campaign for Congress disclosed Friday it raised an additional $162,000 in a single day, further widening the money gap between the doctor and state House member and her opponents in the Democratic primary race to represent Oregons 3rd Congressional District. Nearly all of the money Dexter raised on Wednesday 99% came from out of state donors. Of the nearly 80 people who contributed to Dexter that day, just two were from Oregon. She also took in $5,000 from the American Academy of Dermatology. Many of the donors who contributed to Dexters latest funding blitz have also given to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is spending millions of dollars to back pro-Israel candidates in Democratic primaries nationwide, or to affiliated groups. Dexters Wednesday haul means shes now raised at least $418,000 in May. Her largest single-day intake this month was on May 7, when she reported getting $218,000, about 42% of which came from donors who also gave to pro-Israel groups. Susheela Jayapal, a former Multnomah County commissioner running against Dexter, has reported raising about $71,735 this month. Gresham City Counselor Eddy Morales reported raising about $29,000. The money Dexters campaign has raised, as well as $2.2 million in outside spending by 314 Action Fund, which works to elect liberal candidates with science credentials to Congress, has gone to positive ads and mailers promoting Dexter as a doctor who bases decisions on data and an effective lawmaker focused on health care, housing and gun safety policies. Another $2.4 million in outside spending by an obscure new committee named Voters for Responsive Government has paid for toxic mailers against Jayapal, blaming her for real and proposed policies and failures by the Multnomah County Commission, of which she was one member. Dexters campaign manager reiterated Friday that she has not taken a strict pro-Israel position on the Gaza conflict and that her domestic priorities and positions resonate with 3rd District voters and leaders. Regarding the Middle East conflict, Maxines position has been clear for months we need a ceasefire that ends the conflict, brings the hostages home and rushes humanitarian aid into Gaza, campaign manager Nathan Clark said via email Friday. These things are essential for a durable two-state solution. Were proud of the strong base of support and the momentum our campaign has generated, he wrote. Maxine is endorsed by Oregon labor unions, gun violence prevention advocates, The Oregonian, Willamette Week and dozens of Democratic and community leaders who know she has a strong record of delivering progressive results. Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. You can reach her at sedge@oregonian.com or (503) 260-3430. The boater indicted of badly striking a Florida teen in a Miami-area bay over the weekend claims he was not aware of the accident and is deeply upset to find out of his potential involvement, according to his attorney on Thursday. Boater Accused of Fatally Striking Florida Teenager Ella Adler, 15, tumbled while wakeboarding close to Nixon Beach in Key Biscayne on Saturday and was waiting for her boat when she was hit by other vessels that did not halt, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) stated. The FWC captured a boat suspected to be involved in the hit-and-run and determined the owner and operator on Wednesday as a 78-year-old Coral Gables resident, who is cooperating with the inspection. No charges have been filed. The man's attorney, Lauren Krasnoff, issued a video declaration on Thursday in answer to several media questions. "This is a tragedy, and we extend our deepest sympathies to Ella Adler's family and friends," Krasnoff said. "Since this is an ongoing investigation with which he is fully cooperating, he will not be making any public statements except to express his profound devastation at learning he might have been involved in this tragic event," she continued. Read Also : Florida Teens Charged for Disposing Trash Into Atlantic Ocean as Seen in Viral Video Boater had Extensive Experience and was Well-Acquainted with the Bay Krasnoff described the man as a "very experienced boater" familiar with the bay. He was alone on his boat on Saturday and "had no knowledge whatsoever of being involved in an accident," she said. "If he had struck Ella that day, he was completely unaware," she said, adding that he "would have stopped immediately" had he known. "He docked his boat in plain view behind his house and was unaware of the accident until officers arrived at his home," she said. Krasnoff noted that the boater does not drink and was sober on Saturday. He is "deeply saddened by the loss of this intelligent, accomplished, and beautiful young woman," she said. Krasnoff stated that the boater will pursue to cooperate fully with law enforcement in the continuous inspection. The FWC announced on Tuesday that it had located a boat matching the description provided by witnesses. The 42-foot Boston Whaler has been moved to an FWC evidence facility, the agency said. FWC officers have requested that anyone with information or footage related to the incident contact them. Ella Adler was the granddaughter of US Ambassador to Belgium Ella, the granddaughter of US Ambassador to Belgium Michael M. Adler, was remembered fondly by her family, friends, and community. Services were held for her, attended by hundreds, and she was recognized by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Ella was a freshman at Ransom Everglades High School and a gifted ballerina with the Miami City Ballet. The Miami City Ballet and Ransom Everglades School conveyed their deep grief over Ella's loss and extended condolences to her family. The US Embassy to Belgium also offered its deepest condolences to the Adler family. Authorities urge anyone with information about the accident to come forward by contacting the Wildlife Alert Hotline or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers. At 34, Jerome Lawrence is a successful first officer with United Airlines. His journey to becoming a pilot began at 17 and took many years to achieve. Jerome attributes much of his success to his supportive parents, Gwendoline, and the late John Lawrence. Pilot Surprises Mom on Her First Flight with Him When Jerome had the chance to surprise his mom on a flight home to Tobago, he seized it. "I've always wanted to fly my parents because they supported my dream from the beginning." Jerome didn't want to wait for the perfect moment, especially after his father passed away on Christmas Day, just four months earlier, without ever flying with him. He enlisted the help of United Airlines staff to execute the surprise, which he shared on Instagram and was later reposted by the airline on Mother's Day. "The highlight was my mom seeing me before we boarded the plane. Everyone from the gate agents to the flight attendants and even my captain helped make it happen," Jerome said. On April 30, during United Flight 2353 from Houston to Port of Spain, Trinidad, Jerome made a special declaration that went viral on social media. "It's a special moment for me. My mom, who's in first class, is on this flight for the first time, and it's my first return to the Caribbean in 17 years," he said. He conveyed how significant it was to share this moment, especially since his dad, who passed away, was an important part of his journey. He ended with a message to parents, urging them to support their children's dreams. "Without my parents' support, I wouldn't be here flying you to Port of Spain." Gwendoline Lawrence says she was completely surprised and almost overwhelmed by her son's gesture. She shared that it was her first trip home without her late husband, who used to meet her at the airport. United Airlines confirmed the surprise, expressing pride in being part of such heartfelt moments. Jerome reminisced about his father, a "gentle giant," whose support was crucial in his journey. He hopes to replicate his father's dedication when he has his own family someday. The Lawrences hope their story inspires others. Gwendoline encourages parents to listen to and support their children's aspirations. Jerome added, "Dreams are possible; I'm living proof." Pilot Announces that His Mom Is Among the Flight Attendants A United Airlines pilot, Cole Doss, brought joy to passengers when he announced that one of the flight attendants was his mom, Moya Doss. The declaration, made before leaving from Dulles, Virginia, to Madrid, Spain, on July 25, was met with cheers from the cabin. Cole conveyed his appreciation for his mother's support throughout his career and his excitement at working with her for the first time. The experience was shared on social media, with Cole describing it as a highlight of his career. Moya, who has been with United for over 45 years, was pleasantly surprised by the announcement. Cole, whose family has a strong connection to the aviation industry, cherished the opportunity to work with his mother. During their layover in Madrid, they explored the city together. They are already planning their next trip, and Cole expressed appreciation for the dedication of flight attendants like his mother. A thrifty mother has infuriated parents both online and in her community by revealing that she charges for items consumed by kids during playdates at her home. Mother Charging Parents for Playdates At Her House Brianna Weimar, a 33-year-old from Monroe, Washington, detailed the various items she bills other parents for, ranging from snacks to soap used when washing hands. After sending a PayPal-like request for 28 to one mom, she found herself in a heated argument and received thanks for her "hospitality." "Parents have been shocked, confused, angry, saying that they will not send their kids over to our house anymore. People have been very critical, they do not agree with this method at all," Brianna said. She started considering charging for the things children consume at her house due to rising prices and the cost-of-living increase. To ensure fairness, she created a spreadsheet to track her expenses. Despite the disagreement with one mom, Brianna confirmed that the Venmo request was paid. She charged for snacks, meals, drinks, soap, 45 minutes of electricity, a cleaning fee for spilled juice, and even 10 minutes of using marker pens. "Food is getting so expensive now. I was constantly refilling my kids' snacks from all of their friends being over to play at our house. I have a very detailed spreadsheet of all the snacks my kids eat and the supplies they use. I calculate the cost of each item or pump of soap. For example, I weighed out how many ounces each pump of soap is, then divided the cost of the bottle by the ounces," she explained. "I've been charged myself once when my son broke a valuable vase at someone's house and they billed me for it," she added. Read Also : Only Child Syndrome Demystified: Breaking Stereotypes and Empowering Parents Brianna Weimar Discussed the Controversy Sparked by Her Demand for Reimbursement Brianna Weimar, hailing from Monroe, Washington, took to TikTok to share the controversy surrounding her insistence on reimbursement for snacks, toiletries, and even electricity. In a post originally shared with her 683,000 followers, the 33-year-old showcased screenshots of her conversation with another mom, where her actions were criticized as a "price-gouging scheme." Weimar defended her approach, stating she compiled a detailed list of expenses incurred during the playdate, including food consumption, soap usage, and even the cost of electricity during video game sessions. Despite facing backlash, Weimar listed nine items she charged for, such as juice boxes, snacks, and soap pumps. While some viewers disagreed with her financial demands, others supported her notion, suggesting transparency about costs beforehand. Weimar explained her rationale, citing rising living costs and the need to offset expenses. Although her method garnered criticism and strained relationships, Weimar emphasized the necessity of addressing the increasing financial burden of hosting playdates. She disclosed her meticulous spreadsheet tracking expenses and recounted being charged herself when her child accidentally damaged a valuable item at someone else's house. The fatal demise of a Massachusetts teen after eating an intensely spicy tortilla chip last year may lead doctors and food manufacturers to examine capsaicin, the ingredient accountable for the severe heat. Massachusetts Teenager Passed Away After Ingesting a High-Capsaicin Food Item Harris Wolobah, 14, died in September from cardiopulmonary arrest after consuming a high-capsaicin food substance, according to a statement by Elaine Driscoll from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Wolobah had eaten a Paqui chip, known for its "One Chip Challenge," which contained chili pepper extract. Following his death, Paqui removed these individually wrapped chips from shelves. Dr. Stuart Berger, head of cardiology at Lurie Children's Heart Center in Chicago, believes this incident will prompt a reevaluation of capsaicin's effects. Wolobah had an enlarged heart and a congenital defect, Driscoll confirmed, although it is unclear if his family was aware of these conditions before his death. Research on capsaicin's impact on children is limited, but Wolobah's case could drive further investigation. Berger noted reports of capsaicin users experiencing chest pain and myocardial ischemia, especially those using it for weight loss. Ed Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Co. mentioned increased industry focus on capsaicin. Angeli Gianchandani from the University of New Haven suggested that Wolobah's death might change how extremely spicy foods are marketed, advocating for adult-only labeling to prevent consumption by children or those with health issues. Following Wolobah's death, Paqui stated that their challenge was meant for adults, acknowledging a rise in teenage use. The company decided to pull the product from shelves. Wolobah's mother, Lois, expressed her continued grief, recalling that her son sought help from the school nurse for a stomach ache before collapsing at home and later dying at the hospital. Read Also : Mother Receives Backlash for Charging Parents for Playdates At Her House And Billing for Snacks, Other Items Harris Wolobah Consumed an Incredibly Spicy Tortilla Chip The chip he ate contained Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers, which rank extremely high on the Scoville scale. Currie, who helped develop the Carolina Reaper, emphasized the importance of not marketing such products to children and criticized challenges involving extreme spiciness. He stressed the need for the industry to inform consumers about potential risks. Paqui previously marketed their challenge by daring consumers to post pictures of their blue tongues on social media after eating the chip and enduring the heat for as long as possible without relief. Despite the warning, children could still purchase the chips, and there were reports nationwide of teens becoming ill after participating in the chip-eating challenge. Among them were three California high school students who were hospitalized and seven Minnesota students who were treated by paramedics in 2022 after taking part in the challenge. The challenge called for participants to eat the Paqui chip and see how long they could go without consuming other food or water. Sales were largely driven by social media videos showing people, including children, unwrapping the packaging, eating the chips, and reacting to the heat. Some videos showed people gagging, coughing, and begging for water. Spicy food challenges have been popular for years. Ms. Rachel's bullying has now taken a toll on her platform, attacking her humanitarian fundraiser for the children in Gaza. Rachel Griffin Accurso, the social media creator and teacher known as Ms. Rachel, said she's experienced bullying online following the announcement of a fundraiser she launched for children living in conflict zones, including the Gaza Strip. Accurso, who has 2 million followers on Instagram and 9.73 million YouTube subscribers, announced her fundraiser Sunday. She said every penny of the donations will go toward the child-focused humanitarian nonprofit Save the Children. Ms. Rachel Faces Bullying Due to Humanitarian Efforts Ms. Rachel, known for her vibrant and educational videos that help children learn numbers and colors, shared a heartfelt and somber message on May 16. The preschool teacher and YouTube star, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, posted a video on Instagram and TikTok revealing that she had become a target of online bullying after starting a fundraiser to assist children in conflict zones, including the Gaza Strip. In the video, Accurso expressed her deep pain over accusations that she doesn't care about all children. She is seen shedding tears, saying, "The bullying is bad. It's so bad." "That is who I am. I love my neighbor. I love every child. Imagining for one second what a mom is going through, unable to feed her child or give her child clean water or keep her child safe," she said. While wiping her tears away, with a crackling voice at the end, she continued to say that she could do this and power through all the hate attacks. She emphasized her commitment to all children in her video caption, writing that Israeli children, Palestinian children, children in the US, whether they are Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, in every country, are included in her humanitarian effort, citing that no one is excluded. While representatives for Accurso and Save the Children have not yet commented, her efforts align with those of several other creators who have launched similar initiatives amid the Gaza conflict. Israel's military actions have severely restricted essential supplies of food, fuel, and other aid to Palestinians, prompting influencers like Accurso to use their platforms for humanitarian fundraising. Children in Gaza Ms. Rachel's campaign emerges amid a broader discussion on the role of influencers in addressing humanitarian crises. Many creators across social media have mobilized to support fundraising efforts for families affected by the Gaza conflict, while some pro-Palestinian supporters have criticized influencers and celebrities who remain silent on the issue. Accurso has been raising funds through Cameos-personalized videos produced by influencers and celebrities-with all proceeds directed to Save the Children's Emergency Fund. These donations aim to assist children in various conflict zones, including Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ukraine. On Monday, Accurso reported raising $50,000 within hours of her Cameo services going live. She accepted 500 requests for personal videos and has temporarily paused new inquiries until these are completed. In a follow-up video, she expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support and reinforced her commitment to advocating for children's rights. The United Nations has previously warned about the severe risks faced by children in Gaza, including famine and disease, due to the ongoing conflict. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that 7,797 children have been killed since October 7, following Hamas' attacks on Israel and the subsequent military response in Gaza. However, the government media office in Gaza reports a higher number of fatalities. OCHA recently revised its methodology for reporting the death toll, which has led to some confusion about the figures. Dr. Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw, vice president for special projects at the Interpreter Foundation, is in Africa at the moment in connection with the Foundations effort (under the title of Not By Bread Alone) to document some of the stories of the Saints there. He has kindly been sharing photographs with me from his travels thus far, and I thought that you might enjoy seeing some of the faces of our African brothers and sisters. The photos and the captions are Jeffs. I apologize for the fact that the first series of photographs is so small. Thus far, they have been in various parts of the West African nation of Benin. On Monday, some of them will travel to Rwanda. There are marvelous stories to be had in these places, as the Restoration continues to unfold. For further information on Professor Spencer James and his research, see here. The Standard of Truth, said the Prophet Joseph Smith, has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done. From one of the Interpreter Foundations websites: At age 86, Martin Harris requested that Brigham Young be told of his desire to visit Utah: Tell him I should like to visit Utah, my family and childrenI would be glad to accept help from the church, but I want no personal favor. Wait! Tell him that if he sends money, he must send enough for the round trip. I should not want to remain in Utah. Upon learning of Martins request Brigham Young said, I want to say this: I was never more gratified over any message in my life. Send for him! Yes, even if it were to take the last dollar of my own. At age 88 Martin traveled via train to the Salt Lake Valley. The Deseret News on August 31, 1870 reported, He is remarkably vigorous for one of his years, his memory being very good, and his sight . . . being so acute that he can see to pick a pin off the ground. We are glad to see Martin Harris once more in the midst of the Saints. Upon gazing at the rising Salt Lake Temple and tabernacle on Temple Square, Martin exclaimed, Who would have thought that the Book of Mormon would have done all this? He died in Clarkston, Utah on July 9, 1875 at age 92 and was buried with a Book of Mormon in his right hand and the Doctrine and Covenants in his left. What might Martin have thought of seeing faithful Latter-day Saint students of the Book of Mormon in West Africa? Shunryu Suzuki was born on the 18th of May, 1904, in a village about fifty miles from Tokyo. In those days that was as if it were a million miles. Maybe a tad less. It is not possible for me to adequately address just how important Suzuki Roshi was to me in my personal life and to a host of others here in the West who have come to find Zen our hearts path. He was a child of the Japanese temple family system, his father was the abbot of Shoganji, the local Soto Zen temple. His mother was the daughter of a temple priest. Suzuki began formal Zen study at the age of twelve with So-on Suzuki, a successor to and adoptive son of his father, at Zounin temple in Mori. This starting as a child with a successor of his father, was not uncommon in the post-Meiji Zen system. At thirteen he was ordained unsui, a clouds and water priest. When Suzukis teacher moved to another temple Rinsoin, Suzuki followed him. Then at fifteen he returned to his fathers temple. At this time Suzuki began to study English. This would become a life-long interest of his. And would be a critical skill when he came to America. Later he continued his formal training with the master Dojun Kato at Kenkoin in Shizuoka. Suzuki attended Komazawa University, studying Buddhism and English. At twenty-two he received Dharma transmission from his teacher. However he continued his training entering Eiheiji, one of the two mother temples of the Soto school in Japan. He later also studied at Sojiji, the other of the two mother temples. During the war many Zen priests supported the war effort much to the embarrassment of their later Western disciples. Suzukis involvement is unclear, but it does seem he was involved in at least some anti-war activities. This marked him out as unusual, and probably meant he would not advance in the hierarchy. And in fact Suzuki served primarily as a country priest. Throughout these years his interest in the West continued. Finally in 1959 Suzuki accepted an offer to become priest at Sokoji, a temple in San Francisco that served the Japanese and Japanese-descent community. The temple was founded in 1934, the second Soto Zen temple to be founded in the continental United States. That same year the forming congregation purchased a synagogue at 1881 Bush Street. Suzuki Roshis predecessor, Hodo Tobase, who arrived in 1950, seems to have been the first pastor there to take an interest in non-Japanese speaking people. He offered lectures to those interested in Soto Zen. He must have relied largely on a translator. It appears Suzuki was their first priest to have a solid command of English. This would prove critical. In 1959, the Beat generation was in full swing and people beyond the East Asian community were first learning there was such a thing as Zen. People started coming to visit the temple asking for instruction. He invited them to sit with him early in the morning. And with that a convert practice community began to take shape. It eventually become the San Francisco Zen Center complex, and the Branching Streams mahasangha. The roshi died on the 4th of December, 1971. Shunryu Suzuki was sixty-seven years old. It is not possible to overstate Suzuki Roshis importance in the establishment of Zen in the West. If you want to learn more about him, his biographer David Chadwick maintains an amazing archive at Cuke.com. My own beginning Zen practice was fostered by his centers. My first instruction was at Sokoji temple, and my practice began at a branch of the Zen Center complex, what was then called the Berkeley Zendo. And, I am only one of thousands his life and work touched. Suzuki Roshi left three dharma successors, his son Hoitsu Suzuki, Shoko Okamoto, and an American Richard Baker. Through them the largest stream of American Soto Zen begins. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced the successful completion of the first Proof of Concept (PoC) as part of Project, Digital Economy Semi-Fungible Token (DESFT) which demonstrates the successful execution of a cross-border transaction payment making use of digital credentials, the eCedi and an approved stablecoin from Singapore. The BoG in collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) initiated Project DESFT in June 2023. The first Phase of the project saw the design and development of a trusted credential system that enables SMEs to transform key information such as basic credentials, licences, certificates, and trade records into verifiable digital credentials on a secure distributed ledger system, allowing potential trade partners and financial institutions to efficiently verify the authenticity of such information. Expanding upon this groundwork, in April 2024, Phase 2 of the Project DESFT successfully executed a cross-border trade between Ghana and Singapore, leveraging the DESFT solution, Universal Trusted Credentials (UTC), a Singapore Stablecoin (xSGD), the recently piloted Ghanaian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eCedi, and the Purpose Bound Money (PBM) protocol. The live transactions, according to the BoG, further demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing the proposed Ghanaian domestic retail CBDC platform, the eCedi in cross-border transactions. This affirms the potential of the eCedi system demonstrated for future interoperability with various cross-border credential and payment platforms, the central bank said. The Director of FinTech and Innovation Office at the Bank of Ghana, Mr Kwame Oppong in a remark during the press launch of the successful completion of cross-border trade using digital credentials at the just ended 31 Africa Summit in Accra on Thursday, May 15 said The prospective introduction of the eCedi is poised to significantly enhance Ghanas dynamic payment ecosystem, fostering inclusive growth and innovation while improving consumer experiences. With its interoperability with the DESFT system, and verifiable credentials via UTC, the eCedi has the potential to facilitate the participation of Ghanaian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in international trade in a cost-effective manner. Project DESFT is aimed at supporting SMEs in Africa to engage in international trade by removing significant obstacles they face, such as establishing trust with overseas trade partners and obtaining support in cross-border payments and supply chain finance. We believe that the new generation of financial technology offers innovative approaches to these challenges. After nearly a year and two phases of development, we have crafted a reliable information exchange solution founded on UTC standards and Semi-fungible Token technology. Furthermore, we have rigorously tested a cross-border payment solution built upon the principles of Purpose Bound Money (PBM) and conducted real trade experiments which fully align with our predetermined objectives. The next phase of the Project DESFT will continue to build upon the current achievements, focusing on highly automated digital credential processes, programmable payments across multiple digital currencies, and support for supply chain finance. Source: 3news.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 Acting Director General of National Road Safety Authority(NRSA), Ing. David Osafo Adonten has stated that they are planning to engage the Driver and Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) to organize compulsory training for drivers. The training by the National Road Safety Authority and the Driver and Vehicle License Authority will curb down the number of road accidents on our roads. Ing. David Osafo Adonten in an interview with Peace FM News at a launch of the book "Right Turn: Challenges, Opportunities and an Urgent Call to Road Safety in Ghana" said each and every driver being it private and commercial driver must go through serious training to have enough knowledge about road safety related issues. According to him, there has been an increase in accident cases this year compared to last year and all these accidents were caused by overtaking and speeding on our roads and many human factors. He called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo Dampare to deploy more police officers to some check points on our roads because most of the drivers on our roads don't adhere to some measures from the Authority and provide police officers an end to numerous accidents on our roads. The Author of the book, Dr. Paulina Agyekum also spoke about the purpose of the book and how it is going to help drivers and students, saying the book is designed to create awareness about the safety nature on our roads and to educate the public on the damages accounting to road accidents in the country. Source: Prince Baffour Asamoah/Peace FM Newsroom 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 Deputy Chief Executive Officer of COA Research and Manufacturing Limited Company (COA-RMLC), Pilot Queen Princess Duncan has raised concerns over the misuse of the COA brand. At a press conference, Princess Duncan pointed out the negative impact that those misusing the brand are having on the reputation of the company and their loyal customers. Condemning this dishonorable act by the unscrupulous persons, the Deputy CEO assured their customers and the general public of delivering high quality products and excellence in their services. She pledged the company's unwavering dedication to providing services and products that make the customers happy and serve the right health purposes. She also outlined collaborative efforts with authorities to combat this situation of tarnishing their brand and ensure consumer protection. Princess Duncan further assured stakeholders that all efforts are being done to rectify the problem, promising transparency and accountability every step of the way. She, in her concluding remarks, called to action all attendees, stakeholders and customers to stand united in safeguarding the integrity of COA brand. Reassuring the public of COA-RMLC's commitment to excellence, she called for a collective effort in upholding trust and delivering quality services to customers. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has called for enhanced support for the media industry. She was speaking on behalf of President Akufo-Addo at the formal opening of the 3rd African Media Convention (AMC), a landmark event aimed at shaping the future of African media. The convention, which brought together over 2,000 media practitioners, policymakers, scholars, and stakeholders from across the African continent, served as a platform for robust discussions on the intersection of media and environmental sustainability. Addressing participants, Madam Osei-Opare highlighted the vital role of the media in shaping public opinion, fostering democracy, and driving positive change. She underscored the importance of providing the necessary support and resources to enable media professionals to fulfil their crucial mandate effectively. The media is a vital pillar of democracy and plays a pivotal role in informing, educating, and empowering citizens, Madam Osei-Opare stated, adding, We must recognise the invaluable contributions of journalists and media organisations, and ensure they have the support they need to carry out their work. Drawing attention to the challenges facing the media landscape, Madam Osei-Opare emphasised the need for collaboration between government, media stakeholders, and civil society to address issues such as press freedom, misinformation, and the environmental crisis. She called for a concerted effort to create an enabling environment that fosters media freedom, innovation, and sustainability. We cannot underestimate the importance of a free and vibrant media in Africa, especially in the face of pressing challenges such as climate change and misinformation, Madam Osei-Opare remarked. It is imperative that we work together to strengthen the media ecosystem and provide the necessary support for journalists to fulfil their essential role, she added. Echoing the Chief of Staffs sentiments, Information Minister-designate Fatimatu Abubakar emphasised the governments commitment to supporting the media industry. Ms. Abubakar outlined various initiatives implemented by the Ghanaian government, including the launch of media capacity enhancement programmes and the establishment of mechanisms to combat misinformation. We recognise the vital role of the media in our society and are committed to providing the support and resources needed to ensure journalists can perform their duties effectively, Ms. Abubakar stated. Similarly, Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, highlighted the importance of support for media professionals, especially in the context of Ghanas improved press freedom index. Dwumfour called for continued collaboration between media stakeholders and the government to address challenges facing the media industry. As journalists, we face various challenges in the course of our work, and it is essential that we have the support of the government and other stakeholders, Dwumfour remarked. We must work together to create an environment that promotes media freedom, innovation, and sustainability, he said. Director of Information and Communication at the African Union Commission, Leslie Richer, emphasised the pivotal role of media in advancing the AUs agenda for a prosperous and integrated Africa. Ms. Richer underscored the importance of collaboration between the AU and media stakeholders to effectively communicate the organisations initiatives and achievements to the African populace. She called for increased support for media capacity building initiatives to ensure journalists are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to accurately report on AU developments and promote the organisations vision for the continent. Additionally, Makmid Kamara, Regional Director for International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), highlighted the need for a conducive environment for media freedom and independence across the continent. Kamara stressed the importance of safeguarding journalists rights and freedoms, particularly in regions where press freedom is under threat. He called on African governments to uphold their commitments to press freedom and ensure the safety and protection of journalists as they carry out their essential role in society. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, has called on the various stakeholders to consider mainstreaming gender in the grant of mining leases and concessions under a decentralised scheme, to make it easy to process and obtain a mining lease within a short time. He said the Sustainable Development Goals recognise womens land rights as an explicit, crosscutting catalyst for ending poverty, reaching food security and improved nutrition. He noted that the treaty and other conventions have been ratified by many countries and integrated into Ghanas domestic laws. He stressed that mainstreaming gender is a prerequisite in land restoration. The Regional Minister was speaking at a round table discussion on gender issues in post-mining land restoration. It was to provide the platform for knowledge and experience sharing, networking, and the adoption of best practices to improve the traditional ways of handling gender issues in post-mining land restoration. He noted that the Western Region is one of the areas in Ghana with rich mineral resources where mining has been a major occupation for multinationals and artisanal miners for decades. Therefore we, as stakeholders in the mining and land restoration space, must engage in a dialogue to evaluate the situation and propose best practices for policy considerations, he noted. He said usually, the focus is on mining companies that plan and execute a mining concession. However, also disturbing is the issue of small-scale unregistered operators often referred to as galamsey operators. These actors are not well-regulated, and may not engage in mine planning and closure, hence may not commence any land restoration efforts at all, he indicated. The Regional Minister therefore stressed the need for modalities to restore vast degraded forest lands by illegal miners, to help combat the effects of climate change. I want to task the management of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to design tailor-made projects and programmes through research and policy proposals to restore degraded lands in the Western Region, he stated. He mentioned some of the approaches to gender mainstreaming as supporting gender-responsive policies, laws, regulations, and interventions that protect and enhance womens rights. The minister was convinced that policy proposals that would be issued at the end of the programme will reflect the needs and aspirations of the inhabitants in the mining communities, particularly, women. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Gabon's military-led government has denied allegations by deposed President Ali Bongo's lawyers that his wife Sylvia and eldest son Noureddin were tortured in custody. Mr Bongo's lawyers had said on Tuesday that the ousted president and his two youngest sons had gone on hunger strike to protest against the alleged torture, which they said included beatings, whippings, strangulation and electrocution with a taser. They added that they had filed a complaint with the Paris judicial court over the alleged acts. Speaking in an address on state TV, government spokeswoman Laurence Ndong said the allegations were "slanderous" and "damaging Gabon's image". "The government wishes to state emphatically that they are not being subjected to any form of torture or mistreatment as stated by their lawyers," she added. She further denied that the junta authorities were preventing Mr Bongo from leaving Gabon or receiving visitors, including his lawyers and family members, at his home. Bongo, 65, was ousted in a military coup in August last year, shortly after he won a disputed presidential poll. He had led the oil-rich country since 2009 when he succeeded his father who had been in power for more than 40 years. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Professor of Linguistics, Prof. Kofi Agyekum has cautioned politicians to refrain from their unwholesome habits that potentially jeopardize Ghanas democracy and peace. Opanyin Agyekum, as he is affectionately called, advised the political leaders and actors not to allow their pursuit for power cloud their sense of judgment in that they will do anything, even to the detriment of the masses, to acquire power. He spoke in relation to the violent clashes recorded at some centers in the ongoing limited registration exercise by the Electoral Commission. The exercise which commenced on Tuesday, May 7 and will end on Monday, May 20 has been characterized by some pockets of violence as at some registration centers, some persons were seen brandishing guns and machetes and sparking a brawl among themselves. These clashes are said to have some political undercurrents and addressing the issue on Peace FMs Kokrokoo show, Opanyin Agyekum asked the politicians to note that as they incite riots in order to come into power, they should remember three significant things of life that every human cannot escape from. He listed the unpredictability of the future and death, stressing every political actor should reflect on these things and revise their ways. When they remember the future, they should also remember death because there is death. It awaits all of us. So, in our going in and out and us inciting childrenwhat can you do when death comes? Lastly, they should remember their Maker. Remember there is God who is watching all our activities, he stated. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has reassured his commitment to protect the public purse if elected president. He also maintained that the size of his government would be small to cut government expenditure. I have made it clear and even stated that I want to bring down government expenditure and the size of government by at least 3 percent of GDP, which is about GH30 billion over the next four years and I have also made it clear that I will have no more than 50 ministers, which is also to say I want to bring the size of government down. Dr Bawumia told the clergy in the Northern Region during his Bold Soltutio campaign ahead of December polls. He pledged to protect the public purse and efficiently disburse public funds to undertake socially beneficial and impactful projects. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia says voting for his main opponent, John Dramani Mahama to be president will be a waste of time. He explained that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) constitutionally has only one term to be president and will have nothing to lose if he doesn't fulfil his numerous promises. Dr Bawumia told the clergy in the Northern Region during his Bold Solution tour that, Mr Mahama would not be accountable to the people if voted for to be president. For me, because I am looking for an 8-year term, I have to work very hard in the first four years so that when I come back, you will say, oh yes, you did what you said you were going to do. We will give you another four years. But for my main opponent [John Dramani Mahama], when you give him four years, that is it. He doesnt have to come back again. You wont see him again, especially after he takes his honeymoon, you will not see him after four years. So you will get more accountability from me than from him, he said. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 Deputy National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) member, Osman Ayariga, has sharply criticised the campaign efforts of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), labeling them as a "comedy show." Mr Ayariga expressed his disdain for what he perceives as Bawumia's lack of seriousness towards the country and its electorate, suggesting that the NPP candidate does not warrant further attention in the political arena. The criticism comes in response to recent remarks made by Dr. Bawumia regarding incentivising churches rather than imposing taxes on them. Dr. Bawumia clarified that his statement was made in jest and had been misconstrued. In a meeting with clergy members in the North East Region as part of his nationwide tour, the Vice President explained that his comments may have been misunderstood. Despite Dr. Bawumia's attempts to clarify his remarks, Mr Ayariga remained steadfast in his criticism, asserting that the NPP candidate is unfit for the presidency. According to Mr Ayariga, Dr. Bawumia's promises are perceived as mere jokes, further solidifying his belief that Bawumia should not be considered a viable candidate for the highest office in the country. "Bawumia' campaign is not a campaign. it is a comedy show because the vice president is roaming about joking and once he is done joking, he starts dancing. When he made the promise to the churches, he came back to say he was joking. A whole Vice President can say he is joking on a campaign platform in a comedy show. It is not a campaign. he is not serious," he said. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The sleepy town of Uwala Abaka, Ukehe, in Nsukka, Igboetiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, was enveloped by sadness and grief, as the remains of one of their illustrious sons, actor John Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope was laid to rest. The burial rites commenced at 10 am with a commendation mass at St. Peters Catholic Parish, Ukehe, and lying-in-state at his fathers compound, where family members, well-wishers, colleagues and friends had the final glimpse of the late actor before the body was moved to a private venue for internment at about 1.30 pm. The atmosphere at the burial ceremony was somber as colleagues and fans gathered to pay their final respects to the late actor. The late actors wife, Jennifer Awele couldnt back tears as she was sighted weeping profusely at the commencement of the final funeral procession. Her first son, who was trying to console his mother by wiping the tears off her face, equally broke down in tears. Unfortunately, some of the A-list actors and actresses, including the leadership of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, were visibly missing at the burial ceremony. The 43-year-old actor died alongside four other people on April 10, after their boat capsized in the Anam River, in Anambra State, while returning from a movie shoot. Speaking at the burial ceremony, veteran actress Rita Edochie said that she was heartbroken when she heard the sad news of Junior Popes death. Source: vanguard Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Jaxon White, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. (TNS) A Lancaster County Republican wants to expand the types of raw milk products that can be sold in Pennsylvania amid Upper Leacock Township farmer Amos Millers legal battle with the state Department of Agriculture over his unlicensed sale of raw milk. State Rep. Dave Zimmerman, of East Earl Township, on Thursday introduced a bill to allow yogurts, ice creams, soft cheeses, butters and other products made from raw milk to be sold by farmers with a permit from the state. Its meeting a demand thats out there that consumers are asking for, said Zimmerman, who operated a dairy farm before being elected to the Legislature. In some areas, these people are traveling a long way to find these products. Raw milk doesnt undergo the pasteurization process, which involves heating milk to kill dangerous bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and listeria, which are responsible for causing multiple foodborne illnesses, including diarrhea, cramps, kidney failure and, in some rare cases, death. Under current law, dairy farmers with a permit from the agriculture department are authorized to sell raw milk in liquid form and hard cheeses made from raw milk. Zimmermans proposal would require the new products to undergo the same testing regulations already required by the state for raw milk products. If there is no testing then we dont know. If there is testing, then we at least know the products are safe, said Zimmerman. Zimmermans legislation comes as state agriculture regulators are suing Miller, claiming he endangers public health with his unlicensed selling of raw milk. Miller has been the subject of federal and state efforts to compel him to follow food safety rules since at least 2016. Zimmerman said Millers case was not the inspiration for his bill. He said he simply wants to help dairy farmers meet public demand for raw milk products. But state Rep. Keith Greiner, the Upper Leacock Republican whose district includes Millers farm, said Millers case brought the issue into light for him and was one reason he co-sponsored Zimmermans bill. Greiner said hes heard from many constituents who want to buy raw milk products and that he wants to support those consumers. We should allow for the expansion of that. Zimmerman has criticized both Millers handling of his business and the states regulation of raw milk. During a January interview with state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding at the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, Zimmerman trod carefully between denouncing Millers defiance of state rules while voicing support for raw milk products. Im not sure where that fine line is of government being involved and the freedoms of individuals like that, Zimmerman said. In a January 17 Facebook post, Zimmerman specifically addressed Millers refusal to cooperate with state officials. Is it too much to ask our farmers to follow these basic requirements to ensure food safety? Zimmerman added that some regulations should be changed, but that allowing those who ignore regulations to continue without any punishment would violate our justice system. Though some commenters responded to defend Miller, Zimmerman said Thursday that he has not heard any pushback from his constituents about his comments. A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said Thursday the agency would not comment on Zimmermans legislation because its staff had not received a copy of the bill. LNP-LancasterOnline was given a copy by Zimmermans office. Zimmerman said he also hopes that his legislation could help revitalize Pennsylvanias dairy industry, which in March was topped by poultry as the states leading agriculture sector. Hopefully, this will give our dairy farmers an opportunity to have a dairy farm and have it be profitable because itll increase the additional marketing opportunities, he said. Zimmermans bill now needs the support of House Democrats, who hold a majority in the chamber, if it stands a chance of passing in the General Assembly. Luzerne County state Rep. Eddie Pashinski, a Democrat who chairs the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee, did not respond to a request for comment. A Palmyra man sentenced Friday to nearly four years of prison for his conduct during the Capitol riots apologized for the stain he put on his family, and his daughters school. Leo Brent Bozell, IV, charged up the capitol steps with other rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, broke windows to gain entry to the building and remained there for an hour. During his sentencing hearing, Bozell offered apologies to his family, to the residents of the District of Columbia, and to the Hershey Christian Academy whose sweatshirt he wore while participating in the riots that aimed to thwart the peaceful transfer of power between presidents. He was identified, in part, because of the logo on his sweatshirt. I cant apologize enough I was not raised that way, Bozell said, before an awkward pause as he turned toward two Capitol Police officers in the room. I never interacted with law enforcement where I wasnt treated with respect, Bozell said, apologizing to the police. His comments Friday varied markedly from his comments immediately after the riots, where Bozell blamed police and antifa for the attack on the Capitol, and repeatedly falsely claimed Capitol Police let rioters ininstead of rioters like himself letting themselves in through property damage. I brought a stain on my family. My actions are the most public display of my family, unfortunately, Bozell said Friday. Bozell apologized to the Hershey Christian Academy, for bringing harassment and threats upon it. Bozell wore a sweatshirt sporting the schools name on Jan. 6, and he said negative consequences to his daughters school is All of my fault. Bozell then addressed his wife, whose head remained buried downward as he spoke before District Judge John Bates. The only thing you did wrong was marry me, Bozell choked through the end of his statement. Ill spend the rest of my life making that day not my story. Prosecuting attorney Ashley Akers indicated the remorse Bozell was sharing was not the same immediately after Jan. 6, which is when he said that the capitol siege was morally correct and that the riot was the fault of the capitol policewhom Bozell said let rioters in. The remorse is coming now at sentencing, Akers said. Its come very late. Akers said without actors such as Bozell, who rushed police lines and broke in windows, the Jan. 6 riots would not have been possible. Bozell will spend 45 months in federal prison in Loretto, Cambria County, after which he will spend two years on supervised release, per a sentence handed down by Bates. The prison location was designed to keep Bozell close to his three daughters and his wife, who said, Im going to be here when you come out, according to Bozells lawyer, Eric Snyder. Before Bates prepared to deliver his sentence, he called the Jan. 6, 2021 a very dark day. (Jan. 6) posed a significant threat to the core values of our government, designed to frustrate the peaceful transfer of power, Bates said. The essential hallmark of the presidency that has been admired throughout the world. I say has been. Im not so sure, now. Riley Williams, 23, will be tried in the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse this week on charges she she helped try to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election and stole Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's laptop. Bates said the rioters should never be referred to as Patriots, and that they must face the consequences of their actions. They are not political prisoners or hostages. They are experiencing the fair rule of law, Bates said. Sentencing is an emotional thing for a judge, and Im not immune, he said, referencing the fact he, too, is a father. Bates weighed several factors behind Bozells participation in the Jan. 6 riots that took the U.S. Capitol by force in 2021. After a September bench trial, Bates found Bozell guilty of ten offenses related to his conduct at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Bozell was at the front of the riot as it pushed Capitol Police up the east steps to the Capitol Building. Once police had retreated to the Capitol itself, Bozell grabbed a metal object from the ground and began bashing in windows. He created an entry point into the building, through which several other rioters entered. Bozell avoided Capitol Police and spent around an hour inside the building, entering Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosis office as well as the Senate Chamber, which he also broke a window to enter. Why did he do it? Might be our last chance to assemble and stand for our country, our freedom, and our children, Bozell said in the days leading up to the rally. Bozell believed the 2020 election had been stolen, based on erroneous information that people sat in the convention center filling out ballots until Biden won, and said patriots should be ready to respond. Eric Snyder did not represent Bozell at trial, but represented him at sentencing. Snyder used to prosecute terrorism cases in the 2000s and 2010s. Snyder said he spent years prosecuting real terrorists such as those involved in the 2012 attacks on Benghazi and the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Hes a lot of things. Hes not a terrorist, Snyder said. This tool (the terrorism enhancement) is powerful, and it has to be used correctly. When you start applying it where it doesnt belong, it loses (significance). Prosecutors argued that the enhancement should apply But they also argued for the accompanying inflated sentence to be shortened by 10 years To apply that enhancement, Section 2332b(g)(5) of Title 18 requires that the crime is: is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct; and is one of the enumerated offenses set forth in section of the aforementioned section and statute. District Judge John Bates agreed with prosecutors that Bozells conduct was clearly intended to delay the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that (Bozell) smashed the window in front of an angry mob with the intent to contest the election, Bates said. He did it with the intent to affect a governments function. He did a lot of terrible things that are not to be commended, Bates said. But this isnt terrorism. Bates also ordered Bozell to pay $4,729 back to the government: $824 in restitution for the window panes he destroyed to gain entry in to the Capitol Building; $1,905 for the senate wing door he broke, and $2,000 to contribute to a general restitution fund Jan. 6 defendants are paying into to compensate for around $3 million worth of damages the Jan. 6 attack caused to the Capitol Building. In all, Bozell has been convicted of the following: By Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald (TNS) MIAMI President Donald Trump made it to his youngest sons graduation on Friday morning after all. Trump, who is in the midst of his hush money trial in New York, arrived to Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach with minutes to spare, the Daily Beast reports. The 77-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee sat in the front row in the bleachers, along with his wife, Melania Trump, and her father, Viktor Knaus. Security was high at the private ceremony, with Secret Service and police everywhere. As per The Daily Mail, students were announced in alphabetical order. When Barron William Trump was finally called, the six-foot-seven 18-year-old walked to the podium to get his diploma, towering over school officials. The teenagers father wont be sticking around Florida for a celebratory dinner; Trump was headed to a GOP fundraiser in St. Paul, Minnesota. On Monday, hes back in Manhattan, where the trial is due to restart. Its unclear where the young man is headed next to study. He has great marks, Donald Trump said at an event at Mar a Lago earlier this month. Were looking at some colleges that are different [than] they were two months ago. More: Nevermind: Barron Trump wont be a Republican delegate after all U.S. Rep. Scott Perrys efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results are coming back to haunt him as some House Republicans lobby to keep him off a key committee, Politico.com reported. The websites Inside Congress Live reported Friday that House Speaker Mike Johnson has to fill two vacant seats on the House Intelligence Committee but is dragging his feet as he faces mounting pressure and competing interests from conservatives, former President Donald Trump and current committee members. Where does Perry come into play? Well, it seems that the conservative House Freedom Caucus wants Perry, a York County Republican and the caucus former chairman, to fill one seat, five Republicans connected to the Intelligence Committee anonymously told Politico. At the same time, those nameless Republicans said that Trump is pushing for Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, Trumps former White House medical advisor. Politico observed that Johnson faces a quandary with a paper-thin margin and a recent challenge from the far-right that was doused by the unlikely combination of Democratic help and support from Trump. The possibility of Perry joining the Intelligence Committee, though, gives Republican committee members debilitating heartburn, Politico reported, adding that they think Perrys status as the subject of a federal investigation into his 2020 post-election efforts makes him all but ineligible. Why is that? One reason is a potential conflict of interest because the committee oversees the FBI, which Perry has been battling in court over access to his cell phone data. Perrys friends in the House Freedom Caucus are dismissing those concerns. The FBI investigation has offered us B.S. over January 6 . . . which is part of the problems we have at the FBI, Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a Freedom Caucus member, told Politico. So, if theres more oversight of the FBI, that is a good thing, not a bad thing. Politico reported that Perry would not comment on the situation. Ive not been asked to do anything, and Id be honored to serve, he said. Perrys office told PennLive on Friday that he would not have any additional comment. Donalds told Politico that Perry wants to be on the Intelligence Committee and has for quite some time. However, committee members are typically not bomb throwers, said Arkansas GOP Rep. Rick Crawford, a committee member. Its the difference between being a show horse and a workhorse and, so, I think those are the considerations, he said. HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) Latinos seeking jobs and affordable housing have transformed Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in recent decades, but a federal lawsuit argues the way representatives are elected to their local school board is unfairly shutting them out of power. Nearly two-thirds of students in the Hazleton Area School District are Hispanic, but no Hispanic person has ever been elected to its school board, prompting the court challenge claiming non-Hispanic white voters have employed the districts at-large election system to keep things that way. ST. PAUL, Minn. Former President Donald Trump used a day off from his hush money trial Friday to headline a Republican fundraiser in Minnesota, a traditionally Democratic state that he boasts he can carry in November. Trump took the stage late as he headlined the state GOPs annual Lincoln Reagan dinner in St. Paul after attending his son Barrons high school graduation in Florida. Declaring his appearance to be an official expansion of the electoral map of states that could be competitive in November, Trump said, Were going to win this state. This November the people of Minnesota are going to tell Crooked Joe Biden right? The Apprentice? Youre fired! Trump said, referencing his former reality television show and the catchphrase he used on it. Trump was using part of the day granted by the trial judge for the graduation to campaign in Minnesota, a state he argues he can win in the November rematch with President Joe Biden. No Republican presidential candidate has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972, but Trump came close to flipping the state in 2016, when he fell 1.5 percentage points short of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump returned to Minnesota several times in 2020, when Biden beat him by more than 7 percentage points. I think this is something Trump wants to do. He believes this is a state he can win. We believe thats the case as well, David Hann, the chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota, said in an interview. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, a Biden ally, said the Trump campaign is grasping at straws if it thinks he can win the state. The Biden campaign is going to work hard for every vote, Smith said in an interview. Were going to engage with voters all over the state. But I think Minnesota voters are going to choose President Biden. Hann co-hosted Fridays dinner along with Trumps state campaign chair, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents a central Minnesota district. Hann said Emmer was instrumental in bringing the former president to Minnesota. The dinner coincided with the partys state convention and the roughly 1,400 attendees included former U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who has been a prominent promoter of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Tickets started at $500, ranging up to $100,000 for a VIP table for 10 with three photo opportunities with Trump. Hann declined to say how much money he expects it will raise, but he anticipates a full house of around 1,400 people. All the money from the dinner tickets will go to the state party, Hann said, though he added that some money from photo opportunities may go to the Trump campaign. Ahead of Trumps remarks Friday night, Emmer and Hann told the crowd that thanks to the fundraiser, the state party was out of debt for the first time in 10 years. No sham trial is going to keep President Trump off the campaign trail. And its definitely not going to stop us from turning Minnesota red in November, Emmer said in his remarks. Experts are split on whether Minnesota really will be competitive this time, given its history and the strong Democratic Party ground game in the state. But Hann said theres great dissatisfaction with President Biden in the state, noting that nearly 19% of Democratic voters in its Super Tuesday primary marked their ballots for uncommitted. That was at least partly due to a protest-vote movement over Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas war that has spread to several states. In an interview aired Wednesday by KSTP-TV of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Trump said his speech would focus on economic issues. And he repeated a false claim he made in March to KNSI Radio of St. Cloud that he thought he won Minnesota in 2020, even though theres no evidence that there were any serious irregularities in the state. We think we have a really good shot at Minnesota, Trump told KSTP. We have great friendships up there. Weve done a lot for industry. Weve done a lot for everything in Minnesota. Worked hard on Minnesota. Tom Emmer is very much involved. By William Lambers It was encouraging to see Democrats and Republicans working together to get the recent foreign aid bill approved that sends military aid to Ukraine. The bipartisan deal also has over $9 billion in life-saving humanitarian assistance. Bipartisan spirit made this legislation possible. America and the world are better for it. We need Democrats and Republicans to get past party lines and work together because that is best for our country and for others. The military aid will help Ukraine resist Russias brutal invasion and prevent a wider war. Luckily, wise thinking Democrats and Republicans realized what was at stake and showed strength in a time of world crisis. The foreign aid bill also has the critical $9 billion in humanitarian funding at a time when hunger emergencies are all over the globe. This aspect of the legislation did not get much press attention but will save potentially millions from starvation in countries impacted by war and drought. Congress needed to step up. Bread for the World thanks Republican and Democratic leadership in both chambers of Congress for working together to secure this much-needed emergency humanitarian assistance. This assistance will provide food, nutrition, shelter, water, medical supplies, and other critical relief to tens of millions of people who live in the multiple countries and regions on the verge of, or are now experiencing, severe malnutrition and famine, said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World. Fortunately, bipartisan spirit eventually prevailed and got this foreign aid bill approved by the House and Senate, and signed into law by President Joe Biden. That gives America hope when Democrats and Republicans come together and get things done. They did earlier this year too in support of the WIC program that provides nutrition to low-income mothers and children. Hopefully, soon bipartisanship will prevail again and bring back the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC). We saw another big example of bipartisan spirit in the 2021 infrastructure package signed by President Biden. This bill funds improvements to Americas roads, bridges, highways and transit systems. We are much stronger as a country when Democrats and Republicans are united. In fact, former U.S. Sens. George McGovern, D-S.D., and Bob Dole , R-Kans, made whole careers out of working together. Both McGovern and Dole, as WWII vets, were very moved by the scenes of hunger they witnessed in Europe. When they reached the Senate they teamed up on a number of initiatives fighting hunger including school lunches and breakfasts for needy kids, SNAP food stamps and the Food for Peace program. Even when McGovern and Dole left office they teamed up to propose the plan providing free school lunches in impoverished countries. The McGovern-Dole food for education program has been fighting hunger in countries in desperate need including Haiti, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Mali, and many others. The U.S. Department of Agriculture runs the McGovern-Dole program and Congress allocates the funding. Catholic Relief Services, the World Food Program, CARE, and other charities distribute the school meals abroad and even run projects to benefit communities. U.S. farms benefit from McGovern-Dole too by providing some of the food used for the school lunches. We need to expand McGovern-Dole global school lunches with hunger on the rise today. Our country faces too many challenges to have Democrats and Republicans constantly at odds. We need both parties cooperating like they did securing aid for Ukraine plus global humanitarian assistance. During an election year when critical decisions are to be made by voters they should look at who lives by bipartisanship. Look at who unites among Democrats and Republicans, as that is someone you can trust to do what is right for the country. Lets encourage more bipartisanship for the good of America and for building a world at peace. William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. American voters are just like the Girls in a Cindi Lauper 1983 tune Girls just want to have fun, and the Rolling Stones band in their 1965 song, (I cant get no) Satisfaction. Fun and Satisfaction are missing elements in that our choices are effectively limited to our two major parties, and it only takes a minority of voters to control the United States Senate and of course to elect a president. The House of Representatives is too often a spoil sport because 44 states can easily send delegations to Congress that do not correspond to their state wide vote. This upcoming election will feature only six state congressional delegations that will actually represent the will of all their voters and of course those states are the ones whose state and congressional district boundaries are identical. Plainly speaking, there is no such thing outside those six states as a truly fair single member district. Other countries that use a variety of proportional voting methods offer their voters real choice, equality and fairness when they vote. Their voters experience real fun and satisfaction even if their candidates lose. Unlike American voters, they at least have the satisfaction of knowing a majority of citizens disagree with them. After all the core principle of democracy is that all votes carry equal weight just like when we elect a governor. Our state congressional delegations should reflect the will of a majority of voters in the entire state not just in separate state election districts. Frank Suran, Camp Hill Borough, Pa. The presidential candidates are set to debate. It is likely that the first exchange will occur in late June with the second donnybrook in September. Given recent events and the ongoing spectacle of an ex-president facing criminal charges in new jurisdictions, the debates will be unlike any others we have seen recently. Biden plans to emphasize his accomplishments and the steadiness that he represents for the country. Trump is, well, Trump and will likely bring invective and fear mongering to the podium. In the midst of this chaos, it may be good for Pennsylvanians to know that the current state of confusion wasnt always the case. George M. Leader served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1955 to 1959. Prior to that, he served a term in the Pennsylvania Senate and had run unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 1952. When he was inaugurated, he was a Navy veteran, an experienced businessman, and a savvy political leader at the ripe young age of 37. Gov. Leader passed away in 2013 but his descendants remain important figures in Central Pennsylvania, operating a system of senior living centers throughout the state. My thoughts turn to Gov. Leader often in the murkiness of todays politics. This is because we had a close personal relationship throughout my own career, and I had the benefit of his wise counsel on a regular basis. Gov. Robert P. Casey and I had something of a father-son relationship, but it was a kind of grandfatherly affection that I enjoyed from George Leader. While Casey and I were close working partners at the time, it was Gov. George Leader who could break through even the toughest issues and share his perspective as a true senior statesman. What I enjoyed most was the clarity that came from a person who was grounded in faith and absolutely certain that the proper path for politicians was to serve the people who elected them with hard work and integrity. He had no tolerance for candidates and campaign operatives who misused their public platforms by twisting the truth. In a book about his life and times, (George M. Leader 1918-2013, Michael J. Birkner and Charles H. Glatfelter, Interviewers), Leader lamented the negative impact that mass media had on politics: I thought television was going to be the greatest blessing America ever had, and that we would have the most informed voters in the world. But then they learned how to do those negative ads they took a beautiful instrument that could have made our democracy work better and they destroyed it. No doubt, Leader would be just as heartbroken with the hyper partisanship that is impeding good government today. Let the record show that his administration brought landmark changes to the state in education, industrial development, and services for the mentally ill and disabled. He eliminated the state debt and built highways and state parks as an investment in Pennsylvanias future. Here is the lesson for today: all of George Leaders accomplishments were the result of his ability to reach across the aisle to get things done. Given entrenched opposition in the state legislature, Leader made progress by applying the art of compromise. Friend and foe alike knew of George Leaders hard work ethic. He was working in his office up to the moment of his successors swearing in. He was at his post at his familys business until days before his death. Why? In his own words, Leader said, Because I like working. I would rather do this than eat ice cream. And I really like ice cream. In another biography, The Life of Pennsylvania Governor George M. Leader Challenging Complacency by Kenneth Wolensky, Leader took a dim view of political leaders of the day who were driven by ego. A lot of our politicians are not immoral; theyre amoral. They just dont have any moral standards. He pointed out that 90 percent of incumbents get reelected even though many of them dont deserve the office. Congress has become a place for the survival of people who want to be in politics all their lives theyre addicts to power. In his last years, George Leader wrote poetry. Here is a part of one called Unselfish Souls: The world is in need of those generous souls Who will give of their lives and their time, To provide in this land a strong helping hand, And help others to handle the climb. There have been great leaders in Pennsylvania and in our country. We should not settle for less. Mark S. Singel is a former Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor of Pennsylvania At a time when fire departments are desperately trying to recruit young people into their ranks, Swatara Township has shuttered a volunteer fire house due to what authorities say are credible reports of racial discrimination. As the closure of the Friendship Fire Company in Bressler demonstrates, antiquated ideas about race and ethnicity hurt not only those kept out, but they hurt the entire community. We need more firefighters, and anything that discourages people from considering the profession needs to be firmly dealt with right away. Fire chiefs throughout the nation say they need all the help they can get as the nation faces a dramatic decrease in the number of volunteer firefighters. It makes no sense whatsoever to keep a closed-door attitude that welcomes white men only. We applaud the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals office for reopening its investigation of the Bressler Friendship Fire Company, which had been the subject of a similar investigation in 2022. A Friendship Fire Company of Bressler Swatara Fire-Rescue engine. February 7, 2024. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Then, a 35-year veteran firefighter charged the Bressler station had a policy that welcomed only white people into the social club. It seems at least one firefighter who guarded entry to the club made it clear accepting Black firefighters would never happen. As a result of the first investigation, the company was supposed to take unspecified remedial actions. At the very least, the fire departments social club was supposed to update its bylaws and website to ensure its statements were non-discriminatory. But attitudes needed to be updated, too. The most recent allegations against the Friendship Fire Company involve not allowing a Black man to join its social club. It sent a clear and intentional message that people of color are not welcome. A Friendship Fire Company of Bressler Swatara Fire-Rescue engine. February 7, 2024. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com That is not only misguided and illegal, its downright stupid. Racism generally is. When your house catches fire, do you really care if the firefighter who rushes to put it out is Black or white? Do you want the Black firefighter to stay outside and only let the white firefighter in? Does it really matter what color the man or woman is who rushes into the fire to save your life? We should be grateful for the men and women of all colors who are willing to do such dangerous work. It hurts the entire community when there arent enough of them to answer the call for help. The nation is facing an alarming shortage of firefighters. In fact, many fire chiefs will tell you the profession is facing the greatest staffing crisis in modern times. Eric Bernard, board of the National Volunteer Fire Council and a volunteer firefighter in Maryland, told Fortune magazine the situation is especially dire for volunteer fire departments. They have seen significant decreases in young people willing to do the dangerous work of fighting fires and not get paid. But fire officials also say fewer young people are coming into their line of work even when there is a good salary. In fact, since the pandemic, officials say theres been a massive drop in recruits for both volunteer and paid fire departments. The Friendship Fire Company of Bressler. April 11, 2024. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Add to that the fact that retiring Baby Boomers are leaving serious vacancies in the firefighter ranks. We thank them for their service, but too few millennials and Gen Zs are rushing in to take their places. We urge Swatara Township and the Attorney Generals office to provide clear information to the community about why appropriate actions werent taken in 2022 to address racial discrimination at the Bressler station. And we call on both the township and the Attorney Generals office to ensure the whites only attitude is not allowed to fester within fire departments or anywhere else in our community. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Subscribe to Battleground PA podcast for the latest in the 2024 elections! House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Supreme Court Justice Alito an insurrectionist sympathizer and called on Congress to impose an ethical code of conduct on the Supreme Court. Leader Jeffries said in a statement, Samuel Alito should apologize immediately for disrespecting the American flag and sympathizing with right-wing violent insurrectionists. He must recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump. Congress should immediately consider legislation to impose an ethical code of conduct on a runaway Supreme Court. The Constitution demands and the American people deserve more from a justice serving on the highest court in the land than baseless election denial. Leader Jeffries was correct on all points. Congress needs to act to control a rogue and corrupt Supreme Court, and just as troubling for the country is the fact that an unrepentant insurrectionist sympathizer sits on the bench. Alito was the Justice who wrote the majority decision that gutted reproductive freedom rights, and now he is coming after American democracy. Supreme Court reform has never seemed more urgent and vital. The odds of the Republican-controlled House doing something about this crisis are zero, but once Democrats take back the House, fixing the broken and failing Supreme Court majority should be a priority. 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] Rudy Giuliani dared the state of Arizona to find him and serve him with fake elector criminal charges, so they did exactly that at his 80th birthday party. Here is how it all unfolded: Serial criminal Rudy Giuliani dared Arizona to serve him with the indictment he has avoided for weeks. So they did. https://t.co/ro1L7W3r5y Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) May 18, 2024 Photos of Rudy Giuliani at his birthday party in Florida tonight. Im told guests had just finished singing happy birthday when agents served him paperwork on AZ fake elector charges. Trump strategists Roger Stone/Steve Bannon were also present. pic.twitter.com/u2YqdgoSU6 Rachel Louise Just (@RLJnews) May 18, 2024 You might be thinking to yourself, who could possibly be that dumb or drunk as to dare a state attorney general to arrest them, and they post about and from their birthday party? That person would be Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani had been dodging being served for weeks, so when he got cocky and dared Arizona to serve him, and even pretty much gave them his location, he made it easy. Rudy Giuliani is already broke. He lost his final remaining stable source of income when he got fired from his radio show because he would not stop pushing election lies. E very time that it looks like Giuliani has hit rock bottom, he finds a new low. All of Giulianis problems are self-inflicted and came from his decision to associate with and work for Donald Trump. If Giuliani never works for Trump and gets into the crime business, he probably doesnt end up a broke and likely to be convicted felon. Rudy Giuliani is a living example of how associating with Donald Trump ruins lives. 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] Aiken County celebrated the late April transfer of the Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Court House to its ownership with a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 17. Those in attendance included representatives of the federal government, the previous owner of the facility at 223 Park Ave. S.W. in downtown Aiken. We are very excited to not only have the courthouse coming into the Aiken County system, but also for our ability to continue to use it as a courthouse, said Aiken County Council Chairman Gary Bunker. We have some to-be-determined plans for it, but at this point in time, we are leaning very strongly towards having Traffic Court come in. It is one of our busier courts [and is] located on Hampton Avenue. If that happens, Traffic Court would be on the second floor, where the courtroom is located. Were also in discussion with the Clerk of Court (Bob Harte) for certain functions to come here [from the Aiken County Judicial Center] to occupy the first floor, Bunker said. The Simons Court House and old City of Aiken Municipal building, which the county purchased for $2.4 million in April, will help ease problems with overcrowding in the Aiken County Judicial Center. Like the Simons Court House, the Judicial Center and the old Municipal Building are on Park Avenue. The county paid $1 to acquire the Simons Court House, which hasnt been used by the federal government for some time, Aiken County Administrator Brian Sanders told the Aiken Standard earlier this month. Linda Johnson, president of the Historic Aiken Foundation, cut the blue ribbon during the May 17 ceremony, which was held at the top of the Simons Court Houses front steps. Beforehand, Bunker thanked her and the Historic Foundation for helping the county with the paperwork needed to make the ownership transfer happen. Built in the 1930s, the Simons Court House is in the National Register of Historic Places. The 22,919-square-foot building has a wonderful Georgian Revival design with some charming Art Deco features, Johnson said. But probably the most important feature is the Stefan Hirsch mural. It is literally a national treasure and we have it right here in Aiken. It is going to be preserved right here in Aiken and made accessible to the public thanks to the county. First, Im curious as to what kind of church you are running up there? asked a caller to my church office. His was the kind of question I get lately since returning to the pastor role. Most often, callers are like the young mother of three who told me, I have three churches Im considering attending, but first Im asking the pastors to answer some questions. She squashed that ordinal number first, as if drawing a line in the theological sand. FIRST, does your church teach tithing? I assumed she knew most churches encourage donations, but not wanting to scare her off, I was slow to answer. Was she looking for a discount? Or was she searching for a rich church? Some people call the church directly and others find me through my local column. Readers usually leave a voicemail, graciously giving me time to formulate an answer. I played back a message from a man last week wanting to know how he could donate to Chispa Project. I returned the call, excited to tell him about my upcoming trip to Honduras, but he, too, began with a question. FIRST, I want to know if angels are able to speak to us. His challenging question made me want to ask, Can I call a friend? Or ask the audience? Maybe I should have said, Yes. The angels are telling you to donate to Chispa Project at chispaproject.org/chaplain. Another man saw that I had a woman scheduled to preach while I was away. FIRST of all, should women really be allowed to preach in church? I knew he was referring to 1 Timothy 2:12: I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet (NIV). Since I assumed he knew I invited the guest pastor, his question seemed more challenging than inquisitory, intoned much like the political questions I get. Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! You must FIRST believe that abortion is wrong, suggested a Pro-life advocate. MYRTLE BEACH Ever since Mica Millers body was found in a North Carolina state park, her family has demanded justice. But what would that look like? The 30-year-olds death on April 27 was ruled a suicide. And while North Carolina authorities asked for the help from the FBI in the early stages of the investigation, they have consistently said there is no criminal case expected from the shooting that ended her life. Its a hard question, said Sierra Francis, who in court filings has accused John-Paul Miller of abusing her sister. John-Paul Miller, the longtime pastor of the nondenominational church Solid Rock At Market Common, has denied ever abusing his late wife. He has not been charged with any crime related to her death. An attorney representing Miller said no law enforcement agency has told the pastor he is under investigation. What is clear is that both parties are headed to court. Next month, a hearing has been scheduled in Horry County Family Court to decide who owns the property taken into evidence by law enforcement after Mica Millers death. Specifically, Francis is seeking her sisters cell phone, purse, vehicle and clothing, among other items. Both John-Paul Miller and the church are listed as defendants. Micas family also is considering other legal action, including a wrongful death lawsuit. Ive actually been retained to look into that, said attorney Regina Ward, who is representing the deceased womans family. It would take a lot to put that together, but theres certainly intentional infliction of emotional distress everywhere. For true crime enthusiasts the world over, Hampton County, South Carolina, has become synonymous with Alex Murdaugh. Thats a heavy burden for anyplace to bear, but as The Post and Couriers Thad Moore reminds us, the county has a lot of problems beyond that. Its big governmental problem is at least $4.6 million in restricted funds that county officials admitted in 2022 they havent been able to account for. Theyve said for years they want to find out what happened but dont have the expertise to figure it out themselves, dont have the money to hire a forensic auditor and havent been able to find anyone in state government whose job allows them to help because, as Mr. Moore reports, they learned that state law largely insulates local governments from such scrutiny. Its against that backdrop that the S.C. Senate voted last month to require the state auditor and inspector general to hire a company to conduct that forensic audit of both the county and the Hampton County School District. Ironically, Mr. Moore reports, that vote came the same day the Hampton County Council voted to go forward with its own audit although it's unclear where it's getting the money, and watchdogs complained that there were more questions than answers about what the county is up to. So that probably should be part of what the state looks into as well, because voters need answers they've been seeking for years. What made Hampton County's mystery statewide news wasnt so much the missing money as the revelation that state government which is so quick to tell local governments what they can and cant do and what they must and mustnt do provides practically no assistance to local governments that self-report problems they dont know how to fix. COLUMBIA People convicted of driving under the influence will be required to install ignition interlock devices and take a breath test before being able to drive based on a new state law that takes effect May 19. The law expands the reach of the state's DUI laws, which only required repeat offenders or first-time offenders with a higher blood alcohol content to have the device installed on their cars. Drivers convicted of a DUI will have to blow into the device before the car's engine will start. The locking system will prevent them from driving if their breath registers a blood alcohol content of 0.02 percent or higher. They will also be notified by the device to pull over occasionally to blow into the device again to ensure they didn't start drinking after they began driving. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster in May of last year. Any driver arrested and charged for driving with a blood alcohol content over .08, which is the current legal limit, will be subject to the new rule even if they have no prior offenses. "That difference is huge when it comes to protecting public safety and saving lives," Steven Burritt, a regional executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), said during a press conference May 17. The required locking devices will cost drivers who have to install them around $130 each month. For a driver's first offense, the device would have to stay on for six months following the conviction; for a second, one year; and for a third, three years. The fees could total upward of $700 for a first offense or more than $4,600 for a third conviction, but the law allows for people who can't afford the cost to apply for the state to cover the expenses, said Mark Childress of the state's probation and parole office. He is in charge of the ignition interlock program. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Russia is working closely with Azerbaijan and Central Asia on the development of the North-South transit corridor, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk as he addressed the plenary session of the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum", Trend reports. "We have already discussed the infrastructure projects, including creating the North-South corridor that we are developing with our partners. We are working closely with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. This involves the development of both rail and road transportation," he said. Overchuk noted that Russia aims to enhance the transport and logistics connectivity of "Greater Eurasia" to provide better competitive conditions for manufacturers. "Our primary goal is to ensure the transport and logistics connectivity of Greater Eurasia. By doing this, we are providing our manufacturers with the best competitive conditions to enter the markets of the global South," the deputy PM added. He emphasized that Russia is not working alone in this effort but is cooperating with the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-18 16:02:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1014 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2024 / Several myths and misconceptions exist that may have stopped people from considering supplemental insurance. Despite popular beliefs, these policies are often affordable, customizable, and easy to find a plan that makes sense to you. They can suit a variety of situations, from routine care to emergencies and extraordinary circumstances. This article will dispel six common myths surrounding supplemental insurance, highlighting the value these policies can provide.1. Premiums are expensiveA common misconception is that supplemental insurance policies, like cancer and dental insurance, are costly. Premiums for these types of plans can be relatively low since they cover specialized situations. Affordable premiums can benefit people who want extra coverage without going over their budgets.2. Health insurance offers enough coverageHealth insurance can help with annual checkups, hospital bills, tests, medications, and more. However, it may not cover the full cost of all medical-related expenses. Furthermore, it may exclude certain expenses and won't help replace income in circumstances where the policyholder can't work. Supplemental policies exist specifically to help cover these expenses. For instance, health insurance may not cover all costs associated with a hospital stay. Hospital insurance provides a cash benefit to the policyholder that can help cover extra costs.3. One can't get supplemental insurance outside of open enrollmentUnlike traditional health insurance plans, people may have the opportunity to apply for supplemental insurance coverage at any time of the year. There's no need to wait for open enrollment or qualify for a special enrollment period, in some cases. For example, if one wants to apply for critical illness insurance at the beginning of the year, they have to wait until open enrollment. This means they may be able to get coverage right away. As a result, if they experience a critical illness, they may have added peace of mind knowing they're covered. Keep in mind that some supplemental policies, like dental insurance, may require the policyholder to go through a waiting period for certain covered services after purchasing coverage.4. Employer-sponsored supplemental insurance is always bestEmployer-sponsored supplemental insurance can offer a convenient and affordable way to consolidate insurance policies. However, the policyholder's options are limited to what their employer offers. Even if an employer has all the policies the employee needs, they may not provide the coverage amounts or add-ons that fit one's unique situation. The employee may benefit by shopping for private supplemental insurance outside of work. Doing so can help them customize their coverage and compare quotes to find the best rates.5. Supplemental insurance only covers extreme situationsSome supplemental policies, like accident, critical illness, and cancer insurance, are designed for more extreme situations. However, policies like dental and vision insurance also help cover routine expenses, such as annual exams and basic procedures.6. All supplemental insurance policies require medical examsMany supplemental policies, such as dental, vision, and cancer insurance, don't require a medical exam. Others vary by insurer and coverage amount. For example, a potential policyholder may need to take a medical exam when applying for traditional life insurance. However, several policies like final expense and guaranteed issue life insurance are smaller and don't require an exam.The bottom lineSupplemental insurance tends to be quite affordable and helps to fill gaps in traditional health insurance coverage. Policies can help cover both routine care and extreme situations. Plus, applicants can purchase supplemental insurance outside of open enrollment and may not have to take a medical exam.People should evaluate their circumstances and see what types of additional insurance coverage they may need. Shop around for multiple quotes on supplemental insurance to find the best rates.Coverage underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. In New York, coverage is underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of New York.Cancer/Specified-Disease: 72200: In Delaware, Policy A72200. In Idaho, Policy A72200ID. In Oklahoma, Policy A72200OK. In Virginia, Policy A72200VA. 75000: In VA, policies A75100VA-A75300VA. B7000: In DE, Policies B70100DE, B70200DE & B70300DE. In ID, Policies B70100ID, B70200ID, B70300ID, B7010EPID, B7020EPID. In OK, Policies B70100OK, B70200OK, B70300OK, B7010EPOK, B7020EPOK. Accident: A36000: In DE, Policies A36100DE-A36400DE, & A363OFDE. In ID, Policies A36100ID-A36400ID, & A363OFID. In OK, Policies A36100OK- A36400OK, & A363OFOK. In VA, Policies A36100VA - A36400VA, & A363OFVA. 37000: In DE, Policies A371AA & A371BA. In ID, Policy A37000ID. In OK, Policy A37000OK. In VA, Policies A371AAVA & A371BAVA. Critical Illness:In DE, Policies A73100DE & A7310HDE. Policies B71100, B71200, B7130H & B7140H. In OK, Policies A73100OK & A7310HOK. Policies B71100OK & B7110HOK. In VA, Policy A73100VA.Dental 81000: In Delaware, Policies A81100-A81400. In Idaho, Policies A81100ID-A81400ID. In Oklahoma, Policies A81100OK-A81400OK. In Virginia, Policies A81100VA-A81200VA.82000: In Delaware, Policies A82100R-A82400R. In Idaho, Policies A82100RID-A82400RID. In Oklahoma, Policies A82100ROK-A82400ROK. In Virginia, Policies A82100RVA-A82400RVA.68000: In Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Virginia, Policies: ICC1368100, ICC1368200, ICC1368300, ICC1368400. In Delaware, Policies A68100-A68400. In New York, NY68100-NY68400. In Virginia, Policies ICC0965JTO & ICC0965JWO. 65000: In VA, Policies ICC0965JTO & ICC0965JWO. B61000: In AR, ID, OK, OR, PA, TX, & VA, Policies: ICC18B61JWO & ICC18B61JTO. In DE, Policies B61JWO, B61JTO. B6000: In AR, ID, OK, PA, TX, & VA, Policies: ICC18B60C10, ICC18B60100, ICC18B60200, ICC18B60300, & ICC18B60400. Q6000 Whole: In AR, DE & OR, Policy Q60100M. In ID Policy Q60100MID. In OK, Policy Q60100MOK. In PA, Policy Q60100MPA. In TX, Policy Q60100MTX. Q6000 Term: In DE, Policies Q60200M. In AR, ID, OK, OR & TX, Policies ICC18Q60200M, ICC18Q60300C, ICC18Q60400C.Coverage is underwritten by Tier One Insurance Company.Dental claims are administered by Aflac Benefits Solutions, Inc. Vision claims are administered by EyeMed Vision Care, LLC. Hearing claims are administered by Nations Hearing. NOTICE: The coverage offered is not a qualified health plan (QHP) under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Release Date: 19 April, 2024 Running Time: 1 hour, 23 minutes. Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video Director: Temitope Bolade Cast: Uzor Arukwe, Uche Montana, Dirichi Bright, Chy Nwakanma, Kamil Audu, Okey Uzoeshi. Amid unresolved pain, emotional connections can prove to be fragile and uncertain. When one thinks of marriage, its a fantasy journey with high hopes, yet couples often encounter instability and unspoken disappointment. 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 Navigating the twist of past trauma casts a shadow over their bond, challenging them to confront their shared history and its impact on their relationship. As they strive to forge a strong bond amidst these lingering shadows, couples are confronted with the daunting task of overcoming the obstacles that threaten to undermine their connection. In Wedding Night Blues, the interplay between marriage intimacy and past trauma unfolds with raw honesty and emotional depth, inviting viewers into the complex inner workings of the lead actors relationship, Nosa and Wonuola. As the couple try to be close while dealing with old pain, their ups and downs feel real and relatable. Their story sheds light on how past experiences shape their relationship dynamics. Plot In anticipation of a blissful wedding night, Nosa and Wonuola vowed to save themselves for this special occasion, hoping it would be the most beautiful night of their lives. However, as they finally reached this milestone after two years of commitment to remain celibate, their past mistakes came crashing down upon them. Nosas first night with Wonu was marred by haunting memories of his romantic moments with Vera, his ex-lover. Overwhelmed, he hastily excused himself with a fabricated stomach ache, leaving Wonu bewildered and concerned for what would have stalled the blissful moment. The following days attempts to comfort Nosa were shattered when a seemingly innocent gift (dropped by Vera at that wedding) revealed a painful truth. It brought a reminder of Nosas past infidelity. Veras gift contained sex objects and an image of Nosa and his ex in a pleasurable moment; it was wrapped to haunt the new marriage. Shocked and hurt, Wonus world crumbled as she confronted the painful reality of their shattered trust. In disappointment and shock, she gets furious and packs her belongings in a move to end the new marriage. Despite Nosas pleas for forgiveness and Wonus wavering resolve, the couple founwasift in a sea of heartbreak and frustration. They are now both at a crossroads; one is a past victim of sexual abuse looking to heal, and the other is a victim of present abuse looking for acceptance. As they struggled with their traumas and insecurities, their once-promising union hung precariously in the balance, tested by the weight of their shared pain and uncertainty. After their troubling wedding night revelations, Nosa and Wonu spent two weeks apart, drowning in frustration and disappointment. Concerned, their closest friends, Chioma and Kunle, stepped in as their first advisors during this tumultuous time. As their story unfolds, past traumas and present struggles emerge, straining their marriage and prompting them to seek individual counselling in hopes of finding a path to healing. Character analysis The actors in Wedding Night Blues deliver impressive performances, capturing the emotional level of their characters. The main characters of Uzor Arukwe and Uche Montana are Nosa and Wonuola. Both Nosa and Wonuola are profoundly flawed yet captivating as they confront their struggles and past traumas. The couples portrayal of their inner conflicts is authentic and moving, drawing empathy from viewers as they navigate the challenges of their relationship. Nosa, haunted by memories of abuse from Vera (his ex), leaves him in a struggle to reconcile his past with his desire for intimacy with his wife. Meanwhile, Wonuola is more emotional and is silently a survivor of rape by her ex (Fred). She battles with her fears and insecurities surrounding sex and trust. Their emotional experiences are depicted with sincerity, delving into the depths of trauma, recovery, and the intricacies of marital closeness. Dirichi Bright, who portrays Soma, serves as Wonus devoted friend, deeply invested in her happiness. She eagerly prepares a special gift for Wonus wedding night, only to discover that the anticipated moment never materialises. She supports and advises Wonu during difficult times and also seeks justice for her friend after Wonus assault by Fred. Kamil Audu, cast as Kunle, is a colleague of Nosa and a close friend. He gets worried to sewhen, who was supposed to be on a honeymoon with his wife, sleepsleeps at the office for days. Despite being silenced several times by Nosa to stay clear of the issues, he actively pushes for a suitable marriage for the couple. Chy Nwakanma, as Vera, creates friction in the marriage. Wonu finds a disturbing gift from Vera, containing a sex object and explicit images of Nosas past encounters. Vera consistently lures and tempts Nosa with wild sexual experiences, straining his relationship with Wonu. Okey Uzoeshi, portraying the counsellor, becomes pivotal in the couples shaky love journey. Despite facing a physical attack from Nosa, he maintains composure and strives to mend their fractured relationship. Wonu trusts the counsellor deeply, frequently seeking solace and guidance in their sessions. It is during these intimate conversations that Wonu opens up about her unexpected pregnancy for Fred. Movie analysis Wedding Night Blues offers thought-provoking insights into the impact of past trauma on intimate relationships, stressing the importance of communication, empathy, and healing. The producer attempts to tell the behind-the-mask experience of a newlywed couple. The movie powerfully explores the interplay between a highly anticipated marriage intimacy and unresolved trauma from the past. It also projects the complexities of love, lengthy courtship and mixed feelings. With moments of tension and suspense, the films pacing is deliberate, and its emotional intensity is sprinkled with reflective scenes. This balance keeps the audience engaged and invested in the unfolding storyline. The movie also has a captivating narrative and rich character development, prompting viewers to reflect on the power of love, resilience, and the journey toward healing and reconciliation. Through its rich symbolism and metasymbolicgery, Wedding Night Blues gives insights into human relationships complications and the enduring impact of past wounds. Symbolic motifs, such as the pink dress (given to Wonu by Chioma), symbolise innocence, and the burning of the sex items by Nosa given by Vera (used at the beginning and the end of the movie), represent liberation from past trauma. The items also added layers of meaning to the narrative, inviting viewers to engage with the deeper themes explored in the film. Direction and cinematography The films direction is adeptly executed, focusing on pacing, tone, and visual storytelling. The director effectively captures the intimate moments between Nosa and Wonuola, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the emotional landscape of their marriage and the rhetorical moment of couples even in their quest for annulment. The storytelling direction played a crucial role in enhancing the emotional impact of the story. The producer used imagery to convey the characters inner turmoil and emotional states. From intimate close-ups to sweeping panoramic shots, the cinematography effectively captures the mood and atmosphere of each scene, immersing viewers in the characters world and heightening the emotional resonance of their journey. However, the movies video quality could be better, with occasional sound disruptions. Improved grading could have enhanced the overall viewing standard. Themes Several strong themes emerge from Night Blues, offering profound insights into the complexities of marriage, intimacy, and the enduring impact of past trauma. Lets get examine of these themes. The film intricately explores the delicate balance between intimacy and past trauma within the context of marriage. The couple, who were just married, dated for two years but were short of intimacy, fuelled by trauma from both ends. They decided for marriage to stay clean but had a loose point of infidelity towards their journey of marriage. Both Nosa and Wonuola struggle with the scars of their respective traumatic experiences, which profoundly impact their ability to connect closely with each other. Their journey pictured the challenges of navigating intimacy in the aftermath of trauma; they confront their fears, insecurities, and emotional barriers in their quest for healing and connection. Communication and Misunderstanding Throughout the film, communication breakdowns and misunderstandings worsen tensions between Nosa and Wonu. The couple experienced a fresh hurdle in communication, which was majorly fuelled by a misunderstanding of infidelity. Their inability to effectively communicate their feelings, fears, and past traumas leads to misunderstandings, conflicts, and a breakdown of trust and intimacy. Romance The theme of romance in Wedding Night Blues is portrayed amidst the struggle. Despite the marital challenges faced by Nosa and Wonuola in their marriage, their love for each other perseveres. Within the context of Nosas past affair with Vera, the theme of love in forbidden desires emerges, exploring the consequences of temptation and infidelity in romantic relationships. Nosas unwavering devotion to Wonuola, despite his past indiscretions and her ogles, speaks to the theme of sacrifice in romance. Nosa and Wonuolas love is further tested by tragedy. They face the loss of Wonus unborn child for Fred and the turmoil it brings. Their shared grief strengthens their bond, showing how love can provide solace and strength in tough times. Through vulnerability and reflection, they confront their past traumas, finding healing and renewal in each others embrace. Forgiveness and Healing Central to the narrative is the theme of forgiveness and healing as Osa and Wonuola battle with their wounds and those inflicted by each other. The journey towards forgiveness is fraught with challenges as they confront their shortcomings, betrayals, and past mistakes. They both seek guidance from the counsellor and advice from friends, hoping to find forgiveness. However, as told, wounds resurface, and they try to forgive, soldering their healing process. Resilience and Redemption Regardless of their numerous obstacles, Wonuola demonstrates remarkable resilience and strength in their journey toward redemption. Their struggles with past trauma, infidelity, and misunderstanding test the limits of their marriage, yet they refuse to succumb to despair. Through perseverance, introspection, and a willingness to confront their demons, the couple gradually emerge robust and resilient, forging a path towards redemption and renewed intimacy. Verdict Overall, Wedding Night Blues offers an emotional and insightful exploration of marriage, intimacy, and the enduring impact of past trauma. It offers a powerful exploration of the human experience and the enduring power of love. Through its richly drawn characters, compelling storyline, authentic performances, and thought-provoking themes, the heart of the movies plot is Nosa and Wonuola, whose experiences drive the emotional essence of the narrative. Despite its great storyline, the video quality disappoints. The visuals appear lower than expected, with intermittent sound issues. Improved colour grading could enhance the overall viewing experience. While some may find the films subject matter challenging, its honesty and authenticity create a powerful and meaningful storyline experience. Wedding Night Blues was able to draw a line between intimacy and past trauma. The movie is rated 8/10 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerian movies have come a long way, especially since the unforgettable Living in Bondage was released in the early 1990s. By 1994, a wave of groundbreaking films swept through, reshaping and setting the pace of storytelling. Almost a decade after these films were made in 2002, Norimitsu Onishi, a New York Times journalist, coined the name Nollywood. From gripping dramas to uproarious comedies, these beloved classics have left an indelible mark on Nigerians and continue to captivate audiences across generations. In this article, PREMIUM TIMES presents five iconic Nollywood movies set to mark a significant milestone as they turn 30. 1. Ayo Ni Mo Fe Ayo Ni Mo Fe, directed by the talented Tunde Kelani, is a gripping drama showcasing the stellar performances of actors such as Yomi Ogunmola, Bola Obot, Yinka Oyedijo, Kareem Adepoju, and Lere Paimo. Produced by Mainframe Films and Television Productions, the film unfolds in two parts. 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 movie narrates the story of Jumoke (Bola Obot), who finds herself torn between the reckless Ayo (Yomi Ogunmola) and a wealthy elderly trader (Lere Paimo) in marriage. Yos irresponsible behaviour leads to a hasty union with an underage Adunni (Yinka Oyedijo), which shocks Jumoke when she discovers the truth. As jealousy and betrayal consume the characters, Jumoke descends into depression, eventually becoming a lost soul wandering the streets. After losing her father, Adunni is ejected by her beleaguered mother, who blames her for betraying her parents high expectations. The intertwining lives of these characters paint a portrait of love, loss, and redemption in a society fraught with challenges and contradictions. Ayo Ni Mo Fe Part 1 1994 Full (youtube.com) 2. Glamour Girls Directed by Chika Onukwufor, the movie trails young women diving into the realm of prostitution, wrestling with dreams, desires, and societal norms. Set in Nigerias traditionally patriarchal society, the story revolves around independent, single women navigating their lives. Andra, portrayed by the late Jennifer Okereke, moves to Lagos seeking better opportunities. She is supported by her friend Doris, played by Gloria Anozie. Sandras life turns when she meets wealthy Esiri, who offers her marriage and a job at his bank. Her choice between him and struggling job-seeker Dennis, portrayed by Pat Attah, sparks conflict. The second part delves deeper into their struggles with prostitution for survival. This is where the movie also explores the subplot of Jesse, played by Tina Amuziam, and Fred, portrayed by Zack Orji. Fred introduces Jesse to prostitution in Italy to raise money but later abandons her for another woman. This two-part classic was a sensation in Nigeria, and it even got a Netflix remake in June 2022. Glamour Girls Nigerian Movie (1994) (youtube.com) 3. Nneka The Pretty Serpent Nneka the Pretty Serpent is a two-part Nigerian horror drama film released in 1994. Directed and written by Zeb Ejiro, the film is regarded as the Nollywood movie that started the trend of storylines involving demon-possessed subjects who pastors later cleanse. The story revolves around a woman who desperately wants to conceive a child. In her quest for help, she meets the river goddess (also known as Mami Wata) and promises to dedicate her child to the goddess in exchange for assistance. The woman eventually conceives and gives birth to a daughter named Nneka. It is led by the talented Ndidi Obi in the titular role, alongside a stellar cast including Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, Eucharia Anunobi, Ngozi Ezeonu, Rita Nzelu, and Sam Loco. Shot in the rich Igbo language with English subtitles, the film transcends linguistic barriers to achieve widespread commercial success, resonating deeply with audiences across Nigeria and beyond. Its influence reverberates throughout Nollywood, inspiring a wave of similarly themed productions, from Karishika (1996) to Highway to the Grave ( 1998). Nneka the Pretty Serpent, 1994 (youtube.com) 4. Lagos Na Wah! (Pidgin Comedy 1-3) Lagos Na Wah! It is a 1994 Nigerian film shot in three parts and falls under the genre of Pidgin Comedy. The film features comedians such as Kehinde Soaga, James Iroha, Sunday Omobolanle, Kayode Odumosu, and Jide Kosoko. The storyline revolves around the humorous experiences of native Lagosians and bewildered visitors to the bustling metropolis. 5. The Ultimate Power The Ultimate Power was produced by Mount Zion Films, a prominent Christian film production company in Nigeria. Mike Bamiloye, the founder of Mount Zion, wrote and directed the film. The film revolves around supernatural powers and their impact on human lives. The Ultimate Power (also known as Agbara Nla) is a classic Nollywood film written and directed by Mike Bamiloye. It also starred Yemi Adepoju, Toyin Oke, Mike Bamiloye, and Gloria Bamiloye, among others. Released in 1994, it tells the story of supernatural events and the struggle between good and evil. After the mysterious murder of her parents, a traumatised woman gains extraordinary abilities that aid her in seeking revenge against the killers. The Ultimate Power Part 1 YouTube Honourable mention: Checkmate (TV series) This Nigerian television series aired from 4 April 1991 to 1994. Created by Amaka Igwe and sponsored by Lever Brothers Nigeria, it revolved around the Haatrope family and their business struggles in Lagos, the enemies determined to destroy their business and legacy, and friends and associates connected to them. The series featured Ego Nnamani, Yomi Davies, Francis Agu, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Ruth Osu, Alex Usifo and many others. CHECKMATE Episode 1 (youtube.com) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Less than 72 hours after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) demanded the immediate reinstatement of suspended governing councils of universities and the composition of others, the Nigerian government has released the list of governing councils for 111 federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega; two prominent Nigerian lawyers and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Olanipekun and Yusuf Alli; former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Peter Okebukola, and labour activist, Issa Aremu, are among the individuals appointed to lead the councils of various academic institutions. ASUU had on Tuesday issued a two-week ultimatum to the Nigerian government to address its key concerns including what it described as the illegal dissolution of governing councils of the universities, continued payment of its members salaries using the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), among other issues. But in response to the threat, the Federal Ministry of Education said the concerns were being addressed, noting that the list of the council members would soon be released. Distribution As released by the Federal Ministry of Education and signed by its Permanent Secretary, Didi Walson-Jack, the list comprises five names each for 50 universities, 37 polytechnics, and 24 colleges of education. While Mr Jega will serve as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS), Messrs Olanipeku, Alli, Okubukola and Aremu will chair the councils for the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State, and Federal College of Education (Technical), Keana, Nasarawa State, respectively. Others on the list include the former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, who will chair the governing council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN); Joy Emordi, a former Senator, who will chair the council of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Imo State, and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, who is appointed to lead the council of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State. 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 immediate-past Executive Secretary of NUC, Adamu Rasheed, who resigned from office a few months into his second term in office, was also named to chair the governing council of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State. According to the statement, the inauguration and retreat for the new governing council members will take place on Thursday and Friday, 30 and 31 May, at the National Universities Commissions headquarters in Abuja. Backstory In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced the dissolution of the governing councils of major government agencies and institutions including those of the higher institutions of learning. Concerned individuals and organisations condemned the Presidents decision at the time, saying the governing councils of the universities are guided by the University Miscellaneous Act, which grants the ivory towers and the councils the power to be self-regulated. Meanwhile, in his address to the media recently, the ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, a professor of soil science at the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, described the dissolution as illegal and contrary to the Universities Miscellaneous Act. The union said the illegal dissolution has paved the way for illegalities in the Nigerian university system. ASUU therefore tasked Mr Tinubu to reinstate those whose tenure had yet to elapse and reconstitute those whose members had spent out their tenure. ASUU noted that it would reconvene in two weeks to review the situation and take a decisive action to address the issues. Nigerians should hold the federal and state governments responsible if the matter of governing councils is allowed to snowball into an avoidable industrial crisis, it said. It is, however, unclear if ASUU will accept the decision to appoint fresh councils for the universities without reinstating the suspended ones. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, has ordered training of police operatives on the use of drone cameras to fight insecurity in the state. Mr Obono spoke while addressing sectional heads in the operations department of the police in the state, according to a statement by the police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, on Thursday. The police commissioner, who assumed duty in the state on Monday, reiterated that his policing plan centred on practical intelligence, technology-driven and tactical operations in the state. He pointed out that the drone cameras would be used for surveillance purposes across the state. More gadgets, retraining of officers Apart from ordering training of officers in the use of drone cameras, Mr Obono, according to the statement, also ordered the introduction of refresher courses on weapon handling, musketry, and other monitoring devices for crime fighting. The police chief said the new plan and model in Anambra State would help police operatives to fight crimes in the state. It will also guide investigations when crimes are committed, 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 Mr Obono further directed creation of field operations surveillance centres and field operations retraining centres within police area commands in the state. No extortion, other corrupt practices During the gathering attended by sectional heads of the Police Command, Mr Obono warned against extortion of residents and other street-level corruption by officers in the state. The police commissioner asked the sectional heads to supervise operatives in their various sections and units, reiterating that the Command under his watch would not tolerate any form of unprofessional conduct by any police operatives. Insecurity in Anambra Like in other states in the South-east, security has deteriorated in Anambra State with frequent attacks by armed persons. The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities. Anambra is among the states worst hit by the insecurity in the region Hundreds of persons, including security agencies, traditional rulers and government officials, have been killed or abducted in such attacks. Both serving and past lawmakers in the state, for instance, had been killed in the last two years by gunmen terrorising the state. The Nigerian government has accused Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of the south-south Nigeria. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu has approved May 27 to June 6 as Federal Capital Territory Week for the inauguration of various projects executed under his administration. The Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, said this while inspecting some of the projects in preparation for inauguration to celebrate Tinubus one year in office. By the approval of Mr President, we believe that from 27 May, we shall begin the inauguration of various projects and will end on 6 June. Particularly on 27 May, President Tinubu will inaugurate commercial operations of the Abuja Light Rail also known as Abuja Metro Line, and we will carry out the final inspection of the project on 20 May. From what we have seen, I think we are good to go, he said. Mr Wike also expressed confidence that the Vice-Presidents residence, located along Aso Drive, would be completed and may be inaugurated on 6 June. He explained that the nine-day inauguration activities would demonstrate to the world the Tinubu-led administrations determination to renew the hope of Nigerians. 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 He added: We have a lot of projects being executed that will be inaugurated. So many projects that I cannot begin to list them. We are happy; the contractors are meeting up, and all the promises made they have fulfilled. We have also fulfilled our own part, by making sure that we make the needed cash available and none of the contractors is complaining in terms of cash. The minister added that other projects like the construction of bus terminals and the Court of Appeal, FCT Division, and other projects would be inaugurated within the period. On the non-functionality of some of the streetlights in parts of the city, Mr Wike explained that some of the streetlights were being worked on, while others were being tested. He assured the residents that the streetlights would come on once the contractors finished working on them, As I speak to you, most of the streetlights are being worked on and with the project we are executing, you dont expect the light to be on. The contractors are test running them, so most of the ones that are not working are those that are being worked on. We believe that before the inauguration you will see that most of the streetlights will be on, the minister said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Vice President Kashim Shettima on Friday inaugurated the revamped National Economic Council (NEC) Human Capital Development (HCD) Steering Committee, saying the federal government reconstituted the committee to reflect the new leadership of the nation and bring all stakeholders together. Mr Shettima also noted the determination of President Bola Tinubus administration to bolster labour force participation, even as he issued a fervent call to action. Delivering his speech titled, The Burden of Trust in Leadership Transition, the VP tasked the new committee with the solemn responsibility of delivering tangible progress on the three core pillars of health and nutrition, education, and labour force participation. He said each phase of their obligation to serve the nation reminded them of the impacts of their choices, pointing out that the current day was no exception. This is the future we seek, a future where every Nigerian has the opportunity to fulfil their dreams and contribute to the prosperity of our nation. I believe that this alignment of interests signals the approval of what HCD sets out to accomplishthe addition of 24 million healthy, educated, and productive Nigerians to our expanding population by 2030, VP Shettima stated, declaring that every Nigerian must thrive under the new administrations visionary agenda. Our human capital remains our greatest asset, and investing in its development is not only a moral responsibility but also an economic necessity, he 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 Aligning the HCD programmes objectives with President Tinubus eight-point agenda, including eradicating poverty and creating jobs, the vice president said that every Nigerian must thrive for the country to realise its true potential. We are going to rely on defined frameworks and data to pursue investment in healthcare systems that are resilient, accessible, and responsive to the needs of our citizens, Mr Shettima added. He noted that the Tinubu administration is committed to prioritising preventative care, reducing child mortality and stunting, tackling malnutrition, and improving maternal health. The vice president further said it is imperative to ensure access to quality schooling for every Nigerian child, noting that education is a catalyst for unlocking opportunities and fostering a skilled workforce capable of thriving in the 21st-century economy. The HCD programme invites each of us to participate in ensuring that every child has access to quality schooling, he affirmed. On his part, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, lauded the move, saying, It is extremely gratifying that the vice president has deemed it fit to inaugurate this very important group. For many years, a lot of Nigerians have been yearning for the resuscitation of this group, having seen the modest contribution it made in the previous administration, he added. Speaker Tajudeen affirmed the National Assemblys commitment to legislative collaboration, noting that our take in the House of Representatives and, by extension, the National Assembly is to say we would be a worthy collaborator legislatively. Coincidentally, most of the sectors captured under this particular group are also embedded in our legislative agenda and the presidents Renewed Hope Agenda, he further noted. Also, Kwara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said their presence at the event signified the governors commitment to human capital development. The need for upward integration of various HCD programmes, especially in education, healthcare, and social protection, cannot be overemphasised. The ultimate aim is to improve the lives of our citizens. We are ready to trickle down and right to the local government all the programmes that are necessary to uplift our citizens. On his part, the Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Ali Pate, underscored the strategic importance of the initiative, saying, If you dont know where you are going, any road will take you there. We know where we are today, and we know where we should be. There is very good evidence that investments in education, health, women, and girls are the right investments, he maintained. Mr Pate emphasised the need for a whole of government and whole of society approach to governance where every individuals productivity is optimised, calling upon state governors to develop subnational HCD indices to measure progress. Present at the meeting were Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo; Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki; Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, and Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. Others are Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; a representative of the Minister of Education, and representatives of development organisations, including the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ECOWAS, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); Tony Elumelu Foundation and Dangote Foundation. Committees working session Meanwhile, after the inauguration of the Steering Committee, the Core Committee went into a working session where Vice President Shettima told them that they have a window of opportunity to rekindle hope for the millions of destitute Nigerians. He said whatever solutions they bring before the table, President Tinubu has the courage of conviction to implement, otherwise he couldnt have taken the far-reaching reforms that he took. The VP continued: As we set the ball running I am confident that I can count on the technical expertise that each of you brings to this critical programme. The task ahead is immense, and so are the stakes. The stakes are very high, but Im absolutely certain that with the calibre of people we have here. I must also remind us that the responsibility of the Core Working group the responsibility that you carry- is not just that of the government. It is a collective burden of an entire nation, of an entire continent, of an entire race. Millions of Nigerians look up to us for solutions to our areas of focus, progress in our delivery and a better tomorrow. Afterward, the Core Committee went into a closed-door deliberation, which was presided over by the Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change/Acting Coordinator, Core Working Group (CWG) HCD; Rukaiya El-Rufai. Stanley Nkwocha Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications (Office of The Vice President) 17th May, 2024 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Work on a railroad connecting the Turkish city of Kars to the Igdir region bordering Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan, a crucial component of the Zangezur corridor, is scheduled to begin later this year and be completed within five years, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkiye Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Turkish nationwide TV channel, Trend reports. The minister recalled that the tender for constructing a 224-kilometer railroad in eastern Turkiye was announced earlier this year, and negotiations are currently underway to finance the project. "Construction work from Kars to the Dilucu border crossing point on the Azerbaijan border will take about five years," the minister said. He noted that building the railroad section between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Zangilan district might also take several years. The minister highlighted the importance of completing railroad construction in the regions of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation and modernizing rails in Nakhchivan. "The full-fledged functioning of the transportation corridor will be possible in 20282029. This route has significant economic and strategic importance for Turkiye and the entire region," he emphasized. Uraloglu also discussed the importance of the Zangezur Corridor for global trade, mentioning the risks associated with incidents in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. "The opening of the Zangezur Corridor will provide a crucial new alternative for establishing economic ties between Asia and Europe," he said. Additionally, the minister did not rule out the possibility of the Zangezur Corridor passing through Iran. "We know that Azerbaijan is negotiating with Iran on this matter. The final decision has not been made yet. I do not exclude that some sections of the corridor will also pass through Iran and Armenia," he added. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Jalal Arabi, on Friday, bid farewell to the first batch of the 2024 intending pilgrims from Lagos State to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr Arabi was accompanied to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, by the National Commissioner, Operations, Inspectorate and Licenses, Anofiu Olanrewaju-Elegushi, and other officials. Mr Arabi addressed the pilgrims before they were airlifted. For you to be called to perform Hajj, you must be extra ordinarily lucky, but it is a rare opportunity. Allah has given you the opportunity. It may be your last opportunity, to some it may be the beginning. So what do you do when you have the last opportunity? it is to utilise it so well, he said. He appealed to the pilgrims to make Nigeria proud by abiding by Saudi laws. Do the dos and dont do the donts. If you stay on that path, you have no cause to worry, he said. Mr Arabi also appealed to them not to fight or quarrel with the officials, saying when there are issues, such must be settled amicably without rancour because we are all human. 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 He admonished them to be good ambassadors and shinning examples for others to emulate. While wishing them journey mercies, Mr Arabi encouraged them to pray for the country and its leaders, especially President Bola Tinubu whose intervention made the 2024 Hajj exercise possible for Nigerians. On his part, the Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Olanrewaju Layode, expressed his appreciation on behalf of the intending pilgrims for the chairmans show of love and his admonitions. The first batch of 423 pilgrims that departed Lagos to Madinah on Friday aboard Flynas flight XY8048 has safely arrived at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Madinah. According to NAHCON on Friday, a total of 4,229 intending pilgrims have been airlifted to Saudi Arabia in 10 flights across the country. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Solomon Bob, a member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, has asked President Bola Tinubu not to protect Governor Siminalayi Fubara from being removed from office. The lawmaker, who represents Abua/Odual/Ahoada East Federal Constituency of Rivers State, said Mr Fubara has committed several impeachable constitutional breaches and urged Mr Tinubu to allow the law to take its course. He alleged that the governor has disrespected the River State House of Assembly by spending money without its approval. Remove any protective cover for Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and allow the law to take its course on the governance and management of resources of the state, Mr Bob said in a statement on Friday. Rivers State crisis The ongoing political crisis in Rivers State between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, has divided the political actors in the state. The most notable division has been in the State House of Assembly, where a group of lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike has been at loggerheads with Mr Fubara. Mr Wike, the immediate-past governor of the oil-rich Rivers and currently the FCT minister, was instrumental to the emergence of Mr Fubara as governor. 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 duo however, fell out shortly after Mr Fubara assumed office as a result of the battle over the control of their partys structure in the state. The feud deteriorated despite the intervention of President Bola Tinubu who brokered a peace deal between Messrs Wike and Fubara after the seats of Mr Wike-backed lawmakers were declared vacant following their defection to the APC. In the midst of the crisis, Mr Fubara ordered the relocation of the legislative business of the state House of Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt, while giving the control of the House to his loyalists. Fubara has no respect for Tinubu Speaking on the intervention by Mr Tinubu, Mr Bob said the governor has no respect for the president but only acting based on fear of the federal might. He said the governor is only using public posturing to give the impression of respecting the president. Governor Fubara has no respect for President Tinubu. I can tell you that. Forget about his public posturing; he only fears him. Thats all. If he could thumb his nose at the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), His Excellency, Dr Nyesom Wike, who brought him out of nothing, imagine what he would do to Tinubu. He (Fubara) begged for the December settlement brokered by the President. He benefitted more than anyone from it. In fact, hes the only beneficiary. But see how he has trashed it. He paid people to challenge that settlement in court, including the so-called Rivers elders. The only term of the agreement he pretended to honour was the reappointment of commissioners who resigned. But he made them effectively redundant to the point where they had to resign again. He finally came out recently to denounce the settlement as unconstitutional, Mr Bob said. The lawmaker said the president should not enable the governor to illegally withhold funds due to local governments, and our people are running on empty. President Tinubu must not appear like an enabler of impunity and egregious unlawful behaviour. Governor Fubara destroyed an entire branch of the government to the rubble. He is running a government without a budget and spending Rivers peoples money recklessly. He has illegally withheld funds due to local governments, and our people are running on empty. The House of Assembly, which has the constitutional responsibility to take necessary measures against the governor, must not be fettered. At the moment, thats the impression I get, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Troops of Operation Udo Ka of the Nigerian Army, Friday, killed a suspected kidnapper at Umuaka, a community in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State, south-east Nigeria. The spokesperson of Operation Udo Ka of the Nigerian army, Jonah Unuakhalu, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, said the troops also foiled an attempted kidnap of an unidentified resident in the area. How it happened Mr Unuakhalu, a lieutenant colonel, said troops, while on routine patrol at Umuaka Community in the Njaba council area of the state, were alerted about a kidnap incident in the area. The troops swiftly pursued the kidnappers and made contact with them. In the firefight that ensued, the troops professionally neutralised one of the kidnappers and injured two others despite their attempts to use passer-by as human shield, he said. One AK-47 rifle with two loaded magazines and a motorcycle were recovered from the hoodlums, according to the army. Killing of an IPOB member Mr Unuakhalu, who is also the spokesperson for the 82 Division of the Nigerian army, said the troops killed a suspected member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed militant wing, Eastern Security Network in another operation. 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 army spokesperson said the suspect was killed on Friday when troops raided a hideout of the separatist group in Amagberedere, a community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State. He said the operation was conducted in collaboration with personnel of the Nigerian Navy from Oguta Naval Base in the state. During the raid conducted on the suspected hideout of the dissidents, the irredentists opened fire on sighting the troops but the soldiers responded appropriately and in the process neutralised one of the terrorists, he said. One pump action shotgun and two cartridges were recovered from the hoodlums, the army said. While commending the good people of Umuaka and Oguta for providing timely intelligence, we continue to encourage the general public to provide timely information that will lead to the arrest of these criminals terrorising the law-abiding and peace-loving Ndigbos. The Force Commander Joint Task Force Operation Udo Ka, Hassan Taiwo-Dada, has appealed for the support of all Nigerians in the quest to restore peace and security in Imo State and other states in the South-east, Mr Unuakhalu said. Mr Taiwo-Dada, a major general and also the general officer commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian army, asked residents of the region to continue to provide timely, reliable and credible information, to the joint task force to aid their operations. IPOB, a group seeking to carve out a sovereign state of Biafra from south-east and some parts of the south-south of Nigeria, has been linked to some deadly attacks in two regions. But the separatist group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A group, Liberalist Centre for Education, has conducted a two-day workshop for 100 mid-career journalists from across Nigeria. The training, held from 17 to 18 May, involved both virtual and physical attendance, with the in-person session taking place in Abuja. Liberalist Centre, a pro-freedom think-tank, advocates individual freedom, limited government, and free-market principles. The workshop, themed, Promoting a Free, Prosperous Society through Pro-Freedom Reporting, aimed to equip journalists with skills to report in ways that promote peace, liberty, and limited government. During the workshop, various topics were covered, including storytelling for journalistic purposes, principles and values of liberty, ethical considerations in pro-freedom reporting, the art of pro-freedom reporting, and group presentations. Additionally, the organisation announced three sponsored fellowship slots for journalists focusing on pro-freedom reporting. Eric Mobu, the programme officer, encouraged participants to leverage the knowledge gained during the training. 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 He emphasised the importance of using the insights to promote a more peaceful and free society. Several participants expressed appreciation to the Centre for the training. Nwanne Ogechukwu, a journalist with ACNN Television, found the sessions on ethical considerations particularly enlightening, stating that she feels more equipped to tackle sensitive issues in her reporting. I learnt that I should be mindful of the language I use, always be honest, and respect peoples dignity whenever I am writing, she said. Another participant, Onyenkachi Anumata, an online blogger, highlighted the practical aspects of the workshop, stating that the storytelling exercises were engaging and provided him with new techniques to apply in his work. He said, One enriching aspect of the programme was the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals during the networking sessions, who are passionate about journalism and liberty. The fellowship has profoundly impacted my perspective on many issues. It has broadened my understanding and allowed me to see things from new angles while maintaining neutrality in my thoughts and judgments. I sincerely thank the Liberty Centre for Education and Atlas Network for sponsoring and organising such a transformative event. The insights and connections gained from this fellowship will undoubtedly influence my future endeavours in the media landscape, he added. How fellows will emerge Mr Mobu said the reporters selected for the fellowship would receive training from pro-freedom journalism experts worldwide. He also announced a six-month fellowship programme where three individuals would be selected for grants to pursue stories from mid-July to mid-December. The Centres Chief Operating Officer, Sanni Johnson, expressed his gratitude for the cooperation of the participants. He urged them to remain committed to the knowledge gained from the fellowship and to stay engaged with the organisation. The Executive Director, Abdullah Tijani, expressed satisfaction with the training, noting that it was highly rated and marked the third cohort for the organisation. He highlighted that this workshop was the first time the organisation would introduce story grants for journalists. He added that 20 journalists would be selected for the fellowship, and from these, three journalists with the best pitches would receive grants. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Ekiti State Government will on Monday, 20 May, begin the payment of compensation to owners of property acquired for the proposed urban renewal project at Atikankan area in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The Commissioner for Information, Mr Taiwo Olatunbosun, disclosed this to journalists on Saturday. He assured that the payment would be fair, adequate and prompt to all affected parties, adding that the focus was to rapidly develop the state without negatively affecting the citizenry. Mr Olatunbosun noted that government had acquired the area around the swampy Atikankan slum neighbourhood of Ado Ekiti as part of efforts to give the Central Business District a facelift and address inherent challenges in the area. Recall that the State Executive Council had earlier approved the payment of N300 million as complete compensation on the proposed urban renewal project at Atikankan/Igbeyin area of Ado Ekiti. The approval was to cover 130 claimants for permanent structures and 21 for temporary constructions. The Atikankan area had been identified both by the government and security agencies as the hotspot for selling and buying of drugs, substance abuse, as well as hideout for criminals. 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 However, Mr Olatunbosun said the current development was in line with the urban renewal vision to transform Ado-Ekiti into a more economically viable state capital. He said that the affected Atikankan area, behind Akodi-Sasere area, falls within the Central Business District (CBD) of Ado-Ekiti, which had degenerated into a complex urban slum. The commissioner noted that the area was currently associated with serious urban, physical, social and environmental problems that required total clearance. He stressed that the Governor Biodun Oyebanji administration was committed to the rapid development of the state and improvement of the people. Mr Olatunbosun assured that the administration would continue to provide basic infrastructure and development that would make residents comfortable, and attract investors and tourists to the state. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Director General of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Asishana Okauru, has retired from the Forum after over 15 years in office, sources familiar with the development have told PREMIUM TIMES. The sources said Mr Okauru submitted his retirement notice to the Forums Chairman, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, this week. Our sources said the director-generals retirement will take effect on 1 July 2024. When contacted Friday night, Mr Okauru confirmed he was retiring from the Forum. Yes, it is true, he said. Everything that has a beginning must have an end. It has been an exciting and fulfilling years of service. I thank all the governors, my colleagues at the secretariat, our development partners and other collaborators with whom we achieved far more than we imagined. When asked why he is leaving now, Mr Okauru said he wants to pursue other interests. Mr Okauru was appointed in January 2009 to restructure the secretariat of the NGF, a nonpartisan association of Nigerias 36 governors, and transform it into a policy hub. Under his leadership, the NGF evolved into a strong and credible organisation, providing administrative and policy support for governance at the sub-national levels. 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 Before joining the NGF, Mr Okauru was a foundation management staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and subsequently became the pioneer director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) till November 2008. He previously worked as a management trainee at Arthur Andersen & Co., Nigeria, and later as an operations analyst and an e-business analyst at IBM in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, USA. Mr Okauru earned a Bachelors Degree in Economics (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1984. He subsequently studied Law at the University of Ibadan and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. He also has a joint Masters degree in Business Administration and Information Science from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in the United States and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Havard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed one of its officers from service and demoted three others to lower ranks over alleged involvement in various serious crimes. The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja. Mr Adejobi said the actions were taken against the police officers after thorough investigations that confirmed their culpability in the allegations of including membership of robbery and kidnap gang and extortion of millions of naira from a victim. He said that the inspector was dismissed over alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery/kidnapping and corrupt practice. According to him, the dismissed officer, along with five others, were alleged to be members of an armed robbery gang responsible for robbing a victim in Gwagwalada, FCT, of the sum of N29.8 million. He said the gang was also responsible for kidnapping one Ikechukwu Okafor in Tunga Manje, FCT, and collecting N4.4 million ransom. The police spokesperson said that the dismissed officer had been charged in court, accordingly. 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 Demoted officers He said the three other officers, attached to the Special Tactical Squad (STS) had been demoted to their previous rank of Sergeant, for the extortion of some motorists in Abuja. The trio intercepted an unregistered Mercedes Benz at Gwarinpa, Abuja and forced the occupants to part with the total sum of N29.4 million. The matter, when reported by one Harrison Gwamnishu (@HarrisonBBi18), via the social media platform X, was taken up and properly investigated. While the monies have been returned to the complainants, the officers were subjected to orderly room trial, in line with extant laws and have been demoted, Mr Adejobi said. Road to reforms He said that several other senior officers had been subjected to the Force Disciplinary Committee hearings. The police spokesperson said that the hearings were part of an exhaustive review process to scrutinise and address allegations of misconduct against higher-ranking officers of the Force. He said that the wave of disciplinary actions was part of a broader initiative to implement comprehensive reforms within the police force. Mr Adejobi said that the reforms were aimed at strengthening internal oversight mechanisms and enhancing their training programme. He added that the reforms focused on ethics, community policing and improved transparency in disciplinary procedures. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja on Friday granted a request from the defence side to recall the first prosecution witness in a trial involving former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and his co-defendant. Mr Emefiele is standing trial over abuse of office and alleged $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud which he allegedly perpetrated while in office. He has denied the charges. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that when the case was called, the lawyer to Mr Emefieles co-defendant, Kazeem Gbadamosi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), notified the court of a motion on notice dated 6 May. Mr Gbadamosi subsequently sought the indulgence of the court to recall the first prosecution witness, Monday Osazuwa. NAN reports that Mr Osazuwa had on 12 April testified how the embattled governor, on different occasions, allegedly directed him to collect $3 million cash in tranches on his behalf. The trial judge, Rahman Oshodi, granted the application of Mr Gbadamosi to recall the witness, following no objections from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, also a SAN. He said: In the motion on notice dated 6 May and filed on 7 May, the second defence counsel seeks an order to recall the first prosecution witness (PW1). The second defence counsel seeks to further cross-examine PW1 on matters listed in paragraph 4(D) on the affidavit in support of the application. The recall was also premised on nine grounds and the six paragraph affidavits filed in support of the application filed on 7 May. The prosecution did not file a rebuttal and I hereby grant the application. 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 Prosecution reexamines fourth prosecution witness EFCCs counsel prayed the court for a leave to further examine the fourth prosecution witness, Victor Onyejiuwa, the Managing Director, The Source Computers Ltd. Mr Onyejiuwa, a contractor, started his evidence-in-chief on 9 May and the leave was granted by the court. The witness said there was an error in his extra-judicial statement regarding the location where the $600,000 was given to the second prosecution witness, the CBN former Director of Information Technology, John Ayoh. According to him, the sum of $400,000 was given to Mr Ayoh in Lagos while $200,000 was given to him in Abuja. Under cross-examination by Mr Emefieles counsel, Olalekan Ojo, a SAN, the witness said he wrote the statement in the presence of his lawyer, Olukayode Enitan, another SAN, but he was aware of the error later. He confirmed to the court that there were only two errors in his statement and that he was released to his lawyer after he wrote the extra judicial statement.Apart from the two errors, there are no other errors in my statement but there are omissions because I wrote 2014 to 2018 instead of 2014 to 2020, he said. On his involvement in the alleged bribery, he said: As a businessman of over 20 years of experience, I know I have a civic duty not to give bribes to anybody. I know that I have a duty to report anyone that offers a bribe but I did not report because I was under serious pressure from my partners to pay them. I was paid the money in December 2018 and upon receiving the money, my partners stopped putting pressure on me. Although between 2018 and 2024 when the pressure had gone, I did not report the issue of bribe to the EFCC and my primary reason for being here is not for the recovery of my money. The witness further informed the court that his partners were not stakeholders in his company but were Original Equipment Manufacturers. He also confirmed that he did not write in his extra-judicial statement that his partners pressured him but he said it in his evidence-in-chief. Bail NAN also reports that the judge granted interim bail to Mr Emefiele and his co-defendant after his counsel prayed the court for ample time to perfect the bail conditions. The EFCC had on 8 April arraigned Mr Emefiele his co-defendant, Henry Omoile-Isioma, on 23 counts of abuse of office, accepting gratifications, corrupt demand, receiving property fraudulently obtained and conferring corrupt advantage. Mr Omoile-Isioma is to answer to only three of the charges. The defendants pleaded not guilty. The judge adjourned the case until 9 July for continuation of trial. Mr Emefiele is also facing separate trials before different judges in Abuja concerning his activities as the CBN governor. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Friday began the sale of 2024 e-tags that would permit entry into the 24 federal airports in Nigeria. In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, FAAN said that the sale of the tags aligned with a presidential directive approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) . According to it, the meeting mandated that all the users of federal airports across the country ought to pay charges at the gates. Francis Ajaguna, Head of Public Affairs, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), told NAN that many people came to the airport and bought the tags. FAANs Commercial Department confirms that it has started issuing the e-tags and people are buying them, he said. No more exemption from payments for access tickets The sale of e-tag followed Tuesdays withdrawal of exemption of payment for tickets by some highly placed Nigerians at the nations airports. Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, disclosed the new policy at the end of Tuesdays Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja. 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 He said the former system, which had cost loss of revenue, had been bought into by 1the president and the vice president, respectively. The ministry has been losing huge revenue that ordinarily should not be. With the new system, everybody coming into the nations airports must pay the toll gate fees. Already the president and the vice president have agreed to be part of those that would pay. he said. Before now, very important Nigerians including the president, vice president and some government officials, were exempted from paying access fees at the airports gates. Mr Keyamo explained that because of the exemption, the Aviation sector loses billions of naira in revenue. The minister said the aviation ministry was supposed to be making about N260 million from a particular airport gate but that because of the policy of exemption, it makes only about N100 million every month. Ill give you another example. In one of the access gates, based on the count of the barrier going up and down, we are supposed to be making N250 or 260 million from that gate every month. That gate because of exemptions the return to us is less than N100 million every month. And that also, of course, breeds corruption because now you cannot track, you cannot have the audit trail of those free tags that you now give to our people to give out to people, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says it has rescued a man who mistakenly fell into the lagoon. The agencys Permanent Secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday. Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said the agency received a call through the Lagos State Toll Free Emergency numbers 767 and 112 at 7.43 a.m. that a man had reportedly fallen into the Lagos lagoon at Falomo Bridge. Following the distress call, LASEMA activated the states Emergency Response Plans with the swift arrival of LASEMA Response Team from Lekki zone at the incident scene at 8.02 a.m. On arrival of the team at the incident scene, investigations revealed that the man had been resuscitated, and had identified himself as Segun Amoo. He narrated how he mistakenly fell into the Lagos lagoon at the aforementioned location, he said. Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said that the information gathered from officials of the Lagos State Water Authority (LASWA) at their Falomo office, revealed that Mr Amoo was seen struggling for survival inside the lagoon. 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 What Amoo told us after rescue The LASWA officials said: Our staff had, around 11.00 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) night, observed Amoo struggling for survival in the lagoon waters after he fell off the bridge, thereby leading to the LASWA Rescue Teams response. Amoo was rescued by the LASWA officials and subsequently stabilised by the agencys Pre-Hospital Care Paramedics. He provided vital information about himself after resuscitation, stating that his home address is at Ilaje-Bariga, Lagos. He also clarified that he was not suicidal, while narrating how the incident of his fall off the bridge occurred. Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said that the LASEMA Response Team proceeded to the above-mentioned address for further investigations, where the rescue team successfully handed over the victim to his relatives. He said that the victims brother, Atteji Benuwa, said that the family had been searching for him for a while, and thanked the emergency responders for Amoos rescue. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. The Giz Galasi hydroelectric complex built on the Araz River that runs between Iran and Azerbaijan is expected to be commissioned tomorrow, Trend reports. The complex serves as one of the most important projects between the two countries and is now fully operational. With the commissioning of the Giz Galasi hydroelectric complex, located 196 km downstream of the Araz water dam, 74,000 hectares of agricultural land in Iran (62,000 hectares in the Ardabil region and 12,000 hectares in the East Azerbaijan region) will receive water, thereby boosting agricultural production in these areas. Due to the risk of floods, a regulating channel is planned on both sides of the complex. The Iranian side reports spending 5.5 trillion rials (about $131 million) on the Giz Galasi complex. Giz Galasi will supply 74,000 hectares in Iran's East Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces with water and create jobs for 85,000 people. The power station will regulate 2 billion cubic meters of water annually (1 billion cubic meters for Azerbaijan and 1 billion cubic meters for Iran). Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed 3 June for judgement in the money laundering case against a former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji. The trial with a chequered history has lasted over 12 years, journeying to and back from the Supreme Court within the period. It passed through two trial judges before the last one that has now fixed it for final judgement. The trial judge, Mohammed Liman, fixed the date after the prosecution and the defence adopted their written addresses during a virtual court hearing via Zoom. Mr Ikuforiji is charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside his former Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi. They are facing 54 charges of laundering involving N338.8 million. They, however, pleaded not guilty before Mr Liman, who allowed them to continue on bail granted them in 2012 when they were first arraigned. EFCC closed its case on 17 March 2021, after calling two witnesses. 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 defence counsel, Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opened his clients defence on 4 May 2023. He called three witnesses, including Mr Ikuforiji, who testified that he was being prosecuted based on a faceless petition. Mr Ikuforiji had told the court that the case arose from a petition written by an unknown person, alleging that he stole about N7 billion from the Lagos House of Assembly. 12-year journey The defendants were first arraigned on 1 March 2012, over 12 years ago, before Okechukwu Okeke, a now retired judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos. They were arraigned on 20 counts of money laundering. The charges revolved around allegations of receiving millions of naira in cash beyond the threshold of cash transaction stipulated in the anti-money laundering law from the House of Assembly without passing through a financial institution. The EFCC said the alleged offence contravened Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail by Okeke. The defendants were later re-arraigned before Ibrahim Buba, following re-assignment of the case. Mr Buba granted them bail in the sum of N500 million each, with two sureties in like sum. On 26 September 2014, Mr Buba discharged Ikuforiji and his aide after upholding their no-case submissions. Mr Buba had held that EFCC failed to establish a prima-facie case against them. Dissatisfied with the judgement, EFCC through its counsel, Godwin Obla, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed an appeal dated 30 September 2014 against the judgement. Mr Obla argued in the appeal that the trial court erred in law when it held that the counts were incompetent because they were filed under Section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, which was repealed by an Act of 2011. He further argued that the trial court erred in law when it held that provisions of Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004 and 2011 only applied to natural persons and corporate bodies other than government. He also submitted that the trial court erred in law when it concluded that the testimonies of prosecution witnesses supported innocence of the defendants. In its judgement, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, in November 2016, upheld EFCCs submissions and ordered fresh trial of the defendants before another judge. Following the decision of the Court of Appeal, the defendants headed for the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal. In its verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal and ordered that the case should be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for re-assignment to another judge. According to EFCC, the defendants accepted cash payments above the threshold set by the Money Laundering Act. The commission also accused the defendants of conspiring to illegally accept cash payments in the aggregate sum of N338.8 million from Lagos State House of Assembly. It accused Mr Ikuforiji of using his position as the Speaker to misappropriate funds belonging to the Assembly. The EFCC alleged that the defendants committed the offences from April 2010 to July 2011. The alleged offences contravene Sections 15 (1d), 16(1d) and 18 of the Money Laundering Act of 2004 and 2011. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman of Kwara, has confirmed the retirement of the organisations Director General, Asishana Okauru. In a statement issued Friday night but emailed to PREMIUM TIMES Saturday, Mr AbdulRahman said, Today, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Bayo Okauru, informed me of his decision to retire from the Forum to enable him to pursue other interests. After a lengthy conversation with him, I reluctantly accepted his request to end his full-time engagement with the Forum. However, he will remain with the NGF until 1 July 2024, when his pre-retirement leave will end. Mr Okauru has served the NGF for an unbroken 15 years. He has served with diligence, professionalism, honesty, loyalty and total commitment. We are incredibly proud of the work he did here and the height he and his team have taken the Forum. Under his leadership, the Secretariat, the administrative arm of the NGF, evolved into a strong and credible organisation. He led his team to expand engagement with development partners and federal and legislative arms of government while also ensuring that states priorities were reflected and met. We are grateful for Mr Okaurus service and wish him the very best in his future endeavours. Mr Okauru was appointed in January 2009 to restructure the secretariat of the NGF, a nonpartisan association of Nigerias 36 governors, and transform it into a policy hub. 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 Under his leadership, the NGF evolved into a strong and credible organisation, providing administrative and policy support for governance at the sub-national levels. Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman has also appointed Lateef Shittu, the organisations executive director in charge of strategy and research, as acting director general. Like Mr Okauru, Mr Shittu joined the NGF in January 2009. According to his biography on the NGF website, Mr Shittu is an economist, human capital development expert, and seasoned manager with close to 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. After a stint with the National Oil & Chemical Companyformerly Shell Oil MarketingMr Shittu was appointed deputy director (Privatization and Commercialization) at the Bureau of Public Enterprise. He also served as special assistant to the Minister of Transport and Communication, during which time he was responsible for establishing the Nigeria Communication Commission, an assignment he discharged creditably. He was the pioneer director of finance and administration and corporate services, respectively, at the Commission. Mr Shittu is a fellow of several professional associations, including the Nigerian Institute of Governance and Leadership Technology, the Institute of Administrators and Research, and the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria. He was also a member/delegate of the Commonwealth Development and Economic Forum and Nigerias Antennae for the European Union Industrial Development Agency in Brussels. An alumnus of Wittenberg University, Ohio, USA; Giordano De Amore Institute of Banking and Finance, Milan, Italy and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, he is a proud recipient of several merit awards. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As the countrys number one financial regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has over the years invested significantly in policies and initiatives aimed at empowering Nigerian youths and women using technology for financial inclusion. The apex bank does this by striking strategic collaborations with other institutions and critical stakeholders. As the biggest economy in Africa with one of the largest youth populations in the world, Nigeria is well-positioned to develop a strong digital economy, which is expected to have a transformational impact on the country. In order to reap the full benefits of this, Nigerias policy makers know they need to focus on accelerating improvements in five fundamental pillars of a digital economy: the digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship and digital skills. The Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic report by the World Bank identifies key challenges and opportunities of leveraging the digital economy for diversified and sustained growth. It provides an assessment of the state of Nigerias digital economy around the five foundational pillars. The report also offers specific, actionable recommendations to the government and private sector stakeholders to further Nigerias development of each pillar. The report was produced in the context of the Digital Economy (DE4A) initiative of the African Union, which is supported by the World Bank Group, and aims at digitally connecting every person, business, and government in Africa by 2030. Federal Governments Plan The Federal Government has a robust plan to elevate Nigerias digital economy. The plan also spreads across five key economic pillars and is said to have the capability to launch the country into the comity of nations that thrive in the digital age. Unveiled by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, the new plan revolves around Knowledge, Policy, Infrastructure, Innovation and Trade, and will serve as tech economy development catalyst for four years. The Minister titled the blueprint, Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency. He has also expressed optimism that if the five pillars are critically exploited and development policies framed around them, in the next four years, the dividend will be a Nigeria with digital capabilities like most developed countries of the world. Explaining how the five pillars will spur rapid development, the Minister 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 Knowledge: In our rapidly interconnected world, knowledge is the foundation upon which countries build a robust and sustainable economy. As a critical prerequisite, knowledge influences how we generate innovations and technologies that drive economic growth, expand the talent pool to drive competitiveness, improve productivity and inform evidence-based policymaking, among others. Policy: This highlights the fundamental role of policy in enabling innovation, entrepreneurship and inclusive growth. When properly designed and executed, the policy provides a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive. Effective policy provides regulatory clarity and necessary incentives for an environment where businesses and innovators are empowered to grow. Over the next four years, the policies will focus on encouraging investment, research and development and the protection of intellectual property. Infrastructure: This showcases the commitment to building the critical tool required to power a strong digital economy. We recognise that economic prosperity is linked to a robust digital foundation. Our emphasis on building stronger digital infrastructure extends beyond connecting people but also focuses on economic empowerment and creating opportunities for inclusion. With improved access to quality broadband, and upgraded critical services, this pillar will catalyse a digital transformation that impacts our entire population. As a rapidly growing economy, with the ICT sector contributing 18.44% to Nigerias GDP in Q2 2022, and e-commerce spending projected to grow to $75 billion by 2025 (Statista), our primary goal is to enhance Nigerias participation in the global technology trade over the next four years. A core part of this pillar is our aim to improve Nigerias ranking in the Economic Complexity Index (EIC) using technology. Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capital: In the rapidly evolving global technology landscape, innovation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital are critical components of a strong digital economy. This pillar provides a roadmap for Nigeria to harness the potential of the other three pieces as catalysts for the transformation of our digital economy. This pillar is the driving force behind the creation of an environment that encourages innovation, supports entrepreneurship and attracts the required capital to deliver on our ambitions. Trade: This pillar embodies our commitment to position Nigeria as a major player in the African and global technology ecosystem. As a rapidly growing economy, with the ICT sector contributing 18.44% to Nigerias GDP in Q2 2022, and e-commerce spending projected to grow to $75 billion by 2025 (Statista), our primary goal is to enhance Nigerias participation in the global technology trade over the next four years. A core part of this pillar is our aim to improve Nigerias ranking in the Economic Complexity Index (EIC) using technology. He added that this strategic blueprint articulates a vision for Nigeria that builds on the transformative power of digital technology and innovation to diversify and deepen our economy. CBNs Supporting Role As the countrys number one financial regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has over the years invested significantly in policies and initiatives aimed at empowering Nigerian youths and women using technology for financial inclusion. The apex bank does this by striking strategic collaborations with other institutions and critical stakeholders. One of these critical stakeholders is the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). The apex bank recently renewed its existing collaboration with NIPSS to enhance Nigerias digital economy potential for the purpose of empowering and creating jobs for millions of youths. CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, spoke passionately about this recently while welcoming participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 46 of NIPSS, who visited the apex bank headquarters on a Strategic Institution Study Tour. The tour was themed: Digital Economy, Youth Empowerment and Sustainable Job Creation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. The Governor, represented by Dr Bala M. Bello, a deputy governor of the CBN, highlighted the long-standing partnership between the two institutions. He commended NIPSS flagship Senior Executive Course for its contributions to Nigerias socioeconomic development. As part of its core responsibility of promoting sound financial system, the CBN has in recent years taken more than a passing interest in supporting and enabling initiatives that will expand the countrys digital economy for the purpose of job creation and wealth creation Governor Cardoso is doubling down on this practice knowing full well that the bulk of President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope Agenda for the economy revolves human capital development and youth empowerment. Cardoso emphasised its commitment to leveraging digital technologies for financial inclusion, innovation and entrepreneurship. This study tour is an opportunity for fruitful discourse and exploring collaborative strategies. We welcome your insights and recommendations to enrich our policy formulation processes, the CBN governor stated. In his remarks, the Director-General of NIPSS, Professor Ayo Omotayo, who led the delegation, acknowledged the importance of digital transformation. He acknowledged Nigerias progress in digital services but stressed the need for further advancements. Professor Omotayo said the institute, as a knowledge hub, is exploring ways to digitise all its services. We believe NIPSS can significantly contribute to a 12 per cent GDP boost through effective digitalisation strategies, he declared. The CBN initiatives and strategies, focusing on digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship support, and emerging technologies, were also presented during the technical sessions that will harness emerging technologies to drive economic diversification and job creation. Last Line As part of its core responsibility of promoting sound financial system, the CBN has in recent years taken more than a passing interest in supporting and enabling initiatives that will expand the countrys digital economy for the purpose of job creation and wealth creation. Governor Cardoso is doubling down on this practice knowing full well that the bulk of President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope Agenda for the economy revolves human capital development and youth empowerment. Abdulrahman Abdulraheem is the author of eNaira Revolution: A Peep into Nigerias Cashless Future. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Reading the pages in that chapter of the book, I could see that the author teaches how to stir trouble without causing mayhem. He writes, with apology to the French, about how to tell people to go to hell and make them look forward to the trip. Then he gives his central objective in graphic imagery: I will share with you some tips on how to land the punch where it counts, with velvet gloves The tips? The very first of the tips holds your hand and tells you how to find the bright spot in the darkness. You remember how Portable, the Wahala musician, described government a few days ago? He said, after God, na government. Great writers are beautiful snakes. The snakes become something else, something more lethal, if they are journalists. The state is a snake hunter, its weapon is the law. So, if you wrote yesterday and today and you want to write tomorrow, one way to be alive and around is by learning to strike without being struck back by the state. And so, I got a copy of the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper, Azu Ishiekwenes latest book from him last week. Restless me ran through the table of contents and stopped midway. I spotted two chapters of interest right in the middle of the long list. One of them teaches the art of troublemaking; the other is on minding the law how to escape trouble. I have always known that writers are troublemakers. Me, I do not like (or write) trouble but I enjoy reading media people who make tomes of trouble. I have around me many of them big boys, big girls with large intellectual biceps. They routinely taunt the state with the muscle of their brilliance and courage. Azu is one of them. He has always been. Reading the pages in that chapter of the book, I could see that the author teaches how to stir trouble without causing mayhem. He writes, with apology to the French, about how to tell people to go to hell and make them look forward to the trip. Then he gives his central objective in graphic imagery: I will share with you some tips on how to land the punch where it counts, with velvet gloves The tips? The very first of the tips holds your hand and tells you how to find the bright spot in the darkness. The other chapter he christened, Minding the law. The Yoruba say if you know how to eat Isin fruit, you must know how to yank off the death in its eyes. This chapter is about writing without falling into the hands of the enemy. This book is about writing successfully without running foul of the law. And, so teacher of trouble starts here with a thoughtful quote: Never try to destroy someones life with a lie, when yours can be destroyed by the truth. Who owns those words? I cant see that clearly in the book. But truth is a very strong armour against the darts of wounded power. You find on these pages how truth helps and how fairness in reporting saves journalists. 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 more practical ways, the author makes you understand that safeguarding the freedom of the press is essential, but freedom comes with responsibility. So, he makes you to become familiar with basic media laws in Nigeria and how to apply them to your work. Azu entitled the book Writing for Media and Monetising it. Journalists are mules service animals. If you like, call them work animals; beasts of burden. But should it continue like that? They deserve to have money and live well. That is what the book is about. You know what gives Iroko its relevance, it is because it is different in everything from the shrubs around it. The book teaches how to be different by creating your own style. Copycats never get ahead, they are always behind. The style is the man, it is also one of the beacons that show the difference between masters and novices. There is a great profit in being originally different. You can see from what I have exhibited to you so far that the book is more than what the title says it is. If you are looking for a way to find your voice and connect with your desired audience, read the book. If youve been searching for a way to write and stand out of the crowd, read. You know what gives Iroko its relevance, it is because it is different in everything from the shrubs around it. The book teaches how to be different by creating your own style. Copycats never get ahead, they are always behind. The style is the man, it is also one of the beacons that show the difference between masters and novices. There is a great profit in being originally different. My people say you cannot trade with other peoples eyes and profit. You cant be a successful brand by copying other brands. Azu cites a personal story: He was a part two journalism student. His teacher, Olatunji Dare, asked him and others to write a 1,000-word essay on campus life. What did he do? Hear him: At the time, I was reading Charles Dickens Great Expectations. In the essay, I waxed lyrical with lines from the protagonist of the novel, Pip, as he struggled, against many odds, from childhood to adulthood. I thought it would impress Dare. When I submitted my work, however, he summoned me and after a long, puzzled look, asked: What have you been reading? Dickens, sir. He looked up again and exploded into a long, heartfelt laughter, and then said: It is not showing at all! As he handed my essay back to me and I stumbled out of his office, the sting of his laughter still ringing in my ear, he said: Azu, go and write the way you talk. That advice has stuck with me for over 30 years. Write the way you talk Read that passage again. What walker do the young need again as they take their tentative steps into the forest of opportunities, and challenges, writing for the media? If you read the book because of the monetising promise it offers in its title, you will have to search deep into it to find your goal. I searched for it too, flipping from page to page, chapter to chapter, until I got to page 122 (chapter 13). There I met what the author proudly announces as Making Money with a starting quote, Content is king attributed to the king of money himself: Bill Gates. Here, the author shares tools for developing content, teaches how to use data and analytics as guides, teaches how to master the art of value creation and how to lock in audiences and monetise content. So, in specific terms, what are the authors orijo to making money by writing for the media? I am afraid you will have to read the very relatable tips and tales he carefully put on more than 15 pages. If you are a local writer with an eye for the global, or you are just setting out with an ambition to write for the whole wide world, there is a valuable chapter for you in the book. The author says his objective for writing that chapter is to share with you compulsory tools for writing for the global stage, to explore networking techniques, share ideas on how to manage cultural barriers and provide tools on managing the language toolbox. Drawing from his own personal experiences and those of other masters of the trade, I can confirm that he delivered on those aims. To benefit from the wisdom of those who have been there, you have to be there. In this age of digital heist and mindless plagiarism, you have to read and know what Yoruba mothers mean when they pray for their children that they would not work for others to steal and eat. Following that chapter immediately, I saw Reinventing yourself in changing times. And what is the authors idea on self-reinvention? Self-reinvention is simply taking a good, hard look at yourself and asking if there could be more (of you) at what price. I found that to be quite deep. And, it is very worthy of being explored further. In simple terms, I will explain self-reinvention as self-rebirth. The place of an ancestor is in the past, not in the present. You will remain relevant and your brand bankable if you are fresh in breath and brain. If you came as Abraham Lincoln in 1861, you would only fit into 1961 American life if you came as John Kennedy. Do not think a monochrome TV of the past can entice watchers in this age of smart TV. The author addresses this secret of success in todays journalism. I join him in telling you: re-hone skills, write and make money. In this age of the Internet and all its associated challenges and opportunities like the AI (artificial intelligence), every old and upcoming writer needs new skills to navigate the labyrinth of life. This is a handbook for how to explore that future. On some of the pages, the author brings in a very insightful interview with Professor Toyin Falola, master of intellectual profundity, to teach how not to stay stale on old skills. If you are a local writer with an eye for the global, or you are just setting out with an ambition to write for the whole wide world, there is a valuable chapter for you in the book. The author says his objective for writing that chapter is to share with you compulsory tools for writing for the global stage, to explore networking techniques, share ideas on how to manage cultural barriers and provide tools on managing the language toolbox. Drawing from his own personal experiences and those of other masters of the trade, I can confirm that he delivered on those aims. The author did not forget to create in the book a place for luck and God in human affairs particularly in shaping careers. This theme, he discusses thoroughly with two insightful interviews with two important personalities in media practice in Nigeria. Who are these two persons? Read the book. It is significant, however, that this part on God and luck is the chapter that ends the 259-page remarkable effort. For a man who states very early in the book that his ambition as a young man was to write as James Hadley Chase, it is no surprise that this book, in style and language, reads a seductive thrill. Fluid and breezy, it is almost flawless. Almost flawless because I saw him on one occasion fall into the common pit of using the subject pronoun I where the object pronoun me ought to be. Other than that, I congratulate the author for a safe and successful delivery. I would love to see this book on the menu list of journalism/communication schools. It may be one of the drugs weve been waiting for that will cure media professionals of their lack of business sense and of their poverty. If the depth and breadth of one lone book are just enough to win one a professorial chair, I think this author should henceforth be called a professor of media marketing. Lasisi Olagunju is the editor and a columnist at Nigerian Tribune. First published in the Saturday Tribune on the 11th of May. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As the Brussels Forum approaches, the question remains: For how long would African countries remain recipients of EUs generosity, especially when there is no free lunch anywhere, not even in Freetown. In a tumbling world with shifty and shifting alliances, the European Union (EU) met with its Nigerian and West African partners on Wednesday for a possible reset. The twin meetings at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Abuja, held under the shadows of France and United States lose of military bases in the region to Russia, and claims that the two-some are in search of new bases. There are also other challenging developments, such as a spike in coups; Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso exiting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); and supposed democracies like Togo, subverting the democratic system. The theme was about Reducing vulnerabilities through partnerships. A session was a stakeholders engagement on Nigerias defence and security perspectives and the second, on Regional defence and security perspectives. These meetings are coming on the back of a High-Level African Counter Terrorism Meeting in Abuja a few weeks ago and on-going Strategic Dialogue between the EU and the Tinubu administration. Ambassador Samuela Isopi, the Italian diplomat who is Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, told the 15 May meeting in Abuja that, We live in a single security theatre. What happens in one region of the world directly affects another Crises or conflicts that emerge locally can quickly become global, with more far-reaching consequences than ever before. Ms Isopi, who has had diplomatic experiences in Russia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, posited that: Threats are transnational, more complex and diverse, but the nature of the threats we face is increasingly similar. Hybrid, cyber and information manipulation are now the norm everywhere. 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 Major General Adamu Luka, national coordinator of the Nigerian National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) lamented that while West Africa, with diamond in Sierra Leone, gold in Ghana and oil in Nigeria, is a rich region, its people are very poor with 70 per cent of them below the poverty line. He said democracy demands certain expressions, such as good governance and children at school. He added that while it is true that Africa has a huge youth population, the large number of out-school-children constitute a future problem. General Laka added sarcastically: They say two heads are better than one, but two empty heads, are not. He said there are talks about resilience but wondered if it is possible to be resilient on an empty stomach. Dr Cyriaque Pawomothom Agnekethom, ECOWAS director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, in commenting about the three countries exiting ECOWAS, said the security treat we are facing is transnational, hence no single country can succeed in fighting them alone. He traced the worsening security challenges, such as those in Mali, to the overthrow of President Muamar Ghadaffi in Libya. And, asked rhetorically how the EU is assisting in the fight against corruption and for good governance, adding that such challenges are recipes for terrorism. Ambassador Pieter Leenknght, whose country, Belgium, holds the rotating EU Presidency, was more focused on misinformation, disinformation and the power of the press. He said the press can make threats look much bigger than they actually are, as such some attention should be focused on these. Ambassador Kalilou Traore of Cote dVoire presented what he called the worst and best case scenarios. In the first, he said the coup epidemic continues, with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic finalising their withdrawal from ECOWAS, while some other countries are joining them, and terrorism continues, alongside the collapse of ECOWAS. In the best case scenario: coups are stopping, democratic elections are getting strengthened and ECOWAS is also strengthening. The meeting, he said, provides an opportunity to examine why things have not worked out well in the continent, and how the situation can be changed. The 68-year old diplomat advocated for the stabilisation of ECOWAS, and the polity in member countries. He added that although democracy is a process, the costs, including elections which sometimes take lives, is too high and should be checked. Dr Cyriaque Pawomothom Agnekethom, ECOWAS director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, in commenting about the three countries exiting ECOWAS, said the security treat we are facing is transnational, hence no single country can succeed in fighting them alone. So, ECOWAS should continue to play the central role, as it is best suited to check the threats. He said those who partner with the region should favour regional leadership. Such leadership, he counselled, should be locally owned, so that it does not appear as being teleguided. Colonel Ademola Lawal of the Savanah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) made an interjection to which there was no coherent response. In noting the issue of military coups in the region, he asked, what about civilian coups? He described such coups as those executed by the civilian leadership of some countries, which apart from capturing executive power, also exercise legislative and judicial powers and perpetuate themselves in office. Dr Paul Andrew Gwaza of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution argued that the trigger of insecurity are local, so there is need to localise initiatives to counter them, alongside ECOWAS. He said it is imperative to return to the vision of the ECOWAS of the people, with focus on economic empowerment. Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, submitted that: It is not just ECOWAS, but the world that lacks leadership. He said the bodys vision to move from the ECOWAS of States to the ECOWAS of the People, has gotten stuck in the ECOWAS of States. The leadership problem in member states, from his perspective, is not ECOWAS as an institution, but the people. He cited the cases of Burkina Faso and The Gambia, where the people rose to change their circumstances. He said ECOWS wanted to institutionalise two terms in office for the Heads of State in the region, but some wanted more dialogue, so the dialogue is on-going. He added: You are as strong as your weakest link. The leadership problem in member states, from his perspective, is not ECOWAS as an institution, but the people. He cited the cases of Burkina Faso and The Gambia, where the people rose to change their circumstances. In response to ECOWAS silence on Togo, where President Faure Gnassingbe is changing the constitution and seeking to turn the country into a so-called parliamentary system that would ensure his perpetuation in power, Musah asked rhetorically: You talk about Togo, where are the forces in Togo? He regretted that apart from the big powers, medium forces, especially from the Middle East, are beginning to interfere in Africa. Mr Paul Ejime, a former war correspondent disagreed with Mr Musah on the subversion of the constitutional process in a place such as Togo, saying nothing stops ECOWAS from taking a position in such a case. Ambassador Juan Ignacio Sell of Spain, in giving a summary of the twin meetings, said the EU wants to get things right and is ready to review its past work. The meetings, he said, feed into the Schuman Security and Defence Forum of the EU and over sixty partner countries, scheduled to hold from 28-29 May in Brussels. As the Brussels Forum approaches, the question remains: For how long would African countries remain recipients of EUs generosity, especially when there is no free lunch anywhere, not even in Freetown. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerians should mobilise to say NO to US and French military bases in Nigeria. In any case, since foreign relations is based on reciprocity, should the US and France not first allow Nigeria military bases in their countries and then ask Nigeria to reciprocate? In the midst of rising controversy and even rage, the Tinubu government has denied that it is planning to grant military bases to the United States (US) and France in Nigeria. As we know, the forces of these super powers were ordered out of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic. Yet, the controversy rages. The reasons are understandable. Why did it take so long for government to deny the allegation? Why should Nigerians trust a government that wanted to invade Niger Republic, clearly at the behest of the West, especially France and the European Union (EU)? Did the government not cut electricity supply and impose economic sanctions on Niger Republic? Why should we trust a government, which has been sheepishly implementing World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU and other Western donor policies; which dehumanise Nigerians with deprivation, diseases, and underdevelopment? Is home policy, not after all, a continuation of foreign policy? True or false, government should not take the people for granted. Nigerians, assuredly, love the economic, technological, military and educational development of the West. Undoubtedly, we have always aspired to catch-up with, and even surpass, the West. This was why between 1960 and 1983, governments pursued the economic, educational, technological, social and cultural development of the country. Despite the antagonism of governments, Nigerians are still doing all they can to develop themselves. But we have always been critical of Western civilisation. In the 1920s, the Nigerian-dominated West African Students Union (WASU) in the United Kingdom, warned against the dangers of sheepishly copying the West. It argued that the West had outlived its usefulness. That Europeans have nothing to be proud of, and that it was time for Africans to start thinking of sending missionaries to Europe to humanise the natives. The racism, militarism, wars, violent crimes, moral decadence, familial degeneration, and dog-eat-dog actions of the West informed WASUs position. As such, Nigerias love for the West does not automatically translate into mechanistic followership. This is why Nigerians have always insisted that Africa should be the centrepiece of the nations foreign policy. Nigerians are, therefore, proudly Pan-Africanists. Their Pan-Africanism was demonstrated in the 1970s when they agreed to the deduction of their wages/salaries to fund the national liberation movements against European settler-colonialism, racism and apartheid in Africa. Students also contributed financially and peacefully demonstrated in support of the national liberation movements. 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 Military bases includes granting the foreign forces complete fiscal immunities, full exception from exchange regulations, absolute freedom from customs duties and inspection at ports of entry, and exemption from all licensing and insurance regulations of their vehicles. Nigerians equally pressurised their government to financially, militarily, politically, diplomatically and socially support the liberation movements. The late Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, attended the Extraordinary Meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in February 1976, partly due to the sentiments of Nigerians and their support for liberation movements. But he was equally provoked to attend the meeting by the then US President, Gerald Ford, who wrote to African leaders not to recognise the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Mohammed not only opposed Ford, but also encouraged African leaders to recognise MPLA. Mohammed asserted at the meeting that Africa has come of age. It is no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. Therefore, the mere allegation that the government is planning to provide military bases to US and France, may be an indication of how far our foreign policy has miserably degenerated. Foreign military bases are not just about granting acres of land to a foreign power. They also imply allowing a nations facilities like airports and seaports to be used unrestrictedly by the foreign forces. They involve according foreign powers unhindered overflying and air staging facilities, and the free entry of weapons. They mean guaranteeing exemption from passport and visa formalities, and granting foreign forces unlimited power to carry guns on our soil. This equally grants the foreigners legal immunities, even when they commit criminal, sexual and murderous offences. Military bases includes granting the foreign forces complete fiscal immunities, full exception from exchange regulations, absolute freedom from customs duties and inspection at ports of entry, and exemption from all licensing and insurance regulations of their vehicles. In addition, the foreign forces will engage in overt and covert surveillance, intelligence gathering, communication monitoring, munitions storage, logistics, operational support, missile defence operations, and transporting weapons for illegal military operations within local spaces. Military bases are equally used to project military power, control populations, plunder the host and the resources of other nations, influence political activities and for targeted killing operations. To allow for the establishment of US and French military bases will be surrendering whatever is left of our political independence to the West. It will also be mortgaging the security and lives of the present and future generations of Nigerians to the West. Therefore, whatever economic benefits Nigeria stands to again will be inconsequential and useless. Such bases are further used to implement extra-territorial and destructive foreign policies. These have collapsed states, massively destroyed lives, properties and infrastructures, severely fractured societies, empowered terrorist organisations, and propelled mass migration to other countries. Therefore, they are grave threats to international security, safety, stability, civil liberties, human rights, democracy, development, and global peace. Nigerian students successfully resisted attempts by Tafawa Balewas government to implement the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact in November 1960. They argued that the Pact fundamentally negates Nigerias much heralded foreign policy of non-alignment and mortgages the independence and integrity of Nigeria. They posited that it would completely discredit Nigeria before others countries, especially in Africa. The students argued that the base will serve as a spring board for the military operations of Britain and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) powers against other African countries. They also said it will make Nigeria the target of attacks by Britains enemies in the event of wars; thereby involving Nigeria in British wars, even when such wars are not in its interests. They also pointed out that Nigeria may be granting unrestricted liberties and immunities within its borders to its potential enemies. The students arguments are as valid today as they were sixty-four years ago. Furthermore, in countries like ours, with weak state capacity, balkanised society, and weak civil society organisations, which mainly depend on Western funds, it will be virtually impossible to monitor, evaluate and regulate the activities of US, French or any foreign military bases in our country. Besides, Nigeria has, since 1986, surrendered its economic future to the West through neoliberalism. The consequences include a drowned naira, failed education, horrible health care system, heightened nationality crisis, hunger, poverty and insecurity. To allow for the establishment of US and French military bases will be surrendering whatever is left of our political independence to the West. It will also be mortgaging the security and lives of the present and future generations of Nigerians to the West. Therefore, whatever economic benefits Nigeria stands to again will be inconsequential and useless. Nigerians should mobilise to say NO to US and French military bases in Nigeria. In any case, since foreign relations is based on reciprocity, should the US and France not first allow Nigeria military bases in their countries and then ask Nigeria to reciprocate? Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu Yusuf worked as deputy director, Cabinet Affairs Office, The Presidency, and retired as General Manager (Administration), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet). Email: aaramatuyusuf@yahoo.com Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has felicitated the newly-elected Executive Council of the African Public Relations Association (APRA). The officers were elected at the 35th APRA Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was held in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire from 13-18 May, 2024. A statement by Rabiu Ibrahim, spokesperson to the Minister of Information and National Orientation quoted Mr Idris, a Fellow of APRA, to have acknowledged the significance of the election for the advancement of public relations across Africa. The minister added that while it is a pivotal moment for APRA, the collective expertise, and leadership of the newly-elected Executive Council would be instrumental in attaining the long-term vision of the association. The new APRA Executive Council comprises Arik Karani from Kenya as President, Michele Mekeme from Cameroon as Vice President, and Omoniyi Ibietan from Nigeria as Secretary-General. Mr Idris urged the new Executive Council to continue the trajectory of reforms in APRA, stressing the importance of expanding the democratic space by encouraging greater participation of national public relations institutions across the continent. He highlighted the need for inclusivity and collaboration to strengthen the public relations profession in Africa. The Minister also called on the Executive Council to work closely with the African Union Commission and the Council of Ministers to ensure that public relations remains central to policy formulation, programme execution, and project implementation. Public relations should be at the heart of policy, programmes, and project implementation, he stated. 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 He also extended his salutations to Mr Ibietan, the Head of Media Relations at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on his emergence as the Secretary-General of APRA. Dr Ibietan is a thoroughbred journalist, public relations expert, and author, who is expected to bring his enormous wealth of experience to bear on APRA positively, Idris said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has tackled the National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, for alleging that the state government was operating anti-workers policies. In a letter on Wednesday, the NLC and Trade Union Congress issued a seven-day strike notice to Mr Soludo over his alleged refusal to implement the 2019 minimum wage of N30,000. The labour unions also alleged unresolved contributory pension deductions by the Anambra State Government and the cessation of an N12,000 special palliative allowance for workers in the state. Again, Mr Ajaero, while appearing as a guest on AIT, repeated the alleged anti-workers policies claim and further accused Mr Soludo of inciting other state governors against the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage proposed by the NLC. Soludo reacts But reacting through a statement on Friday night by his spokesperson, Christian Aburime, Mr Soludo denied the allegations. At no time did Governor Soludo incite or influence other state governors against paying the proposed N70, 000 minimum wage. Instead, he has always been sensitive to the welfare of workers. Even as the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, he was quite responsive to staff wellbeing, the statement reads in part. The governor claimed that he has been paying salaries, pensions and gratuities to workers promptly in the state since assumption of office. 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 response to alleviating the pains of the fuel subsidy removal, the state government last year provided an additional N12, 000 monthly allowance to state workers for four months, from September to December 2023, he said, without giving reason for stopping the initiative. Mr Soludo, however, assured that his administration would address all issues raised by the NLC. Efforts are already underway to resolve the issue of contributory pension deductions while the agreed 2019 National Minimum Wage of N30, 000 is already being paid, he said. The governor said the state government was open to meaningful dialogue and collaboration with the NLC to resolve workers concerns amicably. We assure the NLC and all Anambra State workers that their demands and issues are being diligently addressed, he added. He said although he had yet to receive the notice of the proposed strike by the Labour unions in the state, the proposed industrial action was unnecessary and should be reversed. The proposed strike is unnecessary and counterproductive at this juncture, as it might seem like the NLC leadership is being politically influenced by desperate external actors to orchestrate an artificial industrial crisis in Anambra State, he stated. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, say they have arrested two male suspects over alleged armed robbery in the state. The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Friday night. Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, identified the suspects as 18-year-old Favour Akabue and 19-year-old Chiemezie Obayi both residents of Trans Ekulu Area in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state. How it happened Mr Ndukwe said the police received a tip-off that the suspects allegedly used toy guns to snatch a Honda car from an unidentified male victim around 5:05 a.m. on 3 May in Amaetiti-Akwu, Achi Community in Oji-River Local Government Area of the state. The police spokesperson said the suspects also allegedly robbed the victim of his money, mobile phone, and other valuables during the attack. But he said upon the receipt of the tip-off, police operatives serving in Oji-River Police Division in collaboration with members of a Neighbourhood Watch Group, gave the suspects a hot chase and arrested them at about 5:20 a.m. on the same day. Mr Ndukwe said the police operatives consequently recovered the snatched car from the hoodlums. 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 police spokesperson added that two imitation revolver pistols, a syringe containing a liquid substance suspected to be acid, and other exhibits were also recovered from the suspects. He did not specifically confirm if the stolen valuables were equally recovered. More arrest Mr Ndukwe said in a separate operation on 7 May, police detectives serving in Awkunanaw Police Division arrested another armed robbery suspect, David Ogah Bassey, 31, popularly known as Onye army. The police spokesperson said the suspects arrest followed the receipt of a report from a tricyclist that a gang of three armed robbers, at about 10 p.m. on 6 May, robbed him of his valuables. The tricyclist, according to the statement, alleged that the suspects diverted and robbed him of his undisclosed amount of money, mobile phone, and other valuables while conveying them to Garriki, Awkunanaw in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state. Upon leading the detectives to the scene of the incident, the suspect sighted them and attempted to escape before he was caught, and the firearm was recovered from him, he said, adding that other members of the criminal gang escaped. The victim was able to identify the suspect as one of the same armed gang members that robbed him the previous night, Mr Ndukwe said. One locally fabricated beretta-like pistol was recovered from the arrested suspect, the police spokesperson said. He said all the arrested suspects will be arraigned upon completion of investigations. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Some residents of Ikoga-Zebbe in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State have called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to reinstate Anthony Dansu and four other lecturers of the Lagos State University (LASU) who were wrongfully dismissed in 2019. The dismissed lecturers were officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). They are Isaac Akinloye Oyewumi (ASUU chairperson); Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu (Vice Chairman); Anthony Dansu (Secretary); Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan (Assistant Secretary); and Oluwakemi Adebisi Aboderin-Shonibare (Treasurer). During Saturdays protest, the residents said they were unhappy about the dismissal and called on Mr Sanwo-Olu to intervene and reinstate Mr Dansu, an indigene of the town, and the other officers. The residents carried placards with such inscriptions as: Dear Governor Sanwo-Olu, please correct this injustice. #RestoreDrDansu, Reinstate Dr Tony Dansu and others, Let justice prevail; Dr Tony Dansus integrity and service deserve commendation, not dismissal, Dear Governor Sanwo-Olu, reinstate academic freedom, and Dear peoples governor, show Lagos is committed to fairness. The dismissal The lecturers were dismissed during the university governing councils 122nd meeting held on 12 September 2019. They were accused of unauthorised removal, retention and dissemination or publication of official confidential documents and subsequently sacked. In February 2022, the David Sunmoni-led governing council of the university reinstated the lecturers after an Appeal Committee headed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Adenike Boyo, cleared the lecturers of all offences and recommended their reinstatement. 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 But in a strange move, 48 hours after the governing council approved its appeal committees recommendation, the same governing council ruled to put the recall of the lecturers on hold. The state government has yet to reinstate the lecturers more than two years later. In a statement signed by Mayowa Adejobi, James Avoseh, Ademola Bokoh, Tinka Gabrie, Francis Avoseh, and Medemaku Noah, the protesters stated that the schools management fired Mr Dansu and others for exposing some illegal acts. Before they were dismissed, Messrs Dansu, Oyekan, and Aboderin-Shonibare approached the court to challenge what they termed the universitys persecution. This was based on the premise that they were about to be illegally dismissed in the same manner Drs Oyewumi and Adeyemi-Suenu were dismissed in 2017, the statement added. Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, a judge of the National Industrial Court, Lagos in suit No: NICN/LA/493/2018 on 11 July 2019, ruled that under the Freedom of Information Act and other relevant laws cited, the university authorities have no such powers to proceed against officers of the union in these cases; that both parties are creations of law, and must therefore respect the law. Given that the issue was not due for judicial review since no damage had been done yet; even as the court was mindful of the breach of constitutional rights of the officers by the university authority, the two parties should go and follow the path of the law for the sake of peace, order and good administration in the university and its community. The statement, however, said that LASU management proceeded with the trials and dismissed the officials. The residents called on Mr Sanwo-Olu to reinstate the affected officers. They further requested that all accrued financial entitlements and benefits be paid to the affected lecturers, and promotions merited be given without loss of seniority and entitlements. One of the protesters, Mide Abayomi, an indigene of the community and alumnus of LASU, implored Mr Sanwo-Olu to recall the lecturers to work so that the university community could grow. We want Governor Sanwo-Olu to reinstate the five lecturers to the university so that the current students of the institution could benefit from their expertise, which I and some others had benefited from in the past. LASU community misses them (the five affected lecturers), he said. Solomon Peter, another alumnus of LASU, urged Mr Sanwo-Olu not to delay justice in the cause but to act swiftly by considering the affected lecturers. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 18. Kazakhstan's KazTransOil (the national operator of the main oil pipeline) has quadrupled the volume of oil transportation to Germany from January through April this year, Trend reports. The company reported that Transneft PJSC transported 420,000 tons of Kazakh oil through its trunk oil pipeline system to the Adamova Zastava oil delivery point for export to Germany. This value is 330,000 tons or more than four times more than in the same period last year. At the same time, KazTransOil plans to transport 120,000 tons of Kazakh oil to Germany in May 2024. In addition, KazTransOil also plans to transport 993,000 tons of Kazakh oil to Germany in total in 2024. Russian and Kazakh authorities inked a relevant agreement on June 7, 2002, and it governs the current transit. KazTransOil is part of the KazMunayGas group (Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company). The company owns a diversified network of main oil pipelines, each 5,400 kilometers in length. NEW ORLEANS, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until June 17, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Doximity, Inc. (NYSE: DOCS), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's shares between February 9, 2022, and April 1, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District California. Get Help Doximity investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-docs/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit Doximity and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that the Company repeatedly touted its business prospects and the sustainability of its revenue growth and profitability, while downplaying the impact of competition and tightening macroeconomic conditions on its reliance on "upselling" products and services (such as additional advertising) to existing customers to sustain the Company's performance and future growth. The case is Kissler v. Doximity, Inc., et al., 24-cv-02281. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler Calgary's largest group of orthodontists, Family Braces, experiences a brisk start to the second quarter of 2024, continuing its commitment to high-quality Invisalign and braces treatments across its five locations. CALGARY, AB, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Braces, Calgary's largest group of orthodontists with five locations across the city, reports a strong start to the second quarter of 2024. This positive momentum builds on the group's successful first quarter, underlining its commitment to providing high-quality orthodontic services to the Calgary community. Since the beginning of April, the orthodontic clinics have seen an increase in patient bookings and consultations, suggesting a continuing demand for specialized orthodontic care. Family Braces attributes this growth to its reputation for quality and its strategic approach to patient care, including advanced technologies and personalized treatment plans. With a strong team of experienced orthodontists, Family Braces remains dedicated to offering a range of orthodontic solutions, including Invisalign and traditional braces. These treatments are tailored to meet each patient's individual needs and preferences, ensuring effective outcomes and enhanced patient satisfaction. The brisk start to the quarter also reflects Family Braces' proactive engagement with the community and its ongoing efforts to educate the public about the benefits of timely orthodontic care. The group's active involvement in community initiatives and commitment to patient education have helped it maintain its position in the Calgary orthodontics landscape. Looking forward, Family Braces is optimistic about the rest of the quarter. The group's orthodontists plan to continue focusing on growth and improvement, exploring new ways to refine treatment processes and enhance patient experiences. This includes further integrating digital technologies into its practices and expanding its educational outreach to help more people understand the importance of orthodontic health. Family Braces thanks its patients and the broader Calgary community for their continued trust and support. Their orthodontists are committed to upholding the highest orthodontic care standards and contributing positively to their patient's health and well-being. For more information about Family Braces and to explore their range of orthodontic services, please visit https://familybraces.ca. About Family Braces: Family Braces is Calgary's largest group of orthodontists, with five orthodontic clinics throughout the city. Known for its innovative approach and commitment to quality, Family Braces specializes in traditional braces and Invisalign treatments. The orthodontic group is dedicated to enhancing the smiles and lives of its patients through personalized, effective orthodontic care. Media Contact: Family Braces ***@familybraces.ca (403) 202-9220 Photo(s): https://www.prlog.org/13021168 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Family Braces NEW ORLEANS, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until July 1, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Globe Life Inc. f/k/a Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: GL), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's shares between May 8, 2019 and April 10, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Long term holders of GL are also encouraged to contact the firm. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Get Help Globe Life investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-gl/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit Globe Life and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On April 11, 2024, investment research firm Fuzzy Panda reported that the Company and its subsidiaries had engaged in widespread insurance fraud by adding policies to existing users' accounts without consent, underwriting policies for dead and fictitious people, and also maintained a hostile workplace where sexual harassment, drug use, and sexual assault went unchecked. On this news, the price of Globe Life's shares fell by $55.76 per share, or 53%, from a closing price of $104.93 per share on April 10, 2024, to a closing price of $49.17 per share on April 11, 2024. The case is City of Miami General Employees' & Sanitation Employees' Retirement Trust v. Globe Life Inc., et al, No. 24-cv-376. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler NEW YORK, May 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global industrial automation market in life sciences industry size is estimated to grow by USD 5.06 bn from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period. For more insights on the forecast market size and historic data (2018 - 2022) - Download Free sample report in a minutes Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Industrial Automation Market in Life Sciences Industry 2024-2028 Forecast period 2024-2028 Base Year 2023 Historic Data 2018 - 2022 Segment Covered Deployment (Onsite and Decentralised), Product (DCS, SCADA, PLC, and MES), and Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa) Region Covered North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Key companies profiled ABB Ltd., Applied Materials Inc., Aspen Technology Inc., Azbil Corp., Balluff GmbH, Danaher Corp., Dassault Systemes SE, Emerson Electric Co., Endress Hauser Group Services AG, Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls International Plc, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., OMRON Corp., Parker Hannifin Corp., Rockwell Automation Inc., SAP SE, Schneider Electric SE, Siemens AG, Yokogawa Electric Corp., and Festo SE and Co. KG Segment Overview This industrial automation market in life sciences industry report extensively covers market segmentation by Deployment 1.1 Onsite 1.2 Decentralised Product 2.1 DCS 2.2 SCADA 2.3 PLC 2.4 MES Geography 3.1 North America 3.2 Europe 3.3 APAC 3.4 South America 3.5 Middle East and Africa 1.1 Onsite- In the industrial automation market within the life sciences industry, deployment segmentation reveals that onsite deployment holds the largest market share. This preference is primarily due to the enhanced security features offered by onsite deployment. In contrast to cloud-based deployment, onsite models utilize dedicated servers for data storage, providing greater control and security. Human-machine interfaces, sensors such as photoelectric, laser, inductive, and temperature, Programmable Logic Controllers, servos, lasers markers, safety light curtains, robots, and various motor types including AC and DC, are integral components in both deployment models. Discrete automation and process automation applications in the industrial sector, including robotics, automation, manufacturing, material handling, and networking architectures, benefit from these advanced technologies. The integration of cloud, mobility, Internet of Things, and factory automation in the automation sector further enhances the capabilities of these systems. Cloud computing platforms, semiconductors, electronic devices, automotive, aerospace, heavy engineering, machine learning, and healthcare are among the verticals that leverage these automation solutions. 3.1 North America- The life sciences industry in North America is experiencing a significant shift towards industrial automation, driven by the increasing demand for premium healthcare services catering to an aging population. This turbocharges the industrial sector with advanced technologies such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), 5G wireless technology, digital twin, digitalization, industrial IoT, and virtual capabilities. Cloud engineering and Software-as-a-service (SaaS) enable virtual reality and edge computing, while artificial intelligence and advanced analytics enhance the human-machine interface. Sensors, including photoelectric, laser, inductive, and safety light curtain, integrate with servo and AC/DC motors, lasers markers, and robots to streamline manufacturing and material handling processes. Networking architectures, cloud, mobility, and the Internet of Things (IoT) facilitate factory automation, with cloud computing platforms and semiconductors powering electronic devices in the automotive and aerospace industries. These technological advancements are transforming the automation sector, enabling greater convenience, patient experience, and improved quality of care. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2018 - 2022) - Download a Sample Report Key Market Trends Fueling Growth The industrial automation market in the life sciences sector is experiencing significant growth, with open process automation (OPA) gaining increasing attention. The Open Process Automation Forum is driving industry efforts to address interoperability issues. In 2021, ExxonMobil collaborated with Yokogawa Electric Corp. To establish an OPA testbed, integrating technologies such as robotics, automation, networking architectures, cloud, mobility, IoT, AI, and machine learning for evaluating industrial standards. This collaboration supports the pharmaceutical sector and other manufacturing verticals, including automotive, aerospace, and heavy engineering. Market Challenges The life sciences industry encounters significant challenges in implementing industrial automation due to infrastructure and integration issues. High-speed Internet is essential for cloud-based automation, yet connectivity problems, power outages, and slow networks can cause system downtimes, affecting productivity. Developing countries and SMEs/startups are particularly affected. In heterogeneous healthcare or pharmaceutical environments, using various proprietary tools and systems, integration issues can arise. Key technologies like IoT, AI, 5G, digital twin, edge computing, and advanced analytics can help mitigate these challenges, enabling digital transformation and enhancing industrial efficiency. Research report provides comprehensive data on impact of trend, driver and challenges - Buy Report Research Analysis The Industrial Automation Market in the Life Sciences Industry is experiencing significant growth due to the integration of advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, and Augmented Reality. Semiconductor chips play a crucial role in powering Cyber-physical systems, including Industrial I/O, Motion Control, and Programmable Logic Controllers. Industry 4.0 and IIoT are driving the adoption of wireless sensors and Industrial Web Panels, enabling real-time monitoring and control in manufacturing processes. Robotics and automation are transforming material handling, while networking architectures, including 5G wireless technology, ensure seamless communication between control systems. Turbocharging these advancements is the integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms, enhancing the overall efficiency and productivity of the industrial sector. Market Research Overview The Industrial Automation Market in the Life Sciences Industry is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for efficient and accurate manufacturing processes. This sector requires advanced automation solutions to ensure product quality, regulatory compliance, and reduced time-to-market. Automation technologies such as robotics, machine vision, and sensors play a crucial role in automating various processes, including production, quality control, and logistics. Additionally, the integration of IoT and AI technologies is revolutionizing the industry by enabling predictive maintenance, real-time monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. The market is expected to continue its growth trajectory, driven by the rising adoption of automation in R&D, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation Deployment Onsite Decentralised Product DCS SCADA PLC MES Geography North America Europe APAC 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 Two poster presentations of Mallinckrodt's research for adults with HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function1 provide further insight into treatment with TERLIVAZ for appropriate patients DUBLIN, May 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc, a global specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced the presentation of two posters on TERLIVAZ (terlipressin) for injection in patients with hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) with rapid reduction in kidney function1 at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week (DDW) taking place in Washington, DC from May 18-21, 2024. The posters feature a post-hoc analysis of data from the pivotal Phase III CONFIRM trial, analyzing the impact of dose interruptions on treatment response to TERLIVAZ in patients with hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury (HRS-AKI),2 and a pooled analysis of three Phase III clinical studies assessing the impact of TERLIVAZ treatment on patients with HRS and a baseline serum creatinine (SCr) <5mg/dL.3 TERLIVAZ is the first and only FDA-approved product indicated to improve kidney function in adults with HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function,1 an acute and life-threatening condition requiring hospitalization.4 HRS involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 is estimated to affect more than 42,000 Americans annually and rates of hospitalizations are increasing.5 Please see Limitation of Use and Important Safety Information, including Boxed Warning, below. "We're excited to present our research at DDW. It represents our ongoing commitment to add to the depth and breadth of data on TERLIVAZ and its important role in the treatment of adult patients with HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function,"1 said Peter Richardson, MRCP (UK), Executive Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer. "Collectively, these data support our understanding of those who are most likely to benefit from TERLIVAZ showing the potential impact of use in the real-world, including when the dosing schedule is interrupted." Abstract #4025396: Treatment Response to Terlipressin is Unaffected by Dose Interruptions in Patients with Hepatorenal Syndrome-Acute Kidney Injury2 Presenter: Khalid Mumtaz, MD, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH Khalid Mumtaz, MD, The Wexner Medical Center, Session Type: Poster Presentation Poster Presentation Session Title: Portal Hypertension and Other Complications of Cirrhosis Portal Hypertension and Other Complications of Cirrhosis Session Date and Time: Saturday, May 18, 2024; 12:30 1:30 p.m. EDT This analysis evaluated the effect of dose interruption on the incidence of HRS reversal for patients with HRS-AKI.2 The recommended dose regimen includes administering TERLIVAZ 0.85 mg (1 vial) intravenously every six hours on days one to three.1 On day four, assess SCr versus baseline and if SCr has decreased by at least 30% from baseline continue TERLIVAZ 0.85 mg (1 vial) intravenously every six hours.1 Patients included in the analysis experienced a dose interruption due to adverse events or any other reason.2 After a dose interruption, treatment could be restarted at a reduced dose of 0.5 mg or 1 mg every 6-12 hours.2 The safety and efficacy of this particular use has not been evaluated by FDA. Abstract #4034883: Terlipressin Treatment Benefits Those Patients with Baseline Serum Creatinine <5 mg/dl: The North American Experience3 Presenter: Prasun K. Jalal, MD, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston, TX Prasun K. Jalal, MD, , Session Type: Poster Presentation Poster Presentation Session Title: Portal Hypertension and Other Complications of Cirrhosis Portal Hypertension and Other Complications of Cirrhosis Session Date and Time: Saturday, May 18, 2024; 12:30 1:30 p.m. EDT This analysis included pooled data from three Phase III, placebo-controlled studies of TERLIVAZ in 608 patients with HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function.1,3 Patients were dosed with 1 mg terlipressin acetate (equivalent to 0.85 mg terlipressin base) every six hours for 14 days.3 Data was assessed by SCr subgroup (baseline SCr <5 mg/dL or 5 mg/dL) for the outcomes of HRS reversal (defined as >/=1 SCr of 5 mg/dL are unlikely to experience benefit. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WARNING: SERIOUS OR FATAL RESPIRATORY FAILURE TERLIVAZ may cause serious or fatal respiratory failure. Patients with volume overload or with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) Grade 3 are at increased risk. Assess oxygenation saturation (e.g., SpO 2 ) before initiating TERLIVAZ. Do not initiate TERLIVAZ in patients experiencing hypoxia (e.g., SpO 2 <90%) until oxygenation levels improve. Monitor patients for hypoxia using continuous pulse oximetry during treatment and discontinue TERLIVAZ if SpO 2 decreases below 90%. Contraindications TERLIVAZ is contraindicated: In patients experiencing hypoxia or worsening respiratory symptoms. In patients with ongoing coronary, peripheral, or mesenteric ischemia. Warnings and Precautions Serious or Fatal Respiratory Failure: Obtain baseline oxygen saturation and do not initiate TERLIVAZ in hypoxic patients. Monitor patients for changes in respiratory status using continuous pulse oximetry and regular clinical assessments. Discontinue TERLIVAZ in patients experiencing hypoxia or increased respiratory symptoms. Manage intravascular volume overload by reducing or discontinuing the administration of albumin and/or other fluids and through judicious use of diuretics. Temporarily interrupt, reduce, or discontinue TERLIVAZ treatment until patient volume status improves. Avoid use in patients with ACLF Grade 3 because they are at significant risk for respiratory failure. Ineligibility for Liver Transplant: TERLIVAZ-related adverse reactions (respiratory failure, ischemia) may make a patient ineligible for liver transplantation, if listed. For patients with high prioritization for liver transplantation (e.g., MELD 35), the benefits of TERLIVAZ may not outweigh its risks. Ischemic Events: TERLIVAZ may cause cardiac, cerebrovascular, peripheral, or mesenteric ischemia. Avoid use of TERLIVAZ in patients with a history of severe cardiovascular conditions or cerebrovascular or ischemic disease. Discontinue TERLIVAZ in patients who experience signs or symptoms suggestive of ischemic adverse reactions. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: TERLIVAZ may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. If TERLIVAZ is used during pregnancy, the patient should be informed of the potential risk to the fetus. Adverse Reactions The most common adverse reactions (10%) include abdominal pain, nausea, respiratory failure, diarrhea, and dyspnea. Please click here to see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning. ABOUT HEPATORENAL SYNDROME (HRS) Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 is an acute and life-threatening condition that occurs in people with advanced liver disease.4 HRS is classified into two distinct types a rapidly progressive type that leads to acute renal failure where patients are typically hospitalized for their care and a more chronic type that progresses over weeks to months.4 HRS involving rapid reduction in kidney function1 is estimated to affect more than 42,000 Americans annually and rates of HRS hospitalizations are increasing.5 If left untreated, HRS with rapid reduction in kidney function1 has a median survival time of less than two weeks and greater than 80 percent mortality within three months.6 ABOUT MALLINCKRODT Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, hepatology, nephrology, pulmonology, ophthalmology, and oncology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics; and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELATED TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This release contains forward-looking statements, including with regard to TERLIVAZ, its potential to improve health and treatment outcomes, and its potential impact on patients. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: the effects of Mallinckrodt's recent emergence from bankruptcy; satisfaction of, and compliance with, regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; changes in laws and regulations; issues with product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues or adverse side effects or adverse reactions associated with TERLIVAZ; and other risks identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections section of Mallinckrodt's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on its website. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law. CONTACT Media Inquiries Green Room Communications 908-577-4531 [email protected] Investor Relations Derek Belz Vice President, Investor Relations 314-654-3950 [email protected] Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark, TERLIVAZ, and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners. 2024 Mallinckrodt. US-2400300 05/24 References 1 TERLIVAZ (terlipressin) for Injection. Prescribing Information. Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. 2023. 2 Mumtaz K, Bari K, Reddy G, et al. Treatment Response to Terlipressin is Unaffected by Dose Interruptions in Patients with Hepatorenal Syndrome-Acute Kidney Injury. Presentation to be shared at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week (DDW). May 2024. 3 Jalal P, Verna EC, Rahimi RS, et al. Terlipressin Treatment Benefits Those Patients with Baseline Serum Creatinine <5 mg/dl: The North American Experience. Presentation to be shared at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week (DDW). May 2024. 4 National Organization for Rare Disorders. Hepatorenal Syndrome. Available at: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hepatorenal-syndrome/. Accessed January 2024. 5 Singh J, Dahiya DS, Kichloo A, Singh G, Khoshbin K, Shaka H. Hepatorenal Syndrome: A Nationwide Trend Analysis from 2008 to 2018. Annals of Med. 2021;53:1. 2018-2024 doi.org/10/1080/07853890. 6 Flamm, S.L., Brown, K., Wadei, H.M., et al. The Current Management of Hepatorenal SyndromeAcute Kidney Injury in the United States and the Potential of Terlipressin. Liver Transpl. 2021;27:1191-1202. https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.26072. SOURCE Mallinckrodt plc NEW ORLEANS, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until July 15, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH), if they purchased the Company's shares between March 14, 2022, and February 27, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Get Help UnitedHealth investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-unh-3 or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit UnitedHealth and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On February 27, 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had re-opened its antitrust investigation into the relationships between the Company's various segments. On this news, the price of UnitedHealth's shares fell by $27 per share, erasing nearly $25 billion in shareholder value. The case is City of Hollywood Firefighters' Pension Fund v. UnitedHealth Group Inc., No. 24-cv-1743. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler 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 Beirut, May 18 : A Hamas member was reportedly killed and two other people injured in what appeared to be a targeted Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Friday. Israeli drone followed a four-wheel drive vehicle that was driving in the town of Rashaya, fired two air-to-surface missiles at it, burning the car and killing its driver, Sharhabil al-Sayed, and seriously wounding his companion and a civilian who happened to be at the scene, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua news agency. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas confirmed in a statement that al-Sayed was a member. While inspecting the scene of the incident, a Hamas official in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon, Mahmoud Baraka, vowed in a separate brief statement that the movement "will remain resistant until the complete liberation of Palestine." Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. San Francisco, May 18 : Ming-Tung "Mike" Lee, president of Sonoma State University in California, resigned on Friday, one day after California State University (CSU) officials placed him on leave for "unilaterally" announcing that the campus would sever academic and financial ties with Israel. CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia said that Lee "has informed me of his decision to retire", after she labelled Lee's action "insubordination" and named an acting president on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. "The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another," Garcia said in a statement on Thursday. Lee had brokered an agreement with campus pro-Palestinian students who set up tents on the school's campus. He publicly apologized on Wednesday evening and said he acted without the approval of CSU leaders. Lee had been the president of Sonoma State University for less than two years, following serving as an administrator and business professor at Sacramento State University for 28 years. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 18. Turkmenistan's Turkmengaz State Concern is taking practical measures to extract additional volumes of oil and natural gas, search and develop the country's deposits, Trend reports. This was announced by Deputy Chairman of the Government of Turkmenistan Batyr Amanov, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. "In this regard, the Turkmengaz State Concern is conducting drilling operations at the sites of the Lebap and Mary regions. This will make it possible to identify gas-bearing formations and increase natural gas production," he said. Summarizing the report, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers that great attention is paid to the production of additional volumes of oil and natural gas in the country. In this context, the head of state instructed the Deputy Chairman to exercise strict control over the work carried out in this direction. Meanwhile, the Turkmengaz State Concern estimates the nation's hydrocarbon resources at over 71 billion tons of oil equivalent. This volume includes more than 20 billion tons of oil and more than 50 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Kiev, May 18 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed legislation allowing certain convicts to join the country's armed forces, the parliament press service has reported. The legislation, signed on Friday, enables certain categories of convicts to be enlisted for military service under a contract during martial law, Xinhua news agency reported. The legislation was adopted by the parliament on May 8. In exchange, the convicts will be granted the possibility to get parole from serving their sentences. The new law will not apply to prisoners who were convicted for crimes against Ukraine's national security, intentional murder of two or more persons, and other serious crimes. Last week, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said that Ukraine has the potential to conscript between 10,000 and 20,000 convicts, according to media reports. On Saturday, a law to tighten military mobilization rules, which aims to recruit more troops for the country's armed forces, will take effect in Ukraine. Los Angeles, May 18 : Writer-director Paul Schrader teared up at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival as his new film 'Oh, Canada' received a four-minute standing ovation. Los Angeles, May 18 (IANS) Writer-director Paul Schrader teared up at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival as his new film aOh, Canadaa received a four-minute standing ovation. Actor Jacob Elordi was notably absent from the premiere, possibly because he is currently filming Guillermo del Toroas aFrankensteina, in which he stars as The Monster, reports aVarietya. After the standing ovation, Schrader addressed Elordi not being there, saying, aIam very happy with Richard, Uma, Jake -- not here with us -- and it all worked out. I'm very happy to be back here on the Croisette." As per aVarietya, Elordi, whose star continues to rise after acclaimed turns in aSaltburna and aPriscillaa, made his Cannes debut last year in Sean Price Williamsa road movie aThe Sweet Easta. The drama tells the life story of a troubled writer, Leonard Fife, who, at the end of his life, reflects on his decision to flee to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Richard Gere plays the present-day Leonard, while Elordi inhabits the characteras younger self. Rounding out the cast are Uma Thurman, Victoria Hill, Michael Imperioli, Penelope Mitchell, and Kristine Froseth. Schrader has previously been on the Croisette for 1976as aTaxi Drivera, for which he penned the script. The film went on to win the festivalas prestigious Palme daOr. His 1985 directorial effort aMishima: A Life in Four Chaptersa premiered in competition at Cannes. Seoul, May 18 : North Korea said it has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new "autonomous" navigation system in a bid to advance its weapons capabilities. The North's leader, Kim Jong-un, oversaw the weapons test on Friday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The report did not reveal further details, such as how many missiles were fired, Yonhap news agency reporteed. "The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire," the report said. On Friday, the South Korean military said it detected the North's firing of several short-range ballistic missiles from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles flew about 300 kilometres and landed in the East Sea. Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the latest launch would mark an increase in range for the North's tactical guided weapons, which previously had been known to have a range of 100 to 110 kilometres. Considering the flight distance of some 300 kilometres, the North may have tested the missile with major military facilities in South Korea in mind. The direct distance between Pyongyang and the South's Gyeryongdae military headquarters in Gyeryong is measured at around 330 kilometres, while that between the North's capital and the US 8th Fighter Wing in Gunsan is about 350 km. It marked the first weapons test since April 22, when North Korea fired shells from 600-mm super-large multiple rocket launchers, considered to be short-range ballistic missiles, toward the East Sea. The provocation came one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their support for North Korea during their summit in Beijing. The leaders adopted a joint statement opposing "acts of military intimidation" against North Korea by the US and its allies. The latest test also came after South Korea and the United States staged combined aerial drills involving advanced stealth jets on Thursday in an apparent show of airpower against evolving North Korean military threats. Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 : Amid the controversy surrounding his private three-nation trip, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family returned to Kerala in the wee hours of Saturday, cutting the tour short. The furore over the trip began as there was no official intimation about his visit that commenced on May 6. Even Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan waded into the controversy by stating that he wished to thank the media for informing him that CM Vijayan was on an overseas tour. Just like his visit was kept a top secret, his return to the country was also kept under wraps. Though there was initial news that he would arrive at Kochi airport, he landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport and as always, walked away without giving the waiting media any chance to speak to him. In a major departure from protocol, there were no officials present to receive him at the airport and only his personal security guards were there. While on tour, he presided over a Cabinet meeting via a video conference from Dubai and informed his colleagues that he would return on May 20. The Congress and the BJP had slammed CM Vijayan for his asecretivea trip and the worst swipe came from Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan, who said CM Vijayan was scared of PM Modi because despite the CPI(M) being a part of the INDIA bloc, he left and did not participate in election campaigning. Satheesan added that this was despite the fact that he was the only CPI(M) chief minister in the country. CM Vijayan was accompanied by his wife, grandson, daughter Veena and her husband, State Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas, on the trip and they visited Indonesia, Singapore and UAE. Los Angeles, May 18 : Hollywood star Jeremy Renner returned to film 'Mayor of Kingstown' after his horrific snowmobile accident, only to realise that some things would never be the same for him post-recovery. After 'Mayor of Kingstown' co-creator Hugh Dillon asked his mother for permission for him to return to the set, Renner went back to work on the one-year anniversary of his accident with some unexpected restrictions on his physical abilities, reports 'People' magazine. "To try to create some truth and then get the audience to believe it, while Iam just trying to learn to walk again, to put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony. Iam doing all these things to find my footing on the planet again," he told the Los Angeles Times. "The idea of going into a fictional world -- I have to be honest with you, I had to really consider, Is this something I really want to do?" According to 'People', on January 1, 2023, the Hawkeye star, 53, was involved in a terrifying accident when he was run over by a 14,300-pound snowplow as he was helping a family member get a stuck vehicle out of the estimated three feet of snowfall from the night before. He was left with 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung, and significant chest trauma from the ordeal. Once he got in front of the camera, Renner recalled falling asleep during takes in his first week back. "They go, aAnd action!a And I was out," he said. "We realised they worked me too hard, too many hours, too many days in a row. What Iam willing to do is everything, but what Iam able to do is a different thing." As a result, producers had to make some changes to accommodate the actor, including modifying the demanding shoot schedule and allowing him time to stretch and exercise on set, occasionally between takes. Renner also told the outlet that he remained in Pittsburgh for the duration of the four-month shoot instead of flying back and forth from California to avoid experiencing jet lag, and added stress on his body. Berlin, May 18 : Heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the western German state of Saarland. Buildings in the state capital of Saarbrucken and other municipalities had to be evacuated due to rising water levels. The state Interior Ministry spoke of a "widespread flooding situation", with a focus on the southeastern part of the state. People in the city of Saarbrucken have been advised to avoid basements, bodies of water, and flooded areas due to persistent heavy rain. "Flood waves can come suddenly, banks can collapse," the city announced on Friday evening. "Crossing flooded streets should be avoided at all costs -- both on foot and by car." Therefore, citizens were warned to stay away from the affected areas and, if necessary, spend the night elsewhere. A Ministry Spokesperson said that the districts of Neunkirchen, Saarpfalz, and Saarbrucken regional associations were particularly affected. There was initially no news of any casualties. Apart from Saarbrucken and Neunkirchen, the situation was tense in Eppelborn, St. Wendel, Saarlouis, and Merzig. In some places, residents had to be evacuated from their flats in isolated streets. Some retirement homes were also affected. Increased flooding is still expected, especially in the districts of Lauterbach, Ludweiler, Geislautern, and Wehrden. There were no reports of injuries so far, the Ministry Spokesman added. In Volklingen, streets have been disconnected from the power grid due to flooding. However, the drinking water supply has been secured, the town announced late Friday evening. "In Volklingen, millions of euros worth of damage is expected, especially in the private sector," the municipality said. "The extent of the damage is not yet foreseeable." Officials are considering requesting assistance from neighbouring federal states. Saarbrucken declared a major damage situation, as did several districts. Several buildings in the city had to be evacuated. The city set up alternative accommodation in schools and a citizens' hotline. Those affected were asked to take only the essentials with them. The German Weather Service warned of heavy continuous rain through the early hours of Saturday, especially in the areas west of the Rhine. After that, the rain is expected to ease slowly. Chancellor Olaf Scholz cancelled an election campaign appearance planned for Saturday in Saarland. Instead, he will visit Saarland with state premier Anke Rehlinger to get an idea of the situation on the ground, a government spokesperson announced in Saarbrucken on Friday evening. The state government has initiated the first steps towards emergency financial aid. In a meeting late on Friday evening, the Council of Ministers declared a so-called "elementary event of supra-local importance". According to the State Chancellery, this means that state aid can be granted. In addition, municipalities could deviate from budget-balancing regulations due to the extraordinary emergency. "Many Saarlanders are worried about their homes and possessions or have already suffered severe damage," Rehlinger said. "To ensure that no time is lost, the state government has taken decisions at short notice to assist to repair the damage caused." --IANS/DPA sd/khz Kolkata, May 18 : Three employees of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata were booked on Saturday in connection with the 'outrage of modesty' complaint against West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose. The FIR has been registered against the three accused after the complainant woman, a temporary employee at the Governor's house, gave an in-camera statement to a judicial magistrate claiming that she was illegally detained by them on the day she filed the complaint. On May 2, the said woman had filed a police complaint at Hare Street Police Station. Of the three Raj Bhavan employees who have been booked, one is a woman, city police sources said. The cops are investigating whether the complainant was forcibly detained or not. The Governor, since the beginning, had vehemently denied those allegations and said that the entire event was plotted with the sinister motive to malign him in the interest of a political party. Recently, the video footage of two CCTV cameras installed at the North Gate of Raj Bhavan was screened for the public on the Governor's House premises. Bamyan : , May 18 (IANS) Three foreign nationals were killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province. The victims are confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday. Four foreign nationals were also wounded in the attack, respectively, from Spain, Norway, Australia, and Lithuania, Xinhua news agency reported. Out of the four foreigners, two were women, Bamyan's provincial police spokesperson Muhammad Khawani Rasa told Xinhua. Besides the foreign nationals, one Afghan was killed while three others were injured in the shooting attack, Ministry of Interior Affairs Spokesperson Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X on Friday. Four suspects have been arrested, Qani added. New Delhi, May 18 : Acting swiftly on former DCW chief Swati Maliwal's FIR over assault in 'Sheeshmahal', the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Arvind Kejriwal's personal secretary Bibhav Kumar from the Delhi Chief Minister's residence. New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) Acting swiftly on former DCW chief Swati Maliwalas FIR over assault in 'Sheeshmahala, the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Arvind Kejriwalas personal secretary Bibhav Kumar from the Delhi Chief Ministeras residence. Bibhav Kumar was accused of abusing and beating up Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal in the drawing room of Delhi CMas residence. Maliwal in her FIR said that while she waited to meet the Chief Minister on May 13, he barged into the room, pounced on her and thrashed her black and blue. Bibhav Kumar, a long-time aide of Arvind Kejriwal, has been taken into custody and is set to be interrogated for the alleged abuse and misbehaviour. Meanwhile, Bibhav has also lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police station and added that he was ready for the probe into the incident. While the Maliwal episode mounts the problems of already beleaguered AAP leadership, the emergence of new CCTV footage has added a fresh twist to the case. Delhi Police is also likely to scan the CCTV cameras at CM residence. On Friday, the crime scene was also re-created at CMas residence after the former DCW chief lodged the FIR. Meanwhile, the BJP has gone all guns blazing at Arvind Kejriwal and is lambasting the AAP leadership for attacking the woman MP inside CM house, while describing the episode as acheerharana. It also accused the AAP of shielding Kejriwalas personal secretary despite having ample 'evidence' against him. Chennai, May 18 : In a committee meeting held at the DMK headquarters 'Anna Arivalayam', it was unanimously decided to remove party District Secretaries who performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections. The DMK was again expecting a landslide victory in Tamil Nadu but it is clear that there won't be a repeat of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which the party and its allies won 38 of the 39 seats. The DMK think tank recently conducted a detailed study of all the 39 constituencies of Tamil Nadu and found that though the party and the INDIA bloc will win comfortably on many seats, on a few seats the feedback is not good. This includes Dharmapuri where PMK leader Sowmiya Anbumani contested as an NDA candidate. Similarly in Theni, TTV Dhinakaran of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), again a part of the NDA, has performed extremely well. The DMK-led front has also found that on a few seats the principal Opposition party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK has also performed well. It may be recalled that DMK President and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin had commenced his outreach work at the grassroots for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls nearly two years ago. The party had appointed full-time workers in each district for co-ordination for the elections. A senior DMK leader who was party to the deliberations, told IANS, "The DMK is a political party that believes in the grassroots strength of its cadres. We had been working for the last two years specifically for the Lok Sabha elections. While the party and the INDIA bloc have done extremely well in several seats, there are a few seats that did not do well and we may even lose them. Those responsible for this will be taken to task and the party has decided to axe District Secretaries where the INDIA bloc fared poorly." He said that the DMK has the exact figures and added that a micro-level study was conducted on the polls and the decision to remove party District Secretaries who did not perform was taken unanimously. The DMK, it may be recalled, has been focusing on the welfare schemes of the Chief Minister ever since it assumed office in 2021. This was the highlight of the campaign in the state during the Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister had already declared that the DMK-led INDIA bloc in the state would win all 39 seats, and if the front loses any seats it would be a setback for Stalin. Joseph Thomas, a Chennai-based political analyst told IANS, "Before the Lok Sabha polls, the DMK leadership was confident of a sweep, but after the elections, the feedback the party received was not that good. The DMK will not win all the seats nor will it be repeating its performance of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "The party will have to take action against someone for the poor show in some seats and naturally, the scapegoats will be the party District Secretaries who were in charge of each of the Lok Sabha constituencies in their respective districts." BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Slovakia, both at the governmental level and within companies, stands ready to assist Azerbaijan in the preparation and successful conduct of COP29, Miroslav Kucera from the well-known Slovak Aspiro consulting company told Trend. "Our company specializes in preparing investment plans and financial components for projects in the field of renewable energy sources, as well as hydrogen projects and energy storage projects. All of this is currently relevant for Azerbaijan, as it is strongly focusing on green energy, which is especially important for a country hosting COP29," noted Kucera. According to him, hosting COP29 in Baku will provide a good opportunity for Azerbaijan, known worldwide for its oil and gas resources, to demonstrate itself as a country with potential and plans for the production of green energy and its export to Europe. "COP29 in Baku will discuss climate financing. This topic is close to our company, as we work extensively with 'green' projects in the CIS countries and Europe. We are open to consultations on this particular issue with Azerbaijani entities," Kucera 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. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Srinagar, May 18 : For weeks National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been extensively campaigning in areas near the Line of Control in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in North Kashmir from where he is contesting this time. It's a departure from the traditional stronghold in Srinagar for the NC Vice-President. Omar says his fight is not against an individual but is against the BJP. "The BJP doesn't have candidates in this election, so anybody who is contesting against the National Conference and the INDIA bloc is benefitting the BJP. There are only three official INDIA bloc candidates in this election from the Valley: Mian Altaf Ahmad from South Kashmir, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi from Central Kashmir, and me from North Kashmir," he said. Ruhullah Mehdi has been nominated by the NC to contest from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Omar has said that he won't contest for the Assembly until Jammu and Kashmir's status remains that of a Union Territory. The Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, with its 18 Assembly constituencies, is witnessing a closely contested battle. The party also relies on Shia support in areas like Budgam, Beerwah and Bandipora to bolster its chances of victory. Delimitation in 2019 reshaped the electoral landscape, expanding the constituency to include Shia-dominated areas. "Statehood is not an agenda for us, we are taking that as a given regardless of which government is in power at the Centre after June 4 statehood whether before Assembly election or after, we are taking that for granted, bit as far as what was done to us on August 5, 2019, constitutionally in terms of our status and what that has meant for us, It is going to be a long struggle, hopefully, if not today, tomorrow we will have a government at the Centre that is made up of friends that see eye-to-eye with us on this crucial issue." But while the National Conference aims to consolidate its position, challenges lie ahead in meeting the expectations of the people and delivering on political promises. "Omar Abdullah is a tall leader and had been the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the past, people have a lot of expectations from him, we want him to win the elections and do work for people in this area that lack health facilities and are economically backward," an NC supporter in Kupwara said. As the poll battle in Jammu and Kashmir continues to evolve, all eyes remain on the Lok Sabha election results for the Union Territory, which could also determine the future of its political trajectory. New Delhi, May 18 : As many as 25 representatives from 13 diplomatic missions in India will experience the enthusiasm of the people during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in North East Delhi on Saturday. The attendees include representatives from the diplomatic missions of Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Japan, Mauritius, Nepal, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom. BJP's head of the Foreign Affairs Department, Vijay Chauthaiwale, informed that the initiative is part of the 'Know BJP' initiative launched by BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda. It offers an opportunity for the diplomatic community as well as political parties from various countries to witness firsthand the vibrant and dynamic nature of India's democratic process. Last month, 22 representatives of 18 political parties from 10 countries visited New Delhi and met Nadda, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to get an insight into the party's election campaign strategies along with the overall electoral process. According to Chauthaiwale, similar delegations have successfully experienced the party's campaigns during state elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in 2022, as well as in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in November 2023. Puneet Issar took help of his son for shooting virtually from Seattle for 'Vanshaj'. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, May 18 : Actor Puneet Issar, who plays Dada Babu in 'Vanshaj', has opened up about shooting a crucial scene while visiting his son in Seattle during a break from the show. The show features Puneet as the family patriarch Bhanu Pratap Mahajan, also referred to as Dada Babu. While he was abroad, Puneet was required to be a part of a crucial scene, hence, the production team requested him to film the scene at his end using his phone. Taking it as a challenge upon himself, Puneet put on his makeup himself, got into the character of Dada Babu, and shot the scene with the help of his son. Talking about the same, Puneet said: "Working on a daily soap requires a high level of commitment from an actor. It was a unique experience for me to shoot a scene by myself while I was in Seattle. My son helped me film the sequence, creating a wonderful memory of my work being captured by my son." "The scene depicted Dada Babu communicating with the Mahajan family via a video call during his trip to the US for personal reasons. Overall, it was a new experience for me, as I have never had to shoot my own scene in my long career," he added. This particular scene involved Dada Babu video calling DJ's parents, Gargi (Parinitaa Seth) and Dhanraj (Gireesh Sachdev), and urging them to advise DJ (Mahir Pandhi) to apologise to Yukti (Anjali Tatrari) to prevent a crisis. Everything worked out in harmony, as even in the show, Dada Babu is shown to be in the US. 'Vanshaj' airs on Sony SAB. Hyderabad, May 18 : Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday announced Jitesh Sharma as the captain for their final game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), set to take place at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday. Jitesh will take charge from Sam Curran, who has returned to England for international duty. Curran was named in Englandas five-match T20 series squad against Pakistan and will join the team for the first T2OI, scheduled on May 22 at Leeds. Kings are already eliminated from the race to the Playoffs and are currently positioned at the ninth position of the points table. PBKS have only won five matches out of 13 games and will look to end their campaign on a big note. Jaipur, May 18 : First look of the wax statue of Rajput queen Hadi Rani, who beheaded herself to motivate her husband to fight the war against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, was unveiled at a museum in Jaipur on Saturday. The wax statue of the queen was unveiled as a mark of respect to her on International Museum Day. In Rajasthan, the land of heroes, even the Rajput women (Chhatranis) sacrificed themselves for the nation. One such braveheart was Sahal Kanwar -- the queen of Hadi. "Hadi Rani, at the tender age of 16, beheaded herself for the sake of the nation. This is a very inspiring, immortal story of courage and sacrifice which still resonates in this land," Anup Shrivastav, Founder Director of Jaipur Wax Museum, said. Her statue will soon be installed with a special show, Anup said. "I was personally moved by this true story and we decided that the coming generation must know about this immortal story of renunciation and sacrifice," Anup added. "The wax statue of Hadi Rani and the sets of the show are ready. Recording of dialogues, voiceovers and music is being done in Mumbai. Soon tourists will be able to see this heart-wrenching story in a special light and sound show," he said. Anup said,"We install statues of real-life heroes in the museum so that the young generation knows about them and gets inspired by them." Bengaluru, May 18 : A BJP delegation led by former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda met Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan at his office in Bengaluru on Saturday to express concern over Hindus being treated as 'second-class' citizens in the state. The delegation urged the DGP to address the collapse of law and order, the rising crime rate, and to initiate immediate action by convening a meeting of senior officials and giving them proper direction. They submitted a two-page memorandum to the DGP. Former CM Sadananda Gowda stated, "We strongly condemn the Congress government's approach of treating Hindus as second-class citizens. The Congress government hesitates when a crime involves accused individuals from minority religions. A couple had to bear the brunt of moral policing by a gang of Muslims. When they approached the government for protection, it tried to hush up the case. Miscreants attacked a shopkeeper in Nagarathpet in Bengaluru for playing the Hanuman Chalisa. The Congress defended this." Gowda charged that the state has deteriorated to such an extent that a man wielding a gun in full public view is allowed to garland the CM. The people of the state are living in fear. One section of the population receives preferential treatment, while another is jailed and attacked. People are living with a sense of insecurity following incidents of communal and political violence. The Congress government is harbouring a grudge against BJP party workers. BJP Vice President Malavika Avinash stated, "Time and again it is proven that there is no safety for women during the regime of the Congress government. The Belagavi incident where a 42-year-old woman was paraded nude was inhuman. The police department totally failed to handle the case, even as the winter assembly session was being held in Belagavi." The state has witnessed many murders, including the cases of college student Neha Hiremath and a young woman Ambika Ambigara. Atrocities against women are on the rise, and the police department has not taken unbiased action in this regard, Malavika stated. "The state is turning into the crime capital of the country. The state, once known for its law and order, is now witnessing a collapse in this area. There has been a sudden surge in crimes against women, murders, extortion, and atrocities against the poor and oppressed classes. The state has now earned the title of 'crime capital,'" she noted. Malavika stated that according to a study Karnataka stands ninth in terms of economic offences and third in crimes against women. It is also worrying that crimes against senior citizens have increased by 86 percent. BJP MLA C.K. Ramamurthy stated that the Congress government is not concerned about the law and order situation. No action has been initiated despite the rise in the number of crimes. Ahmedabad, May 18 : The Income Tax Department on Saturday launched a raid on the Madhav Group of Industries in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. The group, known for its real estate and government infrastructure projects, faced raids at 27 locations across the two cities. The search operation that began on Saturday morning is still going on. Authorities are scrutinising their transactions to determine whether any can be classified as benami. Over 50 Income Tax Department officials are conducting the raid. Sources shared that the raids on the groupas premises included their office in Subhanpura, Vadodara. Madhav Group, which has a presence in Karnataka, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra, has been under scrutiny since its establishment in 2010. The group operates in diverse sectors, including energy, real estate, highways, and urban infrastructure. Vadodara, May 18 : The ongoing controversy on Saturday surrounding Madhya Gujarat Vij Corporation Limited's (MGVCL) installation of smart electricity meters has ignited fresh protests in Vadodara. The installation of 25,000 smart meters has led to widespread dissatisfaction among consumers, who claim that their prepaid Rs 2,000 is being consumed within a week of installation. Consumers have reported that the smart meter app issues frequent reminders to recharge their accounts, cutting off power when the balance falls below minus Rs 300. The new meters charge Rs 4.29 per unit, compared to the previous Rs 2.79 per unit, exacerbating the financial burden on consumers. The women of L.K. Nagar staged a protest on Alembic Road on Saturday, voicing their grievances and demanding the removal of the new meters. One protestor expressed frustration, saying, "We paid Rs 2,000, and within four days, only Rs 700 was left. If we cannot cover our expenses, we will return the new meters and reinstall the old ones. We don't want a smart city if it means higher bills and constant recharges." Another protestor highlighted their challenges: "Our bills used to be Rs 1,700 for two months, but now we can't recharge our meters. We are threatened with fines and police action if we don't comply. We don't need these smart meters." Reacting to people's protests, Sayajiganj MLA Keyur Rokadia addressed the issue, acknowledging the numerous complaints from residents, saying: "The smart meters are part of a government scheme, but we have received widespread complaints. I have raised the issue with the Chief Minister's Office and the Managing Director of Vij Company. Until the grievances are resolved, no new meters should be installed in the Sayajiganj Assembly." Islamabad, May 18 : At least 14 people were killed when a mini lorry carrying a family plunged into a ditch due to brake failure, the rescue service said on Saturday. The incident took place in the Khushab district of the central Punjab province early Saturday morning. The vehicle was carrying members of a family who were travelling to a neighbouring district for work. "At least 14 people, including five children and two women, were killed in the accident," Usman Haider, a spokesperson for the local rescue service, said. The death toll is feared to rise as at least eight people were in critical condition. Haider said the driver was speeding, and the accident occurred due to brake failure. He added that the vehicle was carrying 26 people. Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to a lack of infrastructure, poorly maintained vehicles and careless driving. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, around 9,000 road accidents are reported every year, killing more than 5,000 people. --IANS/DPA sd/khz Patna, May 18 : Bihar BJP MLA Gyanendra Singh Gyanu on Saturday slammed the Education Department for changing the school timings. "Education Department's new directives amount to cruelty and hooliganism against the children and teachers. I will talk to the Chief Minister and will ask him to intervene on behalf of students, teachers and parents," Gyanu said. On Friday, former Congress state President Madan Mohan Jha also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to intervene in the matter. "Attending school at 6 am is not possible for either students or teachers. It is also a bad idea for students to leave the schools at noon because of the heat wave. Chances of them getting sick will increase," Gyanu said. The Education Department, on the direction of Additional Chief Secretary K.K. Pathak, directed all government schools to open from 6 am to 1.30 pm. "The teaching work will be from 6 am to 12 pm and teachers will have to remain in school till 1.30 pm," the new government said. Earlier the school time was from 6.30 am to 11.30 am for both students and teachers. The Education Department has also reduced the days of summer vacation. 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. Bratislava, May 18 : Following the assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, there has been an increase in threats against other politicians in the country, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told the daily newspaper Pravda on Saturday. He said he personally had received death threats. The minister belongs to the second-largest governing party, Voice-Social Democracy (Hlas-SD). A member of parliament from Smer, the largest governing party led by Fico, had also been threatened. A perpetrator has been identified in both cases. Earlier, death threats against liberal opposition leader Michal Simecka and his family had already been made public. Apart from specific death threats, the number of aggressive comments on social media has also increased significantly, Slovakian media reported, citing experts. Meanwhile, Fico, 59, who was critically injured by several shots on Wednesday, remained in the intensive care unit of a regional hospital on Saturday. A panel of doctors is to decide on Monday whether the Prime Minister should be transferred to the capital, Bratislava. Moreover, on Saturday, a court is expected to decide whether the 71-year-old suspect in the assassination attempt should be held in pre-trial detention. --IANS/DPA sd/arm Agra May 18 : On International Museum Day, Taj City's ambitious Rs 200 crore Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Museum project, previously known as Mughal Museum, is awaiting the state government's support to finish its remaining works. Originally planned to be opened to public in Agra four years ago, the International Museum has faced delays due to a lack of funds and bureaucratic hurdles. Historian Dr Mukul Pandya mentioned that International Museum Day is organised by the International Council of Museums, focusing on a different theme each year, addressing current issues and challenges faced by museums worldwide. The purpose of Museum Day is to raise awareness about the societal contributions of museums and advocate for cultural exchange, diversity, and inclusivity. Museums serve as a unifying force, bringing people together. This year's theme centres around 'Museums for Education and Research'. Tourist guide Ved Gautam said that the construction of the International Museum in Taj City has been going on for several years since the foundation stone was laid by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on January 5, 2016. Originally estimated at Rs 140 crore, the cost has now increased to nearly Rs 200 crore. The museum is situated approximately 1 km from the Taj Mahal. The UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam contracted the Tata group to execute the project. Workers on the site said more than 60 per cent of the work is complete. Pre-cast concrete structures are being fabricated to speed up the work on the project according to the guidelines by eminent museum experts in France and the United Kingdom. The name of Mughal Museum was changed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Museum when Yogi Adityanth assumed office as Chief Minister of UP. Initially intended to focus on the Mughal era's weapons, attire, culture, and related aspects, the Yogi government has broadened its scope to encompass the extensive history of the Braj Mandal region. The museum will feature indoor auditoriums, outdoor theatres for cultural programmes, a library with books on archaeology and history, as well as a cafeteria. After eight years of construction, the prolonged delays are a cause for concern, but once completed, tourists will have another enticing reason to prolong their stay in Agra, according to Rajiv Saxena, a heritage conservationist from the city. The municipal museum at John's Public Library in Paliwal Park has been shut down, leaving only the museum within the Taj Mahal complex accessible to the public. Although this museum houses valuable historical artefacts, it does not attract many tourists in a hurry, as noted by Saxena. Regrettably, three exquisite statues of Queen Victoria are left unprotected in the open, reflecting a lack of appreciation for Agra's rich heritage among its residents, according to social activist Rajiv Gupta of Lok Swar. Meanwhile, the members of the Agra Heritage Group have urged the UP government to shift some of the valuable antiques, artefacts and Buddha statues from the Mathura Museum to the upcoming Agra Museum. Mathura Museum has the best collection of Buddhist artefacts and Buddha statues in the world. However, valuable antique pieces are carelessly lying around because of space constraints. "But now they will have a place, and Buddhists from across the world will throng the Agra Museum," said Gopal Singh of the Agra Heritage Group. The Mathura Museum, founded by the then-collector F. S. Growse in 1874, has a rich collection of artefacts, pottery, sculptures, paintings, and coins, as well as a large number of collections by eminent colonial archaeologists. Additionally, statues from the Kushan and Gupta periods (from 3rd century BC to 12th century AD) are conserved here. However, lack of resources and space have been major constraints. The conservationists hope that now, with the Agra Museum taking shape, this problem will be sorted out. Washington/Kyiv, May 18 : Kyiv is at a disadvantage in its defence against Russian forces due to restrictions on using US weapons against targets on Russian soil, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The latest report from the US think-tank released on Friday states that Russia exploits these restrictions by launching attacks from protected areas near the Ukrainian border. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for permission to use US weapons on Russian territory but was currently denied by the US to avoid further escalation. The US approach to date has severely limited Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian attacks in the north of the Kharkiv region, it said. According to the Pentagon, the US is providing the weapons so that Ukraine can liberate its occupied territories, but not for attacks on Russia. Ukraine's goal is to attack bases in Russia with Western weapons to destroy them even more effectively than with its own less powerful drones and missiles. Russia, on the other hand, is warning of an escalation in the war if weapons from NATO countries are used against them. --IANS/DPA int/sd/arm Moscow, May 18 : The leader of the Russian Parliament has accused the European Union (EU) of censorship and violating freedom of the press and expression after the latter decided to ban several Russian media. Taking to Telegram, Vyacheslav Volodin, a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Saturday, said that the European Union made the move because it lacks arguments to convince its own citizens and, therefore, has blocked what he said were alternative points of view. Volodin accused the West, which repeatedly complains about censorship in Russia, of double standards. In Russia, many media outlets that report critically on Putin's policies and thousands of websites are blocked. On Friday, the EU member states imposed sanctions on the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Voice of Europe (VoE) platform and the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, which also owns a television station. VoE was targeted for alleged involvement in distributing pro-Russia propaganda. The four media outlets are prohibited from distributing their content across the EU over their support for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the punitive measures do not prevent staff from the outlets from carrying out their work like interviews and research, an EU statement said Russia said it will respond to the EU move. In a previous incident, it stopped Germany's foreign broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), from broadcasting in Russia. DW had to close its office in Moscow, and its journalists had to leave the country. That was in response to a ban on broadcasting by the Russian state broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today). Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine more than two years ago, EU countries have withdrawn the licences of several media outlets. The aim is to prevent Russian war propaganda and disinformation from being disseminated in the EU. --IANS/DPA int/sd/arm Ambala, May 18 : In an oblique reference to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India's enemies now think "100 times" before planning to do anything as there is a 'dhaakad' (daring) government at the Centre. Speaking at a rally in Haryana's Ambala, PM Modi said "Haryana means 'himmat' (courage) and 'haunsla' (encouragement)". "I ate Haryana's bread and ran a strong government. In the four phases of elections, the people of the country have defeated INDIA bloc," PM Modi said at the public meeting, adding that the party workers of the opposition bloc are "absolutely hopeless". "Just like Haryana, Modi has run the government for 10 years in a 'dhaakad' manner. Today, when you see Rafale aircraft in the skies over Ambala, don't you feel proud? I have come to seek your blessings for the next five years. Haryana is a state which has patriotism in its veins," said PM Modi. Voting for the 10 Parliamentary seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth phase on May 25. "When there is a strong government in the country, the enemy thinks 100 times before doing anything. The strong government of Modi brought down the wall of Article 370. Kashmir is now moving on the path of development." PM Modi claimed that the Congress has done nothing for the farmers. "They purchased crop worth Rs 7.5 lakh crore on MSP (minimum support price) in 10 years... Modi in 10 years bought Rs 20 lakh crore crop on MSP that is nearly three times," he said. Several BJP candidates, comprising Ambala's Banto Kataria, Kurukshetra's Naveen Jindal, and Karnal's Manohar Lal Khattar, besides Chief Minister Nayab Saini and senior cabinet colleagues attended PM Modi's election rally. "Pakistan, which has been troubling India for the last 70 years and had bombs in its hands, now holds a begging bowl. The enemies shiver when there is a 'dhaakad' government," PM Modi said. "Could a weak government have changed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir? Remember the time when there was a Congress government (in the state) and brave mothers of Haryana used to be worried day and night. Today, it has been 10 years - all of that has stopped. "Only 17 days remain for June 4 (the day of counting). Whatever tactics the INDIA bloc used for the country have all been defeated by the public in the four phases of the elections," PM Modi added. Guwahati, May 18 : The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) while conducting routine checking at New Jalpaiguri railway station of West Bengal recovered 10 live endangered species of turtles that were being transported illegally, officials said on Saturday. NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said that a RPF team conducted a routine check in the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Silchar Aronai Express train at New Jalpaiguri station on Friday and detected 10 live endangered species of turtles. The turtles were handed over to the West Bengal Forest Department after completing all the legal formalities and documentation. The NFR operates in the northeastern states and seven districts of West Bengal and five districts of north Bihar. Mumbai, May 18 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday appealed to the voters to vote for BJP as the fight is between the "Ram Bhakt" and "Ram Drohi" and "Rashtra Bhakt" and "Rashtra Drohi". Mumbai, May 18 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday appealed to the voters to vote for BJP as the fight is between the "Ram Bhakt" and "Ram Drohi" and "Rashtra Bhakt" and "Rashtra Drohi". "Vote for the BJP means a vote for Rashtra Bhakt and Ram Bhakt which is also a vote for development, security and growth of every section of the society," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said while addressing the campaign rally for BJP nominee Ujjwal Nikam from North Central Mumbai. He slammed Congress and the INDIA bloc leaders for raising "questions" over the martyrdom of IPS officer Hemant Karkare and other ATS officers during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. "It is sickening that the Congress and the INDIA bloc leaders are busy glorifying Ajmal Kasab. Ujjwal Nikam, as a learned prosecutor, was responsible for pleading the case against Kasab after which the court ordered his (Ajmal Kasab) execution. Nikam fought to get punishment for terrorists and mafias," the Chief Minister said. He said that under the Modi government, the country is not only safe and secure but the terrorist activities have also been curbed. "The situation was different before the Modi government came to power as there were burgeoning Maoist activities and terror incidents in the country," the Chief Minister said. He said that when terror attacks used to take place earlier, the Congress government used to say the terrorists were from outside the borders. "This equation has changed under the Modi government so much that even if a firecracker busts, Pakistan clarifies that they are not behind it. This is the new Bharat, which doesn't spare those indulging in terror activities against us," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said. He added that in the new Bharat, there is respect, development and security. The Chief Minister also criticised Congress for its "anger" over the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. "In Uttar Pradesh, various statements were issued by Congress leaders on the construction of Ram Mandir. Some say it should not have been constructed while others say it should have been constructed outside the country. Under the Modi government, the Ram Mandir was constructed at its original place. I tell Congress people that they have an opportunity to construct Ram Mandir in Italy and if they still are angry then they should construct a temple of Bajrangbali there," the Chief Minister said. He also took a swipe at Congress for declaring that if voted to power they (Congress) would "demolish" the Ram Mandir. "You (Congress) are not in a position to come to power as you are raising the questions over the existence of Ram and Bharat. Therefore, you will not get any opportunity," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said. Kolkata, May 18 : West Bengal Congress President and five-time Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Saturday that his continued opposition to the ruling Trinamool Congress is for the sake of keeping the Congress relevant in the state. "My fight is to keep Congress relevant in West Bengal. I cannot move away from it since I am a dedicated soldier of the party," Chowdhury said while speaking to mediapersons in his home constituency Baharampur. Chowdhury has been criticising Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee - who has committed her support to the INDIA bloc - doubting that the West Bengal CM could back the BJP in the times to come. On Saturday, while addressing a press meet in Mumbai, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Chowdhury was no one to decide the measures to be adopted for government formation after the polls. "Mamata Banerjee has said that she will support the INDIA bloc from outside. As far as Adhir Ranjan's remark is concerned, he is no one to decide anything. The top leaders and the party high command will decide that and those who won't follow the same will be out of the party," said Kharge. Hours later, Chowdhury clarified that he does not hold any personal grudge and that his opposition to Trinamool is for the sake of Congress in the state. He also said that being a member of the Congress Working Committee, he is part of the party high command. Targeting Mamata Banerjee, he alleged that the leader took the help of Maoists in the tribal-dominated pockets of West Bengal to come to power. aWhen the fight was on with the Left Front, she took the help of Maoists. She can do anything to guard her political interests and compromise with her political ideology. But I cannot do that," said Chowdhury. Bengaluru, May 18 : Reacting to the claims of jailed BJP leader G. Devaraje Gowda that he was offered Rs 100 crore bribe by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to defame former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's family in the sex video scandal, the senior Congress leader said on Saturday that he would not comment on a "mentally sick" person's remarks. Devaraje Gowda, who is presently in judicial custody in a sexual harassment and atrocity case, had alleged on Friday that Shivakumar offered him Rs 100 crore to malign the names of former CM and JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy, the son of Deve Gowda, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the sex video scandal involving the former Prime Minister's grandson Prajwal Revanna. Speaking to mediapersons from the police vehicle after being sent to judicial custody, Devaraje Gowda even claimed that Shivakumar sent him Rs 5 crore as advance. Speaking to reporters at his residence here, Shivakumar said on Saturday, "He (Devaraje Gowda) better file a complaint with the Lokayukta or whichever agency he wants to. I think he has mental issues. It is unfortunate that the media is paying attention to his statements. The allegations don't have any basis. I don't know how he made such charges while in custody." "The allegations are baseless, and I don't want to comment on them," he added. When asked if he would file a defamation case against Devaraje Gowda, Shivakumar said, "I do not want to make any comment on people who are mentally sick. I appeal to his party leaders to arrange for his proper treatment," said Shivakumar, who's also the state Congress chief. Commenting on the sex video scandal, Shivakumar said the discussion is not focused on the victims, but only on the pen drives (containing disturbing visuals). "I hope the SIT is doing its job efficiently. The Karnataka government is committed to giving justice to the victims, which will be done by the SIT," he said. Commenting on Devaraje Gowda's allegations, Home Minister G. Parameshwara said on Saturday that the SIT will look into the matter. When asked about Devaraje Gowda's claim that once he is released, the Congress government would collapse in Karnataka, Parameshwara said in that case, Devaraje Gowda will have to continue to be in prison. Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, meanwhile, questioned why Devaraje Gowda, who was hostile to JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna's family a year ago, has suddenly become close to the family. He said the role of three persons is being discussed with regard to the sex video scandal -- Prajwal Revanna, who made the videos, his former driver Karthik Gowda who downloaded them, and Devaraje Gowda who distributed the videos. On Friday, Devaraje Gowda also claimed that after he refused the offer, police cases were lodged against him following which he was arrested. "I am ready to expose him (Shivakumar) once I am released. The Congress government is going to collapse in Karnataka," he claimed. "I was told to make a statement that it was Kumaraswamy who circulated the pen drives containing sex videos (involving Kumaraswamy's nephew Prajwal Revanna). But it was Shivakumar who obtained the pen drive from Karthik Gowda, who worked as a driver for Prajwal Revanna, and planned the entire episode." Mumbai, May 18 : Shiv Sena (UBT) president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no more use of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and it "will ban the RSS" soon. Speaking here at a joint INDIA-MVA media conference, in which Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar and other senior leaders were also present, while criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former Maharashtra CM referred to an interview by BJP President J.P. Nadda in which he has made certain references to the RSS that has become a hot political topic of debate. "As far as J.P. Nadda is concerned, he feels that the BJP does not need the RSS anymore now. Currently, in its centenary year, even the RSS could be at risk. PM Modi called my party a 'nakli Sena' and said I am a 'nakli santaan'... tomorrow, they will also label RSS as 'nakli' and ban it," said Thackeray. He took strong umbrage and pointed out how PM Modi has consistently referred to his party Shiv Sena (UBT) as a 'fake Sena' -- and the NCP (SP), too -- in many of his election rallies across the state during the past couple of months. "Let the election results come out on June 4. Then they will realise which is the real Sena and which is the fake one. Balasaheb Thackeray always stood firmly behind Modi in all his times of crises. Now, the same Modi calls his (Balasaheb's) party as 'nakli'," said Thackeray. In the media interview, J.P. Nadda reportedly said that in the beginning, when the BJP was smaller and less capable, it needed the help of the RSS but now the party has grown in strength so it can run and manage itself independently. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 18. Kazakhstan and Latvia have signed a Memorandum on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor), Trend reports. The signing of the document took place between the Ministers of Transport of Kazakhstan and Latvia, Marat Karabayev and Kaspars Briskens. "Our countries are actively developing transit and transport cooperation. One of the significant aspects of cooperation is the permanently functioning joint working group on transport. This group covers a wide range of issues in the fields of railway, road, air transport, transit, and logistics," the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan said during the meeting. According to him, today, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route has acquired a special role as an alternative to other routes. This is evidenced by a twofold increase in cargo transportation volumes at the end of 2023. "In order to increase the potential of TITR as well as eliminate bottlenecks on the route, work is being carried out to improve infrastructure and terminal capacities, expand port capacities, increase rolling stock, remove administrative barriers, and create favorable conditions for carriers, which will allow increasing throughput by 2025 TITR up to 10 million tons per year," Karabayev noted. Notably, to date, Latvia, together with Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, and Hungary, have expressed interest in joining the TITR. The Middle Corridor is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor. The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching Europe. The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes. Bamyan : , May 18 (IANS) The death toll from a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province has risen to six, including three Spanish nationals and three Afghans, a local police official said on Saturday. Two Afghans succumbed to their injuries after being treated in hospital, provincial police spokesperson Muhammad Khawani Rasa said. Among the injured are four foreign nationals from Spain, Norway, Australia and Lithuania, along with one Afghan, who are still receiving medical treatment, Rasa added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report. Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, the Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesperson Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media on Friday. Bratislava, May 18 : Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was critically injured in an assassination attempt earlier this week, is in stable condition, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said on Saturday. After his second operation on Friday, there is cause for optimism, the Minister added. However, Fico cannot yet be transferred to the capital, Bratislava, in the coming days, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak said. A panel of doctors is to decide on Monday whether he is to be transferred. The Prime Minister is currently recovering in the university hospital Banska Bystrica, close to the small town of Handlova where he was shot. On Saturday, the gunman who attacked Fico was remanded in custody, following a decision by a special court responsible for organised and politically motivated crime in the western city of Pezinok, court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova told dpa. She said this was due to the risk he might abscond and carry out further acts of violence. The decision can be appealed. The man was detained directly after the shooting on Wednesday. Reports, citing the police, said he had already pleaded guilty during questioning. The public prosecutor's office asked for him to be held in pre-trial detention and the court heard Juraj C, as he is known under privacy rules, on Saturday morning. He had been expecting Fico after a government meeting in Handlova and shot at him at close range. Fico, 59, was hit by several gunshots and has since undergone two operations. The suspect, 71, was charged on Thursday with attempted murder. He was described by authorities as a "lone wolf" motivated by political grievances. The attack, on the deeply divided nation, sent shock waves around the world. Since then, there has been an increase in threats against other politicians in the country, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told the daily newspaper Pravda on Saturday. Since then, there has been an increase in threats against other politicians in the country, the Interior Minister told the daily newspaper Pravda on Saturday. A member of Parliament from Smer, the largest governing party led by Fico, had also been threatened. A perpetrator has been identified in both cases. Earlier death threats against the liberal opposition leader Michal Simecka and his family had already been made public. Apart from specific death threats, the number of aggressive comments on social media has also increased significantly, Slovakian media reported, citing experts. --IANS/DPA khz Bengaluru, May 18 : Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that the Shakti scheme had resulted in a loss of revenue for the Bengaluru Metro, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Saturday that "the Hon'ble PM has received wrong inputs on the free travel scheme". Under the 'Shakti' scheme implemented by the Congress government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, women can avail free travel in state-run buses. Responding to media queries in this regard, Shivakumar said, "It is shocking to hear the statement of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, as he is not aware of the facts. The Shakti scheme in Karnataka is thriving; the common woman in the state is very happy. About 60 lakh women use this free travel service every day." "The allegation that this scheme generates a lot of pollution and causes losses for the Metro is not true. Income has increased by 30 percent and the Metro has made a profit of Rs 130 crore. The number of passengers has also increased. Metro is available only in Bengaluru, and the Shakti scheme is implemented throughout the state," he explained. "In the southern part of the country, in states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, the scheme is doing very well. The people are happy. The Prime Minister might not know the facts about how people are benefiting," Shivakumar stated. "I have been receiving calls from various state leaders across party lines regarding the implementation of the scheme. The government is paying all RTCs in the state. It was the first guarantee scheme to be implemented among the total five guarantees in the state," he maintained. "The Karnataka government has already purchased an additional 1,000 new buses. We have distributed these buses all over the state. The government is purchasing more buses. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has taken an initiative to serve women," he claimed. Kiev, May 18 : Several people were injured in Russian firing on a residential part of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and the neighbouring city of Vovchansk, the regional military administration said. In Kharkiv, five people were injured in artillery fire on a residential area, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. In Vovchansk, Russian attacks caused severe damage. "Unfortunately, the city of Vovchansk has been practically destroyed by the enemy, who are mercilessly attacking with glide bombs," Security Council member Andrey Kovalenko said on Telegram. Ukraine is managing to retain control of Vovchansk despite the repeated attacks, he added. The city in northeast Ukraine had nearly 19,000 inhabitants before the war. --IANS/DPA khz Imphal, May 18 : Various law enforcing agencies have seized various drugs worth Rs 7,887.76 crore and arrested 2,943 people during the last seven years in Manipur, an official said on Saturday, citing a document. According to the document, since 2017, a total of 2,351 cases in connection with the drugs smuggling and illegal trading of various drugs have been registered under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and other laws. "Sudden spikes in seizure of the staggering quantity of drugs trafficked from Myanmar in Mizoram since 2023 have been witnessed following the ethnic unrest in Manipur," the official paper said. According to the official document, around 16,161 acres of poppy cultivation in the Kuki-Zo community-dominated areas in the districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi were destroyed under the 'War on Drugs' campaign of the Manipur government. The poppy has been used to manufacture various drugs. There has been continuous threat to the state's heterogeneous population and demography due to the constant upsurge in the number of illegal migrants. There was a massive influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar into Manipur, particularly in the years 1988 and 1962. No measures were undertaken to collect their biometric data or identities. They were freely allowed to continuously encroach and settle upon the Protected Forest areas of Manipur, the official document said. "The demographic changes taking place by the influx of immigrants and the adverse outcomes which have been taking place for years even before the measure for identification was launched. Even before the state government started the drive to identify and collect the biometric data of the immigrants, as many as 996 new villages had already mushroomed in Manipur as a result of years of illegal immigration which went unchecked and undetected." Since the military took over the administration in Myanmar in February 2021, at least 8,000 Myanmarese have taken shelter in Manipur's Tengnoupal, Chandel, Churachandpur, and Kamjong districts and the Manipur government has already recorded the biometric details of the majority of the refugees. "These fresh arrivals of illegal immigrants into Manipur, following the Military coup in Myanmar are just a tip of the iceberg," the official document noted. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and leaders of other civil society organisations have often claimed that smuggling of drugs from Myanmar, illegitimate poppy cultivation and illegal immigration of people in Manipur from across the border are associated with the ethnic unrest and violence, that broke out in Manipur since May 3, 2023. Biren Singh has said that 877 sq km of forest cover in the northeastern state were destroyed in 34 years (1987-2021), primarily for the illegal cultivation of poppy. The eviction of unauthorised encroachers has been carried out ever since the BJP government led by Singh came to power in Manipur in 2017 and 291 encroachers were evicted from the Reserve Forest and Protected Forest throughout the state. "The eviction drive was never targeted towards any particular community," the Chief Minister pointed out. Patna, May 18 : After the Delhi Police arrested Bibhav Kumar, the Personal Secretary (PS) of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with alleged assault and misbehaviour with AAP MP Swati Maliwal, his father Maheshwar Rai said that his son Bibhav is 'innocent'. Rai said that Swati Maliwal is unnecessarily levelling charges against his son with "malefic" intentions. Bibhav Kumar is a native of Kudru village under Kochas block in Rohtas district, Bihar. "After that incident, I talked with my son on the phone. He told me that Swati Maliwal is unnecessarily creating an issue and levelling serious allegations against him. When Swati Maliwal reached the CM's office cum residence in Delhi, my son informed her to wait for some time to meet the Chief Minister but she levelled false allegations against him. My son is innocent," Rai, who retired as a constable in the Bihar Military Police (BMP) told media persons in Rohtas. After completing his studies at the Kashi Hindu University of Banaras, Bibhav went to Delhi to study journalism. During the same time, he came in contact with Arvind Kejriwal. Later, when the AAP government was formed in Delhi, Kejriwal appointed Bibhav Kumar as his Personal Secretary. The villagers said that Bibhav has not come home for the last several years but vouched for his integrity, saying that his conduct has been excellent. As per the FIR lodged by Swati Maliwal, Bibhav Kumar beat her up at the Chief Minister's residence where she had gone to meet Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Mumbai, May 18 : It is a calculated move by the BJP to rope in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra as the fiery UP CM is seen as someone who can protect the interests of the Hindu community and effectively counter the alleged 'Islamisation' of India. CM Adityanath addressed about 10 rallies across Maharashtra as he emerged as the leader in demand for the BJP and Shiv Sena cadres after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, especially amid the oppositionas allegations that the Constitution will be changed if the BJP retains power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls. Adityanath, in his speeches, also attacked the Congress government in Karnataka for proposing to include all castes and communities of Muslims under the Other Backward Class (OBC) section. The BJP organised Adityanathas rallies in areas such as Maregaon, Vasai-NalaSopara, Kurla, and Solapur, among others, where the Hindus and Muslims play a dominant role in deciding the fates of the party nominees. Further, the UP CM's campaign blitz in the state is also seen as an attempt to reiterate that the BJP is the true advocate of Hindutva, painting the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray as 'fake' as it has 'compromised' Hindutva to gain power and is now indulging in appeasement politics by teaming up with the Congress and the NCP (SP). Adityanath focused his speeches largely on hailing the PM Modi-led governmentas achievements, including the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the abrogation of Article 370, the ban on triple talaq, and the stern actions to curb cross-border terrorism and Maoist extremism in the country, among others. By painting the Congress as 'Rashtra Drohi' and 'Desh Drohi', especially in the wake of certain comments made by its leaders, Adityanath has reiterated that the BJP is well positioned to save the country from 'Islamisation', and counter the appeasement politics of the opposition parties. Adityanath chose to rake up the killing of three Sadhus in Palghar during the rule of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to send a clear message that the BJP will not tolerate violence against Hindus and take stern action against those indulging in such incidents. He also went on to add that had such killings taken place in Uttar Pradesh, the culprits would have been sentenced to death. This apart, the BJP also chose to arrange Adityanathas rallies in areas where the migrant population, especially from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, live in large numbers as their support is crucial to achieving the party's 'Mission 45 Plus' target in Maharashtra and 400 plus seats across India. Kohima, May 19 : After the Nagaland government, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday urged the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) not to abstain from participating in the urban local body (ULB) elections scheduled on June 26. Since 2010, the ENPO has been demanding a separate 'Frontier Nagaland Territory', or a separate state, comprising six eastern Nagaland districts -- Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang. It recently announced to abstain from participating in the ULB polls in support of its demand. The Naga body had also boycotted the elections to the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state on April 19. The SEC said on Saturday that the Commission is of the view that the method adopted by the ENPO to express its stand needs a reasoned reconsideration. "The Commission requested the ENPO to reconsider its stance of asking citizens to abstain from participating in the ULB elections. The Commission would ensure that all polling processes shall continue as per the schedule," the SEC said in a statement, confirming that it had received ENPO's letter on May 16. The Commission also said that voting is a constitutional right of every eligible citizen. The SEC said that the matter of ULB elections in Nagaland has been under the supervision of the Supreme Court with notice of contempt issued to several entities in the state, adding that any attempt to disturb or disrupt the electoral process by any individual or organisation in violation of the court orders would potentially have serious legal ramifications. "It is hoped that through these elections, the people in the municipality areas would be able to freely and willingly participate in exercising the constitutional right to vote and/or to contest as is deemed necessary to discharge the vital functions of local self-governance," the Commission said. After a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the Nagaland government on Thursday urged the ENPO not to boycott the ULB polls. However, the ENPO on Friday rejected the Nagaland government's appeal and remained firm on abstaining from participating in the ULB elections, to be held with 33 per cent reservation for women. ENPO Secretary W. Manwang Konyak told IANS: "We have to go by the decision of our grassroots level people. We would abstain from participating in the ULB polls." Konyak also said that the ENPO had, on March 19, adopted a unanimous resolution that the people of the region would not participate in any central or state elections due to the delay in creating the Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT), as offered and assured by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 7, 2023. Meg Medina, the 20232024 National Ambassador for Young Peoples Literature (an initiative of the Library of Congress in partnership with Every Child a Reader), received the 2019 Newbery Medal for her middle grade novel Merci Suarez Changes Gears. In her latest picture book, No More Senora Mimi (Candlewick, Sept.), illustrated by Brittany Cicchese, a girl realizes that the arrival of her grandmother as a daily caregiver could mean saying goodbye to her longtime babysitter. Medina spoke with PW about being ambassador, how the village really does raise a child, and a memory of firing her beloved babysitter when she was young. Are you participating in CI2024 primarily as Ambassador for Young Peoples Literature or as a childrens author? Both. There really is no way to cleave the work I am doing as an ambassador around libraries and reading and children and my own work and my own advocacy for reading. Ill be speaking mostly about Senora Mimi, but not specifically to promote the title. Childrens Institute has a wider view than selling an authors work. I do talk as ambassador about how we all raise children together, how we all raise readers together. And I do have a new book out that happens to look at the relationships that kids build with the people they love. But the conversation at CI2024 is about caregivers: about how weas a bookselling community, as a book-buying community, as a book-making communityrethink who is raising our children, and how can we enlist all of those folks in helping us lift those kids as they grow up. What accomplishment since you were named ambassador are you most proud of? I hold public office hours quarterly when families can come to the library and spend some time with me. Kids come with their bags of books, they tell me about their reading life, about books they want me to read, about places in the library. The talking is all over the place, sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish. Sometimes the parents are quiet, sometimes its a whole family conversation. It feels to me like an important step, especially for a role so tied to the Library of Congress. The message is, the library is yours, a place where you can access anything you are curious about. Its opening the door for kids to be able to see themselves as legitimately belonging in that space. What are your greatest challenges as ambassador? Its a vast role. Youre traveling a lot and trying to manage your own writing and school visits, and its hard to come by that quiet space you need as a writer. Also, right now theres heated conversation around children and banning books. How do you encourage people to talk with their children about the books theyre reading, as opposed to blocking them? Ive had to dig in to find the grace and patience to discover a common ground and give children space to read. Was there someone in your life who inspired you to write No More Senora Mimi? My mother got divorced and needed to work. There was a woman in our neighborhood, a fellow Cuban named Mimi, who took me in, along with other kids in the neighborhood. She was my babysitter until my mother announced that my family was arriving from Cuba and my abuela would be my babysitter. I was delighted, and said to Mimi, My grandmother is going to take care of me, so I dont need you anymore. Goodbye. But you can see in photo albums across my whole life, I knew Mimi forever. Mimi was at my First Communion, at weddings, at all kinds of things. She was part of this whole network of immigrant women who were trying to help each other, and those friendships endured. Why did you decide to write about a babysitter and her charge? So many kids have experiences in daycare or with in-home care providers. That relationship they make with these people is essential. On top of all that, in-home childcare is predominantly done by Black and Latina women. Theres an entire ecosystem there I wanted to shine a light on. How do Brittany Ciccheses illustrations complement the text? I give kudos to Brittany, a librarian who brings to illustration her own gentleness and an eye for what works for children. She really shines at emotion, and this largely is what Senora Mimi is about: the emotional lives of children and the people who love them. Is it difficult to switch back and forth between writing picture books and middle grade novels, and is there a common theme to all of your books? I have this childs voice at different ages inside of me. I can find the problems of that age, the voice, and the feelings pretty easily. What dictates the genre is what the story is. What is the feeling of the story? Who is the audience? The themes I am always unpacking are growth, culture, growing up, and familyand what happens when those things all collide. How does your Cuban heritage influence your writing style? I call my writing style my clave: the clave are the rhythm sticks that are so essential to the three-two rhythm thats a constant in Cuban music. It never changes, even if you put bongos and all kinds of music around it. It drives the music. My focus always is culture, growing up, and family, and where those intersectwhether its for someone whos 17 or someone whos six or seven. Theres an entire eco-system there I wanted to shine a light on. Its your first Childrens Institute. Are you excited? When your book is coming out, youre thrilled! Its like a baby being born. But I also like being able to say something meaningful about writing for children. Thats one way my ambassadorship and my presentation overlap. To be ambassador is not to sell your book: its to be in service to the nations children and their reading lives. Your focus has to be forward, and it has to include everybody. Meg Medina will give the opening keynote on Monday, June 10, 5:156:15 p.m. Visiting the best scenic towns, beaches and coastal stops between Melbourne and Sydney gives you the chance to have a relaxing drive and discover new places on a road trip. Experience the beauty of the Australian east coast with a drive that takes you from the countrys cultural capital to the harbour city, with stunning beaches, seaside towns and national parks to visit along the way. Although you can get from Melbourne to Sydney in under 10 hours via the Hume Highway, this coastal road trip is as much about the journey as the destination. Before you embark on your adventure, stay road trip happy by packing your emergency roadside kit and updating your emergency roadside assistance coverage. Electric car owners are advised to check EV charging availability along the route prior to leaving. Here are the must-visit scenic stops on the Melbourne to Sydney coastal road trip. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 18. Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan have discussed the unrest that arose on the night of May 18 after a clash in Bishkek between local residents and foreigners, Trend reports. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, Pakistans Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Hassan Zaigham, met with Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Almaz Imangaziev. The Kyrgyz side requested that Pakistan work with its media outlets to prevent the spread of inaccurate information about the incident. According to Imangaziev, the Kyrgyz authorities have controlled the situation, which is now back to normal. He said that the police are providing security to all the hostels, and the matter is being directly supervised by the Kyrgyz president. To note, some Pakistani media outlets had previously reported three fatalities resulting from the incident, but the Pakistani Embassy in Kyrgyzstan stated that this information is unconfirmed. At the same time, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Zaigham strongly expressed concerns for Pakistani nationals, particularly the large number of affected Pakistani students and their families. He urged the Kyrgyz government to prioritize the safety and security of Pakistani citizens. New rolling stock is being delivered this week to the Jungfrau Railway for the Grutschalp-Murren adhesion railway section of the railway. The line between Grutschalp and Murren has been completely renovated, ready for the new multiple-unit trains to run in mixed operation with the existing trains later this summer. Switzerland mountain view. // Credit: Roger Smith With the introduction of the new trains, the journey time to the car-free village of Murren will be shortened and the passenger capacity increased. All trains, stations and stops are now fully accessible in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Disability Discrimination Act. The first unit was delivered last November, and commissioning was carried out during the winter. Results of the commissioning tests were incorporated in the construction of the other two units. Delivery of the rolling stock had been delayed because some of Stadlers suppliers had supply bottlenecks due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. Also, because of limited track capacity, testing and stabling facilities were restricted. New train built by Stadler for Swiss Federal Railways. // Credit: Stadler Testing the new units was extremely challenging and took much longer than normal. It took place at night, 1600 metres above sea level, in very wintry conditions, and with lots of snow. As well as the new rolling stock, accessibility improvements have included barrier-free toilet facilities at Grutschalp and the lift at Murren station renovated. The workshop at Grutschalp has been updated, the Winteregg crossing has been renovated, and lifts and a passenger subway have been installed at Winteregg station and the station renovated. A new roof terrace bistro opened last summer at Grutschalp station that provides views of the Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau mountains. To completely renew the line between Grutschalp and Murren, work has been carried out in stages over the past few years and has required several thousand tonnes of ballast, 8,000 new oak sleepers, and installation of around 9,600 metres of track. Stadler has had other successes in Switzerland recently, notably from SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) for five high-speed Giruno trains to support its expansion of international services to Italy, and for the supply of hydrogen-powered narrow-gauge trains to Italy. The more than four-year construction phase was intensive and long. I am happy that we were able to carry out the work according to plan and that commissioning is now imminent, Stefan Wittwer, Head of Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Murren AG (BLM) We are delighted that we can offer locals and guests even more comfort and quality on this important and unique panoramic connection to the car-free village of Murren. The new rolling stock marks the completion of the CHF 63 million, four-year construction project for the total renovation of the adhesion railway. The new multiple units with level access as well as the renovated and extended Grutschalp and Winteregg stations and Murren station now fulfil the requirements of the Federal Disability Discrimination Act. Urs Kessler, Director of Jungfrau Railways Disney/John Fleenor By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/18/2024 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Gerry Turner has revealed if he's dating again after divorcing Theresa Nist Gerry and Theresa, who got engaged on finale late last year, wed on January 4 in a live televised special for ABC, but then Gerry filed for divorce on April 12 following only three months of marriage.Gerry returned to Instagram last week for the first time since announcing his split from Theresa.A fan commented on Gerry's May 9 Instagram post, "Heard you're dating again !!!"Gerry, 72, replied, "Definitely not."The May 9 Instagram post featured photos of Gerry spending time with his dog Cody at his lake house in Indiana.Gerry captioned the slideshow, "My favorite time of the year on the Lake, and Cody's too! In addition to her loving up on my dad and taking boat rides, she has the full time job of keeping the geese off the shore. Summer is close."Former star Ben Higgins recently heard a rumor about why Gerry and Theresa's marriage had ended so quickly."There is a rumor that on Theresa's visit to Indiana, Gerry picked Theresa up at the airport. It's about two hours from where Gerry lives," Ben began on the Sunday, May 5 episode of "The Ben and Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast."Ben continued, "So after he picks her up, they're both excited, but there had already been some issues in the relationship. There had been some grumblings and things happening... They're not seeing eye-to-eye in life."Ben said during Gerry and Theresa's drive from the airport to his lake house, the spouses had an eye-opening conversation."Most of that drive is through cornfields. Most of that drive is through agriculture and untouched land, in a lot of ways," Ben noted.Ben said the rumor is that Theresa, who works in financial services in a busy New Jersey city, made a comment to Gerry that rubbed the Iowa native the wrong way."[Theresa said], 'Wow, look at all this beautiful untouched land. Think about what could be done if they developed it -- condos, office buildings, apartments. Think about the towns that could congregate in these open fields and think about the people that would be interested in moving here,'" Ben alleged."[She added], 'And look at that lake! There's a lake with only cornfields around it. Think about if they build up a resort where people could vacation to.'"'s Season 20 star went on to reveal, "And Gerry's comment back to her, again, a rumor, was, 'You don't take land from a farmer.' And that was the start of them realizing that they do not see the world the same way."Last month, Theresa took a jab at haters who have criticized the couple for throwing in the towel so quickly after enjoying a lavish televised wedding that cost ABC millions of dollars in January."For everyone else who is confused and angry and who does not understand, please try to find it in your heart to understand and to try a little kindness," Theresa wrote on Instagram."Not just for me but for the world and for everyone you encounter."Theresa called her relationship with Gerry "one of the most incredible experiences" of her life."[It was] something I never expected to happen at this point in my life and I truly thought it was going to last forever. It turns out, even at the age of 70, you don't know everything," Theresa admitted, adding how "sometimes things don't go the way you planned" and that's okay."I take so many positives away from this experience, most importantly and above all the incredible friends I now have... I ask you to please stay open to all the experiences, opportunities, and love that may come your way. Keep smiling, keep laughing... I will. I love you all."Before Gerry and Theresa announced their decision to split in an evening ABC Nightline interview, part of which aired on Good Morning America on April 12, Theresa and Gerry had appeared on a March episode of the "Dear Shandy" podcast.On the podcast, Theresa and Gerry discussed how they fought during their marriage and how Theresa's desire to continue working a full-time job in New Jersey contributed to the demise of their relationship.Gerry listed April 12 as his date of separation from Theresa in the divorce papers, and he cited an "irretrievable breakdown" of marriage as the cause of their split from Theresa, according to Us Weekly.Theresa also confirmed on ABC Nightline that she and the retired fast-food restaurant owner had signed a prenuptial agreement."So many people wanted us to sign a prenup, and we do [have one]," Theresa revealed with a big smile. "We thought it would be best for our families."During their interview with Juju Chang on ABC Nightline, Gerry and Theresa revealed they're divorcing because neither one of them was willing to relocate and move away from their adult children and families."The thing that strikes me the most, and in our conversations, is how dedicated both of us our to our families," Gerry said as Theresa nodded in agreement."So we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it's best for the happiness of each of us to live apart."But Juju was openly skeptical of the couple's explanation, as many Bachelor Nation alums have been as well "I hear what you're saying... and yet throughout the process you said you were 100% committed to making it work," she said. "In November you told me you were thinking of moving to South Carolina to be together. How did it all fall apart?""Yeah, so that was the plan," Theresa replied."We looked at homes in South Carolina. We [also] considered New Jersey. We just looked at home after home but we never got to the point where we made that decision."Sessions with a marriage counselor apparently helped Gerry and Theresa decide to move in the direction of divorce rather than trying to stay together.However, the reality TV stars insisted they have not fallen out of love, despite their choice to part ways.During the ABC interview, Theresa also insisted a November 2023 media report that Gerry misrepresented his past throughout 's production and broadcast run and allegedly had a live-in girlfriend of nearly three years before he appeared on the show played no role in her decision to divorce."No, not for me," Theresa said. "Because Gerry had already discussed that with me, he had already explained that to me before the report was ever released -- so we were good with that, that didn't play into it.""No," Gerry shrugged.stars also shared that they plan to continuing looking for love in new relationships."Oh yeah," Gerry told Juju."Yes," Theresa acknowledged. "And we tell everyone else to continue looking for love."Up until April 12, the couple had been putting on a united front in public.Gerry and Theresa had just recently walked the red carpet together and filmed an episode of Celebrity Family Feud, after which Gerry boasted about the couple's "blended family" reuniting on social media.Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, May 18. Green, reliable energy is crucial to Tajikistans development, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said in a post on her X account following her visit to the Rogun hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in the country, Trend reports. It is a fantastic opportunity to visit Rogun. A project that can transform the economy of Tajikistan and also has tremendous significance for the whole region can be a source of low-cost green energy for people and businesses. And I want to express my deep appreciation for the work that is being done here. As a global citizen, I can say that the future of the world economy is green energy, and green energy is going to be produced right here on a large scale, she said in the video address. Georgieva expressed deep respect for the president of Tajikistan, the government of Tajikistan, and the Tajik people for the incredible development of the Rogun HPP. I wish for the dream of all Tajik for Rogun to reach its full capacity to be soon realized. At the IMF, we would do all we can to support the microeconomic performance of the country so it is easier for investors to come, she concluded. The Rogun HPP is a hydroelectric power station under construction on the Vakhsh River with an installed capacity of 3600 MW. In total, it is planned to install six units, each with a projected capacity of 600 MW. The average annual electricity generation at the Rogun HPP is expected to exceed 17 billion kWh. The height of the dam is 335 meters. Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh who was killed by terrorists on March 19, 2024. The first attack took place on an open tourist camp near Pahalgam and the second on the former sarpanch at Hirpora in south Kashmir, officials said "Terrorists fired upon and injured a woman, Farha, a resident of Jaipur (in Rajasthan) and her spouse Tabrez at Yannar in Anantnag. The injured were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone Police posted on X. In another attack within half an hour, terrorists shot dead former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh in Shopian's Hirpora around 10.30 pm, the officials said. Sheikh, who was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, they said. The areas in Anantnag and Shopian have been cordoned off and search operations have been launched to nab the attackers, the officials said. The back-to-back attacks come at a time when campaigning for the parliamentary polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is going on. Polling in Baramulla will be held on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections. Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference, PDP and the BJP, condemned the attacks. Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, said on X, "While we condemn the attack in Pahalgam today that resulted in injuries to two tourists followed by another attack on a (former) sarpanch in Hirpora, Shopian -- the timing of these attacks given that the south election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by GOI (Government of India)." IMAGE: The tourist couple shot at in Anantnag undergoing treatment in a hospital. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com Polling for the seat was scheduled to be conducted on May 7 but was deferred after few political parties in Jammu and Kashmir raised concerns over weather conditions. Polling will now being held on May 25. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah also condemned the terror attacks. "They have said that such acts of brutality remain a serious impediment to achieving long-term peace in J-K. They urged all communities to come together in these challenging times and support efforts towards lasting harmony. Their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult period," a statement from the party said. The BJP in a statement said, "We strongly condemn the killing of ex-sarpanch Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh in Hirpora, Shopian, South Kashmir, by terrorists today." "Aijaz Ahmad was a brave soldier of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP firmly stands with the family of Aijaz Ahmad, who lost his life in this terror attack," it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday kept up the attack on the Congress, saying it should forget the "dream" of bringing back Article 370 as it has been "buried" in the "kabristan (graveyard)". IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting for the Lok Sabha elections, in Sonipat on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Addressing a rally at Gohana, his second of the day in Haryana after one at Ambala, Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other". Striking a chord with the locals, Modi referred to Gohana's famous "Matu Ram ki jalebi" to target the opposition INDIA bloc, saying it has a formula of having five prime ministers in five years if they come to power. "Ask them is the prime minister's post our Matu Ram ki jalebi," he told the crowd. "In the 2024 'kurukshetra', there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other," he said. "I want to ask the people of Haryana... who will win?" He waited for the crowd to respond before saying, "Your reply has decided 'Phir Ek Baar'," and the crowd went, "Modi Sarkar." Modi said now the Congress is not even hiding its "desh-virodhi agenda (anti-national agenda)". They are saying openly what Modi did in 10 years they will reverse it if they come to power, he said. But their "dream" of bringing Article 370 back will never be fulfilled, he added. "They are saying that we will restore Article 370 in Kashmir... This means once again a free run for terrorism and bloodshed in the Valley." "From the brave land of Haryana, I want to tell those associated with the Congress that only tricolour will fly in Kashmir now," he said. "Forget the dream of bringing back 370 in Kashmir. And if you try to do it 'lene k dene padd jayenge' (you will to pay very heavy price)," he said. "Dhara 370 ki deewar hamne kabristan me gaad di hai....We have buried the hurdle of Article 370 in the kabristan (graveyard)." Earlier at the Ambala poll rally too, Modi attacked the Congress and said it was his "dhakad" (strong) government that removed the Article 370 impedient and as a result, Jammu and Kashmir is now moving on the path of progress. Back at Gohana in Sonipat, Modi said the Congress is out of power for 10 years and therefore they are jittery. They are remembering their old days when the "shahi parivar" used to run government with a remote control, he said, adding all government schemes used to be in the name of only one family and there was corruption too. During the Congress rule, he said, firing at the borders and ceasefire violations used to be in the headlines regularly. But under his government, he said, the situation has changed even though the enemy is the same. It is not Modi, but the power of a vote of people which changed the situation, he added. Modi said he gave the soldiers, including the brave soldiers from Haryana, guarding the borders a free hand. The Congress and INDIA alliance are not able to digest these decisions, Modi said. "They cannot see this situation of Pakistan. Now people associated with the Congress have become Pakistan's spokespersons and are saying the neighbouring country has nuclear bomb." "Tell me, should India be scared of Pakistan?" he asked the gathering."Ye Modi ka daur hai, hum ghar mein ghus ke marte hai (This is Modi's period, we hit the enemy inside its territory)." He railed against the opposition INDIA bloc, calling it a gang of the corrupt. (Jamaat of ghotalebaaz)." "They want power at any cost. And what is that cost? It is the country's security, stability and respect. And five prime ministers in five years. This is their formula to run the government," he said. "Will the country benefit, if there is new PM each year. What will they do? Will you allow the country to go back to that period of instability." Accusing the Congress of appeasement politics, Modi said its manifesto has Muslim League imprint. "It will X-ray your land, jewellery, will get property inquired, where is Mangalsutra, all of this property, which is in excess of your requirement, will be distributed among those who do Vote Jihad," he said. "Will you allow your property to be snatched away? Will you allow those who do Vote Jihad have rights on your property." He also attacked the Congress by mentioning the 2006 remark then PM Manmohan Singh and on the issue of "inheritance tax". Accusing the Congress of backstabbing Babasaheb B R Ambedkar and shredding the Constitution, Modi said the party wants to give reservation meant for SC, ST and OBC to Muslims. "They have started this in Karnataka. After forming the government, they declared all Muslims as OBC and as a result, they robbed the OBC of their share, looted a big chunk of it while the original OBC were left in the lurch," said Modi. He also alleged the Congress created as many obstacles as it could in the Ram Temple construction to make those who do 'Vote Jihad' happy. "They have so much hatred towards Lord Ram that they rejected the invitation (for consecration ceremony)." Whereas Iqbal Ansari, who fought against Ram Mandir in court, attended the ceremony, he said. Modi alleged "INDI Alliance" leaders openly say Ram Mandir is "useless". One Congress leader said there was a discussion on how to overturn the court verdict and send Ram Lalla back to the tent, the PM said. "Will you make the poisonous politics of Congress and INDI alliance a success." Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and the BJP's Lok Sabha poll candidate from Sonipat Mohan Lal Badoli were also on the stage. There are not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India, the White House has said, applauding the people of India for exercising their right to vote. IMAGE: National security spokesperson John Kirby takes questions from members of the news media during a press briefing with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 17, 2024. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby was responding to a question on the ongoing Indian elections in which more than 969 million people are exercising their right to franchise at one million polling stations to elect 545 Members of Parliament from thousands of candidates representing as many as 2,660 registered political parties. The voting will conclude on June 1. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on June 4. "Not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India. And we applaud the Indian people for exercising, you know, their ability to vote, and to have a voice in their future government. And we wish them well throughout the process, of course," Kirby told reporters at a news conference in Washington, DC. Responding to another question, Kirby said the India-United States relationship has strengthened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular during the last three years of the Biden administration. "Our relationship with India is extremely close and getting closer," he said. "You saw it on a State Visit (last June). We launched all kinds of new initiatives, working on critical emerging technologies together, and bolstering and expanding the relevance of the Indo-Pacific quad, of course, which India is a part of. And then, just the people-to-people exchanges, and the military that we share with India," Kirby said. It's a very vibrant, very active partnership, he said. "We are grateful for Prime Minister Modi's leadership," said the senior White House official. When asked if President Joe Biden believes that India and Japan are xenophobic countries, he replied in the negative and said the president was making a broader point. "I mean, the President was making a broader point here about the vibrancy of our own democracy, here in the United States, and how inclusive and participatory it is," Kirby said. Biden earlier this month had called Japan and India 'xenophobic', grouping them with Russia and China as countries that 'don't want immigrants'. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and other INDIA bloc leaders on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his claim that the opposition alliance would bulldoze the Ayodhya Ram temple if voted to power, and said they were committed to protecting the religious freedom of all citizens and ensuring that the country runs as per the Constitution. IMAGE: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge addresses the INDIA bloc joint press conference with Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party-SP chief Sharad Pawar and others, in Mumbai on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Kharge, Shiv Sena-UBT president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar jointly addressed a press conference in Mumbai on the last day of the campaigning for the final phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state on May 20. These leaders responded to questions on PM Modi's charge that the opposition bloc will bulldoze the Ram temple, dilute quota for SC, ST and OBC categories and also restore Article 370 if voted to power. Kharge accused PM Modi of inciting people over the issues "that the Congress will never do". Thackeray said the INDIA bloc's government will complete the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, while Pawar said it will be the duty of their government to protect not just temples, but the places of worship of all religions. Kharge also said reservation as enshrined in the Constitution will stay. "We have never used a bulldozer on anyone. Modi has the habit of lying and inciting people about things which Congress will never do or which are impossible to be implemented," he said. To a question on his party's stand on Article 370, Kharge said, "I am not answerable to Modi. We will implement what we have promised in our manifesto." Attacking the PM, he said, "Wherever he goes, he tries to create division, speaks of dividing society." Kharge said Modi speaks of providing free ration of 5 kg to 80 crore people. "Our government enacted the Food Security Act and it is bound to implement it. The Congress has now said that we will give 10 kg free ration," he said. Pawar said the previous government had taken the decision of the Food Security Act, but now Modi is taking credit for providing 5 kg free ration. Thackeray said the INDIA alliance has several prime ministerial faces, while the BJP has only one and even that is not working. "Now they cannot replace the face at the fag end of poll campaign. We have decided what we should do when we get the majority," he said. Attacking the BJP and PM Modi for calling his party "nakli" (fake) Shiv Sena, Thackeray said the BJP will also call RSS as 'nakli Sangh'. Citing BJP chief J P Nadda's interview, in which he said that BJP is capable and runs its own affairs, while the RSS is an ideological front and does its own work, Thackeray said, "BJP wants to disassociate itself with an organisation that gave birth to it." The "jumla era" will end on June 4 and "achhe din" will come when the INDIA alliance comes to power, the Sena-UBT chief said. He accused the BJP-led government of misusing of central probe agencies, and said the INDIA alliance government will restore the lost glory of Mumbai and Maharashtra. Kharge said PM Modi is campaigning for a state government which has been formed by betrayal, "I have never seen a PM who incites people and divides society in my 53 years of political life. Threat, blackmail and allurement tactics are used to break opposition parties on the directives of Modi, but people will defeat him," he said, adding that the opposition alliance will win 46 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. "We will simplify GST. People of India are looking at INDIA alliance with hope," he said, Thackeray slammed the BJP for mocking him for using the word 'deshbhakt' (patriot) instead of Hindu while addressing gatherings. "Aren't Hindus deshbhakts?...Those who oppose the word deshbhakts are anti-national," he said. "Pakistan is in BJP's mind. Perhaps Modi still relishes (former Pakistan PM) Nawaz Sharif's birthday cake. Modi continuously remembers Pakistan. I have never seen Pakistan flags in my rallies," he said, adding that false narratives were set to divert people's attention from basic issues. When asked about the assembly elections due later this year, Thackeray said the state polls will be fought more vigorously and unitedly and the alliance will win. If BJP says Congress will bulldoze Ram mandir, that party will also ban RSS, Thackeray said. "We have never used a bulldozer on anyone. Bulldozer is their government. This comment is to instigate and the Election Commission should take action against him. Our government will function as per the Constitution. We will protect everything,' Kharge said. Asked about Mamata Banerjee's comment that she will support the INDIA alliance government and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary's remark that the Bengal CM cannot be trusted and she might go with the BJP, Kharge said, "Mamata Banerjee is with the alliance. She has recently said that she will join the government. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary will not take the decision. The decision will be taken by me and the high command those who don't agree will go out." "Modi's speech is divisive and meant to instigate. I have never seen such a prime minister," he said. Kharge slammed Modi for labelling the Congress's manifesto as that of Maoists. "Who is your advisor Modiji...This is laughable. You can't fool all the people every time," he said. India on Saturday asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors after the Kyrgyz capital city reported fights between some locals and foreigners. IMAGE: Fights between some locals and foreigners were reported in Kyrgyz capital Bishkek over the presence of migrants, many from South Asia. Photograph: X The Indian embassy in the Central Asian country said it is in touch with the Indian students and the situation is "calm" now. The mission asked Indian students in the city to stay indoors. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar advised the Indian students to stay in regular touch with the Indian embassy. "Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy," he said in a post on X. The Indian embassy said, "We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue." Police in riot gear were deployed in part of Kyrgyzstan's capital overnight as large crowds gathered in anger over an alleged fight between local and foreign people, The Times of Central Asia reported. The incident appeared to reflect tension over the presence of migrants, many from South Asia, in Kyrgyzstan, it said. The number of Indian students in Kyrgyzstan is estimated to be around 15,000. It was not immediately known how many of them are in Bishkek. 'When there are no good roads and no buses plying to villages, your spending on development is skewed.' IMAGE: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit A Shah and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde canvass votes for BJP candidate Hemant Savara in Palghar, May 14, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The terrain of drought-prone Palghar, a seat reserved for scheduled tribes, is contrasting, and so are the demands. While the tribal areas seek basic facilities, the burgeoning urban area, flush with new housing projects boasting proximity to the dream city, wants better frequency of the local train. Palghar district sits at a juncture of major infrastructure development -- from the port to the aspirational bullet train (high-speed rail corridor connecting Mumbai to Ahmedabad). The government plans to build Vadhavan Port -- a major deepsea container port with over Rs 76,000 crore (Rs 760 billion) investment. The greenfield port will be jointly developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and the Maharashtra Maritime Board. It has received clearance from the environment ministry, and an appeal in the Bombay high court upheld the permission to build it. The port remains a contentious factor when it comes to who the residents will vote for. The villagers say that over 48 villages will be impacted. Though they have been assured that they will not be displaced, they argue that with over 150,000 trucks plying, the area will not remain suitable for residence and would need wider roads leading to the clearance of fauna and houses around. They point to the environmental damage the port would cause. "If we cut a single mangrove, a case is filed against us, while the government will remove the whole mangrove ecosystem. Is that not a violation?" questions a resident, while another says the government has not heeded their problems. ' The electoral contest is between the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Bharti Bharat Kamdi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Hemant Savara. The Palghar constituency has eight talukas and comprises six legislative assembly segments, namely Palghar, Dahanu, Vasai, Boisar, Nalasopara, and Vikramgad. According to the 2011 Census, the population was nearly 3 million, with over 54 per cent living in rural areas. While the rural population is dependent on the produce of paddy, chikoo, and certain millets, the urban counterpart has grown in industrial presence with the help of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. In Patel Pada, a village that falls on the route of the bullet train, residents say they have not benefited from schemes like Har Ghar Nal Yojana and are still dependent on community borewells and drying ponds. However, many are happy. They say that they have been compensated well for their land, which has been acquired -- almost five times the price. Though only over 130 kilometres away from Mumbai, the road to Dahanu is no easy one. It takes over three to four hours for the journey on a highway far from the glory of the ones appearing on the posters for the incumbent government's achievements. "Bullet trains are no longer the issue for the election. At the ground level, the only issues are not having proper land records and bad blood within the families over the same land, says Brian Lobo, a resident of Palghar. "More than land acquisition," says Lobo, "the question is about development priorities. When there are no good roads and no buses plying to villages, your spending on development is skewed." The Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir. IMAGE: Biju Janata Dal Chief Naveen Patnaik at a roadshow for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Bhubaneswar, May 16, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Last November, Bibhu Suna, 27, chose not to join his uncle on the annual migration to Hyderabad. He stayed back in Turekela, part of the Kantabanji assembly constituency, and now works as a salesman at the Balangir district headquarters. "Working at a brick kiln in Hyderabad in the COVID-19 pandemic year was a hellish experience," Suna recounted. A sleepy town 80 km from Balangir, Kantabanji comes alive after Nuakhai, a harvest festival in western Odisha in September-October. That's when thousands of families from three blocks in Kantabanji leave for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, etc to work at brick kilns and construction sites. But this year, the buzz came early and for a different reason. Naveen Patnaik is contesting from the seat, in addition to his traditional Hinjili constituency in Ganjam, which too suffers from migration. This has raised hopes among residents for a positive change in their fortunes. Decades-old issue While people from Ganjam migrate to Surat in Gujarat and Maharashtra due to lack of jobs in the area, poverty, poor irrigation, and natural disasters force those from western Odisha to seek work in southern states, reasons Umi Daniel, head of the migration unit of Aide et Action. Activist Sanjay Mishra says migration dates back to the Odisha famine of 1866, with frequent famines since then compelling people to mortgage and sell their land and valuables. In November last year, the Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir. In the past three years, 153 workers died while working outside the state. However, Mishra says nearly 200,000 tickets are sold at Kantabanji station between November and December. People are lured with advance payments of Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000, which they mostly use to pay off loans and arrange marriages for their daughters. They typically migrate for six to eight months until the paddy plantation season begins, as told by sardars (labour contractors). There is a chain of contractors from village-level agents up to the destinations, who get commissions as much as Rs 10,000 for a worker. "Most of these licensed contractors are political leaders, and it's their family business," said Suratha Behera, an Aam Aadmi Party leader contesting against Patnaik. Abhiram Dharua, a Forward Bloc candidate, agrees. Dharua was in Class 5 in 1992, when he accompanied his migrant parents to Hyderabad. "I harvested only 4-5 quintals of paddy last season due to lack of irrigation. It's difficult to manage a family of 13," said Dharua, who has declared assets of Rs 6,500 in hand in his affidavit. In January, Patnaik inaugurated the much-delayed Rs 2,723 crore (Rs 27.23 billion) Lower Suktel irrigation project in arid, drought-prone Balangir, which the government claims will benefit 203 villages. But the water doesnt reach the higher areas of Kantabanji. When COVID-19 broke out, more than 1 million workers returned to Odisha, and 773,000 of them were provided work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. However, locals in Kantabanji argue this is not a permanent solution. "The only cure for the migration situation is to create jobs," said Samarendra Mishra, Congress candidate from the Balangir assembly seat. The constituency has everything needed for industrial development -- good roads, a railway station under re-development, and Utkela airport in Kalahandi just an hour-and-a-half away. "What is lacking is the governments commitment," said Behera. IMAGE: AAP candidate Suratha Behera files his nomination from Kantabanji. Photograph: surathabehera1/X Ray of hope Patnaik faces a three-cornered contest not just in the constituency but in the whole of western Odisha. While the Bharatiya Janata Party swept all five Lok Sabha constituencies in the region -- Balangir, Kalahandi, Baragarh, Sambalpur, and Sundargarh -- the Congress has been a formidable opponent. Patnaik's candidature from Kantabanji, held by four-time Congress legislator Santosh Singh Saluja, could be a strategy to counter the Opposition's influence, says Behera, demanding a white paper on the migration situation in Hinjili. The BJP has made the issue a key poll pitch, with Narendra Modi fronting the attack against Patnaik. In its manifesto, the BJP promises to provide a 'one nation, one ration card' scheme for migrants and create over 51,000 jobs by setting up three integrated textile parks and a handloom export park. Activist Mishra says legalising migration would help because it would ensure a direct transfer of money into the accounts of both the migrants and the middlemen involved. The Balangir Lok Sabha constituency and assembly segments under it go to the polls on May 20, and Daniel says the votes of migrants will make an impact. In the May 13 elections, the migrant-hit Berhmapur seat, in Ganjam district, saw a low voter turnout of 63 per cent, against 66 per cent in 2019. Highlighting the plight of labourers at brick kilns, Suna says it is unlikely that owners will allow the workers to return to cast their votes. "Those who do return would have to pay for their travel. Political parties and agents might help." Dharua says he is not contesting to win. "I'm visiting every village, highlighting farmers' plights and promising solar panels in the agriculture fields if elected," he said. He hopes Patnaik will announce a special package for the area. Congress leader Mishra says: "The whole state belongs to the CM, and he need not contest an election to announce a package." Raj Thackeray started his speech with Nehru's name, then paused. After a few tense seconds, he resumed: "After Nehru, here is the only politician who will be PM for the third term." Jyoti Punwani reports from Shivaji Park. IMAGE: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alongside him acknowledges the cheers of his audience. Photograph: ANI Photo They were brought in buses by the BJP, from Goregaon (north west Mumbai), Chembur (north east Mumbai), Bandra (north west Mumbai). But in less than two hours, they wanted to leave. "Tell Modi we waited," said an elderly woman as she walked out with her younger friend. But just then, Modi appeared on stage. However, even that wasn't enough to make them stay on. Even two cheerleaders who kept shouting "Modi! Modi!" left as their leader was speaking. As the PM addressed his final campaign rally in Mumbai's Shivaji Park on Friday, May 17, 2024, a steady stream of women started leaving. "We have to go home and cook," said one. "We couldn't prepare dinner before leaving; it's so hot, dinner would have spoilt." *** IMAGE: Ladies leave the Modi rally. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani *** The historic Shivaji Park was the venue for the Mahayuti's final rally in Mumbai, for which people had been told to come by 5 pm. It was blazing hot then; but water bottles had been confiscated at the entrance itself. Only warm water in paper cups was available in the park. While the majority of attendees were members of the constituent parties that make up the Mahayuti (Eknath Shinde's Sena, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the BJP, Ajit Pawar's NCP and Ramdas Athawale's Republican Party of India) a few had come on their own to see and hear the PM in person. IMAGE: Attendees at the Modi rally. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani Two women from Dadar, north central Mumbai, said they had come hoping to meet him; a couple had come all the way from Dombivli, in neighbouring Thane district -- they had also gone earlier to Kalyan, also in Thane district -- to hear him because they were "crazy after him"; two lone women had come too. "I'm not pro-Modi," said one of them, a college professor. "I just admire the way he works at age 74. Otherwise, to be frank, I think all politicians are cheats." The other had come despite her husband ridiculing her for taking the trouble to go in the sun instead of watching Modi on TV. By the time the meeting began around 7 pm, the venue was 3/4ths full. It started emptying out around 8 pm. Modi arrived soon after, and the exodus stopped. But 15 minutes into his speech, it started again. IMAGE: Attendees leave the rally as Modi began speaking. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani *** There was nothing new in the speeches of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis. The same old charges against Uddhav Thackeray of having abandoned his father's ideals, and against the Congress of "appeasement", were made. The two speeches that stood out were those of Ajit Pawar and Raj Thackeray. Ajit Pawar spoke briefly about the progress that the country had made in the last 10 years under Modi. While the Mahayuti campaigned on the plank of development, he said, the MVA misled people by alleging that Modi would change the Constitution. That would never happen, he said. Incidentally, Pawar was the only one who started his speech by invoking the names not just of Shivaji Maharaj and Dr Ambedkar (that was done by all), but also of social reformers Jyotiba Phule and Shahu Maharaj. IMAGE: Attendees at the Modi rally at Shivaji Park. Photograph: ANI Photo The speaker who got the most applause when his name was announced was Raj Thackeray. The MNS chief started his speech with the name of Nehru, then paused. After a few tense seconds, he resumed: "After Nehru, here is the only politician who will be PM for the third term." There was no point wasting time speaking about Uddhav Thackeray and the MVA, said the MNS chief, because they were not going to win. Instead, he said, he would speak on other things. Recalling Modi's last appearance in Shivaji Park 21 years ago, Raj Thackeray said at that time (in 2003), the lotus had been voted out. Then, in 2014, people in Mumbai had helped it bloom. Speaking about Modi's first term, Thackeray said that he had already said what he wanted to in 2019. Another tense silence followed, for during the 2019 election campaign, the MNS chief had launched a fierce campaign mocking Modi, which had become a hit with audiences. Thackeray then went on to speak about Modi's second term. In his second term, Modi had done what no one else had since Independence, he said: Built the Ram Mandir, abrogated Article 370, and made triple talaq illegal. IMAGE: Raj Thackeray presents a bouquet to Modi. Photograph: ANI Photo He then presented his demands to the PM, demands that nobody could have expected: * Classical language status for Marathi; * Including in school syllabi the 125 years of the Maratha empire; * Constituting a committee of international experts to preserve Shivaji's forts; * A proper Mumbai-Goa highway; * Commit to not changing the Constitution * Improve Mumbai's local train situation * While there lakhs of patriotic Muslims who've lived here for generations, there are a handful of troublemakers among them. The army must be sent to flush them out. IMAGE: Republican Party leaders Ramadas Athawale, left, and Jogendra Kawade, right, present Modi with a memento affirming the primacy of the Constitution and democracy. Photograph: ANI Photo Describing Mumbai as the city where dreams get fulfilled, Modi said he had come to this city with his dream of 2047. His speech covered the usual themes of the last 70 years spent in "hopelessness"; under the Congress; Nehru's alleged lack of belief in Indians; "vote bank politics", "vote jehad". Bomb blasts were a common feature for Mumbaikars, said Modi, but after he became PM they could step out of their homes safely. He also claimed to have lifted crores of Indians out of poverty and attracted record foreign investment. IMAGE: Modi supporters express their vociferous support for him at the Shivaji Park rally. Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Attendees at the Modi rally. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani *** The finale to Maharashtra's ruling alliance's Lok Sabha campaign made it clear that at least in Mumbai, there was no Modi wave. Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi on Saturday claimed party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her, is facing charges in an illegal recruitment case and she was "blackmailed" by the Bharatiya Janata Party to become part of the "conspiracy" against the Chief Minister. IMAGE: AAP MP Swati Maliwal arrives at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence in New Delhi on Friday, May 17, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo It has been 24 hours since Kumar filed a complaint against Maliwal and police are yet to register an FIR. The Delhi Police is a "tool of the BJP" and is targeting Kejriwal before the Lok Sabha elections in the national capital, charged Atishi, also a cabinet minister in the city government. In turn, the Delhi BJP accused AAP leaders of circulating "edited" videos to tarnish Maliwal's image. Talking to PTI Videos, Atishi alleged that Maliwal went to the chief minister's residence on Monday without an appointment. "Why did she barge in? Why did she land up at the chief minister's residence without an appointment? Arvind Kejriwal was busy that day and did not meet her. If he had met her that day, the allegations levelled against Bibhav Kumar could have been levelled against him," Atishi said. She said Maliwal was made the face of this "conspiracy" by the BJP. "The BJP has a pattern. First they file cases and then they threaten to send leaders to jail. Swati Maliwal is facing charges in an illegal recruitment case registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch. An FIR has been registered in the case and it is at a stage where she could be arrested. "The BJP blackmailed Maliwal and made her the face of this conspiracy," the AAP leader charged. Maliwal has alleged that Kumar assaulted her at Kejriwal's official residence on Monday, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen, charges rejected as "baseless" by the AAP. The Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR in connection with the alleged assault and arrested Kumar from Kejriwal's residence on Saturday. Atishi said if the Delhi Police is impartial, it should also register an FIR on Kumar's complaint against Maliwal. "Will the Delhi Police register a case of trespassing, breach of security and obstructing a government servant from discharging his duty against her? If the Delhi Police is impartial, it should register an FIR on Bibhav's complaint. Will it act on his complaint the same way it did on Maliwal's complaint?" she asked. "Her call records should be looked into and analysed (to see) which BJP leaders she was in touch with," she said. Meanwhile, another purported video of Maliwal from the day of the incident surfaced online. In the video, a woman security personnel is seen holding Maliwal by her arm while escorting her out of Kejriwal's residence. As they exit from the main gate, Maliwal frees her arm from the security personnel's grip. The first video from the chief minister's residence, in which Maliwal is seen arguing with security personnel, surfaced on social media on Friday. Later, Atishi said at a press conference that the second video shows that allegations levelled by Maliwal are "false". "Swati Maliwal wrote in the complaint that she was unable to walk and was screaming in pain after the assault. She wrote that her head hit the centre table and she sustained injuries. "The CCTV footage from the gate of Kejriwal's residence shows that Maliwal was walking properly and pushed a female police official away. She can be seen walking properly. Her clothes are not torn and she is not limping," Atishi said. The minister said Kumar had filed an application in Tis Hazari court on Friday demanding a copy of the FIR. "Yesterday, the court kept asking the police to submit a copy of the FIR but the police did not submit it. Today, the police filed an application saying that the FIR is extremely sensitive and they cannot share it with the accused. "The BJP's police is saying that we cannot give it to the court and the accused. The FIR is with the media for the last two days but it cannot be shared with the accused. This shows that this conspiracy is being orchestrated at the highest level of the BJP," she alleged. Atishi said Kumar had filed a complaint 24 hours ago but no FIR has been registered so far. "The Delhi Police is only a tool of the BJP and is targeting Kejriwal before the elections," she said. "Is the breach of the chief minister's security not a serious issue? Is trespassing his residence and obstructing police personnel from performing their duty not a serious offence?" she asked. The minister said they have made all footage available to the Delhi Police. She also questioned the delay in Maliwal's medical examination. "Why did she delay the medical (examination)? In the video that emerged yesterday, she is telling police personnel that she would snatch their jobs. She is challenging them in a loud voice. But this is a topic of unique medical research for the country where the impact of injuries is visible after three days," she added. After registering the FIR on Thursday, the Delhi Police took Maliwal for a medical examination at midnight at AIIMS Delhi. She came out of the hospital around 3:15 am. According to her medico-legal certificate (MLC) from AIIMS, Maliwal has "bruises over proximal left leg dorsal aspect of approx size 3x2 cm and right cheek elbow below right eye of approx size 2x2 cm". Targeting the AAP, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said it is regrettable that "edited" videos are being circulated on social media groups since Friday in an attempt to "defame" Maliwal who is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He also said that now that Kumar has been arrested by police, many "dirty pages" of AAP's politics will become public. As part of its probe into the incident, the Delhi Police on Friday took Maliwal to Kejriwal's residence to recreate the crime scene. Her statement was also recorded before a magistrate at Tis Hazari court. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, May 18. A Chinese company and Tajikistan discussed the construction of a solar panel complex in the Sughd region of the country, Trend reports. According to the regional administration's press service, this issue was explored during a meeting between Sughd Governor Rajabboy Ahmadzoda and representatives of the Chinese State Investment Group company. The parties discussed expanding cooperation on importing a modern complex to create a functional alternative energy supply system. Ahmadzoda noted that the region is ready to utilize the latest technologies for electricity production. Following the meeting, Ahmadzoda instructed responsible officials to thoroughly study the issue, prepare all necessary documents, and take measures to allocate land for the construction of the green energy facility and an administrative building. It was noted that State Investment Group has extensive experience in creating alternative energy production systems, particularly solar batteries and panels. It is implementing large-scale projects in many countries around the world. Former Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi have cast their votes using the home voting facility, the Delhi poll body said. IMAGE: Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh shows inked finger after availing the home voting facility in New Delhi. Photographs: ANI on X The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Delhi on Thursday kicked off the home voting facility for elderly voters and persons with disabilities (PwDs) and it will go on till May 24. According to the data shared by the office, 1409 voters cast their ballots from the comfort of their homes across all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi on Friday, which was the second day of the facility being started. The West Delhi constituency reported the highest number of home votes, with 348 voters participating. Among them, 299 were elderly individuals. IMAGE: Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari. With the completion of the second day, a total of 2,956 voters have exercised their right to vote from home, the CEO office said. "Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi successfully cast their votes on May 17 from their home availing home voting facility in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency," the office said. Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari cast his vote on Thursday, it added. IMAGE: Former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi . Photographs: ANI on X Former deputy prime minister LK Advani cast his vote on Saturday, sources said. On the first day, 1,482 voters exercised their franchise from home. A total of 5,406 voters across Delhi -- elderly individuals and PwDs -- have filled out Form 12D to avail of the home voting facility in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This initiative ensures these voters can participate in the electoral process with ease and dignity, eliminating the need to visit polling stations. Delhi will go to polls on May 25. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been displaying the Chinese constitution at his rallies, instead of the Indian one. IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been displaying the Indian Constitution at his rallies, alleging that BJP will change the Constitution if it comes to power again. Photograph: ANI Photo The BJP leader claimed that the book shown by Gandhi is with a red cover like the original Chinese constitution, whereas the original Indian constitution has a blue cover. "Rahul is displaying a red Chinese constitution to the people attending his meetings," Sarma wrote on X. In response, several social media users said that the red-bound Constitution is a coat pocket edition, which has been presented to top Indian leaders, including the President and the Union Home minister. Sarma said the Indian constitution, "in blue, includes a chapter called the Directive Principles of State Policy, which makes it a sacred duty to enact a Uniform Civil Code in our country; Rahul is now opposing this". "That's why I am sure that the constitution in his hand must be a Chinese one," the CM added. Sarma shared a photo of Rahul Gandhi standing behind a podium with a book in red cover in his hand. The Assam chief minister also shared a photo in which Gandhi is seen signing an agreement with some Chinese delegates. Sonia Gandhi is also seen standing behind her son in the picture, with the pact signed during the Gandhis' visit during the Beijing Olympics. The Congress mocked Himanta Biswa Sarma over the remark, with Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen kumar Borah saying, Himanta, while I accept you are not colour-blind, you are definitely intellect-deficit. The cover of the Constitution of India, unlike an Indian Passport, need not be of a fixed colour. It could be red, green, blue, anything. Sarma had taken to X on Friday also to question the book displayed by Gandhi. Sharing the photo of the Congress leader with the red-bound book, Sarma wrote, "The original copy of the Constitution of India has a blue cover. The original Chinese constitution has a red cover. Does Rahul carry a Chinese Constitution? We will need to verify," the Assam CM added. The BJP leader had also shared a photo of the original Indian constitution, displayed in a glass box, with its blue cover. Several social media users posted multiple photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former President Ram Nath Kovind with a similar coat pocket edition of the Indian Constitution as displayed by Gandhi. A case was lodged against three officials of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata for allegedly wrongfully restraining the woman, who accused West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose of molesting her, police said on Saturday. The FIR against the three officials was lodged at the Hare Street police station after the woman, a contractual employee of Raj Bhavan, recorded her statement before a magistrate in the molestation case, a police officer said. "The three officers have been included in the FIR for stopping the complainant woman from leaving Raj Bhawan by wrongfully restraining her on May 2. We will investigate their roles on that evening," the officer said. On May 2, the woman had alleged molestation by Bose following which the Kolkata Police started a probe. Under Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against a governor during his term in office. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, May 18. The Ministries of Transport of Tajikistan's and Russia's Republic of Tatarstan have signed a memorandum of understanding, Trend reports. According to the Tajik ministry, the document was signed during the XV International Economic Forum "Russia Islamic World: KazanForum" in 2024. The agreement between Tajikistan and Tatarstan aims to facilitate the recruitment of skilled workers from Tajikistan for the passenger transportation sector in Tatarstan. The sides have agreed to ensure favorable working conditions and social guarantees for citizens (drivers, engineers, controllers, and other support staff) relocating to Tatarstan. Furthermore, the memorandum outlines plans to provide opportunities for Tajik transportation companies to establish passenger transport enterprises in cities and regions of Tatarstan. It is anticipated that the implementation of this memorandum will create hundreds of jobs with favorable living conditions, competitive salaries, access to social protection, and more. Additionally, it will enhance passenger services for residents of the southeastern cities of Tatarstan, including Bugulma and Leninogorsk. The project was developed following agreements reached during a visit by a Russian delegation, including representatives from Tatarstan, led by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, to Dushanbe on March 23, 2023. Thousands are fleeing a township after the Arakan Army ordered them to leave. The entrance to Buthidaung town in Rakhine state as seen in an undated file photo. About 30 members of Myanmars Rohingya minority have been killed in clashes between junta forces and ethnic minority Buddhist insurgents, residents of Rakhine State said on Saturday, raising new fears that the persecuted Muslim community is being caught in the middle of increasingly bitter fighting. Twelve Rohingya civilians were killed in junta airstrikes targeting fighters from the Arakan Army, or AA, in Buthidaung township on Friday. Later in the day, the Arakan Army bombed a school where Rohingyas were sheltering with drones, killing 18 of them, residents said. About 200 people were wounded, a Buthidaung Rohingya resident who identified himself as Khin Zaw Moe told RFA. People are scared. The casualties may be even higher, he said. The exact number is not known due to the difficulty in communicating. Rohingyas from about 20 villages were sheltering in the high school when it was attacked, he said. It was not clear why the Arakan Army bombed the school. RFA tried to telephone the AA spokesman, Khaing Thukha, and the juntas Rakhine State spokesperson, Hla Thein, but could not get through to either of them. The AA, who are battling the junta for self-determination of the Buddhist ethnic Arakan community in the state, said in a statement on Saturday its forces had captured all junta bases in Buthidaung. It did not mention Rohingya civilians. Rohingya, who have been persecuted for decades in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, are getting caught up in the war between the AA and junta forces, human rights workers say. Both sides have pressed Rohingya into their ranks and at the same time have accused Rohingya of helping their rivals. Both the AA and junta forces subjected members of the Muslim minority to violence, residents and rights workers say. Another Rohingya resident of Buthidaung said the AA burned down homes in eight neighborhoods of the town although he didnt know how many of the homes had been destroyed. Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin told RFA that tens of thousands of Rohingyas had fled from their homes after the AA ordered them to leave the town by 10 a.m. on Saturday. Another township resident told RFA on Saturday that AA fighters had rounded up thousands of Rohingya near Buthidaung prison. RFA was unable to confirm any of the accounts because telephone lines and internet links were down. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled from a Myanmar military crackdown in 2017, in response to a series of attacks on the security forces by Rohingya insurgents. Most of those refugees are sheltering in camps in southeast Bangladesh, where they joined hundreds of thousands who fled earlier abuses. More than half a million Rohingya remain in Rakhine State, many of them in camps for the internally displaced. Rohingya activists estimate the Rohingya population of Buthidaung to be around 200,000. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang Note: This story was earlier published with a photo of a separate incident in Chin state. We have updated this report with a file photo. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. BISHKEK -- The situation in Bishkek was stable late on May 18, police said, after mob violence against foreign students injured at least 29 people, including several foreigners, and triggered diplomatic tensions with Pakistan and India. RFE/RL correspondents reported that the situation near the dormitory where foreigners live at Kyrgyz International University in the eastern part of Bishkek was calm on the evening of May 18 and said security measures had been strengthened. Kyrgyz authorities said the Pakistani Embassy and a dormitory where foreigners live were put under strict security. The Health Ministry said on May 18 that 15 of the 29 people injured in a brawl the night before were taken to the Bishkek City Emergency Hospital and the National Hospital and the rest were treated on the spot. Health Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliev said three foreign students were hospitalized, one in the maxillofacial department and two in the trauma department. The nationality of the injured students was not released, but students confirmed to RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Pakistani students were involved in the incident and some of them were injured. Indian media reported that Indian and Pakistani students were injured, and Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar said he was monitoring the situation. About 140 students and 40 other Pakistanis flew out of Bishkek late on May 18. The students were received by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at Lahore International Airport, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal. A second flight is arriving on May 19, the CAA officials said. Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who is also foreign minister, and Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam, will leave for Bishkek from Islamabad on May 19 at the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accelerate the evacuation of students, officials told RFE/RL. The Kyrgyz government said earlier that four foreign nationals born between 1993 and 2003 had been arrested following the violence. It said they were placed in a temporary detention facility as part of a criminal case for hooliganism without stating their nationalities or the circumstances of their arrests. Those found guilty will be punished, the Kyrgyz government said in a statement, rejecting what it said were "insinuations aimed at inciting intolerance toward foreign students." But it appeared to lay the blame for the violence on illegal migrants, saying authorities had been taking "decisive measures to suppress illegal migration and expel undesirable persons from Kyrgyzstan." The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said in a statement on May 18 that the violence was triggered by the appearance on social media of a video purportedly showing a group of "persons of Asian appearance" harassing foreign students on the night of May 13 and then pursuing them to their dormitory, where at least one foreign student was assaulted by several men and dragged on the floor. Samiulla Qureshi, a fifth-year medical student at the International University of Bishkek, said the fight on May 13 broke out between Egyptian students and local residents. Later a video of Egyptians beating international students went viral on social media, he said. The violence that started on the night of May 17 occurred when "local guys gathered and decided to visit the places where international students live, Qureshi said. They were beaten regardless of whether they are from Pakistan, India, or [another country], he added. The ministry, which posted a version of the video on its Telegram channel, said other foreign students, alerted by the intruders' apparent attempt to enter the female students' quarters, mobilized and fought off the attackers. "A fight ensued between them in the hostel yard, during which three of the attackers fled, leaving one behind," the statement said. It said four foreign nationals born between 1993 and 2003 were detained and placed in a temporary detention facility as part of a criminal case for hooliganism without stating their nationalities or the circumstances of their arrests. The ministry said authorities are still looking for two of the alleged attackers who were identified as natives of Kyrgyzstan's Kemin district: Nursultan Mukaev, born in 2006, and Tilek Shermatov, born in 2005. The ministry claimed in its statement that the emergence of the video on social media on May 17 "without an explanation of the true circumstances of the incident" triggered a public outcry, and 500-700 people gathered, demanding action by authorities against those responsible for the May 13 incident at the hostel. The ministry claimed security forces cordoned off the area where people had gathered at the intersection of Kurmanjan-Datka Street and Chui Avenue. "Explanatory work was carried out onsite, and after some time, the crowd dispersed," the statement said. However, the statement does not explain how dozens of people were injured on the night of May 17, while the official account was contradicted by video footage appearing to show attackers ransacking a student hostel and beating up people, as well as riotous crowds in different parts of the city. It also did not clarify why authorities took four days to intervene and identify the alleged suspects. Muhammad Ihtisham Latif, a Pakistani medical student in Bishkek, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, "The situation is bad here. The situation started when Egyptian students clashed with locals here. The locals are now protesting and they are beating Indian and Pakistani students.... They chase them in their hostels and houses...hostel [doors] were broken. I am locked up in the university along with other students since yesterday and I am sharing my voice with you." Syed Shah Rukh Khan, a medical student in his final year, told Radio Mashaal the past night had been "living hell." "Our hostel and many other hostels were attacked. The locals beat whoever came their way, boys or girls, and they were dragged to the ground. Even outside the universities, they went after the Pakistani and Indian students and beat them," Khan said. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed "deep concern" over the situation of Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan, saying in a statement that he directed Pakistan's ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance to the students. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X, formerly Twitter, that the reports of mob attacks on students in Kyrgyzstan are extremely concerning. "We have established contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure protection of Pakistani students. I have instructed our ambassador to Kyrgyzstan to fully facilitate them," Dar said. In a separate statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the charge d'affaires of the Kyrgyz Embassy to Islamabad, Melis Moldaliev, was summoned to the ministry, where he "was conveyed the deep concerns of the government of Pakistan about the reports of last nights incidents against Pakistani students studying in the Kyrgyz Republic." Moldaliev was told that Islamabad expects the Kyrgyz government to take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens in Kyrgyzstan. The head of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee on National Security (UKMK), Kamchybek Tashiev, appeared to try and lay the blame for the violence on illegal migrants, saying protesters were demonstrating against migration. Tashiev claimed Kyrgyzstan has been grappling with an influx of illegal migrants coming to the country, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, many of whom "break the law." "We identify at least 20-30 or 50 illegal migrants per day and try to expel them from the country. Based on official statistics, most of the foreigners who break the law are citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Of these, we returned about 1,500 people from Pakistan and about 1,000 people from Bangladesh to their countries." The incident comes amid a drive by Kyrgyz authorities to expel foreign workers. On May 16, the UKMK announced the arrest of 28 alleged illegal Pakistani workers from a sweatshop. On May 15, Bishkek police shut down delivery services conducted by more than 400 foreign students on motorcycles and scooters, citing traffic safety concerns. An Afghan refugee in Bishkek says he fears for his safety after violent mobs attacked foreigners in the Kyrgyz capital. The assault was allegedly directed at international students and migrants. Victims have said Pakistani and Indian students were targeted. At least 22 people were killed and 117 others injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported on October 10 after an Israeli strike on a school sheltering Palestinians in Gaza killed dozens of people. Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported two evening air raids in central Beirut. The first targeted an eight-story building and the second a four-story building that completely collapsed as a result of the strike, NNA said. A Lebanese security source quoted by Reuters said at least one senior Hezbollah figure was targeted in the attacks, which were the third on Beirut since Israel started a military campaign in southern Lebanon last month targeting the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia and sparking fears of an all-out regional war. Hezbollahs Al Manar TV reported after the strikes that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed. It said that Safa had not been inside of either of the targeted buildings. Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into Israel on October 10. The military said several drones heading toward Israel were intercepted. Earlier on October 10 an Israeli strike on a school in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said, while a separate Israeli strike hit UN peacekeeper headquarters in southern Lebanon, prompting Italy to summon the Israeli ambassador. The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike on terrorists" who had a command and control center embedded in the school. "This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organization's systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law," a military statement said. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU, has denied such accusations. People who had been sheltering at the school said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers and injured 54 other people. Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across Gaza as it battles Hamas militants even as the war broadened to include Hezbollah in Lebanon amid rising tensions with Iran. In a separate incident on October 10 the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers. The nationality of the injured peacekeepers was not released. The UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL said in a statement that Israeli forces also fired on a nearby bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system. The Italian Defense Ministry summoned Israel's ambassador in protest, and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told a press conference that "hostile acts committed and repeated by Israeli forces against the base...could constitute war crimes." Crosetto added that Italy has asked for an official explanation "because it was not a mistake." The French Foreign Ministry said that while no French solider was injured in the incident, it also demanded an explanation. The Israeli military announced earlier on October 10 that it had eliminated another important Hezbollah member as it kept up its attacks against the Iran-backed group. Adham Jahout, a member of Hezbollah's Golan Terrorist Network was killed in an air strike in the area of Quneitra in Syria, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said. Jahout was relaying intelligence from Syrian regime sources to Hezbollah and facilitating operations against Israel in the Golan Heights, the IDF said. Israel annexed the Golan Heights after capturing them from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. The annexation has not been recognized by most countries. Separately, the Israeli military said on October 10 that it had eliminated two Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon and its warplanes attacked munitions depots in the Beirut area and in southern Lebanon. It did not immediately reveal the identities of the two commanders. Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its party, which has seats in the Lebanese parliament. The latest strikes came as the United States, Israel's main ally, warned against bombardments in Lebanon similar to those that caused large-scale destruction in Gaza as Israel retaliated against Hamas following the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that left more than 1,100 people dead. Israel's bombardment of central and northern Gaza in recent days has killed dozens of people and trapped thousands in their homes, Palestinian officials say. "There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists on October 9. The warning came after U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized in a call on October 9 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the need for a diplomatic arrangement for the return of both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the border. The United States warned Israel on October 9 against launching a military action in Lebanon like the one it has conducted in Gaza, and U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the need for a diplomatic arrangement for the return of both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the border. Biden also condemned Iran's ballistic-missile attack on Israel on October 1, a White House statement said. Biden "affirmed Israel's right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of missiles and rockets into Israel over the past year alone, while emphasizing the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut," the statement said. TBILISI -- On May 13, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made a rather odd-sounding claim. With thousands of Georgians out on the streets protesting the controversial "foreign agent" law, Kobakhidze said that $2 billion belonging to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the influential tycoon and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, had been effectively seized by the "global war party." It was, the prime minister said, a de facto sanction and the reason Ivanishvili was refusing to meet with international partners, including James O'Brien, the visiting U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. While it was unclear what exactly Kobakhidze was referring to (Credit Suisse was ordered in May 2023 to pay $926 million to Ivanishvili for failing to safeguard his assets), the "global war party" is a term increasingly used by Georgian Dream and its allies seemingly to shore up support through populist and conspiratorial rhetoric. They have spoken of the "global war party" before. In January 2023, Kobakhidze accused it of launching a "second front" to "artificially create problems" for Tbilisi. Two months later, People's Power, a splinter party closely aligned with Georgian Dream, claimed in a written statement that the "global war party" operated throughout U.S. and European political structures and its "second front" was aimed against Russia and at involving Georgia in the Ukraine war. The mysterious international party, according to statements from Georgian Dream politicians, bears significant responsibility for a range of issues that have plagued the country, including the 2008 Russia-Georgia War, the initial failure in 2022 to attain EU candidate status, and the United States' refusal to allow four Georgian judicial officials to enter the country in April 2023. 'Second Front' Speaking at a pro-government rally in support of the "foreign agent" law in downtown Tbilisi on April 29, Ivanishvili said the "global war party" was trying to control the Georgian government through NGOs. It was now behaving aggressively, he said, because "despite its great efforts, it could not turn Georgia into a second front." According to the proposed "foreign agent" legislation, which lawmakers approved in parliament on May 14 in its third and final reading, media outlets and NGOs would need to officially register as "advocating for the interests of a foreign power" if over 20 percent of their income originates from overseas sources. Those protesting the law fear it will be used to clamp down on free media and civil society. It is hard to pin down what or whom Georgian Dream politicians mean by the "global war party." The amorphous term has been used as a dog whistle to castigate perceived opponents: at various times, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. State Department, the Georgian opposition United National Movement, and Swiss banks. Prime Minister Kobakhidze once explicitly included U.S. news network CNN among its members. But at a May 13 press conference, he claimed he could not reveal the members of the "global war party" due to national security concerns. He said the term was not a reference to the European Union or the United States, and that, on the contrary, "the EU is one of the main victims." Other political figures aligned with Georgian Dream, however, have said the "global war party" is a reference to U.S. power. In May 2022, philosopher Zaza Shatirishvili, who is closely associated with Ivanishvili, spoke regularly to pro-government media, claiming that the "ruling power" intended to engage Georgia in a war to "isolate" Russia. The United States, he reasoned, was the only entity with sufficient resources to coordinate such a policy. Illiberal governments have a habit of blaming shadowy, foreign adversaries for their country's ills. Conspiracy Theories Tengiz Pkhaladze, a senior researcher at the Brussels-based European Center for International Political Economy, told RFE/RL's Georgian Service that such claims were nothing more than conspiracy theories. The government, he said, used such theories to distract from real issues. While the genesis of the term is unclear, it has similarities to other conspiracy theories and far-right narratives, for example the New World Order and The Great Reset, which promote the idea that unelected elites are plotting to destroy sovereign nations and install an authoritarian global government. Such theories are often laced with anti-Semitism and target powerful Jews such as billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros and the Rothschild banking dynasty. Many Georgians and foreign observers remain bemused by the term, with some jokingly asking: If the "global war party" is so powerful, why can't it achieve its goals in Georgia? In a speech outside Georgia's parliament on May 15, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said "the only war party is in Moscow." "This is the party that attacked Georgia in 2008. This is the party that attacked Ukraine in 2014 and is currently waging a war against Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Landsbergis said. BISHKEK -- As violent mobs targeting foreign students erupted overnight in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Pakistani medical student Syed Shah Rukh Khan huddled with others in the student hostel where he lives. "The night passed like a living hell," Khan, who is in his final year of medical studies at Adam University in central Bishkek, told Radio Mashaal, RFE/RL's service for Pakistan. "Our hostel was attacked and many other hostels, whether private or in the universities, were attacked." Khan is one of several Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan who gave harrowing accounts to RFE/RL of the mob violence that engulfed Bishkek in the early hours of May 18 after a video purportedly showing Kyrgyz students fighting Egyptian medical students days earlier was shared widely on social media. The Kyrgyz government has said more than two dozen people were injured in the violence, which prompted the embassies of Pakistan and India in the Central Asian nation of 7 million to warn their students to remain indoors. "The locals have beaten whoever came their way, male or female students, and they were dragged on the ground," Khan said. "Even outside the universities, they went after the Pakistani and Indian students and beat them." Khan told Radio Mashaal that the rampage began around 2 a.m. in Bishkek and that the mobs had scouted out the locations of Pakistani and Indian students prior to the attacks. "They entered our hostel in the night by breaking the doors and windows. But we were lucky that the [security forces] quickly arrived there," Khan said. "They controlled the situation. In other hostels, the situation was worse. They beat the students and dragged them on the ground outside their rooms." Hasnain Ali, a Pakistani medical student at the International University of Kyrgyzstan, said he and his fellow students were attacked in their hostel and that several of them suffered serious injuries. Ali said that in the late afternoon in Bishkek on May 18, local police informed him and others that another mob was heading toward their university and had told them: "Turn off your lights, close your doors and windows, and don't look outside." "We are without water and food. The local police are not helping. They came last night when the mob was gone. The Pakistani Embassy also did not send us any help so far. We are looking to the media to let people know about our situation," a terrified-sounding Ali told Radio Mashaal. Another Pakistani medical student in Bishkek, Farooq Zeb, said he saw angry protesters chanting anti-Indian and anti-Pakistani slogans and breaking through the gates of his hostel. "We are without food and water, and we are scared not knowing what will happen next," Zeb, who studies at the Ala-Too International University in Bishkek, told Radio Mashaal. Pakistani student Muhammad Ihtisham Latif said earlier on May 18 that the violence broke out after "Egyptian students clashed with locals here." "The locals are now protesting and they are beating Indian and Pakistani students.... They chase them in their hostels and houses...hostel [doors] were broken. I am locked up in the university along with other students since yesterday," Latif said. Radio Mashaal reached Latif later in the day and the student said he was in a police van that was moving him and two dozen other students to a safer location. Gulbara Kulusheva, rector of the Royal Metropolitan University in Bishkek, told RFE/RL in an interview that the university is attempting to provide food and other necessities to around 800 students. "The majority of them are from Pakistan," Kulusheva said. "Throughout the night the entire university team was in the dormitory protecting them from an angry mob. We are continuing to protect them now." With reporting by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service in Bishkek and RFE/RL's Baktygul Chynybaeva in Prague ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 18. Turkmenistan discussed prospects for developing cooperation with the Russian 'Vozrozhdenie' Group, Trend reports. According to an official source, these issues were discussed during a meeting in Ashgabat city between the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, and the head of the 'Vozrozhdenie' Group of design and construction companies, Igor Bukato. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the current state of bilateral cooperation and promising directions for its further development, taking into account the existing versatile potential and the large-scale urban development program being implemented in Turkmenistan. It was noted that the 'Vozrozhdenie' Group is already implementing a number of important infrastructure projects in the capital of Turkmenistan. Berdimuhamedov stressed that Turkmenistan, implementing the strategy of innovative development, is interested in applying advanced foreign experience and modern technologies in all sectors of the economy. In this regard, he expressed readiness to consider specific proposals from Russian partners aimed at deepening mutually beneficial cooperation. Igor Bukato, in turn, assured that 'Vozrozhdenie' Group intends to actively participate in the implementation of large-scale projects in Turkmenistan, using its rich experience and modern technological solutions. Meanwhile, the 'Vozrozhdenie' Group of design and construction companies registered its branch in Turkmenistan in September 2009 and since then has commissioned more than 25 large infrastructure facilities in the country. The CEO of the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation was named the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award at this years IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards. Crowned at a ceremony on Friday night in the Clayton Hotel in Dublin, the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards celebrates the success, talent and accomplishment of female business peers across a wide arc of industries, professions and communities. Martina Jennings became CEO of the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation in 2017. Martina said that she was thrilled to have been shortlisted for the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards but to win is truly special. I must thank IMAGE, the judges and the sponsors for a wonderful evening and I want to dedicate my award to all of the families who we have supported over the years. This is Martinas third accolade as she was awarded Mayos Most Inspirational Woman in 2015 and won Mayo Person of the Year in 2020. Mike Smith, Chairman of the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation, said that they were overjoyed and immensely proud to hear that our CEO Martina Jennings, won the PwC Businesswoman of the Year Award in the category of Social Entrepreneur of the Year for a Charitable Organisation. Out of 650 entries and 125 nominations, this is an incredible achievement. Martinas exceptional leadership in the past eight years has brought the Foundation from strength to strength. We are all so proud of her. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 18. Turkmenistan is enhancing its legislative efforts and strengthening its parliamentary relations, Trend reports. This was stated by the Speaker of the Parliament of Turkmenistan, Dunyagozel Gulmanova, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of the country. In particular, she informed about the preparation, in accordance with the requirements of the time, of drafts of a number of legislative acts regulating activities in the field of ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population, physical education, sports, state scientific and technical policy, seed production, etc. Gulmanova spoke about measures to expand contacts with the parliaments of various states and cooperation with international organizations. "In particular, during the meeting with the delegation headed by the chairman of the Japan-Turkmenistan Interparliamentary Friendship Group, a member of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, issues of further development of bilateral cooperation were discussed. Along with this, a video conference was held between members of the parliamentary friendship group between the Parliament of Turkmenistan and the Federal National Council of the UAE," she added. To note, Speaker of the Parliament of Turkmenistan Dunyagozel Gulmanova discussed the development of inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries with Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament Fukushiro Nukaga at the end of February this year. May 17, 2024 Click here for a roundup of local and world news Newsflash Newsroom, 17.05.2024, 13:55 ECONOMY Confidex, the index that measures Romanian managers confidence in the local economy, has reached its highest level in 4 years-52.5, according to the latest relevant poll. Companies in the services sector are the most optimistic, followed by IT, constructions and retail firms. At the opposite pole are businesses in agriculture, energy and industry. ELECTIONS Romanias Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Electoral Authority have put together the Guidelines for Romanian voters in polling stations abroad for the European Parliament elections scheduled for June 9, 2024. The document answers the most frequent questions concerning the organisation of the ballot: who can vote, the identity documents required for voting, the opening hours of polling stations, the voting procedure and the operation of the IT system monitoring voter turnout and preventing illegal voting. Citizens can find the guidelines on the ministrys website. The foreign ministry, via Romanias diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad, organises 915 polling stations for Romanias members in the European Parliament, over double the number of stations opened for the European elections in 2019. Romanian nationals who live or travel abroad temporarily will be able to cast their ballots in any polling station abroad, using Romanian IDs valid on the day of the vote. HUMAN TRAFFICKING The government of Romania has put together a national strategy against trafficking in human beings, under which the authorities intend for Romania to have a national system to counter human trafficking operational by the end of 2028. The strategy rests on 4 core pillars: prevention, punishment, protection and partnership, and the novelty is an integrated governmental mechanism to earmark funding for victim protection and assistance. According to the National Agency against Human Trafficking (ANTIP), since 2005 as many as 19,000 human trafficking victims have been reported in Romania, and 4,000 traffickers have been convicted. STUDENTS A government resolution sets out the overall enrolment figures for public undergraduate and higher education units in Romania in the 2024 2025 academic year. The document sets the number of students to be enrolled in preschools, primary, secondary and high schools in the country, including for Romanian nationals living abroad, and for foreign citizens under bilateral agreements and unilateral commitments. Romanians living abroad will benefit from 1,900 places in undergraduate education units and 7,065 places in public universities, with a total of 800 monthly grants. For foreign citizens, 1,800 places have been earmarked in undergraduate education units and 4,430 in higher education institutions, with a total 1,710 monthly grants. Enrolment plans also include special places for minors who have applied for or received protection in Romania, and for stateless minors officially recognised as residing in Romania, the government explained. CHILDREN The Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila said on Friday in Iasi (north-eastern Romania), that preparations are under way for receiving Palestinian children to be treated in Romanian healthcare units after being wounded in Israeli attacks in Gaza. Alexandru Rafila, who did not disclose the number of beneficiary kids, stated that they will be brought to Romania under the EU Protection Mechanism. He also said the exact date of arrival cannot be made public at the moment, but that the children will reach Romania in the very, very near future. INVESTMENTS The government approved a number of road and railway infrastructure investment projects. Over EUR 2.2 bln will be spent on revamping the approx. 150 km Focsani Roman railway route in the east of the country in the next 3 years, a spokesman for the Cabinet announced. According to him, a rough EUR 200 mln has been earmarked for the revamping of a 42-km long segment of the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti motorway in the next 48 months. NATO The Romanian Defence Chief of Staff, gen. Gheorghita Vlad, took part on Thursday in Brussels in a meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session. Topics of strategic relevance were discussed, including the implementation of the NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept, the state of play in Russias war of aggression in Ukraine, and NATOs continued support for Ukraine. Gen. Gheorghita Vlad emphasised the need to develop national and regional mobility corridors to ensure smooth and quick transit of troops and materials at the times and to the places requested by the Alliance. (AMP) May 17, 2024 UPDATE A roundup of domestic and international news Newsflash Newsroom, 17.05.2024, 20:00 ECONOMY Confidex, the index that measures Romanian managers confidence in the local economy, has reached its highest level in 4 years 52.5, according to the latest relevant poll. Companies in the services sector are the most optimistic, followed by IT, constructions and retail firms. At the opposite pole are businesses in agriculture, energy and industry. DISINFORMATION The Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization in Romania has launched the #nofake platform, where people can submit reports for social media content they deem inappropriate, such as digital fakes, offensive content, online disinformation and manipulation. The line minister, Bogdan Ivan, said the platform will ensure a swift analysis of digital fake reports. This new reporting system will supplement the authorities efforts in this field, in addition to security and reporting mechanisms provided by each social media platform, Minister Ivan pointed out. ELECTIONS Romanias Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Electoral Authority have put together the Guidelines for Romanian voters in polling stations abroad for the European Parliament elections scheduled for June 9, 2024. The document answers the most frequent questions concerning the organization of the ballot: voter eligibility, identity documents required for voting, the opening hours of polling stations, the voting procedure and the operation of the IT system monitoring voter turnout and preventing illegal voting. Citizens can find the guidelines on the ministrys website. The Foreign Ministry, via Romanias diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad, organizes 915 polling stations for Romanias members in the European Parliament, over double the number of stations opened for the European elections in 2019. Romanian nationals who live or travel abroad temporarily will be able to cast their ballots in any polling station abroad, using Romanian IDs valid on the day of the vote. WAR IN GAZA Health Minister Alexandru Rafila on Friday announced Romanian hospitals are preparing to treat a number of Palestinian children wounded in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. The patients will be transported to Romania under the European Protection Mechanism. The Romanian official did not specify exactly when the children are expected to arrive, mentioning this would happen in the near future. Romanian authorities will ship 90,000 units of canned food to Gaza to support the Palestinian people. The European Commission is expected to cover transport costs. STUDENTS A government resolution sets out the overall enrolment figures for public undergraduate and higher education units in Romania in the 2024 2025 academic year. The document sets the number of students to be enrolled in preschools, primary, secondary and high schools in the country, including for Romanian nationals living abroad, and for foreign citizens under bilateral agreements and unilateral commitments. Romanians living abroad will benefit from 1,900 places in undergraduate education units and 7,065 places in public universities, with a total of 800 monthly grants. For foreign citizens, 1,800 places have been earmarked in undergraduate education units and 4,430 in higher education institutions, with a total 1,710 monthly grants. Enrolment plans also include special places for minors who have applied for or received protection in Romania, and for stateless minors officially recognized as residing in Romania, the government explained. (AMP & VP) May 18, 2024 UPDATE A roundup of domestic and international news Newsflash Newsroom, 18.05.2024, 17:00 PENTECOST. On Saturday, pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Sumuleu Ciuc, in central Romania, to attend the impressive Catholic Pentecost procession devoted to the Virgin Mary and prayed together for peace. The procession at Sumuleu Ciuc is considered the largest of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe and has at its center the miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary, located in the Franciscan church. This well-known sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary was visited, in 2019, by Pope Francis, who officiated a service right from the altar where the Pentecost service is held. The Ministry of the Interior provided additional staff ensure the safe movement of pilgrims. Police have also taken care of maintaining the safety of railway traffic considering that, similar to previous years, the Hungarian railways provided two special train sets for the pilgrims coming mainly from Hungary. In the crossing points located on the border with Hungary, as well as at the airports of Timisoara (west), Targu-Mures (center), Cluj-Napoca (northwest), Sibiu (center) and Bacau (east), the necessary measures have been taken for streamlining passenger traffic. FESTIVAL. The 14th International Shakespeare Festival continues until May 26 in Craiova, southern Romania. More than 300 world-class theater performances, concerts, parades, workshops, book launches, installation and VR trips will cover the entire city of Craiova and its surroundings, in conventional spaces, but also in the most original and unexpected places. Shakespeare Village a British village from 1600, rebuilt from scratch, on the Craiova Hippodrome, will be the venue for dozens of concerts and shows. Famous names from the world of international theater and performance creators can be found in the festival program, including Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Declan Donnellan, Robert Lepage, Philip Parr, Jesus Herrera, Christian Friedel. NEW CALEDONIA. Three Romanian citizens have contacted the Embassy of Romania in Canberra and the Consulate General of Romania in Paris to signal their presence in New Caledonia, the French overseas territory which is currently under a state of emergency following massive protests and serious violations of public order, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced. The representatives of the Consulate General of Romania in Paris, whose consular constituency includes New Caledonia, have taken over the management of the situation and are permanently in touch with the three Romanian citizens, being prepared to provide assistance and consular protection, according to their competences. Also, the consular office cooperates with international partners to coordinate and provide support to the Romanian citizens, depending on the developments recorded at the local level. MOLDOVA. The eighth meeting of the Republic of Moldova-European Union Association Council will take place next week in Brussels, on May 21. The meeting will be co-chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borell, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, with the participation of the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi. The evolution of relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union will be discussed, through the lens of the implementation of the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, as well as the progress of preparations for the formal opening of accession negotiations. Two important documents will be signed: the Moldova EU Security and Defense Partnership and the Agreement regarding the participation of the Republic of Moldova in the Employment and Social Innovation Program, which will allow access to funds for the implementation of social policies. HOSPITAL. The construction works at the Regional Emergency Hospital in Cluj, in northwestern Romania, were inaugurated on Saturday. The value of the project exceeds 700 million euros, and the completion period is three years. The medical unit will have over 800 beds, a heliport and 22 operating rooms. This hospital is very important for the entire medical system in Northern Transylvania, says the rector of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Anca Buzoianu. (mi) Disinformation Online There is an urgent need for regulation; fake information and online hate speech, accelerated and amplified by social media platforms Disinformation Online Corina Cristea, 02.08.2024, 14:00 Based on seven key principles, UNESCOs plan to combat the rampant spread of online disinformation and hate speech aims to protect the integrity of democratic processes and the global information landscape. The plan is the result of an unprecedented consultation process that incorporated more than 10,000 contributions from 134 countries over 18 months. There is an urgent need for regulation; fake information and online hate speech, accelerated and amplified by social media platforms, represent major risks to social cohesion, peace and stability,' said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. A survey commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and carried out by the polling institute Ipsos in 16 countries where elections are held this year, including the United States, shows that 56% of Internet users rely primarily on social media for news, a percentage that exceeds that for television and traditional media sites. This shift to social media as the dominant source of news has raised concerns, because of the lower level of trust in the information it provides compared to traditional media. More than 85% of respondents expressed deep concern about the consequences of online disinformation, and 87% of them believe that it has already caused damage to the political landscape in their country. Social media platforms were identified as the main breeding grounds for false information in all 16 countries analyzed, with 68% of respondents citing them as the main culprits. In the context of the current geopolitical and security crisis, doubled by this years elections, fake news spreads faster than verified ones, so that people are much more exposed to misinformation than to credible sources. This is according Radio Romania and university lecturer Dr. Antonio Momoc, from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the University of Bucharest. He made an analysis of the way of communicating in the online environment, and talked about how the media is adapting to new challenges. Social networks are the biggest dangers in the spread of fake news, warns Antonio Momoc: There are many studies on various social networks Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok that show that fake news spreads more and with greater speed than verified news. Its a mathematical, statistically verified thing. Far more people are likely to read fake news than verified news, far more people encounter conspiracy theories. If we look at TikTok, we find a conspiracy theory every second, we find a story that explains all kinds of things and invents things about history, about tradition, about current affairs, every moment. Im not talking about deepfakes and so on. What the algorithms do is deliver that information that captures our attention, that keeps us on the platform longer and that generates revenue. The algorithms do their job, at that moment the search engines, artificial intelligence basically monetizes for Google, for Facebook. Whats swirling, whats spreading, whats being amplified there, is primarily our feelings of frustration and hatred, our anger, and the fact that we can somehow retaliate through comments, through reactions on social media. Or, says the professor, thats what makes all this information, these theories, all this fake news, not only keep us captive there, but reinforce the things we believe in and make us vote against an entire system. It is clear that classic journalism is affected by digital platforms, but the public press, radio, and television must quickly adapt to new trends and be present in the digital environment with correct and quality information, adds Antonio Momoc: We did a study on internet consumption and television consumption before and after the pandemic. Television consumption before, during and after the pandemic increased. We were starting from the premise that internet consumption had increased, but in fact internet consumption had nowhere to grow. Of course, people consumed a lot of Internet, in the sense that they made purchases, it was a pandemic, they were stuck at home, but from the point of view of information consumption, they still checked the news from radio and television or from the print media, which was also online. So, from that point of view, television and radio are still reliable mediums. There are environments where people know very well that professional journalists are there, and if they want quality news they go there. Of course, there are more and more professional journalists on alternative platforms, but radio and television, being convergent and operating in the online area, attract their audiences and communicate with the audiences in the online area. The Internet is just another medium where quality journalism can be manifested. The bottom line? Media education that teaches you where to gather your information and news sources, critical thinking, but also general knowledge are valuable weapons in the fight against misinformation on digital platforms. And, in the context of the growing exposure to misinformation online, traditional media can be a balancing factor. Up to Rs. 10,000 has been hiked with Mahindra Thar price revision and only the the most affordable variants have been hiked Lifestyle SUV king of India, Mahindra Thar, has undergone a subtle price revision. Mahindra has hiked prices for the month of May 2024 and only a few variants are affected by this price hike. Thar is set to get a bigger brother in the coming months in the form of Thar Armada with 5-Doors too. Mahindra Thar Price Revision For May 2024 After launching XUV3XO in India, Mahindra has been on the run to increase its market share in SUV segment. Companys growth projections with XUV3XO suggest that it will surpass segment leaders like Brezza and Nexon in the next three years. Mahindra is launching five all new electric SUVs and 5-Door Thar Armada. Thar Armada is likely to launch on 15th August and ahead of that, Mahindra has hiked prices of Thar 3-Door. This price increment is Rs. 10,000 and is concentrated towards the entry level variants of Thar. In effect, new prices for Thar start from Rs. 11.35 lakh for base AX (O) Diesel MT RWD variant. Which is Rs. 10,000 more as opposed to Rs. 11.25 lakh (ex-sh) base price before. The same Rs. 10,000 price hike is also implemented on LX Diesel MT RWD and LX Petrol AT RWD as well. So, the most affordable LX variant is now Rs. 10,000 more and starts from Rs. 12.85 lakh (ex-sh) for the LX Diesel MT RWD. Most affordable automatic variant now starts from Rs. 14.1 lakh (ex-sh) for LX Petrol AT RWD. Apart from these three variants, none of the other variants have been fettled with. Indias best-selling lifestyle SUV There was a time when lifestyle off-road segment was considered dead. This was because of a lack of even the most basic features and creature comforts in these vehicles. Demanding a significant commitment from buyers and enthusiasts. Hence they didnt make it big in mainstream segment. With the launch of new Thar in 2020, Mahindra single-handedly changed the landscape of the lifestyle SUV segment in India by offering a feature-rich SUV that doesnt look and feel like a punishment to be in. Also contributing to that effect, is the muscular look, neo-retro and sheer road presence. Rivals like Maruti Suzuki Jimny and Force Gurkha have not been able to hold a candle to Thars popularity and sales performance. If we take April 2024 for example, Thar sold over 6K units, while Jimny managed to see 257 buyers. With the launch of Thar Armada (5-Door), the appeal of a Thar is likely to increase even further. Also read Suzuki Jimny Heritage Edition Revealed Toyota will initially produce the electric Hilux only For Thailand; other markets could be covered later As compared to other carmakers, Toyota hasnt voted for a dramatic shift to electric vehicles. Instead, Toyota has been focusing on hybrid cars. Its the companys belief that market share of electric cars will never go beyond 30 percent. Even when much of the ecosystem is chasing a zero-emission future. Electric Hilux debut in 2025 But that doesnt mean Toyota has entirely shunned electric vehicles. Even when not as aggressive as other brands, Toyotas EV plan is progressing in the desired manner. One of Toyotas upcoming EVs is Hilux Revo BEV, which will be launched in 2025. Electric Hilux will be assembled in Thailand and sold exclusively in Thailand initially. Toyota can consider export opportunities at a later date. Information about the upcoming electric Hilux was recently confirmed by a company executive. Thailand seems like a relevant choice, as theres significant demand for pickup trucks in that country. More than half of all cars sold in Thailand are pickup trucks. This presents a significant opportunity for Toyota. Rival offerings such as the upcoming electric Isuzu D-Max could also have necessitated the introduction of electric Hilux. The electric Isuzu D-Max will also be assembled in Thailand. Electric Hilux Specs, range Toyota had earlier stated that the electric Hilux will have a range of around 200 km. The test cycle used for determining the range was not mentioned. A range of 200 km seems quite low, but its a common issue with electric pickups. A higher range will require a larger battery, which in turn can limit the pickups load carrying capacity. Manoeuvrability and practicality issues can also arise with a large battery pack used in a pickup truck. With the new-gen ICE Hilux expected to debut in 2025, it is likely that the electric Hilux will be based on the new-gen model. However, there is no official confirmation from Toyota. New-gen Hilux can be better equipped to support advanced features that electric vehicles generally have. Across South American markets, the new-gen ICE Hilux will debut in 2026. It is possible that Toyota may introduce both new-gen ICE and electric versions of Hilux simultaneously in 2025. Based on the same platform, Toyota is likely to launch Fortuner Electric in the future. Other upcoming Toyota pickups Earlier in 2021, Toyota had showcased a pickup truck that looked similar to the Tacoma. At the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, an EPU concept was showcased. It had a unibody construction and was dimensionally similar to the Fiat Toro. At the same event, Toyota had also unveiled a small IMV-0 concept. This was presented as a small modular electric pickup truck. Toyota is already using the IMV-0 platform in several countries. Although, it currently comes with combustion engines and is sold as the Hilux Champ. The name was recently registered in Brazil. It presents the possibility of production in Argentina. Hilux Champ shares several components with the standard Hilux. 1 of 3 Source Reuters ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 18. Turkmenistan is taking active steps to develop cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Trend reports. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. He noted that Turkmenistan and the IAEA will prepare a five-year Framework Program of cooperation covering such areas as healthcare, in particular nuclear medicine, rational use of water resources, and agriculture. "To discuss the draft of this program, it is planned to hold a regular meeting of a specially created group in June this year," the minister said. At the same time, Meredov proposed to take appropriate steps to strengthen the international legal framework for multilateral cooperation with the countries of the world within the framework of the IAEA and to elect Turkmenistan to one of the eight existing structural divisions of the Agency. "Turkmenistan has been a full member of the IAEA since 2016. Partnership with this organization, which is part of the UN system, is carried out in a number of areas. In order to strengthen the international legal framework for cooperation, in 2023, our country joined two IAEA Conventions on Nuclear Safety. As part of technical cooperation, four Agency projects are currently being implemented in Turkmenistan," he added. Meanwhile, after Turkmenistan joined the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1994, the country often holds bilateral consultations with the IAEA. Turkmenistan and the IAEA signed a corresponding agreement on the application of safeguards on May 17, 2005, which contributed to the establishment of effective cooperation in this area. 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 ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 18. The creation of a digital state land cadastre continues in Turkmenistan, Trend reports. According to the official source, the land cadastre is a unified electronic system that contains a set of information collected during the state registration of lands, accounting for their quantity and quality, economic assessment, and other data to control the effective and rational use of land resources and acreage. At the moment, information about wheat fields, their location, tenants, and users has already been fully entered into the land registry database. Furthermore, work is currently underway to provide relevant information on the lands allocated for cotton, vegetables, and other agricultural crops and to further improve the cadastre. The state land cadastre is of economic importance and is intended for the organization of effective use of land and its protection, farm planning, placement and specialization of agricultural production, land reclamation, legal certification of land rights, etc. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan's agricultural sector plays a key role in the country's economy, representing an important area of employment and food security. In recent years, the government has been actively investing in the modernization and mechanization of agriculture, the introduction of advanced agricultural technologies, and improving the efficiency of water resources, taking into account the arid climate. (Photo : Getty Images/ Joe Raedle) Once again, Boeing's much-awaited Starliner mission is scheduled for launch on May 25. NASA claims more time is needed to resolve a helium leak and complete spacecraft closeout procedures and flight logic. The mission was initially scheduled for May 21 but was postponed twice. Helium Leak Causes New Delay The Starliner's service module contained a helium leak found at a thruster flange on the reaction control system. NASA's latest assessment indicates that despite its discovery, the leak does not appear to be a serious threat to the mission. The results of pressure tests on May 15 showed that the leak is steady and won't affect the spacecraft's functionality while in flight. Teams at Boeing are creating operational protocols to guarantee that the system has enough redundancy and performance capacity to last the duration of the mission. Crew Flight Test: A Decade in the Making A significant milestone for Boeing's Starliner program will be reached with the coming taking off, called the Crew Flight Test. It is expected to be the last important test before NASA approves the spacecraft for regular use in the Commercial Crew Program. The mission will be conducted by NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, and it will involve a week-long stay at the International Space Station (ISS). Before the rescheduled launch, the crew spent time with their families in Houston on May 10 after being placed in preflight quarantine. Nearer the revised launch date, they will return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission is especially significant because it is the sixth crewed spacecraft to launch in American history, after Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and SpaceX's Dragon. Many obstacles have hindered Starliner's development, including delays and technological problems. On May 6, just over two hours remained until the first crewed flight was postponed owing to a valve problem on the second stage of the Atlas V rocket. After that, the United Launch Alliance team fixed the rocket's malfunctioning pressure-regulating valve, but the Starliner's following helium leak added to the delays. READ ALSO: Boeing Pushes Back First-Ever Crewed Launch of Starliner Astronaut Capsule Indefinitely Over Safety Concerns Boeing's Historic goals With Boeing's Starliner set to challenge SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, the United States will have several choices when sending astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA and Boeing remain positive about the spacecraft's future despite the setbacks. The current delay is considered a preventative measure to guarantee that every system is operational and safe for the crew. After launch, Starliner and its crew will detach from the Atlas V rocket and use their engines to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). The journey will take about a week to complete, and the astronauts will join the current ISS occupants, number seven. After that, the Starliner will make a second trip back to Earth, landing at one of three planned locations in the American Southwest. In addition to proving the Starliner's dependability and safety, Boeing must complete this flight to fulfill its obligations under NASA's commercial crew program. SpaceX earned $2.6 billion for their Crew Dragon, while Boeing received $4.2 billion for the development of Starliner. Although SpaceX has successfully launched several crewed trips, Boeing wants to show that Starliner is just as capable. Although the Starliner has encountered many difficulties, if the launch goes well, it will be a major milestone for Boeing and NASA and will increase the possibilities of human spaceflight. RELATED ARTICLE: Helium Leak Delays Boeing's Astronaut Launch Attempt for the Second Time; Crew Debut Set on May 21 After Spacecraft Repair Check out more news and information on Starliner in Science Times. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 18. Uzbekistan's Silk Avia Airlines launched regular flights to Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul, Trend reports. According to the airline, the flights will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays starting June 16. Silk Avia plans to increase their number daily in the future. Earlier, Uzbekistan Airports announced the establishment of Silk Avia Airlines for low-cost domestic flights back in November 2021. The first board of Silk Avia arrived in Uzbekistans Tashkent on March 21. Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz airline TezJet has received permission to perform regular flights to Uzbekistan. According to the Uzaviation Agency (Uzbekistan's Civil Aviation Agency), the authorization was issued on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement on air communication between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. According to the permit, Tez Jet Airlines will perform flights on the Osh-Tashkent-Osh and Bishkek-Tashkent-Bishkek routes. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 14. Binance finds Kyrgyzstan a promising market for the company's activities and the development of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, Kirill Khomyakov, Binance's Regional Head for Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia told Trend in an exclusive interview. Kyrgyzstan presents a compelling and promising market for Binance, the leading platform in the CIS region. With cryptocurrencies gradually integrating into the daily lives of Kyrgyz citizens, the momentum of this adoption is undeniable and poised for continued growth, he emphasized. He notes that the Kyrgyz community exhibits considerable interest in cryptocurrencies and the broader cryptocurrency sector. Kyrgyzstan is a receptive ground for innovation, boasting numerous projects involving technologically progressive firms, among them crypto exchanges. The fundamental groundwork for this endeavor is established, yet I believe there's a pressing need for greater collaboration between regulatory and legislative entities. It's imperative for them to engage with industry representatives, fostering an environment where market insights are heard and regulations can be adapted to incentivize investment, said Khomyakov. He emphasized that Binance's primary focus in Kyrgyzstan is the advancement of their global products and ensuring user accessibility. "Educational initiatives take precedence. Recently, we unveiled the launch of 'Crypto School', a comprehensive online educational venture," shared Khomyakov. He highlighted that through this initiative, millions of users in Kyrgyzstan will have access to fundamental knowledge about blockchain and cryptocurrencies at no cost. "For our community, we regularly host various activities, such as trading contests and marketing campaigns. Additionally, we are considering another visit to Kyrgyzstan to host another community meeting. The first Binance Community Meetup in 2022 was a tremendous success, with over 600 attendees," he stated. Furthermore, the regional head stressed the importance of dialogue between the government and the crypto industry to refine existing legislation and attract investment to the country. "The involvement of technologically advanced players, particularly Binance, fosters technological development and job opportunities. We are always open to dialogue with regulators and financial institution representatives," he affirmed. In response to inquiries about Binance's efforts to bolster the advancement of blockchain technology in Kyrgyzstan, the regional head acknowledged the absence of concrete examples thus far. However, we have a noteworthy case that we've executed in the neighboring nation - Kazakhstan. Last November, Binance, in collaboration with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan, announced the launch of a pilot stablecoin backed by digital tenge. This marked the world's inaugural issuance of a stablecoin supported by a national digital currency on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) test network," he explained. Nonetheless, the Binance regional head underscored the country's aspirations for digitalization and cryptocurrency development, with the mining sector showing promising growth. In response, Binance embraces such endeavors and stands ready to extend support. "We possess extensive experience in implementing blockchain technologies both at the governmental level and within the business sphere. We are eager to share our expertise and assist local enterprises with integration," Khomyakov emphasized. He also shared insights from a user survey that Binance conducted last year among CIS countries, including Kyrgyzstan. The survey revealed that the predominant demographic within Binance's audience is male (89.2 percent), with 90.8 percent falling between the ages of 18 and 45. "The largest demographic among respondents consists of individuals aged 26 to 35, comprising 38.2 percent of the total. Additionally, the financial sector ranks second with 13.4 percent of respondents, followed by IT professionals at 11.9 percent. Notably, over 88 percent of surveyed Binance users expressed intentions to continue investing in cryptocurrencies in 2023, with only 3.3 percent indicating no plans for digital asset investment," he added. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The National Payment Corporation of the National Bank of Kazakhstan intends to connect more banks to the digital tenge, Chairman of the Board of the National Payment Corporation (NPC) of Kazakhstan Binur Zhalenov told Trend on the margins of the Fintex Summit in Baku. "We are implementing the digital tenge project in three stages. The first stage was introduced last year. Including working with companies such as Visa and Mastercard, we have provided the opportunity to spend digital tenge anywhere in the world. This year, we have ambitions to expand the project. Firstly, connect more banks. Let me remind you that last year we connected five banks; this year we have a goal to connect at least ten banks," he said. According to Zhalenov, a new scenario in digital tenge is also being implemented. "The first direction is to ensure transparency in government spending. We signed a roadmap together with the Ministry of Finance and the Anti-Corruption Service on the implementation of pilot projects using digital tenge. We want to ensure the targeted use of public funds. If money is allocated for the construction of a school, then it is colored in accordance with the design and estimate documentation, and digital tenge can only be spent on goods and services related to the construction of the school," Zhalenov said. He noted that the second direction is cross-border payments. "This year, we expect to go from being an observer to becoming a full participant in the mBridge project of the Bank for International Settlements and launching cross-border payments in digital currencies on November 15," he said. As the chairman of the NPC noted, it is also planned to use the digital tenge for the digital asset industry. "In particular, we expect that the regulator will support the launch of a crypto card. That is, this will make it possible to spend USDT from a crypto-wallet using digital tenge. There are also areas related to digital vouchers. In particular, free meals in schools. It will be digitized using digital tenge smart contracts," he noted. To note, the digital tenge project underwent a pre-launch phase in 2021 to assess its feasibility. Subsequent research and testing with real consumers and businesses continued throughout 2022. On November 15, 2023, the initial phase of implementing the digital tenge platform within the industrial circuit commenced. Collaborating with the Almaty city's administration and Kazpost postal service company, a pilot project introducing "digital vouchers" for complimentary meals in schools was initiated. Furthermore, in conjunction with international payment systems and four second-tier banks, the world witnessed the debut of bank cards connected to a digital account in the central bank's digital currency. This innovative development enables citizens to utilize, withdraw, and conduct transactions worldwide, all within a familiar user interface. The homeless man accused of assaulting actor Steve Buscemi last week was arrested by NYPD officers on Friday, according to a report by the Daily News. Clifton Williams, 50, faces second degree assault charges for the alleged attack, the report states. Williams is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday. Actor Steve Buscemi attends the premiere of "The Dead Don't Die" at the Museum of Modern Art, June 10, 2019, in New York. Buscemi was punched in the face by a random attacker on a New York City street, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, according to police and his publicist. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Officers brought Williams into custody when they responded to an unrelated argument in the proximity of W 26th St. and 11th Ave. in Chelsea, Manhattan Friday morning, as detailed by the Daily News. Williams was reportedly involved in the dispute and was recognized by responding officers, a police source with knowledge of the case told the Daily News. The alleged assault on the Reservoir Dogs icon initially unfolded on May 8. The 66-year-old actor was standing on the 300 block of 3rd Avenue around 11:50 a.m. when he was punched in the face, according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Buscemi was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition by responding EMS to receive treatment for bruising, swelling, and bleeding to his left eye, according to the NYPD statement. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island man is going to prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain specialty baby formula, according to Breon Peace, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Vladislav Kotlyar, 45, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court on Friday to 33 months in prison, and ordered to pay approximately $738,000 in restitution and forfeit approximately $1 million, Peace reported. Kotlyar originally faced up to 20 years in prison for his actions. Back in March 2023, Kotlyar pled guilty to taking part in a scheme to defraud insurance plans and medical suppliers by fraudulently procuring specialty baby formula. This mail fraud scheme, which lasted from March 2019 through October 2022, saw Kotlyar submit forged prescriptions and medical records for specialty baby formula that was paid for by health insurers. Once he received the specialty baby formula, Kotlyar fabricated issues with the shipments, even going so far as to impersonate the infants parents. In seeking to obtain additional formula at no additional cost, Kotlyar falsely claimed that shipments were damaged or contained the incorrect formula. Kotlyar then sold the fraudulently obtained formula, a portion of the scheme taking place during a national shortage of infant formula, as detailed by Peace. WASHINGTON (AP) An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trumps false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported. A photo obtained and published by the newspaper on Thursday shows the flag flying on Jan. 17, 2021, days after the Republicans supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Bidens presidential election victory. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like Stop the Steal. The report could raise concerns about Alitos impartiality as the court considers two major cases related to the Capitol attack, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges. The justice said the flag was placed there by his wife amid a dispute with neighbors. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Alito to recuse himself Friday from cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Flying an upside-down American flag a symbol of the so-called Stop the Steal movement clearly creates the appearance of bias, Durbin said in a statement. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, meanwhile, called the report an attempt to intimidate justices, in a social-media post. It comes as another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election over his wife, Ginni Thomas, support for Trump and as public trust in the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in at least 50 years. Judicial experts said the flag clearly violates ethics rules set to avoid even the appearance of bias. At the time the flag was flying, the court was still considering whether to take up cases over the 2020 election. It ultimately rejected them over dissent from three conservative justices, including Alito, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. He wrote that the courts consideration of the cases would have no impact on the 2020 election but would provide invaluable guidance for future elections. Alito acknowledged the presence of the flag at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, but said he had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs, Alito said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. Martha-Ann Alito had been in a dispute with another family in the neighborhood over an anti-Trump sign on their lawn, and neighbors also interpreted the flag as a political statement, the Times reported. Its unclear how long the flag was flying. Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The code lacks a means of enforcement, however. Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told the newspaper that flying the flag upside down is the equivalent of putting a Stop the Steal sign in your yard, which is a problem if youre deciding election-related cases. Even if it was placed by his spouse or someone else living in the home, he shouldnt have it in his yard as his message to the world, she said. The Supreme Court has warned its employees about public displays indicating partisan leanings, the newspaper reported. The court did not respond to questions about whether those rules apply to justices. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property. It has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades. It took off as a symbol of Trumps Stop the Steal campaign as he spread false claims that the election he lost to Biden had been stolen. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Yorkers have more than two dozen chances to turn a few bucks into tens of thousands of dollars. The New York Lottery has various $3 scratch-off games with top-prizes of $60,000. As of Friday, there are 26 tickets across five different $3 scratch-off games with guaranteed top prizes of $60,000. Here are the $3 scratch-off games with top-prize tickets of $60,000 still in circulation as of Friday, May 17, according to New York Lottery data: LINE EM UP Top prizes remaining: 1 Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 2,072,160 LOTERIA Top prizes remaining: 2 Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 2,676,933.33 LUCKY LINES Top prizes remaining: 19 Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 484,066.67 MATCH FOR CASH Top prizes remaining: 2 Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 2,036,880 XTREME CASHWORD Top prizes remaining: 2 Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,435,400 MORE INFORMATION For more information about the New York Lotterys scratch-off games, visit nylottery.ny.gov/scratch-off-games. The New York Lottery continues to be touted as North Americas largest and most profitable lottery, contributing $3.7 billion during fiscal year 2022-2023 to support education in New York state. New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school districts size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of lottery school funding. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Smoke from last years Canadian wildfires blanketed New York in a suffocating haze that deterred any outdoor activity. Now, as Canadian wildfires begin to break out and billow smoke into the northern U.S., one must ponder the possibility of a repeat of last year. Despite making an impact out in the central states, its doubtful that conditions will align to replicate what AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dave Dombek calls an extremely rare case, at least in the short term. However, the chance of New York receiving smoke out of this years potential wildfires is certainly possible. In fact, its not uncommon for New York City to see smoke sweep over the area. While some might jump to point fingers at urban air pollution, Dombek notes that the smoke does originate from wildfires. Although, the smoke does not typically take an oppressive, orange approach as we saw in 2023; rather, the smoke passes far higher in the atmosphere and makes for an overhead fuzz. When fires take place, hundreds if not thousands of miles away, smoke downstream typically remains higher up in the atmosphere, casting a haze in the sky, AccuWeather reports. THE CHANCE AT SMOKE IN N.Y. While the 2024 Canadian wildfire season will fall short of the record-breaking 2023 numbers, it is still expected to be above average, as reported by AccuWeather. Last year, more than 45.7 million acres of land were burned amid blazes in Canada. That historic figure measured in nearly three times higher than the previous record of 17.5 million acres scorched in Canada in 1995, according to AccuWeather. This file photo from June 7, 2023, shows the Staten Island Mall carnival with an orange haze thanks to the poor air quality resulting from Canadian wildfires. (Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara)(Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara) This spring, the fires have been largely confined to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories but have cumulatively burned more than half a million acres, with a large amount of that occurring over the past week, AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. In the east, cold conditions and snow on the ground serve as a deterrent to any wildfires, AccuWeather notes. This current situation far different from what was experienced in 2023. According to Dombek, the setup for last years fires was extremely warm and dry in areas closer to the U.S. This year its a lot different. Its much wetter up there now, Dombek said. The fire potential, at least right now and in the short term, is greatly reduced from what we saw a year ago. Now thats not to say that its going to stay that way all summer. Dombek reports that the eventual warmup and drying conditions could contribute to wildfires closer to home in Quebec and Ontario. Although it is possible for fire to break out in eastern Canada, the threat of smoke reaching the Northeast remains far lower than 2023, AccuWeather says. Despite this, a significant wildfire threat zone is slated for northwestern Ontario, which is anticipated to experience drought conditions in the summer, as detailed by AccuWeather. Should fires break out in this area, the potential remains for smoke to carry southeastward possibly reaching parts of the Northeast. Shorter term, any smoke that were getting is much more distant, Dombek said. Now, whether we ever get into that situation of much thicker smoke, much more noticeable that its actually so thick and so close by in Canada that we can actually smell it, that remains to be seen, Dombek added. Im not saying that we wont, but if it happens its somewhat down the pike. During the summer, Buckingham notes that air quality across Canada and the northern U.S. could be impacted; a potential problem for those with breathing conditions. WILDFIRES IN THE U.S. As for the states, the 2024 wildfire season is anticipated to be below the historical average in terms of the number of fires and acres burned, AccuWeathers Wildfire Team reported. This year, fires in the U.S. are predicted to scorch between four and six million acres of land in 2024, below the historical average of around seven million acres, AccuWeather says. An AccuWeather graphic shows the risk of significant wildfires in 2024. (Courtesy of AccuWeather)(Courtesy of AccuWeather) Thus far, the largest fire of the year was in Texas, a blaze burning more than one million acres of land and killing at least two people, according to AccuWeather. That same region of the Texas Panhandle and other nearby areas face a high to extreme risk of significant fires in 2024. A risk of wildfires could also extend a little closer to home near the Great Lakes. The risk of wildfires could increase quickly across the Upper Midwest in the second half of spring because of the record-breaking warmth and dryness across the region this past winter, AccuWeather Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said. Precipitation in the Midwest and Great Lakes could briefly reduce the threat of fire in the spring, however, as summer arrives, the risk will rise elevate. In the Northeast, Buckingham says greening will prevent wildfires in the late-spring and early-summer. If it becomes drier for a significant amount of time for the middle to late summer in the Northeast, then the risk of fires can elevate heading into the fall, Buckingham added. Photo: Website of the President of Georgia BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the bill on foreign agents, Zurabishvili said during the briefing, Trend reports. According to her, the document contradicts the country's Constitution and all European standards. This law must be repealed, the President of Georgia emphasized. On May 14, the Georgian parliament adopted the law On Transparency of Foreign Influence in the third reading. Even before the law was adopted, Zurabishvili announced that she would veto it. Renaming rights, please, to be extended promptly to Gina Rinehart not for one of the swimmers she sponsors, but for what is known as the Streisand effect. That is, the phenomenon of famous, powerful figures trying to suppress information about themselves, but in the attempt, attracting far more publicity of the very thing they wanted to be hidden. Barbra Streisand inspired the term in 2003, when she attempted to stop publication of an aerial photograph of her house, taken to document coastal erosion in Malibu, California. The result was that the photograph was widely circulated for the world to see. Double or nothing: both of Vincent Namatjiras portraits of Gina Rinehart have now been given publicity. According to Wikipedia: the Streisand effect exemplifies psychological reactance: where the desire to hide information instead makes its propagation more likely. Rinehart kicked an analogous own-goal on Wednesday when the Herald and The Age reported that she demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove a portrait of her from an exhibition by Archibald Prize-winning Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira. Gregor Johann Haas, the father of Broncos forward Payne Haas, will be offered Australian consular assistance after being arrested in the Philippines and accused of running drugs of a sufficient quantity to receive the death penalty in Indonesia, federal treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Saturday. Indonesian authorities said they had been hunting the 46-year-old since last December after police discovered five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at an undisclosed location. Chalmers declined to comment on Gregor Haas specific charges, but said he would be speaking to federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in coming days about Australias response to Gregor Haas proposed deportation to Indonesia. He made the comments at Helensvale on the Gold Coast, where he also announced $432 million in federal funds towards the $3.02 billion stage one of the Coomera Connector. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Following mass protests in New Caledonia, the Supreme Council of France has declared martial law on the island, Trend reports. A large number of military, police, gendarmerie, and intelligence services have been deployed to the island. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, demonstrations and actions have been banned, and social networks have been blocked. Reporters' access to the island is restricted. Recently, New Caledonia (an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean) experienced protests against harsh social conditions, unemployment, and discrimination. Clashes between protesters and police resulted in the deaths of two police officers and three protesters. Located 16,000 kilometers from France in the Pacific Ocean near Australia, New Caledonia remains a French colony despite the distance, leading to local protests against exploitation. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Frustrated parents have criticised a decision by an inner west public school to ditch physical books and instead ask kindergarten students to read on screens as part of their home reading program. In a letter to families, the schools staff told parents there would be a slight change to the reading homework for kindergarten students, saying that instead of sending home books, children would be accessing an e-library. The decision to swap traditional books for a digital library prompted some parents to lobby the school to overturn the decision, urging it to reconsider due to concerns about limiting screen time for four and five-year olds. Rosa Brown was concerned when her local public school switched from traditional books to an e-library for kindergarten students under their home reading program. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos We value the idea of traditional books, and didnt want to use an iPad to help teach our son to read, said Rosa Brown, whose son was in kindergarten when she was told about the switch in term 2 last year. 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 Your favourite pair of form-fitting jeans, workout leggings or stretchy hoodie represents a huge problem in the global fashion industry. They may be forgiving after a big lunch, but almost anything with stretch is made with fossil fuel-derived products, which deteriorate faster than their natural counterparts. Our clothes are under threat. Climate change is affecting the quality, availability and price of natural fibres like cotton, silk and wool. Amid demand for low-cost clothes, retailers rely on synthetic materials, perpetuating the climate change cycle and driving up the price of quality materials. Fossil fuel fashion set to take over The world is producing more textiles than ever, with 116 million tonnes of fibre produced in 2022. Thats 15.6 kilograms per person, up from 8.2 in 1975, according to Textile Exchanges Materials Market Report. By 2030, its projected to rise to 17.3 kilograms per person. Advertisement Over two-thirds of those textiles are made from plastic and fossil fuels. A report by the Changing Markets Foundation found polyester production tripled between 2000 and 2018 to 60 million tonnes, overtaking every other kind of textile. Plastic has crept into almost every item of clothing available, University of Technology Sydney fashion and textiles designer Mark Liu said and its driving down clothing quality. Elastane, such as Lycra or spandex, is a huge culprit. Most clothes now have 1 - 2 per cent elastane, which allows manufacturers to produce fewer sizes due to the stretch. Its a petroleum-based product that is nearly impossible to recycle, with a shorter lifespan than natural fibres. With anything elastic, it just dies each of those garments has a timer on them, Lui said. He said the rise of online shopping and fast fashion had also changed consumer expectations. When people are buying garments for $5, often with free shipping, they can just buy another one if it falls apart youre not expecting that much, he said. Advertisement Australian Fashion Council head Jaana Quaintance-James said she was incredibly concerned about the impact of climate change and the ability of local manufacturers to compete with lower-priced polyester imports. Limited clothing import tariffs are set to be scrapped altogether in July under the governments removal of nuisance tariffs reform, making it more difficult for the few who manufacture onshore to compete. We need to invest in our capabilities here we have incredible cotton and wool. How can we as an industry come together, create value and keep more of that happening in Australia? she said. She said the Australian fashion industry was embracing recycled, renewable and sustainable manufacturing methods but needed greater investment and support to grow. Natural fibres under threat The quality and quantity of natural fibres such as wool, linen, cotton and silk are under threat thanks to climate change. Advertisement 70-year-old Nan Bray quit her job as a climate scientist two decades ago to start a merino wool farm in Tasmania. She sells fibres to US luxury fashion brand Another Tomorrow and produces yarn for her online store. Bray is incredibly concerned about the industrys future thanks to El Nino and La Nina weather patterns causing back-to-back floods and droughts affecting the availability of feed and quality of wool. Less rainfall means less feed, less feed means fibres with less tensile strength. Once the tensile strength drops below a certain threshold, mills cant work with it as it breaks, and farmers cant sell to the higher end of the market, such as fashion retailers, she said. Global wool production has gone backwards in the past decade from 1.22 million tonnes in 2005 to 1.05 million tonnes in 2022, according to the Textile Exchanges Market Report. Cotton, too, is under threat, Sydney University Institute of Agriculture Professor Daniel Tan said. The fibre length is determined by heat and water. If grown on dry and hot land, you get shorter fibres which dont have strength and break easily, he said. He said heavy rains, overcast days and floods also cause crops to yellow and rot. Advertisement Cotton production has increased by just 5000 tonnes in the past 40 years, and across the next decade, production of the water-hungry crop is expected to decrease. The Cotton 2040 report found that 40 per cent of cotton-producing regions will experience shorter growing seasons by 2040 due to the number of days above 30 degrees. Founder of Sydney fashion label KITX Kit Willow said the skyrocketing prices of natural materials and drop in quality were having a big impact on business. Every single season for the past 10 years, the price of silk has gone up. Every order comes at an increased price, while the silk quality is thinner. In the next 10 years, virgin silk will be a luxury, she said. Silk production volumes declined by 54 per cent between 2015 and 2020 as high heat and humidity impacted the Mulberry leaves the silkworms rely on, cocoon quality and larvae growth. Linen prices have also surged, Willow said, with her suppliers increasing costs by 35 per cent in four years. Advertisement 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 The clock had just ticked over 9am when the small, handheld radio of Fire Rescue Victoria commander Arran Dixon emitted a brief crackle followed by an ominous message. We have an incident in Gore Street, Fitzroy, the voice on the other end of the receiver said. We have reports of a strong smell of gas. The information that followed was scant but concerning. A residential three-storey building along the quiet suburban street in Melbournes inner north had collapsed following an explosion, potentially injuring dozens. The scene was one of complete devastation. The blast had reduced the building to a pile of rubble and twisted metal, leaving a single toilet seat standing in a sea of shattered concrete. A hand poked through the rubble a few metres away from where a man had become trapped. On the footpath, a woman with a wounded arm wailed in agony as she waited for paramedics. Firefighters provide assistance to officers playing the role of civilian casualties during the counterterrorism exercise. Credit: Eddie Jim First responders like Dixon would later hear that a terrorist cell had been using the building to manufacture improvised explosive devices to use in the planned attack on Melbourne. One of the homemade bombs had accidentally detonated, causing the collapse of the apartment block. Fortunately for residents of Melbournes inner north, the scene was entirely fictional, part of a two-day counter-terrorism exercise by Victoria Police, Fire Rescue Victoria and Ambulance Victoria held at fire rescues academy in Craigieburn designed to test the co-ordination between different emergency agencies in the event of a major terrorist attack. Advertisement The drill comes amid renewed attention on the nations counter-terrorism efforts following two suspected terror-related incidents involving teenage boys in New South Wales and Western Australia in the past month. A radicalised 16-year-old boy was shot dead by police in a car park in Perths south on May 4 after he stabbed a member of the public and lunged at police with a knife. The teen was taking part in a rehabilitation program for people who had been radicalised online at the time of the attack. In Sydney, police charged five underage boys with a string of terrorism offences following a series of raids across several suburbs in the wake of the stabbing of a controversial Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a Wakeley church in April. Two of the teens allegedly had graphic videos of Islamic State beheadings and bomb-making instructions, according to the police. Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner Eddie Lacko (left) and Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Hermans. Credit: Eddie Jim The Melbourne drill, more than nine months in the making, is the largest counter-terrorism exercise held in Victoria in recent memory. The Sunday Age attended the first day of the exercise last Wednesday and spent several hours watching it unfold. At 7.15am, dozens of police officers, firefighters and ambulance staff were already gathered under a large tent to receive a briefing. The radio call alerting Dixons unit of an explosion in Fitzroy came in two hours later, prompting a flurry of activity. Fire trucks rushed to the scene, where crews provided first aid to the injured and ensured the perimeter of the explosion site was safe before ambulance officers arrived. Advertisement The response, co-ordinated out of a mobile unit and command centre inside large army tents, then focused on rescuing four people trapped in the rubble, winching them up using portable cranes. Urban search and rescue crews also retrieved the bodies of three people who had died in the collapse. Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner Eddie Lacko said it was crucial to replicate a real-life scenario as accurately as possible, from injuries down to nosey journalists and neighbours trying to get a sneak peek of the crime scene. Unfortunately, those things do occur, Lacko said. We want to make it as real as possible so that its part of the memory of our crews so that they can use those exercise experiences and then apply them in a real-life scenario. The drill included 200 participants from multiple departments, including media liaison officers tasked with holding a mock press conference with officers role-playing as reporters. It also hosted observers from agencies in New Zealand, Queensland and NSW. The resource drain from each one of those agencies, while we maintain the business as usual operations is significant, Lacko said. In the control room, Victoria Police senior sergeant Jason Behan and fire rescue commander Luke Klein led a team of firefighters and police combing over maps and monitoring CCTV footage of the incident site. Sat around a U-shaped table and donning high-vis vests, the staff typed furiously on their laptops in between phone calls and radio communications. Advertisement Essentially, we are replicating the real world out here in terms of phone calls, radio comms, Behan said. Weve got our team here providing that as well as tracking everything like safety and logistics. Within a few hours of the initial report of the explosion, crews at the exercise were told a terrorist group had posted online claiming responsibility for the blast and threatening their next attack would strike the heart of the city. Firefighting crews winch people out of the rubble using a portable crane. Credit: Eddie Jim News of a potential terrorist link triggered alarm bells within Victoria Police, which took control of the investigation and deployed specialist units to the scene, including officers from the arson and explosive squad, the bomb response unit and counter-terrorism command. By the following afternoon, special operations officers had tracked down and arrested the suspected terrorists and handed them over to the Australian Federal Police to be charged. Victoria Polices counter-terrorism assistant commissioner Mick Hermans said it was crucial for officers to train alongside other first responders. Minutes matter and the opportunity to practise in a multi-agency context is extremely important, he said. Advertisement More than one-quarter of Palestinians on temporary visas have applied for permanent asylum in Australia in a fresh test of Labors response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as domestic tensions over the conflict flare. Home Affairs records suggest it is the first time people documented as being from Palestine have claimed asylum in Australia since at least 2009, although some may have been recorded as stateless. Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza last month. Credit: Ahmad Salem Refugee advocates say the increase reflects the desperate situation many Palestinians find themselves in, as Israeli forces launched a fresh advance on Gazas southern city of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands more people to leave, despite ceasefire talks. People who fled the war in Gaza and have arrived on a temporary visa have no working rights or Medicare, said Palestine Australia Relief and Action executive director Rasha Abbas, whose charity helps Palestinians settle in Australia. Households could quickly and easily avoid copping needlessly expensive electricity bills, which roll over each year onto more expensive deals, under a plan to be announced by Energy Minister Chris Bowen that could save consumers hundreds of dollars annually. After two years of double-digit power price rises that have added to the cost-of-living crisis, energy regulators will on Thursday decide the maximum prices that retailers can charge customers on standard contracts for the coming 12 months. Energy Minister Chris Bowen. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen A draft price determination released earlier this year said the new so-called default market offers would be $1773 for households in NSW and $1643 in Victoria. An investigation by the consumer watchdog revealed that, as of December last year, one in two households were likely to roll over onto a contract that was more expensive than the default offer. Loading To learn that 58,000 have missed out on appropriate treatment or care is hard to comprehend. NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said the gaps analysis, which was distributed to stakeholders last week, showed the system was experiencing significant challenges in meeting increasing service demand. In the 12 months to November 2023, the number of people arriving at NSW emergency departments due to a mental health concern increased by 5 per cent to 96,120. Presentations for self-harm and suicidal thoughts also increased by 5 per cent and comprised more than half of these emergency patients. We know we need to do more when it comes to protecting the mental health of our people in NSW, Jackson said. Thats why were looking at various ways to adequately meet the mental health needs of our vulnerable communities. An election promise in response to concerns about underfunding and staff shortages, the gaps analysis was conducted by representatives from the sector, the government and advocates with experience with mental health issues. It identified four priority areas for reform: enhanced funding for community mental health services, workforce and training, improving emergency mental health care, as well as the expansion of psychosocial supports, such as homelessness services and recovery programs. A second report, providing more detail on service demand and proposing solutions through staffing, infrastructure and investment, will be completed by the end of the year. Professor Samuel Harvey, executive director of the Black Dog Institute and a spokesman for sector representative group the NSW Mental Health Alliance, said the report was significant as the first time NSW had attempted to quantify those going without care. NSWs percentage of people with severe and complex mental health services cared for was the second-lowest of any state, behind only Victoria (which throughout its lockdown-heavy 2020-21 financial year is estimated to have met only 48 per cent of demand). The 2020-21 year was chosen due to the availability of nationally comparable Australian Institute of Health and Welfare hospital data. NSW mental health services are in crisis and investment in the states mental health can no longer be delayed, Harvey said, adding the paper substantiated what the sector saw daily. We regularly get phone calls from people who are desperate because they cant find a single psychiatrist or psychologist accepting new referrals, he said. Every night our emergency departments are full of people who couldnt get help anywhere else. Similarly, we hear from GPs that mental health is the No.1 problem they are seeing, but they cant access the support and help they need to manage their patients, he said. In discussing emergency mental health care, the analysis criticised the unnecessary involvement of police in mental health episodes. It says 43 per cent of police critical incidents incidents causing death or serious injury to a person, including another police officer involve a person in mental health crisis. Police alone are not the most appropriate responders to all emergency mental health situations, the report says, noting this was a repeat concern raised in consultations with the sector, which has called for consistent co-responder models, programs where a person in crisis is seen by a mental health clinician, which have been trialled in several areas, across the state. Loading The NSW Health-led Police, Ambulance, Clinical Early Response (PACER) program operates in some of the states police districts but its budget to 2025 is fully allocated. The analysis also raised concerns about the sustainability of the psychiatry workforce, particularly those shunning public hospital work for more lucrative private roles or to become locum doctors. Staff specialist positions, which have a lower hourly rate but afford the opportunity for significant contribution to leadership, safety and quality and education work have been particularly difficult to fill, it noted. About one in four staff specialist roles at NSW hospitals is currently vacant, and the analysis acknowledged consultant psychiatrist vacancies continue to rise statewide. The result is that, even in inner metropolitan Sydney, services are dependent on the most expensive model (locum coverage) to allow for services to remain open. This comes at the expense not only of premium labour, but continuity of care, the analysis says. The gaps analysis has occurred in parallel with a state upper house inquiry into the delivery of outpatient and community mental health care, which will deliver its report on June 4. Inquiry chair, Greens MLC Dr Amanda Cohn, said both investigations had shown NSWs mental health system had become reactive and crisis-driven, and that desperate patients were ending up in emergency departments because the system was not resourced to provide preventative care. She was critical of the timing of the release of the first gaps analysis, which was completed at the end of last year. Loading Carltons capitulation to Sydney on Friday night bore little resemblance to the elimination final of last year between the clubs, when the Blues controlled much of the game and then fended off the fierce underdog Swans late to win by six points, triggering a wave of rapture at the MCG. This SCG rout, indeed, looked more like a less flattering version of the preliminary final (v the Lions) at the Gabba for the Blues, who, as in that final, bolted out of the gate to boot the first four or five goals, only to be reeled in by midway through the second quarter by the superior home side. The beaten Blues leave the SCG after being pummelled by the Swans. Credit: AFL Photos By half-time, Jacob Weitering was in tracksuit pants on the bench, becoming yet another casualty and the most significant, if he misses in a season that risks being unravelled by injury and the consequent loss of continuity, cohesion and confidence, in that order. The game felt over, and it soon would be. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure (Ministry of VROMI), Department of Infrastructure announces that part of Front Street will be closed to motorized traffic on Saturday, May 18, 2024. A section of Front Street between Praktizijnsteeg adjacent to the Catholic cemetery and Kruythoffsteeg will be closed for approximately four hours from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Access to Front Street will be from the other side streets and alleyways. The Ministry of VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience caused. PHILIPSBURG:--- Celebrating one year since opening its doors, La Casa Del Habano St. Maarten hosted an extraordinary anniversary event that turned Cyrus Wathey Square (where the lounge is located) into a vibrant slice of Havana, drawing a lively crowd of cigar aficionados from around the world, local officials, radio and media personalities and global celebrities to revel in this momentous occasion. This celebration not only commemorated the first successful year but also celebrated the rich cultural heritage that the household name La Casa Del Habano has brought to the Caribbean from Cuba. Exactly one year ago, on May 16th, La Casa Del Habano opened with a soft launch and quickly established itself as a premier destination for cigar lovers, both locals and visitors. Now, 365 days later, the venue is known for bringing together the finest elements of Cuban tradition, including authentic top-class habanos, luxury spirits, and a pristine lounge for those perfectly curated moments. The event featured an array of vintage cars that transformed Cyrus Wathey Square into a picturesque scene reminiscent of 1950s Havana, creating numerous Instagrammable moments for the guests. Live cigar rolling demonstrations provided a captivating glimpse into the artistry behind each premium cigar, while a Grammy-award-winning saxophonist and a roster of famed musicians entertained the crowd, setting the mood with vibrant Cuban melodies. Among the attendees were notable franchise owners from across the Caribbean, influencers, and media personalities who all came together to share their passion for the unique cigar experience La Casa Del Habano St. Maarten offers. Guests enjoyed a selection of Cuba's best rums and expertly mixed cocktails alongside a curated selection of Cuban cigars. La Casa Del Habano St. Maartens management wishes to take this opportunity to express their deep gratitude to the St. Maarten community for embracing their presence and making the lounge a favored destination for luxury and relaxation. As they move into their second year, they are committed to continuing the tradition of providing an authentic Cuban experience matched with unparalleled hospitality in the heart of St. Maarten. OpenAI disbands team devoted to artificial intelligence risks San Francisco, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2024 OpenAI on Friday confirmed that it has disbanded a team devoted to mitigating the long-term dangers of super-smart artificial intelligence. OpenAI weeks ago began dissolving the so-called "superalignment" group, integrating members into other projects and research, according to the San Francisco-based firm. Company co-founder Ilya Sutskever and team co-leader Jan Leike announced their departures from the ChatGPT-maker this week. The dismantling of an OpenAI team focused on keeping sophisticated artificial intelligence under control comes as such technology faces increased scrutiny from regulators and fears mount regarding its dangers. "OpenAI must become a safety-first AGI (artificial general intelligence) company," Leike wrote Friday in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Leike called on all OpenAI employees to "act with the gravitas" warranted by what they are building. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman responded to Leike's post with one of his own, thanking him for his work at the company and saying he was sad to see Leike leave. "He's right we have a lot more to do," Altman said. "We are committed to doing it." Altman promised more on the topic in the coming days. Sutskever said on X that he was leaving after almost a decade at OpenAI, whose "trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous." "I'm confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial," he added, referring to computer technology that seeks to perform as well as -- or better than -- human cognition. Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist, sat on the board that voted to remove fellow chief executive Altman in November last year. The ousting threw the San Francisco-based startup into a tumult, with the OpenAI board hiring Altman back a few days later after staff and investors rebelled. OpenAI early this week released a higher-performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins ChatGPT, making it free to all users. "It feels like AI from the movies," Altman said in a blog post. Altman has previously pointed to the Scarlett Johansson character in the movie "Her," where she voices an AI-based virtual assistant dating a man, as an inspiration for where he would like AI interactions to go. The day will come when "digital brains will become as good and even better than our own," Sutskever said during a talk at a TED AI summit in San Francisco late last year. "AGI will have a dramatic impact on every area of life." TV presenter Karolina Ashion, who found temporary refuge from the war in Germany but later returned to Ukraine, admitted that she is considering adopting a child. ADVERTISIMENT According to the TV presenter, in a difficult time when "so many children need parents," she does not rule out "this option" of becoming a mother. Ashion said this in an interview with OBOZ.UA. In the fall of 2022, in an interview with blogger Anna Olytska, the TV presenter said that she had been trying to get pregnant for some time, but her attempts were unsuccessful. Karolina regretted that at the time, "not feeling my own age, I didn't think about motherhood seriously enough." "If I could go back to about 35 years old, even 30, the beginning of my relationship with my husband, I would do it all over again," Ashion admitted. At the time, I thought that there was still so much time, I would have time. And then, when you start hitting that rock and you don't succeed, it's exhausting. I procrastinated a lot. I wanted to have a child... Even now I have a little girl on my phone screen saver. In short, this is a very painful topic. I don't know if maybe this girl on my phone screen saver will remain my dream for the rest of my life. They say that children choose their parents. I like this theory. My child hasn't chosen me yet." ADVERTISIMENT In an interview with OBOZ.UA, Karolina Ashion said that she had divorced her husband before the Great War, and it happened the day after her mother's funeral. In addition to her closest person, she also lost her closest friend: "I lost my godmother, buried my mother two months later. I divorced my husband. Literally the day after I said goodbye to my mom. And then the invasion started." The TV presenter found temporary refuge from the war in Germany, worked for one of the leading German TV channels, but returned to Ukraine a year later. Answering questions about her personal life, Karolina admitted that she still hopes to become a mother. However, while she did not want to think about adoption before, dreaming of giving birth herself, she does not reject this possibility now. ADVERTISIMENT "And now I have a little girl on my phone screen saver," says Karolina Ashion in an interview with OBOZ.UA. "I return to this topic from time to time, but I haven't made up my mind yet. Now is the time, so many children need parents... I think about this option. But I want to have some kind of certainty, although, of course, it sounds a little silly: what kind of stability is there nowadays? In any case, I do not reject this topic. And you know: every woman has her own time. I know that at the age of 50, everything will only begin for me." Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that TV presenter Timur Miroshnichenko and his wife Inna will soon become parents of their second adopted child. Last fall, the couple adopted a 2-year-old boy, who was named Marcel. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! ADVERTISIMENT Burkina loyalists rally after gunfire near presidency Ouagadougou, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2024 Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Burkina Faso's capital Friday in support of the country's military rulers after gunfire was reported near the presidency, AFP reporters said. Demonstrators gathered at a roundabout in central Ouagadougou, vowing to protect the rule of President Ibrahim Traore. Earlier in the afternoon, "there were shots fired near the presidential palace", said one demonstrator, Moussa Sawadogo. "We do not know what is going on but we are there to stop anything from happening." Burkina Faso news agency AIB reported that an individual had tried to attack a guard at the palace but there were no injuries or damage. Security forces closed off access to the area around the palace, AFP reporters saw. The landlocked West African nation has been run by a military regime since mutinying soldiers deposed elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore in 2022. Junta leader Traore then seized power in another coup on September 30, 2022. He established a transitional government and legislative assembly for 21 months, a period set to expire on July 1. National consultations on the next steps in the transition to civilian rule are scheduled for May 25 to 26. Since 2015, Burkina's forces have been struggling to combat jihadist insurgencies that have killed thousands of people and forced around two million from their homes -- violence that the army's leaders used to justify their coups. Zelensky urges China to attend peace summit in Switzerland Kyiv, Ukraine, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2024 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with AFP on Friday urged China and countries of the Global South to participate in a peace summit in Switzerland next month. The Swiss government announced that it would host a high-level peace conference for Ukraine in mid-June, but said Russia would not attend. Uncertainty surrounds the presence of China, which has said "a lot of work" would need to be done before the conference. Chinese leaders believe that "if Russia loses the war... it is a victory for the United States," Zelensky said. "It's a victory for the West, and they want to find a balance between the two... That's why I would like to see China involved in the peace summit." His comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China this week for talks in which the leaders framed their nations' ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic world. China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict and has sought to play a mediator role. But it has been criticised, like other countries particularly in the Global South, for refusing to condemn Moscow's offensive. Zelensky made a wider appeal for countries to send delegations to Switzerland. "If there is no representative of your state, this is a public response that when you say that we all want peace, no, you want Russia to win." The Ukrainian president pointed to three issues around which consensus could be found in Switzerland. The first, he said, was that free navigation in the Black Sea could strengthen global food security by allowing Ukrainian grain exports. Second, he hoped for an agreement on a call to halt strikes on energy infrastructures. Third, he advocated for the return to Ukraine of thousands of children deported to Russia, a crime for which the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin. "If we come out of the summit with these three steps with the majority of countries agreeing... it means that Russia will not block them further." Israeli forces kill senior Palestinian militant in Jenin: army Ramallah, Palestinian Territories, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2024 The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian militant during an air strike on an "operations centre" in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. "A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound," the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram. It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a "senior terrorist operative in the Jenin Camp" who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area. The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed and several others wounded during an Israeli raid on Friday night. It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said one person was killed and eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of Israel's operation in Jenin on Friday night. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin, which are nominally under the Palestinian Authority's security control. The West Bank has seen a recent surge in violence, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian officials, and at least 20 Israelis have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The Gaza Strip has been at war since Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed at least 35,303 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Marcos says Philippines will 'vigorously defend what is ours' Manila, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2024 The Philippines will "vigorously defend what is ours", President Ferdinand Marcos said on Saturday, as Manila's maritime row with Beijing over the South China Sea escalates. Marcos told a Philippine Military Academy graduation ceremony that the Southeast Asian country faced "a blatant disregard of internationally accepted principles". His remarks follow a series of incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels near disputed reefs in the South China Sea that have strained diplomatic ties. Marcos ordered the graduates to "keep our people safe in their homes, our territory secure, our defences against threats strong, and our democracy stable". "Against intruders who have been disrespecting our territorial integrity, we will vigorously defend what is ours," Marcos said in the speech, which did not specifically mention China. China Coast Guard vessels have used water cannon against Philippine boats several times in recent months in the contested waters, where there have also been collisions. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion over the waterway has no legal basis. To press its claims, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarised. A Philippine civilian convoy sailed towards Scarborough Shoal to bring fuel and food supplies for Filipino fishermen in the area this week. It later turned back after one of the boats was shadowed by a Chinese navy ship. China defends its actions by saying that it takes necessary measures against vessels it says are infringing on its territory. Marcos said the Philippines' conduct would be "always guided by law and our responsibility as a rules-abiding member of the community of nations". He has said that Manila will not respond in kind to the use of water cannon against its vessels. * 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. Stasher, an international luggage storage company, has conducted a new study that allowed it to rank the most accessible cities in Europe. Among them are European jewels that impress with a large number of attractions. ADVERTISIMENT According to the company, Krakow offers the cheapest vacation, with the total cost of a weekend trip there averaging 18 thousand hryvnias without travel expenses, Express writes. A night in a hotel usually costs about 5 thousand hryvnias. Krakow welcomes about 11 million tourists every year, so many of them enjoy visiting the central Main Market Square, which is the center of the Old Town and home to the beautiful St. Mary's Basilica Cathedral. ADVERTISIMENT Another cheap vacation destination is Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where a typical weekend trip costs tourists about 22 thousand hryvnias. The city offers the cheapest hotels, with tourists paying an average of 4 thousand hryvnias for each night of stay, and lunch at McDonalds usually costs 300 hryvnias per person. Travelers who wish to see some of Romania's most notable landmarks should consider visiting the Palace of Parliament, which is the world's second largest government building, and the Stavropoleos Monastery, which has been part of the city since 1724. ADVERTISIMENT The company also noted that tourists looking for an affordable city vacation should consider Warsaw. A weekend in the Polish capital costs tourists 22 thousand hryvnias. Many visitors like to walk around the Old Town and see the monument to the famous musician and composer Frederic Chopin. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! It is often said that every historian subconsciously wishes to personally experience the period of his or her study and, given that among my main topics at Cambridge was the history of the Soviet dissident movement, I suppose I really cannot complain. Our country is rich in charming tracts and amazing landscapes. Sometimes it hides real treasures. Beyond the well-known tourist destinations, there are corners where you can find mysterious phenomena. These places are not only striking in their uniqueness but also still remain little known to many. ADVERTISIMENT The canyon is located between the villages of Inhulske and Zavturove in the Ustyniv district. It is surrounded by majestic boulders. In his writings, Volodymyr Yastrebov described it as a "stone pillar". Over time, due to numerous dams, the river became shallow. Nowadays, the current washes the former island only on one side. A wide valley covered with lush grasses appeared on the other side. Legends Locals say that the story of the name's origin is associated with plans to build a monastery. There is a legend that this object served as an arena of hard labor for female nuns who could not resist the temptations of adultery. The punishment was daily hard labor: carrying soil in veils to the top. Such exhausting work and isolation from the world were supposed to be atonement for sins. Others say that these are caves where Tatar or Cossack treasures are hidden. It is impossible to find them because the entrance is hidden on the hill and the exit is on the other side of the bank, underwater. ADVERTISIMENT There is another legend. The son of a wealthy Turk fell in love with a serf girl, Malanka, and was kicked out of his home. The young couple found refuge on the islet. Later, the boy died in a fight with a bear, and the girl, along with her child, was taken away as a maid. It is also said that Master Trebynovskyi himself, in order to hide his feelings for his maid and avoid shame in front of his neighbors, built a small hut here and settled her here. The locals remember her as the most authoritative fortune-teller and healer. In Hanna-Trebynivka, two kilometers away, people still find artifacts from the past: pieces of ancient pottery, tools, spindles, etc. These finds testify to the rich history of this region. You can also find samples of quartz stone, mica, and other minerals here. Attentive researchers can see an anthropomorphic image of a trident, which was probably left here in pagan times. ADVERTISIMENT Interesting facts The richness of flora and fauna of the landscape reserve Various species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have found a home here. Among them, special attention is drawn to the short-toed snake eagle, a majestic predator, and the green lizard, the largest in Ukraine. The flora is not inferior to the fauna in diversity. In the warm seasons, the eye is pleased with picturesque flowers: gymnospermium odessanum, snake's head fritillary, pasque flower, dianthus andrzejowskianus, basket of gold, Asian flax, hyacinthella leucophaea, and spotted knapweed. Similarities The nature reserve resembles the Stonehenge attraction in the UK. The megalithic structure, consisting of several circles of huge stones, is located in England in a hilly desert near the city of Salisbury. ADVERTISIMENT A place of silence According to legend, travelers escaped from the noise of civilization and came here to retire and be alone with the environment. How to get there: by bus from Kropyvnytskyi; by car from the regional center; it takes about 2 hours to get there. Where to stay: hotels or guest houses; renting private rooms or apartments. Prepare for the trip Before you set off, take care of comfortable shoes and clothes as you may encounter reptiles on the way. Don't forget to take enough water, a tourist mat to rest on, and a snack to eat. In the warm seasons, be sure to bring a hat to protect yourself from the sun. If you want to touch the mysterious creation of the Earth, come here. This Ukrainian landmark can easily compete with Stonehenge. To make sure we're telling the truth, be sure to visit it when you have a chance. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! An IAR 330 Puma helicopter of the Romanian Air Force is carrying out a sea search mission for possible survivors, after the sinking of the Mohammad Z ship, bearing a Tanzanian flag, near Sf. Gheorghe locality. Three people were reported missing after a ship under the Tanzanian flag sank, Saturday morning, in the Black Sea, 26 nautical miles from St. George, informed the Romanian Naval Authority.According to the cited source, there were 11 people on board the ship. The president of the Senate, Nicolae Ciuca, leader of the PNL (National Liberal Party), states that politicians, regardless of which party they belong to, have the responsibility to take care of access to high-performing medical services. Among others, the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, the president of PSD Cluj, Vasile Dincu, the mayor of Cluj Emil Boc, the president of CJ Cluj, Alin Tise, the rector of UMF (University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Anca Buzoianu, participated in the event.On May 9, the Ministry of Health announced that the design of the Cluj Regional Emergency Hospital has begun, the construction of which requires an investment of 540 million euros. Merging the European parliamentary elections with the local ones has the effect that, in this campaign, there is no talk of the first category at all, argued, on Saturday, in Brasov, Dacian Ciolos, the one who opens the list of candidates of the REPER Party for the European Parliament. "At REPER, we have people on the list with mandates that are just ending, we have results, we can talk about what we promised in 2016 and what we managed to achieve," stated Ciolos, mentioning, among the successes of his mandate that is about to end, the elimination of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, and the entry of Romania into air and maritime Schengen, the attraction of additional European funds to the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), a better representation of the country at the European level, by supporting some Romanians who have reached key positions, such as Laura Codruta Kovesi, who was appointed head of the Prosecutor's Office European, but also better legislation for seasonal workers in the EU, the vast majority of whom are Romanian.He also referred to the need to redefine the functioning of the EU."The European institutions still need some reforms so that the decisions are closer to the citizens, and so that they can be taken faster, so that we are no longer in a situation where one state can block the right of another member state, as Austria is doing with us now, and simply for the Union to be ready for expansion, because I want the Republic of Moldova to be ready for accession in no more than five years," said the REPER candidate. May 17th is the 70th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education which ended legal segregation in public schools. It ruled separate but equal was unconstitutional. As we remember the community leaders who sacrificed and fought to give all parents the right to send their children to schools they selected, this is a time to stop and reflect on who these individuals were. I authored Building Parent Capacity in High Poverty Schools: Actions for Authentic Engagement, and the Brown v. Board case is an integral part. The community leaders who disrupted a system and impacted the nation were parents in the community. They were hard working Topekans who served in the community as a pastor, a beautician, a welder and other important roles that contributed to the community. They were parents who wanted the right for their children to attend school in their neighborhood. With the help of the NAACP, and Thurgood Marshall along with plaintiffs across states, they challenged a system and in Topeka, Kansas through the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board declared legal segregation unconstitutional in 1954. The plaintiffs disrupted the system, and later in the 1950s my mother, Edna Montgomery, and her sister Joyce Hill, were among the first students to integrate Soldan High school. Their courageous steps led me 40 years later to serve as the principal next to Soldan at Clark Accelerated Academy in the 1990s. In 1955, the year following the Brown case, Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on the bus and her steps led to the civil rights movement. The Brown v. Board case was in many ways the catalyst for events that followed resulting in the civil rights movement. Taking the first step to change the future as the first Black female superintendent in Topeka, Kansas for the last eight years has helped open a door to the four Black superintendents in Kansas today. Without the first opening of a door, there will never be a second. The work for equitable access to opportunities continues. Today, school demographics in many cities follow the contour of poverty and the effects of segregation through redlining neighborhoods to keep families of color in certain areas in communities. In uplifting the legacy of Brown v. Board, we must do our part to uplift the community by disrupting inequities within housing, economic opportunities and in education. We should all be bothered by the fact that poverty and race are still predictors of educational outcomes. Until this changes, the work is not done. As I uplift the legacy of the leaders who sacrificed to open doors that were once closed, we must all courageously continue the work in opening the door creating a new path for others to travel. Sometimes this means being the first to walk through a door once closed so its open for those who will become after you. The late Supreme Court Justice Marshall, an attorney for the Brown case, stated None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody a parent, teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns bent down and helped us pick up our boots. We are the somebody Marshall was describing and each of us must do our part in continuing to uplift the legacy of the Brown v. Board case 70 years later by helping others pick up their boots as we create a new path for others to travel advocating for equitable access and opportunities for all families. Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of Topeka Public Schools, is a native St. Louisan and former Jennings School District superintendent Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks made Maryland history on Tuesday night and she could top that achievement in November. Alsobrooks won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in a tight race with U.S. Rep. Dennis Trone. She will face Larry Hogan, Marylands former governor, as the Republican winner. Alsobrooks would be the first Black Senator from Maryland if she prevails. My name is Angela Alsobrooks, and I am officially your Democratic nominee in Marylands Senate race, Alsobrooks wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). Alsobrooks trailed Trone in early voting numbers, while the Trone campaign had to take back and clarify certain comments that some argued undermined his opponent and her supporters. Trone donated over $60 million to his campaign, among the largest self-financed campaigns in American political history. While, Alsobrooks boasted the support of major state leaders, including Gov. Wes Moore (D), Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D), and most of Marylands congressional delegation. The Associated Press called the race for Alsobrooks at 8:55 p.m. CDT on election night. Alsobrooks, Gov. Moore and union workers gathered that evening in Greenbelt, Maryland pledging to continue their efforts into the general election. On November 5, 2024, we are going to defeat Larry Hogan, keep Maryland blue, and keep our Senate under Democratic control spread the word, Alsobrooks declared on social media. Marylanders came out to vote even before Tuesday. Just over 150,000 votes were received prior to Election Day, roughly 4% turnout in a year, without contested presidential primaries for either major political party. Mailed ballots can now be counted prior to Election Day, and the election results become available online as soon as the polls close and precincts begin to report. This is about what kind of Maryland were building, about reproductive rights for our daughters and for women. It is about privacy and freedom to make our own choices, it is about economic opportunity, Alsobrooks said in an interview Monday. The message hasnt changed, its about democracy and freedom and you know, the soul of our country, really. The Mayland primary also exposed weakness in Donald Trumps bid for the presidency. While she officially dropped from the campaign 70 days before the primary, Republican Nikki Haley won 20% of the vote. Biden-Harris 2024 Spokesperson Ammar Moussa released the following statement: Donald Trump, his barely existent campaign, failed record, and toxic agenda lost tens of thousands of Republican voters to Nikki Haley, said Biden-Harris 2024 Spokesperson Ammar Moussa. Trump enters the general election as a weak candidate, unable to build the coalition needed to win 270 electoral votes. [He] and his allies mocked Haley supporters and told moderate voters he doesnt need them and now these voters are saying they dont want him either. As President Biden has said, there is a place for Haley voters in our campaign and he believes we can find common ground. Democrats are defending seats in swing states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada. Alsobrooks says she is best positioned to defeat Hogan, pointing to an Emerson College poll that showed she led Hogan in a hypothetical matchup, 48% to 38% with 14% undecided. In 2014 longtime partners Ken Konchel and Ron Crooks drove to Iowa to get married where it was legal to do so. That same year the couple decided to make another big change. We owned a house in University City for about 20 years, and we loved it, Crooks says. It was a big old house, and it was a big old project, and we loved that project for a long time until suddenly we didnt anymore so we sold the house and virtually everything in it. We decided we wanted to move to a condo. Theyd been together since 1987 when they first met at a party in the acclaimed Kingswood Dining Hall at Cranbrook Art Academy in Michigan. The dining hall was designed by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Crooks overheard a man sitting behind him talk about Saarinens work. He said Saarinen had designed these pillars that appear to go all the way up to the ceiling but they stop just shy of it. He added light fixtures that shoot light across the ceiling so it appears to float. Then he said it reminded him of Frank Lloyd Wrights Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin, and I knew I wanted to know this person better, and the rest is history. As youd expect from their initial meeting, both men have strong opinions about good design. Crooks background as a creative director in advertising and graphics and Konchels work in arts administration and architectural photography have informed their choices at both homes. Their University City home design skewed hard to the Arts and Crafts movement, which they loved, but the move afforded them an opportunity to try something new. They werent finding what they wanted right away. They were ready to sign a short-term lease on an apartment when their real-estate agent called. A condo in her building in the Central West End was coming on the market. She asked us if we could get there right away, Crooks says. It was really exciting. When we walked in, the previous owner had one of Kens photographs on the fireplace mantle. We thought OK thats a good omen, a sign, Crooks says. We just loved the place. We bought it that day. The previous owner sold the condo, which was built in 1987, soon after it had been completely redone. He left all the furnishings and some personal effects in place. There was even food in the pantry. He walked away and never came back, Konchel says. The unit with its two bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, and sun room met their needs spatially. Remarkably, the colors and the furnishings clicked with both men. It perfectly meshed with the way that we wanted to live. Frankly, I think the furniture was much nicer than what we would have purchased on our own. We brought our bedroom with us and thats pretty much it. They moved some of their prized Stickley and Roycroft furniture to a cabin on Lake Hubbard in Michigan, which they visit several times a year. They co-own it with Crooks sister and brother-in-law. Konchel seriously thinned his collections of vintage machines, which included not only cameras but telephones, typewriters, adding machines, film projectors and radios. Lets just say that I was very involved in collecting industrial design pieces, he says. Crooks had been drawn to vintage signs. I love letter forms. I think thats from my career. We bought the Turog bread sign because I loved the letter form design on the sign. Konchel found the art deco Sundries sign that hangs in one of the two baths. Both mens initials in oversized letter forms appear on walls in the den and in Konchels office. One letter, a W, hangs over the fireplace alongside Konchels image of the Woolworth building at Grand and Lindell boulevards. Konchel met a man at an art fair in the 1990s who was selling Woolworth memorabilia. We exchanged my image of the building for one of substantial metal W letters removed from a store, he says. Theyve put their personal stamp on the unusual turnkey condo they bought, displaying art and objects, old favorites plus new acquisitions, in the transitional style theyve enjoyed for the past 10 years. In 2014 they both made bold choices at the right time to mix things up in their lives. The move to a condo afforded them more time for travel and required them to spend less time on maintaining a large home. One trip in particular stands out in both mens minds. In 2014, following their wedding in Iowa, the two made a side trip on the way home, a reminder of the night they met. We went to see the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin together, Crooks says. Ken Konchel and Ron Crooks Ages: Both are 64. Family: They live with two cats, Scout, a black and white kitty, and Maude, a white and gray cat. Home: Central West End Occupations: Konchel is a photographer and an arts administrator for St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts. His limited-edition book of nearly 50 of his favorite images, "Architectonic," is available through his website, kenkonchelphoto.com. Crooks retired after a 20-year career as a creative director at Darcy, followed by a 13-year stint at Nestle Purina. At Home in the Central West End with Ron Crooks and Ken Konchel ST. LOUIS COUNTY About 70 pharmacists and advocates gathered outside Express Scripts North County headquarters Friday, voicing wide-ranging complaints about the company and its peers in the business of drug-industry middlemen. Pharmacists and activists accused the company and competitors like Optum Rx and CVS Caremark of pushing independent pharmacies into unfavorable, take-it-or-leave-it contracts, and pressuring patients to switch to mail-order prescriptions. One of the most trusted health care professions, and theyre driving us out of business, said Michelle Dyer, who owns a long-term care pharmacy in Illinois. Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, like Express Scripts, occupy the space between drug manufacturers, pharmacies and insurers. They negotiate rebates and fees, create drug formularies and reimburse for prescriptions. The industry has become a target for lawmakers and regulators in recent years over concerns about opaque pricing practices and tie-ups with large insurers. Express Scripts is part of Evernorth Health Services, which is owned by Cigna. Dyer said that last year she closed three pharmacies she owned in rural Illinois towns: Carlinville, Gillespie and Bunker Hill. She blamed what she described as predatory, noncompetitive contracts with PBMs. Now she operates just a small portion of the remaining business, filling prescriptions for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. David Bagot said he has had to cut staff at the rural, independent pharmacy he owns in Petersburg, Illinois due to the payment structure of these contracts. Bryan Kiefer, who owns three pharmacies in southeast Missouri, said he loses $60 to $70 on some prescriptions. Owen Sullivan, who owns seven locations in Central Illinois, said he has cut his hours. Hes doing more business than he can handle and theres no benefit to bringing in any more, he said, because its just not profitable. Faced with such complaints in the past, the industry has generally held that the pharmaceutical companies set the prices for drugs, and PBMs exist to lower costs. Express Scripts said in a statement Friday that the company works relentlessly to lower costs for patients and offer access to medications in the way that is most convenient for them. More than 90% of its prescriptions are filled at retail pharmacies. Last year Express Scripts announced a slew of actions to improve transparency and cap patients out-of-pocket drug costs. Those included a program to show members what Express Scripts pays pharmacies for prescriptions and other details, and new financial disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also announced a program designed to increase reimbursements for independent, rural pharmacies. The Friday event was organized by Unite for Safe Medications and Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency. Representatives were in attendance from the National Community Pharmacists Association, the American Pharmacists Association, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (which runs pharmacies in 17 states, with one in Chicago and none in Missouri). Lucas Kunce, a Democrat campaigning to unseat U.S. Senator Josh Hawley in November, joined the protesters and called for federal lawmakers and regulators to take antitrust action against PBMs. Kunce complained that in 2022 Express Scripts dropped about 15,000 independent pharmacies from its TRICARE network, the health care program for members of the military, which Kunce said his family uses. Loretta Boesing, founder of Unite for Safe Medications, said she was surprised by the turnout. It was the first protest she had organized. An insurance consultant from Park Hills, Boesing founded her organization after years of frustration with the specialty medications her son, Wesley, relies on. Boesing said Wesley received a liver transplant as a 2-year-old after a severe case of influenza. He now relies on medications that he takes every 12 hours. The family tried to fill the prescriptions at Walgreens, but was told that the specialty medications couldnt be filled there. For a time they received the medications from the pharmacy at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital, but eventually it, too, notified the family that they couldnt receive the specialty drugs there. The family was forced to switch to mail-order deliveries of the prescriptions, overseen, over the years, by two different PBMs. But Boesing wasnt comfortable with that. Her sons medications must be kept at room temperature. Even when they were shipped with ice packs, she worried about them overheating in the back of the delivery trucks in the middle of the Missouri summer. She remembers asking a UPS driver about the temperature in the back of his truck, and he said it was so hot it was hard to breathe. The family has found a solution for Wesley, who is now 14 years old: They switched from employer-sponsored health insurance to a marketplace plan that allows them to fill the prescriptions at a pharmacy. But Boesing worries that one day that option, too, will disappear. ST. CHARLES COUNTY A judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which state Rep. Justin Hicks accused a Missouri House candidate of releasing private facts when the candidate shared copies of protective orders filed by a woman who said Hicks assaulted and harassed her. St. Charles County Circuit Judge W. Christopher McDonough wrote in an order Friday that the files had remained public for 11 years before being sealed in 2021 and none of their contents should be considered private. By electing to pursue a career in politics, (Hicks) necessarily chose to make details of his life, including the 2010 Order of Protection, a matter of public interest, McDonough wrote. The individual right to privacy must give way to the general principle that matters of legitimate public concern may be published. Hicks, a Republican from Lake Saint Louis who is now running for Congress in Missouris 3rd District, filed the lawsuit last year against Max Calfo, a substitute teacher who is running to replace Hicks in the Missouri House. Calfo, also of Lake Saint Louis, had published copies of protection orders on his website in which a woman accused Hicks of attempting to choke her and checked boxes saying he caused harm to me, harassed me and placed me in fear or apprehension of immediate harm. Calfo said in a text message Saturday that the lawsuit was legally and morally wrong. Hicks was grossly unfit to hold public office, he said, and Im thankful I dont live in Iran or Turkey where something like this couldve succeeded. Hicks did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Saturday. The lawsuit was initially filed in September 2023 under seal in St. Charles County, meaning that only attorneys or others with elevated access levels on the states court records website were able to access it. The case was unsealed in April. The petition argued that Hicks was a minor at the time the protection order was filed and he was never charged. He also argued that he was a private citizen and was not running for office at the time the protection orders were sealed. In a motion to dismiss the case, however, Calfos attorneys argued that Hicks interest in confidentiality certainly does not outweigh the overriding constitutional interest in freedom of speech. McDonough ordered the case be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be re-filed. Hicks is running against seven other Republicans for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Calfo has one challenger in the Republican primary to succeed Hicks in the Missouri House. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian occupiers' offensive in the Kharkiv region may consist of several waves. The Head of State emphasized that after the first wave of the attack, the situation on this section of the front was under control. ADVERTISIMENT Zelenskyy also added that Putin's invaders had not abandoned the idea of attacking Kharkiv. The president said this in an interview with AFP. According to the president, the aggressor country Russia has not had much success in the Kharkiv region. At the same time, the head of state added that the situation should be assessed soberly and that it should be understood that the enemy is going deep into the territory of Ukraine. "They have launched an operation. It could consist of several waves. There was the first wave, and the situation there is under control. Russian troops are five to ten kilometers from the border to the place where we stopped them... I will not say that this is a great success for Russia, but we must be sober and understand that they are going deep into our territory," the president said. ADVERTISIMENT Zelenskyy said that Russia has not abandoned the idea of capturing Kharkiv. However, the occupiers realize that Ukraine will be able to deter future Russian attacks and inflict even greater losses on the enemy. "They want to attack, but they realize that it is very difficult to attack Kharkiv. It is a big city, and they realize that we have forces that will fight for a long time. If we stop them, they will not die massively for Kharkiv," Zelenskyy said. . In addition, the President assured that today Russia does not have the strength to launch a full-scale offensive against Kyiv, similar to the one they had at the beginning of the invasion. ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, senior NATO military commanders are confident that the Russian occupiers do not have sufficient forces to achieve a "strategic breakthrough" in Ukraine. At the same time, analysts are confident that through active actions in the Kharkiv region, the invaders will be able to stretch Ukrainian forces along a wide front and distract the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the state border. Earlier, it was reported that fierce fighting continues in the area of Vovchansk, Kharkiv region. Another enemy attack near this city was repelled by Ukrainian border guards. Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! ST. LOUIS KIPP High School staff members voted Friday to decertify their union representation after more than a year of failing to negotiate a contract with the charter school network. The vote tally overseen by the National Labor Relations Board was 19 to 17 against the union. Although we are disappointed that the anti-union drive conducted by the Right to Work Foundation was successful, one silver lining for KIPP St. Louis Charter School educators is the 10% raises that can be credited to AFT St. Louis efforts, said Byron Clemens, spokesman for the American Federation of Teachers Local 420, in a statement. In November 2022, the high schools teachers and support staff voted to unionize but negotiations stalled over the unions push for third-party arbitration for grievances and just cause for termination. KIPP offered the teachers 10% raises, but under federal law they could not be awarded while a contract was being negotiated. About two dozen unionized staff members held a one-day strike last month at the school on north Jefferson Avenue. After the strike, KIPP teacher Robin Johnston started a petition to decertify the union. The National Right to Work Foundation, which provides legal services to workers fighting against unions, filed the petition with the federal labor board. OFALLON, Mo. Three library branches could close and 39 employees, mostly part-time, could be laid off under a plan outlined Friday night by the St. Charles City-County Library District. The branches on the possible shutdown list are McClay in St. Charles, Deer Run in OFallon and Kisker Road near Weldon Spring. In addition, 25 vacancies wouldn't be filled under the proposal, which was explained by district CEO Jason Kuhl. The district's board voted to hold off a decision on the plan for 30 days after various residents asked for a delay during a public comment segment of the meeting. "Delay the vote, get public input, do this the right way," said Thomas Tavares, 48, of St. Peters. About 200 people, including many who had to watch a videoboard in an overflow room, showed up for the meeting which began with a presentation by Kuhl. The session was held at the Middendorf-Kredell branch in OFallon. Kuhl said the library system is facing financial problems caused in part by the rising cost of electronic books and a streaming platform used increasingly in recent years by library patrons. He said the library, which spent nothing on streaming as recently as 2015, now pays $50,000 to $60,000 a month on the service due to user demand. In a year or two without changes, we will be spending more to keep the doors open than we are collecting in revenue, Kuhl said of the library's general financial situation. He said the closures and elimination of some staff positions also would allow the district to increase pay for remaining employees, who he said are underpaid. He said a review conducted last year for the district said its employees are getting paid 18.7% below rates paid to employees of other libraries and similar businesses in the St. Louis metro area. That has made it more difficult to retain workers and to attract new ones, he said. He added that surveys taken for the district indicate that there is little support for increasing property taxes, the library's main source of revenue. He said the plan calls for closing the Kisker Road and McClay branches June 30. Meanwhile, he said, the Deer Run branch would stay open until early next year when the Middendorf-Kredell building reopens after renovation work; it's set to close temporarily on June 1. Deer Run eventually would be turned into a warehouse, saving the district $100,000 it now pays each year to rent one. Kuhl said that money, along with proceeds from selling the Kisker Road and McClay buildings, could be used to improve and expand the Corporate Parkway branch in Wentzville. Several residents complained about the way the plan was unveiled to the public. Only two days earlier the district had announced the special meeting and that a vote might be taken on a closure plan that could trigger "workforce reorganization and reduction." District officials refused to elaborate until the Friday meeting. "It's a sucker punch," said Grant Kilen, 18, of St. Peters. "Nobody knew this was coming." Some others said the district should put a tax hike on the ballot to try to avoid the cuts and let voters decide. "We can get this done if you just give us the opportunity," said David Rogers, 39, who lives in an unincorporated area, said of library supporters. Aimee Robertson, 46, of O'Fallon, said the plan would be unfair to frontline staffers facing layoffs and treat them "like cogs in a machine rather than the loyal and valuable humans that they are." Matt Seeds, a library board member from O'Fallon, suggested that the board consider other alternatives. As an example, he said maybe the library should set up a membership system in which people who use the library's e-books and streaming platform pay a fee and others who just check out traditional books pay nothing. In response, Kuhl said memberships might be something to look at. But he said charging a fee per digital search, which he said others had suggested, likely would be prohibited by the district's agreements with providers. Seeds made the motion to delay a vote for 30 days to allow more public input and to consider possible alternatives. The board agreed on a voice vote. St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer, who appoint the nine-member board, said in interviews earlier that district officials had emphasized to them the increased use by library users of electronic books which cost the system more than those on the shelves. They definitely have a problem, Ehlmann said. Theyre going to have to do something. This isnt a growth problem and its not an overspending problem. The library boards consideration of closures and staff cuts apparently has no connection with a continuing controversy over the past year over sexual content of some books. Speakers at board meetings have repeatedly complained about them; others have defended district officials. After months of criticism, the system announced in December that it would remove books containing explicit photos of sexual acts from library shelves but that they still would be available in the districts online card catalog and to check out. In another flap, about 35 protesters showed up at a library branch last May to complain that a library clerk had been wearing makeup, nail polish and a goatee. About 60 others showed up to oppose them. Updated at 3 a.m. Saturday On the version of Hot off the Wire posted April May 18 at 6 a.m. CT: Each Saturday Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: Schools turn to artificial intelligence to spot guns as companies press lawmakers for state funds. Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of 'crazy' ocean heat. Ten federal agencies receive 'A+' in annual scorecard measuring small business contracting goals. Webb telescope uncovers merger of two massive black holes from early universe. Hawaii native Savannah Gankiewicz crowned Miss USA after the previous winner resigned. Hawaii study shows almost 75% of Maui wildfire survey participants have respiratory issues. Rock band Cage the Elephant emerge from loss and hospitalization with new album 'Neon Pill.' The first Mexican taco stand to get a Michelin star is a tiny business where the heat makes the meat. Palestinians recount painful history with war in Gaza as a reminder. A US museum curator detained in Turkey over claims of spider smuggling says he has official permits. Migration tracking group says 76 million people were displaced within their countries in 2023. The Associated Press About this program Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. A section of I-695 is still draped across the bow of the Dali following a planned explosion Monday, May 13, 2024, that cut apart a section of steel truss from the Francis Scott Key bridge. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/TNS) BALTIMORE The crew and pilots aboard the massive container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge werent under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Nor was the ship running on contaminated fuel, which some experts postulated as a cause for the 984-foot Dali losing power twice as it approached the span in the early morning of March 26. But the revelation from federal investigators that the Dali experienced two complete power outages about 10 hours before its ill-fated departure raised new questions about how the vessels crew responded to the electrical failures, who was informed of the blackouts and whether the vessel should have set sail. While it eliminated some possible factors behind the bridge collapse, the preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board left other questions unanswered about the tragedy that killed six construction workers, took out a piece of Baltimores skyline and disrupted its bustling port. Experts are divided in their interpretations of the report, but say the answers investigators dredge up could have profound implications both for understanding the tragedy and for an ongoing legal battle involving the Singaporean companies that own and operate the vessel. It raises red flags that they had prior power outages, said Baltimore attorney and maritime law professor Charles L. Simmons Jr. The question is who was told about these issues? added Alexander M. Giles, another Baltimore maritime attorney, in a separate interview. And what was done to resolve these issues before the vessel left? In testimony Wednesday before a congressional committee, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, distinguished between the two March 25 power failures and the two on March 26 as the ship approached the Key Bridge, calling them mechanically distinct. The first two took place during routine maintenance while the vessel was still docked at the Port of Baltimores Seagirt Marine Terminal, the preliminary report found. After those two, the crew switched to a different transformer, one that had not been used in several months. Homendy pointed to that change as a line of continued inquiry for investigators. Switching breakers is not unusual, she said, but may have affected operations the very next day on the accident voyage. The cause of the two March 26 blackouts is less clear. The preliminary report describes that electrical breakers unexpectedly opened when the Dali was about three ship lengths from the Key Bridge. Power was temporarily restored, but then breakers opened again, causing a total loss of power roughly 1,000 feet from the bridge. The crew would regain electrical power, but not propulsion, before striking a bridge pier, sending the 1.6-mile span tumbling into the Patapsco River and killing the workers filling potholes on the bridge. Thomas Roth-Roffy, a Coast Guard-licensed chief marine engineer who investigated maritime disasters for the NTSB for almost 20 years, initially thought there were no conclusions to be drawn from the distinguishable power outages. But after reviewing the report more carefully, he believes there may be an underlying cause. It almost seems like its not a problem with the individual breakers, but with the control arrangement for the power management system, Roth-Roffy told The Baltimore Sun. Examining the ships electrical system will be key moving forward, Homendy told lawmakers, noting that her investigators have been working closely with Hyundai, which manufactured the equipment and the ship, to replicate some of the problems seen March 26. Investigators said in the report they plan to continue to evaluate the design and operation of the Dalis power distribution system, including its breakers. The NTSB intends to determine what happened with the electrical system on the accident voyage, Homendy told the congressional committee. What happened in those two blackouts? The preliminary report said in a footnote that the NTSB is not aware of any other power outages aboard the Dali in Baltimore or at its prior two stops in Newark, New Jersey, and Norfolk, Virginia. Federal investigators secured the Dalis voyage data recorder, which functions like a simplified version of an airplanes black box, and its hard drive, and said it contains 34 days of data. If this had been some sort of common occurrence, then it shouldve been a red flag, said former merchant mariner Sal Mercogliano. My question is: This happened the day before, what happened the day before that? Is this a common instance with this ship and this crew? In its report, the NTSB attributed the first of two in-port power outages to human error, saying a Dali crew member accidentally shut an exhaust line from one of the ships generators, causing it to stall. The second blackout resulted from a lack of fuel pressure to a different generator. Roth-Roffy said he was surprised that the NTSB report didnt identify which of several potential factors caused the low fuel pressure. Michael Buckley III, chief cargo ship engineer for the shipping company Maersk Line Ltd., said he could justify leaving port after a power outage caused by human error, assuming the member of the crew who erred owned up to the mistake and his explanation checked out. Maersk Line is a U.S. subsidiary of the Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk that chartered the Dali for its cargo operations. The second one, on low fuel pressure, Im going to dig really deep to make sure before we leave port that whatever caused that low fuel pressure is fixed, Buckley said. According to the NTSB preliminary report, a senior pilot and an apprentice pilot boarded the Dali about 12:05 a.m. March 26. The captain reported the ship was in good working order, the report said, and two tugboats pulled the vessel from the dock about 30 minutes later. Theres no indication in the report that the pilot was informed of the power outages, or that the crew shared the prior days events with the Coast Guard. If they had two blackouts at the dock, the pilot shouldve been informed of that before the ship sailed because the pilots not going to risk his license and hes going to call the Coast Guard, Buckley said. Federal law requires a vessel to report to the Coast Guard when it loses power, propulsion or steering in U.S. waters, but its unclear if that regulation applies when a ship is docked. A Coast Guard spokesman said the agency was not made aware of the Dalis power outages in port, but declined to comment on any legal obligations or make any conclusions related to the cause of the marine casualty. This information will be made publicly available at the conclusion of the investigation, said the spokesman, Lt. Luke Pinneo, referring to a Coast Guard probe that is running in tandem with the NTSB investigation. Ships experienced complete or partial losses of propulsion, steering or power 42 times in Maryland waters between 2021 and the middle of April, The Sun previously reported. Many of those ships appeared to report such incidents to the Coast Guard as occurring at or near berths in the Port of Baltimore. The Dali did notify the Coast Guard, through a pilots dispatcher, about the March 26 power outage as it approached the bridge, the NTSB report said. Mercogliano and Buckley described the period of time when a ship is not underway as something of a gray area. In separate interviews, they said its commonplace for a ships engineer and crew to resolve their mechanical or electrical problems, but emphasized that its critical to be sure its fixed before departing. Everybodys under pressure to move that ship time is money, Buckley said. To basically Im not going to say lie, but if youre pretty sure you got the problem fixed, but youre not 100% sure, thats a fine line. Im not going to do that. Thats where legal ramifications come about. Lawrence Brennan, a professor of maritime law at Fordham Universitys School of Law, said the multiple instances of problems with the electrical system could serve as evidence the vessel was not seaworthy. Once you get away from the pier, it gets harder to fix problems, Brennan said. But before you leave, you have a duty to ensure that the ship is seaworthy or that youve exercised due diligence to ensure the seaworthiness of the ship. Days after the bridge collapse, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the companies that own and manage the Dali, asked a federal judge to absolve them of liability from the crash or to limit damages to the salvage value of the ship plus the revenue it stood to make from its cargo. They estimated the sum to be $43.7 million. The Singaporean companies moved under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, which was designed to protect the maritime industry. To be successful, they have to prove they didnt have privity or knowledge that there was something wrong with the ship before it left the berth, said Simmons, who teaches maritime law at the University of Baltimore and University of Maryland law schools and practices at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. The NTSBs findings that there were prior power outages, those facts are going to be relevant to whether the owner and operator had privity and knowledge about the power issues before it left the terminal, and whether the ship should have left the terminal in the first place or shouldve stayed and more thoroughly addressed the power issues they were having, he said. A spokesman for Synergy and Grace Ocean said the companies extend their deepest sympathy to all those impacted by this incident, but declined further comment, citing ongoing investigations into the bridge collapse. 2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The administration of US President Joe Biden says it is making "continuous efforts" to help Ukraine in the face of Russia's new offensive in the Kharkiv region. The White House is working "around the clock" to deliver military aid to the country. ADVERTISIMENT At a briefing in Washington on May 17, White House Counselor John Kirby said that the US administration is closely monitoring the actions of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. His words were quoted by the Ukrinform news agency. "We are closely monitoring Russia's offensive in northeastern Ukraine and working around the clock to get weapons and equipment into the hands of the Ukrainian military to help them repel these attacks," Kirby said. The White House spokesman reminded that Biden ordered specific military assistance packages to the Ukrainian Defense Forces immediately after he signed the law with additional funding. Since then (April 2024), Washington has allocated two packages to Kyiv under presidential authority and another $6 billion through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which will be used to purchase new weapons from manufacturers for Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT In addition, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during his visit to Kyiv this week, announced another $2 billion aid package under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. As reported, the State Department said that the new aid from the United States would lead to real changes on the battlefield in Ukraine. After a long break, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have already begun to receive American military aid. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! Damage to a Ukrainian thermal power plant by a Russian missile strike seen on April 2. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post) KYIV - While the rolling plains of Ukraines countryside are in full spring bloom, officials already fear what the distant winter will bring as a major energy crisis grips the country and power companies resort to phased blackouts to conserve supplies. Russian territorial gains over the past months have been mirrored by successful missile barrages against Ukraines power plants, both abetted by faltering supplies of weapons and ammunition from the countrys foreign backers. Ukraines energy companies are scrambling to repair the power stations damaged by Russian missiles before frigid temperatures set in - and avoid plunging the cities into the cold and dark when winter comes. Since March, five waves of missile attacks have resulted in the complete destruction of the power stations from the DTEK private energy supplier, which produces 20 percent of the countrys electrical output, CEO Maksym Timchenko said in a Zoom briefing with journalists on Tuesday. The last attack, on May 8, was particularly devastating, he said, because all of the missiles reached their targets, unimpeded by air defense, knocking out three more power stations. We need to get out of this cycle: destruction, repair, destruction - meaning we can lose everything if we dont have proper air defense systems, said Timchenko. The missile campaign of the last weeks has caused $1 billion worth of damage to the energy infrastructure, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said at the beginning of the month on Ukrainian television. Up until March, the electrical grid had actually escaped the pounding that Russian forces inflicted the previous year - which left the country on the edge of a total electrical collapse - thanks in part to an air defense system that intercepted a large number of missiles and drones. But now, due largely to Western delays in arms deliveries, the air defenses have run low on ammunition and the Russian missiles are increasingly finding their targets, industry officials said. Also, in contrast to the previous campaign against Ukraines energy sector, which focused primarily on destroying the electrical distribution grid, Russian forces are now directly targeting the countrys thermal and hydroelectric power plants. This week, Ukraines state energy provider Ukrenergo announced plans for regular power cuts in every region of the country to overcome a significant shortage of electricity. This is taking place even though Ukraine is importing electricity from five neighboring countries. Ukraine also experienced a cooler than usual spring, causing people to use heating units, which added to consumption, Yuriy Boiko, a member of Ukrenergos supervisory board, said. However, the cuts will continue into the summer as people then turn on their air conditioners. At the moment, most of the conservation measures have fallen on businesses, which are restricting their consumption or switching to working at night and off-peak periods. But this threatens the economy, which has already significantly contracted because of the war. It is very important that our businesses can work, that we have someone to create GDP, strengthen the army, so that people have work, Serhii Kovalenko, CEO of Yasno, a DTEK distribution subsidiary, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. It is wrong to transfer the entire deficit to businesses. If we want to win, we need to create parity between the population and business. Boiko said that consumption restrictions should be expected to last until September, by which time nuclear power stations - which provide half of the countrys electricity - will have ramped up production, while lower temperatures should reduce the energy demands. But then winter will arrive. Winter will be undoubtedly difficult, Boiko said - the only question is to what degree. Ukraine has lost some eight gigawatts of electricity production because of the strikes, he said - approaching half of what this country more than 30 million, the size of Texas, needs during peak periods. This [shortfall] can be significantly reduced, but not to the extent that it could be halved or even eradicated, Boiko said. That is, there will be a deficit in the electrical system even if the winter is warm. After Russias previous winter missile campaign, DTEK spent some $120 million on repairing equipment, almost all of which was damaged and destroyed again in the latest strikes, Timchenko said. This time around the bill will be even higher because the power plants themselves were targeted rather than just the transmission infrastructure, and they will need to buy gas turbines, replacement generators and even equipment for entire control rooms. Timchenko estimates that DTEK needs to spend some $350 million on equipment - including possibly used equipment from decommissioned European power plants. He hopes that a Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in June in Berlin will contribute to their energy infrastructure needs. If Ukraines energy companies accomplish all that they have set out to do, we can go through next winter and avoid disaster, he said. But for this, Ukraine needs Western support - including financial aid for purchases - and most of all air defense systems and ammunition. We are confident in what we are doing, we are confident that we can cope with this, we are confident that they will not destroy the power system, our company and Ukraine, he said. We know what to do. But we need help. Kostiantyn Khudov contributed to this report. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)) WASHINGTON Key Arab leaders desire for what one senior White House official describes as a new political horizon for Gaza is only complicating President Joe Bidens fraught efforts in the region and his bid for a second term. Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, said Monday that is what some Arab leaders have told U.S. officials that is what they would need to see before making long-term commitments to help the Palestinian enclave after Israels war with Hamas comes to an end. Biden administration officials and lawmakers from both parties have called on wealthy Arab countries to do more to improve humanitarian aid flows into the strip. But with U.S. officials making clear it is Israel that is blocking food, water and fuel, most of Washingtons outreach to Arab countries has been to lean on Hamas to release hostages and accept a cease-fire proposal and help establish a new governing framework for post-war Gaza. Sullivan called reports of Israelis attacking aid trucks bound for the strip, where White House officials have said a famine is underway, a total outrage. He said U.S. officials have been looking at the tools that we have to respond to this, and we are also raising our concerns at the highest level of the Israeli government and its something that we make no bones about. Biden administration officials, echoed by some Democratic and Republican lawmakers, also have made no bones about what they see as a governance vacuum in Gaza that Arab countries must fill to prevent an Israeli occupation or the return of the Hamas government. But theyre getting pushback. But what they want to see is a political horizon. They want an answer to: What does the long-term future look like for the Palestinian people? Sullivan said. Thats something were talking about with the Israeli government as well. One influential Arab country is quick off the tongues of White House and administration officials when they are asked about or are delivering prepared remarks about Gazas future: Saudi Arabia. Israels long-term security depends on being integrated into the region and enjoying normal relations with the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Sullivan said. We need to consider the tactical battlefield situation in Gaza in light of the bigger strategic picture. We should not miss a historic opportunity to achieve the vision of a secure Israel flanked by strong regional partners presenting a powerful front to deter aggression and uphold regional stability. Sullivan said Bidens long-term commitment [is] to getting an outcome in Gaza, and across the broader Middle East, that protects Israels future security and paves the way for a future of dignity and security for the Palestinian people, as well rather than Israel getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends and ultimately saps Israels strength and vitality. He was referring to Hamas operatives reportedly moving back to Gazas northern areas, fighting Israel Defense Forces troops from the rubble of buildings obliterated in Israels response to the terrorist organizations Oct. 7 attack inside the Jewish state. Yet, White House and administration officials have rarely named any other Arab state as being pressed to make future commitments to help Gazans establish a new government, or to help provide livable conditions and security. A review of recent writings by former officials and think tank scholars this week turned up the same pattern, suggesting Biden, Sullivan and other American officials are at a negotiating table with many empty seats. Aaron David Miller, a longtime State Department official and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a Wednesday interview that six Arab countries would be key to a post-war Gaza plan. Geography is destiny here and the one Arab state that has the most critical and vital interest in what transpires in Gaza is Egypt, he said of the strips southern neighbor. For the [Persian] Gulf states, this is a political problem. For Egypt, it is a matter of national security. So the Egyptians are likely to be more demanding. Saudi Arabia also has a major role to play, largely because of its vast wealth and what it can give to the Israelis, which is normalization of diplomatic and economic relations, Miller said, adding Jordan also is among the most important Arab countries because it borders the West Bank, which also is a Palestinian territory. The leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain also have a stake, he said, but those will not be core players. Presidential involvement So far, however, no leaders of those six countries are leading a charge to begin serious talks with the United States and Israel about Gazas future. Why? The sun, the moon and the stars have to align in a fashion which right now is very hard to imagine, much less see, because were no closer to a cease-fire, were no closer to a return of the hostages, Miller said. There has been no willingness nor any real incentives for the Arab states to even consider forming some sort of security force to secure Gaza post-war. And were certainly no closer to revitalizing and relegitimizing a Palestinian Authority, which would be needed to govern both Gaza and the West Bank. Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, wrote recently on the institutes website that Israels goals are also a major hurdle to clear. The Biden administration is quietly working with partners across the Middle East to develop plans for the governance and reconstruction of Gaza, but Israel has not yet offered a clear vision of what it seeks in a post-war settlement. Katulis wrote. In both the short term and long term, there may be more bumps ahead. Senior White House officials almost daily speak of ongoing conversations and state their collective commitment to delivering blunt advice and alternative options to their Israeli counterparts. But talk of Israeli officials heeding that advice is scant. For instance, on several occasions, White House officials several times in recent weeks have summarized talks with their Israeli counterparts by stating the other side would take Bidens concerns about the conduct of the Gaza conflict into account. These dynamics are playing out as Biden is ramping up his reelection campaign, with many Arab American and young voters disapproving of his handling of the conflict. Two-thirds (64%) of adult U.S. citizens polled May 12-14 by YouGov and The Economist said they strongly of somewhat strongly support a cease-fire that Biden, so far, has been unable to broker. Doing so, Miller said, would take valuable time away from the diplomat in chiefs reelection bid. But brokering a cease-fire before the November election would mean it would have to happen during months when the campaign will be most intense. This takes an enormous amount of energy because there are so many moving parts. And its going to require not just time by the secretary of State and the national security adviser, but its going to require presidential involvement at a time when the president is going to want to focus on his campaign, Miller said. Whether or not it can somehow be compressed into that time period? The answer is probably no. It requires a certain harmony and a consensus on what the end state should be and how to get there. And right now, you dont have that. 2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved Visit cqrollcall.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. I have never in my career witnessed the level of atrocities and targeting of my medical colleagues as I have in Gaza, Adam Hamawy, a former U.S. Army combat surgeon, said in a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday. (Wikimedia Commons) An American doctor who refused an evacuation from southern Gaza on Friday said he stayed behind in solidarity with colleagues who were unable to leave, calling on President Biden to help ensure the safety of medical workers treating patients impacted by the war. I have never in my career witnessed the level of atrocities and targeting of my medical colleagues as I have in Gaza, Adam Hamawy, a former U.S. Army combat surgeon, said in a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday. I want our President to know that we are not safe, he said. As a doctor, I cannot abandon the remaining members of my team, and as a former soldier, I cannot abandon my fellow Americans. Hamawy, 53, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, traveled to the Gaza Strip with the Virginia-based Palestinian American Medical Association, a medical mission coordinated by the World Health Organization. His 19-person team, including U.S. citizens and nationals from other countries, arrived in the territory through the Rafah border crossing on May 1 to support the European Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. Over seven months of war, Israel has besieged and destroyed Gazas most critical medical facilities, detaining doctors and other health-care workers, and forcing staff at at least two hospitals to bury dead patients in mass graves. The remaining hospitals and clinics are barely functioning, the WHO says, and face shortages of medicine, equipment and personnel. Hamawy and his colleagues, who arrived with suitcases full of supplies, including much-needed anesthetics, were scheduled to leave Gaza on May 13. But soon after they arrived, Israeli forces launched an operation in Rafah to seize the border crossing with Egypt and target Hamas militants holed up in the area. The border was closed and the doctors were trapped. As the fighting intensified, they treated the influx of trauma patients, many of them children, and almost immediately started running low on alcohol pads, gauze and burn cream. We dont even have absorbent pads to keep [patients] wounds dry, which is necessary to prevent hypothermia, one of the U.S. doctors, Mahmoud Sabha, wrote in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the local health ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of those killed are women and children. Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas militants staged a brutal attack on Israeli communities Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250. It accuses Hamas and other Palestinian fighters of using hospitals as bases for militant activity. We worry that the European Hospital we currently are in will suffer a similar fate of al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals, Hamawy said, referring to the two largest hospitals in Gaza, which were severely damaged by Israeli military raids. He is one of three U.S. medical volunteers who stayed behind, while other colleagues evacuated through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, with the help of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Only U.S. citizens were given permission to leave. Eleven team members from other countries, as well as two U.S. permanent residents, were not offered exit, Hamawy said in a text message early Saturday. When the call came to evacuate, I was asked to choose to either evacuate and leave my team behind or stay with them. I could not in good conscience leave my team behind, he said in the statement. That was not what I was taught, he continued. That is not the Soldiers Creed. We dont leave Americans behind. This is against our values as Americans, he said. Hamawy, who lives in New Jersey, was among the doctors Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) has publicly credited with saving her life in Iraq in 2004. The Palestinian American Medical Association has another group of volunteers waiting in Egypt to relieve Hamawys team - but the entry of foreign aid workers into Gaza has been severely restricted since Israel closed the Rafah border. Hamawy and his colleagues dont know when they might get the opportunity to leave. In his statement, Hamawy apologized to his family for not going home. I know it hurts that I am not coming home this weekend, and I am sorry, he said. But I know that you are proud that I am upholding my oath to never leave anyone behind. In a message to The Post, he said, if all the U.S. citizens left, what would that say about us as a country? That is not who we are. David DePape is seen, Dec. 13, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. DePape, who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer, received a 30-year sentence on Friday, May 17, 2024. (Michael Short, San Francisco Chronicle/AP) SAN FRANCISCO (Tribune News Service) A federal judge on Friday sentenced David DePape to 30 years in prison, six months after a jury found him guilty of attempting to kidnap former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and using a hammer to bludgeon her husband in a bloody October 2022 assault. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley delivered her decision during a hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, reprimanding DePape at length and saying she believed he continued to pose a danger to the public and all Americans. He broke into the home of that public official, he broke into that private space of home and violently attacked a public officials spouse, Scott Corley said. What that means and why this now is so harmful to everyone in the country and the future, is that when someone is considering now whether they want to go into public service, they have to think not only am I willing to take that risk myself, but am I willing to risk my spouse, my children, my grandchildren. DePape, dressed in an orange jail sweatsuit and wearing ankle restraints, did not outwardly react as his sentence was read. The sentencing caps a federal trial that captivated the nation and raised chilling questions about the safety of public officials amid heightened political extremism and the proliferation of online venues that give traction to baseless fanatical conspiracy theories. In letters to the judge that their daughter, Christine Pelosi, read in court, both Nancy and Paul Pelosi asked the judge to impose lengthy sentences. In her letter, Nancy Pelosi said her husband continues to suffer physically and emotionally from the attack, and that the violent incident has had a devastating effect on three generations of our family. It is therefore necessary that the guilty partys sentence be very long as a punishment for the attack and the injuries Paul continues to suffer and as a deterrent to others considering violence against public officials, the former speaker wrote. Paul Pelosi said his life has been irrevocably changed, and that he hasnt fully recovered. He noted that a blood stain on the front entryway and the metal plate now embedded in his head serve as enduring reminders of the assault. Federal prosecutors had requested a 40-year federal prison term with a terrorism enhancement, arguing that DePape has demonstrated no remorse and that a tough sentence would serve as a deterrent to other would-be assailants motivated by ideological extremism. At a time when extremism has led to attacks on public and elected officials, this case presents a moment to speak to others harboring ideologically motivated violent dreams and plans, Assistant U.S. Attys. Helen Gilbert and Laura Vartain Horn wrote in a May 10 filing. DePape faced a combined 50 years in federal prison: 30 years on the assault charge and 20 years for the attempted kidnapping. Scott Corley sentenced him to the maximum term on both counts, but to be served concurrently for a total of 30 years. He will get credit for the roughly 18 months he has spent in state custody. DePape, 44, was accused of traveling from his Richmond residence to the Pelosis Pacific Heights home in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 2022, with plans to hold the lawmaker hostage and interrogate her regarding unfounded claims fueled by far-right conspiracy theorists of corruption, human trafficking and child abuse by Democrats and other public figures. DePape broke into the home, but instead of finding Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, he stumbled across the bedroom where her husband was sleeping. The door opened and a very large man came in, with a hammer in one hand and some ties in the other hand, Paul Pelosi testified. And he said, Wheres Nancy? And I think thats what woke me up. He was able to get to his cellphone in the bathroom and dial 911. When the police arrived, the two men were struggling over DePapes hammer. The prosecutors showed jurors graphic police body-camera video of DePape bludgeoning Paul Pelosi, then 82, fracturing his skull and seriously injuring his right arm and left hand. Still-pending state charges accuse DePape of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and threats to a public official and her family. In contrast, the federal trial centered on whether DePapes actions that morning were indelibly tied to Speaker Pelosis official duties in Congress. In making their case, federal prosecutors provided jurors a detailed review of DePapes online purchases and search history to demonstrate how he spent months preparing for the attack. Jurors heard portions of a police interview in which DePape said he considered Speaker Pelosi the Democrats leader of the pack, and said he would break her kneecaps if she didnt admit to corruption and other claims of human trafficking and child abuse. DePapes federal public defenders, Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang, had urged the judge to consider a more lenient 14-year sentence, arguing their client suffers from mental health issues and trauma from an abusive relationship with Gypsy Taub, his former romantic partner and the mother of his children. Linker and Chuang never disputed that their client committed the violence. They instead tried to convince the jury that DePape was motivated by elaborate conspiracy theories that were nonetheless his deeply held beliefs. They referenced support letters from family and friends describing the crimes as completely out of character. David was never violent when he was young, and I am sorry that this has happened, DePapes stepfather, Gene DePape, wrote in a statement to The Times. I am very sorry to Paul and Nancy. The attorneys based much of their request for leniency on the influence of Taub, a Bay Area nudism activist who recently served time in state prison for trying to abduct a 14-year-old boy in Berkeley. They maintained Taub isolated DePape from his family and immersed him in a world of extreme beliefs where reality is not reality. His long-term relationship with his ex-partner, Gypsy Taub, inflicted immeasurable harm to his mental state and what little support network he had in the form of his family, DePapes attorneys wrote in a May 10 sentencing memo. Chuang reiterated that argument during the sentencing hearing, saying DePape was gaslit, abused and he was very intentionally cut off from his family, while Taub watched quietly from a court bench. In a recorded audio statement she sent The Times this week, Taub dismissed the attorneys allegations of abuse, saying: I love David. I will always love him, regardless of what he does or says. Hes an incredibly beautiful human being. But hes very broken, Taub said. During an interview with The Times before DePapes trial in her cluttered, eclectic Berkeley home, Taub espoused a number of conspiracy theories, using phrasing nearly identical to what DePape shared in his testimony, including her belief that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were really an inside job and that government has been corrupted by satanic cults that prey on children. At the time, she was adamant DePape had been falsely accused in the Pelosi attack, describing him as sweet and gentle. He was such a nice person, she said, that even after she married another man, she allowed DePape to keep living in her home and supported him financially. In one video Taub shared from more than a decade ago, she and DePape are nude, discussing his recent experience with psychedelics at a Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. What is your dream for the planet? Taub asked. Id really like there to be peace, he responded. And if the whole world could hear you right now, what would be your message to the world? she asked. God is love. God is loving, he said. And this is an illusion. 2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. He was refused bail after a judge ruled the allegations were too serious to release him, following garda objections. Two children stepped in to save their mother as their father attacked her with a knife while she was holding their three-month-old baby, it is alleged. Gardai said the older siblings intervened to stop the man as he assaulted and injured his wife at the family home in Dublin. He was refused bail after a judge ruled the allegations were too serious to release him, following garda objections. The accused, in his 30s, is charged with assault causing harm to his wife, unlawful possession of a knife and breach of a domestic violence order in an incident earlier this week. Objecting to bail, the prosecuting garda cited the nature and seriousness of the charges and allegations and the potential sentences on conviction. The garda outlined the proposed evidence in the case, saying it was alleged the accused carried out a knife attack on his wife at their apartment while she was holding their three-month-old baby. The couples two other children were present at the time and attempted to stop the attack on their mother, the garda told Judge Gerard Jones. The woman suffered injuries to her face, neck and hands and the alleged assault was captured on CCTV. The garda said the footage was available to be played in court if necessary, but the judge did not require this. The garda said the accused had tried to flee but was caught red-handed close to the scene in possession of the knife he had allegedly used to assault his wife. According to the garda, there were fears the accused may interfere with witnesses if granted bail. They all lived at the same address and the garda did not know where the accused would be able to stay if released. The garda also feared the accused would fail to appear in court on the next date if bailed. The maximum potential sentences on conviction would be 10 years for the alleged assault and five for the weapons charge. The man was presumed innocent and entitled to a presumption in favour of bail, his solicitor John Quinn said. He said the court could impose strict bail conditions which the accused would undertake to abide by if released. The accused would stay away from the apartment where his family lived if necessary, his solicitor said. Judge Jones asked what ages the other children were and the garda said they were 14 and 10 years old. The two other children tried to save their mother, the judge said. The allegations were too serious for bail to be granted, Judge Jones said, remanding the man in custody. The judge granted him free legal aid following an application by Mr Quinn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine currently has only 25% of the air defense equipment needed to protect itself from Russian strikes. Also, according to the head of state, the Ukrainian Air Force needs 120 to 130 modern aircraft. ADVERTISIMENT Zelenskyy made the statement in an interview with AFP on Friday, May 17. "I believe that today we have about 25 percent of what we need to protect Ukraine. I'm talking about air defense," he said. The President also named the number of modern fighters needed in the battle for the sky: "As for the aircraft, I say this openly. To make Russia lose air superiority, our fleet should have 120 to 130 modern aircraft." Zelenskyy added that he was talking about a fleet of American F-16 fighter jets. "In general, we need this fleet of F-16s in the number I mentioned to have the equalization of forces in th sky," he said. Jason Kelly (52) already had 147 previous convictions when he admitted a series of theft charges at Dublin District Court. A grandfather who stole hundreds of euro worth of jewellery and clothes from city centre shops in Dublin was a nuisance whose full-time occupation was stealing, a judge said. Jason Kelly (52) already had 147 previous convictions when he admitted a series of theft charges at Dublin District Court. Judge Gerard Jones jailed him for 10 months. The court heard that Kelly stole 800 worth of jewellery from Swarovski on Henry Street on a date in August 2022, and 138 worth on another date in July last year. Kelly went to a business at Temple Bar Lane on July 16 this year and took a mobile phone belonging to a staff member. He was later identified on CCTV. He stole 137 worth of clothing from Next on Henry Street on January 6 this year, and clothes worth 29 from Penneys, Mary Street, on April 24. Kelly, a father-of-three of Lower Oriel Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to all charges. The majority of his previous convictions were for theft. He was in custody on remand when he appeared in court. Kelly was on disability benefit and not in great health, his solicitor Yvonne Bambury said. Hes a nuisance, this man, Judge Jones said. His full-time occupation is to go around stealing as far as I can see. The court heard that Mr Donogher, a landscaper and father of four, made no reply to the charges Joe Donogher, of Ashlawn Park, Ballybrack, Dublin, pictured leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) A LANDSCAPER and an exotic animal breeder have been granted bail with strict conditions after gardai charged them in connection with a 150,000 cocaine seizure in Dublin on Thursday. Joe Donogher, 54, and Darren Shields, 47, appeared before Judge David McHugh at Dublin District Court on Saturday. Mr Donogher, of Ashlawn Park, Ballybrack, Dublin, is accused of unlawful possession of cocaine and having it for sale or supply at Pearse Villas, Sallynoggin, on May 16. Co-defendant, Mr Shields of Cedar Court, Ballybrack, is accused of possessing cocaine and having it for sale or supply at Pearse Street, Sallynoggin, and also having part of the seizure in his van at the same location on May 16. They have not yet indicated how they will plead but faced objections to bail. The court heard that Mr Donogher, a landscaper and father of four, made no reply to the charges. Garda Philip Lavery told a contested bail hearing that he feared Mr Donogher would flee, believing the accused had a considerable amount of money. He said the value of the overall seizure was 150,000. However, in cross-examination with defence counsel Kevin O'Higgins, the court heard he had "a couple of hundred euros in his account". The barrister said his client was a self-employed landscaper who earned about 800 a week. The garda said the accused had renovated his home, including a gym and an extension, and he believed Mr Donogher had access to wealth. The barrister replied that his client had "worked hard all his life". Judge McHugh set his bail at 3,000 and ordered him to surrender his passport, sign on daily at a garda station, and not contact Mr Shields. He told Mr Donogher to appear in court again on September 4 for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions and a drugs forensic analysis certificate to be ready. Garda Paul Brierly told the court that Mr Shields was allegedly caught handing over a two-kilogramme package of suspected cocaine worth 140,000 and that he had a further 10,000 of cocaine in his van, along with scales, packaging and a mixing agent. It was claimed that gardai recovered 78,460 when they searched a shed at his home, and Garda Brierly said Mr Shields could face additional charges. The officer feared he was a flight risk, but defence solicitor Benedict O'Connor said his client had no passport, which the officer accepted. The court heard that the defendant worked as a flooring and carpet fitter but also had a side job breeding and selling exotic animals, including parrots and reptiles. The solicitor said his client had two children and family in Ballybrack. The judge was satisfied he had ties to the jurisdiction and granted him 3,000 bail with conditions. He must notify gardai of any address change, not apply for travel documents, sign on daily at a Garda station and be contactable by mobile phone. Judge McHugh remanded him on bail to appear again on July 26 for the DPP's directions and a forensic drug analysis certificate. The pursuit resulted in an Armed Support Unit (ASU) car crashing, being written off and two officers having to be cut from the vehicle. Dean Devine was serving a 40 year driving ban at the time he led gardai on a 20 minute high speed chase in Westmeath. A man who lead armed gardai on a 20-minute high speed pursuit has failed in his bid to have his licence returned after a court heard he was already serving a 40-year driving ban at the time of the offence. Dean Devine, of Kingston House, Cree, Fortal, Birr, Co Offaly, received the four-decade-long ban in May 2015 following an incident in the Tyrellspass area of Westmeath in February 2013. That episode resulted in an Armed Support Unit (ASU) car crashing, being written off and two officers having to be cut from the vehicle, taken to hospital and signed off work for a number of months. In an application tendered before Judge Bernadette Owens at Mullingar District Court, Devine described the ban handed down as ridiculous. He said the late former District Court Judge Seamus Hughes had instructed him at the time to steer clear of trouble for five or six years and to return to court in a bid to get the ball rolling in restoring his licence. The 32-year-old also stated it wasnt my fault two gardai were hurt arising out of the incident, a claim he contended the court had corroborated at the time. Devine told Judge Owens he was in or around 23 at the time of the offence and had not come to garda attention in over seven years. He said one of his main reasons in making the application was to further his own employment ambitious after attempts to set up his own business last year proved unsuccessful. I was stupid when I was younger, he told Judge Owens. I was suffering from bad mental health at the time and wasnt taking medication I was supposed to be taking, but I have been out of trouble the last six or seven years. Those assertions were, however, were brought into question by Inspector Dave Jordan on behalf of the State. In a series of objections, Inspector Jordan labelled Devines application as procedurally flawed under the terms of Section 7 of the Road Traffic Act 2006. He said in accordance with law, Devine was precluded from making any such application given that he was already serving a 40 year driving disqualification from Naas District Court in 2011 at the time of the Mullingar offence. Devine, who represented himself throughout the ten minute hearing, said that conviction was under appeal. Inspector Jordan, however, revealed to the court that Devine had picked up a further 19 road traffic offences since 2015. Dean Devine leaving Mullingar Courthouse. They included a further 40 year ban from Longford Circuit Court in February 2017, a 20-year ban recorded at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in November 2018 and most recently a four year ban from Nenagh District Court dated from October last year. Inspector Jordan also stated how Devine, according to current road traffic legislation, was obliged to serve half his period of disqualification before making any such application to the court. Devine, for his part, insisted the vast bulk of those convictions were either under appeal or in the process of being struck out. Judge Owens, in delivering her ruling, said she had been left concerned at claims made by Devine that he had steered clear of any garda attention before the court learned of his 19 subsequent convictions. She said of more pressing relevance was the fact Devines previous 40-year disqualification in Naas had effectively prohibited him from being in a position to lodge any licence restoration application. Judge Owens, in refusing the application, told Devine should he overturn that conviction, there was nothing preventing him returning to the court to apply for an early return of his licence. In doing so, however, she warned him any such case would be taken on its merits and whatever State objections which may be made at that juncture would be considered at that point. Paul Keenan (45) was found with the phone when prison officers were carrying out searches in Mountjoy jail, a court heard. A Dublin man jailed for money laundering and drug dealing charges was trying to enquire about his ill mother when he was caught using a contraband mobile phone in his cell. Paul Keenan (45) was found with the phone when prison officers were carrying out searches in Mountjoy jail, a court heard. Judge Monika Leech gave him another two-month sentence but made it concurrent to the prison term he is already serving. Keenan, with an address at Griffeen Glen Park, Lucan, pleaded guilty to possession of a mobile phone in prison on March 9. Dublin District Court heard checks were being carried out on a landing in the jail when a prison officer saw Keenan using a smartphone and seized it. He had no permission from the governor to have the phone and was charged. Keenan had previous convictions for possession of crime proceeds and having drugs for sale or supply and was jailed in 2022. The court heard his release date was in 2031. The reason Keenan had the phone was that his mother was seriously unwell at the time and he was enquiring as to her well-being, his lawyer said. The accused had already been penalised within the prison system, the court heard. Keenan had been an enhanced prisoner and was working in the bakery at Mountjoy but had lost that as a result of the offence. He was now working towards regaining his enhanced status, his lawyer said. Keenan was completely drug-free and his lawyer asked the judge not to extend his time in custody. Judge Leech gave him a two-month sentence but said it was to run from the date of conviction. McGuinness opened a downstairs room and pointed to two open boxes, telling the customs officers This is what you are looking for Joanna McGuiness was caught with the cigarettes in her home This is the woman who was given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this week after more than 80,000 untaxed cigarettes were found in her home. Joanna McGuinness (41) pleaded guilty to a charge of evasion of excise duty on cigarettes and tobacco found at her home in Paul Street, Dublin 7 on June 23, 2022. A customs officer told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that McGuinness's home was searched under warrant. She was not at home when they arrived, but returned after a neighbour contacted her. McGuinness opened a downstairs room and pointed to two open boxes, telling the customs officers This is what you are looking for. Joanna McGuiness was caught with the cigarettes in her home The boxes contained over 80,000 cigarettes and 35kg of tobacco, without the required tax stamps on them. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the total loss to the exchequer was 66,881. The cigarettes and tobacco were seized. After hearing facts on Tuesday, Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the case overnight to consider sentence. The following day he handed McGuinness a sentence of three years but suspended it entirely, because of the effect her imprisonment would have on her child. Judge Nolan said but for the fact that McGuinness has sole care of two children, one with serious problems, she deserves to go to prison. With some degree of reluctance, by reason of the loss to the State and her previous bad character, Im not going to send her to prison. It would cause serious difficulties for the child, said the judge. McGuinness has a number of previous convictions, including for Revenue offences. The witness agreed with Paul Comiskey O'Keeffe BL, defending, that a quantity of cash was also seized during the search, but later returned to his client. It was also accepted that the guilty plea was of value. Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe outlined his client's background and personal circumstances to the court. McGuinness developed addiction issues as a teenager. She has two children, who both have health issues. A number of testimonials were handed to the court. Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe said his client is now working and in a stable period of her life. The court heard his former partner was warned to keep their child away from the man in case something happened to him A DUBLIN man accused of threatening to kill a drug user and warning him that his "mother's house would be blown up" over an alleged 80,000 cocaine debt has been granted bail. Father of two, Mark Salmon, 31, of Kilbarron Avenue, Kilmore West, D5, appeared before Judge David McHugh at Dublin District Court on Saturday facing eight serious charges. He is accused of a criminal damage offence, three instances of threatening to kill or cause serious harm, two counts of demanding money with menaces and two threats to damage property on dates in March and April. Detective Sergeant Domhnall O'Connell told Judge McHugh that Mr Salmon was arrested at an address in Portmarnock on Thursday and detained for questioning at a Dublin Garda station. The court heard that Mr Salmon was "charged, cautioned and after each charge he made no reply". Objecting to bail, Detective Sergeant O'Connell said a file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution in anticipation of further charges. He said the complainant was not present for the hearing, but there was audio evidence of alleged phone threats to him. However, the judge noted the witness was not available to be cross-examined; he held that the recording could not be played as it was a matter for the trial if deemed admissible evidence. Asked for the specific grounds for the bail objection, Detective Sergeant O'Connell cited the seriousness of the case and possible witness interference. He alleged that the complainant made a report to gardai on April 23 that from February or March 2022 until last December, he built up an 80,000 cocaine debt. "Initially, he bought it for cash and moved on to larger quantities, and bought them on tick, Judge, and would pay later on," Detective Sergeant O'Connell said. The court heard that some weeks, he was buying 3,000 5,000 worth of drugs. The bail hearing was told the man received demands for money and threats to kill or cause him serious harm, threats to damage his family home over non-payment, "and that he would be stabbed and his mother's house would be blown up". The court heard his former partner was warned to keep their child away from the man in case something happened to him. It was alleged that his ex-girlfriend paid 6,000 off the debt, his mother handed over 4,000, and his sister forked out 5,000. The court heard two masked men arrived at his mother's home on April 19, smashed the windows and damaged a car in the driveway. On another date in April, it was claimed that his car was involved in a pursuit with another vehicle allegedly carrying the accused. The detective sergeant also alleged that jewellery, including an item valued at 30,000, was recovered from the accused's bedroom and that he had 30,000 in a bank account. The court also heard claims that people in the Coolock area were approached and "intimidated" while the accused was in Garda custody earlier this week. Pleading for bail, defence barrister Karla Ray said her client, who enjoys the presumption of innocence, would obey onerous conditions, and a member of his family offered to stand bail. Judge McHugh described the allegations as being "of the most serious nature," but he added that was a matter for the trial. He ordered Mr Salmon, who did not address the court to reside at a specific address, to have no contact with 14 witnesses, to obey an 11 pm 6 am curfew, to surrender his passport and not apply for any travel documents. The bail was set in his bond of 500, and the judge required the approval of a 5,000 independent surety before he could be released. Mr Salmon, who has yet to indicate a plea, was remanded in custody with consent to bail on these terms to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday. A ruling on whether he would be granted legal aid was deferred. I ran non-stop to her school. I saw my daughter, she was there lying on the ground being worked on by medical staff The mother of the little girl who was injured in Parnell Square last November has said the subsequent riots that broke out in the city that night had nothing to do with our daughter Six months after the events of November 23, when the young girl was one of three children attacked in the city centre, her mother said they do not want hate to be the narrative of what happened to our daughter. In an exclusive interview, she told the Irish Examiner that as her strong-willed little fighter remains in a Dublin hospital, she did want anyone to "respond with hate to the incident. Saying her daughter was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time she said the main message we have is that we dont want any hate over this and that hate only generates more hate. We dont have time for hate, we just want to focus on our daughter, she said. The little girl, who as well as her mother cannot be identified for legal reasons, was only a few months into Junior Infants class in her new school when the attack happened. She had been dropped off at after-school and had formed a line with their creche minder, when the attack happened at around 1.30pm. I never wanted to receive a call telling me that my child had been injured, so we chose Ireland to have our children, she told the Examiner. I work in the city centre, and I ran non-stop to her school. I saw my daughter, she was there lying on the ground being worked on by medical staff. "There was so much shock and numbness. I wanted to go to her, but all I did was stand there because that was the moment my daughter needed medical attention. Two other children, a boy aged five and a girl aged six, were also injured in the attack but were discharged from hospital in the days afterwards. Creche worker Leanne Flynn was seriously injured and wasn't discharged until earlier this year. The five-year-old girl was critically injured, undergoing emergency surgery to keep her alive. Last month, her family said she was "doing well" as she started her rehabilitation journey. In an update on the verified GoFundMe page set up for her, the five-year-old's family said there had been great milestones for our little big warrior. "She has started on feeds now (not orally yet) and moving her arms a good bit. She is enjoying her Irish lessons with the Hospital School. And loves watching Paddington 1 and 2 for laughs. Huge achievements. They previously stated how the past weeks have shown us even more so how resilient she is, but also put our own strength into check as we have match her determination. We have only begun the rehabilitation phase, and the questions regarding her future and ours are present. Despite all the mights and maybes, we have to believe in her, mainly because she does. The title of the fundraiser has also been changed to 'Barrog do Chailin Beag' (A Hug for a Little Girl) as Barrog is the name of the teddy who has been keeping a special school seat warm. The page where 91,000 has been raised of 500 target also offers a sincere word of thanks to everyone who has donated. The response to this has been incredible and has surpassed all expectations from when I initially set it up yesterday morning to circulate with family and friends, a previous message reads. All proceeds will go to the family. In a previous update shared on March 4, the family said that doctors were hoping to reintroduce food "into our darling daughter's day" over the next few weeks after "some serious tummy issues". In January, the girl's mum wrote on the GoFundMe page how her daughter will have to relearn everything. She said: Hi everyone, our darling girl has now entered the third phase of her recovery. "This will be the longest as she will relearn everything as a result of her injury. "She has done really well thus far and the medical team is very happy with her improvement. Once again, she is so strong and we are proud to be by her side supporting her, guiding her, and, above all, loving her every step of the way. The five-year-old was one of three children who, along with their carer, were injured in a multiple stabbing at Colaiste Mhuire, Parnell Square in November 2023. Riad Bouchaker (50) is currently before the courts in connection with the incident on November 23. He is charged with three counts of attempted murder, one of producing and possessing a kitchen knife, three counts of assault causing harm and one of assault causing serious harm. Bishop Buckley was the subject of many controversies including police investigations throughout his life. Pat Buckley in his chapel in Larne in 1992. The Oratory Society said Bishop Buckley, who lived in Larne but was born in Offaly, died peacefully on Friday morning. He was 72. Bishop Buckley was the subject of many controversies including police investigations throughout his life. In 2017, the former Catholic priest accused the hierarchy of the Church in Ireland of using the PSNI to conduct a vendetta against him over an online religious affairs blog he ran. A potential case against him involving accusations of incitement to hatred had reportedly been dropped, but he told the Belfast Telegraph at the time that the 11-month-long saga convinced him that his former church was attempting to silence him by closing the site down. Bishop Buckley was excommunicated in 1998 as a result of his ordination as a bishop into an independent church. A year later he came out as gay, and in 2010 married his partner in a civil ceremony. In 2013, he admitted his involvement and was convicted for his part in 14 sham marriages in Northern Ireland, with the purpose of flouting immigration laws. He received a three-and-a-half-year jail term, suspended for three years. I run a blog called Thinking Catholicism, which is critical of the Catholic Church hierarchy and they dont like it, Bishop Buckley told this newspaper in December 2017. On January 6 of this year Archbishop Eamon Martin reported a comment made on the blog to the PSNI as incitement to hatred. This comment wasnt made by me, but someone who comments on the blog. There are people out there, probably pro-Catholic Church people, who do not like the blog and who are using the PSNI to close the blog down. He ran the online blog and posted on it regularly right up until his death. In 2021, the contentious cleric branded evangelical preachers in Larne as brainwashed parrots and told them they are not welcome in the town for saying homosexuality is a sin. Bishop Buckley lived in Larne with his husband Eduardo Yango, a Filipino chef. He said then that he had never experienced homophobic abuse in the Co Antrim town: You might expect a tale of horror from me, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ive lived in this town for 37 years and I love it. I am very much part of the community. Bishop Buckley made headlines over the years for many reasons. Seven years ago, he buried a 107-year-old Ballyclare Presbyterian in a cross-community service. Peggy Dunbar, who was then believed to have been Northern Irelands oldest woman, took a shine to the rebel priest when he married her eldest daughter over 30 years ago. She never forgot him and her last wish was that he bury her. Mrs Dunbar died of pneumonia in February 2017. Her body had lain at rest in Bishop Buckleys church, the Oratory, in Larne. Bradshaw partied all the way to the end and cops even raided his flat a few weeks ago Residents at a Ballymena block of flats are praying convicted thug and drug dealer Mark Bradshaw will finally be evicted after he was jailed for 67 months. The 53-year-old was one of four men jailed for his part in a kidnapping plot that also involved ex-UDA boss Dee Coleman, though he is due to be sentenced at a later date. We can reveal party animal, and neighbour from hell, Bradshaw partied all the way to the end and cops even raided his flat a few weeks ago as part of a targeted drugs bust on the notorious block of flats. The Sunday World first exposed Bradshaws picture after he was charged with kidnapping a man who was brutally tortured and left for dead in a field. It emerged at the time residents of an apartment block where Bradshaw had been housed were furious when he was released on bail on medical grounds, claiming to be ill and unable to walk 100 metres. Flat residents want Bradshaw gone But in truth Bradshaw was a serial drug user and dealer who had got involved in the sickening plot to try and murder a man over a suspected drug debt. The beleaguered tenants of 52-54 High Street, where notorious heroin kingpin Noel Johnston plunged to his death as cops launched a raid on his flat, have been fighting with the housing association ever since they all moved into the new block of apartments four years ago. Last year we revealed how tenants had been living in hell as drug addicts and dealers made their lives a misery with their anti-social behaviour, including openly selling drugs and hosting 24-hour drink and drug-fuelled parties. We told of how residents were living in fear after Mark Bradshaw described in court as a notorious career criminal whose fourth floor apartment Johnston jumped from was released on bail as he awaited trial. And their fears were justified as Bradshaw continued to cause mayhem for those living around him and seemingly without any punishment. Wild parties and drug deals were a regular occurrence at the block of flats which was designated for vulnerable people and housed people at risk and young families. We just want him to be evicted now that hes been jailed for such a serious offence, said a former resident who had to leave the apartment block because of damage to their mental health. People like Mark Bradshaw made everyones lives a misery in what should have been a safe space to live. The apartments themselves are really nice but putting people like Bradshaw in there was a disgrace. For him to be accused of kidnapping that poor man they dumped in a field and then release him on bail is even worse. He must have known hed be jailed for that so he has been going full tilt partying Im told by those still having to live near him. Police confirmed they raided a number of properties in the area but nobody was arrested. We understand cops put the doors in of four or five apartments at the block of flats and Bradshaws was one that got searched five weeks ago. In a statement about the operation they told us: District Support Team officers with support from colleagues from Tactical Support Group (TSG) conducted a planned search of a number of properties in the High Street area of Ballymena on Friday 5th April, following reports of anti-social behaviour in the area. During the searches, a number of items including a quantity of a suspected class B controlled substance, phones and other items were discovered and have been removed for further examination. Noel Johnston fell to his death Police are actively committed to removing dangerous drugs from our streets, and will proactively investigate and carry out searches to disrupt this activity and those involved in the drugs trade. Unfortunately, despite being jailed for 67 months or just over five-and-a-half-years, Mark Bradshaw will serve less than a year behind bars having already served 22 months on remand and with a judge ordering half his sentence to be served on licence. But residents at 52-54 High Street are hoping even when he is released he is housed somewhere else. Bradshaw was released on medical grounds last September with the court being told he can barely walk 100 yards and often used a wheelchair in Maghaberry. Residents said Bradshaw seemed pretty mobile when he was partying and dealing drugs in and around the apartments. Belfast Crown Court heard disturbing details of the plot to kidnap the man who was beaten, stabbed, bundled into the boot of a car then dumped in a field near Broughshane. The victim, who was abandoned wearing only his boxer shorts, was discovered by binmen and suffered permanent and life-changing injuries. Speaking outside the court Detective Inspector McCoy said: The attack on the victimis one of the most violent, sickening and sadistic attacks I have ever investigated. The victim was subjected to a prolonged assault. He was severely beaten, forced to strip down to his boxer shorts, and made to use his clothes to clean up his own blood. The victim was on the floor and unable to defend himself when he was stabbed in the chest with a knife, then slashed on both sides of the face. Throughout the nightmarish attack, the victim was kicked, while continually forced to wipe up the blood. Meanwhile, the defendants laughed. This man was then taken by car and dumped, like an object, in a field near Broughshane. The man remained in intensive care under sedation for a number of weeks. And the list of injuries sustained is both lengthy and distressing. They include a stab wound to his chest, fracture and detachment of the jaw, injuries to his face and roof of the mouth, and a fracture to the base of the skill. He has sustained permanent damage to facial nerves, permanent blocking of a main artery to the brain, and a permanent brain injury. Mark Bradshaw, Glenn Allen Sheridan (45) from Florence Walk in Belfast, and 41-year-old David Philip Cherry, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, all admitted a charge of kidnapping the injured party. Fraudster given suspended sentence after court told shes expecting her third child A young mother who used her friends debit card details to embark on a mini-spending spree has been handed a suspended sentence. Brooklyn Corry, from Montgomery Drive in Lisburn, admitted 11 charges of fraud by false representation. All the offences were committed within hours of each other on dates last July. Legal papers said the 24-year-old used the victims bank details with the intention, by making the representation, to make a gain for yourself or another, or to cause loss to the victim or to expose her to a risk of loss. The mother-of-two was staying with her friend when she loaded her debit card details onto the Apple Pay app on her smartphone. A prosecuting lawyer told Lisburn Magistrates Court: She returned to her own property and then used her debit card information. In 11 transactions at Primark, a filling station and a Poundland, Corry clocked up a bill of 77. The victim got in contact with her bank, which confirmed that each of the transactions had been completed through Apple Pay. The defendant made full admissions when she was interviewed by the police. A defence lawyer accepted Corry had a previous criminal record and said that was concerning for someone so young. The court was told she was expecting her third child. District Judge Nigel Broderick noted Corry had previously been given suspended sentences, and said he was minded to follow a similar path. He sentenced her to four months in prison, suspended for a year. She was also handed a compensation order for 77.21. The judge warned Corry that if she committed further offences, the four months in prison would activated and put into effect consecutive to any other sentence. Prime Minister Robert Fico has regained consciousness after suffering multiple gunshot wounds on May 15. However, the politician's condition remains serious. ADVERTISIMENT The prime minister's condition does not yet allow him to be transferred to another hospital. This was reported by HNonline. Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Kaliniak and Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova praised the medical care provided to the Prime Minister. Kaliniak noted that doctors are approaching a positive prognosis for Fico's condition. "What is very important is that the condition allows for recovery. The prime minister is conscious, but, of course, with all the nuances present in such a serious injury," Kaliniak said. He added that the Prime Minister's condition is still considered serious due to the possible reaction of the body to gunshot wounds and possible complications that may appear on the fourth and fifth days. The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that the government will continue to work with the program. In particular, Kaliniak will hold at least two meetings next week, including on European funds. ADVERTISIMENT Kaliniak has not yet clarified whether Fico's Party for Social Democracy will participate in the meeting of parliamentary political parties at the Presidential Palace. He wants to consult with President Zuzana Chaputova first. The deputy prime minister emphasized that Slovakia currently needs peace and to calm down the disagreements that have flared up. At the same time, he confirmed that the head of state is regularly informed about the prime minister's condition. ADVERTISIMENT On Wednesday, May 15, an assassination attempt was made on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. He sustained a gunshot wound in Handlove. The official is currently hospitalized. A 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintul was detained on suspicion of assassination attempt on Fico. According to media reports, the man shot with a "short-barreled rifle that he had legally." Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The house legend will take to the stage in Kildare on Saturday, June 1. Detroit DJ and producer MK has said that Irish crowds are his biggest fans as he prepares for his headline gig at Punchestown Racecourse next month. The house legend will take to the stage in Kildare on Saturday, June 1, and play hits like 17 and Piece Of Me, following performances from support acts Dom Dolla, NewEra, Conor Coates, and Spin1038 DJ Jen Payne. MK, whose real name is Marc Kinchen, was a highlight on last years Longitude lineup and headlined a 3Arena gig just a few months earlier meaning hes no stranger to Ireland. According to the 51-year-old, hes guaranteed to play a really good show each time he comes to the Emerald Isle and this June bank holiday at Punchestown 24 will be no different. I know its going to be the one show Im sure I can just be happy about and everythings going to work out, he told the Sunday World. I say this every time. Ireland is my favourite place to play. The fans make it so special. Theyre amazing. Theyre just into it. I dont have to worry about what I play so much; theyre just into it. Theyre accepting, theyre very warm. Theyre probably my biggest fans. When you have that many fans, it makes the show easy and fun. Its going to be a good time. However, theres one thing about his Irish fans that he just cant wrap his head around. The weird thing is about Ireland is that at every show, people complain a lot. Whether its the venue, the lineup... It only happens in Ireland. The venues too far or the set time is too late or too early. Its always something! he laughed. Co-headlining the two-day festival at Punchestown are Dublin electronic duo Belters Only, who will take over on the Sunday evening, joined by special guests Obskur, Route 94, and Jazzy. The pair opened the show for MK at the 3Arena back in 2022, and he thinks its incredible to see them rise through the ranks so early in their career. When they started out, I think they looked up to me. So, Im kind of like a mentor, he explained. Seeing the young kids, seeing them get big... Its inspiring. It keeps you focused. I just love to see it. I love that because 95pc of the time with up-and-coming DJs, I know them, or theyve reached out to me at some point. The thing is, if youre supportive in the beginning, its great because I might need a favour from them one day, and because I was supportive of them in the beginning, I think theyll say, yeah. He revealed that hes been in contact with Belters Only about working on some music together and teased that there were plans in the works. Remaining tight-lipped about their potential collaboration, he revealed no details but promised bangers in the future. Belters Only When asked if hed be sticking around to see his proteges in action next month, the DJ admitted that he had other commitments in Ibiza, where he's set to do an extended run of poolside shows alongside Calvin Harris this summer. However, he could still be swayed. I was going to go back to Ibiza on the Sunday, but I want to see Belters Only and Jazzy, so I might stay an extra night and jump on the decks with them. Who knows? Tickets are on sale now from 65.70 including booking fees. The Hikuai River Bridge will be closed overnight next week to allow for the installation of capping beams. "The Hikuai River Bridge will be closed overnight from Sunday, May 19 to Friday,May 24 from 8pm to 6am each night," says an NZTA Waka Kotahi spokesperson. "It will be open during the day under a 30km/h temporary speed restriction. "The contingency dates are Sunday, May 26, through to Friday, June 7, 2024. The road will be opened at defined intervals, with an alternative detour route available via State Highway 25 and State Highway 25A. This Hospice Awareness Week, Waipuna Hospice, in alignment with Hospice NZ, is highlighting the critical need for increased awareness of hospice care. Despite its invaluable benefits, a significant portion of New Zealanders are not accessing hospice services due to fear, misconceptions, locality and limited understanding. Hospice NZ chief executive Wayne Naylor highlights the urgency of the situation: A third of the people who die in New Zealand receive hospice care, but many miss out. Last year around 90 per cent of people with a foreseeable death about 34,000 could have benefitted from palliative care, but only 10,800 of them took advantage of the services and support that hospice provides. Wayne believes fear and a misunderstanding of what hospice care is are stopping people from accessing hospice care when they need it. To showcase the transformative impact of hospice care, Hospice NZ, supported by Waipuna Hospice, is launching a campaign featuring real-life stories of patients and their families. Waipuna Hospice CEO Richard Thurlow says: We are actually about life, not just death. People often think we are only there for those final moments, but the earlier people access hospice, the better. "Whether thats months or even years, getting the benefits of the wrap-around physical, social, spiritual, and emotional support means patients get to live fully until they die. Waipuna Hospice patient Baden Jury is one of four people sharing their experiences with hospice during Hospice Awareness Week. Their stories reflect on how hospice provides not just medical support but emotional comfort and invaluable guidance during one of lifes most challenging phases. All types of support Waipuna Hospice delivers vital palliative support services, information and advocacy. They provide care and support for patients physical needs and emotional, spiritual and social needs. This includes providing respite care, practical support such as meal preparation, loan equipment, chaplaincy service and spiritual support, counselling, child and adolescent support, social work, biography services, caregiver support, occupational therapy, education, books and resources, and therapeutic massage. Waipuna Hospice also supports family and friends both before and after a loved one dies. Baden says: Everybody here [at Waipuna Hospice] is just so amazing. "From my point of view, when you come to Waipuna Hospice, you know youre going to get treated well because their care is just incredible I couldnt fault it. "Given its a charity, the quality of everything, even the people, is amazing. Rely on fundraising Richard says his hospices mission is to provide compassionate care and support to individuals, families and whanau facing death and dying. For us, its a privilege to be able to walk alongside families and help them navigate what is often an extremely difficult journey. But we cant do it alone. "While our service is provided at no cost for those who need it, it costs a lot to deliver, says Richard. We must rely on fundraising, and the generosity of our community to ensure we can continue delivering our vital care. "Its that generosity that keeps us going, making sure everyone gets the care and respect they deserve. We know times are tough for a lot of people, but any support you can give us, whether thats financial or comes in the form of a donation to our charity shops or through volunteering your time to help, we thank you, says Richard. Waipuna Hospice volunteers will be out collecting donations at supermarkets and shopping centres across Tauranga and Western BOP from May 13-19. Visit: https://www.waipunahospice.org.nz Motorists are advised to plan ahead for 7 nights of southbound lane closures on the State Highway 29 Takitimu Drive Toll Road. On Wednesday 22 May and Thursday 23 May, the southbound lane (from Tauranga to Tauriko) on the toll road will be closed to all traffic overnight from 8:30pm to 5am. There will be no work on Friday and Saturday nights and the road will be fully open. Then, from Sunday 26 May through to and including the night of Thursday 30 May, the southbound lane will be closed again overnight, 8.30pm until 5am. Motorists should expect uneven surfaces with a temporary speed limit of 30km/h in place during the day. The work is to undertake road rebuilding between the toll gantry and the SH29/29A/36 roundabout. While this work is taking place there will be a detour via SH2 and Moffat Road/Cambridge Road (see detour map attached). This detour will add about 10 minutes to your journey. This work is one of the last major pieces of rebuilding work for the Bay of Plentys 2023/24 maintenance season. The new maintenance season starts in October. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi thanks people for their patience while this important maintenance work is carried out. SH29 Takitimu Drive Toll Road overnight lane closures from next week. Photo supplied. Plan ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey. Keep up to date with: Traffic updates: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic As far as possible, for the resolution of online disputes in consumer matters in accordance with Regulation (EU) 524/2013, the possibility that the European Commission provides as an online dispute resolution platform and that is available at the link https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Twenty years after making his literary debut with Politics, which sparked a small phenomenon, Adam Thirlwell has written four astonishing, voluble and demanding novels, always teetering on the border of experimental literature. His latest, The Future Future, is set in 18th-century Paris during the French Revolution, where Celine, a lady in the court of the dauphin, is the victim of ridicule in a pornographic pamphlet, until she decides to regain control over her life story. A move similar to that taken by Kim Kardashian, who became famous for a sex tape and who, no doubt, is now having the last laugh. Thirlwell has written a historical novel that, in reality, speaks of the present (and the future, including a trip to the Moon), the #MeToo movement, the erosion of the patriarchy, and celebrity culture. The author, who is currently writing a book about his parents recent divorce, spoke to EL PAIS from his home in the London borough of Camden. Question. Zadie Smith, who for years has been opposed to a literature disconnected from the present, says that the English are constitutionally mesmerized by the past, which does not detract from the fact that she herself has just published her first historical novel, The Fraud. Answer. Its funny, because both Zadie and I have spent half our lives making fun of the British obsession with historical novels, the reverence for royalty and our past, and we both ended up writing one. I tried to write a different historical novel, influenced by Latin American tradition. For example, by Ricardo Piglia or Alejo Carpentier, who taught me that a writer can change the past and be playful with it. Or Zama, by Antonio di Benedetto, which is a contemporary novel about the 1960s, only set in the 18th century. I had the idea before Brexit, but it was obviously very influenced by everything that has happened since then. The book opposes the idea of the United Kingdom as an isolated island. Q. With your book, it is hard not to think of Virginia Woolfs Orlando. A. It is the model that I had in the back of my mind, without being aware of it. I read it as a teenager and it made a big impression on me. Perhaps it is the freest historical novel of all. Realizing that I was following in Woolfs footsteps, I reread it while writing my book and it was as if it gave me permission to go as crazy as I wanted to. It is a book that moves freely in time and space and stars a changing character. It is a sensual novel, delicious and interested in an almost extravagant way in clothes, food, sex and the body. Orlando is like my books grandfather or grandmother. Q. In Dysphoria Mundi, Paul B. Preciado, another fan of Orlando, analyzes the three modern denialisms that govern us: the denial of climate change, colonization and gender. Does your novel reflect that same theory? A. Its curious that you mention it, because I read it when I finished the novel. When Preciado writes that modern society is built on these denials, I felt that we shared something fundamental. I wanted to write about a character who opposes the control of others and about the difficulty that this entails, especially for a woman. At its core, this is a book about the emancipation of women, about reconciliation with nature and about the philosophical origin of the current moment. Q. Upon reaching the Moon, Celine encounters a liberated and egalitarian society, in which gender is fluid, monogamy is prohibited and knowledge is acquired by osmosis. It seems to suggest that progress if we still believe in that word will entail a paradigm shift that we are already beginning to witness. A. Generally speaking, this is probably true. That trip to the Moon is a tribute to the 18th century. In the novels of that time, the narrator used lunar societies as hidden allegories of a better civilization, like Jules Verne or, before that, Cyrano de Bergerac. But the difference between an essay and a novel is that the latter is always more ambiguous. Its values often conflict and should not allow for binary readings. I wanted my book to be a little more contradictory: those very enlightened men around Celine allow women to participate in their lofty debates and, at the same time, they are extremely misogynistic. Q. This is your first novel in eight years. Before that, you had only written three since your debut with Politics at age 24. Do you consider yourself a slow writer? A. I usually write a book every five years, but this time I had some obstacles: I had a daughter I wanted to actively care for and I wrote a script based on my novel Lurid & Cute, which in the end was not filmed, in addition to other projects in the art world. In 2019, I sat down to write, but then the pandemic hit. A lot has happened in the last few years and I needed to find a way to include it that wasnt direct or crass. For example, what has happened to those men who define themselves as progressive, but who are very little so in their sexual behavior, in their way of treating women. I could have written more quickly, but I took my time. Alejandro Zambra sent me a quote from Juan Ramon Ribeyro: A novel is not like a flower that grows but rather like a cypress that is carved. Thats how I feel about this book: it was like a wild forest that I had to put in order. Q. French poet Charles Peguy said that the world changed more between 1880 and 1914 than since the Roman Empire. Are we going through something similar? Has the world changed more since 2016 than in the last century? A. I can think of no other period in our lives in which there have been so many substantial changes. But I also believe that there is a great human need to believe that we are living in the most important time in human history. In all historical epochs there has been the same thinking. One of the issues addressed in the book is whether there really is actual change. To what extent does the old pattern survive? Having said that, there have been many transformations in Europe in this time. We have become more aware that everything has a political implication and that power is dismally distributed. If I had finished it in 2015, it would be a very different book. The writer Adam Thirwell, pictured at his London home, last March. Q. There are many anachronisms in your book: gas stations and highways, you use words like fascism avant la lettre and the names of places in modern-day New York. Why? A. To write a historical novel that was a contemporary book and not just an exercise in nostalgia. Moreover, historical books are not forgiven even the slightest anachronism. They are considered failures of the author. I decided to multiply them so that no one could criticize me. Things have been identified as anachronisms that were not: for example, the protests against the French governments deforestation policy in 1790, which were real, or the presence in the book of a transgender diplomat, Chevalier dEon, who existed in reality. Or many of the things I say about [Pierre] Beaumarchais as a secret agent of Louis XV, which is what he did before becoming famous with The Marriage of Figaro. Q. In the book, there is another supposed anachronism that is not: celebrity culture, influencers and the forebears of social media. Was all that invented in the 18th century? A. What happened to Kate Middleton already happened to Marie Antoinette: the monarchs visibility was such that, when she disappeared, the rumors spiraled. A few years ago, I was asked to write a review of a book by Kim Kardashian, Me, which was a collection of all of her selfies. To my surprise, I found something very moving in it: the gradual transformation of a person into an image, and of a privacy that becomes public, which is not private at all. I wrote that review in 2017, so it must have had some influence on this project. Celebrity is always the transformation of a person, especially a woman, into an image. How does one get away, especially if one is a woman, from that objectification? And how do you sometimes use it for your own purposes? I was also fascinated by the workings of the French Revolution: someone who had been completely liberal was suddenly seen by someone more radical as insufferably conservative. And, therefore, brutally attacked and guillotined. Q. Is that what we are seeing today, the symbolic execution of the defenders of the old paradigm? A. Yes, and hence the feeling of anguish experienced by those who were once, so to speak, liberals, and who now wake up and discover that the world considers them reactionaries. It is a new version of the generational struggle, which has shifted towards the ethical and political. In the novel, everything can change: a character believes they are good, until they realize that we are all someones villain. Q. There is also a fairly modern discourse in the book about identity, understood as something chosen and not imposed by genealogy. A. Psychoanalytically, it must be related to the fact that I am half Jewish. I have always been between two different cultures, without being one or the other. For me, Judaism represented the writers I loved, those Central European novelists who lived in exile and spoke several languages. I dont have the identity question completely answered... Q. Do you have a conflictive relationship with your Judaism? A. That would be a whole other interview [laughs]. Judaism is very specific to each person. I grew up in a Jewish area of north London far from the center, which produced a horror in me of the city outskirts most of my friends were Jewish and I felt much closer to the Jewish half of my family. And, at the same time, we were not religious nor did I have a bar mitzvah. We were deeply assimilated. Non-Jews defined me as a Jew and, conversely, Jews told me that I was not a real Jew. Living on that border is always difficult; it creates permanent antagonism. And then there is the question of Israel, which adds even more complexity, even more so at this time. But Judaism is a fundamental aspect of my way of thinking. It is related to that intermediate space, to the idea of translation. Q. The book also talks about the failure of language. Upon reaching the Moon, Celine discovers that translation is no longer necessary: everyone speaks all languages. A. We can see it as good or bad. Im an optimist about language, and the idea of translation as an inherent failure seems cliche to me. It is obviously false, our daily lives refute it. In reality, monolingualism seems like a terrible and totalitarian idea to me. The utopia would be for everyone to speak 456 languages. Even if it is imperfectly: the simple effort of building a bridge to others is enough. The more languages you speak, the more your mind opens. Speaking only one, on the other hand, closes it. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Aurora, N.Y.--An off-and-on drizzle made it hard to distinguish the tears from raindrops during the final commencement ceremony at Wells College on Saturday, May 18, 2024. The final diploma was handed out after the schools financial struggles of 15 years finally forced the 156-year-old liberal arts college to close its doors. Students requested the president of the school, Jonathan Gibraltar, to take a back seat for commencement activities for this final ceremony, said spokesperson Kristopher LaGreca, VP of Marketing and Communications at the school, and that is just what he did, as the popular and close-knit faculty were front and center much to the graduates glee. Join NY Cannabis Insider for its next industry meetup in Lafayette on June 13, 2024. Tickets available now. Happy weekend, everyone! Weve had a busy couple of weeks covering legislative, regulatory and business stories in New Yorks cannabis industry. Lets take a look at what we wrote about. Reporter Mel Hyman contributed a story about sales data that show a strong upward trend for global powerhouse Curaleaf, which continues to be the market share leader in neighboring New Jersey. According to HEADSET, a cannabis analytics firm based in Seattle, Curaleafs market share of wholesale sales in New York has been tracking higher every month since multistate operators were allowed to operate vertically at the end of last year. On Tuesday, reporter Wes Parnell published a story, in which he found the Office of Cannabis Management set lab testing guidelines and safety limits for a chemical used in cannabis extraction without notifying a processor whose facility has been shut down since March for using the solvent, and who has alleged OCM retaliated against her company for leaking a conversation she had with a top agency official. Further, documents show the OCM updated its guidance regarding the chemical on March 15 the same day the Hudson Valley processor, Jenny Argie, was in court seeking relief from the shutdown but didnt notify business owners and laboratories about the regulatory shift until last week. Sign up for the NY Cannabis Insider Newsletter Enter your email address to get exclusive reporting on NY's cannabis market delivered to your inbox: Also on Tuesday, NY Cannabis Insider hosted a meetup event in Buffalo, which included a State of the State discussion panel, which dove into whats working, whats not, what needs to happen next, and what those looking to get into the industry should consider before making the leap. The discussion panel included Michael Casacci of House of Sacci; Reggie Keith of Canna-House; Missy Fogarty of Pothead Parent and Edward Lukaszek of Biotrax Testing Laboratory. We covered Gov. Kathy Hochuls action to overhaul the OCM, including the exit of the agencys current leader following an investigation that found inefficiencies and mismanagement have slowed the states legal marijuana rollout. Hochul said her administrations most pressing goals are to speed up the pace of licensing especially for retailers and crack down on illicit weed shops that have proliferated statewide. The action comes after a report by Office of General Services investigators led by Commissioner Jeanette Moy released a report detailing issues within the OCM. Following a judicial finding in favor of cannabis-adjacent tech firm Leafly and other plaintiffs who sued New York regulators, we spoke with a couple of attorneys to weigh in on how the judges decision could affect future lawsuits. Experts who spoke with NY Cannabis Insider said the judges ruling could provide a roadmap to future litigants who want to sue the OCM, and play a role in future attempts to strike down hundreds of pages of rules that regulators spent years writing and approving. Joe Rossi, the Cannabis Practice Group Leader at Park Strategies, contributed a guest column arguing that cannabis applicants deserve more transparency in the process of applying for business licenses. I also respectfully urge the OCM to begin a weekly email to all the applicants, and everyone on the OCM email listserv, on where the agency is with the November and December queue review process. It doesnt need to be more than two paragraphs, Rossi wrote. Reporter Mel Hyman contributed a story about licensed cultivators who have drained most or all of their savings to keep their businesses afloat, and how theyre affected by the state legislatures failure to include in the state budget a relief fund for growers. While a relief fund was proposed, none of the $80 million sought by the Assembly in its one-house budget, or the $128 million in cannabis relief proposed by the Senate, made it across the finish line for 2024. We ran a story about problems that growers licensed under the Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator program are facing as they try to transition to general licenses. Cultivators who first established the states legal marijuana supply chain say they havent been able to get straight answers from regulators about the status of their licenses, leading to frustration and fear about their financial futures. Growers who spoke with NY Cannabis Insider said the OCM hasnt lived up to its commitment to quickly license transitional applications and is not providing clear answers to AUCC licensees seeking approval to operate past June. Lastly, we wrote about how legal cannabis delivery businesses are doing so far in New York. Long before cannabis legalization seemed like a serious prospect, informal delivery services served as a primary retail method for the underground weed market. As many of the increasing number of licensed dispensaries coming online are also operating delivery services, entrepreneurs are working out the kinks, and figuring out in real time how important deliveries will be to their bottom lines. Have a great weekend everyone, well be back with plenty more next week. Google Play services is core system software that enables key functionality on every certified Android device. There are three types of core device features Google Play services provides: Security and reliability Google Play services helps to ensure the security and reliability of an Android device, and keep devices updated with the latest security features. This includes: Google Play Protect, which can warn users if an app contains known malware. Identification and validation of secure connections, such as allowing a device to safely and automatically recognize and connect to other devices, or share files or apps with Android devices nearby. Protection of apps from fraud and security threats through SafetyNet. End to end encrypted backup of your data when users have a lock screen passcode. Management and protection of your passwords. Developer APIs Google Play services provides developers thousands of continually updated APIs that enable them to deliver high-quality experiences in their apps, such as: Streaming media using Google Cast. Integrating Google Maps to enhance app functionality. Providing accurate location information through the fused location provider when apps have permission to access location. Enabling services that allow developers to build advertising constructs according to user and app settings. Sending timely notifications via a messaging transport layer. Core device services Google Play services enables core services on Android devices. For example: Why it matters: If you are fed up with the noisy co-worker who won't stop hammering at their keyboard or that wailing baby on your flight, a headphone prototype from researchers at the University of Washington could be the upgrade you've been waiting for. Instead of simply dampening ambient sounds, this device uses AI to let you selectively filter out noises and focus on specific voices. Most active noise-canceling headphones work by producing sound waves to counteract lower-frequency environmental rumbles like engine drones. But they end up canceling all sound in those frequencies, potentially removing audio you want to hear. The new prototype aims to give users more nuanced noise control. The headphones have built-in microphones feeding audio to a neural network trained to recognize different types of sounds barking dogs, ringing phones, bird calls, and more. Using a companion app, you can enable or disable categories, allowing just the noises you want to filter through the headphones. But the really cool part is that the headphones can also zero in on a particular voice amid background chatter. Just tap a button and it will "enroll" the voice directly in front of you as the only sound to be amplified, dampening all other noise. Shyam Gollakota, who developed the technology with a team of researchers, presented the idea on May 16 at a conference held by the Acoustical Society of America and the Canadian Acoustical Association. He demoed a working prototype at the event, as reported by New Scientist. Under the hood, the microphones pipe audio into an AI processor that deciphers and removes unwanted sounds in real time. This is done with just an 8-millisecond delay, which the researchers say should be enough to avoid weird latency hiccups. For the on-device AI processing, the current headphone rig uses an OrangePi board connected via USB rather than going through a cloud server. Of course, this prototype isn't something you can buy just yet. Commercialization would likely require everything shrinking down to a tiny chip that could integrate into future wireless headphone designs. That said, AI is already making its way into mainstream audio gear through algorithm-powered noise cancellation for microphones. But this flips that concept on its head, using AI to augment what the wearer can hear, not just what the mic picks up. Any device with a decent AI accelerator and mic input could theoretically offer this kind of selective noise muting. I'll admit that this innovative tech triggered a mildly creepy Black Mirror thought about the "White Christmas" episode where a woman uses implants to literally "block" out and mute her partner from her senses. If noise cancellation of this sort can help enhance voices, could it also help mute certain voices? Let's not get too carried away with sci-fi scenarios just yet. Amidst the ongoing battle against COVID-19, the CDC issued a stark warning on Friday, signaling a potential resurgence of the virus in the District of Columbia and a dozen other states. The CDC analyzed data gleaned from emergency department visits and highlighted a troubling uptick in COVID-19 infections across these regions. Potential COVID-19 Resurgence The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning on Friday, indicating a possible resurgence of COVID-19 in the District of Columbia and 12 other states. This estimate is based on the CDC's data analysis from emergency department visits, suggesting a growing number of COVID-19 infections in these regions. The CDC identified the states as Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Health authorities are closely monitoring these areas for signs of an uptick in COVID-19 cases following a period of decline during the spring. While the exact reasons for the potential increase are not specified, concerns about the virus gaining momentum again are mounting. This development underscores the ongoing challenges in controlling the spread of COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of continued vigilance and adherence to public health guidelines. CBS News reported that the recent increase in COVID-19 cases coincides with most areas of the country experiencing low levels of respiratory illness activity. This trend resembles the slowdown seen in previous years during the spring and early summer months. As of May 10, only 0.3% of patients visiting emergency rooms nationwide were diagnosed with COVID-19, a significant decrease from last summer's peak of nearly 3% in late August. Moreover, reported COVID-19 cases in nursing homes across the country remain near their lowest levels. Monitoring COVID-19 Variants Preliminary data from the CDC's COVID-19 wastewater surveillance indicates that virus levels continue to be minimal nationwide. However, there is a noted increase in virus levels in sewer sheds primarily located in the country's western regions. Health officials have identified two dominant strains of the virus, KP.2 and KP.1.1, informally dubbed the "FLiRT" variants. These strains share close similarities with the JN.1 variant from the previous winter, and only minor genetic changes are believed to contribute to their spread. According to a CDC spokesperson on May 10, there is no evidence to suggest that these variants are increasing infections, as overall virus transmission remains low. Additionally, current data does not indicate that the KP.2 strain leads to more severe illness than other strains. The CDC will continue to monitor the spread of the virus within communities and assess the effectiveness of vaccines against these variants. Ines Pineda-Torra, 53, doesnt stop laughing throughout her interview with EL PAIS. Its her way of dealing with all the dramatic and difficult situations that shes experienced throughout her professional career. Also, shes in a good mood: the biochemist has just received a grant worth over $1 million from the AXA Research Fund (started by the French multinational insurance company of the same name) to investigate the cardiovascular risks that women face during menopause. Although she completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid, Pineda-Torra has carried out almost all of her professional activity outside of Spain. She earned her doctoral thesis at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France, spent her postdoctoral period in New York first at Memorial Sloan Kettering and then at NYU and then returned to Europe to join University College London, where she became a research professor. Id been in London for almost 15 years when the opportunity arose to come to Spain, to the Andalusian Center for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine, in Seville. My life has changed radically, she notes. Question. Is this change in your life for the better? Answer. For all of my [career], Ive worked on lipid metabolism and the molecules that are involved in its regulation. But a while ago, I started working with a rheumatologist and an immunologist on cardiovascular risks in women who have autoimmune diseases, such as lupus. As a result of that, I realized how much of a lack of information there is about cardiovascular diseases at the molecular level in women, because most of the studies are done on men. Its a niche that needs to be covered. Ive been lucky enough to get the financing to be able to do it. Q. You make it sound easy. A. In one of the attempts, there was an evaluator of course, in my mind, it had to be a man who would express such an opinion who went so far as to say: I dont understand why you only want to do research on women. This project isnt justified. If I want to study the effect of menopause on cardiovascular diseases, who else am I going to research? I have to say that the more diverse an evaluation committee is, the more welcome these types of projects are. And, as the years go by, these types of comments dont matter to me. Q. Tell us about your research. A. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in women, but prevention campaigns have always been linked to men. In my talks, I usually show a woman having a heart attack, because its something thats normally not seen. There are studies that show how the time between the appearance of symptoms, the transfer to the hospital and the moment in which treatment is received is much longer in women than in men. Sometimes, its because we dont recognize the symptoms and other times, its because we simply think we feel bad and thats it. Theres a higher proportion of men who experience heart attacks, but there are also more women who suffer strokes. The problem is that, with menopause, as the levels of sex hormones alter, many things change in our bodies. Were no longer so protected. Q. Its a big downturn. A. Our duty is to tell it like it is. I see a lot and hear a lot from a gynecologist in the United Kingdom, Louise Newson, who has intensely campaigned for these issues [to be addressed]. But its not just about identifying the symptoms: the problem is that practically all organs are affected by estrogen, which is why the effects are so diverse. For example, its not that we dont concentrate during that period of our lives, its that the brain also produces estrogen and cognitive ability declines. There are pathologies such as anxiety and depression that are related to hormonal decline. And, precisely because of ignorance, anti-anxiety drugs or antidepressants are prescribed [to women going through menopause], when perhaps hormonal treatment would get to the root. We cannot focus only on hot flashes, because there are women who dont have them. Its not that we all suddenly start sweating. Q. Imagine how impactful that moment is in a womans life. A. [Laughing]. I always remember an interview with Michelle Obama, in which she said that she was in a meeting in the Oval Office and had a hot flash. They also come to us in moments of anxiety or stress. Its good that she spoke about it, because if it were normalized, it wouldnt be a big deal if a woman asked for the air conditioning to be turned on there wouldnt be a need for her to give an explanation. By the way, although Im going a little off topic, [I want to say that] the measure of setting the temperature in public buildings to [68-or-so] degrees if you have menopause or are pregnant [and if its 104] degrees outside its as if they put you in an oven. Has anyone taken this into account? Ines Pineda, pictured in the Circulo de Bellas Artes, a non-profit cultural organization in Madrid, in April 2024. Jaime Villanueva Q. It affects our performance at work, too. A. In the United Kingdom, a survey was carried out on this issue and published. It occurred to me to propose doing the same in Spain. [Laughing]. I wont forget the look on peoples faces. They told me: Such things are for the [Ministry of] Equality. But it has nothing to do with equality this is about health. Q. Let me go back to the amount of time it takes women to get to the hospital. Do we endure more? Do we ignore our own symptoms? Does our role as caregivers in society have any influence? A. I think theres an important factor, which is the role that each woman plays in her family environment. If theyre the emotional support [system in the household] and always put others before their own health, theyll make dinner before going to the doctor. I remember a talk I attended in which a woman said that she was in a gym in New York and was having a heart attack. She thought to herself: Im very tired today, but come on now, dont be lazy. She finished her workout, she got on a plane and when she landed in London, since she continued to feel unwell, she went to a hospital and they told her that her condition wasnt fatigue, but a heart attack. Q. Earlier, you mentioned that some markers are visible, while others are not. Which ones are? A. There are some universal [signs] in both men and women. Having a high cholesterol level is harmful, but its true that women generally up until the age of 50 have very high levels of good cholesterol. Were relatively protected. But from that age onwards, good cholesterol drops a little and its the bad cholesterol that skyrockets. Then, there are other factors, such as high blood pressure [or] obesity, which, despite not always being taken into consideration, are intrinsic to women. Complicated pregnancies, premature births, births with babies smaller than normal, preeclampsia, hypertension during pregnancy... these are all known to have an effect, but we dont know how. Theres much to be done [in this field]. Q. What role do primary care professionals or specialists play here? A. Even among healthcare professionals, theres enormous ignorance about menopause. With my research, I have two objectives: to give visibility [to the condition] and ensure that, when studies are done on women, they dont solely focus on motherhood. I have nothing against those who research reproduction, but there are other things to look at! [Menopause] isnt something that affects a certain group, it happens to all of us who reach a certain age. And, to some, even earlier. Another thing I want to achieve is to generate the knowledge required to develop the tools that allow us to evaluate cardiovascular risks in a much more detailed and precise way. All of this, in any case, has changed thanks to legislation. Q. Tell me about that. A. In the United States in 1993, the NIH (the National Institutes of Health) ordered that no clinical research be funded that [didnt involve the inclusion] of women. This was also the case [with research involving] animals, with both males and females being included. If [research is gender-specific], it must be justified. That decision represented a radical change. Its also been done in Europe (at EU level), but at the national level, not so much. Q. On social media, you demand that public researchers receive better conditions. You also critcize gender bias. Before turning on the recorder, you were telling me about how much it irritates you that people refer to you and your fellow female researchers as the girls. A. It makes me sick. Do you know that, in Spain, there are still research funding agencies that dont take pregnancies into account when looking at womens scientific careers? Hence, its very complicated to comply with the requirements [to secure funding]. That no longer happens in [progressive] countries it really shocks me that, here [in Spain], we still have to fight for it. Q. And how does that get fixed? A. By going after the money. Years ago, a program was created in the United Kingdom to promote women in science but no one paid any attention to it, until the director of the Health Research Authority arrived and said: From now on, we wont fund any universities that dont [abide by] the evaluation of [gender biases] and the gender perspective. The moment you touch the money, everyone gets motivated. A few action plans emerged! Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani The world experienced an unusual asteroid impact on January 21, with pieces of a meteorite falling near Berlin. The extraordinary thing was that, at 1:32 a.m. local time, there were already hundreds of people waiting for the arrival of 2024 BX1 (the name given to the object). According to photos and video testimonies posted on social media that Sunday morning, some of these spectators knew exactly where they had to look. An hour and a half before the asteroid hit the Earth, NASA had issued a warning that anticipated when, how and where exactly the impact was going to occur. A space rock was heading at full speed towards the outskirts of the German capital. There was an expectation that it would leave a spectacular trail in its wake as it disintegrated upon entering the atmosphere. Three hours before impact, asteroid 2024 BX1 was completely unknown to science. The Hungarian astronomer Krisztian Sarneczky was the first person to observe it. He quickly sent an alert to the Minor Planet Center. Subsequently, the official body made its data available to the international astronomical community. New confirmations soon arrived from observatories throughout Europe. Just 70 minutes after the discovery, NASAs Scout system confirmed that the probability of impact with Earth was 100%. And, less than 30 minutes after that, new data made it possible to specify the trajectory and size of the asteroid, which was barely three feet wide. It was harmless. In Spanish Los satelites de SpaceX amenazan con ocultar asteroides peligrosos para la humanidad This celestial encounter with a double happy ending both due to the absence of damage and the success in early detection and rapid response has been a milestone for scientists working on Earths planetary defense systems. But their efforts clash with Elon Musks plans to add tens of thousands of satellites in the coming years to the Starlink network operated by his company SpaceX to provide global broadband internet coverage. Astronomers arent hiding their concern. The International Astronomical Unions experts centre has just published its first report on artificial satellite constellations, such as those operated by SpaceX, OneWeb and Amazon. The document, which compiles all the scientific evidence on this subject to date, urges the global community to take measures against the current uncontrolled proliferation of satellites. It confirms that, among other negative effects for the field of astronomy, these devices threaten the ability to detect asteroids and comets that pass near our planet (so-called near-Earth objects, or NEOs). From his observation post at the Piszkesteto Astronomical Station, located on a mountain northeast of Budapest, Krisztian Sarneczky says: The trend is very worrying. When I started my intensive NEO search with this telescope four years ago, satellites rarely crossed the field of view. But today, I dont have a single image that doesnt have at least one. Detecting an asteroid before it hits the Earth is exceptional. It has only been done eight times so far in history. In three of those eight instances, the goal was scored by Sarneczky, who warns EL PAIS of the consequences that this boom in new satellites will bring. If the expansion continues at this rate, well soon miss an approaching celestial body because a satellite passes right in front of it in one or more of the images. In 2020, the Starlink fleet didnt number 800 devices. Today, however, there are over 6,000, while Musk plans to reach 42,000 in the coming years. This forecast coincides with that of Siegfried Eggl, a researcher at the University of Illinois. He studies NEOs and the impact of satellite megaconstellations: At the moment, the impact of satellites on planetary defense is negligible. However, based on the recent increase in the rate of launches, as well as the current filings with the FCC (the U.S. Federal Communications Commission) for hundreds of thousands of satellites in Low Earth Orbit, that can soon change especially if appropriate brightness-mitigation strategies arent widely adopted. NEO hunters such as Sarneczky and Eggl pay special attention to twilight, which is when the most elusive asteroids can be detected. These are the ones with trajectories of the Apollo and Aton types, which intersect with that of the Earth. And as they come from the inner solar system, from our cosmic point of view, theyll always appear in the sky close to the Sun. This is similar to the inner planets Mercury and Venus which can only be seen in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, always at medium and low altitudes. In the middle of the night, they remain hidden beneath the horizon. These detection difficulties make asteroids of this type especially dangerous, when they measure several dozens of feet wide, such as the one that hit Chelyabinsk, Russia, back in 2013. It exploded 18 miles above the ground, releasing 30 times more energy than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. On the surface, the shock waves caused extensive damage and injuries. Current planetary defense systems aspire to be able to detect such asteroids, so that the authorities can be notified in case the impact could cause damage in populated areas. And satellites like the ones manufactured by Starlink pose an added difficulty to accomplishing this. These artificial and mobile stars shine brightly, especially at the same times and in the same areas that astronomers pick to go out to hunt for dangerous NEOs. In general, its true that astronomical observations will contain many more satellite streaks during twilight. This is the time when satellites reflect most of the sunlight back to Earth, because theyre not in Earths shadow yet, Eggl explains. Eggl leads the working group on the solar system within the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a project established to carry out the most complete census of the sky in history, over the course of 10 years. The work takes place from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is currently under construction in northern Chile, with an expected opening date set for the end of 2025. According to Eggl, the new large American telescope at the site will become the dominant contributor to discovering near-Earth asteroids in the coming years, although it will surely be affected by the proliferation of satellites. Its difficult to say exactly how many asteroids will be lost but preliminary results suggest that for every five near-Earth asteroids we discover, we lose one solely due to constellation interference. Thats if no mitigation measures are taken, Eggl notes. From the University of Washington, Meredith Rawls is working on preparing the Vera C. Rubin Observatorys software. This will allow the observatory to operate with this upcoming sky full of artificial stars something that wasnt anticipated when the project was presented. The researcher explains that the new telescope is designed to have a wide field of view, collect a lot of light and take new images of the whole southern sky every few nights. These features will enable it to achieve our key scientific goals, which range from studying objects in our solar system to better understanding the fate of the universe. However, these same features make it uniquely vulnerable to large numbers of bright satellites. A big astronomical project compromised If the plans laid out by SpaceX and other operators come to fruition, the 10 years of the LSST project will coincide with a major explosion in the number of satellites in orbit. Therefore, Rawls team is testing and refining an algorithm to identify satellite traces and distinguish them from signals that are useful for science, marking each contaminated pixel within an astronomical image. The challenge is to do this accurately and quickly. When it comes to determining if a light corresponds to an asteroid that can impact or graze the Earth in a matter of hours, or if its simply light pollution from satellites, time is precious. The other measure proposed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory to counteract this problem is to repeat the scan of the lower part of the sky during the hours of twilight. But, according to Eggl, in addition to taking too long, this method takes time and resources away from other tasks: [Scanning] the same spots on the sky more often to reduce the impact of satellites every night negatively affects our ability to spot supernovae and other transients it can hurt cosmological research. The International Astronomical Union (IAU), a Brussels-based NGO with nearly 90 member states, has opted to collaborate with SpaceX, which manages more than half of all the satellites now in orbit, and other operators, so as to develop measures that mitigate the impact of satellites. Reducing the brightness of these objects isnt an easy task. Additionally, it defies common sense: moving them to a further low-Earth orbit makes them less bright, but it worsens the problem. Spanish astrophysicist David Galadi, a researcher at the University of Cordoba who studies this problem, explains that if the satellites orbit a little higher, they go more slowly, meaning that they pass over the telescopes for longer, damaging their astronomical images even more. For this reason, in the recently-published report, experts from the IAU demand that the satellites have a maximum brightness of magnitude 7 so weak that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. This applies to satellites that orbit 342 miles above the Earth, like the ones produced by Starlink. However, the document warns that for satellites that fly higher like those from OneWeb the brightness must be even lower. All experts consulted by EL PAIS warn that no operator has managed to get under this brightness limit. Through its program in collaboration with astronomers, SpaceX has tested several ideas without success. The first attempt was to paint a satellite a dark color, which reduced its brightness (although not by enough) and caused it to overheat. Later, the firm tried attaching a sunshade to reduce reflection but this diminished the satellites brightness by an even more negligible amount. In the second generation of its satellites the Starlink v2 Mini Elon Musks space company is now combining several mitigation techniques. These include everything from a new blackout paint, to covering the part of the satellite that faces Earth with mirrors that deflect light in other directions, while avoiding direct reflection. But SpaceX admits that it hasnt tested these solutions enough to guarantee that theyll work. And these new satellites which, despite their name, are larger than the first generation ones and have more surface area to reflect light have still been in circulation for too short a time for the astronomical community to have been able to publish complete analyses of their impact. Meanwhile, SpaceX is already preparing the launch of a fleet of full-size Starlink v2s. These satellites, which are even larger than the previous ones mentioned, are designed to provide a 5G connection from space directly to mobile phones (the current ones communicate with satellite dishes installed in users buildings). The company AST SpaceMobile works along the same lines: it chooses to use fewer satellites than SpaceX, albeit much larger ones. Its prototype, BlueWalker 3, increased astronomers concern about megaconstellations when a 2023 study determined that this artificial star had become one of the brightest objects in the entire sky. Its apparent magnitude 437 times brighter than recommended means that it can ruin an entire astronomical image, rather than just contaminating a few points. However, its not only the sunlight reflected by these satellites that poses a problem for science. IAU experts warn that, at all hours, the radio waves that the devices use to bring the internet to any point on the planet interfere with the observations of radio telescopes. Radio astronomy fundamental to understanding the formation and evolution of stars and the universe has no way of escaping from satellite megaconstellations, Galadi explains. In its report, the IAU offers advice to member states and satellite operators, calling for decisive investment to develop new technologies that mitigate the impact of satellites. It also asks the aforementioned space companies to share detailed data regarding their trajectory in real time, so that astronomers can know when theyre going to appear and successfully avoid them. The risk of saturating low-Earth orbit Other astronomers, however, have decided to move on to confrontation. For instance, the nonprofit DarkSky International has gone to court to appeal the FCCs decision to grant licences to SpaceX to deploy its second-generation Starlink satellites. The group claims that the FCC granted these licenses to the firm without a proper assessment of their impact. Alejandro Sanchez, an astrophysicist at the Complutense University of Madrid, who is part of DarkSky, explains that theres already a clear international regulation to apply in these cases: its the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Sanchez says that were facing a gigantic experiment that hasnt been planned. He also points out that the environmental risks from a multitude of satellites re-entering the atmosphere on an annual basis havent been evaluated. These devices have a useful life of several years, and they eventually disintegrate, dispersing components such as aluminum whose adverse effects havent been studied. On the other hand, this researcher affirms that around February 14 of each year, theres an excess of large bolides, like the one in Chelyabinsk. But megaconstellations compromise the scientific research required to detect the dangerous asteroids that cause them: we still dont know their origin. Galadi points to another risk of satellite proliferation: collisions, which have already happened on several occasions. These increase the amount of space debris, turning low-Earth orbit into an increasingly difficult and risky place to operate. This astronomer who compares the current situation with that of the Wild West believes that the pioneers of this new territory (such as the current dominant firm, SpaceX) should be the first parties interested in regulating the use of these satellites: In a lawless space, theyll never be able to develop their multibillion-dollar business with sufficient safety guarantees. Banska Bystrica, May 18 (TASR) - The condition of Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is stable, but still serious, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD) told a press conference on Saturday, noting that Friday's (May 17) surgery contributed to the positive prognosis. Vice-Premier and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) added that the condition of the Prime Minister doesn't yet allow transport to Bratislava. Both ministers praised the health care provided to the premier in Banska Bystrica. "I cannot find words of gratitude for the fact that we're gradually approaching a positive prognosis. Very importantly, the condition allows for recovery. The prime minister is conscious, but, of course, with all the limits that such a serious injury represents," said Kalinak. The vice-premier doesn't foresee transport to Bratislava yet. "Certainly his condition doesn't allow us to carry out such a transport in the near future, that is, at the end of the weekend," he stated, declaring confidence in the procedures and medical staff of the hospital in Banska Bystrica. He also thanked for the offers and support from abroad. Kalinak added that the premier's condition is still considered serious due to possible reactions of the body to the gunshot wounds and possible complications that may still occur during the fourth and fifth day, that is over the weekend. "So, maybe tomorrow we'll be more optimistic and we'll certainly keep you updated," he added. Kalinak still hasn't said whether Smer-SD will participate in the meeting of parliamentary political parties at the Presidential Palace. He first wants to inform President Zuzana Caputova about his position, reiterating that he understands the proposal to convene a round table. He agrees that Slovakia at this moment needs reconciliation, calm, and a calming of the passions that have been stirred up. Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) - The 'Slovakia' party has called for the resignation of Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) and also appealed to the government to withdraw "provocative" bills from Parliament, in particular the Slovak Television and Radio Act (STVR), TASR has learnt at the party's press conference on Saturday. According to party leader Igor Matovic, the coalition should thus confirm that it is serious about the calls for calm after the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). Matovic also confirmed their participation in the meeting of the parties at the Presidential Palace convened by President Zuzana Caputova and her successor Peter Pellegrini. The party further said that the minister has failed in office in view of the assassination attempt and should resign or be removed by the government. "Matus Sutaj Estok should pull his head out of the sand, assume political responsibility and, as a sign of respect for the premier and in deference to the voters to whom he promised a safer and more peaceful Slovakia, given that he has failed in an exemplary manner, he should immediately resign from his post," said Matovic. The Interior Ministry said in response that it wonders why the media "are giving space at this time to the greatest evil in Slovak politics, which bears primary responsibility for the current state of affairs in the country". KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 08:19 | Arts, All A stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning Japanese anime movie "Spirited Away" that premiered in Tokyo in 2022 has become popular with audiences in London since its sold-out opening at a major theater in the British capital earlier this month. Featuring members of the Japan production's cast performing in Japanese with English subtitles, the play runs until Aug. 24 at the London Coliseum, the West End's largest theater which seats roughly 2,400. The show's original limited run was extended by five weeks due to popular demand. Based on anime giant Hayao Miyazaki's beloved 2001 film, produced at Studio Ghibli in Tokyo, the three-hour play tells the story of a young girl named Chihiro who stumbles into a fantastical spirit world with her parents while the family is on the way to a new house. After a powerful sorceress named Yubaba turns her parents into pigs, Chihiro must use her wits to survive. She works at a magical bathhouse while searching for a way to free her parents -- and herself -- from Yubaba's spell. Tickets for upcoming performances are selling well, according to the theater's website, with reviews from British publications such as The Guardian describing the show as a "lavishly imaginative theatrical feast" and The Independent calling it "three hours of constant, unpredictable spectacle." British viewers Billy Clarke-Smee, 22, and Max Ellis, 22, who attended the show last week, said they were impressed by the "breathtaking" visuals and puppetry. "The show took scenes from the movie and exploded them into something even more detailed," Clarke-Smee said. "It has a distinctly Japanese charm and appeal." Ellis said, "I think the stage production is a better way to view and understand the story." Dylan Jones, 39, who came all the way from West Wales to see the show, said, "I was drawn into a world full of excitement, but also loneliness. The stage version is even better than the film." The play follows in the footsteps of the hit "My Neighbour Totoro" stage play, another Miyazaki film adaptation produced locally. The stage version of the 1988 anime, put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company, is set to return to a theater in the British capital next year. A British female director from the audience said, "'Spirited Away' is more faithful to its source material than 'Totoro' in some ways. There was a high level of acting -- in particular, the character of Chihiro seemed completely childlike." As in the Japanese production, the role of Chihiro is shared by actresses Kanna Hashimoto, 25, and Mone Kamishiraishi, 26. Veteran artist Mari Natsuki, 72, who voiced Yubaba in the movie as well as playing the sorceress on stage in Japan, is also reprising her role in London. Related coverage: Oscar-winning Miyazaki film leads China box office days after debut Yoshiki's handprint unveiled at Hollywood special ceremony "World's 1st" immersive theme park opens in Tokyo 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 Ken MacKenzie prefers to be under the radar. The elusive chair of BHP, who apparently is having a 50-foot motor cruiser built on Victorias Mornington Peninsula, has been invisible during a bold $64 billion bid for rival Anglo American. He wants the limelight instead to be on his chief executive Mike Henry, as it should. In the past, larger-than-life BHP chairmen have dominated and overshadowed their chief executives. That MacKenzie has a restrained ego is admirable. Yet make no mistake, this mega-deal, if it comes off, is as much MacKenzies as it is Henrys. The deal, so far, has been rebuffed twice by Anglos board and management, who this week revealed their own radical restructuring plan. Investors are waiting to see if BHP makes a third tilt early next week to secure the deal, by increasing its all-share bid. If it does, and is successful, the deal promises to set BHP up for growth over the next two to three decades, positioning it as the dominant miner in copper and metallurgical coal production and making it the third largest in iron ore and nickel. It would also shape MacKenzie and Henrys legacies at the Big Australian. I can see why theyre going after the Anglo deal, says Graeme Liebelt, a former Orica chief executive, who now chairs Amcor, and has worked with MacKenzie. Having been in the mining industry myself, and seeing where things are headed with copper, you can see the strategic rationale. Mike Henry has a very good reputation, and Ken is very careful about these things. They would have thought it through thoroughly and will not be surprised by initial knock backs. But it is a complicated deal, its asking Anglo shareholders to take on a fair bit of risk. So, its going to be very challenging but maybe not impossible. The worlds biggest producers of copper, such as BHP, are keen to grow their footprint to take advantage of rising demand for the metal thats being used in the manufacture of green energy grid infrastructure, from solar panels to wind farms, and also at data centres and in electric vehicles, like the Tesla that the 60-year-old MacKenzie drives. Advertisement Although MacKenzie, who originally hails from Canada, and speaks French and some German, is known to be more into boats than cars. He raced Lasers in national competitions in Canada in his youth earning him medals, and is having a motor cruiser built. MacKenzies peers describe him as having one of the most formidable minds in business. He earned a reputation as a shrewd dealmaker, adept at brokering acquisitions and transforming businesses, as well as demonstrating strict control on capital spending, while working for three decades at Amcor. There he rose to become its chief executive, and was tasked with fixing the global packaging company after an inglorious cartel scandal. He hit the ground running, recalls Chris Roberts, who was Amcors chair when MacKenzie was appointed CEO. He took us through a whole series of what he called a Get Fit program, which really meant getting rid of businesses we had around the place that were not working and really focusing on where we could grow. We expanded by acquisition largely over the next 10 years or so. He was outstanding. Liebelt, who succeeded Roberts as Amcors chair, agrees. He points to the 2009 deal when Amcor paid $2.4 billion to Rio Tinto for its Alcan packaging assets, which made it then the largest group globally in pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging. Amcor manufactures packaging items as varied as aluminium cans to lolly wrappers to cigarette cartons. Alcan was a carefully managed deal and the integration was very well done, says Liebelt. Amcor really learned something from how to do acquisitions from that point onwards. They took pains to make sure that the processes they put in place were repeatable, so they documented them, and did reviews. After that, when other acquisitions were done, and this still continues until this day, theres a playbook for Amcor in making acquisitions. Graeme Liebelt, Amcor chair, who has worked with Ken MacKenzie, said the Anglo deal would be very challenging but maybe not impossible. Credit: Julian Smith Liebelt describes MacKenzie as having a strong values system, and also as charming. He does the homework and the hard yards, putting the right processes in place, finding the right people. Hes tough and clear as to what he expects, and follows through to ensure that things are being delivered. Advertisement MacKenzies performance at Amcor drew the attention of BHP chair Jac Nasser, who tried to hire him to be the miners CEO, according to people with knowledge of the matter. MacKenzie declined. Instead, he had his eye on another prize: Nassers job. MacKenzie finished as Amcors CEO in April 2015, and joined BHP as a director in September 2016. A year later he was chair of the mining group. When MacKenzie replaced Nasser the biggest problem facing BHP was shareholders scepticism at the companys ability to manage capital well, particularly when executing acquisitions - and for good reason. Loading BHP had burned nearly $US40 billion ($60 billion) on a disastrous foray acquiring and investing in shale oil and gas in the US, which began under CEO Marius Kloppers in 2011. BHP would later write down tens of billions on those assets, which would eventually be sold for a fraction of what was paid on that ill-fated bet. But it wasnt just that transaction that had shaken investors confidence. Successive management and boards at BHP have a chequered history of merger and acquisitions. More than two decades after BHP bought South Africas Billiton in what was supposed to be a transformational transaction, debate continues to rage about how much value was created and destroyed from that deal. When BHP bought WMC in the mid-2000s, management and the board were accused of paying too much. And then there was managements misadventures in trying to buy Rio Tinto, not once but twice, to try and create an absolutely unassailable group. It cost former BHP CEO Brian Gilbertson his job. Advertisement When MacKenzie became BHPs chair he went on a listening tour of major shareholders. His engagement was well-received and differed, some say, to his predecessor. If you had a one-hour meeting with Jac Nasser, he would spend 57 minutes of that meeting talking, recalls one BHP investor, who asked not to be named. Geoff Healy, who was previously BHPs chief legal counsel and later responsible for managing the companys reputation and non-financial risk until the end of 2020, said MacKenzie had firm views but listening was a key strength. Geoff Healy, BHPs former top lawyer, says: BHP has needed growth and has wanted growth for a while now. Credit: Steven Siewert Hes a clear thinker, a good listener, and has a unique capacity to see value, whether thats in strategy, portfolio or capital allocation. Hes super disciplined in his execution. Hes also low-key. So low-key that MacKenzie declined to be interviewed. BHPs management and board are shunning interviews as they tip-toe around the UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers. Still, MacKenzies reticence towards media interviews existed well before the Anglo deal. Healy says when MacKenzie stepped into the BHP chair role he had clear views about the companys capital allocation framework and return on capital, and worked with management and investors to make sure this was transparent. Advertisement The framework focuses on investing in and extracting as much value from existing assets, maintaining a strong balance sheet, paying out at least 50 per cent of underlying profit in dividends, and with excess capital using it to either reduce debt, fund acquisitions, or undertake buybacks or pay higher dividends. The capital allocation discipline is reflected in BHPs metrics. Last financial year its return on invested capital was 29 per cent. In contrast, Anglo Americans was in the single-digits. After MacKenzies arrival at BHP, management intensified their focus on simplifying the portfolio and company structure, while searching for growth - just like what occurred at Amcor. In 2018, BHP exited its US shale oil and gas assets. In 2020, months before the pandemic struck, Mike Henry was appointed CEO, replacing Andrew Mackenzie. In 2021, BHP announced it would collapse its dual-listed UK structure, consolidating into one company incorporated in Australia. It also abandoned a bidding war for Canadian nickel miner Noront Resources. In 2022, the miner merged its petroleum business with Woodside. By 2023, it had exited some of its Queensland metallurgical coal assets that it owned jointly with Mitsubishi Development, in a deal worth up to $US4.1 billion. Its had less success divesting thermal coal assets. That same year, it gave a green light to spending nearly $US5 billion on its Canadian potash operation. BHP was also pursuing growth that year in metals, such as copper and nickel. It bought Oz Minerals for $US6.4 billion. Advertisement Up to 60 per cent of new apartments in Australia are riddled with construction flaws including cracked foundations, water leaks, balcony defects and flammable cladding. Research by campaigners Australian Apartment Advocacy warned that shoddy workmanship in apartments had sparked a groundswell of special levies. Condensation in Ally Nallys apartment was so bad if Id stand in socks next to my window, I could actually hear squelching. Credit: Eddie Jim There had also been an explosion in owners being stung with bills totalling tens of thousands of dollars to fix faults or for urgent maintenance works after purchasing apartments, leaving some on the brink of financial ruin. People are saving up to buy a one-bedroom apartment because thats all they can afford, and now theyre copping this, the groups director, Samantha Reece, said. To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Suburban rail loop slug Which businesses does the government plan on slugging to recover some of the shortfall in funding for the Suburban Rail Loop? (Push to slug businesses $11b for SRL, 18/5). Does this include small businesses? And is this within all the six precincts, remembering that the precincts are not just within close proximity to SRL stations, but extend to approximately 1.6 km away? If so, that is a lot of businesses that will be impacted. No matter whether small, medium or larger businesses, many will face losses in revenue due to road closures as not all customers will continue to support them. The state government hasnt compensated on other infrastructure projects, so its reasonable to assume they wont on this one. To then slug them with a tax for the Suburban Rail Loop seems extremely unfair. Yvonne Bowyer, Surrey Hills Naughty students corner Re your correspondent, (Letters, Class Divide, 18/5). It seems obvious that schools should put all the naughty kids in the one class, so that the good students can get on with their work uninterrupted. It is so obvious, that it has been tried many times, in many schools. The fact behavioural streaming is not common-place in schools is because it doesnt work. It is simplistic to believe that there are only two types of student, the good and the bad. Children alter their behaviour according to their environment. Ask any parent or teacher, and they will tell you that child behaviour on any given day depends on many factors. It has been demonstrated that the kids in the naughty class do not improve their behaviour or their learning because they know they have been labelled as naughty and dumb and there is no incentive to improve. They also have no good role models to follow. As a teacher for many decades, mixed ability classrooms are a pleasure to teach, and good teachers make them work for all. Peter Hendrickson, East Melbourne Housing activism group YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) Melbourne organiser Asanka Epa has compared this data to building approvals and said there was a strong correlation between the two. If you dont provide affordable homes for young families, then you end up with a massive disconnect between the locations of schools and their students, he said. Boroondaras massive decline in kids shows that despite having many great schools, they cant stop it from turning into a retirement village if there isnt enough housing built to ensure it remains affordable for young families. Epa said that if there was not enough housing, the number of children in a suburb could not increase or even remain steady. We are a growing city and in areas where there is no increase in housing, its not really possible for families to live there, he said. Loading On school tours of Kew High School, which is within the City of Boroondara, prospective students from neighbouring suburbs have been told there is room at the school for out-of-zone applications in year 7. Principal Josie Millard said the school had always been able to offer places to students outside its zone, perhaps because it is close to so many private schools. We know that there are decreasing enrolments in the local primary schools, she said. There was a move out as a result of COVID and we are in Kew, so there is not a lot of density increase in our local area. Sometimes we think it is going the other way, with people buying two houses and making it into one. The City of Boroondaras director of community support, Kate McCaughey, said it was speculative to conclude that building approvals or any specific urban planning or housing policies were directly responsible for the demographic changes in the area. This correlation does not fully consider other significant factors that influence such trends, like internal/external migration, housing affordability, cost of living, and an ageing population, McCaughey said. McCaughey said the majority of children in Boroondara lived in houses, 25 per cent in medium-density homes such as townhouses and one to two-storey apartment blocks, and only 5 per cent lived in high-density dwellings. [The] majority of medium and high-density dwellings in Boroondara are occupied by households with no children, she said. It is unlikely therefore that an increase in medium and high-density housing will result in an increase in the number of children. Children are not lost to Boroondara they may have aged out of childhood. McCaughey said Boroondara had a long-term trend to being an older community, with 18.1 per cent of its population being aged 65 and older, which is the sixth highest level in Melbourne. A Stonnington spokeswoman said the council area was growing and changing, and its housing strategy would help lead to an additional 13,000 homes by 2036. A street scene in Kew, a suburb with plenty of schools but a decreasing number of children. Credit: Joe Armao [Weve] seen a small decline in planning approvals over the last three years as a result of macroeconomic factors, she said. This trend is consistent across the wider development sector. In contrast to Boroondara and Stonnington, the areas that saw big increases in the number of children were mainly outer suburbs in Melbournes growth corridors, such as Tarneit, Point Cook and Craigieburn. In Tarneit, the number of children increased by 6192 to reach 16,348 in 2021. In Point Cook, an additional 4301 children were added to reach 18,303 in 2021, and in Craigieburn, children increased by 3590 to 16,757. The number of children also increased in the inner city. The City of Melbourne added more than 1300 children from 2016-21 and had the most significant relative increase in children from 2016-19 at 23 per cent more than anywhere else in the state. This substantial increase in children in the City of Melbourne comes mainly from the CBD, Southbank and Docklands showing a growth in families in apartments. Until 2021 there was no primary school in Docklands. Residents are now campaigning for a secondary school to accommodate the growing number of children in the suburb. However, Melbourne University urban geographer Dr Kate Shaw warned there was not enough statistical significance in the decline or increase in the number of children in different suburbs to identify any trends. The inner and middle ring suburbs have long been places where fewer children are being brought up, Shaw said. The numbers are just lower there in total and thats obviously part of the long-term global trend of wealthier and better-educated women choosing to have fewer children, which is then reflected in their housing choices. Loading Shaw said the inner and middle-ring suburbs were becoming increasingly expensive, and that was where better-educated and wealthier people lived because they were the only ones who could afford to live there. She said suburbs such as Tarneit, Clyde, Pakenham and Craigieburn were places where people with larger families could afford to live. The only way to increase affordability is to build more affordable housing and the private sector is not going to deliver this because the development industry doesnt make enough of a profit from it, she said. The only way to achieve more affordable housing is for governments to build it. Obviously, we need to build a lot more public and community housing, a lot more social housing, so that we can get people out of the private rental market on a very large scale. Pro-Palestine demonstrators have crashed Victorian Labors state conference and forced the Moonee Valley Racecourse into lockdown on Saturday, in events that Premier Jacinta Allan says disgusted her. Hours later, hundreds of Labor Party members cheered when an overwhelming majority supported motions backing the Palestinian cause. A speaker for the motions received a standing ovation while two speakers against were heckled. Protesters jostling with Labor Party members attempting to enter the state conference. Credit: Wayne Taylor About 200 protesters had gathered outside the conference venue early on Saturday morning and attempted to block party members from entering, accusing them of supporting a genocide. Federal MP Daniel Mulino was shoved by the crowd, who said he had blood on his hands. Davey Gunn is a name youll hear a lot if you visit the Hollyford Valley. A pioneering cattle musterer, his exploits in this wet and wild corner of New Zealands South Island are legendary, from sewing up his own genitals after impaling himself on a tree, to covering 90 kilometres of wilderness in 20 hours with a dislocated rib to raise the alarm after a plane crash. He was also the first person to bring tourists to the valley in the 1930s, hosting them in basic mud-floored huts with meals of Spam and boiled cabbage. The storied Hollyford Valley, snaking through Fiordland National Park. Its hard not to feel a little inadequate when youre listening to this story while sipping a gin and tonic and feasting on a platter of delicious local cheeses next to a warming wood stove. Our home for tonight is Ka Tuku Lodge, an unexpectedly luxurious eight-suite property next to the Pyke River in the heart of Fiordland National Park, one of New Zealands most storied wilderness regions. Maori used this valley for hundreds of years to transport pounamu (greenstone) to the coast before European settlers arrived in the late 1800s to eke out lives of unimaginable hardship. To be fair, we did hike 19.5 kilometres to get here today, carrying a pack with all our gear (admittedly only seven kilograms) as part of a four-day adventure with the Hollyford Wilderness Experience. Owned by Ngai Tahu, the local iwi (tribe), this New Zealand Tourism Award winner has been shepherding small groups through the valley since 2003, using two purpose-built lodges and exhilarating transfers by jetboat and helicopter. A Netflix boss misled British parliament over the truth about the series Baby Reindeer, an MP has claimed. John Nicolson, a Scottish National Party MP, will ask Netflix to substantiate its claims that a stalker who inspired the fictional character was convicted. Richard Gadd plays a bartender whose life is invaded by an obsessive, lonely patron in Baby Reindeer, which is based on his one-man show of the same name. Credit: Netflix Baby Reindeer is a dramatisation of the apparently true story of comedian Richard Gadd, who stars in the series as himself alongside Jessica Gunning. Gunning plays the character of Martha, based on his stalker, who is believed to be a woman called Fiona Harvey. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 11:54 | All, Japan Tokyo-based startup Innovative Space Carrier Inc. will develop a reusable satellite launch rocket in partnership with a U.S rocket engine maker, aiming for commercial use by around 2030. The ASCA-1 rocket will be powered by an engine developed by U.S. partner Ursa Major Technologies Inc. and built under what Innovative Space Carrier calls Japan's first development project for a reusable launch vehicle. Reusable rockets, capable of multiple launches, can lower costs. For the Japanese startup, satellite launch services are a first step in its plan to operate a spacecraft by the 2040s capable of transporting around 50 people to an altitude of 400 kilometers. "The partnership marks the beginning of our business operations, which we aim to launch swiftly," Innovative Space Carrier chief executive Kojiro Hatada said at a press conference in Tokyo in April. The Japanese company is joining the global race to improve the efficiency of space launches through reusable rockets, a move that has been led by companies such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Innovative Space Carrier's U.S. unit, set up in March, will be in charge of joint operations with Ursa Major Technologies, which uses 3-D printing to shorten the production time for rocket engines. Due to U.S. restrictions on rocket technology exports, engine tests will be conducted in the United States, it said. Joe Laurienti, founder and CEO of the U.S. rocket engine maker, said at the press conference that he hopes to help deepen U.S.-Japan cooperation in space exploration. Related coverage: Japan's 1st satellite launch attempt by private firm fails Rocket launch by private Japanese firm Space One postponed The ceremony consists of story-telling and singing in Hebrew and Arabic. It is jointly hosted by Combatants for Peace and the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families forum, the two foremost of maybe a dozen grassroots organisations made up of people who have lost loved ones on both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict and toil together almost sight unseen for it to end. In the eight months since October 7, their work has taken on greater poignancy than ever. The bereavement ceremony is not universally well received. It falls on the same night as Israels Memorial Day, remembering fallen soldiers and terror victims, and in the same week as Israels Independence Day and the Palestinians Nakba Day, remembering all that has befallen them since the dispossession of 1948. Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin in The Narrow Bridge. The ceremony has previously attracted virulent protests from right-wingers in Israel and led to threats against speakers from both sides. Last years event drew 15,000 people in Tel Aviv, but amid this years heightened tensions, it was conducted as an online event with a small live audience. Jewish and Arab Israelis appeared on stage, but because of isolating travel restrictions, the voices of the Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza were heard via video or proxies. For many Palestinians, who live their entire life under military occupation, identifying with the grief and loss of Israelis can be dangerous, especially against the background of the war in Gaza, says co-host Guy Elhanan. This ceremony also evokes strong feelings of anger among Israelis. Many speakers face threats and insults. The Melbourne showing was facilitated by the New Israel Fund, which has been supporting Jewish and Arab-led social justice and human rights causes in Israel for 40 years. For security reasons, the venue was not widely publicised. In the audience in Tel Aviv was Esther Takac, a Melbourne-based trauma psychologist, author and filmmaker, who on regular work trips to Israel before the pandemic was struck by the common humanity in a hospital. When the children of ultra-orthodox and secular Jews and a Palestinian lay ill side-by-side, an everyday happening, it was not race or religion that determined who rushed to get the sick bucket when it was needed by another. Esther Takac. Credit: Eamon Gallagher Takac had been to previous bereavement ceremonies. I was so moved by the courage of these people whose hearts had been broken and yet were so open-hearted, she said. Synthesising her experiences and drawing on her own funds, Takac has made a film about Israelis and Palestinians who have suffered unendurable losses, but have chosen not to seek vengeance, but to campaign jointly for peace. Two are Israeli Rami Elhanan and Palestinian Bassam Aramin, who each lost daughters in the violence. While in an Israel jail, Aramin studied Hitler and the Holocaust, aiming to exact revenge when he was released. But Watching Schindlers List in jail moved him to non-violent resistance and eventually to co-found the Combatants for Peace with Elhanans son Elik. Since, Aramin and Elhanan have gained a degree of fame as they have travelled the world to preach their joint message that unless there is one day peace, there can be only mutual destruction. Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk through a makeshift tent camp in Deir al Balah. Credit: AP The other principals are two women, Palestinian Bushra Awad, whose son was shot dead by Israeli soldiers, and Jewish Israeli Meytal Ofer, whose father was hacked to death by Hamas. They are now friends and peace activists together. I set out to make a film from the heart, about transforming pain into compassion, Takac says. It humanises the other so that it is hard to ignore their pain as fellow human beings. (But) I know the film will be controversial and provocative for some. The film is called The Narrow Bridge. An abridged version was aired on Compass on the ABC in March. Takac is updating it to incorporate October 7 and its aftermath. The trauma right now in Israel and Gaza is immense, she says. Ive seen how terrible pain changes you, but sometimes after pain you may find strengths you never had before. Weve all heard of post-traumatic stress disorder. These people show us an alternative, a road map to post-traumatic growth. Palestinian Ahmed Alhellou speaks via a recording to joint Israeli-Paestinian memorial ceremony. Credit: Supplled Peace and justice have appeared to be almost at hand before in the Middle East and proved illusory, most memorably at the time of the Oslo accords in 1993. Now as the deadliest war yet is waged, peace seems more remote than ever. For those at the Melbourne ceremony, that was more reason to fight, not less. Everyone seems to be fighting for one side or the other, said Ric Benjamin, chair of the New Israel Fund. Tonight we saw and heard a small but growing group of people who are prepared to fight for peace. Has a popular movement ever started any other way? By Ko Hirano, KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 11:05 | All, Japan, Feature Members of Myanmar's expatriate community in Japan are lobbying local assemblies to pressure the central government to accept their fleeing compatriots in the wake of the enforcement of a controversial conscription law by the junta in February. In petitions to assemblies, they are also requesting Japan and the international community urge the junta, which took power in a 2021 military coup, to stop the forced conscription that has incentivized a new wave of people to leave Myanmar. The conscription -- which targets Myanmar nationals aged 18 and older, initially excluding women -- signals a serious shortage of recruits in the military, which has been fighting with anti-junta forces since it detained democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi and toppled her democratically elected government. Independent media in Myanmar reported the second round of conscriptions began in May after the junta rounded up 5,000 people in the first starting in late March. Numerous instances of civilians being abducted from their homes were reported during the process. As of mid-May, petitions were filed to 13 assemblies in nine Japanese prefectures including the city assemblies of Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka as well as the Koto and Nerima ward assemblies in Tokyo, according to Khin Zay Yar Myint, a Myanmar national who lives in Tokyo and is coordinating the petition campaign. "We want to do something to help Myanmar people in despair, especially young ones targeted by the junta," she said in a recent interview, adding that Myanmar residents plan to submit petitions to a total of 44 assemblies in 18 prefectures. "Besides a push on the junta to revoke the law, we would like Japan -- a leading Asian country that advocates human rights and the rule of law -- to extend humanitarian measures to these people, just like what Japan has been doing for displaced people from Ukraine," Khin Zay Yar Myint said. The junta's drive to replenish its troop numbers came as the military has suffered a series of defeats and a growing number of defections since a coordinated offensive by three ethnic rebel groups in October last year. Despite widely varied estimations of the military's size, ranging from 300,000 to 400,000, the number fell to no more than 130,000 following the offensive, dubbed "Operation 1027" for its start date, according to an analysis by Ye Myo Hein, a visiting scholar at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. Underscoring the military's struggles on the ground, the National Unity Government, the shadow civilian leadership launched after the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, says it and its ethnic minority allies now control more than 60 percent of Myanmar's territory. But the junta, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has shown no sign it is willing to bring the conflict to an end, with U.N. and other data showing that since the coup, the military has killed about 5,000 demonstrators and other citizens and left 2.6 million people displaced. Of the 13 local assemblies to which Myanmar residents filed petitions, the city assembly of Itoman in Okinawa Prefecture has adopted a document condemning the conscription law and urging Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government to "proactively accept displaced people from Myanmar in a same way as it does for evacuees from Ukraine." Satoru Urasaki, an Itoman city assembly member who led the adoption of the document, suggested that as a humanitarian measure, the Japanese government should make it easier for people from Myanmar to obtain temporary residence permits. "Since the enforcement of the conscription law, I have received many inquiries from Myanmar residents in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan as to whether they can have their relatives evacuate to Japan," Urasaki, a member of the Japanese Communist Party, said in a phone interview. They are also asking if Japan could provide public accommodation and language training, services that evacuees -- be they from Myanmar, Ukraine or other countries -- would need in an initial phase of evacuations, according to Urasaki. "The government should extend such services as humanitarian measures because the Myanmar crisis is no longer an internal issue of Myanmar but has become a source of concern for Thailand and other ASEAN members, as well as other countries like Japan," he said, in reference to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Since the military takeover, the number of Myanmar people entering Japan has been increasing. As of the end of 2023, the number of Myanmar residents in the country surged 53.9 percent from a year earlier to 86,546, according to Immigration Services Agency data. While expressing appreciation for the "serious concern" Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has expressed about the conscription law, Khin Zay Yar Myint said she wants Japan to take specific actions like those Urasaki called for while providing scholarships for Myanmar youth wishing to study at Japanese universities. Unlike Itoman, the city assemblies in Kobe and Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture have decided not to carry Myanmar residents' petitions to the government, with Kobe saying diplomatic matters are being handled by the government and ASEAN, according to Khin Zay Yar Myint. "We would like 10 other assemblies, plus other local assemblies we will lobby, to follow Itoman's lead in bringing our voices to Prime Minister Kishida," she said. "Through our initiatives, we would like local assembly members and the broader public in Japan to know and support our fight for justice, freedom and democracy in Myanmar, which we believe will lead to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region." Related coverage: Myanmar junta senior official attends ASEAN defense ministers meeting Japan grants refugee status to democracy advocate Myanmar woman Exploring glory of 5,000-year Chinese civilization at Liangzhu site People's Daily Online) 09:42, May 18, 2024 Editor's Note: Chinese civilization has moved forward with enduring vitality throughout history. Discoveries at the Liangzhu archaeological site that reveal the origins of Chinese civilization, along with the ancient Chinese characters on oracle bones from the Yin Ruins and the cultural treasures of the Sanxingdui Ruins, all testify to China's splendid civilization. Chinese civilization, spanning ancient and modern times, radiates brilliance. It is deeply rooted in the nation's identity and the wisdom of its people. To truly understand China, one must grasp the essence of this civilization. People's Daily Online presents the "Tracing the origins of Chinese civilization" series of promotional videos. These videos explore the treasured aspects of Chinese culture, decipher the ancient codes of civilization that have been passed down over thousands of years, and share how China's ancient civilization continues to thrive in modern times. The Liangzhu site represents the 5,000-year history of the Chinese civilization and is a treasure of world civilizations, General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his congratulatory letter to the first Liangzhu Forum in December 2023. Located in Yuhang district, Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City were once the center of power and belief of Liangzhu culture, and were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. The property features a large city site, advanced rice cultivation practices, and a complex water conservancy system. The ruins reveal an early regional state in the Taihu Lake basin in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. "It is a great honor to participate in the exploration of such an important archeological site" Since the 1930s, generations of archaeologists have gradually lifted the mysterious veil over Liangzhu ancient city through exploration and excavation. Fan Chou, a staff member of the Liangzhu Site Archaeology and Conservation Center, has carried out archaeological work on the water conservancy system of the Liangzhu site. "In the early stages, I was responsible for aerial photography and surveying of the site. Starting in 2016, I conducted excavation and survey work at some ruins surrounding the site," Fan said. The water conservancy system of the Liangzhu site was very complex and was used to protect the ancient city, facilitate irrigation downstream and transport timber. "The planning of dams was likely completed in the early days of the Liangzhu ancient city. The massive water conservancy system and large-scale urban planning show us the high level of civilization during the Liangzhu period," Fan said. "I love archaeology. There are many unknowns underground, leading to a lot of uncertainty. Every day brings surprises and new discoveries," Fan added. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City were a major archaeological discovery by China in the 20th century and an important cultural site that was a testament to the country's 5,000-year civilization. "The inclusion of the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in the World Heritage List in 2019 marked international recognition of China's 5,000 years of civilization. It's really critical," Fan said. "After I had been involved in archaeological work at the Liangzhu ruins for 10 years, they were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. I have taken part in surveys and excavations of the Liangzhu ancient city and its peripheral water conservancy system. It is a great honor to participate in the exploration of such an important archeological site," Fan added. "To understand the future of a civilization, we must first grasp its origins" The Liangzhu site is of great importance, as it paints a vivid picture of the time-honored Chinese civilization. The Liangzhu Museum houses a comprehensive collection of precious artifacts from 5,000 years ago, including jade pieces, stone tools, and pottery tools, comprehensively, vividly and accurately showcasing the archaeological findings from the Liangzhu ruins and the value of Liangzhu cultural heritage. "The Liangzhu Museum displays the value of Liangzhu to visitors, allowing them to witness the continuity of Chinese civilization," said Huang Li, deputy curator of the Liangzhu Museum (Liangzhu Research Institute). "To understand the future of a civilization, we must first grasp its origins," Huang said, believing that Liangzhu represents a key piece of evidence showing China's 5,000 years of civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City twice and provided important instructions and guidance on seven occasions regarding the protection of the site and its application for World Cultural Heritage status. In 2016, four renowned archaeologists wrote to Xi to express their hope that the Liangzhu site would be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the earliest possible date. Xi issued an instruction stressing that the bidding for world cultural heritage should[1] be conducive to highlighting the value of Chinese civilization, history, and culture, manifesting the spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation, and presenting a panoramic and true view of ancient and modern China to the world. "This greatly facilitated our application for World Cultural Heritage status," Huang said. "In carrying out our work at Liangzhu, we are following the directive of 'presenting a panoramic and true view of ancient and modern China to the world," Huang noted. Huang said the museum is introducing Liangzhu culture to schools, in the hope that it will help youths build cultural confidence through the ancient civilization. Additionally, Huang hopes to promote shared economic prosperity in the protected area through the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park and the Liangzhu Museum to make it a cultural highland and a demonstration zone for shared economic prosperity. "I can prove to them that Chinese civilization truly spans 5,000 years" At the Liangzhu Museum, a bilingual docent team of volunteers shares the wonders of ancient Liangzhu culture with visitors from all over the world. Emma Chen is one such volunteer. Chen came to China after graduating from university in the U.S., and has been living in Hangzhou for nearly a decade. Before she took on the role as a bilingual volunteer tutor at the Liangzhu Museum, she frequently visited the museum, and all the staff members were familiar with her. "One day, a staff member asked if I wanted to become a volunteer, which excited me because it's something I had always wanted to do. To put it in Chinese, it's called 'yuanfen'," Chen recalled, saying it was fate that led to her becoming a tutor at the museum. Chen said she has made great efforts to accurately convey the story behind each artifact to visitors, reading and studying everyday to learn more about the museum and its exhibits. Chinese and English explanations have significant differences, she pointed out, noting that she needs to provide more detailed explanations for visitors from other countries, as they have different cultural backgrounds and know little about Liangzhu culture. Once, after hearing her explanations, a foreign visitor told Chen that many people don't know the story of Liangzhu, and it deserves more attention. Deeply touched by these words, Chen said that's exactly the purpose of her volunteer work. The ruins of the Liangzhu ancient city provide physical evidence of China's civilization spanning over 5,000 years, which is one of the reasons why Liangzhu culture fascinates Chen. "During my university studies in the U.S., someone said the 5,000-year Chinese civilization is just a legend, and I didn't know how to refute it at the time. But after coming to Liangzhu, I can prove to them that Chinese civilization truly spans 5,000 years," Chen said, adding that she feels very happy and takes great pleasure in sharing stories of Liangzhu culture with every visitor. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chengliang) KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 20:48 | All, Japan Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Saturday asked central Japan constituents how "we women can call ourselves women without giving birth," equating the importance of childbirth to electing a new governor in a speech ahead of a gubernatorial election. Kamikawa made the remarks during a visit to her native Shizuoka Prefecture in an attempt to garner support for a candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. While known for her efforts to further gender equality, the comments are expected to garner criticism for their lack of sensitivity. See update here: Japan foreign minister retracts controversial "birthing" remark Related coverage: Head of fringe group arrested for obstructing rival lower house candidates Japan's maglev project in focus as Shizuoka election campaign starts Teeling Whiskey celebrates World Whisky Day with extremely rare single malt The release is limited to just 140 bottles, making it one of the worlds most exclusive Irish whiskeys. Previous releases have included the 33 Years Old and 37 Years Old bottlings. The current release remains the oldest and rarest bottling from Teeling to date. The Teeling 40 Years Old Single Malt was distilled in 1983 and matured exclusively in an ex-bourbon cask for over 40 years. The whiskey was then hand bottled in a new style decanter straight out of the cask. Each decanter has been hand decorated with gold infill and comes in a premium gift box. Every bottle is individually numbered, and comes with its own unique certificate of authenticity and an invitation to the Teeling Whiskey Distillery for a very special tasting. Jack Teeling, founder of the Teeling Whiskey Company, commented: We are extremely proud and lucky to be custodians of some of the oldest Irish Single Malt, which we have been mindfully releasing through our Vintage Reserve Collection. We are honoured to unveil the pinnacle of our this collection with our new Modern Classic, the Teeling 40 Years Old Single Malt, one of the oldest Irish single malts ever bottled and a rare piece of Irish whiskey history 40 years in the making. In addition to this launch, Teeling Whiskey announced its new Phoenix Rising Scholarship Programme in conjunction with Technological University Dublin, located three kilometres from the Teeling Whiskey Distillery. Through these scholarships, Teeling Whiskey aims to support and inspire the next generation of innovators in the Irish brewing, distilling and hospitality industry. Eligible students will receive mentoring from Teeling Whiskey employees across different departments. A proportion of the proceeds raised from the sale of the Teeling 40 Years Old Single Malt will go toward funding their studies. Stephen Teeling, sales and marketing director for Teeling Whiskey, commented: Social sustainability has always been a priority for us at Teeling Whiskey and we are committed to playing our part in the Dublin community, supporting those across our industry. We can think of no better use of our new 40 Years Old then to help us support and inspire the new generation of Irish whiskey makers. Education is the cornerstone of progress, and through these scholarships, we aim to give back as much as we can locally here in Dublin. The Teeling 40 Years Old Single Malt (42% ABV, 15,000) will initially be available in the Teeling Whiskey distillery before it is offered to a select few partners, domestically and internationally. It will be available to taste after attendance of Teeling Bang Bang Bar tour, where visitors can sample a range of Teelings award-winning whiskeys and signature craft cocktails. 18 May 2024 - Alec McDonnell Air travel ordeal: AAI ED Operations assures flight connectivity to Mumbai from city Staff Reporter Archana Bhatnagar, former Chairperson of Confederation of Indian Industry (Mahakoshal Region) has taken a significant step towards improving air services in Jabalpur. In an important meeting held in Delhi, she drew attention to the critical issue of Jabalpur's air connectivity with Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam, IAS and Joint Secretary Rubina Ali, IAS. Dr Bhatnagar said Jabalpur Airport is operated by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and that cooperation from the authority is vital for obtaining flight slot permissions, particularly for flights to Mumbai. To address the same, she held a key meeting with AAI ED Operations Raju and his team, who assured her that they would consider the matter. Dr. Bhatnagar who is also the Chairperson of Madhya Pradesh Association of Women Entrepreneur (MAWE) said it is a matter of great joy and pride for entire Mahakoshal region that the Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation recognised the seriousness of the issue and assured that due attention would be given to the slot allotment for initiating flights to Mumbai from Jabalpur. She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisions India as a developed nation soon, but for tier-2 cities like Jabalpur it seems that in the race for development, the city is regressing. The reduction of flights from 12 to only 5 has left the people of Jabalpur feeling frustrated and disconnected. Despite the intense concern among the residents, the relevant ministries and officials in Delhi seemed unaware of the situation. BIBHAV ATTACKED ME with fullforce again and again: Maliwal NEW DELHI : AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal has alleged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals aide attacked her with full force, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen, charges rejected as baseless by the party, which accused her of being the face of a BJP conspiracy to frame Kejriwal. The allegations are part of an FIR registered by the Civil Lines police station here onThursday against Kejriwals personal assistant Bibhav Kumar. Maliwal, a member of the Rajya Sabha, has alleged that she was assaulted by him at the CMs official residence on May 13. Hitting back at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Maliwal, a former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW ), said the party has given in under a goons pressure and is now questioning her character. Without naming Kumar, she said, This goon is threatening the party (AAP) saying that if I get arrested, I will reveal all the secrets. Maliwal added that party has taken a U-turn two days after it accepted that Kumar hadmisbehaved with her. In its probe into the incident, the Delhi Police took Maliwal to the CMs residence to recreate the crime scene, an official said, adding that her statement was also recordedbeforea magistrate at the Tis Hazari court. IntheFIR,Maliwalclaimed that Kumar hit her with full force again and again and shewaskicked and slapped seven to eight times.She also alleged that despite telling him that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge. Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Atishi said Maliwal had reached the CMs residence without an appointment and her intention was to levelallegations against Kejriwal. Today a video has surfaced that has exposed the lie of Maliwal.InherFIR, she has said she was brutally assaulted and she was in pain,andbuttonsofhershirt weretorn.Thevideothathas surfaced shows an entirely different reality, she said. Atishisaidthevideoshows Maliwalcomfortablysitting in the drawing room and threatening the security staff, and that her clothes were not torn. The video shows her threatening Kumar. The charges levelled by Maliwal are baseless. Maliwal insisted on meeting Kejriwal. She is Rajya Sabha MP and she should know that the CM has a busy schedule. Kumar told her that the chief ministeris busy and unable to meet her. She shouted at him, pushed him and tried to enter the residential portion of the CM House, she claimed. The whole incident proves that it was a BJP conspiracy and Swati Maliwal was made its face to frame Kejriwal, she alleged. Atishi said Kumar has also given a complaint to police against Maliwal. Reacting to the AAP press conference,Maliwal,inapost on X in Hindi,said,Theleaders who joined the party (AAP) yesterday declared a worker who has been with it for 20 years an agent of the BJP. Two days ago, the party had accepted the truth in a press conferenceand,today, it has taken a U-turn. On Tuesday, senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh had said that the incident with Maliwal was highly condemnable and had claimed that Kumar had misbehaved with her. She alleged thattoday, the party gave in under a goons pressure and to save him, my character was questioned by the entire party. Slamming Kejriwal,whois the AAPs national convenor, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference here said instead of making a statement on the matter and tendering an apology, he is shamelessly moving around with the accused, Bibhav Kumar. CM Sai lauds BJPs manifesto in Odisha Staff Reporter RAIPUR, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai lauded the BJPs manifesto at a rally at village Bugdega in Odisha, emphasising key promises for farmers and women on Friday. Sai highlighted that if a double-engine BJP government is elected, Odishas farmers will receive Rs 3,100 per quintal for their paddy, mirroring Chhattisgarhs successful procurement program. This initiative aims to bolster Odishas agricultural sector. Sai praised Chhattisgarhs approach to paddy procurement, which sets a high standard. In Chhattisgarh, known as the rice bowl, we value our farmers immensely. Our BJP government fulfills its promise by procuring paddy at Rs 3100 per quintal and paying the difference amount in one go. If BJP forms the government on June 4, the same will be done in Odisha, he declared. Furthermore, Sai introduced the Subhadra scheme for Odisha, inspired by Chhattisgarhs Mahatari Vandan scheme, which provides Rs 1000 monthly to over seventy lakh mothers and sisters. In Odisha, the BJP plans to offer Rs 50,000 one-time voucher under the Subhadra scheme. Sai asserted, A guarantee by Narendra Modi means fulfillment. Odisha should choose a double-engine government to benefit from BJPs reliable promises, as seen in Chhattisgarh. Campaigning in Balishankara, Sundargarh, Bijepur, Bargarh, and Birmaharajpur, Balangir, Sai stressed the significance of the upcoming Lok Sabha election for granting Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third term. He highlighted BJPs longstanding commitment to tribal welfare, noting the establishment of a separate Ministry of Tribal Affairs by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Odishas Jual Orams tenure as its minister, which ensured substantial support for tribal communities. Sai also addressed the states rehabilitation policy encouraging Naxalite surrenders and mentioned potential policy improvements. He criticized the Congress for politicizing actions against Naxalites, urging them to adopt a non-political stance on security matters. When 29 Naxalites were killed, Congress and the opposition called it fake despite a list from the Naxalites themselves. They question even surgical and air strikes. Such matters should be viewed beyond politics, Sai stated. Speaking to journalists at the police ground helipad, Sai reiterated BJPs dedication to development, security, and welfare. He urged Odisha voters to support a double-engine government to replicate Chhattisgarhs successes, emphasizing BJPs commitment to their promises. Col Waibhav Kale killed in Gaza laid to rest in Pune NEW DELHI, THE mortal remains of Colonel (retd) Waibhav Anil Kale arrived in India on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, days after the former Indian Army officer who was working with the UN in Gaza was killed in an attack in the Rafah region. Kale, 46, who retired prematurely from the Indian Army in 2022, joined the UN as a security coordination officer in the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) two months ago. Today the Indian Mission in Tel Aviv in collaboration with the UN authorities, they were able to coordinate the transportation of mortal remains. The mortal remains of Col (retd) Kale has arrived in India today, for formalities to be done by the family, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Later in the day, last rites of Colonel Kale were performed in Pune with full state honours. Besides family members, his colleagues in the army, course-mates from the National Defence Academy (NDA), friends and government officials were present at the crematorium. Wrapped in the Indian tri-colour and the UN flag, he was cremated with full state honours. Delhi controversy heats up MPs political corridors By Bhavana Aparajita Shukla Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, who is on campaigning trail in Uttar Pradesh and recently in Delhi taking on arch rival Congress and now Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), made a scathing attack on AAPs Arvind Kejriwal. His statement drew sharp reactions in Madhya Pradesh. Dr Mohan Yadav in a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that he owes an apology to the voters of Delhi. Yadav rebuked him and said that the people of Delhi would not easily forgive the leaders and office-bearers of AAP He was referring to a recent incident in which one of the aides of the Delhi Chief Minister allegedly misbehaved with Swati Maliwal, former Chairperson of Delhi Womens Commission. Kejriwal is already in a legal battle and is facing corruption charges. He recently walked out of Tihar Jail after an interim bail granted by teh Supreme Court. Despite this, Kejriwal has steadfastly refused to resign. Yadav pointed out that women are revered as goddesses in India, making any attack on them or misbehaving with them is reprehensible. Meanwhile, political landscape in Delhi remains contentious, in Madhya Pradesh the Congress Committee Spokesperson Mukesh Nayak said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now embroiled in dirty politics in the national capital. Following their (BJPs) successful toppling of Kamal Nath Government in Madhya Pradesh in 2020, the BJP now faces scrutiny. On June 4, the truth will prevail and BJP will face consequences not only in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but in Delhi too, Nayak said. Did Maliwals refusal to resign as MP lead to her assault? NEW DELHI, SINCE May 13 morning, when the news broke that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals Personal Secretary Bibhav Kumar had physically assaulted Swati Maliwal -- one of the founding members of the AAP who served as the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and is presently an AAP Rajya Sabha MP -- at the Chief Ministers official residence here, the main question that is doing the rounds is what was the provocation for the shameful incident? The story seemed even more complex because Bibhav Kumar has been working as a close aide to Kejriwal since the latters NGO days. And Maliwal had her own stature within that setup for long. Maliwals FIR has chilling details of how Bibhav Kumar thrashed her on her chest, abdomen, and pelvic area. Yet, it misses some other details, perhaps because those were not required in the FIR. Reliable sources told IANS that Maliwals refusal to sign a pre-drafted resignation letter to step down as AAP Rajya Sabha MP eventually led to her assault by Kejriwals close aide. The party leadership, the sources said, was keen to give that seat, if vacated by Maliwal, to a senior lawyer who has been fighting Kejriwals cases in courts. In January this year, Maliwal was elected as an AAP Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi whose term will end in 2030. A victory for whosoever AAP gave the ticket for a by-election (if such a situation arises) for the Rajya Sabha seat looked certain. Maliwal was abroad when Kejriwal was arrested (in the excise policy case) and was largely absent when other party leaders were issuing various statements on the matter. Sources said she was asked to return to Delhi and take part in the Lok Sabha poll campaign. But on her return, she wasnt given any worthwhile assignment, the sources said. Certain dynamics in AAP have changed since Kejriwal was jailed in the alleged liquor scam. Though Kejriwal remains the unquestioned Boss and his word is final in AAP, some new power centres, of whatever capacity, are trying to carve out a space for them, which reportedly had quite a few grouses against Maliwal. Maliwal wanted to discuss these issues and a few other things with Kejriwal, so she went to the CMs official residence on the morning of May 13, the sources said. The sources also said when Maliwal was asked to sign a resignation letter addressed to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, she asked why her, as there were nine others from the party in the Rajya Sabha, so why not anyone else? Israel denies genocide charges at ICJ THE HAGUE, ISRAEL strongly denied charges of genocide on Friday, telling the United Nations top court it was doing everything it could to protect the civilian population during its military operation in Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICH) wrapped up a third round of hearings on emergency measures requested by South Africa, which says Israels military incursion in the southern city of Rafah threatens the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza and has asked the court to order a ceasefire. Tamar Kaplan-Tourgeman, one of Israels legal team, defended the countrys conduct, saying it had allowed in fuel and medication to the beleaguered enclave. Israel takes extraordinary measures in order to minimise the harm to civilians in Gaza, she told The Hague-based court. A protester shouting Liars briefly interrupted Kaplan-Tourgemans final remarks. The hearing was paused for less than a minute while security guards escorted a woman from the public gallery. South Africa told the court on Thursday that the situation in the beleaguered enclave has reached a new and horrific stage and urged judges to order a half to Israeli military operations. The court was holding a third round of hearings on emergency measures requested by South Africa since it first filed its genocide case at the end of last year. According to the latest request, South Africa says Israels military incursion in Rafah threatens the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza. In January, judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive. Judges will now deliberate on the request and are expected to issue a decision in the next weeks. ICJ judges have broad powers to order a ceasefire and other measures, though the court doesnt have its own enforcement apparatus. A 2022 order by the court demanding that Russia halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has so far gone unheeded. Most of Gazas population of 2.3 million people have been displaced since fighting began. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 13:01 | Sports, All Ozeki Kirishima is set for demotion from sumo's second-highest rank after withdrawing from the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday with a neck injury. The Mongolian-born 28-year-old's rank was in jeopardy with his status at "kadoban" for the ongoing meet at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan after he recorded a 5-10 losing record at the Spring meet in March. He needed eight wins this month to remain as ozeki but slumped to a 1-5 start through Friday. Kirishima, promoted to ozeki ahead of the Nagoya meet last July, won his second Emperor's Cup at the Kyushu meet in November. He is set to end his sixth tournament as an ozeki 1-6 with Saturday's scheduled opponent, No. 3 maegashira Tobizaru, winning by default. "His neck pain is affecting many areas," Mongolian-born Otowayama stablemaster and former yokozuna Kakuryu said of Kirishima, who will not return to fight again during the 15-day meet. "His arm is numb and his hand can't generate power." Kirishima can still return to ozeki should he post 10 wins or more at the Nagoya meet in July. "He has mentally switched off (after the losses). I believe he will be hospitalized for three, four days," Otowayama said. "We need to figure out what the issue is in detail. "He has to think as if the next meet is beginning today, there's no guarantee he can win 10 (in Nagoya)." Mah Govt asked to hand over land for Bombay High Court building by Sept NEW DELHI, THE Supreme Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra Government to strive to hand over by the end of September the first tranche of land for construction of a new Bombay High Court building. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asserted that the State authorities need not wait till the end of the year to hand over the entire land and smaller areas can be given as they become available. We direct the Maharashtra Government to make all endeavour to hand over the first tranche of land of 9.64 acre by the end of September 2024. The Government of Maharashtra need not wait till December to hand over the entire 9.64 acre and smaller areas could be handed over. All endeavour be made for 9.64 acre to be handed over by September 30, 2024, the court said. The top court was hearing a case under its suo motu (on its own) jurisdiction, initiated after taking note of an April 29 letter petition of Bombay Bar Association president Nitin Thakker and other bar leaders with respect to the urgent need of accommodation for the High Court of judicature at Bombay whose existing building is 150 years old. It titled the case Heritage Building of the Bombay High Court and allotment of additional lands for the High Court. The top court was earlier informed that the High Court has approved the proposal of the Maharashtra Government for a land at Bandra East in Mumbai but some portion of the land was being occupied by Government housing colonies. On Friday, Advocate General for Maharashtra assured that the authorities were trying their best to facilitate construction of the new building for the High Court and the deadline of December would be followed for providing the land, stating it was part of an integrated development and at present the Model Code of Conduct was in place. NEW EFFORT ? THE possibility of a political settlement to bring to an end the war between Russia and Ukraine -- that emerged following a meeting between Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping -- should not be taken at the face value. For, such settlements rising from the ground almost all of a sudden may conceal in their folds a fine print of a possible hidden agenda most probably aimed at hoodwinking the world. This doubt gains an extra currency with the knowledge that China is initiating what can be described as peace process. For, whenever and where China is engaged or involved, there always are possibilities of some clandestine arrangement that may take the world rather by unpleasant surprise. Yet, by any standard, it is the worlds first need to see some sensible and sane settlement of the Ukraine conflict -- understandably started by Russia when its forces invaded Ukraine. The conflict did not remain restricted only to the two countries but also extended its impact-tentacles the world over -- through serious economic and geopolitical fall-outs. Ukraine being one of the global leaders in certain industrial domains, and Russia a superpower of sorts even in the changing world order, the conflict between the two countries has pushed the world into conditions very tight and difficult from multiple angles. The situation became all the more complicated by somewhat illogical involvement of the Western block in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. As a result, there came a moment when the Ukrainian leadership wondered where its western friends had gone when it needed them the most. The West did help Ukraine with war merchandise and other support all right, but did not do much to solve the problem as perceived by Russia. All in all, the role the West played in the conflict has many suspicious dimensions that need to be understood. India played its cards smartly and earned benefits for itself well beyond the idea that the West harboured in its overall thinking. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi ensured that India did not lose its touch with reality of international realpolitik but did not miss a single chance to tell the world what mistakes were being done and by whom. That was exactly why Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi had told Mr. Putin clearly that the era was of peace and not of war and that peace was the first and basic need of the world. No matter these fine details, the world will support any sensible move to bring about a political settlement in Ukraine. However, when China is involved in any so-called peace-process, its outcome needs to be considered with sufficient practicality. As Mr. Xi Jinping and Mr. Vladimir Putin stood together to express hope that a political settlement in Ukraine may be a possibility, they also warned the West against attempts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing. True, the West is quite capable of trying to unsettle any possible settlement, if it were to be authored by China. For, the western leadership is aware of how dangerous Chinese involvement in any settlement may prove in the long run. In this particular conflict -- of multiple interests -- it is necessary to call Russia as an aggressor who started the trouble. True, Russia-Ukraine hostilities do have a background of their own, all right. But for all practical purposes, the world sees the conflict as an outcome of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a complicated changing world order, Russia and China are trying to rebuild mutual ties -- certainly based on their common perceived interests (which may not be benign every time. Hence the word of caution that world will have to watch against a hidden Chinese agenda in peace-process. NMC doubles down on issue of hoardings Staff Reporter In the backdrop of Ghatkopar hoarding incident, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) authorities are seeking counsel from its legal department to remind railway authorities about the need to adhere to laid down rules for erection of hoardings within city limits. A meeting was chaired by Municipal Commissioner Dr Abhijeet Chaudhari, regarding directives from Urban Development Department (UDD), Maharashtra Government, on the issue of hoarding, where the issue about billboards put-up in various places and the extant rules was discussed threadbare. The Revenue Department had already communicated to Railways the rules governing putting up of hoarding. Still, the Commissioner directed officials to draft a proper letter after consulting legal brains and then send it to railway authorities. About 200 hoarding are put-up on railway lands and the permission for the same is granted as per the extant policy adopted by Indian Railways. Still within municipal corporation, the hoarding issue is addressed in Maharashta Municipal Corporation (MMC) Rules and as per May 9, 2002, GR, the norms about structural stability of structure are clearly specified. Said Milind Meshram, Deputy Commissioner, Revenue, as per the MMC Rules, the sec 264 is quite clear, any building within corporation jurisdiction has to furnish structural stability report every 30-years. Similarly, the new rules as to hoarding policy also laid down that the owner seeking to put-up a billboard in corporation limit has to submit structural stability report at time of its erection and thereafter every three-years. As to city specific, the hoarding in city have been issued permission in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and hence most of them should be in order and their structure stability certificates are also being scrutinised again as a matter of abundant precaution. The current survey as per directive of State Government about hoarding is simply to cross check whether there is any violation as to display size as same plays an important role in structural stability. In past, the city had witnessed gusty winds but so far, no report of damage to any hoarding occurred at any place. He said NMC has already asked the railway authorities to ensure that the hoarding structures within their jurisdiction are as per the stipulated rules. Also, the railways were told that overall licence issuance for hoarding within city limits still vests with NMC and directed former to furnish their structural stability certificates. The Ghatkopar incident and the collapse of a massive billboard in Pimpri Chinchwad earlier last year has again highlighted the necessity of single authority to govern the issue of permission for putting-up hoarding in public places. In both the cases, the billboards that came crashing down in aftermath of gusty winds were put-up on railway land. A dispute between Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Railways is pending before Apex Court as to whose writ would run over the hoarding within municipal corporation limits. Meanwhile, Vikas Thakre, President, Nagpur City District Congress Committee, has claimed massive violation in putting-up 400 hoarding in city as the norms laid down in Skysign and Advertisements by State Government has not been adhered to by licensee. He particularly highlighted 200 hoardings in railway land that are prone to falling down and called for its immediate removal. Thakre contended that some of the hoardings that have been put-up on railway bridges or height gauges are prone to fall down and this could prove dangerous for passers-by underneath them. Hundreds of citizens crisscross these spots daily and hence, NMC should immediately take action against such hoardings. Pakistan Interior Minister praises India for supporting businessmen By M Zulqernain LAHORE, PAKISTANS Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has praised India, noting that it supports its businessmen, which he cites as one of the reasons for the countrys progress, unlike in the cash-strapped nation where they are labelled as thieves. One of the reasons India is progressing is it supports its businessmen, while in Pakistan if a businessman progresses, he is labelled as a thief, Naqvi told journalists here on Thursday. He further emphasised that businessmen in India are respected, whereas in Pakistan, those who make some progress are tagged as thieves. Naqvi was speaking about the Dubai Leaks, which revealed an astounding volume of leaked property data, listing over 23,000 properties belonging to 17,000 Pakistani nationals as of spring 2022. According to data gathered by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Naqvis wife is listed as an owner of a high-value property in Dubai in the Dubai Leaks. Prominent names with high-value properties in Dubai include the children of President Asif Ali Zardari -- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari; former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharifs son Hussain Nawaz; former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwas son Saad Siddique Bajwa; Senator Faisal Vawda; Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon; and dozens of retired army officers. Being a businessman, I will invest my money where I like, Naqvi said, disclosing that his wife also has a property in London. Tax has been paid on my wifes properties abroad, he claimed. Amravati Bureau Amravati, Mala, a born destitute and abandoned girl who was found in dust bin in a railway station at Jalgaon and brought up here at Late Ambadaspant Vaidya Divyang, Bewaris Balgruh, Vazzar added a new chapter in the history of rehabilitated by achieving success in Group C main exam conducted by Maharashtra Public State Commission (MPSC) whose result were declared recently. Mala was born blind, was thrown by her parents in the dust bin at the railway station in Jalgaon. After getting the attention of the police, she was brought to the Balgruh of senior social worker Shankarbaba Papalkar at Vazzar and her life got a new lease of life with support of Shankarbaba Papalkar. She succeeded in the MPSC examination by studying hard by facing adverse circumstances. She has achieved this success with the help of Shankar Baba Papalkar. Many people blame their luck and fortune citing lack of opportunities and resources. For such people the story of Mala, a 25-year-old girl, is inspiring. Mala has cleared the Maharashtra Public Service Commission, Clerk Group C Main Examination. After being thrown in a dust bin by her parents at Jalgaon railway station, police searched for parents and relatives. But they were not found, she was admitted to the remand home in Jalgaon. As there was no system for the rehabilitation of the disabled, the police handed her over to Shankarbaba Papalkar, the Director of Late Ambadaspant Vaidya Divyang Bewaras Balgruh in Vazzar, on the orders of the Child Welfare Committee. Shankarbaba accepted the responsibility of her rehabilitation and named her Mala and also gave his name as her father. Based on that, her Aadhaar Card, Election Identity Card, Resident Certificate and others documents were prepared and arranged for her education. Malas life journey started in a Balgruh with 125 orphaned, bereft, disabled boys and girls. With determination and hard work, Mala also continued her education. She passed her Bachelor of Arts Degree Examination, 2018, from the Government Vidarbha Institute of Science and Humanities (GVISH) here. Prof Prakash Tople from Daryapur took over her guardianship for her Degree and Post Graduate Education. From 2019, Malas struggle to prove herself through competitive exams began. Mala prepared for the MPSC exam under the guidance of Amol Patil, Director of Unique Academy here. Mala said that she is happy to have passed the State Public Service Commission exam, but will not stop here and will continue her efforts to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. Shankarbaba Papalkar, senior social worker expressing his pleasure over the success of Mala and said that she has achieved success through sheer determination and hard work. This success will be writeen in golden letters in the history of rehabilitation of disabled not only in Maharashtra, but in the country. She should be properly honoured by the society, hopes Shankarbaba. SEOIACB apprehends three govt officials for accepting bribe Staff Reporter RAIPUR, The State Economic Offence Investigation-Anti Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) has apprehended three government officials for accepting bribes. Milan Bhagat, Deputy Ranger of Gharghoda Range, was arrested for attempting to extort a bribe of Rs 8,000 from Jagmohan Manjhi, an exorcist returning from work in Raigarh. Determined to expose Bhagats corruption, Manjhi alerted the Anti-Corruption Bureau, leading to a successful sting operation. Bhagat was caught accepting the remaining Rs 5,000 of the bribe, resulting in his immediate arrest under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. In another case Santosh Kumar Dewangan, Revenue Inspector of Juna Bilaspur, was arrested after demanding Rs 2.50 lakh from Praveen Kumar Tarun for land demarcation work. Tarun reported Dewangans demand to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which set up a carefully planned operation. Dewangan was caught red-handed accepting the first instalment of Rs 1 lakh, leading to his arrest and legal proceedings under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. In yet another incident TR Meshram, Executive Engineer of the Water Resources Department in Kondagaon, was apprehended after contractor Tushar Dewangan refused to pay a demanded bribe of Rs 7 lakh. Dewangan reported Meshrams demand to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which arranged a trap. Meshram was arrested while accepting the first instalment of Rs 50,000, and now faces legal repercussions under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 18:20 | All, World, Japan The governor of Okinawa on Saturday criticized the U.S. ambassador to Japan's visit to two of its remote islands in the country's south near Taiwan the previous day, saying the move raises tensions in the region. "To visit an area near Taiwan increases the tension. We are monitoring (the situation) closely so that it doesn't cause further friction," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki told reporters, apparently referring to China's objection to the United States deepening ties with Taiwan. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni Island, Japan's westernmost island about 100 kilometers east of Taiwan, and Ishigaki Island, about 130 km east of Yonaguni, on Friday. Tamaki also expressed concern about the fact that Emanuel took a flight to the islands on a U.S. Marine Corps transport plane through local commercial airports. "If one commercial airport is used, will it not lead to others being potentially utilized (by U.S. forces in Japan) as well?" the governor said. Yonaguni and Ishigaki are part of the southwestern Nansei island chain, which is strategically important due to its proximity to Taiwan, a potential geopolitical flashpoint. With China viewing Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary, Japan has been strengthening its defense capabilities in the area and its security cooperation with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. Related coverage: U.S. ambassador makes rare visit to remote Japanese isles near Taiwan U.S. forces lift ban on Osprey flights after Nov. crash in Japan Japan government mulls meeting with Okinawa on U.S. base transfer plan New York, May 17, 2024 Angolan authorities should credibly investigate a break-in at the home of prominent journalist William Tonet and drop the criminal defamation charges he faces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. A man armed with a pistol broke into Tonets home in the capital, Luanda, at around 4 a.m. on April 27, according to the journalist who spoke to CPJ, media reports, and a statement by the local union Syndicate of Angolan Journalists (SJA). Tonet, director and editor of the privately owned newspaper Folha 8, said he was awake when the intruder came into his bedroom, and the journalist shouted at him, causing the man to flee and escape in a white Toyota vehicle waiting outside. Tonet said he did not file a police complaint because he does not trust authorities in Angola, citing the inadequate police response to a June 6, 2023, fire that destroyed the Folha 8 office in Luanda and the subsequent investigations that came up empty. Twelve film cameras, seven still cameras, and editing equipment, all worth around US$50,000, were destroyed in the blaze. Tonet told CPJ that he is separately facing a criminal defamation and insult case following a complaint by a former judge over a 2020 report by Folha 8. Criminal defamation carries up to 1.5 years in prison, while insult carries up to one year, according to the penal code. Between a fire at his Folha 8 newsroom last year, the April 2024 break-in at his home, and the prospect of prison time over criminal defamation charges, Angolan newspaper journalist William Tonet seems besieged on all sides, said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo, in Accra. Authorities must take steps to ensure that Tonet and other critical journalists do not operate in an environment of fear and legal persecution. Tonet said he did not think the man was a common thief because several valuables in the house were left untouched, and he seemed to have a planned exit. The break-in occurred two months after Tonet returned to Angola after receiving medical treatment in Portugal. Luzia Sebastiao, a former judge in Angolas Constitutional Court of the Republic, filed a criminal defamation and insult complaint against Tonet in connection to a June 2020 report, which cited a book alleging that the judge was implicated in a massacre that killed thousands in the aftermath of the May 27, 1977, political crisis. Folha 8 published an article in July 2020 in which Sebastiao denied the allegations. The case was adjourned on November 23, 2023, after Tonets lawyer submitted a request to delay the proceedings to allow Tonet to travel abroad for treatment, the journalist told CPJ. A new court date has yet to be set. Sebastiao told CPJ that she agrees with the decriminalization of defamation defended by CPJ but said, it is currently the only legal avenue to seek redress in effect in Angola. She said she would not comment further on a case that is before a court. Tonet and Folha 8 have faced over 100 defamation cases since the paper was founded in 1996, according to the journalist and a 2014 news report by the German public broadcaster DW. While investigations and accusations can be idle for years, they can be reopened at any point if it is in the interest of those in power, Tonet told CPJ. In 2011, a court convicted Tonet on a criminal libel charge and handed him a one-year suspended sentence. In 2012, police raided the Folha 8 offices amid an investigation into offenses of outrage against the state after the newspaper published a satirical photo montage of the countrys president and vice president. Nestor Goubel, spokesperson of the national police in Luanda, told CPJ that he could not comment but would seek information on the break-in at Tonets home and the June 2023 fire at Folha 8. Taxation is the claim of ownership over the life and labour of other people. At best this is extortion. No one should have a right to the life, labour, or property of another person, and no badge, or title, or government decree should change this fact. Regardless of how one tries to justify it one cannot escape the reality that taxation is theft backed with the threat of violence or harm for failure to pay, not much better in nature than the operations of organized crime. Theft is evil. Therefore, taxation is evil, whether its necessary or not. Imagine an organization telling you that you need to give them money every month, if you dont, they will drag you out from your house and lock you up. Sounds almost like the Mafia, right? Well, this is exactly what the government does. When the government levies taxes on your house and land, it means it owns them, not you. Some people argue that Taxation is a necessary attribute of having governmental services, and some of those services are rather vital to having health, prosperity, freedom, and safety. And part of me would like to go with that argument, but most of the taxes paid dont necessarily benefit the people that need them most. So, I have no problem paying taxes when they provide a returned benefit to society. In Denmark they pay a lot of tax, but most people are ok because the cities are super clean and efficient, education is free from kindergarten to university for a PhD, people can get medical care at dirt-cheap prices, the unemployment benefits are substantial, maternity leaves are long, e.t.c. Under the circumstances we all live in, with our government being the epitome of evil, I would suggest not only charging high taxes, but paying taxes is immoral. As Australian media magnate Kerry Packer put it, "Pay the Government what you owe them, but don't tip them; they don't spend it well enough". Dont get me wrong here, I love beautiful roads, and it felt nice to drive on Entebbe Express when I visited Uganda in 2022- It saved me a lot of time whenever we drove to our family home in Nansana. But I think private Chinese companies that built that road should be allowed to directly manage it. I dont see the problem paying a private company directly if you take into consideration the amount of money you pay in taxes and fees to drive on inefficiently managed government owned roads to begin with. Private roads could also function like a trust and still be allowed to use for non-paying members if they arent abusing them. The hypothetical nightmare of tolls everywhere that you are worried about is a worst-case scenario. Its a genuine concern but Id like to imagine its practical application. With the direction of the bureaucratic organization and planning they have no incentive to fix the roads because theyre being paid regardless of if drivers are destroying their cars on potholes. They are not held accountable. I think it would reduce costs because paying directly for a service would cut managerial costs. If private ownership of roads replaced government ownership there would be no justification for a fuel tax. I dont think a private road company would exploit the motorist because if they didnt agree with the service they could choose a different supplier. As long as the government has a monopoly on roadways, we cannot change a supplier even if we are dissatisfied with the quality of service. The money saved on paying fuel tax would be voluntarily invested in infrastructure and I think the system would be more attuned to the needs of motorists. There would be transparency and accountability. The government often takes funds from fuel tax and diverts it to other state funded programs that have nothing to do with the construction or maintenance of roads while running up billion-dollar shortfalls. A private company wouldnt have the means to be that wasteful. If the government runs a deficit, they increase taxes or divert funds from another program. Because of their monopoly status theres no incentive to be efficient with all that money and no accountability. At the end of the day, it's this simple, citizens should be able to control every single penny they earn and how they choose to spend that money. If they want to contribute to maintaining roads, bridges, and highways, then that's fine. I'm pretty sure most will contribute knowing they use all these things regularly and have no problem. I've always wondered why we tax again and again and again. For example, if the income I earned was already taxed, if I pay someone else, that income is then taxed again. At the end of the day, all the money just gets recycled back to the government! CHARGE LOW TAXES Government should consider charging lower taxes to Ugandans since few people are really buying and selling staff or earning a lot. Lower taxes with the same sales and clientele would mean more money to use in the home budget. If youre a politician, all governments that tax less than yours are Tax Havens and are deplorable because theyre offering the people you rule over a better deal than you. Low or no income tax countries can be attractive for entrepreneurs and business owners as they offer a more favourable tax environment. This can lead to lower operating costs and higher profits, making it easier for businesses to thrive. In both Singapore and Switzerland, it is not only about low tax, but also that the government seems to spend taxes wisely with investment for the long term. I also think that is true of the UAE - I will find out more when I visit there next month, God willing. high taxes on something will discourage the consumption of some goods and cause the wealth gap to increase further, as people born poor will have to pay more and more taxes, reducing their ability to afford a good education, reducing their ability to increase their current situation. In fact, tax minimization is your duty as a democratically empowered citizen. Unjust taxes are a heinous abuse of government power and exceedingly 'immoral'. There have been enough wars over the centuries on this very point (even in the very roots of American independence from Great Britain) that ought to have made this point clear. BUSINESS PEOPLE REPRESENTATION The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 angered colonists regarding British decisions on taxing the colonies with no representation in the Westminster Parliament. The Townsend Acts imposed taxes on the American colony without allowing them any representation (thus Taxation without representation is tyranny). The Tea Act of 1773 was the last straw. That is why tea was the cargo thrown into the bay leading to the famous Boston Tea party. I paused for some photos at this spot in Boston last year. It wasnt the amount of tax that caused the Boston Tea Party, it was the principle of Britain imposing taxes on the colonies. The American patriots considered the tax to be unconstitutional, based on the British constitution at the time. Secondly, the introduction of the Tea Act, gave the East India Company the opportunity to export tea directly to the colony without paying any duty. As a result, the American merchants of the colony were unable to compete with the East India Company and suffered severe economic losses. In this situation the colonists began to boycott what was imported by the company. Today some of you have representation in parliament. If you dont like the tax level imposed by the Museveni government, vote for MPs and leaders who will change it. While Museveni was meeting the businesspeople, especially, the traders of Kampala recently at Kololo, one of the main speakers mentioned that they would like a representative in parliament, and I think this is something the government should consider. DODGING TAXES Everyone, literally everyone has to pay taxes of some kind no matter if they are rich or poor, especially in developed countries. The problem is when people attempt to skirt around paying taxes when they can afford to do it. Example, one of my favourite movie actors, Nicholas Cage, got into some serious trouble after not paying his taxes and building serious debt on top of that. So, he started starring in lower grade films in order to pay his debts. Apparently, a lot of business and powerful people in Musevenis government tend to avoid taxes. Even lower-class people can attempt to commit tax fraud and skirt around paying taxes, but when they get caught, it hits them harder. The dodging of paying taxes is mainly brought about by the fact that the taxes are high. Everyone is feeling it from traders to property owners. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 10:42 | World, All North Korea said Saturday it test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new autonomous navigation system, with the drill overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, according to the country's official Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean military detected Friday the launch of what were believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired toward the Sea of Japan from an area near North Korea's eastern port city of Wonsan. They were estimated to have flown about 300 kilometers before falling into the sea. KCNA said the accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system was verified through the test and Kim expressed "great satisfaction" with the outcome. Kim also visited a defense industrial complex on Friday and stressed the need to continue to accelerate production "for more rapidly bolstering the nuclear force" of the country, the news agency said. Referring to "reckless military confrontation moves" by South Korea and the United States, the leader said, "enemies would be afraid of and dare not to play with fire only when they witness the nuclear combat posture of our state which is hard for them to feel," KCNA added. His remarks came after Seoul and Washington conducted joint aerial drills involving stealth jets on Thursday. Related coverage: North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward Sea of Japan U.S. sanctions Russian firms over North Korea-linked arms transfers KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2024 - 20:04 | All, World, Japan The administration of President Joe Biden will deploy an official dedicated to monitoring Chinese governmental and business activities to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo in July, State Department sources said Saturday. The dispatch of such a specialized China watcher to the embassy is part of the Biden administration's efforts to reinforce intelligence gathering, according to the sources. The department has already added about 20 similar officials in charge of monitoring China to the U.S. embassies in other capitals, including Bangkok, Brussels, Rome and Sydney. The Tokyo posting will be Washington's first of its kind in East Asia, the sources said. Diplomats carrying out these specialized duties are known as regional China officers, a category launched during the previous administration under Donald Trump. The officers are tasked with collecting and analyzing information regarding China's inroads into the region or country where they are based. In addition to monitoring China's actions, the official to be sent to Tokyo will be in charge of promoting the establishment of supply chains for semiconductors and other vital goods that do not rely on China, the sources said. In Italy, which was initially part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's flagship Belt and Road initiative until withdrawing last year, a regional officer was keeping close tabs on China's expanding diplomatic and economic clout. In Australia, an officer is analyzing China's moves to strengthen relations with Pacific island nations and exploring possible countermeasures, as well as scrutinizing Beijing's acts of economic intimidation, according to the sources. While seeking to stabilize relations with China, the Biden administration continues to view the Asian power as its only competitor with "both intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it." The Regional China Officer program is now part of the so-called China House, a State Department-based unit created in December 2022 to better coordinate the U.S. approach to Beijing. The official to be assigned to the Tokyo embassy will be affiliated with the unit formally called the Office of China Coordination, which is believed to be staffed with 60 to 70 members. The unit is under the department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The official, who has experience working in China and Japan, is expected to serve a three-year term, according to the sources. As Washington and a bipartisan majority of U.S. lawmakers share the view that Beijing is the most serious geopolitical threat, the Central Intelligence Agency also established a special unit focused on China in October 2021. Related coverage: U.S. conducted first subcritical nuclear test since September 2021 U.S., China each voice concerns in 1st dialogue on safe use of AI Biden hits Chinese EVs, other key goods with much higher tariffs The state government today declared that each of the eleven families in Malda district will receive financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh. This is in response to the tragedy that occurred on Thursday when eleven people lost their lives due to lightning strikes in different parts of Malda district. The Malda district administration announced this decision and minister Sabina Yeasmin, following instructions from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, returned from Kolkata to meet with the grieving families today. Lightning struck various areas such as English Bazaar, Old Malda, Gazole, Harishchandrapur and Ratua on Thursday. Advertisement In order to help the families further, Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, chairman of English Bazar Municipality, arranged for post-mortem examinations and transportation of the bodies from Malda Medical College and Hospital. Additionally, leaders affiliated with the ruling parties have also visited the bereaved families in their respective areas. Following the end of the Lok Sabha polls in Cooch Behar, Sitalkuchi witnessed political violence last night. A group of armed miscreants shot at Animesh Roy, a leader of the Trinamul Congress, as he was returning home from an organizational meeting in Lalbazar. Roy was first taken to a primary health centre in Sitalkuchi and then transferred to a nursing home in Cooch Behar for better treatment. Advertisement The TMC leadership has accused the BJP for the attack, but the identities of those responsible remain unknown. The police have initiated an investigation into the incident. Today, Abdul Jalil Ahmed, co-vice-president of the Cooch Behar district Trinamul Congress and member of district council, visited Roy, who was injured in the attack. Mr Ahmed claimed that there is a strong presence of BJP in the area and they are responsible for this incident. However, BJP has denied these allegations and its MLA from Sitalakuchi constituency, Barun Chandra Burman stated that without any concrete evidence, BJP cannot be held accountable for this incident. Police must conduct a thorough investigation to unearth the truth, Mr Barman added. Actor Prateik Patil Babbar, who is all set to represent his mother and late legendary actress Smita Patils film Manthan at the 77th Cannes Film Festival by Shyam Benegal, says he is filled with immense pride as the movie is restored and that if his mother was here today, she too would have been incredibly proud. In a tete-a-tete with IANS, Prateik, who legally added his mothers last name earlier this year, said: I am filled with immense pride as my mothers 1976 film Manthan has been restored and will premiere in the Cannes Classics section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. I have the honour of representing my late mother at this historic event, which also marks my debut at the esteemed Cannes Film Festival. This moment is deeply close for me as her son, having always regarded her as one of the greatest actresses in Indian cinema history, said the actor. Advertisement Manthan, which won a National Award for Best Feature Film in 1977, was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien. The film, which was entirely crowdfunded by 5,00,000 farmers who donated Rs 2 each, is based on the White Revolution in the country. Prateik (37) said that Manthan being showcased at the 77th Cannes Film Festival is a tremendous honour, both for the film and for Indian cinema. This film represents a significant moment in our cinematic history, demonstrating the power of collective effort and the impact of socially conscious storytelling, said the actor, who will be seen walking the red carpet in an ensemble by designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna. Talking about his late mother Smita Patil, who died aged 31 from childbirth complications in 1986, said: If my mother were here today, she would be incredibly proud. She was always passionate about cinema which made a difference, and seeing Manthan celebrated on such a prestigious global platform would validate her belief in meaningful art. Prime Minister Narenda Modi will contest against 6 candidates in his Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in the seventh and last phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh to be held on June 1. A total of 144 candidates are in the fray in the 7th phase of polling in UP covering 13 Lok Sabha seats of Purvanchal. UP Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said here on Saturday that a total of 317 candidates had filed nominations for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the seventh phase. After the scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations, now a total of 144 candidates are in the fray. Advertisement He said the highest number of 28 candidates are in the fray from Ghosi and lowest 7 candidates each in Deoria and Varanasi. There are 8 candidate in the fray in Maharajganj, 13 in Gorakhpur, 9 in Kushinagar,8 in Bansgaon(SC), 9 in Salempur,13 in Ballia, 10 each in Ghazipur, Chandauli and Mirzapur and 12 in Robertsganj(SC). Whereas 6 candidates are in the fray in the Duddhi Assembly by-election in Sonebhadra district. Swati Maliwal, the Rajya Sabha MP of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former Delhi Women Commission (DCW) chief, was in touch with BJP leaders and that she was made to hatch this conspiracy using an old Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) case as leverage, Delhi minister Atishi claimed on Saturday. Maliwal has accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals PA Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the official residence of the CM on May 13. The way ED, CBI, anti-corruption bureau, Income tax dept, Economic Offences Wing were used to blackmail opposition leaders and make them join BJP, similarly in the Swati Maliwal case the same formula was used. There is a case against Swati Maliwal by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, an FIR has been made and a probe is underway and using this, Swati Maliwal was made to hatch this conspiracy and was used as a pawn, Atishi told a news agency. Advertisement AAP MLA and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also suggested the ACB case was behind her allegations against Kejriwals PA. When a woman makes such allegations, it seems that there will be some truth in her words. We also felt the same in the case of Swati Maliwal ji, but when the video of the drawing room of the CM residence came out yesterday, something different is visible in it. In the video, Swati ji is seen threatening the Delhi Police officers. The allegations of assault and tearing of clothes that she is making are not visible in that video. She is sitting comfortably. BJPs ACB has filed a case against Swati ji and the decision in that is still awaited. Senior BJP leaders are also in touch with Swati ji, Bhardwaj said. Maliwal has filed a case against Bibhav Kumar. In her complaint, she alleged that Kumar punched her in the chest and kicked her on stomach and in the pelvis area on May 13 when she went to Kejriwals residence. A day after her allegations, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh admitted that Bibhav Kumar misbehaved with Maliwal and that a strict action will be taken against him. However, a purported video of the Maliwal threatening Delhi police personnel deployed in Kejriwals security and abusing his PA Bibhav Kumar brought a new twist in the case. In the video, Maliwal is seen sitting on a sofa at the drawing room of the Delhi CMs official residence. She then threatens the officers on duty and allegedly abuses Kumar. The Statesman doesnt vouch for the authenticity of the video. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest him and other AAP leaders, announcing that he along with his top party leaders will march to the BJP headquarters on Sunday at 12 pm. The Delhi Chief Ministers reaction came after his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police in the assault case of AAP MP Swati Maliwal. On Thursday, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, the personal secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with the alleged assault on Maliwal that took place on May 13 at CM Kejriwals official residence. Addressing a press conference on Saturday evening, Kejriwal alleged that Prime Minister Modi is playing Jail ka Khel with the Aam Aadmi Party. Advertisement You can see how they (BJP) are after AAP. One after another, they are putting AAP leaders behind bars. They put me, Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, and Sanjay Singh behind bars. Today they put my PA in jail. Now they are saying they will put Raghav Chadha, Atishi, and Saurabh Bharadwaj in jail. Maybe our fault is that we built schools and mohalla clinics, we provided free electricity, but they are unable to do it. I would like to tell the Prime Minister you are playing this jail ka khel. Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP headquarters with all my top leaders, MLAs, and MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you want, Kejriwal said. The Delhi Chief Minister asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party cannot be crushed, as it is not just a political party but an ideology. You might be thinking that by putting AAP leaders in jail, you will be able to crush AAP but AAP is an ideology that has touched the hearts of people, he said. The close aide of the AAP supremo, meanwhile, emailed Delhi Police stating that he was ready to cooperate in the ongoing probe into Maliwals assault claim while adding that they should also take cognisance of his complaint. Kumar, on Friday, lodged a counter-complaint with the police accusing Maliwal of gaining unauthorised entry into the CMs Civil Lines residence and verbally abusing him. Maliwal in her complaint has alleged that Kumar slapped her at least seven to eight times while she continued screaming and brutally dragged her while kicking her in her chest, stomach and pelvis area. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the government has successfully eliminated terrorism in the country. If Pakistan makes any mistake now, we will wipe it out with bullets made in Bundelkhand, he asserted. Addressing an election meeting at Tuvan Maidan here on Saturday in support of BJP candidate from Jhansi Anurag Sharma, Shah said that the Bundelas had fought against the British and now they are fighting to make Narendra Modi the PM of the country for the third time. Advertisement The Union Home Minister said that while the entire world celebrated Ram Utsav and the Pran Pratistha Mahotsav of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Rahul Baba and his sister Priyanka rejected the invitation. Rahul Baba is afraid of his vote bank getting alienated, especially due to potential backlash from Bangladeshi infiltrators. In the pursuit of securing his vote bank, even Mani Shankar Aiyar advocated for appeasing Pakistan, citing its possession of atom bomb. However, under the Narendra Modi government, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir unequivocally belongs to India and will continue to be so, he declared. Accusing the Congress of dividing the country into two parts, he said that the party now wants to divide India into North India and South India. No one can break India under the Narendra Modi government, he asserted. Shah reminded the public that on the one hand there is a party that opened fire on Ram devotees, while, on the other hand, there is a party that paved the way for the construction of a grand Ram temple. Now, it is up to you to decide with whom you will go, he said. He sarcastically remarked that Rahul Babas INDIA bloc is getting swept in the elections. Giving information about the governments development plans, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked hard to develop the country. Shah said that during the Corona period, the Prime Minister worked to protect 130 crore people of the country by vaccinating them free of cost. When Rahul Baba came to know about it, he also got vaccinated in the night. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday came down heavily on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi over the alleged corruption in the now scrapped excise policy and slammed the Congress for embracing the AAP at the instance of the partys royal family for vote bank politics. Delhi aur Haryana mein Dosti, Punjab mein kushti (friendship in Delhi and Haryana, wrestling in Punjab). This is what the INDIA bloc is, he said while addressing an election rally at Ghonda in North-East Delhi in support of BJP MP candidatesManoj Tiwari from North-East Delhi, Harsh Malhotra from East Delhi and Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk constituency in the national capital. PM Modi was obviously referring to the seat adjustment between the AAP and the Congress in Delhi and Haryana but they are fighting against each other in Punjab. Advertisement Without directly referring to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other top leaders of AAP, PM Modi alleged they had indulged in corruption worth crores of rupees in the liquor scam and were now visiting jails. The same Congress party, which was earlier taking the credit for exposing the liquor scam, was now supporting the AAP and was silent on the scam, the Prime Minister said. Hitting out at the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi, the Prime Minister said: The INDI Alliance is hell-bent on creating hindrances to development works.They are responsible for breaking the trust of the people. The PM further said: They formed the government to end corruption, but now they are busy defending themselves against corruption charges. Amid development works happening here, the INDIA alliance is busy destroying DelhiThey are not leaving any opportunity to loot the people of Delhi. These people had come in the name of eliminating corruption, but today they are in jail due to scams worth crores of rupees, he said. PM Modi hit out at the grand old party on contesting three Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, saying that Four generations of the Congress ruled in Delhi, but today such is the state of the party that they cant even contest on four seats here. The Prime Minister said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are crucial for positioning India as the third-largest economy globally. They are also pivotal to safeguarding India from the parties which could bankrupt India, he said. The 2024 elections are crucial to defeat the mindset of nepotism that has shattered the dreams of our youth for decades, and to defeat those forces that want to weaken India. Indian polity needs a stable government. The National Capital must become an attraction for the world. Thats why the country needs Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar, the Prime Minister said. Talking about the G20 Summit, PM Modi said, During the G20 Summit, global leaders were awestruck by the transformation of Delhi. Today, Delhi boasts modern convention centers like Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi, along with landmarks such as the National War Memorial and the New Parliament building, enhancing our sense of pride!, he said. The Prime Minister said he is dedicated to making the lives of people in Delhi easier. We are working to regularize the unauthorized colonies of Delhi. Alongside that, we are working to provide slum dwellers with pucca houses, PM Modi said. At the venue of his public address in the North-East Delhi constituency, PM Modi met Pakistani refugees who got Indian citizenship under CAA recently. A delegation comprising several foreign delegates including Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong and Nepali Ambassador Dr Shankar P Sharma also attended PM Modis public meeting. The seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the national capital are New Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi, West Delhi, Chandni Chowk, North West and North East Delhi. Voting for all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi is scheduled to take place on May 25, during the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The counting of votes for all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls will be held on June 4. For weeks National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been extensively campaigning in areas near the Line of Control in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in North Kashmir from where he is contesting this time. Its a departure from the traditional stronghold in Srinagar for the NC Vice-President. Omar says his fight is not against an individual but is against the BJP. Advertisement The BJP doesnt have candidates in this election, so anybody who is contesting against the National Conference and the INDIA bloc is benefitting the BJP. There are only three official INDIA bloc candidates in this election from the Valley: Mian Altaf Ahmad from South Kashmir, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi from Central Kashmir, and me from North Kashmir, he said. Ruhullah Mehdi has been nominated by the NC to contest from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Omar has said that he wont contest for the Assembly until Jammu and Kashmirs status remains that of a Union Territory. The Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, with its 18 Assembly constituencies, is witnessing a closely contested battle. The party also relies on Shia support in areas like Budgam, Beerwah and Bandipora to bolster its chances of victory. Delimitation in 2019 reshaped the electoral landscape, expanding the constituency to include Shia-dominated areas. Statehood is not an agenda for us, we are taking that as a given regardless of which government is in power at the Centre after June 4 statehood whether before Assembly election or after, we are taking that for granted, bit as far as what was done to us on August 5, 2019, constitutionally in terms of our status and what that has meant for us, It is going to be a long struggle, hopefully, if not today, tomorrow we will have a government at the Centre that is made up of friends that see eye-to-eye with us on this crucial issue. But while the National Conference aims to consolidate its position, challenges lie ahead in meeting the expectations of the people and delivering on political promises. Omar Abdullah is a tall leader and had been the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the past, people have a lot of expectations from him, we want him to win the elections and do work for people in this area that lack health facilities and are economically backward, an NC supporter in Kupwara said. As the poll battle in Jammu and Kashmir continues to evolve, all eyes remain on the Lok Sabha election results for the Union Territory, which could also determine the future of its political trajectory. Tourists visit the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province, May 2, 2024. (Photo by Liu Huanyu/Xinhua) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's tourism sector has witnessed a notable boom, greatly facilitating the country's social and economic development. At a national meeting on the development of the tourism sector held on Friday, efforts were demanded to promote the high-quality development of the sector and accelerate the building of China into a country strong in tourism. The meeting also highlighted the importance of protecting cultural heritage and ecological resources, enhancing the level of supply and quality of services, and deepening international tourism exchanges and cooperation. During the five-day May Day holiday this year, domestic tourist expenditure in China amounted to 166.89 billion yuan (about 23.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 12.7 percent from the same period in 2023. The holiday season travel rush evident at popular travel destinations recently has underlined tourism's strong driving role in China's process of economic and social development. For instance, the city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, which is renowned for its winter scenery, received 10 million visits during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday. The visits generated total tourist income of 16.4 billion yuan, 235.4 percent higher than the same period last year. The fact that tourism is becoming an emerging strategic pillar industry is also evident in China's rural areas, where it is playing a major role in the country's rural revitalization drive. Xiantan Village, once a little-known location hidden in the mountains of Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, is one of the villages that was totally transformed through the development of tourism. Far from being the secluded village it once was, this village is now a popular tourist destination with a robust homestay industry, said Shen Jiangrong, secretary of the village's Communist Party of China committee and also a local homestay owner. The village currently features 166 homestays and many restaurants and cafes, which have created more than a hundred jobs for villagers and facilitated the development of tourism-related businesses in surrounding areas. During the 2024 May Day holiday, Deqing County received over 1.38 million tourist visits, which generated almost 1.9 billion yuan in tourism revenue. Several regions in China are continuing to explore ways to further unleash their tourism potential, seeking to integrate local culture into travel products, so as to provide travelers with unique experiences. "While protecting and inheriting history and culture, we should strengthen cultural characteristics, innovate ways of presentation, integrate them into products and services, develop more scenarios for travelers to experience them, further unleash their charm, and form a brand image more recognized by consumers," said Wang Zhifa, a former tourism official. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cut short his family tour to Dubai, Singapore, and Indonesia and arrived in Thiruvananthapuram early on Saturday. The Chief Minister and his family arrived here on an Emirates flight from Dubai at 3 am on Saturday. CM Vijayans return was initially scheduled for May 20, but he arrived earlier than expected. The Chief Minister left Kerala from Kochi along with his wife Kamala and their grandson on May 6 for a two-week vacation to UAE, Indonesia, and Singapore. His daughter Veena Vijayan and her husband State Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas joined him. Advertisement The Chief Ministers foreign trip has drawn criticism from the Congress-led opposition and the BJP, who have questioned the secrecy of his journey amidst the Lok Sabha polls. Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans decision to embark on a three-nation private tour amid the intense election scenario in the country implies his apprehension towards the BJP. KPCC president K Sudhakaran said Chief Minister Vijayan had cheated his party by not campaigning for the candidates in other states. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of going abroad to enjoy beach tourism at a time when the people of Kerala are suffering in the extreme summer heat. Muraleedharan asked who is the sponsor of the private foreign trip of the CM and his family and what is the source of income of the sponsor. Forward Bloc General Secretary G Devarajan has also come out against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans foreign tour. Stating that this years election is a crucial one, Devarajan said that the CPI-M should have used Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for campaigning in West Bengal and Bihar. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday informed that more than 4.24 lakh complaints were received through its cVigil app till 15th May, from the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel also informed that 99.9 per cent of cases were disposed of by it. Since the announcement of the General Elections 2024, over 4.24 lakh complaints have been received through this App as on 15th May. Out of these 4,23,908 complaints have been disposed of and the remaining 409 cases are under process. Nearly, 89 per cent complaints were resolved within a 100 minutes timeline, the ECI said in a communique. Advertisement Pointing out that the cVIGIL app has emerged as a highly effective tool in the hands of people to flag election code violations in the Lok Sabha polls, the poll panel said, Citizens have used this App for checking electoral malpractices in use of loudspeakers beyond prescribed time or noise levels, campaigning during ban period, placing banners or posters without permission, deployment of vehicles beyond permitted limit, property defacement, display firearms/ intimidation and in checking inducements. It may be mentioned that during the announcement of the LS elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had urged citizens to be vigilant and use the app to report MCC violations and distribution of any kind of inducements to voters. The cVigil is user-friendly and easy to operate application, which connects vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer and Flying Squads Teams. By using this app, the citizens can immediately report on incidents of political misconduct within minutes and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer. The app automatically enables a geo-tagging feature as soon as the user switches on their camera in the cVIGIL to report a violation. To prevent misuse, the cVIGIL app incorporates several safeguards, including geographical restrictions, time constraints on reporting, and mechanisms for filtering out duplicate or frivolous complaints. The BJP on Saturday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the alleged assault incident of sitting Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, saying that the AAP has become synonymous with Anti-Women Party. On Thursday, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, the personal secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in connection with the alleged assault on Maliwal that took place on May 13 at CM Kejriwals official residence. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here over the issue, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, At 9 am on May 13th, an incident of misconduct with Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal took place at Delhi CMs residence. Initially, there was a silence of 72 hours until May 18th and then Sanjay Singh (AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP) acknowledged the matter to some extent and subsequently, efforts were made to defend the incident. Advertisement The AAP has become synonymous with Anti-Women Party. From corruption to misconduct and then defamation, this has become the ideology of the Aam Aadmi Party, Poonawalla said. He also accused AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi of character assassination against Rajya Sabha MP and victim Swati Maliwal. The BJP national spokesperson pointed out that during a press conference today, Atishi defended her ministerial position by highlighting, Another video clip has emerged showing Swati Maliwal without any signs of injury or torn clothes. Instead of crying, she is seen expressing her anger loudly. The Aam Aadmi Partys stance is that if there is no visible physical evidence of assault, such as tears or torn clothes, does it mean that nothing happened to the woman? Discussing a victim in this manner constitutes victim blaming and victim shaming. Such arguments are being presented by the Aam Aadmi Party in the press conference, he said. Poonawalla presented a video of MP Sanjay Singhs press conference, raising questions to the Aam Aadmi Party: Why did they have to make a U-turn with Atishis press conference, within 72 hours? Was Sanjay Singh being untruthful? Atishi clarifies that Sanjay Singh was aware of only one perspective, implying that he conducted the press conference based on a biased understanding. Another query arises, Why is Arvind Kejriwal silent on this entire matter? The third question is: What narrative does the Aam Aadmi Party aim to construct by releasing 20-second snippets from a one-hour sequence of events? Despite having a history of crafting narratives using short clips, the Aam Aadmi Party should release the entire CCTV footage. Swati Maliwal herself has raised concerns about potential tampering with CCTV footage. She has stated that political hitmen are releasing short videos to protect themselves, intending to shift blame onto the victim, the BJP national spokesperson said. Why are the leaders of the INDI Alliance maintaining silence about this disgraceful victim shaming and blaming done by Atishi? Why is Priyanka Vadra, who champions the slogan Ladki Hoon, Ladd Sakti Hoon, silent on this issue? Why is Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), who left Congress due to misconduct against herself, silent on this matter? Why hasnt Rahul Gandhi, who is known to stand up for womens dignity anywhere, spoken about this issue yet? Does Rahul Gandhi accept victim shaming?, Poonawalla added. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the aim of INDIA bloc is to protect the Constitution and appealed to the people to safeguard it by ousting the ruling BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Addressing his maiden rally here in support of the three INDIA bloc candidatesJP Agarwal, Udit Raj and Kanhaiya Kumar ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, he said: Our aim is to protect this Constitution. If this goes away, which the BJP wants, Narendra Modi ji wants so, the first work is to safeguard this book, Constitution because this is your future, your dream and voice of your heart. Accusing the BJP of misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he said: Arvind Kejriwal ji and Hemant Soren ji were put in jail. There is a list of leaders from the Congress as well. Our fight is to save the Constitution. Advertisement Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, Narendra Modi ji worked for 22 to 25 people. He waived off Rs 16 lakh crore of big billionaires including Adani and Ambani but not of small businessmen and farmers. He privatised the Red Fort, which is a symbol of the country. Referring to demonetization and GST, he claimed businesses were shut at a large scale because of it. In Chandni Chowk, there are small and medium businessmen, traders. I want to ask you what Narendra Modi ji has done for you in the last 10 years, he asked the gathering. Senior party leaders P Chidambaram and Ajay Maken, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav and AAP leaders, among others were also present on the occasion. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), part of the INDIA bloc, announced seat-sharing in Delhi and several states for the general elections. As per the agreement, in Delhi of the seven parliamentary seats, Congress is contesting in three parliamentary seats and AAP in four constituencies. Voting for the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi will take place on 25th May. The people have resolved to fulfill the vision of Viksit Bharat under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Therefore, the people will make Modi as the Prime Minister for the third time, BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda has said. He said this while addressing public meetings in Nurpur, Chamba and Solan in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. The visible enthusiasm and excitement of the people ensure that the sacred land of Kangra has decided to bless BJP candidate Rajeev Bhardwaj, he claimed, adding that this is not just about sending Rajeev to the Parliament. Through him, the people of Himachal want to undertake the resolve. Advertisement In the past 10 years of Modis leadership, everyone has witnessed the transformation of Indian politics. He has redefined the culture, principles and conduct of politics in India, paving the way for Mahaan Bharat, asserted Nadda. Ten years ago, it was a common belief that nothing in India would change, that things would remain as they were and that politicians would always be the same, something people just had to endure, he said, adding that today under Modis leadership, India is moving forward with the determination and advancing towards becoming Viksit Bharat. Earlier, politics revolved around caste, religion and regionalism, driven by the principle of divide and rule, since Modi came into power, Indian politics has embraced a single mantra, Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas, he said, adding that this mantra has ushered in a new era of development-oriented and performance-based report card politics. Today, every politician is required to maintain their report card and be accountable when they step forward. This shift in politics has occurred because Modi has redefined the definition of politics, he claimed. Nadda claimed that his party has launched numerous initiatives aimed at uplifting every section of society and ensuring their integration into the mainstream. More than 80 crore people received 5 Kg rice or wheat and 1 Kg pulse per person per month. It resulted in 25 crore people being lifted above the poverty line, and extreme poverty in India has decreased to less than one per cent, according to the IMF, he asserted. Nadda accused Arvind Kejriwal of hypocrisy and said that the AAP leader previously sat on dharnas during high-profile cases like Nirbhaya, but now a female MP has been assaulted in his own residence. Attacking Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Nadda said that he is currently parading around with the Constitution, whereas Baba Saheb Ambedkar clearly stated in our Constitution that there would be no reservation based on religion in India. Despite this, his government attempted to introduce religious-based reservations four times in Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, in Karnataka, his government is endeavoring to take away reservation from backward classes and allocate it to Muslims, he charged. Appealing to the public to actively participate in spreading awareness about the importance of voting for BJP candidates, Nadda urged them to spread the BJPs vision and efforts towards building a Viksit Bharat. The assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is a stark reminder of the fragility of political stability, even in nations where political violence is rare. The incident not only casts a long shadow over Slovakia but also sends ripples across Europe, challenging the often complacent view of security and the nature of political dissent in contemporary democracies. The fact that the assailant was a 71-year-old former security guard and a writer, not typically profiled as a threat, underscores a troubling reality: societal divisions and political frustrations can drive individuals toward extreme actions. It forces us to question the depth of these divisions and the avenues available for legitimate political expression. Prime Minister Fico, a figure who has dominated Slovak politics for over two decades, has been a polarising leader. His recent policies, marked by a shift towards a pro-Russian stance amid the Ukraine conflict, and attempts to scale back on anti-corruption measures, have not only intensified domestic debate but have also alarmed Slovakias EU and NATO partners. This political climate, where significant policy shifts occur amidst intense public scrutiny and opposition, sets the stage for heightened tensions. The shooting must be seen not just as an attack on an individual but as an assault on the democratic fabric of Slovakia. When political leaders are targeted, it shakes the very foundations of democratic governance, instilling fear and uncertainty. It disrupts the normal process of political discourse and decision-making, as seen by the immediate suspension of parliamentary debate and the postponement of public protests. Advertisement In this light, it is critical to advocate for a renewed commitment to civil discourse and to vehemently reject violence as a form of political expression. Political disagreements, no matter how profound, must be navigated through dialogue and within the frameworks of law and democracy. The Slovak government and its leaders, irrespective of party lines, must come together to reassure the public and ensure that comprehensive measures are taken to safeguard all political figures without stifling public interaction and accessibility. This incident should also serve as a catalyst for addressing broader issues within Slovak society, including the erosion of trust in public institutions and the need for robust mechanisms to tackle corruption and uphold media freedoms. Rebuilding trust is crucial, and this cannot be achieved through divisive or authoritarian measures but through transparency, accountability, and genuine reform. Internationally, the outpouring of support for Fico and condemnation of the attack reflects the universal respect for democratic norms and the collective responsibility to uphold them. It is heartening to see global leaders unite in their stance against violence, reinforcing the need for solidarity in defending democratic values. As Slovakia navigates through this challenging period, it is imperative that all stakeholders work together to foster an environment where political engagement is safe, respected, and constructive. On 28 November 1913, Justice Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Chairman of the Trustees of the Indian Museum in Calcutta, delivered the inaugural address marking the first centenary of the Museum. His address forms the first chapter of Indian Museum 1814-1914, a commemorative volume published for an institution which is a landmark among museums of India. On 18 May, International Museum Day, it is only befitting to pay homage to several generations of men like Sir Asutosh who lived to preserve heritage, while making history themselves during their lifetimes. To appreciate the history of the origin and growth of the Indian Museum, explained Sir Asutosh, we must travel back to the last quarter of the eighteenth century when, after the establishment of British supremacy in this Province, Sir William Jones, one of the profoundest scholars, who have devoted their life to the service of India, founded the Asiatic Society in 1784, and with the boldness which characterized his genius, stated that the bounds of its investigations would be the geographical limits of Asia, and that within these limits, its enquiries would be extended to whatever is performed by Man or produced by Nature. By 1808, the Asiatic Society was looking for permanent premises for its accumulations were growing. Land was granted by the Governor at the corner of Park Street. Sir Asutosh brings alive the fascinating Dr Henry Wallich, a Danish botanist taken prisoner at the siege of Serampur but released in recognition of his scientific attainments. In 1814, Dr Wallich wrote to the Asiatic Society advocating the formation of a museum and offered not only to act as a Honorary Curator but also to supply duplicates from his own valuable collection to form a nucleus. Advertisement The proposal found ready acceptance with the Society and it was determined to establish a Museum to be divided into two sections: one which would now be called archaeological, ethnological and technical, and the other geological and zoological. Dr Wallich inspired collectors like Col. Stuart, Dr Tytler, General Mackenzie, Brian Hodgson, Capt. Dillon and Babu Ramkamal Sen who readily placed at the disposal of the Society interesting and curious objects collected from various parts of the country. In 1836, there were a host of financial problems and the Society wrote to the Government for funds. Sir Edward Ryan, president of the Society, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court took the lead in galvanizing support for the Museum, its maintenance and salaries for the Curators and Keepers. What transpired in their correspondence remains relevant and true till date. A Museum could not be established by voluntary subscriptions nor maintained in the creditable and useful condition necessary for the attainment of the object desired, unless aided liberally by the Government, in like manner as similar institutions in Europe were supported from the public treasury. Dr J.T Pearson, Dr McClelland, Edward Blyth: the roll call of names continues through the 19th century as the Asiatic Society grew with collections that also reflected the needs of colonial times. A Museum of Economic Geology was founded and large valuable collections of specimens were deposited from 1840 onwards. It is a paradox of the colonial State that while it was ruthlessly subjugating, exploiting the provinces through trade, commerce, and brutal wars, it was also empowering these men of great learning and dedication to establish institutions. Long before the 1857 Mutiny and Indias first war of independence, the Society was appealing for the establishment of an Imperial Museum; it took almost a decade, by 1866 the Indian Museum Act was promulgated. The valuable collections of the Society, accumulated during half a century by a long succession of enthusiastic members were formally transferred to a Board of Trustees of which Sir Barnes Peacock, then Chief Justice of Bengal, was appointed President, said Sir Asutosh in his address. It was by 1875 that the Museum ceased to be the property of Asiatic Society of Bengal and was transformed into an Imperial Institution and the Museum building became one of the largest in the city. Through the 1880s and early 1900s the Museum was led by Dr John Anderson, Mr James Wood-Mason, Sir Thomas Holland, Mr Thurston, Dr Watt and Sir Herbert Risley. New galleries were opened and the Museum was divided into zoological and ethnological, geological, art, industrial and archaeology. The archaeological collection soon occupied centre stage with General Alexander Cunningham gaining pre-eminence, leaving his mark on 20th century developments. To him we owe the removal and preservation of the Bharut Stupa Rail, now one of the finest and most interesting existing relics of early Indian architecture, said Sir Asutosh paying his homage. The extensive invaluable collection of coins lent by the Asiatic Society, catalogues produced by Mr CJ Rodgers, Mr Vincent Smith and Mr Nelson Wright were acknowledged. Raja Sir Sourindra Mohun Tagores collection of Indian musical instruments was presented to the Museum. Going ahead Sir Asutosh underlined a significant achievement, namely, the distinguished part taken by the Indian Museum in the noble cause of the advancement of knowledge. It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of the biological and geological research strenuously carried out by our officers, though it was by no means easy to assign, except in the case of zoology, the precise share of credit for such work to the Indian Museum as distinct from the related scientific departments of Government. It may be maintained, without risk of contradiction that all the research work not only in zoology and geology but also in meteorology and archaeology, now undertaken by different Government Departments owes its origin in activities of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The study and investigation of Applied Science, more particularly, Botany and Chemistry, also had a similar origin. In Sir Asutoshs address what comes alive is how a century ago a small band of scholars, engaged in the study of the history, languages and antiquities laid the foundation for a Museum in Calcutta, entirely with limited private means at their disposal; how it took the ruling authorities thirty years to realize their responsibilities in this direction. Has the Indian Museum fulfilled its mission? Sir Asutosh searched for answers, It is now generally recognised that a museum is an institution for the preservation of those objects which best illustrate the phenomena of Nature and the works of Man, for the utilization of these in the increase of knowledge, and for the culture and enlightenment of the people. A National or Imperial Museum must, consequently, be equipped adequately for the fulfillment of three principal functions: first, for the accumulation and preservation of specimens such as form the material basis of knowledge in the Arts and Sciences; secondly for the elucidation and investigation of the specimens so collected and for the diffusion of knowledge required thereby; and third, to make suitable arrangements calculated to arouse the interest of the public and to promote their instruction. With a degree of satisfaction, he stated, As regards the first two of these functions, the Indian Museum has no reason to reproach itself. But I regret to confess, with a feeling of disappointment, that when I examine the history of Indian Museum from the point of view of its third function as a possible powerful instrument for the instruction of the public, I cannot say that the fullest measure of success has been achieved. The Museum may be regarded, first, as an adjunct to the class room and the lecture room; secondly as a bureau of information; and thirdly as an institution for the culture of the people. Sir Asutoshs speech, a clarion call for all generations, noted, If we desire to furnish to the advanced or professional student, materials, and opportunity for laboratory training; if we desire to aid the teacher of elementary, secondary or technological knowledge in expounding to his pupils the principles of Art, Nature and History; our scientific staff must be materially strengthenedthrough the display of attractive exhibition-series, wellplanned, complete and accurately labelled and thus to stimulate and broaden the minds of those who are not engaged in scholarly research. I desire consequently to emphasize the urgent need for the improvement of our public galleries. Sir Asutoshs words of timeless wisdom are an appropriate occasion to also commemorate the centenary, on 25 May, of the passing away of this educationist-jurist extraordinaire. (The writer is a writerresearcher on history and heritage issues, and a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalay) The Supreme Court of Indias recent ruling on 5 April 2024, recognising the fundamental right to a clean environment as intertwined with the rights to life and equality under the Indian Constitution, is a landmark decision that reverberates across legal and environmental spheres. Led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, a three-judge panel delivered this pivotal judgment in a case revolving around the conservation of endangered species like the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican. Central to this verdict was the Courts decision to lift a ban on overhead power lines spanning 99,000 square kilometres in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The ban aimed to protect these endangered birds but was deemed counterproductive to Indias transition to clean energy, particularly wind and solar power, which is crucial for global climate action and fulfilling the energy needs of Indian citizens. The judgment delineates the distinction between climate mitigation and ecological conservation, stressing Indias efforts to combat climate change through various legislative acts like the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, and others. Advertisement While previous cases like M.C. Mehta vs Kamal Nath and others have acknowledged the right to a clean environment and its connection to fundamental rights like life, health, and equality, this ruling specifically addresses the adverse effects of climate change on these rights. The Court pointed out the lack of explicit articulation regarding peoples right to be shielded from climate change impacts, attributing it to the inherent link between this right and the broader right to a clean environment. As climate change intensifies, theres a growing imperative to delineate this as a distinct right recognised under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. A stable environment is vital for life. Under Article 21, the right to health, which is integral to life, suffers due to various climate-related factors like pollution, rising temperatures, droughts, crop failures, storms, and natural disasters, which disproportionately harm marginalised groups, violate their rights and exacerbate inequality. Furthermore, the ruling aligns with international commitments like the Paris Agreement, viewing climate change not just as an environmental issue but also as a human rights concern touching upon health, indigenous rights, gender equality, and overall development. It calls upon states to take robust measures to mitigate climate change and safeguard citizens right to a healthy environment. Despite the significance of this ruling in advancing climate rights in India, criticisms have surfaced regarding its anthropocentric focus and limited safeguards for environmental and biodiversity concerns, especially concerning renewable energy projects. Calls for more comprehensive climate legislation and stringent protection of non-human life and ecosystems have been raised in response to the judgment. In conclusion, the Supreme Courts recognition of the right to a clean environment as a fundamental right marks a crucial milestone in Indias legal landscape. It not only affirms citizens rights in the face of climate change challenges but also sets a precedent for future climate-related litigation and policy development, paving the way for a more sustainable and rights-centric approach to environmental governance. The writer is an environment enthusiast and an animal welfare activist, and is the Founder of Kaloms Ideas Welfare Foundation. She is also a chartered accountant. Undeterred by criticism, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday donned police uniform again this time the crisp charcoal black of the provincial polices Elite Force as she reviewed their passing out parade in Lahore. This is not a uniform, it is a national service that comes to the sons and daughters of a few nations. The uniform is an honour as well as a great test, she said in her address, Geo News reported. The Punjab CM assured the Elite Force personnel about providing them with all the necessary resources. Advertisement Whatever the IG Punjab needs will be provided, there will be no shortage of resources, she said in her address. Later, she was also caught on camera testing out their specialised weapons. Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the countrys first female Chief Minister, also expressed her satisfaction that at least 70, among those passing out, are women. She also interacted with them after the parade. This was not the first time that Maryam Nawaz wore a police uniform. Late last month, she donned the khaki Punjab Police attire while inspecting a passing-out parade of lady constables and traffic assistants at the Police Training College, Chung. However, a section of people had questioned her right to wear the uniform, causing clashes on social media. Subsequently, the Punjab Police clarified that she was indeed entitled to wear the police uniform as per the Punjab Police Dress Regulations. The Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (DITIB) announced in Cologne on Friday that from 2025 onwards, 75 graduates of Islamic theology from Turkey will be trained in Germany every year. The young men are to receive intensive German and integration courses in Germany. After a total of two years of training, they will be required to work as Imams in German DITIB mosques for at least 10 years. We offer them the prospect of staying in Germany so that cooperation in the local communities can flourish, said DITIB Secretary General Eyup Kalyon. Advertisement The new Imam training programme is intended to gradually replace the more than 1,000 preachers currently working in Germany for the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The German government and Turkey agreed on a roadmap for this in December because the Imams, who are usually sent by Diyanet for four years, follow instructions from Ankara as Turkish civil servants, hardly speak any German and usually only have a sketchy knowledge of the realities of life in German society. The German government had announced that it would financially support the training of further Imams in Germany. DITIB also wants to continue its Imam training programme, which has been running since 2020 and is aimed at Muslim theologians from Germany. So far, a total of 58 men and women have been trained as Islamic religious representatives in two courses, said Kalyon. WELLINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- University and secondary school students from the southern region of New Zealand's North Island competed for Chinese proficiency in the annual "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition held on Saturday. Around 100 local Chinese learners watched the competition among 18 contestants, learning Chinese as their foreign language, vying for spots for the global finals to be held later in China. The competition consisted of theme speech, talent show and improvisation quiz. The contestants talked about their relationship with the Chinese language, demonstrating their language proficiency and knowledge of Chinese culture. During the talent show, contestants performed Chinese stand-up comedy, recitation of ancient poems, Chinese folk dance, musical instruments, among others. Rodda Lachlan from Rotorua won the high school category, and Phoebe Davey from the Victoria University of Wellington won the university category. Both of them grabbed the opportunity to the global finals in China. At the prize-giving ceremony, Tang Yun, education counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, encouraged the students to continue to explore the beauty of the Chinese language, gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese culture and build a bridge of friendship between China and New Zealand. Students should cultivate the spirit of diversity and inclusiveness and the ability of cross-cultural communication through learning the Chinese language, Tang said. Tony Browne, a former ambassador to China, said to Xinhua that the work of the Confucius Institute doing is important, especially in terms of building up a knowledgeable country given the importance of the Chinese language in the world. Chinese teaching is very important not only to the New Zealand-China relationship, but also to the better understanding among diversified communities in the country, Tony said. Roger Shew from Victoria University of Wellington said that the competition is a stage for New Zealand Chinese learners to show their own style, serving as a platform to appreciate the charm of the language, as well as a channel to promote people-to-people friendship. Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who allegedly fatally shot himself in the head, had left a disturbing suicide note, shocking details of which have now been revealed. He was found dead on March 9 morning, the day he was set to testify against the aircraft manufacturer. I cant do this any longer! Enough! F*** Boeing, New York Post cited the note penned by Barnett before he killed himself in the front seat of his Dodge Ram truck. America, come together or die!! I pray the motherf***** that destroyed my life pay!!! I pray Boeing pays!!! Bury me face down so Boeing and their lying-ass leaders can kiss my a**, he wrote. Referring to his close ones, he added, To my family and friends, I found my purpose. Im at peace. I love you more. The suicide note was released by the Charleston Police Department. The police has concluded the probe saying Barnett killed himself though his lawyers had claimed there was no indication that he could kill himself. Who was John Barnett? Barnett hit the headlines after he raised concerns about Boeing's production standards, alleging issues with the aircraft's oxygen systems. The company has denied Barnett's allegations, claiming that "safety, quality and integrity are at the core of Boeing's values". Barnett worked with Boeing for 32 years and was a quality manager since 2010 at the plane manufacturer's South Carolina branch. He retired in 2017 due to health issues. Following this, he told BBC in an interivew that workers were forced to install sub-standard parts to the aircraft and thereby compromising on safety. After a long silence, that lasted for about five years, popular indie music band Peter Cat Recording Co. (PCRC) released their new single People Never Change on Thursday. It is the lead single of their soon-to-be-released album Beta. Said to be recorded across three continents, People Never Change is a six-minute track. It has three parts- starts with a two-minute bhangra-inspired piece, it drops into a Memory Box style in the next part and to end, they have slowed down, have mixed both the styles together to bring an interesting output; experimentalism is at its peak here. Peter Cats own Suryakant Sawhney (aka Lifafa), Kartik Pillai (aka Jamblu) and Dhruv Bhola have produced the album. After Bismillah, released in 2019, PCRC fans have been waiting for their comeback for a long time. If you are a fan of indie music, there is no way you could have missed Peter Cat Recording Co., One of the few remaining bands in India. Imagined as a radio station from the near future, or a vinyl from the distant past is definitely the best way to describe them. It is almost nearly impossible to box them into a certain genre. With a blend of jazz, disco, gypsy, psychedelic rock and many more, each of Peter Cats tracks is a door to a new world. Revealing the interesting story behind the name of their new album Beta, the band said Beta was just one of the five names they had in mind. They let drummer Karan Singhs six-month-old son point out a name among the five. Ironically, the beta (son) chose Beta. This is a collection of stories about the future told 50 years in the past, to make sense of the present, on our only home, planet Earth, it said in a statement. Single-screen cinema halls in Telangana will not be screening movies from Friday (May 17) for two weeks owing to low footfall. About 450 single-screen theatres will suspend operations for two weeks to curb losses due to poor patronage, according to a PTI report. State film exhibitors association president Vijayender Reddy said the single-screen theatre owners individually took the decision to cancel screening movies from this week. He noted that expenditure per day for theatre owners is to the tune of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 in small towns and between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 in Hyderabad. However, the revenue per day, especially in the case of small cinemas, is not even Rs 4,000. According to him, the loss is about Rs 4,000 per day if the theatre is closed, but it can go up to about 6,000 if a film is screened with poor footfall. Media reports say that the the shutdown of theatres is likely to be extended. "The collections for recent films have gone from bad to worse and theatre business has become a risky proposition, Deccan Chronicle quoted a film exhibiter as saying. Some of the reasons attributed to poor turnout in theatres include the ongoing IPL season, summer heat and the Lok Sabha elections. Reddy, however, said the theatre owners would be ready to screen films if any producers come forward and make an upfront payment as a business transaction. In such a scenario, the screening would continue if there is patronage. There are no major films scheduled for release till June 15. At least eight persons were killed when a tourist bus they were travelling in caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Nuh district of Haryana on Friday night. More than 20 people have sustained injuries in the accident. According to media reports, there were more than 60 passengers on the bus. They were returning from a pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh when the fire accident took place. The injured have been brought to Nuh Medical College, news agency ANI reported. Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed said he was saddened by the incident. "I would say that this is a very painful, sad and heart-wrenching incident. The devotees were returning from Vrindavan. The bus caught fire and several people including elderly, women, and children got injured," the MLA was quoted as saying. According to an NDTV report, all the passengers were members of a family hailing from Punjab. The fire was first noticed by a motorcycle rider who was behind the bus. He caught up with the driver and alerted him about it. The bus was stopped then. Locals, with the help of police, tried to rescue those inside the bus. People claimed that the fire force reached the location three hours after the bus was totally burned down. "We ran behind the bus and broke the windows to pull out as many people as we could before the fire grew too intense. We informed police but they took too long to arrive," NDTV quoted a local, who was part of the rescue operation, as saying. Launching a blistering attack on the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the INDIA bloc leaders wanted India to be scared of Pakistan. He also accused the opposition leaders of speaking like the spokespersons of the neighbouring country. "Modi's decisions are breaking the heart of the Congress and INDI alliance. They cannot see this condition of Pakistan, so now Congress people are threatening India by being Pakistan's spokesperson. They are saying Pakistan has a nuclear bomb...This is Modi's era -- 'Hum ghar mein ghus kar marte hain'," the prime minister said, addressing a public meeting in Haryanas Sonipat. "During Congress rule, firings happened on borders regularly, there was continuous news of ceasefire violations...Modi didn't do anything, it's all the power of your vote. All I did was gave full freedom to our soldiers. I said there is no need to keep a count of the bullets, and the result is in front of all of you," he said. The prime minister further accused the Congress of doing appeasement politics and reiterated his charge that the grand old partys election manifesto resembled that of the Muslim League. "All of Congress's tactics is just around appeasement politics. Their election manifesto resembles that of Muslim League. They want to do an x-ray of people, they will evaluate how much money, jewellery and property people have, and if they find it to be more, they will distribute it among the 'vote jihad'," he said. Speaking at another rally in Delhi, Modi said the then Congress government during the 2014 elections had handed over 123 properties spread across prime locations in Delhi to the Waqf Board for votes. He also slammed the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi as opportunistic, saying the world is watching how one corrupt party is covering for another corrupt party. In an apparent reference to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals remarks that Modi will make way for Home Minister Amit Shah once he turns 75, the prime minister said if he has any heir, it is the 140 crore Indians for whose bright future he has dedicated himself. My every moment is for the country and my life is dedicated to realising the dreams of its citizens, the prime ministers said while addressing the rally in North-East Delhi. Palestinians inspect a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. Medical sources told Xinhua that at least one person was killed and eight others injured in the airstrike on the Jenin refugee camp. Wesam Bakr, the director of the Jenin Governmental Hospital, identified the dead as Islam Khamayseh. The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh is one of their members. The IDF said in a statement that Israel's Air Force fighter jet and helicopter gunship "attacked a building that served as the operations room of the terrorist infrastructure in Jenin." It confirmed the death of Khamayseh, saying he was a key wanted person in the Jenin refugee camp and responsible for several attacks in the area, including two shooting attacks about a year ago in which an Israeli was killed and others injured. The IDF added that the airstrike was carried out under the intelligence guidance of the Israeli Security Agency (ISA). It added that "major terrorists were hiding in the building. Some of them were involved in carrying out shooting attacks in the Jenin sector and also planned to carry out additional attacks soon." "The IDF and the ISA will continue to work to thwart any terrorist threat against the citizens of Israel," said the statement. A Palestinian boy inspects a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) People mourn for the victims at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) Palestinians inspect a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) A Palestinian woman inspects a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) Palestinians inspect a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 18, 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank Friday night, killing at least one and injuring eight others. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday hit out at the BJP government at the Centre over the arrest of his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar over an assault complaint filed by Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. The AAP supremo said he, along with other party leaders, would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest them. "I along with my MLAs and MPs would go to the BJP office at noon tomorrow so that the prime minister can send anyone he wants to jail, he said at a press briefing. Alleging that the BJP plans to send AAP MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, too, to jail, Kejriwal asserted that the AAP could not be crushed by keeping its leaders behind bars. Kejriwal said: You are seeing how these people have been after the Aam Aadmi Party. One after the other, they have been putting our leaders in jail. They jailed me, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh, and now they have arrested my personal assistant today." Sisodia, Jain and Singh were arrested in connection with the Delhi excise police scam case while Kumar, Kejriwals PS, was arrested by Delhi Police over the assault charges by Maliwal. Maliwal has alleged that the CM's aide attacked her with full force, slapping her in the face and kicking her in the chest and abdomen on May 13 when she had gone to meet the chief minister. A senior police officer said Kumar was arrested from the chief minister's residence on Saturday. The officer said Kumar had gone there in the morning to meet Kejriwal. "The AAP is an idea. For as many AAP leaders you jail, the country would produce leaders a hundred times more," Kejriwal said. Kejriwal, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, has been granted interim bail till June 1 by the Supreme Court to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. He will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2, a day after the last phase of polling in the general elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are set to address Lok Sabha campaign rallies in the national capital on Saturday. This is the first campaign-related public meeting for both the leaders in Delhi. While Modi will address a public gathering in North East Delhi from where the party has fielded sitting MP Manoj Tiwari, Rahul Gandhi will be Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency to campaign for INDIA bloc candidates. Delhi will vote in phase 6 of the Lok Sabha polls on May 25. The BJP had won all the seven seats in Delhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Virendra Sachdeva said the prime minister's campaign rally in Delhi will be "historic" and added that a large number of supporters are expected to attend the rally. Tiwari said people in his constituency are excited about Modi's visit and added that the party has made elaborate arrangements for the rally. Meanwhile, Gandhi will address a massive public meeting for the Congress candidates of INDIA bloc at the Ramlila Ground, said Delhi Congress leader Anil Bharadwaj. Congress' interim Delhi chief Devender Yadav took stock of the preparations for the meeting in the Wazirpur assembly segment of Chandni Chowk, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee said in a statement. Yadav urged Congress workers and leaders to make the public meeting a grand success. Under a seat-share arrangement, INDIA bloc constituents the Congress has fielded candidates from three seats while AAP is contesting from four. Security beefed up Security has been beefed up in the national capital ahead of the two campaign events. According to media reports, apart from the special protection group (SPG), the security wing of the Delhi Police and the local police will be at the PM's rally. There will be about 2,000 security and traffic personnel in and around the area to manage the crowds. The embassies of India and Pakistan in Kyrgyzstan have advised its nationals to stay indoors following reports of violent mob targeting foreign students in the country. The Indian embassy has also set up a 24/7 helpline number. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar they are monitoring the situation in Bishkek and it is calm at the moment. Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. Situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy. The Indian embassy in Kyrgyzstan tweeted, We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 247 contact number is 0555710041. According to local reports, a clash occurred between foreign students and locals in Bishkek at a hostel earlier this week. Kyrgyzstans ministry of internal affairs said on Saturday that the situation is stable and the entire region is under the control of police officers. All the participants of the rally dispersed, among the citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and foreign citizens, there were no citizens killed or injured during the rally, it said. Meanwhile, Pakistan has also advised its nationals to stay indoors until the situation normalises. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern over the situation in Kyrgyzstan and added his office is constantly in touch with the embassy in the country. Pakistans Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar tweeted, The reports of mob attacks on students in the Kyrgyz Republic are extremely concerning. We have established contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure protection of Pakistani students. I have instructed our Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan to fully facilitate them. The Pakistani embassy in a statement said, There have been a number of incidents of mob violence against foreign students in Bishkek since last evening. According to the Kyrgyz press, the matter boiled over yesterday due to sharing online of videos of a fight between Kyrgyz students and medical students from Egypt on May 13. It added, Despite social media posts about alleged death and rape of Pakistani students, so far, we have not received any confirmed report. A hue and cry is being raised about the alleged misbehaviour of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals personal assistant Bibhav Kumar, who reportedly assaulted Aam Aadmi Party MP Swati Maliwal recently. My own opinion is that it is Swati Maliwal who is mainly to blame for this incident. This is because she entered Kejriwal's residence without his permission. It is a criminal trespass under section 448 Indian Penal Code to enter anyone's house without the owner's permission. If Swati wanted to meet Kejriwal at his residence she should have sought an appointment by phoning him or a member of his staff, but evidently she did not do this, but simply barged into his house and created a ruckus. She evidently thought that being an MP she need not follow any law and could do anything. Bibhav Kumar has filed a written complaint with the police which was shared by AAP's official X handle, stating that Maliwal illegally entered the chief ministers residence and created a security breach. He stated in this complaint that Swati came to the chief ministers residence and sought permission to enter. After the security officer at the main entry ascertained her identity, she told the security officer to allow her to enter as she had an appointment with the chief minister. The complainant said the security officer, after checking appointments records, told her that there was no such appointment on record, but she forcefully entered the CM residence despite the objections of the staff". Kumar said the MP abused the CM's office staff and stormed out of the waiting area and entered the main building of CM residence." Kumar said he requested Swati to follow the procedure for meeting the CM but she hurled abuses at him. He also alleged that she rushed towards him with the intent to push him away. AAP leader Atishi has alleged that the BJP had sent Swati to Kejriwal's residence as a trap. I am not going into the question whether or not Swati spoke the truth when she said she was assaulted by Bibhav Kumar. That will be seen by court if the matter goes to trial. Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK. Three Spanish tourists and an Afghan citizen were killed by gunmen in Afghanistan's central Bamyan province, said reports. Four other foreign nationals and three Afghans were also injured in the attack, according to Afghan officials. Spanish foreign ministry said that one of the foreigners injured in the attack was a Spanish citizen. Even though no group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, Afghan officials said four people were arrested in connection with the incident. The motive behind the attack was not revealed immediately. Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said in an official statement that the government "strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his shock on X, saying he was "overwhelmed by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan. I am closely following the situation. The Emergency Consular Unit of the Spanish Foreign Ministry is working to offer all necessary assistance. I want to convey all my sympathy to their family and friends, the Spanish PM added. The Spanish foreign ministry said it has fully mobilised the consular emergency unit to assist the victims and their families. It should be noted that in 2001, the Taliban blew up the remains of two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan, a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2022, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that injured Chinese nationals in Kabul. with inputs from Reuters The mob violence that erupted in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek on Friday night, reportedly, injured over 10 foreign students, including Pakistanis. In the wake of the attack, the Kyrgyz government has cautioned against the spreading of false information and creating panic. Hasan Zaigham, Pakistans Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan said at least 14 students were injured in the attack. Six hostels of international students and their private residences were attacked by local extremist elements in Bishkek, said Zaigham. He also appealed to the people in Kyrgyzstan not to believe news on social media without verification. According to Pakistans embassy in Bishkek, the attack by locals took place after a video of a fight with Egyptian nationals on May 13 went viral. However, the police claimed that the attack was prompted by foreigners beating up locals in the city. No deaths were reported so far. The Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a press release stating that the situation is under control. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of Pakistan, read the statement issued by the ministry. The Ministry informs that the situation in the city of Bishkek of the Kyrgyz Republic is calm and under full control, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, maintain peace and stability, it added. The violence was described by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as extremely concerning. Pakistan's foreign ministry on Saturday said it had summoned and handed a note of protest to Kyrgyzstan's top diplomat in response to violence against Pakistani students. "It was impressed on the Kyrgyz charge d'affaires that the Kyrgyz government should take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens," Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement. Emergency hotlines were opened for those affected by the violence. Around four Pakistani students were injured in the attack. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed concern over the incident and said Islamabad would fly back any Pakistani citizens who wanted to leave the country immediately. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also advised the Indian students to stay inside and stay in touch with the Indian embassy. Leonid Volkov, a close ally of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has vowed to continue his fight against President Vladimir Putin. Volkov was recently attacked outside his home in Lithuania. "Will never give up" fight against Putin, said Volkov told BBC. Volkov was brutally attacked with a hammer outside his home, where he lives in exile. The assault was a message revealing that "we know where you live, we can kill you, we are after you," he said. Three people were arrested in connection with the incident last month. Navalny's allies believe that the attack was ordered by Putin's regime. Volkov also said that Navalny "asked us to never give up and to continue our work...to defeat and to build this beautiful Russia of the future." It's the only practical way to preserve his legacy and to make his ultimate sacrifice not to be in vain, he added. Talking about Navalny's death, Volkov said that he was an inspiring personality and a very capable political leader. "His death was an open wound in our hearts," he said. During the attack, Volkov sprayed tear gas in his eyes before hitting him with the hammer. He was briefly admitted to the hospital as well. Volkov worked as the late leader's ex-chief of staff and as chair of his Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023. Navalny, 47, died in February while being held in an artic prison on charges seen as politically motivated. BISHKEK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- President Sadyr Japarov said Kyrgyzstan will enhance counterterrorism cooperation with the United Nations and participate in UN efforts to combat terrorism worldwide. Japarov made the remarks during a Friday meeting with Vladimir Voronkov, the under-secretary-general of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. The two sides exchanged views on current issues on the international agenda and cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the UN, the press service of the Kyrgyz president reported. Kyrgyzstan strongly condemns terrorism in all its manifestations and will implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which provides guidelines for countering international terrorism, he said. Japarov noted with satisfaction that the state program to counter extremism and terrorism for 2023-2027 was adopted last year with the assistance of the UN. It was released for publication on Motzei Shabbos that the body of hostage Ron Binyamin, Hyd, 53, was recovered from Gaza. His body was rescued along with those of Yitzchak Gelernter, Hyd, Amit Buskila, Hyd, and Shani Louk, Hyd, in a joint operation of IDF special forces and Shin Bet operatives. Early in the morning of October 7th, Binyamin, a resident of Rechovot, drove to the south to meet friends for a bike ride near Kibbutz Beeri. When the rocket barrage began, he turned around to go home and that was the last his wife and two daughters heard from him. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that Binyamin, zl, was killed by Hamas terrorists near the Mefalsim intersection on October 7th and his body was abducted to Gaza. The operation was carried out based on precise Shin Bet intelligence obtained from Hamas terrorists who were captured in the Gaza Strip as well as intelligence from the IDF Intelligence Directorates Headquarters for Hostages and Missing Persons. (YWNs Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis haShabbos in Israel) Reputation in tatters: Mark Hartigan The discredited boss who tried to sell mutual insurer LV to a US buyout firm is trying to bag a 20 million bonus at his latest venture. Mark Hartigan, a former Army colonel, was forced to quit LV after members voted against his controversial plan to hand the 181-year-old mutual to private equity barons at Bain Capital. He argued at the time that the private equity deal was necessary for LV's long-term survival. Now he is accused of using 'the same scare tactics' at insurance tech company Wefox, where he became chairman and chief executive after leaving LV. He was ousted following a campaign by the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail. The 530 million deal he had tried to concoct was overturned in 2021 when he failed to garner enough support from LV policyholders. Despite this disastrous episode, Hartigan walked away with 3.5 million from his three years at the mutual, including a 500,000 'golden goodbye'. Wefox is a Berlin-based business that was valued at 3.6 billion less than two years ago. But fintechs have since fallen out of favour with investors. In a memo circulated to shareholders earlier this month first reported by Sky News Hartigan warned that Wefox could become insolvent 'in August, or potentially even earlier'. He plans to close a number of subsidiaries to stem losses. But the Mail on Sunday understands Hartigan has also put Wefox up for sale and is in advanced talks to sell the business to Ardonagh, a leading London insurance broker. If he succeeds, sources say he will pick up a 20 million bonus for completing the deal. One disgruntled Wefox investor said Hartigan had been 'trying to frighten all of us into believing the business is in terminal trouble, but we don't believe him. 'This is exactly the type of scare tactics he used at LV when he was trying to sell the business on the cheap to Bain Capital,' the investor added. 'Wefox is fundamentally a fast growing and sound business that just needs further investment.' Another source added: 'Hartigan is putting maximum pressure on investors to approve his plan to sell at a knockdown price to Ardonagh and collect his [20 million] bonus. 'But some of the investors are discussing how to fight against it, remove him and come up with an alternative plan.' The vote to keep LV formerly known as Liverpool Victoria from Bain's clutches was a victory for mutuality and LV has since recovered. It posted a pre-tax profit of 107 million in 2023, a big turnaround from the 145 million loss the previous year. David Hyman, who replaced Hartigan as chief executive, has vowed to keep LV's mutual status and protect it from asset-strippers. A number of private equity takeovers of household names including department store Debenhams have been heavily criticised. The proposed sale of LV was particularly controversial as the life insurer is owned by policyholders and run entirely for their benefit. It was set up in 1843 to help the poor of Liverpool pay for a dignified funeral for their loved ones and is still owned by more than one million of its members. Hartigan and former LV chairman Alan Cook left with their reputations in tatters after spending more than 30 million of policyholders' money on the doomed Bain deal. Hartigan was branded 'shameless' by Labour MP Gareth Thomas, chairman of Parliament's all-party group on mutuals, having 'taken members for fools at every chance he had'. Cook, a former managing director of the Post Office, has also come under fire for writing an email saying sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft had 'their hands in the till.' He apologised last month. Wefox is backed by some of the world's largest tech investors, including the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Ardonagh's investors include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala's sister company. Wefox declined to comment on the Ardonagh sale talk or Hartigan's bonus but insisted he would lead the firm 'through the next phase of development'. This involves 'a consolidation and concentration of Wefox's international activities' after years of rapid growth, a spokesman added. Ardonagh was also approached for comment. Li Hongjia gives a training session to hearing-impaired children at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 17, 2024. Li Hongjia is a special education teacher at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Wuhan. Her job is to conduct auditory and speech trainings for hearing-impaired children with hearing aids or cochlear implants. Li tailors each child's training plan. She uses slightly exaggerated facial expressions, tone of voice and body movements to communicate with the children in order to help them better perceive sounds and recognize their meanings. Whenever a child is brave enough to speak or pronounce a word accurately, she praises the child enthusiastically. When the weather is good, Li will also take the children to participate in outdoor activities, go to the supermarket to buy things, and set up stalls to sell goods. She hopes that the children can adjust to real-life situations, and have the courage to communicate with others. During her 15-year career in special education, hundreds of hearing-impaired children benefited from her trainings and went on to attend regular kindergartens and elementary schools. Li keeps in frequent contact with their parents and gets updates about their life after leaving the rehabilitation center. Li shares on social media, "I'm lucky to help these children meet a better version of themselves." (Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia gives a training session to a hearing-impaired child at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 27, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia gives a training session to a hearing-impaired child at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 20, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia and hearing-impaired children visit a supermarket in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia and hearing-impaired children fly a kite at a park in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 20, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia gives a training session to a hearing-impaired child at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 27, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia gives a training session to hearing-impaired children at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 17, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia gives a training session to hearing-impaired children at the Little Sunflower rehabilitation center in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 17, 2024.(Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Li Hongjia and hearing-impaired children play at a park in Jiangxia District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Zixuan) Press Release May 18, 2024 ZUBIRI: SENATE GETS CLEARER PICTURE OF 'PEOPLE'S WILL' ON ECONOMIC CHARTER CHANGE IN BAGUIO HEARING 18 May 2024 The Senate Subcommittee Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH No. 6) proposing amendments to economic provisions of the Constitution has brought its public hearings closer to the people, starting with what Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri as a very encouraging Baguio public consultations today. "The Constitution is the bible of any nation. The bible of the Philippines. In the Constitution, on the first article is always talking about the sovereignty of our nation. It's the heart and soul of the nation," Zubiri said in his opening statement in the hearing in Baguio. "Yesterday, we were reminded that our sovereignty faces a lot of challenges," the Senate chief said. Zubiri was referring to his trip yesterday to Pag-asa Island along with some senators, defense and military officials, where they were subjected to a radio challenge by Chinese vessels. "We are here today to support the committee. We want to improve the rules, the law, the heart and soul of our nation ... to improve the lives of Filipino people," he continued. Zubiri said the Baguio hearing is part of efforts of the Senate to get the pulse of the people regarding amendments to the Constitution. "Napakahalaga po na dalhin itong usapin ng Constitutional amendments sa publiko - dahil sa huli, hindi naman ito magiging desisyon ng mga mambabatas, kundi ng taumbayan mismo," he said referring to the plebiscite to ratify economic amendments to the Constitution if and when they are passed. "At very encouraging po itong Baguio hearing dahil majority ng mga opinion na narinig natin ay in favor sa ating proposed amendments." RBH No. 6 proposes amendments to select economic provisions of the Constitution, in order to open up public utilities, tertiary education, and the advertising sector to full foreign ownership. "We want to improve the Constitution in order to improve the lives of our people, and ensure that they have more opportunities in this globalized age," said the Senate President, who is a co-author of RBH No. 6. "Many other countries have amended their own constitutions, which has paved the way for their development. We just want the same for the country, especially since we have the potential to be a competitive investment haven here in Southeast Asia, given the English-language skills of our people." The Senate leader recognized the importance of public consultation in the process of amending the Constitution, saying that the Senate is "here to listen to all sides." He also acknowledged the recent Pulse Asia survey that shows 88 percent of Filipinos are opposed to Constitutional amendments at the moment. "Baka hindi pa natin malinaw na naipapaliwanag ang mga benepisyo ng mga proposed amendments natin," he said. "But this is why we are bringing these discussions across the country, closer to our stakeholders. Kailangan mas mabuti nating maipaliwanag kung paano makakatulong itong RBH No. 6 sa bayan at sa bawat Pilipino," the Senate chief explained. "Kung minadali namin ito, at hindi namin inikot sa stakeholders - pwedeng maipasa nga natin sa Senado, pero matalo naman sa plebisito." The Senate President emphasized that opening select sectors to foreign ownership will bring in more jobs for Filipinos as a result of the anticipated infusion of foreign investments in the areas targeted by the amendments. "Sa ngayon, nahuhuli na tayo sa development ng Vietnam at Indonesia, dahil wala silang Constitutional restrictions na humaharang sa foreign investments. Sayang, dahil yung mga interesado sana na pumasok sa Pilipinas, sa iba na lang pumupunta. My fear is that eventually, if we don't loosen our Constitutional restrictions, mabubura tayo sa isip ng mga investors, at mahuhuli tayo sa development dito sa Southeast Asia." Joining the Senate President and the subcommittee chair for the hearing were Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senator Bato dela Rosa, and Senator Bong Go, with stakeholders from across northern Luzon. Masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries attract young visitors in Shanghai, China on April 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang) Describing the exhibition in Shanghai as a unique experience, Anna Bisceglia, curator of the Uffizi Galleries, said "all colors of the exhibition hall are extracted from Titian's original paintings." SHANGHAI/ROME, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition, co-organized by art museums in China and Italy, was staged recently in China's city of Shanghai. Titled "The Venetian Painting from the Uffizi Galleries," the event runs until July 28, showcasing 49 works of Italian Renaissance painter Titian and other Venetian masters. Titian's masterpiece "Flora," which depicts a young woman holding out a bouquet of flowers, was also exhibited in the Bund One Art Museum. Based in the Italian city of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery is well-known for its ancient sculptures and collections of paintings, while the Bund One Art Museum is one of Shanghai's emerging landmarks. In 2021, the two museums signed an agreement to hold 10 exhibitions within five years, marking one of the most extensive art cooperation projects between China and Italy. The two museums have since co-curated four exhibitions, which have already attracted over 200,000 audiences and become one of Shanghai's "best place to visit." "Flora is so beautiful. You can almost still feel her breath after hundreds of years. I got absorbed in the dreamy painting," said a Chinese visitor who called herself "half and half," posting photos on social media platforms. Masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries attract young visitors in Shanghai, China on April 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang) Xie Dingwei, executive director of the Bund One Art Museum, said that the exhibitions travel across time and space, and were loved by young people in China, who pursue art, popularity, "facial attractiveness" and fashion. Describing the exhibition in Shanghai as a unique experience, Anna Bisceglia, curator of the Uffizi Galleries, said "all colors of the exhibition hall are extracted from Titian's original paintings." These art exhibitions are microcosms of the deepening dialogue and cooperation between China and Italy in the fields of museums and exhibitions. Shanghai Museum, together with several Italian museums, has successfully held an exhibition called "Who is Leonardo da Vinci? -- Dialogue between Renaissance and Chinese Painting" recently. All of these exhibitions are jointly organized by museums of both China and Italy, in order to boost dialogue and share beauty. Eike Schmidt, former director of the Uffizi Galleries, said the success of Italian art in China is exciting. "We need to have more art dialogues, just as friends need to talk," he added. ZAGREB, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian parliament, officially constituted on Thursday, approved a new government led by incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday. According to the plans proposed by Plenkovic, the new government will have a total of 18 ministries, and most of the ministers of the previous government will remain in power. After the approval by the Croatian parliament, Plenkovic and the ministers took their oaths and were sworn into office. Prior to the vote, Plenkovic presented his five priorities -- a successful, vital, fair, sustainable and sovereign Croatia -- for his new government for the next four years to the parliament. He also pledged to increase employment opportunities, raise average salaries, fight against corruption, safeguard border and internal security and modernize the military. In the parliamentary elections held on April 17, the center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Plenkovic won 61 out of the total of 151 seats in the parliament. The HDZ formed a new coalition government with the right-wing party Homeland Movement and the representatives of the national minorities after a series of negotiations. On May 10, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic approved the mandate for Plenkovic to form the new government, after Plenkovic presented the president with signatures of 78 newly-elected parliament members who supported him. Plenkovic, born in 1970, used to be a diplomat and a member of the European Parliament. He has been serving as HDZ president since July 2016, and prime minister since October 2016. BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Tang Renjian, China's minister of agriculture and rural affairs, is under investigation for suspected severe violations of Party discipline and the law, an official statement said Saturday. Tang, also secretary of the leading Party members' group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, is being investigated by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision, according to the statement. Born in 1962, Tang formerly held positions at the country's now-defunct ministry of agriculture, as well as in the governments of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Gansu Province. He was appointed to his current position in December 2020. A large number of Baya weaver birds are gathering in a county in China's Yunnan to build nests, in preparation for new additions to their families. #spring #weaver #China #bird #species #animal Despite arguments from the Courthouse . . . It looks like an EPIC struggle is taking shape. Here's a glimpse at one of the key issues: During a motion hearing on Friday attorneys for the county as well as for Tyler Technologies, who was contracted for the assessment, argued that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey should be deposed, or give testimony, because of his comments on the case using specific wording. Bailey put out a statement two months ago saying The court has set a trial date of June 6, 2024 for our case against Jackson County and its illegal assessment scheme for property taxes. Its the words illegal assessment scheme that irked defense attorneys who argued that Bailey should be deposed to share what exactly was illegal, with an attorney for Tyler Technologies saying just because people are upset, that doesnt mean a law was broken. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . If there is any justice . . . Voters will SMACK DOWN this effort given that it perpetuates a cycle of FAIL over the course of a generation and a school district that probably needs to be dissolved and not reinforced. What's worth considering . . . CAN ACTIVISTS & SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS DEMAND LOCALS OPEN THEIR POCKETS FOR SKETCHY SCHOOL SCHEMES?!?! Sure, they jumped on the bandwagon to chase the Royals & Chiefs out of town but campaigning in the affirmative is much tougher . . . Especially when locals are mostly hostile to school spending schemes that mostly fund shady contracts & politically connected builders . . . Not students. The bigger questions . . . WHY SHOULD VOTERS SUPPORT MORE SCHOOL CASH WHEN KCPS IS ALREADY RICH FRO PROPERTY TAXES?!?! Of course w share a more optimistic perspective . . . The district will host two workshopsone in English and one in Spanish, called Building The Blueprintto share information about school facility needs and to gather feedback from staff, families, students, and community members. KCPS is the only Missouri school district in the region without a voter approved General Obligation (GO) Bond to fund school facility improvements. The districts last voter approved GO Bond was nearly 60 years ago in 1967. The district deems this embarkment the most significant investment in Kansas Citys kids in 30 years. It will include a 10-Year Capital Funding Plan that will serve as the roadmap for prioritizing school facility needs over the next decade. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Southern Ontario and cottage country, your Victoria Day holiday weekend is looking fabulous that is, if you like warm temperatures and lots of sunshine. The threat of showers and thunderstorms that are widespread throughout Ontario today (Friday) and lingering overnight are forecasted to move out on Saturday, replaced by a high pressure system that will give us lots of sun on Sunday and Monday. Check out these three-day (Saturday/Sunday/Monday) high temperature forecasts from Environment Canada for communities right across Ontario: Muskoka: 25/28/28 Windsor: 24/28/29 Mississauga: 21/27/28 Guelph: 22/27/28 Hamilton: 20/26/27 Ottawa: 25/28/29 Bancroft: 24/27/29 Peterborough: 23/28/29 North Bay: 25/25/26 Ironically, some of the more southern locales have cooler forecasts: both Niagara Falls and St. Catharines have a comparatively chilly forecast of 19 C on Saturday, 18 C on Sunday and 22 C on Monday. Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, explained in a Friday afternoon interview that big lakes, which are still pretty cool from the winter, can affect temperatures of nearby communities depending on local wind flow. Niagara is sitting beside two lakes, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, he explained. One thing to note, advised Cheng, is the dropping temperatures after the sun goes down. In other words, city folks wont have to turn on the air conditioning and cottage dwellers should have nice cool sleeping conditions. So thats something to be mindful of during this time of the year when we get not cool nights, but you know, not as warm, said Cheng. Heres just an example of some of the evening lows Saturday, Sunday and Monday Niagara Falls: 14/14/17 Mississauga: 13/13/17 North Bay: 14/10/14 Ottawa: 12/16/16 Even though a lot of places in Ontario will have warm temperatures, Cheng said that at this point, pop-up thunderstorms dont look to be a factor. For now, we dont see the threat in southern Ontario, he said, quickly adding that its always best to keep abreast of updated forecasts. Tunisia is facing increased terrorism threats, prompting a significant travel advisory. The U.S. Department of State recommends travelers exercise heightened caution, especially near the Algerian and Libyan borders and in mountainous areas. The alert comes amidst ongoing security concerns in specific regions prone to terrorist activities. Tunisia Raises Travel Alert Over Terrorism Threats In Tunisia, regions close to the Algerian and Libyan borders are considered particularly dangerous due to the threat of terrorism. According to Travel and Tour World, tourists are advised to avoid these areas, along with Mount Chaambi National Park, Mount Salloum, Mount Sammamma, and Mount Mghila in Kasserine Governorate, as well as the Mount Orbata area in Gafsa Governorate. These areas are known for frequent terrorist plotting and activities, which can occur without warning and may target tourist locations, transportation hubs, and public gatherings. The U.S. government's ability to assist American citizens in Tunisia is limited in these high-risk zones. U.S. government employees need special authorization to travel outside the greater Tunis area. The state of emergency currently in effect in Tunisia grants security forces greater authority to maintain order and respond to terrorism threats. Travelers planning to visit Tunisia are urged to remain vigilant, especially when using public transportation and staying outside main cities and tourist spots. It is also recommended to avoid demonstrations and large crowds which can escalate quickly. Travelers should ensure they have comprehensive medical insurance that includes medical evacuation and are advised to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive updates and facilitate assistance in case of emergency. By staying informed and cautious, visitors can better protect themselves during their travels in Tunisia. Related Article : Famillies Of Tunisia Beach Attack Victims Plan To Sue Tour Operator Tunisia Tourism Sees Remarkable Growth in 2023 Tunisia has witnessed a significant rebound in its tourism sector in 2023, with 8.8 million visitors marking a 49.3% increase from the previous year. The surge places the nation on track to surpass the peak tourism figures of 2019, before the Covid pandemic hit. Aymen Rahmani, Director of Studies and Cooperation at the Tunisian National Tourist Office, expressed optimism about achieving and even exceeding pre-pandemic visitor numbers. As of Dec. 10, 2023, Tunisia had already topped its target for the year, drawing more visitors than the 8.7 million recorded during the same period in 2019. As reported by Africa News, Rahmani projected that if the current trend continues, the total number of visitors could reach 9.6 million by the end of the year. Tourism revenue has also shown impressive growth, with earnings reaching 6.7 billion dinars (about 2 billion euros) by early December, and expectations of hitting 6.9 billion dinars by year-end. The rebound in tourism has been crucial for Tunisia, especially given the economic challenges posed by persistent drought and the impacts of the Ukraine war, which have strained the country's agriculture and increased its dependency on imported cereals and energy. The World Bank noted that the boost in tourism has helped mitigate some of the adverse effects on Tunisia's economy, which still faces significant hurdles with a forecasted growth of just 1.2% for 2023. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced new airline refund rules that are set to take effect in late October. These changes aim to improve consumer rights by requiring airlines to proactively inform passengers of their entitlement to a refund before offering alternatives like credits or rescheduled flights. The announcement has received praise from consumer groups but has faced opposition from airlines and travel agencies. Airline Refund Rules Promise More Transparency Under the current system, U.S. airlines often offer credits instead of refunds for canceled flights, a practice that can obscure passengers' rights. As reported by Travel Weekly, The new rules will clarify when passengers are eligible for refunds-specifically in cases of significant delays and cancellations-and also mandate that refunds be issued automatically if no response is received from the customer. This marks a significant shift from the existing policy where passengers must request a refund to initiate the process. The definition of a "significant delay" has been specified by the DOT as three hours or more for domestic flights and six hours or more for international flights. This clarity is expected to reduce confusion and streamline the refund process. However, the changes have sparked concern among airlines and travel agencies. Airlines for America (A4A), a trade group, argues that the new rules will lead to consumer confusion, reduced choice, and less competition, potentially driving up prices. Meanwhile, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has criticized a specific provision that could make agencies liable for refunds, even when the airline holds the funds. This could pose financial risks, especially for smaller agencies. Despite these concerns, consumer advocates believe the new airline refund rules are a significant step forward in passenger protection, promising more transparency and fairness in the airline industry. Related Article : Instant Refunds Now Mandatory Under New Airline Transparency Rules Federal Rules on Airline Refunds Address Weather Delays Under new federal regulations, airline passengers are now entitled to an automatic cash refund for flights delayed three hours or more in the U.S. and six hours or more for international flights. The rule will take effect six months after it is officially published in the Federal Register, providing clarity on what circumstances qualify for an airline refund. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has highlighted that while airlines have expressed concerns about the changes, these rules are designed to enforce existing passenger rights more effectively. Currently, passengers should receive refunds for significant delays or cancellations, but in practice, this has not always been implemented consistently by airlines. Commercial pilot Kathleen Bangs emphasized that the new rules might not cover every type of delay. Severe weather conditions, such as blizzards and ice storms that shut down airports, might not automatically qualify for a refund. She noted that there are numerous situations where airlines might not be held responsible for delays, as per Fox Weather. This development aims to improve transparency and accountability in the airline industry, ensuring passengers are better informed about their rights. The Department of Transportation encourages travelers to check airline policies on the new Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard to understand their rights regarding delays and cancellations. BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Energy transition without China does not work, Christian Bruch, chief executive officer (CEO) of Siemens Energy, told reporters this week, as he stressed that trying to build a wind turbine without any Chinese supply in Europe will be close to impossible. "The last thing I would do is advocate something like departing or de-risking. We have a connectivity between the two regions that is fruitful and unavoidable," Bruch was quoted as saying by Reuters on Friday. The CEO made the remarks as the EU initiated last month subsidy investigations into Chinese wind turbine suppliers, marking the fourth probe targeting Chinese firms in just two months. The manufacturing of wind turbines mainly relies on materials from China, most notably rare earths and permanent magnets, Reuters reported. "Bruch's comments also indicate a divide between Germany's government, which has suggested companies cut their relative exposure to China, and the leaders of companies such as Volkswagen and BASF, which have increased their engagement," said the report. There has to be a middle ground between full-on protectionism like in the United States and a free market, argued Bruch. "I'm not in favour of blocking the European market. But I think we still need clear rules in terms of how companies are financed, where do they get guarantees from and what do they pay for it," he said. TAIYUAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lin Guodong's trip from Shanghai to Yuncheng City in Shanxi Province, north China, over the May Day holiday this year was his third visit to this region known for ancient buildings. "I have loved history since I was a child. Compared to reading books, a study trip offers a multidimensional experience. It allows me to feel history up close and systematically enrich my knowledge," said Lin, 29. There are some 28,000 existing ancient buildings in Shanxi, including three Tang Dynasty (618-907) wooden structures and the world's tallest wooden pagoda. The province also boasts 509 Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) wooden structures, accounting for over 80 percent of such buildings in China. It has more colored sculptures, murals, and ancient stages than anywhere else nationwide. In recent years, an increasing number of young people like Lin have flocked to Shanxi to explore its treasure of ancient buildings, sharing their experiences and travel tips on social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. "Although my itinerary was already packed, there were still many places I didn't visit. Shanxi is worth multiple visits," wrote Zhou Zhiyu, a 21-year-old student at Beijing Institute of Technology, on Xiaohongshu. Zhou, who grew up in Zhejiang Province, east China, has been to Shanxi twice to explore its ancient buildings. She fondly recalls watching a flock of birds fly over the colorful glazed pagoda at Guangsheng Temple in Hongtong County. "The ancient buildings in Shanxi, with their earthy colors, exude history. I prefer this kind of atmosphere," she said. Yang Jie, an ancient building enthusiast born in the 1980s, shares Zhou's passion. In 2016, he left his job to pursue his love for history. The following year, he founded Jinxingji research and study center, which specializes in in-depth educational tours focused on history and culture. "Starting with no participants on our first tour, we now receive nearly 5,000 visitors a year, 31 percent of whom are under 30. It indicates that an increasing number of young people are interested in ancient buildings, and the demand for professional guides is growing," said Yang. Yang and his team are devoted to selecting the iconic ancient buildings from across the country and hiring professionals to explain their structures, murals, and sculptures, in an effort to perfectly blend tangible heritage with expert knowledge. The growing enthusiasm for ancient buildings is fueled by the revival of traditional Chinese culture. As more people seek to understand Chinese history and civilization through these historical sites, the movement for ancient building conservation is also gaining strength. Wang Kai, an ancient building enthusiast working at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is dedicated to ancient building protection. Inspired by the works of renowned late architect Liang Sicheng, he followed in Liang's footsteps and began to visit ancient buildings in 2015. "There are many old photos in the books, and I wanted to see what these ancient buildings look like now. It quickly became an unstoppable passion, and I've since visited hundreds of them," said Wang. He believes ancient buildings are crucial carriers of traditional Chinese culture, with their sculptures, murals, and inscriptions being significant elements. After visiting many buildings, Wang and other enthusiasts like He Yanjun from Changzhi City, Shanxi, established a volunteer service center for cultural heritage protection, where they plan to organize voluntary patrols and explanations at ancient buildings. As an overseas returnee, Wang also decided to print his photos into books with English captions to introduce the materials and aesthetics of Chinese traditional architectures to foreign friends. Ukraine's defense forces have repelled the Russian assault on the city of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, where they destroyed more than 20 armored vehicles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this in his nightly video address, Ukrinform reports. Full text of the president's address: Dear Ukrainians! Today is a special day. Today we remember the year 1944 the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people and honor the memory of its victims. Unfortunately, our history is quite full of tragic pages of things our people had to go through. But no matter how bitter or terrible these pages were, they will never become pages of lies, let alone the last pages for Ukraine. Today, as we commemorate the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and condemn Russia's abuse of Crimea, we feel, we know, that Russian evil is not and will not be omnipotent. The occupier's time on our land is limited, and their expulsion is inevitable, and it depends on how we all resist, how we all try to unite the world, and how the world itself is determined determined to protect humanity and life. The Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 was indeed a test a test of determination for everyone in the world. There was no proper reaction at the time, and Putin decided that he could allegedly outgrow Crimea, that he could allegedly do more evil with impunity. February 24th put a stop to that through the resistance of all Ukrainians, of all our people: different people of different generations, of various views who all equally deterred the occupier. The historical point put then will never again become a semicolon for Ukraine. Moscow will never have a chance to conquer our country, our people, our consciousness and history. And now, in our battles for Ukraine, in our work for Ukraine, we have reached a level where Russian evil will not hide from our just responses even on its own territory. I thank all our warriors and units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, who proved this week that the Russian state will pay for everything it does against our people and our society. I thank each of our warriors who showed sufficient resilience and managed to gain more confidence, especially in the Kharkiv direction, this week. The invaders are losing their infantry and equipment it's a significant loss, although, as in 2022, they were counting on a rapid advance through our land. We also do not forget about other directions of combat besides the Kharkiv ones: Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, the southern directions wherever the situation is difficult, our forces give a decent rebuff to the occupier. In particular, I would like to specially and separately thank the guys who repelled the Russian assault on Chasiv Yar. Our warriors destroyed more than twenty armored vehicles of the occupier. Well done, guys! And I also thank every representative of our state the entire diplomatic team of the Office, our government officials, our embassies, the civil society activists who are helping I thank you for the steady, step-by-step progress in the preparation of the Peace Summit the first Global Summit that will be held in Switzerland. Together with our partners, we are preparing a real platform a platform for the world that is truly capable of forcing Russia into peace, the world that Russia will not be able to deceive. This week we have added new participants to the Summit. At the level of Heads of State and Government alone, I had conversations with Georgia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Portugal, Slovenia, France, Sweden, and Liberia, and I also spoke with the U.S. Secretary of State. And the next week will also be active in terms of diplomacy. Ukrainian diplomacy is working together with Ukrainian weapons for the sake of a just peace for our country and a just punishment for Russia for this war. We will definitely fulfill our Ukrainian tasks. I thank everyone who helps! I thank everyone who chose Ukraine and ensures the strength and results for our country. Glory to Ukraine! JERUSALEM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday night that it attacked a target in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, killing "at least two terrorists." Israeli state-owned Kan TV news reported that one of the dead was "the head of the military branch of the Islamic Jihad organization in the city." SEOUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a test fire of tactical ballistic missile using a new autonomous navigation system in its eastern waters on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire, the KCNA report said. Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, oversaw the test fire and expressed his satisfaction over the military strategic value as a result of the independent development and successful introduction of the autonomous navigation system, the report said. In a surprising turn of events, Sonoma State University President Mike Lee has announced his retirement, just days after striking a controversial agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters on campus. This move has garnered significant attention and criticism from the California State University (CSU) System leaders, who accused Lee of insubordination and placed him on administrative leave. The fallout from this incident has raised questions about university governance, protest management, and the implications of such agreements on academic freedom and institutional policy. Controversial Agreement and Immediate Repercussions The controversy began when President Lee, in an attempt to address the demands of pro-Palestinian protesters on campus, agreed to several concessions that sparked outrage and concern among faculty, students, and CSU leaders. The agreement included an academic boycott of Israel and involved students in curricular development, areas traditionally reserved for faculty oversight. Critics argued that Lee's actions overstepped his authority and undermined the established protocols for academic governance. The California State University System's response was swift and decisive. Lee was placed on administrative leave, and CSU leaders issued a statement accusing him of insubordination. The swift action highlighted the gravity of the situation and the CSU's commitment to maintaining the integrity of its governance structures. California State Chancellor Mildred Garcia addressed the situation in a statement on Friday. She acknowledged that President Mike Lee had decided to retire from his position at Sonoma State University and expressed gratitude for his extensive service to the California State University system, beginning at California State University, Sacramento. Garcia extended her well wishes to Lee and his family. She also mentioned her ongoing collaboration with Acting President Nathan Evans and the Board of Trustees leadership during this transition, noting that more details would be provided soon. READ MORE : Students Protest Tuition Hike At CSU Board Of Trustees Meeting In Long Beach Lee's Legacy and the Road to Retirement Mike Lee's decision to retire marks the second time he has stepped away from a leadership role within the CSU system. Lee came out of retirement in 2022 to serve as Sonoma State University's president following the resignation of former president Judy Sakaki. Sakaki left her position amid controversy related to the mishandling of a sexual harassment scandal involving her husband. Lee's tenure at Sonoma State was intended to be a stabilizing period for the university, yet it has now ended amid significant controversy. Lee's career in the CSU system has been long and varied. He initially served at California State University, Sacramento, where he earned a reputation for his dedication to higher education and effective leadership. His unexpected return to service in 2022 was seen as a commitment to helping Sonoma State navigate a challenging period. However, his recent actions and the subsequent fallout have overshadowed his long-standing contributions to the CSU system. Implications for Future University Governance and Protest Management The incident at Sonoma State University raises important questions about how universities should handle protests and engage with student activists. While many university presidents across the country have negotiated with pro-Palestinian protesters on issues such as endowment transparency and divestment from Israel, Lee's concessions went further than most. His agreement to an academic boycott of Israel and to involve students in curricular development sparked significant debate about the limits of executive authority and the role of faculty in academic decisions. The CSU system has indicated that the agreements made by Lee with the protesters will be reviewed in the near future. A system spokesperson noted in an email that the commitments "will be reviewed in the near future," leaving open the possibility that some or all of the agreements could be overturned. This review process will be closely watched as it may set a precedent for how similar situations are handled in the future. Faculty members have expressed concern about the potential impact on academic freedom and the traditional governance structures that ensure faculty control over curriculum matters. The involvement of students in curricular development, while aimed at increasing transparency and inclusivity, has been seen by some as a breach of the professional boundaries that ensure academic standards and integrity. As Acting President Nathan Evans steps in to lead Sonoma State University through this transitional period, the university community will be looking for stability and clear guidance on how to move forward. The handling of this incident will likely influence how other universities approach similar protests and negotiations, potentially reshaping the landscape of university governance and protest management. President Mike Lee's retirement following his controversial deal with pro-Palestinian protesters marks a significant moment for Sonoma State University and the broader CSU system. The incident highlights the complex challenges university leaders face in balancing the demands of activism with institutional governance and academic integrity. The outcomes of this situation will be closely watched and will likely have lasting implications for higher education administration. Recent weeks have seen a notable decline in the volume and intensity of pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, a stark contrast to the fervent peak observed in late April. Despite this overall decrease, significant incidents have occurred at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) and DePaul University in Chicago, where protests continued to smolder, prompting university leaders to call on law enforcement for intervention. UC Irvine: A Complex Standoff On Wednesday, police regained control over a lecture hall occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters at UC Irvine, as reported by Reuters. The operation involved hundreds of officers from about ten nearby agencies, who stormed the building in riot gear and subsequently cleared an encampment that had persisted for more than two weeks. The Los Angeles Times detailed the dramatic confrontation, noting that at least 50 protesters, including both students and faculty, were arrested. However, UC Irvine spokesperson Tom Vasich provided a contrasting perspective, describing the protesters as "begrudgingly cooperative" and stating that there were a "minimal number of arrests." The decision to intervene was described as a last resort by UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman. In a statement released late Wednesday, Gillman expressed his dismay, stating he was "brokenhearted" by the necessity of police action. He had initially been prepared to allow the peaceful encampment to remain, despite its violation of university policies and the distress it caused within the community. The chancellor underscored the dramatic shift in the situation, highlighting the protesters' actions as a direct assault on the rights of other students and the university's mission. As a precaution, all classes were held remotely on Thursday. READ MORE : UT Austin Fires Lecturer Following Arrest At Pro-Palestinian Protest DePaul University: Efforts at Peaceful Resolution A similar scenario unfolded at DePaul University on Thursday morning, where police dismantled an encampment that had been established on a campus quad since April 30. Despite the removal of the camp, protests continued outside the now fenced-off area, as reported by CBS News Chicago. The situation at DePaul saw fewer arrests, with only two individuals detained for obstruction of traffic. University President Robert Manuel detailed the university's efforts to reach a "shared resolution" with the DePaul Divestment Coalition, which had organized the encampment. In a letter to students and staff, Manuel expressed his disappointment over the unsuccessful negotiations. He emphasized that all individuals in the encampment were given the opportunity to leave peacefully to avoid arrest. Manuel's approach reflected a desire to minimize conflict, urging the protesters to return home peacefully. Protests Spreading to Other Campuses While UC Irvine and DePaul University have been the focal points of recent police interventions, pro-Palestinian protests are beginning to extend into the summer term at other institutions. At Florida International University (FIU), the spring term ended on April 20, but student activism persists. The campus chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America has established what they term a "liberated zone for Palestine." This ongoing demonstration began on Wednesday and operates within the bounds of campus protest regulations, allowing activities from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The persistence of these protests underscores a broader trend of sustained activism among college students, particularly around issues of international human rights and political justice. While the intensity of protests may ebb and flow, the underlying sentiments driving these movements remain potent. The actions at UC Irvine and DePaul University illustrate the challenges university administrators face in balancing the right to protest with maintaining campus order and ensuring the safety and rights of all students. Looking Ahead As summer progresses, it remains to be seen how university administrations will navigate the complex terrain of student protests. The interventions at UC Irvine and DePaul University have set significant precedents, highlighting the potential for both cooperation and conflict between student activists and institutional authorities. The call for law enforcement intervention, while a measure of last resort, underscores the gravity of these situations and the difficulties inherent in managing large-scale campus protests. In the coming months, universities nationwide will likely continue to grapple with similar issues, seeking ways to accommodate student activism while upholding their policies and ensuring campus safety. The experiences at UC Irvine and DePaul University may serve as case studies for other institutions facing comparable challenges, informing their approaches to handling protest movements and maintaining a balance between free expression and institutional order. (@Abdulla99267510) KTC vehemently denies all accusations made in the report and asserts its steadfast commitment to compliance with all regulatory requirements. ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-May 18th, 2024) Khyber Tobacco Company (KTC) on Saturday issued a statement to take an exception to a report titled "Pakistan Cigarette Market Assessment 2024" by Ipsos Pakistan. It said that KTC is a leading cigarette manufacturing company in Pakistan, and is compelled to address the public regarding the baseless and defamatory allegations levelled against it by Ipsos. The said report contains unsubstantiated claims and defamatory remarks regarding KTC's business practices. These false allegations...have caused significant harm to KTC's reputation and business interests, it said. KTC vehemently denies all accusations made in the report and asserts its steadfast commitment to compliance with all regulatory requirements, it says. We assert with pride that we are among the preeminent national cigarette manufacturing entities, employing a workforce exceeding 400 individuals within the country, and serving as Pakistans foremost tobacco exporter during the fiscal year 2022-23. These factors significantly bolster our contributions to the national exchequer, in direct contradiction to the assertions made by Ipsos, says KTC. Besides, KTC was among the initial proponents of executing the track and trace agreement with the Federal board of Revenue (FBR), as evidenced by public records. The company has cooperated fully with regulatory authorities, including the FBR, and maintains a robust system of internal controls to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, it says. KTC's manufacturing units are subject to stringent oversight by FBR officials, with monitors stationed on the production floor, it said. The defamatory nature of the report has not only harmed KTC's reputation but has also triggered a detrimental media campaign against local cigarette manufacturers. KTC's name, synonymous with quality and compliance, has been unfairly tarnished by these baseless allegations, it says. It says that formal legal notices concerning defamation have been appropriately served to Ipsos Pakistan and its parent entity located in Paris, France. The KTC statement goes on to claim that It has been brought to our attention that Ipsos Pakistan conducts its business operations within Pakistan through a single-member company (SMC) named ASB Associates, lacking a registered presence within Pakistan. The evident non-compliance of Ipsos with established legal protocols within Pakistan is substantiated and verifiable, it says. We remain steadfast in our commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and compliance across all facets of our operations, and we extend our gratitude for the continued support and trust of our esteemed clientele and stakeholders, it says. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday decided to send Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to provide assistance to Pakistani students affected by the recent situation in the country ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday decided to send Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to provide assistance to Pakistani students affected by the recent situation in the country. Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam will also accompany the deputy prime minister. Both the ministers would depart for Bishkek on Sunday morning through a special flight, a press release issued by the PM House said. Despite the situation being under control, the delegation is being sent to provide necessary assistance and facilities to the Pakistani students, the news release added. During his visit, the deputy prime minister will hold meetings with high-level Kyrgyzstan officials and ensure the provision of medical facilities to the injured students. He will also review the arrangements for the safe return of Pakistani students to their homeland. The prime minister has been closely monitoring the situation throughout the day and he also remained in contact with the Pakistan ambassador in Bishkek. He expressed deep concern over the recent violence against foreign students in Kyrgyzstan and directed that all possible assistance be provided to the affected Pakistani students. He also instructed that those who wish to return to Pakistan be facilitated to do so at the government expense. The prime minister assured that the government would not leave the students alone in this difficult time and would maintain constant contact between the students and their parents through the embassy. BISHKEK (Kyrgyzstan) , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point news - 18th May, 2024) Amidst mob violence taking place outside the student hostels in Bishek, the Embassy of Pakistan in Kyrgyzstan on Saturday strongly advised the Pakistani students to stay indoors. In social media post, Ambassador of Pakistan in Bishkek Hasan Zaigham assured that the embassy was liasing with the local law enforcement authorities to ensure safety of the Pakistani students. The envoy also shared helpline No. +996 507567667, asking the students to call in case of emergency. "In view of mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek, the embassy strongly advises all Pakistani students in Bishkek to stay indoors until the situation returns to normal. We are liasing with the local law enforcement authorities to ensure safety of our student fraternity," the ambassador said. Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also reposted the envoy's message and said the embassy was in contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to facilitation Pakistani students as their safety was of paramount importance for the ambassador and his team. Various social media posts also reported the incidents of mob violence at the hostels housing foreign students in Bishkek, along with the footages and imagery, with many appealing to the relevant authorities for immediate help to the Pakistani students. (@FahadShabbir) Senator and seasoned politician Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Saturday said that the country needed a healing touch to put her on the path to strong foreign policy, economic and political stability KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Senator and seasoned politician Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Saturday said that the country needed a healing touch to put her on the path to strong foreign policy, economic and political stability. While addressing a conference on 'A World in Turmoil' organized by Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) at a local hotel here, he stressed the need for domestic political stability in the country. He said we know how to preserve and protect our foreign policy. He said that the country needed a regional re-set with our neighbours and should not be part of any civil war in the future. He said, 'This is the world of open borders.' Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that China was time-tested friend of Pakistan and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) provided Pakistan to be regional hub of connectivity. He said that China was a power, which had challenged the Western hegemony. Sayed said the country had got an opportunity to form a strong foreign policy for the benefit of the nation. He said we should further show strong viewpoint on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and show solidarity with Palestine. He said that any party, which was mandated in the general elections be respected. Senator Mushahid Sayed said that the supremacy of law and constitution were vital. He said we should learn from the mistakes of the past. He said that the country believed in democracy and human rights and should move forward as per the principles. Mushahid said that the world was in transformation and new order was emerging. He said that China was overtaking United States in high-tech as per a study. He said that around 130 countries had more trade with China than the United States and the trades were being done in local currencies instead of Dollar. The Senator said that Israel carried out televised genocide in modern history, which had showed the double standards of the western countries. He said that Jews, Christians, Hindus and Muslims had stood in favour of the humanity against Israel around the world. He said that IIOJK and Palestine were under military occupation. The Former Ambassador of Pakistan to USA Jalil Abbas Jilani addressing the participants said that the world was passing through a challenging time. He said that the world was facing climate change. Jilani said that Israel and Palestine confrontation was underway and the children in Palestine were deprived of food. On the occasion, different sessions were held in the conference and discussed topics including contemporary conflicts in the world, Disinformation, Cyber Threats and nuclear risk and intersecting crises of climate change and food seucirty. The experts also put shed light on the topics and stressed the need for taking steps and forming effective policies. New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Boeing shareholders voted Friday to back outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun's pay deal and reelection to the board, in an endorsement of company leadership as it faces heavy scrutiny over safety problems. The company announced the preliminary vote results at its annual meeting, saying all 11 directors had been reelected and that shareholders backed Calhoun's planned $33 million compensation package. Advisory services firm Glass Lewis had urged shareholders to reject Calhoun's nomination, while Investor Shareholder Services (ISS) had recommended a "no" vote on Calhoun's compensation package. The virtual meeting comes on the heels of a number of crises facing the storied planemaker. Boeing has faced serious questions following a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines flight in January that necessitated an emergency landing of a 737 MAX after a panel on the fuselage blew out mid-air. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Boeing had breached a 2021 criminal settlement over two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, opening the company up to possible prosecution. In communications to investors ahead of the annual meeting, Boeing emphasized its aggressive response to the Alaska Airlines incident that included a leadership shakeup announced in late March. On March 25, Boeing said Calhoun would step down at the end of 2024. The company also named former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf as the new chairman who will oversee the executive search. "The months and years ahead are critically important for our company as we take the necessary steps to regain the trust lost in recent times to get back on track and perform like the company we all know Boeing can and must be," Mollenkopf said at the outset of the meeting. Mollenkopf said he has been meeting with investors, customers and other shareholders, expressing confidence that "we're going to find the right person to lead this company." He did not give a timetable for announcing a new CEO. Mollenkopf and Calhoun took questions on safety, executive compensation and other topics, but the queries were read by a company official in a heavily managed process in which actual shareholders did not speak. Late Friday, Boeing disclosed in a securities filing that about 22 percent of the shares cast voted against Calhoun's reelection to the board, while 36 percent voted against the pay package. - Sending a message - Glass Lewis had argued that shareholders should use the annual meeting to send a message to Boeing. "Shareholders will be sending a clear indication of discontent regarding the company's recent oversight and handling of safety issues and safety culture," said a report that urged investors to vote against the reelection of Calhoun, and Akhil Johri and David Joyce, who chair the audit and aerospace safety committees respectively. ISS meanwhile had urged a no vote on Calhoun's executive pay package. In setting Calhoun's package, Boeing alluded to earlier crises he navigated as CEO, including winning regulatory approval to return the 737 MAX to the skies after two fatal crashes and the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic. "While the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident shows that Boeing has much work yet to do, the board believes that Mr. Calhoun has responded to this event in the right way," Boeing said in the filing. After Friday's meeting, Calhoun will face a full plate of issues, including a late May deadline to present a plan required by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has capped MAX production until the company shows progress on safety and quality control. In July, the Justice Department will make a final determination on whether to criminally prosecute Boeing. Then in September, the company faces a potential strike of 30,000 workers if it is unable to reach a contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. (@FahadShabbir) Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Tourists normally have to pay big money and brave cold climates for a chance to see an aurora, but last weekend many people around the world simply had to look up to see these colourful displays dance across the sky. Usually banished to the poles of Earth, the auroras strayed as far as Mexico, southern Europe and South Africa on the evening of May 10, delighting skygazers and filling social media with images of exuberant pinks, greens and purples. But for those charged with protecting Earth from powerful solar storms such as the one that caused the auroras, a threat lurks beneath the stunning colours. "We need to understand that behind this beauty, there is danger," Quentin Verspieren, the European Space Agency's space safety programme coordinator, told AFP. Mike Bettwy of the US Space Weather Prediction Center said that "we're focused on the more sinister potential impacts" of solar storms, such as taking out power grids and satellites, or exposing astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation. The latest auroras were caused by the most powerful geomagnetic storm since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003, which sparked blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. There appears to have been less damage from the latest solar storms, though it often takes weeks for satellite companies to reveal problems, Bettwy said. There were reports that some self-driving farm tractors in the United States stopped in their tracks when their GPS guidance systems went out due to the storm, he told AFP. JERUSALEM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday said it killed Sharhabil Ali al-Sayed, a senior commander in the Lebanese Islamic Group, or Jamaa Islamiya, in an airstrike on the area of Majdal Anjar village in southeastern Lebanon. "Al-Sayed has recently led many attacks and acts of terrorism from Lebanese territory against Israel in the eastern sector, in cooperation with the Lebanese Hamas branch," the IDF said in a statement. The statement noted that the operation was carried out "to harm the organization's ability to promote and carry out terrorist operations that it planned in the recent period and in the near future against Israel on the northern border." Earlier in the day, the IDF reported that 75 launches of rockets and drones were carried out from Lebanon into northern Israel. Meanwhile, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua on Friday that an Israeli drone followed a four-wheel drive vehicle that was driving in the town of Rashaya, fired two air-to-surface missiles at it, burning the car and killing its driver, Sharhabil al-Sayed, and seriously wounding his companion and a civilian who happened to be at the scene. Heavy clashes and bombardment rocked Rafah on Saturday, as Israel pressed an assault against Hamas militants that has led hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee the southern Gaza city Rafah, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Heavy clashes and bombardment rocked Rafah on Saturday, as Israel pressed an assault against Hamas militants that has led hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee the southern Gaza city. The Israeli military said its air forces hit more than 70 targets across the Gaza Strip while ground troops conducted "targeted raids" in eastern Rafah, killing 50 militants and locating dozens of tunnel shafts. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired a barrage of rockets towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon and targeted an Israeli command centre at the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip. An AFP reporter said air strikes and artillery shells pounded eastern Rafah as warplanes criss-crossed over the city on Gaza's border with Egypt. More than 10 days into what the army called a "limited" operation in Rafah that sparked an exodus of Palestinians, fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants has also flared again in northern Gaza. Israel said in early January it had dismantled Hamas's command structure in the north, but the army said Hamas -- whose October 7 attack sparked the war -- had been "in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago". Hamas slammed what it called Israel's "intensified brutal raids" on Jabalia, saying they had killed dozens of civilians and wounded hundreds more while targeting schools and shelters. "The escalating crimes of the occupation will not succeed in breaking the will of our brave resistance or in deterring our proud people from their decision to stand firm on their land," it said. - First aid via pier - The Israeli incursion into Rafah, launched despite overwhelming international opposition and as mediators were hoping for a breakthrough in stalled truce talks, has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, aid groups say. With key land crossings closed or operating at limited capacity due to the fighting, some relief supplies began flowing into Gaza via a temporary, floating pier constructed by the United States. The Israeli army said 310 pallets began moving ashore in "the first entry of humanitarian aid through the floating pier". Satellite pictures taken on Saturday showed more than a dozen trucks lining up on the approach road to the pier. In the coming days, around 500 tonnes of aid are expected to be delivered to Gaza through the pier, according to US Central Command. But UN agencies and humanitarian aid groups have warned sea or air deliveries cannot replace far more efficient truck convoys into Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine. The European Union welcomed the first shipment from Cyprus to the Gaza pier, but called on Israel to "expand deliveries by land and to immediately open additional crossings". The Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for humanitarian assistance, has been closed since Israel launched its operation in the city last week. The war began after 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 based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,386 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The toll includes at least 83 deaths over the past 24 hours, said a ministry statement on Saturday. Out of 252 people taken hostage from Israel during the October 7 attack, 125 remain held in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead. - 'Advancing and retreating' - The army said troops in Gaza had recovered late Thursday the bodies of three hostages whom it said had been killed on October 7. Israel has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas forces in Rafah, which it says is the last bastion of the Iran-backed group. The looming Israeli assault has prompted nearly 640,000 of the 1.4 million people who had been sheltering in the southern city to flee to other areas, the UN has said. Palestinian sources in Rafah said Israeli forces were operating in the city's Al-Salam and Jenina neighbourhoods as well as on the Philadelphi route along the Egyptian border. "Troops are advancing and retreating around these areas," a security source said. Cairo, which has been involved in mediation efforts during the war, says a potential Israeli takeover of Philadelphi could violate its landmark 1979 peace deal with Egypt. In northern Gaza's Beit Lahia, witnesses reported air strikes near Kamal Adwan hospital on Saturday. The hospital's director Hussam Abu Safiya said Friday the facility had received "large numbers" of casualties from nearby Jabalia and was running low on supplies. The fuel aid that had reached the hospital was "barely enough for a few days", Abu Safiya told AFP. The World Health Organization has received no medical supplies in Gaza since the Rafah operation began on May 6, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said Friday. - Biden aide visits - On the diplomatic front, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was heading to the region for weekend talks. Sullivan will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Meanwhile, Israel said it killed two senior Islamic Jihad militants in separate air strikes in the northern West Bank and in Rafah. The armed wing of Islamic Jihad confirmed a local commander was killed in an overnight strike on the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. But there was no immediate comment from the group, which has fought alongside Hamas, on the army's announcement that a "significant" operative was killed in Rafah. A military statement did not name the slain militant and said he had been involved in "preparing... for operations against IDF (army) ground troops in the area". burs-lb/ami/dv (@ChaudhryMAli88) Rafah, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Heavy clashes and bombardment Saturday rocked Gaza's southern city of Rafah as the Israeli military announced the first humanitarian aid had entered the besieged territory via a US-built pier. The military said its air forces "struck over 70 targets" across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours while ground troops "continue precise operations" in eastern Rafah. More than 10 days into what the Israeli military called a "limited" operation in Rafah that sparked an exodus of Palestinians sheltering there, fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants has also flared again in Gaza's north. The Kuwaiti hospital said an overnight Israeli strike killed two people in a displacement camp in Rafah, with witnesses reporting heavy gunfire and shelling in the city's southeast and jets bombarding its eastern areas. The army said its forces "conducted targeted raids" in Rafah and found weapons and explosives. AFP correspondents, witnesses and medics said there were intense battles overnight in the northern Jabalia refugee camp, after the Israeli army reported on Friday "perhaps the fiercest" violence in the town in more than seven months of war. Israeli forces "eliminated terrorists in a number of battles" in the Jabalia area and parts of central Gaza, the army said. Israel in early January said it had dismantled Hamas's command structure in northern Gaza, but the army said the Palestinian group -- whose October 7 attack sparked the ongoing war -- "was in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago". The Israeli incursion into Rafah, launched despite overwhelming international opposition and as mediators were hoping for a breakthrough in stalled truce talks, has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, aid groups say. With key land crossings closed or operating at limited capacity due to the fighting, some relief supplies began flowing into war-ravaged Gaza via a temporary, floating pier constructed by the United States. The Israeli army said 310 pallets began moving ashore in "the first entry of humanitarian aid through the floating pier". Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Saturday put a mostly symbolic veto on the "foreign influence" law that sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi's EU aspirations Tbilisi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Saturday put a mostly symbolic veto on the "foreign influence" law that sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi's EU aspirations. Ruling Georgian Dream party lawmakers voted through the legislation this week in defiance of protesters concerned the ex-Soviet republic is shifting away from a pro-Western course back toward Russia. The move has sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in the recent history of the Black Sea nation. According to opinion polls, more than 80 percent of the population wants to join the European Union and NATO, and is staunchly anti-Kremlin. "Today I set a veto... on the law, which is Russian in its essence, and which contradicts our constitution," Zurabishvili said in a televised statement, speaking about the bill that critics describe as resembling Russian legislation used to silence dissent. Brussels has said the measure is "incompatible" with Georgia's bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in the country's constitution. European Council chief Charles Michel said on X, formerly Twitter, that the veto offered "a moment for further reflection". He called on lawmakers to "make good use of this window of opportunity" to keep Georgia on its EU path. Georgian Dream has enough lawmakers in parliament to override the veto. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has signalled his party's readiness to consider Zurabishvili's proposed amendments to the law, should she lay them out in her veto document. But the figurehead president -- at loggerheads with the ruling party - has ruled out the prospect of entering "false, artificial, misleading negotiations" with Georgian Dream. The bill requires NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as bodies "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." (@ChaudhryMAli88) French Pacific territory New Caledonia was "under siege" Saturday, the mayor of its capital Noumea said, with another person killed in rioting that has left six dead over six days Noumea, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) French Pacific territory New Caledonia was "under siege" Saturday, the mayor of its capital Noumea said, with another person killed in rioting that has left six dead over six days. Anger is still high over a contested voting reform, with Noumea mayor Sonia Lagarde telling news channel BFMTV "we're far from getting back to calm" even after the arrival of hundreds of military and police reinforcements. Saturday's deadly incident occurred in the archipelago's northern Kaala-Gomen area, General Nicolas Mattheos said, with two other men wounded. An informed source said the dead man and one of the injured were a father and son trying to cross a barricade erected by rioters. Hundreds of heavily armed French soldiers and police on Saturday patrolled Noumea, where streets were filled with debris. "Today, the rule of law, security for citizens, are not back in place everywhere in (New) Caledonia," said Philippe Blaise, vice-president of the territory's southern province. AFP reporters in the city's Magenta district saw vehicles and buildings burned, with a phalanx of riot police on the scene trying to reassert government control. Overnight, residents reported hearing gunfire, helicopters and "massive explosions" -- what seemed to be gas canisters blowing up inside a building that was set alight. For days Helene, 42, has been manning makeshift barricades in shifts with neighbours as they waited for hundreds of French security forces being flown 17,000 kilometres (10,600 miles) to impose order. "At night we hear shooting, and things going off," she told AFP. "Helicopters, and military planes landing -- which is sweet music to our ears." (@FahadShabbir) A missile fired by rebels hit a Greek oil tanker off Yemen early Thursday, causing some damage but no casualties, US Central Command said Dubai, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) A missile fired by rebels hit a Greek oil tanker off Yemen early Thursday, causing some damage but no casualties, US Central Command said. "At approximately 1 am (Sanaa time) May 18, Huthis launched one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) into the Red Sea and struck M/T Wind, a Panamanian-flagged, Greek owned and operated oil tanker", CENTCOM said in a post on social media site X. It said the vessel had recently docked in Russia and was bound for China. The attack caused some flooding "which resulted in the loss propulsion and steering", CENTCOM said. A ship from the international coalition to protect the vital shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea responded but no assistance was necessary, it added. The ship later resumed course under its own power. Earlier, maritime security firm Ambrey reported the attack, saying it took place off the coast of Yemen's southwestern city of Mokha overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait. The British navy's maritime security agency UKMTO also said it had received a report of a vessel "sustaining slight damage after being struck by an unknown object". "The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call," United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations added. It said the incident occurred 98 nautical miles (180 kilometres) south of the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The Huthis who control much of Yemen have launched dozens of attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in war-torn Gaza. The attacks have prompted reprisal strikes by US and British forces and the formation of the international coalition to protect shipping in the area. Noumea, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) One more person was killed Saturday and two injured in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia as security personnel tried to restore order after a fifth night of riots and looting that has now claimed six lives. The incident occurred in the archipelago's northern Kaala-Gomen area, General Nicolas Mattheos said. An informed source said the dead man and one of the injured were a father and son trying to cross a barricade erected by rioters. Hundreds of heavily armed French soldiers and police on Saturday patrolled the capital Noumea, where streets were filled with debris. "We're far from getting back to calm," Noumea mayor Sonia Lagarde told news channel BFMTV. "You could describe the last two nights as calmer, but the days are all alike, each with their share of fires," she added. AFP reporters in the city's Magenta district saw vehicles and buildings burned, with a phalanx of riot police on the scene trying to reassert government control. Overnight, residents reported hearing gunfire, the drone of helicopters and "massive explosions" -- what seemed to be gas canisters blowing up inside a building that was set alight. For days Helene, aged 42, has been manning makeshift barricades with neighbours, taking two-to-three-hour shifts as they wait for hundreds of French security forces being flown 17,000 kilometres (10,600 miles) to impose order. "At night we hear shooting, and things going off," she told AFP. "Helicopters, and military planes landing -- which is sweet music to our ears." Mayor Lagarde said Saturday that Noumea resembled "a city under siege," expecting it will "take a bit of time" for security reinforcements to make their presence felt. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Bratislava, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Slovakia's health minister said Saturday the prognosis for Prime Minister Robert Fico was "positive" after an assassination attempt as a court put the suspected gunman in pre-trial detention. Fico has been in hospital since Wednesday when a lone gunman shot him four times, including in the abdomen. He underwent a five-hour surgery on Wednesday and another surgery on Friday, both at a hospital in the central Slovak city of Banska Bystrica. "Yesterday's surgery, which took two hours, contributed to a positive prognosis of the prime minister's health condition," Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova told reporters. "The prime minister's condition is stable, but despite this it's still serious," she added. The suspected gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, was placed in pre-trial detention by a special penal court in Pezinok northeast of the capital Bratislava on Saturday. "The reason... is concerns about a potential escape or that the criminal activity may continue," court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova told AFP. The decision followed a request from a prosecutor made Friday. Cintula had been charged with a premeditated murder attempt earlier. Fico was shot as he was walking to greet supporters after a government meeting in the central mining town of Handlova. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said earlier that if one of the shots "went just a few centimetres higher, it would have hit the prime minister's liver". - 'We're not there yet' - Defence minister and deputy premier Robert Kalinak, Fico's closest political ally, said the prime minister was conscious and his condition allowed him to recover. "I don't think he could be taken to Bratislava in the coming days, his condition is still serious," he told reporters outside the hospital. Kalinak told the TA3 news channel later on Saturday that Fico had suffered four gunshot wounds, two light, one medium and one serious. He added doctors had removed all potentially infectious material from his wounds during Friday's surgery. "It will take the organism four or five days to start winning over such injuries, but we're not there yet," Kalinak said, hailing the good physical shape of the prime minister known as a keen runner and body-builder. The 59-year-old Fico took office in October after his centrist populist Smer party won a general election. He is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on proposals for peace between Russia and Slovakia's neighbour Ukraine, and for halting military aid to Kyiv, which his government later did. Kalinak said the government would carry on without Fico "according to the programme he has outlined", including two meetings next week. - 'All these lies' - The assassination attempt has deeply shocked the EU and NATO member country of 5.4 million people, already sharply divided over politics for years. Outgoing pro-Western President Zuzana Caputova and her successor Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will take office in June, have called on fellow Slovaks to refrain from "confrontation" after the shooting. They called a meeting of all parliamentary party leaders for Tuesday in a bid to show unity in the aftermath of the attack. Kalinak however suggested Smer would snub the meeting. "They invited political party chiefs and our chairman is in the hands of doctors," he said. Kalinak added he would call Caputova about the matter, stressing that Slovakia needed "reconciliation and peace". But he was among politicians pointing fingers at their opponents for the attack, slamming the opposition and "selected media" on Friday for labelling Fico as a criminal, dictator or Russian President Vladimir Putin's servant before the assassination attempt. "All these lies are the main reason why Robert Fico is fighting for his life today," he said in an emotional message on Smer's website. frj/imm Pezinok, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) The suspect charged with the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived Saturday in a court that will decide on pre-trial detention, an AFP video journalist said. The man, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, shot Fico after a government meeting on Wednesday. An AFP video journalist at the penal court in Pezinok northeast of the capital Bratislava said several police cars had driven into the court's premises. news channel TA3 also reported the suspect was brought to the court. Cintula fired five shots at Fico and hit him four times -- including in the abdomen -- as the prime minister was walking towards his supporters after a government meeting in the central Slovak mining town of Handlova on Wednesday. Fico was taken to hospital by helicopter and underwent five hours of surgery. "If the shot went just a few centimetres higher, it would have hit the prime minister's liver," Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told TA3. Fico, in office since his centrist populist Smer party won a general election last autumn, had another two-hour surgery on Friday. "The patient is conscious now, his condition is stable, but he is still in intensive care. His condition is really serious," said Miriam Lapunikova, director of the Roosevelt Hospital in the central Slovak city of Banska Bystrica. The Pezinok court is considering a prosecutor's request made Friday that Cintula be placed in pre-trial detention after he had been charged with a premeditated murder attempt. Romanian rescue teams on Saturday were scouring the Black Sea for three Syrian sailors who went missing when their cargo ship sank off the coast, the naval authority said Bucharest, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Romanian rescue teams on Saturday were scouring the Black Sea for three Syrian sailors who went missing when their cargo ship sank off the coast, the naval authority said. The Mohammed Z sank with 11 crew on board, 26 nautical miles off the Romanian town of Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube delta in the Black Sea on Saturday morning, officials said in a statement. The ship sailing under the Tanzanian flag was carrying nine Syrian and two Egyptian nationals, it said. After receiving an alert at "around 4:00am", naval authorities and border police were dispatched, with two nearby commercial vessels also joining the search and rescue operation. Eight sailors were rescued by one of the nearby commercial vessels, while the search for the other three, "all of Syrian nationality", was continuing, the statement said. The cause of the accident was unclear. According to the specialist website Marine Traffic, the ship departed from the Turkish port of Mersin and was heading to the Romanian port of Sulina. Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, drifting sea mines have posed a constant threat for ships in the Black Sea, with countries bordering it doubling down on demining efforts. Ensuring safe passage through the Black Sea has gained particular importance since Romania's Danube ports became hubs for the transit of grain following the Russian blockade of Ukraine's ports. Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Germany's Alexander Zverev equalled compatriot Boris Becker's record by reaching an 11th Masters final on Friday when he ended the Rome Open giant-killing run of Alejandro Tabilo to set-up a title showdown against Nicolas Jarry. World number five Zverev, who lifted the Rome trophy in 2017, battled back to see off Tabilo 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to tie Becker's record for the most Masters finals by a German since the series began in 1990. Third seed Zverev looked like he would become the latest high-ranking victim of an unusual men's tournament when he was battered in a sensational opening set. But Zverev battled back and after coming through a tight second set his class eventually showed, making the final at the Foro Italico for the third time. "I was just hanging on in the second set. I brought my energy up. I was really just hanging on and waiting and the patience was kind of good today," Zverev said on court. "He hit me off the court in the first set and I did not play well at all, but he was a big reason why. He gave me no rhythm and I am happy I turned it around in the tie-break and ran away in the third set." Tabilo's run to the last four had become one of the stories of a tournament which was shed of a host of top men players either to pre-event injuries or shock early eliminations. The 26-year-old Chilean had defeated world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round and the 32nd-ranked player showed little fear of Zverev until he began to play more passively in the second set tie-break. BAGHDAD, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces arrested two senior members of the Islamic State (IS) group in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi security forces said on Friday. The Kurdistan Region Security Council announced in a statement the arrest of Socrates Khalil, who was the right hand of the former IS top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The statement added that Khalil spent five years in Turkiye, but he entered the Kurdistan region with a forged passport and was immediately arrested. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces announced in a statement the arrest of "a leader of terrorist IS group" in Baghdad. The statement did not provide further details about the detained person but said that he was active within the IS terrorist group in Iraq's western province of Anbar and north of Baghdad areas. In July 2017, Iraq declared the liberation of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, from the IS, which took control of the city in 2014. The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have sneaked into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. MAY 18, 2024 On Friday, UTSA hosted San Antonios largest Commencement ceremony at the Alamodome. More than 5,000 Roadrunners were eligible to graduate from UTSA, including students who crossed the stage on Friday and those expected to graduate this summer. In all, more than 4,100 students received a bachelors degree, more than 800 received a masters degree and 90 received a doctoral degree. While some of these students have enrolled in masters or doctoral degree programs, many already have jobs waiting for them. From creating new spaces that foster student innovation to expanding education outside the classroom through experiential learning opportunities, UTSA is investing in workforce development programs to grow San Antonios talent pipeline. Through a combination of industry-relevant courses, projects and involvement in student organizations, UTSA undergraduate Conrad Finos nurtured his passion for cybersecurity and prepared for a career as a cyber professional. The graduates choice to attend UTSA was calculated, influenced by the universitys top-ranked cybersecurity program and the strategic opportunities it offered close to home. Finos graduated with a bachelors degree in cyber security from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UTSA. Up next for Finos is an international internship in Panama with the U.S. Department of State, followed by a full-time position with the agency's office in Washington, D.C., as a diplomatic information specialist this fall. Meanwhile Ayleen Gonzalez is remaining in San Antonio. The UTSA education student was recently hired as a full-time teacher at San Antonio Independent School Districts Irving Dual Language Academy, where she completed her student teaching this past year. She credits UTSAs reputation of preparing educators of the highest standard for impacting her career choices. Gonzalez graduated from the UTSA College of Education and Human Development (COEHD) with her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies EC-6 and a Bilingual Education Supplemental Certification. Key to Gonzalezs preparation was COEHDs Signature Residency Model, which provides cohorts of teaching candidates more opportunities to teach, learn and interact with students, fellow teachers and administrators. Its goal is to ensure these future teachers are ready to lead their own classrooms come the first day of school. UTSA offers practice exams and study sessions for us to get that degree, Gonzalez said. The Academy of Teacher Excellence and the workshops provided by UTSA have supported and prepared me for the challenges and requirements needed to be an educator. Institutional data from UTSA shows that, in the last three years, 88% of UTSAs graduates have stayed and worked in Texas, where they are eagerly sought after by employers in Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. UTSA held two Commencement ceremonies to celebrate its more than 5,000 spring and summer graduates. The morning ceremony honored graduates from the College of Education and Human Development, the College for Health, Community and Policy, the College of Sciences and University College. In the afternoon, UTSA celebrated graduates from the Alvarez College of Business, the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, and the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design. Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. US imposes sanctions on Nicaragua over repression, migrant smuggling The United States on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions on more than 250 members of the Nicaraguan government and levied sanctions on three Nicaraguan entities in retaliation for "repressive actions" and a failure to stem migrant smuggling through the Central American country. Reported by Reuters. Biden campaign launches new ad criticizing Trump's family separation policy U.S. President Joe Bidens reelection campaign has launched a digital ad aimed at Latino voters, seeking to remind them of former President Donald Trump's controversial zero tolerance family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. VOAs immigration reporter Aline Barros has more. New immigration court plan aims to speed removal of some new migrants (( https://www.voanews.com/a/new-immigration-court-docket-aims-to-speed-removal-of-some-new-migrants/7615290.html )) The Biden administration is creating a new process aimed at cutting the time it takes to decide the fates of newly arrived migrants in immigration courts from years to roughly six months at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern among voters. Reported by The Associated Press. US border arrests fall in April, as Mexico steps up enforcement Arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico fell more than 6% in April to the fourth-lowest month of the Biden administration, authorities said Wednesday, bucking the usual spring increase. Reported by The Associated Press. Immigration around the world Urgent needs of refugees, vulnerable people surge in flood-hit Brazil As Brazils heavily flooded southern state of Rio Grande do Sul braces for a weekend of intense rain, the U.N. refugee agency is calling for greater support to help tens of thousands of refugees, who are among the most-vulnerable people affected by the disaster. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva. Panama's Mulino says he will close one of world's busiest migration routes Panama is on the verge of a dramatic change to its immigration policy that could reverberate from the dense Darien jungle to the U.S. border. President-elect Jose Raul Mulino says he will shut down a migration route used by more than 500,000 people last year. Until now, Panama has helped speedily bus the migrants across its territory so they can continue their journey north. The Associated Press reports. Poland's PM vows to strengthen security at EU border with Belarus Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled May 11 to the country's border with Belarus, which is also the European Union's external border with the autocratic state, and pledged to do more to strengthen security along its entire eastern frontier. The Associated Press reports. Rights group sees surge in cross-border repression of dissidents in Thailand and its neighbors Thailand has grown increasingly dangerous for foreign dissidents seeking shelter in the country over the past decade and more repressive of its own dissidents abroad, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The U.S.-based human rights group dates the start of the surge to Thailands 2014 coup, which swapped the countrys democratically elected government for an authoritarian military regime. Tainted elections in 2019 returned Prayut Chan-ocha, the ex-general behind the coup, to power at the head of a military-backed government for another four years. Zsombor Peter reports for VOA. Conflict, violence push global internal displacement to record high levels Conflicts and violence have pushed the number of internally displaced people around the world to a record of 75.9 million, with nearly half living in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. The report finds conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Palestinian territories accounted for nearly two-thirds of new displacements because of violence, which in total spanned 66 countries in 2023. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva. News brief USCIS recommends DACA recipients submit their renewal request 150 to 120 days (four to five months) before the expiration date on their current DACA approval notice and employment authorization document. China's Taiwan Affairs Office this week vowed to punish five well-known Taiwanese media commentators and their families for fabricating false, negative information about China and provoking [a] hostile cross-strait confrontation." The sharp rebuke was made at a news briefing Wednesday by TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua in response to a reporter's question that China was looking at punitive measures for what it called famous mouths, or influencers, in Taiwan, who have been spreading rumors and slander for a long time. The reporter from Cross-Strait Radio of the China Media Group who asked the question gave alleged examples of statements, such as "mainland people cannot afford tea-poached eggs" and "the mainland's high-speed rail has no backrest." Chen responded that such commentators "ignored the facts of the development and progress of the mainland and hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. He named five Taiwanese Huang Shih-tsung, Yu Pei-chen, Lee-Zhenghao, Wang Yi-chuan and Liu Bao-jie and vowed to punish them and their families in accordance with the law. Huang is a financial pundit on Taiwanese TV programs. Yu is a retired army major general and current member of the Taoyuan City Council. Lee is a political commentator in Taipei. Wang is currently the executive director of the Policy Research and Coordinating Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party. Liu is a journalist and host of the TV political commentary program "Critical Moment. Chen did not specify what remarks the five pundits made, which Chinese laws they violated, or what punishment China would impose on them and their families. The critics speak back The accused Taiwanese critics responded to the threats in comments to VOA with a mix of ridicule and political analysis. Lee called them "glorious sanctions" that were likely fake moves by the Chinese government to appease internal hawks ahead of the inauguration Monday of Taiwans president-elect, Lai Ching-te. "Looking at the sanctions among major powers, no one is sanctioning media people, Lee told VOA. When the United States sanctioned China, it sanctioned then-Defense Minister Lee Shang-fu and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. China's sanctions on Taiwan in the past were against [former Premier] Su Tseng-chang and [former Taiwan Ambassador to the United States] Hsiao Bi-khim. Real sanctions are against government officials and legislators, not civilians." Huang noted the threat also came after U.S. President Joe Biden imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles and solar panels, worth about $18 billion. "It is obviously putting great pressure on China," Huang told VOA. "[China] has a very low cost of imposing sanctions on Taiwanese influencers." Yu told VOA China's sanctions are a "belated glory" and vowed, "I will never bow to autocracy." Sarcastically imitating the TAO's usual language, Wang said Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office needs "deep self-reflection." In a written statement, Taiwans Presidential Office spokesperson, Olivia Lin, said Taiwan is a democratic country, the constitution guarantees the people's freedom of speech, and China has no right to interfere. She said that in the face of personal threats from Chinas TAO, the Taiwanese government will ensure the safety of its people and "will not let such threats succeed." What Chinese netizens think Chinese netizens had mixed reactions to Chinas plans to somehow punish the Taiwanese pundits and their families for the unspecified violations of unspecified Chinese laws. Some Chinese netizens echoed Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office. One posted on social media, "These scammers are let off the hook easily even if they were shot in the head. They should be sent to the mainland's labor camps." Others disagreed and said the threats would only elevate the pundits statures. One posted on social media, "Isn't this just like conferring medals on them?" Akio Yaita is a prominent Japanese journalist who was raised in China and now lives in Taiwan. In his regular commentary series produced for VOA, Akio Yaita Has Something to Say, he said the sanctions won't have a huge effect on Taiwan but will hurt the Chinese government instead. "The Chinese Communist Party used to say, 'We place our hope in the people of Taiwan [for reunification].' These people are popular in Taiwan. No one thinks their remarks are outrageous, he said. If China doesn't allow them to speak because they criticize China a little bit, it shows the Communist Party has no confidence. The Communist Party's control of speech will be intolerable to Taiwan and will push most Taiwanese people into opposition." Beijing considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan a breakaway province that must one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. VOA's Adrianna Zhang and Joyce Huang contributed to this report. Six climate activists broke through a security fence at the Munich airport Saturday and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, temporarily halting flights. The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying as the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa. Police detained the six. Some 60 flights were canceled during the disruption that lasted a couple of hours, and passengers were rebooked on alternative flights, airport spokesperson Robert Wilhelm told dpa. Fourteen flights that were due to land in Munich were diverted to other airports, according to police. Last Generation accused the German government of downplaying the negative effects of flying on the environment instead of finally acting sincerely, in a post on the social media platform X. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for an end to such protests. Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger, she wrote on X. Fraser also applauded police efforts to bring order back to the airport and called for airport safety measures to be checked. Minister for Transport Volker Wissing said that his ministry was already working on further tightening existing laws. The general manager of the German Airports Association, Ralph Beisel, also criticized the activists actions. Trespassing the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday, he told dpa. Beisel also called for harsher penalties for activists who break into airports. Climate activities blocked flights at Hamburg and Duesseldorf airports for several hours in July. In January, Last Generation known for its members gluing themselves to streets to block traffic, which has infuriated many Germans said it would abandon the tactic and move on to holding what it calls disobedient assemblies. Their actions have been widely criticized, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz described them as completely nutty. Standing on the shore of Taiwan's Kinmen island, Taiwanese tourists snap photos of the skyline of China's Xiamen city that is clearly visible across the sliver of water separating them. For the best view of Xiamen's skyscrapers, visitors stand on a beach where anti-landing spikes jut out a reminder of when the island was a battlefield front line after Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949. More than 70 years later, China's communist leaders still vow to seize democratic Taiwan, which Beijing views as part of its territory. Taipei-administered Kinmen is only 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Chinese mainland, compared with 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Taiwan island. As Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te, a staunch defender of Taiwan's sovereignty, prepares to take office Monday, Taiwanese visitors to Kinmen hope he can avoid a conflict. "We don't ask for much, but we hope we can have a peaceful relationship," said Huang Yueh-yi, 78, on Saturday as she visited a market on the tiny island famed for its temples and traditional brick houses. "You live your life, and we'll live ours, it's good for both sides, and don't go towards war," she said. As the rift between China and Taiwan deepens, Beijing has been increasing military pressure on Taipei by regularly deploying fighter jets, naval ships and drones around the self-ruled island. In recent months, Chinese coast guard ships have also started making frequent appearances in the waters near Kinmen. Lai who has previously described himself as a "pragmatic worker for independence," enraging Beijing has more recently toned down his rhetoric. In the run-up to his inauguration, he has made overtures to China for a resumption of high-level communications, which Beijing severed after current President Tsai Ing-wen came to office in 2016. Chuang Cheng-tin, a construction worker from the central Taiwan city of Taichung, said it would be better for Taipei to "keep some distance" from Beijing. "We have different systems so there would be conflicts if we were too close," Chuang told AFP as he wandered Kinmen's historic streets. "We can't yield ... otherwise we will be taken by them. We should keep a distance, be armed, so we can have a counterbalance against them." On the Chinese side On the verdant island of Pingtan, in the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, hundreds of tourists gather at a seaside site that is the closest place in mainland China to Taiwan. Pingtan is about 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Taiwan island too far for visitors to see the other side with the naked eye. Instead, they pose with sculptures representing the two shores and celebrating the nostalgia of the time when they were part of the same political system. The site is intended to symbolize the historical links between the two sides, with the vast majority of Taiwan's 23 million people being of Chinese culture and having ancestors from mainland China. "Chinese from the mainland need a permit to go to Taiwan, and it's difficult to get one," Wang Lei, a 25-year-old student, told AFP as he took a photo of himself in front of a large granite frame sculpture of a postcard with the blue sea in the background. "So coming here is a way of getting a glimpse of the island and its history." While the tourists standing at the rocky site can only imagine Taiwan in the distance, some had clear views of its incoming president. "Lai Ching-te is the scum of the Chinese nation" because he "promotes separation between Taiwan and mainland China," Jack Wang, 30, who works in international trade, told AFP. "We aspire to peaceful reunification. But as the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong said, we can't renounce the use of force if it becomes necessary," he said. "Of course, the Taiwanese also aspire to reunification with the mainland." In fact, nearly 90% of Taiwanese wished to maintain the status quo, according to a 2023 poll by National Chengchi University in Taipei. Less than 2% said they supported unification as soon as possible. Some Chinese tourists who spoke to AFP were dismissive of the political developments across the strait, preferring to enjoy the sights of Pingtan. "Lai Ching-te? We don't really care about Taiwanese politics, to be honest," Zhou Yongping, a 54-year-old tourist, told AFP. "We just come here to visit, drink and eat." A scenic fishing village in southwestern England was under instructions to boil its tap water for a third day on Friday after a parasite sickened more than 45 people in the latest example of Britain's troubled water system. Around 16,000 homes and businesses in the Brixham area of Devon were told to boil water after cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhea, was found in the water. At least 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and more than 100 other people have reported similar symptoms, the U.K. Health Security Agency said. Symptoms can last more than two weeks. Sally Dart, who runs a housewares shop near Brixham Harbor, said people in town first began feeling ill two weeks ago during a pirate festival. "No one was checking the quality of the water, and we've all got sick and it's stupid," she said. South West Water's Chief Executive Susan Davy apologized for the outbreak and said technicians were working around the clock to identify and fix the problem that may have come from a pipe in a cattle pasture. "I am truly sorry for the disruption and wider anxiety this has caused," Davy said. "I know on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of what you expect of us." The crisis is unrelated to Britain's larger ongoing water woes but emblematic of an aging system in distress. Water companies have been under fire for more than a year to stop frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans that have literally caused a stink, sickened swimmers, polluted fishing streams and led to an outcry from the public to clean up their act. An environmental group this week reported that 70,000 sewage releases spilled for a total of 400,000 hours along England's coast last year. More than a quarter were within 3.2 kilometers of a swimming spot, Friends of the Earth said in its analysis of government data. Clean water advocates have blamed the problems on Britain's privatization of the water system in 1989. They say that companies have put shareholders ahead of customers and not spent enough to update outdated plumbing systems. Thames Water, the largest of the companies, is on the brink of insolvency and its leaders have said it faces the risk of being nationalized after shareholders refused to inject more cash. Earlier this week, in another sign of problems, millions of gallons of raw sewage were pumped into England's largest lake. After a fault caused pumps to fail, backup systems then pumped human waste into Lake Windermere, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for 10 hours, the BBC reported. The cryptosporidiosis outbreak is hardly the first time South West Water has encountered problems, according to authorities. The company is facing charges in Plymouth Magistrates' Court alleging 30 offenses for illegal water discharges or breaches of environmental permits between 2015 and 2021, the Environment Agency said. The recent outbreak appears to come from a damaged air valve in a pipe that runs through a field where cows graze that is close to a reservoir, said Laura Flowerdew, a spokesperson for South West. With word out about the outbreak, Dart said her business is down by about a third and other merchants complained about a loss of income as warmer weather arrives and a holiday weekend is just a week away. "I would say it's quiet and it shouldn't be at this time of year," Dart said. A primary school was forced to close Thursday because it didn't have clean drinking water. The water company is providing free bottled water at three locations and has increased compensation to customers from 15 pounds ($19) to 115 ($145). Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said it's likely more people will become ill with cryptosporidiosis in coming days or weeks because of a lag in the incubation period. "Even if they have stopped all new infections by now, you would expect to see further cases for at least 10 days to two weeks," he told the BBC. Anthony Mangnall, a Conservative member of Parliament from the area, said residents are likely to have to boil water for another week. He said he was concerned with the water company's response to the outbreak and vowed to hold it accountable. "They have been slow to act and communication with customers has been very poor," Mangnall said. "This has certainly undermined trust in our water network." Heavy clashes and bombardment Saturday rocked Gaza's southern city of Rafah, witnesses said, as the Israeli military announced the first 310 pallets of humanitarian aid had entered the besieged territory via a U.S.-built pier. More than 10 days into what the Israeli military called a "limited" operation in Rafah, fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants has also flared again in Gaza's north. The Kuwaiti hospital said an overnight Israeli strike killed two people in a displacement camp in Rafah, with witnesses reporting heavy gunfire and shelling in the city's southeast and jets bombarding its eastern areas. AFP correspondents, witnesses and medics said there were intense battles overnight in the northern Jabalia refugee camp, after the Israeli army reported on Friday "perhaps the fiercest" violence in the town in more than seven months of war. Israel in early January said it had dismantled Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza, but the army said the Palestinian group -- whose October 7 attack sparked the ongoing war -- "was in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago." The Israeli incursion into Rafah, launched despite overwhelming international opposition and as mediators were hoping for a breakthrough in stalled truce talks, has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, aid groups say. With key land crossings closed or operating at limited capacity due to the fighting, some relief supplies began flowing into war-ravaged Gaza via a temporary, floating pier constructed by the United States. The 310 pallets began moving ashore in "the first entry of humanitarian aid through the floating pier," the Israeli army said in a statement. In the coming days, around 500 tons of aid are expected to be delivered to Gaza through the pier, according to U.S. Central Command. But U.N. agencies and humanitarian aid groups have warned that the so-called maritime corridor, and ongoing airdrops from planes, cannot replace far more efficient truck convoys into Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine. Rafah operation hampers aid The European Union welcomed the first shipment from Cyprus to the Gaza pier but called on Israel to "expand deliveries by land and to immediately open additional crossings." Hamas, which rules Gaza, stressed that the floating pier "is not an alternative to opening all land crossings." The war erupted after 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 based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,303 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Out of 252 people taken hostage from Israel during the October 7 attack, 125 remain held in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead. The army said troops in Gaza had recovered late Thursday the bodies of three hostages who had been "murdered" on October 7. Amid the aid shortages, the Israeli army said "dozens of Israeli civilians" set fire to a Gaza-bound aid truck in the occupied West Bank on Thursday night, in the second such attack in a week. It came after right-wing activists ransacked at least seven aid trucks from Jordan near the Tarqumya crossing with the West Bank on Monday. Aid groups have said the Rafah incursion has further hampered aid deliveries, with the southern city's crossing on the Egypt border -- a vital conduit for humanitarian assistance -- now shut. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put the onus on Egypt to reopen the crossing. Egypt has accused Israel in turn of denying responsibility for a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and says that truck drivers and aid workers do not feel safe crossing through an Israeli checkpoint into Gaza. West Bank commander killed On Friday, 13 Western governments, including many traditionally supportive of Israel, appealed to it not to launch a large-scale Rafah offensive, warning it would have "catastrophic consequences" for civilians. The looming Israeli assault has prompted nearly 640,000 of the 1.4 million people who had been sheltering in Rafah to flee to other areas, the UN humanitarian office said. Israel has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas forces in Rafah, which it says is the last bastion of the Iran-backed group. In northern Gaza's Beit Lahia, witnesses reported air strikes near Kamal Adwan hospital on Saturday. The hospital's director, Hussam Abu Safiya, told AFP on Friday that the facility, which has received "large numbers of injured and killed" from fighting in nearby Jabalia, was running low on medical supplies and fuel to power generators. The fuel aid that had reached the hospital was "barely enough for a few days," Abu Safiya said. The World Health Organization has received no medical supplies in Gaza since the Rafah operation began on May 6, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said Friday, adding that the closure of the crossing caused "a difficult situation." On the diplomatic front, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan was headed to the region for weekend talks. Sullivan will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday and Israel's Netanyahu on Sunday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said. Meanwhile Israeli forces killed a senior Palestinian militant in the occupied West Bank, where violence has flared during the war in Gaza. Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad militant group, said local commander Islam Khamayseh was killed in an Israeli air strike late Friday on Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli military said he was responsible for a series of attacks. Film director Mohammad Rasoulof made an "exhausting and extremely dangerous" walk across a mountainous borderland to avoid being jailed in Iran on national security charges, he told The Guardian newspaper. Rasoulof said Monday he had fled Iran after a court sentenced him to eight years in jail, of which five were due to be served, over his new film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig." The leading Iranian filmmaker, often a target of the country's authorities, told The Guardian in an interview published Friday that he had found shelter in Germany and was hopeful he could attend the film's Cannes premiere next week. The film tells the story of a judge's struggles amid political unrest in Tehran. Rasoulof told the U.K. newspaper that he had "no choice" but to leave, although he expects to return home "quite soon." "My mission is to be able to convey the narratives of what is going on in Iran and the situation in which we are stuck as Iranians," said Rasoulof. "This is something that I cannot do in prison. "I have in mind the idea that I'll be back quite soon, but I think that's the case of all the Iranians who have left the country," he said. Rasoulof has already served two terms in Iranian jails over previous films and had his passport withdrawn in 2017. Having decided to leave, Rasoulof told the newspaper he cut all communications via mobile phones and computers and made his way by foot on a secret route to a border crossing. "It was a several-hour long, exhausting and extremely dangerous walk that I had to do with a guide," he said. After staying in a safe house, he contacted German authorities who provided him with papers that enabled him to travel to Europe. A former OpenAI leader who resigned from the company earlier this week said Friday that safety has "taken a backseat to shiny products" at the influential artificial intelligence company. Jan Leike, who ran OpenAI's "Superalignment" team alongside a company co-founder who also resigned this week, wrote in a series of posts on the social media platform X that he joined the company based in San Francisco, California, because he thought it would be the best place to do AI research. "However, I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the company's core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point," wrote Leike, whose last day was Thursday. An AI researcher by training, Leike said he believes there should be more focus on preparing for the next generation of AI models, including on things like safety and analyzing the societal impacts of such technologies. He said building "smarter-than-human machines is an inherently dangerous endeavor" and that the company "is shouldering an enormous responsibility on behalf of all of humanity." "OpenAI must become a safety-first AGI company," wrote Leike, using the abbreviated version of artificial general intelligence, a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can. Open AI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a reply to Leike's posts that he was "super appreciative" of Leike's contributions to the company and was "very sad to see him leave." Leike is "right we have a lot more to do; we are committed to doing it," Altman said, pledging to write a longer post on the subject in the coming days. The company also confirmed Friday that it had disbanded Leike's Superalignment team, which was launched last year to focus on AI risks and is integrating the team's members across its research efforts. Leike's resignation came after OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said Tuesday that he was leaving the company after nearly a decade. Sutskever was one of four board members last fall who voted to push out Altman only to quickly reinstate him. It was Sutskever who told Altman last November that he was being fired, but he later said he regretted doing so. Sutskever said he is working on a new project that's meaningful to him without offering additional details. He will be replaced by Jakub Pachocki as chief scientist. Altman called Pachocki "also easily one of the greatest minds of our generation" and said he is "very confident he will lead us to make rapid and safe progress towards our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits everyone." On Monday, OpenAI showed off the latest update to its artificial intelligence model, which can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect people's moods. VENICE/SHANGHAI, Italy/China, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Seven hundred years after Marco Polo's death, the Venetian merchant's legendary expedition to the East has once again captured the interest of global travelers, with a remarkable exhibition held at the prestigious Doge's Palace in Venice, Italy. The exhibition, titled "The Worlds of Marco Polo -- The Journey of a 13th-century Venetian Merchant", reconstructed diverse cultural scenes along the Silk Road encountered by Marco Polo. It includes 48 Chinese artifacts, including ceramics, musical instruments and jade, on loan from the Shanghai Museum. The Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai extended an invitation to the Shanghai Museum in early 2023 to co-curate this special exhibition at the Doge's Palace. "The partnership with the Shanghai Museum is our inaugural endeavor, and it is a perfect achievement," said Chiara Squarcina, the exhibition's curator and director of the Foundation of Civil Museums of Venice, in an interview with Xinhua. "They have artifacts that fit most for the period when Marco Polo traveled to China." Wang Yue, co-curator from the Shanghai Museum, said that the museums shared the goal to present the social, cultural and economic life of China in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), as well as its openness, inclusivity, and diversity. Among the exhibits from China are the blue and white porcelain vase, and the porcelain bowl from Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty. These rare and exquisite artifacts "are representatives of China's Yuan Dynasty style," Wang said. Since its opening in April, the exhibition has garnered considerable public interest, attracting numerous visitors, including teenagers and group tours. "Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) is not only a symbol of Venice but also an international tourism destination. Through this exhibition, we aim to introduce and commemorate Marco Polo to audiences worldwide," Squarcina said. At the exhibition, visitors would encounter an interactive Silk Road map, allowing them to engage with specialties from different countries such as silk and spices. "Marco Polo's journey bridged gaps between different cultures," said Rosanna Gac, a visitor from Apulia in southern Italy. "In today's world, fostering mutual communication and understanding among people is paramount." After the exhibition in Venice ends in late autumn, the artifacts will be exhibited in Shanghai Museum as part of the Chinese-Italian cultural cross-country museum collaborations. "We hope to sustain this partnership for future endeavors," Squaicina said. Wang said he hopes the collaborative exhibitions will involve wider audiences and cultivate a deeper appreciation for diverse histories, traditions, and values. A series of events have been scheduled in Marco Polo's hometown of Venice to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the legendary traveler's passing. French security forces reported another death Saturday in armed clashes in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, the sixth fatality in nearly a week of violent unrest scorching the archipelago whose indigenous population has long sought independence. The person was killed in an exchange of gunfire at one of the many impromptu barricades blocking roads on the island, said a security official speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the situation publicly. Two other people were seriously injured in the clash, the official said, confirming French media reports. The official said the firefight erupted at a blockade in the north of the main island, at Kaala-Gomen. Le Monde and other French news outlets said that the person killed was a man and that his son is among the injured. This week's violence erupted Monday following protests over voting reforms opposed by pro-independence supporters who have long pushed to break free from France. Armed clashes, looting, arson and other mayhem have turned parts of the capital, Noumea, into no-go zones and left a vast trail of destruction. Charred hulks of burned-out cars litter roads, businesses and shops have been ransacked and buildings turned into smoking ruins, with fires sending billowing clouds of smoke into the South Pacific skies. Despite a state of emergency imposed on the archipelago by the government in Paris and hundreds of reinforcements for security services that lost control of some neighborhoods, residents say violence continues to make venturing out perilous. Protesters have blockaded roads with barricades, as have residents banding together to protect their homes, neighborhoods and livelihoods. Noumea Mayor Sonia Lagarde said Saturday that, while overnight violence has eased somewhat with a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in effect, "we are far from a return to normal. The damage is incredible. Its a spectacle of desolation, she said, speaking to broadcaster BFM-TV. The situation is not improving quite the contrary despite all the appeals for calm, she said, describing Noumea as under siege. The state of emergency gives authorities greater powers to tackle violent protesters, including the possibility of house detention for people deemed a threat to public order and expanded powers to conduct searches, seize weapons and restrict movement, with possible jail time for violators. The last time France imposed such measures on one of its overseas territories was in 1985, also in New Caledonia, the Interior Ministry said. The violence has prompted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to take New Caledonia off the globe-trotting itinerary of the Olympic flame slowly making its way to Paris for the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Games, the French minister for overseas territories, Marie Guevenoux, said Saturday. The torch was scheduled to journey to the archipelago on June 11. Our security forces are extremely busy, extremely tired. The prime minister is led, responsibly, to take this decision, she said, speaking to BFM-TV. There have been decades of tensions on the archipelago between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France. The unrest erupted as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to voter lists in New Caledonia. The National Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill that will, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections. Opponents say the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize indigenous Kanak people. They once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination. A U.S.-built pier is in place to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of deliveries begins reaching starving Palestinians. The trucks that will roll off the pier project installed Thursday will face intensified fighting, Hamas threats to target any foreign forces and uncertainty about whether the Israeli military will ensure that aid convoys have access and safety from attack by Israeli forces. Even if the sea route performs as hoped, U.S, U.N. and aid officials caution, it will bring in a small fraction of the aid that the embattled enclave needs. Here's a look at what's ahead for aid arriving by sea: Will the sea route end the crisis in Gaza? No, not even if everything with the sea route works perfectly, American and international officials say. U.S. military officials hope to start with about 90 truckloads of aid a day through the sea route, growing quickly to about 150 trucks a day. Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other aid officials have consistently said Gaza needs deliveries of more than 500 truckloads a day the prewar average to help a population struggling without adequate food or clean water during seven months of war between Israel and Hamas. Israel has hindered deliveries of food, fuel and other supplies through land crossings since Hamas' deadly attack on Israel launched the conflict in October. The restrictions on border crossings and fighting have brought on a growing humanitarian catastrophe for civilians. International experts say all 2.3 million of Gaza's people are experiencing acute levels of food insecurity, 1.1 million of them at "catastrophic" levels. Power and U.N. World Food Program Director Cindy McCain say north Gaza is in famine. At that stage, saving the lives of children and others most affected requires steady treatment in clinical settings, making a cease-fire critical, USAID officials say. At full operation, international officials have said, aid from the sea route is expected to reach a half-million people. That's just over one-fifth of the population. What are the challenges for the sea route now? The U.S. plan is for the U.N. to take charge of the aid once it's brought in. The U.N. World Food Program will then turn it over to aid groups for delivery. U.N. officials have expressed concern about preserving their neutrality despite the involvement in the sea route by the Israeli military one of the combatants in the conflict and say they are negotiating that. There are still questions about how aid groups will safely operate in Gaza to distribute food to those who need it most, said Sonali Korde, assistant to the administrator for USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which is helping with logistics. U.S. and international organizations, including the U.S. government's USAID and the Oxfam, Save the Children and International Rescue Committee nonprofits, say Israeli officials haven't meaningfully improved protections of aid workers since the military's April 1 attack that killed seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen organization. Talks with the Israeli military "need to get to a place where humanitarian aid workers feel safe and secure and able to operate safely. And I don't think we're there yet," Korde told reporters Thursday. Meanwhile, fighting is surging in Gaza. It isn't threatening the new shoreline aid distribution area, Pentagon officials say, but they have made it clear that security conditions could prompt a shutdown of the maritime route, even just temporarily. The U.S. and Israel have developed a security plan for humanitarian groups coming to a "marshaling yard" next to the pier to pick up the aid, said U.S. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of the U.S. military's Central Command. USAID Response Director Dan Dieckhaus said aid groups would follow their own security procedures in distributing the supplies. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have moved into the border crossing in the southern city of Rafah as part of their offensive, preventing aid from moving through, including fuel. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that without fuel, delivery of all aid in Gaza can't happen. What's needed? U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, the U.N. and aid groups have pressed Israel to allow more aid through land crossings, saying that's the only way to ease the suffering of Gaza's civilians. They've also urged Israel's military to actively coordinate with aid groups to stop Israeli attacks on humanitarian workers. "Getting aid to people in need into and across Gaza cannot and should not depend on a floating dock far from where needs are most acute," Haq told reporters Thursday. "To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza and for that, we need access by land now," Haq said. U.S. officials agree that the pier is only a partial solution at best, and say they are pressing Israel for more. What does Israel say? Israel says it places no limits on the entry of humanitarian aid and blames the U.N. for delays in distributing goods entering Gaza. The U.N. says ongoing fighting, Israeli fire and chaotic security conditions have hindered delivery. Under pressure from the U.S., Israel has in recent weeks opened a pair of crossings to deliver aid into hard-hit northern Gaza. It said a series of Hamas attacks on the main crossing, Kerem Shalom, have disrupted the flow of goods. Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi faces a new trial over accusations she made against security forces of sexually assaulting female prisoners, her family said Saturday. The trial, due to begin Sunday, relates to an audio message she shared from prison in April with supporters in which she decried a "full-scale war against women" in the Islamic Republic. She is charged in this latest case with making "propaganda against the regime," the family said. There has been no comment on the case by Iranian judicial authorities. Her family quoted Mohammadi as saying that the trial should be held in public so "witnesses and survivors can testify to the sexual assaults perpetrated by the Islamic Republic regime against women." Mohammadi, who is held in Tehran's Evin prison, urged Iranian women in her April message via her Instagram page to share their stories of arrest and sexual assault at the hands of the authorities. She pointed to the case of journalist and student Dina Ghalibaf, who, according to rights groups, was arrested after accusing security forces on social media of handcuffing and sexually assaulting her during a previous arrest at a metro station. Ghalibaf was later released. The authorities in Iran have in recent weeks intensified a crackdown obliging women to obey the country's Islamic dress code, notably making use of video surveillance. Mohammadi has been incarcerated since November 2021 and has not seen her Paris-based husband and twin children for several years. She said the trial that opens Sunday will be the fourth such case against her. Mohammadi is already serving sentences based on several convictions issued in recent years, which her family says punish her for rights campaigning. According to her family, her sentences now amount to 12 years and three months of imprisonment, 154 lashes, two years of exile and various social and political restrictions. Mohammadi has long been a staunch opponent of the obligation for women in Iran to wear the headscarf and has continued her campaign even in prison, refusing to wear the hijab in front of male officials. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. After 20 years in Iraq, the United Nations has been told by the Iraqi prime minister it is time to move on. VOA's United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer reports. The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian militant during an air strike on an "operations center" in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. "A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram. It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a "senior terrorist operative in the Jenin Camp" who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area. The al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed and several others wounded during an Israeli raid Friday night. It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said one person was killed and eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of Israel's operation in Jenin on Friday night. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin, which are nominally under the Palestinian Authority's security control. The West Bank has seen a recent surge in violence, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian officials, and at least 20 Israelis have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The Gaza Strip has been at war since Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed at least 35,303 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo were meeting Friday in this Mexican border city to tackle issues of shared interest, foremost among them immigration. Arevalo, who took office earlier this year, noted that they were meeting in the same city where his father Juan Jose Arevalo, a former president of Guatemala, had met with his Mexican counterpart, Manuel Avila Camacho, in 1946. "We want a border that unites, a border that unites our people, the Mexican people and the Guatemalan people, a border that allows us to develop and grow together, with reciprocal benefit, trust, enthusiasm and collaboration," Arevalo said. But both countries are under pressure from the United States to increase control of their shared border to help control the flow of migrants north. The border also carries security concerns, as so many do. Before their meeting the first for the two leaders Lopez Obrador said he was worried about security in the border area. Two Mexican cartels have been battling for control in the area, causing death and displacement in remote, rural areas as they try to assert control of the drug, migrant and weapons flows through the area. He said Guatemala was concerned too and the leaders would discuss how to address it. The encounter also comes at a time of intense diplomatic activity between the United States and Mexico and with other countries in the region as the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden tries to get a handle before the November election on migration to the U.S.-Mexico border that reached record levels in late 2023. Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Barcena said Tuesday that Mexico, the United States and Guatemala are in agreement that they will direct more resources to the Mexico-Guatemala border, accelerate development programs, commerce and job creation. She also said Mexico would discuss issuing more temporary work visas to bring Guatemalan labor to Mexico. Perhaps to that end, Lopez Obrador announced Friday that Mexico plans to extend a cargo train line that spans a narrow isthmus in the south to the Guatemalan border. He also repeated his interest in eventually extending his Maya Train legacy project to Guatemala's Peten jungle, something Arevalo's predecessor declined. For migrants headed north, the critical points in their journey tend to be the Darien Gap on the border of Colombia and Panama where 500,000 migrants mostly Venezuelans crossed last year and then again at the Mexico-Guatemala border. Panama's President-elect Jose Raul Mulino has promised to shut down traffic through the Darien. To what extent he can remains to be seen. On Friday, Panama's outgoing immigration chief said the country was incapable of carrying out mass deportations. "We can't make it massive because of the high cost and the coordination you have to do with the other countries," Samira Gozaine, director general of immigration said. "If we could deport all of those who enter we would do it." Barcena, Mexico's foreign minister, said the shared Mexico-Guatemala-Belize border is also important. But it is similarly challenging to police. The border is long, mountainous and remote, filled with blind crossings for migrants and their smugglers. Those are many of the same routes currently being disputed by the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels. "We want to make that border space an exemplary space no walls," Barcena said. "The people should feel they entered a country that is pleasant, that can offer them opportunities." Migrants have typically found traversing Mexico anything but pleasant. They are repeatedly robbed and kidnapped by organized crime and systematically extorted by Mexican authorities, who in recent years have either tried to contain them in the south or return them there time and again until they exhaust their resources. The same day Barcena spoke, Carlos Campos, a Venezuelan travelling with his wife, sister, and nieces and nephews, was flown from Mexico City back to Tapachula after trying to hop a train north. "They sent us back and we're (north) again," he said as they made their way out of Tapachula. Russias Foreign Ministry accused Western nations Friday of playing with fire by allowing Ukraine to use the long-range rockets and weapons they had supplied to strike targets inside Russia. "Once again, we should like to unequivocally warn Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kyiv, which is under their control, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave such encroachments on its territory unanswered," a ministry statement said. The statement also singled out the United States and Britain and accused them of escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons inside Russia. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that the Biden administration does not encourage or enable attacks with U.S.-supplied weapons inside Russia. At least one person was killed and another injured in Russias southern Belgorod region when a Ukrainian drone hit the border village of Novaya Nomovka, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote Friday on the Telegram social media app. The Russian Defense Ministry reported later that it intercepted and destroyed 14 multiple-launch rockets originating from Ukraine. In the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, another Ukrainian drone attack struck the electric grid of the city of Sevastopol, while an earlier strike at a Russian airbase damaged aircraft and fuel storage. Earlier Friday, a Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at an at oil refinery in the Russian town of Tuapse, on the northeast shore of the Black Sea. The refinery was forced to carry out an emergency shutdown, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. The fire at the refinery, owned by Rosneft, was later put out, Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported, citing local authorities. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the war-ravaged town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometers from the Russian border. At least two people were killed and 19 others were wounded in the Russian bombing of Kharkiv, regional chief Oleh Syniehubov said on his Telegram posting Friday. Four of the wounded were in critical condition. Russia's advancing forces have expanded the zone of active hostilities by almost 70 kilometers, pressing outgunned and outmanned Ukraine to spread its forces and use reserve troops, Ukraines military chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Friday. In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces have advanced 10 kilometers from the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday. Our task is to thwart Russia's attempt to expand the war and to prevent the occupier from breaking both the front line and our diplomacy our way of bringing a just peace closer, he said. During a visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscows offensive in the Kharkiv region aims at building a buffer zone against Ukrainian attacks, but that Moscow has no plans to capture Ukraines second-largest city. I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, he said. That's what we are doing. Russian troops are advancing daily according to plan," he said. Meanwhile, in an effort to increase the number of Ukrainian troops, Zelenskyy signed two laws on Friday allowing prisoners to join the army while imposing steep fines for draft dodgers. The controversial mobilization law goes into effect Saturday. Ukraine recently lowered the draft age for soldiers from 27 to 25 and stiffened punishments for those who avoid being called up. Ukrainian men are also obligated, under the new law, to update their personal data at military conscription centers across the country a measure that is supposed to streamline army recruitment. Consular services that provide Ukrainians abroad with passport services reopened Friday after shuttering last month. The services were suspended April 23 to apply pressure on Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 living abroad to register for the army in order to qualify for passports and other services. "Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X, formerly Twitter. "Our country is at war." However, following a backlash, consular services resumed Friday. Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. North Korea on Saturday confirmed that it had test-fired a tactical ballistic missile, the government news agency KCNA reported, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to boost the country's nuclear force. Kim oversaw the Friday test-launch into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on a mission to evaluate the "accuracy and reliability" of a new autonomous navigation system, the KCNA report said. Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over the test. The South Korean government reported the launch Friday, saying the North had fired multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles. Seoul described the event as "several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" from North Korea's eastern Wonsan area into waters off its coast. The missiles traveled around 300 kilometers (186 miles), the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said, adding that the military had "strengthened vigilance and surveillance in preparation for additional launches" and was sharing information with allies Washington and Tokyo. The launch was the latest in a string of ever more sophisticated tests by North Korea, which has fired off cruise missiles, tactical rockets and hypersonic weapons in recent months, in what the nuclear-armed country says is a drive to upgrade its defenses. Seoul and Washington have accused North Korea of sending arms to Russia, which would violate rafts of U.N. sanctions on both countries. Experts have said the recent spate of testing may be of weapons destined for use on battlefields in Ukraine. The launches came hours after Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, accused Seoul and Washington of "misleading the public opinion" on the issue with their repeated accusations that Pyongyang is sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine. The same day, Kim Jong Un visited a military production facility and called for "more rapidly bolstering the nuclear force... without halt and hesitation," the KCNA report said Saturday. "The enemies would be afraid of and dare not to play with fire only when they witness the nuclear combat posture of our state," KCNA reported Kim Jong Un as saying. An estimated 800,000 people have fled Gaza's southern border city of Rafah since Israel's military began a ground assault there two weeks ago, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Saturday. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the social media site X that civilians who had been displaced before are leaving Rafah and heading to "the middle areas and Khan Younis including to destroyed buildings." Lazzarini said people were fleeing to places lacking water or adequate sanitation, including Al-Mawasi, a coastal town, and the city of Deir al-Balah, which are full of recently displaced people. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has expressed objections to the expansion of operations in Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinian civilians were sheltering before the operation began. Heavy clashes and bombings from ground and air rocked Rafah on Saturday, as Israel gained territory in an assault against Hamas militants, according to AFP reporters in the area. Israel is conducting what it called "precise operations against terrorists and infrastructure" in Rafah and Jabalia in northern Gaza against re-emerging Hamas militants there. Israeli troops and tanks pushed into Jabalia on Saturday, the largest of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps where 15 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were wounded. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry and the Civil Emergency Service, teams received dozens of calls about possible casualties but were unable to answer because of the ground offensive and the aerial bombardment. "The IAF (air force) continues to operate in the Gaza Strip and struck over 70 terror targets during the past day, including weapons storage facilities, military infrastructure sites, terrorists who posed a threat to (Israel Defense Forces) IDF troops, and military compounds," the military said in a statement. In what Israeli media said was the result of intelligence gleaned during the latest incursions, the military announced the recovery of the body of a man who was among about 250 hostages taken by Hamas militants in their October 7 attack. Ron Binyamin's remains were found along with those of three other hostages, whose recovery was announced Friday, the military said. It did not provide further details. There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Israeli forces attacked The armed wing of Hamas, along with the Islamic Jihad, and Fatah said they attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and Rafah with anti-tank rockets, mortars, and explosive devices planted in some of the roads, killing and wounding many soldiers. Israel's military said 281 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on October 20. The war was triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of about 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Hamas has been designated a terror organization by the U.S., the U.K. and other countries. Israel's subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which includes civilians and combatants in its count but says most of the dead are women and children. Aid agencies have warned repeatedly of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies in the enclave. Food arrives in Gaza Trucks began delivering aid shipments Friday through a U.S.-built, temporary pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip. The U.N. says famine is looming for hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and the war between Israel and Hamas threatens to derail humanitarian aid operations. The World Food Program said on Saturday that 10 truckloads of food arrived from the pier at its warehouse in Deir al-Balah. The food high-energy biscuits, rice, pasta and lentils was to be distributed by WFP partners. Supplies will be subject to Israeli security checks in Cyprus before arriving on the pier and will have to go through additional Israeli checkpoints once they land, U.S. administration officials have said. However, the U.N. said that truck convoys arriving by land were the "most viable, effective and efficient" method of getting aid into Gaza. "To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza and for that, we need access by land now," U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said. The Rafah crossing a key humanitarian aid corridor on the Egyptian border has been closed since the Israeli military launched what it called a "limited" operation in Rafah city on May 7. The United Nations and other aid groups have said that Israel needs to do more to get aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by the war. Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. Sales of raw milk appear to be on the rise, despite years of warnings about the health risks of drinking the unpasteurized products and an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows. Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow's milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ. That runs counter to advice from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls raw milk one of the "riskiest" foods people can consume. "Raw milk can be contaminated with harmful germs that can make you very sick," the CDC says on its website. As of Monday, at least 42 herds in nine states are known to have cows infected with the virus known as type A H5N1, federal officials said. The virus has been found in high levels in the raw milk of infected cows. Viral remnants have been found in samples of milk sold in grocery stores, but the FDA said those products are safe to consume because pasteurization has been confirmed to kill the virus. It's not yet known whether live virus can be transmitted to people who consume milk that hasn't been heat-treated. But CDC officials warned last week that people who drink raw milk could theoretically become infected if the bird flu virus comes in contact with receptors in the nose, mouth and throat or by inhaling virus into the lungs. There's also concern that if more people are exposed to the virus, it could mutate to spread more easily in people. States have widely varying regulations regarding raw milk, with some allowing retail sales in stores and others allowing sale only at farms. Some states allow so-called cowshares, where people pay for milk from designated animals, and some allow consumption only by farm owners, employees or "non-paying guests." The NielsenIQ figures include grocery stores and other retail outlets. They show that raw milk products account for a small fraction of overall dairy sales. About 4,100 units of raw cow's milk and about 43,000 units of raw milk cheese were sold the week of May 5, for instance, according to NielsenIQ. That compares with about 66.5 million units of pasteurized cow's milk and about 62 million units of pasteurized cheese. Still, testimonies to raw milk are trending on social media sites. And Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm USA in Fresno, California, says he can't keep his unpasteurized products in stock. "People are seeking raw milk like crazy," he said, noting that no bird flu has been detected in his herds or in California. "Anything that the FDA tells our customers to do, they do the opposite." The surge surprises Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University food science professor who called the trend "absolutely stunning." "Food safety experts like me are just simply left shaking their heads," he said. From 1998 to 2018, the CDC documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to raw milk, which sickened more than 2,600 people and hospitalized more than 225. Raw milk is far more likely than pasteurized milk to cause illnesses and hospitalizations linked to dangerous bacteria such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli, research shows. Before milk standards were adopted in 1924, about 25% of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. were related to dairy consumption, said Alex O'Brien, safety and quality coordinator for the Center for Dairy Research. Now, dairy products account for about 1% of such illnesses, he said. "I liken drinking raw milk to playing Russian roulette," O'Brien said. The more times people consume it, the greater the chance they'll get sick, he added. Despite the risks, about 4.4% of U.S. adults nearly 11 million people report that they drink raw milk at least once each year, and about 1% say they consume it each week, according to a 2022 FDA study. Bonni Gilley, 75, of Fresno, said she has raised generations of her family on raw milk and unpasteurized cream and butter because she believes "it's so healthy" and lacks additives. Reports of bird flu in dairy cattle have not made her think twice about drinking raw milk, Gilley said. "If anything, it is accelerating my thoughts about raw milk," she said, partly because she doesn't trust government officials. Such views are part of a larger problem of government mistrust and a rejection of expertise, said Matthew Motta, who studies health misinformation at Boston University. "It's not that people are stupid or ignorant or that they don't know what the science is," he said. "They're motivated to reject it on the basis of partisanship, their political ideology, their religion, their cultural values." CDC and FDA officials didn't respond to questions about the rising popularity of raw milk. Motta suggested that the agencies should push back with social media posts extolling the health effects of pasteurized milk. "Communicators need to make an effort to understand why people consume raw milk and try to meet them where they are," he said. GAZA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen people were killed and 30 injured in Israeli raids on Palestinians who tried to return to their homes in Jabalia camp, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported on Saturday. The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was ordered to remain behind bars Saturday. Fico is in serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshots, officials said. Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court ordered the detention of the suspect after prosecutors said they feared he could flee or carry out other crimes if set free, a court spokesperson said. The suspect can appeal the order to the Supreme Court. Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, officials said. The shooter fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested. Prosecutors told police not to publicly identify the man or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard in the countrys southwest. Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didnt belong to any political groups, although the attack itself was politically motivated. The courthouse in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by police wearing helmets and balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media were not allowed in and reporters were kept behind a gate outside. The suspect left the courthouse just hours after government ministers announced that Fico's condition looked promising after two hours of surgery Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot wounds. But he still is not healthy enough to travel to a hospital in Bratislava. Several miracles have occurred ... in the past few days, coming from the hands of the doctors, nurses and entire medical staff, Defense Minister Rober Kalinak said outside F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. "I cant find words of gratitude for the fact that we are steadily approaching that positive prognosis. Police on Friday took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station, reported. Police didnt comment. With police remaining largely silent about the case, it was not clear how the suspect came to possess a firearm. Slovakia has strict rules on firearms, and gun owners must have a good reason to possess one and are required to pass a test. As a consequence, Slovakia has one of the lowest gun ownership rates in Europe. It was ranked 23rd out of 27 European Union countries with a gun ownership rate of 6.5 per 100 people, according to the Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the EU. World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Fico and Slovakia. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-U.S. platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine. At the start of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraines staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister. Ficos government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path. Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies. Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions. Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism. Despite nobody being named as temporary leader, there was nothing imminent that needed the premiers attention and the government was operating as planned and moving forward with Ficos agenda, Kalinak said. Communication with Fico was limited given his condition, Kalinak said. The next government session is planned for Wednesday, and Kalinak will be in charge, the Slovak government office said. The Taliban government said Saturday that the death toll from an overnight gun attack on Western tourists in central Afghanistan had risen to at least six, including three Spaniards. Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani said in a video statement that the Friday evening shooting in Bamiyan city by unknown assailants left three Afghans dead. He said that four foreigners and three Afghans were among those wounded. Qani said that Taliban security forces had apprehended seven suspects in connection with the attack, reiterating his governments resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice. Spains government confirmed the fatalities of its three nationals, saying another was among the injured tourists. The Spanish foreign ministry said Saturday a group of its diplomats was traveling to the Afghan capital, Kabul, to assist Spaniards affected by the attack. On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X that he was shocked by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan. Nationals from Norway, Australia and Lithuania were also among the group of foreigners that were targeted by gunmen. EMERGENCY, an international humanitarian organization, said in a statement Saturday that five wounded people were being treated in its Kabul surgical hospital, and "all patients are now stable." It stated that the "group consists of nationals from Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Australia, and Afghanistan. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting. A spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy at the European Union condemned the armed attack against the tourists visiting Bamiyan. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack, Nabila Massrali said in a statement Friday. The United States said it was deeply saddened to hear about the shooting attack in Bamiyan. Our thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Violence is not the answer, Thomas West, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, said on X. Fridays attack on foreign tourists was the first of its kind since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. According to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Bamiyan, one of the poorest regions in impoverished Afghanistan, is a popular destination for foreign tourists because it contains Buddhist monastic ensembles and sanctuaries. The scenic city was also the spot where the Taliban destroyed two large Buddha statues in March 2001 during their previous rule in Afghanistan. The group said the statues were blasphemous under Islam. A Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media died from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect, according to autopsy results obtained by The Associated Press. Harris Wolobah, a 10th-grader from the city of Worcester, died on September 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer's "One Chip Challenge." "We were and remain deeply saddened by the death of Harris Wolobah and extend our condolences to his family and friends," Paqui, a Texas-based subsidiary of the Hershey Co., said in a statement Thursday. A phone number listed for Harris' family was disconnected. The Associated Press left messages seeking comment with friends of the family. Harris died of cardiopulmonary arrest "in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration," according to the autopsy from the Chief Office of the Medical Examiner. Capsaicin is the component that gives chile peppers their heat. The autopsy also said that Harris had cardiomegaly, meaning an enlarged heart, and a congenital defect described as "myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery." A myocardial bridge occurs when a segment of a major artery of the heart runs within the heart muscle instead of on its surface, according to Dr. James Udelson, chief of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center. "It is possible that with significant stimulation of the heart, the muscle beyond the bridge suddenly had abnormal blood flow ('ischemia') and could have been a cause of a severe arrhythmia," Udelson told the AP in an email. "There have been reports of acute toxicity with capsaicin causing ischemia of the heart muscle." Large doses of capsaicin can increase how the heart squeezes, putting extra pressure on the artery, noted Dr. Syed Haider, a cardiologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. But while the autopsy results suggest that a heart defect probably made Harris more vulnerable to the negative effects of the chile pepper extract, people without underlying risk factors can also experience serious heart problems from ingesting large amounts of capsaicin, Haider said. Udelson and Haider both spoke in general terms; neither was involved in Harris' case. The cause of Harris' death was determined on February 27, and a death certificate was released to the Worcester city clerk's office on March 5, according to Elaine Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. The state released only the cause and manner of death. Officials will not release a full report, which is not considered part of the public record, she said. The Paqui chip, sold individually for about $10, came wrapped in foil in a coffin-shaped box containing the warning that it was intended for the "vengeful pleasure of intense heat and pain." The warning noted that the chip was for adult consumption only, and should be kept out of the reach of children. Despite the warning, children had no problem buying the chips, and there had been reports from around the country of teens who got sick after taking part in the chip-eating challenge. Among them were three California high school students who were taken to a hospital and seven students in Minnesota who were treated by paramedics after taking part in the challenge in 2022. In its statement Thursday, Paqui cited the chip's "clear and prominent labeling highlighting that the product was not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods or with underlying health conditions." "We saw increased reports of teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings," the statement read. "As a result, while the product adhered to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we worked with retailers to voluntarily remove the product from shelves in September 2023, and the One Chip Challenge has been discontinued." The challenge called for participants to eat the Paqui chip and then see how long they could go without consuming other food and water. Sales of the chip seemed largely driven by people posting videos on social media of them or their friends taking the challenge. They showed people, including children, unwrapping the packaging, eating the chips and then reacting to the heat. Some videos showed people gagging, coughing and begging for water. Spicy food challenges have been around for years. From local chile pepper eating contests to restaurant walls of fame for those who finished extra hot dishes, people around the world have been daring each other to eat especially fiery foods, with some experts pointing to the internal rush of competition and risk-taking. A YouTube series called "Hot Ones" rose to internet fame several years ago with videos of celebrities' reactions to eating spicy wings. Meanwhile, restaurants nationwide have offered in-person challenges from Buffalo Wild Wings' "Blazin' Challenge" to the "Hell Challenge" of Wing King in Las Vegas. In both challenges, patrons over 18 can attempt to eat a certain amount of wings doused in extra hot sauce in limited time without drinking or eating other food. Chile pepper eating contests are also regularly hosted around the world. Extremely spicy products created and marketed solely for the challenges and possible internet fame represent a more recent phenomenon exacerbated by social media. Harris' death spurred warnings from Massachusetts authorities and physicians, who cautioned that eating such spicy foods can have unintended consequences. Since the chip fad emerged, poison control centers have warned that the concentrated amount could cause allergic reactions, trouble breathing, irregular heartbeats and even heart attacks or strokes. On many nights, hundreds of migrants squeeze through poles in a border wall or climb over on metal ladders. They gather in a buffer zone between two walls with views of the night lights of Tijuana, Mexico, waiting hours for Border Patrol agents while volunteers deliver hot coffee, instant ramen and bandages for busted knees and swollen ankles. About an hour drive east, where the moon offers the only light, up to hundreds more navigate a boulder-strewn desert looking for always-shifting areas where migrants congregate. Groups of just a few to dozens walk dirt trails and paved roads searching for agents. The scenes are a daily reminder that San Diego became the busiest corridor for illegal crossings in April, according to U.S. figures, the fifth region to hold that distinction in two years in a sign of how quickly migration routes are changing. Routes were remarkably stable a short time ago. San Diego was the busiest Border Patrol sector for decades until more enforcement pushed migrants to the desert area near Tucson, Arizona, which became the top spot by 1998. The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas saw the most activity from 2013 to June 2022 as Central Americans became a greater presence. Migrants were arrested nearly 128,900 times on the Mexican border in April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday, down 6.3% from March and barely half of a record-high 250,000 in December. While still historically high, April bucked a typical spring increase. The drop is largely due to heightened Mexican enforcement, which includes blocking migrants from boarding freight trains, according to U.S. officials. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott touts his multibillion-dollar border crackdown, while others highlight violence in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as a deterrent on the path to the Rio Grande Valley. Mexico pledged it won't allow more than 4,000 illegal crossings a day to the U.S., Alicia Barcena, Mexico's foreign relations secretary, told reporters Tuesday. The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 10,000 on some days in December. Despite the overall decline, arrests in the San Diego sector reached 37,370 in April, up 10.6% from March to replace Tucson as the busiest of nine sectors bordering Mexico. Troy Miller, CBP's acting commissioner, said more enforcement, including with other countries, led to overall declines from March, while acknowledging "continually shifting migration patterns." Many migrants say San Diego is the easiest and least dangerous place to cross. They constantly check their phones for messages, social media posts and voice calls that help them plan their route and crossing. "One hears many things on the way," Oscar Palacios, 42, said one April morning after being driven by an agent to wait in a dirt patch where more than 100 migrants shivered near campfires. After Mexican immigration agents returned him three times to southern Mexico, the Ecuadorian man said, he gave someone he didn't know $500 for a document that allowed him to fly to Tijuana. He then paid a smuggler to guide him to California. San Diego's draw lies in part because Tijuana is the largest city on the Mexican side of the border, U.S. officials say. People of nearly 100 nationalities have arrived at Tijuana's airport this year, including 12,000 each from Colombia and Cuba, about 6,000 each from Haiti and Venezuela and thousands more from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, China and Mauritania. "It's the prevalence of social media," said Paul Beeson, whose 33-year Border Patrol career included stints as chief agent in the San Diego, Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, sectors. "There's a lot more information out there about getting across. Air transportation has picked up and people are able to move around." Migration in San Diego presents a challenge because people come from a wider variety of countries including India, Georgia, Egypt, Jamaica and Vietnam where deportation flights can be costly and difficult to arrange, U.S. officials say. Mexicans, who are deported nearby over land, and Guatemalans and Hondurans, whose governments have long accepted frequent deportation flights, are a smaller presence there than elsewhere on the border. The Border Patrol has been busing and flying some migrants from San Diego to other border cities for processing, a role reversal from even last year, when migrants were sent to San Diego to deal with overflow. Migrants wait hours for agents to pick them up for processing instead of dayslong delays that were common when makeshift camps started popping up in the San Diego area about a year ago. Last month a federal judge said children in the camps were subject to custody standards guaranteeing their health and safety. One night last week, about 70 people gathered between two walls near an upscale outlet mall. Two Honduran women were no longer able to walk after being injured while scaling the border wall; one accepted a Border Patrol ride to the hospital. "Almost every night we have injuries from people jumping," said Clint Carney, 58, who volunteers many nights answering migrants' questions and serving snacks. Near Jacumba Hot Springs, a town of less than 1,000 people, about a dozen people from Latin American countries arrived at a fork in a dirt road around 10 p.m. About 100 Chinese migrants came just before sunrise, many neatly dressed and playfully taking pictures on their phones. Some of the Latin Americans grumbled quietly when the Chinese lined up ahead of them as Border Patrol vehicles arrived. Previously agents issued colored wristbands that were used to keep track of how long people had been waiting and who was next in line, but that practice was stopped in December. Such staging areas have popped up in remote areas after migrants cross the border where mountainous terrain has prevented barrier construction. Mexican authorities' increased presence in some areas pushed traffic elsewhere in the sparsely populated desert, creating new camps. One new site is a short distance from a gun club, without tents, bathrooms or other services. San Diego shelters have been unable to house everyone who is released by the Border Patrol with notices to appear in immigration court. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said more than 143,000 migrants have been released on the streets since September 13, citing Border Patrol data. From a bus and trolley station where agents leave migrants, it is a short ride to the airport, where they can charge phones and use restrooms before boarding flights to destinations elsewhere in the U.S. A Turkish court gave several lengthy prison sentences to pro-Kurdish politicians for instigating protests in southeastern Turkey in 2014 when the Islamic State group attacked the Syrian border town of Kobani. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, the former co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), on Thursday received the longest sentences among the 108 defendants, 18 of whom had been in pretrial detention. Demirtas was sentenced to 42 years for a total of 47 crimes, including disrupting the unity and the integrity of the state, while Yuksekdag received just over 30 years in prison for attempts to challenge the unity of the state, of inciting criminal acts, and of engaging in propaganda on behalf of a terror organization. The trial stemmed from the 2014 Kobani protests, in which hundreds of pro-Kurdish protesters took to the streets in predominantly Kurdish provinces of Turkey over the governments inaction toward IS militants who were advancing to capture Kobani in October 2014. HDP, which initiated the call for protests, demanded the opening of a corridor to Kobani through Turkey so that military aid from other parts of Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan could reach the IS-besieged town. During the protests, in which 37 people died and 761 people were injured, clashes occurred between the security forces and protesters and between the Islamist Kurdish groups and protesters. HDP later called for de-escalation. At the time of the protests, Ankara was involved in a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated as a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. However, the peace process ended in 2015, and Ankara accused the HDP in connection with the deaths in the 2014 protests. The party denies any involvement. Convictions The first hearing in the Kobani trial was held in 2021. In the more than 3,000-page indictment, senior HDP members were listed as defendants and charged with 29 offenses, including homicide and harming the unity of the state. In the end, 12 defendants were acquitted of all charges and 24 defendants were convicted. The other 72 defendants at large are to be tried in the future. The defendants lawyers and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the HDPs successor, view the trial as political. Lawyer Nahit Eren, the head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association and a member of the legal team, told VOA Turkish that they would appeal the verdict. On Friday, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said, "There is no place for calls for violence in democracies." "Therefore, in this sense, it is a decision made by our independent and impartial judiciary. This is the decision of the first level court, there are the first and second level of appeal processes. We will wait for the result of these processes together," he added. Turkish Deputy Minister of Interior Bulent Turan noted that there were acquittals and sentences in the verdict. Although it did not please some people, justice was served, Turan said in a post on X. Following the verdict on Thursday, local governors imposed a four-day ban on protests in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Diyarbakir, Siirt, Tunceli and Batman. On Friday, police officers did not let DEM Party members gather for a demonstration in Diyarbakir but allowed them to make a media statement. Reactions Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday that the trial was manifestly political and unjust. The conviction of Selahattin Demirtas, Figen Yuksekdag and other leading Kurdish opposition politicians in a mass trial is the latest move in a campaign of persecution that has robbed mainly Kurdish voters of their chosen representatives, undermined the democratic process and criminalized lawful political speech, Hugh Williamson, HRWs Europe and Central Asia director, said in the statement. The convictions of pro-Kurdish politicians come at a time when normalization between the ruling Justice and Development Party and the opposition is a hot topic on the Turkish political agenda. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met main opposition Republican Peoples Party leader Ozgur Ozel on May 2, and both leaders have been vocal about ending Turkeys polarized political environment. Some experts think that the convictions are causing the Kurdish public to question the statements on normalization. While the normalization is talked about so much, the fact that such a normalization was not reflected in the judiciary will cause serious damage to the Kurdish public, Roj Girasun, the director of Diyarbakir-based Rawest Research, told VOA Turkish. Is this final verdict a postponement of normalization or a complete shelving? It is too early to answer, Girasun said. Another expert and political scientist, Vedat Kacal, thinks that the verdict is a bureaucratic move to try to discourage Kurdish voters from hoping for a solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey through elections. [The verdict] can be interpreted as a psychological method of pushing Kurdish voters back into the narrow patterns of the Kurdish right by making them despair about the ballot box and the future of Turkish politics, Kacal told VOA Turkish. Ukraine accused Russia of potential war crimes Saturday, saying their shelling targeted civilians in residential areas of two cities in northeastern Ukraine. In the first case, a Russian airstrike wounded six people, including two teens and a child in the city of Kharkiv. In the second case, Russian shelling in Vovchansk, a town 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the Russian border, killed a 60-year-old woman and injured three other civilians. A 59-year-man also was injured in the village of Ukrainske, they said. Thousands of civilians have been killed or injured since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow denies targeting civilians. Russia said its forces shot down a Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missile on Saturday. A similar missile launched last week on the Russian border town of Belgorod caused the collapse of an apartment building, killing at least 15 people. Fierce battles continue along the now-longer front line of Ukraine. This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Click to reveal This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing - Click to reveal A wounded man gets medical care after a Russian air strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In his nightly video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian assault farther south in the eastern Donetsk region around Chasiv Yar, a city of strategic significance in Russia's offensive. "Our soldiers destroyed more than 20 units of the occupier's armored vehicles," he said. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday it had taken a village near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region. "Units of the northern troop group liberated the village of Starytsya in the Kharkiv region, and continued to advance deep into the enemy's defenses," it said. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts. Larger offensive Zelenskyy said he anticipates Russia will intensify its offensive in the northeast and made a plea to the allies to send more air defense and fighter jets to even the playing field. In an interview with AFP, Zelenskyy said Kyiv needs more air defenses to hold the front line since Russia's surprise offensive in the Kharkiv region last week. "Today, we have about 25% of what we need to defend Ukraine. I'm talking about air defense," he said. Ukraine needs "120 to 130" F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft to achieve air parity with Russia, he added. He said Ukrainian troops have managed to stop enemy forces that have moved 5 to 10 kilometers (3.1 to 6.2 miles) into Ukrainian territory along the northeastern border, but he cautioned that those troops could be the "first wave" in a wider Russian offensive. "I won't say it's a great success (for Russia), but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory," he said, speaking from Kyiv on Friday. Zelenskyy said the situation in the Kharkiv region has been controlled but not stabilized. Civilians flee Nearly 10,000 people have left their homes in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region since the Russian ground attack began on May 10, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. About 100 people are left in the city of Vovchansk, where "heavy fighting" is taking place, he added. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated about 8,000 civilians from Vovchansk, which sits about 5 kilometers from the Russian border. Russian forces took control of 278 square kilometers (107 square miles) of Ukraine between May 9 and 15, their biggest territorial gain since the end of 2022, according to AFP using data from the Institute for the Study of War. During a visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow's offensive in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region was a response to Ukraine shelling border regions. Putin said that he aims at building a buffer zone against Ukrainian attacks, but that Moscow has no plans on capturing Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. "I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone," he said. "That's what we are doing." Russian troops were "advancing daily according to plan," he said. To increase the number of Ukrainian troops, Zelenskyy signed two laws on Friday allowing prisoners to join the army while imposing steep fines for draft dodgers. The controversial mobilization law took effect Saturday. Ukraine recently lowered the draft age for soldiers from 27 to 25 and stiffened punishments for those who avoid being called up. Ukrainian men are also obligated, under the new law, to update their personal data at military conscription centers across the country a measure aimed at streamlining army recruitment. Consular services that provide Ukrainians abroad with passport services reopened Friday. The services were suspended on April 23, to pressure Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 living abroad to register for the army to qualify for passports and other services. "Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the Homeland," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on the social platform X. "Our country is at war." Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. A report by the U.N. human rights office criticizes the Sri Lankan governments failure to acknowledge and hold accountable the perpetrators of tens of thousands of enforced disappearances during the countrys decades-long civil war. The report notes that nearly 15 years have passed since the end of the armed conflict and yet Sri Lankan authorities are still failing to ensure accountability for the violations that occurred then as well as during the earliest waves of enforced disappearances. In a statement issued Friday to coincide with the publication of the report, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said, Accountability must be addressed. We need to see institutional reform for reconciliation to have a chance to succeed. While the civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and the Tamil Tigers was fought between 1983 and 2009, the report notes that from the 1970s through to the end of the war in 2009, widespread enforced disappearances were carried out primarily by Sri Lankan security forces and affiliated paramilitary groups, which used them as a tool to intimidate and oppress perceived opponents. Authors of the report also accuse the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of engaging in abductions, which were described as tantamount to enforced disappearances by the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Human rights officials conducted dozens of individual and group interviews with victims, mainly women. They found that the forcible disappearance of a relative continues to have profound psychological effects, including feelings of shock, fear, anger, helplessness and guilt. Decades later, victims reported the inability to find closure. Most cling to the hope that their relative will return, they said. The report describes the enduring social and economic impact on the families of those forcibly disappeared, especially on women. It observed that as most disappeared individuals have been male, women have often become the sole income earner for a family, in a labor environment that poses many obstacles to womens participation, including risks of sexual harassment and exploitation. It adds that many women who have actively sought to find out what happened to their loved ones have themselves been subjected to violations, including harassment, intimidation, surveillance, arbitrary detention, beatings and torture at the hands of army and police. On the governments response to the report, the high commissioners spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, told journalists in Geneva Friday that generally, there appears to be a lack of political will to provide accountability to these cases. There are a lot of recurring obstacles to accountability, she said. There is frequent unwillingness on the part of the police to receive complaints, delays in the justice system, conflicts of interest in the attorney generals office and reparation programs have not been developed with sufficient consultation with the victims. The report acknowledges that in recent years, successive Sri Lankan governments have taken some positive steps to address the issue of the missing. Those include the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the establishment of the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations and criminalizing enforced disappearances. However, the report finds that tangible progress on the ground towards comprehensively resolving individual cases has remained limited. For example, the report notes that criminal proceedings in Sri Lanka generally are beset by prolonged delays, but that in cases involving enforced disappearances or other serious violations involving state officials, the delays are even more pronounced and are a strategy to avoid accountability. The report cites the case of one of the few enforced disappearance-related cases in which an individual was convicted and in 2020, the then Sri Lankan president pardoned that individual. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, under international law, the state has a clear obligation to resolve cases of enforced disappearances until the fate and whereabouts of those disappeared are clarified. The government owes it to all those who have been forcibly disappeared for these crimes to be investigated fully, said Turk. These crimes haunt not only their loved ones, but entire communities and Sri Lankan society as a whole. This report is yet another reminder that all Sri Lankans who have been subjected to enforced disappearance must never be forgotten, he said, adding that their families and those who care about them have been waiting for so long. They are entitled to know the truth. An upside-down U.S. flag has long been a sign of dire distress and versatile symbol of protest. But in January 2021, when it flew over the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, it was largely seen in connection with a specific cause: the false claim by then-President Donald Trump's supporters that the 2020 election had been marred by fraud. The revelation this week about the flag flying at Alito's home was the latest blow to a Supreme Court already under fire as it considers unprecedented cases against Trump and some of those charged with rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Alito has said the flag was briefly flown by his wife amid a dispute with neighbors and he had no part in it. But the incident reported by The New York Times adds to concerns about an institution that's increasingly seen as partisan and lacking strict ethical guidelines. The high court is now facing questions about whether the spouses of two of its members question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and if those justices should be hearing cases related to the January 6 riot and Trump's role in it. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, faced calls for recusal after reports that his wife, Virginia Thomas, was involved in efforts to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election win. "We're talking about a fundamental bedrock American value about peaceful transfer of power, about elections," said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable US, a progressive watchdog organization. "It's just the integrity of the democratic process." Several Democrats in Congress, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, called for Alito to recuse himself from Trump-related cases. Justices can and do voluntarily recuse themselves, but they make those calls and they aren't subject to review. There was no indication Alito would do so. He did not respond to a request for comment sent through the court's public information office. While the Supreme Court long went without its own specific code of ethics, an institutional reputation of staying above the political fray has long helped bolster its relatively high levels of public trust. But in the wake of the 2022 decision overturning a nationwide right to abortion an opinion that was leaked before its release public trust sank to its lowest level in 50 years. There's also been sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The high court adopted a code of ethics last year, but it lacks a means of enforcement. Alito, a former prosecutor who was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed in 2006, has been one of the most court's most conservative justices and authored the decision overturning Roe v. Wade. During oral arguments in the election interference case against Trump, he appeared skeptical of Justice Department arguments that past presidents aren't completely immune from prosecution, and seemed one of the justices most likely to find that prosecutors went too far in bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of participants in the January 6 riot. Ethical guidelines generally make it clear that judges should recuse themselves in cases where their spouses have financial interest, but the situation is less clear when spouses have a publicly known political point of view, said Arthur Hellman, a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether Alito was aware of the inverted flag at the time or its links to Trump supporters, said Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York University School of Law. "I don't believe Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or if he did know, I find it hard to believe that he knew the relationship to "'Stop the Steal,'" he said in an email. Martha-Ann Alito hung the upside-down flag during a dust-up with a neighbor in Alexandria, Virginia, who had a lawn sign referring to Trump with an expletive during a the "heated time" of January 2021, Fox News anchor Shannon Bream said in an online post, citing a conversation with Justice Alito. Demands for recusals by justices and judges have been part of political disputes over the high court and elsewhere in the legal system. But while a system exists for penalizing lower-court judges who are accused of conflicts or other wrongdoing, there is no mechanism to sanction Supreme Court justices. Only Congress can impeach a Supreme Court justice, said Michael Frisch, ethics counsel at Georgetown Law. One justice, Abe Fortas, resigned from the Supreme Court in 1969 amid a controversy over receiving $20,000 from a Wall Street financier. An impeachment, though, has only happened once, to Justice Samuel Chase in the early 1800s. He was later acquitted by the Senate. The Vatican on Friday overhauled its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena that have marked church history, putting the brakes on making definitive declarations unless the event is obviously fabricated. The Vatican's doctrine office revised norms first issued in 1978, arguing that they were no longer useful or viable in the internet age. Nowadays, word about apparitions or weeping Madonnas travels quickly and can harm the faithful if hoaxers are trying to make money off people's beliefs or manipulate them, the Vatican said. The new norms make clear that such an abuse of people's faith can be punishable canonically, saying, "The use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses is to be considered of particular moral gravity." The Catholic Church has had a long and controversial history of the faithful claiming to have had visions of the Virgin Mary, of statues purportedly weeping tears of blood and stigmata erupting on hands and feet evoking the wounds of Christ. When confirmed as authentic by church authorities, these otherwise inexplicable signs have led to a flourishing of the faith, with new religious vocations and conversions. That has been the case for the purported apparitions of Mary that turned Fatima, Portugal, and Lourdes, France, into enormously popular pilgrimage destinations. Church figures who claimed to have experienced the stigmata wounds, including Padre Pio and Pope Francis' namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, have inspired millions of Catholics even if decisions about their authenticity have been elusive. Francis himself has weighed in on the phenomenon, making clear that he is devoted to the main church-approved Marian apparitions, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, who believers say appeared to an Indigenous man in Mexico in 1531. But Francis has expressed skepticism about more recent events, including claims of repeated messages from Mary to "seers" at the shrine of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, even while allowing pilgrimages to take place there. "I prefer the Madonna as mother, our mother, and not a woman who's the head of a telegraphic office, who sends a message every day at a certain time," Francis told reporters in 2017. The new norms reframe the Catholic Church's evaluation process by essentially taking off the table whether church authorities will declare a particular vision, stigmata or other seemingly divinely inspired event supernatural. Instead, the new criteria envisages six main outcomes, with the most favorable being that the church issues a noncommittal doctrinal green light, a so-called "nihil obstat." Such a declaration means there is nothing about the event that is contrary to the faith, and therefore Catholics can express devotion to it. The bishop can take more cautious approaches if there are doctrinal red flags about the reported event. The most serious envisages a declaration that the event isn't supernatural or that there are enough red flags to warrant a public statement "that adherence to this phenomenon is not allowed." The aim is to avoid scandal, manipulation and confusion, and the Vatican fully acknowledged the hierarchy's own guilt in confusing the faithful with the way it evaluated and authenticated alleged visions over the centuries. The most egregious case was the flip-flopping determinations of authenticity by a succession of bishops over 70 years in Amsterdam about the purported visions of the Madonna at the Our Lady of All Nations shrine. Another similar case prompted the Vatican in 2007 to excommunicate the members of a Quebec-based group, the Army of Mary, after its founder claimed to have had Marian visions and declared herself the reincarnation of the mother of Christ. The revised norms acknowledge the real potential for such abuses and warn that hoaxers will be held accountable, including with canonical penalties. The norms also allow that an event might at some point be declared "supernatural," and that the pope can intervene in the process. But "as a rule," the church is no longer in the business of authenticating inexplicable events or making definitive decisions about their supernatural origin. And at no point are the faithful ever obliged to believe in the particular events, said Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, the head of the Vatican doctrine office. "The church gives the faithful the freedom to pay attention" or not, he said at a news conference. Despite the new criteria, he said the church's past decision-making on alleged supernatural events such as at Fatima, Guadalupe or Lourdes remains valid. "What was decided in the past has its value," he said. "What was done remains." To date, fewer than 20 apparitions have been approved by the Vatican over its 2,000-year history, according to Michael O'Neill, who runs the online apparition resource The Miracle Hunter. Neomi De Anda, executive director of the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, said the new guidelines represent a significant and welcome change to the current practice, while restating important principles. "The faithful are able to engage with these phenomena as members of the faithful in popular practices of religion, while not feeling the need to believe everything offered to them as supernatural as well as the caution against being deceived and beguiled," she said in an email. Whereas in the past the bishop often had the last word unless Vatican help was requested, now the Vatican must sign off on every recommendation proposed by a bishop. Robert Fastiggi, who teaches Marian theology at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan and is an expert on apparitions, said at first glance that requirement might seem to take authority away from the local bishop. "But I think it's intended to avoid cases in which the Holy See might feel prompted to overrule a decision of the local bishop," he said. "What is positive in the new document is the recognition that the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother are present and active in human history," he said. "We must appreciate these supernatural interventions but realize that they must be discerned properly." He cited the biblical phrase that best applies: "Test everything, retain what is good." Aid groups welcome the start of operations to send aid into Gaza from a floating pier but say it's no substitute for land-based aid shipments. UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram on the war's dire consequences for children in Gaza. As Russian forces advance along the frontlines in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin shores up Moscow's alliance with China in a two-day visit meeting with his counterpart in Beijing Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security, Transatlantic Security Program and co-author of the new eBook 'The Origins of Elected Strongmen' on why authoritarianism appears to be on the rise across the globe. Cameras are displayed at the China Media Museum of Communication University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) People visit the Beijing Air and Space Museum of Beihang University in Beijing, capital of China, May 10, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) People visit the Feed Museum of China Agricultural University in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) This photo taken on May 14, 2024 shows an external view of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University in Beijing, capital of China. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) People visit the Feed Museum of China Agricultural University in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) Radios are displayed at the China Media Museum of Communication University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) People visit the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing, capital of China, May 12, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao) This photo taken on May 13, 2024 shows an installation at the World Language Museum of Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing, capital of China. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao) A woman visits the Museum of Ethnic Cultures at Minzu University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People visit the Ethnic Costume Museum of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People visit the Ethnic Costume Museum of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People visit the Beijing Air and Space Museum of Beihang University in Beijing, capital of China, May 10, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) People walk past the World Language Museum of Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao) A woman visits the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) People visit the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing, capital of China, May 12, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao) Musical instruments are displayed at the Museum of Ethnic Cultures at Minzu University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2024. The number of museums in China ranks among the top in the world and the museums have become an important part of the country's cultural life. Nowadays, the public has access to more and more museums serving university education and research. In Beijing, where universities gather, many university museums are worth exploring. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) Seventy years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools by race was unconstitutional. On paper, that decision the fabled Brown v. Board of Education, taught in most every American classroom still stands. But for decades, American schools have been re-segregating. The country is more diverse than it ever has been, with students more exposed to classmates from different backgrounds. Still, around 4 out of 10 Black and Hispanic students attend schools where almost every one of their classmates is another student of color. The intense segregation by race is linked to socioeconomic conditions: Schools where students of color compose more than 90% of the student body are five times more likely to be located in low-income areas. That in turn has resounding academic consequences: Students who attend high-poverty schools, regardless of their family's finances, have worse educational outcomes. Efforts to slow or reverse the increasing separation of American schools have stalled. Court cases slowly have chipped away at the dream outlined in the case of Brown v. Board, leaving fewer and fewer tools in the hands of districts to integrate schools by the early 2000s. The arc of the moral universe, in this case, does not seem to be bending toward justice. "School integration exists as little more than an idea in America right now, a little more than a memory," said Derek Black, a law professor at the University of Southern California. "It's actually an idea that a pretty good majority of Americans think is a good idea. But that's all." More than just diverse schools The dream of Brown was never as simple as diversity. It was about equality, and the opportunity that came with it. From the beginning, funding and integration have been inseparable. "Whiter schools and districts have more resources, and that is wrong," said Ary Amerikaner, a former Obama administration official and the founder of Brown's Promise. "But it is a reality. And that undermines opportunity for students of color, and it undermines our future democracy." We remember Brown v. Board as the end of segregated schools in the United States. But stating values does not, alone, change reality. Though the case was decided in 1954, it was followed by more than a decade of delay and avoidance before school districts began to meaningfully allow Black students to enter white schools. It took further court rulings, monitoring and enforcement to bring a short-lived era of integration to hundreds of school districts. For the students who took part in those desegregation programs, their life trajectory changed the more years spent in integrated schools, the better Black children fared on measures like educational attainment, graduation rates, health, and earning potential, with no adverse effects on white children. For a brief period, it seemed the country recognized the deeper remedies required. "All things being equal, with no history of discrimination, it might well be desirable to assign pupils to schools nearest their homes," Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote in Swann v. Mecklenburg, a 1971 decision that upheld the use of busing to integrate schools in North Carolina. "But all things are not equal in a system that has been deliberately constructed and maintained to enforce racial segregation." But not long after, another series of court decisions would unwind those outcomes. Fifty years ago, in Milliken v. Bradley, the court struck down a plan for integrating Detroit public schools across school district lines. The ruling undermined desegregation efforts in the north and Midwest, where small districts allowed white families to escape integration. Other decisions followed. In Freeman v. Pitts, the court ruled resegregation from private choice and demographic shifts could not be monitored by the court. More than 200 districts were released from court-monitored desegregation plans. By 2007, when the court ruled in Parents Involved v. Seattle Public Schools, even voluntary integration plans could no longer consider assigning students on the basis of race. "If you have the tools taken away from you ... by the Supreme Court, then you really don't have a whole lot of tools," said Stephan Blanford, a former Seattle Public Schools board member. One district as a microcosm The arc of history is clear in the city where the landmark Swann busing case originated. At its peak, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was considered such a success at integrating classrooms and closing the gap between Black and white students that educators around the country came to tour the district. Today, more than 20 years after a court ruling overturned busing students on the basis of race, CMS is the most segregated district in North Carolina. While there are no laws that keep kids siloed by race and income, in so many schools that is the reality. Charlotte's sprawling, complex busing plan brought Black and white students into the same schools and by extension, made white children's resources available to Black students for the first time. The district's integration program ended when white families sued after their children did not get their top choice of school placement in a lottery that considered race. Instead, the district created a school assignment process that said diversity "will be based on the family's decisions." It left the families of Mecklenburg County, some of whom have always had better choices than others, on their own. In the first year of the district's choice program, Black families were more likely to try to use the choice plan to pick an alternative school. They were also more likely to get none of the magnet schools they wanted. In the decades that followed, the district re-segregated. Years of busing had unwound the segregated makeup of the schools, but the underlying disparities and residential segregation had been left untouched. Charlotte is a place where the divide between affluence and poverty, and the clear racial lines that mirror it, are so stark that people who live there refer to the city in two parts the well-off "wedge" and the poorer "crescent." How could anything other than an explicit consideration of those conditions ever hope to ameliorate them? Solutions to segregated schools exist in this context, often relying on individual families to make choices that are limited by their circumstances. Magnet schools and inter-district transfers two common policies that may create great individual opportunities are limited and will always leave some students behind. Wherever you look, families are divided in how they view integration. For white and affluent families, it can exist as a noble idea, one filled with self-reflection. But for families of color or poor families those with less of a safety net the point of integration often is to place their children somewhere better. Efforts to integrate schools can take two paths, Stefan Lallinger, executive director of Next100, a public policy think tank, says. They either fight around the margins, creating slightly less segregated spaces, or they address the problem head on, which in many parts of the country would mean tackling boundaries deliberately drawn to separate rich from poor. How to move forward in a system that resists? Amerikaner and Saba Bireda founded Brown's Promise on the idea of bridging the divide between funding and integration, leveraging state courts to obtain the tools the Supreme Court has taken away from districts. Their strategy has some precedence. In Connecticut, a 1989 lawsuit in state court resulted in the creation of an inter-district transfer program, which allows students in Hartford to transfer into suburban schools and magnet programs, breaking up concentrations of poverty and racially isolated schools. "This country had to be moved to integration," Bireda said. "And unfortunately, 70 years later, we feel like we still need litigation. We need the push of the courts." More recent lawsuits have taken place in New Jersey and in Minnesota. In 2015, Alex Cruz-Guzman became a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging segregation in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. Cruz-Guzman immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a teenager. As a parent, he noticed his children's schools consisted almost entirely of other Latino students. When he tried to place them in more integrated schools, the family faced long waitlists. The case wound its way through court for nearly a decade, almost reaching a settlement in the legislature before that bill failed to pass. Cruz-Guzman recalls people asking why he would join a case that likely would not resolve in time to benefit his own children, who struggled with learning English for a time in predominantly Latino schools. To him, the arc of the case is about the kids whose lives could change in the future. "It's not only my kids. My grandkids will benefit from it," he says. "People for generations will benefit." How far those legal cases can reach remains to be seen. Actual solutions are imperfect. But integration is something this country has tried before, and while it lasted, by many measures, it worked. Anniversaries are moments to stop and contemplate. Seventy years after Brown, the work towards achieving its vision remains unfinished. Where there are no perfect, easy answers, what other choice is there besides trying imperfect pathways that bring about an increasingly diverse country somewhere closer to the promise of Brown? "What's the alternative?" Bireda said. "We are headed towards a country that is going to be majority people of color. ... We can be a strong multiracial democracy, but we cannot be that if we continue to allow most children in the United States not to go to school with children who are from different backgrounds." Yemens Houthi rebels hit an oil tanker in the Red Sea with a ballistic missile early Saturday, damaging the Panama-flagged, Greek-owned vessel in their latest assault over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, officials said. Although the Houthis did not immediately claim the assault, it comes as they claimed to have shot down a U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen and have launched other attacks on shipping, disrupting trade on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. The attack around 1 a.m. struck the oil tanker Wind, which recently docked in Russia and was bound for China, the U.S. military's Central Command said. China and Russia maintain ties over military equipment and oil to Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor. The missile strike caused flooding which resulted in the of loss propulsion and steering, Central Command said on the social platform X. The crew of M/T Wind was able to restore propulsion and steering, and no casualties were reported. M/T Wind resumed its course under its own power. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center and the private security firm Ambrey similarly acknowledged the attack earlier Saturday. Ambrey said it caused a fire aboard the Wind. It can take the Houthis hours or even days to claim their attacks. The Houthis have launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Even so, shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden still remains low because of the threat. The Houthis claimed that they shot down the Reaper on Thursday with a surface-to-air missile. They described the drone as carrying out hostile actions in Yemens Marib province, which remains held by allies of Yemens exiled, internationally recognized government. Since the Houthis seized the countrys north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the U.S. military has previously lost at least five drones to the rebels. Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday claimed to have shot down an American drone, hours after footage circulated online of what appeared to be the wreckage of an MQ-9 Reaper drone. Early Saturday, a vessel also came under attack in the Red Sea. The two incidents likely represent just the latest attacks by the Houthis as they press their campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that rebels shot down the Reaper on Thursday with a surface-to-air missile. He described the drone as "carrying out hostile actions" in Yemen's Marib province, which remains held by allies of Yemen's exiled, internationally recognized government. The Houthis later released footage they claimed showed the surface-to-air-missile being launched at night, along with night-vision footage of the missile hitting the drone. A man, whose voice had been digitally altered to apparently prevent identification, chanted the Houthi slogan: "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam." Online video showed wreckage resembling the pieces of the Reaper on the ground, as well as footage of that wreckage on fire. The U.S. military did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press over the Houthi claim. While the rebels have made claims about attacks that turned out later not to be true, they have a history of shooting down U.S. drones and have been armed by their main benefactor, Iran, with weapons capable of high-altitude attack. Since the Houthis seized the country's north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the U.S. military has previously lost at least five drones to the rebels. Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which Gaza officials say has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Early Saturday, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a ship came under attack off the coast of Yemen's port city of Hodeida. The captain "has confirmed sustaining slight damage after being struck by an unknown object on his port quarter," the UKMTO said. "The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call." The private security firm Ambrey said it believed the vessel struck was a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker. Radio traffic suggested the ship was "hit by a missile and that there was a fire in the steering gear flat," Ambrey said. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack, though it typically takes them hours to issue a claim. Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden still remains low because of the threat, however. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with AFP on Friday warned Russia could intensify its offensive and said Kyiv would only accept a "fair peace" despite the West's calls for a quick solution. Zelenskyy also repeated pleas for allies to send more air defense and fighter jets and said the "biggest advantage" for Russia was a ban on Ukraine using Western-donated weapons to strike Russian territory. With a mobilization law coming into force Saturday, he admitted issues with staffing and "morale" in Ukrainian ranks, which have been often outgunned and outmanned as the third year of the war grinds on. While Russian troops have made gradual advances in recent months, it has seen larger gains along the northeastern border in an offensive that began on May 10 in Kharkiv region. But Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine would hold its defensive lines and stop any major Russian breakthrough. "No one is going to give up," said Zelenskyy, who has been the face of Ukraine's resistance against Russia since the invasion began in February 2022. 'Nonsense situation' Zelenskyy also rejected French President Emmanuel Macron's call for an Olympic truce during the Paris Games, saying it would hand an "advantage" to Moscow by giving it time to move around troops and artillery. He said Ukraine and its Western allies had the "same values" but often "different views," particularly on what the end of the conflict might look like. "We are in a nonsense situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And it does not want Ukraine to lose it," Zelenskyy said. "Everyone wants to find some model for the war to end faster," he said, when asked about the possibility of a scenario for ending hostilities like the one that established a dividing line on the Korean peninsula. The president urged China and countries from the developing world to attend a peace summit with dozens of leaders being hosted by neutral Switzerland next month to which Russia has not been invited. He said global players like China "have influence on Russia. And the more such countries we have on our side, on the side of the end of the war, I would say, the more Russia will have to move and reckon with." The 46-year-old former comedian wore one of his trademark khaki outfits for the interview in Kyiv -- his first with foreign media since the start of Russia's Kharkiv region offensive. "We want the war to end with a fair peace for us," while "the West wants the war to end. Period. As soon as possible. And for them, this is a fair peace," he said. 'First wave' of Russian offensive Zelenskyy said the situation in the Kharkiv region, where thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, was "controlled" but "not stabilized." An AFP estimate based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed Russian forces have advanced more than 278 square kilometers in their offensive -- their biggest gains in a year and a half. Zelenskyy said Russian troops had penetrated between five to 10 kilometers along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces. Russia's offensive "could consist of several waves. There was the first wave" in Kharkiv region, he said. Zelenskyy played down Russia's gains in the offensive so far but added: "We have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory. Not vice versa. And that's still their advantage." 'They are like a beast' Speaking about the offensive during a visit to China on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was a response to Ukraine shelling border regions. "I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone," he said. When asked whether Russia planned to capture the city of Kharkiv, which has more than a million inhabitants, Putin said: "As for Kharkiv, there are no such plans as of today." But Zelenskyy said that Russian forces "want to attack" the city although they realize it would be "very difficult." "They understand that we have forces that will fight for a long time," he said. He also said Russia did not have enough forces for "a full-scale offensive on the capital like the one they had at the beginning of the offensive." But he emphasized that Ukraine and its Western allies should not show weakness and called for the deployment of two Patriot batteries to defend the skies over the Kharkiv region and show Ukraine's resilience. "They are like a beast... If they feel a weakness somewhere in this direction, they will press on," he said. 'Biggest advantage' for Russia In the interview, he said Ukraine only had "about 25% of what we need" to defend the country in terms of air defense. He also said "120 to 130" F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft were needed "in order to have parity" with Russia. He was highly critical of restrictions on striking Russian territory with Western arms, although Britain and the United States have hinted in recent days that these bans could be eased. "They can fire any weapons from their territory at ours. This is the biggest advantage that Russia has. We can't do anything to their systems, which are located on the territory of Russia, with Western weapons," he said. When asked about the issue during a visit to Ukraine this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war." On a more personal note, Zelenskyy said his sense of professional pride and duty helped him keep going. "I'm just a very responsible person. I was just raised to be such a person... I know that what I do, I have to do better than anyone else," he said. But he said his comedy days were behind him: "I don't make anyone laugh. It seems to me that today it's the opposite." The sunburnt thriller-comedy, which premiered at a midnight screening at Cannes, also birthed a new Cage catchphrase. Photo: Lorcan Finnegan/Cannes The energy at last nights midnight Cannes screening was particularly electric, with the crowd screaming and bellowing before the film had even begun. They were losing their shit, appropriately, at the sight of Nicolas Cage, who looked equally thrilled as he walked into the Lumiere for the premiere of The Surfer, a deliciously bonkers, sunburnt psychological-thriller-slash-dark comedy about a man who just wants to surf, and will risk everything he has to do it. While the latest from Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan has some surprising moments of political and emotional depth, its primarily operating on a 70s-B-movie wavelength, full of psychedelic slow-zooms, woozy daydream sequences and ominous flashbacks, winks to New Wave Australian cinema, and another perfectly wild-eyed performance from Cage to add to his pantheon of such performances. He spends the whole movie soaking in his preferred sea of pathos and madness. The Surfer kicks off as Cage, whose character goes unnamed, drives his also nameless son (Finn Little) to the stunning Australian beach he grew up on, giving him a strained fatherly pep talk on the way about how you cant stop a waveyou either surf it, or you get wiped out. His son is unmoved, and Cage looks at him wryly: That was my best surfing as a metaphor for life speech. I was hoping for more enthusiasm. Cages character is visibly desperate: to connect with his son, who seems to live primarily with his soon-to-be ex-wife; to live in his past, which hes tried to recapture by leveraging all of his assets to purchase his own childhood home; to remain in denial about his failed marriage, which seems to have faltered due to his workaholism but, as he describes to his financial advisor, hell be able to revive once he just gets this house and this beach back. The only thing standing in his way is another potential buyer, who just upped their bid by $100,000, and a gang of debauched, vaguely insane local surfers who refuse to let Cage and his son surf at the beloved beach of his childhood. As Cage and his son descend upon the Edenlike shores, a burly man storms out of the sparkling water, sporting a Santa hat. Dont live here, dont surf here, he yells, over and over. Cage argues with him about whether or not the beach is public it is, technically, but these men have long occupied it extralegally before another extremely tan, ripped man named Scally (Julian McMahon) approaches, sporting a bright red beach poncho and a sinister twinkle in his eye. Hes the local groups leader, and he warns Cage to get off the beach he doesnt want this smoke. Fearing for his sons safety as the sinister beach boys surround them, Cage relents and walks back up to the parking lot. But he doesnt leave. In fact, he never leaves. The rest of the movie takes place in this parking lot, the surrounding brush, and on the beach below, with Cage slowly losing all of his belongings, his mind, and his grip on reality as he engages in both psychological and physical warfare with what is revealed, ultimately, to be some kind of Jordan Peterson-esque cult. He spies the men doing strange, violent rituals at night (Before you can surf, you must suffer, they chant as they brand each other with a wave symbol), and finds Scallys Instagram videos, in which he rants about how men must be able to have a place to exorcize their primal urges with impunity. This is all played at a slight tilt its spooky, but its also very funny. Emboldened and enraged, Cage haunts the beach parking lot for days, turning redder and bloodier and increasingly miserable. He calls the local cops, who turn out to be in cahoots with the cult. He pleads for help from locals, who hand-wave away the Clockwork-Orange behavior. Boys will be boys! says one woman, who explains that their unchecked beach barbarity is better than if these boys went home and beat the Botox out of their wives. He ignores a local man (Nic Cassim) whos long lived out of his own car in the parking lot until he needs to borrow the mans binoculars for spying. He barters for them with an expensive pair of sunglasses, which sets off a sort of domino effect of Cage parting with all of his material belongings. The beach boys torment him with a series of mind-fuck pranks and manipulations that result in him losing his watch, then his phone, then his wedding ring, then his car. He loses his shoes, then walks on (intentionally scattered?) broken glass. Nobody is better at believably playing out this sort of increasing mania than Cage. He tears up at regular intervals as the camera zooms dramatically into his eyes. He rages and moans and sobs. He chugs non-potable water, gagging and spitting. He is so unbelievably sunburned. At the apotheosis of his despair, he is bitten by a rat, then beats it to death against the homeless mans car (which hes now living in). Soon thereafter, starving, Cage yanks the dead rat from the ground and holds it to his teeth, about to take a bite. He looks up and sees a local man staring at him in fear, then running away. He has a brief moment of clarity and stuffs the rat in his pocket instead. Later, in a waterlogged physical altercation with one of the local surfers, Cage pulls the rat out of his pocket and stuffs it into the mans mouth. Eat the rat! he screams. Eat the rat! The Cannes audience roared at the line, which seems all but guaranteed to join the rich Nic Cage Quotable Canon, alongside Put the bunny back in the box, I lost my hand, I lost my bride, Not the bees! et al. Cage himself called back to the line immediately at the end of the screening, when he took the mic and thanked the festival and the fans, saying that hed last been at the festival for a little film called Wild at Heart, which won the Palme dOr in 1990. He grinned at the adoring crowd, then asked festival director Thierry Friemaux how to say eat the rat in French. He looked back at the audience, then much to their delight, yelled into the mic, Mangez les rat! Mangez le rat! SAN FRANCISCO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ming-Tung "Mike" Lee, president of Sonoma State University in the U.S. state of California, resigned Friday, one day after California State University (CSU) officials placed him on leave for unilaterally announcing that the campus would sever academic and financial ties with Israel. CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia said that Lee "has informed me of his decision to retire," after she labeled Lee's action "insubordination" and named an acting president on Thursday. "The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another," Garcia said in a statement on Thursday. Lee had brokered an agreement with campus pro-Palestinian students who set up tents on the school's campus. He publicly apologized on Wednesday evening and said he acted without the approval of CSU leaders. Lee had been the president of Sonoma State University for less than two years, following serving as an administrator and business professor at Sacramento State University for 28 years. Forti welcomed back to Italy by premier Giorgia Meloni. Enrico 'Chico' Forti, an Italian entrepreneur who has spent the last 24 years in a US jail after being convicted of killing an Australian businessman in 1998, returned to Italy on Saturday morning. Forti, 65, landed at Pratica di Mare air base south-west of Rome on an Italian military plane, where he was met by Italian premier Giorgia Meloni. Forti will be transferred to a prison in Verona but before that will be held overnight at Rebibbia prison in Rome due to organisational reasons linked to today's visit to Verona by Pope Francis, reports Corriere della Sera newspaper. The repatriation of Forti, who has been detained by the US immigration agency since leaving prison in Miami a few days ago, follows extensive diplomatic efforts by the Italian government and the personal intervention of Meloni. Forti, a former windsurfing champion and TV producer who has always maintained his innocence, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Florida in 2000 for the murder of Dale Pike on 15 February 1998. During a visit to Washington on 1 March this year, Meloni announced that an agreement had been reached for Forti to return from the US to serve the rest of his term in his homeland. Justice minister Carlo Nordio subsequently said that Forti's return to Italy was "an important, long-awaited goal", expressing the hope that all necessary steps would be "completed as quickly as possible to allow Forti to continue serving his sentence in his country, close to his loved ones". Forti's case is a divisive one, with Forti and his supporters having always maintained that he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done? A charity fundraiser has been launched in memory of Matthew Healy, to mark his birthday. On Friday, May 17, 2024, Matthew would have turned seven-years-old. On Sunday, May 19, the charity fundraiser will be held in Watergrasshill, Co Cork, to raise money for Make a Wish Ireland. There will be a motorcycle and vintage car gathering/ run beginning at 1pm on the day. The run begins at 2pm, and will be followed by food trucks and live music from 3pm until 6pm. At time of going to press, the fundraiser had raised over 16,000 of its 20,000 target. Make a Wish Ireland was chosen in honour of Matthew because it's "a charity which reflects Matthews fun and adventurous character", according to his father James. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the grieving father said of Matthew: "He was mad for a bit of adventure and Make a Wish reflects that in what they do in that they give young ladeens an adventure where they possibly would not have got it otherwise." Matthew was a Senior Infant pupil at Faithlegg National School, Co Waterford. On March 9, he was discovered unresponsive in a car near Rathmoylan Cove, Dunmore East. Matthew was later declared deceased at University Hospital Waterford (UHW). Matthew's funeral was held in Watergrasshill, and was attended by family and friends. At the funeral, his father James paid tribute to his son: Matthew it has been the greatest honour in my life and an absolute pleasure to be your Dad. I am so sorry I could not save you, chief. I love you." Waterford Civic Society are unveiling a new plaque that commemorates the Deise's historic links to Canada, namely Newfoundland. On Thursday, May 23, at 3.30pm, Canadian Ambassador to Ireland HE Nancy Smyth will unveil the Waterford Civic Trust Heritage Blue Plaque on Hanover Street, Waterford City. The plaque pays tribute to Waterford-born John Kent, who was the second ever Premier of Newfoundland between 1858-1861. John Kent was born in Waterford in 1805, and arrived in Newfoundland in 1820. 'Waterfordians' Since the end of the 17th century, Irish people emigrated to the territory seeking work and a better life, mainly in the fishing industries. In the 19th century, writer Henry Winton noted about the makeup of Newfoundland: "Friars from Waterford hold the bishopric of St. Johns... All the leaders of parliament are Waterfordians... Newfoundland is merely Waterford parted from the sea." According to the Trust: "The Irish language persisted in some considerable strength throughout the whole of the eighteenth and into the beginning of the nineteenth century. A most distinctive feature of the island is the accent of many of its inhabitants unmistakably Irish with strong hints of Ballybricken!" Kent's time in office was a tumultuous one, caught between a downturn in the local fishery economy and a fraught relationship with the Catholic bishop, which did not endear him to fellow Irish-American citizens. Kent was dismissed by the British Ambassador of Newfoundland in 1861. He passed away in his sleep September 1872, survived by his wife and two (at least) children. The Trust said in a statement: "In honouring Kent, the deep ties between Waterford and Newfoundland are also remembered and celebrated." Cruise Ship 'Celebrity Silhouette' recently arrived on Waterford shores. In anticipation for the arrival of 2,506 passengers and 1,500 crew members, Waterford Council issued a traffic advisory notice in the Dunmore East area last week. A spokesperson from Port of Waterford commented: "Celebrity Silhouette calls to Waterford May 16th, anchoring at Dunmore East, at the mouth of Waterford harbour, from 7am to 7pm. The mighty vessel is 319 metres in length overall and has a beam width of 36.8 metres, which is long/higher than the Eiffel Tower." Waterford Chamber of Commerce similarly welcomed the vessel, commenting: "There is a great variety of attractions to enjoy in the South East of Ireland. We look forward to welcoming all ashore, facilitated by our hardworking landside personnel from various agencies." A number of other largescale vessels will be arriving to Dunmore East across the summer months. The Jewel of the Seas is expected to dock on May 28, with a maximum of 842 passengers. Celebrity Silhouette is due to return on June 15, June 27 and on August 2. Nieuw Statendam with a maximum capacity of 1,053 passengers will arrive on June 24. Domestic trips Waterford won't just be receiving an abundance of visitors from abroad this summer, as a recent CSO report revealed that the South of Ireland is the most popular destination for domestic overnight trips. In quarter four of 2023, Waterford and the further South region welcomed over 1.4 million visitors. The report revealed that Irish residents took 14.3 million domestic overnight trips in 2023, which amounted to 3.1 billion in expenditure. This compares with 13.3 million domestic overnight trips in 2022 and total expenditure of 2.9 billion. Holiday was the most common reason for domestic overnight trips, closely followed by visits to friends or relatives. Irish residents took 2.9 million outbound overnight trips in quarter four of 2023, with over one-third of these trips to a UK destination. As the Israel-Gaza war enters into its 8th month, staff and students at South East Technological University (SETU) held a vigil on-campus in solidarity with the people of Palestine. As of mid-May 2024, over 35,000 Palestinian people have been killed as a result of the war. A third of the victims are children. Lecturer at SETU Dr Kate McCarthy stressed the importance of standing in solidarity with the people of Rafah, stating: "As educators, it is our moral duty to speak out against injustice and advocate for those whose voices are silenced. The situation in Rafah demands immediate attention and action from the international community." Michelle Byrne, an IPSC South East branch member, said at the vigil: "We commend the courage and determination of SETU students and staff in taking a stand against the atrocities unfolding in Rafah. The IPSC South East stands with them in solidarity, and will continue to support efforts to keep the pressure on leaders and to demand justice." On Wednesday, alumni, staff and students gathered at the Luke Wadding Library on the Cork Road, and silently walked through the SETU campus. The vigil was organised by Gather for Palestine, who have staging weekly demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine. The ongoing war has deeply affected many at SETU, especially in regard to the deaths of hundreds of academics, students and teachers and the destruction of all 12 universities in Gaza. SETU offers Sanctuary Academic Scholarships in order to welcome refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants into the university community. According to Dr McCarthy, two students from Gaza, a brother and sister, have been able to safely continue their studies in the South East thanks to the scheme. Nakba Wednesday, May 15, 2024, marked the 76th anniversary of Nakba, the day that thousands of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their land to make way for the formation of the State of Israel, after the end of British rule over the territory. Nakba, which means disaster in Arabic, refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled for safety to neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. In the intervening 76 years, Palestinians have systematically been uprooted from their homes by Israeli settlers, in contravention of international law. Israel - Gaza war The current phase of the Israel - Palestinian conflict is the most devastating since 1948. On October 7, Hamas militants captured and killed 1,200 Israeli civilians attending a music festival near Gaza. As of May 2024, around 130 hostages are still unaccounted for. In response to the attacks by Hamas, the Israeli military launched missile strikes, air-raids and ground assaults into Gaza. The military actions have effectively destroyed nearly all local infrastructure, especially hospitals and universities, and have trapped thousands of people in rubble. The southern city of Rafah is the next target for the Israeli military, with thousands of people currently being forced to leave their homes. Before this latest offensive, Rafah was the refuge for 1.4 million people from Gaza. Irish University Protests Protests have emerged in third-level institutions across the country in response to the ongoing destruction in Palestine. At Trinity College Dublin, students held a five-day encampment in a successful bid to divest all university ties with Israeli links. In University College Dublin, an encampment began in May in protest at the universitys ties to Israeli-based sponsors, partners and shareholders. President of UCD Professor Orla Feely has since denied any active links between Israel and the university. On Tuesday, May 14, another encampment was erected in University College Cork, with an estimated 40 students taking part. For exotic destinations such as Egypt, Bhutan or India, where language, food, culture and hygiene present a challenge, an escorted journey is a great way to go but how to pick? Group size is one of the most important things to consider. Bigger groups usually mean lower cost but a group of 12 is a different experience from one of 20. Hotel check-ins take longer with larger groups, toilet stops can blow out to 30 minutes. When it comes to tour groups, bigger is definitely not better. Credit: iStock A group of 12 or 14 is big enough for variety but not so big that youll feel submerged. You wont get separated when youre wandering around the souks of Marrakesh, and youll be able to hear what the guide is saying. Theyre also more flexible. If you want to skip the tour of Romes Farnese Palace and sit in a cafe and watch the world go by, thats usually okay. Want to visit 11 European countries in 21 days? There are escorted journeys that will do just that, but if you want to immerse yourself in a place rather than just gliding over the surface, you need to slow down. UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has agreed to support the handling of aid from the U.S.-built floating dock off Gaza, a spokesman said Friday. After months of discussions with all relevant authorities, the United Nations has agreed to support in receiving and arranging for the dispatch of aid into Gaza from the pier, as long as it respects the neutrality and independence of humanitarian operations, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Given the immense needs in Gaza, the floating dock is intended to supplement existing land crossings of aid into Gaza, including Rafah, Kerem Shalom and Erez. It is not meant to replace any crossings," he stressed. A logistics cluster managed by the World Food Programme will handle the logistics on behalf of the United Nations, its different agencies, and the humanitarian community, said Haq, adding that the cluster will facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance coming from the floating dock. On Friday, the first trucks carrying humanitarian assistance moved ashore on the floating dock in Gaza. This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinians in Gaza through a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations, he noted. The United Nations welcomes any effort toward ensuring humanitarian aid reaches Gaza. As such, the world body is grateful to the United States, as well as to Cyprus, with the support of other member states, to sustain the maritime corridor as an additional route for aid to Gaza, said the spokesman. On the ground in Gaza, UN humanitarians report that since the Israeli military offensive on Rafah began on May 6, nearly 640,000 people have been displaced. Many of those who fled have sought safety in Deir al Balah, which is extremely overcrowded. Conditions there are dire, said Haq. UN staff working on getting food to people in Gaza report that only five bakeries remain operational in all of Gaza, and nearly a dozen others have ceased operations due to fuel and supply shortages, amid ongoing hostilities, he said. These conditions have forced partners to conduct small-scale distributions with limited stocks, providing reduced rations and prioritizing Khan Younis and Deir al Balah governorates, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Rafah have arrived over the past 10 days, he said. That ongoing displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis has exacerbated the water and sanitation crisis, with sewage overflow and solid waste spreading across roads, displacement camps, and the rubble of destroyed homes -- with a catastrophic impact on health, he said. UN staff working on ensuring that people in Gaza have adequate shelter say there are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza. UN staff working on the health response say the movement of emergency medical teams in Gaza is highly constrained due to growing insecurity and access challenges, he said. Haq said very limited humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza since May 6 while the needs remain immense. Between May 6 and 15, only 33 trucks carrying food have entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing; 121 trucks carrying food have entered through the Erez crossing; and 156 trucks carrying flour were reported to arrive in northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing, he said. Haq said an extremely limited amount of fuel on an exceptional basis has come into Gaza since the start of the Rafah offensive. The Japanese government has finally relented. It took decades of pain, separation and despair, but on Friday it passed laws that will give parents the right to have joint custody of their children for the first time. Dozens of Australian parents and children have been caught in this outdated, cruel system. There are 89 Australian children who have been taken by their Japanese father or mother and disappeared since 2004. Scott McIntyre with his children in Japan. They have been protected by a legal system that rewarded Japanese parents for being the first to snatch a child and then gave them total control over their childs life. Just ask Catherine Henderson, a Melbourne mother who struggles to catch a train without thinking about the two children that were ripped away from her while she was at work in 2019. Jerusalem, Cairo: The Israeli military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its October 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Louks twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the militants attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter. From left, Itzik Gelernter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila. The Israeli military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of the three Israeli hostages. Credit: Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via AP All three were killed by Hamas while fleeing the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border, where militants killed hundreds of people, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a news conference. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths heartbreaking, saying, We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead. KUNMING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and three others injured after a tea factory collapse in southwest China's Yunnan Province Friday, local authorities said. The accident happened at around 3 p.m. Friday in the city of Jinghong, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, trapping six people, according to the province's fire and rescue department. The injured are receiving treatment at the hospital and are in a stable condition. Certa has launched HVO pumps at three more of its forecourts in Ireland, bringing the total of HVO-ready Certa outlets to six. The leading fuel suppliers new HVO-ready forecourts are located in Ballyhaunis in Co Mayo, Maynooth in Co Kildare and Dundrum in Dublin. They join the existing three in Liffey Valley in Dublin, Lee Tunnel in Co Cork and Trim in Co Meath. The expansion doubles the number of Certa forecourts now supplying Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) at their existing pumps alongside petrol and diesel. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil is a new second-generation, low-carbon biofuel that serves as a direct replacement for regular diesel without any need for vehicle or engine modifications. It is produced using waste plant-matter and hydrogen, which means it does not release any additional carbon emissions into the atmosphere and can result in a 90% net reduction in CO2 emissions. Certa was the first energy operator in Ireland to open a fully-fledged HVO fuel station when it made the fuel available at the pumps in its forecourt in Liffey Valley last October. The latest expansion comes as the company continues to partner with Skoda Ireland on a new joint campaign aimed at creating awareness of the benefits of using HVO as a replacement for diesel and encouraging existing owners and would-be buyers of new diesel cars to make the switch. The Skoda and Certa awareness campaign was launched in March. Sales of HVO at Certas Liffey Valley forecourt in Dublin have risen by 29% in the last two months, suggesting an increased awareness of the benefit of the fuel and an increased willingness among diesel car owners to source it. The total car market in Ireland has increased by 6% for the first four months of 2024. The most recent figures showed that sales of diesel models rose by 11%, the first increase for diesel vehicles after four consecutive years of decline. Diesel has bounced back in 2024, with one in four cars sold in Ireland now a diesel. Skoda is achieving record sales this year and is currently occupying second position in the Irish market with 7,578 vehicles delivered to customers. A total of 58% of the brands sales have been diesel-powered. This is a 30% increase on 2023 and means Skoda is the biggest supplier of diesel cars in the Irish market. As a leading car manufacturer, Skoda is acutely aware that sales of diesel and petrol-powered cars are scheduled to end in 2035 and that pure electric cars are now clearly the best and most sustainable option for new car buyers. The brand already sells two electric-only models with plans to offer six electric-only models by 2026. It also sells hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles with the newly launched Skoda Superb PHEV and Kodiaq PHEV both featuring a 100km electric driving range. Skoda, however, says it also recognises the status and potentially important role of HVO as a transition fuel and a cleaner alternative to diesel and, as such, is seeking to encourage both existing owners of diesel cars and any buyers of new diesel cars to consider HVO as an alternative. As it is a relatively new fuel, HVO biofuel is usually sold at a slightly higher cost than diesel. However, Certa currently has an offer that matches the prices of HVO with that of diesel. The company, which is part of DCC plc, is in the process of upgrading its network of 41 unmanned, pay@pump forecourts to offer HVO. In addition to the existing six, Certa is planning to have four more forecourts HVO-ready by the end of this year. HVO is distinguished at fuel pumps through the use of a pink nozzle, which stands out from the black diesel and green petrol ones. In Ireland, HVO is expected to meet a large proportion of the increase in biofuel supply to decarbonise the transport sector and is considered a vital transition fuel as electric-powered vehicles continue to become more mainstream. HVO can be used as a direct replacement for diesel in a wide variety of fleet, plant and machinery equipment in addition to passenger cars. It can also be mixed with diesel in any ratio. The performance of diesel engines using HVO is near identical to when they are fuelled with diesel. Skoda has also confirmed that all its diesel models manufactured from mid-2021 are HVO-ready. As part of the HVO awareness campaign, Skoda launched an online vehicle checker where owners of diesel Skoda models can enter their registrations to confirm their cars HVO-readiness. Owners of non-Skoda vehicles are advised to confirm with their manufacturer or dealer concerning HVO compatibility prior to using the fuel. HVO should not be confused with first-generation biodiesel or other vegetable oil products, which should not be used in Skoda vehicles. Abbie Llewelyn, PA Political Staff An easier route for people from the Republic of Ireland to get British citizenship has moved a step closer to becoming law in the UK. The British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Bill, which has passed the UK's House of Commons, received its second reading in the House of Lords on Friday with cross-party support. The private members bill will allow Irish nationals to register for British citizenship after five years of living in the UK without the need for an English language or Life in the UK test. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, people born in Northern Ireland were given the right to choose to be Irish citizens, British citizens or both. The Irish Government introduced a simple process whereby anyone born on the island of Ireland, anyone whose partner was born on the island of Ireland, or whose grandparents or great-grandparents were are entitled to an Irish passport. This will cost them 80. Those born in the Republic of Ireland living in Northern Ireland, or anywhere else in the UK, have the right to work, study and vote in the UK, but they have to follow the same process towards citizenship as any other foreign national. This means they have to pass an English language and Life in the UK test, as well as pay a 1,630 naturalisation fee. DUP peer Lord Hay of Ballyore, who was born in the Republic but moved to Derry at the age of six, branded this an anomaly that was missed or overlooked when the Belfast or St Andrews agreements were being negotiated. He told peers the process is lengthy and costly, and said it is unjust for Irish nationals who have spent years in Northern Ireland to pay the fee. Lord Hay said: We have an opportunity in this Bill to right a great wrong. The House knows our history, our relationship in these isles and how they have intertwined, and this Bill gives us the opportunity to provide the finished piece of that relationship jigsaw. For anyone who was born in the Republic of Ireland, but has made their home in the UK and who satisfy the residency test, should be able to avail of UK citizenship. Lord Hay (Northern Ireland Assembly/ PA credit) UUP peer Lord Rogan branded it an abomination that this easier route to citizenship is not already available for Irish nationals. He said: As chairman of the UUP on Good Friday 1999, I accept my share of the responsibility that people born in the Republic of Ireland were not included in the Belfast Agreements definition of people of Northern Ireland and did therefore not benefit from its birthright provisions on identity and citizenship. It should have been corrected long before now. DUP peer Lord Browne of Belmont branded the current route to citizenship a costly, over-bureaucratic and uniquely discriminatory process, and said it was simply wrong for Irish people to have to pay a naturalisation fee. He said: This is contrary to the spirit of reciprocation offered through the Belfast and St Andrews agreements. I am pleased that this Bill now provides the opportunity to address this imbalance and to provide parity of treatment to allow Irish-born citizens resident within the United Kingdom to identify with their Britishness. As of the 2021 census, there were 324,670 Irish-born people living in the UK. To be eligible for British citizenship, they must have lived in the UK for five years, not have been absent for more than 450 days in the last five-year period or 90 days in the last year, and not be in breach of any immigration laws during that time. It will apply to those living in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and British overseas territories. UK Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom reiterated the UK governments full support for the Bill. He said: Many of the immigration-related requirements for naturalisation are designed for those who require formal permission to enter and live in the UK and those are not applicable to Irish nationals. Equally, the UK has a unique relationship with Ireland and the close historical links, geographical proximity and shared institutions between the two countries mean that those who could make use of this Bill would, in our view, already have sufficient knowledge of language and life in the UK, and be further reinforced, of course, by five years qualifying residence. So, as such, being expected to pass the Life in the UK test or demonstrate competence in English is inconsistent with the reality. He added that the issue of the fee is being considered. Twelve teams of budding engineers, representing a variety of Foroige projects from across Ireland, gathered in Athlone on Friday, April 5, for an exhilarating FIRST LEGO League Masterpiece Challenge Blitz. The tournament saw teams showcase their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills as they navigated the thrilling world of robotics and STEAM learning. The Ballinrobots from Foroige Connect Ballinrobe, claimed the title of champions, impressing judges with their innovative approach and technical skill. Meanwhile, the Ballina Nuggets from Ballina NYP secured the Innovation Project Winners accolade, showcasing their unique solution to a real-world problem. Additionally, the LEGO Legends from Portlaoise UBU earned recognition as the Robot Design Winners, and the Le'Rossies from The Quad Youth Centre in Roscommon excelled in demonstrating their teams core values, earning them the Core Value Winners title. The Foroige Rockers from the SAFE Project wowed with their robot performance, securing the Robot Game Winners spot, while the Rising All Stars recognition went to the Boyle Crescent from Roscommon Youth Service UBU Boyle, highlighting their future potential. This science and technology challenge, which is aimed at 11 to 16-year-olds, tasks teams to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and create an innovative solution to a real-world problem. This years challenge asked teams to imagine innovative new ways to create and communicate art across the globe using technology while demonstrating their skills in robotics, computer programming, teamwork, research, problem solving and communication. Foroige Blitz Innovation Project winners were The Ballina Nuggets from Ballina NYP Supported by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Discover Programme, the initiative is organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in partnership with Irish delivery partner, CreativeHUT. FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, and FIRST LEGO League encourages young people to think like scientists and engineers, developing practical solutions to real-world issues. FIRST LEGO League inspires young people from the ages of four to 16 to understand and shape the world they live in, in a more sustainable and inclusive way. Importantly, it ignites interest in STEAM learning, challenging the idea that science is dull, too technical, or only for boys! Dublin-based, CreativeHUT, is the regional organiser of FIRST LEGO League in Ireland, and founder Ross Maguire says the fun team-challenge inspires the new generation of budding scientists and engineers. We are delighted to partner with Foroige to grow their engagement with FIRST LEGO League as this is a platform for young people to discover the world of STEM and collaborate on real-world problems. These fantastic young people are taking the first steps to become tomorrows innovators, creators and problem solvers. The concepts of cooperation and competition combine. Its the idea that, by working together, we all win. It is not about building robots, its about robots building people. Foroiges Digital Youth Officer , Megan Depinna, shared how delighted she was with the success of this inaugural tournament. "Foroige is delighted to be part of the FIRST LEGO League MASTERPIECE Challenge Blitz. The tournament provides an incredible platform through which young people can showcase their talent, skill and creativity. The dedication, innovation and teamwork displayed by the participants was really inspiring. Each team brought their unique perspective and enthusiasm, making the event a true celebration of STEAM learning and youth empowerment. Foroige is immensely proud of all of the young people involved and we are excited to continue supporting their journey in robotics and beyond." The annual robotics and creative thinking challenge is organised in the UK and Ireland by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Hannah Rees, Senior Education Manager, explains how FIRST LEGO League allows young people to really experience engineering in action. It encourages children to think like scientists and engineers, and to embrace learning. We are incredibly pleased to see that participation by youth group teams in the annual challenge has grown steadily in the past three years and is now a national programme in Ireland. Over 11,000 young people have participated in FIRST LEGO League in Ireland in the past three years of the global programme. Dr Ruth Freeman, Director, Science for Society at SFI, says the inclusive appeal of FIRST LEGO League makes science accessible to everyone. We are delighted to be supporting FIRST LEGO League in helping young people to build essential skills in STEM, such as creativity and problem solving, and giving them a chance to apply these skills to real-world problems. This programme supports the SFI Discover programmes central aims to increase public engagement and broaden participation and access to STEM across Ireland. People visit the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) BAGHDAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. Boasting an ancient civilization of thousands of years, Iraq has abundant archeological treasures. However, the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the ensuing chaos and instability created an opportunity for robbers and lawbreakers to plunder and smuggle Iraqi antiquities from museums and unprotected archeological sites. In the first days of the U.S.-led coalition forces' occupation of Baghdad in 2003, thousands of priceless artifacts were systematically looted from the Iraq Museum. Adel al-Mubarak, an archaeologist and history teacher at Baghdad-based al-Iraqia University, told Xinhua that the U.S. forces were stationed in the Alawi district in downtown Baghdad, where the museum is located. "They did not protect the museum from organized gangs and thieves," al-Mubarak recalled. According to al-Mubarak, there are approximately 15,000 lost objects, many of which have yet to be returned. The irresponsible withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 led to a sudden security vacuum, offering a respite for the Islamic State (IS) extremist group to develop and grow, which took control of large swathes of land in northern and western Iraq in 2014. Following its expansion, media video showed IS fighters destroying the Mosul Museum and the ancient cities of Hatra and Nimrud in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, where they also smuggled numerous historical relics. These years, through concerted efforts of relevant domestic institutions and coordination with other nations, Iraq managed to regain some of the looted and smuggled antiquities. "Through effective international cooperation with friendly and brotherly nations and the mobilization of our diplomatic missions in various parts of the world, Iraq has been able to reclaim thousands of archeological pieces, manuscripts, books, and illustrious paintings," the Foreign Ministry said. Despite the achievements made in the past years, al-Mubarak said there are still major challenges facing the Iraqi authorities, including continued thefts and random excavations, especially in archeological sites far from urban areas or in places unregulated by the government. "The protection of the archeological sites also requires financial, personnel, and logistical support from the government," the archaeologist noted. This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows exhibits at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) A man visits the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows an exhibit at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) A man visits the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) A man visits the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows exhibits at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows an exhibit at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) People visit the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) A woman visits the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2024. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows an exhibit at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. As the world celebrates International Museum Day on Saturday, Iraq remains haunted by the poignant scars of looted antiquities in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) ADEN, Yemen, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A Houthi missile strike hit a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker sailing in the Red Sea off the coast of Mokha, western Yemen on Saturday, causing a fire on board, a government coast guard official told Xinhua. According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the incident occurred at around 3:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) when the Houthis launched a missile attack targeting the oil tanker while it was navigating Yemeni territorial waters, approximately 10 nautical miles southwest of Mokha port in the Red Sea. The official confirmed that at least one missile directly struck the vessel, igniting a fire in the area housing the ship's steering equipment. Thus far, the Houthi group has not issued any statements or claims of responsibility regarding the attack. Since November last year, the Houthis have been conducting military operations in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, targeting ships they claim are Israeli or bound for Israel. This escalation comes against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, which has been raging for more than seven months. In response to the Houthi naval attacks, the United States and the United Kingdom initiated a military operation on Jan. 12, involving air strikes and missile strikes against Houthi targets in areas under their control within Yemen. Amid the military operation by Washington and London, the Houthi group vowed retaliation and expanded the scope of their targeting to include American and British commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Earlier this month, the Houthi group announced its decision to target all ships heading to Israel in the Mediterranean Sea. This photo taken on May 18, 2024 shows an ancient clay tablet at National Museum of Iran in Tehran, Iran. Iran on Saturday unveiled a selection of ancient clay tablets brought back to the country last year from the United States. (Xinhua/Shadati) TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Saturday unveiled a selection of ancient clay tablets brought back to the country last year from the United States. The public display came at the end of a ceremony held at the National Museum of Iran in the capital Tehran to mark International Museum Day on May 18 and the beginning of the National Cultural Heritage Week. The returned 3,506 clay tablets date back to the era of the Achaemenid Empire which ruled from the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Those tablets returned to Iran after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to New York last September, where he had taken part in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Director of the National Museum of Iran Jebrael Nokandeh said the clay tablets, of which 162 pieces had been displayed at the museum, pertained to the reign of Darius I (522-486 BC), and provided "valuable, detailed and precise" information about a part of people's lives and their society during the Achaemenid era. The tablets were found in excavations by German archaeologist and Iranologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld in Persepolis in the 1930s. After their discovery, the tablets were transferred to the United States to be studied at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa under the University of Chicago. So far, five batches of the tablets have been returned to Iran and the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts is doing the follow-ups on the repatriation of more than 10,000 other tablets still kept at the University of Chicago. This photo taken on May 18, 2024 shows an ancient clay tablet at National Museum of Iran in Tehran, Iran. Iran on Saturday unveiled a selection of ancient clay tablets brought back to the country last year from the United States. (Xinhua/Shadati) People watch ancient clay tablets at National Museum of Iran in Tehran, Iran, May 18, 2024. Iran on Saturday unveiled a selection of ancient clay tablets brought back to the country last year from the United States. (Xinhua/Shadati) GAZA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Hamas said Friday that there is no alternative to opening land crossings under Palestinian supervision for delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, including the newly-anchored floating aid pier. The confirmation comes following the start of operations by the U.S.-built aid pier off the coast of Gaza City, according to local Palestinian sources. Any means of aid delivery, including the aid pier, is not a substitute for opening all land crossings under Palestinian supervision, Hamas said in a press statement. It emphasized the right of the Palestinian people to receive all necessary aid amid the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the occupation on the Gaza Strip. It also reiterated the rejection by Hamas and all Palestinian factions of any military presence of any force on Palestinian territories. Earlier, local Palestinian sources told Xinhua that a ship carrying humanitarian aid had reached the shores of the Strip, while smaller boats began unloading their cargo and delivering it to the aid pier west of the city. Dozens of trucks were reported waiting on the coastal strip to be loaded with aid and transported to warehouses belonging to the United Nations (UN) in the Strip. Meanwhile, the sources noted that another group of ships are on the way to the shores of Gaza, with expectations to unload their cargo soon. Palestinian sources said that international relief organizations, led by the World Food Program (WFP) operating in the Strip, would be responsible for receiving and distributing the aid to local residents. The United States announced earlier Friday that trucks carrying humanitarian aid had reached the coast of the Gaza Strip through the floating maritime port it had constructed. American media quoted U.S. sources as saying that what is currently being implemented is part of a multinational effort to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. In April, the U.S. Department of Defense announced its plans to build a temporary floating dock on the coast of the Gaza Strip to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, which suffers from severe shortages of food, medicine and other life necessities according to local and international health sources. Israel has launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. According to Gaza-based health authorities, the persistent Israeli attacks have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians and wounded over 79,000 in the enclave. Due to the conflict, the majority of the coastal Strip's residents suffer from shortages of food, medicine, and basic humanitarian needs, prompting UN agencies to warn of dire consequences that could occur in the Strip, such as famine, epidemics and diseases among local residents. By Elnur Enveroglu Assassination attempt on Slovak Premier Robert Fico and the suspect behind the crime 71 year-old-man charged Thursday with attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Experts have different views on the crime scene that remain obscure A few days ago, a sudden assassination attempt against Prime Minister Robert Fico in Handlova, Slovakia caused serious concerns. Although the reasons for the attempt are mysterious to many, some parties interpret it differently. We had to refer to the opinions of experts on the matter. Professor Dr. Irfan Kaya ULGER from Turkiye's Kocaeli University touched upon interesting points in his statement to Azernews. First, the professor clarified the comments regarding the fact that the names of Western forces were mentioned in the assassination attempt against the countrys premier. He considered such comments unfounded and noted that the suicide was more personal. I am of the opinion that political rivalry or personal affairs played a role in the assassination attempt on PM Robert Fico, the Turkish Professor said. Irfan Kaya explained the issue more broadly and tried to refine the internal processes. He made a subtle comparison by reviewing the political views of the Slovak Prime Minister. The attack on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico attracted the attention of the whole world to this country. It is a known fact that Prime Minister Fico often criticizes the West for the Ukraine war. In one of his speeches, he said, "I will not send even a single bullet to Ukraine." It is known to everyone that Fico is distant from the economic sanctions announced after the start of the Ukrainian war. His closest friend within the EU is Hungarian President Victor Orban. Because of all this, it does not seem rational to me to say that Prime Minister Fico was assassinated for political reasons and to imply that the West was behind this attack. I am of the opinion that political rivals or personal animosity may have played a role, the professor said. Nevertheless, another expert, British political journalist Neil Watson approached the issue completely differently. He was quite certain about the West having a hand in this crime. He said that the murderer shot the Prime Minister several times based on a special assignment and that this case seems more to be related to different parties. As with all attempted or realised political assassinations, the suspect is purely a puppet who has been coerced into action by external forces. Although he may or may not have fired the bullets, there are many western powers who would like to see an end to Fico and to make an example of him, particularly aimed at seemingly pro-Russian politicians in former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries, he underlined. Doubts about the contribution of the Armenian lobby to the assassination In a high percentage of terrorist incidents in Europe, the Armenian lobby and the Dashnaks were specially mediated. The fact that the Eastern European countries are keeping pace with Azerbaijan's both domestic and foreign policies and showing an inclination towards Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus undoubtedly worries the pro-Western Armenian lobby. However, the matching opinions of the experts about the Armenian lobby standing behind the issue did not confirm the matter related to any conspiracy. Both Turkish and British experts said that Armenian lobby organizations had no role in the crime. Neil Watson said that Armenians currently look at European countries as the beacon of hope, so it seems unrealistic for them to engage in such crimes. ASALA committed many outrageous terrorist acts in the 1970s and 80s. But I do not to feel that this is the case now. Armenia is attempting to court the west as its saviour, now that Russian support has ended. It would be very foolish for Armenia to organise any assassination attempt on a politician, as it would demonstrate its aggression, the expert said. Further to the experts views, the British journalist touched on Robert Ficos political stance in backdrop of the serious contrast between the West and Russia. He said that the Slovak Prime Minister always tried not to harm the relations with Russia by the dictates of the West. Certainly, it is widely regarded that a lack of unity in the EU and NATO is making the possibility of a Russian semi-victory in the war with Ukraine. In addition, Fico has initiated moves to close the Slovak state broadcaster and commented against the forthcoming WHO laws related to possible future pandemics. In my view, he is a pragmatic politician, whose early life was shaped by Soviet influence, and realises that it is better to have acceptable bilateral relations with Russia and maintain the independence of his country rather than being vehemently anti-Russian which could lead to a forcible Russian annexation if they achieve some success in Ukraine. I am sure that the truth will always be clouded, but I am certain his alleged assassin was, in some way, motivated by external Western secret service agents, he added. As for Professor Ulger's additional thoughts on the assassination attempt, he related it to his political rivals who did not like him internally. He denied arguments linking the crime to Fico not being anti-Russian at the behest of the West. The possibility that Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico may face assassination as a reflection of the political rivalry within the country seems to be a serious alternative. Based on this perspective, forces that want to reconstruct Slovakia's domestic politics may have played a role behind the scenes. But on the other hand, the possibility of personal hostility being the main factor in the attack constitutes another serious possibility. I think the possibility of an attack being carried out just because he is pro-Russian is low. Factors such as a personal grudge or jealousy are stronger motivations. There are other countries within NATO that criticize the US policy in Ukraine. For example, Victor Orban is also criticized for not fully participating in the sanctions. Therefore, I see the strongest options behind the assassination as personal hostility and acting with the aim of reorganizing Slovakian politics, he concluded. A contestant takes part in the 17th "Chinese Bridge" language proficiency competition in Prague, the Czech Republic, on May 17, 2024. Czech national qualifications for the 17th "Chinese Bridge," the Chinese language proficiency competition for foreign secondary school students, were held here on Friday. (Xinhua/Deng Yaomin) PRAGUE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Czech national qualifications for the 17th "Chinese Bridge," the Chinese language proficiency competition for foreign secondary school students, were held here on Friday. Hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic, the competition consists of a themed speech, a talent show and a quiz. Contestants shared their experiences of learning Chinese and their stories about China, demonstrating their passion for the Chinese language and culture through the contest. Alex Ruzicka from the American Academy in Prague won the competition and will represent the Czech Republic in the "Chinese Bridge" global finals. Meanwhile, a Chinese show for primary school students was also held, and ten-year-old Wilhelmina Pachinger won the top award. Addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Feng Biao said, "Chinese Bridge" serves not only as a bridge for language but also for culture and friendship, connecting hearts and minds. "As this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, we would like to take this opportunity to advance exchanges and cooperation in various fields with the Czech side based on mutual respect, equal treatment and mutual benefit, deepen the friendship between the two peoples and contribute to the sound and steady development of China-Czech relations," he said. Feng hoped the students would use the Chinese language to become envoys promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and the Czech Republic. As the event organizer, Dai Bo, head of the Chinese International School of Prague, said the "Chinese Bridge" competition is like the Olympics for Chinese language learners. "We hope to see more Czech primary and secondary school students take this platform to showcase their achievements and share their joy in learning Chinese," he said. BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) To understand a person, their workspace can be a good starting point, with the carefully curated decorations often providing a glimpse into cherished memories. As President Xi Jinping appeared on television with his new-year message for 2024, a subtle yet significant addition was noticed in the backdrop of his office a photograph capturing his thoughtful observation of artifacts at the Sanxingdui Museum elegantly displayed on the shelves behind him. Xi paid a visit to the museum in July 2023. Located in southwest China's Sichuan Province, it houses a mesmerizing array of artifacts from the Sanxingdui Ruins, a relics site dating back to 4,500 years to 3,000 years ago. The Sanxingdui Museum is one of a variety of museums he has visited in recent years, with others including the ruins of the capital of the late Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.) in Henan, an opera museum in Guangdong, and an aviation museum in Beijing. Traveling abroad, he also took time to visit museums if possible, including the Acropolis Museum in Athens during a state visit to Greece in 2019. "I've loved visiting museums since I was a child, and I had been to almost all the museums in Beijing back then," Xi revealed his passion for museums in a conversation with Song Yan, deputy curator of the Nanjing Museum Administration. Xi grew up in Beijing, a city that has served as the capital for more than 800 years. His memories of biking to school alongside the aged city wall remain vivid to this day, as he told Song. During his nascent political career in Zhengding County in the early 1980s, Xi said that "a person who loves the vast expanse of China will surely cherish each of her streams, every inch of her land, and every page of her glorious history." In those years, Xi undertook efforts to repair a Buddhist temple, preserve ancient tablet inscriptions, and propose artifact surveys and protection. For him, cultural relics are carriers of civilizations; they help pass on history and culture and sustain the spirit of a nation. His appreciation of relics and heritage persisted through his later years working in different parts of China. In Fujian, he allocated a significant amount of funds for renovating a historic mansion on the island of Gulangyu, known for its musical legacy. The decision helped build the world's largest organ museum there. In Zhejiang, a new museum dedicated to celadon wares would have been impossible without his support. "Museums bridge the past, present, and future," Xi said. They also provide knowledge and inspiration for state governance, as he once told his Party leadership colleagues that many issues encountered in governing a country and society can find their parallels in history, and many events from history can also serve as a mirror for today. It was, in fact, at a museum where Xi introduced the idea of the Chinese Dream. In November 2012, shortly after he was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi led the Party leadership team to the National Museum of China. There, Xi reflected on the nation's hardships, unwavering struggles, and challenging explorations since the 19th century. With a comprehensive understanding of history and a strong sense of mission, Xi put forward the Chinese Dream a clarion call for national rejuvenation, and ushered in a new era for the country. (Source: Xinhua) The exterior of the Kentucky Capitol is viewed April 7, 2021, in Frankfort, Ky. New project aims to tackle mobile not-spots and boost 4G and broadband coverage This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 18th, 2024 Tackling mobile coverage not spots for businesses is to be prioritised in the latest Growth Deal outline business case (OBC) to get approval from the North Wales Economic Ambition Board. The 4G+ project aims to address connectivity challenges in North Wales to strengthen the areas capability to develop future technologies and attract investment. While industry investment in 4G and more recently 5G has grown in recent years, there remain significant gaps in coverage and network capacity to meet the demands of communities. Locally there are regular complaints about not spots, with the likes of Plas Coch Retail Park, parts of the city centre and rural villages unable to get reliable mobile coverage. Issues with connectivity are seen as a barrier to growth and can impact local businesses and deter residents from using certain areas. The 4G+ project (Connected Key Sites and Corridors) aims to address this, by improving the quality of mobile connectivity at key commercial sites and transport networks. Alongside improving mobile networks coverage, the project also aims to support the migration to 5G, deliver jobs and attract investment. Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham County Borough Council is Lead Member for Digital Connectivity on the North Wales Ambition Board. Welcoming the approval of the OBC for this project he said: The impact of mobile connectivity on the economy is well established and shouldnt be underestimated. Our city and town centres, business parks and communities all need good mobile connectivity, and that demand will continue to grow, as it is across the rest of the country. Approval of this penultimate stage before delivery is an important milestone. As well as supporting national and regional economic strategies, improving mobile connectivity and capacity has to be part of our efforts to increase local GVA and create jobs. The 4G+ (Connected Key Sites and Corridors) project forms part of the North Wales Growth Deals Digital Programme, which aims to improve the availability of mobile voice and data services as well as full fibre broadband to key commercial sites. It is supported by the Full Fibre project, which aims bring competitive fibre connectivity to key sites, alongside investment by industry and UK government. Business cases are developed for each project within the Growth Deal and each OBC covers the project planning phase and identifies options which deliver public value following detailed appraisals. The decision means the project can now move to develop a full business case the final phase in the process to secure Growth Deal funding before delivery. North Wales MS calls for improved mental health support for parents This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 18th, 2024 A North Wales MS has called for better mental health support to be made available for parents. Llyr Gruffydd, who represents the region in the Senedd, heard how women who suffer from a maternal mental health disorder, such as postpartum depression, arent getting the support they need. Mr Gruffydd attended an event at the Senedd that was hosted by Mothers Matter, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing pre and postnatal mental health support services to women, men and their families. The Plaid Cymru politician heard that up to 1 in 5 women will suffer from a maternal mental health disorder, such as postpartum depression, with less than 15% of them receiving treatment. In addition to that, he was told that 1 in 7 women will experience depression during pregnancy. Income levels is also a key factor, with up to 50% of women living in poverty suffering from a maternal mental health disorder. Mothers Matter offers a range of services, including one-2-one support and holistic well-being for women and men throughout pre-conception, pregnancy and in the postnatal period. The organisation is based in Rhondda Cynon Taf and it is hoping to expand its services right across Wales. Llyr Gruffydd said: I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with Katy Thomas about the work of her team at Mothers Matter. They are playing an important role in helping mothers get the mental health support they need, and I would welcome the service being expanded to North Wales. Its crucial for mothers to get the support they need, not only for themselves, but for the good of their families. By taking care of them we are also taking care of future generations. There is still a big job to do to ensure that mental health is given equal treatment to physical health. The statistic shows that there is a significant gap between the demand for mental health support and the level of provision that exists. Pictured: Katy Thomas, founder of Mothers Matter, with Llyr Gruffydd MS BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The archaeological excavation at the Wuwangdun tomb in east China's Anhui Province has yielded major findings, unearthing over 3,000 cultural relics, according to China's cultural heritage administration. Earlier this year, the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) confirmed the Wuwangdun tomb as the largest and highest-level tomb of the ancient Chu state, which existed more than 2,200 years ago during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC). According to the administration, the excavation of four side chambers to the north and west of the central burial chamber has been completed, while work on two additional chambers to the south and east is currently underway. Relics recovered from the northern chambers mostly consisted of ancient musical instruments, while containers, bronzeware, lacquered wooden objects and other relics were unearthed in the other chambers. Work of North Wales Police under spotlight at recent review This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 18th, 2024 The work of North Wales Police has come under the spotlight as part of a recent review by the regions police and crime commissioner. At the quarterly Strategic Executive Board, which took place on 8 May, the PCC and his team met with the Chief Officers of North Wales Police to review overall Force performance, including against the priorities in the PCCs Police and Crime Plan. At the most recent meeting, chaired by recently re-elected PCC Andy Dunbobbin, the Chief Constable provided an update on North Wales Police performance from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The survey reflects how the public see policing for their area, with the meeting told that and North Wales was ranked in first place in England and Wales in three separate categories treating people fairly; treating people with respect; and understanding local concerns. The board was also told that for the year 2023/24 North Wales Police increased the positive outcome rate for all crimes by three per cent. The commissioner then examined in depth force performance on Organised Immigration Crime and Modern Slavery. The areas looked at included: The governance and leadership arrangements including accountability and oversight. How North Wales Police tackle such crimes in operations with partner agencies such as the North-West Regional Organised Crime Unit. How investigations are resourced and progressed. How intelligence is gathered and used. How officers and staff are trained to identify these crimes. The second area scrutinised was the work of the Contact Centre also known as the Force Control Room, where calls to the Force and other emergency services come in. At the Board, the Commissioner and his team shared with the Chief Constable a dip sampling exercise; that staff from the Commissioners Office had undertaken. This was a large piece of work that looked at specific matters including: How calls are handled once answered. Dispatch of incidents. Incident recording to make sure proper resources are used. The Crime Data Integrity Unit in line with national requirements. Work of the Managed Response Unit (MRU) to reduce demand on frontline resources. Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Andy Dunbobbin said: The Strategic Executive Board enables me to examine how the Chief Constable is performing in critical areas, particularly those in my Police and Crime Plan. Organised Immigration Crime and Modern Slavery is classed as serious and organised crime and I apply particular scrutiny to both issues. My staff and I heard how the Force is concentrating on making North Wales a hostile environment for criminals by increasing intelligence gathering, collaborating with partner agencies and ensuring officers and staff have the correct training to spot the signs of these heinous crimes. I was reassured that victims are being protected and criminals will be brought to justice. In respect of examining the North Wales Police Contact Centre, my team conducted a thorough dip sampling exercise to make sure that when the public phone in, email or use web chat to report crime or provide information, they are dealt with speedily and professionally. I was also incredibly pleased to hear the latest results from the Crime Survey for England and Wales and the excellent results delivered by the officers and staff from North Wales Police to our communities across North Wales. These are excellent results and demonstrates that the Forces visibility, engagement and positivity is being recognised by the public. As I have been re-elected as PCC to serve North Wales, I want to again reassure the public that I will continue to scrutinise the Force performance and work closely with the Chief Constable to support the ongoing work. Residents can learn more about the Strategic Executive Board and read minutes of past meetings on the OPCC website. Student encampments against Israel's genocide in Gaza have spread to 25 universities in Britain. WSWS reporters spoke to protesters at the Edinburgh University and at an encampment set up this week at Cardiff University. Salma, a Palestinian student studying law, said, I'm here because I recognize that the onslaught and the brutality that my brothers and sisters have been facing in Palestine demands collective action. It awakens the collective conscious to stand up against injustice I am ashamed of the way that this university that has taken so much in tuition fees, not just from myself but students at all different levels, whether it's undergrad, post-grad, masters, is using those to fund industries, so that they themselves enable the war by selling arms, by selling weaponry to the apartheid states in order to enact this brutality against my people. Some of the tents at Cardiff University encampment with banner reading "UK Weapons Kill" Asked her thoughts on the encampments in the US and globally, she replied, I found the student protests happening in the United States to be extremely inspiring. Whenever I saw these [social media] posts, not even just Muslims but members of the community from all different backgrounds, from all different ethnicities and all different lifestyles coming out, showing that truly what they did share was their humanity and their perspective on the need to stand up for the people and their suffering in Palestine, how they came together in such a collective and communal way through encampments. Salma opposed how the governments have been responding, the riot police for example, through these violent means and trying to break down their will and yet they still stand up and they still come back stronger than ever. We have seen this unfold in history before, for example, during the Vietnam War. Any time I have ever seen any collective student action and these calls for justice, I always thought to myself, I wish I could have the opportunity to participate in something like this. A chance to just cement my position on the right side of history and do what I can for my brothers and sisters in Palestine. So when I heard that Cardiff was hosting an encampment, immediately I thought I have to join in and do my part for the community. Dan, one of the camps organisers, said, I'm here, as everyone here is, to call for disclosure of the accounts of the university, as well as other universities within Cardiff, so that it's clear where our tuition fees are being spent. Were calling to the university to divest from war-mongering and Israeli-linked corporations. We're also calling for them to reinvest in Palestinian rebuilding, especially in terms of the complete lack of universities that Palestine now has. And we're also calling for them to support the safety of students and staff who are affected by the genocide in Palestine. Edinburgh The WSWS visited two encampments in Edinburgh, one at Edinburgh University, the other outside the Scottish parliament. Around 35 students are camping in the Old College Quad of Edinburgh University. A number are on a rolling hunger strike protesting the genocide and demanding the university divest particularly from major suppliers to the Israeli war machine. We spoke to Bianca and Orlando, media spokespeople for the University of Edinburgh Old College encampment. Bianca and Orlando at the Old College camp Orlando explained, This university has a long colonial legacy with regard to Palestine specifically. The longest serving chancellor of this university was Arthur Balfour, from 1891 to 1930. During that time, in 1917, he signed the Balfour Declaration, effectively giving away Palestinian lands of Zionist groups, giving away lands that were not his to give. For months we have been protesting the university's complicity, which not only covers its financial investments, but also its upholding of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism that inhibits any criticism of Israel due to its conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. There has been an increased police presence around all of the demonstrations in support of Palestine over the past seven months. 2,000 people signed a Justice for Palestine Society call for divestment. Two buildings were occupied, while a motion passed by the Student Association was supported by 97 percent of those voting. 600 staff signed an open letter to the administration. Bianca said that after months of pressure the university administration executive had finally agreed to having an agenda point on their meeting this week on divestment. Staff and students have demanded that the university sell its 2.8 million of direct investment in Google parent company Alphabet and 4.9 million held in Amazon for their secure cloud service provision to the Israeli government and military through Project Nimbus. Hundreds of Google workers have protested the project, with many sacked for taking a stand. The protestors are also targeting Edinburgh University's use of Blackrock, the US based financial behemoth, to manage a 50.2 million portfolio, some 783,000 of which is described as complicit in genocide. In all the university holds 709 million in direct and indirect endowment and investment assets. On the hunger strikers, Orlando commented, The university's complicity is something which has been re-inflicted in the most damaging ways to the student body time and time again. This hunger strike, I am not one of them so I can't speak on their behalf, has been a natural response to the situation. It serves as an extended form of solidarity with the people of Gaza, but if nothing else it should be telling of how the university has responded to students' demands. Bianca said ,Now the clock is ticking in a way it wasn't before. It is a form of escalation that forces action on behalf of the administration in ways that the administration has been reluctant to take up in the past. Several students are on hunger strike and several have undertaken hunger strikes before. Some are at home, taking only electrolytes and water. Bianca said, We have also had a very large influx of community support, both from staff at the university but also a large proportion of the broader Edinburgh city community of people donating food, blankets, stopping by for conversations, as well as demonstrations organised by civil society. Orlando noted, The university has neglected its Palestinian students and their wellbeing entirely, still refusing to make a comment on the genocide and refusing to reach out to Palestinian students and staff, noting that there are members of its community currently in Palestine. Shortly after October 7, Israeli students received contact from the University chaplaincy, to offer support. There has been nothing of the kind to Palestinians. There has been no recognition of a Palestinian presence on campus, nor any pro-Palestinian sentiment. In fact, the university has sought to demonise and infantilise any expression of a pro-Palestinian voice or demonstration. Bianca said, Increasingly as an individual I think the tide is changing. I think that can be seen in the global nature of the student movements and the broader movement for Palestinian resistance. I think the institutions that are backing the Israeli state ideologically and financially, like the University of Edinburgh, are coming under pressure to change that they have not come under before.' At the community encampment outside the Scottish parliament, protesters are demanding the Scottish government divest its holdings in Israel. Jay, a young woman living at the camp, said, I have always been anti-war, anti-weapons. My entire family have been. The idea that, in Edinburgh and Glenrothes, these are the ones I know, there are companies that are funded by our government. They are providing fighter jets that are now bombing Gaza, bombing hospitals, killing children and I believe that should be stopped. Jay at the camp adjacent to the Scottish parliament The Scottish government will probably not be interested in such a stance, but if they can see the general public are of the same opinion... In this encampment, we have had so many of the public come up and ask us. A lot of them are not aware how much the Scottish government are providing to weapons manufacturers. We are a community protest. We have campaigns at 149 universities protesting for universities to divest from weapons manufacturers. We are in solidarity with them, we are so proud of everything they have done. Barcelona University in Catalonia have divested now because of student protests. We have protests in Amsterdam, they took over the city centre, we have the protests outside the Eurovision arena to show that we are not standing for this. I can go on Tiktok or X and see so many people standing in solidarity with me. I just feel connected, even though I have never met them. We are all fighting for the same thing. Asked about the lack of any movement from any of the governments involved in the slaughter, and the lessons of the Iraq war, Jay commented, I was quite young during the Iraq war [in 2003]. I remember how parents of children were very upset because kids my age had been murdered and they couldn't fathom that. The idea that they can ignore the protests, that many people, and still fund a genocide, a war, they can send weapons to Iraq, they can send weapons to Israel, but they are not going over there to see the after-effects. Asked about the development of a global mass socialist anti-war movement, she said, I think that's what we need! We need the working class to stand up and open their eyes. We have had so many people the past week say We didn't even realise this was going on, because the media doesn't want you to know. The government doesn't want you to know because they know, when you learn, you are going to fight back. We need a global movement. We need everyone to wake up and see what is going on, and how can we fix this. On May 7, around 50 to 60 students and supporters set up a protest camp on the campus of Leipzig University in eastern Germany. They occupied the universitys main auditorium, the Audimax, formed sit-in blockades and set up tents and stands in the universitys courtyard. The Palestine Campus group explained that the impulse for the protest was the start of the Israeli armys murderous ground offensive against Rafah. The order to attack was given shortly after Israel rejected a ceasefire agreement. It heralds the presumably bloody climax of the genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. Police operation at the University of Leipzig [Photo by Palestine Campus / Instagram] Students demanded that the university management disclose and stop all its investments and relations with Israel. They are also demanding that the genocide in Palestine be condemned in writing and that the misleading definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) be replaced by the Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism (JDA). The IHRA definition has long been used to defame and suppress any criticism of Zionism and Israel as antisemitic, just as the German Bundestag did with its anti-BDS resolution, or the Berlin Senate with its recent ban on a pro-Palestine congress. At the same time, the students in Leipzig were demonstrating their solidarity with the student protests against the genocide in the US, Berlin and worldwide. The press spokesperson for Palestine Campus, Marius Schneider, criticised the fact that pro-Palestinian events were being banned, while Zionist meetings aimed at legitimising the genocide in Gaza were allowed to take place. As in Berlin, the university management reacted by immediately mobilising a police force to dismantle the occupation. According to the universitys spokesperson, Carsten Heckmann, it requested the police operation at around 3:30 p.m. on the same day. University Rector Eva Ines Obergfell explained: We will not tolerate the violent disruption of teaching and the seizure of university premises. There was imminent danger to the safety of students and teaching staff. The decision to dismantle was unavoidable. These are outright lies. The occupation of the lecture hall and the peaceful sit-in blockades never jeopardised anyones safety. The only threat to public safety came from the violent police action against the protests. A total of 150 officers from the Leipzig police, the Saxony state riot police and the federal police took part in the violent mobilisation against the protesters. In the early evening, the police reported the evacuation of the Audimax and the initiation of criminal proceedings for trespass. Fearful of further protests, the university administration has now obstructed teaching by suspending lectures in the Audimax for the rest of the week. The university received support from Saxonys Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow (Christian Democratic Union-CDU) and the deputy state chairman of the Saxony Free Democratic Party, Thomas Kunz, who called for the ex-matriculation of those involved. Juliane Nagel, the Leipzig candidate of the Left Party for the state parliamentary elections, Nils Neubert from the Juso (Young Socialists, affiliated to the SPD) university group and the spokesperson of the Conference of Saxon Student Bodies (KSS) Paul Steinbrecher also supported the action against the students. The KSS statement explicitly stated: Conditions like those prevailing at Berlin universities must be prevented. At the forefront of the smear campaign against the protesting students are so-called anti-German groups, which are strongly represented in Leipzig and organised a counter-protest with Israel flags under the protection of the Saxony police, blocking the entrance to the lecture hall building. These groups have spread slanderous claims alleging antisemitism, violence by protesters and antisemitic access controls on campus. In this respect the groups resemble far-right groups in the US who spread similar lying propaganda to legitimise attacks on protests against the brutal actions of the Israeli army. The anti-German groups have long been notorious for attacking left-wing meetings and organisations, especially in Leipzig. In 2012, for example, they tried to break up a meeting of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in defence of Gunter Grass. They besieged the door to the meeting, attacked organisers, banged on the door and walls and threatened violence, demanding, Hasnt someone brought an ice pick? At that time the far-right thugs could already count on the backing of the university and the student union (Stura). Amongst those active among the anti-Germans in 2012 were Marcel Wodniock and Jakob Heuschmidt, who now works as a lecturer at the university. Now Paul Steinbrecher and Felix Fink, acting in the guise of students, are implementing censorship. Steinbrecher is active for the pseudo-left list Solidarity. Critical. Active. In addition to his work as a spokesman for a caretaker company, he is also a university policy officer, while Fink works as a full-time secretary for the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). The Stura members, who are closely networked with the trade union bureaucracy and the established political parties, had already submitted a motion entitled No cooperation with supporters of terrorism to the Stura at the end of October 2023. The Leipzig branch of the youth organisation of the German-Israeli Association (DIG) also supported the motion. The chairman of the DIG, Volker Beck (Greens), is one of the most aggressive agitators against pro-Palestinian protests and calls for harsher state repression on an almost daily basis. The motion demanded that no fewer than 13 organisations on campus be censored and, in particular, that no financial support for printed material be allowed or that the organisations use of university premises be banned. Among the organisations mentioned in the motion were Handala Leipzig, Jewish Israeli Dissent, Young Struggle, the SDS (student association of the Left Party) and the womens group Zora, which had already been attacked by the state last December. The SDS and other organisations responded to this attack with their own motion Statement on the war in Israel and Palestine, which was finally adopted. It condemned violence on the part of both sides without taking a clear stance against the Israeli genocide. Instead of confronting the Jusos and other organisations and clearly condemning their right-wing, pro-Israeli policies, the motion built bridges to them. In the StuPa of Humboldt University Berlin, a similar discussion took a completely different course, thanks to the intervention by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) university group. Several IYSSE speakers in Berlin sharply attacked the Jusos and exposed their role as a pro-war organisation. One speaker made it clear that it was not the opponents of the massacre in Gaza who stood in the tradition of antisemitism but rather the supporters of the Juso motion. The same applies to the right-wing attack on students in Leipzig. As far as the Left Party and its youth organisation are concerned, they do not represent an opposition to the governing parties but rather play the role of their henchmen. In the Bundestag, the Left Party has united with all other parties, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), in supporting solidarity with Israel. At the state level, the Left Party is fueling the illusion that it is possible to fight fascism in alliance with the governing coalition and the CDU. The political record of the Left Party is also clear in Leipzig and on campus. When the Stura at Leipzig University attacked and censored the IYSSE in 2019 with similarly outrageous accusations of antisemitism, the student organisation of the Left Party, the third-largest party in the state parliament, stayed deafeningly silent. While the IYSSE was denied rooms for meetings at the university, meetings were held on campus with the far-right Pegida apologist Werner Patzelt and AfD supporter Thomas Maul, who writes for both the anti-German magazine Bahamas and the far-right Axis of Good. This silence has continued up until the present. Two years ago, on April 1, 2022, the Stura passed a motion with the Orwellian title Freedom of opinion and free speech. The motion explicitly censored organisations that allegedly did not follow this principle for ideological reasons (such as an anti-imperialist world view). The motion states: The StuRa therefore decides to exclude from any ideological and financial opportunities the following groups: Sozialistische Organisation Solidaritat (SOL), Kommunistische Organisation (KO, Solidarischer Studententreff, Arbeitersport, Zweieck), Rote Wende / Roter Aufbau, International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), Revolution und Kommunistischer Aufbau (KA, KJ, KF) as well as groups or organisers who cooperate with the aforementioned. The IYSSE supports the international protests against the genocide in Gaza and fights to build a mass socialist movement among the working class and youth against war and its root cause, the capitalist system. French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of emergency in the Pacific colony of New Caledonia on Wednesday after three young indigenous Kanaks and a police officer were killed in riots that began on Monday. A second police officer was reported dead on Friday. More than 200 people have been arrested and more than 300 injured in the capital Noumea and surrounding areas. French gendarmes patrol Noumea, New Caledonia, May 16, 2024, following protests over voting reforms. The Macron government has imposed a state of emergency that will continue for at least 12 days [AP Photo/Cedric Jacquot] The rioting erupted as the French National Assembly pushed through a constitutional amendment to allow French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years since 1998 the right to vote in provincial elections and for the local Congress, or parliament. Pro-independence leaders claim that unlocking the electoral system will dilute the vote held by Kanaks, who make up 41 percent of the population, in favour of those more likely to uphold Frances colonial rule over the South Pacific territory. The riots followed weeks of unrest and rising tensions with demonstrations involving tens of thousands both for and against the measure. On April 13 as many as 58,000 pro-independence and 35,000 pro-France marchers took part in competing protests in Noumea, under heavy security surveillance with police reinforcements from France. Over two days and nights rioters torched vehicles and businesses and looted stores. Schools were shut and a curfew put in place in the capital. On Tuesday security forces regained control of Noumeas prison, which holds about 50 inmates, after an uprising and escape attempt by prisoners. Radio NZ (RNZ) reported Thursday night that Frances high commissioner Louis Le Franc claimed that despite the emergency crackdown some 3,000-4,000 rioters were still in action on the capitals streets and another 5,000 in the Greater Noumea area. Shops are now running out of food and hospitals are calling for blood donations. A second police officer died on Thursday, victim of a reported friendly fire incident. According to RNZ, thousands of guns are circulating in the local community in defiance of bans. Earlier Le Monde reported that Le Franc said the situation was insurrectional, and could take on a form of civil war. A prominent New Caledonia anti-independence figure, former minister Sonia Backes, similarly declared there was a civil war and called for the army to intervene. Frances security measures are however in line with repressive police-state assaults by the Macron government on workers and students in mainland France. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declared that the 12-day state of emergency will allow us to roll out massive means to restore order. It gives authorities extensive powers to ban gatherings, impose travel bans, house arrests and searches. Le Monde also reports that anti-independence New Caledonian residents have formed armed militias and that unverifiable rumours backed up by photos of pick-up trucks with smoked windows, speak of punitive expeditions in which young Kanaks are supposedly [being] hunted down. A verified video broadcast showed a white man deliberately shooting at two young Kanak men walking along the road in the Magenta district. By Friday 1,000 extra security personnel had been dispatched from Europetaking the number of police and gendarmes on the island from 1,700 to 2,700. Troops are securing ports and the international airport. The local government has banned TikTok claiming it had previously helped rioters organise and attract troublemakers to the streets. Ten people, alleged members of a pro-independence group known as The Field Action Coordination Unit, are under house arrest. Overseas Territories Minister Gerald Darmanin denounced the group as radical and violent leaders, committed to looting, murder and violence. He told AFP: The (French) state will regain total control. The last time Paris took similar measures was in January 1985, during violent conflicts between authorities and the pro-independence movement that spanned most of the 1980s. In 1986, French elite troops brutally put down an insurrection on the island of Ouvea, massacring 19 Kanaks. The current restricted voting law is a product of the 1998 Noumea Accord, brokered by the then Socialist Party government in Paris as a compromise between the pro-independence and anti-independence factions to maintain French control over its strategically important colony. While setting out a long-term process for a series of three independence referenda, the agreements gave limited influence to a privileged Kanak layer, led by the Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS). Seeking a larger slice of the economic pie and greater political say, the indigenous elite is now part of the establishment with a vested interest in maintaining the existing voting arrangements. The Macron government is determined to impose the voting change as it tightens Paris grip on the colony. As the United States and its allies prepare for war against China, French imperialism is seeking to play a role in the militarisation of the Pacific. New Caledonia hosts a major military base and holds nearly a quarter of the worlds reserves of nickel, essential in the manufacture of stainless steel and in the defence industry. Visiting Noumea last July, Macron bluntly told those in favour of separatism they should accept the pro-France victory in the final independence referendum in 2021, which was boycotted by pro-independence parties during the COVID pandemic. On Tuesday, Frances lower house voted 351 in favour and 153 against the constitutional change, which still requires a two-thirds majority of both houses to pass. Macron said he would delay the process and invite representatives of the territorys parties for talks to reach a negotiated settlement. However, he insisted that agreement be reached by next month or he would sign it into law. New Caledonias parties have issued a joint statement calling for calm and reason. On Wednesday, pro-independence leader Daniel Goa called on people to go home and condemned looting. But he added: The unrest of the last 24 hours reveals the determination of our young people to no longer let France take control of them. Protest in Noumea, New Caledonia, April 2024 [Photo: CCAT] The explosive tensions that have erupted in the riots are in fact more deeply rooted than unresolved frustrations over independence. The crisis comes at a time of escalating economic turmoil and social discontent. Unemployment registered 10.8 percent in 2023, but among youth is 26 percent, mainly affecting young Kanaks. An economic crisis looms as the countrys nickel mining and smelting industry, which until recently employed a quarter of the total workforce, is in sharp decline. Amid plummeting world prices, it faces competition from Indonesia and China that are producing much cheaper nickel. Last month the giant Koniambo plant was idled as its major financier Glencore seeks a potential buyer for its 49 percent shareholding. The local government led by President Louis Mapoua pro-independence Kanak politician from the National Union for Independence, part of FLNKS which shares office with two anti-independence parties, is at loggerheads over measures to impose the growing cost of living crisis. Differences over tax policies, especially on fuel, have seen protests and blockages resulting in fuel depots becoming inaccessible and service stations facing fuel shortages. The unrest in New Caledonia has implications for the entire region, which is sitting on a social tinderbox. January saw a wave of riots in Papua New Guinea amid escalating living costs and social discontent wracking the Pacifics largest country and one of the worlds most impoverished. Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai sharply criticised Macron, saying the crisis could have been avoided if the French government had listened, and not proceeded to bulldoze the Constitutional Bill. He affirmed the support of the regional Melanesian Spearhead Group, which he chairs, for the FLNKS position opposing the bill. The local imperialist powers, Australia and New Zealand, are backing France, which is an important ally in the US-led war preparations against China. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, cancelling the New Caledonia leg of his latest Pacific tour, said the escalating situation and violent protests in Noumea were of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was monitoring the situation and warned Australians to stay safe. He airily declared: Australia values very much our relationship with both New Caledonia and the French state. In fact, last year the Albanese government supported France by abstaining on a number of United Nations decolonisation resolutions. According to the DevPolicyBlog, in October Australias UN representative objected to a call on administering powers to terminate military activities and eliminate military bases. Australia believed, she said, in the sovereign rights of nations to defend the Territories they administer. About 2,500 resident doctors in New Zealand participated in a two-day strike on May 1617, following a 25-hour strike on May 7, which was their first nationwide strike in five years. A third two-day strike has been called for May 3031. Striking doctors protest in Wellington, New Zealand, May 16, 2024 More than half the junior doctors working in the public hospital system, members of the Resident Doctors Association (NZRDA), were involved. A rival junior doctors union, Specialty Trainees of New Zealand (STONZ), with 2,000 members, did not join the strike. Since the last strike, the government agency Health NZ Te Whatu Ora has been in talks with the NZRDA, mediated by the Employment Relations Authority, without any resolution. The strikes were endorsed by 97 percent of NZRDA members, who rejected an offer that would have cut pay for about 300 doctorsincluding a $12,000 cut for trainee general practitionerswith modest pay increases for other doctors. The National Party-led coalition government is carrying out a drastic austerity program, supported in all essentials by the opposition Labour Party. As it prepares to release a budget at the end of the month, the government claims there is no money to fix the crisis-ridden healthcare system, while it diverts billions of dollars to expand the police, prisons and military. Health NZ has already ordered hospitals to make budget cuts by cracking down on working conditions, including reduced cover for sick staff and restrictions on hiring. This is despite thousands of unfilled vacancies across the hospital system, including 500 junior doctor vacancies and 600 senior doctor vacancies across the country. Paediatric registrar Dr James Anderson, the NZRDAs president, told the WSWS that Health NZs latest offer was a slight improvement but not sufficient to address the problems that were going to have in the future with those workforces. The union and Health NZ have not released any details of the ongoing negotiations. A delegate for the Wellington region, Dr Kerry Appleton, told the WSWS the workforce crisis was the major issue in the dispute. We are constantly losing people out of the workforce to places like Australia, or leaving medicine, which is really concerning. Having a sustainable workforce in New Zealand required fair pay for every doctor and guaranteed positions for doctors who finish their training. A major issue was long working hours, with doctors working an average of 55 to 60 hours a week, leading to burnout. Appleton said because of the staff shortage, doctors found it incredibly difficult to access their annual leave, despite it being written into their contract. Speaking about conditions in hospitals, she said: The emergency departments are always busy, and theyre getting busier. Its for a variety of reasons, including people not being able to access primary care. This meant people were coming to hospital later than they should, or presenting with conditions that could be treated by a GP. A government health survey released in December last year found one in five adults were struggling to get an appointment with a GP due to long wait times. One in eight people reported not seeing a GP because they couldnt afford the fees. Lydia, a doctor at Hutt Hospital, told the WSWS she had just finished working 10 days without a break, including shifts on Saturday and Sunday that lasted from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., i.e. nearly 15 hours each day. This was standard, she said. I got home last night and I couldnt remember if Id eaten dinner, and I couldnt remember if Id had a shower. And I was thinking: how on earth am I making clinical decisions about life or death? Its very dangerous. Were horrifically understaffed and we cant cut down on the hours because we literally dont have people to fill them, because people dont want to. She said she loved her job, but could understand why doctors would leave. She had seen heaps of her colleagues leave the job in recent years, with many going to Australia. Often there would be only temporary replacements by doctors from Britain, and the workforce gaps were not filled long-term. Successive governments have starved hospitals of the resources and staff needed to keep up with population growth and increased levels of illness. The last Labour governments decision in late 2021 to end the COVID-19 elimination strategy and the subsequent removal of public health measures has led to more than 4,000 deaths and 39,500 hospitalisations, placing immense pressure on the system. Striking doctors in Wellington, New Zealand, on May 16, 2024 Under Labour, repeated strikes by nurses, doctors, midwives, laboratory workers and allied health workers were kept isolated and limited to one or two days by the union bureaucracy. The unions pushed through deals that failed to address the staffing crisis, unsafe working hours, and low pay. There has been no effort to unite the struggles of healthcare workers, teachers, university staff and other public and private sector workersall of whom are affected by soaring costs for housing, food, transport, and chronic under-resourcing. Anger among workers is building up. On May 9, hundreds of members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) protested across the country to highlight the shortage of 4,000 nurses and to demand safe nurse-to-patient ratios. Official figures show 26 percent of nursing shifts were below target staffing numbers last year. Understaffing was worst in neonatal units, childrens wards and cancer wards. Speaking to TVNZ, NZNO leader Kerri Nuku issued a plea to the government to invest in wellbeing, invest in the system, to bring about better outcomes. Such statements are meant to deceive workers. The unions know full well that the upcoming budget, likely to contain some of the most savage cuts in recent memory, will exacerbate the crisis across all public services. The union bureaucracies will be tasked with diffusing anger with isolated strikes and protests and persuading workers that nothing more can be done. A real movement against austerity requires the unification of workers across all sectors and industries, in a rebellion against the pro-capitalist union apparatus. The situation calls for new organisations: rank-and-file committees in hospitals, schools and other workplaces, independent of the unions and the established political parties. The demand for a high-quality healthcare system must be taken forward as part of the political struggle for the socialist reorganisation of society. The mostly untaxed wealth being hoarded by the billionaires, and the public money squandered on preparing the armed forces for war, must be redistributed to meet urgent human needs: including to rebuild and expand public hospitals and train thousands more doctors, nurses and other staff on high wages. US Army soldiers conduct operations in Europe as part of NATO's Steadfast Defender 24, at Drawsko Combat Training Center, Poland, May 11, 2024. [Photo: Army Reserve Sgt. Tamie Norris ] On Friday, the New York Times reported that over the last several weeks and in recent days, high-level Ukrainian government officials have been pressing the Biden administration to provide sensitive intelligence information that would allow the far-right regime to launch military strikes deep within Russian territory. While the US already provides Ukraine with some intelligence on the positions of Russian forces on the border, the Times reported that Ukrainians are pushing the Biden administration for more real-time intelligence so that drones and guided missile strikes could more easily evade Russian air defenses. This is the second report in as many days from the Times, a conduit of the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, that provide a glimpse into the well-advanced NATO plans for escalating the war against Russian in Ukraine. On Thursday, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown told the paper that the NATO alliance would eventually send combat troops to Ukraine, describing it as inevitable. In the report Friday, the Times again cited comments from General Brown which he gave to reporters while on a flight to a NATO summit in Brussels. Brown told the paper that the Ukrainian government had been asking us for help to be able to strike into Russia, but that the request was broad and not specific to a weapons system. The paper noted that while similar requests had been turned down in the past, as Ukrainian positions continue to wither in the face of unrelenting Russian artillery and glide bomb strikes, Biden administration officials have begun to review the Ukrainians request for the high-level intelligence access. The US government is leading the war drive, and what the Times frames as requests from Ukraine are really decisions made by the NATO powers. Last month, members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties overwhelmingly voted in favor of a $95 billion military supplemental package. The war bill included over $60 billion for Ukraine and another $17 billion for Israel to continue its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians. In response to the Biden administrations plans to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine and escalate the war, Socialist Equality Party candidate for US president Joseph Kishore released a statement on X denouncing the plans of the Biden administration, writing that it would be a massive escalation that enormously increases the danger of nuclear war. Russian officials have already stated that they would respond to such a deployment by targeting NATO troops and military facilities within Ukraine and abroad, Kishore wrote, adding, This would mean full-scale war between NATO and Russia. There is a high probability that such a war would lead to a nuclear exchange. The entire official narrative surrounding the war in Ukraine is a pack of lies, Kishore stated. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovokedit was instigated by the imperialist powers through the relentless military encirclement of Russia. It is not about defending freedom and democracy in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government, rife with fascists, rules through martial law and is criminalizing all left-wing opposition to the war. This includes the arrest of Bogdan Syrotiuk, a Ukrainian Trotskyist who opposes both the Ukrainian and Russian regimes on the basis of socialist internationalism. Kishore observed that everything the Biden administration claimed they would not do, because of the risk of all out war, they have subsequently done, from the targeting of Russian soil, to the transfer of long-range weapons and now the deployment of NATO troops... The same capitalist governments who claimed to be defending democracy in Ukraine have armed, financed and politically justified Israels genocide in Gaza. These are criminal regimes that will stop at nothing in the pursuit of the interests of the corporate and financial oligarchy. This reporter reached out to Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) and Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) as well as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to inquire if they supported sending NATO troops to Ukraine to fight Russia. As of this writing none of the politicians have responded. All had previously voted to fund the war against Russia. Attempts by this reporter to solicit comments from the campaigns of Jill Stein (Green Party) and Cornel West (Independent) on the pending deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine have also gone unanswered as of this writing. On her X account this year, Jill Stein last tweeted about the war in Ukraine on April 4, writing that Biden seems determined to start WWIII and get us all killed before we can vote him out. It does not appear that West has issued a written statement on the war in Ukraine on his X account in 2024. Following the death of far-right Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny in February this year, West tweeted, My prayers are with the precious family of the courageous Russian political prisoner the late Alexei Navalny... In an indication of intensifying conflicts within the Ukrainian ruling class, oligarch and billionaire Igor Kolomoisky has been charged in a decades-old attempted murder case as the crisis-ridden Zelensky regime abandons its former associate and financial backer amidst ongoing military setbacks. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. [AP Photo/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office] Last week, Ukraines Prosecutor Generals Office reported that a well-known businessman suspected of legalizing property obtained fraudulently, was notified of the suspicion of having committed another crime related to the organization of a contract killing. According to the allegations, in 2003, Kolomoisky ordered the killing of a corporate lawyer who had refused Kolomoiskys attempts to overturn an unfavorable shareholders decision as Kolomoisky attempted to take control of the Dniprospetsstal steel plant in Zaporizhzhia. Criminal thugs later tracked the lawyer down in the Crimean city of Feodosia and beat the man with a metal rod and stabbed him in the chest, stomach and back, but his wife prevented the attackers from killing him and doctors managed to save his life, according to Ukrainian authorities. Kolomoisky had already been in jail since last September, when he was arrested on charges of fraud and alleged money laundering from Ukraines largest bank, PrivatBank. Prior to his downfall, Kolomoisky served as a close financial backer and associate of Ukrainian president and former comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, even prior to his presidential run in 2019. In 2014, he was an important supporter within the Ukrainian oligarchy of a Western-backed coup that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych and replaced him with an anti-Russian regime that quickly moved to incorporate the country into NATO. As the WSWS noted at the time, in return, Kolomoisky was named head of Dnepropetrovsk Regional Administration. The region was central to the former Soviet Unions military (including nuclear and space) sectors. Kolomoyskyi, a metals, banking and media tycoon, is variously rated as the second or third richest person in Ukraine, with his net value estimated at up to $6.5 billion. Co-founder of the PrivatBank, he has extensive interests in aviation, media, finance, oil, metal, petroleum and ferroalloys. However, Kolomoisky later came into conflict with the US-aligned regime of President Petro Poroshenko, who nationalized PrivatBank after Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov, the co-owner of the bank, were accused of embezzling $5.5 billion. In the 2019 presidential elections, Kolomoisky served as the most powerful backer of Zelenskys rise and it was widely expected that PrivatBank would be eventually returned to Kolomoisky. While Poroshenko was the favored candidate of the United States, his political support had crumbled throughout the country due to his militaristic, nationalist policies and the ongoing impoverishment of the Ukrainian economy. Zelensky easily defeated Poroshenko, winning over 73 percent of the vote. Central to his election victory was that the Russian-speaking Zelensky campaigned at the time on a platform promising to end the civil war in Donbass that had claimed the lives of over 14,000, and criticized the far-right Ukrainian nationalism of the Poroshenko regime. For this, Zelensky was widely viewed with distrust and suspicion by the American ruling class following his landslide election. In addition to his suspect business practices and undermining of the Poroshenko regime, Kolomoisky made himself a target of Ukraines Western backers when he proposed, following Zelenskys election, that the country should snub the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and default on its massive external debt. In February 2020, under pressure from both the United States and the IMF, Zelensky began to cut ties with Kolomoisky when he replaced his then Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan with Andriy Yermak, who remains in the position to this day. Bohdan had served as a lawyer for Kolomoisky before becoming Zelenskys chief of staff. He later fell out of Zelenskys inner circle as Kolomoisky had repeatedly pressured the Zelensky government and Ukraines National Bank to return PrivatBank, drawing the ire of Western imperialism. That same month, Ukrainian intelligence raided the offices of the Kolomoisky-owned television station 1+1. The search came after recordings of then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk stating that Zelensky had a very primitive understanding of the economy were leaked on YouTube, reportedly by 1+1 Media Group staff linked to Kolomoisky. Last September, on the day of his first arrest for fraud, Zelenskys lone comment on the fate of his former political mentor was, I thank Ukrainian law enforcement officials for their resolve in bringing to a just outcome each and every one of the cases that have been hindered for decades. Whatever the motivations behind Kolomoiskys arrest for murder, it is clear that he has a long and interconnected history with both the Ukrainian oligarchy that rose to power following the mass privatization that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union as well as with Western imperialism itself. Claims that the Western-backed Zelensky regime and its intelligence services are just now becoming aware of Kolomoisky ordering a single hit 20 years ago have no credibility. As a businessman, Kolomoisky reportedly kept a shark tank in his office to intimidate visitors and, like all oligarchs throughout the former Soviet Union, likely killed more than just a few rivals while amassing their mega fortunes. His criminal conduct in no way distinguished Kolomoisky from any other oligarch in Ukraine or, for that matter, Russia. The oligarchy in both countries emerged as a new ruling class out of the Stalinist restoration of capitalism, itself a historic crime and giant exercise in social plunder. Kolomoiskys arrest indicates an intensification of the factional struggle within the Ukrainian ruling class in which the US and other imperialist powers have long directly intervened. It takes place just as Russian forces are advancing in the Kharkov region . As it is clear that the country is facing a military catastrophe, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has now openly announced that NATO will eventually deploy troops to Ukraine. More than ever before, Zelensky is now personally involved in the battlefield success of the war given that he only recently removed General Valery Zaluzhny as his commander-in-chief and replaced him with Oleksandr Syrsky, who holds the reputation as a butcher due to his proclivity to needlessly sacrifice his own troops in battle. Significantly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens surprise visit to Ukraine this week takes place a week following Kolomoiskys arrest for the attempted murder. In March 2021, Blinken announced the official public designation of Kolomoisky as an oligarch due to involvement in significant corruption. According to Blinkens declaration, This designation reaffirms the U.S. commitment to supporting political, economic, and justice sector reforms that are key to Ukraines Euro-Atlantic path. Accordingly, during his visit to Kiev this week Blinken agreed with the Zelensky regime that the lack of weapons is to blame for the military setbacks. Were rushing ammunition, armored vehicles, missiles, air defencesrushing them to get to the front lines to protect soldiers, to protect civilians, Blinken said at his press conference and announced an additional $2 billion more in aid. Blinken also voiced support for Zelensky to remain as president indefinitely, stating, Were working with the government and civil society groups to shore up Ukraines election infrastructure, Blinken said in a speech at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday. Blinken stated that elections would only be held once Ukraine had regained all of its lost territorywhich will likely never happenstating, That way, as soon as Ukrainians agree that conditions allow, all Ukrainiansall Ukrainians including those displaced by Russias aggressioncan exercise their right to vote. This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Xinhua/Lin Zhaohui) HAVANA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of Air China was received at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with the traditional water salute. Starting with two flights per week, it is hoped that the airline frequency will increase as passenger traffic between the two countries grows. There were no direct flights from China to Cuba until Air China resumed the Beijing-Madrid-Havana route, the only direct one between China and Cuba. The air links were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrives at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2024. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Xinhua/Lin Zhaohui) This photo taken on May 17, 2024 shows the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua) A passenger of the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China is pictured at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2024. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua) A passenger of the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China is pictured at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2024. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua) Passengers of the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China are pictured at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2024. Local authorities said that the first flight to resume air links between Cuba and China arrived in Havana on Friday, with a stopover in Spain, which will enhance connectivity and facilitate exchanges between the two countries. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua) On April 25, 2024, Bogdan Syrotiuk, the 25-year-old leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (the YGBL), a socialist-Trotskyist organization active in Ukraine, Russia and throughout the former USSR, was arrested by the notorious state security service of the fascistic Zelensky regime, the SBU. Bogdan is being held in atrocious conditions in a high security prison in the city of Nikolaev (Mykolaiv), which is located in southern Ukraine. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the world Trotskyist movement with which the YGBL is politically affiliated, has finally obtained the actual documents in which the SBU presents its charges against Bogdan Syrotiuk. These documents, which form the basis of his detention, make absolutely clear that Bogdan is the victim of a monstrous state frame-up. The allegations concocted by the SBU are a crude combination of lies, obvious fabrications, and political absurdities. Bogdan Syrotiuk, April 2023 Moreover, the documents submitted by the SBU are directed not only against Bogdan. They are nothing less than a declaration of war against all left-wing and socialist opposition to the Zelensky regime and, specifically, the International Committee of the Fourth International and its public organ, the World Socialist Web Site. The central allegation leveled against Bogdan Syrotiuk is that he is guilty of high treason. The basis of this charge is that Bogdan has been for the past two years engaged in the preparation of publications commissioned by representatives of a Russian propaganda and information agency, the World Socialist Web Site [emphasis added.] The World Socialist Web Site is denounced as an instrument of an active information war against Ukraine being waged by Russia, which uses the so-called left-wing propagandists and their information platforms (websites, media and social platforms) to discredit the support of Ukraine by international partners, justify Russias armed aggression against Ukraine, accusing Western countries of creating conditions under which Russia was forced to launch the so-called special military operation, fomenting wars in Ukraine by providing it with weapons, etc. As a result, they are used by Russia to systematically convey pro-Kremlin narratives to the population of Ukraine and Ukraines allied countries Since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the World Socialist Web Site WSWS has regularly published articles in various languages aimed at discrediting Ukraine and representatives of governments around the world for assisting Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor state. The ICFIs opposition to the US-NATO war in Ukraine is an essential element of its political program, deeply rooted in the socialist and internationalist principles of the Trotskyist movement. The attempt of the Ukrainian regime to portray this opposition as an instrument of Putins propaganda network is as viciously mendacious as it is politically absurd. The intransigent opposition of the International Committee of the Fourth International to the Putin regimewhich emerged as a consequence of the Stalinist bureaucracys final betrayal of socialism and the restoration of capitalism in the former USSRis a fundamental political fact that is substantiated not only in written texts numbering in the hundreds, but also in the exhaustively documented activity of the Trotskyist movement spanning decades. True to its fascist character, the Ukrainian regime is operating on the basis of the well-known precept of Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels: The bigger the lie, the more readily it will be believed. In this particular case, the Zelensky regime seems to believe that the scale of the SBU lies are of such a magnitude that they will simply overwhelm the thinking public. It thus expects that public opinion will accept that the Putin regime is directing the work of the WSWS, which the SBU indictment describes as an online publication of the world Trotskyist movement, the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated sections in the Socialist Equality Parties around the world, which covers the main socio-political problems around the world from the position of revolutionary opposition to the capitalist market system, with the aim of establishing world socialism through socialist revolution. At no point does the SBU attempt to explain the contradiction that wrecks its case against Bogdan, i.e., that the political principles that he upholds as a socialist and internationalist opponent of wars waged by the capitalist ruling class are irreconcilably hostile to the policies of the Putin regime, including its invasion of Ukraine. It attempts to evade the contradiction by simply lying. The indictment claims that Bogdans activities, acting on the instructions of a representative of the World Socialist Web Site, consisted of supporting and justifying the conduct of the Russian aggressive war on the territory of Ukraine Every word is a lie. The opposition of the ICFI, its affiliated organizations, and the WSWS to the Russian invasion, in line with its hostility to the Putin regime, is a political fact that is documented in hundreds of articles that have been posted since the first day of the invasion. People gather amid the destruction caused after shelling of a shopping center, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. [AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd] On February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian invasion, the ICFI posted a statement on the WSWS titled: Oppose the Putin governments invasion of Ukraine and US-NATO warmongering! For the unity of Russian and Ukrainian workers! It began: The International Committee of the Fourth International and the World Socialist Web Site denounce the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Despite the provocations and threats by the US and NATO powers, Russias invasion of Ukraine must be opposed by socialists and class-conscious workers. The catastrophe that was set in motion by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 cannot be averted on the basis of Russian nationalism, a thoroughly reactionary ideology that serves the interests of the capitalist ruling class represented by Vladimir Putin. What is required is not a return to the pre-1917 foreign policy of tsarism, but, rather, a revival, in Russia and throughout the world, of the socialist internationalism that inspired the October Revolution of 1917 and led to the creation of the Soviet Union as a workers state. The invasion of Ukraine, whatever the justifications given by the Putin regime, will serve only to divide the Russian and Ukrainian working class and, moreover, serve the interests of US and European imperialism. In the two major statements that he has made during the past week, Putin has justified his actions by enumerating the provocations and crimes of the United States. There is, no question, much that is factually true in his denunciation of Washingtons hypocrisy. But the viciously anti-communist and xenophobic ideology that he invokes and the interests that he claims to be defending are thoroughly reactionary and incapable of appealing to the broad mass of the working class in Russia, let alone in Ukraine and throughout the world. A substantial section of the working class in Russia and Ukraine will be repelled by the cynicism of Putins glorification of the heroic struggle waged by the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany in World War II while denouncing the October Revolution and the existence of the USSR as a multi-national state. The ICFI insisted that the socialist opposition to imperialism was incompatible with any form of national chauvinism, and, therefore, rejected all the justifications given by the Putin regime and its apologists for the invasion. Their invocation of national defense could not be accepted by socialists. The defeat of imperialism and its overthrow was possible only through the revolutionary struggle of the international working class. The ICFI statement cited the words of Trotsky: Not to bind itself to the national state in time of war, to follow not the war map but the map of the class struggle, is possible only for that party that has already declared irreconcilable war on the national state in time of peace. Bogdan Syrotiuk The ICFI called for an immediate end to the war, and explained: In opposing the invasion of Ukraine, we denounce the policies of US/NATO imperialism, whose claims to be defending democracy and human rights are blood-drenched with hypocrisy. This political declaration elaborated the principles and policy that have guided the work of the ICFI and WSWS since the war began. On February 26, 2022 the International Committee held an international webinar, in which its opposition to the war was emphatically advanced. Among the speakers, in addition to myself, were Nick Beams, a longtime leader of the International Committees Australian section, Johannes Stern, a leader of the ICFI in Germany, Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the ICFIs section in Britain, Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States, and Evan Blake, another leading member of the SEP (US). The ICFI has never wavered from the principled opposition to the policies of NATO and Russia that it advanced in the first days of the war. The relationship between the ICFI and the comrades of the YGBL coincided almost exactly with the outbreak of the war. They were attracted to the ICFI precisely because of its opposition to both the war and the national chauvinism of the Russian and Ukrainian regimes. The SBU indictment charges that the World Socialist Web Site assigned to Bogdan the task of preparing, writing, editing and publishing both on the WSWS website and other communist-oriented media, articles, publications, comments, etc. aimed at spreading pro-Russian narratives related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, to which [Bogdan Syrotiuk] gave his voluntary consent. In support of this claim, the SBU references a YGBL statement titled, For the organization of an international movement of workers and young people against war! It claims that this document, posted on the World Socialist Web Site on October 12, 2022, includes fragments, statements, sentences and phrases which contain justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, which began in 2014 The actual document clearly exposes this claim to be a lie. There is not a single sentence in the YGBL declaration that indicates support for the invasion of Ukraine. The SBU cites selectively from the document, including passages only from numbered paragraphs 4, 7, 8, 10 and 13. Paragraphs 4 through 8the SBU interrupts the continuity of the YGBLs analysis by leaving out paragraphs 5 and 6provide a concise Marxist explanation of the objective capitalist crisis and political aims that underlay the instigation of the war by the United States and its NATO allies. They state: 4. The new world order that the United States wants to establish looks like this very possible picture: Russia and China are to be subordinated to imperialism and divided, if that is necessary to maintain direct control over their natural, industrial-technological and human resources. 5. The European imperialist powers support the United States for their own place in the new redivision of the world. At the same time, European imperialism, while placed on rations by the United States, sees a way out of its economic and geopolitical predicament only in a redivision of the world in which it can regain its former greatness. 6. Japan, South Korea and Australia support the US only as much as it suits their interests in the struggle against China in the Pacific region. These countries will support the US as long as it allows them to compete with China. The process of dividing spheres of influence will revive the contradictions between the Pacific capitalist powers, which are as much in limbo as Europe. 7. The crisis of 2008 revived class struggles around the world. The Arab Spring of the early 2010s is vivid evidence of this revival. It forced US and European imperialism to take more decisive measures. In 2014, they supported a coup d'etat in Ukraine. Through this coup, the US was able to create all the conditions to build a bridgehead in a future war against Russia. 8. The Covid-19 pandemic that erupted in 2020 exacerbated the contradictions of capitalism and was the trigger for a more rapid expansion of US imperialism in preparation for war against Russia and China. The US embarked on a more provocative path of abandoning the one-China policy, and increasing its support for Ukraine, as expressed in the NATO summit in August 2021, which supported Zelenskys Crimean platform. Significantly, the SBU leaves out paragraph 9 of the YGBL declaration, which presents a scathing indictment of the Putin regime. That paragraph reads: The reactionary regime of Vladimir Putin emerged from the treacherous dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy and the restoration of capitalism. The policies of Putin, in the final analysis, are aimed at safeguarding the wealth of the post-Soviet oligarchy against the pressure of Western imperialism from above and, even more critically, against the movement of the Russian working class from below. The SBU does cite paragraph 10, which continues the critique of the Putin regime, stating: Within this geopolitical and social context, Putins adventurist invasion of Ukraine on February 24 was the Russian oligarchys response to NATOs relentless expansion to the east. The Putin regimes main objective was to achieve through the pressure of its Special Operation a new round of talks with the US-NATO, since the last round ended up crossing red lines on the part of the US-NATO, which caused Putins invasion [emphasis added]. The characterization of Putins invasion as adventurist is in no way compatible with what the SBU claims to be a pro-Russian narrative. Obviously recognizing the fragility of its attempt to portray the YGBL statement as pro-Putin propaganda, the SBU decided against further citations from the document, leaving out the YGBLs development of its denunciation of Putins policies in paragraphs 11 and 12, which assert: 11. The Russian bourgeoisies desire for an equal partnership with the West was one of the most utopian delusions. This delusion, historically derived from Stalins policy of Popular Fronts and then peaceful coexistence, developed among the fledgling class of Russian capitalists in the 1990s. 12. The Putin regime has not gotten rid of this utopian delusion. Its whole policy has been to maneuver and seek compromise with the West, with whom the Russian oligarchy wanted to be on equal footing. Except that Western imperialism, with its conquering ambitions for Russia, did not care about these conciliatory tones of Putins regime. The SBU also chose not to cite paragraph 17 of the YGBL statement, which declares: The course of the war after Putins invasion of Ukraine increasingly emphasizes the reactionary nature of this invasion. While claiming to be fighting for the independence of the Russian people from the threat of Western imperialism, Putin is in fact only defending the independence of the Russian oligarchy to exploit the Russian working class and the countrys raw material wealth. Paragraph 18, which is also left uncited, further demolishes the SBUs indictment of Bogdan, the YGBL and the WSWS as instruments of Russian propaganda. The paragraph asserts that the Putin regime has no way out of the current crisis for Russian society. It will not have such a way out in the future. All of the military and political activities of the Putin regime will only contribute to the escalation of Western imperialism and the deterioration of conditions for the Russian, Ukrainian and international working class. The SBU also failed to cite paragraphs 19 and 20, which presciently warned of the catastrophe to which the war could lead. 19. The prospects for the present war, when thought within the framework of the capitalist system, are very bleak. First, this war will take on a long-term character and will not only be fought between Ukraine and Russia. It is the first step in inflaming the world situation to the point that the threat of a third world war is simply inevitable. All countries of the world will take part in the future war. 20. Secondly, the nature of the war will be determined by the policies of the ruling classes, which now stand on a blatantly anti-human position. The ruling classes are recklessly moving toward the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, thereby creating the real possibility of a nuclear Armageddon. The specter of planetary destruction arises from the insane policies of imperialist and capitalist governments. The recklessness of the ruling capitalist elite compels young people to ask whether they will be allowed any future at all. The SBU specifically cites this document as proof of Bogdan Syrotiuks treasonable activity. But the text of this document conclusively refutes the charge that Bogdan and the YGBL are advancing a pro-Putin narrative. Moreover, and most decisive, the Ukrainian regime does not present a scintilla of evidence to substantiate its absurd and lying claim that the World Socialist Web Site is a Russian propaganda and information agency. With this filthy slander, the Zelensky regime betraysnotwithstanding the ongoing war with Russiathe lingering influence of Stalinisms rabid hatred of Trotskyism. As in Russia, the transfer of power in Ukraine from Stalinist bureaucrats to capitalist oligarchs has not required any change in the methodology of the political police. The same techniques of fabrication and slander, utilized by the Stalinist regime against Trotskyists in the era of the Moscow Trials and the terror of 1936-39, remain operative in Kiev. Bogdan Syrotiuk stands accused of treason and faces the threat of a life-long prison term that is the equivalent of a death sentence. But the allegations against Bogdan are based entirely on articles and speeches he has posted on the World Socialist Web Site, in which he has declared his opposition, as a socialist internationalist, to the capitalist regimes of Zelensky and Putin and the ongoing war that has cost hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives. Smoke rises from buildings in Bakhmut, Ukraine, the site of heavy battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. [AP Photo/Libkos] The SBU indicts Bogdan for advancing in his speeches and writings posted on the World Socialist Web Site which are accessible to everyone in the world, including citizens of Ukraine information that exposes the reactionary character of the Ukrainian regime and the war. The SBU declares that Bogdans criminal actions were stopped only with the intervention of a law enforcement agency. What a devastating self-exposure of the claims that the US-NATO proxy war is being waged to defend democracy in Ukraine. The reality is that Ukraine is a fascistic dictatorship, which applies police methods to stop the expression of popular opposition to the policies that have brought untold suffering and death to the people. The arrest of Bogdan Syrotiuk comes precisely at a point of mounting popular opposition to the Zelensky regime. On May 18, a new and vastly unpopular mobilization law that will vastly expand the recruitment dragnet of the Ukrainian military goes into effect. Even the New York Times has expressed doubts about Zelenskys ability to find new troops to relieve a weary, often demoralized force. In an article posted on the World Socialist Web Site on April 30, Maxim Goldarb, a Ukrainian socialist who has been persecuted by the Zelensky regime, reported: More and more Ukrainian men are desperately trying to flee the country, unwilling to die for someone elses selfish purposes. He added: It is not the rich minority, but the poor majoritythe unemployed, workers, peasants, teachers, doctors, office workersthat will be sent into the bloody meat grinder. Now, with the adoption of the new law, the number of men deprived of basic human rights, who will be captured and hunted down like animals and sent to the front, will increase many times over. The profits of those who benefit from this war will also increase many times over These huge profits will be divided up between the military-industrial complex, its lobbyists in the American and European establishment, and the Ukrainian oligarchic top brass. Bogdan Syrotiuks life is in danger. In the environment of terror that exists within Ukraine, he is deprived of all means to defend himself. Efforts to obtain competent legal representation have been undermined by government threats against defense lawyers. No less than five attorneys have declined to represent Bogdan because to do so would expose them to significant physical danger. Bogdan Syrotiuk at a May 9 rally in honor of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II The significance of the fight to defend Bogdan and secure his freedom extends beyond Ukraine. His incarceration is yet another example of the growing international assault on democratic rights as imperialism escalates its military operations throughout the world. The political conspiracy to destroy Julian Assange set into motion a process that is replicated throughout the world. Those who oppose and expose the crimes of the imperialist regimes are targeted for persecution by the state. The assault on basic democratic rightsfirst and foremost, freedom of thought and speechis always justified on the basis of lies. The opponents of Israels genocidal war against Gazans are denounced as antisemites, even when the protesters are Jewish. In the denunciation of Bogdan Syrotiuk as an agent of Russia for opposing the proxy war in Ukraine, the same lying method is at work. The real reason for the arrest and persecution of Bogdan Syrotiuk is that he is fighting for the unity of the Ukrainian, Russian and international working class against the ruling capitalist elites of all countries. As Comrade Andrei Ritsky of the Russian branch of the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists explained so eloquently in a speech delivered at the May Day 2024 celebration held by the International Committee: The only crime that Bogdan committed was his conviction that Ukraine can become truly free only through the independent struggle of the Ukrainian working class, acting together with the international working class against imperialism and war. He advanced a principled political position based on a Marxist understanding of the war, opposed to the fanatical worship of Ukrainian nationalism as well as the reactionary Russian nationalism of the Putin regime. Like our entire movement, he has fought for the unification of workers in Russia and Ukraine with the workers in the imperialist countries, to put an end to a fratricidal war that has claimed the lives of at least half a million Ukrainians and tens of thousands of Russians. He concluded his remarks with a declaration of the fundamental perspective that underlies the work of the Fourth International: No bourgeois regime is capable of resolving the crisis other than through war and destruction, because any other way would be contrary to its fundamental capitalist interests. The contradictions of capitalism cannot be resolved within national borders and on the basis of a defense of private property. Only the international working class armed with the program of world socialist revolution will be able to put an end to the wars and resolve the fundamental crisis. To do so, however, it must fight for its unity with its brothers and sisters around the world. The International Committee of the Fourth International calls for a global campaign to demand the immediate release of Bogdan Syrotiuk from prison. The fight for Bogdans freedom must be taken up by workers, students and all those who are committed to the defense of democratic rights and opposed to the escalation of imperialist wars that, unless stopped, threaten humanity with a nuclear catastrophe. Join the fight to Free Bogdan. Circulate this statement as widely as possible on social media. Bring this case to the attention of co-workers, fellow students, and friends. To sign a petition demanding Bogdans release, contribute funds toward the defense campaign, and become personally active in the fight for his freedom, go to wsws.org/freebogdan. A campaign by the political establishment and university administrations to disperse student encampments opposing the Israeli genocide in Gaza is continuing, in line with last weeks declaration by Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the peaceful protests were a divisive display of hatred and ignorance that did not have a place in society. Part of the student rally at Deakin University in Melbourne, May15, 2024 Threats to deploy the police against the encampments over the past two days have not yet eventuated, but such a state assault remains an imminent danger. Meanwhile, the administrations are using draconian administrative and bureaucratic processes to try and force students to disperse. There are clearly fears in ruling circles that major police operations at universities could inflame broader opposition. The encampment at Monash University was the first in the country to be dismantled yesterday afternoon. There are conflicting reports of what occurred. While the administration claims protesters left voluntarily, one of the students, Madeline Curkovic, told the Age that the university had forcibly dismantled the camp. Members of the encampment have also stated that nine of them had previously received notices of pending discipline, which could include suspension or expulsion from the university. They say they have been falsely accused of causing or threatening to cause harm, simply for arguing with and yelling at an individual who repeatedly sought to disrupt the encampment. That is significant, given that Monash was the first of three encampments to be violently attacked. In the early hours of May 2, middle-aged men carrying Australian and Israeli flags menaced students and damaged property at the encampment, as university security personnel looked on. That and two similar assaults at Adelaide University and the University of Melbourne have been blacked out by the media and have not been condemned by the Labor government, even as it falsely presents the encampments as a threat to safety. A growing number of administrations have issued eviction notices. Yesterday, La Trobe University in Melbourne issued such a directive, joining Deakin University in Melbourne and the Australian National University in Canberra. The La Trobe statement acknowledged that the encampment had been peaceful and had not disrupted classes, but it declared: the University has considered the risks associated with the continued encampment activity and has taken this decision in the interests of the safety, wellbeing and amenity of all campus users and visitors. The comment underscores the bogus character of the entire campaign. While mouthing platitudes about safety, the universities are moving to abolish the right to protest on campus and are threatening students who would defy such an attack on democratic rights with violence. The sharpest expression has been at the University of Melbourne. Yesterday, the administration repeated an earlier threat to authorise major police action against students who have occupied the West Arts building. In a meeting with student activists, it bluntly rejected calls to break ties with US and other weapons companies that are directly implicated in the genocide. University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Wesley [Photo: YouTube/The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation] Yesterdays warning was a repeat of a statement by one of the universitys deputy vice chancellors Michael Wesley on Thursday. In a hysterical diatribe, Wesley had stated that students had crossed a red line and would face a major operation against them. He slandered demonstrators as professional protesters and outside agitators. The WSWS noted yesterday that Wesley spoke more like a national security official than a campus administrator. That is not so surprising. Wesley previously worked at the Office of National Assessments, since renamed the Office of National Intelligence, Australias leading intelligence agency. Billed as an expert on international affairs and security, Wesley is currently on the Australian Federal Police Commissioners Advisory Board. The attacks by these state forces on the student protests, overseen by the Labor government, underscores the urgency of a fight to defend democratic rights. That means mobilising the social and political power of the working class. The potential has been underscored by an open letter defending the students, which has now been signed by almost 900 university students and academics across the country. The National Tertiary Education Union, however, has not called any action to defend students. The unions more generally have rejected all demands that they hold strikes to oppose Australias involvement with the genocide. This demonstrates that workers must take matters into their own hands, including through the formation of rank-and-file committees independent of the unions. That must be part of a political struggle against the Labor government, its program of war and an accompanying assault on civil liberties. Members of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality spoke to Deakin University staff at a protest on Wednesday evening opposing the demands that the encampment there be removed. I think its super powerful that the students are driving this issue, Sara, a researcher, said. Whats happening in Palestine is absolutely atrocious, and I am disappointed and shocked that the world has allowed the genocide to continue for as long as it has. I am also shocked and disappointed to read what Deakin said to the encampment, of having to pack up and leave. I felt it was important to come, to provide support. Lorenzo, another Deakin researcher, said the encampments emerged because no one else is doing anything. Something must be done at some point, and the students are bringing that upon themselves, for a better future for themselves, life conditions and the world they want to live in. Students are, generally speaking, younger, and they see the world as it is not the world they want to live in. So they want to change it for the better. They see the lack of commitment of institutions. The responsibility falls on them not because they want to, otherwise no one else will do anything. John, a member of the Faculty of Arts and Education on a fixed-term contract, said the genocide was not hidden. You cant use the excuse that it happened and we didnt know. We see it on a daily basis. John also spoke out against the propaganda of the political and media establishment. The way information is distorted, often these distortions we attribute to the behaviour of authoritarian regimes. We tend to have a rose-tinted view of what so-called democracies do. The university worker opposed the connections between the universities and the industrial military complex, adding, unfortunately, educational institutions are complicit in this globalised aspect of war. There are a number of examples of violent crackdowns on student protests of various kinds of forms of civil disobedience, John said. Im not surprised in terms of the reaction of governments both here and elsewhere. Again, what democratic governments state, and their deeds are often very different things. Elliot, a tutor in the Faculty of Arts and Education, said: Students have led so many humanitarian causes and protests across the world. Its great that students have set up encampments here. I have been following what has been happening in the US. Protests are being deemed as threatening and disruptive. But protests have been around forever and theres nothing different to how students are protesting now. If you talk to anybody or read about the things people have said, its very hard to see any antisemitism in what people are actually doing and saying. I think the encampment is peaceful and its students having their say about an important issue in our time, Elliot added. I cant see any reason why it needs to be shut down. Theres no danger to other students or staff. While the genocide in Gaza reaches a new murderous climax with the Israeli armys offensive on Rafah, opponents of the genocide are being criminalised in Germany. Participants in the DGB union demonstration on May 1 in Duisburg, including members of the now banned group Palestine Solidarity Duisburg On Thursday, Herbert Reul (Christian Democrat-CDU), the interior minister of Germanys most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), banned the group Palestine Solidarity Duisburg and had four homes, including that of spokesman Leon Wystrychowski, searched by the police. The groups supposed antisemitism and alleged support for Hamas served as a pretext. The police confiscated laptops, mobile phones, PCs, materials and documents. Around 50 officers carried them out of the homes of four members in cardboard boxes. The groups websites were also banned and had to be taken down, and the organisations assets were confiscated. The formation of substitute organisations and the use of the associations logo were also banned. Reul announced in the state capital Dusseldorf that the initiative for the ban came from the North Rhine-Westphalian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as the domestic secret service is called. As the organisation was only active in North Rhine-Westphalia, the NRW Interior Ministry was able to prepare and issue the ban. The Duisburg group, which was founded by activists and individuals at the beginning of 2023, had mainly been active since October 7. It organised and took part in demonstrations against the genocide in Gaza. In its press release, the NRW Interior Ministry confirmed that Palestine Solidarity Duisburg was an association that has set itself the task of carrying out Palestine solidarity work, primarily in Duisburg, but also nationwide. Only on Wednesday, the group held a rally in Duisburg city centre to commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 when, 76 years ago, around 800,000 Arab inhabitants of Palestine were expelled from their villages and towns by Zionist troops. The rally, like all others, had previously been peaceful and without incidentapart from the increasingly absurd restrictions imposed by the police, which forbid speaking the truth about the massacres in Gaza. The ban is now being justified by the fact that the group describes its aim as expressly striving for the liberation of Palestine within the borders of 1947 and thus before the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 and expressly expresses solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in all forms, which also includes the armed struggle of the terrorist organisation Hamas against Israel. The Duisburg district court had already charged and sentenced Wystrychowski on April 10 on the basis of a similarly absurd construction. This was based on two sentences he had uttered as a speaker at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Duisburg district of Hochfeld on October 9: Yalla Intifada, from Duisburg to Gaza and From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. According to district court spokesman Dr. Rolf Rausch, he is said to have condoned the murder of Israeli citizens. The judge had to concede that the supposedly incriminating sentences would not have led to an indictment if they had been uttered at the time of the triali.e., in April 2024. However, as they were made in temporal proximity to the Hamas attacktwo days after October 7they had the effect of condoning the mass murder by Hamas. Wystrychowski was ultimately sentenced to a fine for condoning criminal offences committed abroad. State Interior Minister Reul also used the false accusation of antisemitism when banning the pro-Palestine group. Behind the solidarity with Palestine lay nothing other than hatred of Jews, he said. In reality, the group explicitly speaks out against antisemitism both at its rallies and in the presentation of its aims. However, it rejects Zionism and is in favour of a joint state for Jews and Palestinians in Palestine. The NRW Interior Ministry, on the other hand, equates criticism of Israel and condemnation of the genocide in Gaza with antisemitism. The ideological orientation of the group is characterised by an anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic world view, reads the ministrys press release. The association thus spreads hatred and violence in the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians and jeopardises the life and limb of fellow Israelis and Jews living in Germany. The ban on Palestine Solidarity Duisburg is the latest escalation in a long series of persecutions and repressive measures against opponents of the Gaza genocide. Homes are searched, demonstrations are banned or restricted, and premises such as the Oyoun Cultural Centre in Berlin are closed. In the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, two girls leisure centres were even closed because an employee had been spotted at a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Academics, such as anthropologist Ghassan Hage from the Max Planck Institute in Halle, are being dismissed. The Palestine Congress in Berlin was broken up by the police. The account of Jewish Voice had previously been frozen. The university administrations of Humboldt University, Freie Universitat Berlin and Leipzig University deploy the police against their students and brutally disperse student protest camps. These dictatorial measures are not directed against antisemitism. On the contrary, many Jewish opponents of the genocide are also affected. They serve to suppress opponents of the war and any opposition to the policies of the ruling class. Striking workers will be the next to be affected. Berlin supports the far-right Israeli government not out of concern for Jewish lives but due to imperialist interests. The genocide in Gaza is one front in the developing global war for the redivision of the world. Alongside the US, Germany is one of the main driving forces behind this warin the Middle East, Ukraine and the Far East. This is the reason why it justifies its great power policies and its support for genocide with the cynical reference to the fight against antisemitism. The danger of a renewed rise in antisemitism in Germany is real. But it does not come from the opponents of the genocide in Gaza, such as Palestine Solidarity Duisburg. It emanates from the German government itself, which is in cahoots with genuine antisemites and Nazis in Ukraine in order to subjugate Russia. And it emanates from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is being courted and built up by those in power in politics and the state. Reul declared that the ban on Palestine Solidarity Duisburg came at the right time and sent the right signal. The state has demonstrated a clear stance against extremism today. The state has indeed shown a clear stance against opponents of genocide and the right to freedom of expression. US drug overdose deaths decreased slightly in 2023, according to preliminary statistics released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a 3 percent drop from 2022, when 111,029 died. The US, however, continues to be devastated by a drug overdose epidemic, with the CDC data showing that 107,543 people died from a drug overdose last year. This Feb. 19, 2013 file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vermont. [AP Photo/Toby Talbot] Americans are still dying at near-record rates, fueled by a toxic supply of drugs dominated by the synthetic opioid fentanyl and deaths resulting from the use of opioids combined with stimulants like methamphetamines and cocaine. The CDC cautioned that the data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics are incomplete and subject to change. Since 2020, at least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19 and there are currently more than 786,000 active cases of the disease in the US, according to Worldometer. Stress and isolation in the early days of the pandemic certainly led to an increase in drug overdose deaths. Less talked about, however, is the continued economic and social impact of the pandemic, with job and wage losses, and cuts to public education, healthcare and other social programs, including the shuttering of drug treatment programs. Since 2021, the first year when the impact of the pandemic registered in drug overdose deaths, overdose fatalities have remained above the 100,000 mark. CDC data show that drug overdose deaths in the US stood at 106,699 in 2021, 111,029 in 2022, and 107,543 in 2023, according to preliminary data. While Biden administration officials touted the supposed flattening of drug overdose deaths in 2022, preliminary figures for 2023 are in fact higher than in 2021. The surge in fatal drug overdoses over the past five years originated in the opioid epidemic, which saw a rapid increase in the overuse and abuse of opioids beginning in the 1990s. Purdue Pharmas introduction of OxyContin, an extended release form of the semi-synthetic opioid Oxycodone, is the most well-known contributor to the opioid crisis. The company pushed the highly addictive drug to doctors and pharmacists as a miracle pain reliever that would not lead to addiction. Entire communities in Appalachia, the Northeast, Midwest and elsewhere were consumed by addiction and death as a network of opioid clinics as well as pharmacies pushed OxyContin, egged on by the marketing campaigns of the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma, who were well aware of the drugs potential for abuse. Since 2000, more than 300,000 people have died in the US from prescription opioids. No Sackler family members have been jailed for their marketing and sale of the highly profitable OxyContin, which have led to what amounts to mass murder. Many of those addicted to Oxycontin and other semi-synthetic opioids in the early 2000s subsequently turned to less expensive heroin and then fentanyl, which is 20 to 40 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. A new form of illicit synthetic opioids may be even more powerful than fentanyl and require more doses of naloxone to reverse an overdose. The changing landscape of overdose deaths has seen the number of deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, which still account for the majority of fatal overdoses, decline slightly from 76,226 in 2022 to 74,702 last year. Since illegal forms of fentanyl began to predominate about a decade ago, the drug has accounted for a surge in overdose deaths. The number of prescription opioid pain pills distributed between 2011 and 2019 plummeted nearly 45 percent between 2011 and 2019, but fatal overdoses continued to rise to record levels. Since illicit fentanyls introduction, it has been mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine or marijuana. Now, cocaine and stimulants like methamphetamines are increasingly being mixed with fentanyl. In 2023, about one in three fatal overdoses involved stimulants, while one in four involved cocaine. The US counties that received the most doses of prescription opioids per capita in 2006-2013 later saw the highest death rates from heroin and fentanyl. Daniel Ciccarone, a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, who studies overdose trends, told the Washington Post, We created a huge cohort of people dependent on opioid pills and when we pulled back on those, we created a heroin waveand that quickly got replaced by fentanyl, and then people really started dying. According to the CDCs preliminary data, several US states saw drug deaths decline by 15 percent, including Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Maine. The Pacific Northwest fared much worse, with Washington, Oregon and Alaska seeing increases of least 27 percent over the previous year. The hundreds of thousands of people lost to fatal drug overdoses has caused a grim ripple effect in the US population. According to a 2023 survey published in the American Journal of Public Health, more than 4 in 10 Americans, or about 125 million people, personally know someone who has fatally overdosed. The study found 19 percent knew one person who had died of an overdose, 18.9 percent knew 2 to 5 people, and 4.5 percent knew 6 or more who died. The study projected that more than 40 million adults have had their lives disrupted by overdose loss, and 12.5 million are still feeling a significant or devastating effect from the death of a loved one. The Biden administration has described the slight decrease in drug overdose deaths as evidence of the success of federal efforts to help prevent deaths and treat addiction. This progress over the last 12 months should make us want to reinvigorate our efforts knowing that our strategies are making a difference, Deb Houry, CDC chief medical officer, said in a statement. In reality, the Biden administration spends a pittance on drug treatment programs, seeking only $8.1 billion in the fiscal year 2025 budget to support mental health and substance use services across the entire US. This is in line with the administrations ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has resulted in millions losing Medicaid coverage, along with cuts to child care and other vital social programs. Even relatively inexpensive programs that could save livessuch as universal and free distribution of naloxone, or syringe exchange programshave not been federally funded and have come under attack by conservative and Christian fundamentalist forces that claim they promote drug use. By contrast, Biden signed legislation in April that provides $95 billion more for the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, the Israeli militarys genocidal slaughter in Gaza, and for preparing Taiwan as a military base against China. White House efforts to reduce overdose fatalitiesto the extent that they existare concentrated on the Democrats anti-immigrant, border control policies, shifting blame for the opioid crisis from the US ruling class and its corporate sponsors to the Mexican drug cartels sourcing drug-making chemicals from China. A recent investigation by the Guardian shows that the federal governments Centrepay bill-paying scheme has exposed thousands of welfare recipients to financial harm, with consumer advocates stating it has become a vehicle for financial abuse. This includes $174 million taken from Indigenous clients by the now-defunct funeral insurance group Youpla, and at least $700,000 handed over to utility companies from the accounts of people who were no longer customers. Unemployed workers registering for social welfare outside Centrelink office in Sydney, Australia Gas and electricity provider AGL is now the subject of a federal court case brought by the national energy regulator over its alleged abuse of the Centrepay scheme. The company was first warned that it was engaging in serious non-compliance, including failure to cancel a Deduction after a Customer ceased to be an ongoing customer, in 2013, by Services Australiathe government agency that handles welfare payments. Yet the practice continued. Between December 23, 2016 and October 14, 2021, AGL allegedly received more than $700,000 in overpayments from around 575 Centrepay users who were no longer customers. This was despite the fact that, according to court documents seen by the Guardian, Services Australia sent daily reports to the company throughout this period, detailing Centrepay deductions and the AGL account numbers they pertained to. In one case, a Centrepay user stopped being an AGL customer in February 2018, but a further 74 deductions, totalling $6,800, were made until December 2020. In another, AGL received 100 Centrepay payments from a former customer, depriving them of $4,111 in welfare payments between January 2017 and December 2020. AGL has denied that it did not take proper steps to prevent overpayments such as these, claiming the company did not have the authority to cancel deductions. Instead, customers were told from time to time, albeit not on a systematic basis that they should notify Services Australia when they closed their account with AGL. In other words, vulnerable people, using Centrepay in the hope that it would help them manage their extremely limited financial resources, were on their own. Compounding this, many Centrepay users are in remote areas, without ready access to online portals through which adjustments to automated payments could be made. Origin Energy and Ergon Energy have also been found to have received payments from Centrepay users who were no longer customers. It is not clear how much the two utility companies have received in overpayments or how many Centrepay users have been affected. Also unknown is whether these practices are ongoing, because Services Australia has not audited AGL or Ergons use of Centrepay in the past two years. Initially limited to rent and utility bills, the Centrepay scheme was subsequently expanded to include retail and other services, with more than 15,000 companies now approved for Centrepay. Dozens of these businesses continue to be included in the scheme, despite being under investigation, or even having been penalised for, questionable conduct and potential breaches of consumer protection laws. There are more and more predatory practices emerging in what was originally designed to be a really safe model, according to AnglicareNT financial counsellor Caitlin Bender, while lawyer Mark Holden has said that businesses are financially motivated to take advantage of Centrepay to deduct as much Centrelink as possible. Some of the most egregious abuses of the Centrepay scheme have emerged from its expansion to include rent-to-buy appliance sellers, which particularly target remote Aboriginal communities. Some 122 of these operations remain connected to the scheme despite having previously been sanctioned by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for predatory conduct. An ASIC spokesperson said the regulator had raised this multiple times with Services Australia, but remained concerned that some of these businesses provide consumer leases which may place customers into financial hardship, with deductions for consumer goods prioritised over essentials such as rent and food. In one example reported by the Guardian, an indigenous welfare recipient signed a contract to purchase a TV with a business using Centrepay for $86 a fortnight. She was not given a copy of this contract, nor was she provided with any records of the progress of her repayments. After she was threatened with court action when the automatic payments were interrupted, her legal advocates discovered that the business had deducted almost $6,500 for a TV worth only $1,400. Centrepay is heavily targeted towards the most vulnerable and oppressed sections of the population, including in indigenous communities and other remote areas, with high levels of unemployment and social disadvantage, and where local access to shops and banking is extremely limited. Of the 620,000 users of the system, almost one third are Indigenous. The Financial Rights Legal Centre says Aboriginal people in remote locations are being forced to seek emergency food relief because, after Centrepay deductions, there is not enough left of their welfare payments to live on. In one example, an Aboriginal woman with a long history of homelessness was paying more than $400 a fortnight to retail stores for items she no longer possessed. The Centrepay scheme was introduced by the Liberal-National government of John Howard in 1998, and has been continued and expanded by every government since, including the Labor governments of Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Anthony Albanese. Ostensibly, it is a financial management tool that allows welfare recipients to have certain expenses deducted from their payments before the money enters their bank accounts. In reality, its purpose is to ensure that landlords, utilities and other businesses get the first cut of the pittance from which the unemployed, elderly, disabled, or otherwise disadvantaged are forced to eke out an existence. For a single person, the Jobseeker payment amounts to just over $380 per week, far below the Henderson poverty line of $609 (before housing costs). Despite the soaring cost of living and the recommendation of its own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, the federal Labor government did not increase the Jobseeker rate in Tuesdays budget, in line with its broader austerity agenda. Governments have known for years about financial abuses under the Centrepay scheme, with numerous calls for urgent reform to protect vulnerable welfare recipients. But even if such reform were forthcoming, it would not address the underlying cause, the capitalist system, in which the most oppressed people are kept in dire poverty and the broader working class is forced to make ever-greater sacrifices to increase the wealth of corporations, banks and the very rich. UCLA faculty and staff members hold signs during a news conference at UCLA in Los Angeles, Thursday, May 9, 2024. [AP Photo/Jae C. Hong] Earlier this week, 48,000 academic workers across the University of California system voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against the police crackdown on peaceful Gaza protesters. But on Friday, United Auto Workers Local 4811 announced it would actually call out workers at only one campus out of ten, UC Santa Cruz. The strike is scheduled to start Monday. The announcement was made on Friday morning on the locals Twitter/X account, declaring that, On Monday, May 20th, UC Santa Cruz is Standing Up, while workers at other universities are merely on stand by. The end of the strike has been limited in advance to no later than June 30. The UAW has committed to the most minimal action it could have taken short of no strike at all. UCSC is the third-smallest school in the system by enrollment, located outside of any major metropolitan region, 45 minutes to the south of the Bay Area. The UAW has not called out any of the campuses where the biggest assaults have taken place, including UCLA, where police worked with Zionist mobs to assault protesters, and UC Irvine, where police attacked students earlier this week. Nevertheless, the situation at UCSC is explosive. Students have held an encampment for the past week and organizers have warned in recent days that a police assault is likely imminent. Talks between students and the administration and California Governor Gavin Newsom have cratered, they said, due to the latters refusal to negotiate. The UAWs declaration that it is patterning the UC strike after last years so-called stand-up strike in the auto industry is the clearest sign the bureaucracy is organizing a betrayal. That strike, affecting only a handful of plants, never put a dent in production. It ended with a joint rally with UAW President Fain and Genocide Joe to promote a contract which is now being used to lay off thousands of workers. UAW President Shawn Fain cheers for US President Joe Biden from his place at the State of the Union address, March 7, 2024. [Photo: C-SPAN] That UAW announcement confirms the warnings made by the World Socialist Web Site that the bureaucracy is doing everything it can to limit this struggle. In a perspective Friday, the WSWS warned that If it calls a strike, [the UAW] has made clear that it will try to limit it to a so-called standup strike involving only a fraction of the membership. In opposition to this, the statement concluded, Academic workers must now impose their democratic will through the formation of rank-and-file strike committees to mobilize for immediate, system-wide work stoppages. Against the attempts by the bureaucracy to limit their struggle, they must turn out to the autoworkers and the entire working class for support, establishing lines of communication to prepare for joint actions. Such a broad defense in the working class is all the more necessary in light of the punitive measures being taken by the university. Those who have been identified as protesters are being banned from campuses, including their dormitories, on threat of arrest and international students are being threatened with deportation. Even professors are being attacked by the university for providing support to the protests. On Friday afternoon, the UC system announced it had filed an Unfair Labor Practice grievance against UAW 4811 in response to the strike authorization. They are threatening strikers not only with their jobs, but with legal action, in addition to the police violence already unleashed. The rank and file must act now to countermand this violation of their strike vote, Will Lehman, a socialist autoworker in Macungie, Pennsylvania who ran for UAW President on a platform of abolishing the union apparatus and putting the rank-and-file in control, said Friday evening on Twitter/X. They voted to launch a political strike against genocide, not a toothless stunt. Workers need to spend the weekend and beyond organizing independent strike committees. They must mobilize the entire membership for a strike, first in local 4811 and then the entire UAW. He continued: Leaving it up to the UAW bureaucracy to organize a fight will go nowhere. They endorsed Genocide Joe Biden. He is working hand-in-hand with the Republicans, is responsible for the genocide and directing the police crackdowns. The decision to limit the strike comes not from the local but from the White House. There can't be any doubt that UAW president Shawn Fain, who is a regular guest at the White House, is on the phone with Biden discussing how to deal with the pressure from below. The UAW bureaucracy is acting as auxiliaries to the police, helping to isolate and shut down the struggle. This under conditions where police are continuing to attack encampments and the UC administration has threatened to retaliate against any strike! The fight has to be brought into the working class, especially in the factories. Autoworkers are fighting against mass layoffs after last year's so-called standup that the UAW is modeling this strike on. Autoworkers will support grad students to the extent that they know what is happening. There must be direct communication between autoworkers and students to prepare joint actions. Liz, a healthcare worker from Southern California, issued her own statement calling for healthcare workers to defend the protests. Nurses, healthcare workers and the entire working class must come to the defense of the students democratic rights and the right to free speech, she said. On social media, UC academic workers expressed outrage over the limited character of the strike. One commenter wrote, The stand-up strike model is a piss-poor strategy in the context of higher ed. Why did we merge all three unions [in the UC system] with 48,000 workers if were going to undercut our power with this model? How is this maximizing chaos and disruption? Another noted, UC can outlast a one week strike, especially in the summer, pretty easily no matter how many grad students go on strike. Outlasting a 3 month long strike, into next school year? Much harder. Strike fund is only so large so this naturally extends the life of the strike! The World Socialist Web Site also spoke to a front desk worker at an urgent care near UCLA, who witnessed the injuries suffered by protesters in the police-abetted Zionist attack last month. There was a young guy that came in who needed a CT because he got injured the night that the cops were tearing down their tents. He came in, and he had like 14 staples in his head and needed imaging. But we couldnt help him because of his insurance. He had Kaiser, and we couldnt accept that. That night was the night before the police came in. We got a girl the next day that had a laceration because somebody was hitting her hand while she was pulling up barriers. We were able to see her. I think its awful, he said. I wish whats happening in Palestine wasnt happening. I dont think anybody deserves whats happening there. Im so sad by what happened to the Israeli people that became hostages in the beginning because obviously they were just innocent bystanders in that situation, but that doesnt warrant the hundreds of thousands of other innocent people that are now dead, displaced. Theyre being wiped out for something they have no part of. Popular University for Gaza at the University of California, Irvine, May 15, 2024. The bloodiest stage in the genocide in Gaza is now unfolding. Every hospital in the territory has either been leveled or made unusable and the entire population is at risk of famine. The Israeli military has begun its assault on the southern city of Rafah, where a million people have been forced to flee. The UAW bureaucracy claims that limited strikes can convince the UC administration to bargain with students. That this is a lie is proven by the fact that the administration is preparing to attack the standup strike itself. But even if it were true, any agreement limited to the UC system exchanging toothless pledges to divest for the shutdown of the protests, would do nothing to stop the genocide. The antiwar movement is confronted with a political struggle against American imperialism. The Biden administration claims it is the lesser evil to Trump but joins hands with outright fascists in the Republican party to rip up the right to protest against genocide. Integrated with the White House is the union bureaucracy, which acts deliberately to disrupt and disorient the growing movement from below. The working class, the source of all wealth, which is being forced to sacrifice for profit and to die in wars abroad, must emerge as the basic political force against the war. Rank-and-file committees formed independent of and against both the corporate parties and the pro-corporate union bureaucracy, must be established at workplaces throughout the United States to prepare industrial action to halt the genocide. Houston, Texas, saw 100 mile per hour winds (161 km/h) from a straight-ahead wind storm known as a derecho on Thursday which left five dead and one million customers without power as of late that night, mostly in Harris County, where the city proper is located and is home to more than 4.7 million people. Downed power lines in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Cypress, Texas, near Houston. [AP Photo/David J. Phillip] Transmission towers carrying high voltage lines were crumpled, while skyscrapers in the city suffered destroyed windows littering the streets with glass. One tornado, an EF1, was confirmed near Cypress just outside of Houston. This follows a previous tornado just six weeks ago that hit the suburb of Katy in Houston. At least two of the recorded deaths were from falling trees, with one death being attributed to a crane collapsing. A nightclub partially collapsed, and a roof was stripped off a Hyatt Regency in downtown, according to eyewitness video. In neighboring Louisiana, where the hurricane-force winds left a swath of damage, 215,000 households were without power as of Friday morning. While the strongest gusts recorded by a wind gauge were 78 mph (125 km/h), survey teams estimated thunderstorm winds around 90-100 mph (145-160 km/h) in Baytown, while downtown Houston suffered straight-line winds peaking at 100 mph (160 km/h), which by the Fujita scale would put the winds at EF1 force, or at Category 2 hurricane. Houston Mayor John Whitmire advised residents to stay at home and off the roads. Many roads are impassable due to downed power lines, debris and fallen trees, Whitmire stated. Additionally, many traffic lights were damaged. In Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles to the northwest, 20 people were rescued after driving into flood waters. CenterPoint Energy, a privately owned for-profit power and gas company which operates the citys power infrastructure, confirmed to local news that its skyscraper downtown and systems had been damaged as a result of the storms. According to a CenterPoint spokesperson in a Q&A with local news, it is too early to know when the power will be restored for all of those impacted. According to the company, 2,000 employees and contractors are performing damage assessment and restoration. An additional 4,000 line workers and 1,000 vegetation professionals have been requested. The company confirmed 920,000 customers were without power. Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris Countys chief executive, said in a press conference that it is possible that residents in the area could be without power for weeks, testifying to the incompatibility of private property and profit with the interests of the vast majority of society. As of Friday morning, 740,000 were still without power. Hundreds of deaths are recorded from hot weather in Southwestern states like Texas every year. Houston is particularly problematic given its high humidity. With temperatures expected to be in the 90s Fahrenheit (32+ degrees Celsius) for the coming days, it is likely that many will suffer heat stroke or even death as a result of the loss of air conditioning due to the continuing outages. Hidalgo said that such high winds were not experienced in the Houston area since Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Officials apparently were not expecting strong gusts, with meteorologists saying the storm was at the peak end of an unlikely scenario to happen. Because of this, many were only aware of the storm once it was basically on top of them. Derechos are hard to predict, partially owing to the character of the storms themselves but also because of the lack of data on the storms from high altitude sources. While the National Weather Service (NWS) maintains more than 1,000 monitoring locations, only around 92 weather balloons are launched every day in the US and its territories. Many of the initial features, which would aid in predicting derechos, are only visible from the altitude at which these balloons (or high altitude drones) fly. Andrew Mercer, a meteorologist at Mississippi State who studies derecho formation, spoke to this in a Wired article in 2020, at which point the US had about 200 balloons launched daily. All we have is these snapshots two times a day at 100 points for the entire country, which makes it really hard to get good wind data in the upper levels of the atmosphere, Mercer said. What our models really need is much more frequent sampling, especially in the hours leading up to the event. A key ingredient, as Wired put it, for derecho development is strong vertical wind shear. That is, that the wind at such an altitude, about 10 miles in the air, would be blowing at different speeds, and the weather balloons would pick this up, facilitating a more accurate prediction. There is also the matter of establishing a better prediction model, which requires an allocation of resources to such atmospheric research. The allocating of societys resources to such problems saves lives, yet it is evident that this is not a priority of the US ruling class. Derecho, Spanish for straight, is a widespread, long-lived windstorm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms, according to the NWS. The first such event was recorded in 1877. Unlike tornadoes or hurricanes, the winds produced in these weather events flow in a straight line instead of a rotating column. Typically they occur during the warm season, between May and August. Thursdays storm received its classification as a derecho as the wind damage exceeded a swath of more than 240 miles (386 km/h) and included wind gusts exceeding 58 mph (93 km/h). Texas has seen a number of significant derechos in recent history, including the high wind derecho event of May 2, 2007 which crippled power infrastructure in the Dallas metro area leaving 300,000 without power, with winds as high as 80 mph (129 km/h) from the Metroplex eastward. In Kaufman County, winds were estimated at 90-100 mph (145-161 km/h). On May 4, 1989, a derecho swept through Texas causing over 250,000 customers to lose power in Tarrant County, the Ft. Worth metropolitan area, in The Great Storm of 1989. A number of derecho events, more recent and historical, have swept other parts of the US, most commonly the Midwestern US. Two of the most recent to occur were the June 2023 Midwest derecho affecting parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, which left 300,000 without power, and a tornado outbreak and derecho on April 1-3, 2024, which caused damage from the Missouri-Illinois border all the way to the West Virginia-Virginia state line and produced 17 tornadoes. That is to say, these events are nothing new, and given the proper preparation the impact of such events can be mitigated. Transmission towers are not required by any laws of physics to be so flimsy as to be crumpled like soda cans by winds. Rather, it is a matter of cost. Either through strengthened transmission towers and other power infrastructure, burying of cables or other means, power outages from such events can be avoided, but this is money the US ruling class is using for war and to line its own pockets. Since the start of April, Texas and Louisiana have suffered a series of extreme rain events. Rainfall over the past two weeks exceeded 600 percent of what is typically expected, according to the Weather Prediction Center of the US National Weather Service. As CNN noted, Its a sign the atmosphere is primed to unload extreme amounts of rain, a phenomenon that is becoming more frequent in a warming world driven by human-caused climate change. Similarly, the number of derechos have increased as a result of human-caused climate change. Despite the increasing number of extreme weather events, which result unnecessarily in fatalities, injuries and displacement, capitalist governments around the world continue to put profits above lives. President Genocide Joseph Biden and the capitalist politicians in both parties, who are busy shoveling billions to the genocidal Israeli regime and the Nazi-infested Ukrainian regime and trillions for world war, have no money to spare when it comes to propping up the crumbling infrastructure at home or stopping preventable deaths from climate change. A socialist society is necessary if such man-made disasters are to be prevented. CHONGQING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have spotted the Yangtze sturgeon, an endangered species under first-class national protection, in a tributary of Yangtze River in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality while carrying out a fish stock monitoring. Measuring 183 km in length, Modaoxi is a major tributary of the Yangtze River. This is the first sighting of the Yangtze River sturgeon in the Yunyang County section of the river in six years, highlighting the positive impact of a comprehensive fishing ban in the area. Zhu Qiguang, from the Institute of Hydroecology, under the administration of both the Ministry of Water Resources and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported that they have also observed some fish species under second-class national protection. "Judging from the monitoring results, the frequency of rare protected species has increased significantly compared to previous years," he said. Nearly 150 species of fish inhabit the county, and the recovery trend of local aquatic biodiversity is positive, with a significant increase in the number of key protected aquatic wild animals, according to the monitoring results. To restore the biodiversity along the Yangtze River, China implemented a complete fishing ban in 332 conservation areas of the Yangtze River basin in January 2020. The move has since been expanded to a 10-year moratorium along the river's main streams and major tributaries, effective Jan. 1, 2021. TUNIS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 23 Tunisian illegal migrants have gone missing while sailing to Italy, according to a statement by the Tunisian National Guard released on Saturday. "The group of 23 Tunisian migrants left the coast of Korba in the northwestern province of Nabeul late at night on May 3 in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean to enter Italy illegally," the Tunisian National Guard said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. "The 23 individuals' families reported losing contact with them on May 14 and 15," said the statement, adding that the search for the missing illegal migrants is still underway. Meanwhile, Tunisian security units have arrested five organizers of this immigration attempt. Tunisia, located in the central Mediterranean, is one of the main departure points for migrants seeking irregular entry into Europe. Despite the strict measures taken by the Tunisian authorities, illegal immigration from the Tunisian coast has been on the rise. 'Mary & George' creator says finale is 'true to the spirit' of the story despite diverging from history Warning: This article contains spoilers for the finale of "Mary & George," which aired on May 17. Creator D.C. Moore told BI there were "different ideas" for how to end the series. He said that the ending is "true to the spirit" of the story despite diverging from history. "Mary & George" ends the way it feels it was always destined to, with the relationship between King James I (Tony Curran) and George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine) souring and the two turning on each other. Across seven episodes, the Starz series has told the fascinating true story of how a mother and son schemed and seduced their way to the very top of society in 17th-century Britain. As audiences see in the finale, Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore) has transformed into the Countess of Buckingham, and her son, George, the 1st Duke of Buckingham, has reaped the benefits of being King James I's constant companion. But towards the end of the series, George's life and legacy lay in the balance after he betrays the monarch by using his position to encourage a full-blown war with Spain. George will, as the aging, ailing King orders, be stripped of his titles and hanged for treason. Fortunately for George, the only people who witness this are himself and his mother. After James collapses and is hurried back to his countryside estate, they concoct a plan to make sure these orders aren't acted out. The ending used is 'true to the spirit of how Mary and George lived their lives' Moore, who co-wrote the finale with Laura Grace, told Business Insider that for him, the ending was "true to the spirit" of Mary and George's lives despite the fact that it diverges from history. The royal's official cause of death at age 58 in 1625 was listed as a stroke and an attack of dysentery, complicated by a disease such as malaria or typhus, per BBC History Magazine. According to Moore, different endings were floated but ultimately scrapped in favor of an ending that embodied the push-and-pull relationships of the figures. Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers in "Mary & George." Rory Mulvey/Starz "We did experiment with different ideas, but it felt more and more inevitable to end it this way. Because I think if you look at the real history, what is true then you see that James was a king of peace, and George bought war," he said. "In the killing of James, I feel like he's killing peace," he added. Moore and his cowriter didn't come up with the idea entirely themselves, though. They took some inspiration from Benjamin Woolley's historical biography, "The King's Assassin: The Secret Plot to Murder James I," on which the series is based. Woolley posited in the book that Mary and George were by the king's bedside as he recovered from a bout of malaria-like fever. Also in the room was James's son and heir, Charles, whom Woolley theorized had colluded with George to kill his father to ensure his ascendancy to the throne. "No one was in that room other than those three people," Moore said. "There is some level of dramatic license that we've taken, but for me, it feels very true to the spirit of how Mary and George lived their lives." As the series depicts, once Charles became king, George retained his powerful position in court until he himself was assassinated in 1628, at age 35. "We're dancing around the history. There is some creation on our side but I think also we're not that far from the truth," Moore added. The finale of "Mary & George" is now streaming on Starz. Read the original article on Business Insider Paris Hilton wanted to know what it "felt like to be pregnant," so tried a prosthetic baby bump. Hilton wrote, according to Today, which obtained a copy of her book, about her motherhood journey. "I know that sounds crazy, but I wanted it to feel real even in just this small way," she wrote. Paris Hilton has opened up about her experiences welcoming children via surrogacy and the steps she took to make impending motherhood "feel real." In an extra chapter of her autobiography, "Paris: The Memoir," available exclusively in the upcoming paperback edition, Hilton shared her surrogacy journey, revealing that she wore a prosthetic baby bump so she could know what it "felt like to be pregnant." The media personality and her husband, Carter Reum, welcomed two children via surrogates last year. The couple announced the arrival of their son, Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum, in January 2023 and their daughter, London Marilyn Hilton Reum, 10 months later in November 2023. "I wanted to know what it felt like to be pregnant, so I bought a prosthetic stomach and wore it around the house for the day," Hilton wrote, according to Today, which obtained an early copy of the book. "I know that sounds crazy, but I wanted it to feel real even in just this small way," Hilton continued. "Feeling that weight on the front of me, running my hands over it, envisioning a whole life in front of us." Hilton wrote that she realized it was a "silly" idea to wear the fake bump by the end of the day, given that she would be holding her newborn soon enough. "It didn't matter that no one else could see that I was expecting," the former reality star explained. "My emotional baby bump was real, it was precious, and I was so completely happy to know it was exactly where it needed to be, growing warmer and bigger every day." According to Hilton, while it may have appeared like a "mistake" that she and her venture-capitalist husband welcomed their son and daughter in the same calendar year, it was their plan all along. The Hilton hotel heiress wrote: "The dream was to have a girl and a boy, born separately but at the same time, so they'd grow up as twins." The couple chose to use separate surrogates to carry their children. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), there are many risks involved in implanting multiple embryos, including a higher risk of infant mortality. Hilton called it "a real-life miracle" that both of her "angel surrogates" became pregnant within the same year. However, she wrote it left her with double the worry and fear. "I was afraid to breathe. It was like keeping your eye on two little baby birds in a nest so fragile, so precious, and completely out of our hands," she wrote. Surrogacy, in which a couple's fertilized embryo is implanted into the uterus of a third person the surrogate who then carries the baby, has become increasingly popular among celebrity parents. It is used for many reasons, such as a person being unable to become pregnant due to their age or the pregnancy posing a danger to an individual's health. Hilton shared in an interview with Glamour UK last year that she chose this particular path to motherhood because she was "scared" of childbirth. She also cited her experience being drugged and touched in invasive ways at the abusive boarding schools she attended as a teenager as another reason she used a surrogate, stating that she was scared of "even being in a doctor's office." The surrogacy industry was worth an estimated $14 billion globally in 2022, according to a report from CNBC published in 2023, citing data from Global Market Insights. The cost of the surrogacy process can reach upwards of $150,000, Business Insider reported in 2021. Read the original article on Business Insider SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson visited the Salt Lake City Fire Department recently and exchanged stories about his dad, Scott, who lost his life among the 343 New York City firefighters who died on 9/11. Whether youre from a bustling city department or a small-town volunteer squad, the bond we share transcends geography and uniform, the fire department posted on social media Thursday. READ NEXT: What were the most popular Utah baby names in 2023? Salt Lake City Fire said Pete reached out to them while he was in town. They were honored to meet with him and listen to his fond memories of his father in the fire service. Courtesy Salt Lake City Fire Department His legacy lives on through Pete, who carries the strength and resilience of his father, the fire department said. The fire service is more than a job its a family. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Taste of Belgium has shuttered three Greater Cincinnati locations and reopened another. The local restaurant group announced Friday it has closed its Kenwood, Liberty Township and Clifton Heights bistros, effective immediately. It will also reopen its formerly closed Symmes Township location at 11 a.m. Friday, calling it a "consolidation move." "We've learned so much this last year about the neighborhoods we serve, where our customers want us to be and how critical it is that we focus on our Belgian-inspired and locally infused culinary experience," founder Jean-Francois Flechet said in a statement. Taste of Belgium's Kenwood restaurant is closing, the restaurant group announced Friday. The group said it has decided to close the three locations because the restaurants did not meet sales expectations. However, the company plans to reopen the Clifton Heights spot, which originally opened in 2023, as a new student-focused concept during the fall 2024 semester. More details will be announced at a later date. All Kenwood, Clifton Heights and Liberty Township restaurant staff have since been offered positions at other area bistros. The restaurant group says it is focused on employee well-being, retention and creating career opportunities. Taste of Belgium, which recently reopened its Crestview Hills restaurant in Northern Kentucky after an extensive renovation, will reopen its Symmes Township bistro, located at 12071 Mason Montgomery Road, on Friday. The dining spot originally opened in 2021 but later closed. At over 5,000 square feet, it is one of the company's largest locations. Taste of Belgium is reopening its Symmes Township bistro, located at 12071 Mason Montgomery Road. "There is so much opportunity for the Fields Ertel bistro as there is a strong draw from Mason, Deerfield, Symmes Township, as well as the corporate presence in the area," Flechet added. Taste of Belgium's bistros in Over-the-Rhine, The Banks, Rookwood, Beavercreek and Findlay Market remain open, per the group's website. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Taste of Belgium closes 3 Cincinnati locations, reopens another It's impossible to escape the smell of fish in Portugal. The odor wafts from sidewalk eateries, bustling markets, and even grocery store aisles. But it's not just any fish perfuming the air. Despite enjoying sea bass, bream, and sardines, it's bacalhau preserved salt-dried cod that reigns supreme as the country's favorite aquatic delicacy. Though not officially named a national dish or making it onto the list of the seven wonders of Portuguese gastronomy, bacalhau is a cornerstone of Portuguese cuisine. A popular saying even states that there are more than 365 bacalhau dishes, one for every day of the year. The country's love affair with salted cod dates back to the 15th century, during the Age of Discovery. At that time, Portuguese explorers discovered plentiful cod reserves in Newfoundland and salted the fish to preserve it for the long voyage home. The cod trade boomed in the subsequent centuries, initially relying on English imports until Portugal began sourcing fish from Newfoundland and Norway in the mid-19th century. Given just how many bacalhau dishes there are, understanding the most popular preparations will help guide your culinary explorations. From creamy gratins, such as bacalhau com natas and bacalhau espiritual, to fried treats like pataniscas and bolinhos, this guide serves up 14 ways to eat bacalhau during your next trip to Portugal. Read more: Styles Of Regional BBQ In The US Bacalhau a Lagareiro Boiled cod and small potatoes on white plate - AS Foodstudio/Shutterstock Pass by any tasca, a traditional home-style restaurant, and you're bound to see bacalhau a lagareiro on the menu. Also referred to as bacalhau no forno (roasted salt cod) and bacalhau assado com batatas a murro (roasted salt cod with smashed potatoes), this dish is arguably the simplest and most popular way to serve bacalhau in Portugal. Besides the fish, bacalhau a lagareiro relies on olive oil. "A lagareiro" refers to the mill workers who finished the dish with the newly prepared olive oil from Portugal's Beira region. Preparing bacalhau a lagareiro involves roasting the codfish's loins in the oven in a generous puddle of olive oil, along with garlic and bay leaf. Not only does the olive oil infuse its rich flavor into the fish, but it's also used for basting, ensuring the fish stays moist throughout the cooking process. Accompanying the fish are smashed or punched potatoes, typically baby potatoes with the skins left on. The potatoes are parboiled, then slightly flattened with a fork or fist before getting scattered around the fish. While smashing potatoes might seem unconventional, it allows the olive oil to penetrate, resulting in a flavorful side dish. Bacalhau Com Natas Melted cheese in beige serving dish - auralaura/Shutterstock Despite the relatively mild weather on the Iberian peninsula, the Portuguese still crave hearty fare during the winter. One such cold-weather comfort food is bacalhau com natas (salted cod with cream). Resembling a gratin, bacalhau com natas is an oven-baked casserole that's a Christmas mainstay throughout the country. The Portuguese love it not only because it's delicious and filling, but also for its practicality. It requires less cod than other dishes, making it perfect for using up leftovers or feeding a crowd. It's made with cod flakes, sauteed onions, fried diced potatoes, a homemade fish-infused Bechamel sauce, and fresh cream seasoned with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. The ingredients are combined in a baking dish, sprinkled with a blend of Parmesan and mozzarella, and baked until golden brown. Like many classic Portuguese dishes, the origins of bacalhau com natas are murky. Some attribute it to Joao Ribeiro, a chef working in upscale Portuguese hotels in the 1930s, who experimented with cod and cream dishes during his tenure and is known for creating a similar dish called Bacalhau a Conde da Guarda. Bacalhau a Gomes De Sa Hard-boiled eggs, fish, and olives in black pan - BY BRAZIL/Shutterstock While the history of many Portuguese bacalhau dishes remains up for debate, Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa has a clear origin story. Named after its creator, Jose Luis Gomes de Sa, a chef at Porto's Lisbonense restaurant in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this dish relies on a handful of simple, high-quality ingredients. Gomes de Sa's original recipe called for the cod to marinate in warm milk to soften it, but modern versions have done away with this step. Nowadays, the recipe features just six ingredients: bacalhau, olive oil, waxy potatoes, onions, hard-boiled eggs, and black olives. Given how few ingredients are used, the quality of each one is essential. Preparation involves peeling, slicing, and parboiling the potatoes. These are then layered with sliced onions, olive oil, and desalted cod and baked until tender. Slice hard-boiled eggs and whole black olives are added towards the end of cooking, with fresh parsley providing the finishing touch. It's widely available in restaurants year-round, but most home cooks reserve it for their Good Friday meal. Bacalhau Espiritual Black spatula serving baked fish and cheese - Natalia Mylova/Shutterstock Bacalhau espiritual translates to "spiritual codfish." Unfortunately, we can't guarantee that eating this dish will lead to enlightenment, but we can attest to its deliciousness. A relatively recent addition to Portugal's culinary canon, it was invented in 1947 by Countess de Almeida Araujo. The countess developed the dish for the inauguration of Cozinha Velha, a newly opened restaurant in the National Palace of Queluz. She took her inspiration from French cuisine. More specifically, it was borrowed from brandade de morue, a bistro classic consisting of a puree of salt cod, milk, olive oil, garlic, and cream. In combining French culinary expertise with local ingredients, the countess created this unmistakably rich dish. Despite its lofty origins, bacalhau espiritual is fairly straightforward, both in terms of ingredients and preparation. It features flaked cod loins, grated carrots, Bechamel sauce, and milk-soaked bread, topped with grated cheese and baked into a gratin. You can find this dish in nearly every Portuguese restaurant and even in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. It's usually served with a simple salad or some sauteed vegetables. Bacalhau Com Broa Fish and vegetables in white dish - PapatoniC/Shutterstock There are all kinds of ways to use up leftover cornbread, from dicing it into croutons to stirring it into casseroles. And it's not just American-style cornbread that proves versatile. The Portuguese transform their version of cornbread, called broa, into all kinds of tasty treats. Unlike its American counterpart, broa is leavened with yeast and lacks eggs, resulting in a sturdy loaf with an off-white crust and a golden brown interior. Broa is usually seen alongside soup and sauces in Portuguese cuisine, but it also serves as a key ingredient in bacalhau com broa. In this recipe, chunks of broa are infused with olive oil, garlic, and coriander before being pulverized into a paste. Next, the cod is crowned with the cornbread paste and another drizzle of olive oil before baking to golden brown perfection. Typically, it's served with small smashed potatoes and sauteed cabbage to make a complete meal. Arroz De Bacalhau Rice topped with tomatoes and peas - aurorahumaita/Instagram Portuguese rice dishes may not have the same international reputation as risotto or biryani, but they hold their own when it comes to flavor. For example, there's arroz de pato (duck rice), a combination of slow-cooked duck, chorizo, and port wine. Then there's arroz de lingueirao, a seafood rice featuring razor clams. And it's no surprise that bacalhau, Portugal's beloved salt cod, features prominently in a local rice dish. Arroz de bacalhau starts with local carolino rice, a short-grain variety similar to Italian Arborio rice. Its high starch content gives it a creamy texture that's perfect for soaking up all of the flavors in this dish. When it comes to the other star ingredient, bacalhau, shredded or leftover fish works well since everything is mixed. Besides rice and fish, arroz de bacalhau typically features plum tomatoes, onions, and garlic. However, some variations call for vegetables as diverse as peppers, cauliflower, and peas. In keeping with Portuguese tradition, a drizzle of olive oil before serving is the crucial last step. Bacalhau a Bras Flaked fish and potatoes on white dish - Natalia Mylova/Shutterstock Like bacalhau a Gomes de Sa, bacalhau a Bras owes its name to its creator, Mr. Bras (sometimes spelled Braz), a tavern owner in Lisbon's vibrant Bairro Alto neighborhood. Reflecting the humble spirit of Portuguese cuisine, bacalhau a Bras is democratic and inclusive, relying on a handful of simple ingredients that are easy to prepare, making it accessible even to the most amateur cooks. Thanks to its simplicity, or perhaps its irresistible flavor, bacalhau a Bras quickly gained popularity, spreading throughout Portugal and even crossing the Spanish border, where it became known as bacalhau dourado. Shredded boiled salt cod and shoestring potatoes are at the heart of this dish. Both are added to a pan along with onion and garlic. Beaten eggs come in next, providing richness and heft to the main ingredients. A bit of fresh parsley and some whole black olives add color and flavor before serving, typically alongside white rice and a simple salad. There are several variations beyond the basic recipe. For instance, sweet potato or cassava can fill in for the potato. Alternatively, heavy cream added to the eggs creates an even creamier version. Bolinhos De Bacalhau Round fritters on yellow plate - LipeBorges_Foto/Shutterstock Whether grilled, roasted, or boiled, Portuguese bacalhau takes many forms. Add fried to that list and you're in for a treat: bolinhos de bacalhau, also known as bite-sized cod fritters. Before continuing, it's worth noting that the term bolinho is used in Northern Portugal, whereas pasteis de bacalhau (cod pastries) is more common in Central and Southern Portugal. Regardless of where you find yourself in Portugal, these delectable morsels appear in bars and cafes as a snack and even in upscale restaurants as a side dish to rice and salad. Made from shredded cod, mashed potatoes, egg, and parsley, bolinhos de bacalhau are shaped into small, egg-shaped dumplings and fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The main ingredients are fairly consistent, but plenty of chefs and home cooks play around with the ratios. Some prefer more cod than potatoes, while others use equal amounts of both. Additionally, some add nutmeg, milk, port wine, and even green chilis for a subtle twist on the classic. Bacalhau a Transmontana Cod filets stuffed with ham - bacalhau_riberalves/Instagram Portugal may be small, roughly the size of Indiana, but its culinary traditions are extensive and varied. Each region's cuisine reflects a blend of influences, including climate, geography, and historical factors such as immigration waves and the Catholic Church. Nowhere is that clearer than in Tras-os-Montes (Beyond the Mountains), a region in northeastern Portugal that borders Spain. What sets Tras-os-Montes cuisine apart is its use of ingredients often linked to that area, like sausages, chestnuts, cabbages, and ham. One standout dish from the region is Bacalhau a Transmontana. It features cod loins stuffed with Portuguese jamon and bathed in a sauce made from olive oil, peeled tomatoes, white wine, port wine, onion, and garlic. But what sets this dish apart is the mashed potatoes. Rather than being unceremoniously lumped next to the main dish, tradition dictates that they should be piped into elegant mounts around the fish using a pastry bag. This technique gives the dish an unmistakable look that's impossible to resist. Roupa Velha De Bacalhau Closeup of fish and mixed vegetables - Fanfo/Shutterstock Transforming leftovers into new dishes is a common culinary practice around the world. The English remix Sunday lunch into bubble and squeak, Italians turn day-old risotto into arancini, and Mexicans transform stale tortillas into chilaquiles. The Portuguese also embrace this innovative and thrifty tradition, particularly when it comes to repurposing Christmas Eve leftovers. A dish originating in Northern Portugal's Minho region, roupa-velha, or "old clothes," breathes new life into leftover bacalhau from Christmas Eve dinner, turning it into a whole new meal for Christmas lunch. The name isn't particularly appetizing, but it accurately reflects the colorful mix of textures and flavors present. Although initially associated with families of modest means, this practical dish has become a cherished part of Christmas for Portuguese households of all backgrounds. That's likely due in part to the simple preparation and tasty outcome. All it requires is sauteeing leftover fish with a combination of vegetables (most often carrots, Portuguese kale, and leeks), boiled eggs, and spices. Many families eat it as a main dish, although some pair it with turkey or goat. Bacalhau a Ze Do Pipo Baked fish dish topped with black olives - doces_sensacoes_20/Instagram Bacalhau a Ze do Pipo is yet another eponymous cod dish. Its creator, Jose Valentim (whose nickname was Ze do Pipo) was a chef working in Porto in the 1940s. Legend has it that Valentim created the dish for a competition. It's not clear if he was the victor, but its enduring popularity speaks to its success. Similar to bacalhau com natas and bacalhau espiritual, this dish takes the form of a gratin, with cod loin boiled in milk serving as the main ingredient. Once cooked, the fish is covered with braised onions and mashed potatoes seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The potatoes can either be spooned on top of the fish or piped on using a pastry bag for some added visual appeal. A generous layer of homemade mayonnaise is the last step before the dish heads into the oven. Mayonnaise isn't typical in Portuguese cuisine, so this unexpected ingredient makes bacalhau a Ze do Pipo stand out from similar dishes. A quick trip in the oven creates a satisfyingly crunchy golden crust, while a sprinkling of black olives adds an eye-catching accent. Bacalhau Com Todos Cod surrounded by vegetables and chickpeas - Fanfo/Shutterstock Translated as "cod with everything," this varied dish demands no compromises. Originally served as a Christmas meal under the name bacalhau da consoada, its roots trace back to Portugal's Catholic heritage, which forbade meat consumption near religious holidays. As a result, fish, especially cod, became popular during the festive season. More specifically, this dish likely emerged in Northern Portugal during the Estado Novo dictatorship. The regime championed frugality and simplicity as national virtues and this modest dish perfectly symbolized those values. Although it began as a seasonal tradition, these days you'll find it in Portuguese homes year-round. Preparing it doesn't require any special kitchen skills, but the timing can be tricky with all the moving parts. One part involves boiling cod loins with potatoes, carrots, and sliced Portuguese cabbage. Separately, eggs are hard-boiled and chickpeas are heated. Finally, everything is assembled on the plate and drizzled with a simple vinaigrette made from olive oil, white vinegar, and garlic. Meia-desfeita White fish surrounded by chickpeas and eggs - Natalia Mylova/Shutterstock Roasted, boiled, and fried: Just when you think you've seen every type of bacalhau, another one appears. This time, it's in the form of a salad called meia-desfeita. The name, which translates to "half undone," comes from the fact that people used to order a half portion when times were tight. Meanwhile, the "undone" part of the name refers to the shredded appearance of the bacalhau. It originated in Lisbon and is enjoyed as a petisco (the Portuguese version of tapas), a weekday lunch, or a light dinner. The ingredients list is short, accessible, and unpretentious. Shredded bacalhau, chickpeas, onion, olive oil, and parsley are all that's needed. These ingredients are tossed together and then seasoned with either sweet smoked paprika, vinegar, or lemon juice. Some variations incorporate additional ingredients such as hard-boiled eggs and boiled potatoes for some extra heft. As with the ingredients, the serving temperature is flexible it tastes just as good warm as it does at room temperature. Pataniscas De Bacalhau Fried codfish fritters stacked - Jacek_sopotnicki/Getty Images By this point, it should be pretty clear that the Portuguese have a deep love for bacalhau. But if you need more convincing, consider the fact that they have not one, but two recipes for cod fritters. Besides bolinhos de bacalhau, there are also pataniscas de bacalhau. Though bolinhos and pataniscas are similar in many ways, they differ in that pataniscas are made with wheat flour instead of potatoes. This swap results in a fritter that's flatter and drier, but no less delicious. These fried delights are thought to have originated in Estremadura, a historical Portuguese province situated around Lisbon. Usually, you'll find them served as a snack in bars alongside a local lager such as Sagres or Super Bock. However, restaurants also pair them with bean or tomato rice to create a main dish. Historically, they were tucked into bread rolls to create sandwiches, although the popularity of this preparation seems to be fading. Read the original article on Tasting Table Mohammed Nazeer Awad, head of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums in Syria, speaks to Xinhua in an interview in Damascus, Syria on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Mohammed Nazeer Awad, head of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums in Syria, has shed light on the "catastrophic" impact of the U.S. economic blockade on the management of cultural heritage in Syria. In an interview with Xinhua, Awad said that the economic blockade imposed by the United States had catastrophic consequences on various sectors in Syria, with a significant impact on the management of heritage in particular. The blockade slowed down the restoration of historical buildings that were destroyed during the war, as many materials needed for restoration came from abroad. "The economic blockade has harmed us no less than the war did because any historical or archaeological building left for a long period after being partially damaged or destroyed without intervention afterward becomes more complicated and more costly to restore," he noted. "The economic blockade has led to an increase in prices of many necessary materials due to shortages, an increase in labor costs, and an increase in the wages of experienced workers or their unavailability." In pre-war times, museums used to be open and functioning, and archaeological sites welcomed visitors. However, the economic blockade has brought all these activities to a halt. The aid that was used to support museums and archaeological sites for restoration and maintenance also ceased, further exacerbating the damage caused by the conflict, he said. He stressed that the restoration process in archaeological buildings requires a lot of expertise and many craftsmen working in the field of stone and wood, but many of these experts have moved abroad due to economic hardships. "The siege has generally led to what I call the impoverishment of the Syrians, and this, in turn, has led to the leakage of these experiences through travel and migration, and we are suffering a lot," he pointed out. He also voiced concerns about illegal excavation and destruction of archaeological sites in Syria, particularly in areas outside government control. He highlighted the deliberate destruction of heritage as an attempt to erase national identity. "The percentage of damage is catastrophic ... Until now, all the lands outside the government's authority are subject to illegal excavation and destruction under the management and supervision of the controlling party of that land." "The most destructive entity is the American presence in areas rich in antiquities, whether by its presence or by its support of other entities that may contribute to the destruction of Syrian antiquities," he said. Amid these challenges, "we were able to achieve a lot of progress in international forums at the United Nations by issuing a set of resolutions criminalizing the trafficking of Syrian artifacts ... However, all of this will not be of any benefit in light of the lack of commitments or specific actions from the involved countries to return the artifacts to their owners," he pointed out. As the world is observing International Museum Day on May 18, Awad forwarded a message expressing gratitude to those who helped manage and protect Syrian cultural heritage during the war, particularly highlighting the support from China. "I hope we can establish more exhibitions or other cultural activities in China to support us in informing the world about what happened to our artifacts and our country during the war," he concluded. This photo shows the facade of the National Syrian Museum in Damascus, Syria on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua) PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) Feeding the Gulf Coast and Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church are teaming up for a community food giveaway. The giveaway will happen on June 1 at the church, which is located at 1822 North T Street. Those wanting to take advantage of the food giveaway can go to the church starting at 11 a.m. The event will last until all of the food is gone. Some could win free mac & cheese at Destin restaurant grand opening EVENT LOCATION: This embedded content is not available in your region. The organizations ask that event-goers bring their photo ID and be prepared to complete the required paperwork. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. This was Italys very first McDonalds and it looks like anything but a fast-food joint McDonald's first Italian location is a culture shock to what Americans are used to. E tu, Ronald? At what once was the heart of the Roman Empire sits an American conquest: Italys first-ever McDonalds. However, the Rome location, just steps from the Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna, is strikingly different from any stateside Golden Arches outpost. Guests are first greeted with a grand array of traditional sculptures, marble walls, mosaics, Roman writing and a plaque in honor of its opening on March 20, 1986. Lately, the location has become a social media hit. This Roman McDonalds which was not built in a day has its own McCafe breakfast area right by the nods to ancient history. Its there that scrumptious, non-American menu items like tiramisu, donuts and macaroons are available, along with croissants and other delectable pastries that put McDs baked apple pie to shame. Italys first McDonalds is catching lots of attention online. Google Maps For those in search of something more savory, the vast main dining area has plenty of US classics burgers, McNuggets, shakes, fries and the like along with some treats unique to the boot-shaped country. Those include chicken wings, cheese fries, stuffed and deep-fried olives (which may not thrill everyone), mozzarella-filled Panzerotti, special McFlurry flavors and even some beer options. Of course, we cant forget the snack-sized blocks of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, aka pocket cheese. Its dining room features more peeks at Roman history with a succession of Doric columns and circular arches. Roman-style columns dot the dining area. TikTok/@yourfriendinitaly The menu is vastly different from American options. Instagram/tiffanyapb The base of the columns contains notes on food ingredients that evoke a similarity to Leonardo Da Vincis handwritten journals. The thought would never cross my mind to eat at a McDonalds while visiting Italy it just seems wrong, travel blogger Margie In Italy once wrote about a visit. Yet, many tourists do it and I just scratch my head. Not for the food, but for its architectural design, one McDonalds in Italy is worth visiting, because it is the most elaborate McDonalds anywhere in the world. The first McDonalds in Rome is like nothing else. Instagram/tiffanyapb The location has a plaque commemorating that it is Italys first McDonalds. TikTok/@yourfriendinitaly Elsewhere in Italia, an ancient Roman road was found beneath a McDonalds in Marino. It is now open for customers to walk through. Area churches are hosting special events over the next few weeks.. Oasis of Love Church to honor Shirley Jordan The Oasis of Love church in Mansfield will host a celebration for Lady Shirley Jordan at noon June 8. Jordan is the wife of the church's second pastor, Bishop Walter E. Jordan, and mother of the third pastor, the late Walter E. Jordan II. Shirley Jordan, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday, has a rich history in the community. She hosted her own show, "Black Forum," on WMFD-TV during the 1990s, and she has ministered throughout the country during her time in ministry spanning some 60 years. Oasis of Love Church will host a special celebration for Shirley Jordan on June 8. The pastoral sons of Bishop Walter E. Jordan are putting on the event to reflect and celebrate her many accolades and accomplishments. Area churches, pastors and bishops from around the state will be part of the celebration. Kingsmen Quartet to sing at First Lutheran Shelby The Kingsmen Quartet, synonymous with southern Gospel music, returns to Shelby at 6 p.m. June 9 to sing at First Lutheran Church. Kingsmen Quartet will perform at Shelby's First Lutheran Church on June 9. This concert is free and open to the public. A love offering will be collected to support the ministry of the Kingsmen Quartet. First Lutheran Church is located at 33 Broadway St., Shelby. The church is air-conditioned and handicapped accessible. For information, call the church at 419-347-7675. More: Longtime downtown Mansfield church is searching for new home Mifflin church to host monthly free meal and service St. Michael Lutheran Church will hold a free community meal at 5 p.m. Saturday. The meal will be followed at 6 p.m. with a praise service and music by Set Apart. The church is located at 26 E. Maine St., in the village of Mifflin. This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield OH-area churches plan special events including Gospel show KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) A 28th Street spot in Kentwood offers three Asian restaurants in one. Inside the Amazing Food Hall, located at 3740 28th St. SE near Lake Eastbrook Boulevard, customers can grab food from Amazing Myanmar Asian Cuisine, Brunch and Rice or Adobo Boy. The Amazing Myanmar Asian Cuisine offers Burmese, Thai and Sushi cuisine. The restaurant is owned by a family of refugees from Burma and in 2022 partnered with Meijer to offer free meals to-go in some of its stores. Brunch and Rice which began as a pop-up during the COVID-19 pandemic offers Asian street food, according to its website. The menu offers Hmong, Laotian, Thai food and more. Brunch and Rice, located inside the Amazing Food Hall at 3740 28th Street SE in Kentwood. The three of us are friends and we (have) known each other for so long, Adobo Boy owner and operator Jacqueline Marasigan told News 8. We are food vendors at the Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival. World travels inspire GR Asian fusion and boba restaurant Her restaurant offers authentic Filipino comfort food. Always on the menu is her signature pork or chicken adobo, a Filipino rice bowl, but the rest of the menu changes weekly. Adobo Boy, located inside the Amazing Food Hall at 3740 28th Street SE in Kentwood. Adobo Boy, located inside the Amazing Food Hall at 3740 28th Street SE in Kentwood. Marasigan said while its a lot of the work to change the menu so frequently, I love doing it, because we have a lot of Filipino dishes that I want to share to everybody. She grew up in Davao City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. There, she said, she would watch as her parents, uncles and grandparents cooked, especially during her provinces yearly Fiesta celebration. Fiesta is like a Thanksgiving celebration, she explained. My dad would wake up early in the morning just to cook his friends the roasted pig, and they (would) have this big wok outside the house and cook different kind of food. She went to nursing school in the Philippines, then moved to the United States. Adobo Boy owner Jacqueline Marasigan. Adobo Boy first started around 2016 or 2017 as a food vendor at the Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival. From there, Marasigan started catering events, before opening inside the food hall in December of 2023. Local business owner offers vibrant, Hmong-inspired hair accessories Her son is the Adobo Boy, she said, as he loves her adobo. The restaurants slogan is its more fun at Adobo Boy, a play on her home countrys Its More Fun in the Philippines marketing campaign. Adobo Boy, located inside the Amazing Food Hall at 3740 28th Street SE in Kentwood. Adobo Boy, located inside the Amazing Food Hall at 3740 28th Street SE in Kentwood. When you go to the Philippines, its more fun to be with the people around you to go to the beaches, doing karaoke, all those fun stuff in the Philippines that we do, she said. So Its more fun in the Philippines. Thats how we express it, so when you go in our country, you will have more fun. Marasigan said shes grateful for her friends, family and customers who have supported Adobo Boy, especially her husband. Hes very supportive of me, she said. Hes always there to help me and I appreciate everything that he does (for) the community as well. This embedded content is not available in your region. As the community celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Marasigan said she enjoys sharing her experiences in the Philippines and its culture through her food. I dream that Adobo Boy will stay longer, more years to come, she said. So that I can share more Filipino dishes to all the people here in West Michigan. And they (can) share our culture through our food and how friendly the Filipino (people) are, very warm, our being hospitable to everybody. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. "I have a little brown cocoon of an idea that may possibly expand into a magnificent moth of fulfilment," Lucy Maud Montgomery Moths, the lesser-known relatives of butterflies, represent one of the largest animal groups in Ohio. Butterflies, which fly during the day and are easily seen, are much better known than their nocturnal counterparts. About 140 butterfly species have been found in the state. No one has a solid handle on the diversity of moths fluttering around the Buckeye State. The work of a remarkable woman named Diane Brooks opened a window into the incredible richness of moths in Ohio. Brooks developed a passion for these fascinating insects about 11 years ago, and began seeking them out on her 12.5-acre Perry-County property. Since then, she has documented nearly 1,500 moth species, and regularly turns up even more new ones. If there were a Diane Brooks in all 88 counties, Ohios moth list would number far higher, further dwarfing the butterfly tally. Who knows, there could be as many as 5,000 species, maybe more. Many moths are obscure brown jobs, often tough to identify and virtually unnoticed by people. However, what they may lack in visual allure is often compensated by their names: disparaged arches, dusky owlet, figure-seven moth, scarce infant, sordid underwing and many other colorful monikers. Nature: Northern long-eared bat facing extinction in Ohio due to flourishing fungus The protagonist of this column needs little introduction. The luna moth is one of the worlds best-known moths. It has been used in various logos, many an artist has interpreted it and even the most neophyte moth-ers instantly recognize it. While fairly common, at least where suitable habitat remains, the luna still attracts the attention of seasoned moth-ers. On Saturday, May 11, John Howard, Shauna Weyrauch and I were mothing at Howard's remote Adams-County property. The brightly illuminated white sheet lured a variety of sphinx moths, honey locust moths, the splendid palpita, straight-lined pagodis and other interesting fare. However, when a luna appeared, it temporarily stole the show, as they always do. A photo of that moth accompanies this column. This luna was a female, as evidenced by its narrow antennae. The male looks like two ferns have been bolted to its head. The broad, plumose antennae are packed with pheromone receptors capable of detecting the females scent from incredible distances. They can probably detect airborne pheromones from a mile away, maybe farther, and fly to her to consummate the relationship. Jim McCormac is a natural historian and columnist. Part of the rub for a luna suitor is that he has to fly to her, and this brings bats into the equation. Moths are the primary prey for bats in our part of the world, and the fat fuzzy body of a luna is a fluttering T-bone steak. Enter the conspicuous tail streamers of the luna. Bats use echolocation to detect flying prey, their sound waves bouncing off objects and reflecting back to the hunting bat. An organ called a tragus in the ears directs incoming echolocation clicks to the brain, which the bat instantaneously processes. This bat sonar tells the bat exactly where the moth is. In the case of the luna, the bats echolocation system fixates on the tail, which shakes in flight. Thus, the bat often directs its attack to the tail streamers, allowing the luna to elude capture. It isnt unusual to find lunas that are missing all or parts of the tail, but the moth lives to potentially reproduce. Nature: Northern flickers are a sight to behold The gorgeous lime-green luna with its dapper tails is the climax stage of a four-part life cycle. It starts life as a tiny egg, which hatches a caterpillar about 10 days later. While the caterpillar is miniscule fresh from the egg, it is an eating machine and quickly grows. About seven weeks later, the now comparatively huge caterpillar enters pupation. Two or three weeks later, the pupa transforms into the iconic moth. In colder climes like Ohio, the pupae of the last brood over winter in cocoons in leaf litter. Ironically, perhaps, the stunning moth, in the fourth part of the life cycle, is the briefest of the four phases. The adult moth lives perhaps a week. In essence, it is a flying gonad, living only to find a partner, mate and if the female, dump up to 400 eggs to start the cycle anew. If you want to learn lots about moths, and see scores of them, including lunas, consider attending Mothapalooza. This moth-centric event takes place July 19-21 at Highlands Nature Sanctuary and is hosted by the Arc of Appalachia. Details can be found at arcofappalachia.org/mothapalooza. Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jim mccormac.blogspot.com. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Luna moth is one of the best known in the world See Bucks County by kayak or canoe. Head out to one of these scenic spots Looking for a new way to enjoy the natural scenic views of Bucks County? Then get your paddles and life vests ready. By exploring the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams spread across our region whether by kayak, canoe or paddleboard you can access a different and often up-close look at the beautiful plants, birds and wildlife that call Bucks County home. Whether youre new to paddling or looking to add to your list, here are a few spots to check out: Giving Pond, Upper Black Eddy Mason Riexinger, 12, of Springtown, paddles his kayak across Giving Pond in Upper Black Eddy on Thursday, June 29, 2023. 1125 River Road, Upper Black Eddy; 610-982-5560; dcnr.pa.gov Part of the Delaware Canal State Park, Giving Pond is a quiet 50-acre respite from more popular kayaking destinations. The entrance to its parking lot can be found just north of the Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge, giving you access to a pond nestled between the Delaware River and the Delaware Canal. Its the perfect size for young families with a scattering of islets to paddle around and a few quiet picnic spots with tables and grills along the shore. Since Giving Pond is in a state park, a Pennsylvania launch permit or boat registration is required. What to know before you kayak: How to get a launch permit and other questions answered about kayaking in Bucks County Lake Galena at Peace Valley Park, New Britain 264 Creek Road, New Britain; 215-822-8608 Lake Galena is a manmade lake spread across 365 acres at Peace Valley Park, a habitat to more than 290 bird species, numerous wildlife and native plants. Kayak and canoes, as well as pedalboats and row boats, are available for rent on a first-come, first-serve basis from the Peace Valley Park Boat Rental off the main parking lot at 264 Creek Road. Additional launch points can accessed from the 24-hour lot at 245 Creek Road and Sailors Point at 759 New Galena Road. Be sure to adhere to postings on the northeast end of the lake where boating is prohibited to protect the nature centers wildlife preserve. Peace Valley Park is county-owned, so a Bucks County launch permit is required for all boats. Read more about Peace Valley Park: Head over to Bucks County's Peace Valley Park in New Britain to enjoy summer-like temps Lake Luxembourg, Middletown A view of Lake Luxembourg in Core Creek Park from Woodbourne and Ellis roads on Friday, June 30, 2023. 901 Bridgetown Pike, Middletown; 215-757-0571; buckscounty.gov This 175-acre lake at Core Creek Park is a popular site among kayakers, so if youre looking for a quiet moment out on the water, early mornings or before sunset on the weekdays is the ideal time to visit. Keep an eye out for the bald eagle nest on the eastern side of Woodbourne Road. Kayaks are available for rent on a first-come, first-serve basis from the Core Creek Park Boat Rental located at the end of Park Road. Additional launch points also include the fishing pier off Tollgate Road or the small gravel lot off Woodbourne and Ellis roads. Core Creek Park is county-owned, so a Bucks County launch permit is required for all boats. Lake Towhee, Haycock 800 Old Bethlehem Pike, Haycock; 215-757-0571; buckscounty.gov This 50-acre reservoir located within the 549-acre Lake Towhee County Park, which is known to attract outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy boating, fishing and birdwatching. Since it is a county-owned park, a Bucks County launch permit is required for all boats. Lake Nockamixon, Upper Bucks County A view of Lake Nockamixon from Mountain View Drive in Haycock on Thursday, June 29, 2023. Haycock Boat Launch, 2100-2162 Mountain View Drive, Quakertown; Three Mile Run, 2784 Three Mile Run Road, Perkasie; Adaptive Kayak Launch, 1818 Mountain View Drive, Haycock; dcnr.pa.gov Located in Nockamixon State Park, this 1,450-acre lake is the largest in the county, giving you plenty of room to explore. Haycock Boat Launch on the northern end of the lake and Three Mile Run Boat Access on the southern end are the most popular starting points among kayakers. Nockamixon Boat Rental, located near the parks visitor center, has kayaks and other watercraft available for rent on a first-come, first-serve basis. And an adaptive kayak launch designed for people with disabilities can be accessed from the Tohickon Boat Launch off Mountain View Drive. A Pennsylvania launch permit or boat registration is required. Neshaminy Creek via Tyler State Park, Newtown Kayak the Neshaminy Creek upstream and back from the boathouse area of Tyler State Park in Newtown Township. 101 Swamp Road, Newtown; 215-968-2021; dcnr.pa.gov For a nice 2-hour up and back paddle, check out a peaceful 1.4-mile section of the Neshaminy Creek between Tyler State Park and Schofield Ford Covered Bridge. The calm current makes for an easy paddle upstream with a slight boost to help you on your way back down. To get to the creek, follow the main park road to the right until it dead ends at the boathouse area. Rentals are available through Driftwood Water Adventures and can be reserved online. A Pennsylvania launch permit or boat registration is required. Falls Township Park Lake 9050 Mill Creek Road, Falls Township Non-powered boats, including kayaks and canoes, are welcome on this 67-acre manmade lake at Falls Township Community Park, which is home to several fish species and native plants. Rentals are available through Driftwood Water Adventures and can be reserved online. A launch permit is not required to use the lake. Silver Lake and Magnolia Lake, Bristol Township Geese float across Magnolia Lake in Bristol Township while a kayaker fishes in the distance on Friday, June 30, 2023. Silver Lake,1306 Bath Road, Bristol; Magnolia Lake,Lakeland Ave., Bristol; 215-757-0571; buckscounty.gov Silver Lake is covered with a lot of lily pads, called spatterdock, which can be beautiful to look at, but makes kayaking a bit of a challenge. However, if youre up for navigating around them, you can then paddle to Magnolia Lake through a creek that connects the two bodies of water. Once on Magnolia Lake, the larger of the two, there is a small island where you can stop off for a quick picnic. Launch points at Silver Lake include the main entrance off Bath Road and the 2nd Ave parking lot. Magnolia Lake can be accessed directly from Lakeland Avenue. A Bucks County launch permit is required for all boats. Kayak and lunch pairings in Bucks: Love kayaking in Bucks County? Five great spots to grab lunch on your way to the water Delaware River in Bucks County Lambertville on the Delaware river has been ranked in USA Todays 10Best small towns list. There are many ways to explore the Delaware River with all of its river islands and diverse wildlife. Here are just a few of the access points found along the Pennsylvania side in Bucks County: Durham off River Road at the Durham Furnace historic site (PA permit required) Upper Black Eddy just south of the Upper Black Eddy-Milford Bridge off River Road (PA permit required) Tinicum across from Tinicum Park off River Road (Bucks permit required) Point Pleasant at Prahls Island off River Road just north of Point Pleasant Pike ( Washington Crossing at Washington Crossing Historic Park on River Road(PA permit required) Yardley off River Road just south of the I-295 bridge (PA permit required) Bensalem off Station Avenue in the Andalusia section (Bucks permit required) Morrisville off River Road just north of the Calhoun Street Bridge Falls at Quaker Penn Park (daily or seasonal township launch permit required) New Hope fireworks schedule: Here's when to catch fireworks in New Hope this summer and the best places to watch This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers to kayak or canoe in Bucks County Dotdash Meredith and Yahoo Inc. may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Amazon / Credo Beauty / InStyle Anyone who knows me knows I love to travel. And I dont just mean your one-or-two-vacations-a-year kind of travelI mean the first time I boarded a plane by myself, I was eight years old, and I havent stopped since. Ive taken an entire year off to travel the world by myself, and Ive lived in Paris, Tokyo, Vienna, London, Bali, and Lisbon for two months to a year each. I certainly got it from my mama and papa, who backpacked the world together and are now living their best retired lives in Hawaii (with plans to go to Greece, Tokyo, Austria, France, and Hong Kong just this year alone!). But, as big as travel is in my family, there was one thing my parents could never help me out with: nail the perfect in-flight skincare routine. Pimples, excess oil, and chapped lips always welcome themselves onto my face while Im 35,000 feet in the air. Whats more, my under eyes darken dramatically. By the time I deboard, I look like a vampire who hasnt slept for 10 nights. Ive tried countless skincare practices to figure out how to avoid this problem, and finally, at 29 and roughly 2,000 hours of flight time later, I discovered the best travel skincare staples. In short, less is certainly more. InStyle / Bianca Kratky 5 Editor-Approved Travel Beauty Essentials To set the scene, I have rather normal skin that tends to get very oily skin in the air. I get hormonal acne and my face bloats with higher intakes of sugar, so I always fly with no makeup on, and right before I leave the house I make sure to wash my face with a good cleanser. Keeping the liquid travel restrictions in mind (ahem, 3.4 ounces), I pack the below skincare items into my carry-on to ensure I look as refreshed as possible by the time I get to my destination. Teenitor Oil Absorbing Sheets Amazon $10 at Amazon A lifesaver for oily girls, this blotting paper from Teenitor makes all the difference in preventing breakouts. The tiny package takes up little to no space (or weight) in my purse, and can easily be pulled out while in the window seat. Whenever I notice myself getting excessively shiny, I pull out another sheet of paper and blot away. Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask Amazon $49 at Amazon I dont know how they did it, but this Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask is everything. While other moisturizers that work well on land only make me break out on flights, this one does not. Its moisturizing without feeling too wet or oily. It hydrates and brings my skin to its ideal state and has a slightly mattifying effect, lasting the entire flight. The fact that its scentless makes it more comfortable to apply in a crowded plane as well. Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks Dermstore $26 at howl.me As carefree as I try to be, Im a little embarrassed to be putting on an entire face mask while bumping arms with my neighbor. Little under-eye masks, however, I can do. Its also my area of concern, and these Wander Gold Eye Masks do a great job of depuffing this sensitive area. While I dont notice them making my under-eyes brighter, they certainly keep them from getting darker while flying. Grown Alchemist Anti-Bacterial Hand Cream Credo $24 at howl.me My face gets oily in flight, but my hands get as dry as ever. I always keep hand cream in my purse to avoid them shriveling up and cracking. I love this option from Grown Alchemist because it has antibacterial properties, which is always appreciated in a packed plane. Blistex Lip Medex Amazon $9 at Amazon Lips also get very painfully dry while on the go, and believe me when I say there is no better chapstick than this one from Blistex (the one skincare wisdom my mom actually did hand down). I love how plump, healthy, and moisturized it makes my lips look, despite drinking far too little water on the flight (you know, to avoid too many trips to the bathroom). Word of advice: Remember that the recycled air in the plane is incredibly drying, and everyones skin reacts differently to it. With all the bacteria, shared air, not to mention a discombobulating altitude, its important to cleanse, moisturize, and hydrate as much as possible for optimal skin conditions. For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on InStyle. Look Rock has long been a place to get away from it all. Constructed in 1967, Look Rock Tower offers panoramic views of the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee Valley and Cumberland Plateau. It also serves as an air quality monitoring site and holds park radio system equipment. After several years of closure due to lack of funding, Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently opened new, improved versions of the Look Rock campground and picnic area. And just in the nick of time. Located on the Foothills Parkway West, this off-the-beaten path area of the national park offers welcome reprieve from busier places like Cades Cove and Clingmans Dome. Improvements to the campground and picnic area include power and water hookups, new tables and fire rings, and better accessibility for people with disabilities. The facilites at Look Rock and the Foothills Parkway were conceived some 70 years ago when people had already started griping that our national parks were overcrowded and underfunded. The National Park Service now refers to this period as The Poverty Years, and the reasons for the funding drought were obvious: During World War II, the United States government diverted the bulk of its spending toward the war effort. When World War II ended in 1945, Americans celebrated by hitting the road like never before. Gas was cheap, and industrialization and the booming economy allowed more and more families to own one of the eras big, bulbous automobiles. People wanted to see the snowcapped mountain peaks and red rock canyons that beckoned in magazines. Americas national parks were not ready for the onslaught. The country was deeply in debt after the war Congress kept a tight leash on domestic spending and cuts to parks remained. Meanwhile, in the Smokies, visitation surged from 534,000 in 1944 to 2.5 million in 1954. Nationwide, the flood of park visitors was even more overwhelming, increasing from 7.7 million to 48 million. In the media, the park service, and in Washington, D.C., people were concerned Americans were loving our parks to death. On Jan. 27, 1956, NPS Director Conrad Wirth stood before President Dwight Eisenhower and his cabinet to propose a big, bold and expensive 10-year plan to meet the needs of the mushrooming numbers of visitors to national parks. Wirths key goals were to break up traffic jams, upgrade visitor services, enhance park protection and offer better housing to boost staff morale. The effort, dubbed Mission 66, would begin immediately and conclude in time for the park services 50th anniversary in 1966. Back in the Smokies, local citizen groups and park officials were likewise bemoaning the tsunami of visitors and paucity of rangers, naturalists, campgrounds and visitor centers. They wanted to ease congestion with major improvements to Newfound Gap Road and a bypass road around Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Officials expressed concern that over 3,000 people a day were crowding into the tiny Oconaluftee museum, located in the lobby of the administrative building, and that visitors suffered traffic jams, bumper to bumper travel and mental conditions not conducive to the appreciation of park values. Mission 66 granted many, though not all, of the parks wishes. The park got Sugarlands Visitor Center, but Oconaluftee would have to wait until 2011, when Smokies Life (then Great Smoky Mountains Association) funded construction of a new building. Clingmans Dome tower was replaced, Mingus Mill restored, and new staff housing added at Oconaluftee, park headquarters, Elkmont and elsewhere. Additional rangers and maintenance workers were hired, and a section of the Foothills Parkway, which included the campground, tower and picnic area at Look Rock, was built. The Walland-to-Look Rock section of the Foothills Parkway opened to a line of waiting vehicles at 8 a.m. on Sept. 3, 1965, and the Look Rock campground and picnic area opened the following day. The parkway, campground and picnic area were constructed with funds from the Mission 66 effort to improve park infrastructure around the 50th anniversary of the NPS. The Walland-to-Look Rock section of the Foothills Parkway opened to a line of waiting vehicles at 8 a.m. on Sept. 3, 1965. Other than The Spur connecting Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, it was the first section of the parkway to be completed. The Look Rock campground and picnic area opened the following day and were reported to be full for the Labor Day weekend. The trail and observation tower at Look Rock were finished in 1967. The Foothills Parkway and Look Rock facilities fit the Mission 66 goal of improving traffic circulation in the heart of the park. They were also congruent with another growing concern during the period: shunting visitors away from the parks wilderness core and encouraging infrastructure development and visitor use along the fringes. In other words, if visitors were enjoying beautiful views of the Smokies from the Foothills Parkway, they wouldnt be stuck in traffic at Cades Cove or Clingmans Dome. One of the more interesting geological features along Chilhowee Mountain and the Foothills Parkway is Walland Gap. The gap is a classic Appalachian "water gap" formed when the Little River carved a gorge on a former upland as the region was uplifted in the Miocene roughly five million years ago. The bulk of the upland eroded away, leaving the resistant sandstone ridge known as Chilhowee Mountain. Today, the river appears to have sliced the mountain almost perfectly in half. Look Rock had been a popular place to enjoy views of the Smokies and the Great Valley of East Tennessee long before the observation tower was constructed in 1967. Guests from the Montvale Springs Hotel, at the base of Chilhowee Mountain, frequently made the ritual three-mile hike over primitive trails to the 2,657-foot vantage point. The hotel dated back to 1832, when its abundant sulfuric spring waters were touted as fountains of youth and health, and it attracted an eclectic mix of celebrities before burning down in 1933. Afterward, the Look Rock area was left to loggers, hunters, livestock herders and seasonal fire lookouts until its revival as a tourist destination with the opening of Foothills Parkway West. Mist and varied shades of green stretch as far as the eye can see from the western section of the Foothills Parkway near Look Rock. Wildflowers and blooming rhododendrons can often be found lingering for weeks longer at higher elevations as spring proceeds from the lowlands to the ridgetops. More: Word from the Smokies: Park It Forward puts first year of parking tag proceeds to work More: Word from the Smokies: New database contributes to study of George Masas photography Look Rocks famous views, especially at sunrise and sunset, and during fall color season, continued to make it a popular destination with both locals and the traveling publc. However, in 2013, during another lean period for federal budgets known as sequestration, the NPS closed the Look Rock campground and picnic area, along with Abrams Creek and Balsam Mountain campgrounds, citing the need for extensive upgrades to its water system. In late 2018, the tide began to change when the NPS opened a long-awaited 16-mile section of the Foothills Parkway between Wears Valley and Walland. Combined, the old and new sections now formed a 33-mile ridgetop drive void of billboards, traffic lights, utility lines and commercial traffic but loaded with 80-mile views and the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. At the opening, Superintendent Cassius Cash called the Foothills Parkway one of the most scenic drives in America. Look Rock Tower Trail winds roughly a mile roundtrip through dense hardwood forest from Foothills Parkway West to an observation tower with panoramic views. It is one of only a few completely paved trails in the Smokies and generally suitable for most hikers, though it does include some steep inclines. Afterward, the NPS began shifting about for funding to reopen Look Rock. Between monies from park partner Friends of the Smokies, park fees, and federal matching grants, the park service was able to reopen Look Rock Picnic Area in 2019 and Look Rock Campground in 2022. Funding from the Great American Outdoors Act allowed the NPS to repave the entire 17-mile Walland-to-Chilhowee Lake section of the parkway. Look Rock Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park was reopened in late 2022 with funds provided by park partner Friends of the Smokies, park fees and federal matching grants. Ten sites were renovated to accommodate larger RVs with electrical and water hookups a first in the national park. The park is thrilled to have campers back at Look Rock, said Barbara Hatcher, the parks chief of facility management. The area offers a grand display of fall colors and showcases Mother Nature at her finest. There was another impetus for reopening Look Rock: While the campground and picnic area were closed, visitation to the park spiked by around 40%. The overcrowding in the core area of the national park prophesied during the Mission 66 years when annual visitation to the Smokies was 2.9 million compared to todays 13.3 million had come to pass. Currently, safety valves like the Foothills Parkway are increasingly valuable for visitors looking to dodge the traffic and crowds. Look Rock provides opportunities for less crowding and a little more secluded campsites, Hatcher said. More: Word from the Smokies: What happens when we relocate box turtles? More: Word from the Smokies: Inaugural Daisy Town Day shows Elkmont is not a ghost town Trees like blackgum, dogwood, buckeye and tuliptree begin turning in mid-September on the Foothills Parkway. Oaks continue to show good color well into November. In between, maples and other stars of the fall color season can be seen on the parkway or on distant ridges from Look Rocks scenic viewpoints and observation tower. Many improvements were bestowed upon Look Rock prior to its reopening, including power and water hookups for 10 recreational vehicle sites making it the first campground in the Smokies to offer such amenities. All the campgrounds waterlines were replaced, and most power lines buried. The campground now includes accessible restrooms and picnic tables for people using wheelchairs. We are getting ready to convert a couple of tent sites to meet accessibility standards, Hatcher said, adding that the trees provide a lot of shade and privacy. At 2,657 feet of elevation atop 35-mile-long Chilhowee Mountain, with its cool summer breezes and a press box view of the Smokies, Look Rock is a beautiful place to hike, picnic, sunrise or camp. The observation tower is open year-round unless the parkway is closed because of weather. The campground and picnic area, 18 miles southwest of Townsend, Tennessee, on the Foothills Parkway West, are open from late April through late October. Learn more at recreation.gov. Steve Kemp Steve Kemp is the former interpretive products and services director for Great Smoky Mountains Association, which rebranded this year as Smokies Life. It supports the scientific, historical and interpretive activities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services such as this column. Learn more at SmokiesLife.org This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Word from the Smokies: Look Rock campground offers grand views Separated by an ocean and a war, the two fathers have never met, but are now speaking with each other as often as possible, sometimes several times a day, bonded by love for their daughters. Simon Frost is a real-estate developer in Washington, D.C., while Amjad Abu Zaiter is a former taxi driver from northern Gaza who has twice in the last seven months had to move his family during Israel's war with Hamas. Both have young daughters who share the same, rare neurological disease, called Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC), which can cause seizures, temporary episodes of paralysis and difficulty breathing, according to the NIH National Library of Medicine. PHOTO: Simon Frost, a real estate developer in Washington, DC, with his daughter Annabel who has a rare neurological disease called Alternating hemiplegia of childhood or AHC. (Courtesy Frost Familly) Symptoms of AHC can be made worse through stress and increased stimuli, such as bright lights or loud noises -- what you could experience in a war zone. MORE: Israel-Gaza live updates Frost said he first started communicating directly with Abu Zaiter only about a month ago, after connecting on social media, but has since been working around the clock, several hours a day, to help him any way he can. PHOTO: Amjad Abu Zaiter with his family evacuating Rafah in Southern Gaza, his daughter Julia, in her mother's arms. (Amjad Abu Zaiter) The two have been communicating mostly through WhatApp text messages with the help of online translations between Arabic and English as well as Facebook Messenger. "I found out Julia was in trouble," Frost said over the phone, referring to Abu Zaiter's daughter. "I understand what they're going through." 'How difficult it will be to keep her alive' Frost explained that, even under the best circumstances, with all the comforts of living in a wealthy neighborhood in the nation's capital -- close to some of the best doctors in the world -- his own daughter, Annabel, still struggles. At 8 years old, Annabel has a hard time walking and talking. She has an aide with her at school. A few times a week, Annabel has episodes of reduced consciousness, which her father describes as similar to seizures. During those episodes, her family or caregiver rushes her to a dark room to administer medication and hope it passes. PHOTO: According to her father, Annabel Frost, age 8, still gets episodes of reduced consciousness. The family has started their own foundation working to find treatments and therapies for the disease. (Courtesy Frost Family) "So, I can imagine myself in a war zone with my little one, and how difficult it will be to keep her alive. The accounts I have heard from Amjad have been terrifying," Frost said, explaining why he is working so hard to help a family a world away. Using his own strong connections throughout Washington, pleading with global nonprofits and pushing U.S. government agencies, Frost has helped secure life-saving medications for Julia and is working to get her out of Gaza. Two weeks ago, one the organizations Frost has been in touch with, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), was able to facilitate getting Abu Zaiter all five medications Julia requires. She is only three-and-a-half years old and, according to Frost, has a different genetic mutation with more severe symptoms of the disease than even his daughter. MORE: American doctors uncertain how they will leave Gaza: A day in their life Speaking to ABC News over the phone from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, Abu Zaiter described how Julia's symptoms have been worse since the war began. He explained how his daughter used to experience episodes of paralysis once every few weeks, normally impacting one side of her body or the other but lasting less than a day. Since the conflict began, however, the family has had limited access to medicine and food. The living conditions as well as the constant stress and noise of the violence, had left Julia in a state of almost total paralysis for months. Abu Zaiter sent a video of her seemingly completely limp in a stroller outside a tent where they family had taken refuge. The medicine they received recently, though, helped Julia regain control of her limbs. Abu Zaiter said she is still experiencing some seizures, but he sent a new photo from this week that shows her in her mother's arms and seeming to wave to the camera. 'Unimaginable circumstances' Back in Washington, Frost and his wife have invested significant resources in finding new treatments for the disease, even starting their own family foundation. They had long been members of a Facebook group dedicated to families affected by AHC. Frost described it as a "tight-knit" community and, through the group, he got connected with Abu Zaiter, who himself was online looking for any help for Julia. "It is painful to see this happening to somebody in my same situation, but unimaginable circumstances," he added. "Somebody that is so vulnerable, in such a desperate situation, without food or medicines or doctors or hospitals available -- things we take as necessities over here. It has given me a new perspective." Beyond medication to keep her stable, Frost and Abu Zaiter hope get Julia evacuated out of Gaza altogether. They had put together a plan to move her from Egypt to the United Arab Emirates, with the the help of PCRF and other nonprofits such as Anera, but they said the last few weeks had been in a bit of a holding pattern. They said border officials and Palestinian partners told them that only Julia and her sister, who is 5 years old, were cleared to travel out of Gaza, but neither of their parents. Frost said he heard conflicting reports about whether Julia's parents were rejected or just not yet approved. But with the children so young and Julia's condition, leaving without at least one parent was not an option. Then, they said, came an even bigger roadblock. Earlier this month, the Israeli government seized control of and closed the Rafah border crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt, trapping inside even those who had been cleared to leave and cutting off a major route for crucial aid to get into the war zone. PHOTO: Julia Abu Zaiter has a rare neurological disease with symptoms made worse by limited access to food and water and stimulus from the war. (Amjad Abu Zaiter ) "With the Rafah border closed, there are no, absolutely no medications, no aid, no people going in or out, because the Israeli army has completely seized the Rafah border. And so, we're trying our best to still find medications Julia is in need of and other children that are in need of, but we're running very low on all supplies," Tareq Hailat, the Treatment Abroad Coordinator for the PCRF and a medical student in South Carolina, told ABC News over the phone. MORE: Humanitarian workers, doctors describe 'horrific' situation in Rafah as Israel intensifies strikes Like so many Palestinians in Gaza, Julia's family fled their home in the north at the start of the conflict and had taken refuge in the southern city of Rafah, but with Israeli troops marching south they were forced this week to flee again. President Joe Biden and the White House have urged Israel not to carry out a large-scale, military ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza and to reopen the border, but Israel has kept the crossing closed and instead ordered a massive evacuation of the city. Getting Julia out of Rafah Hailat, whose mother is Palestinian, explained that his organization worked to secure the Abu Zaiter family a tent in a designated safe zone, but had to convince them to leave Rafah. Safe zones have been hit with airstrikes in the past and the move itself felt daunting with Julia unable to walk on her own. The family had a stroller and a car, but still with hundreds of thousands also forced to evacuate Rafah in the last few days, Abu Zaiter said they had to physically carry Julia for much of the miles-long journey. "He knows that he's in a danger zone, but he's scared to leave," Hailat spoke of talking with Julia's father the day before the family did leave Rafah. "And they have drinking water. So, he's scared that if they were to move, to leave, there would be no drinking water." On Wednesday, the Abu Zaiter family with Julia made it to the new tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and were able to communicate again to their friends in the U.S. PHOTO: Julia Abu Zaiter, a Gaza girl with a disease called Alternating hemiplegia of childhood able to enjoy music at a children's event after receiving life-saving medicine. (Amjad Abu Zaiter ) "We are a peaceful people. We hate war. All my life has been war. My children are traumatized. They grew up just hearing shelling and gunshots, and all I want to do is leave and get medical treatment for my child," Abu Zaiter, 31, said on the phone through a translator. "I hope they can pressure them and stand by us and help us, so that she gets the medical treatment that she deserves." Frost is still pushing for an in-person meeting with U.S. officials and hopes to have a medical evacuation ready and in place should the Rafah border be opened. He has been in touch with AHC specialists around the world too, trying to get advice to Abu Zaiter. Research and medical groups dedicating to fighting AHC have started funds in Julia's name and made videos telling her story and the difficulties she has faced during the war. "The biggest problem out of all of this is that these are just children. I mean, no matter what political aisle you're on, wherever you fall on your political ideology, these are just children. They have nothing to do with that. This is just a humanitarian crisis. It's just children that are put in these difficult circumstances due to decisions that are made beyond their control," Hailat said. 1 American man's fight to save a girl in Gaza he's never met originally appeared on abcnews.go.com I have clear memories of standing behind my mother in clothes stores when I was a kid, waiting for her to finish finding me the right size in a sweater, or the right color in a t-shirt. Im guessing you have too. I remember the sound of her scraping the hangers back one by one on metal rails, quickly inspecting and then discarding each item. I would stand, mostly quite bored, waiting for this task to be completed on my behalf. I didnt know how lucky I was. The classic steely determination of a mother getting stuff done. Those memories came back to me this morning at an evacuation point in Kharkiv, as I came across Olena and her 12-year-old son Maxim. PHOTO: ABC News' James Longman talks to a Ukrainian mother in Kharkiv. (ABC News) He was standing obediently by with a lollipop in his mouth, watching our camera with interest. They were not in a warm department store with the promise of a home to go back to. Olena was instead rifling through boxes of donated clothes and shoes, asking her relatively unbothered son if he liked this shoe or that shirt. Theres something extraordinarily powerful about a mother on a mission for her child. We watched as she went methodically from box to box out in the yard at a Kharkiv community center. She said Her family had to flee Vovovchansk -- a town north of Kharkiv -- with literally only the clothes on their backs. By many accounts, it is being levelled by the Russian onslaught. It was horrific, she tells me. We had almost no time to get out. They saw incendiary bombs and described a kind of liquid that would cover a building and then explode in flames. PHOTO: ABC News' James Longman talks to a Ukrainian mother in Kharkiv. (ABC News) There is a parallel here with the events in early 2022, when Russian troops tried to make it to Kyiv. Thousands were displaced. Many -- as we saw in Bucha and Irpin -- did not make it. The tragedy here is that these towns and villages had already been liberated by the earlier Russian advance. Ukraine had pushed them out. Some say they thought they were safe. They were wrong. They blame this reversal of fortunes on the lack of weaponry needed to keep this region protected. Like so many Ukrainians we meet, Olena describes her hardship and then shrugs, returning to her task. She has found a sneaker that fits Maxim but must now find its pair. A Ukrainian mother's mission to save her child: Reporter's notebook originally appeared on abcnews.go.com GAZA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 28 people were killed in Israeli continuous raids in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources updated on Saturday. Kamal Odwan Hospital, the only operative hospital in northern Gaza, issued a statement saying that it received at least 28 bodies since Saturday morning, most of whom were children and women. Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes fired missiles at residential homes and a shelter center for displaced people in Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza. The raids caused large explosions in the camp, which had been witnessing a military operation for several days, while ambulances and civil defense crews rushed to the sites of the attacks. The developments come as the Israeli army continues its operations in the camp for seven days in a row, using aerial and artillery bombardment, according to local sources and eyewitnesses. Kamal Odwan Hospital Director Hossam Abu Safiya warned of the lack of medical supplies in his hospital, calling on the international community to provide fuel and health supplies. Armed Palestinian factions in Gaza announced in separate statements that their members were fighting "fierce battles" with the Israeli army forces penetrating the Jabalia camp. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Saturday that their troops engaged and eliminated "terrorists" in a number of battles in Jabalia, having dismantled a loaded rocket launcher, located several terror tunnel shafts, and located weapons and explosive devices in the area. $10,000 reward offered for arrest of last suspect in metro Atlanta 11-year-olds murder Two of three suspects in the murder of an 11-year-old boy in Paulding County have been arrested. Deputies are hoping a large reward will help them capture the last one. Zander Whatley of Douglasville was shot and killed the night of April 29 in his home when someone opened fire on the house on Ruth Way. His family held his funeral last weekend. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Investigators are still searching for Al-Hamid Ibrahim Kuyateh, 19. He is considered armed and dangerous. Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta is now offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Kuyateh. Earlier this week, the sheriffs office announced that Osman Sesay Jr., 18, was arrested in Charlotte, N.C. on May 11 after a traffic stop and Nazier Lloyd Anderson, 19, turned himself in at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. RELATED STORIES: Whatleys father told Channel 2s Audrey Washington that on the night of the shooting, a group of teenagers who had a problem with one of his other children pulled up to the house and opened fire. Everyone survived but the 11-year-old. He was a great little kid, man, his father said. Something that happened to someone that shouldnt have even happened. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa Members of the German climate activist group Last Generation breached Munich Airport's tarmac and glued themselves to a taxiway, disrupting travel for more than 100,000 by forcing the airport to temporarily close on a busy holiday weekend. The airport in southern Germany, the nation's second largest, shut down completely at 5:19 am (0319 GMT) and remained so for nearly two hours, Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said (CSU). The airport association said more than 100,000 passengers were affected. Several aircraft had to be diverted to other airports. An aircraft with an emergency patient on board was only able to land 20 minutes late as a result, authorities said. The new protest action triggered a wave of criticism from politicians. "This was yet another absolutely brainless action by climate chaotic people. Interfering with air traffic with such blockades - and at the start of the travelling season - is not only reckless, but also potentially endangers the lives of many people," said Hermann, from the conservative Bavarian CSU party. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, writing on X, said, "Such criminal actions jeopardize air traffic and harm climate protection because they only provoke incomprehension and anger." She called for the perpetrators to be "prosecuted and the protective measures at the airport must be reviewed." Transport Minister Volker Wissing said: "This is not a legitimate protest, but a targeted intervention in air traffic." He said people are at risk if air traffic isn't safe and it also risks economic damage. He called for the Aviation Security Act "to be tightened." Airport Association (ADV) Managing Director Ralph Beisel called for tougher criminal penalties. The airport was initially closed for security reasons, airport officials and the federal police said. After about two hours, one of the two runways was reopened, followed by the second runway around an hour later. Around 1,000 take-offs and landings were planned in Munich on Saturday, an airport spokesman said. Due to the tight timing of flights, delays continue even when runways are reopened. Passengers flying out of the airport on Saturday should check with their airline he recommended. The Last Generation reported on X that six people sat down in groups of two at different locations at the Munich Airport. Numerous police officers and firefighters were on site to remove the activists. According to Herrman, the six activists, as well as two others who had not made it onto the tarmac, were detained. They are being investigated and could face prison sentences. The climate activists cut the security fence in four places at the same time and eight tried to enter the site simultaneously from the four different points, a spokesman for the federal police said. Munich Airport had expected a large number of holidaymakers, with a total of around 350,000 passengers expected from Friday to Sunday. The airport were to handle 2,860 flights during this period. Overall, 7% more flights were registered during the Whitsun holidays, the second major travel wave of the year after Easter, than in the previous year, the airport reported before the start of the holiday. Many countries, including Germany, have a holiday on the day after Pentecost Sunday, or Whitsun, which marks 50 days after Easter. Last Generation said it specifically wanted to disrupt the start of the holiday weekend. The group wants politicians to take more decisive action in the face of climate change. It announced at the end of January that it would refrain from road blockades and focus on "places of fossil destruction" - airports were explicitly mentioned. It has conducted similiar actions at German airports in the past. Air traffic accounts for almost 10% of Germany's responsibility for global warming. The airline industry is subsidized by the state by waiving paraffin tax and VAT, the activists criticized. Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa Members of the German climate activist group Last Generation breached Munich Airport's tarmac and glued themselves to a taxiway, disrupting travel for more than 100,000 passengers by forcing the airport to temporarily close on a busy holiday weekend. The airport in southern Germany, the nation's second largest, shut down completely at 5:19 am (0319 GMT) and remained so for nearly two hours, Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said (CSU). The airport association said more than 100,000 passengers were affected. Several aircraft had to be diverted to other airports. An aircraft with an emergency patient on board was only able to land 20 minutes late as a result, authorities said. Officials said that 60 flights at the airport were cancelled on Saturday following the protest action that shut down the airport for nearly two hours. The terminals in Munich had been very full, as it was a holiday weekend, airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm told dpa. The new protest action triggered a wave of criticism from politicians. "This was yet another absolutely brainless action by climate chaotic people. Interfering with air traffic with such blockades - and at the start of the travelling season - is not only reckless, but also potentially endangers the lives of many people," said Hermann, from the conservative Bavarian CSU party. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, writing on X, said, "Such criminal actions jeopardize air traffic and harm climate protection because they only provoke incomprehension and anger." She called for the perpetrators to be "prosecuted and the protective measures at the airport must be reviewed." Transport Minister Volker Wissing said: "This is not a legitimate protest, but a targeted intervention in air traffic." He said people are at risk if air traffic isn't safe and it also risks economic damage. He called for the Aviation Security Act "to be tightened." Airport Association (ADV) Managing Director Ralph Beisel called for tougher criminal penalties. The airport was initially closed for security reasons, airport officials and the federal police said. After about two hours, one of the two runways was reopened, followed by the second runway around an hour later. Around 1,000 take-offs and landings were planned in Munich on Saturday, an airport spokesman said. Due to the tight timing of flights, delays continue even when runways are reopened. Passengers flying out of the airport on Saturday should check with their airline he recommended. The Last Generation reported on X that six people sat down in groups of two at different locations at the Munich Airport. Numerous police officers and firefighters were on site to remove the activists. According to Herrman, the six activists, as well as two others who had not made it onto the tarmac, were detained. They are being investigated and could face prison sentences. The climate activists cut the security fence in four places at the same time and eight tried to enter the site simultaneously from the four different points, a spokesman for the federal police said. Munich Airport had expected a large number of holidaymakers, with a total of around 350,000 passengers expected from Friday to Sunday. The airport were to handle 2,860 flights during this period. Overall, 7% more flights were registered during the Whitsun holidays, the second major travel wave of the year after Easter, than in the previous year, the airport reported before the start of the holiday. Many countries, including Germany, have a holiday on the day after Pentecost Sunday, or Whitsun, which marks 50 days after Easter. Last Generation said it specifically wanted to disrupt the start of the holiday weekend. The group wants politicians to take more decisive action in the face of climate change. It announced at the end of January that it would refrain from road blockades and focus on "places of fossil destruction" - airports were explicitly mentioned. It has conducted similiar actions at German airports in the past. Air traffic accounts for almost 10% of Germany's responsibility for global warming. The airline industry is subsidized by the state by waiving paraffin tax and VAT, the activists criticized. Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. Climate protection activists paralysed Munich Airport early 18 May. The activists had reached the inner area of the airport grounds. According to their own statements, members of the 'Last Generation' activism group had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa An 18-year-old has been arrested after 5 pounds of marijuana were seized at a traffic stop earlier this month, according to the Ashe County Sheriffs Office. On May 7, a deputy patrolling the area of Jefferson noticed a vehicle that was making several traffic violations. That deputy then conducted a traffic stop and learned that Joshua Cordoba was driving on an indefinitely suspended license. A search of the vehicle unveiled three concealed handguns, a large sum of money, over 5 pounds of marijuana, a baggie containing mushrooms, and several drug paraphernalia items. ALSO READ: Proposal to reschedule marijuana could bring changes Cordoba was then arrested and charged with felony possession of a Schedule. VI controlled substance, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver marijuana, felony possession of a Schedule I controlled substance, felony possession of a controlled substance with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver a Schedule I controlled substance, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, carrying a concealed gun while driving with a revoked license, resisting a public officer, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Ashe County Detention Center before being released under a $40,000 secured bond. VIDEO: Proposal to reschedule marijuana could bring changes MEMPHIS, Tenn. An 18-year-old has been charged in a string of aggravated assaults and auto burglaries across Shelby County on April 16 and 17. RShunio Greer was identified by a Shelby County Sheriffs Office task force as one of three to four suspects who were pulling up to homes in a stolen car and burglarizing vehicles while pointing weapons at the houses. Car taken at gunpoint from East Memphis restaurant Greer was arrested Friday after law enforcement agencies including the ATF and the Metro Gang Unit served a search warrant in the 1200 block of Quail Ridge Lane near the Memphis airport. Detectives say they found six firearms including a Glock with an automatic switch, plus four key programmers and drugs. Greer is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, theft of property $60,000-250,000, motor vehicle burglary, six counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a machine gun, drugs and key programmers. The incidents happened in both the north and south ends of the county, the sheriffs office said. MPD: Package thief caught red-handed downtown According to court information, Greer was caught after he and several other suspects allegedly stole a Corvette from a house on Woodstock Cuba Road in north Shelby County on April 17. Two teenage girls told police they looked out the window when they heard a commotion, and saw three or four suspects pointing guns at them as the suspects got into their fathers Corvette. The stolen vehicle was found in the backyard of a house on Clarendon Road. Police were given a cell phone number for a phone in Greers possession, and an investigation found that cell phone was in the area of the theft. This story has been updated to add Greers mugshot and information about one of the alleged crimes. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Dallas and Fort Worth mayors, chambers of commerce leaders, local Anglo and Latino citizens, and a municipal band waited eagerly at the Fort Worth T&P station on Oct. 16, 1920, at 7 a.m. for their special guest. After the train pulled to a stop at 7:17 a.m., they searched the Pullman cars, only to discover Mexicos president-elect, Alvaro Obregon, and his party had alighted, standing in the station sheds. Over 100 of Fort Worths Mexican residents patted him on the back and shouted, Viva Mexico! Viva Obregon! So began the newly elected Mexican presidents goodwill trip to North Texas for purposes of cultivating commercial and political relationships with the United States. The future Mexican president, Gen. Alvaro Obregon, right, and Andres Garcia, Mexican Consul in El Paso, pose for a photo in 1916 during the Mexican Revolution. After 10 years of the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans were exhausted from deaths, economic ruin and governmental collapse. Obregon sought to convince the U.S. business community and government that his administration would bring peace, stability, education, democracy and jobs to Mexico. He welcomed investments and commercial trade that would profit Mexican and U.S. businesses. Fort Worth and Dallas chamber leaders competed for Obregons time, aware the president-elect and his party were expected in Dallas on Oct. 16 to attend the 34th annual State Fair of Texas. For the first time, the State Fair declared Oct. 16 and 17 International Days, specifically tailored to their Mexican guests. Fort Worth chamber leaders invited Obregon to return the next day. After the band played Mexican and U.S. national anthems, Obregon and his party got into cars with Dallas Mayor Frank Wozencraft and chamber leaders to drive to Dallas, where they were welcomed by Gov. William P. Hobby and more dignitaries at the Adolphus Hotel. A headline in the Fort Worth Record on Saturday, Oct. 16, 1920, reporting on Mexicos president-elect, Gen. Alvaro Obregon, coming to the city. After breakfast, they motor-paraded with a police motorcycle escort to the State Fair where they heard the 117-piece Estado Mayor band from Mexico City strike lively tunes. Surrounded by police, plain-clothes detectives and Secret Service agents, Obregon and his host convened in the coliseum where warm greetings were exchanged to a large crowd including Mexican residents. Mexican Consul Roberto Garcia praised the United States and encouraged fairgoers to witness the beauty and industry of Mexico as exemplified in their exhibit. It consisted of 12,500 pieces, costing $10 million. The audience would have noticed the 40-year-old president-elects empty right sleeve. In the victorious Battle of Trinidad against Pancho Villas forces, Obregon lost it from an artillery strike, offering dramatic proof how the farmer-turned-revolutionary risked all for his country. Mayor Wozencraft told Obregon there were now only two great soldiers, and those two had never suffered defeat: Gens. John Pershing and Obregon. After 10 years of shifting alliances, political intrigue and bloody fighting, Obregon emerged as the champion of the Mexican people. However, enemies still lurked. On Friday, Oct. 15, 1920, Consul Garcia informed Dallas Police Chief J.W. Ryan that he learned that two men had arrived from Los Angeles to assassinate Obregon. Ryan assigned bodyguards, set up security headquarters at the Adolphus, and directed detectives to find the culprits. When informed, a calm Obregon said, If they are going to assassinate me, I would just as soon have it happen in Fort Worth as any place I know. On a car tour of Dallas, the party stopped at the Mexican Park on McKinney Avenue to allow Obregon to address 2,000 Mexican residents. To shouts of Viva Obregon, he encouraged his paisanos to return to the motherland and make a great and powerful Mexico . . . We will no longer be forced to blush when we say we are Mexicans. The next morning, he returned to Fort Worth where he was honored with a luncheon at the Metropolitan Hotel. Toastmaster Louis J. Wortham compared their guest to Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. He added that Fort Worth considered their guests as citizens and neighbors. Obregon responded through an interpreter that their countries different religions and languages cannot act as barriers in a true friendship. He later spoke to Fort Worth Mexican residents outside the hotel. Fort Worth detectives watched the crowds and Mexican neighborhoods for suspicious characters. Cowtown officials had sought to bring the Estado Mayor band to perform on the county courthouse grounds but were denied by State Fair officials based on contractual agreements. The Fort Worth Star-Telegrams coverage of Gen. Alvaro Obregon, president-elect of Mexico, visiting the city on Sunday, Oct. 17, 1920 After an auto tour of Swift & Co. meatpacking plants and neighborhoods, his Fort Worth hosts returned Obregons party to the T&P station to board the Sunshine Special bound for El Paso. The Special stopped in Ranger, where 2,500 residents including 500 Mexicans greeted Obregon and heard him give a 10-minute speech. In Mexico City, he laughed about the alleged assassination plot in North Texas. After serving as president from 1920 to 1924, working to fulfill his promises for Mexicos recovery and securing U.S. recognition of his government, he retired to his farm business in Sonora. He was elected president again in 1928, as a result of congressional repeal of term limits. On July 17, 1928, Obregon was assassinated outside Mexico City by Jose Leon Toral, a zealot Catholic, because of the presidents anti-clerical role in Mexicos Cristero War, 1926-1929. Some 90,000 Mexicans died in the religious conflict, and an estimated 250,000 fled to the United States. Author Richard J. Gonzales writes and speaks about Fort Worth, national and international Latino history. Two people, including a Los Angeles County resident, were arrested for allegedly laundering over $73 million through cryptocurrency scams. The suspects were identified as Yicheng Zhang, 38, from Temple City and Daren Li, 41, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. The pair is accused of playing leading roles in managing an international syndicate that laundered money from cryptocurrency investment scams, also known as pig butchering. Pig-butchering involves scammers establishing trust with a victim before convincing them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme, federal officials explained. Often the victim is enticed to make additional payments before realizing they are a victim of fraud. The butchering or slaughtering occurs once the victims assets, or funds, are stolen by the criminal. Perpetrators behind these schemes are often located overseas. Victims of Li and Zhang were convinced to transfer millions of dollars into U.S. bank accounts that were opened using the names of shell companies, authorities said. Those companies sole purpose was to help launder fraud proceeds. Once the victims sent money to the shell companies, the pair monitored the lower-level co-conspirators who transferred the funds overseas into bank accounts at Deltec Bank in The Bahamas, court documents said. Funds were also transferred to other domestic and foreign accounts along with cryptocurrency platforms to conceal the moneys original source. Through this scheme, the duo allegedly laundered over $73 million. The money was then converted into the cryptocurrency USDT, or Tether and sent to virtual asset wallets. One cryptocurrency wallet involved in the scheme received more than $341 million in virtual assets, investigators said. Communications revealed extensive coordination to facilitate the international money laundering, including chats discussing the commission structure for the network, the various shell companies used, victim information, and at least one video from a conspirator calling a U.S. financial institution, court documents added. Both Li and Zhang were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison on each count. On May 17, Zhang pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in federal custody. A detention hearing is scheduled for May 21 and a trial is scheduled for July 9. Li, who a federal magistrate judge has ordered jailed without bond, is scheduled for arraignment on May 20. Sophisticated financial scams such as these are a dangerous threat to the financial wellbeing of all Americans, said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. While my office will continue to root out and punish these deceitful schemes, I encourage everyone to educate themselves on pig butchering and other kinds of financial fraud to protect their families against such predatory activity. Vigilance is key. The case remains under investigation by the U.S. Secret Services Global Investigative Operations Center. Anyone who may be a victim of cryptocurrency investment fraud should report it online at IC3.gov. Those filing a report should reference Pig Butchering PSA and include as much information as possible including names of investment platforms, cryptocurrency addresses and transaction hashes, bank account information, and names and contact information of suspected scammers. Victims should also keep copies of all communication with scammers along with records of financial transactions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. 2 inmates suspected of murder of another incarcerated man in California prison The California Department of Corrections Rehabilitation is investigating after an incarcerated man was allegedly murdered at Kern Valley State Prison. Officials say 30-year-old Raul E. Mendoza, of Los Angeles County, was violently attacked in jail on May 13 his fellow inmates, Andrew L. Espinoza, 29, and Frank Vasquez, 44, allegedly used two manufactured weapons to assault Mendoza. The victim suffered several puncture wounds as a result of the attack, and emergency responders transported Mendoza to a nearby medical facility. He died from his injuries three days later. Both suspects have been placed in restricted housing pending the investigation as prison officials await the official cause of Mendozas death from the coroner. Officials say 30-year-old Raul Mendoza was allegedly attacked by two inmates on May 13 in Kern Valley State Prison. The victim succumbed to his injuries on May 15, 2024. (CDCR) Authorities say 44-year-old Frank Vasquez was one of two Kern Valley State Prison inmates responsible for the attack on Raul Mendoza that led to his death. Mendoza passed away from his injuries on May 16, 2024. (CDCR) Authorities say 29-year-old Andrew Espinoza is responsible for the death of Kern Valley State Prison inmate Raul Mendoza, who succumbed to his injuries on May 16, 2024. (CDCR) Mendoza had a lengthy prison record. He was originally sent to Kern Valley Prison on June 15, 2015, after being sentenced to two years and eight months for carrying a loaded firearm in public while active in a gang, a second-strike offense. The 30-year-old was then sentenced to 11 years for voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for use of a firearm in L.A. County on Nov. 3, 2016. Espinosa has been in the state prison since February of last year. The 29-year-old was sentenced to seven years and four months for carjacking and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly in L.A. County. Vasquez has been at the facility since Dec. 1, 2015, when he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. He also received enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. The motive for the alleged attack is still under investigation. More than 150 inmates died in California prisons last year, according to nonprofit news organization Cal Matters. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. 23 Kansas agencies team up to rescue woman who fell in spillway WILSON COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) A woman who fell into a spillway of the Toronto Lake Dam was rescued almost 12 hours later. A release from the Woodson County Sheriffs Office said around 2:50 a.m. on May 17, dispatch received multiple 911 calls saying a 65-year-old woman had fallen into the water on the eastside spillway of the Toronto Lake Dam. Multiple agencies responded to the scene for rescue efforts, and at approximately 4 p.m., she was found alive one mile into Wilson County on Decatur Road. The woman was checked by EMS and transported to a hospital for further evaluation. Agencies that responded were: Woodson County Sheriffs Office Woodson County Rural Fire Woodson County EMS Woodson County Emergency Management Toronto Fire Department Yates Center Police Department Wilson County Sheriffs Office Greenwood County Fire Greenwood County EMS Greenwood County Emergency Management Eureka Fire Department Chanute Fire Department Neodesha Fire Department Parsons Fire Department Cherryvale Fire Department Sedgwick County Fire and Rescue Derby Fire Department Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Wilson County Fire Department Army Corp of Engineering Kansas State Fire Marshalls Office Woodson County Dispatch Wilson County Dispatch Thank you to all who assisted with other resources, food, and water, the Woodson County Sheriffs Office said in the release. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. 3 dead after Amtrak train collides with pickup truck in western New York Three people died after an Amtrak train struck a pickup truck in western New York north of Buffalo, fire officials said Saturday. All of the trucks passengers were pronounced dead at the scene Friday night in North Tonawanda, the citys fire chief told CNN in a phone call. There were no reported injuries to the 21 passengers and crew members on the train, Amtrak said. Amtrak train 281 was traveling north from New York to Niagara Falls when it hit the vehicle on the track, Amtrak said in a statement. The three passengers were trapped in the truck when the North Tonawanda fire department arrived shortly before 8 p.m. ET and first responders from neighboring towns arrived to help, according to a news release from the department. Railroad-highway grade crossing incidents are the second-leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States and more than 200 deaths occur at grade crossings annually, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com SEOUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a test fire of tactical ballistic missile using a new autonomous navigation system in its eastern waters on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. The death toll of a Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv on May 17 has risen to four as an injured 33-year-old man died in the hospital, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 18. Russian forces targeted the city's Shevchenkivskyi district with two glide bomb, injuring 31 people, according to the governor. The conditions of the two injured are serious, Syniehubov said. Russian forces also reportedly dropped a glide bomb on the village of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, damaging multi-story buildings, a hospital facility, and a kindergarten. One woman was injured, Syniehubov said. Russian forces launches new offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, exposing Kharkiv and a number of border settlements in the region to heavy attacks. A lengthy air raid alert was lifted in Kharkiv Oblast overnight on May 17 after officials reported numerous Russian drone strikes and a ballistic missile threat. The air alert lasted over 16.5 hours, making it the longest since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Read also: 48 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraines most-bombed major city Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ITHACA, N.Y. (WETM) Three people in Ithaca were hospitalized after a crash involving a motorcycle and a pedestrian on Friday night. According to the Ithaca Police Department, a person operating a motorcycle, the motorcyclists passenger, and a pedestrian were injured during a crash on the 300 block of Elmira Street shortly before 11:30 p.m. on May 17. All three of the individuals were taken to Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital via ambulance. Police say that the operator of the motorcycle is in critical but stable condition, the passenger is in stable condition, and the pedestrian is in critical condition as of Saturday morning. The names of the people involved have not been released. Police are currently investigating this incident and say that no further information is being released at this time. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact the Ithaca Police Department using one of the following methods: Police Dispatch: 607-272-3245 Police Administration: 607-272-9973 Police Tip line: 607-330-0000 Anonymous Email Tip Address: www.cityofithaca.org/ipdtips The Ithaca Police Department, Bangs Ambulance, and the Ithaca Fire Department responded to the crash. The New York State Police Department is assisting the Ithaca Police Department with the investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Some 5,400 demonstrate in Berlin for Palestine on Nakba Day People take part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa Around 5,400 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to show their support for Palestinians and mark Nakba Day earlier this week, German police said. They had initially expected some 2,000 people to commemorate the Nakba, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, comprising the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 and permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people. Palestinians mark Nakba Day on May 15 every year. Some 500 officers were deployed. Some people threw firecrackers towards officers, a police spokeswoman said. The organizers told participants to refrain from such actions, a dpa reporter saw on site. The participants wanted to walk from the Kreuzberg neighbourhood towards the Rotes Rathaus city hall on Alexanderplatz, in a rally held under the banner "Palestine will be free." Their route was originally supposed to lead to the Brandenburg Gate though this changed at short notice, police said. The authorities had issued a number of conditions when allowing the demonstration to take place, including a ban on calls for acts of violence or defamatory slogans. They also prohibited statements propagating the destruction of the state of Israel or flags and symbols of terrorist organizations such as the Palestinian Islamist Hamas or the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, banned from operating in Germany following the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 last year. Berlin police take action against demonstrators at the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa People take part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa People take part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa Around 6,200 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to show their support for Palestinians and mark Nakba Day earlier this week, German police said, though the numbers rose and fell in the course of the day as people joined the demonstration and others left. Officials had initially expected some 2,000 people to commemorate the Nakba, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, comprising the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 and permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people. Palestinians mark Nakba Day on May 15 every year. Some 500 officers were deployed and the police called on the demonstrators to be calm. However they stopped the rally several times after some threw firecrackers towards officers and set off fireworks, a police spokeswoman said. The organizers told participants to refrain from such actions, a dpa reporter saw on site. But in order to make it more difficult to document incidents, some protesters knotted banners and put up umbrellas, the police said. The participants wanted to walk from the Kreuzberg neighbourhood towards the Rotes Rathaus city hall on Alexanderplatz, in a rally held under the banner "Palestine will be free." Their route was originally supposed to lead to the Brandenburg Gate though this changed at short notice, police said. One vehicle was excluded from the march as someone in the loudspeaker van shouted illegal slogans. Many demonstrators carried Palestinian flags, others held up umbrellas in the shape of a watermelon, a symbol of support for Palestine whose flag shares the same colours, red, green, white and black. Some people carried signs saying "Stop the genocide in Gaza" and "Stop the terror of occupation!" Others shouted "Free Palestine, Free Gaza." The authorities had issued a number of conditions when allowing the demonstration to take place, including a ban on calls for acts of violence or defamatory slogans. They also prohibited statements propagating the destruction of the state of Israel or flags and symbols of terrorist organizations such as the Palestinian Islamist Hamas or the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, banned from operating in Germany following the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 last year. On Wednesday evening, around 600 people demonstrated peacefully in Charlottenburg to mark Nakba Day and there were riots in the Neukolln district later on, after some 200 people gathered there, according to the police. Some set fire to rubbish bins, and set off fireworks. Others threw bicycles and rubbish bins onto the streets. There have been weekly demonstrations in Berlin, home to many Israelis and also with a large Muslim population, since the terrorist attack by Palestinian Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7 last year. As of May 17, officials have filed 1,040 cases associated with the war in Gaza, according to the Berlin public prosecutor's office. Of these, around 210 cases relate to criminal offences committed during demonstrations on the Middle East conflict, a spokesperson for the authorities said in response to a query. The offences often involve incitement to hatred, damage to property, insults or the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the militants and other extremist groups launched the bloody raid on Israel, killing about 1,200 and kidnapping around 240. Israel responded to the massacre with massive airstrikes and launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 35,000 people according to the Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza. People take part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa People take part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration "Palestine will be free". May 15 marked Nakba Remembrance Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion 76 years ago. Fabian Sommer/dpa CHICAGO Charges have been filed against a handful of people accused of staging robberies around Chicagoland in order to apply for immigration visas that are reserved for some crime victims. According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Chicago, 26-year-old Parth Nayi, 31-year-old Kewon Young, 51-year-old Bhikhabhai Patel, 32-year-old Nilesh Patel, 23-year-old Ravinaben Patel, and 32-year-old Rajnikumar Patel have each been charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with the alleged scheme. Ravinaben Patel is also facing an additional charge of making a false statement in a visa application. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Prosecutors say the charges stem from an alleged scheme that involved staging fake robberies at restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores, and gas stations in Chicago and the suburbs so that the victims of the fake holdups could submit applications for U nonimmigrant status, which is set aside for some crime victims who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to authorities in an investigation or during prosecution. Prosecutors say the scheme was allegedly organized by Nayi and Young and participants paid Nayi thousands of dollars to take part. According to the indictment, during the fake holdups, people acting as robbers approached the purported victims, while brandishing what appeared to be firearms, and demanded money and property. Prosecutors said afterward, some of those who participated allegedly submitted forms to authorities to obtain certification that they were victims of a qualifying crime and had been or would be helpful in the investigation. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland After receiving the certification from authorities, some then fraudulently submitted U-visa applications to Immigration Services. If convicted, those charged with conspiracy could face up to five years in federal prison. Patel, who is also facing a false statement charge, could see an additional 10 years in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I knew at this point in my life, I could help," said the local resident KMBC 9/YouTube Sam Sloan A fire department in Missouri will be able to continue helping the community thanks to a $500,000 donation from a 91-year-old man. According to The Washington Post, Sam Sloan, a retired cattle business owner, lives two miles away from the Calhoun Volunteer Fire Department, which received his generous gift in April. Ive been thinking about this for a long time, and I knew at this point in my life, I could help. Its important to have a good fire department, especially with all the grass we have around here, Sloan told the newspaper. The selfless act is something that has been "several years" in the making for Sloan, who has lived in Henry County since 1960, per KMBC-TV. Related: Mass. Man with Terminal Illness Wants to Find His Dog Best Friend a New Home Before His Death Unbeknownst to Sloan, however, was how much the volunteer fire department was in need of funds. According to NBC News, the department's bank account only had $169 left at the end of this year's first quarter. Mark Hardin, who took over as fire chief in 2021, told the outlet that they were able to get by with donations from other fire departments. Sloan got acquainted with Hardin after he invited him to breakfast and asked him "a lot of questions about the fire department." After going out for breakfast two times together, Sloan invited Hardin to his home to surprise him with the donation. Getty Stock image of the door to a fire truck Related: Man Wanted to Propose in Aruba, But Couldnt Afford It. After Winning the Lottery, They Can Finally Go "There were cinnamon rolls and doughnuts on the table, and his bookkeeper was there. ... His wife was there. Never had never talked to the man before in my life, and three weeks later, he hands me a check for half a million dollars," Hardin told NBC News. The Calhoun Volunteer Fire Department confirmed that they received Sloan's gift in a Facebook post on Monday, May 6. "We here at Calhoun FD would like to extend our gratitude to the Sloan family. Sam and Jan recently donated $500,000.00 to our department, this money will be used to put each of our volunteers in personal protective equipment head to toe. We will also be replacing 3 apparatuses as well as purchasing other miscellaneous equipment," the post read. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! Getty Stock image of various firefighter uniforms According to The Washington Post, the volunteer fire department had spent most of its $4,800 budget for the year on equipment repairs for two firetrucks before receiving Sloan's gift. 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. Sam wants us to get the works: new boots, helmets, pants, gloves, everything from head to toe, Hardin told the newspaper. Well just about have the $500,000 spent, but thats what Sam wanted, and thats what were going to do." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Note: This post contains mentions of sexual harassment. As a Filipina who grew up in a predominantly white suburban city, I've sadly experienced my fair share of microaggressions. One time, someone said to me, "You're too brown to be Asian." *Eye roll* According to Kevin Nadal, a psychology professor at John Jay College, microaggressions are "the everyday, subtle, intentional and oftentimes unintentional interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups." And unfortunately, many other Asian American Pacific Islanders and other POC have faced them. So, I asked AAPI folks of the BuzzFeed Community to share the microaggressions they've faced either in the workplace or school. Here are some stories that will have you shaking your head in disdain: 1."I go to an Ivy League school. Our curriculum focuses on inclusivity for the patients, but in reality, my white professors mispronounce my name in front of my classmates and patients despite having worked with me for four months. I've corrected them on how to say my name five times. This is not okay." Anonymous Ponywang / Getty Images 2."I worked at a popular retail store during my first year of college. While talking to one of our managers, I casually mentioned that my mom was from Manila. Later that day, I was dropping something off in the back office when I saw a note saying I was Filipino. The next day, a manager incredulously asked me, 'Why didn't you tell us you're Filipino? We need more diversity points for our store!' I didn't work there for much longer." indy1989 3."I'm Chinese American, and though all of my cousins and I are American citizens, we've all been asked at least once in our lives whether we speak English or not." xy8lu Erdark / Getty Images 4."When I was in ninth grade, my white English teacher got on the topic of religion while we were discussing a book. As she discussed the different religions, she then turned to me and said, 'Well, we should ask the expert here about Buddhism!' I was very introverted and disliked any type of public speaking, so I just whispered, 'I'm not Buddhist.' Yeah, she thought that just because I'm Asian meant I'm automatically Buddhist. I didn't grow up religious at all." mushygoat23 5."I'm Japanese, but because I grew up in Hawaii, people assume I'm Hawaiian. One time, at a conference, someone told me that my English was 'really good.' If I were more quick-witted, I would have said, 'Yours too.'" vasato Johner Images / Getty Images/Johner RF 6."Not me, but my dad. When my dad used to work in Glasgow, he said an older British woman there would always give him and his Indian coworkers food and snacks. At first, he thought nothing of it, but then he asked her why she gave them food daily. Apparently, she thought that since my dad and his friends were from India, they were always starving and didn't get any food." Anonymous 7."I'm Samoan, and during lunch hour at my company, a couple of coworkers and I were talking about our kids graduating. One of my coworkers said, 'You should teach us all how to make that rooster-sounding sound you guys make.' He was talking about fa'aumu, also known as 'chee hoo.' I was disgusted." Anonymous Nazar_ab / Getty Images 8."I was helping this older gentleman with shipping at my old job. He mentioned that he'd worked at the company years ago and was glad nothing had changed. He then mentioned how he used to ship a lot of this one specific item to Japan because 'the Orientals really loved it.' I was taken aback that someone would still use such an outdated term, especially as a white person speaking to a POC." moniquecapati 9."My experience has been pretty much outright sexual harassment. I'm Hawaiian, so when (most) men found out, there were comments about my 'thick thighs' and what my 'hula hips' could do. One fella blatantly said DURING A SHIFT that he 'fantasized about my big lips' doing you-know-what. I got that jackass fired, but this behavior went on for years. Why people think it's okay to sexualize and fetishize us is vomit-inducing, truly disgusting, and not okay at all. Stop it." morgan_le_slay Filmstax / Getty Images 10.People will ask, 'Where are you from?' When I say I'm from America, they'll say, 'No, where are you REALLY from?'" Anonymous 11."I'm a Japanese American who was born in the United States. (My parents immigrated to the US in the early '80s.) My parents have done their absolute best to incorporate Japanese culture into my life, and I'm happy they did. Throughout my life, I've had my fair share of stereotyping and generalizations, but one that really affected me was the 'all Asians are good at math' stereotype. Growing up, kids in my class would always come to me for math answers, even though I sucked at ALL types of math. Whatever the teacher taught would never stick, but kids would still come to me for help and then get annoyed when I didn't know the answer. After a while, kids stopped talking to me, and I was lonely and miserably failing in school." "Fast-forward, my husband and I have three beautiful daughters. Our oldest, who's six, told me earlier how she asked a classmate for help on a math problem today. It took everything in me not to cry tears of happiness, knowing that it was better for her than it was for me growing up. Not all Asians excel in school subjects. This stereotype is hurting us as a society! Stop buying into this crap." Emi, 31, Washington Carol Yepes / Getty Images 12."Im Samoan, and people always get it wrong when they try to guess my ethnicity (which is fine! I dont expect people to know by looking at me). But many times, once Ive shared my background, theyve responded, 'You cant be Samoan! Youre too skinny.' Obviously, thats not something that should ever come out of anyones mouth." Anonymous 13."I'm Chinese and was born and raised in Canada. I was telling a coworker my son was struggling in his final year of high school. I was concerned he wouldn't graduate due to this lack of effort, indifference, and delinquent behavior in his final term. She said, 'Oh, that's right. You Asians have a thing about your children getting good grades in school.' I was rather offended." Anonymous Mtstock Studio / Getty Images/iStockphoto 14."I am Pacific Islander and Asian. For several years, I had an office in a small, liberal, and affluent town in Northern California. A food truck serving Chinese food began to base itself in the area a couple of days a week. EVERYONE asked me or the one other Japanese woman if the food was good. After being asked the same thing so many times, I started saying, 'Are you asking because I'm the only Asian you know? You know, benign racism is racism nonetheless. It made me giggle, seeing everyone get flustered. The food was bad, by the way." unrulyfemale D3sign / Getty Images 15."I worked with a character designer who was tasked to design some background characters of different races for diversity. He's an older gentleman. Well, his drawings for the Asian characters had those extremely slanted eyes that are in a lot of old racist art of the past. Everyone on the Zoom call where he was presenting the designs were East Asian all with different eye shapes and none 'slanty.' We weren't mad, but it was just awkward. I don't think he did it intentionally, but he should have been more observant for being such a high-level and experienced designer." boredenoughtobehere 16.Lastly: "I'm Indian American and was born in the US. I'm also a trained vocalist (classical music) and have been since before I entered school as a kid. One of the most painful experiences growing up was people seeing my pursuit of vocal performance and acting as abnormal for 'people like me.' I'd often get cast in stereotypical roles or not at all. I think the greatest offense was when I auditioned for the lead of Lakme, a French opera set in India with an Indian woman as the lead. (Granted, opera is a very old medium, so racist tropes are unfortunately a given.) They didn't cast me. Instead, they cast a white woman and made her do brown face." Anonymous, 25, Texas Triloks / Getty Images If you're Polynesian, Micronesian, East, Southeast, South, Western, or Central Asian and have a story about a microaggression you've faced in the workplace or at school, share it with us in the comments or anonymously submit it using this form. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 19, 2023. DelBene spoke to reporters Friday, May 17, 2024, about how abortion will affect U.S. House races in November. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) WASHINGTON Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene told reporters Friday that ballot questions on abortion access, which will go before voters in several states this November, can help vulnerable Democratic candidates in swing districts potentially increasing the odds the U.S. House flips from red to blue. Weve seen huge turnout as a result of that over and over in elections since November of 2022, DelBene said during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. And I have no doubt were going to continue to see that all the way through. The Washington state Democrat, who was elected to Congress in 2012 and leads House Democrats campaign arm this election cycle, said that reproductive rights will also be a crucial issue for voters in swing districts that dont have a ballot question on access. Folks support womens reproductive rights across the country, DelBene said. And thats going to be a huge issue. And for some people, it is the issue. Democrats in Congress have been unable to restore nationwide abortion protections that existed for nearly 50 years under the U.S. Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade case and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling. Conservative Supreme Court justices voted to overturn those two rulings in the Dobbs decision that was released in 2022, writing that the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives. The court is expected to rule this summer on two additional cases related to abortion access, just months before voters head to the polls. One originally filed in Texas will determine whether access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion, can remain available as it is now or revert to prescribing instructions in place before 2016. The court heard oral arguments in March. The second case, out of Idaho, has to do with whether doctors who provide abortion as stabilizing care when the pregnant patients life or health is at risk are protected from prosecution under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. Since the Supreme Court ended nationwide protections for abortion access, voters in several states including Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio have voted to keep or instill abortion access as a right. Voters in numerous other states, including Arizona, Florida and Montana, are likely to have the issue directly on their ballots later this year, as well as candidates from president on down. Federal legislation DelBene said Friday that Democrats will bring legislation to the floor to restore nationwide protections for abortion, should they retake the House. That will be one of our top priorities, to make sure that we pass the Womens Health Protection Act again, DelBene said. But Im also hopeful that we will keep the Senate and be able to move forward. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter projects that Republicans are on track to pick up between one and four seats in the Senate, likely moving that chamber of Congress from blue to red. Should Democrats flip the House, that would mean a continuation of divided government, regardless of who wins the presidential contest. The Cook Political Report forecasts 203 seats are at least leaning toward Democratic control while 210 are rated as solid, likely or lean Republican. That leaves 22 seats in the toss up category, with a total of 218 needed for one party to control the chamber. Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and governors at CPR, wrote in an update released Friday that the upper chamber remains beyond precarious for Democrats. There is no room for error and if President Joe Biden loses reelection, they will have already lost the majority whether they run the table in all the competitive seats or not, Taylor wrote. Young voters DelBene said during the breakfast at a hotel in Washington, D.C., that turnout will be critical and that Democrats will be especially focused on younger voters showing up at the polls. Traditionally, younger voters havent turned out as much, she said. So that absolutely is a top priority. DelBene took several questions about whether those younger voters would actually back Democratic candidates or Biden, given the increase in protests on college campuses and concern within the progressive wing about the increasing civilian death toll from the ongoing war in Gaza. The top issues for younger voters, DelBene said, are making sure that they are going to have economic opportunity going forward and that theyre going to be in a position where they can have the same opportunities that their parents said that theyre going to have, the same rights and freedoms that their parents did. Candidates in purple districts should speak authentically with voters when theyre asked about their stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, she said. My advice for candidates has always been, Its important for you to have an authentic voice and talk about what you would do, how you feel on issues. Because people can tell if someones scripted and not really talking about their feelings, DelBene said. And on such an important issue, I think, its really important that people talk authentically about their positions, what they think needs to happen. The post Abortion ballot measures could lift Dems in U.S. House races, campaign chief says appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Abortion opponents rally in Raleigh: I would like to see it totally abolished. A year after the North Carolina General Assembly moved up the state ban on abortions from 20 to 12 weeks, several hundred abortion opponents held their annual rally and march in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, but they were not in a celebratory mood. The speeches, chants and signs showed they wanted lawmakers to go much further. What we were able to pass is just a down payment, Rep. Neal Jackson, a Randolph County Republican and Baptist pastor, told the crowd assembled at Halifax Mall. We are going to continue the fight for every child because every child has a right to life. The landscape on abortion changed dramatically in 2022 with the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision by the court that legalized abortion, throwing the regulatory authority to the states. Since then, many states with Republican legislatures have placed stricter limits on abortion. But North Carolinas ban, which allows for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or risk to the mothers life, still allows roughly 90% of all abortions to continue, said Bill Pincus, a retired doctor who is president of N.C. Right to Life. He is pushing for a ban from inception except in cases when the mothers life is at risk. He also said he is not against victims of rape and incest seeking an abortion, though he views that as the baby being punished for the crimes of the father. Neil Schunke of Marion, N.C., prays during the 26th Annual North Carolina Right To Life rally on the Halifax Mall, on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolinas 12-week ban has drawn outcry from advocates for a womans right to choose whether to have an abortion. They held a news conference two days earlier to mark the one-year anniversary of the bills passage, and were especially critical of the way legislative leaders put the bill to a vote without committee hearings or opportunities for amendments. That the anti-abortion leadership had to resort to deceptive tactics and secret caucus meetings and bargaining to pass Senate Bill 20 speaks volumes about what they think about their constituents and democracy here in North Carolina, said Tara Romano, executive director of Pro-Choice North Carolina They say the legislation has had a disproportionate impact on minorities, rural residents and those with low incomes. Rally attendees said they appreciated the state legislature moving up the abortion ban, but they would like to see more. Several hundred Pro-Life advocates from across North Carolina march around the General Assembly following their rally on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C I would like to see at the federal level just for it to be totally abolished, just like we abolished slavery, said Amy Gregor of Knightdale. N.C. Right to Life had regularly held the rally in January, as did many other anti-abortion groups around the country, to coincide with the Roe v. Wade decision, but this year shifted it to the spring. It wasnt intended to commemorate the year anniversary of the state abortion law, Pincus said. He was looking to take advantage of better weather, but he feared the threat of thunderstorms drove down attendance. A much bigger crowd turned out last year on a bitter cold January day for a rally that included remarks from Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a staunch anti-abortionist who is running for governor. Robinson was not at Saturdays rally. More than 22,000 abortions were performed in Florida this year before a law took effect May 1 preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Newly posted data on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website showed a reported 22,409 abortions had been performed as of May 1. That was up from 14,735 abortions a month earlier. Read: LEGOLAND Florida Brick Party returns this summer Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed the six-week limit last year, and it took effect after the Florida Supreme Court ruled April 1 that a privacy clause in the state Constitution does not apply to abortion rights. The six-week limit is expected to dramatically reduce the number of abortions performed in the state. Read: SeaWorld offers Memorial Day discounts for veterans, active military Voters in November will decide whether to approve a ballot proposal that would enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan politicians said on Saturday that they have filed a petition to the United Nations and the United States against the deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti. The politicians, led by Ekuru Aukot, leader of the Thirdway Alliance Party, a political party in Kenya, said that there are better-suited countries to manage the mission to fight gang violence in Haiti. "The United Nations Security Council should call upon other UN members that are geographically and linguistically close to offer the proposed service," Aukot told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The remarks came amid reports that Kenyan police officers scheduled to lead a multinational security support mission in the Caribbean nation are expected to finally leave the country next Sunday. "The meddling and interference by other nations, especially the United States and its allies, remain the cause of the suffering of the people of Haiti," Aukot said. The Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on Oct. 2, 2023, under Resolution 2699. In July 2023, Kenya volunteered to lead a multinational security force in Haiti to quell gang violence and later offered to send 1,000 officers to Haiti after the Caribbean nation requested international help to fight the gangs. The Kenyan High Court once ruled that the deployment of Kenyan police, which is behind schedule, is illegal. In February, the court stopped the government from deploying police officers in Haiti, saying that the National Security Council, the government's top security organ, does not have the legal power to deploy regular police outside of the country. The 19-year-old gunman accused of killing teenage peacemaker Mahki Brown as the high schooler was trying to deescalate a tense standoff in SoHo last week was identified in part by his uniquely colored sneakers, prosecutors said Saturday. Baby-faced murder suspect Henry Thomas was wearing a distinct pair of black Air Jordan sneakers with red and yellow trim when he fatally shot victim Mahki on May 7, prosecutors said. Thomas was caught on surveillance camera sitting in the basket of a Citi Bike rolling into the courtyard of the luxury Dominick Hotel on Spring St. near Varick St., his legs dangling over the side, just before the shooting. Mahki, 16, was trying to break up a fight between three girls who attended his charter school, the Broome Street Academy when Thomas jumped out of the basket and fired three rounds into the crowd. Thomas bullets hit Mahki twice in the legs and once in the head, prosecutors said during an arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court, where the suspected shooter was ordered held without bail. The defendant executed a 16-year-old high school student by shooting him in the head in front of a crowd of students, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Gina Nerone said. Thomas and his accomplice, who remained at large Saturday, split up after firing the shots. Using surveillance video recovered from nearby buildings, detectives were able to backtrack their movements all the way to Avenue D on the Lower East Side, more than two miles from the shooting. While Thomas was wearing a surgical mask and a black hoodie at the time of the shooting, he wasnt wearing a mask in the footage recovered on the Lower East Side but was still sporting his snazzy sneakers, prosecutors said. Cops also collected video that showed Thomas pedaling off on the Citi Bike moments after the shooting, officials said. He rode it into the West Village, where he ditched the bike and jumped into a cab that took him back to Avenue D. Detectives learned Thomas lived in an Avenue D building near where he and his accomplice picked up the Citi Bike, but the murder suspect was hiding out at a relatives apartment on Lenox Ave. in Harlem, when cops found him Friday morning, Nerone explained. Executing a search warrant at his Avenue D home, detectives recovered the colorful sneakers he wore during the murder, Nerone added. Police charged Thomas with murder and weapons possession. Hes never been arrested before, but cops did detain and question him on March 23 for riding in a stolen vehicle near his home, officials said. Detectives used body camera footage of that interview, where Thomas gave his name, date of birth and address to police, to help identify him. Thomas, dressed in a gray sweat suit with a dark gray strip running down the pant legs, said very little as he was brought before Judge Marisol Martinez Alonso Saturday. More than a dozen of Thomas relatives watched the proceeding in the gallery, but refused to talk to the press. Hes innocent, one relative declared as he left the courtroom. Thomas attorney Adam Freedman objected to Nerones use of the word executed during the hearing. Things like executing and hiding out is what they assume evidence will show, Freedman said, adding that the jury may come to a different conclusion. Some of the language they used in trying to describe this was prejudicial and inappropriate for a bail application, he told the Daily News following the hearing. The allegations are very serious. My client is determined to fight the charges and thats what were going to do. Mahkis murder is the latest in a recent spate of teen killings to hit the city. On May 2, Emery Mizell, 17, was stabbed to death in the courtyard of a Bronx apartment building. A 15-year-old girl was charged with murder. A week later, Sara Rivera, also 17, was fatally knifed outside the 46th St.-Bliss St. subway stop in Sunnyside, Queens. Police arrested a 15-year-old classmate and charged her with the teens murder. Eight people under 18 have been murdered in the city as of Thursday, police said. Its a drop from this time last year, where 11 children under 18 had been killed. Its not believed Thomas intended to harm Mahki when he fired off the shots, a police source said. Friends said Mahki was simply trying to defuse a tense situation when he was caught in the crossfire. Thats who he was. I think its just his upbringing, because if his mother can help you, shell help you, neighbor and family friend LaKesha Jenkins, 48, told The News Friday. Children, theyre taught by their parents. Its just something that he learned watching his parents help people when they could. The prosecution of Karen Read for the murder of her Boston cop boyfriend has galvanized a group of volunteersmost of whom have never even met herto proclaim her innocence and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for her legal defense. Supporters of the Free Karen Read movement spend their free time attending Reads ongoing trial, analyzing the smallest bits of evidence, and organizing events to raise money for her defense fund. I made great new friends, Liz Erk, a single mother from Massachusetts who runs a PR consulting firm and went into court on Friday, told The Daily Beast. It sounds so weirdthis is a murder trial. Nick and Jen Rocco, and Liz Erk The Daily Beast/Courtesy of Liz Erk The genesis of the group dates to a snowy early morning in January 2022, when police officer John OKeefe was found unresponsive on a colleagues front lawn after a boozy nightwith signs of hypothermia and a severe head injury. Three days later, Read was arrested for his murder, kickstarting a true-crime saga riddled with conspiracy theories that have divided the small Massachusetts town of Canton. Since Reads arrest, a disparate group has come together to lead the Free Karen Read movement, which believes the 44-year-old former financial services professional and college lecturer is being framed for OKeefes death in an elaborate cover-up by prosecutors and local police. There have been protest marches, pink-themed merch, and even criminal charges against a blogger charged with harassing prosecution witnesses. The phenomenon of superfans of accused defendants (see: Johnny Depp, Jonathan Majors, and OJ Simpson) is not new but has been turbocharged over the years by the boom in true-crime podcasts and live-streamed trials. The nine-person admin team of the largest Facebook group of pro-Read supporters, Justice For Officer John OKeefe & Karen Read-Turtleboy Official, come from different backgrounds, professions, and zip codesand only one knew Read before she was arrested in February 2022. The organizers told The Daily Beast that the Facebook group is a well-oiled machine to moderate 36,500 subscribers and raise money for Read. Karen Read arrives at Norfolk Superior Court for jury selection in her murder trial. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Ive never been a part of anything like this before, Erk said. But I just remember reading her story and thinking, That could be me. Since then, Ive been doing anything I can to help. So far, the group has raised over $300,000 for Reads defense fund through popcorn funds, events, Venmo donations, and raffles. Last September, it spent $5,000 to erect a Free Karen Read billboard near Gillette Stadium ahead of the New England Patriotss home opener. This month, the group is hosting a silent auction for a signed Jrue Holiday Celtics jersey and separate raffles to stay at a three-bedroom Myrtle Beach condo for a week in August and a two-week vacation at an Italian villa. My goal is to raise as much money as possible, Nick Rocco, who owns a local Massachusetts hair salon and created the Facebook group, told The Daily Beast. People dont realize, Karen is out of work. How is she supposed to pay for her mortgage? How does she pay her bills? How does she buy her toothpaste? Were here to help her. Dr. Molly Buchanan, an associate criminology professor at Northeastern University, said that pro-Read followers are largely drawn to the puzzle of it all; trying to piece details together or trying to fill in the blank spaces when the puzzle pieces simply arent fitting well or facts arent adding up. Naturally, there is some level of fascination with (often) extreme or unbelievable case details, which draw and hold peoples attention, Buchanan told The Daily Beast. Other people may see aspects of themselves in the defendant or victim, while others more naturally want to root for the underdogwhoever that might be in the trial. The support can also be seen outside of the Norfolk Superior Court, where hundreds of supporters have shown up to most hearings in their Free Karen Read apparel and signs. It doesnt matter if its raining, or snowing. They stand out there all day, Jon Silveira, an administrator of the Facebook group, told The Daily Beast. The courthouse parking lot is always packedone group even has a small grill out there cooking hotdogs and hamburgers at lunchtime, like a tailgate. Jon Silveira and Karen Read The Daily Beast/Courtesy of Jon Silva The mood inside the courthouse is less jovial. Prosecutors allege that in the early hours of Jan. 26, 2022, Read drunkenly hit OKeefe with her SUV after dropping him off at an after-party and left him for dead in a blizzard. When law enforcement officers responded to the scene, Read ran around with blood on her face after trying to give OKeefe CPR and screaming that the situation was all her fault, witnesses testified at trial. Defense attorneys and Reads supporters insist OKeefe was fatally beaten after she dropped him off at his fellow police officers home and then attacked by a dog left outside. They argue that the case is rife with inconsistencies stemming from a bungled investigation that aimed to cover up for police. The Karen Read case lit a match and started a wildfire, and that fire spread quickly, Canton Rev. John Tamilio III told the Boston Globe in March. I dont know how much of that fuel existed before the death of John OKeefe, but the Free Karen Read people do feel that there is corruption at every level in town. Dr. Gregg Barak, a criminology and criminal justice professor at Eastern Michigan University, also noted that the movement is a rare type of support group. Usually, he said, support groups center around a victim or a wrongfully accused personinstead of an accused perpetrator. Karens phenomenon is still unique because she is so very charismatic and her supporters are online and offline in the social and real worlds and both, he added. In this day and age of alienation and lack of community or feelings of belonging, communities pop up among strangers who get together to come to know each other as friends, and have a purpose or cause in common. Several Facebook group administrators said they learned about Reads case months after she was arrested. Some found out from their local news, while others saw videos by controversial blogger Aiden Carney, known as Turtleboy. In his videos, Carney repeatedly proclaims Reads innocence, tries to poke holes in the prosecutions case, and calls into question some of the evidence. Jon Silva and his sister Leigh in front of a Free Karen Read billboard. The Daily Beast/Courtesy of Jon Silva Carney, who is also an admin of the Facebook page, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he allegedly harassed trial witnesses, including a Massachusetts State Police investigator, and obtained confidential information while covering the case. Defense attorneys argue that Kearney is protected under the First Amendment. His case is still pending. The outrage and suspicion got so loud that Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey released a response video. The harassment of witnesses in the murder prosecution of Karen Read is absolutely baseless, Morrissey said. It should be an outrage to any decent person, and it needs to stop. Innuendo is not evidence. False narratives are not evidence. The Facebook group is undeterred, and continues to dissect every piece of evidence, witness testimony, and document that emerges. The administrators even have a loose schedule to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Amy DeAngelis, a Rhode Island mother of three, wakes up to start her morning shift at 5 a.m. and never puts down her phone as she walks her 10-year-old blind Samoyed mix, works out, drinks tea, and gets ready for her day job as a wholesale pet products company sales manager. Amy DeAngelis The Daily Beast/Courtesy of DeAngelis She is on duty for a few hours before Erk, who lives 100 miles away, signs on to review any missed pending posts. Massachusetts risk consultant Meghan Kirby has also published daily posts to organize discussions on updates in Reads trial. At least five other moderators chip in before Rocco and his wife, Jennawho are the Reads Legal Defense Funds main organizerstake the night shift. They go to bed around midnight, leaving the page unsupervised for only a few hours overnight. Think of us as old-school telephone operators, DeAngelis said. If we walk away from the desk, then someone else picks up the duty to review posts and the group. Silva is the only member who knew Read before the trial. Since the trial began on April 30, he has been flying up from Florida three days a week to be in the courthouse. Another friend, who now also lives in Florida, has booked a local hotel room to attend the anticipated five-week trial. Meghan Kirby The Daily Beast/Courtesy of Meghan Kirby Its bigger than we ever imagined, Silva said. Kirbys decision to devote time to Reads defense and Facebook support page was personal in a different way. I felt like she could have been me. I know that wrongful arrests happen all the time, but I immediately felt drawn to Karenbecause if roles were reversed, I would hope someone would help me, Kirby, who is the wife of a Massachusetts cop, told The Daily Beast. So despite her full-time job, running a successful school board re-election campaign, and being a mom of three, Kirby made a point to attend multiple pre-trial hearings. As she started to delve into the world of Facebook groups, she saw the need for structure in discussions to promote accuracy and reduce bullying and harassment. So she offered to submit a daily post to organize the chat, as well as flag comments and other posts that go against the groups guidelines. We were kind of strict because we dont want anyone to start trouble, Silva said. It has brought out a handful of crazies, but they just go against the grain and try to start drama. We always tell people that we are representing Karen, and everyone has a good idea how she represents herself. And Read is watching. The support is keeping her going, keeping her pushing forward. She is overwhelmed and grateful for the outpour of support and attention, Silveira 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. Advocates press U.S. House to act soon on compensation for nuclear testing victims New Mexico Democrats Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, at the lectern, and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, and Guams Republican House delegate, James Moylan, along with advocates, on May 16, 2024, urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to call a vote to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Fund. The fund expires in early June. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON Lawmakers and advocates rallied outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, urging House lawmakers to extend a fund for victims of U.S. nuclear testing that is set to expire in less than a month. But critics say the program is too expensive and should be winding down, and its not clear if the House will act before the looming deadline. New Mexico Democrats Sen. Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, and Guams Republican House delegate, James Moylan, among others, called on House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana to bring the legislation to the floor. We stand with community members from across the United States, ranging from New Mexico, where they exploded the very first atomic bomb, to Guam to Missouri to Navajo to Utah to Colorado to people in Texas, Fernandez said. Communities that share a common bond of hardship, of death and of illness that came about because of the nations program to build and test atomic weapons. Legislation to expand and extend the fund already passed the Senate in early March in a bipartisan 69-30 vote. Advocates and survivors have long said they were not warned prior to nuclear testing and were forgotten in the following decades as the consequences of nuclear fallout and waste affected their families. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Fund, often shortened to RECA, was established in 1990 and pays one-time sums to those who developed certain diseases after working on U.S. nuclear tests before 1963, or who lived in counties downwind from test explosion sites between January 1951 and October 1958, and the month of July in 1962, in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Uranium industry workers who were employed in 11 states from 1942 to 1971 who subsequently developed qualifying diseases also qualify. The U.S. conducted more than 1,000 atomic weapons tests from 1945 to 1992 the first at the Trinity Test site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the U.S. tested the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project prior to dropping the weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan at the end of World War II. As of June 2022, the Justice Department has approved more than 36,000 RECA claims for more than $2.3 billion in benefits. Unless the Radiation Exposure Compensation Fund is extended, claims have to be postmarked by June 10, 2024, according to the Department of Justice. Unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated victims A small crowd of activists wore Save RECA buttons and matching yellow t-shirts bearing the message We are the unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated victims of the Manhattan Project and Cold War. A sign on the small lectern read, Speaker Johnson Pass RECA Before We Die. Dawn Chapman, co-founder of the St. Louis, Missouri-based Just Moms STL, told the crowd that she and advocates have been in lawmakers offices pushing for RECA to be taken up on the House floor. Speaker Johnsons staff has met as of this morning with two community groups, ours being one of them. We did meet with his office for an hour-and-a-half, she said. Under the Senate-passed bill, championed by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, the fund would extend the program by six years and expand eligibility in several new locations, as well as add qualifying diseases. As written and if passed, the fund would reach areas including ZIP codes in Alaska, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, where communities were impacted by radioactive waste dumping, uranium processing and other related activities surrounding the testing. The bill would also expand downwind areas to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Guam and increase the one-time compensation sums to victims or surviving family to $100,000, up from $50,000 to $75,000. Hawley was not able to attend the press conference due to a last-minute conflict, according to his fellow lawmakers. But in a statement posted to X Thursday, he said, The good people poisoned by their governments nuclear radiation have been put off long enough its time to make this right. In a statement to States Newsroom, a Johnson spokesperson said Wednesday that The Speaker understands and appreciates Senator Hawleys position and is working closely with interested members and stakeholders to chart a path forward for the House. Concerns over cost Critics say the expansion would just be too costly. An earlier iteration of the expansion, which received 61 votes in the Senate, was attached to last years massive annual defense authorization bill, but eventually lawmakers stripped it from the package. According to an analysis by the watchdog group Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the cost of the expansion was slated to reach $150 billion. Hawley cut the cost in his revised legislation that garnered bipartisan Senate support in March. The new price tag went down to an estimated cost of $50 to $60 billion over 10 years after Hawley removed some qualifying diseases, cut the scope of medical benefits and shortened the extension from 19 years to six years, according to the CRFB. Still, critics worry that the funds will be designated automatic mandatory spending, meaning funding couldnt be adjusted from year to year by lawmakers like discretionary spending. Compensation may very well be warranted for individuals harmed by the governments nuclear activities, but the substantial deficit impact of the legislation is concerning and unnecessary, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget wrote in March. The organization also pointed out that the cost is not offset by other federal spending cuts. There is no reason why this well-known, long-term problem should not be addressed with careful consideration for both policy design and offsetting revenue increases or spending reductions, the organizations statement continued. The post Advocates press U.S. House to act soon on compensation for nuclear testing victims appeared first on Michigan Advance. Humanitarian aid has started moving into Gaza via a temporary pier, two days after the U.S. military began construction on the floating causeway. Photo courtesy of U.S. Central Command May 18 (UPI) -- Humanitarian aid has started moving into Gaza via a temporary pier, after the United States announced it had successfully anchored the temporary pier to the beach. Trucks began rolling over the pier into the Palestinian enclave Friday, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X. The aid shipments will continue to flow from multiple countries, with the Kerem Shalom overland entry point closed by Israel because of recent Hamas rocket attacks. Today we began delivery of aid from the temporary pier on to the beach of Gaza for further distribution to the people by our partners. This unique logistics capability facilitates the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid enabling a shared service for the international... pic.twitter.com/nP0Ws7obzT U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 17, 2024 Trucks began rolling over the pier into the Palestinian enclave Friday, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X. Photo courtesy of U.S. Central Command The only other land border is with Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah. Earlier in the month, the Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza side of that crossing. At the time, the UNRWA, the United Nations' relief mission for Palestinian refugees, warned of continued interruption of aid and fuel supplies through the crossing. The U.S. military announced earlier in the week it would install the floating causeway and adjacent pier, which are anchored to a beach, in an effort to get more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory. Aid shipments will continue to flow from multiple countries, with the first arriving Friday from Britain and the United Arab Emirates. Photo courtesy of U.S. Central Command "Today we began delivery of aid from the temporary pier on to the beach of Gaza for further distribution to the people by our partners," CENTCOM said on X, accompanied by pictures of the first trucks crossing the floating bridge. "This unique logistics capability facilitates the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid enabling a shared service for the international community to use to serve the people of Gaza." No U.S. military troops went ashore in Gaza, CENTCOM said in a statement Friday. "This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature." Britain and the United Arab Emirates were among the countries that saw their aid shipments move into Gaza Friday. "U.K. aid has been successfully delivered to the Gaza shore today, in the first delivery across the U.S.-built temporary pier. The first of 8,400 shelter coverage kits -- temporary shelters made up of plastic sheeting -- have arrived in Gaza, alongside aid from the U.S. and UAE," the British government said in a statement. Ukrainian air defenses downed all 13 Shahed-type attack drones launched during a Russian attack overnight on May 18, according to Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk. The drones were reportedly launched from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and from Russia's Kursk Oblast. Missile units of Ukraine's Armed Forces, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force intercepted the drones over Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, Air Force said in its morning update. Drone attacks are a daily occurrence in Ukraine, affecting various regions across the country. In recent months, Russia has intensified attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure, launching massive drone and missile strikes targeting critical facilities. Ukraine introduced restrictions on energy supply across the country due to a "significant power shortage." Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A poultry plant in Jasper, Alabama, has been accused of hiring minors and could be shut down for 30 days, according to a newly released US Department of Labor lawsuit. Mar-Jac Poultry, the largest employer in Walker county, is accused of violating federal labor laws when it hired four minors as young as 16 who were allegedly discovered working overnight at the companys slaughterhouse. Mar-Jac is the same firm that was found to be directly responsible for the death of a 16-year-old at a plant in neighboring Mississippi last summer. In May 2021, a Mar-Jac employee was killed when he was pinned partially under a machine after it snagged his sleeve. Related: US company agrees to fine for hiring children to clean slaughterhouses In the case of the four minors, the labor department is asking a judge to shut the plant down for 30 days based on statutes that prohibit companies from profiting from child labor. Six teenagers were working in the Jasper chicken plant for months using forged documents after passing the E-Verify system that is used to make sure a person is authorized to work legally, according to the suit filed. The company has said the employees were terminated after being discovered, and that they were not working around slaughtering machinery, only in chicken-hanging and wing-removal areas, which is not prohibited by federal regulations. The company is arguing that if it is shut down, it would be forced to lay off more than 1,000 workers for that period and slaughter millions of chickens and bury them in landfills. But on Friday, another teen was killed while operating equipment at a Mar-Jac plant neat Hattiesburg, Mississippi, WDAM-TV reported. The 16-year-old was reportedly killed while working in the plants sanitation operations. Mar-Jac has said it has taken steps recommended in a new best practices document for meat-processing companies released by the Meat Institute, an industry trade group, that was recently published after the hiring of children to work in slaughterhouses became a prominent labor-rights issue. The members of the Meat Institute are universally aligned that meat and poultry production facilities are no place for children, the Meat Institute president, Julie Anna Potts, wrote in the preface to the guideline document. The labor department has said that slaughterhouse work is too dangerous for minors and they are prohibited from working in that sector by federal regulations. Federal law, however, does not categorically prohibit it in all cases. The poultry industry has zero tolerance for the hiring of minors, Tom Super, a spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, told NBC. He said the council, which includes Mar-Jac, had formed a taskforce to prevent child labor, which it considers a non-competitive issue. Unfortunately, in most of these cases, minors are hired even when using all of the required government-screening programs and the applicants appear to be of legal age, Super added, noted that the challenges are not unique to the poultry industry. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) An Islamic center in Albuquerque offered free health resources to different communities on Saturday. The Islamic Center held its first health and wellness fair, offering free blood glucose testings, blood screenings, and even a chance for people to donate blood. These wildly viral hand sanitizers are actually worth the hype Organizers say they wanted to offer resources to under-served communities like refugees or immigrants. Its important because people dont have a lot of access to health resources, and its difficult to get there if you dont know what youre missing. So by coming to this fair, you have an idea of what you can get and what you need, said Dua Hussain from theAlzahra Islamic Centers organizing committee. And its accessible to the public, its easy to get this information. The Islamic Center hopes the fair will be the first of many future health and wellness fairs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. 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. Alito and the upside down flag: What the symbol means to 'stop the steal' crowd WASHINGTON An upside-down American flag a symbol connected with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump flew at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the election, the New York Times reported Thursday. The news came as the high court is deciding two cases related to the attempts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the election, decisions that will affect the criminal election interference charges pending against Trump. Supreme Court justices are supposed to avoid politics. In a statement to The New York Times, Alito said he had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs, he told the Times, referring to his wife Martha-Ann Alito. Justice Alito says he couldn't tell his wife Martha-Ann Alito what to do Alito told Fox News he didnt have the right or ability to tell his wife what to do in the neighborhood dispute that began after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Alito also said the neighbors sign she was reacting to by flying the upside-down flag blamed her for what happened on Jan. 6. Inverted flags, a sign of distress, have been used by Trump supporters, particularly those protesting the 2020 election. Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, who emphasized that shes not an authority on the significance of an upside-down flag, said justices are not supposed to publicly display support or opposition to partisan political candidates. If it means `Stop the Steal, then it seems like he didnt mind that ideological message going out to the world, she said of the flag. Thats political activity, arguably. More: Trump at Supreme Court: Ham sandwiches and solar eclipses - Justice Alito has questions Calls for recusal There have already been calls for Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from those decisions because of his wifes political advocacy. Virginia Ginni Thomas has argued repeatedly the 2020 election was stolen and attended Trumps Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021. Related: Amid blowback over Clarence Thomas travel, Supreme Court says it will adopt first-ever code of conduct Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito. Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York Universitys law school, told USA TODAY he doubts Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or, if he did know, wasnt aware of the Stop the Steal connection. I don't believe Alito would have allowed this to happen if he did know, Gillers said. While Alito's explanation for how it did happen is hard to believe, it is more credible than the view that he knowingly chose to fly the flag upside down knowing its meaning to the "Stop the Steal" crowd. Alicia Bannon, director of the judiciary program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal group, said a reasonable person could question Alitos impartiality in the pending cases related to Jan. 6, 2021, and the charges Trump faces. More: Justices Thomas, Alito complain about 'nastiness' and 'imperiled' freedom of religion Alito, she tweeted, should recuse himself from those cases. But both Bannon and Clark noted that the code of conduct the court adopted last year in response to ethics controversies does not include an enforcement mechanism. It's an acknowledgment that he needs to do something, Clark said, but it failed to do the most important thing which is provide a mechanism for accountability. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Alito flew upside down flag outside home, according to reports This photo taken on April 22, 2024 shows a view of the Dongfeng Space City in northwest China. (Xinhua/Yuan Quan) By Xinhua writer Yuan Quan JIUQUAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The weather in northwest China toward the end of spring is far from pleasant -- dry, windy and dusty. Despite frequent sandstorms, thousands of people are still drawn to visit because of the space launches. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a few days at "Dongfeng Space City" near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, where I covered the launch of the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft. This experience provided me with an up-close glimpse into China's captivating enthusiasm for space-themed tourism. For visitors, the quickest way to travel from Beijing to Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is by flying to Jiayuguan Jiuquan Airport and then taking a four-hour drive to the city itself. The view through the car window reveals the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert, with the scorching sun casting its rays upon the "lonely" road. It is a landscape with little greenery and few buildings or other signs of human life. This unchanging scenery persists until the emergence of "Dongfeng Space City," which is a small oasis of humanity amid the desert. The term "dongfeng" means "east wind" in Chinese. Inside the Space City, you'll find a whole new world: a park, a cinema, a clinic, a supermarket, hotels, restaurants, bakeries and clothing stores. There's even a farmers' market and a popular milk tea stand, giving visitors the impression that they're in an ordinary Chinese town. It is only when you come across roads named after "Taikong" (aerospace) and "Yuzhou" (cosmos) that you truly grasp the unique identity of this area. Local people have even designed the streetlights here to resemble rockets launching spacecraft. Although many buildings, built in the 1960s and 1970s, look quite plain, the slogans on guide-boards here are poetic, such as "The Gobi may be bitter, but Dongfeng is sweet;" "Make a wish to space, get together in Dongfeng;" and "Our triumph awaits in the stellar sea." The "Wentian Pavilion" is a must-visit spot. In Chinese, "Wentian" means "asking heaven," and the pavilion serves as a working and living area for taikonauts in the Space City. Before every manned space launch, a departure ceremony takes place right outside the pavilion, offering a rare opportunity for the public to get up close to taikonauts. The departure ceremony for the Shenzhou-18 crew lasted only about a few minutes, but people in the Space City gathered in the pavilion several hours in advance. The square in front of the pavilion soon transformed into a vibrant "sea of red," with hundreds of people waving flags joyfully. Some were blowing horns and beating drums, and some were lifting children onto their shoulders. There were even those who livestreamed on their smartphones. Everyone eagerly anticipated catching a glimpse of the space heroes. The Space City is where the Chinese aerospace dream begins. In 1970, China's first man-made satellite "Dongfanghong-1" was launched from the Dongfanghong satellite launch site. The launch site is now a 40-minute drive from the Space City. In 2018, after renovations, the Dongfanghong satellite launch site became a patriotic education base. Visitors can see two retired rocket launch towers. An exhibition hall nearby commemorates the journey of researchers who triumphed over the challenges of launching this ground-breaking satellite. The current launch site is called the "Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center," and it is renowned for being China's only manned space launch site. It takes half an hour by car to travel from the center of the Space City to the site. The public viewing area is a spacious playground. Keen space fans bring tents and telescopes, waiting for the moment when rockets thunder skyward. Nearby is an observation platform where the local tourism bureau organizes cultural performances before the launch. Ten seconds before the rocket ignites, the crowd begins a countdown, and then with a thunderous roar, the rocket soars into the night sky. People at the scene can feel an immense wave of heat washing over them, and their eyes are captivated by the brilliant flames. At that moment, it feels as if the world falls silent, with all sound fading away, but a warm surge rushes through the heart. Seven kilometers away from the launch site is the "Dongfeng Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery." Here lie hundreds of heroes who dedicated themselves to the cause of aerospace, including generals, soldiers, scientists and technicians from China, as well as herdsmen who gave up their homeland for the cause. The names of the deceased Dongfeng people are engraved on the "Wall of Honor," with a QR code next to each name linking to their life stories. There is also a souvenir shop in the Space City where you can buy refrigerator magnets and first-day covers, as well as various models of rockets, satellites and astronauts. Visitors to the Space City are often recommended to taste the "Aerospace Milk" and "Aerospace Yogurt." At first, I didn't find the taste particularly special, but once I learned that they were produced from the exclusive pastures of the launch site, the drinks seemed to take on quite different flavors. Visitors can also taste grapes, watermelons, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables from the greenhouse at the launch site. Nearby counties have also benefited from the tourism boom. The tourism bureau in Jinta County, Gansu Province, said that all 5,000 hotel beds in the county were fully booked a week before the launch of the Shenzhou-18. The local government plans a luxurious five-star hotel to meet the growing demand. The aerospace cause is both lofty and down to earth. It matters not only for space exploration but also for economic and social development, and the booming space-themed tourism is the best illustration of this. Space-themed tourism has come under the spotlight ahead of National Tourism Day, marked annually on May 19. I believe more industries, such as culture and education, will integrate with this burgeoning sector, providing further upward momentum for tourism. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2023 shows a road heading towards the Dongfeng Space City in northwest China. (Xinhua/Jia Zhao) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2023 shows a poster about Chinese taikonauts in the Dongfeng Space City in northwest China. (Xinhua/Jia Zhao) Allegations by women led to an investigation of Canyon Countys clerk and his resignation Editors note: Four documents embedded in this story may display only as blank boxes in the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge desktop browsers. If you experience this, please try a different browser or switch to a mobile device to read the story. Canyon County commissioners requested in January that longtime County Clerk Chris Yamamoto resign from his elected post in response to allegations by women in the clerks Elections Office that he mistreated them, records obtained by the Idaho Statesman show. Yamamoto, who was first elected in 2010 and was 70 years old, obliged and stepped down. But the county allowed him to keep working part time for $250 a week and retain his health benefits through May. The part-time work was part of a written separation agreement, which is highly unusual for an elected county officer to sign. A separation agreement is a contract that sets the terms of an employees departure. Canyon County Clerk Chris Yamamoto speaks at the swearing-in ceremony for Canyon County officials on Jan. 9, 2023. Just over a year later, Yamamoto resigned. I cant think of any reason why a county would offer an elected official a separation agreement unless the county commissioners wanted the person to resign for some reason like theres a scandal or theres some kind of possible horrendous lawsuit that might happen because of something that person did, said Grant Loebs, prosecuting attorney of Twin Falls County, by phone. What exactly Yamamoto may have done has been hidden from public view by county officials. In part, they say it is a confidential personnel matter. But documents the Statesman obtained in response to public records requests show that county leaders were worried that Yamamoto was indeed putting Canyon County at risk of a lawsuit. One letter offers a list of characterizations of Yamamotos behavior. The letter, written by a deputy Idaho attorney general, says Yamamoto was alleged to have exhibited actions and behaviors to cause a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, bullying, intimidation with a firearm, favoritism, unhealthy work environment and retaliation. The letter said Yamamoto also was accused of inappropriate contact with a female employee and inappropriate joking regarding a handgun. Yamamoto did not respond to phone calls and text messages from the Statesman seeking comment. This embedded content is not available in your region. County official finds fault with investigators report The allegations led to an investigation of Yamamoto by an outside attorney. But Greg Rast, the countys chief operating officer, who works for the three county commissioners, told them in a Dec. 15 memo that the investigators report was poorly written and provided (an) inaccurate and limited summary of findings. Rast also said the investigator, Kirt Naylor, a partner in the Boise law firm Naylor and Hales, told the employees who complained that there isnt anything to be done because the clerk is an elected official. Rast said County Prosecutor Bryan Taylors chief civil prosecutor, Carlton Ericson, said the same thing to the county commissioners and the countys human resources director at the time, Kate Rice. That conclusion was unacceptable, Rast said. This kind of approach does not give our employees the impression that investigations are fair and an unbiased process, Rast wrote. Taylor told the Statesman that Ericson was not involved in the investigation except to identify that the prosecutors office would have a conflict of interest in investigating Yamamotos office, which the prosecutors office represents. Ericson recommended that the county hire an outside investigator. In an email, Taylor said Naylors investigation was done according to regular practice in response to allegations of personnel complaints against elected officials. He added that Naylor is a widely respected attorney with decades of experience handling public employment law matters. Mr. Rasts letter appears in my opinion to deliberately mischaracterize the counsel given and the report, as well as misstate the authority of the Board of County Commissioners, Taylor said. This embedded content is not available in your region. He added that after Naylor submitted his investigative report to the commissioners, they completely cut off communication with my deputies on the topic. Taylor said he doesnt know what happened between the commissioners and Yamamoto. He said his office had not seen the settlement agreement until the Statesmans public records request. It seems apparent that outside counsel were brought in to assist the board in some capacity on this matter, but our attempts to even secure a complete billing record of such transactions have been unsuccessful, Taylor said. The county denied the Statesmans request for the investigative report. Naylor did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment. Newly elected and re-elected Canyon County officials took their oaths of office on Jan. 9, 2023 at the county administration building in Caldwell. From left: Clerk Chris Yamamoto; Treasurer Tracie Lloyd; Commissioners Zach Brooks and Brad Holton; Assessor Brian Stender and Coroner Jennifer Crawford. COO suggested 2 options: resignation or state investigation Rast suggested two options to Commissioners Leslie Van Beek, Brad Holton and Zach Brooks: Raise the investigation to the Idaho Attorney Generals Office and issue a news release explaining that an investigation was taking place. Ask Yamamoto to resign his position to avoid that investigation. The commissioners approved both steps, which meant that Yamamotos resignation did not forestall the state investigation. But the investigation did not lead to prosecution. Rast filed a public corruption complaint against Yamamoto on the same day he sent his letter to the commissioners, according to the letter written by the deputy attorney general, Ken Robins. Robins Feb. 12 letter, three weeks after Yamamoto resigned, said the attorney general does not have the authority to investigate the workplace harassment and misconduct complaints because the allegations are not criminal in nature. He said the facts and circumstances of the allegations about inappropriate contact with a female employee and inappropriate joking regarding a handgun did not constitute a prosecutable criminal offense. This embedded content is not available in your region. Commissioners rehire Yamamoto part time Yamamoto resigned Jan. 24. The separation agreement obtained by the Statesman shows Rast signed it Jan. 26 and Yamamoto and the three commissioners signed it Jan. 29. In the agreement, the commissioners rehired Yamamoto on a temporary basis to help with the transition to a new clerk. The redacted copy of the agreement the Statesman obtained said Yamamoto agreed to vacate the clerks position but to remain a contract employee making $500 per two-week paycheck until May 31. Its not clear whether Yamamoto has actually been collecting paychecks. His timecard through April 29 shows no hours worked with just one day of pay for a paid holiday on Feb. 19, Presidents Day. This embedded content is not available in your region. His successor, County Clerk Rick Hogaboam, who was appointed in February after Yamamoto resigned, told the Statesman by phone that he had seen Yamamoto once since becoming clerk. That was to give him a box of his old items from the office in the county Administration Buildings parking lot. Aaron Williams, the county spokesperson, said in an email that separation agreements for elected officials are aberrant in Canyon County. Seth Griggs, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, told the Statesman in an email that he was not aware of separation agreements for elected officials. A tumultuous time in Canyon politics Yamamotos resignation came during a tumultuous period in Canyon County politics. In 2022, Yamamoto clashed with Van Beek. Yamamoto told the Statesman at the time that the commissioner was accusing me of hiding money and not telling the truth. Meanwhile, an email from Taylor in 2022 said Van Beek accused Yamamoto and other elected officials of criminal or unethical conduct. Eight elected county officials in 2022 called on Van Beek to resign. They were Taylor, Yamamoto, Sheriff Kieran Donahue, Assessor Brian Stender, Treasurer Tracie Lloyd, Coroner Jennifer Crawford, and Van Beeks two fellow commissioners, Keri Smith and Pam White. All eight, like Van Beek, are Republicans. They said she was digging up dirt on them, disclosing confidential information, sharing personal information with the public and making false claims against her fellow elected officials. Van Beek denied all the claims. And she did not resign. Far from it: She is seeking re-election in Tuesdays Republican primary election. Yamamoto and his wife have contributed $500 apiece to one of her opponents, Pam Blacker Wagoner. She is the wife of Zach Wagoner, the former county controller who worked under Yamamoto and resigned in February shortly after he did. Canyon County Commission 2024 primary election candidates. From left: District 1: Leslie Van Beek (R-incumbent), Pam Blacker Wagoner (R), Theresa Denham (R). District 3: Zachary Brooks (R-incumbent), Richard Williams (R), Kyle Thompson (D). In an interview March 6 on KBOI radio, Van Beek said, The former clerk was determined to keep the Board of County Commissioners in some level of chaos and turmoil. On that point, Rasts December memo suggests that other officials shared Van Beeks view. Rast said Yamamoto provided no cooperation when commissioners were setting the clerks budget. Rast cited a lack of trust between Yamamoto and department administrators. He said Yamamoto neglected his elections duties, resulting in a failed logic-and-accuracy test of voting equipment, other equipment-security concerns and inefficiency. The county conducts the logic tests before every election. It was not clear when the alleged test failure occurred. The elections office told the Statesman in response to a public records request that the county had never failed a logic-and-accuracy test of voting equipment from 2010 to now. On KBOI, Van Beek said half of the elected leaders who urged her to quit two years ago have left office or will soon. Im proud to say Im still here weve got No. 4 going to retire out in May, Van Beek said. It appears that No. 4 was a reference to Taylors decision not to run in the May 21 primary for re-election. Smith, White and Yamamoto have left office. The other four letter signers Donahue, Stender, Lloyd and Crawford remain in office. All three county commissioners and Rast declined to comment or answer questions for this story through Williams. Each commissioner and Rast was included in the email seeking answers to questions. PACs. Politicians. County employees. See whos contributing to Canyon GOP candidates Did all 3 Canyon County commissioners break Idahos open meeting law? What prosecutors say In our Reality Check stories, Tri-City Herald journalists seek to hold the powerful accountable and find answers to critical questions in our community. Read more. Story idea? News@tricityherald.com. Damning new documents allege Franklin County leaders were secretly recorded trying to force an employee to lie to detectives and prosecutors. Even though the county administrator has been given whistleblower protection, that didnt stop the conflict from erupting into a loud outburst in the courthouse this week. At one point a commissioner told the administrator that hed helped hire just over a year ago, I think youre the problem around here. The description of the audio and of the most recent arguments at the courthouse comes from new documents obtained by the Tri-City Herald through Washingtons Public Records Act. Its part of an official case report compiled by the lead sheriffs investigator and sheds more light on the extent to which Franklin County Commission Chairman Rocky Mullen and Auditor Matt Beaton allegedly worked to put a stop to an investigation into alleged misconduct. The recording came to light after Mullen was interviewed by a sheriffs investigator, showing he allegedly lied and directed the cover-up attempt reported last week by the Herald. Mullen did not return a request for a comment on the allegations last week. He told KEPR TV that he was not aware that he was under investigation until the Herald published the initial story May 9. Rocky Mullen The documents also paint a clearer picture of Commissioner Clint Didiers alleged involvement and apparent attempts to retaliate. They also detail a confrontation at the courthouse that was overheard by employees. Potential criminal charges being investigated include official misconduct, tampering with a witness, criminal conspiracy and making a false statement to a public servant. Sheriffs officials say the case is still under investigation under the direction of a special prosecutor from Snohomish County. No charges have been filed. Exterior of the HAPO Center at 6600 Burden Blvd. in Pasco. HAPO Center payment The investigation began after county Administrator Mike Gonzalez received an invoice in early January for Simmons Venue Managements last month of work at the HAPO Center. SVM is a local company owned by the Simmons family, known for their CG Public House and Catering. They had stepped in to take over managing the county-owned event center after a management exodus in 2022. After losing a bid to become the permanent contractor in August 2023, SVM continued to work with the county and its new contractor Harris White Leasure Group to ensure a smooth transition. That process lasted several months. Their last invoice was submitted to the county in January 2024 for services through the end of October, when Harris White Leasures contract was finalized and its new management team was fully in place. Typically invoice approval would just go through the HAPO Center, but Harris White Leasure wanted the countys approval on the Simmons invoice because the initial document had the wrong fiscal year listed. It was sent back to SVM to be corrected. Because several previous contracts had left the county in a bad position, the new contract made Gonzalez responsible for approving reimbursements to Harris White Leasure for anything over $25,000. He also was given more oversight of the center. Mike Gonzalez Gonzalez told investigators he believed Simmons should be paid because of the considerable work done to help Harris White Leasure and for compiling the financial reports. He then made his case to the three member county commission. The newest member of the commission, Steve Bauman, agreed the invoice needed to be paid. Mullen was reportedly reluctant but gave Gonzalez the green light and Didier did not respond, according to Gonzalezs account in the documents. After approving the invoice, Gonzalez told investigators he got a text message from Mullen telling him not to pay it. Gonzalez then had the auditors office staff put a hold on the payment on Jan. 17, and was told it would be frozen until Gonzalez gave them approval to clear it. Contractor put in the middle The same day Gonzalez got a call from the manager of the HAPO Center, telling him he needed to contact HWLs Wesley Harris. Beaton allegedly had contacted Harris on Jan. 9 and told him the payment wouldnt be approved, but to process it anyway. Harris believed the call was abnormal and unnecessary and became concerned he was being involved in some county political infighting. According to Harris, Beaton advised him that he should process this invoice like he normally would. Beaton then stated, I dont think this is a wise decision that Mike (Gonzalez) is approving something like this and I dont think the county commissioners are going to be very happy with it. Harris then stated he told Beaton that he should probably talk to Mike about this, sheriffs Commander Marcus Conner wrote after interviewing Harris. Matt Beaton Harris said that after he got off the phone with Beaton, he received a call from his business partner Larry Leasure, who had received a similar call and was concerned. Beaton also allegedly contacted Harris girlfriend trying to reach him. When Harris was asked why he thought Beaton was doing this, he told investigators that he believes the purpose was to have this invoice processed through so the commissioners would be upset and have a different opinion on Gonzalez ability to do his job. Harris and Leasure were both concerned about the position they were being put in, and how it might impact their government contracting work, according to the documents. In addition to venue and event management, the company also contracts to run food services at military bases and government facilities. Harris said that meant he had a duty to cooperate with any investigation. Investigation begins After speaking with Harris, Gonzalez mentioned the issue to Daniel Stovern in the prosecutors office, who told him a crime may have been committed. Stovern often acts as the legal advisor to the county and the board of commissioners. He referred Gonzalez to the sheriffs office. The Franklin County Courthouse on North Fouth Avenue in Pasco. Beaton allegedly called Harris back on Jan. 19 after receiving an email from Gonzalez confronting him. Harris told investigators that Beaton wanted to know what he had told Gonzalez and tried to read him the email, but Harris declined. Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond assigned the investigation to Conner and then reached out to Benton County for outside help. The documents do not indicate the sheriff had any further involvement, and Raymond has referred all questions about the investigation to Undersheriff Monty Huber. Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant requested a special prosecutor from Snohomish County, in Everett, Wash., to assist with advising investigators. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elise Deschenes previously told the Herald that she has provided advice and guidance on search warrants, but no charges have been forwarded yet. The Herald previously obtained two unsealed search warrants used to collect information from Mullens personal and work phones, as well as to search county devices. The new documents are a fuller accounting of the interactions Conner had during the investigation, and include the official case report. Alleged cover-up Gonzalez was given whistleblower status after the investigation was opened. That means he is legally protected from retaliation in the form of threats, firing or demotion. In the days that followed the initial report to Stovern, Mullen and Beaton allegedly learned of the investigation and coordinated to try and get Gonzalez to recant his statements. During Gonzalez initial interview he stated that he believed Beaton was doing this to place Gonzalez position at the county in jeopardy. Gonzalez further stated that there has been a breakdown in their working relationship because Beaton believes that he is taking the side of Beatons political opponents and then referenced a recent dispute between Beaton and Sheriff Raymond that Gonzalez was attempting to resolve, Conner wrote. When Gonzalez was asked if he believed his job was truly at risk he replied, Now that Ive reported this incident I absolutely believe my job is at risk. During this initial interview I observed that Commissioner Mullen was repeatedly calling Gonzalez cell phone and it was causing him to appear to have considerable anxiety and lose his thought process. I asked Gonzalez if he would like to end our conversation and continue it at a later time to which he agreed. Franklin County will change its commissioner elections in 2024 after the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the Voting Rights Act as constitutional. Potential witness tampering Later that day Gonzalez spoke to commissioners Bauman and Mullen. Gonzalez said Bauman told him he had spoken to Beaton to see what was going on, and that Beatons story didnt make sense to him. When he was informed an investigation had been opened on Jan. 19 or 20, Bauman advised Gonzalez to be honest with investigators. Conner wrote that this indicated that by Jan. 20 the elected officials within the county already knew about the investigation. Bauman later told investigators Beaton approached him and said Gonzalez did not have the authority to approve the invoice, but Bauman rebuffed him and told Beaton he was overstepping his authority and the decision whether to make a payment was a commission matter. Gonzalez told investigators that Mullen told him he also had talked with Beaton. Mullen spoke with Beaton and insisted they needed to have a meeting on Monday morning (Jan. 22) with the two of them and Beaton to get this figured out. Gonzalez told investigators he believed the purpose of this meeting was going to be to bury this issue but didnt feel like he could refuse to attend because he was being instructed by the commission chairperson. After learning of the attempt to set up the meeting, Conner contacted the prosecutors office. Conner said there was a legitimate concern that forcing Gonzalez into the meeting could be considered witness tampering if either of the two attempted to get Gonzalez to change his story or pressure him in any way. I requested that (the prosecutor) attempt to stop this meeting from occurring until we could attempt to interview all involved parties, Conner wrote. Sant replied that Stovern had already given several individuals a warning against doing anything that could give the appearance of tampering with this investigation but would also follow up as well. An unsealed search warrant lists the alleged crimes Franklin County Commissioner Rocky Mullen is being investigated for. No choice Gonzalez told investigators he felt he had no choice but to attend the meeting with Beaton and Mullen. During that meeting, Gonzalez said that Beaton allegedly admitted to trying to get the payment forced through, but said Didier put him up to it. They told Gonzalez he needed to send out a letter saying everything had just been a misunderstanding and they were trying to put it behind them, but Gonzalez told them he had not misunderstood and would not lie about it. Gonzalez said he refused to write a letter, but would try to work together moving forward. Mullen began following up by text from both his personal and county-owned cell phones insisting Gonzalez write the letter, because the accusations could cause a storm and put the countys relationship with Harris White Leasure at risk. What Beaton and Mullen didnt know at the time was that the meeting had been recorded. Secret recording Gonzalez recorded the meeting because he was reportedly concerned he was going to be asked to commit a crime, but had no intention of ever releasing the recording, according to the documents. Gonzalez only came forward with the recording because Mullen suggested he had lied to investigators. Washington is a two-party consent state, meaning both parties typically have to know a recording is taking place. However, Washington courts have held that secret recordings are legal in instances when one party is asking the other to commit a crime. I was hoping to go to my grave with this but I am not going to have my integrity called into question, Gonzalez allegedly later told investigators. Conner tried to set up interviews with several elected officials after the meeting. He attempted to set up a meeting with Didier, but was unsuccessful. After a back and forth, Didier ultimately refused to be interviewed. Commissioner Clint Didier The purpose of wanting to speak to Commissioner Didier was to determine if (he) did indeed ask Beaton to contact Harris or Leasure and the contents of what he asked Beaton to say, Conner wrote. A week later, Gonzalez contacted Conner because Didier had allegedly ordered him to fire Conners wife, who works in the countys Office of Public Defense. He said he believed her manager Larry Ziegler had also been told to fire her. Gonzalez told Conner he did not intend to fire her, but wanted him to know because it looked like things are going to get pretty nasty. Conner passed the information along to Raymond to make a determination about whether the attempted firing needed to be investigated. Its unclear if a criminal investigation into this was ever opened, but at the end of April, an attorney for Whitney Conner sent Didier and the county a cease and desist letter. Franklin County Courthouse in Pasco, WA. Conflicting stories When Mullen finally met with investigators on March 26, he claimed Gonzalez refused to try and move forward amicably, that he had not coordinated with Beaton, that he was against paying Simmons from the start and that Didier had not been mentioned during the meeting. Gonzalezs secret recording allegedly showed that these claims by Mullen were all untrue. Conner wrote that the recording appeared to be the entire meeting from greetings to a closing. A summary of the recording was included in a detailed case report released through a public records request. The Herald has requested a copy of the full recording. Conner identified the voices on the recording as Gonzalez, Beaton and Mullen. The recording established several instances of false or misleading statements made by Mullen in his interview, as well as multiple attempts to coerce Gonzalez into changing his story (by) both Mullen and Beaton, Conner wrote. Mullen allegedly told Conner that Didiers name never came up. The recording established that Didier was mentioned a dozen times and that Beaton had allegedly justified his actions by blaming Didier. Mullen was asked if Gonzalez confronted Beaton about the issue or whether it was mentioned that Beaton had contacted Harris. He told Conner no in both cases, but the recording allegedly shows it was discussed at length. In the recording, Beaton allegedly attempted to explain his interference in the payment process, and that it was his job as auditor and Gonzalez cut him off saying he didnt need an explanation, he just wants to move on. Beaton allegedly insisted there has to be an explanation and that this was really important to him. Gonzalez allegedly pushed back, saying what he had done was not the role of the auditor. Asked to mislead investigators Near the end of the meeting, Gonzalez said he talked to Stovern because he was concerned that Harris had been made involved. I dont know whats going to happen, Gonzalez said before being cut off by Beaton. I know what should happen if, and I appreciate you telling me that, is that you should send an email that, um, you sat down with the chair and myself and that uh, you didnt have the whole story and that I, that there was no issue here and that youre good with it and send it to him (Mullen), me, you, and then send it to Stovern and it should be over, Beaton allegedly told Gonzalez. Beaton then suggests the issue needs to be shut down because a county attorney and the sheriffs office had become involved. You better protect Wes Harris. You want to shut this down... Beaton then states, ... I would send something because if youve spun up legal and theyre talking with the sheriff ... Gonzalez cut Beaton off, saying he didnt spin up anything, that he had just asked Stovern if this was an issue. Beaton then allegedly asked Mullen if he agreed that a letter should be written to shut the matter down. Yeah. But Im asking you, you started it if ... do you (Mullen) agree on this or? Beaton said Mullen then responds, I I think a letter should be sent out saying, Hey, weve resolved it ourselves. Mullen and Beaton then allegedly began to tell Gonzalez what he should write in the letter. Beaton insisted the intent of the letter was to keep Harris out of the controversy. Beaton then allegedly reiterated the letter would make everything go away otherwise the county is going to lose HWL, according to the documents. Mullen allegedly agreed they didnt want to lose the contractor, and Gonzalez said he didnt either. The rest of its between us, Beaton said according to the transcript. Hiding calls Mullen said the meeting ended with Beaton and Gonzalez agreeing to write a letter stating the matter had been put behind them and they were going to move on. Mullen told Conner the letter was his idea. Gonzalez told investigators he had no intention of writing a letter but told Beaton and Mullen what they wanted to hear in order to get out of the meeting. He later reiterated that he wouldnt write the letter because it amounted to lying, when Mullen began texting him about why he hadnt written it yet. Mullen then stated, You know, because the two of em obviously werent getting along. And Im like. Mike had said that he had, um nonchalantly mentioned it to Stover(n) and Stover(n) was like, hey I think thats a crime that been committed. And Mike said that was never his intention. And I said, well then maybe we just write a paragraph saying, hey (were) working this out, lets move forward. Later in the interview with Conner, Mullen said that Gonzalez never wrote the letter. Mullen indicated that he no longer has respect for Gonzalez and lost trust in him because he did not write the letter. Mullen also was asked if he had talked to anyone about the meeting over that weekend, Jan. 19-21, and told Conner he hadnt. A search warrant revealed numerous phone calls between Mullen and Beaton on Friday and Saturday. Baseless allegations Investigators tried to schedule an interview with Beaton on March 28, but he was out of the office. His assistant put them on the calendar for April 1. Conner contacted Beaton by phone, and Beaton allegedly went on a prolonged rant about the investigation. When he was done I clarified a few of his statements and asked if he would be willing to schedule an interview. He declined, Conner wrote. This interaction was recorded by Beaton on his personal cell phone. On April 11, Beatons attorney Scott Johnson contacted Conner and asked him to direct all communication through him. Conner wrote that the offer for an interview was still on the table, but as of the completion of the documents on May 14 he had not been able to interview Beaton. Last week, Johnson provided the Herald with a statement from Beaton. Beaton maintains he was simply doing his job and insisting that the sheriff and other Franklin County officials tell the truth. Beaton believes the investigation is politically motivated. Johnson told the Herald that they have not filed a lawsuit but are considering their legal options. It is clear that certain elements of the Franklin County government have conspired in an effort to try to remove Matt from office through these baseless criminal allegations, Johnson wrote. This conspiracy is based on personal grudges held by those Franklin County officials against Matt for doing his job as auditor, namely protecting Franklin County taxpayers money. Far from committing any criminal acts, Matt has insisted that all Franklin County officials be honest and follow the laws and regulations ..., the statement continued. These false allegations are fueled by ego and abuse of power. When the truth and facts are exposed through the pending lawsuit and those to be filed, the public will have opportunity to decide for themselves and they will see this for what it is. By state law, Franklin County commissioners had to vote on the salary for the District 3 commissioner before the Nov. 6 election or it would have automatically dropped to the statutory minimum, $14,900. Commissioners currently make about $94,000 a year plus benefits. Courthouse confrontation The Herald published a story about the troubles at the courthouse and the cease and desist letter on May 9. On Monday, May 13 Didier got into a heated confrontation at the courthouse as employees began their week. Didier did not respond to a request for comment earlier that week. Gonzalez was interviewed again by Conner on Monday, May 13, after a confrontation with Didier at the courthouse, according to the most recent report. Conner had been made aware of a heated confrontation just before 7 a.m. that morning when Gonzalez was set to have a regularly scheduled meeting with the countys government affairs coordinator and Didier. The two walked over to Didiers office, where the argument began. Word got out because the doors of the office were open. (Gonzalez) said to Didier, Hey Clint, hows it going. Didier responded, I dont know. Um, you tell me. You know what Mike, I think youre the problem around here. Gonzalez responded with, Oh really? Gonzalez asked him to explain why he was the problem and the conversation allegedly got heated, raising their voices arguing about the HAPO Center payment. Didier allegedly said this wouldnt have happened if Gonzalez had just listened to him about the payment, to which Gonzalez said he responded by explaining that Didier is just one person on the board. Gonzalez also referred to Beaton as a lying bastard. The Herald has requested additional public records about the ongoing investigation. The city of Amarillo announced it had certified the signatures for the petition for an ordinance to make Amarillo a proposed Sanctuary City for the Unborn. With the certification reaching the threshold of registered voters, the Amarillo City Council will present it at the May 28 council meeting. Once presented, the city can hold a public meeting to consider the ordinance or schedule it for a future date. The council must vote on the petition within 30 days of it being presented. The council previously took up the ordinance in October of last year, with the trafficking aspect of the provision being intensely contested and not considered by some members to be aligned with law or basic constitutional freedoms. Council was considering a drafted version of the ordinance in December, which would not encompass any restriction of travel for abortion but instead focus on proper disposal of fetal remains and illegally possessing abortion-inducing medications such as mifepristone. With the travel restriction that organizers have labeled "abortion trafficking" not in place, the group supporting Mark Lee Dicksons abortion ordinance proposal decided to go the petition route to force a vote on the original proposal. Mark Lee Dickson, the director of Right to Life East Texas, addresses a pro-life rally in downtown Amarillo in this February 2023 file photo. Dickson, director of Right to Life East Texas, successfully got about 50 Texas cities to pass ordinances similar to the one presented in Amarillo. Dickson has said the city's proposed ordinance did not go far enough and ignored abortion trafficking. Of the 10,300 signatures on the petition, only 6,300 were considered valid. Many were invalidated due to not living in the city and not following petition rules. The petition was expected to be turned in January, but organizers continued their approach, gathering more signatures at local churches and door-to-door. Members of the community sign a petiton for an Amarillo abortion ordinance Saturday at the Right to Life mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley discussed the next steps for the abortion ordinance and hinted that voters would likely decide it in November. I think you are going to see council move forward with the plan that council has always maintained, and then that in no way will negate what the citizens have as an opportunity to put this petition on the ballot, he said. Regarding how the city would enforce the ordinance, Stanley said the enforcement mechanism would only be handled civilly. It creates a private right of action, which just means simply the ability for one citizen to sue another citizen for something they would drive out of the description in that ordinance, Stanley said. If you look at state law, the main difference that I would point to with this ordinance versus current state law is state law provides some more descriptive venues. Les Simpson discusses the parameters of an abortion ordinance Tuesday at a special work session of city council at the Amarillo Civic Center. Stanley said that the council is having the city attorney draft language on an ordinance aligning with state law. "I do not feel that the council has three votes that would be in favor of this ordinance as it is written, he said. I do not believe you would see us accept it and put it as ordinance. I also do not believe that it would be necessary for the council to reject this ordinance. It has the petition signatures; it has been validated. It has earned the right to go to the ballot in November if that steering committee decides to do that. With the abortion trafficking aspect still a main point of contention with the council, that would likely not pass a vote. He said that while there have been attacks on the council not being pro-life enough for the organizers of the petition, they would want abortion trafficking provisions that go above state law, which the city legal team will still explore. I think we as a council we addressed the top three items, which I think would be considered 95% satisfactory; so, if we cannot get 100% will that be enough, Stanley added. Speaking of the potential of impeding the right of travel even for a legal abortion in another state, Stanley seemed to push back on that provision. Im not going to fast-forward to anybodys decision that would say that this ordinance could ever do that, Stanley said. However, I would tell you that, constitutionally, as a conservative, who loves the Republic that he lives in, we always want to protect these civil rights, right of travel and right of speech. Freedom to move is greatly important. And we should never be in favor of anything that would ever limit that. That is a super dangerous thing to abridge. But this ordinance specifically, I am not telling anyone that this ordinance would limit travel. If the Council rejects the ordinance as presented and amendments are not approved by the petitions' steering committee, it must be submitted to be put on the ballot by Aug. 19. Stanley said that the city must be incredibly careful not to take jurisdictions over measures that it is not legally able to do. Local matters most, and all of your state laws are derived from those local bases and foundations, Stanley said. And so, giving your citizens and your constituents the right to have a voice at the local level is very important if you want to be adequately represented at the state level. When asked to clarify if he considered that driving a person that wants to get an abortion to another state where it was legal was aiding and abetting, Stanley stated that he felt that it was individual responsibility in this case. I consider that state rights are more important than the federal role and that those state rights matter and the federal role should only engage when the state doesn't have the capacity to manage that, he said. Below that, the municipal level is even more important to make sure those state rights reflect the community. People that do legal or illegal things in other states should be personally responsible. People have the right to travel, and it is very important. I would not conflate the civil rights action as a needed measure for the person that drove and ignore the person that committed the act. Stanley stressed that there is a difference between legality and morality and personal responsibility should be paramount. Dickson, director of the initiative, spoke about Mayor Stanleys comments given at the news conference via social media afterward. Dickson said he believes driving someone out of town for an abortion is similar to sex or child trafficking. Mayor Stanley talked a whole lot about civil liberties and the right to travel," Dickson said. "This is an issue where we are talking about the taking of an unborn child across state lines for the purpose of that child being murdered. Thats not something that falls into the category of smoking marijuana or gambling. Were talking about the killing of an innocent child. Here in Texas, we view the unborn child as a human being made in the image of God and should be treated as such." Harper Metcalf, of the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance, issued a statement about the petition being accepted. We respect the petition process and fully support our fellow community members right to participate in our local government. However, this petition is not representative of Amarillo as a whole, and we encourage the Council to allow a citywide vote to ensure the true voice of our city is heard. We trust that well-informed voters will reject the extremism found in this ordinance. As Amarillo city leaders prepare for the discussion at their next meeting, the city of Clarendon recently unanimously rejected a similar measure proposed by Dickson and his organizers. Amarillo is seen as a key battleground due to its proximity to Interstates 27 and 40 to travel to other states including New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma. More: Amarillo Councilmember Don Tipps weighs in on abortion ordinance debate More: Scherlen holds another meeting to discuss abortion ordinance concerns More: City councilmember Les Simpson weighs in on abortion ordinance in relation to state law This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Mayor Stanley says council will take up abortion ordinance petition Amazon delivery driver falls down 12-foot hole after stepping out of van in California The Modesto Fire Department rescued an Amazon delivery driver who fell into a 12-foot hole as he stepped out of his van in Oakdale on Thursday afternoon, according to an incident summary report. The delivery driver was trapped for over an hour as 23 Fire Department personnel attempted to pull him out. He was eventually removed and was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The incident occurred near the intersection of J Street and Cabernet Drive. MFD spokesman Jim Black said the delivery driver did not fall all the way down the hole a metal grate supported the man and prevented him from succumbing to the full depth of the drainage pipe. It was unknown as of Friday if the grate was already down in the hole or if it fell when the delivery driver stepped on it. Regardless, the grate prevented further injuries to the man, said Black. Oak Valley Ambulance, the Oakdale Police Department and Oakdale Public Works assisted in the rescue. American therapist detained in Syria more than seven years ago has died Majd Kamalmaz, an American man detained in Syria more than seven years ago, has died, according to a statement from the Bring Our Families Home Campaign (BoFH). Tragically, he did not survive the brutal conditions of the prisons, enduring seven long years without a case, trial or any form of communication with his family, read a statement from Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for BoFH, a group that campaigns on behalf of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas. He was a kindhearted, loving and caring person who embodied these qualities as a son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. Kamalmaz, a Texas psychotherapist, was detained in 2017 at a checkpoint in Damascus, Syria, while on a trip to visit family. In 2020, CNN reported that Kamalmazs family members, who had not heard from him since his detainment, were hopeful that there would be momentum in his case, following a visit to Damascus from Trump administration officials. The visit was held in an effort to secure the release of American prisoners believed to be held by the Syrian government. But Kamalmaz did not return home and the silence since his 2017 detainment persisted. A vigil is held outside of the White House on February 17 to mark three years since Majd Kamalmaz's detention in Syria. - family photo We do feel invisible, said Maryam Kamalmaz, speaking on the first-ever Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day about her fathers disappearance earlier this year. She and other family members of detained Americans called on President Joe Biden to meet with them, CNN reported, but that request was not fulfilled. For the last seven years, we have been struggling to come to grips with my fathers absence, Maryam Kamalmaz said in the statement announcing her fathers death. The anguish and emotional turmoil that our family has been through has taken a heavy toll on our lives. He will be missed tremendously, yet we hope that his legacy of helping others in need lives on and is carried out by many. The FBI did not confirm Kamalmazs death but reaffirmed the trauma psychologist had not been heard from since he first went missing. In 2017, Majd Kamalmaz, a trauma psychologist who worked with individuals affected by war and natural disasters, traveled to Syria to visit a family member, a statement from the FBIs Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell read. Kamalmaz has not been seen or heard from since his disappearance in Syria in February 2017. No matter how much time has passed, the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell works on behalf of the victims and their families to recover all U.S. hostages and support the families whose loved ones are held captive or missing. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com AMHERST, Ohio (WJW) Amherst Fire Chief Jim Wilhelm, who has been working with the department for more than four decades, has passed away. Wilhelm, after a lengthy, courageous battle with cancer, died Friday morning at Mercy Health hospital in Lorain, the Amherst Fire Department confirmed on Facebook. Cleveland Clinic to pay $7.6M to settle fraud case He joined the Amherst Fire Department on May 21, 1977, nearly 47 years ago, and, according to fire officials, has held every rank at the department throughout the years. Amherst Fire Chief Jim Wilhelm He was named fire chief in 2017. The post goes on to say that the department underwent various improvements during Wilhelms tenure. All of the departments radios and air packs were replaced with grant dollars. Additional grant dollars were utilized to provide safety equipment and training for all of our members, the department said in the Facebook post. Two new engines are currently in the build process. Brian Harding is Akrons new police chief Many took to the comments to share their condolences, including the Sheffield Village Fire Department, calling Wilhelm an exceptional leader and man. He will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. The fire department is asking the community to keep Wilhelms family in thoughts and prayers at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. At the lowest point of his 2020 fight for the Democratic nomination, President Joe Bidens campaign put its faith in Black voters to provide the spark that turned things around. As he heads into the summer facing an uphill climb to be re-elected, the presidents campaign is working overtime to make sure that what was once a political lifeline remains in his corner. The groundwork has been laid for months by campaign leadership, who say outreach to Black voters cannot just be left to the closing months of the campaign. But on Friday, Biden kicked off a series of public speeches ramping up his own direct pitch to Black voters, one that plays to voters short- and long-term memories by emphasizing his long history and relationships with the community and the way he says hes delivered on the promises he made to them four years ago. When we make real the promise of America for all Americans, the nation changes for the better, Biden said at a public commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended racial segregation in public schools. Bidens approach also includes stark warnings about what is at risk if Donald Trump returns to the White House, as he cast his Republican opponent Friday as having revived insidious efforts to stand in the way of promoting equality and inclusion. My predecessor and his extreme MAGA friends are responsible for taking away other fundamental freedoms, from the freedom to vote to the freedom to choose. But Ive always believed that the promise of America is big enough for everyone to succeed, he said. Biden was also set to meet Friday with leaders of the so-called Divine Nine, a group of leading Black sororities and fraternities. On Sunday, he will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black university, before traveling to Detroit to address the NAACPs Freedom Fund Dinner. This weekends back-to-back events, in cities where Black turnout will be critical to winning two of the closest battleground states, reflect the campaigns belief that Black voters cant be counted on as just a turnout demographic but require sustained engagement and persuasion. You have to make time. You have to show up, Quentin Fulks, Bidens principal deputy campaign manager, said in an interview. Its just a continuation of doubling down and making sure that were doing the work with communities across the country that we need to show up for us, and were not taking anything for granted. NBC News polling shows the challenge ahead for Biden. Though Biden led Trump 71% to 13% among Black voters in an April survey, the margin is reduced from his 87%-12% advantage in exit polls four years ago. More concerning for Biden is what appears to be diminished enthusiasm 59% of Black voters said they had high interest in the 2024 election, compared to 74% who said the same four years ago at a similar point in the race. Bidens allies downplayed concern even as they underscore the stakes. I dont accept the premise that theres any erosion of Black support, NAACP President Derrick Johnson told reporters Thursday after a meeting with Biden, saying public polling has proven to be unreliable. What I do believe is we are in a crisis of our democracy. We must decide whether or not were going to have a functioning democracy that is representative of all of the citizens or something less than that, he added. I hope that the American public recognize the importance of our democracy. Bidens ramped-up outreach comes ahead of a significant milestone the fourth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Coming as the 2020 general election picked up, the public outcry sparked calls, especially from minority communities, for criminal justice and police reforms, many of which Biden embraced. The White House declined to preview whether and how Biden might mark that anniversary this year. Biden has continued to call on Congress to enact the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. No president has done more for Black America in modern history than Joe Biden, Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told reporters this week. Theres certainly more work to do, but we will take Joe Bidens record of accomplishment his vision for the future as relates to Black America against Donald Trumps record and his rhetoric and his plans any day of the week. Biden campaign officials point to traditional brick-and-mortar campaign efforts, including campaign offices opened in minority communities, with new technology-driven efforts to reach and regularly communicate with voters directly. The campaign also says Biden has done more interviews with Black media outlets and interviewers than any other medium, including one with Atlanta radio host Big Tigger ahead of the Morehouse commencement. It also means showing up at major festivals and local events or even hosting their own, as the campaign has done in Wisconsin with its own bingo or bowling nights, designed to be soft touches rather than hard sells. Most voters interaction with the campaign will come, the campaign expects, from an army of volunteers and organizers who are implementing a new strategy built around leveraging the power of personal relationships and networks. Its particularly critical, officials say, at a time when many voters, including Black voters, are reluctant or even resistant to engaging about the election. We believe that if you can go out and persuade complete strangers, then we believe you can also and will also be the most effective person to persuade everyone that you know, Fulks said, noting the importance of this new approach in an increasingly fragmented media environment. One volunteer organizer in Wisconsin, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that concern as she spoke with a young Black male voter who was echoing what she describes as conservative rhetoric on immigration. Over the course of their one-on-one conversation, I was able to reach, I think, a place where he was actually thinking through his position. To be able to influence him made me think, OK, that may be one vote down the road, she said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Animal rights activists call on city council for more shelter funding More staff may be coming to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departments Animal Care and Control. MORE: No space for the 80+ dogs that arrived at animal shelter in 2 days The city of Charlotte wants to add 10 positions, including a vet and four kennel attendants. The shelter cares for about 300 animals daily, with hundreds more in temporary foster homes. During the budget public hearing, animal rights supporters called on the city council to invest more in the shelter. Volunteering for an underfunded shelter is a roller coaster of emotions, Krystin Lasprilla, an animal rights activist, said. The highs of finding homes for these animals are eclipsed quickly by the lows of systemic issues at play. Kennel space has been an ongoing problem for CMPD Animal Care and Control. If youre interested in adopting or fostering a dog, click here to fill out an application. (WATCH BELOW: Animal Care and Control says imposter hacked its Facebook page) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Albuquerque police are investigating a fatal shooting in southeast Albuquerque Saturday morning. Officers responded to reports of shots fired just before 11:00 a.m. near Central and Louisiana. Suspect in 2023 Albuquerque shooting death arrested One person was taken to the hospital where he later died. The investigation is ongoing. KRQE will release new information when it becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) Sylvann Fox found a welcoming United Methodist Church (UMC) in the Tri-Cities even before the denominations recent doctrinal changes surrounding LGBTQ clergy, members and weddings but they strongly support the shift. Any time that there is an opportunity for more inclusivity and more openness and an opportunity for people to be their authentic selves in the face of others, that is always a positive thing, Fox, who is openly LGBTQ, told News Channel 11. Pictured: Sylvann Fox; Photo: WJHL The UMC writ large may be much more welcoming to LGBTQ Christians than it was several weeks ago, but a UMC leader who supports the changes says LGBTQ members coming out at church not to mention gay marriages and openly LGBTQ clergy will be a process in some regions. This is still East Tennessee, and it tends to be more conservative in this area, Lauri Jo Cranford told News Channel 11. Cranford spent about two decades in UMC pulpits and served as District Superintendent of the Holston Conferences Johnson City District until about a year ago. Shes now a counselor and said while she longs for the day when LGBTQ members feel safe being fully out at church and others whove left venture back, thats almost certain not to happen quickly. She hasnt heard of anyone in the area coming out since the church changed its Book of Discipline late last month. I believe that people who are LGBTQ are still hesitant to be very vocal about that if they fear that they will be judged, or especially if thats their church home and they want to be able to stay, Cranford said. So I think thats going to be a slower transition for us on the local church level. Like Fox, Jessica Fuller is an openly LGBTQ Tri-Citian who grew up attending church and has ties to the UMC, though like Fox, she doesnt currently attend. Both say theyre glad delegates to the denominations April 23 to May 3 general conference in Charlotte, N.C., voted overwhelmingly to allow same sex weddings, ordain openly LGBTQ clergy and remove language calling the practice of homosexuality incompatible with church teaching. Pictured: Jessica Fuller; Photo: WJHL I think the ruling is amazing I think its great, said Fuller, who doesnt currently identify as Christian after growing up in an area UMC. I think that this decision is putting more love into the world and its putting more good than bad, and I think thats overall a really great thing. But Fox and Fuller also both say their experience in the church and how human sexuality was viewed and discussed left some scars. Fox realized they were LGBTQ while growing up in a fundamentalist church in Sullivan County. They spent some time away from the church, like a lot of queer people, because of the churchs stances on sexuality only to return at least for a time as an adult. It is my belief and my hope that the church, regardless of the denomination but specifically for the UMC, that they are able to build a longer table and invite more people to come, regardless of who you are, regardless of who you love, Fox said. Fuller said shes seen changes over the past decade or so, making it easier to be yourself and have your faith if thats what you want. At the same time, she said, I know that this vote caused a lot of division within the church, and I hate to see that. A few votes do not make a tectonic shift LGBTQ people have been active and important within Holston Conference churches which encompass East Tennessee and parts of Southwest Virginia since there was a Holston Conference. Going back to my first appointment where I had four little churches in Wythe County, Virginia, Ive had a gay person or a number of gay people in every church Ive served, said Randy Frye, who has pastored UMCs in the conference for more than four decades. The pastor of First Broad Street UMC in Kingsport is theologically conservative on human sexuality but said he hopes the elimination of exclusionary language from the Book of Discipline will result in a positive change for LGBTQ Christians and their involvement with the UMC. But like Cranford, Frye doesnt expect LGBTQ members to start openly discussing their sexuality inside the church right away or for people whove left the denomination to come flooding back. Because we dropped the language from the Book of Discipline, Im not under the illusion that thats going to suddenly bring a great influx of LGBTQIA people, Frye said. What next for Methodist churches after major change to LGBTQ+ stance? Cranford said she thinks some churches will get there faster than others. We dont have any in the area who are specifically saying, Hey, come here, we have rainbow flags out, come join us yet. I do believe there will come a time that churches will be exploring what that could mean and how they can reach out. One reason she expects a process rather than a sudden transformation is because the Holston Conferences pews still seat many members who havent come to terms with the change, or are downright hostile toward it. Thats even after about 30% of Holston churches left the denomination last year during a disaffiliation process. Youve got churches that lean more one way than another; you have churches that are emphatic on different stances, Cranford said. I think that thats something that pastors are being very cautious about navigating, as well as members are being very cautious and navigating, trying to figure out what this does or how this affects their congregation. Why did God make me like this a really painful thought to have Jessica Fuller said she wasnt attending church by the time she realized she wasnt straight, but the process of recognizing she was a member of the LGBTQ community caused her to deconstruct her religious background. I was brought up to believe that (Christianity) was focused on love and you should love other people, she said. The message that a queer person couldnt marry in the church, be a pastor, or be [themselves] and have [those] things, that didnt feel like love to me, Fuller said. Fuller said her memories of the UMC she grew up in are generally of a loving place and she never heard sermons that were like, gay people are going to hell I dont want it to come off like I was traumatized. But as she processed her sexual identity and her church background, Fuller said one thought she had was, Well, if God loved me and God made me, why did he make me like this? If its wrong, you know, thats a really painful thought to have. It was just that feeling of not really belonging and feeling like I couldnt be myself and have this religion, which at the time was really important to me. Fuller said that dichotomy wasnt the only reason she now considers herself agnostic, but it was a big one. Foxs journey has been similar, but they still feel drawn to the church and Christianity. They said after time away, they began reading people like Nadia Bolz-Weber, a prominent progressive theologians and the late Rachel Held Evans. Local leaders discuss Methodists changes to LGBTQ+ stance That self-education, Fox said, got them to a point where I felt like I could reconcile those two things and they werent two halves of myself that had to be kept apart that I was able to reconcile them and be both a queer person and and a person of faith. Theyre hopeful others within the UMC can experience the same type of reconciliation and, as they put it, be their full, true and authentic selves in the eyes of God. Clergy members within the UMC who have had to hide that part of themselves, I imagine just the incredible sigh of relief that it is to be able to stand and show all parts of themselves, show this part that they felt like theyve had to hide or hold back Just be able to stand and say, you know, this is who I am and who I am is made in the image of God, and God has said that who I am is good and who I am is blessed and who I am is whole. Fox: Theres a way forward Ive seen it done Fox saw firsthand what a local UMC congregation and pastor could do to welcome and include them while still operating under the old rules. They were in a theater production directed by Melissa Malcolm and became friends with her. Malcolm eventually invited Fox to St. Matthews UMC in Kingsport, where Fox said they found a congregation that was incredibly welcoming, incredibly kind, and they are committed to making a difference not just for the City of Kingsport but for the Tri-Cities. They were allowing openly queer people to join and be full members of the church, to serve in the church, Fox said. I believe that the understanding was at that time that churches as long as they were within the bounds of the Book of Discipline, they were allowed to operate as they saw best served the Gospel and best served their people. Fox said they fully understand the discomfort this change is causing for some in the UMC fold. We live in a very predominantly theologically conservative area of the world and they dont call it the buckle of the Bible Belt for no reason, they said. I would like to have an opportunity to sit down and have those conversations with people and say, you know, I understand where youre coming from. And my not so much challenge, but my request would be, come at the Scripture with an open mind and we will come with the same with the same willingness to listen as long as there is a willingness to be heard. Fox said watching some of the footage from the UMC General Conference made them happy and that they want to be part of the conversation about the path forward. The opportunity right now is these people who kind of had the door shut in their face before, or they were able to stick a toe in the door, but they werent able to fully be in and be a part of the church. Because theyre able to have those conversations now, that is going to be an opportunity for the UMC to get better because there are these viewpoints that are now able to have a voice at the table. Cranford a lifelong Methodist whose theology turned progressive on human sexuality when a close friend in her campus ministry group came out to her in college said she sometimes finds herself frustrated by the pace of change and grieving for the church. If we as a church are saying we want people to be fully who they are called to be by God, who they are created to be by God, and yet we are not allowing them to be fully who they are, then thats where a lot of the pain occurs I think when a person feels like they have to hide part of who they are to be a part of a church, then the church isnt getting the fullness of who they are, and they arent getting the unconditional love in return. So I do think its a loss on both sides. But Cranford said the decisions at the general conference were a huge step forward, and shes also hopeful. We used to have the slogan, open doors, open hearts, open minds, she said. Im very hopeful that we will actually live into that. That has always been something that Ive hoped for, that people can truly be who they are. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Cuba, Ruslan Rzayev, held a meeting with Eduardo Martinez Dias, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Environment of Cuba, Azernews reports citing the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Cuba. The meeting addressed the longstanding friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Cuba, expressing satisfaction with the recent developments in bilateral relations. Discussions also revolved around potential cooperation in the fields of science, technology, and the environment, along with matters pertaining to the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be hosted in Baku. The Cuban minister extended congratulations to Azerbaijan for hosting COP29, highlighting their readiness to support the country in this endeavor. Furthermore, the meeting facilitated an exchange of views on various other topics of mutual interest. GAZA, May 18(Xinhua) -- The Israeli army on Saturday continued its attack on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, urging residents in the area to evacuate their homes and head to shelters in western Gaza City. Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on social media platform X that the army eliminated "a sabotage cell in Jabalia after clashes with its members inside buildings, where the saboteurs fled to the roof and opened fire on the army forces." Adraee added that the troops surrounded the buildings and eliminated the group after an exchange of fire, noting that the army did not suffer any losses during the clashes. The spokesperson did not provide further details about the identity of the "saboteurs." Earlier in the day, Palestinian medical sources said at least 28 people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli continuous raids on the Jabalia refugee camp. Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes targeted several residential houses and a shelter center for displaced people in the camp with missiles. The raids caused large explosions in the camp, which had been witnessing a military operation for several days. The Israeli army has accused Hamas of "trying to rebuild its capabilities" in northern Gaza, vowing to take countermeasures in the region. Argentinas Milei Plans to Meet With Zuckerberg at End of May (Bloomberg) -- Argentine President Javier Milei is planning to meet with Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders of tech giants in Silicon Valley at the end of May, people with direct knowledge said. Most Read from Bloomberg The presidential mission to San Francisco will include meetings with representatives of Apple Inc., OpenAI Inc. Alphabet Inc.s Google, among other companies in the technology industry, the people said. Argentinas Ambassador to the US Gerardo Werthein will participate in the mission. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment. The trip comes after Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel met with Milei in Buenos Aires earlier this month. Milei has also had two meetings with Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, including at the Milken Institutes conference in Los Angeles recently. The libertarian has won international praise from the likes of billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller for his austerity campaign. The council of the presidents economic advisors, led by Demian Reidel, is coordinating the final details to push and define the agenda, which will seek investments to turn Argentina into an artificial intelligence hub. Officials are convinced Argentina has comparative advantages: large tracts open for development, cold weather, top notch human capital and, now, a business friendly government. --With assistance from Kurt Wagner. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) confirmed via social media that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had been served in the states 2020 election case against him. The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law, Mayes posted on social media platform X. Mayes was responding to post from Giuliani that is now deleted. He said if Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes. Guiliani, along with other Trump allies and Arizona Republicans, was charged for allegedly attempting to prevent the lawful transfer of power in the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors say they devised a scheme so fake electors would falsely claim election fraud so Arizona election officials would feel pressured to overturn the results. The other defendants had already been charged, but Giuliani was not able to be found to be served the indictment. Prosecutors say they werent able to find the former mayor turned lawyer, so they could officially give him the summons or a formal notice that he had been criminally charged. Users online pointed out that Giuliani, who held a livestream online for his 80th birthday, was wearing the same tie in his now deleted post taunting Arizona officials. He was hosting a birthday party in Palm Beach, Fla., with nearly 75 guests when two officials with Mayess office served him around 11 p.m., sources told The New York Post. The mayor was [unfazed] by the decision to try and embarrass him during his 80th birthday party. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love himfrom all walks of lifeand we look forward to full vindication soon, Ted Goodman said in a statement to The Hill. Updated 12:36 p.m. EDT. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Armed Forces Day is Saturday and members of the military will put on a fantastic display in the Electric City. We have a 5k in the morning and then we have the Armed Forces Day Parade that kicks off at 11 oclock from the Gino Merli Veterans Center, said Lieutenant Colonel Cliff Morales of the PA Army National Guard. Veterans who live at the Gino Merli Veterans Center in Scranton will be escorted by current military members through the parade route. We hope that tomorrow is a beautiful day so we can get more community members out to see the soldiers and all of the organizations that have come out to support us, stated Lieutenant Colonel Morales. The parade will include army reserve, high school students, and veterans marching and walking, which will conclude in downtown Scranton. The parade should last about an hour and a half we have roughly 65 registered applicants that are going to be in there. We have veteran service organizations, current military members from all branches as well as nine high school bands, explained Master Sergeant John Paul Karpovich of the PA Army National Guard. The Armed Forces Day Parade in Scranton hasnt been put on since 2019, and the people here are excited to be participating. We are happy to come and march and display our equipment for the citizens, said Master Sergeant Karpovich. Members of the Army Reserve who work out of the U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Center in Scranton say they always look forward to meeting the people they serve and sharing what they do for the people here in northeastern Pennsylvania. Its amazing. Its a great opportunity and privilege to serve the community as well as the commonwealth as well as the nation. Ive been fortunate to be a citizen soldier and serve on weekends and serve on active duty serving times of flooding and snowstorms, expressed Lieutenant Colonel Morales. Armed Forces Day is the only holiday specifically honoring current members of the military, and the day is always on the third Saturday in May. 28/22 Meteorologist Valerie Smock, who is a veteran of both the Air Force and Army National Guard, is serving as the emcee of the Armed Forces Parade. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) A Limestone County jury found an Athens man guilty of murdering his mother in 2018 on Friday. According to court documents, 53-year-old Sean Kevin Sutton was convicted of murdering his mother. Judge to decide on gag order following hearing in murder case against former Decatur officer On November 21, 2018, Athens Police said they, along with EMS and the Limestone County coroner, were called to the scene at Roberts Apartment complex on Malone Street around 2 p.m. At the time then Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said a relative found a womans body in her home. Johnson said it appeared the victim was physically assaulted. He did not go into detail about the crime, but he added that investigators found weapons inside the home. The Athens Police Department later identified the victim as Emma Sutton, 79. They said her son, Sean, was found several blocks away from his mothers apartment 25 minutes after they were called to the scene to investigate. 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. At the time of the murder, News 19 learned Sutton served time previously in the late 90s, for an attempted murder in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Corrections website notes he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1997. However, Sutton has no criminal history in Alabama. Sutton will be held in the Limestone County Jail until he is sentenced for the conviction on July 24. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. In the three weeks since a mob of counter-protesters attacked a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California, Los Angeles, researchers and journalists have begun to uncover who the attackers were, and the university is promising to take action. Meanwhile, a white supremacist pleads guilty to targeting Baltimores energy supply. And a school board member in Texas reverses her views on indoctrination in her district after discovering it simply isnt happening. Its the week in extremism. Counter-protesters wearing black attack a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of UCLA as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. UCLA protest attackers unmasked Its been just over three weeks since a mob of counter-protesters attacked what had been a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration at UCLA, beating and injuring several people, shooting fireworks and pepper spray into the crowd and using sticks and other weapons while police officers stood by. With the help of local researchers, media reports have started to identify who the attackers were. The assault happened in the early hours of April 30, when dozens of counter-protesters, some wearing pro-Israel paraphernalia, began attacking the protesters using pepper spray, sticks and their fists. The onslaught lasted at least three hours before police officers showed up to separate the groups. On Wednesday, CNN published an investigation naming several of the people involved in the attack, some of whom were interviewed by journalists. By analyzing hundreds of videos, CNN tracked down one of the most violent counter-protestors, an 18-year-old Beverly Hills resident, whose parents initially expressed support for him, before changing course and saying he was not present at the incident. Late last week The Guardian named three of the attackers in an investigative story analyzing why far-right groups joined forces with the pro-Israel crowd during the attack. One of the men named in The Guardians story has a long history of antisemitism. He did not explain to the paper why he was involved in the attack. UCLA leadership has pledged to investigate the attack. I committed to finding those responsible and bringing them to justice, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block wrote in a May 6 statement. The LAPD has committed a detective to assist in our investigative efforts, and we have also connected with the FBI about possible assistance, the statement reads. No charges have been filed. Neo Nazi pleads guilty in plot to attack Baltimore power grid On Tuesday, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, pleaded guilty to plotting to attack the Baltimore power grid by shooting into substations in a ring around the city. Clendaniel was arrested last year along with Brandon Russell, who founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen. Prosecutors allege the attack was aimed at causing cascading failure causing billions of dollars. The planned attack occurred during an upsurge in attacks on the power grid, often at the hands of extreme far-right groups and individuals. Atomwaffen, which is now largely defunct, adhered to the white supremacist concept of accelerationism seeking to foment a race war and ensuing dystopia to bring about a race-based new global order. Texas school board member now renounces extremist conspiracies A newly elected member of a school board near Fort Worth, Texas, who vowed to rid the district of indoctrination on race and sexuality is now rejecting her claims after spending months poring through the districts curriculum, ProPublica reported this week. Courtney Gore, a local radio host, now disavows the far-right platform she ran for office on, telling ProPublica, None of it was adding up. When Gore originally ran for the seat in the 7,700-student Granbury school district, she posted on Facebook: Over the years our American Education System has been hijacked by Leftists looking to indoctrinate our kids into the progressive way of thinking. But after thoroughly investigating the curriculum, speaking to educators and finding her enquiries blocked by hostile members of the board, Gore reversed course: Im over the political agenda, hypocrisy bs, Gore wrote on Facebook. I took part in it myself. I refuse to participate in it any longer. Its not serving our party. We have to do better. As ProPublica reported, Gores reversal is rare in todays polarized political climate. "You rarely see these kinds of changes because the people who are vetted to run tend to be true believers, University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus told the publication. They tend not to be people who are necessarily thinking about the holistic problem. Statistic of the week: Seven Thats how many of the groups on Project 2025s Advisory Board have been designated as extremist or hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, according to a new report from Accountable.us, a nonpartisan organization that tracks interest groups in Washington, D.C. As USA TODAY reported earlier this year, Project 2025 is a sweeping plan led by the conservative Heritage Foundation in anticipation of a win for former President Donald Trump in November. It aims to terminate every diversity, equity and inclusion program across the entire federal government, Trump said. The SPLC list has long been criticized for including conservative groups and has been sued by organizations claiming their reputations have been damaged by inclusion on the lists. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unmasking the people who attacked a UCLA protest last month Autauga-Prattville Public Library Director Andrew Foster demonstrates how a magnifying machine works in the Alabama section of the library on Feb. 23, 2024. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) The Autauga-Prattville Public Library and former Director Andrew Foster said Thursday they had settled a lawsuit over the directors firing in March. Members of the library board announced the agreement in a joint news release with Foster. According to the statement, Foster will drop his claims and not return to his position, while the board will state that Mr. Foster was not terminated for a violation of criminal or ethics laws as later reported in press accounts, but for other stated reasons. Under the agreement, all parties deny any wrongdoing, the statement said. Foster declined comment, only confirming that a settlement had been reached. The news release cited a very different reason for terminating Foster than what board members had originally given to the public, stating that he had released confidential information to the public and for violating criminal law. Foster was terminated on March 14 after a contentious meeting where board members entered into a 20-minute executive session with Foster almost immediately after the meeting began. Library board Chair Ray Boles had requested Foster resign from his post or be terminated, claiming he had released confidential information to the public. Foster said he had responded to a records request from a media outlet. In response to a question from Boles, Foster said he was recording the meeting. Boles accused him of a major violation of the law and prepared a written statement stating that Foster would resign as director of the library. Foster refused to sign the letter after consulting with an attorney. Members then ended the executive session, gaveled back into open session, and fired Foster. Boles and the other members of the board refused to speak with the media, choosing instead to leave behind a written statement that cited the reasons for Fosters termination. Scrawled on the paper in pen over a portion of the statement was the phraase violation of criminal law. Alabama is a one-party consent state, and the board did not offer any evidence of the crime that Foster had committed. Christoper Weller, Fosters attorney, sent a letter to members of the library board on March 21 demanding Fosters reinstatement and apologies, corrections and retractions from Boles and board attorney Laura Clark for statements they made about Foster. Clark publicly refused. It is unclear if Boles responded to the letter that Weller sent. Foster filed a lawsuit in Autauga County Circuit Court April 3, demanding his reinstatement and a $1,000 civil penalty against the library for violating the Open Meetings Act. Fosters termination came after almost a year of turmoil over the library. A group known as Clean Up Alabama formed after a parent complained about a book that she borrowed from the library that contained inclusive pronouns. Another group, Read Freely Alabama, formed to oppose Clean Up Alabamas efforts to restrict access to specific books in the collection. A board comprised of new members aligned with Clean Up Alabama convened its first meeting in February and adopted changes to the librarys policies restricting books they believed to be sexually explicit or those that discussed matters related to sexual orientation and gender. Foster and Boles met to discuss the policy and a series of emails were exchanged that included Foster, Boles and Clark. In those email exchanges, Foster expressed confusion and some concerns about books getting reshelved or removed from circulation. Those emails became the subject of a records request by a news outlet that Foster fulfilled, which eventually became the grounds by which he was terminated. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Autauga-Prattville Public Library Board settles lawsuit with former director Andrew Foster appeared first on Alabama Reflector. Russian forces struck a residential area in the city of Kharkiv on the afternoon of May 18, injuring at least five people, including two children, local officials reported. Kharkiv, located in the northeast of Ukraine, has been a frequent target of Russian strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 due to its proximity to the border with Russia. Russian forces launched new offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, exposing Kharkiv and a number of border settlements in the region to heavy attacks. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Tereknov reported a series of explosions in the city at 2:50 p.m. local time on May 18. Later, he said that several houses were destroyed in the attack, and five people suffered injuries. Among the wounded were two children, aged 13 and 16, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. The day before, a Russian glide bomb strike on Kharkiv killed four people and wounded over 30, according to Terekhov. Read also: 48 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraines most-bombed major city Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. TIANJIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A complete hairy rhinoceros skeleton has been on display for a century at the National Museum of Natural History in France, while a similar skeleton unearthed in the same place of China is on display at the Beijiang Museum in north China's Tianjin Municipality. Beijiang Museum is a century-old hidden treasure nestled in the heart of the Wudadao historical urban area, a popular tourist destination in the downtown area of Tianjin. The museum houses over 400,000 fossils and specimens of animals, plants, rocks, minerals and ancient humans, but according to curator Zhang Caixin, what sets the museum apart is not just its large collection, but the captivating story of its founder, Paul Emile Licent. In March 1914, Licent arrived in Tianjin with a heart brimming with scientific curiosity. Little did he know that his arrival would mark the beginning of an extraordinary adventure spanning over 25 years. The French naturalist journeyed through the vast northern territories of China. At every stop along his expedition, he meticulously documented his findings and gathered them in the museum that he founded. When Licent left China, he took only his personal belongings back to his homeland. He left behind a large number of precious paleontological fossils and prehistoric cultural relics excavated during his most glorious academic years, providing indispensable materials for future scientists to conduct in-depth research, Zhang said. "I cannot plunder the artifacts collected in the museum, gathered at great expense from various places. ... My principle is that all these rare paleontological artifacts discovered must remain at their place of discovery," Licent wrote in a book. This architectural gem preserves not only its original site but also its original collections, exhibition cases and historical documents. "It can be regarded as a 'living fossil' for Chinese museums," said Zhang. Its exhibition hall showcases a small stone with artificial chisel marks, discovered by Licent in Qingyang, northwest China's Gansu Province. It marks the first discovery of Paleolithic cultural relics with precise stratigraphic records within China. Zhang explained that its existence shattered the assertion by German archaeologists that there was no Paleolithic era in China and heralded the beginning of Paleolithic archaeological research in China, earning Licent the reputation as a pioneer of Chinese Paleolithic archaeology. With this year marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, a group of researchers working at the museum plans to visit the National Museum of Natural History in France for academic exchanges in June. "We welcome researchers worldwide to Beijiang Museum where every exhibit tells a story and every corner echoes with the spirit of exploration," Zhang said, adding that the museum stands today as a testament to the enduring bond between China and France, and a beacon of cultural exchange for generations to come. Russian attacks against the villages of Tiahynka and Stanislav in Kherson Oblast killed two people and wounded another one, regional authorities reported on May 18. Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River in the fall 2022 counteroffensive. Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths as well as large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure. Russian forces hit Tiahynka in the Beryslav district using a tank, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration said on Telegram. The attack reportedly killed a 67-year-old man who was outside at the time of the attack. Russias military also struck Stanislav with a drone, killing a man and wounding a woman, according to Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast overnight and on May 17 injured five people, Prokudin reported earlier. Read also: How thousands of Ukrainian children cope with losing parents to war Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Center left to right) Sheena Scarbrough, mother of Sade Robinson, Carlos Robinson, father of Sade Robinson, Adrianna Reams, sister of Sade Robinson, prepare to release doves in memory Sade Robinson at her public memorial service on Friday May 10, 2024 at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Authorities are testing DNA on a severed arm that was found on Illinois shoreline and led authorities to notify the family of Sade Robinson, who was murdered in early April. Waukegan, Illinois authorities discovered the limb on the evening of May 11 and sent DNA samples to what they described as a neighboring states departments crime laboratory. Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office said on Thursday they would not be able to identify whose body the arm belongs to until DNA results are returned. The Milwaukee sheriffs office confirmed that Waukegan authorities reached out to them regarding the limb. Robinson, 19, was killed and dismembered in early April following a first date with 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson, according to prosecutors. Anderson pleaded not guilty to the charges and the next hearing is scheduled for July 12. We are aware of the case in Milwaukee, however until DNA evidence comes back we cannot say the arm belongs to their victim of that horrible crime that occurred there, a Waukegan Police Department spokesperson said in an email. Waukegan is in Lake County, Illinois, about an hour south of Milwaukee and its eastern border touches Lake Michigan. The citys police have no cases that correlate with missing body parts, the spokesperson said. The department is waiting on DNA testing results to determine whether they need to conduct an independent investigation. The Lake County Coroners Office said in a media release that a walker discovered the arm on May 11 at the Waukegan Municipal Beach in the evening. In the release, the office said it was a right arm and believed to be from a woman. The coroners office said a forensic anthropologist will now examine it and likely confirm the victims gender and age range. The coroners office is working to identify the victim currently. The coroners office is working closely with a police department in a neighboring state on an on-going investigation in that jurisdiction, the coroner release said. On Thursday, the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office said they notified Robinsons family after Waukegan authorities reached out to them. The May 11 limb discovery follows other, confirmed human remains of Robinsons that have been found in the Milwaukee County area. The first, a leg, was discovered at Warnimont Park in Cudahy on April 2. More body parts believed to be Robinsons have been discovered in the days after. Robinson's family has not held a proper funeral, as all of her body has not been discovered. A memorial service was held last week. She was described as "special" and "remarkable by attendees and speakers. Her murder has also prompted politicians to call for creating a task force for missing and murdered Black women and girls. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee and Illinois police testing DNA on arm. Sade Robinson's family notified. The Biden campaign gleefully turned one of Donald Trumps favorite digs against him on Saturday, branding the 78-year-old candidate as woefully geriatric in response to his embarrassing stumble at a Minnesota rally on Friday. Video from the event shared by Biden-Harris HQ on X showed Trump grabbing the lectern during his remarks on stage, after nearly toppling the podium over. A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant calling his event workers crappy pic.twitter.com/4fzPZfgpuZ Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 18, 2024 A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant calling his event workers crappy, the caption reads. In the video, Trump dramatically leans over the side of the podium, shuffles out from behind it, and then launches into a tirade about the poor quality of the stage setup. You know this is the worst platform, who put this stage up? he ad-libbed, cutting into his own remarks. The fricking place is falling down. I notice it keeps tilting to the left, Trump joked, Like too many other things! The rest of his speech, however, had a considerably more sinister turn. Trump continued to press his stolen-election lies about his 2020 presidential run and seemed to encourage voter intimidation in the upcoming November election. I know we won [Minnesota] in 2020, Trump insisted. Weve got to be careful. Weve got to watch those votes. Though Trump and Biden have both suffered embarrassing gaffes that theyve each tried to spin as evidence of the others senility, Trumps campaigning in a state hes lost twice is reportedly supported by his advisersnot just an exercise for his ego. Trumps inner circle believes he can flip the state, although Minnesotas Democrats, and even some of its Republicans, think thats an uphill battle. 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 section of the Brown v. Board mural is seen on April 2, 2024, at the Kansas Statehouse. The mural appears outside the former Kansas Supreme Court room where 11 state cases seeking to end segregation of public schools were argued and rejected before the federal case struck down segregation in public education. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Friday echoed his commitment to advancing racial and educational equity while celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Biden has spent this past week commemorating the anniversary of the landmark ruling in which the nations highest court ruled racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The 1954 consolidated case evolved from a challenge to the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education and other U.S. school systems. Yet 70 years later, research has shown an increase in school segregation across the United States. Education is linked to freedom because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you, and thats the power of an education thats why the Brown decision we commemorate today is so important, Biden said at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., during an NAACP event marking the anniversary. In a closed-press event on Thursday, Biden met with some of the plaintiffs and families of both Brown v. Board and the cases consolidated under it. Those combined cases include Briggs v. Elliott, from South Carolina; Bolling v. Sharpe, from Washington, D.C.; Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward, from Virginia; and Gebhart v. Belton, from Delaware. New initiatives Earlier Friday, the administration unveiled a series of new initiatives aimed at advancing racial and educational equity. They included $20 million in new magnet school grants for school districts in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas in an effort to further desegregate public schools, according to a White House fact sheet. The administration is also starting a new technical assistance center to help states and school districts provide more equitable and adequate approaches to school funding. The U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights is releasing data on students access to and enrollment in math and science courses. The White House also said it would be taking new actions to preserve African American history, such as protecting historic sites and increasing literature access. During his Friday remarks, Biden said the administration is working to support Black children, noting how, on average, Black children start school nearly seven months behind their white peers when it comes to reading. He attributed this to the nations legacy of discrimination. Relieving student loan debt, investing in HBCUs As the student loan crisis persists, Biden also said too many young people Black students are dealing with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree. So far, the administration has relieved upwards of $160 billion in student debt for nearly 4.6 million borrowers. Biden said the administration has invested more than $16 billion in historically Black colleges and universities. HBCUs also dont have endowments like other colleges and universities that are able to fund research labs and so much more. Well, (Vice President) Kamala (Harris) and I made a commitment to lift HBCUs up and were keeping that commitment, he said. The president is set to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black mens college, on Sunday in Atlanta. The post Biden celebrates the power of an education on Brown v. Board 70th anniversary appeared first on Kentucky Lantern. A section of the Brown v. Board mural is seen on April 2, 2024, at the Kansas Statehouse. The mural appears outside the former Kansas Supreme Court room where 11 state cases seeking to end segregation of public schools were argued and rejected before the federal case. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) A section of the Brown v. Board mural is seen on April 2, 2024, at the Kansas Statehouse. The mural appears outside the former Kansas Supreme Court room where 11 state cases seeking to end segregation of public schools were argued and rejected before the federal case. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Friday echoed his commitment to advancing racial and educational equity while celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Biden has spent this past week commemorating the anniversary of the landmark ruling in which the nations highest court ruled racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The 1954 consolidated case evolved from a challenge to the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education and other U.S. school systems. Yet 70 years later, research has shown an increase in school segregation across the United States. Education is linked to freedom because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you, and thats the power of an education thats why the Brown decision we commemorate today is so important, Biden said at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., during an NAACP event marking the anniversary. In a closed-press event on Thursday, Biden met with some of the plaintiffs and families of both Brown v. Board and the cases consolidated under it. Those combined cases include Briggs v. Elliott, from South Carolina; Bolling v. Sharpe, from Washington, D.C.; Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward, from Virginia; and Gebhart v. Belton, from Delaware. New initiatives Earlier Friday, the administration unveiled a series of new initiatives aimed at advancing racial and educational equity. They included $20 million in new magnet school grants for school districts in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas in an effort to further desegregate public schools, according to a White House fact sheet. Education is linked to freedom because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you, and thats the power of an education. President Joe Biden The administration is also starting a new technical assistance center to help states and school districts provide more equitable and adequate approaches to school funding. The U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights is releasing data on students access to and enrollment in math and science courses. The White House also said it would be taking new actions to preserve African American history, such as protecting historic sites and increasing literature access. During his Friday remarks, Biden said the administration is working to support Black children, noting how, on average, Black children start school nearly seven months behind their white peers when it comes to reading. He attributed this to the nations legacy of discrimination. Relieving student loan debt, investing in HBCUs As the student loan crisis persists, Biden also said too many young people Black students are dealing with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree. So far, the administration has relieved upwards of $160 billion in student debt for nearly 4.6 million borrowers. Biden said the administration has invested more than $16 billion in historically Black colleges and universities. HBCUs also dont have endowments like other colleges and universities that are able to fund research labs and so much more. Well, (Vice President) Kamala (Harris) and I made a commitment to lift HBCUs up and were keeping that commitment, he said. The president is set to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black mens college, on Sunday in Atlanta. The post Biden celebrates the power of an education on Brown v. Board 70th anniversary appeared first on Tennessee Lookout. A section of the Brown v. Board mural is seen on April 2, 2024, at the Kansas Statehouse. A section of the Brown v. Board mural is seen on April 2, 2024, at the Kansas Statehouse. The mural appears outside the former Kansas Supreme Court room where 11 state cases seeking to end segregation of public schools were argued and rejected before the federal case. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Friday echoed his commitment to advancing racial and educational equity while celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Biden has spent this past week commemorating the anniversary of the landmark ruling in which the nations highest court ruled racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The 1954 consolidated case evolved from a challenge to the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education and other U.S. school systems. Yet 70 years later, research has shown an increase in school segregation across the United States. Education is linked to freedom because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you, and thats the power of an education thats why the Brown decision we commemorate today is so important, Biden said at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., during an NAACP event marking the anniversary. In a closed-press event on Thursday, Biden met with some of the plaintiffs and families of both Brown v. Board and the cases consolidated under it. Those combined cases include Briggs v. Elliott, from South Carolina; Bolling v. Sharpe, from Washington, D.C.; Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward, from Virginia; and Gebhart v. Belton, from Delaware. New initiatives Earlier Friday, the administration unveiled a series of new initiatives aimed at advancing racial and educational equity. They included $20 million in new magnet school grants for school districts in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas in an effort to further desegregate public schools, according to a White House fact sheet. The administration is also starting a new technical assistance center to help states and school districts provide more equitable and adequate approaches to school funding. The U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights is releasing data on students access to and enrollment in math and science courses. The White House also said it would be taking new actions to preserve African American history, such as protecting historic sites and increasing literature access. During his Friday remarks, Biden said the administration is working to support Black children, noting how, on average, Black children start school nearly seven months behind their white peers when it comes to reading. He attributed this to the nations legacy of discrimination. Relieving student loan debt, investing in HBCUs As the student loan crisis persists, Biden also said too many young people Black students are dealing with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree. So far, the administration has relieved upwards of $160 billion in student debt for nearly 4.6 million borrowers. Biden said the administration has invested more than $16 billion in historically Black colleges and universities. HBCUs also dont have endowments like other colleges and universities that are able to fund research labs and so much more. Well, (Vice President) Kamala (Harris) and I made a commitment to lift HBCUs up and were keeping that commitment, he said. The president is set to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black mens college, on Sunday in Atlanta. The post Biden celebrates the power of an education on Brown v. Board 70th anniversary appeared first on Kansas Reflector. President Joe Biden on Friday echoed his commitment to advancing racial and educational equity while celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) President Joe Biden on Friday echoed his commitment to advancing racial and educational equity while celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Biden has spent this past week commemorating the anniversary of the landmark ruling in which the nations highest court ruled racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The 1954 consolidated case evolved from a challenge to the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education and other U.S. school systems. Yet 70 years later, research has shown an increase in school segregation across the United States. Education is linked to freedom because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you, and thats the power of an education thats why the Brown decision we commemorate today is so important, Biden said at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., during an NAACP event marking the anniversary. In a closed-press event on Thursday, Biden met with some of the plaintiffs and families of both Brown v. Board of Education and the cases consolidated under it. Those combined cases include Briggs v. Elliott, from South Carolina; Bolling v. Sharpe, from Washington, D.C.; Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward, from Virginia; and Gebhart v. Belton, from Delaware. New initiatives Earlier Friday, the administration unveiled a series of new initiatives aimed at advancing racial and educational equity. They included $20 million in new magnet school grants for school districts in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas in an effort to further desegregate public schools, according to a White House fact sheet. The administration is also starting a new technical assistance center to help states and school districts provide more equitable and adequate approaches to school funding. The U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights is releasing data on students access to and enrollment in math and science courses. The White House also said it would be taking new actions to preserve African American history, such as protecting historic sites and increasing literature access. During his Friday remarks, Biden said the administration is working to support Black children, noting how, on average, Black children start school nearly seven months behind their white peers when it comes to reading. He attributed this to the nations legacy of discrimination. Relieving student loan debt, investing in HBCUs As the student loan crisis persists, Biden also said too many young people Black students are dealing with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree. So far, the administration has relieved upwards of $160 billion in student debt for nearly 4.6 million borrowers. Biden said the administration has invested more than $16 billion in historically Black colleges and universities. HBCUs also dont have endowments like other colleges and universities that are able to fund research labs and so much more. Well, (Vice President) Kamala (Harris) and I made a commitment to lift HBCUs up and were keeping that commitment, he said. The president is set to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black mens college, on Sunday in Atlanta. The post Biden celebrates the power of an education on Brown v. Board 70th anniversary appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. HELSINKI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- By Saturday afternoon, Finnish rescue services had responded to a total of 21 wildfire incidents across the country, highlighting the widespread impact of the recent dry conditions. According to the national broadcaster Yle, incidents have been reported in several regions while notable large-scale fires have been reported in western Ilmajoki and central Keuruu. In Ilmajoki, a wildfire that started in a peat production area spread to a nearby forest on Saturday afternoon. While the fire in the peat area has been mostly extinguished except for a few smoldering spots, efforts to control the forest fire continue. The fire has affected an area of 9-10 hectares, and the cause remains unknown. The South Ostrobothnia Rescue Department has deployed 18 units to the scene. In Keuruu, Central Finland, a fire ignited by a controlled burn for forest management spread across three hectares. The fire has been contained, with 20 units from Central Finland, South Ostrobothnia, and Pirkanmaa rescue services responding. Another fire in Karstula, also in Central Finland, spread over approximately one hectare. This fire is suspected to have been sparked by a car tire blowout. Thirteen units have been dispatched to the area. In Siikainen, Satakunta, multiple hectares have been affected by wildfires, with 25 units and a Border Guard helicopter engaged in firefighting efforts. Although no buildings are at risk, extinguishing the fires is expected to take several more hours. A forest fire warning issued by the Finnish Meteorological Institute is in effect for most of the country. The dry and warm weather, which has persisted throughout the week, has significantly dried out large areas. The rescue services remind the public that open fires are prohibited during a forest fire warning. President Joe Biden speaks about electric vehicle manufacturing during a stop at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Sept. 14, 2022. (Andrew Roth | Michigan Advance) President Joe Biden threw Detroit automakers a lifeline by slapping 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles that have yet to reach our shores. Citing the threat that China will dump millions of low-priced electric vehicles they cant sell at home on the U.S. market, Biden on May 14 said, were not going to let China flood our market, making it impossible for American automakers to compete fairly. I wrote a column in March, saying the prospect of Chinese cars being sold in the United States gave me a sense of deja vu. In the 1970s small, fuel-efficient Japanese cars were arriving in the U.S. as fuel prices soared. Detroit automakers, then known as the Big Three, struggled to compete with their gas-guzzling land yachts. Faced with political, economic and xenophobic backlashes, Japanese automakers agreed in 1981 to limit the number of vehicles they exported to the U.S. The voluntary import restrictions, supported by the Reagan administration, were designed to give Detroit automakers time to become competitive with their foreign rivals. But Detroit automakers failed to meet the challenge. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors controlled about 75% of the domestic auto market in 1980. Today, their share is about 35% as theyve ceded precious ground to Asian and European automakers. But the current threat by Chinese automakers makes Japans assault on the U.S. market more in the 1980s seem almost trivial. How it plays out has enormous implications for Michigans auto-driven economy. Some 1.1 million jobs are tied to the states auto industry, according to MichAuto. About 20% of all cars and trucks built in the U.S. are manufactured here. Losing all that would cause incalculable damage to Michigans well-being. The Chinese vowed more than a decade ago to dominate the world market for cars and light trucks with their high-quality, low-cost electric vehicles, using hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies. Today, China has the capacity to manufacture half the worlds 80 million vehicles, according to Asian auto industry analyst James Dunne, citing figures from research firm GlobalData. That could grow to 75% of world manufacturing capacity in just six years. Call it the coming China car colossus, Dunne said. Chinese companies already are exporting vehicles to countries around the world, except to the U.S., where political tensions between the two countries are boiling. But if theres one thing uniting Democrats and Republicans, its keeping electric Chinese cars out of the U.S. market as long as possible. Former President Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, has called incursions into the U.S. auto market by the Chinese a potential bloodbath for Detroit automakers. Trump has said that as president, he would hit Chinese cars with a 200% tariff and would not allow the Chinese to enter the U.S. tariff-free by building cars in Mexico under the USMCA trade agreement he negotiated while in the White House. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have been investigating Fords battery license agreement with Chinese battery maker CATL. And Democratic Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown last month called for an outright ban of Chinese vehicles in the U.S. While Trump and Biden may seem aligned on China, their approaches to dealing with the prospect of losing the domestic auto industry to Chinese automakers couldnt be more different. As president, Trump ignited a trade war with China, broadly assessing tariffs on thousands of Chinese manufactured goods. Many economists say those tariffs have done little to boost U.S. manufacturing. Bidens tariffs are designed to give U.S. producers of electric cars, solar panels and other green-energy products breathing room to compete against the Chinese. His administration also has enacted stringent regulations on auto exhaust emissions that would eventually require automakers to build mostly battery-powered electric vehicles to blunt the negative impacts of climate change. Trump, who has repeatedly called global warming a hoax, opposes those regulations and has said he would eliminate them as president. According to the Washington Post, he even offered oil executives a quid pro quo: if they would raise $1 billion for his campaign, Trump said would eliminate Bidens environmental rules and policies, and stop new ones from being enacted. The former president also says the Biden emissions rules are hurting the Detroit Three because consumers dont want to buy the electric vehicles he says automakers are being forced to produce. Biden is more tethered to reality. Most auto executives and industry experts say the auto industry must and will eliminate the internal combustion engine to cut pollution and save the planet. Thats already happening in much of the world. One out of every four vehicles sold globally last year was electric. Its difficult to imagine that Detroit automakers could survive for long in a global industry focusing on just building big gas-burning pickups and SUVs in their home market. Bidens policies have given them a chance to compete with the Chinese in an electric automotive future. It wont be easy, given that China had a 10-year head start in developing electric vehicles. But there is no other choice for the Detroit Three to remain viable. The post Biden policies aid Detroit in the electric vehicle race with China appeared first on Michigan Advance. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Tragedy, crime, and city news continues to trend in local headlines. Keep reading for a full look at the trending local articles of the week. LAST TIME Big Country Beat: 5 lives taken in 3 incidents in Abilene, Baird This weeks top 5 in BCHs Big Country Beat 5. Police: Man shot during altercation with homeowner in south Abilene Police told KTAB/KRBC a 29-year-old man was shot in a residential area of South Abilene on Wednesday. At last update, the man was in serious condition at a local hospital and no arrests had been made. 4. UPDATE: Armed student detained at Coleman ISD A Coleman ISD was taken into custody Thursday morning after school officials were made aware of an alarming social media post suggesting the student would take a firearm to school. 3. Abilene woman arrested in connection to a fatal motorcycle crash Abilene police arrested Brenda Wise last Friday, accusing her of second degree Felony Accident Involving Death. This charge stems from a July 2023 motorcycle crash which took the life of Baird man, Nathaniel Ralph. 2. What would you do? Abilene woman receives water bill for nearly $1 million An Abilene water customer was shocked to find that the city was billing her more than $900,000 for water consumption she couldnt have possibly used. Debbie Vicray told reporter Tobin Smith she called the water department to resolve the issue before her auto pay hit, but it was too late. In an update this week, Vicray said the city apologized to her, waived the outlandish charge, as well as this months usage. 1. UPDATE: Truck rolls over, kills man working underneath in Callahan County While working under a vehicle last Friday in Callahan County, the vehicle somehow reversed, killing a local man. Police are investigating and have not released his identity. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. This article was originally published in New Hampshire Bulletin. In early May, Democrats in the House defeated the Honesty in Education Act. The bill was the latest effort to require public school teachers to answer parents when they ask about changes to their childs gender identity. But another bill is moving forward that supporters say would give parents more control over their childrens instruction in schools and opponents say would intrude on classroom instruction. House Bill 1312 would allow parents to opt their children out of any instruction or program of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Currently, state law allows parents to withdraw their children from classes related to human sexual education. HB 1312 would expand that ability to apply to the additional topics. Under the existing process, parents must notify the school district in writing that they object to the class material. And the parents must propose alternative instruction that is agreed upon by the school district, and pay for it themselves if there is a cost. HB 1312 would expand the withdrawal and require school district staff to notify parents at least two weeks in advance of any material that might fall into the category. Separately, the bill would prevent school districts from requiring that teachers withhold information from parents about their childs well-being including information about their sexuality. Individual teachers could still choose not to answer questions from parents about their childs sexuality, but school districts could not make it a blanket policy under the bill. The legislation, which passed the House 186-185, appears likely to clear the Republican-led Senate, too; the Senate Education Committee voted to recommend that it pass, in a 3-1, party-line vote. Supporters say the bill would give parents a greater say in how their children learn about sensitive topics. But opponents said the bill would empower discriminatory views against LGBTQ+ people, and that the notification process would be disruptive to teachers. The bill seems to be targeting, and I think stigmatizing, any instruction concerning LGBTQ+ people, and I think that this language really sends the message to LGBTQ+ students that their feelings and identities are something to be shunned, feared, potentially even censored, or not even acknowledged, said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire. To Sen. Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican, the bill would encourage parents to communicate with their children about the topics knowing that they were coming up in the curriculum which he said could foster better connections between parents and children. Parents should have these discussions with their own children and not have teachers do this. This bill is the prompt for parents to have those conversations. Lang said the notification requirements would not prevent school districts from teaching the topics, but would rather allow parents to choose whether to participate in them. And he argued that the bill is not intended to allow parents to withdraw their child from materials that relate to LGBTQ+ people or movements in history. Its just informative to parents, he said. Nothing stops the school from doing those classes. The class is allowed. That just says that if you do it though, because this is a sensitive topic, you need to notify parents. A class about Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated in 1978, would not fall under the definition of instruction of sexual orientation, Lang said, because Milk was a historical figure. But any instruction directed at students themselves that delved into their own sexual orientations or gender identity such as that in a sex education class would need to be disclosed, he said. But representatives of teachers unions said the bill as written does not make those distinctions clear. Teachers might interpret the law to mean that any class that discussed the history of LGBTQ+ rights would need to be noticed ahead of time, opponents said. And English teachers might feel compelled to disclose any book that featured LGBTQ+ characters, and to empower parents to prevent their children from reading those books. If you pass this bill that expands the areas that a parent is required notification of and can opt a child out of, where will it stop? said Deb Howes, president of the American Federation of Teachers of New Hampshire. Can you study the pay gap between men and women in the same jobs in an economics class, which has to do with policies around gender discrimination? Lang disagreed with that characterization; books that happen to include transgender or non-heterosexual characters would not automatically invoke the disclosure requirement, he said. Only instruction that was specifically intended to teach students about sexual orientation or gender identity would need advanced notice, he said. Brian Hawkins, director of government relations for the National Education Association of New Hampshire, argued that the topics the bill would add to the parental notification law were so broad that teachers would find the law difficult to follow. We think that 1312 is another piece of legislation that would significantly limit educators ability to teach, and provides far too many instances of vague language and framework to determine when certain actions violate the statute, Hawkins said. New Hampshire lawmakers first passed the law allowing parental opt-out from sex ed in 2017. In recent years, Republicans have pushed to allow more parental control over school library books, and have pressed for legislation to require teachers to answer any questions from parents about their childs preferred pronouns or gender identity in school. The latest parental notification bill effort, Senate Bill 341, was indefinitely postponed earlier this month, on a voting day when House Democrats had a majority over Republicans in the near-evenly divided chamber. That motion means that the bill is dead and that it cannot return as an amendment to another bill this legislative session. New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@newhampshirebulletin.com. Follow New Hampshire Bulletin on Facebook and Twitter. Black holes are some of the most enigmatic objects in the universe, capable of deforming the fabric of space around them so violently that not even light can escape their gravitational grip. But it turns out, much of what scientists know about these mysterious objects could be wrong. According to new research, published in April in the journal Physical Review D , black holes could actually be entirely different celestial entities known as gravastars. "Gravastars are hypothetical astronomical objects that were introduced [in 2001] as alternatives to black holes," study co-author Joao Luis Rosa , a professor of physics at the University of Gdansk in Poland, told Live Science in an email. "They can be interpreted as stars made of vacuum energy or dark energy : the same type of energy that propels the accelerated expansion of the universe." Resolving black hole paradoxes with gravastars Karl Schwarzschild, a German physicist and astronomer, first predicted black holes in 1915, based on calculations using Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity . Over the years, astronomical observations have seemingly confirmed the existence of objects resembling black holes. However, Schwarzschild's description of these space bodies has some shortcomings. In particular, the center of a black hole is predicted to be a point of infinitely high density, called a singularity, where all the mass of the black hole is concentrated, but fundamental physics teaches us that infinities do not exist, and their appearance in any theory signals its inaccuracy or incompleteness. "These problems indicate that something is either wrong or incomplete in the black hole model, and that the development of alternative models is necessary," Rosa said. "The gravastar is one of many alternative models proposed. The main advantage of gravastars is that they do not have singularities." Related: Newfound 'glitch' in Einstein's relativity could rewrite the rules of the universe, study suggests Captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), this scene shows PGC 83677, a lenticular galaxy a galaxy type that sits between the more familiar elliptical and spiral varieties. Like ordinary black holes, gravastars should arise at the final stage of the evolution of massive stars, when the energy released during thermonuclear combustion of the matter inside them is no longer enough to overcome the force of gravity, and the star collapses into a much denser object. But in contrast to black holes, gravastars are not expected to have any singularities and are thought to be thin spheres of matter whose stability is maintained by the dark energy contained within them. To find out if gravastars are viable alternatives to singular black holes, Rosa and his colleagues examined the interaction of particles and radiation with these hypothetical objects. Using Einstein 's theory, the authors examined how the huge masses of hot matter that surround supermassive black holes would appear if these black holes were actually gravastars. They also scrutinized the properties of " hot spots " gigantic gas bubbles orbiting black holes at near-light speeds. Their findings revealed striking similarities between the matter emissions of gravastars and black holes, suggesting that gravastars don't contradict scientists' experimental observations of the universe. Moreover, the team discovered that a gravastar itself should appear almost like a singular black hole, creating a visible shadow. "This shadow is not caused by the trapping of light in the event horizon, but by a slightly different phenomenon called the 'gravitational redshift,' causing light to lose energy when it moves through a region with a strong gravitational field," Rosa said. "Indeed, when the light emitted from regions close to these alternative objects reach[es] our telescopes, most of its energy would have been lost to the gravitational field, causing the appearance of this shadow." RELATED STORIES Scientists discover bizarre region around black holes that proves Einstein right yet again James Webb telescope spots 2 monster black holes merging at the dawn of time, challenging our understanding of the universe After 2 years in space, the James Webb telescope has broken cosmology. Can it be fixed? The striking resemblances between Schwarzschild's black hole model and gravastars highlight the latter's potential as a realistic alternative, free from the theoretical pitfalls of singularities. However, this theory needs to be backed up with experiments and observations, which the study authors believe may soon be carried out. While gravastars and singular black holes might behave similarly in many respects, subtle differences in emitted light could potentially distinguish them. "To test our results experimentally, we are counting on the next generation of observational experiments in gravitational physics," Rosa said, referring to the black hole-hunting Event Horizon Telescope and the GRAVITY+ instrument being added to the Very Large Telescope in Chile. "These two experiments aim to observe closely what happens near the center of galaxies, in particular, our own Milky Way ." The Charleston Police Department said in a May 17 statement that Barnett died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head ABC News 4 John Barnett Boeing whistleblower John Barnett's cause of death has been determined. Before his death, the whistleblower, who spent about 30 years with Boeing, raised various alleged safety concerns about the planes. "Barnetts longstanding mental health challenges had intensified in connection with ongoing legal proceedings related to his whistleblower case," the Charleston Police Department said. The cause of death of former Boeing quality control manager John Barnett has been determined. The 62-year-old Louisiana man died by suicide on March 9, the Charleston County Coroner's Office said, according to a statement from the Charleston Police Department, obtained by PEOPLE on Friday, May 17. At the time of his death, the Charleston County Coroner's Office said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that Barnett died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. He was found dead in his car in the parking lot of his Holiday Inn hotel, located at 301 Savannah Highway. The Charleston Police Department said in the May 17 statement that there was no evidence of forced entry was found and there were no signs of a physical struggle within the vehicle." "Information and records reviewed during the investigation uncovered Mr. Barnetts longstanding mental health challenges, which had intensified in connection with ongoing legal proceedings related to his whistleblower case," police said. Celal Gunes / Anadolu Agency/Getty The headquarters for The Boeing Company is seen in Arlington, Virginia Related: Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dead, the Second in 2 Months: He Possessed Tremendous Courage, Lawyers Say Additionally, the Charleston Police Department said a notebook was found on the front passenger seat of the vehicle, which included a note from Mr. Barnett that suggested he was going through a period of serious personal distress. In a statement in March, Barnett's family said he experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, claiming that the hostile work environment at Boeing led to his death, reported NBC News. John told us that every day was a battle to get management to do the right thing, the family statement read. He was looking forward to having his day in court and hoped that it would force Boeing to change its culture. Samuel Corum/Getty Images The headquarters for The Boeing Company is seen in Arlington, Virginia Barnett, who worked at Boeing for about 30 years before his 2017 retirement, was in Charleston, S.C., to testify in his whistleblower case against Boeing after he alleged safety concerns, reports Time and the BBC. The United States Department of Labor was working through the discovery phase of its investigation and is set to begin hearings on that complaint this June. "John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower retaliation case, which finally was nearing the end," his lawyers, Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE in March. Related: Boeing Whistleblower Reportedly Claims 787 Planes Could Break Apart Mid-Air Due to Construction Flaws "He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We didnt see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it," they added. "We need more information about what happened to John. The Charleston police need to investigate this fully and accurately and tell the public what they find out. No detail can be left unturned." The BBC reported that he gave a formal deposition and was questioned by Boeing's lawyers the week before his death and was scheduled to undergo additional questioning that Saturday. Shutterstock Boeing plane Barnett first filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in January 2017. He accused Boeing of retaliating against him, but the agency determined there was none. He appealed the decision, according to The Washington Post. Two years later, in an interview with the BBC, he claimed employees were under pressure to intentionally fit aircraft with substandard parts on the production line. He also told the outlet about his concerns with the oxygen systems on Boeings 787 Dreamliners. He alleged that one in four breathing masks would not work in the event of an emergency. Barnetts death follows the recent public scrutiny of Boeing after a number of public incidents including when a part of a Boeing aircraft blew out mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines trip and when 50 people were injured on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner when a sudden mid-air movement caused the plane to drop suddenly. 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. 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. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Families participating in the annual New England Congenital Heart Walk at Bostons Franklin Park Zoo on Saturday will walk to benefit heart warriors and honor heart angels. About 1 in 100 babies, or 40,000, are born in the United States each year with a congenital heart defect (CHD), according the Childrens Heart Foundation, the organization that runs the event with the mission to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding the most promising research. Jimmy Archibald, a 2.5-year-old boy from Wakefield, will join his big brother, Willy, 4, and his parents Caroline and Dean on the one-mile walk followed by fun activities at the zoo. Jimmy was born with a serious CHD and has undergone three open-heart surgeries. The first was before he turned one month old, the second at three months old and the most recent the final in the three-stage series of procedures was in mid-March. Resilient Jimmy was running the halls of Boston Childrens Hospital within 10 days of his last surgery. He is my superhero. He inspires us to do better every day, proud mom Caroline told Boston 25 News. He is stronger than I will ever be, and yeah, hes amazing. Jimmys heart defect is tricuspid atresia, hypoplastic right heart syndrome. He was essentially born with half a working heart. While he used to cough and need to take breaks while running around, he is now playing as any other healthy kid his age does: riding bikes, enjoying the playground and splash pad and going to school and on playdates with friends. While Jimmy will be monitored throughout his life and may need other interventions in the future, Caroline and Dean consider themselves fortunate to have a happy and healthy Jimmy back home. We still dont have a cure, Caroline said. Hes still living with this every day. So, its incredibly important to our family to raise awareness. The family recognizes the importance not only of raising money and awareness but also of lending and receiving support from other heart families. Its a really emotional thing for a family to have a loved one born with a congenital heart defect, Dean said. And to talk to another family thats been through it themselves and offer up some support and they offer it in return is really, really special. And the least we can do is pay that forward. The Childrens Heart Foundation says the series of walks around the country last year raised more than $2 million. Registration for the event at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston on Sat., May 18, is at 7 a.m., with the opening ceremony kicking off at 8:15 and the walk beginning at 8:50. To register or donate, visit www.childrensheartfoundation.org. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed the nation on Monday, he seemed tetchy and tired. His speech, ostensibly about national security and the threats facing Britain, was a wide-ranging attack on his chief political opponent Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party. Sunak said that the next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet most transformational our country has ever known, outlining the risks posed by foreign adversaries like Russia, Iran and North Korea, and the rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence. The key point Sunak wanted to hammer home was that the UK was entering a perilous period and the Labour Party including Starmer himself cannot be trusted to keep the nation safe. His evidence ranged from commitments on defense spending to the views of the previous Labour leader. The PM pointed out that Starmer served in the shadow cabinet of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn historically had called for the scrapping of Britains nuclear weapons and been a critic of NATO. He lost two general elections as Labour leader in campaigns that focused heavily on his views regarding national security. Starmer has since expelled Corbyn from the party over an antisemitism scandal. However, his association with the former leader is still damaging. Sunak has also talked at length about Starmers previous life as a lawyer. Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions and a leading human rights lawyer, has defended terror suspects and worked to block the deportation of foreign criminals. It is worth noting that in some cases, lawyers do not get to choose who they represent. The context for Sunaks attack on Starmer is that the UK will vote in a general election at some point this year. Sunak has yet to announce exactly when that will happen, probably because as things stand he trails Starmer in the polls by double digits. Sunak's controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is a central part of his government's policy. - Toby Melville/PA Nothing Sunak does seems to shift those numbers. He recently suffered humbling losses at local elections and a high-profile defection of an MP to the Labour Party. Conservative sources say that no one believes Sunak can turn things around, but that attacks on Starmer over national security are the only thing that seems to resonate with voters. Of course Rishi doesnt believe that Starmer himself is a threat to national security, a senior Conservative told CNN. But it is fair to point out that he supported Jeremy Corbyn, who many people do believe would have been dangerous in government. And those elements of the Labour Party do still exist, however ruthless Starmer has been in shutting them down. David Gauke, a former Conservative Cabinet Minister, says the challenge facing Sunak is that after 14 years in government, it is possible to blame the Conservative Party for everything that is wrong with the country. Making the election a binary choice about security who can you really trust to keep you safe is much better for Sunak than a referendum on the past 14 years. The best way to do that is sustained attacks on Starmers vulnerabilities, Gauke said. He doesnt have many vulnerabilities, but the Corbyn association is real and still resonates with voters somewhat. I suspect the attacks will get more personal the closer we get to the election. The other issue that does seem to cut through with voters is Starmers legal work defending terrorists and terror suspects. The most high-profile example of this is when he gave legal advice to the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2008 as they tried to overturn the German governments decision to ban their activities. The group was proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK in January after members were seen chanting Jihad at a pro-Gaza demonstration. Sunak took the opportunity to attack Starmer, saying at the time: I know that he does not like talking about them because they have been a client, but when I see a group chanting jihad on our streets, I ban them; he invoices them. Starmer told a British newspaper in March: In the legal world, particularly if youre doing criminal law, you represent people you dont agree with. You know how it works in our legal system it is very important that everybody is represented. He also said: I was chief prosecutor for five years. I prosecuted with my team nearly a million cases a year, including terrorists, murderers and drug dealers. Keir Starmer this week launched Labour's election pledges, despite there being no clear indication of when a vote might be called. - Leon Neal/Getty Images However tame all this might sound written down, it is extraordinary that the prime minister is accusing the person most likely to succeed him of being a terrorist sympathizer who cannot be trusted with national security. It is remarkable that the legal career of Britains former chief prosecutor for which he received a Knighthood is being used as evidence that he is soft on terrorists. However, politics, as the saying goes, is a contact sport. Conservative campaigners are quick to say that Starmer made a virtue of his legal career, so its fair game. They say that he cynically stood by Corbyn, knowing exactly who Corbyn was and what he stood for. Labour are expecting worse to come but are thinking strategically about fighting fire with fire. We know they cannot stand on their appalling record in government, so are going to say increasingly ridiculous things to cut through, an adviser to Starmer told CNN. We will hit back at Sunak, but will have to be careful at how we do it. The public are sick of politics as a game we we will avoid being negative, the adviser said. You might see more directly aimed at the PM, but it wont always have our paw prints on it. This is where Sunaks all-out attack strategy risks backfiring. People across the political spectrum have noticed he is looking increasingly tetchy when questioned in public. A supporter of Sunak said: He is working very hard and everything is still going wrong. He is just not used to that. A Labour source said: He cannot handle us making fun of him when he says ridiculous things. Like when he says he is the right man for new ideas and change, like he hasnt been a senior politician for years. Its just ridiculous and it clearly winds him up when we point it out. No one knows for sure when the election campaign proper will start. Until then, Britain is braced for months of mudslinging between Sunak and Starmer. It might all be moderately entertaining for people who like this sort of thing, but its unclear how a bitter and nasty election campaign helps a country that has felt in limbo and horribly divided for the best part of three years. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Bronx ER nurse Chris Hernandez put on leave after saying Jews should shut the fk up NYC H+H nurse Chris Hernandez at left in scrubs; seen at right in A Bronx ER nurse and influencer was put on leave and is being investigated after video surfaced of him saying Jewish people should shut the fk up. People be like, Im scared to go outside because Im Jewish and everything,' NYC Health and Hospitals nurse Chris Hernandez mockingly said while wearing scrubs and walking through what appeared to be a hospital. And I just be like shut the fk up, continued Hernandez, 28, who works at Metropolitan Hospital in Harlem, according to a profile on him by his alma mater, the Swedish Institute. How you think gay people felt back in the day when they werent even allowed to be gay? They hid in the closet and dealt with it. Youll be alright. Chris Hernandez, a NYC Health and Hospitals nurse, drew outrage for a video posted online that critics said was antisemitic and homophobic. https://www.swedishinstitute.edu People be like, Im scared to go outside because Im Jewish and everything, and Im like shut the fk up,' Hernandez says in the video. X @StopAntisemitism Hernandez has worked for the hospital system since 2021, according to his LinkedIn, which was taken down after the video went viral, along with his social media pages. Hernandez had over 27,000 Instagram followers and nearly 63,000 on TikTok, according to screenshots from before the profiles were deactivated. He was also in two films, a documentary called The Walk-On and a short flick called Brooklyn Boys, according to IMDB. Hernandez, who has worked for NYC Health and Hospitals since 2021, acts on the side, according to IMDB. latinxrn.com His primary focus is in the field of nursing and chooses to have the life of acting on the side, where he wishes to pursue multiple exposures, his IMDB bio says. The video drew outrage after being shared by groups Stop Antisemitism and Jew Hate Database. Listen as ER nurse Chris Hernandez tells Jews to shut the f*ck up and deal with the antisemitism theyre encountering, Stop Antisemitism wrote in an X post. Imagine the care he provides to Jewish patients he encounters in the emergency room. NYC Health and Hospitals called the video disturbing and said Hernandez remains on administrative leave. Christopher Sadowski This is not just antisemitism, one person commented. Its homophobia and antisemitism. Anti-Jewish incidents skyrocketed 45% since last year, according to NYPD data, many following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. NYC Health + Hospitals said in a May 6 post that it was investigating the disturbing comments. In addition to nursing and acting, Hernandez had a social media following of tens of thousands of people. swedishinstitute.edu The nurse and influencer has been on leave since early May, and has since scrubbed his online presence. instagram @chrisflakoo Hernandez has been on administrative leave since the city hospital system found out about his post. the agency said. The comments in this video are disturbing, and this employee does not represent the values of our health system, a spokesperson told The Post. NYC Health + Hospitals stands for compassionate, humane care with dignity and respect for all people. The viral video wasnt the first time Hernandez shared his controversial views online. Saying that you are anti-Zionist isnt antisemitic, he said in a May 3 clip. Checkmate, bitch. He could not be reached for comment. BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) A Brooklyn man was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for fatally injuring his girlfriends four-month-old daughter in June 2021, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Ricardo Price, 26, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was babysitting four-month-old Royalty Kemp in a Brooklyn apartment on June 22, 2021, after her mother left the child in his care, according to the district attorney. Price had the baby in his lap and bounced his leg repeatedly to get her to quiet down, court evidence revealed. While shaking the baby, her head bumped into a game controller in Prices hands. Teachers aide arrested after handing love letter to 10-year-old student The next day, Kemps mother noticed that she was lethargic and unable to eat. That afternoon, she was unresponsive. The baby was brought to Woodhull Medical Center where doctors said she had a skull fracture, the district attorney said. The baby later died on July 2, 2021. Royalty Kemp was a precious infant entrusted by her mother to the defendants care. Instead of ensuring the childs safety, he caused head injuries so severe she died, said District Attorney Gonzalez. The medical examiner determined the childs cause of death from abusive head trauma with numerous recent injuries including skull fractures. She also had underlying hemorrhaging to the brain and parts of the spinal cord, officials said. Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. This photo released by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on May 18, 2024 shows Israeli military operation in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF have killed more than 130 militants in targeted operations in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued on Saturday. (IDF/Handout via Xinhua) JERUSALEM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed more than 130 militants in targeted operations in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued on Saturday. As part of the operations, the Givati infantry brigade killed more than 80 militants in the area, and located dozens of rifles, grenades, and ammunition, according to the IDF statement. Additionally, Givati's reconnaissance unit uncovered significant underground tunnel infrastructure in the area, it said. Simultaneously, the 401st armored brigade killed about 50 militants in raids on Hamas infrastructure and buildings from which gunfire was shot at IDF troops, and located dozens of tunnel shafts and many anti-aircraft guns. "So far, hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites have been destroyed by the 401st Brigade, including weapons production facilities and ready-to-use launch sites," the IDF said. Givati, one of the five infantry brigades of the IDF, is composed of three battalions, each made up of companies with designated functions. This photo released by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on May 18, 2024 shows Israeli military operation in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF have killed more than 130 militants in targeted operations in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued on Saturday. (IDF/Handout via Xinhua) This photo released by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on May 18, 2024 shows Israeli military operation in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF have killed more than 130 militants in targeted operations in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued on Saturday. (IDF/Handout via Xinhua) People talk May 18, 2024, outside the front gate of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, formerly Monroe Elementary School. The site hosted a reunion of former students from Topeka's all-Black elementary schools to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. People talk May 18, 2024, outside the front gate of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, formerly Monroe Elementary School. The site hosted a reunion of former students from Topeka's all-Black elementary schools to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. (Cuyler Dunn for Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA Former students of four all-Black Topeka schools gathered Saturday to remember the teachers, peers and families that shaped their lives and how their schools helped shape the nations education system. The Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park at the former all-Black Monroe Elementary school hosted more than a hundred people Saturday. They celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case and reunited students from Buchanan, McKinley, Monroe and Washington elementary schools. The landmark 1954 decision unanimously declared state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and white students to be unconstitutional. The consolidated court case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court by the NAACP on behalf of Oliver Brown, a parent whose daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to an all-white school in Topeka. Those are your stories. Each one of you is captured in that statement, said park superintendent Jim Williams. The civil rights story of struggle, perseverance and activism. Darlene Jackson, a former student at Buchanan Elementary School, speaks May 18, 2024, at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. The role Topeka played in the movement to end school segregation was critical, former students said Saturday. The quality of Topekas all-Black schools caught the eye of the NAACP as they took on segregation. Despite the high-quality education at Topekas all-Black schools, segregation itself still placed Black students as inferior. A panel featuring former students from all four all-Black Topeka schools shared in a group discussion about their experiences. Whether it was Ms. Williams loud shoes or Ms. Bradshaws stingy grades, people nodded and cheered as the panel mentioned their old teachers and friends. I love them so dearly that their names stuck with me, said Darlene Jackson, who attended Buchanan Elementary School. Donald Perkins, left, talks to a panel of former students from Topeka's all-Black elementary schools on May 18, The panelists made it clear their education was not substandard. Many of them said they had a worse experience after they were moved to the formerly all-white schools. Many of them wondered why the white students didnt come to their schools instead. The racism and segregation they experienced didnt end after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. But they were taught by the teachers at their all-Black schools how to deal with and keep fighting hate. Many of those same teachers lost their jobs as the all-Black schools were closed. In every movement, theres always a sacrifice, something has to be sacrificed, said Rosetta West, who attended Buchanan Elementary School. I am who I am today because of what I learned. And that gave me the drive to push, to go ahead and do something different. It was up to us as students to make that sacrifice worth it. The Rev. Joseph B. Anderson speaks to a crowd of former students from all-Black Topeka schools May 18, 2024, at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. The events keynote speaker was the Rev. Joseph B. Anderson, who attended Washington Elementary School. He also attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in Vietnam. He said his upbringing in Topeka, specifically the teachers and role models he met at Washington Elementary, helped prepare him for his future in the military. Of his 900-member class at West Point, Anderson said only six students were Black. He had no Black teachers or officers. But growing up in Topeka helped him learn how to fight the exclusion. He said he may have been one of the first to walk through the door, but he wanted to make sure he wasnt the last. Topeka is a place of racial collegiality and inclusion, as opposed to a place of animosity and exclusion, Anderson said. I look upon all of us here today and appreciate what these four Black grade schools have done for us, to make us who we are, making a difference in what we do. Topeka is my home. The Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Topeka on May 18, 2024. Marty Patterson in 2018 won the National Park Services Enduring Service Volunteer Award for her work at the Brown v. Board of Education site. At Saturdays event, she was recognized for the honor. This is a work of love because this is my hometown, she said. We had no complaint for education, but the problem was did we have equal access? And thats what they could fight for. They needed Topeka. The post Brown v. Board at 70: Students from Topekas all-Black schools recall how segregation shaped lives appeared first on Kansas Reflector. New Caledonia on destructive path as father and son shot amid ongoing rioting Police patrol a street blocked by debris and following overnight unrest in the Magenta district of Noumea - DELPHINE MAYEUR/AFP A father and son were shot at in New Caledonia on Saturday as a local minister warned that Frances restive Pacific territory was on a destructive path. Security personnel were today trying to restore order after a fifth night of riots and looting that has now claimed six lives. The incident occurred in the archipelagos northern Kaala-Gomen area, General Nicolas Mattheos said. An informed source said the dead man and one of the injured were a father and son trying to cross a barricade erected by rioters. Hundreds of heavily armed French soldiers and police today patrolled the capital Noumea, where streets were filled with debris. Were far from getting back to calm, Sonia Lagarde, the Noumea mayor, told news channel BFMTV. You could describe the last two nights as calmer, but the days are all alike, each with their share of fires, she added. The territory is on a destructive path, local minister Vaimua Muliava warned, telling those involved you are only punishing yourselves. AFP reporters in the citys Magenta district saw vehicles and buildings burned, with a riot police on the scene trying to reassert government control. People queue at a supermarket to stock up on essentials after rioting in Noumea - DELPHINE MAYEUR/AFP Overnight, residents reported hearing gunfire, the drone of helicopters and massive explosions what seemed to be gas canisters blowing up inside a building that was set alight. Ms Lagarde said on Saturday that Noumea resembled a city under siege, expecting it will take a bit of time for security reinforcements to make their presence felt. For almost a week, the usually unhurried oceanside city has been convulsed. Hundreds of French security personnel have tried to restore order - DELPHINE MAYEUR/AFP Two gendarmes have been killed: one shot in the head and a second shot in friendly fire, officials said. Three other people all indigenous Kanaks have also been killed: a 17-year-old and two men aged 20 and 36. New Caledonia has been French territory since colonisation in the late 1800s. Centuries on, politics remains dominated by debate about whether the islands should be part of France, autonomous or independent with opinions split roughly along ethnic lines. The latest cycle of violence was sparked by plans in Paris to impose new voting rules that could give tens of thousands of non-indigenous residents voting rights. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A bill that would have made California the first state in the country to give workers a right to disconnect has stalled, making it unclear whether it will pass before the legislative session ends later this year. Assembly Bill 2751, introduced by Asm. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), was held under submission by the State Assemblys appropriations committee earlier this week, meaning the committee intends to hold onto the bill indefinitely to work on or discuss it further. The move does not preclude the bill from having another hearing at a later date. However, its prospects of advancing are uncertain, as the Assembly will have until next Friday to pass bills off to the State Senate ahead of the end of this years legislative session in August. FOX 5/KUSI reached out to Haneys office for comment on what is next with the measure but did not immediately receive a response. California launches new mental health website Introduced in early April, AB 2751 would have guaranteed workers in the Golden State the ability to have uninterrupted personal and family time by giving them the right to disengage from emails, texts and calls in non-work hours. Both public and private employers would have been required to establish a right to disconnect policy under the bill. Exceptions for emergencies, discussions of scheduling during off-the-clock hours and stipulations in union agreements were included in the bills provisions. Work has changed drastically compared to what it was just 10 years ago. Smartphones have blurred the boundaries between work and home life, Haney said in a statement shortly after introducing the bill. Workers shouldnt be punished for not being available 24/7 if theyre not being paid for 24 hours of work. Right to disconnect bills are a relatively new worker protection, with 12 countries across the globe implementing some form of law barring non-compensated out-of-work contact since France introduced it in 2017. Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, Italy and Spain are among the countries that have followed suit all with differing approaches. Despite some variety across the globe, advocates of right to disconnect measures say the laws have helped people become healthier, happier and more productive in the workplace. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. City officials and leaders of the marriage equality movement celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first same-sex marriage licenses issued in 2004. Pictures and exhibits at the Kendall Center in Cambridge Friday illustrated the 20-year journey since May 17, 2004. We were the first to open our doors, said Cambridges mayor Denise Simmons. We were the first to let people in to get married, and I hope that this first becomes history. Mayor Simmons has been in office for 16 years but served as a longtime city councilor as well. She became the first black, openly gay mayor in the country in 2008. During that time, she has continued to fight for gay rights in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and beyond. She added, It wasnt an easy fight. Fridays celebration came just hours after the U.S. Department of State issued a warning to the LGBTQ+ community traveling abroad ahead of pride month. Their statement in part read: Due to the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. The Department of State is aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events and advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. Members of the LGBTQ+ community Friday said these obstacles are part of their ongoing fight. Former state representative Byron Rushing played a pivotal role in the years leading up to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Sometimes its fast, sometimes its slow, but its always forward, said Rushing about their progress and global pushback. " He told Boston 25 he imagines a world in another 20 years where gay marriage is, Incredibly ordinary. That they can live their lives how they want to. Live the way they want to live. The U.S. Department of State urges anyone traveling to stay alert among large crowds and keep in contact with their department for the latest threats. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Cambridge police looking for a person who they say sexually assaulted a woman in public bathroom Cambridge police are looking for a suspect who they say sexually assaulted a woman in a public bathroom last week. The incident happened on Friday around 9:18 p.m. in the area of Cambridgepark Drive. Its definitely scary its really sad and I hope they catch the person that did it, said Kyle Dutch of Cambridge. Dutch saw the big police presence Friday night while he was walking home. I honestly think I saw five or six cars, I saw an ambulance as well, said Dutch. Police say the victim told officers the suspect assaulted her while he was masked and holding a knife. Detectives are processing a crime scene in the restroom of a commercial building where the alleged assault occurred, police say. My girlfriend walks and runs around here and we bike together so its scary if shes going to be by herself. Id like to have this person caught as soon as possible, said Dutch. Cambridge police say theyll have extra patrols in the area as they continue to search for the suspect. Massachusetts State Police is assisting in the investigation. The Middlesex District Attorneys Office has been notified of the incident. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Cambridge Police Criminal Investigations Unit anonymously by calling 617-349-9151. 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 Canadian teen says he was fined $580 at McDonald's drive-thru for using app; police dispute An 18-year-old said he was fined $580 for opening the McDonald's app at a Canada drive-thru but police have denied his claim. Mason Prima pulled out his phone at a McDonalds drive-thru in Saskatoon on Monday so he could redeem a free meal using points through the fast-food chain's app, according to Canada station CTV News. Soon after, an officer on a motorcycle made their way to his window. "Im barely even moving. I pull up my app and look at the rear-view mirror and theres a motorcycle cop behind me," Prima told CTV News. "I did think he was just going to let me go because Im just trying to get a free meal, but no, turns out to be a very expensive lunch." A car goes through the drive-thru at a McDonald's restaurant on April 3, 2023 in San Pablo, California. Prima said he's only received one speeding ticket after driving for two and a half years, the station reported. He added that he keeps his phone out of reach while driving to ensure he isn't distracted. "I was kind of shocked to be honest. Ive never had that before. I open up my app every time I go over to drive-thru and Ive never had that issue," he said. Police say he violated law before drive-thru The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan dispute Prima's version of the story saying the teen had violated the law before he reached the drive-thru. "The individual was observed driving on a public roadway while using a cell phone. So not in the drive-thru lane," spokesperson Keely Grasser told USA TODAY Friday. The driver pulled into the McDonald's parking lot where he was issued a traffic violation after allegedly using his cell phone on a public roadway, Grasser said. Prima heavily disputes the ticket and said he is prepared to fight it in court with the date set for July 31, CTV News reported. Distracted driving fines in Canada vs US Saskatchewan drivers who are caught being distracted while driving can face a $580 fine and four demerit points on the first offense. A second and third offense the fine increases to $1,400 and to $2,100, respectively, joined by an immediate seven-day vehicle seizure if convicted. In the U.S, fines for texting while driving can range between $25 for first-time violations to over $1,000 for subsequent violations based on severity. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teen says he faced $580 fine at McDonald's drive-thru for using app A smoky haze settles over Traverse City, as seen from the top of Copper Ridge Drive in June 2023. (Photo: Ed Ronco/IPR News) This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization. Wildfires in western and central Canada spread rapidly this week, with smoke sweeping into the Midwest and triggering air quality alerts in several states. For some, it was a reminder of last years smoky conditions. The front came through it kind of just dragged the smoke down to us in the Midwest, which is what we typically saw last year, too, said Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with Michigans Air Quality Division. There were no alerts in northern Michigan, but the region did see some haze. In Minnesota, the situation was much worse. You looked outside and buildings more than a couple blocks away were starting to look smoky, said Matt Taraldsen, the supervisory meteorologist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency based in St. Paul. You could definitely see the smoke outside, you could smell it, you could even taste it in the morning. It was really gross. The air quality index across much of the Great Lakes showed good to moderate conditions as of Friday afternoon, according to AirNow, a partnership between federal, tribal, state and local entities. Dry conditions and high winds are driving Canadas wildfires, following the countrys warmest winter on record and forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Some are zombie fires that began last season and smoldered underground during the winter, reigniting this spring. It is so crispy out there, said Jennifer Smith, the national warning preparedness meteorologist for the Meteorological Service of Canada. It takes very little for a fire to spark in that region. While the movement of wildfire smoke is tough to predict, the location of the fires is an important factor. Generally, agencies prioritize responding to fires that threaten human life and infrastructure. Because there are limited resources, those in more remote areas are sometimes left to burn out. Its probably not going to get as many resources as quickly as a city thats being evacuated, for example, said Alexandria Jones, the communications manager at the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which coordinates resources like aircraft and firefighters. Last year, parts of the region and the northeastern United States saw some of the worst air quality in the world. Some of that smoke came from areas that were hard to reach, according to Kownacki. A lot of wildfires that were causing the smoke were in very remote areas to where they couldnt get any access to, he said. So they literally just said, We just have to let it burn out because its in the middle of woods. Theres no access roads. Improving indoor air quality is an important part of staying safe around wildfire smoke. There are a number of ways to ensure better indoor air, and the Environmental Protection Agency has recommendations for purifiers, filtration devices and more basic techniques to address exposure to smoke. The post Canadian wildfire smoke just blanketed the Midwest again appeared first on Michigan Advance. Darrell McClanahan, pictured, will remain on the Missouri primary ballot after the GOP sued to remove him when they discovered photos of him doing a Nazi salute (Darrell McClanahan) A Missouri candidate for governor with reported ties to the Ku Klux Klan will remain on the ballot despite his own partys efforts to oust him, a state judge has ruled. The states Republican party sued to stop Darrell McClanahan from appearing on the GOP primary ballot this August. The Missouri GOP initially accepted him into the party but later denounced Mr McClanahan after discovering photos of him making the Nazi salute, the Associated Press reports. On Friday, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker ruled that he can participate in the gubernatorial race. Darrell McClanahan, pictured, will remain on the Missouri primary ballot after the GOP sued to remove him when they discovered photos of him doing a Nazi salute (Darrell McClanahan) Mr McClanahans attorney Dave Roland said the ruling ensures that party leaders do not have almost unlimited discretion to choose whos going to be allowed on a primary ballot, according to The Guardian. The candidate also has ties to the KKK, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The organisation said in 2022 that Mr McClanahan adheres to the religious sect Christian Identity, which espouses racist and antisemitic beliefs and is heavily influenced by the KKK. Mr McClanahan later sued the organisation for their 2022 article but his case was dismissed. Mr McClanahan also posted a membership card in 2019 to the League of the South, a white supremacy group that advocates for the southern US to secede, according to the ADL. This isnt the candidates first time vying for office. Mr McClanahan ran in the states US Senate primary in 2022. He lost, receiving less than 1 per cent of votes. The gubernatorial candidate described himself as pro-white but rejected ADLs claims he was racist or antisemitic. He also said he never joined the KKK, claiming he only received a one-year honorary membership. He faces several primary challengers this summer as Republican Governor Mike Parson finishes his final term in office. Another far-right GOP candidate in Missouri also sparked controversy this week. Valentina Gomez, who is running for Missouris Secretary of State, posted a video on Sunday disparaging the LGBTQ+ community. In America, you can be anything you want, she said. Dont be weak and gay. Stay f****** hard. The video then cuts to a photo of Ms Gomez holding a gun. The video prompted immediate backlash, with users mocking the bizarre video and condemning the anti-LGBTQ+ statement. Earlier this year, Ms Gomez posted a video of her using a flamethrower to burn LGBTQ-themed books. X restricted the video soon afterward, stating it may violate Xs rules against Hateful Conduct. ADDIS ABABA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- African educational experts have commended China's significant and growing role in advancing quality education in Africa. At the China-Africa Educational Cooperation Seminar held Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, experts praised China for promoting quality education through scholarships, vocational and skill development training for African students, and funding infrastructure for academic institutions across the continent. "China supports enhancing the education level of all Africans, particularly women, children and youth, and has continued to provide quality education through various scholarships and training programs," said Bonaventure Rutinwa, deputy vice chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. China's support is well-intentioned and aims to bring about genuine economic and social transformation in Africa, Rutinwa said. "China has established Confucius Institutes in many African countries, including Tanzania, which provide training in Chinese language and culture, thus enhancing the employability of African youth by Chinese companies that have gained a significant presence in various economic fields on the continent." Hu Changchun, head of the Chinese mission to the African Union, said that since 2012, China has set up an educational trust fund under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to train over 10,000 teachers in Africa. There are now 67 Confucius Institutes and 10 Confucius Classrooms in Africa. With more than 50,000 African students studying in China each year, China has become a preferred study destination for many young Africans, he said. Samuel Kifle, president of Addis Ababa University, noted China's aggressive efforts in capacity building to help African children and youth receive quality education. He urged African governments to emulate China's example by creating capable civil servants and an educated labor force, engaging in continuous innovation and promoting science and technology. "We Africans can learn from what China has achieved over the last 40 years in fostering fast economic development through boosting productivity, innovation, infrastructure development, and creating a responsible government," Kifle said. He also called for enhanced China-Africa cooperation in education within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Abdoulaye Salifou, an official from UNESCO, described China's role in Africa's education sector as "indispensable." "China has one of the most advanced educational systems globally and can help African countries undertake significant reforms in digital transformation, and promote technical and vocational training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields," Salifou told Xinhua. According to UNESCO, 63 million children in Africa are out of school, and 17 million teachers are needed for Africa to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in education. Experts said at the seminar that by 2030, Africa will account for more than 90 percent of global external financing needs for education, with an additional 40 billion U.S. dollars needed to finance its education sector. A structure fire in Canoga Park killed two dogs early Saturday morning, while another was rescued, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Fire crews arrived to smoke billowing from a home on the 21700 block of West Napa Street, just west of Owensmouth Avenue at around 8:15 a.m. Firefighters rushed into the single-story residence and found three dogs. Only one dog had survived while the other two had died in the blaze, authorities said. The homeowners were not at the property when the fire started. No injuries other than those to the dogs have been reported. LAFD said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. CAROL STREAM, Ill. Police in the western suburbs are asking for help in the search for a missing Franklin Park man who officers say exhibits dementia-like symptoms. According to Carol Stream police, 49-year-old Rafael Aguilar Soto was last seen at around 11 a.m. on Thursday walking in the 900 block of Moccasin Court, in Carol Stream. Officers say the missing mans family told police that he is a Spanish-speaking individual who exhibits dementia-like symptoms. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Aguilar Soto, who does not have access to a vehicle, is from Franklin Park, has family connections in Elmhurst, and is known to frequent public parks and Chipotle restaurants, police say. The missing man, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs between 120 and 135 pounds, has black hair and had a long black beard at the time of his disappearance. Carol Stream police search for missing man who exhibits 'dementia-like' symptoms Police say Aguilar Soto was last spotted wearing a brown hat, a yellow Timberland-brand hooded sweatshirt, a gray shirt, blue jeans, and brown construction boots. He was also spotted carrying a bible. Authorities notified the public about the missing mans disappearance in a news release shared on social media on Friday evening. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 49-year-old Rafael Aguilar Soto or those who may have seen someone matching his description are asked to contact the Carol Stream Police Department at 630-668-2167 or dial 911. Those with information that could help authorities in their investigation can also leave a tip at CPDtip.com. Tips can be filed anonymously. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. By rights, this should be the moment that the humanitarian case against Israels campaign in Gaza goes into terminal collapse. From now on, there can be no equivocation. Those who persist in opposing the war based on the number of civilian casualties are either ignorant or arguing in bad faith. Or both. Earlier this month, the United Nations halved its assessment of the numbers of women and children killed in Gaza. Then: 9,500 women and 14,500 children dead. Now: 4,959 women and 7,797 children. In a further seven months time, perhaps another few thousand will be resurrected. A moments thought reveals that it is impossible to quickly produce reliable figures. People might be missing but, in the chaos of war, how do the authorities know they havent fled, gone into hiding, or died of natural causes? Casualties may be buried under collapsed buildings, vapourised, burnt, or so disfigured that it would take complex forensic analysis to identify them. That is why it took months for Israeli investigators to arrive at a final figure for the victims of October 7, with some remaining unaccounted for. With war raging, this kind of detailed work is impossible. Yet for months, the UN has trusted figures produced by the same savages who butchered poor Shani Louk and drank chilled water from an Israeli fridge while watching a dying young boy comforting his little brother who was missing an eye. At long last, it has taken a first step towards sanity. But it continues to rely on figures from Hamas as a touch-point. Do those sanctimonious UN officials not realise how ridiculous they look? Have they forgotten how war works? Two decades after our invasion of Iraq, death tolls remain intensely disputed, ranging enormously from 100,000 to 600,000. Yet were expected to believe that Hamas, as it squats underground with its Jewish sex slaves, has the professionalism to provide statistics within hours, reliable to the single digit. Statisticians have debunked the data. Yet the narrative remains unchanged, even by President Biden. Clearly, the sheer volume of the footage of suffering civilians all projected by Hamas, which censors pictures of dead or wounded combatants has caused us to lose our minds. When we fought in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, nobody debated civilian casualties. Yet when it comes to Israel, its all anybody talks about. We are being played. This is why Gazan civilians are barred from the safety of the tunnels, even though the whole population would fit inside them. This is why they do not have a single air raid shelter. Hamass leaders have been doing their best to get their people killed on camera, then fabricated the figures. They have been doing so to brainwash the international media, political leaders, celebrities and the protesters on our streets, to believe the lie of Israeli genocide. They want Jerusalem to be pressured to stop the war, leaving them to plot the next act of savagery. Every humane heart must bleed for Gaza. Even a single innocent death is appalling. But unless you are a pacifist, the tragedy of the individual civilian in a warzone no matter how heartrending is not what sways the argument. What should do so is the bigger picture. It is the principle of a just war, which always involves civilian casualties. Israel did not choose this conflict any more than Britain chose to fight Nazi Germany. Such is the curse of the world that democracies are sometimes faced with an ugly enemy and the only way to respond is with force. Churchill knew this. So does Israel. Do we? Those of sound judgment must insist that the emperor has no clothes. The Jewish state is estimated to be killing proportionately fewer civilians than any other democracy in the history of warfare. To argue otherwise is simply wrong. Now lets talk about destroying jihadism. Jake Wallis Simons is editor of the Jewish Chronicle and author of Israelophobia 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. FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Senator Anna M. Caballero honored three women from Madera, Merced, and Fresno counties during the Women of the Year for Senate District 14 event on Friday. Caballero says that they celebrated the Women of the Year, and apart from that they will recognize Women from Distinction because it was so hard to choose just three. Caballero named Melissa Morales of Merced County, Dezi Woods-Jones of Madera County, and Ginabel M. Lorenzo as the Women of the Year. She also named seven Women of Distinction. According to officials, Morales is from Merced County and has overcome many obstacles in life. She went from being incarcerated to becoming a licensed clinical social worker. After she lost her son in 2022, she focused on the resilience and growth that she drew from her grief, the strength to help others in their healing process. Madera County Woman of the Year, Woods-Jones was a former Oakland City Council member and vice mayor. She was the first woman to run for Mayor of Oakland. She has a long history of civic involvement and worked with many well-known Civil Rights leaders, officials said. The last Woman of the Year is from Fresno County, Lorenzo, is the owner of a business specializing in succulents and houseplants based in Coalinga, CA. She started her business in 2020 and in two years became the recipient of the Coalinga Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year 2022 Award, according to officials. The women who were named Women of Distinction are below: LaTanya V. Richard, Merced CA Cynthia Kelly, Merced CA Marta Garcia, Madera CA Pam Grewal, Madera CA Yolanda S. Randles Fresno, CA Dr. Cassandra Little, Fresno CA Dr. Sonia Relingo, Fresno CA Caballero said it was her honor to recognize women from Madera, Merced, and Fresno counties for their contributions to the health and well-being of the communities. Through their leadership, public service, dedication, and collaborative spirit, we have seen neighborhoods transformed and strengthened. Senate District 14 thrives and is a better place to work and live because of their passionate advocacy, Caballero said. The event was on Friday and was from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. It was held at 4949 E. Kings Canyon Rd. in Fresno. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. (Bloomberg) -- China said its minister for agriculture and rural affairs is under investigation by the anti-graft agency for serious violations of the law, the latest high-level government official to be probed for alleged wrongdoing. Most Read from Bloomberg Tang Renjian is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said in a statement Saturday. No further details were provided. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pursuing a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which he had used to discipline the ruling Communist Party. In May alone, there were more than 30 announcements about new investigations by the anti-graft agency. Tang was appointed agriculture minister in December 2020. One of his last public appearances took place three days ago when he delivered a speech at a conference in the city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province. The 62-year-old Tang started his political career in the agriculture ministry and worked in different roles in the sector for about two decades before stints at provincial governments including Guangxi autonomous region and Gansu province. Tang also helmed Chinas food security campaign, an increasingly important priority for the countrys top leadership. (Adds more details of Tangs background in the fifth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. A City of Douglas code enforcement officer was arrested for illegally surveilling a teacher. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Rodger Goddard, who was employed as the Code Enforcement Officer for the City of Douglas, Friday. Goddard was arrested at the Douglas City Hall on Thursday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: The Coffee County Board of Education Police Department asked GBI to investigate him in February, after receiving a report that Goddard and another person were scene putting a tracker on a teachers car on school property. The GBI said Goddard was also a Georgia POST-certified law enforcement officer. Hes been charged with surveillance which invade the privacy of another and making false statements. Goddard was booked into the Coffee County Jail without incident and the investigation remains active and ongoing, according to the GBI. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at 912-389-4103. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Transglobal Car Expedition was using custom-built 'Yemelya' amphibious vehicles to float and churn through Arctic sea ice. Then Greenland officials got involved; (photo/Transglobal Car Expedition) The original version of this article was published on ExplorersWeb. A dozen explorers intent on driving special amphibious vehicles to both poles have hit a roadblock but not before achieving an unprecedented drive. The Transglobal Car Expedition seeks to become the worlds first wheeled surface circumnavigation of the Earth through both geographic poles. As of early April, the group had already covered its planned route from New York City to the Geographic North Pole via Yellowknife, Canada. Driving to the North Pole is a bold, risky objective no one had completed before. They followed this up by driving from the North Pole to Greenland another unprecedented feat. But the group didnt get to celebrate its success for long. On the way south to Nuuk, Greenland, they ran into authorities in Station Nord who denied them entry. danish authorities greenland Unsafe at Any Speed Naalakkersuisut, Greenlands government, reviewed the teams credentials to enter Northeast Greenland National Park on Friday. Authorities rejected them on the basis of safety, according to a press release. It is too dangerous both for the expedition and for the authorities who would have to rescue the expedition in an emergency situation to travel in the relevant areas in Greenland, the release said. Therefore, the expedition cannot legally continue through the national park. The release went on to state the expedition had left Greenland. Transglobal leader Vasily Shakhnovsky, a Russian oil baron who ranks among the worlds richest men, gave details to 7 Summits Club, one of the expeditions supporters. They collected passports and conducted a full-fledged search of cars for weapons, Shakhnovsky said. The police insisted that we leave Greenland as soon as possible. In the end, everything was agreed. We took off safely [from Station Nord] and landed in Svalbard two hours later. Vehicles Stuck in Limbo The expulsion from Greenland forced the team to leave its specialized vehicles behind. The six-wheel-drive machines are designed for transport in shipping containers. Transglobals original plan would have allowed them to ship the rigs to themselves further along the route. This would have been possible between Nuuk and Iceland, as first planned, but sea ice conditions between Station Nord and Svalbard will prevent it. The custom-built trucks create less impact on the ground than a human foot with their six 51-inch wheels that can run on pressure as low as 1 pound per square inch (psi). That, along with their light weight, helps them churn through sea ice, where other vehicles would feak and sink. The team aims to begin the Antarctic leg this November after the Antarctic cold has eased, but when the sea ice is near its highest levels. One expedition sponsor also lamented the setback based on its scientific objectives. Along its 31,000-mile route, Transglobal plans to conduct research into sea ice, cosmic radiation, and light pollution. The regulatory refusal dismantles its plans to study the Greenland ice sheet. This is really unfortunate as it is an expedition doing some ground-breaking work in collaboration with scientists from European universities and legitimate international scientific institutions such as CERN and the Italian space agency, said Dr. Maxim Artamonov, manager of a Swiss nonprofit that sponsors the expedition. Transglobal Car Expeditions: Not Giving Up on Greenland Yet Northeast Greenland National Park is the worlds largest national park. At 972,000 square km, it covers almost half the island. The park is so remote that fewer people visit it each year than summit Mount Everest, according to Lindblad Expeditions. Permitting is also famously strict. Its the latest episode in a saga of minor calamities and regulatory hassles for the Transglobal Car Expedition team. A Ford F-150 customized by Icelands Arctic Trucks and owned by Transglobal sank in arctic waters during testing in 2022. The expedition itself has demanded challenging repairs and toilsome navigation. Several team members have also struggled with credentials along the way. Vasily Yelagin, a Russian mountaineer who designed the amphibious vehicles, had trouble obtaining a Danish visa, Arctic correspondent Galya Morrell reported. And, Canadian authorities denied entry to Alexander Abramov, president of the 7 Summits Club, who was on board from New York to the Canadian border. Officials also revoked Abramovs valid visa right at the border without reason, according to 7 Summits. After the team regroups in Svalbard, it faces the adventures longest but easiest leg: a 5-month tour crisscrossing Europe. And Shakhnovsky and Co. havent given up on Greenland yet. In a statement, Transglobal said it is hopeful that discussions with Greenland authorities will allow future access to its original north-to-south overland route. The post Cold Weather, Rigid Govt: Transglobal Car Expedition Hits Speed Bump in Greenland appeared first on GearJunkie. An artifact is exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) An artifact is exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) People visit the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) People visit the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) An artifact is exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) A boy takes photos at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Artifacts are exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 17, 2024. May 18 marks International Museum Day. The National Museum of Ethiopia exhibits a wide range of archaeological artifacts and cultural relics from across the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) As a teen, Kevin Bui targeted an innocent family after wrongfully accusing them of theft Thomas Peipert/AP/Shutterstock Denver house fire A Colorado man involved in the August 2020 house fire that killed a Senegalese family of five, including two children, has pleaded guilty. Per the Associated Press, 20-year-old Kevin Bui pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, on Friday, May 17. He was the last of three individuals responsible for the crime to face charges. All were teenagers at the time of the incident. Denver Police Department Djibril Diol and his family killed in Denver fire According to the AP, CBS News Colorado and The Denver Post, Bui told investigators that he targeted the home after someone stole his iPhone in City Park. Using an app to find his stolen device, Bui wrongly tracked it to the Truckee Street address. The family who was killed had no ties to the phone. Related: Colo. Teen Who Admitted Denver Arson that Killed 5 Including 2 Children Sentenced 40 Years in Prison Djibril Diol, 29, and Adja Diol, 23 and their 22-month-old daughter, Khadija Diol were killed in the blaze. Djibril's sister, Hassan Diol, 25, and her 6-month-old daughter Hawa Beye also died in the fire. Three others escaped the fire by jumping out of windows, suffering broken bones in the process. Denver Fire Dept/ Twitter Denver house fire Djiby, a young man with a promising future in Civil Engineering, has left behind a community that he so deeply loved and cared for, a GoFundMe said at the time. Bui originally faced 60 counts, but they were dismissed as part of a plea deal, per CBS News Colorado. His maximum proposed sentence is up to 60 years in prison 30 years for each count. The maximum penalty for each count is 48 years and a $1 million fine. The 20-year-old was considered the ringleader of the crime, the AP reports. Buis accomplices were Dillon Siebert, who was 14 at the time of the fire, and Gavin Seymour, now 19. Denver police department Colorado arson suspects After the fire, a photo of the trio was released by the Denver Police Department. Authorities said the fire appeared to be set on purpose by three people wearing dark hoodies and face masks, who took off in a dark-colored four-door sedan, CBS News Colorado reported at the time. Though the case stalled for months due to a lack of leads, per The Denver Post, authorities were eventually able to tie the teens to the killings using a controversial search warrant that required Google to turn over any users who searched for the victims' address within 15 days before the fire. Related: Police Release Photo of 3 Masked Suspects Who Authorities Believe Set Fire to Home Killing Family Police claimed Bui Googled the Senegalese familys residence 13 times two weeks before the fire, according to the warrant. Hed also talked about his stolen phone on Snapchat. Buis parents were present for the hearing on Friday and listened with the help of a Vietnamese interpreter, The Denver Post reports. He wore a jail uniform and handcuffs. 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. His sentencing is set for July 2. Seymour was sentenced to 40 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to one count of second-degree murder in March. Siebert pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and was sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility, followed by seven in an adult detention program, according to the AP. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) The Colorado Native Pollinating Insects Health Study has officially been released. The study is said to be the most robust and detailed account of pollinator health ever undertaken in the state. Colorado is home to many native insects and bats that help in the pollinator process. Co-author of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Pollinator Report Adrian Carper tells WesternSlopeNow which insects pollinate the most plants here in Colorado. There are lots of pollinating insects. Any insect that visits a flower and moves pollen around can be a pollinator. And for sure we know the most about bees. And so, our native pollinators are over a thousand species of native bees here in Colorado. Including bumble bees and sweat bees and orchard bees. Also, over 250 species of butterflies as well as moths, beetles, and lots of different flies and wasps. According to the USDA Colorado crops generated nearly $3 million in 2023. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. College graduates at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth were left stunned at their commencement ceremony this week, captured in footage with their mouths agape as a billionaire announced he was gifting each of them $1,000. Even better, the graduates would be getting the money on the spot, with the tech CEO Robert Hale Jr. handing them a pair of envelopeseach stuffed with $500 cashas they walked across stage, he explained. Each of you is getting $1,000 cash right now, he said, to the crowds bemusement. The only catchHale asked each student to donate the cash in one of the envelopes to a charity of their choice or to someone in need. The first $500 is our gift to you, he screamed over cheers. The second $500 is for you to give to someone else or an organization that could use it more than you. Share in the joy of the gift of giving. The public university, which isnt affiliated with the Ivy Leagues Dartmouth College that sits three hours north in New Hampshire, had 1,100 graduates at Thursdays ceremony. If each walked across the stage as expected, that means Hale doled out $1.1 million of his estimated $5 billion net worth. These trying times have heightened the need for sharing, caring and giving, he said. Our community needs you and your generosity more than ever. Hale founded and runs Granite Telecommunications in nearby Quincy, Massachusetts, and is a co-owner of the Boston Celtics. He held up a pair of duffel bags he carried on stage as he delivered his commencement speech, saying thats where the students surprise graduation gift was. Hale gifted $1,000 to graduates at UMass Boston last year, with the same stipulation, though the gesture didnt garner as much media attention as his boisterous speech through a downpour this week. A university spokesperson told Fox Business that 40 percent of the graduates were first-generation students. The university said Hale told students about how he lost nearly $1 billion overnight but persevered. In a statement, the university said Hale urged them not to let failure define them. 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. Ashland County Community Foundations IMPACT Youth Council, with ratification by the Board of Trustees, approved IMPACT Youth Grants for 2024. Grants totaling more than $28,200 were awarded to 21 organizations serving Ashland County youth. Receiving grants are: Members of Ashland County Community Foundations 2023-2024 IMPACT Youth Council pose with President/CEO Jim Cutright and IMPACT Youth Council Director Sarah LeVeck at the foundations May 7 Celebration of Youth Philanthropy. Advocates for Families received a grant for glass fusing classes for AFF families and youth. Appleseed Community Mental Health Center received a grant to support Healthy Skills groups for youth. Ashland Bookcase Project received a grant for bookcase materials and new childrens books. Ashland Brethren In Christ Church received a grant to help with supplies for Vacation Bible School. Ashland Co 4-H Committee received a grant for Ashland County 4-H dog project(s) training equipment. Ashland County Wildlife Conservation League received a grant for the ACWCL Kids Day educational program in the Historic Log Homestead house. Ashland Special Needs Ministry received a grant to support the annual Night to Shine event. Ashland Training Center Daycare and Preschool received a grant to support summer program activities and outings. Associated Charities received a grant for new clothing for Kids Clothing Closet. Hillsdale High School Fine Arts Department received a grant for supplies to support Scars, Shiners, Aging, & Beards: A Stage Makeup Exploration project. Hospice of North Central Ohio received a grant to support Stuffed Animal Craft at Camp Hope Childrens Bereavement Camp. Loudonville Church Women received a grant to purchase school supplies and other essentials to support students through the Back to School program. Loudonville Theatre & Arts Committee received a grant for art equipment for The Ohio Theatre Arts Alive Art and Drama Camp(s) programs. Nuhop Center for Experiential Learning received a grant for a new trail wheelchair to create access for all campers. Park Street Brethren Preschool received a grant to support gross motor equipment. Rape Crisis Domestic Violence Safe Haven/Appleseed received a grant to help with sensory items for youth accessing Safe Haven services. Taft Intermediate received a grant to help with the 4 th Grade Immersive History Exposure field trip. The Salvation Army received funds to support its Safety Town program. ACCESS, Olive Tree Care and Green-Perrysville Fire Department received proactive grants. IMPACT Youth Grants are competitive grants awarded by ACCF to 501(c)(3) and other qualifying charitable organizations in support of projects and initiatives designed to benefit the youth of Ashland County. Grant recipients are chosen by ACCFs IMPACT Youth Council, a committee of student volunteers from Ashland County high schools. The council is led by Director Sarah LeVeck. The following students participated in IMPACT Youth Council during the 2023-2024 school year: Rilynn Ajian, Gabriel Barlow, Addi Bonfiglio, Joshua Bonfiglio, Keaton Christian, Aubrie Cooke, James Daubenspeck, Jocelyn Grassman, Alyssa Henley, Brendon Hess, Jocelyn Honaker, Taren Kramer, Haley McNaull, Katrin Parker, Mackenzie Parsons, Phoenix Rex, Emma Roar, Andrew Swartz, Jessica Wally and Marcus Wolboldt. ACCF is accepting applications for next years IMPACT Youth Council. Ashland County students who will be sophomores, juniors or seniors during the 2024-2025 school year may apply at www.ashlandforgood.org/impact-youth-council/. The application deadline is Feb. 1 of each year. Inquiries can be made by calling the Foundation office at 419-281-4733 or visiting the ACCF website at www.ashlandforgood.org. This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland Community Foundation 2024 IMPACT Youth Grants presented A data privacy amendment buried within the Federal Aviation Administration re-authorization bill will allow private aircraft owners to fully block aircraft registration information. Concealing this information will make establishing who owns private aircraft much more difficult, and render aircraft harder to track. President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) re-authorization bill into law yesterday. Last week, it passed a vote in the Senate 88-4, before going on to pass a vote in the House of Representatives by 387 to 26 on Wednesday. The bill was introduced into the House in June of last year. The FAA re-authorization bill renews the agency's authority for the next five years, and authorizes more than $105 billion in funding for it from fiscal years 2024 through 2028. The legislation aims to improve aviation safety, as well as tighten protections for both airline workers and passengers. As a requirement of private aircraft ownership in the U.S., airplanes must be registered with the FAA's civil registry . The FAA's civil registry is the largest in the world, with approximately 300,000 registered aircraft approved to operate with N-number markings . Information on the registry has many uses , and is a valuable tool as it allows data on aircraft type, ownership, and airworthiness to be accessed. This flight tracking information has been critical to high-impact news stories over the years. However, the way in which the FAA displays information connected on its registry will, in some cases, change as a result of the FAA re-authorization bill. This was highlighted by Jack Sweeney on X, who is famous for monitoring the jet flights of Elon Musk and Taylor Swift, before it was signed into law by President Biden. The origins of the provision in the bill remains unclear. The amendment, which pertains to Chapter 441 of title 49, United States Code , reads as follows: 44114. Privacy (A) IN GENERAL. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 552(b)(3) of title 5, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall establish and update as necessary a process by which, upon request of a private aircraft owner or operator, the Administrator withholds the registration number and other similar identifiable data or information, except for physical markings required by law, of the aircraft of the owner or operator from any broad dissemination or display (except in furnished data or information made available to or from a Government agency pursuant to a government contract, subcontract, or agreement, including for traffic management purposes) for the noncommercial flights of the owner or operator. (B) WITHHOLDING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION ON THE AIRCRAFT REGISTRY. Not later than 2 years after the enactment of this Act and notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 552(b)(3) of title 5, the Administrator shall establish a procedure by which, upon request of a private aircraft owner or operator, the Administrator shall withhold from broad dissemination or display by the FAA (except in furnished data or information made available to or from a Government agency pursuant to a government contract, subcontract, or agreement, including for traffic management purposes) the personally identifiable information of such individual, including on a publicly available website of the FAA. At present, there are a number of ways private individuals and entities can legally obscure and block information connecting them as owners of specific aircraft, thus making it harder to track their movements and jet usage although these do not go as far as the data privacy amendment within the recently signed bill. Corporate ownership structures, for example, are often used as a means of obscuring true aircraft ownership. These can include limited liability companies (LLCs), non-citizen trusts, and shell companies (companies that conduct no business or minimal business). They can be used individually, or in combination, to hold aircraft titles for registration purposes. However, the identities of those who actually own an aircraft can still be figured out, in certain cases, using other investigative means and despite attempts to shield the information via corporate ownership structures. Viaframe via Getty Images The FAA itself offers the cost-free Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed ( LADD ) program, previously known as the Blocked Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program. In participating in the LADD program, aircraft owners and designated representatives can instruct the FAA to inform third-party flight tracking vendors using FAA data systems to block aircraft registration numbers, call signs, or flight numbers. Private jet users including former President Donald Trump, rapper Drake, and director Steven Spielberg have signed up for the LADD Program, according to Jack Sweeney's LADD List . In terms of blocking flight tracking data, the FAA offers the Privacy ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) aircraft address ( PIA ) program. The PIA program limits personalized flight-tracking information circulating from aircraft ADS-B transponders , which are used to broadcast the location of aircraft, and other data, in an unencrypted manner. This is done by privatizing the aircraft's ICAO identification number. An aircraft's ICAO identification number is a two, three, or four-digit number unique to each aircraft, making aircraft identification possible. It is advised that aircraft owners should participate in both the LADD and PIA programs for maximum protection, although this is not foolproof. Non-FAA, third-party sources are able to capture aircraft information and flight details directly from ADS-B transponders, since they are not encrypted, and broadcast over the open airwaves. For instance, sites such as ADSBExchange.com takes feeds from private ASA-B receivers around the world to provide its real-time data. dan_prat via Getty Images However, the amendment in the new bill offers a far more comprehensive option for those wanting to block ties to their aircraft, without going through the above channels. In order for aircraft owners or operators to have said information blocked, however, they must "attest to a safety or security need" for it. It is precisely concerns over safety and security that a number of high-profile, private-jet owners have pointed to about publicly accessible flight information. During his very public discourse with Sweeney in 2022, Musk claimed that his jet-monitoring activities constituted a "direct personal safety risk." Similar arguments over safety have been raised by Taylor Swift's legal team with regards to Sweeney's flight-tracking, although his legal representation maintains there is "nothing unlawful" in using "publicly available information" like flight-tracking data. Sweeney's flight tracking X accounts now only post information on a 24 hour delay. It should be noted that security concerns have been cited as reasons for the removal of various U.S. aircraft serial numbers and identifying markings in the military context, instigated by the U.S. Air Forces Air Mobility Command. Congress has also had a hand in efforts to obscure the flight activities of U.S. Air Force aircraft, which you can read more about here . Regardless of what the influences were behind the inclusion of the data privacy amendment in the bill, many will no doubt see it as another avenue via which elite flyers can obtain special treatment to conceal their travels, while some aircraft owners will certainly rejoice in the new privacy facilitation on their behalf by the FAA. Yet how far it will actually limit the ability to track flights and who is on them remains to be seen. "Let this be said that this doesnt prevent us from tracking jets," Sweeney wrote on X . "We can still figure out whos who via context clues." Contact the author: oliver@thewarzone.com Debris is cleared from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge as efforts begin to reopen the Port of Baltimore on March 31, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. The bridge, which was used by roughly 30,000 vehicles each day, fell into the Patapsco River after being struck by the Dali, a cargo ship leaving the port at around 1:30 a.m. on March 26. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Conservative members of Congress at a hearing on Wednesday raised questions about using federal dollars to pay for rebuilding a state tollway, as the head of the Federal Highway Administration reiterated that the Biden administration is seeking congressional approval to reimburse 100% of the costs of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Congress has about six months left to adjust the federal share of costs to reconstruct the bridge before an automatic rate of 90% reimbursement kicks in, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, said at a hearing on the federal response to the March 26 collapse. Early that morning, the container ship Dali lost power and struck the bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River and blocked access to the busy Port of Baltimore. Six people died. Under the FHWAs Emergency Relief Program, the federal government covers the first nine months of costs from a disaster. Graves did not indicate whether he thought Congress should increase the federal cost-share. But Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt repeated President Joe Bidens pledge that the federal government would cover all costs. The administration is asking Congress to join in demonstrating a commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100% federal cost-share for rebuilding the bridge, consistent with past catastrophic bridge collapses, Bhatt told the panel. The federal government reimbursed all the costs to rebuild the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis after it collapsed in 2007, Bhatt said. The estimated cost of a rebuild for the Baltimore bridge is $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. The FHWA has asked permitting agencies to speed up approvals for a new bridge, noting that environmental and other reviews should consider that a bridge with a similar footprint was previously in the same location, Bhatt said. Conservatives on the panel drew attention to the fact that the bridge, which was a toll facility on Marylands highway system, had never received federal funding. Revenue from the tolls go to the state, Pennsylvania Republican Scott Perry, noted. Perry, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said the comparison to the Minneapolis bridge collapse was not apt because it had not been a toll bridge. He asked if the federal government could recoup toll money collected on the bridge when it reopens. I hope you would consider a plan to reimburse the taxpayer under horrific debt right now, who cant afford their groceries, their gas bills, their day care bills, for the cost of this bridge, for which one state has been receiving all the money for its entire existence, and apparently is going to receive all the money from the tolls for the rest of its existence, Perry said. Interstate system Bhatt and some Democrats on the panel said that an intact interstate system benefits the entire country. Georgia Democrat Hank Johnson asked Bhatt to explain the bridges connection to interstate commerce, noting that there may be people in the country who are not inside the state of Maryland who resent having to pay for this bridge reconstruction. What is so critically important for a transportation system is that you can drive from New York to Los Angeles across a system that is completely uniform, Bhatt responded. The highway system is connected to ports, which are also economic drivers, Bhatt said. This is not just an issue for Maryland, he said. Its an issue for the Northeast Corridor and for our national economy. Legal action Florida Republican Brian Mast asked Bhatt if the government was seeking reimbursement from any insurance policies or the Grace Ocean Private Ltd., which owned the ship, or shipping company Maersk, which chartered it. Bhatt responded that the U.S. Justice Department was leading efforts to seek to recover those types of funds. California Democrat John Garamendi said he supported 100% of costs being reimbursed by the federal government, but that the committee should carefully structure legislation so that any funds from insurance payments or legal judgments against the shipping company would flow back to the federal government. Rebuilding issues Reconstruction plans will be written and updated as the project progresses in the coming years, Bhatt said. The most recent timeline estimates construction could be finished in 2028 and traffic could resume that year or in 2029. The bridge should be rebuilt to comply with current standards, Bhatt told ranking Democrat Rick Larsen of Washington. The original bridge, constructed during the 1970s, was a truss design, which has been replaced in recent years by cable-stayed bridges. But federal law does not allow for betterments that did not exist on the original bridge to be added to the rebuild, Bhatt added. The post Congressional panel debates who should foot the bill for rebuilding Baltimore bridge appeared first on Michigan Advance. Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert was the keynote speaker at the Military Officers Association Sarasota Scholarship Luncheon on May 8. Five JROTC and 12 merit scholarships ($3,000 each) were awarded to Sarasota County seniors based on leadership and community service. Attending the ceremony with Alpert, from left, were Addy Domian, Lizzy Mopps, Marco Vegh, Hayden Wilding, Nishalle Uthuppan, Ayla Edwards, Ethan Hylwa, Margaret Toth, Danielle Vassos, and scholarship chair Susan Warmington. Visit sarasotamoaa.com. Local conservationist honored by Roger Williams University Elizabeth Moore, a Sarasota conservationist and philanthropist whose contributions have advanced environmental efforts and science education in the Gulf Coast, was honored by Roger Williams University during commencement exercises on May 17 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Sarasota conservationist and philanthropist Elizabeth Moore. Moore, a founding member of the Sarasota-based Climate Adaptation Center, received an honorary degree to recognize her work uniting science, the arts, and entrepreneurship. Moore serves on the boards of Mote Marine Aquarium, Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, Gulf Shellfish Institute, Florida Wildlife Corridor, New College Foundation, and Lemur Conservation Foundation. Moore, from Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., helped Mote open the Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration in the Florida Keys in 2017. She also was instrumental in establishing the Marine Science Center at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Bradenton and creating an 1,100-acre conservation easement, Triangle Ranch, near Myakka River State Park. Coast Guard Auxiliary hosts free safe boating activities The Coast Guard Auxiliary will be participating in free public events in Sarasota to help spread boating safety and encourage boating education during National Safe Boating Week (May 18-24). Events begin on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the 10th Street Boat Ramp in Centennial Park. The Coast Guard Auxiliary will be joined by the Sarasota Police Department Marine Division and Coast Guard Station Cortez to provide education and activities, including free vessel safety examinations. Vessel examinations will also be available at Ted Sperling Park at south Lido Beach and at the Turtle Beach Boat Ramp. More events will be held throughout the boating season in Sarasota, and safe boating classes are available through the Coast Guard Auxiliary at Flotilla84Sarasota.com. For information about the Coast Guard Auxiliary the uniformed civilian component of the U.S. Coast Guard visit cgaux.org. Manatee River Rotary Club awards six IB scholarships Six International Baccalaureate students at Southeast High School received scholarships from the Manatee River Rotary Club during a recent club meeting at 3 Keys Brewery in Bradenton. Southeast High School Principal Ginger Collins (left), International Baccalaureate coordinator Megan Bishop (center), and Assistant Principal Michael Perez with Manatee River Rotary Club scholarship winners Angeline Cao, Alexander Cao, Daniel Berry, Nicholas Sevarino, Brooke Kuiken, and Abigail Hite. Abigail Hite and Alexander Cao received $5,000 scholarships and Angeline Cao a $1,000 award. Brooke Kuiken, Nicolas Sevarino, and Daniel Berry received $500. The students earned their awards based on their research and understanding of International Baccalaureate and Rotary International and how the Escuelas Hermanas (Sister Schools) program brings them together. "These are amazing students, club president Joe Stoddard said. "I know their parents are proud of them and the parents deserve all the praise in the world for raising such great young people. Sister Schools was created for Manatee Countys IB schools 16 years ago. Johnson Middle School and Southeast High are paired with three schools in Guatemala's Central Highlands. In visits to Sister Schools in previous years, Southeast students installed solar lights and water filtration systems. Around and about The Miss Florida All-Stars Tournament continues Saturday and Sunday at the Miss Sarasota Softball Fields, 4770 17th St. The tournament features 50 elite teams from across Florida, comprising 600 players ranging in age from 6 to 16. Admission is free. For schedules and information, visit misssarasotasoftball.org. The Sarasota Guitar and Amp Show is May 25-26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, 801 N. Tamiami Trail, featuring vintage guitar dealers, guitar clinics, amplifiers, and other guitar-related equipment. Plus food trucks and live performances. Tickets/info: sarasotaguitarshow.com, 941-993-3098. ... Piano Friends will perform at Rose & Ivy, 1296 First St., Sarasota, on May 25 at 3 p.m., including international concert virtuoso pianist Eleonora Lvov. Creative Liberties with artist Shelley Kishpaugh will host a free circus-themed Family Art Day on May 25 from 9:30 a.m.-noon at 927 N. Lime Ave., Sarasota. The event will feature a stilt walker, face painter, and balloon artist. All supplies included. (creativeliberties.net; 941-799-6634; info@creativeliberties.net) Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 South Tamiami Trail, will hold weekly summer camps for children ages 7 to 13 from June 3-July 26. Young artists will have the opportunity to explore themes, activities, and projects inspired by art and artists on view at Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design. For information and registration, visit sarasotaartmuseum.org/summer-camp-2024. Laurel Civic is hosting its Summer Teen Empowerment Program for upcoming ninth through 12th graders in Sarasota County from June 3-July 25. The seven-week life skills camp is designed to equip participants with tools for success, including career exploration, personal finances and banking, health and wellness, and business skills. For information and registration, visit laurelcivic.org. FISH (Friends in Service Here) of North Port, a nonprofit providing transportation for North Port residents to medical appointments, is seeking additional volunteer drivers to devote a couple of hours a week. Mileage reimbursement provided. FISH also needs answering service operators. Volunteers are protected against liability by the Florida Volunteer Protection Act. To learn more, contact Bruce Isbell at 941-429-8945. Submissions by Susan Warmington, Melanie Thibeault, Justin Kloer, Eddie Robinette, Mia Kurecki, Kevin Wood, Debye Bernard, Su Byron, Susan Yannetti, Vanita Moses-Cook, and Bruce Isbell. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Eco champion, philanthropist receives honorary degree in Rhode Island Conservative scion sentenced to 45 months in prison for role in January 6 riot Leo Brent Bozell IV, the scion of a prominent family of conservative activists, was sentenced to 45 months in prison in a Washington, DC, federal court for his role in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. During the insurrection, Bozell pushed past police, broke a windowpane in the Senate building, chased a Capitol Police officer toward the Senate chamber, and entered both then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office and the Senate floor, according to prosecutors, as hundreds of Trump supporters sought to stop the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election win. Without people like Mr Bozell, the riot doesnt happen, prosecutor Ashley Akers said during sentencing. He himself facilitated access to the Capitol building for hundreds of other rioters, she added. The sentence from Judge John D Bates was considerably less than the more than 11 years the government sought in the case. The federal judge held Friday that the sentence, including a terrorism enhancement sought by prosecutors, didnt match the circumstances of Bozells crimes. Im not sure that label is an appropriate label for the defendant to have to carry with him, he said. However, the judge condemned the 44-year-olds conduct, alongside that of other January 6 participants. Not for a moment should January 6 rioters be considered true patriots, Judge Bates said. Theyre not political prisoners. Theyre not hostages. During Fridays sentencing hearing, Bozell apologised and said his conduct put a stain on my family forever. Bozells sentence also includes $4,727 in restitution. The Pennsylvania man was convicted in September on 10 charges. The January 6 riots marked the latest appearance of the Bozell family name in right-wing history. Leo Leo Brent Bozell, Jr, ghost-wrote Arizona senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwaters influential book The Conscience of a Conservative, while Leo Leo Brent Bozell, III, founded the Media Research Center, a group that monitored and critiqued liberal media. KHARTOUM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least eight civilians were killed in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a village in Gezira State in central Sudan, a resistance committee announced on Saturday. "The RSF attacked Wad Al-Munir village of Al-Hosh locality in Gezira State with the aim to loot," the resistance committee in Wad Madani, the capital city of the Gezira state, said in a statement on its Facebook page. "The attack left eight young citizens dead and many others injured," the statement said. The RSF has not yet commented on the allegation. The RSF took control of Gezira State in December 2023 after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) withdrew from Wad Madani. Since the conflict between the SAF and the RSF broke out on April 15, 2023, 15,550 fatalities have been recorded, while the number of people displaced has reached 8.7 million, according to the latest situation report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Video above: In April 2022, activists pushed to ban Bibles in Florida schools. (NBC News) When conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas won the fight to allow religious chaplains in public schools, they swung open the door to ministers from other faiths including the Satanic Temple. The demonic-sounding group, which describes itself as nontheistic, is using this debate and others like it to make a point about the growing encroachment of religion on public life. Major changes coming to Visa: How will it affect you? It would prefer no chaplains in schools, it says, but would settle for equal representation, intentionally goading conservatives, some of whom are explicit about wanting Christianity, rather than just religion, in public education. If they pass these bills, theyre going to have to contend with ministers of Satan acting as chaplains within their school districts, said Lucien Greaves, a co-founder of the Satanic Temple, who uses a pseudonym to protect him against threats. We think the public should know in advance that thats what the outcome of these bills can be.The Satanic Temple, founded in 2013 and recognized as a religion by the IRS, is known for trolling the religious right by taking advantage of Christian campaigns. When Arkansas installed a statue of the Ten Commandments outside the State Capitol, the Temple unveiled its own statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed figure, there, too. It offered the Hellions Academy as an alternative to Christian studies during school hours and named a telehealth abortion clinic after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos mom. Read the full story on NBCNews.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Oregon has become the first state in the nation to enter into an agreement with a tribe to open a distillery on their land. The Mill Casino in North Bend will be the site of a new operation by Heritage Distilling Company thanks to a landmark agreement between the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Jesse Lee Calhoun, accused serial killer, indicted in murder of three local women in 2023 Margaret Simpson is the CEO of the Coquille Economic Development Corporation, the parent company of The Mill Casino. She told KOIN 6 News the new distillery will help to uplift the community. We have 1,200 citizens of the Coquille Indian Tribe. And we expect this project to diversify revenue for the Tribe and to also uplift the community as a whole, Simpson said. Because we do rely so heavily on tourism and attracting people to make the drive to come to our beautiful homelands and we believe this project is going to help us do that in a more profound way. From left: Coquille Economic Development Corporation CEO Margaret Simpson, CEDCO Director of Marketing and Communication Michael Laffey. May 17, 2024 (KOIN), Renovations are also in the works for The Mill Casino which will bolster the presence of the new distillery. It will completely transform a certain part of the property where we have food and beverage outlets, Simpson said. The second story used to be offices and now its actually going to be a revenue-generating space for the Tribe. Someone is throwing cans at people, cars from a downtown high-rise in Portland In terms of what kind of spirits will be sold, it will include a wide variety, such as whiskey and flavored vodkas. Heritage has the most amazing we personally believe the most amazing flavored vodkas. They have a lavender, which is super popular, and a huckleberry, so good, Simpson said. The deal between OLCC and the Coquille Tribe was made possible due to an 1834 federal law prohibiting liquor distillation on tribal lands being repealed in 2018. The law was repealed in large part thanks to efforts from the Chehalis Tribe in Washington and Heritage Distilling Company, Simpson said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. (NEXSTAR) On March 11, 2020, the director-general of the World Health Organization told the world that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. At the time, fewer than 4,500 people were thought to have died from the virus, but it was spreading quickly, appearing in new cities and countries every day. Will your last COVID vaccine work against new FLiRT variants? Fast forward to 2024, and the virus has taken an estimated 7 million lives. Its still mutating and sparking new variants, sickening thousands of people, and ultimately killing hundreds every day. But we also have far more tools than we did in 2020. We have several effective vaccines and anti-viral treatments to help combat the disease. With all that in mind, is COVID-19 still considered a pandemic-level threat? A WHO spokesperson told Nexstar the word pandemic is not binary, its not on or off. To make things even more complicated, theres not one universal agreed-upon definition of a pandemic. Columbias Mailman School of Public Health says a pandemic begins when a disease is spreading exponentially and across international borders. This wide geographical reach is what makes pandemics lead to large-scale social disruption, economic loss, and general hardship. RFK Jr. had a brain worm. How do you get one and what are the symptoms? On the other hand, a disease is endemic when its consistently present but limited to a particular region. With COVID-19, its been consistently present for years, but isnt limited to any particular area or population. It still has wide geographical reach, but case counts arent exploding out of control. The WHO wont make a ruling on when the pandemic is over, a spokesperson told Nexstar. However, they did declare an end to the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in May 2023. Unlike the term pandemic, a public health emergency is clearly defined under international health regulations. While the WHO stopped short of determining whether or not COVID-19 still constitutes a pandemic, the agency made it clear the virus remains a global health threat. There are hundreds of thousands people with COVID-19 in hospital now and there are many suffering from Long COVID, the WHO said. What we can say for COVID-19, is that the crisis is over, but the threat is not and what we need now, is countries to pursue their response and to take action needed to save lives. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. DALLAS TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY(WBRE/WYOU) A crash Saturday morning has resulted in injuries and closing part of Route 309. According to Dallas Township Police, a call came in just after 10:15 a.m. for a crash with entrapment at the intersection of Route 309 and Old Highway Road. Officials say Route 309 was closed for approximately three and a half hours on Route 309 between Upper Demunds Road and Kunkle-Anderson Road, but has since been reopened. Fire damages law office in Scranton Authorities told 28/22 News there were injuries, but could not elaborate on the extent of those injuries. The Dallas Township Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police are currently investigating the cause of the crash, and will prove more details at a later time. Kunkle Fire Company, back Mountain Regional Fire and EMS, Noxen Fire Company, Idetown Fire Company, TransMed Medic 10, and PennDOT also assisted on the scene. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. The conceit of our universities is that theyre bastions of free speech, enlightened thinking and eloquent debate. However, at Cambridge last week, rather than engage in coherent, informed discussion about a complex matter, students and pro-Palestinian protestors instead preferred to cancel me. Our world-beating higher education system really ought to be a bit better than this. In recent weeks, encampments protesting against Israel have been set up at many of our top universities. This derivative attempt to mimic the events at Columbia University in New York where pro-Palestinian student protestors effectively took over the campus, requiring the police to arrest them to restore safety and order has seen some students at the likes of Oxford, Cambridge, and the LSE act out their own stunts. I visited Cambridge simply to try to talk to some of the pro-Palestinian protestors camped outside Kings College and the Universitys Senate House. Despite the rain, a large group of masked, keffiyeh-clad students (I assume they were students, but you couldnt be certain) were hanging around Kings Parade. Palestinian flags adorned the walls and placards scribbled with calls to stop arming Genocidal Israel were stuck in the mud. Boycott and Divest interspersed with Vegan and Nut-Free food needed. I didnt come armed with any threatening snacks, but what I genuinely wanted to do was find out what was motivating presumably intelligent people to behave in such a way. Taxpayer-subsidised and supposedly the brightest young minds in the country, what was their message to Israel? To Hamas? To the Gazans? Dare I mention, to the hostages, or to the murdered and raped dead? I was prepared for them to challenge my views, yet what was their response? Silence. This isnt a joke. People for whom a cause is so dear to them that theyre camped out in the rain in identical tents wouldnt make that case to someone like me. Their unwillingness and inability to discuss rationally with others reflects a more worrying trend when it comes to Left-wing militancy. Perhaps they think their arguments are so irrefutable that they dont even need to make them? And obviously not to someone as unclean as me. But rewind 12 hours, leave Cambridge, and I was met with a very different reaction from some of their comrades in London. Outside a Conservative association event in north London where I was the guest speaker, a group of 30 or so pro-Palestinian protestors werent as limp as their Cambridge peers. Instead, they barricaded the doors to the venue, shouting for two hours on megaphones Braverman, you genocidal ----. All as our fund-raising event continued inside. Intimidation failed to thwart us and the restaurant owners deserve particular credit for refusing to give into the mob and cancel the event. What we seem to have is two extremes for one cause: self-righteous objection to the very idea of open discussion by some, and unashamed, uninterrupted harassment and thuggery by others. And on too many campuses, universities are failing to do enough to confront either side of the problem. Weve seen the number of reports of anti-Semitism at universities surge since October 7. Cambridge has become a battleground for freedom of speech, with Jordan Peterson having a visiting fellowship withdrawn by the Divinity Faculty, academics hounded out for refusing to bow to identity politics, and Trinity College responding pathetically when a student damaged a portrait of Arthur Balfour. Effectively ignoring a clear case of criminal damage is a choice made by the people running our institutions, and the implications of this betrayal of responsibility are terrifying. University authorities have refused to maintain order or standards, but plainly only in one direction. We can see you: we can see who youre giving into and why. I studied at Cambridge as an undergraduate over 20 years ago. I still remember the tears in my mums eyes when we opened the acceptance letter from Queens College. Neither she nor my dad had had a great education or the chance to study for a degree until they were in their forties as mature students. So this was an honour that made their hearts soar. But these days, why should getting into Oxbridge bring such tears of joy? These universities have become craven indulgers of militant Left-wing politics. The people in charge should be holding the line, rather than pandering to eco-zealots, Black Lives Matter anarchists and pro-Palestinian militants, who are so grossly wrong. Theyve smugly fostered a climate of fear at our universities, forcing others to pay the price for their cowardice. Many of the protestors, so intolerant that they wouldnt even voice their arguments to someone they thought unworthy of hearing them, will end up as the lawyers, doctors and MPs of tomorrow. I fear for my country when the mindset I saw in Cambridge ends up running more serious things than a sanctimonious circus of tents. They dont argue because they have no arguments worthy of the name. But thats not going to stop them telling you what to do. Suella Braverman is a former home secretary Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Crews with the Little Rock Fire Department responded to a fire at the Arkansas Capitol building on Friday evening. According to LRFD officials, Capitol Security spotted smoke on a security camera around 5:45 p.m. They then alerted the fire department and evacuated the building. Authorities said fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze, which started in the cafe on the basement level of the State Capitol. They added that the cafe was closed when the fire started. It looks like it may have been burning for a while. A lot of the plastics and stuff are melted, and theres soot, heavy soot, so I think it was smoldering for a while, Captain Jason Weaver with LRFD said. There were doors open and it allowed the smoke to get into the entire basement, which is the length of the capitol Department officials said the fire was limited to the cafe, but the extent of the smoke and water damage has yet to be determined. LRFD officials said there were no injuries. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The race for El Paso Countys new sheriff that began with five Democratic candidates has narrowed down to just two, who will face off in a runoff on May 28. Early voting begins Monday, May 20 and lasts through Friday, May 24. The winner of the Democratic runoff will face Republican candidate Minerva Torres Shelton in the November general election. Torres Shelton was unopposed in the Republican primary back in March. Oscar Ugarte, who is currently serving as El Paso County constable for Precinct 1, will face off against Robert Bobby Flores, a retired assistant chief of the El Paso County Jail Annex. They emerged from a five-candidate field but did not claim a majority of the vote. Each candidate offered a different vision of what El Paso Countys sheriff should be. Besides being in law enforcement, being a police officer, when youre an elected official, you have to be an administrator as well. For the last seven years, Ive shown to the community that Im accountable with their tax dollars. There have been no issues with my office and Ive been elected twice, Ugarte said. You also need to understand politics, because you need to build those relationships with other elected officials in order to move your vision forward. My extensive experience and my qualifications, nobody brings that to the table. More importantly, I can tell you that nobody cares more about the Sheriffs Office than I do. Ive dedicated 33 and a half years of my life here, Flores said. Theres several political offices in the city, in the county, where a politician could come in and get by, but the Sheriffs Office is not one of them. You really do need a competent leader, you really do need a law enforcement officer there, and you need somebody whos going to do the job to keep the community safe. Both candidates said they believe there needs to be more transparency from the El Paso County Sheriffs Office. Both cited multiple murders at El Paso jails where the community was not immediately informed about the violent incidents. They also said there is a need for community policing to establish closer communication with the public. Each candidate was asked what issue they believe would be the most important to address if they took office: The county jails have been issued a certificate of noncompliance, and thats detrimental to our community in that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards can now penalize our county and our jails and either limit our occupancy or, in a worst case scenario, shut it down, Flores said. Flores said getting El Pasos county jails back into compliance will be one of the most pressing matters for the new sheriff. Meanwhile, Ugarte said he would hope to address what he believes are the communitys biggest concerns. Knocking on doors and talking to the community, one of the biggest concerns they have right now is DWIs and shootings. There is a spike in DWIs. As you can see, mostly every weekend, theres accidents involving DWIs, Ugarte said. Each candidate was also asked to address concerns regarding their candidacy. Ugarte has 20 years of law enforcement experience where hes served as a state jailer and an officer with the Socorro Police Department, and more recently as constable. He explained why he believes he is equipped to manage a much larger-scale department and its budget. The constables and the Sheriffs (Office), we have the same resources. So as far as our budget department, we use the same budget team because both are county agencies. Our fleet manager is the same, county attorneys is the same, county administration is the same. So for the past seven years, Ive been working with these departments that actually help you have a good department. And when youre the sheriff, its just not about me, its about the team that you build behind you, Ugarte said. Flores was asked to address a report from El Paso Matters where there were allegations of serious violations during his time in the Sheriffs Office including issues surrounding deputies being allowed to work part-time security jobs while on duty. The incidents that theyre bringing up rings back from the 1990s. So were talking about a 33-year career span, and they brought up four letters of reprimand that I received in 33 years, Flores said. It was never anything serious, and those issues were accounted for and moved on from. So I grew from those; I learned from them. And I made sure that I never committed those infractions again. He was also asked what standards and procedures would be put in place to ensure keeping good overtime records. Back then everything was done manually, Flores said. What we have now is a strict policy on no overtime or no comp-time that is going to be issued, and its all tracked by computer now. So we log in our hours. We make sure that the first line supervisor confirms that those hours were worked and you dont have this manual entry anymore. And more importantly, its in black and white. So I cant have any of my command staff or I cant give an order to any of my people instructing them not to pay overtime, because thats a violation of the contract. You will pay the overtime budget crunch or not. Were going to have to find the money. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. UPDATE: FRIDAY 5/17/2024 5:31 p.m. (COLORADO SPRINGS) CSFD said the injured hiker was successfully brought down the trail and taken to the hospital for minor injuries. Courtesy: Colorado Springs Fire Department ORIGINAL STORY: CSFD responding to injured hiker on Mt. Muscoco FRIDAY 5/17/2024 4:04 p.m. The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) is responding to a high-angle rescue in Cheyenne Canon. CSFD posted about the rescue shortly before 3:45 p.m. on Friday, May 17. CSFD said a call for help reported that a hiker was injured at the top of Mt. Muscoco. CSFD said high angle crews and a fire department drone were responding. Avoid the area to allow rescue crews to respond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. NEW DELHI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people, including six women, were killed and 15 others suffered burns Saturday after a bus carrying them caught fire in the northern Indian state of Haryana, police said. The bus carrying Hindu devotees, including women and children, from neighbouring Punjab state caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway near Tauru in Nuh district. A moving bus carrying around 60 people caught fire, killing nine people and injuring 15 others, a police official said, adding that the injured were hospitalized and their conditions were reported to be stable. According to police, the victims had jointly hired a bus to pay a visit to the pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. "The ill-fated bus was returning to Punjab when it suddenly caught fire," the police official said, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation. DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) A person from Danville was arrested early Thursday morning after a traffic stop in Indiana led police to suspect criminal activity. Indiana State Police say just after 1 a.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop on a 1999 Toyota Avalon near 8th and High Streets in West Lebanon. When the officer was interacting with the vehicles occupants, he saw indicators of criminal activity, which led him to call for a K-9 unit for further investigation. A Deputy from the Warren County Sheriffs Department responded with his K-9 partner, who indicated there were narcotics in the vehicle. When law enforcement then searched the vehicle, they found a suspected controlled substance and marijuana. Officers then located what they suspected to be methamphetamine on the passenger of the vehicle, who was identified as Minke Pos, 39 of Danville, Ill. Motorcycle, car crash leaves Mt. Zion teenager with life-threatening injuries Pos was taken into custody and transported to the Warren County jail. The driver of the vehicle was released at the scene. Early investigations indicated the suspected methamphetamine weighed around 50 grams, but an exact substance and weight will be decided at the Indiana State Police Laboratory. Pos faces preliminary charges of: Dealing Methamphetamine Level 2 Felony Possession of Methamphetamine Level 3 Felony Possession of a Schedule V Substance Class A Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana Class A Misdemeanor Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. Darlington County man sentenced to 10 years in prison for 2023 drug and firearm crimes DARLINGTON, S.C. (WBTW) A Darlington County man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug and firearm crimes that occurred in 2023, the Fourth Circuit Solicitors Office said Friday. Jayme Martell English was convicted of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a stolen firearm. English was scheduled for a jury trial Monday, but just before jury selection, English entered a guilty plea, the solicitors office said. English pled guilty without any sentencing negotiation or recommendation from prosecutors. Judge Kirk Griffin sentenced him to 10 years incarceration, the solicitors office said. English was charged in April 2023 after he was found with a stolen firearm and methamphetamine during a search conducted by agents with the SC Department of Probation, Pardon, and Parole services who were searching for another wanted person. English was at the location being searched and was searched himself due to evidence indicating drugs were present, the solicitors office said. The case was prepared for trial by Assistant Solicitors Patti Parker, Savannah Baxley, and J.T. Baxley. English must serve 85% of his sentence before becoming parole eligible. He will serve his sentence in a facility determined by the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the solicitors office said. * * * Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. On This Day, May 18: Shooting at Santa Fe, Texas, high school kills 10 On May 18, 2018, 10 people -- eight students and two teachers -- died after a fellow student opened fire at Santa Fe High School, near Houston. File Photo courtesy of the Harris County Sheriff's Office On this date in history: In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision that determined "separate but equal" racial policies are constitutional. In 1917, President Wilson signed the Selective Service Act of 1917 by which the United States raised an army for service in Europe during World War I. File Photo by Library of Congress/UPI In 1927, the legendary Grauman's Chinese Theatre opened in Hollywood with the premiere of The King of Kings. The iconic theater -- a favorite for major studio openings -- was renamed the TCL Chinese Theatre in 2013. Mount St. Helens emits a plume of steam and ash from an area of new crevasses in the crater glacier south of the 1980-86 lava dome on October 1, 2004. The volcano erupted on this day in 1980, blowing the top off the mountain and killing 57 people. Photo by Scott Taylor/U.S. Navy/UPI In 1933, the U.S. Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority for flood control and rural electrification. In 1944, Allied troops captured Monte Cassino in Italy after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II. Performers of the "Vampire Circus" prepare for their U.S. debut at the Bayfront Park in Miami on October 17, 2012. On this day in 1897, Bram Stoker published "Dracula." File Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI In 1969, Apollo 10 blasted off into space to perform a test run of what would become the Apollo 11 moon landing, coming to within 51,200 feet of the moon's surface. The mission also sent back the first televised color images of earth. File Photo courtesy of NASA Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Randy Johnson works against the Florida Marlins on May 23, 2004, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. On May 18, 2004, the 40-year-old pitched a perfect game in a 2-0 win over Atlanta. He was the oldest major league pitcher to accomplish the feat. File Photo by Michael Bush/UPI In 1979, a U.S. court jury in Oklahoma City awarded $10.5 million to the estate of Karen Silkwood, a laboratory technician contaminated by radiation at a Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in 1974. In 1980, Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington state erupted, blowing the top off the mountain and killing 57 people. In 1990, East and West Germany signed a treaty for economic, monetary and social union. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said the pact marked the "birth of a free and unified Germany." In 1991, chemist Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space when she blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soviet spacecraft. In 2004, Randy Johnson, Arizona's 40-year-old left-hander, pitched a perfect game in a 2-0 win over Atlanta. He was the oldest major league pitcher to accomplish the feat. In 2018, 10 people -- eight students and two teachers -- died after a fellow student opened fire at Santa Fe High School, near Houston. In 2022, President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to address a nationwide shortage of infant formula. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said an officer shot a man during an attempted welfare check in Northwest D.C. on Saturday afternoon. Officers initially responded to a requested welfare check at the Columbia Plaza apartment complex in the 2400 block of Virginia Avenue NW at 10:40 a.m. They met with a person there who told police their friend was going through a mental health episode. Man shot in Northwest DC MPD called officials with the Department of Behavior Health (DBH) to the scene, who determined the man needed to be taken into custody and evaluated. Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy said that when police tried taking the man into custody, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and stabbed an officer in the neck. Another officer tried using a TASER on him, but it did not take effect, Savoy said. Thats when one officer shot the man just before 2:30 p.m. Crews provided aid to the man at the scene before he was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. He was charged with assault on a police officer. It is scary, said Ashley Henry. 3 people seriously hurt in Northwest DC multi-car crash She arrived from Nashville shortly after the shooting to move her son into the apartment complex. I know its dangerous everywhere now, but, you just pray everythings gonna be okay, she said. Four MPD officers were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The officer stabbed was treated for his injuries at the scene. Saturdays incident took place just over a year after another shooting at the complex, which did not involve police. In that case, a gunman opened fire inside a gym in one of the buildings. The victim survived. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Ukraines 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade said on May 18 that an experienced Ukrainian Air Force pilot, Denys Vasyliuk, had been killed in action. Lieutenant Colonel Vasyliuk, the brigades chief of staff and a deputy commander of an aviation squadron, was killed recently while conducting a combat mission, the brigade said. No further details about Vasyliuk's death were provided. Ukraine's Air Force hasn't commented on Vasyliuk's death. Since the beginning of Russias all-out war, Vasyliuk has conducted dozens of combat missions, the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade said in a Facebook post. He was a full holder of the Order of Courage, a Ukrainian order awarded for individual courage and heroism. Pilots do not die. They remain forever in the sky! the brigade said. Read also: Ukrainian fighter jet pilot reportedly killed in action in Donetsk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Delta County Board of Commissioners meeting, April 4, 2024 | Screenshot After initially refusing to certify the results of a recent recall election, officials in Delta County have reversed course and avoided a showdown with state election officials. The Delta County Board of Canvassers made headlines when they deadlocked 2-2 on certifying results of the May 7 recall election in which three Republican members of the board of commissioners were removed from office by nearly 3-1 margins. However, following a meeting Friday evening, all four commissioners voted to certify. In the initial vote, Bonnie Hakkola and fellow Republican LeeAnne Oman cited, without evidence, irregularities in the vote totals based solely on the similarity across all three races. Unofficial results indicated that Kelli Van Ginhoven, a Democrat, and independent candidate Matt Jensen, received 72% of the votes to defeat incumbent Commissioners David Moyle and Robert Petersen respectively, while Myra Croasdell, also an independent, beat incumbent Robert Barron with 73%. Van Ginhoven previously told the Michigan Advance that the failure to certify at the first meeting was disappointing on several levels. What theyre doing is putting doubt in our local election people, which is sad because these are our family and our neighbors and our friends and their honesty and integrity is being questioned by these people with absolutely no merit, she said. The initial failure also prompted State Elections Director Jonathan Brater on Thursday to send a letter to the board reminding the canvassers of their obligations as spelled out in both state election law and in the Michigan Constitution that certification is to be based solely on the returns from precincts and absent voter counting boards and any corrected returns. The Constitution and Michigan Election Law do not authorize boards of county canvassers to refuse to certify election results based on claims made by third parties of alleged election irregularities, or a general desire to conduct election investigations, said Brater. Brater further noted that the canvassers had reviewed the election returns and that the tabulator tapes matched the reported results, thus there were no statutory or constitutional grounds to fail to perform the duties of the Board. He then cited a section of Michigan Election Law that states an official who willfully fails to perform their duty would face the possibility of being charged with a misdemeanor count. Another consequence of failing to certify was saddling Delta County with the costs to transport the election material to Lansing so that the State Board of Canvassers could convene and provide certification, Brater said. However, with Fridays vote, that wont be necessary. The recalled county commissioners will now have 48 hours to ask for a recount, a process that would also be handled by the county canvassing board. The post Delta County canvassers switch gears, vote to certify recall election results appeared first on Michigan Advance. Democrats in Michigan are requesting state election official investigate whether GOP Senate candidates and another forged or wrote fraudulent signatures on petitions. The letter, obtained by The Detroit Free Press, is signed by the Michigan Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It asks the organizations to investigate if the GOP senate candidates and on other person who left the race submitted fake signatures on nominating petitions. It called for an initial review into petitions submitted by former GOP Michigan Reps. Mike Rogers, Justin Amash, Sandy Pensler and Peter Meijer. The apparent fraud uncovered demands an immediate investigation, Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said in a statement. She asked the Michigan Bureau of Elections to uphold their responsibility to protect the integrity of the states election and conduct a full, thorough examination. An adviser for Pensler criticized the request, saying Democrats cant beat Republicans at the ballot box so it looks like theyre trying to eliminate Republicans altogether. Rogers, who has earned the endorsement of former President Trump, is considered the GOP frontrunner in the states Senate race. In a statement provided to The Hill, Rogers communications director said its an antidemocratic stunt. Elissa Slotkin said she couldnt win with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket and that shed never run against Mike Rogers. So, its no surprise her campaign has resorted to the same failed unlawful efforts to subvert democracy that they tried to use against President Trump, Chris Gustafson said in the statement. The group is alleging that as many as 433 pages of signatures from random samples involved more than 20 petition gatherers who are part of other challenges filed in the state. The controversy follows a 2020 challenge, where five Republican candidates for governor in Michigan failed to qualify for the primary after the Board of State Canvassers rejected their nomination petitions because of signature fraud. Updated 12:48 p.m. ET. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. LELAND, N.C. (WNCN) As the weather warms up, alligators are making their presence known in North Carolina. This week at the coast, deputies near Wilmington had to remove a large gator from the main highway twice in one night. The incidents took place Monday along U.S. 17 South near the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, just outside Wilmington, according to the Brunswick County Sheriffs Office. Several drivers called to report a large alligator was hanging out in the roadway, deputies said. PHOTOS: Massive gator shuts down road in Wilmington Photos and a video clip were released showing a 13-foot alligator near a guardrail on the side of the highway. Courtesy: Brunswick County Sheriffs Office Images showed deputies working during daylight hours to move the alligator, and video that night showed officers returning to haul the gator away again. In the video, the alligator became angry and did a so-called death roll which it typically used to kill prey. Thankfully, the alligator was saved from traffic on the highway and those traveling the highway were saved from the gator! deputies said in a news release. Courtesy: Brunswick County Sheriffs Office This isnt the first time alligators have blocked traffic in North Carolina. A large gator blocked a road in Brunswick County back in 2015 and a huge alligator closed a Wilmington road in 2019. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. SINGAPORE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Health Ministry has required public hospitals to move suitable patients to transitional or home care facilities to ensure bed capacity for COVID-19 resurgence, according to a statement issued Saturday. The ministry also asked public hospitals to reduce non-urgent surgeries as part of the precaution measures. The estimated COVID-19 cases between May 5 and May 11 rose to 25,900 from 13,700 in the previous week, the ministry said, adding that the average daily COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to 250 from 181. The KP.1 and KP.2 variants account for over two-thirds of COVID-19 cases in Singapore. The ministry called on residents to step up vaccination to protect against severe illness. Deputies searching for hit-and-run driver who seriously injured victim: HCSO Deputies searching for hit-and-run driver who seriously injured victim: HCSO HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) Hillsborough deputies are searching for the suspect of a hit-and-run crash that left the victim with serious injuries. Around 9:42 p.m. on Friday, a suspect driving a Ford Explorer with Florida tag LYXC39 caused a crash on North 50th Street and East Sligh Avenue, before taking off. Spring Hill motorcyclist dies in Pasco County collision The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office said the man did not assist the victim or call law enforcement. Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call the sheriffs office at 813-247-8200. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Having a Black-owned and community-operated grocery store is a great stepping stone in the movement to revolutionize the city of Detroit for people of color. On May 1, the first-ever, Black-owned and community-operated, full-service grocery store, Detroit Peoples Food Co-Op, opened at 8324 Woodward Ave. in the North End area, the Metro Times reported. Since the residents in the city are predominately Black, there was much excitement for the grand opening. Hundreds of residents rushed to the doors within the first hour after the store opened, which isnt a surprise since 70% of the region is food insecure per a 2022 report from the Detroit Food Policy Council. Since the store is a user-owned and controlled business model, community members can shop at the marketplace and have a stake in the company by becoming a member. To get into the membership program, applicants must be 21 years old and pay a one-time $200 membership fee that can paid at once or via a payment plan. By Wednesday afternoon, there were already over 2,740 members. This is not something youre invited to. Its literally yours, Lanay Gilbert-Williams, president of the Detroit Peoples Food Co-Ops board of directors, told the outlet. There is no rich person in the shadows. People cant imagine such a heaven where all types of people have come together to do a thing and take ownership of a thing. It belongs to the entire community. The store is part of a city-wide effort to self-reliance and justice as Black community members have a long history of civil unrest. Members of the co-op activities and future, shopping discounts, deals and potential patronage refunds per the site. This is just the first day, Gilbert-Williams said at the grand opening. Were all a family. Were breaking bread together. Food brings everybody together. We have not had a Black-led, community-owned grocery store in Detroit. What is that going to look like? Its going to be interesting. Colleges that used police force to end their recent on-campus student protests are facing criticism for their handling of the situation, but so are the small handful that cut deals to end the demonstrations. The few universities that successfully negotiated to end the pro-Palestinian encampments among them Northwestern, Brown, Rutgers and Johns Hopkins made concessions that are proving controversial, particularly complete amnesty or more favorable disciplinary proceedings for protesters who have broken campus rules. Activists are praising the outcomes, however, and experts say only time will tell if the colleges made the right call. I think that the university leaders who have made the deal with the protesters have been wise to do so and have really kind of shown what leadership should look like in higher education, said Marcella Bombardieri, a senior fellow for the higher education team at the Center for American Progress. I think that they are recognizing that there is actually a teachable moment here on both sides. One of the main goals of the Gaza war protests was divestment of school endowments from Israel, which no encampment was able to outright achieve. Some of the schools that reached deals with activists agreed to allow students to present their arguments for divestment to their school board, or to put together a new committee on the issue. Brown University guaranteed its board would vote on the matter. The president of Sonoma State University agreed to an academic boycott of Israel but was later suspended due to insubordination over the agreement. Northwestern committed to give free tuition to a certain number of Palestinian students and to hire more Palestinian faculty, while Rutgers said it would explore the creation of an Arab Cultural Center. All the deals ended with school administrations in some way condemning the violence in Gaza. I acknowledge the profound grief that many in our community feel over the tragic effects of the ongoing war. There will continue to be deep disagreements and strongly felt emotions as we experience pain and distress over events in the wider world, the interim president of Harvard said in a statement. In exchange, students have taken down their encampments and agreed to abide by school rules around demonstrations through the end of the academic year. Critics, however, say administrators have set a terrible precent in agreeing to more lenient disciplinary proceedings for activists. Schools that strike deals with groups of students that engage in repeated violations of school policies is a horrible idea because it encourages and rewards rule violation at the university. This is going to lay the groundwork for increasingly disruptive behavior going forward, said Jay Greene, senior research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation. The worst part about the deals is amnesty for rule-breaking, Greene said, because no one knows what impermissible behavior can be forgiven at any time, so thats a very dangerous precedent. Brown University said that while the protesters broke several policies by setting up tents and camping out on school property, it would look favorably in disciplinary proceedings for the demonstrators, given the circumstances. The University of Minnesota, meanwhile, offered a blanket pardon to students whove participated in protests over the past few weeks with the goal of wrapping up those demonstrations. Universities have wide discretion when it comes to punishment and enforcing its rules. And I think that they need to exercise that to make sure that the punishments are not disproportionate to what students have done, Bombardieri said. When you have people who are peacefully expressing their views on a really disastrous, tragic situation that is unfolding before our eyes that they should be really should be looking for opportunities to make, again, make it a learning experience for students and not a punitive one, Bombardieri added. Some suspect the reason the schools capitulated at all and didnt simply ride the protests out until the summer when students went home was their looming graduation ceremonies. Commencement is the day when the grass has to be green, the flowers have to be pretty so that all of the parents and alumni can see the beautiful campus that they will remember and write checks and so they had to get rid of these protests Greene said. But he said attempts in the future to follow through with disciplinary measures could potentially get the schools in legal trouble due to their decisions today. They could switch their minds in the future and decide to enforce the rules going forward but it just becomes harder and harder, Greene said, pointing to the problem of discriminatory enforcement. So, if you enforce the rules on one group of protesters, but not on another, that could also expose these universities to Title IX or other legal liabilities. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. DNA helps identify woman whose body was found at bottom of Bay Area cliff nearly 60 years ago DNA analysis has helped identify a woman whose body was found at the bottom of a cliff in the Bay Area nearly 60 years ago, authorities said. The woman's decomposed remains were found Feb. 3, 1967, at the base of a cliff on Highway 1, near Jenner, about 80 miles north of San Francisco, according to a Sonoma County Sheriff's Office news release. Multiple fractures to her skull and ribs were determined to be the cause of death, but it was unknown how she sustained those injuries. Efforts to identify her were unsuccessful. She was eventually listed as Jane Doe and laid to rest at the County of Sonoma Cemetery shortly afterward, authorities said. In 2009, the woman's body was exhumed with the help of anthropology professor Mark Griffin of San Francisco State University, authorities said. Her death was then determined to be a homicide. In 2023, Othram Inc., a forensic genetic analysis company, analyzed her DNA and identified her as Lillian Marie Cardenas, authorities said. The investigation found that Cardenas was born in 1928 and last lived in San Francisco; she was estranged from her family members before her death. But many questions remain. Anyone with information about Cardenas' life or death is encouraged to contact the Sonoma County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit at (707) 565-2727 or email sheriff-coldcase@sonoma-county.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. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching mobile billboards Saturday in Dallas targeting former President Trump for his rhetoric on gun violence and reform. The billboards, which accuse Trump of putting the gun lobby ahead of Texas families, were placed in the area outside of the venue where he is expected to give a speech before the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention. They feature quotes the former president has made about recent gun violence and actions they argue show where his loyalty lies. The DNC specifically pointed to remarks the former president made during a campaign stop in Iowa earlier this year after a school shooting left one dead and multiple injured. Trump shared his condolences for the victims and their families, but then urged his supporters to move forward. From telling gun violence survivors to get over it to blocking commonsense reforms that would save lives, Donald Trump has bent the knee to the NRA and gun lobby at every turn DNC spokesperson Cameron Niven said in a statement shared with The Hill. Under his presidency, the murder rate skyrocketed after Donald Trump chose to roll back reforms that made it easier for criminals to carry guns, he continued. If he returns to the White House, Trump will continue to put the NRA and gun lobby ahead of the safety of American families. In their statement, the DNC also touted President Bidens dedication to gun safety initiatives. In stark contrast, President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken on the gun lobby by passing the strongest federal gun safety legislation in nearly thirty years, Niven wrote. While Trump sides with the NRA over our kids safety, voters will side with President Biden this November. Saturdays address marks the ninth time the presumptive GOP nominee has spoken before the gun rights group. In his last speech, the former president promised NRA members stronger protections for Second Amendment rights if he is reelected in November. I promise you this, with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, no one will lay a finger on your firearms just as took place for four years when I was your president, Trump said at an NRA event in Harrisburg, Pa, in February. I will uphold those glorious words, shall not be infringed. Trumps appearance also comes as NRAs leadership has gone through a tumultuous period. The groups head, Wayne LaPierre, stepped down in January before he and other officials were set to face a civil lawsuit. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. We might like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, but the fact is that the whole experience of being human is basically the result of a bunch of swirling chemicals in the brain. Case in point? A team of European and Israeli doctors just released an intriguing study, published in the journal Psychother Psychosom, in which they administered oxytocin that's the much hyped feel-good hormone that's released by physical intimacy, among other activities to lonely people as a nasal spray. Take a beat to get over the premise of giving people in social distress direct doses of what's known to many researchers as the "love hormone," because the results were pretty interesting. While the subjects didn't report a reduction in perceived loneliness, perceived stress, or quality of life, they did report a reduction in acute feelings of loneliness a narrow distinction, but one that was clearly tantalizing to the researchers, especially because the effect seemed to linger for months after treatment. "The psychological intervention was associated with a reduced perception of stress and an improvement in general loneliness in all treatment groups, which was still visible at the follow-up examination after three months," said the paper's senior author Jana Lieberz, a faculty member at Germany's University of Bonn, in a press release about the research. Perhaps more intuitively oxytocin is strongly associated with bonding the researchers also found that subjects dosed with the hormone had an easier time connecting with others during group therapy sessions in which they were enrolled. "This is a very important observation that we made oxytocin was able to strengthen the positive relationship with the other group members and reduce acute feelings of loneliness right from the start," Leiberz said. "It could therefore be helpful to support patients with this at the start of psychotherapy. This is because we know that patients can initially feel worse than before starting therapy as soon as problems are named. The observed effects of administering oxytocin can in turn help those affected to stay on the ball and continue." Further research is clearly needed; the trial size was limited, at just 78 participants, and it's difficult to parse the exact difference between "perceived" and "acute" loneliness they reported. But the doctors behind the study are clearly intrigued, writing in the press release that the work "could help to alleviate loneliness," which is "associated with many mental and physical illnesses." While Lieberz "emphasizes that oxytocin should not be seen as a panacea," the release continues, the "results of the study suggest that oxytocin can be used to achieve positive effects during interventions." With the rush of academic and commercial interest we've seen in the potential pharmaceutical benefits of everything from ketamine to MDMA, don't be surprised if we see a rush of interest in oxytocin over the next few years. More on oxytocin: Scientists Discover That Dogs Cry Tears of Joy When Reuinted With Owners CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) Documents provided by the Charleston Police Department (CPD) and Charleston County Coroners Office on Friday afternoon provided insight into the death of John Barnett, a known Boeing whistleblower. Barnett, 62, died on March 9, 2024, from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Charleston County Coroners Office said in their initial victim identification announcement. Despite rumors that circulated online, Charleston Police maintained that Barnetts death was likely that of suicide and both agencies provided findings from their investigation which appear to back up the claim. A TIMELINE Security footage from the round Holiday Inn on Savannah Highway that was reviewed by law enforcement shows Barnetts movement on the night of March 8, before his death. He entered the hotel alone at 7:26 p.m., went to his room at 7:36 p.m., and was last seen exiting the building by himself at 8:37 p.m. Security video shows Barnett entering the hotel at 7:26 p.m. Security video shows Barnett leaving the hotel at 8:37 p.m. Mr. Barnetts vehicle was captured on video reversing into a parking space at 8:45 p.m., where it remained stationary until it was discovered by officers the following morning. Throughout the night, there was no video evidence of anyone interacting with the vehicle, entering it, or the vehicle leaving its parking spot, Charleston Police said in their report. Security video shows Barnetts truck backing into a parking spot at 8:45 p.m. The Charleston County Coroners Office said Barnett was initially found by hotel staff while performing a welfare check, who then notified 9-1-1 at 10:13 a.m. the following morning. Officers were then dispatched for a welfare check at the hotel shortly before 10:20 a.m., where they discovered a male inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE? A detailed review from the Charleston County Coroners Office said its investigators spoke with family and colleagues who stated Barnett had traveled to Charleston on February 26 from his Louisiana home to participate in a deposition related to his Boeing lawsuit. He was deposed by Boeing attorneys on March 7, and by his own attorneys on March 8. The deposition was paused early so participants could rest it was expected to continue the next morning at 10:00 a.m. At approximately 0900 hours on March 9, 2024 a courtesy phone call was made to the decedent by his attorneys; however, he did not answer. As a result, his attorneys called the hotel to request a welfare check. Hotel staff searched the hotel and parking lot and discovered Mr. Barnett in his vehicle, the coroners report said. THE DEADLY SHOOTING Police said Barnett suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his head at close range while inside his locked vehicle. There was no evidence of forced entry nor signs of a physical struggle inside the vehicle, according to police. The vehicles key fob was found in Barnetts pants pocket. Police said that a silver Smith and Wesson handgun was found in Barnetts right hand and that ballistic analysis verified the recovered bullet came from that same gun. The trajectory of the bullet aligns with the gunshot wound observed. Mr. Barnett legally purchased the gun in 2000, Charleston PD said. According to the coroners findings, an entrance wound was located to the right temple with an exit wound to the parietooccipital region. A search of the vehicle revealed a single-fired shell casing. A NOTE FOUND INSIDE THE VEHICLE Both the police department and coroners office said a note was found inside Barnetts vehicle. Specifically, the notebook with writing that the coroner said resembled a suicide note was on the passenger seat. The Charleston Police Department provided a copy of the note that included messages to family and disdain for Boeing. Investigators said the note suggested Barnett was going through a serious personal distress. This note found in Barnetts vehicle was provided by the Charleston Police Department. Comprehensive fingerprint analysis confirmed Mr. Barnetts fingerprints on the notebook. Three prints were inconclusive due to insufficient detail for identification. All fingerprints on the page containing the note were identified as Mr. Barnetts, police said. BARNETTS MENTAL HEALTH Findings provided by the Charleston County Coroners Office state that medical records and interviews with family members, attorneys, and others connected to him, stated he was under chronic stress related to the lawsuit and suffered from anxiety and post-traumatic stress. He was also grieving the death of his wife. Police said Barnett appeared to have longstanding mental health challenges which intensified amid ongoing legal proceedings related to the whistleblower case. WHISTLE BLOWER Barnett, a 32-year veteran of Boeing, claimed in 2019 that Boeings overworked North Charleston employees frequently fitted substandard parts on planes and reported faulty oxygen systems that could result in as many as one in four oxygen masks not operating properly. Boeing denied Barnetts claims; however, a follow-up investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided some credibility for his allegations. A report found that more than 50 non-conforming parts were unable to be traced and were lost in the companys system. Lawyers for Boeing whistleblower release full complaint against the company Both the Charleston Police Department and Charleston County Coroners Office provided statements on their investigations into Barnetts death. We remain acutely aware of the sensitivity and public interest surrounding this case. It is important to emphasize that our investigation was guided strictly by facts and evidence while remaining undisturbed by conjecture and external pressures. As this investigation comes to a close, we should not forget it represents the loss of Mr. Barnetts life. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family during this difficult time and hope they continue to find the strength to persevere in his absence, the police department said. It has been an honor to serve the Barnett Family during this difficult time. It is my hope that the world will remember John Barnett not for the manner in which he died, but for the manner in which he lived, said Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo ONeal. This story heavily includes a discussion of suicide. You can seek help by calling or texting the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or by chatting online at 988lifeline.org. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. What Does a Fox News Viewer See in One Day? You Have to See It to Believe. This is part of Sly as Fox, a short series about the perils of underestimating Fox News in 2024. In the wake of historic lawsuits, Rupert Murdochs exit, Tucker Carlsons firing, and more, it might seem like Fox News is in retreat. It isntand the people who are likely to decide the next election tend to watch the network. Below, a 24-hour diary of what theyre hearing on a typical day: in this case, May 9, the day Stormy Daniels was cross-examined in Donald Trumps trial. 5:27 a.m. Stormy Daniels will be back on the witness stand today, where she is reportedly expected to face a longer cross-examination is Fox & Friends First co-host Todd Piros lead-in to the story of the day. After establishing the topic, Piro transitions to an interview segment with Gene Hamilton, the vice president of America First Legal, a Stephen Millerfronted group intent on opposing the radical lefts anti-jobs, anti-freedom, anti-faith, anti-borders, anti-police, and anti-American crusade. Gene, as to this longer cross-examinationmakes sense to me. A longer cross gives Stormy Daniels more time to self-destruct on the stand, says Piro, a former lawyer. Bad for the prosecution, great for the defense. Your thoughts? Youre absolutely right, Todd, says Hamilton. That is exactly the purpose of an effective cross-examination. You have to undermine the witnesss credibility and show to the jury that what she is saying might in fact not be true. An informative observation! Alas, I cannot tell you much more about the substance of this segment, because I got distracted by an unfortunately placed lighting fixture in Hamiltons background, which made it look like there were antennae sprouting from his head. Screenshot via Fox News 5:42 a.m. Piros co-host Carley Shimkus is joined by Republican Rep. Joe You Lie! Wilson, best known for interrupting a 2009 Barack Obama speech with the aforementioned blurt, and I cannot help thinking that this is a man who missed his moment. If the South Carolinian had timed his outburst to coincide with the peak conservative wingnut era, You Lie! wouldve been on T-shirts, and he wouldve immediately become a right-wing social media icon. Instead, hes stuck doing live hits before sunrise with the Fox News C-team. So what is Wilson outraged about this morning? Joe Bidens immigration policies, of course. What theyre proposing, really, is a fraud, says Wilson, and it doesnt really have the same ring to it as his first catchphrase. I guess some people peak early! 6 a.m. Good mornin, everybody! It is 6 a.m. here in New York City. Also, we have 60 degrees. Its beautiful outside! sings Steve Doocy as Fox & Friends First throws to Fox & Friends, the networks long-running three-hour-long morning chat extravaganza. Its gonna be nice, says Ainsley Earhardt. It is! Were gonna go outside and see some dogs in a little while, but, in the meantime, welcome aboard, says Doocy, as Earhardt chuckled and a stone-faced Brian Kilmeade stares directly into the camera, nodding grimly. Dogs, weather, and barely suppressed ragethats the Fox & Friends formula! 6:05 a.m. Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, is in studio with the Fox & Friends crew for an animated discussion that touches on several newsy topics, including the Israel-Gaza war. (Doocy: So whose side is Joe Biden on? Scott: Well, hes clearly on Hamas side.) Scott is in New York to attend Trumps trial, and the segment eventually works its way over to that story. This is just political persecution. Its a crime to use the courts for political persecution, Scott says. And, by the way, I saw this. It happened to me. I fought HillaryCare, and guess what happened when I fought HillaryCare? [The Department of] Justice came after me and attacked me and my company. The incident to which the senator was referring happened decades ago, when Scott was CEO of Americas largest for-profit hospital chain, which under his leadership came under FBI investigation for Medicare fraud; Scott was ousted as CEO, and the company eventually paid a then-record $1.7 billion fine. If we dont stop this, they can go after you. Every Americans at risk, Scott continues, and it probably seems like a very good point to all of the corporate health care profiteers who tuned in to watch their buddy on TV. 6:27 a.m. Theres a huge spike in Chinese migrants, says Doocy, as an on-screen graphic sourced to U.S. Customs and Border Protection announces that 1,026 Chinese nationals were apprehended the previous week for illegally entering the United States. He is soon joined by former acting ICE Director Tom Homan, a burly man with a perpetual scowl who supervised and has since vociferously defended the Trump administrations family separation policy. Homan has since become a Fox News contributor, and we will be seeing a lot of him this year as the network attempts to persuade viewers that the Biden administrations migrant policies have made the country dangerously unsafe. Homan has plenty to say on that topic. Unfortunately for Fox, much of what Homan has to say is hard to understand, because he mumbles. 7:07 a.m. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, fresh off of successfully thwarting Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes misbegotten motion to vacate the speakership, joins the gang live from the Capitol rotunda. In the background of the shot, you can see a separate camera and lighting setup awaiting a guest, presumably belonging to a different network. I like to imagine Johnson concluding his Fox hit and then running halfway around the rotunda to immediately hop on with some other show. Now thats what I call a victory lap. 7:27 a.m. Earhardt convenes a segment about the vicious anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University, as part of the networks ongoing efforts to portray them as entitled children and their actions as violent and unruly. To that end, she plays a clip of a Free Press interview with one of the Hamilton Hall custodians who was on duty when protesters briefly occupied the building, and then sits down with John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union of America, who earlier that week had announced his intent to sue Columbia on behalf of the workers negatively affected by the building takeover. (Those workers are members of the TWU.) What was your reaction when you knew that your guys were stuck in that building? Earhardt asks. Well, we were appalled, says Samuelsen, who speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent and flaunts an untucked shirt. Dont be fooled by surface impressions, though: Samuelsen, who previously led the NYC public transit union, is a smart operator who knows exactly what Earhardt is up to. Just to be clear, it wasnt every protester, and not every protester at Columbia has been hostile to our workforce. Were particularly incensed at Columbia for not protecting the workers, and particularly pissed at those particular protesters that tried to hold our workers in the building, Samuelsen says. I, for one, would subscribe to an organized labor-themed podcast called John Samuelsen Is Pissed. 7:34 a.m. A poorly lit Mike Huckabee appears in an ad for something called The Kids Guide to the Presidential Election. Presidential elections are something that Huckabee understands very well, having failed to make it out of the primaries in two of them. As the candidates race toward the White House, America hopes for a clean and fair election. But do your kids understand what that means? he asks. Judging by the excerpts shown in the ad, it is not at all clear whether Mike Huckabees pamphlet is capable of enlightening them. (Did you know? that a Lame Duck is not a poor duck with a broken leg? Find out what it is on Page 16.) 8:01 a.m. At the top of the third and final hour of Fox & Friends, the gang teases some of the material theyll cover in the remainder of the show. Can the way you text give your age away? Kilmeade reads, as a TikTok video of someone texting with both thumbs takes up the screen. Hmm! Definitely, Earhardt interjects. One TikTok user claims each generation has a different way of communicating, Kilmeade finishes, and as the camera cuts back to the hosts on the studio couch, Steve Doocy, apparently on his ninth cup of coffee, is all but bouncing up and down in anticipation. Oh, thats a good tease! I wanna know the answer, Doocy says. Right, but I dont want TikTok. TikTok evil, says Kilmeade. The final hour of Fox & Friends starts right now, and you know the deal. You know the deal! Mornings are better with friends!!! Doocy exclaims. 8:24 a.m. After laughing their way through the generational texting story and announcing that Kilmeade is the worst texter of all the Fox & Friends crewit was a legitimately fun segmentthe gang gets back on topic and throws to their man on the street at the Donald Trump trial. Well, it will be stormy for Stormy when she returns to the stand this morningas you said, in just about an hour from nowafter, man oh man, what we heard here from the stand on Tuesday, says correspondent Eric Shawn, whom you also might remember from his cameo appearance as TV Reporter #2 in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Shawns cheesy introductory wordplay is the highlight of his segment, which the hosts speed through quickly, presumably to deprive Shawn of the chance to say the line again. 8:27 a.m. Last time Stormy was on the stand, in the morning, when the prosecution was interviewing her, the testimony was good for the prosecution. Then, on cross-examination, things kinda fell apart, says Doocy, in prelude to an in-studio segment with attorney Rebecca Rose Woodland, who has appeared on many different TV networks as a legal analyst. Yes, they did, they fell apart, because whats happening here is the judge is allowing a ridiculously wide scope of factual information to come in that has nothing to do with this case, Woodland says. This is a records case on bookkeeping. Yes! breathes Earhardt, from off camera. As the segment goes on, it becomes clear that Woodland still has gum in her mouth. 8:55 a.m. Almost three hours after they were first invoked, Doocy, Earhardt, and Kilmeade finally make it outside to see those damn dogs. 9:19 a.m. Were into Americas Newsroom, anchored by Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, both of whom made my December 2021 Slate ranking of the 10 least despicable people left at Fox News in the wake of Chris Wallaces then-recent departure. While Hemmer and Perino wont go out of their way to avoid or rebut Foxs daily storylines, their show is more distinctly journalistic than the two programs that precede it each day. What does that mean in practice? Basically, instead of sitting on a couch, they sit behind a big curved desk with a graphic on the front that says Americas Newsroom. At 9:19 a Fox News Alert is sounded, and Perino throws it to a live feed of Donald Trump walking into the courthouse and reading a brief statement to the press. As he approaches the cameras, I spy the gaunt Rick Scott looming sepulchrally in the background, presumably waiting for somebody to notice him so that he can launch into his HillaryCare spiel again. 9:24 a.m. Hemmer and Perino, alongside former MTV VJ and current Fox commentator Kennedy and former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro, take a few minutes to poke fun at Michael Cohens TikTok account. Cohens TikTok last night was incredible, Mauro says. Hes wearing a T-shirt of Donald Trump behind bars in cuffs, and hes begging his followers to get to a million followers, and hes begging for subscribers. Honestly, Mauros bemused recitation of Cohens TikTok performance doesnt seem all that different from the sort of thing I might send to my editor in prelude to pitching a blog post on the topic. In this momenteven if only in this momentAmericas Newsroom really does seem like a newsroom. 10:06 a.m. As Stormy Daniels resumes her testimonythe judge has barred cameras from the courtroom, which means there is no live footage for cable news to airHemmer brings in former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, who sets up what we can expect from the mornings cross-examination. Now, what youre gonna see now is the defense team is going to adapt a strategy that is very common on cross-examination, and that is the strategy to get the witness unsettled, get them defensive, and then go in for the kill on some of the more important details of the transaction thats at hand, Tolman predicts. Its basically the same point that Gene Hamilton was making almost five hours earlier, with one critical difference: Tolman, who is appearing in front of a mountainous backdrop, does not appear to have little antennae growing out of his head. Sucks for him! Justin Peters 11 a.m.: We kick off The Faulkner Focus with a lovely rant from host Harris Faulkner, who marks Day 2 of the nasty storytelling sex film worker. We even get a little word from Ted Cruz, who sputters about how no one believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life. 11:06 a.m.: Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who reportedly arrived at the courthouse alongside Trump, is once again ranting to the press about how the justice system went after my company and is now targeting Trump. Im proud of him for standing up for all of us, Scott says. Because if they can go after him, they can go after any of you. 11:08 a.m.: We go from Scotts empty lectern to a Faulkner Focus panel, featuring legal analyst Jonna Spilbor, Fox Business commentator and ex-congressman Sean Duffy, and former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, whose wife is a devoted Slate reader. Duffy starts by raging against woke-ified law schools and the supposedly woke-ified graduates going on to staff a woke-ified justice system. Spilbor jumps off Scotts point about Democratic Partyconnected prosecutors to hint that there might be some ramifications for Judge Juan Merchan when this case is over, and remember I said that, earning a loud and affirmative mmm! from Faulkner. 11:18 a.m.: Weve got an ad here with Mike Huckabee on guitar. 11:37 a.m.: Faulkner cycles through a couple clips from MSNBCs Morning Joe and CNNs Inside Politics where commentators appear to cast doubt on the effectiveness of Stormy Daniels testimony, especially when it came to the more explicit sexual tales. The liberal networks [are] now pointing out this is damaging for the prosecution, says Faulkner, as her producers then visually showcase a Wall Street Journal editorial board op-ed about The Stormy Daniels Sex Trial and a Washington Examiner op-ed about The Trump Trial Farce. While she reads out from a segment from the latter piece, she makes sure to shout out the Journal by name but not the Examiner. Ouch! 11:50 a.m.: Former George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen joins to make a solemn point: Totaling up his state and federal trials, Trump is facing 91 distinct charges. But Charles Manson only faced 10! Isnt that weird? 11:53 a.m.: New rage bait just dropped: A photo of Daniels and her attorney, Clark Brewster, taken from inside the witness room and posted on X, formerly Twitter. That picture is absolutely ridiculous, seethes Spilbor. Now they are taking photo-ops at a sham trial of a former president and likely future president. Look how happy they are! The legal analyst then bets Daniels will attempt to profit from the photo. Stormy Daniels was on the stand in NY v Trump criminal trial for a day and a half, ending at 12:30p today. Couldnt be prouder of my client. pic.twitter.com/riTnzwdsQf clark brewster (@cbrew1) May 9, 2024 12:11 p.m.: Not even 20 minutes after Fox viewers were introduced to the photo of Daniels and her attorney, were already back at its foul nature and moneymaking potential. This is a grift! yells Faulkner. This is not selfie-taking time! 12:40 p.m.: Legal commentator Mark Eiglarsh joins by video to yell/chat with Faulkner about how hes holding back disdain for this prosecution until I hear it rest, but this TRIAL has JUMPED the SHARK OFFICIALLY. He doesnt appear to be holding back. 1 p.m.: Were now ready for a two-hour broadcast of America Reports, co-anchored by John Roberts and Foxs White House correspondent, Jacqui Heinrich, whos filling in for Sandra Smith. 1:05 p.m.: Beloved Fox fixture Judge Jeanine Pirro is here, having gone to check out Thursdays trial proceedings for herself. Now, if Trumps lawyer Susan Necheles cross-examination of Daniels wasas my colleague Susan Matthews characterized itastonishingly simplistic and, frankly, petty, full of sexist questions that tried to drag Daniels as both a slut and a money-grubber, thats not how Pirro saw it. Instead, the host lavished praise upon Necheles for giving a master class in cross-examination and making Daniels come off as hateful and kooky. 1:12 p.m.: Oops, we lost Pirro right as Roberts, Heinrich, and Pirro were about to tear into something Jen Psaki said on MSNBC. So we have Townhall.com editor Katie Pavlich helping kill the time until they figure out the technical difficulties. 1:22 p.m.: Well, perhaps we wont figure out those technical difficulties, because weve already moved on to correspondent Lydia Hu, standing outside the courtroom and offering a preview of the forthcoming testimony from former Trump Organization bookkeeper Madeleine Westerhout. 2 p.m.: Upon the second hour of America Reports, we must ask: Will America ever stop reporting? 2:10 p.m.: Washington Times opinion editor Charlie Hurt has been on for a few minutes to rant about the fundamentally unserious trial of Donald Trump, and we go to a clip of the defendants morning remarks, in which he quotes fromwhaddaya know!an April 16 America Reports segment where legal commentator Jonathan Turley described the lawsuit as a Frankenstein case. John Roberts makes a riff referencing Young Frankenstein, which causes Hurt to guffaw and rave about one of Trumps greatest gifts, which is to take whats obvious to everyone and boil it down into very vivid and colorful language. 2:12 p.m.: Weve got an ad about how the Federal Reserve is printing too much money, so its time to stock up on gold. 2:27 p.m.: Mark Eiglarsh returns, this time alongside legal analyst Mercedes Colwin. Eiglarsh once against screeches about the salacious details from Daniels testimony, Colwin kiddingly thanks him for getting that image in my head, and John Roberts wonders if the poor jury will be able to unsee any of this. 2:44 p.m.: Fox & Friends Brian Kilmeade is here! With more of the same regarding every aforementioned topic, although he gives a little sneak preview of his forthcoming One Nation broadcast, where West Virginias own Joe Manchin will have lots to say about his own party. You dont say. 2:53 p.m.: Jonathan Turley re-rereturns to paint a picture of how the vibes in the courtroom went from a Sex Pistols concert to Gregorian chants with the witness transition from Daniels to Westerhout. 3 p.m.: Its time for The Story With Martha MacCallum, although to take it from the opening monologue, it doesnt appear this story will be much different from what weve been hearing throughout the day: BAD Stormy Daniels. 3:14 p.m.: Judge Jeanine is back, comparing her courtroom experience Thursday to watching The Sixth Sense. 3:28 p.m.: Another former Trump lawyer yells a lot. 3:40 p.m.: A real cursed blunt rotation here as Ari Fleischer, ex-Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and former Obama White House adviser Robert Wolf join to discuss a Quinnipiac poll that shows Biden ahead of Trump in Wisconsin. Wolf touts the strength of the Biden record without all of this nonsense from the courts; Fleischer makes the point that the polls will be close until November; and Chaffetz mocks Biden as someone who can barely communicate. 4 p.m.: Whose world is this? Its Your World With Neil Cavuto. We begin with Fox News correspondent Nate Foy recapping his time in the courthouse, when Madeleine Westerhout became emotional on the stand describing Donald and Melanias relationship. 4:30 p.m.: John Torture Memos Yoo is on to rip the case against Trump, to denigrate Daniels credibility, and offer kind words to Madeleine Westerhout, because she happily recalls her time working with Trump. More of the same, folks. Nitish Pahwa 5 p.m.: We launch into The Five, which has five co-hosts and begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time. A fun idea there, all the 5s. Host Dana Perino notes that Daniels appeared on a supernatural investigations show in which she discovered that what she thought was a ghost in her house was actually a possum. 5:06 p.m. Jeanine PirroJudge Jeaninesays that Daniels credibility suffers because she said she wouldnt tell the story of her alleged affair to Slate.com unless she was paid for it. Hey, thats us! I wouldve paid her, personally. 5:11 p.m. All five co-hostseven Richard Fowler, the days liberalturn out to agree that Daniels testimony was not helpful to the prosecutions case. 5:18 p.m. Greg Gutfeld pronounces Holocaust as, like, Hole-o-caust. Never heard that one. 5:25 p.m. Fowler pushes back on Pirros claims about the moral righteousness of Israels war in Gaza, pointing out that none of the children whove died in bombardments chose to be led by Hamas, which leads to Jesse Watters making a relatively sophisticated/fair point about Biden wanting to avoid the PR blowback of a Rafah invasion despite having essentially sponsored Israels war up to this point. A commercial for MyPillow follows. 5:45 p.m. Gutfeld pronounces fentanyl as fenta-nol. 6:31 p.m. Turley againbusy day! He appears on Bret Baiers news show to discuss antiwar protests at George Washington University. Turley says the protests have prevented him from being able to drive to his office. 7:01 p.m. Laura Ingraham calls Alvin Bragg pudgy and says Daniels is an angry shrew, then plays videos of other cable networks analysts reacting to Daniels testimony. To emphasize: The subject of her opening segment is MSNBC and CNN panel reactions. 7:22 p.m. Its harrowing how silent the studio of a single-host show can sound when theyre delivering a line that isnt landing. It feels, right now at 7:22 p.m., like Laura Ingraham, during her segment about how disgusted she purportedly is about how insensitive Joe Bidens comments about grocery prices were during an interview he did with CNN, is the only person on Earth. 7:51 p.m. A commercial for NeuroQ pills says their formula relies on the work of brain scientists and brain doctors. 7:59 p.m. Ingrahams show concludes with commentary on a clip from MSNBC. 8:04 p.m. Jesse Watters show starts with two clips of people talking on CNNand not even people whose analysis he disagrees with; they were being critical of Biden. Its just there as, like, exposition. He does this again a few minutes later with Anderson Cooper laughing about the Stormy Daniels/possum thing. 8:51 p.m. Credit where its due: It was a good idea to ask people attending a furry convention in New Jersey whether theyve noticed that the price of fur suits has gone up in Bidens economy. (Some of them said yes.) 9:04 p.m. First segment of Sean Hannitys show? You know its Anderson Cooper talking about the possum thing! 9:25 p.m. Holy crap, thats what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounds like now? Wow. (Segment about Kennedys appearance on a podcast in which he said abortion should be legal at any time during pregnancy, part of the wave of right-wing attacks on Kennedy that have followed a wave of anxiety about his potential to draw votes away from Trump. Hannity assures his guests that we have 179 days left to spread awareness of Kennedys positions.) 9:41 p.m. Guest Mark Levin concludes a segment about Biden holding back a shipment of weapons to Israel by shoutingliterally screaming and shoutingfor three-and-a-half uninterrupted minutes. (The premise is that hes talking to Bidenhow dare you, sir, etc. This happens a lot on Fox prime time.) Levin describes Bidens comments about indiscriminate Israeli bombing as blood libel against Jews and says that Biden funded Oct. 7. (Its a convoluted accusation involving Iran.) For the last 78 seconds of his segment Levin is shouting over the music that signals that its time to go to commercial, like what happens when acceptance speeches go on too long at the Oscars. 10:04 p.m. Greg Gutfelds show opens with an actual late-night comedy monologue. One of his topics is about the dating app Bumblewhose gimmick was that only women were allowed to make initial contact with other userschanging its rules to allow men to make the first move. It turns out putting women in the drivers seat for dating was as bad of an idea as putting them in the drivers seat for driving, he says. I laughed. Some of the other jokes were problematic, though. 10:43 p.m. Gutfelds panelists are not impressed by a bill introduced by Republican Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles that would send any college student convicted of unlawful activity to Gaza for six months of community service. One calls it virtue signaling. 10:57 p.m. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appears in a commercial promoting a sleep drug called Relaxium. The next advertisement is for something called Super Beta Prostate. Ben Mathis-Lilley The family of an 11-year-old accused of shooting a relative to death appeared in juvenile court on Saturday. One of the relatives cried as the judge read the case. He biologically is my cousin. My mom has been his guardian since he was 6 weeks old, said the family member. The woman asked the judge to allow other family members to visit the boy, suggesting he might not even be aware of exactly what happened. He doesnt understand whats going on. I dont even think he knows he killed her, said the 11-year-olds biological cousin. Read: 11-year-old in custody following deadly Ocoee shooting, police say That permission was granted by the judge. The boy attorney waved his appearance in court; the alleged shooter has been in custody since Friday, when he was apprehended after police say he opened fire against 55-year-old Sandra Pape King. The Ocoee Police said King was found shot in her home on Idaho Court, near Clarcona Ocoee Road. Read: Happening Saturday: Free food distribution in DeLand The woman was taken to a hospital, but she did not survive. Channel 9 visited the home hours after the crime happened, but no one answered the door. About an hour later, a man showed up and said he would make no comments. Read: Kissimmee water park hosts fundraiser to benefit the Sunshine Foundation A neighbor told Channel 9 he spoke with the victim and the 11-year-old just days before the crime. I Bought him a few toys, though. He ran out, but he seemed to be a little thin. But I have seen that kind of caught up with his aunt. I thought it was his grandmother, found out its his auntie, said Jackson Genao, who lives near the home. Channel 9 also spoke with the teens defense attorney, but they declined to make any comments at this time. The teen will remain at the detention center until the next court date. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Donald Trump Brutally Mocked By Joe Biden's Team For Almost Falling On Stage At A Rally President Joe Biden's campaign team has trolled Donald Trump after he was caught wobbling embarrassingly while on the stage at a Minnesota rally. The team took to X, where they shared a clip of the incident. They described the former president as "feeble" and mocked him for going on a tirade about the quality of the stage. Joe Biden's Team Calls Donald Trump 'Feeble' For Almost Falling During A Speech A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant calling his event workers crappy pic.twitter.com/4fzPZfgpuZ Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 18, 2024 As part of Trump's campaign to promote his re-election bid, the former president recently held a rally in Minnesota. During his speech, Trump encountered a moment of awkwardness when the podium he grasped tilted, causing the billionaire mogul to wobble embarrassingly on stage. Angered by the incident, Trump then called out the event organizers for putting up what seemed to be a defective setup. "You know this is the worst platform, who put this stage up?" he said. "The freaking place is falling down." A clip of the incident was then shared on X(formerly Twitter) by Biden-Harris HQ and captioned with a statement that trolled Trump. It read, "A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant, calling his event workers "crappy." Social Media Users Trolled Donald Trump Over The 'Embarrassing' Video MEGA In the comment section, social media users joined in on the fun, taking shots at Trump for "embarrassing" himself and alleging that the event organizers were underpaid. One person wrote, "They couldn't get a regular contractor to build it because they knew he wouldn't pay them! Lol." While a second individual commented, "You get what you don't pay for." Another person quoted the video: "He can't be even a little bit embarrassed or laugh at himself. Unease means lash out at others and direct spotlight away for a moment. It's a tiny example of how his ego drives everything." Someone else remarked, "You know if you name call the people who do the hard work often enough, you are soon left with no one willing to do the hard work, Orange arse." One more person commented, "Jesus Christ. He can't admit ONE THING. blaming others." Donald Trump Recently Requested For An Apology From Joe Biden Over His Legal Battle MEGA Trump recently asked Biden to apologize to him, claiming he was the mastermind behind his ongoing legal woes. The ex-president took to his Truth Social platform to bemoan his situation and asked that his hush money trial be dropped. He wrote on the social media site, "There is virtually universal agreement of the fact that the Alvin Bragg Witch Hunt against me, a SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner halls of the White House and DOJ, should be immediately dropped, with apologies to me and all of the others who have had to live with this Election Interfering Hoax against Crooked Joe Biden's Political Opponent. Not nice!!!" Trump stands accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying his business records with the intent to defraud and commit another crime. It stems from hush money payments made to former adult star Stormy Daniels to hide her one-night stand with the billionaire mogul. Donald Trump Wants Joe Biden To Take A Drug Test Before Their Debate MEGA As their presidential debates draw near, Trump has insisted that Biden take a drug test to be certain he is following the rules. The billionaire mogul referenced the incumbent's State of the Union address, alleging that Biden had used performance-enhancing drugs as he was "high as a kite" when he delivered the speech. "I just want to debate this guy, but you know and I'm gonna demand a drug test too, by the way," Trump said during a speech at a GOP dinner in St. Paul, Minnesota, per the New York Post. He continued, "I am. No, I really am. I don't want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite. We're going to demand a drug test." Elsewhere, the billionaire politician shared his thoughts on the networks hosting the debates, noting, "They're going to be fair, I think they're going to be fair enough." The Ex-President Claims Prosecutor Alvin Bragg Intends To Drop The Case MEGA Over the few weeks the trial has been ongoing, the likes of Daniels, Trump's lawyer Micheal Cohen, and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker have all taken to the stand. The court sessions are expected to last a few more weeks before a verdict is reached. However, Trump recently made a surprising claim, saying that the prosecution led by Alvin Bragg wants to drop the case. "People are thinking that [George] Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, who never wanted to bring the Witch Hunt against me in the first place, is going to drop this ridiculous and very unpatriotic 'Case' in order to save lots of money, and also the self-respect of his once revered Office," the real estate mogul wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump added, "He would then be able to focus on Violent Crime, which is running rampant and totally out of control in New York." MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Two children have been confirmed dead and another was injured as an unexploded device went off in north Afghanistan's Balkh province, said a statement of provincial police on Saturday. The incident took place in the province's Balkh district, when the children found a device and played with it on Friday afternoon. The device that was left over from past wars exploded, killing two kids on the spot and injuring another, the statement added. Similarly, following a blast of an unexploded ordnance, a child was killed in western Afghanistan's Badghis province on Friday. The war-ravaged Afghanistan is reportedly one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in the world, with dozens of people mostly children, being killed and maimed every month. Donald Trump has demanded that incumbent President Joe Biden take a drug test before they go head-to-head in two upcoming Presidential debates, hosted by CNN and ABC News, respectively. Trump alleged that Biden was "high as a kite" in his State of the Union address, although he didn't state if he would also subject himself to one. Donald Trump Wants Joe Biden To Take A Drug Test Before Debating Him MEGA Ahead of their agreed-upon presidential election debates on June 27 with CNN and September 10 with ABC, Trump has insisted that Biden take a drug test to be certain he is following the rules. The presumptive Republican party nominee referenced the incumbent's State of the Union address, alleging that Biden had used performance-enhancing drugs as he was "high as a kite" when he delivered the speech. "I just want to debate this guy, but you know and I'm gonna demand a drug test too, by the way," Trump said during a speech at a GOP dinner in St. Paul, Minnesota, per the New York Post. He continued, "I am. No, I really am. I don't want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite. We're going to demand a drug test." Elsewhere, the billionaire politician shared his thoughts on the networks hosting the debates, noting, "They're going to be fair, I think they're going to be fair enough." Donald Trump Raises Question About Joe Biden's Fitness MEGA Trump raised questions over Biden's physical fitness to debate him and also lashed out at CNN's Jake Tapper, who is billed to moderate the June 27 debate alongside Dana Bash. The former president claimed that the Democratic Party candidate was not fit to take him on as he pressed for the drug test to be undertaken. "If he makes it through the debate, they'll say it was the finest debate performance in history," Trump said of Biden, per Politico. "Remember that idiot from CNN?" Trump said during his speech, slamming Tapper. "Oh I shouldn't say that, I'm doing a debate with them, they'll be slightly tougher. I have 'Fake Tapper' as the" he added, stopping himself from saying more. Trump has repeatedly accused CNN of being biased against him as his relationship with the news outlet has tanked over the years. MAGA Claims The Upcoming Debate Is 'Rigged' MEGA The ex-president's supporters are angry over the upcoming CNN-hosted presidential debate, taking to social media to claim that it has been rigged to favor Biden. Trump's daughter-in-law Lara spoke to Fox News on Wednesday about her opinion on the debate. She said, "It's rigged so heavily in Joe Biden's favor, but everything always is. You've got Hollywood against Donald Trump, you've got the music industry against Donald Trump, mainstream media, and even the judicial system at this point." Sean Hannity of Fox News also criticized CNN's choice of debate moderators, Tapper and Bash, especially Tapper. During his conversation with Lara, Hannity said he was upset about "fake Jake" being chosen as a moderator. He said, "Tapper is a radical, left-wing partisan talk show host that masquerades as a journalist. They're trying to colludethe media mob and Joe Biden. They get to dictate all the rules, and Donald Trump gets no say. That's not fair." Another debate critic, former Republican presidential race contender Vivek Ramaswamy, also posted his opinion. He tweeted: "Call me cynical, but why is Biden suddenly so willing to debate? It could be because he's desperate, or it could be because it's a setup. Keep an eye on the details of how all this comes together. You don't often see a sudden 180 like this unless there's more to the story." Donald Trump Leads Joe Biden In Five Key States MEGA It remains to be seen what impact the outcome of both legs of the debate will have on the November elections, but Trump is scoring a victorious outing in five key states, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times, Siena College, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. According to the New York Times, the survey showed that there's a growing disapproval for Biden among young, Black, and Hispanic voters, largely owing to the rising cost of living and Israel's war in Gaza. Trump was leading among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup against Biden in five key states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, as Biden led among registered voters in only one state, Wisconsin. According to the news outlet, Nearly 40 percent of Trump's supporters said that the economy or the cost of living was the most important issue in the election. The polls offer no indication as to the outcome of the election but show that the young, Black, and Hispanic voters want a fundamental shake-up of American society and not just a return to normalcy, something only a few allegedly believe Biden will offer. The Ex-President Cheered His Son Barron At His High School Graduation MEGA The former president briefly took time away from politics and his legal woes to attend the high school graduation ceremony of his youngest son, Barron. Trump was joined by his wife, Melania, and his father-in-law, Victor Knavs, as they watched the 6foot7 teenager enjoy his big day at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach. The former president and his family attended the event under the watchful eyes of US Marshalls and deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, with two snipers stationed above the announcer's box, per the DailyMail. Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and blue tie, Trump took to the front seat of the bleachers next to Melania, who wore a navy blazer and a straw hat. The ceremony began with the MC welcoming parents and graduates after being treated to a performance of America The Beautiful by the school choir. "I want to give a special welcome to the President and Mrs. Trump," the MC added, drawing a round of applause from the congregation. Donald Trumps lawyer fighting to stop former president from testifying in trial next week Mr Trump has still not decided whether he will testify in his own defence - Pool Donald Trumps defence lawyer won plaudits for his aggressive handling this week of Michael Cohen, one of the key witnesses in the ongoing hush money case against the former president. But now Todd Blanche has a bigger battle on his hands: convincing his client not to take to the witness box himself in Manhattan Criminal Court next week. Mr Trump has still not decided whether he will testify in his own defence, Mr Blanche said on Thursday. Commentators believe the lawyer will be working furiously behind the scenes to stop that happening. In the last few weeks, Mr Trump has told the media he would absolutely testify, that he would give evidence if necessary, and that he would probably do so. Michael Cohen poses a 'credibility risk' to the prosecution's case in the court of public opinion - Andres Kudacki John C. Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the former president would be mad to expose himself to questioning by the prosecution. He would open himself to a perjury indictment, even if he won in this case, he said. An early question on cross [examination] if Trump testified would be whether he ever had sex with Stormy Daniels. Prof Coffee noted that Mr Trump had a legal right to defend himself from the witness box. Mr Blanche would have to respect his decision, he said. Duncan Levin, a former New York prosecutor, agreed that Mr Trump was an uncontrollable client who would be nearly impossible to prepare for testimony. He would make a terrible defence witness because he is unpredictable, saddled with past adverse rulings, and has very little to offer on the substantive charges, he said. His cross-examination would be blistering. Joshua Scacco, an expert in political communication, said Mr Trumps questionable relationship with truth and speculative way of talking meant he was ill-suited to a cross-examination. He also believes that Mr Blanches interrogation of Michael Cohen, which resumes on Monday, poses a credibility risk to the prosecutions case in the court of public opinion. Michael Cohen is just one component but its very easy in a lot of ways for the Trump team to basically say, Manhattan and the DA put a known liar on the stand against the former president, he said. Thats easy for the Trump campaign to message as This is a bunk investigation heres the government going after the former president. And theyre using a known liar to do it. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche is convincing his client not to take to the witness box himself in Manhattan Criminal Court next week - JEENAH MOON Mr Blanche risks destroying the career he upended for Mr Trump if the former president is convicted. Last year, he left a job In Manhattans oldest legal firm to represent him, taking on his second-ever defence case as a criminal lawyer. He also abandoned the Democratic party to join the Republicans. But on Thursday he proved his naysayers wrong, transforming from a soft-spoken lawyer to Mr Trumps attack dog as he harried Cohen, the presidents former fixer turned star prosecution witness. Cohen claimed he phoned Mr Trump, via his bodyguard, in Oct 2016 to say he had made a hush money payment to a porn star with whom his boss allegedly had an affair. However, Mr Blanche noted that he had texted the bodyguard immediately before and after the call about prank calls he had been receiving from a 14-year-old. This was what the 96-second call was about, he said - not Cohen setting out how he had paid off Stormy Daniels, an adult film star. That was a lie, he virtually shouted at the witness. Sabrina Shroff, a New York defence lawyer who repeatedly crossed swords with Mr Blanche when he was a prosecutor, said he had always had the same killer instinct as his colleagues in the citys southern district. He was just as aggressive, just as ambitious and just as determined to win as any other person in the office then, or in the office now, she told The Telegraph. At the end of the day, he wanted that conviction just like everybody else in that office. He just happened to be soft-spoken. Thats it. She added: At least hes standing up to defend something that he believes in, as opposed to working at some white shoe law firm just making money so good for 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. Donald Trump has repeated his demand that Joe Biden take a drug test before the United States presidential candidates debate on live television, saying the president was high as a kite when he made a State of the Union speech in March. This week, Mr Biden agreed to debate Mr Trump on June 27 and Sept 10. The Republican has a narrow lead in the polls. Hes acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal, Mr Biden said, adding that he had beaten Mr Trump in their debates before the 2020 presidential election. Speaking at a dinner in Minnesota on Friday night, Mr Trump said he was up for the debate. Donald Trump made his remarks about Joe Biden at a dinner in Minnesota on Friday night - Scott Olson/Getty Images North America I just want to debate this guy, but you know and Im gonna demand a drug test too, by the way, Mr Trump, 77, told Republicans at the dinner. I am. No, I really am. I dont want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite, he said, adding, Were going to demand a drug test. Mr Trump did not say whether he would also take a drug test before the televised debates. The claim that Mr Biden, 81, was on drugs during his State of the Union address has become a talking point among the US Right wing despite being based on no evidence. A supporter of Donald Trump sports a 'Make America Godly Again' top at a rally in Ohio in March - Jessie Wardarski/AP On Thursday, Greg Murphy, a Republican and urologist, accused the president of being jacked up on something that day. He cant stand under the lights for that long, and I dont think he can keep a concept in his brain that long, he said on Fox News. Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, has also called Mr Biden hyper-caffeinated. It is not the first time that Mr Trump has demanded that Mr Biden take a drug test. He claimed that Mr Biden had been uneven during the Democratic primaries in 2020. He said he would be strongly demanding a drug test before their debates ahead of the race for the White House that year. Vice-President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it, Kate Bedingfield, Mr Bidens deputy campaign manager, responded at the time. Wed expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who p----d away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didnt make a plan to stop Covid-19. Neither of the two men underwent drug tests in the end. 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. New Douglass High School graduate Bryton Herlein on Friday shakes hands with school board member April Ferrao after receiving his diploma in Jesse Auditorium. Douglass High School seniors on Friday were the first to receive their diplomas in a Jesse Auditorium ceremony. There were 59 Douglass graduates. The other high schools were to follow, with Rock Bridge Friday night, Hickman Saturday morning and Battle Saturday evening. Those were held in Mizzou Arena. Nearly 1,400 seniors would be graduating. Forty-Eight students were to simultaneously receive their diploma and an associate's degree from Moberly Area Community College through the Early College Program partnership. Rock Bridge has 498 graduates, including Presidential Scholar Shubha Gautam. There were 463 graduates from Hickman. It's Battle's tenth graduating class, with 353 graduating seniors. Douglass High School graduate Hanit Berhe on Friday posed with family members after the ceremony. Hanit left Eritrea with her family when she was 10. She will study nursing at Moberly Area Community College. Among those graduating from Douglass the district's alternative high school was Hanit Berhe, who gave one of the senior speeches. She thanked God and said life doesn't always go as planned. "When I grew up in Eritrea, I didn't get to attend school," Hanit said. She had some advice for fellow students and others in the audience. "Remember to treat others as you want to be treated," Hanit said. She left Eritrea with her entire family when she was 10, she said after the ceremony surrounded by parents, brothers and sisters. She received three scholarships during the ceremony and said she will study to be a nurse at Moberly Area Community College. Douglass High School seniors on Friday pose on the steps of Jesse Hall at the University of Missouri before their graduation ceremony. Other multiple scholarship winners were Lucas Hagen, three; Caitlyn Johson, two; and Melissa Vazquez, five. Before the ceremony, friends Bryton Herlein, Sarah McGowan and Destiny Search were together standing under the shade of a tree outside Jesse Hall. "I'm feeling really excited," Bryton said. "I'm feeling really proud. I struggled a lot, but I made it." He will start an internship through 4-H that teaches job and life skills, he said. "I relate to the struggles," Sarah said. "I didn't think any of us would make it, but we did." "Douglass helped us a lot," Destiny said. "We can do anything we put our minds to." Josh Caldwell, 20, said he was feeling nervous about receiving his "long overdue" diploma. He said there were setbacks on the way to graduation. "I went back and I got it," Josh said. He will attend Moberly Area Community College. Douglass Principal Eryka Neville in sending off the graduates called up a line from her favorite film, the "horrible and hilarious" "Death to Smoochie." In it, a character says: "You can't change the world, but you can make a dent." That's a charge she gave to the graduates. "You just have to be dedicated to make a dent." Neville had a final message to the graduates. "You can probably say, 'dear ancestors, we understood the assignment,'" she said. Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com. He's on X at @rmckinney9. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Douglass High School seniors lead CPS weekend graduation ceremonies. Israel pushes further into parts of north Gaza; new cracks in Netanyahu coalition Israel pushes further into parts of north Gaza; new cracks in Netanyahu coalition By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said. Israel's forces also took over some ground in Rafah, a southern city by the Egyptian border that is packed with displaced people and where the launch this month of a long-threatened incursion to crush hold-outs of Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas has alarmed Cairo and Washington. Exposing further cracks in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Benny Gantz, a centrist member of the war cabinet, threatened to resign if the right-wing leader does not agree by June 8 to a day-after plan that would include how Gaza might be ruled after the war with Hamas. In what Israeli media said was the result of intelligence gleaned during the latest incursions, the military announced the recovery of the body of a man who was among more than 250 hostages seized by Hamas in a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 that triggered the war. Ron Binyamin's remains were located along with those of three other slain hostages whose repatriation was announced on Friday, the military said without providing further details. There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Israel has conducted renewed military sweeps this month of parts of northern Gaza where it had declared the end of major operations in January. At the time, it also predicted its forces would return to prevent a regrouping by the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza. One site has been Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps. On Saturday, troops and tanks edged into streets so far spared the ground offensive, residents said. In one strike, medics said 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded. The Gaza health ministry and the Civil Emergency Service said teams received dozens of calls about possible casualties but were unable to carry out any searches because of the ongoing ground offensive and aerial bombardment. "Today is the most difficult in terms of the occupation bombardment, air strikes and tank shelling have going on almost non-stop," said one resident in Jabalia, Ibrahim Khaled, via a chat app. "We know of dozens of people, martyrs (killed) and wounded, but no ambulance vehicle can get into the area," he told Reuters. The Israeli military said its forces have continued to operate in areas across Gaza including Jabalia and Rafah, carrying out what it called "precise operations against terrorists and infrastructure". "The IAF (air force) continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, and struck over 70 terror targets during the past day, including weapons storage facilities, military infrastructure sites, terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops, and military compounds," the military said in a statement. STRAINS IN ISRAELI COALITION Netanyahu has faced criticism at home and abroad for failing to articulate an endgame more than seven months into the war. In a news conference, Gantz said he wanted the war cabinet to form a six-point plan in the next three weeks and that if his expectations are not met he would withdraw his centrist party from Netanyahu's emergency coalition. Gantz said his proposal would include creating a temporary U.S.-European-Arab-Palestinian system of civil administration for Gaza while Israel retains security control. Though Gantz is Netanyahu's most formidable rival in opinion polls, were he to leave the government that would not be enough to bring about its collapse, as remaining parties would still give the premier a comfortable parliamentary majority. Yet Gantz's challenge shows increased strain on Israel's coalition, which is dominated by far-right parties. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday demanded clarity on post-war plans and for Netanyahu to forswear any military reoccupation of Gaza. Armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Fatah said fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and Rafah with anti-tank rockets, mortar bombs, and explosive devices already planted in some of the roads, killing and wounding many soldiers. Israel's military said 281 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on Oct 20. At least 35,386 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, according to the enclave's health ministry, while aid agencies have warned repeatedly of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies. In the Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies. About 125 people are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza. In Rafah, where Israeli tanks thrust into some of the eastern suburbs and clashed with Palestinian fighters, residents said Israeli bombing from the air and ground persisted through the night into Saturday morning. Rafah had been sheltering more than one million displaced Gazans. UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, said on Saturday that nearly 800,000 Palestinians have fled the city since Israel launched its ground operation there on May 6. Israel says it must capture Rafah to destroy Hamas and ensure the country's security. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell and Dan Williams; writing by Dan Williams and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis) Dozens of volunteers build new playground at Anaheim park in under a day Volunteers got together in Anaheim this week to build the citys newest playground; they did it all in a day. The City of Anaheim partnered with the national nonprofit Kaboom! to build a new community playground at Little Peoples Park on West Elm Street. Not only did members of the community dedicate their time to build and assemble the playground structures, but city officials say the playground was designed by local children. It features a zip-line, two slides, swings, a climbing wall, drums and chimes, as well as an educational panel where kids and explore and learn the alphabet in sign language. Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little Peoples Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little Peoples Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little Peoples Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little Peoples Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little Peoples Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Little Peoples Park in Anaheim is shown in this image from may 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) The kids designed this playground and then their kids might end up playing on it, said Michael Weigand, project manager for Kaboom! This playground is going to be here for decades for the families. Its the 17th playground that Kaboom! has helped build in Anaheim. Other recent projects took place at Peter Marshall Park, Center Greens, Cottonwood Park and Pearson Park. Little Peoples Park is one of the most historically significant public spaces in the city of Anaheim. It was the site of a violent riot in 1978 involving Anaheim police and a group of Latino residents which, according to the Los Angeles Times, led to accusations of police brutality and a series of reforms. City officials say that conflict helped bring about improved ties between police and the neighborhoods Mexican American community. Chicano culture is celebrated today with a vibrant 300-foot mural inspired by Mexican folk art that was painted last fall on the park grounds. Another famous mural, Memories of the Past, Images of the Present, is located across the street from the park. That mural was painted by Southern California Chicano muralist Emigdio Vasquez following the 1978 riot and features images of Cesar Chavez and other scenes from Chicano history. Kaboom! is currently in the middle of a five-year campaign to end play space inequity in 25 municipalities. Communities of color are among those hardest impacted by a lack of safe and modern activity spaces, often stemming from systemic racism and exclusionary practices, the nonprofit says. Volunteers spent their day building a new playground at Little People's Park in Anaheim on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (City of Anaheim) Anaheim has partnered with other organizations in the past to fund similar projects, including the NHLs Anaheim Ducks and Disney. More than 100 of the volunteers who lended their time on Thursday were employees of CarMax, which helped fund the playground project and presented the Anaheim Family YMCA with a $5,000 grant during the build. The CarMax Foundation is honored to provide funding for the new playground through our $3.9 million partnership with Kaboom, said Jeff Hall, president of the CarMax Foundation. Our hope is that this space ensures that every child has access to the invaluable physical, social, and mental health benefits that a community playground offers. Officials said the city is grateful for these past and present project partners, and it will continue look for opportunities to bring more play spaces to Anaheim neighborhoods whenever possible. The new playground at Little Peoples Park will open to the public in the coming days, officials said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Voters in El Paso County will be deciding party nominees in a handful of races after no one running for those offices was able to get a majority back in the Texas Primary in March. On the Democratic side of the ballot, there are four races that will come down to a runoff. In the race for district attorney for the 34th Judicial District, Democrats Alma Trejo and James Montoya are facing off for the right to face Republican incumbent Bill Hicks in the November general election. Hicks ran unopposed in the Republican primary in March. Early voting begins Monday, May 20 and ends Friday, May 24. Election Day is Tuesday, May 28. The DA for the 34th Judicial District prosecutes adult felony and misdemeanor cases in El Paso, Culberson and Hudspeth counties. For El Paso County sheriff, Democrats Robert Bobby Flores and Oscar Ugarte emerged from a crowded field of five, but neither garnered a majority back in March. The winner will face Republican Minerva Torres Shelton in the fall. Torres Shelton also ran unopposed in the March GOP primary. In House District 77, former County Commissioner Vince Perez and former state Rep. Norma Chavez, who once held this same seat, are in a runoff. No Republicans ran for this office. In Constable Precinct 1, Frank Almada and Andrea Andi Baca are facing off. Again, no Republicans ran in this race. On the Republican side of the ballot, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing Brandon Herrera in a runoff in Congressional District 23. The winner will face Democrat Santos Limon in the fall. The district stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border from western San Antonio to east El Paso. Gonzales has represented the district since 2021. Click here for a list of early voting centers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Kamran Aliyev, Azerbaijans Prosecutor General, along with his delegation, arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a working visit to attend the 5th Meeting of the Attorneys/Prosecutors General of the ECO Member States, Azernews reports. During his meetings held on the sidelines of the visit, Prosecutor General informed his colleagues about restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, as well as ongoing restoration and construction projects in the liberated territories. In a meeting with Yusuf Rahmon, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Tajikistan, the sides discussed cooperation in mutual legal assistance and the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral activities within international organizations. They expressed optimism about the future flourishing of mutual relations between the prosecutor's offices of the two countries. During a separate meeting with Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, Iran's Prosecutor General, both parties praised the momentum of relations between their respective prosecutor's offices. Kamran Aliyev invited his Iranian colleague for an official visit to Azerbaijan and expressed his optimism that the cooperation would continue to develop further. Azerbaijans Prosecutor General also met with Khusrav Noziri, ECO General Secretary. The ECO General Secretary underscored that the Dushanbe meeting of the Prosecutors General benefits from the success of the meeting held in Baku last September. Kamran Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan always attaches great importance to relations with the ECO. During their meeting, they explored avenues to enhance the organization's effectiveness, strengthen legal cooperation among member states, bolster efforts in combating crimes, facilitate mutual international legal assistance, and discussed potential future areas of collaboration. Additionally, Kamran Aliyev met with Rashideen Nawaz Kasuri, the Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan, where they commended the comprehensive cooperation between their countries and emphasized the need to further develop cooperation between their prosecutor's offices. As part of the visit, a meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Turkic Council, established in Baku on November 1, 2021, took place. Discussions focused on prospects for future cooperation within the Turkic Council, including organizational matters related to the upcoming 3rd meeting scheduled to be held in Kyrgyzstan this July. The Azerbaijani delegation's visit to Tajikistan has concluded. ULAN BATOR, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2024, official data released by the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) showed Saturday. The Asian country's GDP amounted to 16.5 trillion Mongolian tugriks (around 4.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March period, the NSO said. The service sector, mining and quarrying sector, and net taxes on products were the primary drives of the GDP growth in the first quarter, it said. The landlocked Asian country's economy grew 7.0 percent in 2023, according to the statistical agency. However, the Asian Development Bank predicts that Mongolia's GDP growth will decline to 4.1 percent in 2024, primarily due to the contraction of the agricultural sector. Extreme wintry weather, known as "dzud," has killed more than 7.1 million head of livestock across Mongolia last winter and this spring. "Dzud" is a Mongolian term to describe a severely cold winter when a large number of livestock die because the ground is frozen or covered in snow. The frequency of droughts and "dzud" caused by climate change has been increasing in Mongolia, according to experts. Employers in the Quad Cities can participate in a hiring event to recruit newly arrived immigrants and refugees, according to a news release. The Immigrant Workforce Job Fair QCs Best Kept Secret will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Holiday Inn, 226 17th St., Rock Island. Employers can register here. The event will offer employers the opportunity to interact and recruit the new population. They will also discuss jobs available in their businesses and review the application process. We hope this event offers our immigrant population a glimpse of all the wonderful career opportunities our local employers have to offer, said Grace Fitzpatrick, director of empowerment programs at World Relief. The job fair also offers our employers a new perspective on this untapped labor pool. The hiring event is the second part of the series QCs Best Kept Secret that allows employers to learn about the immigrant community living in the Quad Cities. The first informational event was held on April 18. For additional information on the event, contact Grace Fitzpatrick, director of empowerment programs, World Relief, at 563-200-1948 or email gfitzpatrick@wr.org. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. New Englands Unsolved: New information in the murder of John and Geraldine Magee It was a double murder that shocked the Merrimack Valley town of Andover. On the morning of December 14th, 2011, John and Geraldine Magee were found shot to death in the living room of their sprawling home on Orchard Crossing. The couples brand-new Lexus SUV was found more than 20 miles away, in Bostons North End, where the vehicle was torched on the inside. The 12 years since the murders have produced much speculation about the case, but no one has ever been charged. Now the Essex County District Attorney is taking a fresh look at the case. Why is this case so hard so difficult to solve? Boston 25 News reporter Bob Ward asked D.A. Paul Tucker. I think just the very nature of it, that it was behind closed doors, that weve run down so many different leads, a number of things that have that have just been dead ends, Tucker said. Most people knew the coupe simply as Jack and Jeri. Jeri was a retired Billerica school teacher. John Magee spent his working life building houses in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The couple was devoted to their children and grandchildren. At the time of their murders, the Magees were preparing for a big Christmas celebration. The Magees two children, John, Jr. and Holly Senykoff, until now, have refused to speak to the media. But they did talk to Bob Ward about their parents and their case. For family and privacy reasons, they did not go on camera. John Magee, Jr. was in the business with his father. He said that on December 13, 2011, he was in the house with both of his parents until about 4 p.m. He said everything seemed normal with his parents. Holly said she talked to her mom on the phone at around 4:40 p.m. on December 13. She said they made plans to drop off her two young children in the morning so she could go Christmas shopping. But Holly said her mother did not greet her the next morning. When she stepped inside the house, she noticed her parents TV was blaring, and their dog was irritated. Hollys young daughter ran into the living room and found Jack and Jeri. Holly said there was a lot of blood on the floor. She instinctively grabbed her children, called 911, and ran outside. In our interview, Holly said there were some strange things out of place that she noticed that morning. She noticed the front door was locked, and it was never locked when the Magees knew family was coming over. She said the garage door was open and the light in the garage was still on. And she said the leash the couple used for their little dog, Treasure, was out on a kitchen island. Holly said her mother kept a tidy house and she always put things away. D.A. Paul Tucker told me there were no signs of forced entry into the house and nothing was stolen. The DA also revealed new information about the weapon used to kill the Magees. We know that it was a .45 caliber. We think it probably might be an older weapon, in terms of the firearm. But its a .45 caliber firearm, Tucker said. Investigators are also taking another look at the couples Lexus SUV found at 126 Prince St in Boston. D.A. Tucker tells me police are trying to identify a man seen with the car in the North End. What we had was a very basic description, D.A. Tucker said. We know that it was a male of average height, average size. We dont really know anything else beyond that, but that person definitely walked away from the vehicle. The area where the SUV was located, 126 Prince Street, is only a block away from 98 Prince Street, the one time headquarters of the Angiulo Crime Family. John and Holly said their family had no connection to the North End and would only occasionally visit the area for an Italian meal. Why was the SUV driven to Boston and why was it parked in a notorious neighborhood? Was it staged to look like the murder of the Magees was somehow connected to the mob? No one knows. John Jr. said the family construction business was in great shape, and there were no complaints or disagreements with customers, suppliers, or former employees. What we know is that, Jack McGee was a successful businessman, D.A. Tucker said. We know that his son had a nice, strong role in the construction business as well. They had built a number of homes around the area, and the investigators looked very deeply into the business practices and were unable to find anything that looked like it might have had an impact on the case at hand. Investigators are also working on a timeline of the Magee Murders. It appears they were killed not long after John and Holly last talked to their parents. John Jr. said he left the house sometime after 4 p.m. and headed home to Somerville. Holly said their parents were wearing regular street clothes when they were killed, they had not yet changed into their pajamas. The burning SUV was found in the North End at about 10:30 p.m. The drive from their home to Prince Street takes about an hour, which means the Magees were likely killed no later than 9:30 p.m. on December 13, 2011. D.A. Tucker is hoping that after all this time, someone will come forward with new information to help move this stubborn investigation forward. If somebody saw the vehicle driving away (Orchard Crossing), its a close, tight knit neighborhood, DA Tucker said. If somebody has a thought on the weapon itself, a potentially older .45 caliber firearm. If somebody has a thought about that, or if they saw something in the neighborhood. If somebody in the North End got a better look at the vehicle. Its a tight neighborhood thats densely packed. If somebody saw the individual that stepped out of the Lexus prior to the fire beginning. If somebody saw any of that, it would be extremely helpful. Both John and Holly are desperate for answers. They cannot think of anyone who had a serious issue with their parents. It would not bring them back, Holly Senykoff said. But it would close a difficult chapter of our lives and bring justice to what happened. I hate that whoever did this has gotten away with this all these years. You cant get away with something like this. Whoever did this had time to be with their families and loved ones, something that was taken away from us. Justice should be done, John Magee, Jr. said. If you have any information that could help bring the killer or killers of the Magees to justice, contact the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Essex County DAs Office at: (978)-745-8908. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein spoke with News 4 about the impact of the opioid epidemic and what resources are available in Western New York. This year, there have been more overdose deaths compared to the same time last year, Burstein said. As far as our opioid overdose deaths, there was almost a 20 percent increase compared to 2022, she said. So, were not in a good place right now. Thats why we really want people to know about all the resources that we have available in Erie County. Narcan is available to Erie County residents along with training on how to use it and what an overdose looks like. To receive Narcan, text 716-225-5473. To register for free online or in-person classes, visit www.erie.gov/opioidtrainings. Fentanyl and xylazine test strips are also available for residents. Theres a lot of pills out there that are being advertised as being, say Adderall or benzodiazepines, but theyre really spiked with fentanyl, Burstein said. Those are also very toxic, so its really important that people have Narcan on hand. The Erie County Department of Health is available to help people find treatment and harm reduction services. In Western New York, residents who are ready to start treatment for opioid use disorder can go to any emergency department, either in-person or virtually, and get a prescription for buprenorphine, Burstein said. Vouchers are given to those who cant afford the medication. An initial appointment with a substance use treatment provider is also offered. For more information and to access resources, call the ECDOH at 716-858-7695. Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024 as a digital producer. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can see more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, has said she believes that fear stands in the way of more support for Ukraine from the rest of the free world. Source: Kaja Kallas during a discussion on support for Ukraine as part of the Lennart Meri conference, as reported by ERR Details: Kallas was asked what is preventing the free world from supporting Ukraine more. "We are held back by fear. Countries have different fears, whether the nuclear fear, the fear of escalation, or the fear of migration. We must not fall into the trap of fear, because that is exactly what Putin wants. He wants us to be afraid and not support Ukraine out of fear," Kallas replied. "We will act decisively and stop our adversaries from dictating our future," she added. Kallas also stressed that Ukraines allies have to support it for as long as it takes. "This means that we have to help Ukraine push Russia back to its borders. We have to continue imposing sanctions until Ukraines territorial integrity is restored. The aggressor has to fully pay for the damage they have caused and all those guilty, including the Russian leadership, must be held responsible. The end of grey zones is what Europe needs, and this means that Ukraine has to join the EU and NATO," Kallas said. Background: Earlier, Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to use the threat of mass migration to divide and weaken Europes support for Ukraine. Over the course of the next four years, Estonia will continue committing 0.25% of its GDP to military aid for Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! An ethics complaint about donations to President Biden and other Democrats made by the judge overseeing Donald Trumps Manhattan hush money trial has been dismissed, a New York state courts spokesman confirmed Friday. Justice Juan Merchan was cleared by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct last July, but the panel warned that the grievance could be an issue in the event the judge faces a future misconduct allegation. Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution, Al Baker, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, told The Post. The complaint against Merchan was dismissed last July, a spokesman for the jurist said. REUTERS A caution allows the commission to factor in the complaint if Merchan is accused of wrongdoing again. It is unclear who filed the confidential complaint against Merchan. The veteran judge contributed $15 earmarked for the Biden for President campaign on July 26, 2020, and then the following day made $10 contributions to the Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans each, Federal Election Commission records show The donations were made through ActBlue, the Democratic Partys preferred online fundraising platform. The Progressive Turnout Projects stated mission is to rally Democrats to vote, according to the groups website. Stop Republicans is a subsidiary of the Progressive Turnout Project and describes itself as a grassroots-funded effort dedicated to resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trumps radical right-wing legacy. Political donations made by judges violate state Commission on Judicial Conduct rules, but the body notes in its most recent annual report that several dozen judges in the state have made prohibited contributions in the last few years, according to Reuters, which first reported the Merchan complaints dismissal. Merchan donated $15 to Bidens 2020 presidential campaign, records show. AP The commission did not respond to a request for comment from The Post, but its proceedings are generally confidential unless it issues discipline against a judge. Trump, 77, has railed against Merchan since his indictment on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records deriding him as a Trump-hating judge. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has also gone after the judges daughter, Loren Merchan, over her own involvement in Democratic politics through her work as head of the consulting firm Authentic Campaigns. The former president has called Merchan a Trump-hating judge. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Trump is accused of fudging business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, allegedly made to keep her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with the former president in the lead up to the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty. (WJW) A true hero was remembered Saturday as family, loved ones and police said goodbye to Euclid police officer Jacob Derbin with a funeral mass and burial. Killed in the line of duty The 23-year-old officer was killed Saturday, May 11, when responding to a call at a home in the 300 block of East 211th Street just before 10 p.m. WATCH: Police memorial remembers fallen heroes Police say a gunman ambushed the young officer. Derbin died at the hospital. He was a first-year officer with Euclid police. Hometown hero The Cuyahoga Heights High graduate served a tour of duty in the Middle East before graduating from Kent State University Police Academy. My Jakey was an incredible, special and unique young man. He protected his family, his country, and his community. He is my hero. He had his whole life ahead of him. We were all looking forward to watching him marry his soul mate in July, his mother, Dawn Derbin, told the FOX 8 I-Team. Engagement photo of Officer Jacob Derbin and his fiance (Officer Down Memorial Page | ODMP.org) Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin (WJW photo) Euclid officer Jacob Derbin hugging his mother after serving a tour overseas with the Army National Guard Officer Jacob Derbins casket arrives at St. Columbkille Church Officer Jacob Derbins casket departs St. Columbkille Church Officers lead Jacob Derbin funeral procession. Officers lead Jacob Derbin funeral procession. Officers line the street for funeral procession. Officers lead Jacob Derbin funeral procession. Jacobs obituary describes the young man as kindhearted and selfless: Cleveland Clinic to pay $7.6M to settle fraud case He had an enormous smile that always lit up a room. Jacob enjoyed spending time with his Fiance, Liv, getting late-night snacks, watching movies, and talking about the future. He enjoyed hanging out with his family whether it be on an outing or drinking by the fire. He was always the loudest one in a room, trying to make everyone smile. To know Jacob was like having another family member in your life. Officer Derbins casket was carried into the church just before 11:45 a.m. Saturday. This is a heavy loss. And while we have a full church today, we need to be there for Jacobs family in the weeks and months to come, the priest said as services got underway Saturday. Jacob was a good man, the priest noted. Who Jacob was was a testament to his own family and how he was raised, he added. He was never embarassed. He would dance and sing in public, the priest said about Jacob. Jacobs fiance, Liv, spoke at the funeral. He was so excited to go to work every day, he would leave an hour and a half early for his shift, she shared. She read a letter at the service that she had written to Jacob as part of their Catholic wedding preparation. To my best friend: Our life was like a fairy tale kids read about. I was the cheerleader who fell in love with the football player, Liv said. You made me feel like I could do anything with your love and support, she read. Thank you for meeting my insecurities with kindness. Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer also spoke at the funeral. There is no doubt that his actions saved the lives of four individuals, he said. Chief Meyer said Jacob would posthumously receive the departments highest honor, the Euclid Police Departments Medal of Honor. Family and mourners left the church shortly after 1 p.m. to lead the procession to the gravesite. Officers lined the streets along with residents to show their support for Officer Derbins family. Officer Derbins family arrived at the gravesite at St. Marys Cemetery in Cuyahoga Heights just before 2 p.m. Following a 21-gun salute, Officer Derbins last radio call went out around 3 p.m. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered flags to fly at half-staff until sunset Saturday. Officer Jacob Derbin, End of Watch, May 11, 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) -White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks expected to touch on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, one piece of a wider arrangement Washington hopes will lead to normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations. Below is a description of the key issues involved in a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear deal, what risks and benefits it may offer the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how it fits within U.S. efforts to broker Israeli-Saudi reconciliation. WHAT IS A CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT? Under Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the United States may negotiate agreements to engage in significant civil nuclear cooperation with other nations. It specifies nine nonproliferation criteria those states must meet to keep them from using the technology to develop nuclear arms or transfer sensitive materials to others. The law stipulates congressional review of such pacts. WHY DOES SAUDI ARABIA WANT A US NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT? As the world's largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia at first glance is not an obvious candidate for a nuclear pact typically aimed at building power plants to generate electricity. There are two reasons Riyadh may wish to do so. The first is that under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious Vision 2030 reform plan, the kingdom aims to generate substantial renewable energy and reduce emissions. At least some of this is expected to come from nuclear energy. Critics cite a second potential reason: that Riyadh might wish to develop nuclear expertise in case it someday wished to acquire nuclear weapons despite the safeguards enshrined in any deal with Washington to prevent this. The Saudi crown prince has long said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would follow suit, a stance that has fueled deep concern among arms control advocates and some U.S. lawmakers over a possible U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear deal. The Sunni Muslim kingdom and Shi'ite revolutionary Iran have been at odds for decades. HOW WOULD THE UNITED STATES BENEFIT FROM A CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA? There could be strategic and commercial gains. The Biden administration has made no secret of its hope to broker a long-shot, multi-part arrangement leading Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations. It believes Saudi support for normalization may hinge partly on striking a civil nuclear deal. The strategic benefits would be to shore up Israel's security, build a wider coalition against Iran and reinforce U.S. ties to one of the wealthiest Arab nations at a time when China is seeking to extend its influence in the Gulf. The commercial benefit would be to put U.S. industry in a prime spot to win contracts to build Saudi nuclear power plants, as U.S. atomic companies compete with Russia, China and other countries for global business. WHAT ARE THE HURDLES TO A US-SAUDI CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL? A civil nuclear deal is envisaged as part of a wider arrangement on Israeli-Saudi normalization, something that is all but inconceivable while the Gaza war rages. Israel invaded the Gaza Strip after Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 attacked southern Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli figures. The Gaza death toll, health officials in the Hamas-run coastal enclave say, has risen to more than 35,000 and malnutrition is widespread. It is hard to imagine the Saudis being willing to normalize relations while Palestinians are dying in such numbers. WHAT IS THE WIDER PACT IN WHICH A NUCLEAR DEAL MIGHT FIGURE? The United States hopes to find a way to give Saudi Arabia several things it wants - a civil nuclear pact, security guarantees and a pathway toward a Palestinian state - in return for Riyadh agreeing to normalize relations with Israel. Earlier this month, seven people familiar with the matter told Reuters the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia were finalizing an agreement for U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance to Riyadh. However, the wider Israel-Saudi normalization envisaged as part of a Middle East "grand bargain" remains elusive. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES TO BE WORKED OUT IN A SAUDI-US NUCLEAR DEAL A key issue is whether Washington might agree to build a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi territory, when it might do so, and whether Saudi personnel might have access to it or it would be run solely by U.S. staff in a "black box" arrangement. Without rigorous safeguards built into an agreement, Saudi Arabia, which has uranium ore, could theoretically use an enrichment facility to produce highly enriched uranium, which, if purified enough, can yield fissile material for bombs. Another issue is whether Riyadh would agree to make a Saudi investment in a U.S.-based and U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant and to hire U.S. companies to build Saudi nuclear reactors. (Sources: Atomic Energy Act of 1954; Brookings Institution; Congressional Research Service; Reuters reporting) (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner and Jonathan LandayEditing by Don Durfee, Jonathan Oatis and Lincoln Feast.) Several explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied city of Skadovsk in Kherson Oblast on the morning of 18 May, and the Russians claimed it was a missile attack. Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne; Volodymyr Saldo, Russian-appointed governor of the occupied part of Kherson Oblast Details: Local residents reported at least two explosions in the occupied city. Saldo has already claimed that there was a HIMARS missile attack, and local firefighters were already extinguishing the fire. Support UP or become our patron! BAMYAN, Afghanistan, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday has risen to six, including three Spanish nationals and three Afghans, a local police official said Saturday. Two Afghans succumbed to their injuries after being treated in hospital, provincial police spokesperson Muhammad Khawani Rasa said. Among the injured are four foreign nationals from Spain, Norway, Australia and Lithuania, along with one Afghan, who are still receiving medical treatment, Rasa said. Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, the Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesperson Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media Friday. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A coalition of faith leaders gathered at UC San Diego on Friday to call on the universitys administration to do better to address Islamophobia on campus after a student organization hosted a controversial speaker known for anti-Muslim rhetoric. Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former Palestinian militant and Israeli intelligence undercover agent who is the son of a Hamas founder, was brought to the campus on Tuesday by Tritons for Israel during their annual week-long event, Peace in Israel Week. Yousef is known for his fiery and provocative social media presence, where he rails against Islam, the Muslim community and pro-Palestinian supporters with often derogatory remarks. The collective of faith leaders, which included Islamic, Christian and Jewish clergy, described his presence on campus as an exemplar of a larger rise in Islamophobia spurred by the Israel-Hamas war that has made Muslim UCSD students feel unsafe on campus. CAIR condemns GOP call to probe finances of student protesters The event was accompanied by an open letter to UCSD administration, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, San Diego City Council and San Diego County Sheriffs Department expressing concern about the speaker, as well as escalations to pro-Palestinian protests at the campus over the last few weeks. We are here to tell the UCSD Administration, the chancellor, that these speakers are not welcome, said Taha Hassane, imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego. He was one of several faith leaders present at the event. We differentiate between criticizing ideologies and bashing the entire Muslim community this is not acceptable. When you bring such a speaker to campus, hes going to create a toxic environment where our students cannot feel comfortable, he continued. In a statement, UCSD said Islamophobia and antisemitism are not tolerated on campus, while noting that the university cannot moderate speech due to their commitment to the First Amendment, even when the viewpoints expressed are hateful or repugnant. There is no place for hate, bigotry or intimidation at UC San Diego, the statement read. It is our responsibility to foster a safe and welcoming learning, living, and working environment while also promoting the principles of free expression and academic freedom. We take our obligation to uphold the First Amendment seriously, it continued. We cannot censor voices or ban groups we disagree with, so long as those voices and groups comply with state and federal laws and with university policy. Fridays gathering comes about two weeks after a global student-led antiwar movement pushing back against Israels military operations in Gaza reached UCSD, when a Gaza Solidarity encampment was formed on campus nearby Geisel Library. Those who participated in the demonstration said they were there to call on the university to divest from Israel and support an immediate cease-fire in the fighting something they described as an unfolding genocide against Palestinians. Officers clear pro-Palestinian encampment at UC Irvine, protestors arrested The site stood for just shy of a week before UCSD administration brought in local law enforcement to dismantle it, resulting in the arrest of about 40 student protesters and 24 additional demonstrators. At least two people were injured in the effort. UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosha explained the move in a statement at the time, saying the encampment had grown to a size that began to pose a safety risk for students and that it violated campus policy. Since then, student activists have held several follow-up protests, including a walk-out and a rally to observe the 76th anniversary of the Nakba. Hundreds of campus community members have also begun to call for Khoslas resignation over his response to the encampment. We do not believe our students did anything wrong they just expressed and keep expressing their first amendment right to say whatever they want to stand for their principles and values, Hassane said on Friday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Family and friends of a missing 92-year-old East Moline man gathered Friday at a prayer vigil. On Saturday, March 30, the East Moline Police Department took a missing person report regarding William Weber, 92, 511 and weighing 140 pounds, missing from his apartment at the Fox Pointe Apartments in the 4500 block of 7th Street in East Moline. Weber was last seen March 29 at his apartment. Also missing is his 2012 silver Chevrolet Malibu with Illinois Purple Heart specialty registration plate 2610PR that was parked in the parking lot. Weber used a walker, and that also is missing from the apartment. William Weber and his car (East Moline Police) As the investigation into this missing-person case continues, police ask anyone with any further information to contact the East Moline Police Department at 309-752-1555, Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities at 309-762-9500, or submit an anonymous tip via the P3 Tips mobile app. William Weber (LEAP) Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Family of mentally ill man wants answers about his death in Tarrant County Jail custody Harold Kent Roberts was the kind of person who always had a smile on his face, according to his family. He was known for being a thoughtful person to others, was always offering a helping hand and made people happy because of it, his cousins said. The youngest of three sons, Roberts was the one who was closest to his mother. He dedicated his life to taking care of her and helping her get around, his family said. His mom was 94 years old when she died, but he was unable to attend her funeral because he was incarcerated at the Tarrant County Jail. Then, on Feb. 14, 63-year-old Roberts died at the jail after experiencing a medical emergency early that morning, the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office said in a news release. Roberts collapsed in an elevator while on his way to the jails medical area for observation, the Sheriffs Office said. He was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where he was pronounced dead. The cause and manner of his death have not yet been ruled on by the medical examiner, but his family said they were told by the Sheriffs Office that he may have died due to a heart attack. His death has left his loved ones concerned because his family says he never had heart problems and he shouldnt have been incarcerated considering the state of his mental health. Roberts family searches for answers The phone call that Roberts cousins received notifying them he died was the only update the Sheriffs Office has provided them with, they said. Roberts cousin Jenell Castleman and her sisters are still trying to determine what actually happened as theyve received conflicting accounts of Roberts death. According to Roberts cousin Katty Walton, the medical examiners office told the family that they dont believe a heart attack caused his death. Were just trying to just wrap our heads around everything. ... We just dont have any information. Were just trying to figure out what happened, Walton said. The Sheriffs Office redirected the Star-Telegrams request for an update in the investigation of Roberts death to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. What hurts the most, Castleman said, is that his family was unaware that Roberts, who was mentally ill, was transferred back to the jail from a rehabilitation center. For him to die in jail is just heartbreaking, Castleman said. He didnt deserve that. According to court records, Roberts was arrested in September 2020 on a charge of injury to an elderly person, accused of grabbing and choking a woman in a domestic violence case in Fort Worth. He was found incompetent to stand trial in the domestic violence case in November 2020 and was ordered to receive mental health treatment as part of a competency restoration program he was required to participate in, according to court records. Roberts was transferred back to the jail on Feb. 7 after he was found competent to stand trial on Jan. 31. According to Castleman, Roberts never intended to hurt the woman he was accused of assaulting and she said it was a result of him not being right mentally. Harold was a loving, caring individual, Castleman said. Tarrant County district court documents show that the court determined Roberts competency based on a report and evaluation conducted by a psychologist. His cousins said they dont believe he was fit to stand trial due to his mental illness. After he spent years in and out of a rehabilitation facility and the jail, Roberts family could barely recognize him. He was pretty much kind of unrecognizable just within a few years that he went away into the facility, Walton said. It doesnt look like, maybe, the proper care was taken. Walton and Castleman thought that the rehabilitation center where Roberts was at would, at least, notify them when he was being transferred back to the jail, but they never got a call. He still had family and loved ones, so we all just kind of want to rest at peace, as well as Harold, and just get answers, Walton said. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in September in a battle about whether Florida violated federal laws by blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender people seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers. A hearing is slated the week of Sept. 16 in Birmingham, Ala., according to a notice issued last week by the appeals court. Lawyers for Gov. Ron DeSantis administration appealed last June after U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle found that the prohibition on Medicaid coverage for hormone therapy and puberty blockers violated federal health-care laws and the U.S. Constitutions Equal Protection Clause. The lawsuit was filed in 2022 on behalf of two transgender adults and the parents of two transgender minors after the state Agency for Health Care Administration adopted a rule that barred the coverage. Read: Police investigate officer-involved shooting in Haines City The lawsuit was updated last year to include a new state law that similarly prevented coverage. DeSantis and many other Republican leaders across the country have made a priority in recent years of trying to restrict treatments for transgender people with gender dysphoria. Read: 11-year-old in custody following deadly Ocoee shooting, police say The federal government defines gender dysphoria clinically as significant distress that a person may feel when sex or gender assigned at birth is not the same as their identity. Read: New cruise ship to sail out of Port Canaveral Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Federal appellate court judges on Tuesday raised questions about whether they could rule on a case involving the admission of a transgender woman to a University of Wyoming sorority or if it should return to a lower court. The lawsuit, initiated last year by six sorority members, contests the inclusion of Artemis Langford in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at Wyomings only public university. The three-judge panel from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals listened to arguments from both sides before taking the case under advisement, the Associated Press reports . The plaintiffs, consisting of current and former Kappa Kappa Gamma members, argue that Langfords admission violates the sororitys rules. An attorney for the plaintiffs claimed that the national sorority council unfairly altered membership criteria. However, the judges primarily questioned whether the case was ready for appeal. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne dismissed the case last summer without prejudice, indicating it could be refiled. Appellate Judge Carolyn McHugh noted, It seems to me its not final, addressing the plaintiffs attorney, May Mailman, the AP reports. Mailman maintained the district court had sufficiently resolved the case to warrant an appeal, but Appellate Judge Richard Federico expressed similar doubts. The district court is offering you a lifeline, he remarked. Mailman contended that the national sorority council and president breached their duties by admitting transgender women, contrary to sorority bylaws. Kappa Kappa Gamma attorney Natalie McLaughlin countered that Ohio law (where the organization is based) grants the sororitys board considerable discretion in defining bylaws, including membership criteria. McLaughlin argued that a court intervention is warranted only if the interpretation is unreasonable or arbitrary. Outside the courthouse, demonstrators held anti-trans signs reading Save Sisterhood and Women have the right to womens only spaces. We shouldnt have to say, Heres why I need my womens space. Womens spaces should be protected, period, Mailman said at a news conference following the hearing, the AP reports. Wyoming LGBTQ+ advocacy group Wyoming Equality criticized the plaintiffs stance. They are arguing against the right of organizations to determine their own membership, said director Sara Burlingame. I am optimistic that the 10th Circuit will agree with Judge Johnson. The lawsuit, which also names Kappa Kappa Gammas president, Mary Pat Rooney, claims Langfords presence in the sorority house made other members uncomfortable. Langford has been excluded from the appeal. This legal dispute began last year when six women at the University of Wyoming sued Kappa Kappa Gamma for admitting Langford. The plaintiffs criticized Langfords membership, arguing that the sororitys decision violated their privacy and safety. They contended that the sororitys national council unfairly changed the rules to allow Langfords inclusion. Langford and the sorority asked Johnson to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it frivolous and in bad faith. The sorority argued that it has the right to evolve its membership criteria and that the plaintiffs did not adequately consult the leadership before filing the suit. According to the AP, the sororitys policy aligns with 25 other sororities within the National Panhellenic Conference, a network of sororities in the U.S. and Canada. The appellate court has yet to decide whether to rule on the case or return it to the lower court for further examination. A federal jury in Davenport has convicted five men for conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and possession of firearms and ammunition as a felon, according to a news release. (Getty Images) According to public court documents and evidence presented during the two-week jury trial, Don Christopher White, Jr., 37; Raheem Jacques Houston, 30; Deaguise Ramont Hall, 34; Devell Carl Lewis, 35; and Simmeon Terrell Hall, 34; among others, were members and associates of a criminal organization or enterprise known as the Arsenal Courts Posse a/k/a Zone Fifth a/k/a Fifth Street Mafia a/k/a Rock Town Money Getters (RTMG) a/k/a Money Team, whose members and associates engaged in acts of violence, the release says. The Enterprises origins began in Rock Island in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, members and associates of the Enterprise referred to themselves as the Arsenal Courts Posse. Arsenal Courts was the former name of Century Woods, a housing complex where members or associates of the Enterprise lived in or frequented on a regular basis, according to the release. The housing complex is in the 1400 block of Fifth Street. Between 2009 and 2011, the younger members and associates of the Enterprise began referring to themselves as Zone Fifth or Fifth Street Mafia continuing to represent the location of the Enterprises territory, the release says. As alleged in the indictment, the principal purposes and objectives of the Enterprise were to distribute controlled substances, obtain money and things of value, and earn and maintain respect in the Quad Cities, the release says. White, Houston, Lewis, Deaguise Hall, and Simmeon Hall were all found guilty of conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity. As part of this racketeering activity, the jury further found that this group committed multiple acts involving murder and trafficking in controlled substances. Additionally, Houston and White were found guilty of felon in possession of firearms and ammunition; Deaguise Hall and Simmeon Hall were found guilty of possession of cocaine base with an intent to distribute. Sentencing hearings have have not been scheduled. White faces a maximum of 40 years in prison. Houston faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. Lewis, Deaguise Hall and Simmeon Hall each face a maximum of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the United States sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal court system. Co-defendants, Devante Atwell French, Michael Linn Cross, Lashawn D. James Hensley, Ricky Lee Childs, Jr., Timothy Justin Beaver, Rasheem Damonte Bogan, Kylea Dapri Cartwright, Jr., and Cortez Deangelo Cooper, Jr. were also charged as part of the investigation. A jury trial for co-defendants French, Cross, and Hensley is scheduled for Aug. 5. A jury trial for co-defendants Beaver, Bogan, Cartwright, Childs and Cooper is scheduled for Nov. 4. The Quad Cities community deserves to go about their days free from the threat of violence used by these defendants, said U. S. Attorney Richard Westphal. Whether individually or as part of a gang, people that choose to use violence as part of their criminal enterprise will be held accountable. Our gratitude to the multiple local, state and federal law enforcement officers who spent countless hours working on this investigation. Showing, as police officers do every day, that the protection of the community is their highest priority. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department, the Rock Island Police Department, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa State Patrol, the Moline Police Department, the Scott County Sheriffs Office, the Bettendorf Police Department, the Des Moines Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Suspect accused mua J.C. is of attempting to assasinate Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is getting transported to the specialised criminal court (TS) in Pezinok. The prosecutor is proposing detention for the suspect. The TS will decide on the motion to take the accused into custody. Martin Baumann/TASR/dpa Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was critically injured in an assassination attempt on Wednesday, is in stable condition, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said on Saturday. After his second operation on Friday, there is cause for optimism, the minister said. However, Fico cannot yet be transferred to the capital, Bratislava, in the coming days, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak said. A panel of doctors is to decide on Monday whether he is to be transferred. The prime minister is currently recovering in the university hospital Banska Bystrica, close to the small town of Handlova where he was shot. Also on Saturday, the gunman who attacked Fico was remanded in custody, following a decision by a special court responsible for organized and politically motivated crime in the western city of Pezinok, court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova told dpa. She said this was due to the risk he might abscond and carry out further acts of violence. The decision can be appealed. The man was detained directly after the shooting on Wednesday. Reports, citing the police, said he had already pleaded guilty during questioning. The public prosecutor's office asked for him to be held in pre-trial detention and the court heard Juraj C, as he is known under privacy rules, on Saturday morning. He had been expecting Fico after a government meeting in Handlova and shot at him at close range. Fico, 59, was hit by several gunshots and has since undergone two operations. The suspect, 71, was charged on Thursday with attempted murder. He was described by authorities as a "lone wolf" motivated by political grievances. The attack, in the deeply divided nation, sent shock waves around the world. Since then, there has been an increase in threats against other politicians in the country, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told the daily newspaper Pravda on Saturday. Since then, there has been an increase in threats against other politicians in the country, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told the daily newspaper Pravda on Saturday. A member of parliament from Smer, the largest governing party led by Fico, had also been threatened. A perpetrator has been identified in both cases. Earlier death threats against the liberal opposition leader Michal Simecka and his family had already been made public. Apart from specific death threats, the number of aggressive comments on social media has also increased significantly, Slovakian media reported, citing experts. Police officers stand guard at the Specialized Criminal Court, where the interrogation of the accused of the assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico should take place. alek Vaclav/CTK/dpa 1 person has died and another is hurt after a fiery tanker truck crash in Colorado This image provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shows the remains of a tanker truck after a crash on Colorado's main east-west highway near Denver on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Jefferson County Sheriff's Office via AP) DENVER (AP) One person died and another was hospitalized after a vehicle crashed into a tanker truck carrying fuel on Colorado's main east-west highway near Denver on Thursday, sending up a fireball and a huge plume of black smoke, authorities said. The crash happened on the westbound Interstate 70 near Morrison, 18 miles (30 kilometers) west of Denver, where the highway begins its climb into the mountains. The tanker truck, which was carrying diesel and gasoline, was parked on the shoulder when another vehicle crashed into it, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said. Investigators are still looking into why, he said. A person in the vehicle died, and the truck driver was hospitalized, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said. Details on the truck driver's injuries were not available, Moltrer said. A photo released by the sheriff's office showed the charred remains of a vehicle smashed into the back of the tanker truck. The sheriff's office originally said that up to six other vehicles besides the tanker were involved based on reports of vehicles stopped on the highway, but it was only the truck and one other vehicle, Kelley said. The fire from the crash set off small grass fires on either side of the interstate, but they were quickly extinguished, she said. The crash shut down a stretch of the interstate in both directions. Some of the spilled fuel and fire traveled through a culvert under the eastbound side of the highway. So engineers had to check to make sure the roadway was still structurally sound, Moltrer said. Hello, its the weekend. This is The Weekender Come for the utterly unhinged conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic (it originated with snake venom getting spilled into drinking water!), and stay for internal feuding at the Stew Peters Network a far-right media company that has peddled conspiracy theories, anti-gay hate speech, racism, and antisemitism about who is paying for failed GOP Senate candidate Lauren Witzkes car. This week I worked with TPM reporter Hunter Walker on this convoluted, entertaining and downright disturbing story about the petty drama unfolding behind the scenes at the Stew Peters Network, as Stew Peters, the online hate-speech broadcaster who has hosted top Republicans on his show, takes his fellow producers of a coronavirus conspiracy theory documentary to court. Read it here. Heres what else TPM has on tap this weekend: Kate Riga cautions against taking the Supreme Courts decision to save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a sign of moderation from the high court. Josh Kovensky unpacks a portion of Michael Cohens testimony during the Trump trial this week that focused specifically on a phone call Cohen placed one that was seemingly, at least in part, about an annoying teenager before making a payment to Stormy Daniels. Khaya Himmelman reports on the DOJs efforts to clamp down on election related violence as Trump and his allies stoke fears about 2024. Emine Yucel wonders why everyone is using their wives as scapegoats. Nicole Lafond The Fifth Circuit Is In For A Beatdown Thursdays Supreme Court decision validating the constitutional soundness of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not only reversed the Fifth Circuit, but did so via one of the appellate courts brothers-in-ideological-arms, Clarence Thomas. The argument against the CFPB, targeting its funding structure, was weak enough that only Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch had the appetite to embrace it. Doily-like arguments are no impediment either to the mostly right-wing judges on the Fifth Circuit, some of whom are openly auditioning for maybe future President Donald Trumps SCOTUS shortlist. This trend is likely to continue. Two high-profile cases coming down the pike one on whether people under domestic-violence restraining orders can have guns, and one on reimposing restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone saw even the right-wing justices squirm during oral arguments. If it acts on those instincts, the Court would reverse the Fifth Circuit twice more. Death, taxes, think pieces tripping over themselves to credit the Court for its moderation. While there will inevitably be columns written by people making a lot more money than I am about how this rash of cases represents some great, cloak-swathed pivot to the center, it just doesnt. The Supreme Court repeatedly overturning the Fifth Circuit is much more about the extremity of the latter than the reasonableness of the former. Some members of the benchs right flank still care about the appearance of impartiality. They still get puffed up and sputtery when even right-wing litigants bring them transparently stupid arguments. This dynamic is much rarer at the Fifth, a court populated with judges molded more in Alitos image than John Roberts. If the Supreme Court does uphold a very thin layer of protection for victims of domestic violence, if it keeps mifepristone accessible as usual nationwide, those are causes for (muted) celebration. But dont let anyone tell you its because the Court is getting better the Fifth is just getting worse. Kate Riga An Imperfect Phone Call In late October 2016, Michael Cohen called Trumps bodyguard Keith Schiller. The election was two weeks away, and Michael Cohen was on the verge of completing a task that he, and others, saw as critical to the campaigns survival: paying off Stormy Daniels, thereby preventing her story of a sexual encounter with Donald Trump from going public. Cohen told prosecutors this week that Schiller handed the phone to Trump, who approved Cohen transferring her the money. On cross-examination on Friday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche produced texts and elicited testimony from Cohen suggesting that the call might have had another, extremely Michael Cohen-esque purpose: fending off a 14-year-old prank caller. Cohen testified that a teen had been bothering him around the time of the phone call, and texts shown during trial documented him complaining about the pestering teen to Schiller. He altered his testimony from what he provided on direct, saying that he spoke to Schiller first, and then asked for the phone to be handed to Trump so they could discuss Daniels. The problem here is that phone logs show that the call lasted a little more than one minute. Blanche expressed incredulity that Cohen could have managed both on one call; as I saw it, Cohen himself seemed somewhat doubtful. After an otherwise extremely digressive cross, Blanche managed to land a real blow here perhaps the most damaging one of the trial. The damage is limited there were other calls, and other credible instances in which Trump clearly knew what was going on. Apart from everything else, it must have been an extremely weird and harrowing experience for the 14-year old. We were shown texts in which Cohen, weeks out from the election, threatened to call the Secret Service on the teen unless he received the contact information for the 14-year olds parents. Josh Kovensky DOJ Tries To Get Out Ahead Of 2024 Violence While Trump Stokes It Justice Department officials this week warned against the increasingly pressing threat to election workers ahead of the 2024 election, and emphasized the departments commitment to combating these threats and holding those who perpetuate violence against election workers accountable. Attorney General Merrick Garland, ahead of a meeting of the Election Threats Task Force, developed in 2021 to specifically address the issue of election worker violence, spoke to reporters about the rising threat to election workers. We are meeting today for the same reason I launched this Task Force three years ago: we have seen a dangerous increase in violent threats against public servants, the ones who administer our elections, he said. Those threats endanger our democracy itself. According to the Justice Department, as of last August, the committee has brought charges in 14 cases and has had nine convictions related to election worker threats. As Garland noted on Monday, the committee secured the guilty plea of a man who said a Michigan election worker was deserving of a throat to the knife. The committee also secured a two and a half year sentence for a man who threatened to lynch an Arizona election official, among others. Each of these cases should serve as a warning: If you threaten to harm or kill an election worker, volunteer, or official, the Justice Department will find you, Garland said. And we will hold you accountable. Garlands message comes at a time when election denying Republicans are sowing seeds of distrust in the countrys election system, only increasing the likelihood of further violence against election workers in the fall. Election experts previously noted to TPM that the violence and intimidation are only expected to ramp up this year and will be particularly pervasive if the election is close. I think theres going to be this push just like we saw in 2020 against the system and against officials, former registrar of voters for Orange County, California Neal Kelley previously told TPM. Khaya Himmelman Everyone Is Blaming The Wife In Fridays Morning Memo, we caught you up on the shenanigans of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito who blamed his wife when the New York Times asked him about an American flag that was flying upside down outside his Virginia home in the run-up to Bidens inauguration, a symbol that was also used at the time by Stop the Steal demonstrators. This kind of blame-shifting seems to be in vogue Alito isnt the only political figure to point the finger at his wife, screaming not it, recently. During opening arguments this week in Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) federal bribery trial, Menendezs attorney argued that his wife Nadine Menendez was involved in business dealings the senator was not aware of. The lawyer even claimed the gold bars that brought so much attention to the case were locked in Mrs. Menendez closet. Now accusing your wife of bad judgment to protect your political career is one thing but accusing your wife who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer Well, Im not sure how politically sound of a defense that is. Now to be fair, Nadine Menendez was also charged as part of the same federal investigation. So the prosecutors agree that Mrs. Menendez, whos trial was postponed until July due to her diagnosis, was a part of the alleged crimes committed. But they are arguing that the evidence they will present during trial will show the New Jersey senator was aware of his wifes actions. On Capitol Hill, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) whos been a vocal critic of Menedez seems to be on the same boat as us confused as to how smart the blame-your-wife strategy is. I cant imagine anybody in his legal circles would think that throwing your wife under the bus was ever good, Fetterman told Politico. And now that she is sick with cancer, I cant really think thats a smart PR move. I dont even see the legal upside on that. Emine Yucel Words Of Wisdom I think he is praying. But if he is sleeping [he] certainly looks pretty while he sleeps. Maybe its an endearing moment of prayer though. I know when I fall asleep on airlines, you know my mouth kind of drops open, and you know his mouth is kind of tight-lipped so maybe its a somber moment of thought. Thats Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting commenting on a photo of former President Trump with his eyes closed, dozing off, during his New York hush money trial. Im not going to get into whether Trump is the sleeping beauty Boebert claims he is mostly because theres not much to discuss there But lets be honest here folks, we all have eyes. Trump was sleeping in that photo. Several news outlets even reported it as such, saying he was spotted with his head drooping and mouth slack on multiple occasions. Emine Yucel Firefighters knocked down a fire Friday at Summerfield United Methodist Church, a vacant east-side church that closed last June. A Milwaukee Fire Department official said the cause of the fire was still under investigation. No one was injured, and crews were heading home about an hour after they were called to the church at North Cass Street and East Juneau Avenue about 5:15 p.m. The fire was on the second floor of the parsonage, the official said. A video posted to X, formerly Twitter, showed smoke billowing out of upstairs windows. The parsonage, or pastor's house, is connected to the church building. x.com Summerfield was the oldest Methodist congregation in Wisconsin. The historic building, constructed in 1904 as the successor to Summerfields first church, closed after local United Methodist Church leaders determined the building needed an estimated $1.3 million in repairs. Its congregation had dwindled to just 11 members, none under 65 years old. Summerfield was the birthplace of Goodwill Industries of Wisconsin and held some of the citys first Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Members served hot meals several times a week to the homeless and hungry until its June 2023 closure. Bob Sarsfield poses for a photo at Summerfield United Methodist Church on June 25, 2023, in Milwaukee. The local district of the United Methodist Church the denomination's governing body in southeast Wisconsin still owns the property, and it has been for sale, said Bob Sarsfield, the former chairman of Summerfield's trustees committee. Sarsfield was the church's de facto administrator, handyman and one of its biggest champions. Reached Friday evening, Sarsfield said he did not know what caused the fire, as he had heard the electricity was mostly shut off. A management company was put in charge of keeping the building secure, he said. He heard that a few recent break-ins had occurred but didn't know what might have been taken. "There's hardly anything left in there," he said. Sarsfield recently had been going through boxes of old photographs. He was looking at photos of the church sanctuary, and his mother singing in the choir, and feeling nostalgic. "I have all these old memories," he said. "I hope it's not anything disastrous." This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee firefighters battle fire at closed United Methodist church ISLAMABAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed to launch an initiative to combat child stunting across the country, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Chairing a meeting here on Friday, the prime minister said that children's best growth and development are crucial for Pakistan's bright future, and a nationwide awareness campaign to prevent stunting is essential. The meeting was informed that a large number of children in Pakistan are at risk of stunted growth due to lack of basic health facilities and essential nutrients, as well as use of contaminated water, the statement added. Sharif also directed the relevant authorities to immediately present a comprehensive national plan to address these issues. According to last year's World Bank report, over 40 percent of Pakistan's children under 5 are stunted, as compared to the South Asian average of 31 percent. Stunting is most closely associated with brain development and physical growth and may render long-term mental and physical impacts on the child, thereby depriving them of the ability to live a fulfilling life, the bank said in the report. First Black man who trained as astronaut finally going to space at 90 on Bezos rocket Ed Dwight, the first Black man to train as an astronaut, in 2023. On Sunday, he will become the oldest person to go to space (Getty Images for National Geogra) Ed Dwight, the first Black man to train to be an astronaut, never ended up making it to space 60 years ago. But that will all change this weekend. On Sunday, Mr Dwight, aged 90, will join five others on a Blue Origin flight, the space travel company owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. The 11-minute flight will take them into zero gravity, so passengers can experience weightlessness and view the Earths horizon, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr Dwight, who grew up in Kentucky under segregation, joined the Air Force in 1953. The decision lead him to almost becoming one of the countrys first astronauts. Ed Dwight, the first Black man to train as an astronaut, pictured in 2023. On Sunday, he will become the oldest person to go to space (Getty Images for National Geogra) In 1961, the US established the Aerospace Research Pilot School. President John F Kennedys administration urged them to recruit a Black Air Force officer, and soon afterwards, Mr Dwight received a letter inviting him to attend, the Associated Press reported. While there, he experienced racism from his colleagues including First Commandant of the school, Chuck Yaeger, who died in 2020. They were all instructed to give me the cold shoulder, Mr Dwight said of his fellow trainees earlier this year. Yeager had a meeting with the students and the staff in the auditorium and announced it that Washington was trying to shove this N-word down our throats. Ed Dwight (centre) pictured with fellow trainees in 1963 at the Aerospace Research Pilot School. Mr Dwight retired from the Air Force in 1966 (Getty Images) As the program went on, Mr Dwight became one of 26 people recommended by Air Force officials to join NASA. But when the space organisation released their list of chosen astronauts in 1963, Mr Dwight didnt make the cut, according to the Associated Press. After JFK was assassinated, Mr Dwight said that he thought his career as an astronaut was finished, The Wall Street Journal reports. He retired from the Air Force in 1966. Ed Dwight, centre, with the five others who will join him in space on Sunday. Mr Dwight, the first Black man to train to be an astronaut, was rejected by NASA just before President John F Kennedy was assassinated (BLUE ORIGIN/AFP via Getty Images) On Sunday, Mr Dwight will become the oldest person to go to space, surpassing Star Trek actor William Shatner by a matter of months after he flew in 2021 at the age of 90 with Blue Origin. Mr Dwight told the Associated Press that he is proud to have been a role model for the Black astronauts who came after him. Its good for them in that they didnt have to go through this crap that I went through, it was a goddamn distraction, he said. Its like wanting to have eyes in the back of your head for all the stuff that was coming at you. I had to absorb that graciously. If I talked about it Oh, crybaby! You couldnt do this and you couldnt do that. Thats what would have happened if I stepped up to the mic and complained, he continued. The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket pictured launching. Mr Dwights son and grandchildren will watch him take off in the aircraft on Sunday (AFP via Getty Images) Mr Dwights son, Chris Dwight, told The Wall Street Journal he will be watching his father take off on Sunday. Mr Dwights grandchildren will be there to cheer him on, too. Its really going to hit home for them what their grandfather has accomplished, Chris Dwight told the Journal. I think its going to be one of those things like, Wow, that is my family, my forebears, that is going into space, something not many people have done. Photo: Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The first recruitment centre of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been launched in Kyiv. Source: press service of Special Operations Forces (SOF) Quote: "From now on, those who want to join the Special Operations Forces can get detailed information and professional support offline." Details: The Special Operations Forces recruitment centre provides consultations on training, support and conditions of service in the Special Operations Forces, as well as assistance in selecting a military speciality. In addition, the Special Operations Forces promise full legal support in registration when entering the service. Background: On 9 May 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Serhii Lupanchuk from the post of Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appointed to this position Oleksandr Trepak, Hero of Ukraine. Learn more about the work of SOF fighters: Boldly and professionally: Ukrainian special forces post video of them raiding Russian strong point video Ukraine's Special Operations Forces behind attack that claimed lives of 400 Russian soldiers Ukraine's Special Operations Forces reveal details of missile launch on Russian submarine in Crimea "Pirates of the Kherson Sea": how Special Operations Forces crossed the river bottom to reach occupiers of a village Support UP or become our patron! I will never forget the crushing sense of disbelief, horror and dread the night that Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. The bad feelings did not diminish over the course of his term in office, even as many in the same anti-woke, pro-free-speech stable as me began to caveat their objections to the buffoonish talk-show lout who was now the president of the United States. Eventually, many in this crowd became veritable cheerleaders for Trump. The more sober-minded among them pointed to his tough-guy approach to Americas enemies, which saw him shake hands with North Koreas Kim Jong Un, scrap the dangerous Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran, and move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Others seemed to enjoy his destruction of longstanding political norms including his denial of the results of the 2020 presidential election. I remain profoundly opposed to the yellow-headed loudmouth even as I have to admit that he achieved some significant political coups while president, and he may do so again were he to return to power. Indeed, as we face what is surely the grimmest American election in generations, I find myself able to understand, for the first time, why some perfectly good, reasonable people might decide to vote for Trump. He is a ludicrous and, to me, a frightening figure to be in the running for a second pass at leading the free world but at least, beyond a worrying question over whether hell go soft on Putin, his foreign policy wont revolve around appeasing the Wests mortal enemies. Joe Bidens approach towards Israel and the Middle East has been particularly dangerous, and with Left-wing anti-Semitic rhetoric in relation to the campaign in Gaza intensifying and Jews facing threats on all fronts, pollsters and pundits are beginning to suggest that a small but significant Jewish vote important in states like Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona may be swinging Trumpwards. By 2020, as compared to 2016, Trumps appeal was growing among Jewish voters, but since October 7 it appears to have increased yet further. Biden once pledged ironclad support for Israel, but he has since shifted to a position apparently designed to pander to the pro-Palestinian mob (who absurdly call him genocide Joe, despite the cautiousness of his support for Jerusalem so far). From his endless threats and chastisements of Israel, to his disgraceful warning that he could cut off military aid at Israelis hour of greatest need, its a terrifying picture. His inner-circle appointments are hardly better. He placed Maher Bitar on the National Security Council. According to the Jewish News Syndicate, Bitar was a leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that organised a boycott, divestment and sanctions programme against Israel hardly the most reassuring appointment for US intelligence. Most recently, we have watched the grotesque performance of American college students endorsing Palestinian resistance carried out against Jews by Hamas rapists and murderers. These students apparent worship of violence and anti-Semitism has shocked decent people to the core. But rather than stand firm, influential representatives of Bidens party have actually appeared to encourage them. Indeed, the Democrats increasingly seem to be under the influence of viciously anti-Israel activists and members of Congress. Only a small fraction of American undergraduates participated in this evil nonsense or even regard the USs relations with Israel as an important issue. It might be argued, therefore, that the horrific spectacle on campuses can be ignored. To Jews, however, that is not an option. It is obvious, thanks to the painful lessons of history, that the question of how America approaches Israel is intimately tied to our fate, wherever we are. The United States has always had isolationist tendencies, but those tendencies have never coincided with so much homegrown sympathy for terrorism and hatred of Israel. Thus when Trump says that Biden has totally lost control of the Israel situation, as he did last month, and suggests that Jews who vote for Biden should have their head examined, one has to admit he has a point. Even moderates can see this. Mark Penn, former Bill Clinton campaign supremo and now a highly-respected pollster, wrote recently in the New York Times: Mr Bidens campaign has fundamentally miscalculated on Israel [many of his potential voters] back our ally Israel unreservedly and, I believe, want to see a president who would put maximum pressure on Hamas to release hostages ... The more Mr Biden has pandered to the Left by softening his support of Israel, the weaker he looks, and the more his foreign policy ratings have declined. Polling suggests that, among most voters, housing, the cost of living, healthcare and the everyday issues affecting people come top of the list of concerns. But if the United States allows the evil power-mongers in the new anti-Western axis China, Russia, Iran, North Korea to get away with the murder they so fervently desire, there wont be a life in the West worth defending anymore. Since October 7, Jews have been forced to see this. For a growing number, this translates into a sense that, next to Biden, Trump may be more capable not just of the fighting talk but of the fighting actions required to keep the world order under American control and therefore safe for Jews and non-Jews alike. 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. Flagler County Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore addresses parents in a video message posted on the district's website Friday following a chaotic week of disruptions, including bomb threats and security procedures. After a week of repeated threats, lockdowns and disruptions at Buddy Taylor Middle School and other Flagler County schools, Superintendent LaShakia Moore said in a video message the district is undeterred from making the year's final week a "great" one. Flagler County authorities announced Friday the arrest of a 13-year-old South Daytona boy who they say was dared by a friend at Buddy Taylor Middle School in Palm Coast to call in a bomb threat. Sheriff Rick Staly said in a press conference Friday he believes that call was a copycat threat of other "swatting" calls that had been made earlier in the week against Buddy Taylor, Wadsworth and Old Kings elementary schools. Moore called it an "intense" week. "We have a very detailed safety protocol that is followed in each of these events," she said, "and our students, our faculty and staff have demonstrated that they are aware of these procedures and that they implemented them extremely well." Students absent from Flagler schools during the past week were given administratively excused absences, but starting Monday, May 20, absences will not be automatically marked as excused, the Flagler district website states. With regard to threats, Moore said the Flagler district does not stand alone. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly told her that at least five other Florida counties have received similar disruptions. Volusia County Schools reported two such calls Thursday. "The sheriff has determined that at this time, there is no credible threat to Flagler County," Moore said. "So all of our planned end-of-the-year events will continue." "If you have a student at home that is in need of any support, we have a counseling team that is available and willing to provide any support that is necessary," Moore said. "It has been been a stressful week for our students, for our faculty, our staff, as well as our sheriff's department, but we are going to do everything in our power to ensure our students have a great end of the year," she said. Just four school days remain before the end of the 2023-24 academic year. School lets out Thursday, May 23. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Schools' final week remains on schedule despite swatting calls A man stands in the mud after a flash flood in Baghlan, Afghanistan, on May 11, 2024. File Photo by Samiullah Popal/EPA-EFE May 18 (UPI) -- Flash floods triggered by heavy rain killed 50 people Friday in Afghanistan's Ghor province, government officials said. The Afghan Ministry of Refugees in a post on X Saturday said dozens of people also are missing, and 6,000 houses are partially or totally destroyed. The floods also destroyed hundreds of hectares of farm land, hundreds of bridges and killed thousands of cattle, the ministry said. In the provincial capital of Firozkoh, some 2,000 shops are underwater, and most roads leading to the city are cut off. Ghor's disaster management department declared an "emergency situation" and a need from survivors for shelter, food and water. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for Afghanistan's Taliban government, in a string of posts on X expressed condolences for families of the victims and called on "responsible authorities and orgs to provide all necessary support to alleviate the suffering, ensuring comprehensive assistance and fostering solidarity with affected people." "To our benevolent donors, we appeal for assistance in aiding the affected families, and we urge them not to withhold their generosity in this time of need." Northern Afghanistan, which includes the provinces of Ghor, Badakhshan, Baghlan and Herat, has suffered severe flooding over the past several weeks. Baghlan was the worst-hit region, and the U.N. World Food Program said the region is still inaccessible by truck. At least 300 people have been killed in the past several weeks, the United Nations announced, and that number is expected to increase as more reports come in. The unseasonal rainfall comes after a prolonged period of drought earlier this year. More than 100 people and over 600 animals died in April from flash floods in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last spring, thousands of people in western Afghanistan were killed by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The disaster was followed by a string of summer flash floods that killed over 30 people. Climate analysts warned that the war-torn country, which fell back under Taliban control in 2021, is one of the least prepared countries to deal with the impacts of global climate change. A view of flooding of the River Theel, which inundated parts of Lebach town center. Harald Tittel/dpa According to the district administration, the flooding situation in the Trier-Saarburg district of western Germany has eased in the early hours of Saturday. "The water levels of the Saar and other bodies of water are peaking or beginning to fall," the district's technical operations centre announced shortly before 2 am on Saturday (0000 GMT). The evacuation of the lower-lying neighbourhoods in Schoden an der Saar had been successfully completed by early Saturday morning. According to the district administration, 220 people were accommodated in a gymnasium in Saarburg-Beurig. A retirement home was also evacuated in Saarburg and a hotel in Trittenheim on the Middle Moselle. Around 50 people were taken to temporary accommodation in a gymnasium. Around 1,000 people were deployed overnight on Friday night, according to a statement from the district administration. Additional reinforcements and support arrived from neighbouring districts. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has cancelled an election campaign appearance planned for Saturday in Saarland. Instead, he will visit the district together with state Premier Anke Rehlinger to get an idea of the situation on the ground, a government spokesperson announced in Saarbrucken on Friday evening. Florida sales tax holiday set for hurricane season these items are eligible ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) Florida residents can soon take advantage of a sales tax holiday to prepare for hurricane season. Both of Floridas 14-day Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holidays are coming up: June 1-15 and August 24- Sept. 6. The tax holidays come after Gov. Ron Desantis signed HB 7063 into law, according to the release. During the tax holidays, residents can purchase the following items without paying sales tax: Mobile County man guilty of taking money, not doing the work, on both sides of the Bay Cans or pouches of wet food ($10 or less) Manual can openers, collapsible or travel-size food and water bowls for pets, cat litter pans, pet waste disposal bags, hamster or rabbit substrate ($15 or less) Pet leashes, collars and muzzles, pet pads, reusable ice ($20 or less) Cat litter ($25 or less) Paper towels, toilet paper and soap ($30 or less) Candles, flashlights, lanterns and pet beds ($40 or less) Batteries, excluding automobile and boat batteries ($50 or less) Radios powered by battery, solar or hand-crank ($50 or less) Coolers, portable power banks ($60 or less) Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors ($70 or less) Tarps, ground anchor systems, portable pet kennels, bags of dry dog or cat food, over-the-counter pet medications ($100 or less) Portable generators ($3000 or less) I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity, Escambia County Emergency Manager Travis Tompkins said. The prediction forecast for this hurricane season is shaping up to be substantial. Use this time to prepare your plan and your disaster kit. For more information and a list of qualifying items, visit the Florida Department of Revenues website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Forever changed: Terrorism victims push for passage of new bill to fix U.S. victims fund Jane Synnestvedt survived unimaginable horror. She was on board TWA Flight 847 in 1985 when the plane was hijacked by terrorists after taking off from Athens. The FBI says the hijackers were connected to the terrorist organization Hizballah. When your freedoms are taken away, it changes your life, Synnestvedt told our Washington News Bureau. There are a lot of people that have a lot of long-term issues from being in a situation where youre held against your will. Synnestvedt is from Jacksonville, FL and shared her journey this week on Capitol Hill with details that are hard to hear. We zig zagged across the Mediterranean with passengers being beaten and tortured, Synnestvedt said during a press conference Thursday. Robert Stedan, a Navy SEAL diver was brutally murdered, and his body thrown onto the airport tarmac for the world to see. Read: Florida reports record-breaking tourism numbers in 2023 Synnestvedt came to Washington, D.C. with other survivors and victims family members to push for the passage of a new bill in Congress meant to help American families of victims and survivors of state-sponsored terrorism. Congress established a fund in 2015 called the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST Fund) that gives compensation to victims and survivors who won judgements in court after a terrorist attack. But much of that money hasnt been making it to the people who need it. It hasnt provided enough relief, said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). Weve only given four distributions in nine years to the families, and they need more support. Read: FBI, DHS warn 2024 Pride events could be targeted by foreign terrorists groups The new bipartisan American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act is meant to correct those failures by providing funding and requiring payouts every year starting this year. The bill also enhances Congressional oversight of the fund. The House bill is sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY). Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are leading a companion bill in the Senate. This legislation has been a long time coming, said Lawler. It reaffirms our commitment to support these families and ensure they receive the support they deserve. Read: Like an explosion: Kia fuel tank issues could affect over 200,000 vehicles Although financial compensation cannot bring back their loved ones families, my district and across the country can rebuild their lives with the funds that they are entitled to through their judgements, said Malliotakis. Angela Mistrulli has been advocating for reforming the fund for years. Her father Joseph Mistrulli was killed in the World Trade Center in the September 11th terror attacks. Birthdays and anniversaries and holidays are forever changed, and we have to grow and evolve in that pain and trauma to live a normal life, Mistrulli told our Washington News Bureau. Its extremely difficult. You dont realize the void that is left in your life when a family member, especially a family member so close, being a father, or mother, or brother or sister is snatched. It reshapes you and theres a lot of trauma. Read: Can Florida go two in a row? FWC hopes to keep boating fatalities low this month The fund is paid for with criminal penalties and seized assets, not from taxpayer dollars. We told you earlier this month how a watchdog report warned the fund is running low on money. Survivors say fixing the fund is long overdue to help those with lifelong emotional scars. Victims of terrorism carry a prolonged grief with them throughout their lifetime, said Mistrulli. You think youre doing well and then you meet with people who have gone through the same thing and its difficult, said Synnestved. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. KIEV, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signed legislation allowing certain convicts to join the country's armed forces, the parliament press service reported. The legislation, which was adopted by the parliament on May 8, enables certain categories of convicts to be enlisted for military service under a contract during martial law. In exchange, the convicts will be granted the possibility to get parole from serving their sentences. The new law will not apply to prisoners who were convicted for crimes against Ukraine's national security, intentional murder of two or more persons, and other serious crimes. Last week, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said that Ukraine has the potential to conscript between 10,000 and 20,000 convicts, according to media reports. On May 18, a law to tighten military mobilization rules, which aims to recruit more troops for the country's armed forces, will take effect in Ukraine. James Darrell Hickox, a 38-year-old former Nassau County deputy and Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges including conspiring to distribute narcotics, defrauding the United States, and tax evasion. Hickox faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in federal prison, with a mandatory minimum of 5 years for the drug distribution conspiracy. Additionally, he has agreed to forfeit money, firearms, and ammunition linked to his crimes. READ: Beyond angry: Nassau sheriff addresses former deputys arrest on federal drug charge Hickoxs plea agreement details his involvement in a series of corrupt activities from 2017 to 2023. Along with a co-conspirator, Hickox stole money and illegal drugs seized during investigations, provided substances like fentanyl and cocaine to others for distribution, and concealed over $420,000 in illicit earnings from the IRS. The conspirators additionally stole over 1,000 pounds of marijuana and a kilogram of cocaine from evidence, falsifying paperwork to cover up these thefts. A federal search warrant executed on March 10, 2023, at Hickoxs residence uncovered 263 grams of fentanyl-laced powder, cocaine, and an illegally modified rifle. Additional firearms, which should have been entered into evidence or destroyed, were also found, including one with an obliterated serial number. Investigators also recovered more than $195,000 in cash from Hickoxs illicit activities and 260 methamphetamine pills from his workspace. The FBI and the IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case, with support from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The U.S. Attorneys Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney William S. Hamilton prosecuted the case. Authorities extend their gratitude to the Nassau County Sheriffs Office and the DEA for their cooperation during the investigation. Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said in a statement released in March that he was disgusted when learning about the allegations against Hickox. Here is Leepers statement in full: I believe we must make sure law enforcement officers who break the law are held accountable. I was shocked, disappointed, disgusted and beyond angry when I heard the allegations against Sergeant Hickox. He has let down his co-workers, our community, thrown away his career, as well as embarrassed his family. I am firmly committed to holding our employees to the highest ethical standards. Although law enforcement officers are human and humans make mistakes, his actions are unforgivable. We will do whatever it takes to ensure we are holding ourselves accountable. That means we will be looking at our policies and procedures to review anything that could be changed to prevent anything like this from happening again. I want to thank the FBI for their investigation into these crimes while Sergeant Hickox was assigned as a Task Force Officer for DEA in Jacksonville. Our profession relies heavily on trust and I will never tolerate this type of conduct at the Nassau County Sheriffs Office. His poor judgement and criminal behavior should not reflect negatively on all the good men and women at NCSO who go out every day and do it the right way to keep our citizens safe. [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. One of the Idaho Senates most outspoken far-right lawmakers, Brian Lenney, this GOP primary election is defending his seat against a challenge from the former senator Lenney defeated in the 2022 primary an expensive race thats become a microcosm of the conflict within the state Republican Party. Lenney faces Jeff Agenbroad, a former three-term senator, in the May 21 primary to represent District 13 in southeast Nampa. The repeat race is widely viewed as a potential harbinger in the Legislature, where Lenney and fellow members of the far-right Idaho Freedom Caucus picked up seats two years ago and have since battled with the partys more traditional members. Agenbroad, who co-chaired the Legislatures powerful budget-setting committee, was one of five committee chairs to lose their Senate primary to a challenger in 2022, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. What happens in District 13 could indicate how much sway the far-right still has in the fractious Republican Party. The lobbyists will have their champion Lenney and Agenbroad have been competing over fundraising this spring, with Lenney pulling in more than $52,000 and Agenbroad raising over $63,000. The two candidates have also sparred over each others Republican bona fides, with Lenney accusing Agenbroad of being an insufficient conservative who supports too much government spending and has the backing of corporations. Meanwhile, Agenbroad has charged Lenney with being a bomb-throwing activist for the far-right who scorns some of his constituents and is unable to build consensus. Im here as a member of the Idaho Freedom Caucus to serve the people and defend our constitutional rights, while hes focused on serving lobbyists, unions, bureaucrats, and the executive branch, Lenney told the Statesman in an email. If my challenger manages to return, the lobbyists will have their champion, the bureaucrats their puppet, and Idahoans will get a backseat role in their own governance. Lenney, a close ally of the powerful Idaho Freedom Foundation, is known for having fringe views about the COVID-19 pandemic and an aggressive stance against what he calls the woke agenda. He has been endorsed by Idaho Freedom Action, the political arm of IFF, and Attorney General Raul Labrador. In committee hearings, Lenney sponsored bills this year to limit the power of public health districts and ban mask mandates. During those presentations, he frequently used air quotes when describing the pandemic. Last month, Lenney called members of Congress waiving Ukrainian flags disgusting Nazi flag-waving sellouts in a post on X. Russias invasion of Ukraine has now exceeded two years. In addition to his wish to cut new government spending, Lenney has endorsed the view that public schools indoctrinate children to become LGBTQ+. In response to a post about celebrities with transgender children, Lenney wrote there are not a lot of trans homeschool kids. What is a legislator elected to do? In an interview with the Statesman, Agenbroad touted his record of passing legislation, noting that he sponsored 106 bills while he was in the Senate, 99% of which passed. He pointed to Lenneys frequent votes along with other members of the Freedom Caucus against agency budgets, as well as several legislative efforts Lenney brought forward this year that failed to become law: a bill to add protections against frivolous lawsuits and the bills to limit public health districts and mask mandates. He said Lenney has spent his time in the Senate throwing bombs and making noise but has not worked with a broad group of lawmakers to make policy changes. Agenbroad said he generally supported agency budget bills because he believed in the budget committees process, and that he backs Idaho corporations that support the states economy. Agenbroad has support from agricultural entities like the Idaho Cattle Association and Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police and the firefighters union. What is a legislator elected to do? he said. Just put their voice out there with a bigger megaphone, or are they actually elected to get something done on behalf of the people they represent? MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A man who was previously classified as a sexually violent predator will be released and will no longer be classified as such, the Madera County Sheriffs Office announced on Friday. According to deputies, on Thursday a judge in the Merced Superior Court ruled Ciro Camacho should no longer be classified as a Sexually Violent Predator and ordered him to be released from the California State Hospital, despite what deputies say is opposing evidence presented by the Merced County District Attorneys Office. Camacho, according to sheriffs officials, was convicted of multiple counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 years old in 1993. Upon release, Camacho indicated he would be residing in Madera County. Deputies indicated they have no influence over the outcome of the hearing nor the decision made, and said they were not involved in the proceedings as well as they have no authority to challenge or alter the judgment rendered in his case. We are deeply disappointed in Judge Jamiesons decision to release Ciro Camacho, particularly in light of the strong opposition by the Merced District Attorneys Office. Should Camacho relocate to Madera County, we are fully committed to enforcing all state registration requirements and keeping the public informed. Our top priority remains the safety and security of our community members, and we appreciate the Merced District Attorneys Office advocating for the continued detention of this individual. Tyson Pogue with the Madera County Sheriffs Office. According to the Sheriffs Office, Camacho remains in custody at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. The Forsyth County Sheriffs Office is mourning the loss of one of their own. K9 Dano had a medical emergency on Thursday night and was rushed to the veterinarian, according to deputies. Sadly, he died early Saturday morning. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] We would like to thank Creekside Animal Hospital, All Pets Emergency Hospital and Blue Pearl Animal Hospital for everything they did for K9 Dano, the sheriffs office wrote on social media. They didnt comment on what type of medical emergency the K9 had. TRENDING STORIES: K9 Dano joined the sheriffs office in January, according to a post from the Instagram account they started for him. He was a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois from Poland and was certified in narcotics detection, tracking, apprehension, evidence detection and obedience. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Fort Worth police ask for publics help identifying 2 thieves who stole beer at gunpoint The Fort Worth Police Department is asking for the publics help identifying two suspects who robbed three packs of beer from a local gas station at gunpoint. Two men wearing baseball caps and shorts entered a Shell gas station in the 9800 block of White Settlement Road around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday, Fort Worth police said on social media on Friday. Security camera footage shows them each take two 12 packs of beer from the cooler. One of them tucks two cases under one arm. As he reaches the front of the store, the suspect pulls a gun out of his shorts with his free hand and points it at someone behind the counter. Both men run toward the front door. The suspect in the lead drops one case of beer as he pushes the door open, the video shows. The suspects hurriedly exit the store and jump into a Toyota Corolla waiting for them in the parking lot. According to the social media post and video, the first suspect was wearing gray shorts, a black sweatshirt and a black baseball cap. The second suspect was dressed in tan shorts, a black hooded sweatshirt, black sandals and a black baseball cap. The suspect car was a dark-colored older model Toyota Corolla with a Michael Jordan sticker on the back window. Security camera footage shows the two robbery suspects fled the Shell gas station, located in the 9800 block of White Settlement Road, in a dark-colored Toyota Corolla with a Michael Jordan sticker on the back window. Anyone with information about the robbery or the identity of the suspects is asked to call Detective Olson at 817-392-4377. Anonymous tips can be phoned in to Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-8477. More top stories from our newsroom: 18-year-old pilot killed in small plane crash in Johnson County Attorneys reach deal on new charges for Timberview school shooter Southlake Carroll says feds didnt provide facts on civil rights complaints [Get our breaking news alerts.] A French minister has accused Azerbaijan of interfering in the politics of New Caledonia, the French Overseas territory that has seen a startling outbreak of fresh political violence. In a TV interview, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said it was "not a fantasy, but a reality" that certain pro-independence leaders in New Caledonia had "made a deal" with Azerbaijan. He also insisted that the French government had no intention of allowing others to interfere in the county's territories. "Even if there are attempts at interference ... France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better," Darmanin said. Azerbaijani diplomats have rejected the allegation, issuing a statement decrying Darmanin's statement as "unfounded" and "a campaign of slander". "We deny any link between the leaders of the Caledonian freedom struggle and Azerbaijan," they insisted. However, French social media users, including supporters of right-wing opposition Republicans, shared images from a TV news report that showed pro-independence New Caledonians wearing t-shirts featuring the Azerbaijani flag. Relations between France and Azerbaijan have been difficult for some time. France is home to a large Armenian diaspora and has taken a hard line against Azerbaijan as it moved to retake control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023, causing thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee. France's stance on that conflict was mentioned in the statement that Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued after Darmanin made his remarks. "We once again strongly condemn the French sides insulting expressions against Azerbaijan and urge to stop the smear campaign against Azerbaijan with unacceptable accusations, such as the massacre of Armenians," reads the statement. "It would be more appropriate if the French Minister of the Interior recalled the history of his country committing crimes against humanity toward local peoples and the brutal murder of millions of innocent people as part of its colonial policy implemented for many years. "Moreover, instead of accusing Azerbaijan of allegedly supporting pro-independence protests in New Caledonia, the Minister of the Interior of France should focus on his countrys failed policy towards the overseas territories that led to such protests. "We once again call on France to stop baseless claims against our country." Another major tinderbox? There have been decades of tensions in New Caledonia between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonisers who want to remain part of France. The latest clashes erupted on Monday following protests over voting reforms that passed in the National Assembly in Paris. Lawmakers approved changes to the French constitution allowing residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections. The number of violent incidents reported in New Caledonia fell slightly on Friday, a day after France imposed a state of emergency. Authorities deployed 1,000 reinforcements for security services and granted them increased powers to quell unrest. man stands in front a burnt car after unrest in Noumea, New Caledonia. - Nicolas Job/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved The top French official in the territory, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, has announced stringent measures under the state of emergency declared by President Emmanuel Macron. The overnight curfew has been extended for the duration of the state of emergency, which will be in place for at least 11 days. French military forces were deployed to protect ports and airports and free up police troops. Exceptions to this curfew include essential public service personnel, urgent medical travel, and critical night-time activities, Le Franc said. He said curfew violations would result in penalties of up to six months in prison and a fine, urging everyone to follow the regulations and help restore order. Nebraska GOP congressional candidate Dan Frei speaks to supporters at his election night gathering. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) OMAHA Republican U.S. House candidate Dan Frei has conceded his GOP primary loss to 2nd District Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. He did so Friday, hours after the largest batch of remaining votes were counted, increasing Bacons margin of victory to 24 percentage points. Bacon won 62%-38%, after adding in Douglas Countys early votes that were returned on Election Day and late votes from other counties. Frei had said he wanted to wait until it was clear the race was over. He did not respond to a reporters calls or texts Friday. In a statement his campaign posted on social media at 5 p.m., Frei thanked supporters for their energy and enthusiasm. His statement said his campaign gave a voice to an obviously significant number of disappointed and disaffected GOP voters. He hinted that he might not be done with politics, saying he hoped to continue to contribute to the populist GOP movement. No endorsement yet Frei told the Examiner on Tuesday night that he had not decided whether he would endorse Bacon and that the two would talk. He had not called Bacon or his campaign as of Friday evening. The Nebraska Republican Party has historically hosted a rally the day after competitive primary races to project unity. No such rally was scheduled this week, however, under the new leadership of the state GOP, which is holding its convention this weekend. Frei, a regional sales director for GreatAmerica Financial Services, fared worse in his second bid for Congress than he did in 2014, when he came within six percentage points of U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. That year, he embraced the tax-and-spending-averse tea party movement. This year, he embraced former President Donald Trump. The basic points of his argument against Bacon were that the four-term incumbent was insufficiently MAGA and cast bad votes. Bacon has endorsed Trump three times, albeit later this year than in 2016 and 2020. Trump stayed out of the Nebraska race. Criticized Bacons budget, Ukraine votes Frei lodged his sharpest criticisms at Bacons support for continuing budget resolutions to keep the government open. He also criticized Bacons votes for military aid to Ukraine. Bacon led the 55th Wing at Nebraskas Offutt Air Force Base. Frei had the support of the new, more populist leadership of the Nebraska GOP, which endorsed him. The state GOP endorsed none of Nebraskas five congressional incumbents, all Republicans. And none of them sought the state partys endorsement this year. Bacon ran on his record, arguing that he is rated as one of the more effective members of Congress. He reminded conservative voters about his previous support for a federal abortion ban and about his politically mixed district. He spent most of his time and money preparing for a general election rematch with State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha. Vargas, a Democrat representing South Omaha, lost to Bacon by about three percentage points in 2022. The post Frei concedes loss to Bacon in Nebraskas 2nd District U.S. House race appeared first on Nebraska Examiner. FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Animal activists from across the Central Valley are set to hold a protest in Fresno this weekend calling for Fresno County and the City of Fresno to fine backyard dog breeders to help reduce the strain on local animal shelters. Mona Ahmed, an animal activist and founder of the nonprofit organization Fresno Furry Friends, says the protest is being held to encourage the City of Fresno and Fresno County to take action. Fresno shelter dog caravan is taking animals to even more states Ahmed says there is a law against backyard breeders, but feels the city and county are not enforcing it. According to Ahmed, backyard breeders are a major part of the overpopulation problem in Fresno. She says at least 50% of animal intakes are from backyard breeders and its only getting worse. These shelters are getting full from backyard breeders, Ahmed said. Fresno protesters want fines for backyard dog breeders In a statement to YourCentralValley.com, the City of Fresno says they are currently in the process of properly authorizing staff to issue citations and enforce the ordinances and appreciates the attention that the animal population crisis is receiving. We discourage breeding that results in higher intakes to local shelters. The City began operation of the animal center on December 1, 2023. City officials are currently in the process of properly authorizing staff to issue citations and enforce our ordinances and will continue to work on providing resources that help the community with responsible pet ownership. The community can help by adopting from the Fresno Animal Center or other local shelter. City of Fresno In a statement to YourCentralValley.com, Fresno County says Fresno Humane Animal Services (FHAS) has not received complaints with specific addresses on unlicensed breeding. Specific information, including addresses, is crucial for FHAS to effectively respond to complaints. Our jurisdiction covers unincorporated Fresno County, and providing detailed information facilitates our ability to investigate and address issues promptly. Fresno County Department of Public Health Fresno County officials add that any animal complaints can be submitted online here. The protest is set to take place Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. at Blackstone Avenue and Shaw Avenue in Fresno. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. Stephen Murrays work in harm reduction doesnt end when he leaves the office at 5 p.m. As the Harm Reduction Program Manager at Boston Medical Center who runs the Prevention Point, he is on call 24/7. Sometimes, his phone rings at 4 a.m. to assist with an overdose. Still, despite the hours and energy he and others put into keeping people who use drugs safe, he usually doesn't go a month without personally knowing someone who dies from a drug overdose. I alternate between feeling numb and feeling overwhelmed by my grief, Murray told Salon in a phone interview. You feel like there is no time to rest because it is just constant. Overdose deaths seem to have peaked in 2022, with an estimated 112,000 Americans dying from an overdose, reaching yet another annual all-time high. Preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that, for the first time in five years, deaths from opioids have dropped a mere 4% per year, with 107,000 overdose deaths overall. While this seems like a positive reversal, it's worth noting that drug overdoses dropped between 2018 and 2019, only to shoot back up again during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of people who use drugs were isolating. The level of carnage, decreasing or not, is still far above historic levels, with an estimated 1 million deaths due to illicit drugs in two decades. And people who use drugs are far from the only individuals affected: federal data released earlier this month found that more than 321,000 American children lost a parent to drug overdose between 2011 and 2021. This crisis is largely driven by increasingly dangerous drugs being introduced into the supply such as opioids like illicit fentanyl, along with drug combinations like opioids plus stimulants and xylazine. The sheer magnitude of the crisis has outpaced the extraordinary efforts many harm reduction workers undertake to reduce overdose deaths. Staff at Prevention Point, a syringe service program in Philadelphia that offers wrap-around medical and community services for people who use drugs, recently experienced five overdoses in a single day, said the organizations director of Drop-In Services Viviana Oritz. Those days are draining, Ortiz told Salon in a video call. I remember in 2019, it was like that for about two months. Harm reduction efforts have saved thousands of lives, yet the value and legitimacy applied to other first responders often dont apply to harm reduction, which is still shrouded in stigma and seen by some to be a controversial approach to the drug crisis, said Gillian Kolla, of the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions in Toronto. A wealth of scientific evidence shows that supervised consumption sites, (where drug use is monitored by medical staff), syringe access programs and naloxone trainings are all helpful tools to combat the overdose crisis. For example, OnPoint in New York, the first legal supervised consumption sites in the U.S., reversed more than 1000 overdoses as of last summer, which otherwise may have been fatal. In spite of this, a group of harm reduction workers at supervised consumption sites in Canada surveyed in a new study published by Kolla in the International Journal of Drug Policy said the lack of broader crisis support from the government contributes to the emotional toll of this work. I regularly have people telling me, All my friends are dead, Kolla told Salon in a phone interview. These overdose prevention sites and supervised consumption sites were not adapted and developed to deal with this level of overdoses. Many in this line of work have experiencing using drugs themselves and employ their lived experiences to help guide others to treatment or safe use. However, this proximity also means that when an overdose happens in the community, its more likely a friend or acquaintance. Harm reduction workers who carry the overdose-reversal medicine naloxone on hand have essentially become the first responders, intervening before paramedics arrive at the scene, Murray said. Naloxone is in the hands of people who are using drugs and who are the closest to the overdose, Murray said. That has shifted the responsibility of overdose response in a lot of ways to people who use drugs and the ones that are supporting them, like harm reduction workers. Although the war on drugs pushes an abstinence-only model that discourages enabling people who used drugs, evidence suggests those strategies have only made the overdose crisis worse. Other research evaluating 100 supervised injection sites in countries that have implemented them has found they not only reduce overdose deaths but also lower community spread of HIV and hepatitis. They also increase the number of people going into treatment programs. If administered in time, naloxone reverses up to 93% of overdoses. In one 2018 study published in the Addictive Behaviors journal, states that enacted laws that improved access to naloxone were associated with a 14% reduction in opioid overdose deaths. But although naloxone is being dispensed at a rate nearly 10-fold since 2016, another study in the Lancet Public Health found Arizona was the only state with an adequate supply of naloxone to meet the need. Regardless, access to naloxone is one element of harm reduction and doesnt address the root of the overdose crisis. Without top-down policy changes that address the mental health crisis, the housing crisis and the racial inequities so interconnected with the overdose crisis, people will continue to die. Often, we would get people back, and then I would show up one week, one month, or one year later to then pronounce that person back from a subsequent fatal overdose, Murray said. That can feel pretty hopeless in a lot of ways. So far, New York is the only U.S. state to offer supervised consumption sites while Canada has 39 operational sites. Most of these were opened through grassroots efforts characteristic of the broader harm reduction movement. As a result, many sites rely on grants or donations and face chronic underfunding, which leaves many harm reduction workers doing volunteer work or being inadequately paid without health benefits or paid time off, per Kolla's study. While harm reduction is often focused on peer and community support, this label can also sometimes get in the way of harm reduction workers getting adequate benefits and pay, Kolla said. The legacy of peer programs means that you often have people who use drugs being brought into organizations to do work either as volunteers so uncompensated or they were just given temporary contracts with no benefits and no possibility for advancement, Kolla said. They need access to benefits because the benefits are crucial in terms of ensuring people have access to things like counseling and support to help them cope with the grief, loss and stress theyre facing from their jobs. To Kolla, this is deeply rooted in stigma against the clients harm reduction workers are serving. In general, the majority of care work is undertaken by underpaid women or marginalized groups, with one 2022 study from the U.S. Department of Labor finding the average care worker was paid $15 an hour. Similarly, many in harm reduction have insufficient wages and no access to benefits. Certain forms of care work, because of who's been doing it and because of the population that they care for, are really valued, and we see that reflected in pay, Kolla said. The care work for people who use drugs is very devalued because people who use drugs are stigmatized and devalued in our society. Many harm reduction organizations do implement supportive measures for staff precisely because they are run by community members who understand the need. In Massachusetts, where Murray is based, harm reduction workers have created an organization specifically designed to support people who have witnessed overdoses called Support After a Death by Overdose. At Prevention Point, in Philly, employees get extra days off every three months and the organization contributes to wellness services for staff. After an overdose occurs, the team gathers to debrief and employees are given the time they need to process the accident. Still, every single overdose is trying. You can be the person that is the most experienced with overdoses and has reversed the most overdoses, but at the end of the day, you are working with a human being, Ortiz said. It can take a toll on you. Gov. Laura Kelly, right, talks with Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit, before a May 14, 2024, event at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) Originally published by The 19th In Meghan Meehan-Drapers first years with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), she noticed something startling: We had more governors named John than we had governors who were women, Meehan-Draper, now the executive director of the DGA, told The 19th. A few years later, DGA launched the Women Governors Fund, which has put $80 million in Democratic women candidates in general elections. Since its start in 2018, the number of Democratic women governors has quadrupled. The eight Democratic women leading their states Maura Healey in Massachusetts, Katie Hobbs in Arizona, Kathy Hochul in New York, Laura Kelly in Kansas, Tina Kotek in Oregon, Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico, Janet Mills in Maine and Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan have changed what it means for women to win and hold executive office in the United States. Theyre a group marked by notable firsts, too. Three Healey, Hochul, and Mills are the first women to hold that office in their states. Lujan Grisham is the nations first Democratic Hispanic woman governor. Healey and Kotek are the first elected out lesbian governors in their states. But whats perhaps even more remarkable is the way the women in this group have made their relationships with one another a critical part of their own leadership. These eight women are actual friends. They call and text each other to check in and get advice. They get together for dinner and bring their daughters. They turn to each other when they are going through something challenging and when they need to laugh. The 19th interviewed Governors Healey, Hobbs, Hochul, Kelly, Lujan Grisham, Mills and Whitmer about their relationships with their peers, how they think about leadership, the issues that matter most to them, and how their families have shaped their work. Most interviews were via phone; Mills responses are via email. Kotek declined to be interviewed. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico: Our relationships really solidified during COVID. I was on a phone call which is now widely publicized and I believe the term that [former president Donald] Trump used was that we were losers. He was sort of barking at some of the women, including me, on that call. This is when we learned that we were all competing for the same personal protective equipment. That really spurred us especially my friend the woman in Michigan to say, You know what? Were not going to let any elected leader create division among a group, particularly a group of women. Gov. Laura Kelly, Kansas: Having that relationship with the woman governors who were also on that call and being able to immediately text one of them to fact check to make sure I heard what I just heard in addition to it being useful to have each other, it really drew us together. We were like any people who go through a crisis or emergency together. Gov. Janet Mills, Maine: The earliest days of the pandemic were a difficult and emotional time, forcing us to make life and death choices, and as women leaders, we werent really allowed to show it. Being able to lean on each other as we navigated the pandemic, and the added challenges created by the former president, was really important. It was moments like those that just reminded me that I have spent the better part of my career listening to loud men talk tough to disguise their weakness and Im sure its something my women colleagues have endured as well. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan: We had frequent joint calls together it was a gut check. It was saying, How are you dealing with this? and Are you hearing what Im hearing? Those conversations were really important to cut through what was important and what wasnt and how to solve the problems that we were all grappling with. I count [the other Democratic women governors] as some of my closest friends and allies to this day. Meehan-Draper said the camaraderie and connection the governors have is on display not only when they gather for DGA meetings, but in their work. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Arizona: Governor Kotek, Governor Healey and myself are the newbies, but the other five started this relationship during the pandemic where they were really like, How do we lead through this? When I was secretary of state and running for governor [in 2022] you could just feel the relationship that the other women governors had together. It was really evident. And quite honestly, I really wanted to be a part of that. Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York: We have really embraced our newer members Tina Kotek in Oregon and Maura Healey in Massachusetts and Katie Hobbs in Arizona and we really have a lot of fun together, to be honest. I think its because you really do have to have a sense of humor to get what we do. Each individual is a personality and they always come with so many stories about their own states and I love listening to how everybody is always bragging about their state all of the time. Hobbs: Governor Whitmer had a similar abortion law [a pre-Roe v. Wade ban like Arizonas] in her state repealed, and its great to talk to her about how they did that and because she just got the legislature in 23 and with the possibility of our getting the legislature in 24, thats really helpful, talking to these women about how a different environment with a divided government can create different challenges. Gov. Maura Healey, Massachusetts: For me as a new governor, the guidance and the friendship and the advice of my colleagues who have served as women has been just so invaluable. Its just great to be able to have a friend network too where you can just pick up the phone and call and talk about your day and say, Whats going on with your family? and then How are you navigating this challenge? Lujan Grisham: I have been a governor for longer than Governor Healey, but you better believe Im calling Governor Healey and saying, Look, youre making some real progress on work issues, particularly related to asylum-seekers and migrants. Given that Im a border state, Im very interested in your successes here. Heres where I wasnt as successful I wonder if you could help me figure out why. Its not about whos got seniority its about the fact that I have a relationship with Governor Healey. I trust her. I like her. I know that shes going to do everything in her power to help me be successful. Its not a competition. Thats whats different here. We dont compete in the ways that I think a lot of our male counterparts do. Healey: When I think about Governor Lujan Grisham, who is an incredible governor and an incredible leader, I think of someone I call when Im looking for advice on a number of things, especially with early education and child care. I call her and say,I want to understand what youre doing and how youre doing it, because I want to do more of that in Massachusetts. When we introduced universal school meals? That was something she already took on in her state. So I sought her advice on how you get that done. But also, Michelle [Lujan Grisham] has just got the best sense of humor. Were a tight group and we laugh together and we joke together and we commiserate together and we talk about really serious things together. But she always makes me laugh. Given that a third of states have never had a woman governor, getting people to see them as something other than compromisers and negotiators can feel like an uphill battle. People really struggle seeing women as executives, as bosses, Meehan-Draper said. Lujan Grisham: You have to recognize that part of our work does mean challenging the status quo opinions about what you can and cannot do. Women have to be bolder. Were unabashed and unafraid and we believe thats why we got elected in the first place, to be smart and bold, to be practical and strategic, and to be unapologetic about the things that require results and a change. Whitmer: During COVID, I was on a call with my Midwestern governors group and it was in the height of all the threats I was getting and to be fair, every governor who was trying to keep people safe was taking a lot of heat and getting a lot of abuse, though mine was at a whole different level unfortunately. One of my colleagues said, Why do you take so much more heat for this than the rest of us do? and then he said, No, dont answer that. I already know. Then he answered it himself. Its because youre the woman. Healey: The thing I really work toward is to not be afraid. No matter what you do, not everyone is going to be happy. Ive learned to trust my gut and trust my instinct. You have to do what you think is right and then let the chips fall where they may. Kelly: What motivates me is that Im just by nature a problem solver. Our state was in such bad shape that I knew if I didnt run, it would get even worse. It was my good, old Irish Catholic guilt that I thought it was my responsibility to do this because I had the skill set and the deep knowledge of how the state operated, how it needed to operate, and that I could actually do the job. Hochul: What I did was I decided to carve a path that was far more collaborative. I knew I would be different and people are still getting used to it. It really does not have to be a fight. Kelly: When I was running, I think people were skeptical that I was up for the job. I tend to be somewhat soft-spoken. I was not a yeller and a screamer, just a very, very moderate person. I think a lot of folks were worried that I would not be able to deal with recalcitrant legislators and manage a very large operation. I think the fact that not only have I proven I can do it, but now so many other women governors have proven that also, I think were going to see less skepticism as we move forward. Whitmer: I think that all women who get the chance to serve, but especially this group of Democratic women governors, get the opportunity to show up as we are. Michelle Lujan Grisham is so different than Laura Kelly. I love them both to death and weve got so many similar values, but theyve got very different styles, theyre in different parts of the country. But at the end of the day, I think each of them has stepped into their leadership role and has been bold and that gives space for the rest of us to be as well. Im able to show up as I am in a way that I think previous generations of female leaders didnt feel as comfortable. I think thats when people see why having different voices in leadership positions is actually a great thing. Healey: I think that relatability is something that people really crave right now, particularly in a time when theres been a lot of cynicism about politicians, about government, about trusting government. These women every single day are building peoples trust in government, which is absolutely imperative to holding on to and affirming our democracy. Because if people dont believe and trust in government, then theres not going to be a government. Part of being a successful governor is having a deep understanding of your state and the issues that are most pressing within it. For the Democratic women governors, a large part of their work has involved transforming voters perceptions about the kinds of issues that women executives care about and are capable of leading on, while also proving their deep local expertise. Democratic women executives have to prove that they deserve to be here as much as the 100 men that came before them, and Im even better because I accomplished all these groundbreaking, trailblazing things that leave my state a better place than I found it, Meehan-Draper said. Whitmer: A question that I got early in my first run for governor was, Are you going to run as a woman? Ive always tried to figure out whats the question behind the question. I think they were asking me if I was only going to champion traditional womens issues like pay equity or child care or whatever it is that people generally think of as womens issues. Healey: I think its ridiculous to say that certain things are womens issues. I want to change the conversation about what womens issues are. When you look at household budgets, its women who more often than not are actually managing that. If you want to think about whos going to be the steward of economic growth and development in your state, theres no reason why women shouldnt be leading the discussions on that. Kelly: We have smashed all records for new capital investment in our state. I think that has shocked people, but in a good way. I think thats why the perception of my ability to be the CEO has radically changed, because Ive done things people didnt expect from a woman or from a Democrat. Lujan Grisham: I had a woman who sat next to me before I was going to give an economic speech who has great expertise in economic efforts, and she said to me, Can you believe it, how the economy is here now? Would you have ever thought this possible in your wildest dreams? And I said, Yes, of course. This is my strategy and its working. I ran on this strategy. I dont know why youre surprised, since I said if we did these things this would happen. Hochul: We protect our children. We protect our families. So public safety is a very natural place for me to go into and say, No we need to have tougher laws. We need to protect people. We need to make sure that students are not discriminated against. We need to make sure that women are safe in their homes. No one should be surprised by the emotion and the intention that we bring to this. Healey: I want to shout out what my colleagues are doing. Look at what Katie Hobbs is doing to promote the semiconductor industry in Arizona and to protect abortion access right now. Look at Laura Kelly, who amazingly reversed years of damage by balancing the budget and fully funding public education in Kansas. Look at Janet Mills, who expanded Medicaid on her very first day in office in Maine and changed the lives of thousands of Mainers. Look at Gretchen Whitmer, who is making Michigan a leader in electric vehicle jobs while fixing the damn roads. Think about Kathy Hochul, who is tackling the states mental health challenges and taking action to improve public safety in New York. And then of course there is Michelle [Lujan Grisham], who expanded affordable child care. I look at them and Im inspired by their work. Hobbs: Every issue that our legislature deals with is a womens issue. Were really focused on economic development and all of the pieces critical to keeping that going. We created 82,000 jobs in my first year and we have more Arizonans now working than ever before and theyre making more money than theyve ever made. That is a womens issue because whether or not youre a single head of household, that income is helping your family to thrive. Whitmer: I have a tendency to couch every issue in a way that makes it as personal for people as I can, and I relate abortion back to the economy and autonomy. Their ability to get health care is about their personal autonomy; whether or not your child is getting an education that prepares them is, too. I think thats been one way that I really try to de-gender issues that really shouldnt be about women or men at all these are all things that are about the American economy and the average Americans ability to get ahead. Lujan Grisham: We are the fighters for freedom. We are the ones saying, Actually the founding fathers didnt want the government intruding in your life, making your reproductive choices for you, rolling back your constitutional rights. Its women who are going to stand up. I dont think anyone thought about women standing up for the Constitution and now we are, for our constitutional rights and our freedom. I think people are going to look to women in a whole different leadership sense in this political climate and I think that is good for America. These women also are thinking about the way their families have informed their ability to lead. Whitmer: I was raised by two public servants. My dad was a traditional Republican hes a Democrat now and my mom was a Democrat. In my family it was really instilled in all of us, my brother and my sister and I, that public service is important. Its rewarding. Its something that each of us should figure out what way can we be of service to others? As I raise my two daughters, Sherry and Sydney, I am always trying to make sure that they understand why all the heat and stuff that comes my way is worth it. When I look at my own kids, I think about how when the government doesnt work, its the people on the margins that pay the dearest price for it. When the water that comes out of your tap isnt safe or when the roads youre driving on are falling apart or the education that your kids are getting isnt enough the people on the margins suffer the most, and I just look at my kids I think about everyones kids. Mills: My grandmothers both voted for the first time in the presidential election of 1920 and, within a few short years, each was elected to the school boards of their respective towns, Farmington and Ashland, Maine. I like to think that they would be proud that, within a hundred years of being able to vote for the first time, their granddaughter would not only be the first woman governor of Maine, she would also be on a group chat with seven other women governors! Kelly: Theres no doubt that women with children have to be great multitaskers, particularly if they are working outside the home. They have to be very nimble, being able to move from one thing to another, to respond to that call from school to pick up a sick kid, and then youve got to figure out how youre going to cover your work day. There are infinite opportunities for women with children to develop management skills crisis management, negotiations, problem solving, conflict resolution. There are all sorts of things I can think of that I had to implement when my two daughters were growing up. Healey: Im the oldest of five raised by a single mom. I saw how hard my mom worked and what she was able to persevere through and I think I grew a lot in watching her and learning from her. Lujan Grisham: Im a proud mother of two daughters, aged 38 and 40. Theyre motivated. They want a different future for their children. Democracies are fragile and theyre complicated. Hochul: Back in 2011, I was a county clerk. I had just won my reelection with 80 percent of the vote. And there was a position for county executive that I was asked to challenge on, to challenge the incumbent Republican county executive. But then all of a sudden we had an unexpected vacancy when our local Republican congressman resigned unexpectedly. My local elected leaders and the county chairman were still really pushing me hard to go for the county executive seat. I couldnt stop thinking about the congressional seat though, and I told my daughter who was just in college at the time about it. I just laid it all out there. I said, Theres no way I am going to win that congressional seat, but what would you do, sweetheart? And she said, Mom! Congress, duh! You have to do Congress! I got out there and went to every fire hall, every veterans post, every diner in the county. I worked hard in that rural, Republican district to win them over. And ultimately, I won. Two weeks before I was sworn in, I was at my daughters college graduation and John Lewis was their commencement speaker and literally, the kids went crazy seeing him. He was a rock star with all of those kids. And then literally two weeks later, Im shaking his hand as a colleague on the floor of Congress. So thats the turn my life took because I needed to prove to my daughter that her mother had the guts to do it. The post The friendships forged in a governors group chat appeared first on Kansas Reflector. Police patrol outside the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, May 18, 2024. The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, has remanded in custody the man accused of the attempted murder of Prime Minister Robert Fico, court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova said on Saturday. The decision is not yet final, the spokeswoman was quoted by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) as saying. (Xinhua/Wang Lili) BRATISLAVA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, has remanded in custody the man accused of the attempted murder of Prime Minister Robert Fico, court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova said on Saturday. The decision is not yet final, the spokeswoman was quoted by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) as saying. A prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office proposed to take into custody the accused, 71-year-old Juraj C., because of his possible escape and due to the risk he might continue his criminal activity, reported the TASR. Fico sustained four gunshot wounds in an attack when he greeted supporters after chairing a government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova on Wednesday. He is currently hospitalized in Banska Bystrica in a stable but serious state. A police officer stands guard outside the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, May 18, 2024. The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, has remanded in custody the man accused of the attempted murder of Prime Minister Robert Fico, court spokeswoman Katarina Kudjakova said on Saturday. The decision is not yet final, the spokeswoman was quoted by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) as saying. (Xinhua/Wang Lili) (Bloomberg) -- Benny Gantz, an Israeli opposition leader in the countrys three-man war cabinet, said Saturday that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesnt offer a new plan to bring back hostages and end Hamas rule in Gaza by June 8, hell leave the government. Most Read from Bloomberg Gantzs departure would greatly increase already mounting pressure on Netanyahu seven months after the Hamas attack devastated Israel and led it to wage an unforgiving war in Gaza. It wouldnt on its own collapse the ruling coalition, which has 64 seats out a 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu instantly rejected the demand. The conditions set by Benny Gantz are washed-up words whose meaning is clear: the end of war and defeat for Israel, abandoning most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the prime minister said in a statement. Israels military is trying to destroy Hamas fighting units in Gazas southern city of Rafah an operation thats already forced half a million Palestinians to flee and Netanyahu was indignant that in the midst of the fighting Gantz is threatening to break up the cabinet. Its no secret that Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been barely on speaking terms with Netanyahu in recent weeks over his management of the war and the way he has alienated US President Joe Biden and his administration, which oppose the Rafah operation. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is due in Israel on Sunday after visiting Saudi Arabia. He has been working to advance a deal that would normalize relations between the two countries, but would require a path to nationhood for Palestinians a condition Netanyahu has rejected repeatedly. Gantz responded to Netanyahu in a later statement, saying there is no intention to establish a Palestinian state and the Saudis are not demanding that. Read more: Blinken Warns Israel It Risks Hamas Insurgency in Postwar Gaza A US official declined to comment on Israeli domestic politics but said the Biden administration has made it clear in public that Israels military operation requires a political plan to achieve the defeat of Hamas. Last Wednesday, Gallant gave his own statement accusing Netanyahu of failing to create a so-called day-after plan for Gaza, saying Israel was headed to re-occupying the territory, which he considers unacceptable. Gantz offered his support for Gallant shortly thereafter. At his press event on Saturday, Gantz went much further, laying out a long list of demands. He made reference to the war cabinets initial successes, saying it has now fallen apart. For many months unity was indeed real and meaningful, he said. But lately something has gone sour. Essential decisions were not made. Acts of leadership required to ensure victory were not taken. A small minority has taken over the command bridge of the Israeli ship and is leading it into a concrete wall. He added, Personal and political considerations began to penetrate the Holy of Holies Israels security. The oppositions complaints against Netanyahu are that hes allowed his far-right coalition partners to dictate policy simply so that he can stay in power, ignoring entreaties by the US and Arab nations including Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu says, however, that only after Hamas is defeated and Gazans are no longer afraid of it can a plan for the future emerge. Gantz listed numerous demands, including defeating Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza and bringing in a coalition of Arabs, Palestinians, Americans and Europeans to manage civilian affairs in the ravaged coastal strip. He said Israelis whove been evacuated from the north because of ongoing battles with Lebanons Hezbollah need to be returned to their homes by September. He said Netanyahu needs to promote relations with Saudi Arabia and come up with an elusive plan for conscripting religious men. Otherwise, he said, If you choose to follow the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss, we will be forced to resign from the government. He said hed turn to the people and establish a government that will win the peoples trust. How exactly he can do that remains unclear. One way may be if five members of Netanyahus own Likud party can be persuaded to oppose him, which could collapse the government and require elections. Gantz, 64, whos been consistently polling ahead of Netanyahu as a future prime minister, turned to the camera to address the nations leader personally: I have known you for many years as an Israeli leader and patriot: You know very well what needs to be done. The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Are you able to do the right and patriotic thing today? Netanyahu, 74, is the countrys longest-serving prime minister. After being indicted for bribery and fraud five years ago, centrist politicians increasingly declined to serve with him, and he turned to parties on the extreme right to build his most recent government in late 2022. The war began when Hamas broke into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200, kidnapping another 250 to Gaza. Israels response, aimed at uprooting Hamas as a military and political entity, has destroyed whole neighborhoods and killed some 35,000 people, according to Hamas officials who dont distinguish between fighters and civilians. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. --With assistance from Akayla Gardner. (Updates with White House response in seventh paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Saturday vetoed a controversial law against NGOs passed by parliament, in an expected move after the bill was approved. Pro-European Zurabishvili said the law, which requires foreign-funded organizations to register as "foreign agents", was "Russian in its essence and spirit." However, her veto can be overruled by parliament. On Tuesday, Georgia's parliament passed the controversial legislation despite angry protests in Tbilisi and urging by the European Union and the United States not to adopt it. Thousands of people have been demonstrating against the law, fearing it threatens Georgia's path to EU membership and the silencing of organizations and media critical of the government - as in Russia, which has passed similar legislation. Georgia has EU candidate country status since the end of last year. The law on restricting foreign influence on civil society in Georgia was passed by parliament in Tbilisi in its third reading at the beginning of the week, despite weeks of massive protests by tens of thousands of people. Zurabishvili said that the law "contradicts our constitution and all European standards and thus represents an obstacle on our European path." But the governing majority approved the law that seeks to limit foreign influence on non-governmental organizations, tightening accountability for aid organizations and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili gestures while speaking during an interview with The Associated Press, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Zourabichvili said Thursday that a "foreign influence" bill passed by parliament that critics call a threat to free speech is "unacceptable." (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) TBILISI, Georgia (AP) Georgias president on Saturday vetoed the so-called Russian law targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests. The legislation would require media and non-governmental organizations to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Critics of the bill say it closely resembles legislation used by the Kremlin to silence opponents, and that it will obstruct Georgias bid to join the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with Georgias ruling party, said on Saturday that the legislation contradicts Georgias Constitution and all European standards, and added that it must be abolished. The ruling party, Georgian Dream, has a majority sufficient to override Zourabichvilis veto, and is widely expected to do so in the coming days. The Georgian government insists that the proposed law is intended to promote transparency and curb what it deems harmful foreign influence in the country of 3.7 million. Many Georgian journalists and campaigners fiercely dispute this characterization, saying they are already subject to audit and monitoring requirements. They say that the bill's true goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. The EU offered Georgia candidate status last December, while making it clear that Tbilisi needs to implement key policy recommendations for its membership bid to progress. The recommendations concern, among other areas, elections that must be remain free and fair, fighting disinformation against the EU and its values," and safeguarding the independence of public institutions such as the central bank and anti-corruption bodies. The opposition United National Movement and many protesters accuse Georgian Dream of trying to scupper the EU integration process, and to instead drag Georgia into Russias sphere of influence allegations the ruling party vehemently rejects. Georgian Dream was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and billionaire who made his fortune in Russia. The bill is nearly identical to one that the party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests. Renewed demonstrations have rocked Georgia for weeks, with demonstrators scuffling with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. An opposition lawmaker earlier this month spoke in Parliament with a bandaged face, visible bruises and cuts. His allies said he had been assaulted by police during the protests. EU officials and Western leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns over the law, as well as Tbilisi's heavy-handed response to dissent. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, issued a statement Wednesday in support of the Georgian protesters, and to condemn what he described as a wave of violence against opposition politicians, activists, journalists and their families. European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday that if Georgians want to join the EU, they have to respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the democratic principles. Zourabichvili told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that it was hard to say whether the bill was Georgian Dreams initiative or if Moscow had played any role in its passage, but she emphasized that the Kremlin is unhappy with Georgias pro-Western aspirations. Its clear that Moscow is not seeing with lots of appreciation this accelerated pace of Georgia towards the European Union, she said. Russia-Georgia relations have been strained and turbulent since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and Georgias departure from its role as a Soviet republic. In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made a botched attempt to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized South Ossetia and another separatist province, Abkhazia, as independent states and strengthened its military presence there. Most of the world considers both regions to be parts of Georgia. Tbilisi cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the regions status remains a key irritant even as Russia-Georgia relations have improved in recent years. German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser gives an interview during the ministerial meeting of the Coalition of European countries against serious and organized crime and drug trafficking. Georg Wendt/dpa Germany is experiencing a dangerous escalation of political aggression, as seen by the sharp rise in attacks against politically active people, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser charged in a guest article. "We must stop this spiral," the Social Democrat (SPD) politician wrote in her article for the Sunday edition of Germany's Welt newspaper. Last year, 3,691 offences were recorded against public and elected officials and party representatives, including 80 violent offences. That is an 85% rise over the 1,994 offences seen in 2022 and a nearly 20% increase in violent crimes from the 67 seen in 2022. "Those affected are threatened, their offices attacked, their homes besieged, their private property damaged or destroyed," Faeser wrote. On Tuesday, she plans to present the statistics on politically motivated crime for 2023. She pointed out the attack on parliament or Bundestag member Matthias Ecke, also from the SPD, who was beaten and hospitalized in Dresden at the beginning of May. "It was the sad culmination of the large number of attempts at intimidation, threats and acts of violence in recent weeks. We must show unequivocally that the constitutional state will not tolerate this violence." She said that goes for violence across the political spectrum - against the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Attacks not aimed just at politicians Violence against volunteers or police and rescue workers is also directed against the community, Faeser said. "The perpetrators celebrate themselves for their fight against a 'system' that they despise. But they are and remain blunt perpetrators of violence, despicable criminals." And that is exactly how they should be prosecuted - and pursued with extensive investigations, which require resources she noted. Firefighters walk across a bridge under which the flooding river Theel flows. Harald Tittel/dpa Heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the western German state of Saarland on Friday. Buildings in the state capital of Saarbrucken and other municipalities had to be evacuated due to rising water levels. The state interior ministry spoke of a "widespread flooding situation," with the focus on the south-eastern part of the state. People in the city of Saarbrucken have been advised to avoid basements, bodies of water and flooded areas due to persistent heavy rain. "Flood waves can come suddenly, banks can collapse," the city announced on Friday evening. "Crossing flooded streets should be avoided at all costs - both on foot and by car." Citizens were therefore warned to stay away from the affected areas and, if necessary, spend the night elsewhere. The Neunkirchen district, the Saarpfalz district and the Saarbrucken regional association were particularly affected, a ministry spokesman said on Friday evening. There was initially no news of any casualties. Apart from Saarbrucken and Neunkirchen, the situation was tense in Eppelborn, St. Wendel, Saarlouis and Merzig. In some places, residents had to be evacuated from flats in isolated streets. Some retirement homes were also affected. Increased flooding is still expected, especially in the districts of Lauterbach, Ludweiler, Geislautern and Wehrden. There were no reports of injuries so far, the ministry spokesman said. In Volklingen, streets have been disconnected from the power grid due to flooding. However, the drinking water supply has been secured, the town announced late on Friday evening. "In Volklingen, millions of euros worth of damage is expected, especially in the private sector," the municipality said. "The extent of the damage is not yet foreseeable." Officials are considering requesting assistance from neighbouring federal states. Saarbrucken declared a major damage situation, as did several districts. Several buildings in the city had to be evacuated. The city set up alternative accommodation in schools and a citizens' hotline. Those affected were asked to take only the essentials with them. The German Weather Service warned of heavy continuous rain through the early hours of Saturday, especially in the areas west of the Rhine. After that, the rain is expected to slowly ease. Chancellor Olaf Scholz cancelled an election campaign appearance planned for Saturday in Saarland. Instead, he will visit Saarland together with state Premier Anke Rehlinger to get an idea of the situation on the ground, a government spokesperson announced in Saarbrucken in the evening. The state government has initiated the first steps towards emergency financial aid. In a meeting late on Friday evening, the Council of Ministers declared a so-called "elementary event of supra-local importance." According to the State Chancellery, this means that state aid can be granted. In addition, municipalities could deviate from budget balancing regulations due to the extraordinary emergency situation. "Many Saarlanders are worried about their homes and possessions or have already suffered severe damage," Rehlinger said. "To ensure that no time is lost, the state government has taken decisions at short notice to provide assistance to repair the damage caused." Firefighters move their trucks through the floods in Fischbachstrasse in Saarbruecken after heavy rainfall. Harald Tittel/dpa A view of flooding of the River Theel, which inundated parts of Lebach town center. Harald Tittel/dpa German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) visits with Anke Rehlinger, Saarland Minister-President, the Saarbruecken stadium with emergency personnel who were deployed as relief workers at the Saar floods. Helmut Fricke/dpa After heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the western German state of Saarland, Chancellor Olaf Scholz took stock of the situation on Saturday and promised to help those affected. Scholz emphasized that the priority was now on acute aid. He stated that once the immediate danger had passed, the government would coordinate with local authorities to determine what aid is necessary. Scholz, who was wearing wellies, walked across a flooded street and spoke to those affected. "We have a strong tradition of solidarity," said the chancellor. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have had to deal with a major natural disaster, so we will of course look at what needs to be done now and what is necessary." Scholz cancelled an election campaign appearance planned for Saturday to visit the affected region. The chancellor visited the area with state Premier Anke Rehlinger, who said, "Nobody should be left out in the rain in this difficult situation." Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also promised help. "The federal government is supporting Saarland in particular with strong forces to protect human lives after the severe flooding and to limit the destruction caused by the masses of water as far as possible," she said. Transport Minister Volker Wissing thanked the volunteers on the ground. "Disasters like this always show how important social cohesion is," he said. Later, Scholz commented on the sense of community he felt in Saarland. "What I felt there was a great sense of solidarity. We can only overcome such challenges if we stick together and show solidarity," he told an election campaign event in Karlsruhe. "When we can better assess the damage and the immediate emergency and danger situation has receded, then it will also be a matter of agreeing with each other what needs to be done to help those in need," Scholz said. However, one of Germany's best-known climate activists, Luisa Neubauer, criticized Scholz. "And yes, of course as chancellor you can weaken the climate law one day & travel to #flood areas the next with great concern. In the medium term, it's just a highly fragile strategy in the climate crisis," Neubauer wrote on social media platform X on Saturday. By 2024, every weather situation will have something to do with the climate - sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, she said. Neubauer said Scholz's job is to sound the alarm. "That would not be 'alarmism,' that would simply be responsible in 2024. People need to know how threatening the situation is so that they can prepare themselves and prevent the worst from happening," she said. Earlier, police said that the situation had eased somewhat. However, a spokesman for the district's technical operations centre said rescue services were still conducting a large-scale operation. "The water levels of the Saar and other bodies of water are peaking or beginning to fall," said the spokesman. But the exact extent of the damage must still be properly assessed. After a restless night, the clean-up began in some regions, however, the exact extent of the damage is only likely to become apparent over the next few days. Videos showed cars half submerged in water, caravans stuck in the floodwater and numerous flooded streets. Buildings were provisionally protected with sandbags and in some cases entire streets were under water. In the state capital of Saarbrucken, the city motorway was flooded and had to be closed. The emergency services used amphibious vehicles and boats to evacuate people. So far, no lives are known to have been lost. One person was injured during an evacuation operation, said an official. The person had fallen into the water and was subsequently taken to hospital. The flood was a type that occurs every 20 to 50 years, according to the state Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety. The German Weather Service (DWD) measured more than 100 litres of rain per square metre in less than 24 hours. By comparison, 74 litres of rain per square metre were measured in Saarland for all of April. The police in Saarland recorded around 1,000 deployments by Saturday morning, in addition to thousands of deployments by fire brigades and other aid organizations. Numerous roads in Saarland are still closed and rail traffic is also restricted, according to railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). It initially advised against non-essential travel to the Saarland. Officials said that 220 people were accommodated in a gymnasium in Saarburg-Beurig. A retirement home was also evacuated in Saarburg and a hotel in Trittenheim on the Middle Moselle. Around 50 people were taken to temporary accommodation in a gymnasium. Flooding also struck the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate, with cellars and streets under water after several rivers and smaller streams burst their banks. The DWD cancelled all severe weather warnings in Germany early on Saturday morning. As a result, there were no longer any warnings of "extremely heavy continuous rain" in Saarland or Rhineland-Palatinate, according to the DWD. In the neighbouring French region of Moselle in Lorraine, officials kept the highest red alert level for flooding in place on Saturday. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) visits with Anke Rehlinger, Minister President of the Saarland, the Saarbruecken stadium with the emergency services who were deployed to help with the Saar floods. Helmut Fricke/dpa German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) visits with Anke Rehlinger, Saarland Minister-President, the Saarbruecken stadium with emergency personnel who were deployed as relief workers at the Saar floods. Helmut Fricke/dpa After heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the western German state of Saarland, Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the affected region on Saturday to take stock of the situation and assured of the federal government's "solidarity." Scholz emphasized that the priority was now on acute aid. He stated that once the immediate danger had passed, the government would coordinate with local authorities to determine what aid is necessary. Scholz, who was wearing wellies, walked across a flooded street and spoke to those affected. "We have a strong tradition of solidarity," said the chancellor. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have had to deal with a major natural disaster, so we will of course look at what needs to be done now and what is necessary." Scholz cancelled an election campaign appearance planned for Saturday to visit the affected region. The chancellor visited the area with state Premier Anke Rehlinger, who said, "Nobody should be left out in the rain in this difficult situation." Earlier, police said that the situation had eased somewhat. However, a spokesman for the district's technical operations centre said rescue services were still conducting a large-scale operation. "The water levels of the Saar and other bodies of water are peaking or beginning to fall," said the spokesman. But the exact extent of the damage must still be properly assessed. After a restless night, the clean-up began in some regions, however, the exact extent of the damage is only likely to become apparent over the next few days. Videos showed cars half submerged in water, caravans stuck in the floodwater and numerous flooded streets. Buildings were provisionally protected with sandbags and in some cases entire streets were under water. So far, no lives are known to have been lost. One person was injured during an evacuation operation, said an official. The person had fallen into the water and was subsequently taken to hospital. The flood was a type that occurs every 20 to 50 years, according to the state Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety. The German Weather Service (DWD) measured more than 100 litres of rain per square metre in less than 24 hours. By comparison, 74 litres of rain per square metre were measured in Saarland for all of April. The police in Saarland recorded around 1,000 deployments by Saturday morning, in addition to thousands of deployments by fire brigades and other aid organizations. Numerous roads in Saarland are still closed and rail traffic is also restricted, according to railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). It initially advised against non-essential travel to the Saarland. Officials said that 220 people were accommodated in a gymnasium in Saarburg-Beurig. A retirement home was also evacuated in Saarburg and a hotel in Trittenheim on the Middle Moselle. Around 50 people were taken to temporary accommodation in a gymnasium. Other regions reported the situation still remained tense on Saturday morning. In the Trier-Saarburg district, local administrators said the water levels on the two rivers remain high. Due to a defective barrage, there could be a backwater on the Moselle River and thus flooding in the communities in question. The emergency services are reportedly being further increased. Many houses in the Ruwer Valley are said to be underwater. The exact number was not initially known. The DWD cancelled all severe weather warnings in Germany early on Saturday morning. As a result, there were no longer any warnings of "extremely heavy continuous rain" in Saarland or Rhineland-Palatinate, according to the DWD. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) visits with Anke Rehlinger, Minister President of the Saarland, the Saarbruecken stadium with the emergency services who were deployed to help with the Saar floods. Helmut Fricke/dpa German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) and Anke Rehlinger (L), Minister President of the Saarland, visit the Saarbruecken stadium to see the emergency services deployed to help with the Saar floods. Helmut Fricke/dpa FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes says Giuliani has been served an indictment in the states fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trumps loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Arizona's attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state's fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trumps loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday. The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law, Mayes wrote. The attorney generals spokesman Richie Taylor said in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday that Giuliani faces the same charges as the other defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. Giulianis political adviser, Ted Goodman, confirmed Giuliani was served Friday night after his 80th birthday celebration as he was walking to the car. We look forward to full vindication soon, Goodman said in a statement Saturday. The indictment alleges that Giuliani pressured Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the outcome of Arizonas election and that he was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump. Taylor said an unredacted copy of the indictment will be released Monday. He said Giuliani is expected to appear in court Tuesday unless he is granted a delay by the court. Mark Meadows, Trumps former chief of staff, is among others who have been indicted in the case. Neither Meadows nor Giuliani were named in the redacted grand jury indictment released earlier because they had not been served with it, but they were readily identifiable based on descriptions in the document. The Arizona attorney generals office said Wednesday, May 1, that Meadows had been served and confirmed that he was charged with the same counts as the other named defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Giuliani faces other legal proceedings, and a bankruptcy judge this past week said he was disturbed about the status of the case and for missed deadlines to file financial disclosure reports. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million to two former election workers for spreading a false conspiracy theory about their role in the 2020 election. Giuliani was also indicted last year by a grand jury in Georgia, where he is accused of spearheading Trumps efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint pro-Trump electoral college electors. Among the defendants are 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election including a former state GOP chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. The other defendants are Mike Roman, who was Trumps director of Election Day operations, and four attorneys accused of organizing an attempt to use fake documents to persuade Congress not to certify Bidens victory: John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis. Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator. The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizonas Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were duly elected and qualified electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored. Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, became the first person charged in Arizonas fake elector case to be arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. Eastman made a brief statement outside the courthouse, saying the charges against him should have never been filed. I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process, Eastman said. He declined to make further comment. Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona. The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the elections outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. ___ Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. (AP) Arizonas attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the states fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trumps loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday. The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law, Mayes wrote. The attorney generals spokesman Richie Taylor said in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday that Giuliani faces the same charges as the other defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. Giulianis political adviser, Ted Goodman, confirmed Giuliani was served Friday night after his 80th birthday celebration as he was walking to the car. We look forward to full vindication soon, Goodman said in a statement Saturday. The indictment alleges that Giuliani pressured Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the outcome of Arizonas election and that he was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump. Taylor said an unredacted copy of the indictment will be released Monday. He said Giuliani is expected to appear in court Tuesday unless he is granted a delay by the court. Mark Meadows, Trumps former chief of staff, is among others who have been indicted in the case. Neither Meadows nor Giuliani were named in the redacted grand jury indictment released earlier because they had not been served with it, but they were readily identifiable based on descriptions in the document. The Arizona attorney generals office said Wednesday that Meadows had been served and confirmed that he was charged with the same counts as the other named defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Giuliani was also indicted last year by a grand jury in Georgia, where he is accused of spearheading Trumps efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint pro-Trump electoral college electors. Among the 16 other defendants are 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election including a former state GOP chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. The other defendants are Mike Roman, who was Trumps director of Election Day operations, and four attorneys accused of organizing an attempt to use fake documents to persuade Congress not to certify Bidens victory: John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis. Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator. The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizonas Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were duly elected and qualified electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored. Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, became the first person charged in Arizonas fake elector case to be arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. Eastman made a brief statement outside the courthouse, saying the charges against him should have never been filed. I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process, Eastman said. He declined to make further comment. Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona. The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the elections outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Over the last year or more, several states have passed legislation restricting the use of AI in political ads or requiring that it be disclosed. (Photo via Getty Images) Members of the U.S. Senate are sounding the alarm about the threat that artificial intelligence poses to elections through its ability to deceive voters. But the prospects for legislation that can meaningfully address the problem appear uncertain. In a Wednesday hearing, the Senate Rules Committee advanced three bills designed to counter the AI threat. But the only one to receive support from Republicans on the panel would simply create voluntary guidelines for election officials. It stops well short of restricting the use of AI in elections or even requiring disclosure of its use steps that a growing number of states have already taken. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who chairs the Rules Committee and introduced all three measures, said the ability of generative AI to create deceptive images fundamentally threatens fair elections. We are going to see this resurgence of fakery and scams going on in our elections, said Klobuchar. And whether youre a Democrat or a Republican, whether youre a conservative or a liberal, we cannot have our democracy undermined by ads and videos where you literally dont know if its the candidate you love or the candidate you dislike. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer framed the stakes as even higher. Our democracy may never recover if we lose the ability to distinguish at all between whats true and whats false, as AI threatens to do, said the New York Democrat, whose appearance at the hearing was a potential signal that he aims to prioritize the legislation. AI robocalls, images The dangers posed by AI were starkly illustrated in February, when thousands of New Hampshire voters received a robocall with an AI-generated voice impersonating President Joe Biden, urging them not to vote in the upcoming state primary. A Democratic operative working for a rival candidate has admitted to commissioning the calls. And last June, the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released a video that appeared to use AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical adviser to Biden who is deeply unpopular among GOP primary voters. Klobuchar added at the hearing that she wanted to keep the issue out of the partisan milieu. Blue, purple and red states have lately passed laws to address the AI threat, she noted. And all three pieces of legislation Klobuchar has introduced have Republican co-sponsors. Still, there were signs that avoiding partisan politics could prove impossible. Republicans in Congress, often led by House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, have strongly opposed previous efforts by the Biden administration to restrict the spread of political disinformation, saying they violate speech rights and give too much power to government regulators. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., the ranking Republican on the panel, raised similar concerns Wednesday about two of the Klobuchar bills: the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, and the AI Transparency in Elections Act. The Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act would bar deceptive AI video or audio relating to candidates for federal office. It was introduced in September by Klobuchar and has five co-sponsors, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. The AI Transparency in Elections Act requires that political ads that use AI contain a statement disclosing its use. That measure, introduced by Klobuchar in March, is co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The two bills, Fischer argued, increase burdens on speech, and are too vague in defining AI, creating uncertainty about whether a speaker might be subject to penalties. They also aim to federalize the issue and pre-empt state law, encroaching on state control of elections, Fischer added. Both measures were passed out of the Rules Committee Wednesday on party-line votes, with no Republican support. (The official vote count in both cases was 9-2, because some Republicans who didnt attend the hearing voted no by proxy, which isnt counted as an official vote.) The third measure, the Preparing Election Administrators for AI Act, was passed out of committee unanimously. It would require the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to consult with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in creating voluntary guidelines for election officials for how to protect against the threat of AI in elections, especially with respect to its use by foreign adversaries. On May 13, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., introduced companion legislation in the House. Over the last year or more, states including Texas, Florida, New York, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico and Idaho all have passed legislation restricting the use of AI in political ads or requiring that it be disclosed. The post With GOP opposed, U.S. Senate panel advances bills to combat AI in elections appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch. Gov. Greg Abbott used a short address Saturday to welcome the National Rifle Association convention delegates to Dallas and to emphasize his support for Donald Trump's return to the presidency. The appearance at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which preceded Trump's own remarks to the overwhelmingly conservative audience, provided Abbott an opportunity to boast about the gun-friendly legislation passed in Texas under his watch. A smiling Gov. Greg Abbott signs a package of gun rights bills during a ceremony at the Alamo in San Antonio, June 17, 2021. "Since I became governor, Texas has passed more significant Second Amendment protections than any other state in the United States of America," Abbott, a three-term Republican, said as he listed such measures as allowing the carrying of handguns in limited places on the campuses of public colleges and universities and allowing for the unlicensed open carrying of handguns. Abbott also touted his $11 billion border initiative known as Operation Lone Star in which he deployed thousands of National Guard members and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to the Texas-Mexico border. He dovetailed that message with his ongoing criticism of Democratic President Joe Biden's border and immigration policies, and that set the stage for his words of praise for Trump as the 2024 campaign heats up heading toward the Nov. 5 election. "Donald Trump is the antidote to Joe Biden," Abbott told the cheering delegates. "In the history of America, no president has done more to secure our border. No president has fought harder to protect your Second Amendment rights." Abbott made no mention of his decision on Thursday to grant a pardon to Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting a man at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Austin. The jury rejected Perry's plea of self-defense, but in his pardon, Abbott touted Texas' "stand your ground" law and said it should have been applied in the case. Although Abbott did not bring the matter up, NRA President Charles Cotton alluded to it in his introductory remarks as the governor prepared to take the stage. "I would be here with you too long to list all the things he's done for gun owners," Cotton said of Abbott. "And not just owning guns, but being (able) to use them in self-defense." Outside the convention hall, the gun safety advocacy organization Giffords staged a rally to protest the NRA gathering. The organization was founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 shooting attack in her home state of Arizona. The demonstration featured a self-described gun owner and Second Amendment supporter to deliver the message, according to a news release from the group. "Why is it easier to purchase large-capacity weapons used in many of the countrys worst mass shootings, killing classrooms of children," said Scott Spreier, a North Texas volunteer leader for Giffords, "than it is for hunters like me to legally shoot a single dove, which requires not only a license, but also gun safety training and a limit of only three shotgun shells?" This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Abbott touts Trump, border security and gun rights in NRA appearance In the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month, Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton hosted a panel in Springfield this week at which he pledged to expand the states behavioral health services. With several dozen services providers from around the state in attendance, Pritzker and panelists floated ideas to improve access to mental health care for Illinoisans, like mandating a social worker be in every school and drafting a Mental Health Bill of Rights a document that will affirm the states mental health system as one for people of all backgrounds. Pritzker said its necessary to buck trends of the past, when discussions surrounding mental health were quickly swept under the rug, in private or public life and received little government attention. If you could roll the time backward 10 years, very few people talked publicly about mental health challenges that they personally were having, Pritzker said during the panel, which was attended by a Capitol News Illinois reporter. We have to just think about the individual who has no alternative they dont have choices and we have to give them opportunities to get help. The governor spoke about his personal experiences and recounted the struggles his mother who he credits as spurring his political career had with alcohol as he was growing up in the 1970s. Sue Pritzker died in 1982, leaving the future governor an orphan at 17 years old. She drank to self-medicate, he said. She was somebody who was an activist, a caregiver and she was a widow with three young children when my father died. Pritzker emphasized that his mother had the money to access care, given the familys enormous wealth, but he said shame and guilt prevented her from seeking professional aid. Even with the resources, partly because of stigma, its hard to go seek help, Pritzker said. In some ways, my experience with that instilled in me a desire to try to address the challenges that are now referred to as behavioral health. He and Stratton suggested mental and physical health care should be considered with equal weight. Stratton, who chairs the recently formed Healing-Centered Illinois Task Force, also said mental health care needs to be accessible to everyone, regardless of race or income. Its not okay if just some communities are healing and others arent, she said. If some communities are saying, Now, its accessible, but others are left behind. As stigma continues to decrease for those seeking mental health care, existing practitioners cant keep up with the rising need. More than half of respondents 56 percent to the American Psychological Associations 2023 Pulse survey, said they had no openings for new patients. Illinois officials have responded by easing barriers to enter the profession in recent years. The National Association of Social Workers Illinois Chapter earlier this year praised a 2021 law that did away with a previously mandated test for licensure that the organization said was biased. Since the law took effect, the number of licensed social workers in Illinois has more than doubled in two years. As of early December, there were more than 10,000 LSWs in Illinois, though that figure does not include licensed clinical social workers or school social workers. NASW-IL noted that 12 percent of those LSWs came from out of state. Pritzker, in 2022, signed legislation that made it easier for behavioral health workers licensed in other states to become licensed in Illinois and enabled in-state providers with lapsed licenses to easily get reinstated. On Wednesday, Pritzker credited greater investments in mental health such as being able to use American Rescue Plan Act dollars to expand services and creating the states Childrens Behavioral Transformation Initiative to Illinois improving financial picture, though he added, theres a whole lot more to do. You cant do any of this stuff unless your fiscal health is such that you can make major investments, he said. And we have so much more to do in that regard. Pritzker wondered aloud why the state isnt putting more social workers in schools. Hopeful Futures Campaign, a childhood mental health advocacy group, reported Illinois only had one school social worker for nearly every 750 students in 2022 a caseload nearly three times the Illinois State Board of Educations recommended ratio. Weve got to make strides with a social worker in every school, Pritzker said. I know we say we cant afford it, but I dont know why we arent making that a high priority. Child welfare expert Dana Weiner, chief of the states Childrens Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative, said the state is crafting a new social work pilot program. Were working on developing a pilot for in-home behavioral health aides for young people who have autism spectrum disorders and behavioral health needs, she said. No timetable was given on when such a pilot might be introduced. Weiner announced the state is drafting a Mental Health Bill of Rights also without a timeline that will eventually serve as a declaration of our aspirations for an improved mental health service system, she said. Someday, when we get there, (it will) grant all Illinoisans the assurance that they can seek help without stigma in their community, in their language in their culture, and that they have access to timely and effective services and that they know where to go for help, she said. A day after the event, House Bill 5457, which would require agencies that license behavioral health workers to allow reasonable accommodations for applicants for whom English is not their primary language and a test in their primary language test is not available, passed the Senate and awaits Pritzkers approval. Hannah Meisel contributed. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association. The Iowa Capitol on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday signed the final slate of bills remaining from the 2024 legislative session, including new laws related to the regulation of hemp-derived product and changes to the states boards and commissions. The signing of 20 bills marked the end of action on legislation passed during the 2024 session. While some of the laws signed Friday generated debate during the session, many of the highest-profile bills on subjects like Iowas Area Education Agencies and cuts to the states individual income tax have already been signed. One of the few bills that was passed by the legislature but vetoed by Reynolds was House File 2539, a bill increasing penalties for the violation of state laws on open meetings and records. The legislation included measures to raise fines for breaking open meetings laws, with knowing violations rising from between $1,000 and $2,500 to $5,000 and $12,500 under the bill. The measure also created a new exception to open meetings law, allowing a quorum of elected officials to attend certain functions, such as political meetings, as long as policy is not discussed. Erika Eckley, executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board, wrote in a letter to Reynolds that this exception is in direct conflict with the transparency requirements of Iowas sunshine laws and will create an enormous loophole for government bodies to allow for decisions to be made in secret, avoiding public consideration and disclosure, which is contrary to ensuring accountability of government to Iowans and the legislative intent behind the legislation. She urged the governor to veto the measure. Reynolds, in vetoing the measure, wrote that the Legislatures change to the definition of meeting was well-intentioned, but was unnecessary and will cause confusion. She also wrote in support of a measure that was taken out of the bill that would require training for public officials in open meetings and records laws, a provision she called a laudable goal and one I hope the Legislature will continue to pursue. Heres a rundown on some of the measures signed into law by the governor Friday: Boards and commissions Senate File 2385 makes changes to Iowas system of boards and commissions. The law would eliminate 74 boards and commissions. It also would consolidate nine boards into three new bodies out of the current 256 boards and commissions and would make changes to the powers and composition of some panels. The law received significant pushback during the legislative session, in part because of the changes made to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, turning the body into an advisory panel, and the elimination of commissions representing marginalized groups in Iowa, such as the commissions focusing on the status of women, African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and people with disabilities. Reynolds said in a statement that the law is a part of her larger goal to make state government more efficient, pointing to a 2023 law restructuring and consolidating state agencies and departments. These bills are a continuation of that work, Reynolds said in a statement. Iowas boards and commissions have never been comprehensively reviewed and adjusted for effectiveness and have grown exponentially in size and scope over decades. Today, we reverse that trend, reducing 83 boards and commissions, fixing identified inefficiencies, and unlocking the full potential of last years legislation to more effectively deliver services to Iowans. Hemp regulations House File 2605 adds addition restrictions to hemp-derived consumable products available for purchase that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), like Delta-9 drinks and gummies. The regulations imposed on such products include an age and labeling requirement for people to buy consumable hemp. The new law also adds restrictions and penalties related to the sale, manufacturing and possession of hemp-derived consumable products, including a limit of 4 milligrams of THC per serving in consumable hemp products, and a 10 mg THC limit per container. Before Reynolds signed it, producers and retailers of THC products called for the governor to reject the bill. In signing it, Reynolds said she understood parts of both the pushback and support for the measure. I have concerns about this bill and have heard from individuals and groups on both sides of the issue, Reynolds said. Ultimately, I am signing it into law to protect minors from dangerous and intoxicating products. At the same time, weve taken steps to ensure that children who are resistant to medications and suffer from seizures and other medical conditions continue to have access to consumable hemp alternatives for relief. Traffic cameras The Iowa Department of Transportation will have more oversight into the implementation of traffic cameras at Iowa localities through House File 2681. The measure requires local governments and law enforcement to provide justification for the need for automatic traffic enforcement (ATE) systems, like traffic cameras, at specific locations. Information provided is to include the number and severity of accidents, driving speeds and other safety issues in the specified area. In addition to creating the permitting system for cameras, the law will also set new rules and guidelines for traffic camera use. The law bans localities with fewer than 20,000 residents from using mobile traffic camera technologies to issue tickets, as well as speeding tickets for violations that are not more than 10 miles per hour more than the speed limit. The post Gov. Kim Reynolds signs final bills from the 2024 legislative session appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A Grand Rapids family is trying to get their daughter back home after she fell 1,800 feet from a mountain in Alaska. Melissa Orzechowski, 30, survived with serious injuries. Shes been in the hospital for about three weeks. It was a miracle. It was just an absolute miracle that she was alive, said Cindy Orzechowski, Melissas mother. An undated photo of Melissa Orzechowski. (Courtesy family) An undated photo of Melissa Orzechowski. (Courtesy family) An undated photo of Melissa Orzechowski. (Courtesy family) Before seeing their daughter, Cindy and Ken Orzechowski were told to brace themselves. The care team in the ICU did try to prepare you before seeing your child in that condition, father Ken Orzechowski said. Its tough. Their daughter and her climbing partner were at Denali National Park in Alaska on April 25 when they fell. Theyre not quite sure where the anchor let go, but it was between 1,800 and 2,000 feet, Melissas dad said. Her climbing partner of seven years died. She is certified in ice climbing and an ice climbing guide, so they knew what they were doing, Ken Orzechowski said. It was a freak accident. He said two climbers nearby saw the fall and climbed three hours to reach Melissa. Theyre surprised she survived, Ken Orzechowski said. They stayed with her until a helicopter arrived. We werent sure what we were going to find when we got (to Alaska), Melissas mother said. Cindy and Ken Orzechowski jumped on a plane as quickly as they could, not knowing if their daughter would be alive. Melissas eyes were swollen shut, but once she heard our voice, she started to cry, Cindy Orzechowski said. She knew we were there. They said Melissa has several broken bones, including her spine. She has fractures and frostbite. She has a very long road ahead, Ken Orzechowski said. Theyre estimating 12 months. Now, Ken and Cindy Orzechowski are trying to get their daughter back home to Grand Rapids which wont be easy. She cant fly on a regular plane, and a special plane is pricey. Ken Orzechowski said it could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000. She needs to be around family to be able to recover, Melissas parents said. If youd like to help, the family has set up a GoFundMe page. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. This great-great grandmother in Fresno is not worlds oldest, but she just turned 107 Elvira Madrigals white hair was pulled back in a bun as she sat in a wheelchair at her home in Fresno getting emotional as she held a family photo from the early 1900s. The 107-year-old great-great-grandmother from La Piedad in the Mexican state of Michoacan might not remember many things now, but she still remembers very clear the three people in the photograph her parents and her grandmother. Dont cry, said Martha Ramirez to her paternal grandmother. Martha Ramirez said she was raised by Elvira Madrigal since very young and sees her as her own mother. Now Elvira lives with Martha who takes care of her. Elvira Madrigal, who just celebrated her 107th birthday, holds an old photograph of her parents Matilde and Jose, left and center, and her grandmother Luz, right. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at her home in Fresno. What are their names? she asked Madrigal of the people in the photograph. Matilde and Jose, responded Elvira in Spanish with a broken voice. And the lady? asked Martha Ramirez. Its Luz, the grandmother, it is my grandmother, said Elvira Madrigal who was born on April 20, 1917. She kissed the photo several times. Elvira Madrigal has just celebrated her 107th birthday. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at her home in Fresno. Elvira asks Martha Ramirez if that was the only photo they have of her parents and grandmother. I just have that one. I have no other. Im going to make it big for you, Martha Ramirez said, adding that Elvira never forgets who the people in the photo are. A long life Not only does Elvira long for her parents but also for the town in her homeland and some of her grandchildren who still live there. Elvira Madrigal, who just celebrated her 107th birthday, is seen with flowers, a balloon, a tiara and more to the right. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at her home in Fresno. Elvira celebrated her 107th birthday with a birthday party on April 27 in Fresno which was attended by about 100 immediate family members her three children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren- and great-great-grandchildren to commemorate the milestone. Elvira has six children, has 29 grandchildren, 78 great-grandchildren and 23 great-great-grandchildren. A photo on a phone shows family gathered around Elvira Madrigal, seated in wheelchair, center, who just celebrated her 107th birthday. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at Elviras home in Fresno. She is the heart of the family. She is strong. She hasnt given up. She is 107 and shes still strong, shes still going. Shes just nonstop, warrior. its amazing, said Elviras granddaughter Sandra Miranda Ramirez. Miranda Ramirez s 80-year-old father Santiago Ramirez is one of Elviras six children and one of four who are still alive. Three of them like Santiago, living in the United States and one in Mexico. Two of her children have passed away, including Martha Ramirezs dad who died last year in Mexico. Martha Ramirez said Elvira, who is also a U.S citizen, has live most of her live in the United States since the early 70s, going back and forth between the two countries to visit her children. While in Mexico, Elvira lived in La Piedad while her children lived in the ranch. Elvira, who was a young widow, worked in the fields in Mexico to provide for her six children as they were growing up. There is no one to take me, said Elvira in Spanish when she heard the towns name La Piedad. Elvira Madrigal has just celebrated her 107th birthday. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at her home in Fresno. While Elvira doesnt have a secret to living a long life, her relatives said she likes shots of tequila or mezcal, like the one she had to celebrate her most recent birthday. Elvira doesnt take any medicines, doesnt have any illnesses, and likes to eat all kinds of food. While Elvira relies on her wheelchair, she is able to walk assisted by a walker and her relatives to move from her wheelchair to bed. A century of history She was born during the Mexican Revolution period between 1910 and 1920. There have been 22 presidents in Mexico since she was born in 1917. She might witness the first female president of her homeland in a few months when the country holds elections. Since her birth in 1917 there have been 19 presidents in United States. The U.S. declared war against Germany in April 1917, that year and month of her birth. The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which restricts the flow of Southern and Eastern Europeans into the country; Mexicans were excluded from quota requirements. The great depression spurs forced repatriation program for Mexicans and Mexican Americans relocating more than four hundred thousand people from Arizona, California and Texas to Mexico. Harry S. Truman becomes the first U.S. president to visit Mexico City, in 1947. The end of the Bracero temporary worker program in 1964 prompts hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to return to Mexico. In September 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon declares a global war on drugs. U.S. President George W. Bush takes office in January 2001 and calls Mexico the most important U.S. foreign policy priority. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent war on terrorism define U.S. foreign policy for the next two decades. Elvira Madrigal has just celebrated her 107th birthday. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at her home in Fresno. A tiara is seen along with flowers and a balloon for Elvira Madrigal who just celebrated her 107th birthday. Photographed Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in Fresno. These tortillas have the aroma and flavor of Mexican tortillas. Heres where to get them PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A teacher in Gresham is facing accusations of inappropriate behavior and has been placed on leave. The Gresham Police Department announced they are investigating reports that a Centennial High School teacher was allegedly inappropriate towards students. Central Catholic siblings Conal and Maya Devine inspiring Rams track and field team The allegations were reported to school staff earlier this week, Gresham police said in a release. The teacher was placed on leave and a detective is now investigating the situation, officials said. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to talk to Gresham police as the investigation continues. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org. CR collab logo-3 Zach Renstrom has been called a lot of things, and some of them are expletives not suitable for print. Renstrom didnt get sideways of people when he was a Washington County commissioner, but when he accepted the position as general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. His predecessor, the blunt-speaking, formidable and towering Ron Thompson, promised him it would be an easy job. He was probably winking when he said it, or at least smiling inside. Hed been in the job nearly 40 years and told Renstrom that by the time he retired, the Lake Powell Pipeline would be finished. He told me, All you have to do for the last part of your 20-year career is just go and flip the switch, turn those pumps on every once in awhile and then flip the switch off. And itll be easy. I was like, Hey, this sounds like a great gig and I dont have to run for reelection. Anyway, as everybody really knows, that wasnt reality, Renstrom said. And so I took the job and it just blew up. We had to figure out a change in plans and we had to change very quickly. The highly controversial pipeline project has been years on the table and would siphon water from Lake Powell, part of the Colorado River Basin system and the second-largest reservoir in the country. It would tap an unused allocation of Utah Colorado River rights from the Green River that feeds into the Colorado River for placement in a 140-mile pipeline to serve the rapidly growing Washington County. But consider this: From 1970 to 2020, Washington County experienced a population surge of 1,210%. By 2060, it is projected to grow as much as 200%. WashCo population growth Renstrom said he could see a grim new reality and that if the area didnt learn to conserve water, and didnt pursue other water resources such as storage and reuse, an entire way of life was at stake. A transplant to the area like so many others, he knew the wave was coming. You can either do two things with that wave you can either you can get on that wave and ride it like a surfer and have the time of your life experience with great things or you can get humbled by the wave, get smashed into the ground and ruined, he said. Were on the verge of change here on the Colorado River, ready to change Washington County. And I feel like at least in Washington County, we have caught this wave. The metaphorical hammer Renstrom, who spoke to reporters at an introductory brainstorming session for the Colorado River Collaborative in Moab, addressed the challenges of invoking change on how water is used, how much is used and where it is used in Washington County. He candidly said the Lake Powell Pipeline would likely not be built during his career given regulatory pressures, Colorado Basin states opposition and the reality that to build anything related to a reservoir that is just over a third shy of full capacity means climate is working against us. The district does anticipate the need for the Lake Powell Pipeline, which remains in long-term planning. So water districts are embracing change in aggressive ways, but they are trying not be onerous. There are plenty of rebates, incentives and landscaping help available on their respective websites. No one in an existing home has any obligation to participate, but they are not eligible for those financial benefits unless they are in a city that has adopted the water wise landscaping rules. Washington County Water Conservancy District adopted the most stringent water efficiency landscaping rules in the state of Utah, but needed cities and developers to get on board with new construction. Renstrom went to the homebuilders first and asked them how many new units they wanted to build. Was it 2,000 or 3,000, something like that? They huddled together and came back to tell him they wanted to build 5,000 new homes. Renstrom said he bluntly told them there would not be any water to support that, unless there were conditions set in motion. In fact, when I went to the homebuilders, I told them that I was going to use that hammer. I said theres no way I will let a home be built in Washington County. That does that. I cant guarantee that home has water forever. Washington Countys sole source of water is from the Virgin River watershed. The river is a tributary of the Colorado River that is fickle. The desert stream, as Renstrom described it, has been the lowest and the highest during his brief time at the district. We actually ran out of water in the 1980s and there was a building moratorium. A worker moves dirt at a home that is under construction in St. George on Thursday, April 8, 2021. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Tense moments and the water savings result Although the homebuilders initially bristled at the change, the hammer of no new water left its mark. The homebuilders, on the hook with Renstrom, went to the cities, where there was more resistance and the attitude that government shouldnt control personal choice. I will say the homebuilders 100% set it up. They went around and helped me get these ordinances passed by the cities. It took awhile and there was a lot of arm twisting that went on back and forth. He even ran into resistance in his own circles, with one woman telling him there was not a chance on this earth shed tear out her lawn to allow a Californian to move in. But it was overcome. Washington County is the first county in Utah to prohibit nonfunctional lawn in all commercial, institutional and industrial developments. With these standards in place, it has decreased its per capita water use by more than 30% since 2000 and has invested more than $75 million in water conservation efforts. Last year, it spent $25 million buying up water rights for additional water supplies. The district is also leading the state in the grass replacement program, removing 34% of the grass statewide in 2023 with only 7% of the states population. The region also has the burden or benefit of being a tourism magnet and those people need water too, Renstrom added. The county gets 10 million visitors a year, which on a per capita basis is more than Las Vegas. Another hammer and this time, it is money Its not just Washington County faced with a water scarcity problem. Water districts father north that are part the Upper Basin Colorado system are using water-efficient landscape requirements as a tool for change. Utah gets just shy of 30% of its water from the Colorado River due to complicated and highly expensive transbasin diversions, funneling the water from eastern Utah to the Wasatch Front via the Central Utah Project or the Provo River Project. About two-thirds of the drinking water in Salt Lake County comes from the Colorado River. So chances are, if you turn on the tap, you are drinking some of that river water, or if you are irrigating farmland in the Uintah Basin or Green River region, the Colorado River is your source. Cory Collins hand waters newly planted flowers at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The sprinkler system at the gardens has not been turned on yet, so hand watering was required. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Drought-tolerant plants grow at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Variations of grasses and their water usage are displayed at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Primrose Heron Lambs Ears and Prairie Smoke are pictured at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Turkish Speedwell grows at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News A Peony blooms in the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Blue Fortune Hyssop is in bloom at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Chase and Jeneane Swasey of Sandy walk through the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Districts Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District has 12 member cities on board with its water efficiency standards in terms of landscaping requirements on new construction designed to save the finite resource. There is one outlier they are still working to bring on board. Early adopters recognized that it was the right thing to do. It still made them uncomfortable. And it made us uncomfortable because we dont like making our our customers uncomfortable, said Alan Packard, general manager of the district. But we felt there was an overriding need to push past that and implement what was smart for our service area. Their ordinance says on new construction, the only turf allowed has to be functional. If we want to accommodate growth in Utah and a lot of that growth is our own children and grandchildren, we need to use our existing limited supplies and they are limited more effectively, more responsibly, Packard said. How did Jordan Valley get its member cities on board? The power of the purse with a higher cost for the water. We just explained to our member agencies that with the new supplies that weve developed, its imperative that those new supplies are used as efficiently as possible. And if if you dont want to use those new supplies efficiently, then youre going to have to pay a premium to use them. Thats what it came down to. He added: Heres the consequences if you dont want to get on board and once you exceed that ceiling in your current water purchase agreement, then the next water you buy will be a lot more expensive. It was about double the cost. Cutting off the tap The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District took a different approach. It delivers annually approximately 230,000 acre-feet of treated wholesale municipal water, wholesale and retail agricultural irrigation water, wholesale and retail secondary irrigation water, treated and untreated industrial water, and replacement water. Over 700,000 residents within Davis, Weber, Morgan, Summit and Box Elder counties receive water from the district. Jon Parry, the districts assistant general manager, said the district has about a 55% engagement rate with the communities it serves in terms of water efficiency standards. They obviously want more engagement, and went about it with a simple policy. When it relates to contracting of water, we will not sell additional water to our wholesale entities if they have not adopted water efficiency standards within their respective communities that support the regional goals of the state and our goals. For new residential growth, say on a 2-acre housing lot that is part of a community that hasnt adopted the water efficiency standards, the limit is .38 acre-feet of water. That is not going to be enough to sustain that property, he said. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District delivers 400,000 acre-feet of water per year to its users that include residents and businesses in Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne and then portions of Summit County. Rick Maloy, strategic initiatives manager, said, like other districts, they offer rebate incentives for water savings. The biggest impact, however, is with new construction. When we first started these programs, you know, there were homes that had been built within the last six months and the sod hadnt even taken root and theyre paying to rip it out. And we just thought that were just going to always chase our tail if we dont stop this from going in in the first place. With all of these districts, a key component of change has been the residents themselves, lobbying city council members to adopt the ordinances so they can get rebates and change their landscaping. It is a true tale of the public changing political will. Like Washington County, Central Utahs district put the skids on new water availability for cities that do not participate. We had a small amount of water to allocate and we basically said, you know, we had more requests for water than we had water available. And so we just developed a process that said, Okay, if you meet these requirements, then youre eligible, Maloy said. If they didnt have an ordinance adopted, then they didnt get any water from Central Utah, he said. The outliers are some of the fastest growing cities in Utah County that are resistant. Utah County is kind of lagging behind and some of our bigger or higher growth cities havent adopted. Theyve been really apprehensive to adopt. That is fine, for now, as long as they stay within their water budget. But when they need more, that will be the rub, he stressed. A Salt Lake County "Flip the Strip" groundbreaking ceremony is held on a strip of grass that will be removed at the Mountain American Expo Center in Sandy on Thursday, May 16, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News A Salt Lake County "Flip the Strip" groundbreaking ceremony takes place at the Mountain American Expo Center in Sandy on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Over the next year, underutilized grass strips at five of the largest water-consuming properties owned by the county will be transformed. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News A Salt Lake County "Flip the Strip" groundbreaking ceremony takes place at the Mountain American Expo Center in Sandy on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Over the next year, underutilized grass strips at five of the largest water-consuming properties owned by the county will be transformed. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News It is all about savings. Weve had the luxury in past decades of not worrying very much about the scarcity of water. But we no longer had that luxury. Our water resources are limited, Packard said. He said he has a message for all water users out there, those who depend on the Colorado River and those that depend on reservoirs that store our snowpack. Id love them to feel like we can all do this together, if we work together. And dont wait for someone else. Changing habits with water has to start with yourself, he said. Maybe thats the message that people can relate to. Utahns like to be self-sufficient and maybe we need to have a message of lets be self-sufficient within natures budget. Weve been over drafting what nature has given us. So lets scale back and live within our budget. The owner and three workers at a New Hampshire day care are facing charges after they sprinkled melatonin in the food of children they were responsible for. Sally Dreckmann, 52, the day care owner; and her employees Traci Innie, 51; Kaitlin Filardo, 23; and Jessica Foster, 23, all of Manchester, were charged with 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the Manchester Police Department said. Authorities said that childrens food that was provided by the in-house day care was being sprinkled with melatonin without their parents knowledge or consent. Melatonin is a sleep-aid and is generally safe to use short-term, according to the Mayo Clinic. This is an over-the-counter drug that can be given as a sleep aid, but for it to be given to children without the knowledge or consent of the parents, its very concerning, Heather Hamel, a spokesperson for the Manchester Police Department, told WDHD. An arrest warrant was issued for the owner of the establishment, 52-year-old Sally Dreckmann. Manchester NH Police 51-year-old Traci Innie is another suspect apprehended by police. Manchester NH Police 23-year-old Kaitlin Filardo was also arrested. Manchester NH Police The arrests came following a lengthy investigation after authorities were alerted of unsafe practices in Nov. 2023 at the day care. Police said none of the children required medical attention. NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus aims at having a continuous flow of humanitarian aid from the Larnaca port to the Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said on Saturday. "The plans under the Amalthea project provide for the delivery of 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid each week," Gotsis said. However, the spokesman stressed that the project is only supplementary to the aid which should be mainly transferred by land. He also said that Cyprus' government aims at having the aid checked in time so that it can reach the Palestinians as early as possible. Gotsis appealed to countries for donation, saying that the Amalthea project remains open to those interested in contributing. The spokesman also said that officials are working on the final details of the Amalthea Fund, which will soon be available to finance the aid project. DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) A Hartsville man pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the 2022 shooting death of his longtime close friend, the Fourth Circuit Solicitors Office said Friday. Judge Kirk Griffin sentenced Jeremiah Farmer to 25 years for voluntary manslaughter and five years concurrent for possessing a firearm, the solicitors office said. Farmer pled guilty without any sentencing negotiation or recommendation, and he faced up to 35 years total for the crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Solicitor Adam Foard, the solicitors office said. Farmer shot and killed his longtime close friend, Eddie McCoy, after an argument on October 1, 2022, while both were attending a friends and family gathering on Woodside Ln in Hartsville. Statements by witnesses at the gathering indicated alcohol consumption was a contributing factor that escalated the disagreement between Farmer and McCoy. After the shooting, Farmer left the scene while friends and family of McCoy took him to Carolina Pines Hospital where he died of two gunshot wounds to the chest, the solicitors office said. During the sentencing, McCoys wife, daughter, and mother addressed the court. All of them expressed forgiveness to Farmer for his actions, but demanded he be held accountable for his crime, the solicitors office said. The victims family has been left devastated by this senseless killing and it is only further compounded by the fact that the killer and victim were friends, said Assistant Solicitor Foard. Mr. McCoys children now have to live with the fact that a man they considered to be like an uncle to them took their father out of their lives. These family members have demonstrated a level of grace and forgiveness that is rarely seen in cases like this, and I thank them for their heartfelt presentation to the court. McCoy must serve 85% of the total sentence before he is parole eligible. He will serve his sentence in a facility determined by the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the solicitors office said. * * * Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. NOTE: This story contains content that may be disturbing, discretion is advised. HAWKINS, Texas (KETK) Some Hawkins residents are voicing concerns after an officer fatally shot a dog earlier this month while responding to a call. Bodycam footage, which has since circulated around social media, has some Hawkins residents up in arms regarding the officers use of lethal force. Longview high seniors barred from graduation following senior prank Bodycam video obtained by KETK shows three dogs barking in front of a mother and her teenage son. The officer whistles to get the attention of the dogs, who first approach with wagging tails before starting to bark. An officer is heard telling the dogs to get and shouting back, back as the dogs approached him while barking. Bodycam footage shows him firing his gun once, causing the leading dog to fall to the ground writhing and whining loudly. When the dog stands and hobbles towards the officer again, the officer fires twice more, killing the animal. Bodycam footage from moments before the officer fires his weapon at the dog. The incident happened May 2 near the intersection of Humble and Estelle streets. On May 17, the police department issued an official statement, saying the dog exhibited aggressive behavior towards the officer, lunging and barking aggressively and that the officer acted in accordance with training and protocol. Want to stay overnight with giraffes? New East Texas inn will offer unique animal encounters The Hawkins Police Department stands by the actions of our officer, who acted courageously and decisively in the face of a dangerous situation to protect the citizens of this community, their statement read. The officer was not identified by police, but did tell residents on the bodycam footage his name was Shaun Smith. Bodycam footage obtained by KETK shows the incident unfold: Residents in the video can be heard saying the dog came after us and him and another resident said, Ive seen them running around here. Witnesses said the neighborhood has had issues with dogs in the past, saying neighborhood kids have been almost attacked. A witnesses explained she installed electric fencing to keep dogs from growling at her while she mows her yard, and that some neighbors sometimes shoot into the air to scare stray dogs out of their yards. Im kind of glad it happened, this sounds mean, but if theyre going to act like that, it takes extensive training to take it out of them, I know that for sure, a witness said shortly after the incident. So in my opinion, I would rather that happen, in my opinion, than hope they get caught one day. No offense. Bodycam footage shows the officer contact his supervisor to bring him to the scene. Once the supervisor arrived, the officer recounted the events to him as follows: I looked to my right, out my passenger window, and I saw her and him standing right here, and I saw the dogs were coming towards them, and I thought to myself I cant let that happen. I got out of my vehicle, I interjected, she threw her vape at the dogs. I started to walk towards them so I could shoo them away. I got between the dogs and them and I was about distance from me to you, I started shooing at the dogs, backing up and pointing and telling them go away, get out of here. They started to get a little bit more aggressive, they didnt like that. He started showing teeth and started dodging down and lunged towards me. Thats when I drew my weapon out and backed up a little bit more and fired two to three rounds. I struck the dog, he got down right there, and I dont know how the fight got back into him but even though I shot him he got back up and started trucking again. I put two more into him and he fell down. The officers then knocked on the owners door, but the owner was not home. The officer can be heard saying, Theyre definitely going to be in distress because I had to neutralize their aggressive dog. The owner returned home a sort time later and was informed by the officer his dog had been killed. He replied, okay. LaRue 72-year-old fatally shoots wife, sheriff says The owner walked with the officers to the dogs body and positively identified the dog as his own, explaining that he has several dogs that he tries to keep in his backyard. He said that he has had problems keeping the dogs in his yard ever since a stray came and led his dogs out. The city of Hawkins has ordinances against loose dogs, so the owner was cited for the incident. I appreciate you being so understanding, the officer told him. Like I said, Ive been trying to remedy the situation before it escalated to this point. Unfortunately, like I said, my efforts werent enough, the owner responded. The conversation then moved on to how to dispose of the dogs body. The officers told the owner that, if its left to the PD to take care of it, theyll need to put the body in a dumpster. Thats fine. If yall need me to load him up, I can do that. That way yall dont get anything on you, the owner responded. Its just, Ive only got one trash can. A neighbor, who spoke to KETK on the condition of anonymity, said he was sent the video of the shooting. Ive watched it about 25 times in a row just to make sure, hey, was the dog really coming after him or what? And you can tell the dog was just as sweet as could be, he said. It was just barking, so he shoots it three times? Thats not right. The resident said a barking dog does not necessarily pose a threat, especially in rural areas. Out in the country, we train them to bark, he explained. We want them to bark when people come up. That doesnt mean theyre going to bite or attack you. The resident said there will be a community meeting where residents can gather and have their voices heard. It is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. at Hawkins City Hall. Blue Bell announces new limited-time flavor to beat summer heat Id love to have them come and patrol my street better, but now I dont even want them out here, the resident said. Im worried, is my dog going to bark and then [get shot]? I shouldnt have to worry about that out here. You can read HPDs full statement below: The Hawkins Police Department (HPD) is compelled to address recent events surrounding an officers actions during an incident involving loose dogs in the community. On 5/2/2024, an HPD officer was flagged down by a citizen who reported a pack of dogs running loose in the area of Humble St and Estelle St and also told the officer that he and his dogs were almost attacked. The officer swiftly located the pack of dogs and was about to attempt contact with the owners. Unfortunately, the situation escalated when the dogs approached two citizens in an aggressive manner, leading to one of the citizens throwing an object at the dogs to get them away from her and her son. The officer, acting to protect the citizens, attempted to disperse the dogs and create a barrier between them and the individuals. Despite efforts to de-escalate the situation, one of the dogs exhibited aggressive behavior towards the officer, lunging and barking aggressively. The officer attempted to back away from the animal but it continued to charge after him. In accordance with training and protocol, the officer discharged his service weapon to neutralize the imminent threat posed by the aggressive dog. Regrettably the situation necessitated the use of lethal force to ensure public safety and the safety of the officer. The Hawkins Police Department stands by the actions of our officer, who acted courageously and decisively in the face of a dangerous situation to protect the citizens of this community. We call upon the continued support of the Hawkins community to exercise discernment and seek accurate information before forming judgments based on misleading narratives circulated on social media platforms. Hawkins PD Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. NEW YORK (PIX11) The MTA is putting the finishing touches on plans for congestion pricing, while some opponents get their day in court in Lower Manhattan. Neighbors are suing the federal government to stop congestion pricing over air quality concerns. This is the second legal challenge before a federal judge. The state of New Jersey is also suing. A judge heard arguments in April at the Newark federal courthouse. That judge said he expected to issue a ruling by June. The MTA has set a June 30 start date. Uber to offer airport shuttle service in New York City Elizabeth Chan filed suit along with other neighbors to stop congestion pricing. Other cases from Staten Island and the teachers union are being addressed in these proceedings. Other cases are also pending. They say the federal government and MTA should have done a more in-depth environmental impact statement on the actual toll proposal. An environmental assessment was done on a range of prices and times. It was approved by the federal government, as is required by the process. A 4,000-page study is sufficient we think. The federal government gave us an A+ and we are confident going into this, said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now PIX11 News Headlines They say congestion pricing will reduce traffic and help fund billions in transit projects. The federal judge questioned both sides as they presented their case. Other court precedents and legal requirements were cited. Opponents say the MTA has not been specific enough about neighborhoods and projects that need mitigation to improve air quality. The judge asked why opponents think the law or the rules would require additional study. Susan Lee is president of New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing. If you look at one neighborhood in the South Bronx, 700 more trucks and then the private vehicles. I cant imagine what it will do to New York City as people toll shop, Lee asked. Opponents also say it will hurt business and air quality in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Supporters say transit improvements will help New York City, and congestion will be reduced. The MTA is in the final steps of the process which is another review by the Federal Highway Administration of the final structure. The chairman expects that to be decided in the next few weeks. Some mitigation projects are included in the proposal and have been clarified. It is required to study and monitor how congestion pricing is implemented and the impact it has when it starts. Air tests and traffic counts will be done. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. A Whole Foods store in San Francisco, California pictured in 2023 (stock image). An employee at a Whole Foods in Beverly Hills, California tested positive for hepatitis A (Getty Images) The Los Angeles Public Health Department has identified an employee with a case of hepatitis A at a Whole Foods in Beverly Hills, California. Officials are investigating the matter and have not yet identified additional cases, the department said on Friday, from the store on N. Crescent Drive. Due to the employees responsibilities, customers who purchased products from the seafood counter section between 20 April and 13 May should seek a hepatitis A vaccine, the department announced. Receiving vaccination as soon as possible after exposure could help reduce the risk of developing hepatitis A infection, the department said. Hepatitis A is a liver infection that can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months. In rare cases, the disease can be lethal, according to the department. Whole Foods will be working closely with the department to protect employees and customers, a spokesperson for the company told The Independent. The team member diagnosed is not working, and we are not aware of anyone else becoming ill, the spokesperson said. While we have strict food safety processes in place in our stores, we encourage anyone who believes they may have been exposed to follow the guidance of the health department. In 2022, a hepatitis outbreak left five children dead and more than 100 with severe liver disease across several states. The year prior, a New Jersey Starbucks employee who tested positive for hepatitis A may have exposed upwards of 1,000 people to the disease. In response, the state administered some 800 vaccines to people who may have been at risk. An apparent petroleum spill has temporarily closed part of Silver Lake. Highland City Manager Chris Conrad confirmed that a fisherman noticed a sheen on the water early Saturday morning, which was confirmed by the Grantfork Fire Department at the Illinois 160 bridge. Conrad said the Highland Fire Department deployed its own oil boom at the mouth of Silver Creek on the far north end of the lake. I just spoke to the fire department lieutenant who said they are not seeing any buildup, but a small amount of sheen north of the boom, Conrad said. As a precaution, the city has closed Silver Lake north of Silver Lake Road to keep people away from the deployed boom. However, that portion of the lake is really only accessible to kayaks and canoes, Conrad said. In 2015, a break in the Capwood pipeline spilled an estimated 4,200 gallons of crude oil into the Silver Lake watershed, which required a massive cleanup operation managed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. The Capwood pipeline connects an oil storage facility with the refinery in Wood River. In that incident, Silver Lake was closed for more than a week to allow deployment of 2,700 booms to soak up the oil and crews to protect the lake. Conrad said both the pipeline company and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency have been contacted. We are also deploying our drone to try and locate the source, he said. It appears to be a pretty minor amount, (but) we are still investigating. So far, Conrad said, everything seems confined to the far north end of the lake and inside the creek, which means there is no threat to Highlands water supply at this time. However, he said they would continue to monitor the situation. Sign up for CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The target date for the highly anticipated inaugural crewed mission of Boeings Starliner spacecraft has moved yet again. Starliners first flight carrying astronauts was expected as soon as May 21 after two previous delays this month, but mission teams need more time to work through spacecraft closeout processes and flight rationale, and are now aiming to launch no sooner than 3:09 p.m. ET on May 25, according to a NASA release. The update comes just days after Starliner teams reported a small helium leak in the service module of the spacecraft. They traced the leak to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster, where helium is used to allow the thrusters to fire. Additional time before launch will give specialists more time to evaluate this issue, though tests thus far have found that the leak doesnt pose a threat to the mission, according to NASAs latest update. Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecrafts helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight, the space agency said in its news release. The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight. This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could be the final major milestone before NASA deems Boeings spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agencys Commercial Crew Program. The historic crewed flight was about two hours from liftoff on May 6 when it was scrubbed due to an issue with the a valve on the second stage, or upper portion, of the Atlas V rocket that Starliner will ride to space. The NASA astronauts set to crew the mission for a weeklong stay at the International Space Station, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, have been in preflight quarantine but returned to Houston on May 10 to spend time with their families, Boeing said. Williams and Wilmore will fly back to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida closer to the new launch date, according to the space agencys latest release. Boeings historic aims The Crew Flight Test is a decade in the making the culmination of Boeings efforts to develop a spacecraft worthy of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASAs commercial program. The launch would mark only the sixth maiden voyage of a crewed spacecraft in US history, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson noted in a news conference earlier this month. It started with Mercury, then with Gemini, then with Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceXs) Dragon and now Starliner, he said. Boeing designed the Starliner to rival SpaceXs prolific Crew Dragon capsule and expand US options for ferrying astronauts to the space station. On board, Williams will also make history as the first woman to embark on such a mission. A rocky start Development hang-ups, test flight problems and other costly setbacks have slowed Starliners path to the launchpad. Meanwhile, Boeings rival under NASAs commercial crew program SpaceX has become the go-to transportation provider for the space agencys astronauts. Williams and Wilmore were already in their seats aboard the Starliner capsule May 6 when engineers found an issue and halted the launch. The United Launch Alliance team, which builds the Atlas V rocket, identified a pressure regulation valve on a liquid oxygen tank that needed replacing. The valve has since been replaced, but the latest issue with the helium leak on the Boeing spacecraft that sits atop the rocket has caused further delay. If the spacecraft does launch next week as planned, it and the astronauts inside will break away from the Atlas V rocket after reaching orbit, as Starliner begins firing its own engines. The vehicle will likely spend more than 24 hours gradually making its way to the space station. Williams and Wilmore are set to spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory, joining the seven astronauts and cosmonauts already on board, while the Starliner remains docked outside. The history-making crew will then return home aboard the same Starliner capsule, which is expected to parachute to a landing at one of several designated locations across the southwestern United States. CNNs Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the GOP nominee for retiring Democratic Sen. Cardins seat in Maryland, argued Friday that his recent pivot on abortion, is not a major transformation. Hogan said he supports restoring Roe as the law of the land and called himself pro-choice in an interview published Thursday in The New York Times. Hogan doubled down on his remarks in that interview Friday, saying his position on abortion as he described it to NYT really wasnt a major transformation, The Washington Post reported. The times have changed, Hogan said, according to the Post. Look, things have changed over the last couple of decades and over the last year or two. Hogan did not commit to being in favor of legislation codifying the right to abortion in federal law in March. I think thats were going to have to take a look at that as we move forward, Hogan said at the time. Whether its needed or not. The former Maryland governor said that his current position on abortion is clarifying and not new, according to The Washington Post. After the overturning of Roe, it really put us in a bad position, where we were having some crazy, unreasonable things taking place, Hogan said, also noting recent legal battles around reproductive health like those in Alabama and Arizona, according to The Washington Post. We dont want to go back to 1864, he said. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called Hogans change on the position a flip-flop Thursday. This is a total flip-flop, Van Hollen said to The Hill Thursday. Larry Hogan has tried to present himself as a non-politician, above politics. I agree with his new position, but lets be clear, this is a total political move and so the question is, do you believe the old Larry Hogan or the new Larry Hogan and if you have to ask that question, voters have reason to worry. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Hole-in-the-wall stand selling $5 tacos wins Michelin star in first Mexican edition of the prestigious guide Hole-in-the-wall stand selling $5 tacos wins Michelin star in first Mexican edition of the prestigious guide A taco stand in Mexico City has been awarded a Michelin star. It is the first taco stand to win the award in Mexico. The taqueria's simple but "exceptional" Gaonera taco has been key to its success. A small taco stand in Mexico City has been awarded a much coveted Michelin star as part of the guide's first Mexican edition. The 10-foot by 10-foot Taqueria El Califa de Leon was founded more than 50 years ago in the Mexican capital's San Rafael neighborhood. And while the "bare bones" stand has "just enough room for a handful of diners to stand at the counter," it's distinguished itself as one of Mexico's best eateries partly thanks to its "exceptional" Gaonera taco, the Michelin Guide says on its website. "Thinly sliced beef filet is expertly cooked to order, seasoned with only salt and a squeeze of lime," the Guide says. "At the same time, a second cook prepares the excellent corn tortillas alongside." "The resulting combination is elemental and pure," it adds. The Gaonera was named after the Mexican bullfighter Rodolfo Gaona, whose was nicknamed "El Califa de Leon." The Taqueria El Califa de Leon. GUSTAVO GRAF/Reuters Head chef Arturo Rivera Martinez told the Associated Press that the secret to the taqueria's success was "the simplicity of our taco." "It has only a tortilla, red or green sauce, and that's it. That, and the quality of the meat," he said. And that simplicity even seems to extend to drink pairings Rivera Martinez said he liked a Coke with his food. A single taco from the stand costs around $5, which while relatively expensive for Mexico, still seems reasonable for such highly praised cuisine. In an online statement, the Michelin Guide celebrated its first Mexican edition: "What a joy it is to honor the uniqueness of the Mexican gastronomic landscape in Mexico City." "The first and very promising selection is an illustration of how the country is showcasing its regions, with their cultures and traditions that are as distinctive as they are distinguishable," it continued. While Michelin-starred restaurants are associated with fine dining and high prices, humble gems that serve delicious food that doesn't cost a fortune are also recognized by the judges of the prestigious restaurant guide. In 2016, Hawker Chan in Singapore's Chinatown Food Center became one of the world's first street food stalls to be awarded a Michelin star. Media outlets then dubbed its $2.25 signature dish the world's cheapest Michelin-starred meal. Founder Chan Hong Meng previously told Business Insider that customers lined up for up to five hours to try his food. "I became a celebrity overnight. The whole world knew about me and my food. It's a childhood dream that came true," the Malaysian-born chef told BI last year. Chan Hong Meng, founder of Hawker Chan, was awarded a Michelin Star in 2016. Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for Zalando Tire-manufacturing brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin released the first Michelin Guide in 1900 in an attempt to encourage motorists to try out restaurants around France. Earning a spot on the Guide is now one of the most coveted achievements in the restaurant industy. It currently rates more than 30,000 establishments in over 30 territories. Restaurants hoping to earn a star have to impress anonymous judges who rate their dining experience on five assessment criteria the quality of the products, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the chef's personality in their cuisine, value for money, and consistency between inspections. Another surprise Michelin award came in April when Disney World's Victoria & Albert's restaurant which it calls its "culinary crown jewel" earned a coveted star. In its review of the restaurant, the Michelin Guide said: "This restaurant is by no means an easy reservation, but the reward is a kind of magic rarely seen these days." It added: "The setting is intimate, and the pacing is that of a leisurely, three-hour waltz orchestrated by a gracious brigade of veteran servers." Read the original article on Business Insider HOUSTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from destructive storms battering Houston on Thursday night has risen to at least seven, the Harris County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Friday evening. An EF-1 tornado was confirmed near Cypress in the northwest of the fourth largest U.S. city with 100 mph (160 kph) straight-line winds and tore over the downtown, causing widespread damage, the U.S. National Weather Service said on Friday. In east Houston, a 60-year-old man who lost power in the storm went out to his truck to plug in his oxygen tank. He was found dead on Friday morning, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez on social media. The county includes most of Houston. In northwest Houston, a 57-year-old man died trying to move an electrical pole in the storm while an 85-year-old woman and her pet were killed in a mobile home fire caused by lightning. The fourth, a man, was working on a construction project and sitting in a cement truck when a portable crane fell during high winds. At least three deaths were linked to fallen trees, including a Houston mother of four who died inside a vehicle in her driveway after a tree crushed it. Two high school students were injured when their school bus was stuck during the fatal storm on Thursday, said the Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. As many as 136 schools of the public school system had no power around 12 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Friday, said the district, which runs 274 schools in total. As of Friday morning, more than 700,000 people in the Houston area were still without power, according to the latest update from CenterPoint Energy, which supplies electricity to the region. More than 920,000 customers lost power at the height of outages, according to CenterPoint Energy, noting that strong winds caused "significant damage" to its infrastructure across the city. Downtown Houston hit by tornado was the center of the havoc with shattered glass from highrise buildings sprawled across streets. Many roads remain closed as crews worked to clean up damage on Friday. Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at a joint press conference on Friday that the recovery would likely take weeks, not days. The mayor signed a local state of disaster declaration for the city on Friday, describing the "devastation" as "significant." Texas Governor Greg Abbott also announced on Friday that he has amended a disaster declaration he issued for storms battering Houston in April as part of the state's emergency response. Earlier this month, multiple rounds of thunderstorms caused deadly flooding across eastern Texas, including the Houston area, forcing evacuations and school closures. Hope Starts Here 5k brings new beginnings for former inmates as they rejoin society There was a 5k Saturday morning in the name of second chances, and its part of Operation New Hopes mission to reintegrate those affected by the criminal justice system into the workforce and keep them from falling back into a life of crime. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Everybody deserves a second chance at life. That idea drives the mission of Jacksonville-based nonprofit Operation New Hope and their annual Hope Starts Here 5k. The event raises funds to help reintegrate former criminals back into the workforce and society. The organization helped people like Aaron Hill, who was released from prison 7 years ago, now works for Miller Electric and has full custody of his kids again. He said his life was forever changed. I was scared. I was afraid I was going to go back, he explained. We need that support system to be a productive citizen, not only to society in general but to our families. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Sam Ishee is the CFO of Florida Capital Bank, who helped fund the event 3 years in a row and also finished first place in this years 5k, clocking in at 19 minutes and 39 seconds. Its a great motivation, you know, as you look towards the finish and you think about all the great things this organization does and just be happy to be part of it, Ishee said. Read: Ex-Atlanta cop who killed Lyft driver said man tried recruiting him into gay fraternity Every single person that crossed the finish line and every single dollar raised helped a cause giving vital second chances in life to those going through the criminal justice system. [Nearly] 25% of people that come out of Floridas criminal justice system go back into the prison system. Only 8% of our clients recidivate with that support and training, so what we do works, said Amanda Mahan with Operation New Hope. Mahan said that the 5k managed to raise over $25,000 this year all in the name of new beginnings. Read: INVESTIGATES: Florida nursing students are failing state exam required to enter the workforce [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. The IDF accidentally killed 5 of its own soldiers in latest 'friendly fire' incident in Gaza, officer says Israeli tank fire accidentally killed five IDF soldiers in a friendly fire incident in Gaza. The soldiers were part of the IDF's Paratroopers Brigade. Friendly fire incidents have become a major problem for the IDF. Israeli tank fire accidentally killed five Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers earlier this week, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters that the five men were killed on Wednesday during a battle in a densely populated part of the Gaza Strip. "There was an incident of friendly fire five soldiers were killed," Shoshani said, adding that the incident was "under review," according to The New York Times. Two tanks had fired at a building in the Jabalia refugee camp after spotting a gun barrel they believed belonged to enemy forces, an initial IDF investigation found, The Times of Israel reported. The soldiers were part of the IDF's Paratroopers Brigade. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Friendly fire incidents are a serious problem for the IDF Friendly fire incidents have become increasingly common in Israel's invasion of Gaza. Israeli outlet Haaretz reported earlier this month that 22 soldiers had already been killed as a result of friendly fire incidents during the conflict. Funeral for IDF Sgt. Gilad Aryeh Boim, one of the five soldiers killed in the friendly fire incident on Wednesday. Amir Levy/Getty Images Former Col. Simon Diggins, a British military and defense analyst who served in the Middle East, told the UK's i newspaper that the number of reported incidents was not surprising, noting that "disease and non-battle injuries" often exceed the number of casualties directly inflicted by enemy action. "I think it's probably fair to say that the Israelis have a tendency to fire first and ask questions later, but the situation is also very complicated, and fighting in built-up areas is a very complex and very dangerous part of being a soldier," he told the paper. Last month, a report revealed that an Israeli grandmother had likely been killed by Israeli Air Force helicopter fire after Hamas militants abducted her during the October 7 attacks on Israel. In December, the IDF also said that it had accidentally killed three Israeli hostages after troops "mistakenly identified" them as threats. But friendly fire is also affecting operational efficiency. A US Marine officer said earlier this month that the IDF had shot down 40% of its own drones. Speaking at the Modern Day Marine exposition on May 1, Lt. Col. Michael Pruden said that "40% of the UAVs ... knocked out" by the IDF are cases of "friendly fire," The War Zone reported. A drone pilot in Israel. Guy Prives | Getty Images Pruden did not confirm where or when such incidents had occurred. The Marine Corps told Business Insider that The War Zone report had been accurately contextualized but declined to provide additional information. Read the original article on Business Insider Smoke rises following Israeli air strikes on Al-Jeneina and Al-Salam neighbourhoods. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that it killed an Islamic jihad commander, who is said to have been the logistics head in Rafah for the pro-Iranian militia allied with the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that it killed an Islamic jihad commander, who is said to have been the logistics head in Rafah for the pro-Iranian militia allied with the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group. The attack, part of airstrikes, took place east of Rafah, the army said, adding that the IDF is continuing its operations in the southern city and also in the centre and north of the Gaza Strip. In the airstrikes, Israeli troops also destroyed weapons depots and rocket positions belonging to the Islamists, the IDF said. Fierce fighting has been raging for days in the refugee settlement of Jabalia in northern Gaza. Israeli soldiers have killed several militants in armed clashes over the last 24 hours, the military said on Saturday morning. They also destroyed several tunnel shafts and a rocket position. Near the so-called Nezarim corridor, Israeli soldiers encountered a squad of Islamists equipped with bazookas. An Israeli drone took out the enemy fighters, according to the IDF statement. The information could not initially be independently verified. The Nezarim Corridor is occupied by the Israeli army. It divides the Gaza Strip into two parts roughly down the middle. The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7. Israel has responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive. Gaza's Hamas-controlled health authority said more than 35,000 Palestinians have died since the start of the war. The figures, which cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between civilians and armed fighters. In Rafah, the Israeli leadership says it wants to smash the last Hamas battalions believed to be there. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) Some people looking to renew their license through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) have had to wait months. This has been going on for years, and peoples lives shouldnt be played with, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna), said. In the past, the agency has cited their outdated licensing system for delays. To address that, Governor Pritzker signed legislation in December giving the agency ninety days to enter a contract with a vendor to obtain a new one. But that deadline has come and gone. I obviously am disappointed that we have not yet had a contract inked with regards to getting this processing system up and running so that we can start to dramatically reduce these wait times, State Rep. Bob Morgan, (D-Deerfield), who sponsored the legislation allowing the agency to procure a new system, said. Now, the deadline has been pushed to June. In an email to WCIA, the agency said IDFPR is working through the procurement process towards securing a new state-of-the-art online licensing system; however, as stated during the subject matter hearing on May 8, 2024, the state procurement code prohibits discussion of active procurements. The Department will provide updates to the public as they become available. Some lawmakers arent confident that theyll have made progress by then. This agency is completely mismanaged and theyve continued to be called out with no results, McCombie said. Theres no threat to any changes. We continue to talk and talk and talk and threaten and threaten, but theres nothing done about it. Despite missing the deadline for a new system, the agency has made improvements, increasing the number of licenses issued each month. In December, they issued more than 7,500 licenses, and in April, they issued more than 8,800. Still lawmakers from both sides of the aisle say theyre not done fighting for the change. Because there are thousands of people waiting for their licenses to be approved and renewed, Morgan said. McCombie is sponsoring a bill requiring the agency to accept electronic payment for licenses and any fees associated with them. Currently, people looking to renew their license have to pay with a cash or check, or pay in person. The bill remains in a House committee. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. By Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's next president, Lai Ching-te, will pledge to secure stability by maintaining the status quo in the island's relationship with China in his inauguration speech on Monday, an incoming senior security official said. Lai, who succeeds President Tsai Ing-wen after having been her vice president for the past four years, will have to deal with a China that has ramped up pressure - including almost daily military incursions near its airspace - on democratic Taiwan to accept its sovereignty, a claim strongly rejected by Taipei. Lai, 64, has repeatedly offered to hold talks with China but has been rebuffed by Beijing, which has not renounced using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Lai and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) say only Taiwan's people can decide their future. "We will talk about our stable and steady approach, continuing the fundamentals laid down by President Tsai," the incoming official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a briefing in Taipei. "We will make sure that Taiwan plays an indispensable role in the global economy and geopolitics while maintaining the status quo and working with all parties to ensure the status quo will not be eroded." The official said, however, the new government will face a "more difficult and complex" reality at home and abroad because China has staged "more provocative" military incursions that have alarmed Taiwan on a daily basis and launched influence campaigns to split public opinion in Taiwan. "We will continue to make it clear to the international society that it is the other side which keeps destroying international order and ruining the opportunities for cross-strait exchanges," the person said. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which this week said "Taiwan region's new leader" had to make a clear choice between peaceful development or confrontation, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. In the run-up to Lai's election victory in January, Beijing repeatedly denounced him as a supporter of formal independence for Taiwan, framing the vote as a choice between war and peace. China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds to attack the island. The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China, and that it does not plan to change that. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists. In the days leading up to Lai's inauguration, China has escalated its daily military activities, including staging mock attacks on foreign vessels near Taiwan, sources have previously told Reuters. The incoming official said Lai will pledge to further modernise Taiwan's defence and continue programmes to manufacture its own military aircraft and ships. "Our goal is to make sure a conflict will never happen," the official said. Lai, widely known by his English name William, also faces a big domestic challenge given the DPP lost its parliamentary majority in the January election. Lawmakers fought with each other in chaotic scenes in parliament on Friday as the two main opposition parties pressed ahead with controversial reforms to the chamber, including making false statements in the legislature a criminal offence. Lai, writing on Facebook in the early hours of Saturday, called for "rational" debate so harmony can be restored and a consensus obtained. (Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Inside the Case of Ana Knezevich Henao, Who Wanted to Start Non-Profit for Abuse Victims and Then Vanished in Spain Ana Knezevich Henao, 40, disappeared from her Madrid apartment on Feb. 2, 2024 National Center for the Missing in Spain Ana Knezevich Henao Ana Knezevich Henao's loved ones talk about her passion for traveling, animals, friends and her family. When her younger brother Felipe wanted to move to Florida from Colombia, it was Ana who hired him at the tech company she owned with her husband David Knezevich, an IT specialist originally from Serbia. She gave me food, shelter, and guidance, Felipe Henao, 35, tells PEOPLE. Years earlier, Ana helped Felipe when he moved to England to do volunteer work with people with disabilities. She paid for my tickets, he remembers. She paid for a laptop that I needed. She told me this is going to be a great experience. And it was the right call because that was one of the best years of my life. It basically is all because of her, he says about Ana, 40, whose disappearance from her apartment in Madrid, Spain, on Feb. 2 has made international headlines. I always told her this, if it wasn't for her, I don't know what I would be doing. At a May 9 press conference, Henao urged anyone with information about Ana to come forward. We still have hope that we can find where my sister is, Henao said, per WSVN. If shes out there, somewhere, I just want to tell her we all love her, we miss her, we support her, were her voice. AP Photo/Manu Fernandez A banner of a Colombian-born American missing woman Ana Maria Knezevich Henao Related: His Wife Vanished in Spain. How His Texts to a Woman He Met Online Made Him the Suspect Friend gets troubling texts: 'I was very confused' Ana had traveled from Florida to Madrid on Dec. 27, 2024 after separating from Knezevich, her husband of 13 years. She said to me that she really liked the culture in that city and the atmosphere, and she said she wanted to go and live there, says Anas best friend Sanna Rameau. Ana wanted to start a non-profit helping women that have been abused or been in a bad situation, says Rameau. She wanted the divorce to go through, and she said that's what she wanted to do after splitting up everything. Rameau says she met up with Ana in Austria in January and planned to visit her in Madrid on Feb. 8, but Ana, who she spoke to on a daily basis, just vanished. Rameau says she realized something was wrong on Feb. 3 when she got strange text messages purportedly from Ana saying that she'd met a wonderful man on the street, and that she was going to his home two hours from Madrid, where cell phone service was spotty. I was very confused, Rameau tells PEOPLE. I was like, What are you talking about? What is going on? This is not safe. Share your location. Something is wrong.' When Ana didn't respond to her texts, she contacted Anas friend in Madrid and alerted authorities. David Knezevich Related: Brother of Fla. Woman Missing in Spain Says Family Members Still Have Hope: We Miss Her Rameau says Ana spoke to a friend on the phone on the evening of Feb. 2. She was just goofing around, she says. She was totally normal. A Feb. 7 police report obtained by PEOPLE states that Felipe told authorities that Ana and Knezevich were going through a nasty divorce and there is a substantial amount of money on the line to be split up between the two and Knezevich is not happy about it." Security footage captured man resembling Knezevich, say authorities Ana was last seen by security cameras entering her apartment around 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 2. That evening, around 9:27 p.m., surveillance cameras caught a man wearing a helmet entering the building as people were leaving. Once inside, the man, who authorities say resembled Knezevich, used a can of spray paint to spray over the apartments surveillance camera lens. The man was then seen "fastening a piece of duct tape to the lock of the building entrance to prevent the lock from engaging to allow subsequent entry," per a federal complaint. About an hour later, around 10:30 p.m., the man was seen walking off the elevator with what looked like a suitcase. Spanish police later searched Ana's apartment and found no traces of her cell phone, laptop computer, or chargers. During the investigation, authorities tracked down the retailer that sold the brand of paint used to spray over the security camera. Surveillance footage from the retailer depicted an individual who appeared to be Knezevich purchasing the spray paint along with two rolls of duct tape on Feb. 2, the complaint alleges. Investigators also spoke to a Colombian woman who met Knezevich online in Oct. 2023. The woman told authorities that Knezevich reached out to her on WhatsApp on Feb. 3 asking for her help translating a message into perfect Colombian. Knezevich allegedly told her that the translation was for a friend in Serbia who is writing a script about a Colombian character. Related: Husband of Fla. Woman Who Went Missing in Spain Arrested 3 Months After Her Disappearance I met someone wonderful," he allegedly asked her to translate, per the complaint. "He has a summer house about 2h (two hours) from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. I will call you when I come back. Kisses. He also allegedly asked her to translate: yesterday after therapy I needed a walk and he approached me on the street! Amazing connection. Like I never had before, according to the complaint. The woman later contacted authorities after her mother searched online for Knezevich and learned that his wife had been reported missing in Madrid, the complaint states. Tracking the suspect's alleged movements Authorities allege Knezevich flew to Istanbul from Miami on Jan. 27 and then rented a Peugeot 308 in Serbia on Jan. 29. From there, authorities allege he drove to Spain to kidnap his estranged wife. The rental car agency owner told authorities that Knezevich returned the car with tinted windows and different license plate frames. On April 24, Knezevichs employee told law enforcement that he asked her to impersonate Ana to open a new bank account and provided her with Anas social security number to use as proof, the complaint alleges. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The following day, the employee told Knezevich that she was uncomfortable impersonating Ana because his wife was missing. Knezevich allegedly told the employee that it needed to be done so employees could be paid. Knezevich allegedly stated, I cannot call with my voice because I sound like a guy. On May 4, the FBI arrested Knezevich at Miami airport and charged him with kidnapping. Nothing of this makes sense to me, says Rameau. It's devastating. We just want to know where she is." "I am not going to stop until justice has been served," she adds. "I miss her every minute. I just dream that she would come back. She was a sweetheart. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Trucks carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier are seen in central Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) GAZA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. Palestinian security sources said smaller boats offloaded the aid from a huge U.S. ship floating off the coast and transited them to the pier. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that dozens of Palestinian trucks were awaiting on the coastal road to be loaded with humanitarian aid to transport it to UN warehouses in the coastal enclave. The pier was placed as several land crossings serving as a crucial entry for aid remained close since Israel took control of the southernmost Rafah area of the enclave and heightened strikes on Gaza. A truck carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier is seen in central Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Trucks carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier are seen in central Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Trucks carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier are seen in central Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A truck carrying aid delivered into Gaza via a floating pier is seen in central Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. A temporary floating pier built by the United States in the Gaza Strip started receiving humanitarian aid items on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) For the record: 12:10 p.m. May 20, 2024: An earlier version of this article said that on May 6 there was news Hamas had accepted the terms of a cease-fire. The article now attributes that information to Hamas, and additionally says U.S. and Israeli officials disputed the claim. Mohamad Abdelfattah was supposed to land at LAX last Tuesday at 11:45 a.m., where his wife, their baby and young son would be waiting for him, and they would celebrate his safe return from Gaza. But Tuesday came and went, and Abdelfattah, a critical-care doctor, was still in the southern city of Rafah, with no way of leaving. He was at the end of a two-week trip volunteering in one of the few hospitals that has remained open in the besieged city, days on end trying to save lives as Israeli airstrikes pummeled neighborhoods. Then last week, after a rocket attack by Hamas killed four Israeli soldiers, the border crossings with Egypt and Israel were closed. Abdelfattah's wife, Donya Salah, waited at home in Orange County with her phone close at hand. Could you please be careful? she texted him last Wednesday morning after he asked her to cancel his appointments for the week at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles. Yes, he replied. Doing my best. Salah, 30, knew then that he, too, was worried. Speaking with The Times last week, Abdelfattah, 37, described his growing frustration as the Israel-Hamas war has intensified a humanitarian crisis that is pushing Rafah, a city sheltering close to a million refugees who have fled fighting in the north, deeper into chaos. Israel ordered the evacuation of neighborhoods to the east and south of the hospital, in what it is calling a "limited operation" but many believe is the start of a more significant incursion. Palestinians take shelter from the Israeli bombardment at the European Hospital on Dec. 26, 2023. (Hatem Ali / Associated Press) More than 35,000 Gazans have died in Israeli retaliatory attacks since Oct. 7. Nearly all of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, with about half at imminent risk of famine, international health officials say. After arriving at the European Hospital with a team of 19 volunteers from the Palestinian American Medical Assn., Abdelfattah was stunned to see so many people by his estimate, thousands sheltering inside the facility and on its grounds. Families were living in the corridors, their privacy maintained by bed sheets hung from the ceiling. Kids were running in and out of the sheets," he said. "Babies were crying. You could smell cooking. Trained as a pulmonary and ICU physician, Abdelfattah had been at MLK for three years. The memory of the pandemic and the second wave of COVID infections was still fresh in his mind: drowning in the 12-hour shifts, multiple codes at once, cardiac arrests. He thought he would be prepared for a war zone. But the intensive care unit here was in a state of complete chaos. Patient monitors were constantly ringing, he said. There was no infection control, no hand soap, no contact gowns. Flies were everywhere, landing on wounds. The staff was exhausted and burned out. One of his first patients was an infant girl whose leg was cut open to the bone by shrapnel. Another little girl with head trauma was intubated; her mother nearby kept saying she wished she could trade places with her daughter. Abdelfattah was not used to pediatric cases; he hadnt anticipated seeing so many children. He was reminded of his own. His second son had just been born in December. His 2-year-old was just learning to ride a scooter. The little boy enjoyed playing on the swings at the park near their home. After the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas assailants that killed about 1,200 people, Abdelfattah feared for Gaza. He knew from experience that the retaliation would be brutal. He had first visited the narrow, densely populated strip of land in 2009 with a convoy of humanitarian aid, which allowed him to see firsthand the destruction from urban battles with Israel months earlier. His grandfather had immigrated to the United States from the West Bank in the 1970s, and as a college student at UC Irvine, Abdelfattah was active with the Muslim Student Union, bringing attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. To grow up with no future, no hope, he said, that is not an environment you want to be raised in. Soon after Oct. 7, Abdelfattah co-founded Orange County for Justice in Palestine with the goal of winning support for a cease-fire among local politicians. But after weeks of campaigning and demonstrating with little results, he wanted to do more. When the Palestinian American Medical Assn. put out a call for doctors to volunteer in Gaza, he told Salah that he needed to go. Their conversation was difficult, as he recounted. They were settling into a new home in Tustin, and with the baby she needed him nearby. They talked about the Israeli attack that killed seven members of the World Central Kitchen, and what she would do if he died. Not wanting to worry their families, they shared his decision only two weeks before his departure. Flying from Los Angeles International Airport to Istanbul and then Cairo, he and the medical team crossed into Rafah with nearly 250 suitcases filled with medication, feminine hygiene products, candy, coloring books, water purification tablets and other supplies. The group paused for a picture in front of an I LOVE GAZA sign, and Abdelfattah, for a brief moment, felt happy. This is where I wanted to be, he said. At the European Hospital, sounds of explosions from airstrikes were inescapable. Drones buzzed relentlessly overhead. The severity of the injuries was made worse by infections and the lack of supplies. In the evenings, Abdelfattah would call Salah and share some of what he was experiencing. She could tell he was trying not to worry her. He told her he was exhausted, sleeping no more than two hours at a time. He and 40 others on the medical staff were staying in a dormitory at the nursing college. They slept on mattresses on the floor. Hospital staff prepared whatever food was available. After morning prayer, he would go to the emergency room and start his shift. A week into the two-week rotation on May 6 came news that Hamas said it had accepted the terms of a cease-fire proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a claim U.S. and Israeli officials disputed. Abdelfattah recalled the celebration children singing, fireworks but within an hour, explosions in the distance could be heard. The bombing was continuing. There was no cease-fire. Israel had ordered an evacuation of Rafahs eastern neighborhoods for a limited operation. For Abdelfattah and others, the action seemed like the beginning of the long-awaited invasion of the city. He had heard that tanks had rolled over the I LOVE GAZA sign, and a United Nations convoy on its way to his hospital had come under attack, leaving one dead and one wounded. Buses began transporting people from the hospital to a safety zone on the coast, he said, and the corridors of the hospital grew less crowded. The bombing continued. He felt the jolts as the blast waves shook the windows. He also noticed that most Gazans didnt even flinch. People have been so traumatized over the last seven months, he said, and they all have stories: homes being destroyed, losing multiple family members, moving and evacuating four, five times. Nothing is safe. Patients continued to arrive, mostly with severe burns, mostly children. After one recent strike close to the hospital, he went to the intensive care unit, where doctors were treating a brother and sister, both under 2. "The prognosis is not good," he wrote in a text. Then late last Thursday night, the medical team learned that the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem had arranged for their evacuation. They would be leaving at 6 a.m. the next morning. Some of the doctors decided to stay. Abdelfattah was torn. But he had promised Salah he would leave when given a chance. His son had been asking for him. The drive to the border took them through neighborhoods that had been destroyed. The minaret of every mosque they passed was toppled, he said. At the final checkpoint, an Israeli tank blocked their way before finally backing down. Once in Jerusalem, Abdelfattah went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray. The serenity so palpable, he said was surreal: for the first time in two weeks, no drones, no bombs. I wish this were the case in Gaza, he said. On Sunday at 2:15 p.m., Abdelfattah landed at LAX, where his wife, their baby and young son were waiting for him. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A top-ranking Democrat has said that its worth investigating whether alcohol was involved in an explosive, insult-ridden House Oversight Committee hearing earlier this week. Representative Jamie Raskin called for the investigation after Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, said non-committee members were drinking in the chamber during a hearing where Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene kicked off a fiery exchange by insulting lawmaker Jasmine Crockett. I didnt see the drinking but the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, raised it, Mr Raskin told Fox Newsoutside the US Capitol on Friday. She said there are members drinking in the room, and thats something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place. Mr Raskin pointed the finger at lawmakers from across the aisle. Representative Jamie Raskin, pictured on Friday, said its worth investigating if alcohol was involved in the explosive House Oversight Committee hearing (Getty Images) There was drinking going on in the hearing room on the Republican side, he told The Hill. You had a bunch of members who had skipped legislative votes yesterday in order to go to Donald Trumps trial...I dont even want to imagine how much drinking was taking place on the train or up in New York, he said. And these members came back out of control. And the chairman did not rein them in, and the institution pays the price. Additional unnamed representatives from both parties also told Politicothey saw members drinking. The incident took place during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday to decide if US Attorney General Merrick Garland could be held in contempt of Congress. It began when Rep. Greene attacked Democratic lawmaker Jasmine Crocketts fake eyelashes. Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), pictured at a hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, called Marjorie Taylor Greene a bleach blonde bad-built butch body (US House of Representatives/YouTube) Id like to know if any Democrats on the committee are employing Judge [Juan] Merchans daughter? Ms Greene asked. Judge Juan Merchan presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial in New York. The former president and other Republicans have attacked Judge Merchan as partisan and highlighted that his daughter has worked for Democrats. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland, Ms Crockett, a Texas Democrat, asked. Do you know what were here for? I dont think you know what youre here for, Ms Greene said. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, interjected. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person, she said. Ms Greene then taunted Ms Ocasio-Cortez, asking if her feelings had been hurt. Oh girl, oh baby girl, dont even play, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. Mr Raskin, the top Democrat on the panel, then stepped in and told Ms Greene the comments were beneath even you. Ms Greene struck her words from the Congressional record but did not apologise to Ms Crockett. When Chairman James Comer ruled that Ms Greenes comments did not violate House rules, Ms Crockett responded. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? she asked the chairman. After a fellow representative asked her to calm down, Ms Crockett continued. Im trying to get clarification, Ms Crockett said. Dont tell me to calm down, because yall talk noise and then you cant take it, because if I come and talk s*** about her, yall gonna have a problem. Ms Crockett later called Ms Greene absolutely racist for her comments. She is racist. I mean, I dont have any questions about that, she said. She went on to say that Ms Greene and Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert arent getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes it looks like. I dont know. But she doesnt attack her for any of that, Ms Crockett said. Ms Ocasio-Cortez made a similar point, Punchbowl News reported. It is not lost on me that Ms Greene targeted one of the only Black women on the committee for some of the most egregious and disgusting comments and with the expectation that it will be ignored, she said. Meanwhile, Ms Greene said shes completely over it in a Friday post on X. Pardon me if I dont talk as nicely as some people would like to hear, she wrote. Im not going to keep you all addicted to outrage and hopium that never solves a problem or stops the inevitable implosion of the United States of America. Iran to send experts to ally Venezuela to help with medical accelerators CARACAS (Reuters) - Iran on Saturday said it will send experts to its ally Venezuela to help with medical accelerators in hospitals it said had been stopped due to Western sanctions. Venezuela requested Iran's help, according to a message on the social media platform X by the Iranian government attributed to the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. "Venezuela has a number of accelerators in its hospitals that have been stopped due to the embargo," the message said. Medical accelerators are used in radiation treatments for cancer patients. Venezuela is also an ally of Russia and China. The return of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry has made its alliance with Iran critical to keeping its lagging energy sector afloat. Washington last year temporarily relaxed sanctions on Venezuela's promise to allow a competitive presidential election. The U.S. now says only some conditions were met. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Daniel Wallis) Israeli politician Benny Gantz demanded an overhaul of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus post-conflict vision for Gaza Saturday, threatening to step down from the war cabinet if his concerns were not addressed. Gantz, seen as a chief rival of Netanyahu, demanded the government provide an updated six-point plan by June 8. His request could further divide the emergency government that was formed following Palestinian militant group Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and resulted in more than 250 people being taken hostage. Gantzs push focused on first ensuring the safe return of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas and then shifting focus to defeating the militant group in the Gaza Strip. He also proposed an international administration composed of U.S., European, Arab and Palestinian delegates to lead civilian affairs in Gaza, without including Hamas. If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss we will be forced to quit the government, Gantz said in a press conference, The Associated Press reported. His proposal also includes normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and widen military service in the nation. Netanyahu pushed back on Gantzs request, claiming he was choosing to issue an ultimatum on Israeli government and not Hamas, per the AP. Instead, the prime minister called the requests euphemisms for Israels defeat. The proposal also comes just days after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made a similar threat, claiming he would step down if Israel is elected to govern Gaza. Instead, he pressured Netanyahu to make plans for a Palestinian state. I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza Strip, that Israel will not establish military governance in the Gaza Strip and that a governing alternative to Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be advanced immediately, Gallant said last week, according to the AP. Netanyahus plan, unveiled in February, would permit Israel to retain indefinite security in Gaza when the conflict is over. However, that plan would run counter to pressure from the U.S. and other nations for Israel to establish an independent Palestinian government. The Associated Press contributed reporting. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Benny Gantz has spelled out a six-point plan he wants the war cabinet to adopt Benny Gantz has threatened to quit Israels emergency government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not come up with a post-war plan within three weeks. Mr Gantz, an Israeli war cabinet minister, demanded that Mr Netanyahu commit to a plan for the war against Hamas in Gaza, including who might lead the beleaguered territory after the conflict ends. In a televised news conference on Saturday night, Mr Gantz spelled out a six-point plan he wanted the cabinet to adopt. It includes the return of Israeli hostages, the end of Hamas rule, the demilitarisation of Gaza, a temporary international civilian administration for the territory backed by US, European and Arab nations, and efforts to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia. It would also expand national service for all Israelis, including ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are currently exempt from the military draft and have two parties in Mr Netanyahus coalition. Hundreds of Palestinians gather to receive aid in Gaza - Anadolu Mr Gantz, an opposition figure and former general, said his centrist National Unity party would leave Mr Netanyahus fragile emergency coalition if his demands were not met by June 8. His ultimatum escalates a divide within Israels fragile emergency government more than seven months into a war in which it has yet to accomplish its stated goals of crushing Hamas and returning the hostages abducted by the terror group. On Friday, Israeli soldiers discovered the bodies of hostages German-Israeli Shani Louk, 22, Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, were found in Gaza. The discovery of the body of a fourth hostage was announced Saturday. Hostages Itzhak Gelerenter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila in Gaza Mr Gantz, a popular politician and longtime political rival of Mr Netanyahu, joined the Israeli Prime Ministers coalition and the War Cabinet in the aftermath of Hamas attack on October 7. If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss - we will be forced to quit the government, he said on Saturday night. However, the departure of Mr Gantz could leave Mr Netanyahu more reliant on far-right allies who have taken a hard line on negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release, and who believe Israel should occupy Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there. It comes just days after Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister and the third member of the War Cabinet, issued a rare rebuke of Mr Netanyahu, whom he accused of dithering over the future of post-war Gaza. Mr Netanyahu faces mounting pressure on multiple fronts, with hardliners in his government backing a military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, while the US and other key allies have warned against action in the citys densely populated areas. The Israeli Prime Minister appeared to reject the ultimatum on Saturday night. According to Haaretz, the Israeli Prime Minister called Mr Gantzs conditions euphemisms with a clear meaning: the end of the war, defeat for Israel, and the abandonment of most of the hostages leaving Hamas intact and establishing a Palestinian state. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. SAN FRANCISCO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An encampment at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, U.S. state of Washington, will be shut down after an agreement was reached between protesters and the university administration, according to a news release by the protesters on Friday. The protesters agreed to clear the encampment by 3 p.m. Monday and not reestablish it, said the news release by the organizers of the encampment, the "Popular University for Gaza Liberated Zone." Under the agreement, administrators agreed to fund at least 20 scholarships for Palestinian students displaced from Gaza, and the university will help faculty pursue academic connections with Palestinian universities, it added. The organizers also said the university will increase transparency about the school's investments to companies such as Boeing, major weapons manufacturers, or companies in Israel. Zho Ragen, a spokesperson for the encampment, said their representatives met with university officials, including President Ana Mari Cauce, Friday morning for the agreement. Ragen said protesters were planning to use other tactics in the future to pressure UW officials to meet their demands, such as having the university cut financial and academic ties with Israel. "We have a lot of history to draw from, and we have a long future to look forward to in terms of struggling for liberation," Ragen was quoted as saying in a report by the Seattle Times. A top-ranking House Democrat has accused Republicans who attended Donald Trumps hush money trial of drinking on the trip before attending an explosive House hearing on Thursday. A meeting of the House Oversight Committee descended into chaos after GOP firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene insulted Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett over her fake eyelashes. Ms Crockett then suggested that Ms Greene had a bleach blond, bad-built butch body. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle later said that alcohol may have been involved. Senior Democrat Jamie Raskin blamed Republican members who had travelled to New York from DC to support Mr Trump in court. There was drinking going on in the hearing room on the Republican side, he told The Hill on Friday, without naming any names. From left to right, Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, Andy Ogles, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, and Lauren Boebert stand outside the Manhattan criminal court on Thursday to support Donald Trump at his hush money trial (AP) You had a bunch of members who had skipped legislative votes yesterday in order to go to Donald Trumps trial...I dont even want to imagine how much drinking was taking place on the train or up in New York. And these members came back out of control. And the chairman did not rein them in, and the institution pays the price. The Republicans who showed up at Mr Trumps trial on Thursday included Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Michael Cloud, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Diana Harshbarger, Anna Paulina Luna, Ralph Norman and Andy Ogles. They were part of a wave of GOP supporters of the president who attended the Manhattan courthouse in the past week. No lawmaker directly involved in the Oversight Committee hearing incident, including Ms Greene, attended the trial. On Thursday, Mr Gaetz invoked Donald Trumps notorious, and widely condemned, call to the far-right group, the Proud Boys Standing back and standing by, Mr. President, Mr Gaetz wrote on X, along with a photo of himself at the courthouse. The Independent has contacted lawmakers who attended the trial on Thursday for comment. Mr Gaetz told The Independent that he did not travel with the group to New York and did not observe any drinking on Thursday. Mr Raskin called for an investigation into the potential involvement of alcohol surrounding the events at the hearing. Jasmine Crockett, pictured at the hearing on Thursday, called Marjorie Taylor Greene a bleach blonde bad-built butch body after she insulted her fake eyelashes (US House of Representatives/YouTube) I didnt see the drinking but the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, raised it, Mr Raskin told Fox News at the US Capitol on Friday. She said there are members drinking in the room, and thats something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place. Additional unnamed representatives from both parties told Politico they saw members drinking. Thursdays hearing was to decide if US Attorney General Merrick Garland could be held in contempt of Congress but turned chaotic when Ms Greene attacked Ms Crocketts fake eyelashes. Id like to know if any Democrats on the committee are employing Judge [Juan] Merchans daughter? Ms Greene asked. Judge Juan Merchan presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial in New York. The former president and other Republicans have attacked Judge Merchan as partisan and highlighted that his daughter has worked for Democrats. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland, Ms Crockett, a Texas Democrat, asked. Do you know what were here for? I dont think you know what youre here for, Ms Greene said. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, interjected. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person, she said. Ms Greene then taunted Ms Ocasio-Cortez, asking if her feelings had been hurt. Oh girl, oh baby girl, dont even play, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, pictured at the House Oversight Committee hearing, clashed on Thursday (Independent TV) When Chairman James Comer ruled that Ms Greenes comments did not violate House rules, Ms Crockett responded. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? she asked the chairman. Ms Crockett later called Ms Greene absolutely racist for her comments. She is racist. I mean, I dont have any questions about that, she said. She went on to say that Ms Greene and Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert arent getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes it looks like. I dont know. But she doesnt attack her for any of that, Ms Crockett said. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Friday to apologize for disrespecting the American flag. Samuel Alito should apologize immediately for disrespecting the American flag and sympathizing with right-wing violent insurrectionists, Jeffries said in a statement in a press release Friday. He must recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and [former President Trump,] the New York Democrat continued in the statement. Congress should immediately consider legislation to impose an ethical code of conduct on a runaway Supreme Court. The Constitution demands and the American people deserve more from a justice serving on the highest court in the land than baseless election denial. Jeffries statement follows a Thursday report from The New York Times about an upside-down American flag that was flown at Alitos Alexandria, Va., home in January 2021. The upside-down American flag is a symbol connected to the Stop the Steal efforts that have a basis in inaccurate claims of election fraud. Alito has said that his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was responsible for the flag. I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag, Alito said to the Times. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called on Alito to recuse himself from every case connected to Jan. 6, 2021 and the 2020 election following the news of the flag coming to light. Flying an upside-down American flag a symbol of the so-called Stop the Steal movement clearly creates the appearance of bias, Durbin said. Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, including the question of the former Presidents immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering, he added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Speaker Mike Johnsons (R-La.) decision to appear this week at former President Trumps hush money trial in Manhattan is sparking new blowback from some House Republicans, who are questioning why he would inject himself so prominently in a case involving an alleged affair with a porn star. These Republicans, who requested to speak anonymously to discuss the sensitive topic, are accusing Johnson a devout Southern Baptist who built a career around the fight for Christian values and moral conservatism of undermining the partys family values image simply to ingratiate himself with Trump, the partys presumptive presidential nominee. Its clear that Johnson thinks that this is to his political advantage to be at the courthouse at the most salacious bits of detailed, pornographic testimony. I think hes got to answer for that, one House Republican told The Hill. It seems like an odd place for him to be given what he has said. In one sense, theres little surprise in Johnsons visit to New York this week. The Speaker has been a long-time Trump supporter, endorsing him early in the GOP primary and leading a House GOP conference thats overwhelmingly loyal to the former president. Trump also backed Johnson as he faced a recent ouster threat in the Capitol, perhaps saving his gavel. Yet Johnson has also fashioned a professional identity both before and after his arrival on Capitol Hill centered around his deeply rooted evangelical faith and the fight for traditional conservative values, both of which are being challenged by the allegations against Trump. That striking dichotomy has not been overlooked by some in Johnsons own House conference, who are scratching their heads over the Speakers decision to stick his neck out with his recent public appearance at the site of Trumps hush money trial. I was watching the newscast and I saw him in the background, and I thought, Tell me this isnt so. Because there is no debating the fact that Mike Johnson is a devout Christian human being, said a second Republican lawmaker, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly. That is not even subject to a debate. Its not a good look at all, echoed a third GOP lawmaker. The first Republican who spoke to The Hill referenced comments Johnson made in 2022 which were unearthed last year that he and his son monitor each others porn intake with the app Covenant Eyes, a platform that helps you live porn-free with confidence, according to its website. The Louisiana Republican said at the time, Im proud to tell you, my sons got a clean slate. I wonder if he had to report [the New York visit] to his son, the lawmaker said facetiously. If youre going there and talking about the other trials, thats different. That looks different than this trial, the GOP lawmaker added, alluding to separate criminal cases involving Trumps handling of classified documents and his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. This is exactly what has been the discussion among tons of Republicans this week. Johnson, for his part, has defended his visit to Manhattan, saying it has nothing to do with the affair allegations which Trump has denied and everything to do with the process by which Trump is being tried. Pressed on Tuesday about the fact that the case is centered on an alleged affair and subsequent hush money payments, Johnson pivoted to procedure. They have weaponized and politicized the American judicial system to go after a political opponent. It is wildly inappropriate, the Speaker said. As a former litigator and attorney myself, I find it to be outrageous, and I think it was certainly appropriate for me to state that there on the grounds. While Johnsons House critics have been reluctant to voice their concerns publicly, Trumps most vocal GOP detractors outside the chamber have blasted the Speaker for his decision. I think its a little demeaning to show up in front of a courthouse and particularly one where were talking about an allegation of paying a porn star, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a noted Trump critic, said this week. Do we have something to do around here other than watch a stupid porn trial? I mean, this is ridiculous, echoed Rep. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), also not a fan of the former president. Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), yet another Trump critic, was even more biting, accusing Johnson of abandoning his commitment to advancing high-minded moral principles. Have to admit Im surprised that @SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the I cheated on my wife with a porn star club, Cheney posted this week on social platform X. I guess hes not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all. At the center of the New York case are allegations that Trump in 2006 had sex with Stormy Daniels a porn star who was then less than half his age right after his wife Melania gave birth to Trumps youngest son, Barron. A decade later, prosecutors say, Trump paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet so the affair wouldnt damage his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied all the charges. But the trial has captivated the country for weeks as Daniels spilled her lurid version of the alleged affair and Trumps former fixer, attorney Michael Cohen, detailed his allegations that Trump had orchestrated the payments for purely political reasons. The trial has sparked an outcry from Trumps GOP allies on Capitol Hill, and many of them have paraded up to Manhattan in recent days to stand behind the former president to protest what they say is a political witch hunt designed solely to damage Trumps election chances in November. Most of those lawmakers represent the right fringe of the GOP conference, including Freedom Caucus leaders, such as Reps. Bob Good (Va.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.), and hard-line agitators like Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.). But on Tuesday, Johnson joined Trumps entourage alongside Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) and former primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy all of whom have been floated as potential Trump running mates. Johnson became the highest-ranking lawmaker to appear alongside the former president in Manhattan. President Trump is innocent of these charges, Johnson declared outside the courtroom. Plenty of Republicans, to be sure, have defended Johnsons trek to New York, arguing that prosecutors have a weak case that rests on testimony from Cohen, who has a history of lying under oath to Congress and banks. I dont have a problem with him going up there, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said of Johnson. Hes our nominee for president, hes on trial in the weirdest, dumbest legal case Ive ever seen. But when pressed on the specifics of the case, Republicans have gone out of their way to note that they are defending the former president from the process and not necessarily the charges itself. I dont think it has anything to do with what hes charged with. I think its all about, just the way that the trial itself has been conducted and the fact that theres a lot of unfairness thats going on, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) said. Democrats have argued it was irresponsible for the Speaker a figure who is third in line to the presidency, behind the president and vice president to disparage the countrys judicial system, thereby undermining the publics trust in a foundational institution thats long been a source of national pride. Its disappointing to see someone in that position, as Speaker of the House, to go up and to speak negatively of independent criminal investigations, said Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), the chair of the House Democratic Caucus. But thats the price that House Republicans have to pay. And thats the price, specifically, Speaker Johnson has to pay to have President Trump have his back. Democrats are not alone in that criticism. Another House Republican who also requested anonymity to candidly discuss the Speakers trip raised concerns that Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, was casting doubt on the judicial branch. What I really didnt like was the fact that as an officer of the court, he walked out and bashed the proceedings, the court, the judiciary, and thats not fair, the GOP lawmaker said. And as an officer of the court you have a duty to uphold that. Its one thing when Trump, whos not a lawyer, does it. Its quite another thing for a member of the bar. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Judge rules man who stabbed ex-cop Derek Chauvin in prison can represent self at trial The inmate who is charged with stabbing former Minneapolis police office Derek Cahuvin in an Arizona prison is allowed to represent himself in court, a judge ruled. John Turscak, the federal inmate who attacked Chauvin, stabbed him 22 times with a makeshift knife at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Tucson last November. Chauvin killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, sparking nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. The ruling this week, reported first by NBC News, agreed to Turscaks request to waive his right to legal representation. Judge Lynnette Kimmins said he must still be granted an advisory or standby counsel and reasonable access to law books, witnesses and other tools so he can prepare his defense. FCI is a medium-security prison that has reportedly faced problems with security and staffing. Chauvin was sent to FCI Tucson in August 2022 to serve him simultaneous sentences for violating Floyds civil right and for second-degree murder. The Supreme Court has rejected Chauvins appeal of his murder conviction. Turscak said he was thinking about hurting Chauvin for about a month because of how high-profile of an inmate he was. He also reportedly chose the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday to stab Chauvin because of the Black Lives Matter movement, NBC News reported. He was charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. An honorary member of the Ku Klux Klan can stay on the GOP primary ballot for Missouri governor, a judge ruled Friday. Longshot candidate Darrell McClanahan III survived a legal challenge by the Missouri Republican Party to shunt him from the ballot, which was denied Friday by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker. The petition had argued for McClanahans removal on the grounds that the GOP didnt properly vet McClanahan before he filed his candidacy in February; Walker, in his decision, wrote that while the GOP was free to distance itself from McClanahan, the judge would not remove him from the ballot. McClanahans lawyer, Dave Roland, said he believed the Missouri GOPs request was doomed from the start. Im not sure they ever actually intended to win this case, Roland told the Associated Press. I think the case got filed because the Republican Party wanted to make a very big public show that they dont want to be associated with racism or antisemitism. And the best way that they could do that was filing a case that they knew was almost certain to lose. McClanahans KKK ties were made known when a photo of him with a burning cross began circulating after he launched his primary campaign. Hes also confirmed the authenticity of other photos of him making the Nazi salute, which were shared by a former Missouri state lawmaker. While McClanahan has maintained that he was never a member of the KKK, he was given honorary status for one year and describes himself as being pro-white. When he learned that the Missouri GOP had filed a petition to get him off the ballot, he derided them as a bunch of anti-White hypocrites on social media. The Missouri GOP knew exactly who I am, McClanahan claimed. He recalled being told that I should just not say anything bad about the Jews by the state partys chairman, and accused other party leaders of hypocrisy, claiming they had made similar racist comments. According to Ballotpedia, McClanahan is one of nine candidates vying for the GOP nomination to replace Gov. Mike Parson. The frontrunners in the deep red state include Lieutenant Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, and state senator Bill Eigel. 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. CHICAGO (AP) A Chicago police officer has been acquitted in the 2021 fatal shooting of a woman who was the mother of his child. A Cook County jury on Friday found Pierre Tyler, 32, not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Andris Wofford. Prosecutors have said the two had argued over Woffords belief that Tyler was married and also had children with the other woman. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines A video camera showed Tyler walking into Woffords home. Neighbors said they heard the two arguing, a loud muffled bang and then no further yelling. A camera showed Tyler later leaving the home. Woffords body was found the next day. She had been shot in the head. Tyler testified Friday that Wofford pointed his gun at him and that the weapon fired as he tried to shove it away, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The gun used in the shooting has never been found and Tyler did not call for help or tell anyone about the shooting. The newspaper reported that a police department spokesperson said Tyler is listed as inactive while on a leave of absence. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC4) The man accused of crashing into and killing a 75-year-old toymaker while driving under the influence was convicted on Friday. Asael Paul Lyman, 74, was found guilty of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, a second-degree felony, driving under the influence of alcohol with a passenger under 16 years old, a class A misdemeanor, and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor, along with other traffic-related infractions. PREVIOUS STORY: Man accused of crashing into pickup, killing 75-year-old toymaker On Dec. 1, 2022, court documents say officers arrived to see toy trucks scattered across the westbound lanes of 9000 South and a pickup truck pushed through a chain-link fence. Inside the vehicle, they located Claude Thacker deceased. According to airbag control data, Lyman was traveling at 89 miles per hour at 100% full throttle when he struck Thackers vehicle pushing it over three lanes of traffic, up a small incline, through a chain-link fence and into a shed, documents read. Police say Lyman told them he was picking up a young family member and that he had nothing to drink since the night prior knowing he would be driving family. A toxicology report returned with .12 gm/100 ml of ethanol in his system. Thacker worked as a volunteer toymaker for the Tiny Tims Foundation for Kids, a local nonprofit that makes toys for children around the world. Lymans sentencing is scheduled to take place on July 15. Statement from Thacker family The Thacker family told ABC4.com they are relieved the jury returned a guilty verdict, but that their hearts go out to the Lyman family. Our hearts go out to the Lyman family as we know that two families in this community have suffered tragic losses from his actions, they said. The family also mentioned that Thackers wife, Gloria, passed away on Feb. 29, 2024. Shortly after Thacker was killed, she developed Broken Heart Syndrome and heart failure. She was absolutely devastated by the loss of her husband, partner and love of her life of 48 years, that we lost her as well, the family said. The family also mentioned that while many think that driving intoxicated and killing someone would immediately result with that person going to jail, the law is written in a way that you have to prove they were negligently operating the vehicle and that they were driving under the influence. We will be working with other victims families and Utahs legislature, to change this law, they said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Work on a railroad connecting the Turkiye's Kars to the Igdir region bordering Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan, a crucial component of the Zangezur corridor, is scheduled to begin later this year and be completed within five years, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkiye Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, Azernews reports citing Turkish nationwide TV channel. The minister recalled that the tender for constructing a 224-kilometer railroad in eastern Turkiye was announced earlier this year, and negotiations are currently underway to finance the project. "Construction work from Kars to the Dilucu border crossing point on the Azerbaijan border will take about five years," Uraloglu said. He noted that building the railroad section between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Zangilan district might also take several years. The minister highlighted the importance of completing railroad construction in the regions of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation and modernizing rails in Nakhchivan. "The full-fledged functioning of the transportation corridor will be possible in 20282029. This route has significant economic and strategic importance for Turkiye and the entire region," he emphasized. Uraloglu also discussed the importance of the Zangezur Corridor for global trade, mentioning the risks associated with incidents in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. "The opening of the Zangezur Corridor will provide a crucial new alternative for establishing economic ties between Asia and Europe," he said. Additionally, the minister mentioned the possibility of the Zangezur Corridor passing through Iran. "We know that Azerbaijan is negotiating with Iran on this matter. The final decision has not been made yet. I do not exclude that some sections of the corridor will also pass through Iran and Armenia," he added. (Photo: xFusion) (Photo: xFusion) HAMBURG, Germany, May 18, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--xFusion Digital Technologies Co., Ltd. (xFusion) dazzled attendees with its top-of-the-range computing products and solutions at the prestigious ISC High Performance 2024 event, hosted at the Congress Center Hamburg in Germany from May 13th to 15th. During the event, xFusion and fellow participants delved into the realms of AI and high performance computing (HPC) to explore their innovative applications and developmental trends, marking a significant convergence of minds and technologies. Tab Tang , President of the Computing and Expansion at xFusion, delivered a keynote titled "Reinvent HPC in the Era of AI" during the Vendor Roadmap session on the 15th. He illuminated the pivotal role of smart computing in propelling industrial progress, highlighting the cooling challenges arising from high power and computing density, along with sustainability concerns. This necessitates clusters that are not only high-speed and low-latency but also highly reliable and stable. He also emphasized the transformative impact of AI on scientific endeavors, affirming xFusion's commitment to overcoming these challenges through pioneering software and hardware solutions. With a unified platform for both HPC and AI, xFusion aims to invigorate academic research and reshape the landscape of AI-driven HPC. This year's ISC witnessed xFusion's spotlight on cutting-edge technologies like AI and HPC, presenting computing advancements characterized by openness, intelligence, eco-friendliness, and high-density. This compelling showcase drew attendees eager to delve deeper into these innovations. At the event, xFusion proudly introduced FusionPoD for AI, a revolutionary rack-scale liquid-cooling cabinet poised to redefine computing paradigms. With its open architecture and support for diverse computing capabilities, FusionPoD for AI integrates groundbreaking architectural, software, and algorithmic innovations. It offers a fresh perspective by embracing multiple ecosystems, diversity, and low-carbon solutions to cater to the demanding requirements of AI large models and other HPC scenarios. This remarkable product delivers an unparalleled computing density of 64 GPUs and features a 100% liquid cooling native design with an impressively low pPUE of 1.06. xFusion also introduced the AI Space accelerator to both partners and customers, promising to expedite their AI application development and deployment. xFusion stole the spotlight at ISC 2024 by showcasing its FusionOne HPC solution tailored for diverse HPC applications in education, scientific research, and manufacturing simulation. This state-of-the-art offering boasts adaptive characteristics, ensuring efficient, secure, reliable, and easily manageable operations. Notably, FusionOne HPC has already made waves with its deployment in the Weiming No. 2 Cluster at Peking University in 2023. This implementation has addressed the diverse needs of various disciplines, facilitating large-scale data processing and scientific computing while simultaneously reducing power consumption and fostering green research initiatives. Beyond technological excellence, xFusion leads the charge in delivering comprehensive global business support through its dedicated team, bolstering remote O&M, cluster systems, and open architectural frameworks. Collaborating closely with partners, xFusion drives continuous innovation, fostering a thriving and sustainable HPC ecosystem. The current partnership with Bank Neo Commerce (BNC) in Indonesia marks a pivotal step in revolutionizing digital banking services. By offering agile, secure, and scalable digital infrastructure, xFusion empowers BNC to handle increasing transaction volumes and enhance customer interactions, fueling ongoing innovation and development in local digital banking services. FusionOnline, xFusion's remote intelligent O&M platform, is facilitating remote O&M in Europe, streamlining maintenance efforts while ensuring the long-term stability of user services. Guided by the vision and mission of "Let Computing Serve You Better", xFusion has expanded its reach to over 100 countries and regions, cementing its status as a premier provider of computing infrastructures and services globally. Looking to the future, xFusion remains optimistic about the potential of HPC to revolutionize industries and drive transformative innovation. In the era of AI, our ongoing contributions to the advancement of HPC underscore our commitment to shaping a brighter, more efficient, and interconnected world powered by our top-notch computing products and solutions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240516487957/en/ Contacts Henry Chen | Senior Brand Manager chenjundai@xfusion.com Scientists have found parts of bee extract that make a mighty beer. Its un-bee-lievable. Sciences latest and greatest breakthrough is using killer honeybees for a real stinger of a beer recipe. When microbiologists from Cardiff University in Wales went abroad to Namibia for a project on sustainability, they encountered the insects the Africanised killer honey bee, to be exact and discovered that the insects contained a useable yeast for a craft brew. When we got back to Cardiff, we used the isolated killer bee brewers yeast, along with yeast from Welsh honey bees, to make several batches of beer, professor Les Baillie told The BBC, adding that it was taken from deceased bees that died naturally. Thus, the Killer Bee Beer was born. Honeybee extract is being used to make beer. Augusto Pasqualotto/Wirestock Creators stock.adobe.com Now, Baillie and the team are searching for a brewery with whom to collaborate to have their ale take flight. While it seems fun on the surface, it also calls attention to their local Pharmabees project that monitors hives in the Cardiff area for pharmaceutical exploration especially in treating antibiotic resistance and, fittingly, superbugs. Proceeds from the proposed beer would go toward the research. Money from the bee beer is going to a good cause. Callow stock.adobe.com Our Killer Bee Beer is a fun side project to our wider Pharmabees studies, said Baillie of the brew that would likely give the drinker a good buzzzzz. [It] also broadens the understanding of bees at a microbiological level. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem addressed California Republicans Saturday in a speech heavy with farm stories and livestock metaphors, though she did not address controversy over shooting her own dog and skated over the criticism shes received since her new memoirs publication. Noem, whose name has been floated as a potential running mate to former president Donald Trump, addressed delegates during a lunchtime keynote at the California Republican Partys spring convention Saturday in Burlingame. The conservative governor has faced backlash since the publication of her new memoir No Going Back, for including a story about shooting and killing a dog she described as untrainable and for a false claim that she met with North Koreas leader, which she has since said will be removed from the book. Speaking at the convention, she said her book is about RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only (I name a few of them in the book); donkeys (used to guard cattle from coyotes, though if theres more than one donkey they just want to be friends ... I think theres only room for one donkey somewhere in this country) and the American bison, animals that walk into the storm to get through it faster. She described fighting the media about the truth of her book and at one point she said it is hard to see people act like you dont have a heart. California Republicans gave the South Dakota governor a warm reception, applauding when she described the small-government structure of her state and jeering when she contrasted herself with Gov. Gavin Newsom. South Dakota Gov. Kristie Noem is embraced by a supporter before speaking at the CAGOP Convention on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Airport hotel in Burlingame. Noem said when shes presented with a new bill or policy proposal, the first thing she asks is whether it is constitutional. The biggest contrast between your governor and me is I dont know if he ever asks that question, she said of Newsom, to laughter from the audience. I think your governor just says, Im going to do whatever the hell I want to do. Noem touted her decision to keep businesses open during the COVID-19 pandemic, describing governors who imposed closures and other restrictions as dictators and receiving thunderous applause when she brought up hosting Trump for a 4th of July celebration at Mount Rushmore in 2020. Noem described Trump as a very good friend and criticized his trial in New York over alleged hush money payments as a sham and persecution. After the speech, Noem greeted supporters and signed copies of her book. Republicans at the convention praised Noems efforts to improve South Dakotas economy but described her decision to include the dog story as an unforced error. Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher, who runs a farm in rural Sutter County, said theres maybe an urban-rural divide over the controversy. There are times when you have to put animals down, he said. Those of us from agricultural areas know that thats true. Betsy Mahan, chair of the Sacramento County Republican Party, described herself as an animal lover who owns horses, dogs, cats and chickens. My biggest concern is the thousands of dogs that are taken to shelters and put down because people cant afford to keep them anymore, Mahan said, adding that people upset about Noems story should adopt a dog from a shelter. Gallagher, top Assembly Republican, acknowledged that the story likely hurt Noems reputation among animal lovers. On the surface, people had a negative response to that. I think thats understandable, he said, before calling it an example of gotcha politics. Lets talk about issues, Gallagher said. When Im critical of the governor, Im not calling out personal things. Im calling out how I believe hes failing to govern or how I believe hes failing to be transparent. For himself, the Nicolaus Republican said he has a Labrador named Charlie who, though unruly, retrieved his first duck on a hunting trip last year. The hepatitis A virus. Symptoms of infection include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine and yellowing of the eyes and skin. (BSIP / Universal Images Group ) Los Angeles County health officials are investigating a reported case of hepatitis A in an employee of a Whole Foods supermarket in Beverly Hills and are warning of possible public exposure to the highly contagious liver infection. Officials warned that anyone who purchased products from the seafood counter at the grocery store on Crescent Drive between April 20 and May 13 could be affected and urged those not already immune to hepatitis A to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The virus has also recently been found among members of the county's homeless population. Hepatitis A is found in the stool and blood of those infected and can spread among people even before they have symptoms, which include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine and yellowing of the eyes and skin. "Receiving vaccination as soon as possible after exposure could help reduce the risk of developing hepatitis A infection," the county Public Health Department said in a statement. "Residents should contact their local pharmacy or medical provider for the vaccine." Read more: Hepatitis A spreading among Los Angeles homeless population, health officials say Whole Foods said it was working closely with the department. The team member diagnosed is not working, and we are not aware of anyone else becoming ill," the company said in a statement. "While we have strict food safety processes in place in our stores, we encourage anyone who believes they may have been exposed to follow the guidance of the health department. While no other infections have been reported related to the Whole Foods case, county health officials said this week that they have identified an outbreak of five hepatitis A cases since March among people who are homeless. Officials said the risk to the general public is "low" but urged anyone who may have been exposed to check if they have been vaccinated. Read more: Hepatitis A scare at Men's Central Jail led to more than 1,500 vaccinations Homeless people are at a higher risk for contracting the virus due to decreased access to hand washing and toilet facilities, officials said. Californias last known hepatitis A outbreak occurred between 2016 and 2018, mostly among people experiencing homelessness or using drugs in settings with limited sanitation. In San Diego which also experienced a hepatitis A outbreak in 2017 health officials last year reported an uptick in cases among homeless people. Times staff writer Ruben Vives 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. May 18 (UPI) -- Federal authorities are investigating the use of underage workers at an Alabama poultry plant owned by the same firm found responsible for the death of a 16-year-old worker in Mississippi. Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Labor on May 7 filed a lawsuit against Mar Jac Poultry to halt production of goods allegedly tainted with child labor through Mary 31. The department said it found several minors as young as 16 unlawfully employed at the company's Jasper, Ala., facility. The factory employs 1,000 people and is the largest employer in Walker County. According to court documents, the Labor Department's investigation into Mar Jac's Jasper facility began with a complaint in March. Investigators earlier this month said they found at least four minors working the plant in "oppressive" conditions. The minors reportedly were cutting and deboning poultry carcasses and had been working in the facility for months. Some of them were Guatamalan and attended a local high school. They started their shifts at 11 p.m. and worked from Sunday through Thursday, according to investigators. Mar Jac's attorneys denied the company knowingly hired underage workers and said the minors acquired employment through forged documents that lied about their age. The company argued some of the workers were not performing jobs prohibited by federal regulations and that it fired employees when it learned they were underage. This is not Mar Jac's first dealing with child labor violations. The Labor Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in January found the company liable for the death of a 16-year-old at one of its Mississippi plants. The family of 16-year-old Duvan Perez previously filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company after Perez was killed by a machine he was cleaning. Mar Jac had contested OSHA's conclusions in the case and argued there were no "errors committed by its safety or human resources employees." The company claimed Perez had stolen the identity of a 32-year-old man to gain employment at the Mississippi plant and that it relied on a staffing firm to fill positions at the factory. Mar Jac said it was applying additional scrutiny to IDs in the hiring process in response to the Mississippi incident. Federal law does not explicitly prohibit minors from working in slaughterhouses. Minors working with or near dangerous machinery, however, is prohibited, Labor Department regulations state. Alabama's labor law allows for 14- and 15-year-olds to work after they've received an eligibility form from their school. State Rep. Susan Dubose, R-Hoover, has proposed removing the eligibility requirement, but the measure did not pass before the most recent legislative session ended. The National Chicken Council, a trade group to which Mar Jac belongs, said it has "zero tolerance" for hiring underage workers. "Our members have recently come together to form a Task Force to Prevent Child Labor, to treat this issue as non-competitive and to foster collaboration through the sharing of best practices that aid in the prevention of minors from gaining employment," NCC spokesperson Tom Super said in a statement. Super, however, acknowledged that even when all required government screenings are implemented, some minors can slip through the cracks, and these issues are not unique the the poultry industry. Landmark building changed the way downtown SLO was built and it still stands today The look of downtown San Luis Obispo is tied to the corner of Osos and Monterey streets and the two iterations of Andrews buildings that have occupied it. The first Andrews Hotel was a 112-room, 16-bath luxury hotel. In 1885 Wells Fargo & Company Express Agency opened stage coach offices in the new and elegant Andrews Hotel at Monterey and Osos streets in San Luis Obispo. Erected at a cost of $85,000 plus $30,000 for furniture, the hotel burned to the ground in a disastrous fire in 1886, nine months after it opened. It burned down on April 18, 1886, a little over nine months after it opened. As previously chronicled in this column, the fire threatened to destroy downtown. A story in the May 9, 1956, Centurama edition of The Telegram-Tribune said that postmaster J.J. Simmler saved all the mail and packages but lost all his personal furniture. The post office department thanked Simmler for his vigilance but never offered to repay him for his losses. The cause was faulty fireplace flues that sent hot embers into the attic. Volunteers in suspenders and bowler hats drag hoses as San Luis Obispos Andrews Hotel burns down in 1886. The city then banned wood buildings from the business section of town so the new Andrews Building and the future downtown would be made of brick. Andrews donated the land for the courthouse across Osos Street, setting the development shape of downtown for generations to come and ensuring his building would be in a prime location. A Greek Revival-style courthouse was built in 1873 on Osos Street, the first San Luis Obispo County courthouse constructed for that purpose. It replaced an old adobe located on Court Street. The sheriff and jail were in the basement. The land for the building was donated by wealthy banker J.P. Andrews and Ernest Cerf, according to Myron Angels History of San Luis Obispo County. The hall of records is at left. The courthouse was demolished by Alex Madonna in 1940. He also donated the site of the Court School, now the location of Ludwick Community Center at Mill and Santa Rosa streets. The red brick Richardsonian Romanesque style brick building at Osos and Monterey was built in stages between 1893 and 1906. The Telegram was founded as an anti-alcohol newspaper in 1905. The office was in the Andrews Building on Osos Street in San Luis Obispo. It did not accept advertising from bars or liquor companies and almost went bankrupt. In 1912, a new editor modernized the news coverage but upset prohibitionists. At one point the print shop for the San Luis Obispo Telegram was housed on the Osos Street side of the building. The Rainbow Theater, predecessor to Palm Theater, also at one time called the building home. J.P. Andrews was one of the early business organizers of San Luis Obispo County. He was great-grandson of Revolutionary War General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. When he died at the age of 89, the Daily Telegram had a front page obituary on Jan. 6, 1914. An undated photo that shows the completed Andrews Bank and related buildings completed by 1906. There is a bicycle and utility poles in the photo but no cars. John Pinckney Andrews was born on a Montgomery County tobacco plantation in North Carolina, where he spent several years as overseer. Unspoken in the article was that slaves were then the plantation labor overseen in the south. He left for California just as tensions that would erupt into the Civil War were building to the breaking point. Andrews came to California in 1857 and after briefly trying his hand at placer gold mining and farming in Napa County, he settled in San Luis Obispo County in 1859, about three years before the start of the Civil War. He started ranching at what would be the worst time for most ranchers. A wave of smallpox swept the state in 1862. Then the drought of 1863-64 bankrupted many of the old rancheros, the shortage of grass and water killed almost half of the cattle in California. What had been a disaster for other ranchers was a windfall for Andrews. Andrews bought starving cattle at a discount, boiled the meat and fed it to his large band of hogs. In 1873, he was a founder of the Bank of San Luis Obispo where he worked during the decade with developer C.H. Phillips and John and Phillip Biddle. Later partners would include P.W. Murphy, owner of Santa Margarita Ranch; E. W. Steele, co-owner of Corral de Piedra Rancho; and other local leaders. Andrews was able to keep the bank thriving in the era before federal deposit insurance and when a national financial panic could destroy a bank that over-extended speculative assets. The Andrews Hotel, a luxury hotel in San Luis Obispo, was the most expensive building between Paso Robles and Santa Barbara. This advertisement ran on the front of The Tribune for about nine months before the hotel was destroyed by fire Palm Sunday, April 18, 1886. He survived the incineration of the first hotel that carried his name and built the building we know today, one of the prime blocks in downtown. The whole career of Mr. Andrews in San Luis Obispo has been one of marked effect upon its business and history, read his obituary. For a number of years he was the manager of the only bank and he conducted it with remarkable success, striving to enhance the value of property and prosperity of the county, and of the many debtors, few, if any, can complain of undue urgency or hardships in collecting. Periods of hard times have prevailed, but as a judicious and far-seeing banker, he has carried many debtors until changed conditions enabled them to meet their payments. In 1974, the Andrews Bank building was six decades past the era when its namesake had walked the halls and it had layers of paint that masked the original architectural charm. This unbylined article ran May 22, 1974, in The Telegram-Tribune, edited here to correct factual errors: Layers of paint coming off old bank building Restoration of the historic Andrews Bank building at Osos and Monterey streets in San Luis Obispo is under way by the new owners. Vincent Fonte, left, watches partner Al McVay sandblast outside of historic Andrews Bank building. Work was being done by the buildings new owners. Sign for the Morro Club is under workman. The Osos Street side of the Andrews Bank building was being sand blasted to remove paint May 7, 1974. Sandblasting of the exterior was completed Sunday to remove paint lathered on the building over its 80-year history. Operating the sandblaster was one of the owners, Alan McVay. His helper was another owner, Vincent Fonte. Our next step will be painting the trim to its original color and condition, Fonte said. Remodeling of some of the interior already has started and new tenants are coming up, said Fonte. The corner property was sold Dec. 31, 1973, in Los Angeles Superior Court by the estate of the late Oliver C. Field, and cleared escrow March 1. An 1860s rancher and investor in San Luis Obispo County, J.P. Andrews, built the multi-story structure on the corner after his plush three story Andrews Hotel burned to the ground in the first year of its existence. The Osos Street side of the Andrews Bank building was being sand blasted to remove paint May 7, 1974. He first built the corner tip for the Andrews Bank, then added a store a year up the Osos Street side until he reached the limits of his land at 979 Osos. Then he built a store addition a year on Monterey Street frontage until he again reached the property limits this time at 978 Monterey. Andrews opened the second Andrews Hotel in the upstairs floor over the stores. The hotel name later changed to the Fremont Hotel. The new owners hope to recapture the buildings early 1890s grandeur and charm in their refurbishing activities, Fonte said. Their plans, however also include eventual modernizing of the interiors in keeping with the 1970s. Los Angeles police officials are seeking to fire a senior captain after an internal investigation determined he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with a civilian employee and then lied about it to internal affairs detectives, according to three department sources. The captain, Alejandro "Alex" Vargas, was summoned earlier this week to the office of Assistant Chief Daniel Randolph and told that he would be assigned home, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a confidential department personnel matter. Vargas most recently served as the senior captain of Van Nuys Division. His attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Under the city charter, officers whose conduct is deemed a fireable offense are directed to appear before a board of rights hearing, a military-style tribunal where witnesses testify and evidence is presented, usually behind closed doors. Read more: Brass knuckles, body cams and bad behavior: LAPD probe links troubled Valley gang units The former 911 dispatcher with whom he was romantically involved has already been terminated because as a civilian she can be fired outright, according to the department sources, although the woman can still file an appeal to regain her job. Vargas first came under internal investigation after department officials learned of his relationship with the former dispatcher, which appeared to be consensual. But Vargas allegedly lied to internal affairs and tried to dissuade a witness from cooperating with the investigation, according to one of the sources familiar with the allegations. Vargas was accused of kissing the civilian employee while on duty and failing to report their relationship to a superior officer, as is required under department rules. Internal investigators reportedly kept tabs on Vargas by pinging his city-owned cellphone and through physical surveillance. Vargas himself had previously commanded the shadowy internal affairs unit responsible for surreptitiously following officers accused of misconduct. When reached for comment this week, the department said through a spokesperson that it doesn't discuss personnel complaints. The case is one of several in recent years involving high-ranking male LAPD officers embroiled in relationship scandals. Former Assistant Chief Alfred "Al" Labrada was demoted and recommended for termination last year after he came under police investigation for allegedly using a tracking device to monitor the movements of a female officer with whom he was romantically involved. Read more: LAPD cant get rid of their bad cops. Heres what they want to do about it Labrada, once considered a possible candidate to be the next chief, has denied the allegations and is suing the the city of Los Angeles, accusing former Chief Michel Moore of publicly outing him because Moore felt threatened by him. The female officer, Dawn Silva, who filed a police report, also has a legal claim alleging that department leaders failed to protect her from social media backlash. Prosecutors in San Bernardino County declined to press charges against Labrada, writing there is no evidence he was actively tracking Silva. Labrada's board of rights hearing is set for next month after being pushed back at least once. After LAPD leadership became aware of Vargas' relationship with the dispatcher, the sources familiar with his case said, he was quietly transferred from his previous post overseeing the department's communications arm to Van Nuys. He was transferred around the same time as another male commander who was also under suspicion of violating a policy against sexual relationships with lower-ranking officers, the sources said. The other male commander has since left the force. The sources said Vargas, who has 30-plus years with the department, could choose to retire rather than face a board of rights. 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. Last pandas at any US zoo expected to leave for China this fall ***Watch previous coverage in the video above.*** ATLANTA (AP) The last U.S. zoo with pandas in its care expects to say goodbye to the four giant bears this fall. Zoo Atlanta is making preparations to return panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China along with their American-born twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun, zoo officials said Friday. There is no specific date for the transfer yet, they said, but it will likely happen between October and December. Local couple wins big lottery prize on wedding anniversary The four Atlanta pandas have been the last in the United States since the National Zoo in Washington returned three pandas to China last November. Other American zoos have sent pandas back to China as loan agreements lapsed amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations. Atlanta received Lun Lun and Yang Yang from China in 1999 as part of a 25-year loan agreement that will soon expire. Ya Lun and Xi Lun, born in 2016, are the youngest of seven pandas born at Zoo Atlanta since their parents arrived. Their siblings are already in the care of Chinas Chengdu Research Center of Giant Panda Breeding. Try these Ohio fishing spots for a record catch It is possible that America will welcome a new panda pair before the Atlanta bears depart. The San Diego Zoo said last month that staff members recently traveled to China to meet pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, which could arrive in California as soon as this summer. Zoo Atlanta officials said in a news release they should be able to share significant advance notice before their pandas leave. As to whether Atlanta might see host any future pandas, no discussions have yet taken place with partners in China, zoo officials said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. The latest attack by Yemens Houthi rebels in the Red Sea struck a Greek-owned and operated oil tanker with a ballistic missile early Saturday, according to U.S. officials. The Iranian-backed group hit the oil tanker Wind at around 1 a.m. local time, with one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). Wind, a Panamanian-flagged ship, was most recently docked in Russia and was on its way to China. The missile caused flooding which resulted in the of loss propulsion and steering. A coalition vessel immediately responded to the distress call by M/T Wind, but no assistance was needed, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. The officials said the tanker crew was able to restore steering and propulsion. There were no casualties and the ship resumed its course under its own power. Houthis have been attacking ships passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year. They are pressuring Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza, which has so far killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The conflict started after Hamass Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel killed roughly 1,200 Israelis in the south of the country and they took around 250 hostages. Despite missile and drone strikes from Houthis being less common in recent weeks, their targeting of vessels in the region has disrupted routes, with ships being forced to take longer pathways that cost more money and take longer to complete. This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, CENCTOM said Saturday in their statement. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Description Join us for a momentous occasion as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Bethune/Height Recognition Program (BHRP). Hosted by the NCNW New York State Sections, this event promises an afternoon of inspiration, reflection, and community impact. Distinguished keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn Elizabeth Boyd, renowned American scientist, mechanical engineer, and former president of Alabama State University, will share insights and wisdom cultivated over a lifetime of advocacy and leadership. Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd is a lifelong STEM advocate and community servant. The former Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. national president from 2000 to 2004She is a Golden Life member of the Washington DC Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. She earned both the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Ministry degrees from Howard University. Additionally, she has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Lincoln University (2004), Bennett College (2004) and Kentucky State University (2019) and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (2019). This gala serves as the largest fundraising event of the year for the New York State National Council of Negro Women, with proceeds directly supporting programs dedicated to empowering and uplifting African American women and girls. Join us on Saturday, May 18th, 2024, at Leonard's of Great Neck, NY 11021, from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, as we honor the past, celebrate the present, and inspire the future. Reserve your spot now for an unforgettable afternoon of empowerment and community. URL: Facebook: https://go.evvnt.com/2414554-2?pid=5020 Date and Time: On Sat, 18 May 2024 12:00 - 16:00 Venue details: Leonard's Palazzo, 555 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck, New York, 11021, United States Category: Community | Fundraisers | Charities Price: General Admission: USD 125.00 CHICAGO Illinois lawmakers are considering several measures aimed at addressing the opioid overdose crisis and putting a greater emphasis on harm reduction, though some of the more controversial proposals with that approach have stalled. With one week left in the legislatures scheduled spring session, at least three bills addressing the crisis have passed through one chamber of the General Assembly. One measure has the potential to broaden access to fentanyl test strips, expanding on legislation from last year that allowed the drug testing supplies to be sold over-the-counter and distributed by health departments. If enacted, the new legislation would provide fentanyl test strips to hospitals, jails, universities and other organizations through the Illinois Department of Human Services Drug Overdose Prevention Program. It would expand access to more effectively reach people, said House Republican leader Tony McCombie, one of the bills sponsors. The bipartisan bill, a product of work by an intern in the office of Democratic sponsor Sen. Laura Ellman, passed without any no votes in the Senate and in a House committee, and now awaits consideration by the full House. A separate bill, already passed in the House with some opposition from Republicans, would provide people with a history of drug related-charges or substance use disorder the overdose reversal drug naloxone upon release from jail or prison. Colette Payne, a director at the Womens Justice Institute working with women who have been affected by the criminal legal system, said the legislation would save lives. Everybodys not ready to stop using, Payne, who was formerly incarcerated and previously used heroin, said. And if you can provide that naloxone to somebody on their way out the door, doesnt mean youre promoting the usage. It means youre preventing a death. A third bill would also expand on previous legislation to develop drug education for kids, specifically adding requirements for fentanyl education starting in sixth grade. A bill passed by the Senate that was amended to allow a school social worker or law enforcement officer to teach the material is now in the House. The legislation comes as provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed drug overdose deaths nationwide decreased slightly, while still remaining high compared to pre-pandemic numbers. It was the first annual decrease in overdose deaths since 2018, according to the CDC. Despite the 3% nationwide decrease last year, more than 100,000 people across the country died of an overdose in 2023, according to new CDC data. Overdoses in Illinois proportionately decreased by even more than the nationwide average, according to the provisional data, but thousands are still dying every year. Too many of our family members, our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones are dying and our current policies are really not cutting it, ACLU Illinois criminal justice policy director Ben Ruddell, who has supported several of the reforms, said. Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition co-Chair Chelsea Laliberte Barnes said lawmakers have been paying attention to the issue throughout her 15 years of work in Springfield. But this year, legislation has shifted noticeably toward overdose prevention over punishment, abstinence or traditional treatment, she said. Even so, some of the harm reduction movements most ambitious proposals have not passed. A bill to open a pilot overdose prevention site in Chicago where people could use drugs in a supervised environment has not received a vote in either chamber. The bill is opposed by some who have supported more moderate harm reduction efforts and see it as a bridge too far. But its a key initiative of many groups supporting harm reduction including the Coalition, Illinois ACLU and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. A so-called safe consumption site is different from initiatives such as providing access to fentanyl test strips, because test strips arent necessarily tied to an illegal activity, Illinois Sheriffs Association Executive Director Jim Kaitschuk said whereas sitting in a safe consumption site where people are monitoring you shooting up, thats a much different conversation, he added. Still, its a balancing act as there are still many people dying of overdoses, he said. McCombie, who has supported legislation for fentanyl test strips and fentanyl education, said any bill for an overdose prevention site is completely off the table for me. She said she supports common sense penalty enhancements, which harm reduction groups and many Democrats have opposed. Laliberte Barnes, a leader in advocating for several pieces of harm reduction legislation including the drug consumption site proposal, acknowledged the legislation is especially tough in an election year but said politics cannot outweigh saving lives. She said shes still pushing for bipartisan passage of the legislation, even if it takes her beyond the scheduled end of the regular session on May 24. Their first thing is public safety, Payne said of lawmakers shes spoken with. But public safety looks different for everyone, especially in communities that are poverty-stricken. German climate activist Luisa Neubauer of Fridays For Future announces the movement's plans for 2024 at a press conference. Kay Nietfeld/dpa One of Germany's best-known climate activists, Luisa Neubauer, criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz amid flooding in Saarland. "And yes, of course as chancellor you can weaken the climate law one day & travel to #flood areas the next with great concern. In the medium term, it's just a highly fragile strategy in the climate crisis," Neubauer wrote on social media platform X on Saturday. By 2024, every weather situation will have something to do with the climate - sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, she said. She was referring to Scholz visiting Saarland on Saturday to assess the situation following storms and flooding. He did not announce any concrete financial aid from the federal government, but spoke of solidarity. Neubauer said Scholz's job is to sound the alarm. "That would not be 'alarmism,' that would simply be responsible in 2024. People need to know how threatening the situation is so that they can prepare themselves and prevent the worst from happening," she said. A small tornado touched down Friday afternoon at Leesville Lake in Carroll County, according to the National Weather Service. A small tornado described as a "tornadic waterspout" along a Carroll County lake has been confirmed by the National Weather Service. The tornado blew over part of Leesville Lake on Friday afternoon near the lake's South Fork Marina, according to a marina employee, who said Saturday that no one was hurt during the two-to-three minute encounter. Lending a hand: Stark County sheriff's deputies assisted with search and rescue in Logan County "A couple of docks were taken out, and there are boats everywhere," said the worker, noting that the marina's fleet of rental boats "took some hits." The tornado also blew down some nearby trees. "We're just trying to get things cleaned up (today)," said the employee who was at the marina Friday when the storm came through. A post on the Leesville Lake Marinas Facebook page noted the facility is open Saturday. "We're all counting our blessings that the damage is only material," the post also states. "Everyone is safe, and no injuries. With the help of some wonderful people, we were able to retrieve nearly everything that blew away." The NWS said on its website that tornadic waterspouts are "simply tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water." They have the same characteristics as a typical tornado, the service said. The tornado on Friday marked the 57th in Ohio so far this year. This article originally appeared on The Independent: Small tornado touched down near Leesville Lake marina Friday afternoon Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to meet British troops near the Russian border in Estonia, December 2023 - Stefan Rousseau/PA SIR Labours first six steps for government sound good on a very superficial level (What Starmers six new pledges mean, report, May 16). But the defence of our country is the first and by far the most important job of any government, and it was not mentioned. I would take Labours pledges more seriously if they acknowledged that the Armed Forces must be resourced to a level that ensures our security, and that this must take priority over all other uses of taxpayers money. If Labour made such a pledge it would earn its position in the polls and be fit for government. M H Richards Bicester, Oxfordshire SIR While listening to the Labour Party on defence (Labour matches Torys 3bn-a-year Ukraine spending pledge, report, May 14), I couldnt help wondering: how many Sir Keir Starmers are there? We remember how, if we had all followed Sir Keirs advice, Jeremy Corbyn would have become our prime minister, and consequently we would no longer be in Nato, our nuclear deterrent would have been scrapped and we would have effectively become Europes Costa Rica, with no army, navy or air Force. Brian Christley Abergele, Conwy SIR It is worth remembering that members of the military dont just fight wars; they also conduct search and rescue, assist the police, and step in to empty our bins, guard our prisons, drive our ambulances and put out fires when the strike-bound down tools and walk out. Indeed, I was part of the tri-service medical personnel deployed to cover the nationwide ambulance strike of 1989-90. Thirty five years ago the military had the resources to ensure that people who needed emergency medical help received it. Today, I doubt it does. Furthermore, the military will educate, train and qualify any tri-service staff who want to expand their skills from paramedics to electricians and will pay applicants while they qualify so that, unlike many university students, they wont be saddled with huge debts. People who have been through the military tend to be smart, fit, punctual, disciplined, determined, have high standards and are able to work in teams or alone. So, when they leave, they are often a great benefit to employers in both the public and private sectors. There are thus huge economic benefits to having a large military. Investing in it should be a priority. Angus Long Newcastle upon Tyne Paying for the NHS SIR Geoffrey Young (Letters, May 12) asks whether he is wrong to suggest that those with substantial pension funds should be asked to make a contribution to their treatment by the NHS. The answer, Im afraid, is that he is. He also believes that those spending time in hospital receive free bed and food. Wrong again, Im afraid. One of the most worrying aspects of the debate around the provision of healthcare in this country is that we have been fooled into believing that the taxpayer-funded NHS is free. It is about as free as train travel undertaken on a pre-paid season ticket. Another, of course, is that our NHS is the envy of the world. Strange, then, that no other country on the planet has adopted the same model. Or that our health outcomes rank poorly among developed nations. Mr Young can be sure that those fortunate enough to have substantial pension funds will have contributed handsomely via the tax system for the paltry healthcare services available to them. They will rightly resent a request to pay for a second time. Andy Berry Hersham, Surrey Who wants my vote? SIR As a lifelong Conservative voter, I have been deeply conflicted about my voting intentions in the coming general election. I was even considering a protest vote for Labour. However, you then reported (May 12) the claim by Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, that a win for Susan Hall and the Conservatives in the London mayoral election would have been a win for racists, white supremacists and Islamophobes the world over. Presumably that includes me: a decent, hard-working, aspirational, tax-paying and law-abiding citizen of the UK. Obviously I am not the sort of person wanted by the Labour Party. Conflict resolved. Mick Caulkin Southampton SIR Many correspondents (May 12) suggest the Conservative Party has moved away from conservatism, and a growing chorus claims that Reform UK is now its true home. It is not. In a recent poll, I read that Reform voters are against immigration and globalisation, and voted for Brexit. To me, these stances are not conservative at all. Traditional conservatives understand the need for, and the benefits of, immigration and globalisation. As a normal, Right-leaning Conservative voter, I will not be going anywhere near Reform. Chris Goddard Newick, East Sussex Unnecessary knight SIR I find it very hard to understand why Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, should have been knighted (report, May 14). This is one of the highest profile roles in the British establishment. Does it really need additional grace and favour? Richard Marlow Harrogate, North Yorkshire SIR With the House of Bishops and upper echelons of the Church of England seeming increasingly keen to promote division and discord on so many fronts, hundreds of thousands of people lay and clergy alike despair at the decline of the Church we love. A recent visit to my home county of Cornwall left me heartbroken at the accelerating collapse of parochial ministry within the Truro diocese under successive recent bishops. The coup de grace was a quite disgraceful Evensong at the cathedral, purporting to celebrate 30 years of womens priestly ministry. It was actually an ignorant liturgy, much of which was a moan-fest of the smash the patriarchy kind. It was certainly no advertisement for the Church, nor for women ministers, many of whom I greatly admire. Whither the Church of England, which, in John Henry Newmans words, I have loved long since, and lost awhile? Father Michael J Maine Ditchling, East Sussex Music in care homes SIR What a lovely interview with Keith Herdman (I feel bored, insulted and sick of Vera Lynn, Sunday, May 12). I play at a couple of retirement homes and day centres with my trio, called Side By Side. Im 82 and on guitar, keys and drum machine; Mickey, 83, is on bass; and Ken, 79, is on guitar. Were all former professionals from the 1960s. Mr Herdman is right: the folks dont want war songs. One lady said to me: We dont want Bing Crosby and Vera Lynn. We want Do-Wah-Diddy and The Beatles. So thats what we give them and they love it. I hope we can do it for many more years to come. Malcolm Lenny Tonbridge, Kent SIR When the body is frail but the brain still functions, the decision to go to an old peoples home is not easy. My mother found herself surrounded by people so advanced with dementia that she was destined to go the same way. Bridge would have been a saviour, had her fellow inmates been able to play. The most bizarre event was a visit to her room by a horse wearing a nappy. Death might seem a better option. Jonathan Williams Sleaford, Lincolnshire Recipe for success SIR I agree that hearty food by Michel Roux Jr, without decoration, will be welcomed by diners (The Sunday Interview, May 12). Whoever thought a small pile of bubbles on a dinner plate would look attractive? Hopefully other chefs will follow suit. If restaurants are struggling, they should give us diners what we want: good food at a fair price. Jacky Staff Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh An awe-inspiring vision of the Last Judgment Doom day: detail from the 15th-century mural at St Thomas's church in Salisbury - NJphoto / Alamy /Alamy SIR The recent creation of a Doom painting for St Marys church in Woodham Ferrers, Essex, using traditional techniques (report, May 12) reminded me of many times admiring the glorious 15-century example in my own parish church, St Thomass in Salisbury. It is the countrys largest and best preserved Doom painting, and, having been recently restored, is well worth a visit. I recommend binoculars: without them, Id never have spotted the curious faces forming the devils knees. Christ sitting in judgment is the Dooms focal point, but the multitude of painted details, including my favourites a dishonest alewife and a sinful bishop, with crowned monarchs heading in chains towards Hell are equally awe-inspiring. A more effective pictorial warning of your fate if religious teachings were not followed is hard to imagine, though today its phantasmagorical images make me smile. Peter Saunders Salisbury, Wiltshire Treating anxiety SIR In the debate about sick notes, Professor Dame Carol Black is quoted as stating that anxiety is not a medical condition, implying that it shouldnt justify being certified as unfit for work (Business, May 12). This view is both misleading since there is no single agreed definition of a medical condition and unhelpful. In my 40-year medical career I have seen many people who have suffered from severe anxiety, unable to sleep and barely able to function, and who were clearly unfit for work. Most people suffering from anxiety do work, and, after receiving treatment, recover. Sometimes a short period away from work facilitates this recovery. Those at the more severe end may spend many months on a waiting list for treatment. I am quite sure Dame Carol agrees that prompt access to evidence-based treatment would be much more likely to reduce sickness absence than stigmatising anxiety sufferers as not suffering from a medical condition. Dr Phil Taylor Kilmington, Devon Old-school tools SIR Otto Ingliss letter (May 5) regarding the automatic use of power tools nowadays raised a wry smile in our household. My wife tells me I am the only man she knows who, when given a job to do, will preferentially use hand rather than power tools. No noise and more control are but two of the reasons. John A Landamore Lutterworth, Leicestershire Full English twists SIR I was surprised that the English Breakfast Society has said that masala beans, bao buns and chorizo can be part of a morning fry up (report, May 12). Of course they can, but they cannot be part of an English breakfast. I have twice tried the English breakfast with an Indian twist at a well known (and expensive) restaurant in central Manchester. It was, on both occasions, uninspiring. Michael Ganley Heywood, Lancashire SIR Rather like the National Trust and parts of the Civil Service, the English Breakfast Society appears to have lost sight of its purpose and mission in advocating that bao buns and chorizo might now legitimately be served as part of the full English. A stated aim of this illustrious society is to restore the tradition of the English breakfast to its former glory. It is now clearly failing to do so. Whatever next salad cream instead of ketchup, and a helping of deep-fried sushi? Paul Embery Pilling, Lancashire 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 @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. Letters to the Editor: When Trump vacillates on accepting election results, he's saying he'll end democracy Former President Trump raises his fist outside the courtroom during a break in his criminal trial in New York on May 10. (Timothy A. Clary / Associated Press) To the editor: Columnist Jackie Calmes is right to worry over the vacillation expressed by former President Trump and his vice presidential hopefuls over election results. ("Our elections have integrity. These politicians do not," Opinion, May 12) Let's all understand something: The question, "If you do not win, will you accept election results?" is the same as, "Do you accept the American system of democratic representation established by the Constitution?" The answer has to be an unqualified yes. The dodgy answer we get from Trump and Co. is their way of saying, "I support the overthrow of the American system of representative government." So for voters, the question this fall will be, "Do you want this country to continue the American experiment in democracy, or shall we call it quits?" Election day choices don't get much more basic than this. William Yarchin, Huntington Beach This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Letters to the Editor: Why today's college protests are entirely different from anti-Vietnam War unrest Police used tear gas and night sticks to break up anti-Vietnam War demonstrations at the University of Wisconsin in 1967. (Associated Press) To the editor: There is a distinction between the protests of today and those that took place in the 1960s and early 70s. Then, students were protesting for a common cause ending the Vietnam War prosecuted by the U.S. government. ("Today's protests are tamer than the campus unrest of the 1960s. So why the harsh response?" Opinion, May 14) Today, the protests taking place on campuses have pitted one group of students (pro-Palestinian) against another (pro-Israeli). This has led to personal safety issues, both physical and mental, for students on both sides. In addition, social media didn't exist in the 60s. Today, it plays a significant role in escalating conflicts. We know many of the protesters are not students of these universities. This adds an entirely new element on campuses that can escalate violence. The schools dealing with these protests are grappling with yet another crisis after the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought. It's not surprising that they are lurching between overreacting and underreacting in terms of bringing in police officers. Laurie S. Adami, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Yes, the rowdy student protesters in the 60s helped end the horrible war in Vietnam. Today's antiwar student protesters are more peaceful by comparison, so why the harsh criticism and suppression of free speech by university officials? Why do antiwar protesters get labeled as antisemitic but pro-war activists do not get labeled as anti-Islamic? Why does anyone use the "they started it" excuse heard on children's playgrounds to justify the killing of 13,000 innocent women and children in the Gaza Strip? Yes, Israel is winning battles, but it is losing the war of world opinion. The brutal conduct of the Israeli military is pushing away countless former supporters and creating generations of new enemies. If only college officials and their bully donors had the same courage and insight as the students. Roger Johnson, San Clemente .. To the editor: In general, I agree with New York University professor Robert Cohen that truly nonviolent student protests should be met with a light touch. Where I differ with him is on the supposed nonviolence of these encampments. In some cases, many of the the protesters are not students this is evidenced by arrest records. Further, many of those involved were spreading antisemitic rhetoric. That aside, let us not forget the rule of law. Should we decide not to enforce laws on criminal trespassing only when we agree with the demonstrators? If this is the case, then we have to do some real soul searching. Douglas Richards, Rancho Mission Viejo .. To the editor: Most rational people would wholeheartedly agree that peacefully protesting is part of the American fabric. But vandalism, barricades, intimidation, littering and destruction of school property are not. None of the participants in any of those activities should be surprised that there are actually consequences. In cases where the culprits can be identified, they and their parents should be invoiced for the clean-up. Bill Toth, Studio City This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Show gratitude during National EMS Week May 19-25 is National EMS Week a recognition established in 1974 by President Gerald Ford. This years theme, Honoring our Past. Forging our Future, recognizes EMS practitioners and the important work they do 24/7/365. EMS is an emergency service organization, prepared and equipped to provide the best care available under some of the most austere, strenuous conditions, along with being the community public health safety net, dealing with everything from mental health crisis, to substance abuse issues, to medication concerns and mobility issues throughout the community they serve. EMS providers also conduct first aid, CPR and community/child safety programs throughout the year. In 2020 (the latest official statistics available) the PA EMS System responded to a little over 2.2 million requests with close to 76% of those being for emergency assistance. That is a little over 4 requests per minute, every minute of the year. Whether paid or volunteer, Basic Life support or Advanced, arriving by ground or air, all EMS providers are dedicated professionals. They are our family, friends and neighbors who make sure they are prepared every day to help you get through that day. Please join me in thanking the EMS agencies, support staff and practitioners who serve your community. Tell them how much you appreciate their commitment and find out how you can assist them in providing this service. Tim Nilson, executive director of Seven Mountains EMS Council Identifying PFAS in Centre County The United States Geological Survey found PFAS in Spring Creek and Bald Eagle Creek during a statewide survey in 2019. Moshannon Group received a Conservation Grant in 2022 to conduct a survey and help determine the extent and sources of PFAS in Spring Creek and Bald Eagle Creek. Four sources of PFAS have been identified. PFAS enters Spring Creek from the State College Regional Airport stormwater discharge, the Benner Spring Mines Member aquifer, University Area Joint Authority wastewater treatment plant, and Bellefonte Borough wastewater plant. Spring Creek analysis results are listed from upstream of Big Hollow near Houserville to below Fishermans Paradise: USGS Houserville Gage: No PFAS Detected UAJA wastewater effluent: PFAS Detected Spring Creek off Rock Road south of I-99 overpass: PFAS Detected State College Regional Airport Big Hollow stormwater: PFAS Detected Spring Creek Rock Road: PFAS Detected State College Regional Airport Rock Road stormwater: PFAS Detected Spring Creek Canyon Benner Spring: PFAS Detected Spring Creek Water Quality Network Site #415: PFAS Detected Bellefonte Borough Wastewater Treatment Plant effluent: PFAS Detected Sample results show the PFAS in Bald Eagle are coming from Spring Creek: Bald Eagle Creek CCPaSEC Milesburg Site upstream of Spring Creek: No PFAS CCPaSEC Fisher Farm Site downstream of confluence: PFAS Detected Water Quality Network Site # 413: Intermittent PFAS PSUs State College Regional Airport stormwater contains PFAS from sites contaminated by the use of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) firefighting foam. David T. Roberts, Bellefonte Trump damaged independent federal judiciary The New York Times (May 12) reports that Justice Clarence Thomas denounced the nastiness and lies that have shadowed him in recent years as public scrutiny has mounted over his wifes efforts to subvert the 2020 election and the luxury gifts he accepted from billionaire friends. He failed to identify any specific lies and he cannot excuse his own cavalier disregard for judicial ethics. I decline to hold a pity party for a man who has disgraced SCOTUS specifically and our judicial system generally. He should resign. Judges and lawyers should unite in calling for his resignation. Public contempt for our judicial system is at an all-time high. Despite some obvious exceptions, i.e. Clarence Thomas, we mostly have honorable judges. An independent judiciary is what stands between a functional civilized western democracy and autocracy or chaos. We must defend our judicial system from its rotten apples (Thomas) and from politicians who would corrupt it (Trump). Its past time we demand accountability from those who would flaunt the rule of law for financial gain or partisan politics. Until Trump, presidents from both parties have respected common views on judicial qualifications and practiced a measure of restraint in allowing politics to control judicial appointments to the federal bench. That flew out the window under Trump when he appointed three doctrinaire Supreme Court Justices and multiple inexperienced lower-court judges with a political agenda, such as Aileen Cannon. Trump damaged our independent federal judiciary in his first term. Hed destroy it in a second term. Mary Bruce Serene, State College LeVar Burton chimes in on House Oversight fight with words of the day Former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton chimed in Friday on the recent fight in the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Words of the day; bleach, blond, bad, built, butch and body, Burton said in a post on the social platform X. Burtons post refers to a question posed by Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) amid a chaotic Oversight hearing Thursday after fellow committee member Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) came after her earlier in the hearing. The hearing was focused on holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress following him not handing over the audio of President Bidens interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. However, when Greene was questioning if Democrats on the panel employed the daughter of the judge overseeing former President Trumps New York hush money case, Crockett chimed in, pushing back against the relevance of Greenes words. I dont think you know what youre here for, Greene said to Crockett. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. From there, chaos erupted as Democrats expressed their indignation with Greenes behavior, and Greene kept pushing back. At one point, Crockett questioned if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond bad built butch body would break Congressional protocol. Her question seemed to be a swing at Greene. Crockett has said that Greenes comments on her appearance show that shes absolutely racist. She is racist. I mean, I dont have any questions about that. Because, I mean, I dont know that shes ever attacked her own colleagues, Crockett said. The Texas Democrat pointed to the historic bad blood between Greene and fellow Oversight Committee member Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Her and Boebert arent getting along. Boebert has clip-ins in her hair. And Boebert wears lashes, too, sometimes it looks like. I dont know. But she doesnt attack her for any of her [physical embellishments]. She doesnt do that, right? But she decided to do it to me. So absolutely [shes a racist], Crockett said. Greene later said in a post on X that some people are upset about the scene from Oversight Committee last night, well Im upset and disgusted pretty much everyday at the Democrat controlled [Department of Justice], federal government, and Congress in general. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Lithuania to provide Ukraine with six AMBER-1800 radar systems Lithuania will provide Ukraine with six AMBER-1800 radar systems, which have a range of approximately 350 kilometres. Source: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius after a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas in Berlin, as reported by European Pravda Details: Lithuania has joined the German initiative Immediate Action on Air Defence. This initiative is aimed at strengthening Ukraine's air defence. Pistorius noted that the supply of six AMBER-1800 radar systems associated with the initiative is Lithuania's contribution to saving lives in Ukraine. "I also thank you for participating in our air defence initiative," the minister said, addressing Kasciunas. Background: In April, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stressed that it was necessary to provide Ukraine with the assets to strengthen its air defence. On 13 April, Germany announced the urgent transfer of one Patriot air defence missile system to Ukraine. Ukraine has asked its partners to strengthen its air defence following the intensification of Russian airstrikes this spring. Support UP or become our patron! The Los Angeles Public Health Department is looking into a recent Hepatitis A case traced to a local grocery store. Officials say an employee at a Beverly Hills Whole Foods, located at 239 North Crescent Drive, tested positive for the virus. The employee worked at the seafood counter, prompting Public Health to recommend that anyone who purchased products from the seafood counter section of the store between April 20 and May 13 to receive hepatitis A vaccine if they are not already immune. This is the second time in recent days that L.A. County officials are warning the public about Hepatitis A. Public Health says multiple unhoused individuals tested positive for the virus since mid-March. Hepatitis A impacts the liver and is spread from person to person, many of whom dont know that they have the virus. Medical officials can only diagnose the infection through a persons blood or stool. Although the current risk to the public is low, Public Health recommends residents take the following actions to help prevent the spread of disease: Check if you have been vaccinated for hepatitis A. If you havent, contact your medical provider to determine if you should be vaccinated. Vaccination is the best way to prevent hepatitis A. Wash your hands with soap and water before eating and preparing food and after using the bathroom. Hepatitis A can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months. Symptoms of hepatitis include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, or yellow eyes/skin. Although rare, hepatitis A can cause death in some people. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Low-income Americans wait years to get housing vouchers that are often impossible to use. Fixing the system could mean more funding and less red tape. The Housing Choice Voucher Program is the biggest, most effective federal housing assistance program. But housing vouchers are both severely underfunded and complicated to use. Proposals include increasing funding, easing inspection rules, and exploring cash assistance options. The most effective housing assistance program in the country is facing a slew of mounting challenges. The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, is also the biggest, aiding about 5 million people in 2.3 million households. But a declining number of landlords across the US are accepting the vouchers, and a growing number of recipients are failing to secure housing through the program. Voucher holders pay about 30% of their income toward rent, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development covers the rest up to what it determines to be fair market rent. There's lots of research showing the program is very effective at reducing homelessness and dangerous housing conditions like overcrowding. It also gives low-income people more power to choose the neighborhood, building, and unit they want to live in and to stay there. Kids whose families have vouchers are less likely to bounce from school to school or end up in foster care, said Will Fischer, senior director of housing policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Vouchers aren't helping as much as they should But the program is only reaching a fraction of those who could benefit from it. Only about one in four Americans who are eligible for a voucher get one and the average wait time is two and a half years. So about 10 million additional low-income households are going without the help they qualify for. Once someone gets a voucher, it can be very challenging to find a home that meets the program's requirements, and a landlord willing to accept the applicant within the period of time as short as 60 days allotted to find a unit. The vast majority of landlords in Los Angeles (76%), Fort Worth (78%), and Philadelphia (67%) refused to rent to voucher holders, according to a 2018 study. While it's illegal in some places to discriminate against voucher holders, the practice isn't outlawed everywhere. Some places, including Iowa, have banned protections for voucher holders. Lawsuits against property owners and brokers have accused them of explicitly denying applicants based on their source of income. Racial discrimination against voucher holders, who are disproportionately Black, is also rampant, advocates say. But many landlords say the administrative process which includes an inspection is simply too slow or burdensome. Ultimately, only about 60% of voucher recipients are successful in finding a home with the subsidy. Those lucky enough to get a voucher and move into an apartment sometimes face issues with their city and state housing authorities and are wrongly ejected from the program. More funding could help Of course, the single biggest challenge the program faces is that it's severely underfunded. Government housing assistance for the poorest renters has dropped to the lowest levels in 25 years even as the number who need the aid has soared, according to an analysis by Harvard housing experts published in The New York Times in December. Fully funding housing vouchers would mean many more housing-insecure and unhoused people would get help. It's up to Congress to make this change, as it determines how much the federal government spends on its housing assistance programs, mainly Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing, every year. In its budget for fiscal year 2025, the Biden administration requested a $2.5 billion increase for voucher funding over 2023 levels. As part of that funding increase, vouchers would be guaranteed to very low-income veterans and youth aging out of foster care two groups particularly vulnerable to homelessness. But Republicans have sought to cut HUD funding, making it challenging to significantly expand the reach of vouchers. Jenny Schuetz, an expert on urban economics and housing policy at the Brookings Institute, told Business Insider earlier this year that Congress could consider reducing the amount of voucher funding per household so that it can offer vouchers to more households. "If you're gonna have an honest conversation about how much Congress is willing to fund, then the number of people could be higher than it is today," she said. The Biden administration isn't interested in spreading funding more thinly as rents spike across the country. Instead, it boosted funding per voucher by increasing its limits for fair market rents to better keep up with rent increases, which allowed about 20,000 additional households to use vouchers. A view of apartment buildings in Long Island City, Queens. Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images 'Graffiti can't harm you' The second-biggest problem, experts say, is the home inspection process. Before a voucher recipient can sign a lease on a home, it must be inspected by the local housing authority to make sure it meets a slew of health and safety standards. But that process can create lengthy delays, cause landlords to keep a unit empty and miss out on rent payments, and ultimately result in the voucher holder losing out on the home. Rising rent and the impact that has on households is a much bigger concern than unsafe housing, a recent in-depth report on HUD's housing quality standards and inspection processes by the Urban Institute. The author of the report, Michael Stegman, called inspecting every apartment before a voucher holder can move in "akin to using a bazooka to kill a gnat" during a panel discussion of the Urban Institute report in May. Stegman detailed how the quality of rental housing across the country has dramatically improved since Section 8 was first implemented in the mid-1970s. And he recommended that HUD try out different inspection regimes, including allowing landlords and tenants to self-certify that the home meets health and safety guidelines, with unannounced inspection audits by local housing authorities. Congress has made some efforts to address the issue, including the introduction of a bipartisan bill designed to incentivize landlords and loosen inspection requirements. Housing authorities across the country have been more successful in streamlining their inspection processes over the last decade. The Biden administration has made some headway on the issue. Last October, slightly less burdensome regulations, known as NSPIRE, went into effect. The new process attempts to zero in on health and safety issues while relaxing regulations around non-threatening conditions, like traffic noise and graffiti. "Graffiti can't harm you, can't kill you," Tara Radosevich, an assessment manager at HUD, said. "It might be something you may not want to live near, but if it doesn't harm a resident, we're willing to accept that our units may be in areas with graffiti." Still, experts say much more needs to be done to reduce administrative burdens and boost landlord participation. One solution is to offer so-called holding fees, which would pay landlords while they hold a unit vacant during the inspection process, Fischer said. Another way to incentivize property owners is to create a fund to reimburse landlords for damage to units, as Oregon and Washington State have done. Other fixes, Fischer has written, include allowing voucher funding to be used for security deposits and other upfront costs, offering voucher holders help in the home search process and giving them more time to secure a home, making it easier for voucher recipients to move, and banning discrimination against voucher holders across the country. The Biden administration is also exploring offering housing assistance in cash. Researchers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development have proposed piloting a direct cash transfer program for rent as an alternative to housing vouchers. Cash payments for housing, researchers say, have a slew of benefits, and cut the red tape associated with vouchers. "Giving people money has a lot of advantages over giving people vouchers," Schuetz said. But she added that smaller-scale experiments with cash programs are needed to shed light on just how effective they might be as housing assistance. Are you a housing voucher recipient or a landlord who's dealt with vouchers? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider Im putting it all on the line: Commercial Center attempts area renaissance after nefarious history LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The first commercial shopping center in the Vegas Valley dominated the 1960s and 70s before plummeting after 2000. Decades later, businesses new and old say another renaissance is in motion. The historic Commercial Center on on East Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway opened more than six decades ago in 1963. It boasted live entertainment, restaurants, clubs and high-end retail. Some bars were also safe havens for gay communities of the time. Katy Scott now runs the Las Vegas Cue Club, which has seen the center through its best and worst since opening in 1964. This was a big hangout back in the 60s and 70s, Scott said under the light of a pool table Friday morning. Twenty years ago, you could come in here and you wouldnt want to be in the parking lot. 8 News Now Reporter Ryan Matthey (left) speaking with Las Vegas Cue Club Managing Partner Katy Scott (right) about her business new neighbors amidst Historic Commercial Center regrowth. (KLAS) She recounts rampant prostitution and large homeless populations. A mass shooting at an unlicensed hookah lounge in 2021 injured 12 people and killed one. Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom spearheaded efforts to revitalize the area, in part by helping to create a grant program for restaurants moving in. The county also purchased some of the centers buildings with intentions to tear down and build up, Segerblom told 8 News Now in January. First, it has to be safe. So, thats one of the things were doing, is trying to bring in these 24-hour businesses, which will encourage the police to be here more often and make people feel welcome, Segerblom said. As of this week, the county says only one grant has been awarded with several more in the pipeline. Artys Steakhouse, so far, is the one recipient. Derek Stonebarger, who already owns ReBAR and Davys in Downtown Las Vegas, is creating dining rooms disguised as walk-in coolers inside the steakhouse that will double as an art gallery. He says Segerblom approached him to create another concept at Commercial Center. The county, in my opinion, they really want their own arts district, Stonebarger said inside the in-construction steakhouse Wednesday morning. Thats a place where I want to be. Thats a place where I want to spend this next chapter of my life. A couple doors down, the once-blooming Lotus of Siam wilted in 2017 when heavy rains collapsed its roof. Mike Steffen, director of operations, and the rest of the team were pushed to a location near Flamingo and Paradise roads. But, a homecoming is nearing. Construction is progressing inside the original location to reopen during the first quarter of 2025. Construction workers going in and out of the in-construction Lotus of Siam location Friday morning. (KLAS) Its where (the original owners) put their roots down over 30 years ago, Steffen said inside the operating location before the lunch rush Friday morning. We could have gone anywhere else, right? But, its such a historic part of town and we like to think, after the longevity we had there, we want to contribute to it, continue on as it goes into the next 30 years. Efforts, so far, are seemingly working as crowds continue to patronize the long-standing and new restaurants here. As new businesses move in, they are banding together. All these businesses in here, I think, are starting to come together to build a relationship, to try to bring back the commercial center, Scott said. There were so many good memories for people that grew up here, and were trying to bring that back now. Whether Segerbloms vision will fully materialize remains to be seen. A lot is riding on the success. Im putting it all on the line here, Stonebarger said. In order to get a 20-year lease on this, we had to put our house up. Investing the capital we have, seeing the city match that when it comes to infrastructure investment, Steffen said, thats a level of trust and commitment to say, Hey, youre willing to come back? Great. Were willing to invest in that and the surrounding area. The county held a block party here in May 2023 that turned controversial as some businesses claim temporary fences blocked attendees from entering their establishments. Segerblom envisions other outdoor events here within the 1,500-spot parking lot. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Police efforts to thwart the drug traffickers have often proved ineffectual - ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP President Emmanuel Macrons anti-drugs plan is not up to the task of combatting drug dealers who are insidiously infiltrating the French judicial and administrative systems, a bombshell report on narco-trafficking has revealed. Over six months, the committee quizzed judges, police officers and experts, who provided an unprecedented overview of drug trafficking and its trail of score-settling in the country. Their shock conclusions released this week found that France is submerged by drug trafficking, and has reached a tipping point that could see it lose the war against drugs. The senatorial report blasted Mr Macrons soon-to-be-implemented narcotics 2023 plan as extraordinarily poor. It would be laughable if it wasnt deeply worrying, it reads. Its all very well attacking drug distribution but that will come to nothing if you fail to go after the transport, logistics, international cooperation that brought it to France, the report concluded, adding that there was no joined-up thinking between ministries. Police officers from the dog squad check the basement of a building in a drug raid - ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP We were also struck by the number of people we spoke to who mentioned the risk of corruption, highlighting the enormous financial power of drug traffickers, said Jerome Durain, the cross-party committees socialist chairman. This corruption is insidious, hidden, opaque, he added. The commission interviewed Nicolas Bessone, prosecutor of Marseille, which saw 47 drug-related murders last year, who said: Each person has a price and the resources of these networks are virtually unlimited. Yes, we are seeing an increase in corruption. We are starting to have more and more problems with the corruption of police officers, he added. Two investigations are also underway in Marseille into court clerks who are suspected of giving information to members of organised crime or deliberately adding procedural flaws that allow suspects to walk free, he said. Public sector professions at risk of corruption include police, customs officers, court clerks and prison guards with access to confidential information about ongoing investigations. In the private sector, dockers, baggage handlers and private security guards are potential targets, warned the report. French president Emmanuel Macron at a presentation to combat drug trafficking, but the report criticised his efforts - FRAT Among the cast of characters interviewed was Emile Diaz, alias Milou, a former trafficker in the notorious French Connection, a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, dismantled in the 1970s. Ill tell you straight: without corruption, there can be no trafficking [...] Trafficking needs corruption and the corrupt are everywhere, he told the commission, adding that he was concerned about a new generation of teenagers prepared to murder rivals at the drop of a hat. Drug dealers have increasingly honed their techniques, say judges. These people target people they know are fragile. They approach someone at his wifes funeral or whose wife has fallen ill and perhaps needs financial help, said Audrey Bailleul, a judge specialising in organised crime in Lille, northern France. Traffickers Prison guards were accused of smuggling numerous mobile phones into prisons. This enables the ringleaders to continue to run their trafficking operations from their cells, and even to order kidnappings or murders, Marion Cackel, magistrate at the specialised inter-regional court (Jirs) in Lille, told the commission. No profession is spared: as soon as traffickers offer extremely high sums of money, some staff may at some point give in to these criminal sirens, warned Stephanie Cherbonnier, head of the Anti-Drugs Office (Ofast). Police leaks had ruined at least one major police operation, the commission found out. In January, we were due to launch a large-scale police operation involving 15 targets. It took nine months of work, but it failed at the last minute because of leaks that gave information to the traffickers, said Philippe Astruc, the public prosecutor in Rennes, who has referred the matter to the National Police Inspectorate (IGPN). Clarisse Taron, public prosecutor in Fort-de-France in Martinique, added: As far as corruption is concerned, there is certainly a lot of it. Dockworkers, port employees (...) and security guards are affected, but we are also confronted with corruption among customs officers and even police officers. Embarrassed by such observations, the French government sought to downplay them and even summoned Mr Bessone and other colleagues to upbraid them for their defeatist language. Bad signal Justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti insisted that corruption was merely residual while interior minister Gerald Darmanin claimed that objectively speaking, there are few cases. If the criminal networks see that the ministries are not particularly worried, it sends out a very bad signal, a senior police officer told Mediapart. Conservative senator Etienne Blanc and co-chair of the commission accused the government of witness tampering. There is no such thing as low-intensity corruption, stressed Jerome Durain. He called for a comprehensive anti-corruption plan to make it materially impossible for public officials to become corrupt, such as working in pairs, regular turnover, rotating shifts, etc.. He advocated better detection of abnormal use of files and stronger internal reporting mechanisms, as well as the protection of whistleblowers. This is not about describing a country rotten at every level with corruption, said Mr Durain. Every member of this commission wants the French team to beat narco-trafficking. We are not in a narco-state, but we are approaching a weakening of public power, and that is the sign of a narco-state, warned Mr Blanc. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Two weeks ago, shortly after the media took notice of former President Donald Trumps lack of familial or other support at his ongoing criminal trial, his son Eric first came to New York to observe the proceedings. Since then, the courtroom has transformed into a Whos Who of Whos That? a veritable parade of familiar-looking faces whose names might be only dimly recalled, even by the GOP faithful. At least judging by appearances, Trump world has adopted a new mantra: If the court keeps the candidate from campaigning, the candidate will bring the campaign to the court. Thats likely why, over the last several trial days, Trumps rotating tableau of supporters has included Sens. J.D. Vance and Tommy Tuberville; Reps. Byron Donalds, Nicole Malliotakis, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert; state attorneys general Brenna Bird (Iowa) and Steve Marshall (Alabama); and even former GOP presidential rival Vivek Ramaswamy. But they arent just standing back and standing by, as Gaetz proclaimed, calling back to Trumps infamous shoutout to the Proud Boys. Instead, those whom Trump has publicly acknowledged as his surrogates have assumed a more insidious and even potentially unlawful role, even if Trump lawyer Todd Blanche has maintained in court they are simply members of the public outside of his control. To be fair, I dont doubt that Blanche (or any other member of Trumps legal team) lacks control over his clients surrogates. But Ive also been at the trial every day, either in the courtroom or in the overflow courtroom, and the suggestion that Trumps surrogates are merely members of the public, given the observable circumstances of their visits, can and should be punctured. First and foremost, consider how the surrogates get to the courthouse and into the courtroom. Journalists, New York lawyers and actual members of the public who want to attend the trial line up, depending on their credentials, as early as dinnertime the night before each trial day. I have met retirees, students and even tourists who say they arrived at 2 or 3 in the morning and still werent early enough to get a seat in the overflow courtroom where I and other press often sit. These members of the public press included go through two security screenings: one on the ground floor and another on the 15th floor, that between them feature two metal detectors, an X-ray machine and a manual bag search. We are seated an hour before Trump arrives and we wait, confined to both courtrooms whenever he is moving or is expected. Trumps surrogates, by contrast, appear to travel to court with him, some in his motorcade from Trump Tower, and enter the courthouse through a nonpublic entrance on an otherwise-closed street. From there, they take elevators that are unavailable to the public to reach the 15th-floor courtroom thats been repurposed as a holding room for the former president, his lawyers and others in his traveling party. (Its when they emerge from that holding room, somewhere beyond doors of darkened glass, that Trump conducts his precourt press availability each day, flanked by Blanche and with his surrogates arrayed behind him like a class of White House interns.) Finally, this crew enters Judge Juan Merchans courtroom behind Trump and his lawyers, filing into the 16 seats reserved for the former presidents designees in the first two rows of the gallery. Nothing about how they arrive or where they sit resembles the publics experience. Second, the conduct of Trumps surrogates within the courtroom is a far cry from how members of the public are expected to behave. While we are in the courtroom, the public is forbidden from using smartphones, even for note-taking, at the risk of ejection. Nor can the public take any pictures anywhere in the courthouse. Two members of the press were permanently ejected weeks ago for daring to take so much as a joking selfie. We are banned from congregating in the hallways to confer with colleagues or even to eat. Meanwhile, Ive witnessed Trump surrogates with their heads buried in their phones, sometimes tweeting about witness testimony. Is that a big deal? After all, the press too can tweet or live-blog; we just have to rely on our laptops. But consider why we cant have phones: We, presumably, pose a risk to the former president's security, to the administration of justice, or both. Trumps surrogates flaunt their phone use because theyre not considered a risk, even if their tweets would violate Trumps gag order, could the DA show they were issued at Trumps direction. And make no mistake: being able to go out and overcome this gag order is, as Tuberville admitted on Newsmax, one of the reasons the surrogates are attending the trial in the first place. Third and finally, the collective presence of Trumps surrogates and the placement of their seats within the courtroom might be intended to achieve something no member of the public could manage from several rows back: witness intimidation. For their privacy and security, the prosecutions witnesses do not arrive through public entrances. Rather, they enter the courthouse through the DAs office, which adjoins the courthouse, and they enter the courtroom itself through a side door, trailed by court security officers and their own counsel. But using the side entrance comes at a price: Each witness must walk directly in front of Trumps first row of supporters while making his or her way to the witness stand. For Michael Cohen, that meant passing in front of his former colleague Eric Trump and his wife, now-RNC co-chair Lara Trump; Cohens successor-of-sorts, Alina Habba; and others, like Rep. Ralph Norman, who has been calling Cohen a con man since 2019. The bottom line? Witnessed firsthand, its hard to believe Trumps surrogate operation is anything other than what it sounds like: a coordinated effort between and among Trump and his allies, not some disparate, coincidental gathering of members of the public. No member of the public would have the access theyve had or been allowed the latitude theyve enjoyed. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com MARSHALL - Members of the Madison County Planning Board stressed that they'd like to see the county decide on its hotly contested 50-foot ridge top setback requirement issue treated with deliberateness and urgency in a timely manner, but that won't be the case. In its May 14 meeting, the Madison County Board of Commissioners opted to reform its ridge top work group and to send the issue back to the Planning Board to reshape its recommendations in what Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Michael Garrison called "a mulligan." In a corresponding move, the county commissioners and County Manager Rod Honeycutt decided to reform/restructure the ridge top work group to not include a commissioner. The planning board, which voted in December 2023 to recommend to scrap the 50-foot setback requirement for building on ridges higher than 3,000 feet as laid out in the county's Mountain Ridge Protection Ordinance, will now amend its recommendations to the commissioners. Currently, Madison County is the lone county in the state with a setback requirement for building on ridge tops. The move was partially in response to concerns and criticisms from residents and a public official who spoke out against the county commission's decision to hold the work group meetings internally and closed to the public, as one public official wondered whether such a structure potentially violated public meetings laws. In a letter to the editor submitted to The News-Record & Sentinel, Spring Creek resident Maxine Dalton said she disagreed with the county commission's decision to notice meetings in the Asheville Citizen Times rather than the local News-Record & Sentinel. In the letter, Dalton said she was "surprised" to read about the county commissioners' decision April 9 to approve the Madison County Planning Board's recommended changes to the county Land Use Ordinance relating to biomass facilities, as she had searched The News-Record & Sentinel for the meeting notice, but it ran in the Asheville Citizen Times. According to Dalton, Madison County Board of Commissioners Chair Matt Wechtel responded in an email to Dalton with the North Carolina General Statute 160d-601, relating to procedure for adopting, amending or repealing development regulations. (a) Hearing with published notice- Before adopting, amending, or repealing any ordinance or development regulation authorized by this Chapter, the governing board shall hold a legislative hearing. A notice of the hearing shall be given once a week for two successive calendar weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the area. The notice shall be published the first time not less than 10 days nor more than 25 days before the date scheduled for the hearing. In computing such period, the day of publication is not to be included but the day of the hearing shall be included." North Carolina General Statute 160d-601 Still, Dalton said she disagreed with the county's decision to notice the meeting in the Asheville paper. "The letter of the law notwithstanding, I find it wrong that a public hearing that will impact the citizens of Madison County can be published in the Asheville Buncombe newspaper," Dalton said in the letter. "We have our own culture, our own topography, and our own values about what we want in our community." The Madison County Board of Adjustment approved a request to Matt Nowicki for a variance from 50 feet to a range of 25 to 45 feet in the Mountain Ridge Protection Ordinance. Board member Jeremy Hensley inquired whether a commissioner can be on a work group. "You can be on one, but it now becomes a committee that has to be appointed by the commission with open meeting laws and notices to the public," said County Manager Rod Honeycutt, who was delegated to facilitate the ridge top work group's operations. According to Honeycutt, the ridge top work group, which held its first meeting April 24, was comprised of Honeycutt, Assistant to the County Manager Mandy Bradley, Development Services Director Brad Guth and a member of the county zoning/inspection team. Honeycutt said the work group had contact with environmental health, forest service, realtors, builders, construction and state DOT, and planned to meet monthly to bring back recommendations to the county commissioners. More: Ridge top work group's 1st meeting Ridge top focus group in Madison County holds 1st meeting on contentious topic More: Mad Co approves biomass regulation After 18-month moratorium, Madison County finalizes biomass regulation More: Board votes to scrap 50-ft setback Madison planning board votes to nix 50-foot setback requirement; forms ridge focus group 'We need to deal with the situation': Madison County forms ridge top protection work group In his report to the board, Honeycutt said he recommended the group, as well as a similar courthouse work group transition to "a professional/staff-only work group," in which "we invite commissioners in to give updates to as the listening audience and not as participants, and use this forum to bring the work group's recommendations forward." But Garrison said he felt the ridge top setback decision should be sent back to the Planning Board. "I recommend we kick it back to the Planning Board, where it started from," Garrison said. "There's people on that board who've made suggestions as to what they wish they had done, or in hindsight think they should have done. So I think the Planning Board should be planning. "There are people who are interested on that board of going back and visiting some of the concerns that our community members and commissioners have." Board members Alan Wyatt and Hensley said they agreed with Garrison's recommendation. According to board attorney Donny Laws, a professional staff-only group would only be giving advice to the county commission. "That's all we're seeking from the Planning Board as well, is advice," Wechtel said. Garrison said he felt the decision to hand the issue back to the Planning Board would allow Planning Board members the opportunity to develop their recommendations. "There are people on that board that have experience with our local ordinances," Garrison said. "They have experiences with the very issue that people are concerned about. They're hearing those people's concerns, and are interested in going back and getting a mulligan to try to come back with something that's a little more beneficial overall for the wellness of our county. "So I'm going to give them a chance to do it." Garrison spoke out against the criticisms and defended the county's work in its deliberations. "I will say, as a point of disappointment, this board has worked as transparent as possible in everything that we do," Garrison said. "And our work groups have been hugely beneficial, the official ones and the unofficial ones, at doing the business of the county and actually soliciting people from the county to engage in that business as well, to help us to make decisions, not just on what we think, but to gain information from the community, people who have lived here 50 years, and people who have lived here five years, and then to try to formulate and make good decisions. "So far, we've done a good job of that. Most of the product that's been generated has, ironically, Brad, has seemed to meet just about everyone's requirements. So I'm proud of that. Just because there's a few little grumbles that find some minute aspect of a law that they think that the commissioners are subverting and trying to do things covert is offensive to me. But that being said, we're going to work in earnest to prove that that's not the case, and that we will entrust this county manager and those that work within county government to continue to do what we have been a part of all along." Garrison said he feels as if the county adequately rectified the situation. "For those that whined and cried at that, we fixed it. So, now go back to whatever it is you were doing," Garrison said. "For those that were elected officials that did it, shame on you. You should have been minding your own business and doing the business that you were elected to do, instead of the business of what we're elected to do. "Otherwise, put your name on the ballot, and you do this job, and I'll sit in the audience and watch you." Johnny Casey has covered Madison County for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel for nearly three years, including earning a first-place award in beat reporting in the 2023 North Carolina Press Association awards. He can be reached at 828-210-6071 or jcasey@citizentimes.com. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison County ridge top setback issue sent back to Planning Board A police forensic member takes a picture outside of a police station where a man has stormed in Ulu Tiram, Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, May 17, 2024. National police chief Razarudin Husain said the attack appeared to have been planned and could have been an attempt to take firearms. (AP Photo) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) The man who attacked a Malaysian police station and killed two officers was a recluse and is believed to have acted on his own despite suspected links to the Jemaah Islamiyah extremist group, the country's home minister said Saturday. The man stormed the police station in southern Johor state near Singapore in the early hours of Friday with a machete. He hacked a police constable to death and then used the officers weapon to kill another. He wounded a third officer before being shot dead. Police initially said the man could have attempted to take firearms from the station. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution called it a lone wolf attack based on an initial investigation and said there was no threat to the wider public. We have established that the attacker acted on his own ... a lone wolf driven by certain motivation and his own understanding, Saifuddin said. His action is not linked to any larger mission. Police have said the man's father was a known member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian network linked to al-Qaida, and that they found materials linked to the group in their home. Seven people including the man's parents and three siblings were detained and police said they were searching for some 20 Jemaah Islamiyah members in the state. The incident sparked concerns over a possible wider threat, prompting Singapore to issue a warning to its citizens to be vigilant when traveling to Johor. Police initially said the attacker was 34, but Saifudin later said he was 21 years old, with no criminal record. He said the man did not interact much with his neighbors. Saifudin urged the public not to tie the attack to religion, saying the motive for the attack had not yet been established. Jemaah Islamiyah was designated a terrorist group by the U.S and was banned in neighboring Indonesia. It's widely blamed for attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia including the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The group has been considerably weakened by security crackdowns in the region. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A San Diego man was sentenced Thursday to 30 years behind bars for two separate shootings in North County. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said 22-year-old Hans Nanduca will serve time in prison for shooting an Oceanside AM/PM store clerk during a robbery, as well as for his involvement in a separate shooting at a local business in Escondido. According to a release Friday, Nanduca, who was on probation, pleaded guilty to assault with a semi-automatic firearm, admitted that he personally used a firearm and admitted a prior strike when entering guilty pleas last month. Placement hearing takes place for Bolder-Than-Most rapist Two weeks after shooting the store clerk in Oceanside, who survived the incident, the release said that Nanduca was an accomplice in a separate robbery in Escondido. The firearm used was an untraceable ghost gun that eventually was linked to Nanduca due to cartridge casings from both shootings. At the time of both incidents, the district attorney said Nanduca was on probation for carjacking while armed with a knife and reckless driving. The fact that the defendant used a ghost gun made the investigation more difficult, but Oceanside and Escondido police detectives persisted in solving these crimes and our office brought a successful prosecution to end the defendants crime spree, Stephan said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. UPDATE: An officer-involved shooting is under investigation, according to a news release from Darren Gault, public information officer, Rock Island County Integrity Task Force. About 2:17 p.m. Friday, East Moline Police responded to Hometown Harbor Apartment Complex, 1011 49th Ave., East Moline, after an employee of the apartment complex called 911 and reported that a resident had a gun. The caller reported that the resident, an 80-year-old man, had fired a handgun. The incident occurred outside and the caller updated 911 saying the man headed west down 49th Avenue and was near the community room on 10th Street. Two East Moline Police officers arrived at 2:24 p.m. and encountered the man, who was armed with a handgun. A confrontation occurred and one or more officers discharged their firearm, the release says. Officers administered first aid and EMS was dispatched. EMS arrived at 2:30 p.m. The man, who was in a motorized wheelchair, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. His firearm was recovered at the scene. East Moline Police Chief Jeff Ramsey immediately requested the Rock Island County Integrity Task Force (RICITF) to respond. State law requires an outside agency or task force to investigate an officer-involved shooting. The RICITF is led by the Illinois State Police and is comprised of detectives from several law enforcement agencies. RICITF is handling the investigation and no East Moline Police officer is participating in the Integrity Task Force criminal investigation. The East Moline Police Department has both in-car video and body camera video. This video is being reviewed by the task force and Rock Island County States Attorney Dora Villarreal, along with additional investigative material. The states attorney will make any decisions regarding the actions of the police department once all the facts have been gathered. This process does take time to complete and we will update the public on the status of the investigation as it moves along, the release says. It is important that ITF investigators speak to anyone with information about this incident, according to the release. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call the Rock Island County Integrity Task Force at 309-752-4915, extension 4935. EARLIER UPDATE: An 80-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries during an officer-involved shooting in East Moline, according to police. EARLIER: Police have been on the scene of an officer-involved shooting since about 2 p.m. Friday at the Hometown Harbor Apartment Complex in the area of 11th Street and 48th Avenue, East Moline. An 80-year-old man was taken to the hospital after the shooting, police told Our Quad Cities News. As of 5:30 p.m. we do not know details about his condition. (Victoria Frazier, OurQuadCities.com) Crime scene tape is established in the area. Our Quad Cities News will remain in contact with police to provide details when they become available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Man accused of murdering his father in Columbus in November arrested in Chicago A man accused of murdering his father in November was arrested in Chicago. Police say Samuel Haynes was arrested on Tuesday. As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, Samuel Haynes was accused of murdering his father Billy. Columbus police said patrol officers were dispatched to a home on Lawyers Lane around 5 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2023 for a welfare check. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: When police arrived, they found a male decomposed in a bedroom. The Violent Crimes Unit was called in to investigate the death after Deputy Coroner Dustin Harrelson pronounced him dead. Police said the initial welfare check call was for them to check on Billy Haynes. The body found at the scene was identified as Billy, and an autopsy revealed he was killed by stabbing and the case became a homicide investigation, according to the Columbus Police Department. After an extensive investigation, police said probable cause was established and they had a murder arrest warrant for his 31-year-old son, Samuel. On Wednesday, police said Haynes had been arrested and was awaiting extradition back to Columbus. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: DELMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WETM) A Bloomsburg man was arrested after police say he forced his way into a 75-year-old Wellsboro womans home, kidnapped her, held her captive for hours, and released her. Charles D. Bower Jr., 56, is facing multiple charges related to the alleged kidnapping incident. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, Bower went to the victims Delmar Township home at about 7:38 p.m. on May 7 and cut the homes exterior telephone and Wi-Fi lines. Police say that Bower then forced his way into the victims home using the front door. Once inside, he assaulted the victim and demanded her to get inside her vehicle. Pennsylvania fugitive arrested in Chemung County Police say that Bower held the woman captive inside her vehicle for about four hours. During this time, Bower drove around the area on back roads and threatened to kill the victim. He dropped the woman back at her home at about midnight, and Bower fled the scene in her vehicle. Bower was arrested by the Elmira Police Department. He faces the following charges related to this incident: Burglary (Felony 1) Kidnap to inflict injury/terror (Felony 1) Theft by unlawful taking (Felony 3) Terroristic threats (Misdemeanor 1) Unlawful restraint (Misdemeanor 1) Possession of instrument of crime (Misdemeanor 1) Simple Assault (Misdemeanor 2) Simple Assault (Misdemeanor 2) Criminal mischief: property damage (Misdemeanor 2) Harassment (Summary offense) Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. A man was charged on Thursday in connection to the death of a Utah mother who was fatally stabbed almost 30 years ago while working as a pizza delivery driver, the Salt Lake County district attorneys office announced. Donald Eugene Younge Jr. was charged with murder, aggravated kidnapping and robbery in connection to the death of Lisa Redmond, 36, who was found dead on the side of the road on Dec. 9, 1996, prosecutors said in the announcement. Redmond was still in her Pizza Hut uniform when her body was found, according to the district attorneys office. Her co-workers told detectives from the West Valley City police department that she had been making deliveries in her pickup truck, but the vehicle was found in a parking lot a little more than a mile from her body, according to a probable cause statement shared by prosecutors. Lisa Redmond via West Valley Police Department West Valley Police Department Redmonds body was discovered about 11 minutes after she left the store to make a delivery. Detectives who searched the truck found a bloodied knife behind the drivers seat and observed signs of struggle, according to the document. Evidence of blood underneath the truck suggested that Redmond had been run over. Medical examiners determined Redmonds death was a homicide caused by blunt force injuries to the head, torso, and extremities, according to the probable cause, according to the probable cause document. The case would remain cold until March of 2019, when DNA taken from blood on a seat belt buckle in Redmonds truck was found to be a match with Younge, the attorney generals office said. Prints found on the knife also matched Younges. Younge took the bus in 1996 and worked about four miles from the Pizza Hut where Redmond was employed, which had two bus stops nearby, according to detectives. Younge is currently serving a more than 30-year term for two counts of aggravated sexual assault and second-degree felony robbery in an unrelated case, prosecutors said in the announcement. According to reports by local news outlet KSL, Younge was convicted in 2010 in the sexual assault of a 23-year-old University of Utah student who was walking home from campus. The incident happened just about a month before Redmond was found dead. Prosecutors mentioned in a motion for no-bail hold that Younge also remains a suspect in a separate 1999 murder investigation in Utah, in which a 22-year-old University of Utah theater student was stabbed in her apartment. The case has been put on hold. The motion for no bail also mentioned that Younge had been charged in three murders in 1999 and 2000, and had been suspected of a fourth a string of killings known as the garbage bag murders involving women found dead in trash bags in Illinois. That case was dismissed due to credibility issues with one of the witnesses, according to KSL. Related... Man dies in New Caledonia riots, bringing death toll from unrest to 6 French soldiers of the 8th Marine Infantry Regiment (8e RIMa) secure Magenta Airport in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia. After days of serious riots in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, the situation has eased slightly with the declaration of a state of emergency. Delphine Mayeur/AFP/dpa Another person has died after days of violent protests in France's Pacific territory New Caledonia, bringing the death toll to six since the riots began on Monday, French media reported on Saturday. The man was trying to cross a roadblock with his son when shots were exchanged. Three people were injured. The situation in New Caledonia is "far from calm," even if the nights are currently somewhat more peaceful, the mayor of New Caledonian capital Noumea, Sonia Lagarde, told the French broadcaster BFMTV. On Friday evening, France sent a further 1,000 troops to the island to secure the harbours and airport against violent protests by independence supporters. The night-time curfew and the state of emergency, which allows the authorities to ban demonstrations and gives the police and judiciary extended powers, remain in force. In response to the unrest, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cancelled the relay of the Olympic flame in New Caledonia, where it was due to make a stop over before the start of the Summer Games in Paris. The riots began on Monday as France debated a bill which would give thousands of French citizens in the archipelago in the South Pacific the right to vote in provincial polls. This has angered the indigenous Kanak population which is campaigning for its own state. The Kanaks' national council accuses Paris of pushing ahead with the controversial reform without considering it is opposed by the majority of the indigenous population. For Paris, New Caledonia is important geopolitically, militarily and also because of its nickel deposits. Residents voted to remain part of France in each of the three referendums on independence in 2018, 2020 and 2021. However, the independence movement boycotted the last vote and announced that it would not accept the result. *The above video shows the most dangerous roads in Ohio* CHARDON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports that a 24-year-old Geneva man was killed in a one-vehicle crash just after 1:30 a.m. Saturday on State Route US 6 near Auburn Road. Not in the cards: How a local poker players life was saved at the casino Troopers identified the victim who died in the crash as Donald Evans IV. The vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck a guardrail and utility pole, Troopers said. The Lincoln caught fire. Local firefighters help an animal out of quite a jam Troopers said Evans died at the scene and that crash remains under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. CHICAGO Authorities have identified a man who was fatally shot while inside his home on the citys South Side on Friday afternoon. According to Chicago police, the deadly shooting unfolded just after 4:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of West 85th Street. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Authorities say the victim, a 54-year-old man, was inside his home when he was hit in the chest by gunfire. He was later pronounced dead on the scene. On Saturday afternoon, the Cook County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Cozenn Johnson and said he died from multiple gunshot wounds. Currently, it is unclear what led to the shooting and police say no arrests have been made. Officers say an investigation into the shooting continues. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Anyone with information on the deadly shooting is asked to contact CPD Area One detectives at 312-747-8380 or dial 911. Those with information that could help detectives in their investigation can also leave a tip at CPDtip.com. Tips can be filed anonymously Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. TOPEKA (KSNT) A man accused of a triple homicide case dating back to a 2016 shooting was found not guilty by a jury Friday. On May 17, Yanez C. Sanford was found not guilty in a court case where he was accused of murdering two individuals, one of them being a pregnant woman, in August of 2016. Mark Manna, Chief Attorney with the State of Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit told 27 News Sanford was acquitted on all counts. His not-guilty verdict on capital murder is only the second time in Kansas state court history. Twenty-eight years ago in Shawnee County, the death penalty defense unit was part of another not-guilty verdict in the capital murder case of Stephen Shively 95CR3764the hard work and dedication of Peter Conley and Emily Barclay as capital public defenders in this case is appreciated. Statement excerpt from Mark Manna On the morning of August 7, 2016, two people were found dead after being shot at the Fairlawn Green Apartments located at 5235 SW 20th Terrace. When Topeka police arrived, they found the bodies of two Topeka residents, Dominique D. Ray, 23, and Camrah J. Trotter, 20. They were pronounced dead at the scene due to multiple gunshot wounds. Trotter was pregnant at the time of the shooting. 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. VERNAL, Utah (ABC4) Three people were arrested Wednesday after an attempt to kidnap a child from a Vernal home, according to Utah Dept. of Public Safety. A male suspect involved in the attempt claimed to be a social worker, and that his intention was to remove the child from the home, police said. Ty Lucero Whetten, 36, was arrested in Uintah County on impersonating a peace officer/public servant (class-B misdemeanor), aggravated kidnapping (third-degree felony), two counts of aggravated assault (third-degree felony), and aggravated burglary (first-degree felony). On May 15, at around 11 a.m., police received a report of a suspicious circumstance at a Vernal residence. The caller stated that two suspects, one male and one female, approached the home and began banging on the door, a probable cause affidavit states. Two shootings overnight in Glendale and Poplar Grove neighborhoods, SLCPD says The residences property manager reportedly approached the pair, and the male suspect, identified as Whetten, claimed he was a social worker and that he was there to remove a child from the home, according to the affidavit. The property manager then told them that no one currently lives at the residence, and refused to answer when the male suspect asked where the resident had moved to. The property manager told police that the suspects were driving a white Jeep Renegade SUV. A little over an hour later, the same two suspects reportedly entered a Vernal day spa and requested to speak with the victims wife, the affidavit states. The supervisor at the day spa refused to give out the womans location, and also informed the woman of the two suspects that were searching for her. The male suspect and female suspect were seen driving the same White Jeep Renegade. They were also observed watching the business from a parking lot across the street, the affidavit states. Later that night, at around 10 p.m., a Vernal family was at home when they heard a loud banging at the front door. The victim heard a second loud bang on the front door and went to see what was going on. As he came down the interior stairs of the residence, he observed a male suspect and female suspect inside of his residence, the affidavit states. While the situation unfolded, the man reportedly told his wife to take their daughter into the bathroom and call 911. The woman told police that two suspects were inside her home and threatening to take her child. She also said the male suspect Whetten was in possession of a handgun. The male victim reportedly also had a handgun and confronted the two suspects while police responded to the scene. Upon police arrival, the suspects tried to run from the scene through the front door, but were met by two officers. Whetten, accompanied by the female suspect, then pointed his handgun toward the officers and retreated back into the home, letting off a single shot into the wall in the stairwell, police said. The suspects then exited through the backdoor of the home and were again met by officers. The two surrendered at the scene and were taken into custody. Police also found a third suspect sitting in the drivers seat of the Jeep Renegade. Interviews with the male suspects and two female suspects also elicited information that the three of them had been planning to travel to Vernal and obtain the child for a couple of weeks, the affidavit states. No further information is available at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. A man pleaded guilty Friday to a double-murder at a St. Paul sober-living home that he just moved into after being provisionally discharged under a civil commitment for being mentally ill and chemically dependent. Joseph Francis Sandoval II, 34, entered a Norgaard plea to two counts of second-degree intentional murder in the October 2022 stabbing deaths of Jason Timothy Murphy, a 40-year-old handyman, and 56-year-old Jon Ross Wentz, a resident of the sober home in the citys Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Under a Norgaard plea, a defendant says they are unable to remember what happened due to drug use or mental health impairment at the time, but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. At the time of the killings, Sandoval had five felony charges pending in Hennepin County in connection with three violent Minneapolis cases, all filed in March 2021, according to court documents. He was conditionally released from jail on the charges and found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial in June 2021. About a month later, he was civilly committed to the state Commissioner of Human Services as mentally ill and chemically dependent. He was sent to the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center, then five months later provisionally discharged to an Evergreen Treatment Recovery Center sober home in St. Paul. Nearly a year later, on the afternoon of Oct. 20, 2022, Evergreen transferred Sandoval to its East Side sober home in the 1100 block of Lawson Avenue. Evergreens housing specialist drove him there, helped bring his belongings to the living room and handed him a TV remote, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Daniel Rait said Friday in court. Sandoval sat down on the couch and began hearing voices from the TV telling him to kill or be killed, he told police after his arrest. This tragic case is a heartbreaking reminder of the limits our mental health system faces when addressing the needs of those with profound mental illness in the justice system who are found incompetent to stand trial but do not receive adequate treatment or supervision, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a Friday statement. Choi added, Continuing to improve the connection between these two systems demands further legislative effort and funding. Our hearts go out to the Wentz and Murphy families who have suffered so profoundly due to these shortcomings. Theyre going to kill me Officers responded to the house around 4:30 p.m. on a report of a man screaming that a person killed someone inside the home. Officers saw a man, later identified as Sandoval, leaving the house and walking toward an alley. He had blood on his clothes, cuts to his face and hands and appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. He told officers he had ingested fentanyl. Sandoval said he had just moved into the house and did not know anybody living there. He said two big guys caused his injuries, but could not describe them. He then said somebody tried to kill him and that the person got those other guys, too, according to the charges. Sandoval said when he got to the sober house, he sat down on the couch. He said, I was hearing noises. The TV kept saying take your opportunity, so I took my opportunity, the charges say. When an investigator asked Sandoval what he meant, he said, The TV said theyre going to kill me. When I was watching Dragon Ball Z (a Japanese anime television series). Officers saw drops of blood in the kitchen and on stairs leading to the basement, where Murphy was found dead. Wentz was dead in an upstairs bedroom, a bloody knife and bloody hammer next to him. Both men had multiple cuts and stab wounds, many to the neck and head. Autopsies would later find they died of blood loss. Officers spoke to a distressed witness who was screaming outside the sober home, where he lives. He said he tried to enter through the front door, but a man he didnt know, later identified as Sandoval, blocked his entry, saying it was too messy. The witness walked to a side door, entered the home and saw drops of blood in the kitchen and down the stairs. He found the handyman in the basement. When he tried to leave, Sandoval said he could not and would need his help disposing of some things, the charges say. He told police Sandoval then put him in a chokehold and they fought. He said he was able to break free, run to a neighboring house and tell the residents to call 911. After hospital staff released Sandoval, police transported him to the Ramsey County jail. There, Sandoval told an officer, When you cant protect someone you care about most in the world, it eats at you, it eats at you, it eats at you until it boils over, the charges say. He added, I just wanted a quiet room. Found competent in June Sandoval has been jailed since his arrest in lieu of $2 million bail. His public defender, Baylea Kannmacher, said in court Friday that hes been meeting with the jails mental health workers and taking his prescribed medications. Last June, a Ramsey County judge found him competent to stand trial on the charges. During Fridays plea hearing, Sandoval, who was wearing a blue jail uniform with his hair in a topknot, replied to questions from Kannmacher in the affirmative. You do not recall the circumstances of this offense is that accurate? Kannmacher asked. That is accurate, said Sandoval, as his mother looked on from the courtroom gallery. Sandoval made a straight plea to the charges, meaning no agreement is in place, although his attorney can argue for concurrent prison sentences on each count, which carry up to 40 years. Judge Joy Bartscher set sentencing for July 19. Related Articles A man stabbed a military enlistment official in the town of Synelnykove in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on May 18, Ukraine's Ground Forces reported. According to the report, the official sustained an arm injury. Ukraine has been working on trying to ramp up mobilization over the last six months as the country's military faces an increasingly critical personnel shortage. In April, the parliament passed a bill updating the rules on mobilization as the country seeks to replenish the ranks of its Armed Forces. Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60, with some exceptions, are not allowed to leave the country as they may be called up for military service. The police arrested the man who attacked the enlistment official and launched an investigation into the murder attempt. It is unclear what caused the attack on the draft official. There have been multiple cases of suspected abuses committed by enlistment officials toward civilians and conscripts since Ukraine started a large-scale mobilization after the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Read also: Foreign Ministry to restore consular services for draft-aged men abroad on updated terms Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Geert Wilders said 'we are writing history' as he announced the programme for the new government - Bart Maat/AFP The Netherlands will tear up rules forcing homeowners to buy heat pumps as part of a war on net zero by Geert Wilders and the Dutch farmers party. Six months after his shock election victory, Mr Wilders this week struck an agreement to usher in a Right-wing coalition government of four parties. We are writing history, he said as he announced the programme for the new government. The new coalition marks the first time that a party focused on the interests of the agricultural sector has got into power in the Netherlands. Earlier this year, mass farmers protests swept Europe. The coalition pact includes pledges to reverse green policies introduced under the previous government to hit EU climate targets, including compulsory buyouts of polluting farms. It also plans to end subsidies for electric cars in 2025 and rejects an EU demand that the Dutch reduce livestock numbers to cut pollution. The Dutch branch of Greenpeace said the coalition agreement was an attack on nature. The deal has put Mr Wilders, the Party for Freedom leader who has been described as the Dutch Trump, and his coalition partners on a collision course with the European Commission. The incoming government is demanding that Brussels allows the Netherlands to emit more nitrogen per hectare than other EU countries beyond 2026, when a temporary exception for the Dutch expires. Dutch judges had ordered the halting of all new construction projects in the midst of a housing crisis until the Netherlands met its EU nitrogen targets. The last governments buyout plan to reduce nitrogen emissions, which are caused by agriculture, precipitated a string of tractor protests. Compulsory farm buyouts will now be replaced with a voluntary scheme, which was one of the Dutch Farmer-Citizen Movements (BBB) conditions for entering government with Mr Wilders. The BBB triumphed in regional elections after a vote dominated by the tractors protests that inspired similar populist uprisings against EU green rules across Europe. In the general election held after the last government collapsed, the BBB, formed in 2019, won seven seats a seven-fold increase since the previous elections in 2021. It was the first European farmers party to get elected into parliament since the EU set its net zero objective. It won 4.6 per cent of the vote, while Mr Wilders won 23.5 per cent, equivalent to 37 seats. The BBB also demanded the end of a law that would require homeowners to switch to a hybrid heat pump when replacing their central heating boiler from 2026. The act, introduced shortly after the EU announced its objective to install at least 10 million additional heat pumps by 2027 to hit its 2050 net zero goal, would have made them standard in Dutch homes. Switching to heat pumps would have driven down Dutch household use of natural gas for heating, which is the largest source of its gas consumption, equivalent to about 30 per cent in total. Caroline van der Plas, the BBB leader, said she was mega-proud of her party, which boasted that a large part of its manifesto was reflected in the pact. The party said: Thanks to BBBs efforts, the mandatory heat pump will be abolished. The 26-page coalition agreement also states that the Netherlands must no longer pursue a more ambitious environment policy than the rest of Europe. Well adhere to the existing agreements; only if we do not achieve the goals do we create alternative policies, the document, called Hope, Courage and Pride, said. Mr Wilders, who is infamous for his anti-Islam rhetoric, was forced to ditch his campaign pledge for a referendum on EU membership and his dreams of being prime minister to get the deal. Ronald Plasterk, a former Labour minister, appears to be the main contender to be prime minister. 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 selection of a running mate is a high-stakes pick for any presidential candidate, but when the selection is made by Donald Trump, his decision thickens with intrigue. Is he helped most by someone who further excites the base, or is it wiser to select someone who broadens his appeal, luring back some voters who have distanced from him? Every list assessing Trumps prospects is crafted with the tastes of who is compiling it. My wish is to return Trumps policies to the White House, bolstered by a vice president who will be a strong ally who would continue those policies if necessary. While his boundless energy can make it seem Trump will outlive us all, the fact is that he will turn 80 the year after the inauguration. Even if his vitality sustains, he would be term-limited from running again, setting up his partner as a likely factor for the elections of 2028 and 2032. Since were talking about someone who might occupy the White House until the early days of 2037, relative youth figures into my list of favorites. It seems wise, as the nation may have had its fill of candidates born before the Korean War. President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, then his ambassador to the United Nations, in 2018 at the White House. (Samuel Corum/The New York Times) Using logic Trump himself may apply in his own way, the path to favorable choices is carved through the list of names to be set aside. First, the people he simply will not choose. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, following her political suicide by book. Vivek Ramaswamy, whose communication gifts are weighed down by age (38), inexperience and the occasional silly idea. Youth is a possible plus, but there are limits. As a columnist friend of mine once said, We cant have someone in the Oval Office who first heard Nirvana on a classic rock station. Tucker Carlson , an intriguing commentator whose occasional topical rabbit-holes make Ramaswamy look like William F. Buckley. and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, whom Trump genuinely appears to dislike after their snark-filled homestretch of primary contests. Some may ask about the not-insignificant numbers of voters Haley has drawn, perhaps as a statement of residual distaste for Trump. But rather than invite bad chemistry onto the ticket to appease that tantrum, I will calmly expect anyone with the slightest strand of Republican DNA to realize that their Trump misgivings are properly exploded by thoughts of another term of Joe Biden. The odd notion of expanding the base can lead to ill wisdom, leading to two names that would be fun but deserve zero consideration: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracts some ranks of the vaccine-hesitant GOP, but he has been busy lately running his own independent campaign, filled with progressive positions on abortion, climate and gun control that are a bad fit a heartbeat away from the presidency. Tulsi Gabbard offers fewer obstacles, and her departure from the Democratic Party seems to paint a portrait of a liberal in recovery. Her growing list of conservative sensibilities lands her frequently on Fox News, and her military service bolsters many of her palatable views. But again, this pick is too vital to submit to a swoon over someone we admire as a work in progress. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been floated as a top possible running mate pick for former President Donald Trump. Then, there are several thoroughly acceptable candidates who fall short of my highest enthusiasm; South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a wonderful man without the fighters instinct a Trump running mate needs; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has improved with age but still draws skepticism from some conservatives; and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who, like New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, seems free of flaws but is not the best Trump can do. So who is better? My Fab Five: Ron DeSantis, with a biography and governing track record unmatched by anyone else on the list; Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, just shy of 40 but already displaying an inspiring conservative fluency on issues both domestic and international; Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton , whose talents lean more globally but who offers clarity needed in a dangerous world; Florida Rep. Byron Donalds , bringing a strong voting record and vigorous communications gift; and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose service as Trump White House press secretary revealed a facility across a wide range of issues and a talent for defending the boss. For those wondering, yes, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deserves consideration, but he has seemed so far to express precisely zero interest in being chosen. If that changes, so will the list. And since the decider is Trump, there is always the possibility of an entire additional category filled with people we arent even thinking about. Mark Davis hosts a morning radio show in Dallas-Fort Worth on 660-AM and at 660amtheanswer.com. Follow him on X: @markdavis. Mark Davis Do you have an opinion on this topic? Tell us! We love to hear from Texans with opinions on the news and to publish those views in the Opinion section. Letters should be no more than 150 words. Writers should submit letters only once every 30 days. Include your name, address (including city of residence), phone number and email address, so we can contact you if we have questions. You can submit a letter to the editor two ways: Email letters@star-telegram.com (preferred). Fill out this online form. Please note: Letters will be edited for style and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed. The best letters are focused on one topic. Michigan State Police Sergeant Andrew Woldorf targets drivers in the construction zone near Hebron Townhall Road on I-75 on May 14. CHEBOYGAN With the early onset of road construction season, the Michigan Department of Transportation has already recorded several crashes in work zones. A common cause for vehicle crashes in construction areas is due to speeding, MDOT officials said. Offenders caught speeding in construction zones face doubled fines and additional points on their driving records. The Michigan State Police are working together with MDOT to enforce work zone speed limits more stringently and bring awareness to the dangers of speeding in these areas. We are seeing a number of motorists speeding through these construction areas and its unsafe for the motorists and for the workers that have to work under these conditions every day, said MSP Sgt. Ashley Miller. A reduced speed limit posted in a road construction zone on I-75. Offenders caught speeding in construction zones face doubled fines and additional points on their driving records. Subscribe: Check out our offers and read the local news that matters to you MDOT invited reporters to see the issue for themselves on May 14 at a construction site along I-75 in Cheboygan County. Numerous vehicles were noted for exceeding the 60 mph speed limit, with some reaching up to 75 mph as a trooper monitored traffic speeds. "Speeding is a common behavior we're observing and it's a significant contributor to accidents," said James Lake, MDOT North Region Communications Specialist. Lake added that speeding is especially dangerous for the construction personnel who are working on site. This is their work place," he said. "Everyday they come out here they are working in close proximity to traffic and they hope they make it home safe every night." Vehicles traveling southbound on I-75 near Hebron Townhall Road in Cheboygan County must slow down along the four and a half miles of construction. This is one of 12 work zones in Northern Lower Michigan this season. As summer travel ramps up, Sgt. Miller advised drivers to anticipate construction, plan routes accordingly and slow down to ensure worker safety. When you are planning your vacations this summer or your weekend getaways just know that there is going to be construction and plan accordingly. Slow down and give these workers some space to do their job, she said. A motorist is clocked by Michigan State Police going 69 mph in a 60 mph construction zone on I-75 on May 14. Brad Swanson, MDOT Construction Engineer overseeing projects in the region, stressed the human cost of non-compliance. People's lives are at stake. That is really what it comes down to. We hear every year about road workers that are killed or injured in work zone crashes, Swanson said. Construction zones can be confusing, with heavy equipment, changes to traffic lanes, orange barrels and barrier walls providing distractions to drivers, according to Swanson. If people arent paying attention and driving at the reduced speed limits, then everyone is in danger, he warned. In 2023, preliminary work zone crash statistics in Michigan show there were: 7,237 work zone crashes 17 fatal work zone crashes 20 work zone fatalities (two were road workers) 1,896 work zone injuries 108 involved serious injuries For more information, visit michigan.gov/mdot/travel/safety. Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 and adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: MDOT, police increase enforcement amid spike in work zone crashes Long-haul truckers partially blocked the Kyiv-Odesa highway in Odesa Oblast on May 18, protesting the mobilization law that came into effect that day. The highway was blocked near the town of Savran, with one lane remaining open, the Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne reported, citing witnesses. Ukraine has been working to ramp up mobilization over the last six months as its military faces an increasingly critical personnel shortage. In April, the parliament passed a bill updating the rules on mobilization. Under the new mobilization law, specific categories of Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 must present military enlistment office registration papers when crossing the border. The requirement, however, does not apply to drivers transporting medical supplies or humanitarian aid or those involved in international cargo and passenger transport. Under martial law, imposed on the first day of Russias full-scale invasion and prolonged several times, Ukrainian men of conscripting age, with some exceptions, are not allowed to leave the country as they may be called up for military service. The Kyiv-Odesa highway, M05, is a part of European route E95 and the Trans-European transportation corridor. Olena Berezhna, the National Police's spokeswoman, told Suspilne that truckers gathered in Kyrovohrad and Odesa oblasts. Later in the day, Suspilne reported that traffic on the Kyiv-Odesa highway had been restored. Read also: Man stabs military enlistment official in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 52,789 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since Mediazona's last update in late April, the names of 1,100 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties. The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities. Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,400 officers, with 403 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher have been killed in combat in Ukraine. In early May, Ukrainian sources reported a strike using long-range ATACMS missiles on a concentration of Russian military personnel in the occupied Luhansk Oblast, claiming that the attack could have killed up to 100 soldiers. Russian sources, including pro-war bloggers, were silent on this strike. In the past, similar attacks have ignited heated discussions within this community, with bloggers cautiously criticizing unnamed commanders for making their subordinates gather in open fields, according to Mediazona. The Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out similar strikes in February 2024, when three consecutive formations were hit by HIMARS missiles. On Feb. 24, in a joint study with independent Russian media outlet Meduza, Mediazona reported that at least 83,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Russia's war, although total estimates of Russia's casualties since the full-scale invasion vary widely. President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in February 2024 that 180,000 Russians had been killed in the war. He added that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have also been killed. Zelensky said that the exact number is unknown, and it would only be possible to find out once the territories occupied by Russia were liberated. As of May 17, 2024, the Ukrainian military estimates Russian combat losses at 489,870 troops killed. Read also: Zelensky: No reports of artillery shortages for first time in full-scale war Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Two candidates are competing for Warren County Board of Supervisors District 3, which includes Spring Hill and White Oak. Republican Travis DeWitt and Democrat Jane Colacecchi are vying for the newly redrawn district. Incumbent Republican Darren Heater is not running for reelection. To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal, Des Moines area legislative and local candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity. The primary election is scheduled for June 4 ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. Who is Jane Colacecchi? Jane Colacecchi Age: 62 Party: Democrat Where did you grow up: Norwalk, California Current town of residence: Rural Warren County south of Indianola Education: Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Southern California'; Master of Arts in organizational leadership, Gonzaga University Occupation: Small business owner and consultant Political experience and civic activities: My experience includes service as policy advisor to Gov. Tom Vilsack and director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. For 18 years I have been a consultant, advising local, state (49 states), and federal agencies (USDA, FEMA, CDC, DOE) on issues of policy, planning, training and leadership. (Project list available at JaneforWarrenCounty.com.) As a volunteer, I provided grant writing workshops to nonprofit organizations through Warren County Hometown Pride. I have provided free grant writing technical support and wrote grants that saved the historic 1870 church in Palmyra Township. Who is Travis DeWitt? Travis DeWitt Age: 43 Party: Republican Where did you grow up: Indianola Current town of residence: Rural New Virginia Education: High school Occupation: President of Pro Image Sign & Lighting Political experience and civic activities: I have followed politics closely since I was 18, but I have not become interested in running for an elected position until now. Why are you running? Colacecchi: I am running for supervisor because I care about the quality of life for Warren County residents. I believe my experience and understanding of public policy and the budget will be an asset to county residents as the board makes important decisions regarding increased growth and development. There has been a great deal of discord and divisiveness. I hope to bring people together. Whether you live in town or the country, no matter your political party, you deserve a voice and someone who will protect the qualities that make Warren County a special place to live. DeWitt: With the county having five districts versus the three previous districts, I feel that Warren County has more opportunity for people like myself to represent their district with a tighter net. There will be more of a presence of the rural voices with the incoming board, and I would like to help make the voices heard in my district. What is the most important issue facing Warren County and how would you address it in office? Colacecchi: Warren County is entering a stage of growth and development that will change the face of the county. The issues surrounding development encompass multiple areas including roads, taxes, public services, and the overall quality of life for residents. We can work together to create a plan for smart growth while maintaining our rural way of life, improving access to services, assuring fiscal responsibility, protecting agricultural resources, and conserving the natural beauty and history of our county. I bring years of government planning experience to the job of supervisor and I am committed to the collaborative sharing of ideas. DeWitt: Roads: Warren County rural roads are in horrible shape. We can't just keep saying that it is due to high traffic and sweep it under the rug like the current board has done. We need to focus on our rural roads and infrastructure. Spending: Holding the departments accountable for spending wisely and using resources to their fullest potential. Property taxes: We need to make sure that we have exhausted any and all avenues of finances before we raise property taxes. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meet the candidates running for Warren County supervisor in District 3 Art Wager / Getty Images Several East Coast cities in the United States have witnessed remarkable growth in their upper-class populations in a five-year span. From bustling metropolises to quaint coastal small towns, these cities have attracted affluent individuals and families due to various factors such as economic opportunities, quality of life and cultural amenities. It would seem that even during times of economic hardship, the upper-middle class is making advancements. Find Out: Heres How Much the Definition of Rich Has Changed in Every State Read More: 4 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money These 20 East Coast cities have experienced significant growth in their upper social class populations over the past five years, driven by factors such as economic and job opportunities, cultural attractions, easy access to neighboring big cities and desirable living environments. Whether its the bustling streets of New York City or the small-town feel of St. Petersburg, Florida, affluent individuals and families have found compelling reasons to call these cities home, contributing to their ongoing prosperity and vibrancy. Members of the upper class, which includes households with an income of over $150,000 for the sake of this study, consistently rank these cities as places they want to live and invest in. Many other Americans would consider these places ones they would wish to move to if their economic circumstances were to change. DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images Boston Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 47,118 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 83,368 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 36,250 Check Out: The 50 Happiest States in America and How Much It Costs to Live There Learn More: Heres How Much the Definition of Middle Class Has Changed in Every State Ultima_Gaina / Getty Images/iStockphoto Jersey City, New Jersey Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 18,509 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 36,141 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 17,632 Explore More: Net Worth for Baby Boomers: How To Tell Whether Youre Poor, Middle Class, Upper Middle Class or Rich SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images/iStockphoto Washington D.C. Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 68,384 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 110,209 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 41,825 f11photo / Getty Images/iStockphoto Arlington, Virginia Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 35,911 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 49,899 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 13,988 Story continues Kruck20 / iStock.com Raleigh, North Carolina Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 22,816 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 42,522 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 19,706 Learn More: 6 Reasons the Poor Stay Poor and Middle Class Doesnt Become Wealthy graphiknation / Getty Images/iStockphoto Atlanta Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 29,518 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 56,392 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 26,874 myhrcat / Getty Images/iStockphoto Virginia Beach, Virginia Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 21,805 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 39,719 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 17,914 Michael Warren / Getty Images/iStockphoto St. Petersburg, Florida Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 9,011 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 20,032 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 11,021 Read Next: Im a Financial Advisor: Heres Why My Rich Clients Identify With the Middle Class OlegAlbinsky / Getty Images/iStockphoto New York Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 496,500 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 807,570 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 311,070 Kruck20 / iStock.com Orlando, Florida Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 8,648 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 20,108 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 11,460 Michael Warren / Getty Images Tampa, Florida Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 17,965 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 31,570 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 13,606 Check Out: Jeff Bezos Billion-Dollar Life: A Look at His Mansion Collection Dennis Ludlow / Getty Images Durham, North Carolina Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 11,756 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 22,994 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 11,238 Kirkikis / Getty Images/iStockphoto Miami Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 12,355 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 28,107 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 15,752 peeterv / iStock.com Charlotte, North Carolina Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 42,408 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 73,369 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 30,961 Find Out: Im a Real Estate Agent: Buy Property in These 5 Fast-Growing Cities To Be Rich in 5 Years Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto Philadelphia Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 42,572 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 92,278 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 49,706 traveler1116 / Getty Images/iStockphoto Richmond, Virginia Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 7,853 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 15,787 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 7,934 peeterv / Getty Images/iStockphoto Pittsburgh Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 11,729 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 20,858 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 9,129 Read More: Im a Real Estate Agent: 5 Places Id Buy a Vacation Home If I Had $500,000 TraceRouda / Getty Images/iStockphoto Jacksonville, Florida Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 24,897 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 51,116 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 26,219 Alexphotographic / Getty Images/iStockphoto Baltimore Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 21,821 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 36,590 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 14,769 benedek / Getty Images Buffalo, New York Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2017 : 4,868 Number of households with an income of $150,000 or more in 2022 : 9,987 Change in upper-class income households in five years: 5,119 Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities across the East Coast states of Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia for places the upper class has grown the most over the last five years. For this study, the upper class is considered households that earn a combined total of $150,000 or more. GOBankingRates first started by gathering the total number of households from 2017 and 2022 using the US Census American Community Survey S1901 from 2017 and 2022. Also collected from the US Census American Community Survey S1901 from 2017 and 2022 was the median household income, households with household income from $150,000 to $249,999, and households with income of $250,000 or more. The total percentage of households earning $150,000 or more was calculated and using the total households for each city the number of households that fall into the upper class range was found. The changes in upper class were found using the percentage of upper class in 2022 compared to 2017. The cities were sorted to show the places with the largest increase of upper-class households in the East Coast states. All data was collected on and is up to date as of April 22, 2024. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 20 East Coast Cities Where the Upper Class Has Grown the Most in the Past 5 Years GROVEPORT, Ohio (WCMH) A Groveport Madison bus driver is receiving praise for evacuating students after a fire broke out on her bus. Last week, flames took over a Groveport Madison school bus with 29 middle school students on board. The bus driver noticed smoke coming from the rear of the bus and quickly evacuated everyone on board. Even though it is scary, like with the bus drivers quick thinking, I appreciate her, student Judah Leonard said. She did a wonderful job and she should be recognized for that, Chief Derek Robinson of the Madison Township Fire Department said. NBC4 is introducing the driver in tonights Tell Me Something Good. La Shonna Tanyhill said she stopped the bus after it started to shake and the control panel lights came on. She then called headquarters and waited for another bus. While they were waiting, Tanyhill and students started to notice a smell. Tanyhill who has been a school bus driver for two years said an older woman stopped ahead of the bus. She got out her car and she immediately she started walking to my bus and she said I see smoke and I see, she said I think I see fire soon,' Tannyhill said. She said that safe mode! I told the kids, Get up. Lets go. Run, run, run.' NBC4 asked Tannyhill what was going through her head with a bus full of middle schoolers. I was just scared. I was scared. And the children they didnt really look scared, but yes, I was scared, Tannyhill said. It was emotional. It was very emotional. When I seen the bus the next day and I just thank God every day. Tannyhill said her training called for sending half of the students through the front door and half through the rear emergency exit. But I knew the lady said theres smoke in the back, so we didnt use the back door, Tannyhill said. We only use the front door. All the kids got out of the front door. I mean, like I said, shes our angel. If she wasnt there, like I said, I just feel like it could have been worse. The woman who stopped got back into her car and kept going. Tannyhill hopes she reaches out to Groveport Madison Schools she wants to give her a hug and flowers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Member of Scholz's party calls for NATO to defend Ukraine's skies from its own territory Voices have begun to be heard in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in favour of Western troops taking part in defending Ukraine from Russian airstrikes. Source: Joe Weingarten, SPD MP specialising in defence matters, in a comment to Spiegel, as reported by European Pravda Details: The MP is calling for help for Ukraine's Armed Forces to repel Russian air attacks, including with German support. "In the current military situation, I believe it is necessary and responsible to deploy German anti-aircraft missile troops on NATO territory on the border with Ukraine in order to protect the airspace over Ukraine's west for example, with Patriot systems," Weingarten said in an interview with Spiegel. "We must do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine can withstand Russian attacks," added the Social Democrat, who is a member of the Bundestag's Defence Committee. Weingarten explained that, given the large-scale Russian air attacks, it is not enough to supply air defence systems and ammunition to the frontline regions. The MP noted that the limited resources of Ukrainian air defence could be used more effectively if NATO countries ensured the security of the airspace in the west of the war-torn country. Weingarten stressed that this does not require deploying Western troops in Ukraine. "We need to advocate for such support and participation from Ukraine's closest neighbours, especially Poland, Slovakia and Hungary," the German politician said. However, Rolf Mutzenich, the leader of the SPD parliamentary faction, has recently spoken out clearly against NATO's protection of Ukraine's airspace. "The SPD parliamentary faction will not agree to this," Mutzenich said. This is the first time SPD MPs have made such a demand. "Ukraine is also defending German freedom, and we cannot abandon it [Ukraine] now," Weingarten warned. His colleague in the parliamentary group, Andreas Schwarz, describes air defence as the Ukrainian army's Achilles' heel. "Ukraine does not have enough defence systems and missiles to protect important infrastructure and the population," Schwarz says. Therefore, he says, alternatives must be considered: "This also includes the idea of NATO member states providing defence for Ukraine." MPs from the other coalition parties, the Greens and the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP or Free Democratic Party), have previously expressed sympathy for the proposal to defend Ukraine's western regions from NATO territory. The German federal government rejects the possibility of NATO's participation in Ukraine's air defence. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes that Western countries could send military instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops on the ground and protect them from Russian attacks with additional air defence systems. Support UP or become our patron! Members of the Taiwanese legislature clashed in a chaotic brawl this week, resulting in members being tackled and hit, after a member attempted to steal a bill to prevent it from being passed. Lawmakers were seen leaping over tables and pulling other colleagues to the floor, Reuters reported. The Kuomintang (KMT), the main opposition party, has been working alongside the Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP) to opposite the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which just recently elected a new president but lost control of parliament. The new president, Lai Ching-te is expected to be inaugurated Monday after he won the election in January. The countrys democratic party, DPP, says the groups are improperly trying to force through certain proposals without having a customary consultation process. Lawmakers from all parties were part of the fighting that happened this week. They traded accusations about who was to blame about what happened, Reuters reported. Lai, a Harvard graduate and member of the DPP, said the election was critical, because voters could be choosing between war and peace with China. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Donald Trumps criminal trial is drawing to a close, with two looming questions: what will the jury decide, and how will America react? After weeks of testimony from witnesses including the porn star Stormy Daniels, National Enquirer boss David Pecker and former senior Trump aide Hope Hicks, the trial came to an inflection point this week with its star witness. Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer and attorney who has since turned into a bellicose critic of his old boss, was on the stand all three days court was in session this week. He delivered damning testimony then faced a tough if uneven grilling from Trumps team. Related: Michael Cohen accused of lying over phone call at Trump hush-money trial Cohen is at the center of the criminal case as the man who set up the deal to pay Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair she had with Trump. Trump then allegedly repaid him that sum, plus some extra money, once he was in the White House. Trump allegedly knowingly marked these payments as legal expenses as a way to cover up the paper trail, leading to the actual criminal charges he faces: 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. What Cohen said Cohen testified earlier this week that Trump had directly instructed him to pay Daniels to buy her silence, and that Trump signed off on a scheme to repay Cohen while concealing the reason for the payments. Cohen said that when Danielss attorney approached him in early October 2016 about a deal to keep Daniels quiet, Trump told him to just take care of it. He said he and Trump dragged their feet on paying Daniels because they hoped to get past election day, when her story wouldnt be as damaging to Trump. When Daniels threatened to go public if she didnt get paid, Cohen finally paid her himself. When asked if he would have done so without getting a sign-off from Trump, Cohen responded: No, because everything required Mr Trumps sign-off, and on top of that, I wanted the money back. Cohen also testified that a senior Trump Organization official arranged a plan to get him that money back plus a bonus and that Trump himself approved the plan in a meeting at his Trump Tower office, and later checked in with Cohen about the plot during a February meeting at the White House. In 2018, after the Daniels story came out and the FBI raided Cohens home, Cohen testified that Trump told him to stay tough and tried to keep him in the fold. Crucially, Cohen said that Trump was worried about the Daniels story getting out because of the impact it could have on his 2016 campaign, not about how his wife Melania would react. Thats important, because in order to charge Trump with felonies instead of misdemeanors, prosecutors have to prove they were done so to further another crime in this case, New York state election law. He wasnt thinking about Melania, Cohen said. It was all about the campaign. Trumps lawyers hit back Trumps team sought to paint Cohen as a serial liar out to get his former boss. They played Cohen clip after clip of him talking about how he wanted Trump to go to prison. Perhaps their strongest moment came when Trumps attorney Todd Blanche pressed Cohen on his earlier testimony that he talked to Trump on a late October 2016 call he placed to Trumps bodyguard, Keith Schiller. Cohen had said he had called Schiller, who put Cohen on the phone with Trump to discuss the Stormy Daniels matter. But Blanche showed text messages in which Cohen complained to Schiller about a 14-year-old who had been prank-calling him. Cohen admitted he had talked to Schiller about those calls in the 96-second phone call, but insisted he also talked to Trump about Daniels, leading Blanche, in a heated exchange, to call him a liar. Blanche also forced Cohen to admit he had committed perjury on multiple previous occasions, and not just to protect Trump. Cohen admitted that he lied to a federal judge about accepting responsibility in a 2018 plea deal in order to keep his wife out of legal jeopardy. The reason you lied to a federal judge was because stakes affected you personally? Blanche asked. Yes, Cohen responded. Support for Trump coalesces in courtroom as case moves to decision As the trial draws near its finale, Republicans have rallied around Trump. Multiple lawmakers including Mike Johnson, the House speaker, flocked to the Manhattan courthouse to show their support this week. Other attendees included vice-presidential prospects including JD Vance, Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. Cohen will return to the stand on Monday, as Trumps attorneys finish their cross-examination and prosecutors get a chance to ask some follow-ups. Trumps team has still not said whether Trump himself will testify. Judge Juan Merchan told both sides to be prepared to deliver their closing arguments as soon as Tuesday. Once those are wrapped, all thats left is for the jury to deliberate and render their decision. A full acquittal seems less than likely, but Trump needs just one juror to decide theres not enough evidence of his guilt to produce a hung jury that would result in a mistrial. The jury could also further complicate things by deciding Trump is guilty on some but not all counts, or that hes guilty of falsifying business records but that they should only be misdemeanors because prosecutors failed to prove this was in furtherance of another crime. Even if the jury convicts Trump, its not clear what his punishment will be. He could theoretically face jail time each charge carries a maximum of a four-year sentence but thats not all that common for non-violent low-level felonies. While Trump faces charges in three other criminal cases, this might be the only one to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, because of a series of judicial delays, many created by Trumps teams delay tactics, that have slowed his two criminal election interference cases as well as his criminal case for mishandling classified documents. Polls show that Trumps trial has so far not had a significant impact on his chances at the White House: Trump currently leads Biden by a single percentage point in FiveThirtyEights national polling average, a number thats unchanged from when the trial began a month ago. But theres been a slight uptick in the number of Americans who think he committed a crime. A Yahoo News/YouGov poll released on Tuesday found that 52% of Americans now believe that Trump falsif[ied] business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star up slightly from 48% who said so a month ago, when the trial was just beginning. Multiple polls have found a small but significant number of Trump voters who say they might reconsider their support if he is found guilty of a felony. The big question is: will those voters shift as a result of this trials verdict? The Baird Center on May 14, 2024. On Saturday, the center held its grand opening to the general public for the first time. The Baird Center's fancy $456 million renovation and expansion was shown off to an impressed public on Saturday. An ample crowd milled about the center as it was open to the public for the first time since its renovations completed in late March. From a sprawling fourth-floor, 30,000-square-foot ballroom to a new outdoors area for viewing the skyline, called the Baird Sky View Terrace, the facility is poised for a summer filled with events, none bigger than the Republican National Convention in mid-July. "Today's a great day. It is momentous in that all the work that we've done for the past four years to open up this project, it's the first time the general public is coming in," said Marty Brooks, president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Center District, the public agency that operates the convention center at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave. The renovation adds on a 112,000-square-feet exhibition space, bringing total convention space to 300,000 square feet. In all, the Baird now totals 1.3 million square feet, according to a fact sheet. Beyond the new space, there's now additional meetings rooms, increased parking, and added inclusive features like all-gender restrooms and nursing mother's rooms. The expansion comes on the precipice of an important summer for the city's image, as the Republican National Convention runs July 15-18, and the center will play host to national and international news outlets. The center will also be the host of "hospitality functions" during the convention, Brooks previously told the Journal Sentinel. On Saturday, he touted the center's expansion and renovation as a key part of its ability to host the RNC and other events. "It's allowing us by doubling our footprint and basically doubling all of the things we had beforehand," Brooks said. "It'll give a much greater economic impact to Milwaukee." The renovations also offer a big perk for the convention's offerings. Now it can host two different events simultaneously, like this upcoming week when several events will occur concurrently. Some who went to the Baird Center's grand opening on May 18 said they came to look at the artwork on display. At the event, members of the public milled through the various floors. Many stopped to take photos of the various works of art on display or took the climb to the top floor to see the views from the new terrace. Some who went to the opening said they believed it would be a boon for the city. Others like Carla Isabell and her daughter Cimone Isabell said they came to check out the art. Carla said they came away impressed. "It's beautiful," she said. One attendee, Jacquie Lynne, said she came to see the art and architecture and see "why" the renovation was desired. "They talked about it so much," she said. "I wondered 'why?' ... now I understand." In the past, Lynne said she had friends and family leave the city due to a perception that Milwaukee lacked what other cities offer. After seeing the improved Baird, she thought that was no longer true. "We might be ahead of some cities," she said. The Baird's renovation began roughly in 2019. That's when the Wisconsin Legislature voted to say they had a "moral obligation" to back up project bonds. In late Oct. 2021, the construction groundbreaking took place and the work was considered "substantially completed" on March 29. A Baird Center fact sheet detailed some of the work done it took to complete the renovation, including 2,359 workers on-site and 1.4 million hours of work done. Kyle Smith and Erin Hutchins, who live in downtown Milwaukee, said they went to the grand opening to see "what it was all about" after reading about it in local media. They favorably compared it to the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. "It's impressive," Hutchins said. "We're not used to seeing this in Milwaukee." The new 30,000 square foot Baird Ballroom, part of the Baird Center $456 million expansion project, on Tuesday February 13, 2024 at in Milwaukee, Wis. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Baird Center opens $456 million renovation, expansion to the public As millions of migratory birds travel northward to their ancestral breeding grounds this spring, volunteers with the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis are hitting the streets of downtown Minneapolis, looking for victims of window strikes. Their objective: to determine whether a 2016 city ordinance requiring new skyways to have bird-safe glass is working as intended. Jeannine Thiele, vice president and chair of Audubon's conservation committee, has started each morning of May searching for dead and injured birds. She checks around the two skyways at Minneapolis College on the edge of the Loring Park neighborhood one of them old, one new. So far this spring, Audubon volunteers have found more dead birds at the school than around any other location all around the older skyway, which was built before the bird-safe-glass rules took effect. Thiele said she suspects the reason for the many deaths is the highly reflective windows, coupled with a decorative glass panel that juts out over the leafy Loring Greenway, confuses birds into thinking they're aiming for the bushy vegetation nearby instead of an unrelenting barrier. "That part that hangs off like that, if you were trying to design something to kill birds, that's what you would do, just suspend that piece of glass out in midair," Thiele said. "Not only do they not see the reflection, but they just see through the glass. We can see the frame and the smudge marks, but a bird isn't able to analyze those cues." Thiele keeps a stack of Chinese food takeout boxes in her tote bag to collect dead birds. On Tuesday morning, she scooped up two white-throated sparrows and two Tennessee warblers near the college's older skyway. During peak migration traffic last week, nearly 40 million birds were in flight across Minnesota, according to the BirdCast migration tracker. A new study in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology suggests that annual bird deaths from window strikes could be at minimum 1.3 billion in the United States. The dead birds that Aubudon volunteers salvage are taken to the Bell Museum in St. Paul, where they can be used for educational and research purposes. They can be archived as skeletons or stuffed skins, with their tissues screened for contaminants so scientists can predict new animal diseases as well as the next pandemic in humans, said Sushma Reddy, the Bell's Breckenridge Chair of Ornithology. The few injured birds head to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville. Tami Vogel, the center's executive director, said 72% of birds that appear to survive the initial collision eventually die because of severe fractures especially involving joints, which can't be repaired and brain damage that destroys a bird's sense of balance. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center documents every bird-glass collision victim that passes through its doors. Records show a concussed-looking yellow warbler treated there flew more than 2,800 miles before hitting a window. A crippled Swainson's thrush made it nearly 5,000 miles. "They've flown through all sorts of natural and manmade obstacles and other cities to get this far in their migration only to hit a window," Vogel said. "And it can be so easily avoided. I think that's the frustrating thing." The center recommends a range of products that homes and businesses can use to bird-proof windows. But the simplest, most inexpensive solution is to use decals that reflect UV light, which is invisible to the human eye but can be seen by birds. Promising findings Audubon's initial data suggests that the 2016 Minneapolis ordinance is working. Volunteers haven't yet found any dead birds beneath the skyways built since then. But they'll keep looking through the spring migration and resume monitoring the fall migration, when birds will move southward with the chicks they raise this year. Volunteer monitor Roseanne Meier said that as sad as it has been to collect bird strike data as a bird lover, the project has been an opportunity for her to contribute to science by observing birds closer than she could ever get to a live animal. "We know that there are places where they are hitting consistently," Meier said. "Skyways just seem to be like a very specific place where we could make such a big difference. We can do something to that skyway that's proven to be effective, and we can save all those birds' lives just in that one place. "And that's what I hope for us in the future, that when we have identified a problem, we do something about it." Minneapolis College spokeswoman Kathy Rumpza said the school has been talking with community members about bird safety measures on campus. Now under construction, its newest skyway will incorporate a bird-safe glass made by Viracon. "We are considering options related to other glass facades, including adding branding or other elements that could improve bird safety," Rumpza said. Readers interested in volunteering as citizen scientists for this and future monitoring projects can contact admin@audubonminneapolis.org. Childrens Defense Fund program director Graciela Camarena assists Lucia Salazar with filling out Medicaid and SNAP application forms for her family in Pharr, Texas, in November 2023. States with the largest drops in Medicaid coverage since its unwinding also have large rural populations. (Michael Gonzalez/The Associated Press) Rural children and families are having to skip vital health treatments and even ending up in the emergency room, while already struggling rural clinics are losing more patients, as states cull their Medicaid rolls. The process began in April 2023, when pandemic-era rules that prohibited kicking people off Medicaid coverage expired and states again began checking whether families met income restrictions. Nationally, nearly 70% of people who lost coverage did so for procedural reasons such as incomplete paperwork. States with the largest drops in coverage also have large rural populations. The loss of coverage compounds struggles disproportionately experienced by rural children and families, experts say, including clinician shortages, long drives to care and poorer health outcomes. Eight states Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Utah had fewer children enrolled at the end of last year than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent analysis by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Medicaid is even more of a lifeline for rural communities than it is for urban ones, said Joan Alker, the centers executive director. There are quite a number of states with large rural populations where things are not going well so thats very problematic. A year into the process, frequently referred to as Medicaid unwinding, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, Texas and Idaho have seen the largest plunges in rates of children losing coverage, with an average of 25% fewer children enrolled in those states since April 2023. In rural areas, which on average have higher rates of poverty, children are less likely than their urban counterparts to have had a medical checkup or dentist visit in the past year, the center reported. These families are already so much living on the edge, and its hard for them. Dr. Noreen Womack, Idaho pediatrician In Idaho, where 35 of 44 counties are considered rural, a lot of this is attributed to the state rushing through the process to conduct [income eligibility] redeterminations in six months, said Hillarie Hagen, health policy associate at Idaho Voices for Children, a group that advocates on policies affecting children. The rush and arbitrary deadline resulted in an alarming number of children losing coverage. Hagen added that the change is putting families in a very difficult position of having to choose to delay care or risk significant financial burden on their family. Rural Idaho counties tend to be poorer than urban counties, and Hispanic and Native American state residents are more likely than white residents to be living in poverty. Dr. Noreen Womack, a pediatrician at a mobile clinic for kids in Boise and nearby rural communities in Idaho, run by St. Lukes Childrens Hospital, said not a week goes by that she doesnt see a patient who has lost Medicaid coverage and who is sometimes unaware theyre now uninsured. When kids parents tell her they have Medicaid, she said, shes learned to ask, Are you sure? She said she regularly sees children and teens who are no longer covered and who stopped taking critical treatments, such as antidepressants and ADHD medications, harming their well-being and school performance. Womack recalls one 7-year-old boy who was no longer enrolled in Medicaid and whose family couldnt afford his ADHD medication. He was on the verge of being expelled from school. He looked at Womack, scared and dispirited. Im having trouble staying on task again, and theyre going to kick me out, she recalled him saying. Its so sad, because hes only 7, she said. These families are already so much living on the edge, and its hard for them. Other young patients who have gone undiagnosed for asthma have ended up in the ER, she said. One of the things were trying to do is decrease the amount of unnecessary emergency department visits. As in many states, patient navigators have been key to helping families work through the complex process of renewing Medicaid if they qualify, Womack said. Idahos Department of Health and Welfare acknowledged the rapid pace of its redetermination process, but expects the number of enrollees to return to normal. Idaho was one of the very first states in the nation to start and finish unwinding activities while many other states are still in the process of completing all initial renewals, spokesperson AJ McWhorter wrote in an email to Stateline. He added that the agency early on identified and prioritized individuals who were likely no longer eligible for Medicaid. As other states continue to complete their unwinding activities, we expect these numbers to begin to normalize. Utah has seen the nations highest overall disenrollment rate at 56%, followed by Idaho and Montana at 55%, and Oklahoma, South Dakota and Georgia, which have each seen coverage loss rates of 50% or higher. Utahs state Medicaid office asserts that because states are at different stages in unwinding, disenrollment rates between states cant be compared apples to apples. The states unemployment and poverty rates are lower than the national average, which means Utahns have fewer uninsured people and fewer Medicaid enrollees to begin with, said Kevin Burt, who oversees Utahs Medicaid eligibility determinations at the state Department of Workforce Services. Having just finished unwinding, I dont think the data is quite settled, Burt added. Jennifer Strohecker, Utahs Medicaid director, said her office has been working with hospitals, clinics and nonprofits to help with redeterminations. It is our objective that if a person is eligible for Medicaid, we want them to have that coverage, she said, adding that the state aimed to make sure the health centers had the right resources and tools to meet the needs of the patient as they saw them, and help them with some of the [eligibility] questions. Families of color Across small towns and rural areas nationwide, Medicaid covers 47% of children and 18% of adults, compared with about 40% of children and 15% of adults in urban counties, the Georgetown center found in an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Medicaid data. Compared with urban residents, those in rural areas are more likely to have poorer overall health. Many states with the highest rates of Medicaid disenrollments also have large American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Federal tribal affairs and Medicaid officials say the program plays a critical role in filling gaps in funding for tribal health care. Chickasaw Nation member Dr. Jesicah Gilmore, a family medicine doctor and chief medical officer of the Indian Health Care Resource Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said the loss of Medicaid coverage has left many of her patients unable to obtain or pay for specialist care, such as cardiology or nephrology. While the center is in the city, its also a pillar for rural Native patients, who drive hours to the clinic for primary care and referrals. Part of what were seeing is that then theyre having difficulty accessing referral services or some of the specialty tests, she said. Its provided quite a strain on our system. Many lost coverage because they no longer qualified or because they didnt finish paperwork, leaving them to pay out of pocket or forgo care if they cant, she said. We have staff members here who specifically help patients with paperwork and can help navigate some of the online systems many of our patients dont necessarily have continuous access to the internet, she said. It does get worse when patients are uninsured, because they have no other recourse for care, other than going to the ER. She remembers one patient recently who lost Medicaid coverage two days before an orthopedic appointment for extreme knee pain. Gilmore estimates it could be another three months before her patient can get a knee replacement approved by a specialist and for the clinic to help her find and apply for another payor, such as the tribe, and up to six months until the actual surgery. It was affecting her ability to continue working, walking, standing, she said. Whos going to pay for this appointment? This patient has been waiting to get this, hopeful. Now, shes kind of in a holding pattern. Loss of revenue for rural clinics, hospitals Gilmore worries the longer-term fallout for her clinic will be a hit to revenue due to caring for uninsured rural patients. The clinic was planning to expand services but might not be able to, she said. That concern is echoed in other rural health care settings. Straddling the Utah-Arizona border is the Creek Valley Health Clinic, serving a rural area that the Utah Department of Health says is one of the most underserved regions in the state. The area lacked a primary care clinic for over a decade, and many patients would drive an hour or more to the nearest hospital before the clinic opened in 2019. We inherited such a sick patient population with really high rates of chronic disease and unhealthy habits, said Hunter Adams, the clinics co-founder and CEO. Adams said the clinic had helped lower ER visits for primary care. Since the clinic opened, Adams said, the patient base has seen improved rates of depression screening, diabetes control and childhood obesity. But since the unwinding, the clinic saw an 8% drop in Medicaid patients. That, along with changes to pharmacy contract programs and expiring COVID-19 assistance grants, has put the nascent clinic in a bind, Adams said. Its kind of a three-legged impact to our budget, he said. Were in this kind of hard space where were not big enough to really contract and negotiate payment change, but were also big enough that we feel these budgetary changes with the Medicaid unwinding. Alan Pruhs, executive director of the Association for Utah Community Health, which represents health centers across the state, estimated that those clinics have seen on average a 12% to 15% reduction in the Medicaid patient population, with some clinics losing up to 20% of Medicaid patients. Fiscal fragility just was ratcheted up a few more notches, because were now losing more revenue, Pruhs said. Hes hearing from clinics that serve particularly vulnerable clients, such as opioid patients, dropping out of rehabilitation programs because of losing Medicaid. Pruhs said an increase in uninsured patients can further add financial pressure on already strapped rural community health clinics. From a health center perspective, your uninsured patient now comes in and its actually costing you money its not generating revenue. 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 Missed care, fewer patients: Rural families and clinics feel Medicaid cuts appeared first on Utah News Dispatch. Children's Defense Fund program director Graciela Camarena assists Lucia Salazar with filling out Medicaid and SNAP application forms for her family in Pharr, Texas Children's Defense Fund program director Graciela Camarena assists Lucia Salazar with filling out Medicaid and SNAP application forms for her family in Pharr, Texas, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. As the state reviews Texans' eligibility, some 1 million people have already lost Medicaid and organizations like the one Graciela works for assist people in applying again. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez) Rural children and families are having to skip vital health treatments and even ending up in the emergency room, while already struggling rural clinics are losing more patients, as states cull their Medicaid rolls. The process began in April 2023, when pandemic-era rules that prohibited kicking people off Medicaid coverage expired and states again began checking whether families met income restrictions. Nationally, nearly 70% of people who lost coverage did so for procedural reasons such as incomplete paperwork. States with the largest drops in coverage also have large rural populations. The loss of coverage compounds struggles disproportionately experienced by rural children and families, experts say, including clinician shortages, long drives to care and poorer health outcomes. Eight states Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Utah had fewer children enrolled at the end of last year than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent analysis by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Medicaid is even more of a lifeline for rural communities than it is for urban ones, said Joan Alker, the centers executive director. There are quite a number of states with large rural populations where things are not going well so thats very problematic. A year into the process, frequently referred to as Medicaid unwinding, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, Texas and Idaho have seen the largest plunges in rates of children losing coverage, with an average of 25% fewer children enrolled in those states since April 2023. In rural areas, which on average have higher rates of poverty, children are less likely than their urban counterparts to have had a medical checkup or dentist visit in the past year, the center reported. These families are already so much living on the edge, and its hard for them. Dr. Noreen Womack, Idaho pediatrician In Idaho, where 35 of 44 counties are considered rural, a lot of this is attributed to the state rushing through the process to conduct [income eligibility] redeterminations in six months, said Hillarie Hagen, health policy associate at Idaho Voices for Children, a group that advocates on policies affecting children. The rush and arbitrary deadline resulted in an alarming number of children losing coverage. Hagen added that the change is putting families in a very difficult position of having to choose to delay care or risk significant financial burden on their family. Rural Idaho counties tend to be poorer than urban counties, and Hispanic and Native American state residents are more likely than white residents to be living in poverty. Dr. Noreen Womack, a pediatrician at a mobile clinic for kids in Boise and nearby rural communities in Idaho, run by St. Lukes Childrens Hospital, said not a week goes by that she doesnt see a patient who has lost Medicaid coverage and who is sometimes unaware theyre now uninsured. When kids parents tell her they have Medicaid, she said, shes learned to ask, Are you sure? She said she regularly sees children and teens who are no longer covered and who stopped taking critical treatments, such as antidepressants and ADHD medications, harming their well-being and school performance. Womack recalls one 7-year-old boy who was no longer enrolled in Medicaid and whose family couldnt afford his ADHD medication. He was on the verge of being expelled from school. He looked at Womack, scared and dispirited. Im having trouble staying on task again, and theyre going to kick me out, she recalled him saying. Its so sad, because hes only 7, she said. These families are already so much living on the edge, and its hard for them. Other young patients who have gone undiagnosed for asthma have ended up in the ER, she said. One of the things were trying to do is decrease the amount of unnecessary emergency department visits. As in many states, patient navigators have been key to helping families work through the complex process of renewing Medicaid if they qualify, Womack said. Idahos Department of Health and Welfare acknowledged the rapid pace of its redetermination process, but expects the number of enrollees to return to normal. Idaho was one of the very first states in the nation to start and finish unwinding activities while many other states are still in the process of completing all initial renewals, spokesperson AJ McWhorter wrote in an email to Stateline. He added that the agency early on identified and prioritized individuals who were likely no longer eligible for Medicaid. As other states continue to complete their unwinding activities, we expect these numbers to begin to normalize. Utah has seen the nations highest overall disenrollment rate at 56%, followed by Idaho and Montana at 55%, and Oklahoma, South Dakota and Georgia, which have each seen coverage loss rates of 50% or higher. Utahs state Medicaid office asserts that because states are at different stages in unwinding, disenrollment rates between states cant be compared apples to apples. The states unemployment and poverty rates are lower than the national average, which means Utahns have fewer uninsured people and fewer Medicaid enrollees to begin with, said Kevin Burt, who oversees Utahs Medicaid eligibility determinations at the state Department of Workforce Services. Having just finished unwinding, I dont think the data is quite settled, Burt added. Jennifer Strohecker, Utahs Medicaid director, said her office has been working with hospitals, clinics and nonprofits to help with redeterminations. It is our objective that if a person is eligible for Medicaid, we want them to have that coverage, she said, adding that the state aimed to make sure the health centers had the right resources and tools to meet the needs of the patient as they saw them, and help them with some of the [eligibility] questions. Families of color Across small towns and rural areas nationwide, Medicaid covers 47% of children and 18% of adults, compared with about 40% of children and 15% of adults in urban counties, the Georgetown center found in an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Medicaid data. Compared with urban residents, those in rural areas are more likely to have poorer overall health. Many states with the highest rates of Medicaid disenrollments also have large American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Federal tribal affairs and Medicaid officials say the program plays a critical role in filling gaps in funding for tribal health care. Chickasaw Nation member Dr. Jesicah Gilmore, a family medicine doctor and chief medical officer of the Indian Health Care Resource Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said the loss of Medicaid coverage has left many of her patients unable to obtain or pay for specialist care, such as cardiology or nephrology. While the center is in the city, its also a pillar for rural Native patients, who drive hours to the clinic for primary care and referrals. Part of what were seeing is that then theyre having difficulty accessing referral services or some of the specialty tests, she said. Its provided quite a strain on our system. Many lost coverage because they no longer qualified or because they didnt finish paperwork, leaving them to pay out of pocket or forgo care if they cant, she said. We have staff members here who specifically help patients with paperwork and can help navigate some of the online systems many of our patients dont necessarily have continuous access to the internet, she said. It does get worse when patients are uninsured, because they have no other recourse for care, other than going to the ER. She remembers one patient recently who lost Medicaid coverage two days before an orthopedic appointment for extreme knee pain. Gilmore estimates it could be another three months before her patient can get a knee replacement approved by a specialist and for the clinic to help her find and apply for another payor, such as the tribe, and up to six months until the actual surgery. It was affecting her ability to continue working, walking, standing, she said. Whos going to pay for this appointment? This patient has been waiting to get this, hopeful. Now, shes kind of in a holding pattern. Loss of revenue for rural clinics, hospitals Gilmore worries the longer-term fallout for her clinic will be a hit to revenue due to caring for uninsured rural patients. The clinic was planning to expand services but might not be able to, she said. That concern is echoed in other rural health care settings. Straddling the Utah-Arizona border is the Creek Valley Health Clinic, serving a rural area that the Utah Department of Health says is one of the most underserved regions in the state. The area lacked a primary care clinic for over a decade, and many patients would drive an hour or more to the nearest hospital before the clinic opened in 2019. We inherited such a sick patient population with really high rates of chronic disease and unhealthy habits, said Hunter Adams, the clinics co-founder and CEO. Adams said the clinic had helped lower ER visits for primary care. Since the clinic opened, Adams said, the patient base has seen improved rates of depression screening, diabetes control and childhood obesity. But since the unwinding, the clinic saw an 8% drop in Medicaid patients. That, along with changes to pharmacy contract programs and expiring COVID-19 assistance grants, has put the nascent clinic in a bind, Adams said. Its kind of a three-legged impact to our budget, he said. Were in this kind of hard space where were not big enough to really contract and negotiate payment change, but were also big enough that we feel these budgetary changes with the Medicaid unwinding. Alan Pruhs, executive director of the Association for Utah Community Health, which represents health centers across the state, estimated that those clinics have seen on average a 12% to 15% reduction in the Medicaid patient population, with some clinics losing up to 20% of Medicaid patients. Fiscal fragility just was ratcheted up a few more notches, because were now losing more revenue, Pruhs said. Hes hearing from clinics that serve particularly vulnerable clients, such as opioid patients, dropping out of rehabilitation programs because of losing Medicaid. Pruhs said an increase in uninsured patients can further add financial pressure on already strapped rural community health clinics. From a health center perspective, your uninsured patient now comes in and its actually costing you money its not generating revenue. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE 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 X. The post Missed care, fewer patients: Rural families and clinics feel Medicaid cuts appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. A judge ruled Friday that a gubernatorial candidate in Missouri with alleged ties to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) can stay on the Republican ticket. The Missouri GOP attempted to kick Darrell McClanahan out from participating in the August Republican primary, but Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker denied the request, The Associated Press reported. The current governor, Mike Parson (R), cant seek reelection due to term limits. McClanahan joined a list of candidates vying for the seat, including Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, state Sen. Bill Eigel, among others. McClanahan has described himself as pro-white and denies being racist or antisemitic. The Missouri GOP accepted his party dues but denounced him after it was exposed that he made the Nazi salute in photos. The candidate had a lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League, where he said he was not part of the KKK. Records, however, she that he had received a one-year honorary membership, per the AP. His lawyer said the ruling ensured that party leaders do not have unlimited discretion to choose who is allowed on the ballot. The Missouri GOP said it was not aware of McClanahans beliefs, but the candidate says thats not true, since he ran as a Republican for a Senate seat in 2022. The judge said the Republican Party can continue to publicly disavow McClanahan but denied the request to remove him from the ballot. The Associated Press contributed reporting. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Novembers presidential election looms over the appropriations process for 2025, as members of Congress will want to wait to see who wins the White House and which party can exert leverage over spending plans. But after a prolonged and painful process this past year, there are already signs that funding the federal government for 2025 will once again involve significant tension as Republicans and Democrats clash over non-defense spending levels in particular. Its going to be a big fight, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said, according to The Hill. The Fiscal Responsibility Act that codified a bipartisan budget deal last year calls for both defense and non-defense to rise by 1% for fiscal year 2025. Republicans and defense hawks say that doesnt make sense given the global threats the country faces. Democrats insist that spending on healthcare, infrastructure and other programs is essential and that parity has been the key to getting appropriations done in recent years. House Republicans outline spending plans: House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole on Thursday announced GOP spending allocations for 2025, including a topline just over $1.6 trillion, or $895 billion for defense and about $711 billion for non-defense spending. The defense figure represents an increase of nearly $9 billion, or just over 1%, and Cole proposes to fund Homeland Security above the presidents request. Non-defense programs, meanwhile, will be cut effectively by 6%, and those cuts are not evenly distributed, according to a release from the committee. Some subcommittees, including Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, would be in line for cuts of 10% or 11%. In the face of an aggressive schedule and fiscal constraints, we will demonstrate responsible governance and safeguard hard-earned tax dollars, Cole said in a statement. The bills written by this Committee will adhere to law set by the Fiscal Responsibility Actwith no side dealsand focus resources where they are needed most. Cole also released a markup schedule that would have the committee complete work on all 12 annual appropriations bills by July 10. This is a very ambitious schedule, writes John Bresnahan at Punchbowl News. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has told us that he wants to pass all 12 bills on the floor before the August break. Theres almost zero chance it actually happens, yet this is House Republicans starting position. Democrats demand parity: Democrats say that the GOPs starting position violates the funding deal the parties reached last year and sets the stage for a repeat of the troubled 2024 process. They insist that non-defense spending should be treated the same as defense programs. Story continues This is the exact same process we saw play out last year, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. A process where House Republicans, held hostage by their most extreme members, led us from one shutdown threat to another. It was messy, chaotic, harmful, and embarrassing for House Republicans who could not pass their own funding bills. It ended with the majority realizing they could not pass bills without House Democrats. The only difference between last year and this year is that their majority is even smaller. I call on Republicans to rethink the funding levels they released. Increase nondefense and defense funding levels by at least one percent as agreed to almost a year ago today. DeLauro and Democrats say that non-defense spending should be at least $786 billion, or $75 billion above the Republican proposal. Battles brewing in the Senate, too: The disagreements are also playing out on the Senate side, where appropriators were able to work in a more bipartisan fashion for 2024. Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Senate Appropriations panel, is seeking equal increases for defense and non-defense. For me the word of the day, today and every day until we pass our funding bills, is going to be parity, Murray reportedly said earlier this month. But Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has already said he wont agree to dollar-for-dollar parity. I cant accept that at all, McConnell said last week, as The Hills Alexander Bolton reports. McConnell argues that the threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and terrorist groups make this the most dangerous time since the fall of the Soviet Union and demand significant military spending increases that dont need to be matched on the non-defense side. We cant let partisan spending priorities hold the common defense hostage, McConnell said earlier this month. Its time to acknowledge that the growing threats to our peace and prosperity deserve our utmost attention. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, agrees with McConnell. Given how underfunded defense is and the global threats we face, I dont think parity can be achieved, she said, according to The Hill. Democrats reportedly counter by pointing out that the $95 billion supplemental package Congress just approved for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific included billions more in defense spending. Whats next: Appropriators have reportedly discussed a spending patch that would extend current federal funding into February, allowing lawmakers to focus on the final weeks of the election campaign and, from the perspective of some Republicans, allowing Donald Trump to have a say in the process if hes elected. The bottom line: Fiscal fights may take a backseat to campaign clashes from now until November, but theyre already starting and theyre going to be major. And the spending battle may just be a preview of an even bigger one over expiring tax provisions. Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter. Missouri man facing execution in June hospitalized. Advocates say hes in heart failure A Missouri man facing execution next month has been hospitalized, advocates said Friday. David Hosier is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 11. Rev. Jeff Hood, his spiritual advisor, sister Barbara Merrill and leaders with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, said the 69 year old was hospitalized this week with heart failure. Hood said he spoke with Hosier on Wednesday and he sounded just horrible, very labored. Hes dying, Hood said, adding that the question now was how quickly. Hosier is incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center, about 70 miles south of St. Louis. Days before an execution, prisoners are transferred to the nearby Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, which houses the states execution chamber. Its unclear if any litigation regarding Hosiers upcoming execution will be filed in the wake of his health condition. Attorney Jeremy Weis said they are waiting on additional information. We are continuing to gather records and once we have a handle on his diagnosis and treatment plan then we will make litigation decisions, Weis said. Hosier was convicted of first-degree murder in the September 2009 shooting of Angela Gilpin, 45, in Jefferson City. She was found alongside her husband Rodney Gilpin, 61, who was also slain. Angela Gilpin had been in a romantic relationship with Hosier while she was separated from her husband, but they were reconciling, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported at the time. Missouri has ramped up its use of capital punishment, executing four people last year. Brian Dorsey, 52, was executed in April. The model for NATO defending Ukrainian airspace from Russian attacks already exists, says German politician The model for NATO defending Ukrainian airspace from Russian attacks already exists, says German politician Germany is showing cross-party support for defending Ukraine's border regions from NATO territories. NATO is currently focused on providing additional defense aid to Kyiv. A German politician said the Western defense of Israel from Iran is a blueprint for protecting Ukraine. The Western response to Iran's barrage of attacks against Israel represents a potential model for defending Ukraine's border regions from NATO territories, a German politician has said. Calls have been growing for NATO countries to use air defenses based in eastern Europe to take down Russian missiles and drones targeting Ukraine. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's Secretary-General between 2009 and 2014, told the UK's i Paper that interceptor missiles from neighboring NATO countries like Poland and Romania could shoot down Russian airstrikes aimed at Ukraine. Voices within both ruling and opposition parties in Germany have expressed support for defending Ukraine's border regions from NATO territories such as Poland and Romania, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported. Roderich Kiesewetter, a Christian Democratic Union politician and former Bundeswehr general staff officer, compared defending Ukraine to Western efforts to prevent Israel from being hit by 300 missiles and drones fired at Israel in April. Nearly all the munitions were intercepted by Israeli and partner forces in the region, including the US military. Kiesewetter told Business Insider in a statement: "Western countries could protect part of Ukraine's airspace from NATO territory and shoot down Russian unmanned missiles. This would relieve the burden on Ukrainian air defenses and allow them to protect the front. As in the case of Israel, where France, the UK, and others helped, which meant they did not become a warring party." Echoing Kiesewetter, Rasmussen told the i Paper said NATO could do "exactly the same" and help Ukraine shoot down incoming Russian drones and missiles. Ukraine believes US-made Patriot missiles are key Members of the German Bundeswehr prepare a Patriot missile launching system in December 2012. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Germany has emerged as a key player in the debate over NATO defending Ukraine's airspace. In April, it bolstered Ukraine's air defense capabilities and agreed to equip it with a Patriot air defense system. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Germany has sent Patriot systems with missiles, 2 SKYNEX systems with ammunition, IRIS-T SLM missiles, and Stingers. Germany's multipartisan calls for defending Ukraine's airspace point to a future of collaborative air defense. Marcus Faber of the the Free Democratic Party says that after the end of the war, an "international protection force" could be organized by the EU or NATO, per FAZ. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for more Patriots to defend Ukraine's airspace. More than 100 Patriot air-defense systems could be spared by Ukraine's allies, Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, told The Washington Post in April. Read the original article on Business Insider More than 250 passengers taken ill after suspected 'vomiting bug' outbreak aboard cruise ship, report says More than 250 passengers taken ill after suspected 'vomiting bug' outbreak aboard cruise ship, report says More than 250 passengers on a P&O cruise ship have fallen ill with suspected norovirus. A source said guests had been "throwing up in public spaces" around the ship. A P&O spokesperson said there had been numerous reports of guests with "gastrointestinal symptoms." Hundreds of holidaymakers on board a P&O cruise ship have been taken ill with suspected cases of norovirus. More than 150 guests are isolated on board P&O's MV Ventura ship, which left Southampton in the UK on May 11 for a 14-night cruise around the Canary Islands, a source told Metro.co.uk. The unnamed source said there had been 250 suspected cases in the last four days, adding that guests had been "throwing up in public spaces" around the vessel. "This is a serious outbreak. We don't know where it came from, it has been on board for a month maybe 5-6 weeks now and each cruise we think it has gone but more and more people get sick," another source told Metro. Business Insider was unable to independently verify these claims, but a P&O spokesperson told BI that there had been numerous reports of guests with "gastrointestinal symptoms" on board. The P&O spokesperson said, "upon embarkation, all guests were provided with an advisory notice with precautionary health measures for on board and on shore." The staff aboard Ventura had "implemented approved and enhanced sanitisation protocols" and "a further enhanced and extended sanitisation took place in Tenerife," on Friday. In the US, the risk of getting norovirus each year is about 1 in 15, while a passenger on a cruise ship has about a 1 in 5,500 chance of getting laboratory-confirmed norovirus during an outbreak on ship, Cruise Lines International Association says on its website. According to the P&O website, Ventura has capacity for 3,078 guests and 1,205 crew. Norovirus is one possible cause of the guests' symptoms. Also known as the "vomiting bug," norovirus is a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It can be spread via close contact with someone who has the bug, touching your mouth after touching contaminated surfaces or objects, or eating contaminated food, according to the UK's National Health Service. In confined areas such as a cruise ship, the virus can spread particularly quickly. The UK experienced a period of high norovirus activity in April. "Between weeks 14 to 17 of 2024, the total number of norovirus laboratory reports was 75% higher than the 5-season average for the same 4-week period," a UK government report said. In February, over 120 passengers on board Cunard's Queen Victoria ship reported having diarrhea and vomiting. It was later revealed that norovirus had caused the sickness. In January, the CDC reported an outbreak of norovirus on a Celebrity Cruises ship . The agency said 100 people, including passengers and crew, reported symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. The CDC had already logged a total of six outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases aboard cruise ships so far this year. Five of those were due to norovirus, while one was said to have been caused by E. Coli. Read the original article on Business Insider Georgias food stamps backlog still has thousands of applications and renewals overdue, but the state says its making progress to finish addressing the backlog. In the seven months since federal officials put Georgia on notice to address what they said were severe issues in the states management of nutrition assistance programs, progress is underway but thousands of applications are still waiting for review. According to the latest data from the Georgia Department of Human Services, more than 34,600 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applications are still waiting to be approved or rejected and more than 850 renewals are also waiting. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Federal officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture first ordered the Georgia DHS to address the backlog in November. As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, the application processing timeliness, or the rate of how quickly applications are reviewed, was below federal requirements. As state officials worked to address the program backlogs, the APT rate fell, dropping to 69.75 in December. The federal requirement for APT scores is 95, according to the Food and Nutrition Service, though they accept a 90 APT. RELATED STORIES: In February, state officials told Channel 2 Action News that they had a more than 43,000 case backlog for SNAP applications and renewals. Now, officials say there are still 34,653 applications that are overdue, with another 855 renewals overdue. In total, that means more than 35,500 cases are still waiting to be addressed. That said, DHS is still working to fix the problems and have been devoting more resources to handling the backlog of cases still happening. We have employed a number of techniques to prioritize this issue and support our workers in completing their work as efficiently as possible. We have taken advantage of overtime and stipends for our staff and implemented periodic reporting, among other things, a DHS spokeswoman told Channel 2 Action News in a statement. We have had a dedicated group of workers focused on the renewal backlog, and now that the renewal backlog has been mostly resolved, we are moving those workers back to focus on applications. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] RELATED NEWS: LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A motorcyclist is in critical condition after a crash involving a pickup truck, according to police. It happened on Friday shortly after 11 a.m. on North Jones Boulevard north of West Bromley Avenue. Evidence at the scene and witness statements indicated a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado Pickup Truck was traveling northbound on North Jones Boulevard in the right travel lane just north of West Bromley Avenue, according to Las Vegas Metro police. A 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650 also traveled northbound on North Jones Boulevard south of West Bromley Avenue in the right travel lane. The Kawasaki failed to use due care as the Chevrolet Silverado Pickup Truck slowed to turn right into a private drive, police said. A collision occurred when the Kawasaki rider attempted to slow down abruptly. While doing so, the Kawasaki overturned on its right side and slid into the passenger side of the Chevrolet Silverado Pickup Truck, according to police. Responding emergency medical personnel transported the Kawasaki rider by ground ambulance to the hospital with injuries determined to be life-threatening, police said. The pickup trucks driver remained at the collision scene and showed no signs of impairment. The collision remains under investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments Collision Investigation Section. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) Even people who live in Multnomah County might not have heard of the Tualatin Mountains, but the ridge that separates Portland from eastern Washington County is about to strike paydirt. The U.S. Forest Service has awarded $3.63 million to support the Tualatin Mountain Forest Project through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Legacy Program. PF&R: Person attempts selfie atop a powerline tower, gets electrocuted, falls 40 feet Oregons U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, released the news Wednesday, May 15. The Tualatin Mountains are informally known as Portlands West Hills. Its a ridge about 350 meters high 1,148 feet that separates the Tualatin Basin in Washington County from the Portland Basin, which includes Western Multnomah County and Clark County. The acquisition will establish a 3,111-acre working research forest owned by Oregon State University. See one of Oregons 7 wonders from the steepest gondola ride is North America We thank Sens. Merkley and Wyden for supporting Trust for Public Lands efforts to convert (an estimated) 3,100 acres of timberland into a climate-smart research forest, said Mitsu Iwasaki, associate vice president and northwest director at Trust for Public Land. Managed by OSU, the forest will serve as a hub for studying forestry practices and climate resilience. Additionally, it will feature 24 miles of publicly accessible hiking and biking trails near Forest Park, Portland, for everyone to enjoy. This project exemplifies how we can conserve our environment while enhancing outdoor access for all. Read more at PortlandTribune.com. The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. UPDATE: A man identified as John Doe was booked in the Shelby County Jail Friday. The story has been updated to reflect the new information. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Police said a man suspected of stealing packages from at least one downtown condo building was arrested Friday morning when officers found several of the stolen items inside his car. According to a police report, Thursday, a man driving a blue car was caught on camera entering an unlocked door of a residential building at 400 South Front Street and stealing up to 20 packages near some mailboxes. One victim said the thief took two pairs of shoes worth $200 and a health ring valued at around $300. Car taken at gunpoint from East Memphis restaurant Police were called back to the area around 10 a.m. Friday when a resident spotted the same blue car parked in front of their building. The resident also gave officers a surveillance picture of the suspect. Police said a man matching the description was detained after he was seen walking near South Front Street and Huling. Officers said they found several stolen packages in the backseat and trunk of the mans blue 2007 Toyota Camry. Homeowner captures video of thieves digging up Japanese Maple An iPad, a large griddle, a stand mixer, and a Ring camera were among the items removed from the car. Police said the suspect had a California license, but they could not verify his identity. Officers said they were able to positively identify him as the person in the video who entered the building on South Front and stole the packages. They said the suspect admitted he didnt live there and didnt have permission to enter. The suspect who booked under the name John Doe is charged with burglary and theft of $1,000 or less. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito doesnt deny there was an upside-down American flag flying outside his house days before Joe Biden was sworn in as president, an apparent distress signal that would seem to express sympathy with the plight of Donald Trump supporters who refused to believe their guy lost the 2020 election. But Alito did offer an excuse for the flag, which had become a symbol of the Stop the Steal movement before and after the election. I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag, Alito said in a written statement to The New York Times, which first reported the story. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. So the wife did it to get back at the neighbors. Her first name is Martha-Ann, by the way. A Supreme Court justice being unmasked as having a partisan tilt wouldnt be illegal just awkward and icky. Alito wont even have to recuse himself from any cases for possibly showing an electoral preference since theres no binding code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. He clarified on May 29 in a letter to lawmakers that he would not recuse himself from any cases as a result of the flag controversy. His wife, Alito said, is entitled to her First Amendment rights. My wife is fond of flying flags, Alito wrote. I am not. And the Alito flag incident is small time compared with the direct involvement of Justice Clarence Thomas wife Ginni in the Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021, and her active texting with officials in the White House about how to overturn election results something for which Thomas has not offered excuse, apology or recusal. But the Mrs. defense could be used in much more serious matters than flag flying. Menendez in the dark Take the prosecution of Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat on trial in New York for federal bribery charges. Menendezs trial is severed from one of his co-defendants, his wife, Nadine. Both Mr. and Mrs. Menendez deny wrongdoing, but at the outset of his trial this month, it seemed likely that one element of his defense could be to blame his wife. The senator was in the dark on money matters, his attorney told jurors. Most of the communication referenced in the indictment is between Nadine Menendez and the New Jersey businessmen who are alleged to have coughed up gold bars and envelopes of cash, along with much more, as they sought Sen. Menendezs help. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine, arrive for their arraignment on a new 18-count indictment that added obstruction charges to bribery and other corruption charges that the New Jersey Democrat already faced, at Manhattan federal court in New York City on March 11. - Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Couples behaving badly Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, pioneered the Mrs. defense when he and his wife were both accused of funneling campaign funds for private use. Hunters defense was that his wife, Margaret, handled the finances in their personal lives and for his campaign. Both Hunters ultimately pleaded guilty and were later pardoned by Trump. Will it ultimately be a similar story in the prosecution of Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, who has been charged in a bribery scheme along with his wife, Imelda? The Cuellars present a united front and deny all wrongdoing. Prosecutors allege payments to the couple were laundered through sham consulting contracts made to front companies owned by Mrs. Cuellar. Couples behaving badly is nothing new in US politics. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat, and his wife, Sandra, pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds to fuel a lavish lifestyle. Variations on the theme Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted of public corruption in 2014. Their strategy at trial was to portray the former Republican governor as being in the dark about his wifes activities. A unanimous US Supreme Court, including Alito, later vacated the governors conviction and narrowed the scope by which prosecutors can pursue bribery allegations. The Mrs. defense could conceivably be turned on its head and used by a powerful woman to blame her husband. Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, is under investigation for misusing funds to pay her husband for security services. Bush said in a statement that she retained her husbands security services because he has had extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate, according to CNNs report. Wives taking the blame, sometimes deservedly, is not a uniquely Washington problem. In April, an Iowa woman named Kim Taylor was sentenced to eight months in prison, according to local reports, for an unsuccessful ballot stuffing scheme to help her husband in a Republican congressional primary. The husband, Jeremy Taylor, was not charged and was later elected to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors. Alito has strong views about marriage Blaming his wife for flying an inappropriate flag is not the only reason Alito is connected to a wider discussion of the institution of marriage. He continues to complain about the Supreme Courts 2015 decision that granted the right of marriage to same-sex couples. He grouses that the courts blessing of same-sex unions means people who think marriage should be between a man and a woman can be labeled by the government as bigots. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The Multnomah County Health Department announced Friday that over 1,000 people may have had their private information accessed in a data breach. While the county assures Social Security and drivers license numbers of their Health Center clients were not breached, information on their Medicaid ID, medical record number, race, ethnicity, gender and date of birth were likely compromised. Multnomah County disregarded rules, avoided proper oversight of EMS: Audit In a statement, the county said the breach dates to early March when a Health Department employee failed to return their county-issued laptop after being dismissed. But it was not until April when an alert was raised about suspicious activity on the computer, leading to an investigation. The county added they also filed a report with Portland police after the dismissed employee ignored repeated demands to return the laptop. However, after finding out the computer was being accessed with the employees former login, the department sent a remote code to delete the files the next time it connected to the internet. At this time, the county says there is no evidence that clients information is being misused. Nonetheless, they are encouraging anyone who receives a letter notifying them of this breach to enroll in identity theft protection and/or sign up to receive free fraud alerts from three major credit bureaus. No other Multnomah County information systems were impacted. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. If you've been reading the news about Social Security recently, you've probably noticed that the headlines are pretty frightening. Specifically, you've likely heard that the most recent Trustees Report comes with a warning that the trust fund supporting the benefits program is slated to run short. If and when this happens, an automatic benefit cut is a very real possibility since Social Security isn't allowed to borrow and can only pay benefits out of revenue coming in. Now, all of this is true. The combined trust funds supporting the Social Security retirement and disability programs are expected to run out of money as soon as 2035. But, despite that fact, there's actually very little reason to panic about Social Security's future. Here are three reasons why that's the case. Image source: Getty Images. 1. Projections about Social Security's future showed improvements this year The first reason not to panic is that projections are just guesses about what's going to happen in the future. Now, it's true they are informed guesses, but no one can 100% know what's coming down the pipeline. The 2024 Trustees Report, for example, pushed back the date when retirement benefits were supposed to run dry by a full year. This year, they're sounding the warning about a shortfall in 2035 when last year's trustees report said the deadline was 2034. Further, the new projections suggest the incoming revenue will be enough to pay 83% of promised benefits, while last year's report said only around 80%. The improved outlook is because economic conditions have changed. An upward revision in the level of labor productivity and a lower assumed long-term disability rate both contributed to the positive shift in the numbers. If these trends continue, then Social Security could end up with more money than expected and stay solvent for longer. In other words, economic growth could save seniors' benefits even without any action from Congress. Now, there'd need to be some major positive shifts, and the economy would need to grow at an unprecedented rate for Social Security to be financially secure for the long term without some reforms. So, it's unlikely economic growth is going to be the solution by itself. Still, the expected date when cuts would need to happen has already been pushed back for a full year, and a higher-than-expected GDP in the coming years could buy even more time. 2. Running out of money doesn't mean zero benefits There's another reason not to panic about Social Security's insolvency. Story continues The reality is that revenue is always going to come into the program because of the way it is structured. Retirees are not going to see their benefit fall to $0 unless there's some major unprecedented political upheaval that would mean far bigger problems for the country than just Social Security changes. Even pessimistic projections suggest seniors would still get upwards of 75% of their promised benefits if automatic cuts had to go into effect due to the depletion of the trust fund. Now, that's not to say that a 17% reduction in benefits wouldn't hurt (that's the current projected cut, assuming the combined trust funds can pay 83% of the promised benefits as mentioned above). However, seniors would not be left with nothing even if the worst happens with Social Security. 3. Congress probably won't allow a big benefits cut Finally, the last big reason not to panic is that Congress is probably not going to allow a big benefit cut to just happen. Social Security has long been considered the "third rail" of American politics because lawmakers are so concerned that tackling reforms to such a popular program could impact their careers adversely. If lawmakers allowed a 17% reduction in benefits to happen automatically, they'd likely be coping with a lot of angry seniors. That's not something they want since older Americans are a reliable voting bloc. A big cut could also lead to an increase in senior poverty, which also isn't something any lawmaker would want to boast about in their reelection campaign. Lawmakers have many options for shoring up Social Security, including just changing the rules so that they can finance benefits with deficit spending as they do with many government expenditures. Lawmakers could also borrow the ideas from the last major Social Security reforms in the early 1980s and opt to raise the Full Retirement Age. Or, they could change how Social Security taxes work to provide more money for the program. Since politicians will probably act and since stronger-than-expected economic growth could give them more time to do so, no one should panic about possible future benefit cuts. It's still a very good idea to save money so you don't over-rely on Social Security. But you can expect your benefits will be there to supplement your savings and provide the security you deserve. 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See the 10 stocks The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Reasons Not to Panic About Social Security Running Out of Money, Even Though Trustees Say It Will Happen was originally published by The Motley Fool The City of Muscatine and the Department of Public Works (DPW) will conduct an on-line public surplus auction May 20 through June 3. The items for bid contain a variety of items that were declared surplus by the Muscatine City Council. All items are available to bid on through the auction web site www.publicsurplus.com starting May 20, and running through 3 p.m. on June 3. Potential bidders can go to that website, search for Iowa, and then City of Muscatine for the auction items. You must register to view items and to bid on items. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) brought the question of Supreme Court ethics back to light after Justice Samuel Alito was criticized earlier this week for an upside-down American flag allegedly flying outside of his Virginia home in 2021. None of them have clean hands, none of them have clean hands, Nadler said during an appearance Saturday on MSNBCs The Weekend. And again, I would say we need two things. We need to enforce a code of ethics. And we need term limits on the Supreme Court. Nadler, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Commitee, is just the latest lawmaker scrutinizing Alito after The New York Times reported Thursday that the upside-down flag flew outside his home in Alexandria, Va., on Jan. 17, 2021, and potentially for several days, shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He said Alito did not deny that the flag flew for several days when the justice spoke with Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream Friday about the report. That tells me that that was okay with him, Nadler said Saturday. If it had been flown for a couple of hours and he found out about it and said take it down, that might be a different thing, but it was flown for several days. He should certainly recuse himself from any January 6 related case, from any case related to the to President Trump, he continued, Because hes associated with the Stop the Steal movement now whether he wants to be or not. Senate Judiciary Committe Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was the first to call on Alito to recuse himself from all cases related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6 insurrection. Shortly after, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, should at least apologize for disrespecting the American flag. Following The Timess report, Alito said he had no involvement with the flag. Instead, he claimed it was briefly placed by his wife in response to a neighbors use of insulting language on their yard signs. Judicial experts told the outlet that Alito violated ethics rules over flying the flag, which could put his neutrality into question regarding Jan. 6 and presidential election cases. Alito and Justice Clarence Thomass ethics have both been under the microscope after revelations that they accompanied billionaires on vacations and accepted lavish gifts without reporting them. Lawmakers have since pushed for a more defined ethics code for the higher court. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) A naked man in Crabtree Creek prompted a water rescue response from the Raleigh Fire Department Friday morning, according to officials. According to the department, a call came in right before 8 a.m. Friday after someone heard a yell for help along with splashing water in the area of Crabtree Boulevard and N. King Charles Road. The fire department launched their boats and water rescue units along with ATVs, but didnt find anyone after searching up and down the creek for over an hour. Raleigh police were also on scene assisting and launched their drone to help with the search. Impaired driver charged with murder after hitting, killing pedestrian in Concord: Police The man was eventually found around 9:45 a.m., and Raleigh police tried to coax him out of the water. Neighbors told a CBS 17 crew on scene that the water in that part of the creek is shallow and not deep enough to drown in. Raleigh fire said the man left the water on his own and was transported to a hospital by EMS out of an abundance of caution. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Europe's long-delayed ExoMars rover mission to the Red Planet just got a boost for its projected launch in 2028. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) inked a memorandum of understanding on Thursday (May 16), thereby officially joining forces on the endeavor, which will send a life-hunting rover named Rosalind Franklin to Mars. Two years ago, ESA cut ties with Russia's space agency Roscosmos, the former main partner on ExoMars, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the mission missed its intended launch window and now must wait for 2028. (Mars and Earth align properly for interplanetary missions just once every 26 months.) Now ESA, its member states and European industry, along with NASA, are hammering out new synergies and partnerships. Related: ExoMars: Europe's astrobiology missions to Mars U.S. contributions Heres the new deal for ExoMars: NASA's Launch Services Program will procure a commercial U.S. rocket to launch Rosalind Franklin. The U.S. space agency will also provide part of the propulsion system needed to get the rover down safe and sound on Mars, as well as heater units for the robot. Those last elements will be lightweight radioisotope heater units (RHUs), provided by NASA in partnership with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In parallel, work on the development and certification of a European RHU to fly on the mission will continue, led by the U.K., according to ESA officials. Called the ESA GSTP/ENDURE program (ENDURE standing for "European Devices Using Radioisotope Energy"), the U.K. work is focused on delivery of an end-to-end European capability for radioisotope heat and power systems by the end of this decade. Drilling down politically and scientifically Rosalind Franklin is built to drill to a depth of up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) below the Martian surface. Doing so will allow access to samples of Mars that have been protected from surface radiation and extreme temperatures. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher spotlighted ExoMars in an exclusive interview with Space.com last month at the Space Foundations 39th Space Symposium, held in Colorado Springs. "ExoMars started around 2010-201l, with NASA originally a partner. But budget issues had NASA drop out. So then in working with Russia it moved forward for about 10 years. With war in Ukraine and the sanctions that our member states imposed on Russia, I could not finish the program," Aschbacher said. "And this is something quite drastic," he added. "The ExoMars rover was finished and ready for launch in September 2022. The war started in February 2022, so I stopped and terminated the cooperation with Russia." an older man in a blue suit sits in a fancy hotel room RELATED STORIES: Europe's upcoming Mars rover now has a detailed map to aid its search for ancient Red Planet life (video) Life on Mars: Exploration & evidence European Space Agency suspends Mars rover launch on Russian rocket Finding some microbes? As for how important ExoMars is in the ongoing study of the Red Planet, Aschbacher is ready for new, prime-time revelations. "It will drill into the surface, which is quite unique. Theres no chance to find life on the surface. You have to go down, and exobiologists are saying at least 1.5 meters, and we go down 2 meters," said Aschbacher. "Can you imagine how exciting this will be?" the ESA chief added. "Just imagine finding some microbes of life and to analyze whether there is DNA or no DNA. Would the DNA be similar to ours or not? Unimaginable and we just dont know." The National Trust has adopted guidelines that use anti-white rhetoric, Kemi Badenoch has suggested. The trust is among several British institutions now using the phrase Global Majority, which Ms Badenoch, who is minister for women and equalities and a member of the cabinet, warned has political implications. The phrase is a collective term for non-white people, who make up about 85 per cent of the worlds population and is sometimes used instead of ethnic minority or Bame terms that some people believe to be outdated. Ms Badenochs comments come after the National Trust faced a backlash following an announcement that it would be training 100 new walk leaders from global majority communities and that people from the global majority are widely under-represented in the outdoors. Ms Badenoch said: Many organisations adopt phrases like global majority innocently without understanding the political implications. Often they feel compelled to use them by following guidance from bodies who claim to be anti-racist but are actually just anti-white. The government has issued guidance on how people should be referred to and that is by their specific ethnicity where it is relevant. At the end of the day, the National Trust is a national organisation, not a global one. They should apply the principle of equality under the law and focus on delivering for everybody, regardless of their background or whether they are a minority or majority. The term Global Majority has become increasingly common across state-funded bodies, such as the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body which is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. One of its subsidiaries offers Global Majority Directed Studentships whereby successful candidates receive tuition fee funding and an annual maintenance stipend of around 19,000), among other benefits. Others institutions using the phrase include NHS South East (England), which hosted a Global Majority Conference last year where attendees were offered resources on being not-racist and being anti-racist and The Royal Opera House, which offers a mentorship scheme for young instrumentalists who identify as being from the global majority background or from another underrepresented group. In October 2023 Arts Council England (ACE) announced Devons first Global Majority theatre company, Beyond Face, which receives 250,000 in funding each year. Divisive and patronising Inaya Folarin Iman, founder of the Equiano Project, an ideas forum that debates race, culture and politics, told The Telegraph: Global majority is a nonsensical, divisive and patronising phrase. It lumps billions of the world together solely on the basis of them not being white. Most people, regardless of race, have no idea what it means and it is shameful that large organisations are using it seemingly solely at the behest of self-appointed, astroturfed EDI consultants. It is deeply anti-democratic. Paul Morland, an academic, demographer and author of the forthcoming book No One Left, said: In a world full of a multitude of identities and ethnicities, the term global majority is meaningless. Who are they? Non-Luxembourgeois? Non-Chinese? Non- Burundians? All are technically global majorities. Its just a way of discriminating against whites without using the W word. Ben Habib, deputy leader of Reform, said: Promoting the Global Majority/practising DEI is prejudiced. It is racist. It is dividing our society and it must stop. A National Trust spokesperson said: The National Trust normally uses different language. However, sometimes, when sharing information about community groups, as we are on this occasion, we use the language that [we] feel is most appropriate. A spokesman for UKRI said: [We] invest in a diverse research and innovation portfolio. This includes awarding block grants to Higher Education Institutions to support PhD studentships to train the next generation of researchers. The institutions make decisions about both the terminology they use and how they allocate the funding to specific studentship proposals, following an application process. The Royal Opera House declined to comment. The NHS was approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A school official at Farmington High School speaks with graduate Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, before taking away her personalized graduation cap and replacing it with a generic one. White Bull had adorned her cap with beads and an eagle feather, culturally significant tribal regalia. (Screenshot via Facebook) Graduation season is typically a time for celebrating the success of students making it through their education programs. For some Indigenous students, part of that celebration includes having tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance as part of their cap and gown during the graduation ceremony. In Arizona, Indigenous students are protected under state law. In 2021, then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2705 into law, barring public schools from preventing Indigenous students from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies. Not all states have similar laws to protect Indigenous students. New Mexicos lawmakers say they passed legislation to prevent incidents like this from occurring, but its now unclear if that applies to a case garnering attention in Farmington, New Mexico. On May 13, Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, was standing for the national anthem alongside her graduating class at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony when two unidentified school faculty members approached her to confiscate her graduation cap. In video footage shared across social media, White Bull is seen being instructed to remove her graduation cap, which was embellished with an eagle plume and beaded around the rim. Brenda White Bull, Genesis mother, shared the experience with the Navajo Nation Council and reported that school officials later cut the plume from her daughters cap using scissors. The Navajo Nation Council stated in a press release that Brenda emphasized the sacred significance of the plume, which symbolizes achievement and cultural identity, marking Genesis transition into new phases of her life. The Arizona Mirror contacted the family for an interview, but the family did not respond before publication. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley called Farmington High Schools actions belittling, humiliating, and demeaning to the student and her family. There is no place for this type of behavior in our educational systems, Curley said in a press release. The school officials owe an apology to the student and her family. Farmington Municipal Schools, which oversees Farmington High School, released a statement on May 15 in response to the incident. During the event, a students beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one. The feather was returned intact to the family during the ceremony, Farmington Municipal Schools wrote in the statement. The beaded cap was returned after graduation concluded. Farmington Municipal Schools referred to the districts protocols, which state that graduation caps and gowns can not be altered, per the 2023-2024 Student and Parent Handbook. The handbook does not contain policy language stating any exceptions to these rules. However, the schools statement noted that students could choose their clothing attire, which included traditional attire to be worn under the graduation cap and gown, regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels. Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed, the statement read. This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better, the statement read. Moving forward, we will work to refine our processes at the school level. Farmington Municipal Schools stated that the district is also committed to exploring policies that allow for additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire. Indigenous students comprise nearly 34% of the school districts population. School officials across the country need to be reminded who the first Americans are and whose land they inhabit, Curley said in a press release. No student in any school should be prohibited from wearing regalia that signifies their cultural and spiritual beliefs. New Mexico passed an anti-discrimination law in 2021 that might protect students against the Farmington schools district policy. However, the legal pathway is unclear according to responses from spokespeople in the governors offices, state education department, and even lawmakers who wrote the recent law. Each acknowledged that they were reviewing the law and could only give an official opinion once that was completed. Requests for comment were made to the New Mexico Department of Justice but were not returned in time for publication. Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), who co-sponsored the law, said the legislation stemmed from the national Crown Act push that targeted to stop policies that discriminate against hair style and texture, with a significant tilt against African Americans. New Mexicos version was written from the views of the Native American cultures present throughout the state, Pope said, and the bill included co-sponsors who are Dine and Jemez Pueblo. We wanted to make sure that we included cultural and religious headdresses to be even more inclusive than your hair alone, he said. And what I think is important in that language, when we look at Indigenous cultures, feathers are so cherished and protected and it is part of who they are. Its unclear now if the law will provide White Bull support for any legal action she could take against Farmington Municipal Schools District. It broke my heart After footage of White Bulls graduation experience spread on social media, it sparked an outpouring of support from Indigenous people and communities across the country. Navajo Nation leaders have voiced their support for White Bull and called for schools to support an Indigenous students right to wear regalia during their graduation ceremonies, saying denying it is a violation of their rights. It broke my heart, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Crotty told the Arizona Mirror when she learned what happened to the student. Crotty said graduations are meant to be one of the happiest moments of a students life, and White Bulls experience was tarnished by having something so important taken away from her. Thats so traumatic and not the best way to approach these situations when it comes to our Native students, Crotty said. In a day of celebration, just for her to be attacked like that. Crotty said the incident has been reported to the Nation Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination within border towns. Farmington borders the Navajo Nation, and there is a documented history of racism against Indigenous people living or visiting the city. In April 1974, three white Farmington High School students brutally murdered four Navajo men as part of a practice locals called Indian rolling. In response to the murders, Navajo and other Indigenous people held protests in the city of Farmington denouncing the pervasive racism and bigotry of the community. Due to escalating tensions in Farmington, the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights launched a study of the relationships between the city, San Juan County and the Navajos living in the community and on the Navajo Nation. The committee concluded that Indigenous people in almost every area suffer from injustice and maltreatment, according to their report. They recommended that city officials and San Juan County officials, in conjunction with Navajo leaders, work together to develop a plan of action to improve the treatment of Navajos living in the border areas of northwestern New Mexico. The advisory committee conducted another report 30 years later and found that, while race relations may have somewhat improved in the area, racism is still an issue within the city of Farmington. There is a lack of understanding of how Native students identify themselves and celebrate themselves, Crotty said. She said that it is time to move beyond having conversations about cultural sensitivity for Native students, mainly because incidents like this keep occurring. Thats why we want to support mom and the family, Crotty said. She does want the school to be accountable, and she does want some sort of apology. Crotty said the staffs actions at Farmington High School were inappropriate, and immediate action is needed rather than the school trying to justify what happened. The cultural identity of all Native American students attending Farmington High School are protected under the New Mexico Indian Education Act, she said, adding that what happened was a clear violation of the students rights. As we move forward in addressing this issue, we will be meeting with the school board and administration, Crotty added. In New Mexico, the law passed in 2021 is directed specifically to local school districts, but it does not allow the New Mexico Public Education Department to issue any statewide order on local issues, such as what students can wear at graduation ceremonies. New Mexicos 89 school districts decide on those policies, which is why other Indigenous students across the state have different experiences with graduation attire. New Mexicos Public Education Secretary, Dr. Aresenio Romero, offered support for White Bull but noted that the issue is the responsibility of the local district. I expect the Farmington Superintendent and school district to reevaluate their graduation policies, Romero said. I remain committed to promulgating tribal sovereignty and to respecting tribal cultural customs and practices. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying that it was unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration. I appreciate that the Farmington schools acknowledge that they could have handled this situation better and that their policy may be too restrictive, she added. However, it shouldnt have required the student raising this issue for a school to recognize its lack of inclusivity. Navajo Nation First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren released a statement supporting Indigenous graduating students who wear their cultural and traditional regalia during graduation. We stand with our Native graduates this graduation season and their decision to wear their traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance, including eagle feathers, eagle plumes, and beaded graduation caps, Blackwater-Nygren said in a statement she posted on her Facebook. Our graduates and families take immense pride in what they choose to wear on graduation day. Blackwater Nygren was a guest speaker at the Farmington High School graduation, but she said she was unaware of what occurred until after the graduation. I am deeply disappointed that this happened at a school where we have many Navajo and Native graduates, she said. I hope the school learns from this experience and can take corrective measures. Blackwater-Nygren said that, for many Indigenous students, deciding what to wear goes far beyond simply deciding what color dress or shoes to wear. For some Indigenous students, it is a day for them to wear their traditional regalia proudly. Our regalia reminds us of how far weve come as a people; it shows our pride in our culture and how we chose to identify ourselves as Native people, she said. Some graduates are the first in their families to graduate or are only one of a few high school graduates in the family. A beaded cap further signifies this symbol of achievement, accomplishment and Native resilience. Blackwater-Nygren is familiar with this issue because, as an Arizona State Representative, she helped pass House Bill 2705 through the legislature. As graduation season continues, I hope all schools will respect the decision of our Native students to wear their traditional regalia and objects of cultural significance, Blackwater-Nygren said. Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and Twitter. Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Shaun Griswold for questions: info@sourcenm.com. Follow Source New Mexico on Facebook and Twitter. The post Navajo leaders outraged after an Indigenous students tribal regalia was removed at graduation appeared first on Utah News Dispatch. A school official at Farmington High School speaks with graduate Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, before taking away her personalized graduation cap and replacing it with a generic one. White Bull had adorned her cap with beads and an eagle feather, culturally significant tribal regalia. Screenshot via Facebook Graduation season is typically a time for celebrating the success of students making it through their education programs. For some Indigenous students, part of that celebration includes having tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance as part of their cap and gown during the graduation ceremony. In Arizona, Indigenous students are protected under state law. In 2021, then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2705 into law, barring public schools from preventing Indigenous students from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies. Not all states have similar laws to protect Indigenous students. New Mexicos lawmakers say they passed legislation to prevent incidents like this from occurring, but its now unclear if that applies to a case garnering attention in Farmington, New Mexico. On May 13, Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, was standing for the national anthem alongside her graduating class at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony when two unidentified school faculty members approached her to confiscate her graduation cap. In video footage shared across social media, White Bull is seen being instructed to remove her graduation cap, which was embellished with an eagle plume and beaded around the rim. Brenda White Bull, Genesis mother, shared the experience with the Navajo Nation Council and reported that school officials later cut the plume from her daughters cap using scissors. The Navajo Nation Council stated in a press release that Brenda emphasized the sacred significance of the plume, which symbolizes achievement and cultural identity, marking Genesis transition into new phases of her life. The Arizona Mirror contacted the family for an interview, but the family did not respond before publication. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley called Farmington High Schools actions belittling, humiliating, and demeaning to the student and her family. There is no place for this type of behavior in our educational systems, Curley said in a press release. The school officials owe an apology to the student and her family. Farmington Municipal Schools, which oversees Farmington High School, released a statement on May 15 in response to the incident. During the event, a students beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one. The feather was returned intact to the family during the ceremony, Farmington Municipal Schools wrote in the statement. The beaded cap was returned after graduation concluded. Farmington Municipal Schools referred to the districts protocols, which state that graduation caps and gowns can not be altered, per the 2023-2024 Student and Parent Handbook. The handbook does not contain policy language stating any exceptions to these rules. However, the schools statement noted that students could choose their clothing attire, which included traditional attire to be worn under the graduation cap and gown, regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels. Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed, the statement read. This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better, the statement read. Moving forward, we will work to refine our processes at the school level. Farmington Municipal Schools stated that the district is also committed to exploring policies that allow for additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire. Indigenous students comprise nearly 34% of the school districts population. School officials across the country need to be reminded who the first Americans are and whose land they inhabit, Curley said in a press release. No student in any school should be prohibited from wearing regalia that signifies their cultural and spiritual beliefs. New Mexico passed an anti-discrimination law in 2021 that might protect students against the Farmington schools district policy. However, the legal pathway is unclear according to responses from spokespeople in the governors offices, state education department, and even lawmakers who wrote the recent law. Each acknowledged that they were reviewing the law and could only give an official opinion once that was completed. Requests for comment were made to the New Mexico Department of Justice but were not returned in time for publication. Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), who co-sponsored the law, said the legislation stemmed from the national Crown Act push that targeted to stop policies that discriminate against hair style and texture, with a significant tilt against African Americans. New Mexicos version was written from the views of the Native American cultures present throughout the state, Pope said, and the bill included co-sponsors who are Dine and Jemez Pueblo. We wanted to make sure that we included cultural and religious headdresses to be even more inclusive than your hair alone, he said. And what I think is important in that language, when we look at Indigenous cultures, feathers are so cherished and protected and it is part of who they are. Its unclear now if the law will provide White Bull support for any legal action she could take against Farmington Municipal Schools District. It broke my heart After footage of White Bulls graduation experience spread on social media, it sparked an outpouring of support from Indigenous people and communities across the country. Navajo Nation leaders have voiced their support for White Bull and called for schools to support an Indigenous students right to wear regalia during their graduation ceremonies, saying denying it is a violation of their rights. It broke my heart, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Crotty told the Arizona Mirror when she learned what happened to the student. Crotty said graduations are meant to be one of the happiest moments of a students life, and White Bulls experience was tarnished by having something so important taken away from her. Thats so traumatic and not the best way to approach these situations when it comes to our Native students, Crotty said. In a day of celebration, just for her to be attacked like that. Crotty said the incident has been reported to the Nation Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination within border towns. Farmington borders the Navajo Nation, and there is a documented history of racism against Indigenous people living or visiting the city. In April 1974, three white Farmington High School students brutally murdered four Navajo men as part of a practice locals called Indian rolling. In response to the murders, Navajo and other Indigenous people held protests in the city of Farmington denouncing the pervasive racism and bigotry of the community. Due to escalating tensions in Farmington, the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights launched a study of the relationships between the city, San Juan County and the Navajos living in the community and on the Navajo Nation. The committee concluded that Indigenous people in almost every area suffer from injustice and maltreatment, according to their report. They recommended that city officials and San Juan County officials, in conjunction with Navajo leaders, work together to develop a plan of action to improve the treatment of Navajos living in the border areas of northwestern New Mexico. The advisory committee conducted another report 30 years later and found that, while race relations may have somewhat improved in the area, racism is still an issue within the city of Farmington. There is a lack of understanding of how Native students identify themselves and celebrate themselves, Crotty said. She said that it is time to move beyond having conversations about cultural sensitivity for Native students, mainly because incidents like this keep occurring. Thats why we want to support mom and the family, Crotty said. She does want the school to be accountable, and she does want some sort of apology. Crotty said the staffs actions at Farmington High School were inappropriate, and immediate action is needed rather than the school trying to justify what happened. The cultural identity of all Native American students attending Farmington High School are protected under the New Mexico Indian Education Act, she said, adding that what happened was a clear violation of the students rights. As we move forward in addressing this issue, we will be meeting with the school board and administration, Crotty added. In New Mexico, the law passed in 2021 is directed specifically to local school districts, but it does not allow the New Mexico Public Education Department to issue any statewide order on local issues, such as what students can wear at graduation ceremonies. New Mexicos 89 school districts decide on those policies, which is why other Indigenous students across the state have different experiences with graduation attire. New Mexicos Public Education Secretary, Dr. Aresenio Romero, offered support for White Bull but noted that the issue is the responsibility of the local district. I expect the Farmington Superintendent and school district to reevaluate their graduation policies, Romero said. I remain committed to promulgating tribal sovereignty and to respecting tribal cultural customs and practices. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying that it was unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration. I appreciate that the Farmington schools acknowledge that they could have handled this situation better and that their policy may be too restrictive, she added. However, it shouldnt have required the student raising this issue for a school to recognize its lack of inclusivity. Navajo Nation First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren released a statement supporting Indigenous graduating students who wear their cultural and traditional regalia during graduation. We stand with our Native graduates this graduation season and their decision to wear their traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance, including eagle feathers, eagle plumes, and beaded graduation caps, Blackwater-Nygren said in a statement she posted on her Facebook. Our graduates and families take immense pride in what they choose to wear on graduation day. Blackwater Nygren was a guest speaker at the Farmington High School graduation, but she said she was unaware of what occurred until after the graduation. I am deeply disappointed that this happened at a school where we have many Navajo and Native graduates, she said. I hope the school learns from this experience and can take corrective measures. Blackwater-Nygren said that, for many Indigenous students, deciding what to wear goes far beyond simply deciding what color dress or shoes to wear. For some Indigenous students, it is a day for them to wear their traditional regalia proudly. Our regalia reminds us of how far weve come as a people; it shows our pride in our culture and how we chose to identify ourselves as Native people, she said. Some graduates are the first in their families to graduate or are only one of a few high school graduates in the family. A beaded cap further signifies this symbol of achievement, accomplishment and Native resilience. Blackwater-Nygren is familiar with this issue because, as an Arizona State Representative, she helped pass House Bill 2705 through the legislature. As graduation season continues, I hope all schools will respect the decision of our Native students to wear their traditional regalia and objects of cultural significance, Blackwater-Nygren said. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Navajo leaders outraged after an Indigenous students tribal regalia was removed at graduation appeared first on Arizona Mirror. A school official at Farmington High School speaks with graduate Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, before taking away her personalized graduation cap and replacing it with a generic one. White Bull had adorned her cap with beads and an eagle feather, culturally significant tribal regalia. (Screenshot via Facebook) A school official at Farmington High School speaks with graduate Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, before taking away her personalized graduation cap and replacing it with a generic one. White Bull had adorned her cap with beads and an eagle feather, culturally significant tribal regalia. (Screenshot via Facebook) Graduation season is typically a time for celebrating the success of students making it through their education programs. For some Indigenous students, part of that celebration includes having tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance as part of their cap and gown during the graduation ceremony. In Arizona, Indigenous students are protected under state law. In 2021, then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2705 into law, barring public schools from preventing Indigenous students from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies. Not all states have similar laws to protect Indigenous students. New Mexicos lawmakers say they passed legislation to prevent incidents like this from occurring, but its now unclear if that applies to a case garnering attention in Farmington, New Mexico. On May 13, Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, was standing for the national anthem alongside her graduating class at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony when two unidentified school faculty members approached her to confiscate her graduation cap. In video footage shared across social media, White Bull is seen being instructed to remove her graduation cap, which was embellished with an eagle plume and beaded around the rim. Brenda White Bull, Genesis mother, shared the experience with the Navajo Nation Council and reported that school officials later cut the plume from her daughters cap using scissors. The Navajo Nation Council stated in a press release that Brenda emphasized the sacred significance of the plume, which symbolizes achievement and cultural identity, marking Genesis transition into new phases of her life. The Arizona Mirror contacted the family for an interview, but the family did not respond before publication. No place for this type of behavior Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley called Farmington High Schools actions belittling, humiliating, and demeaning to the student and her family. There is no place for this type of behavior in our educational systems, Curley said in a press release. The school officials owe an apology to the student and her family. Farmington Municipal Schools, which oversees Farmington High School, released a statement on May 15 in response to the incident. During the event, a students beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one. The feather was returned intact to the family during the ceremony, Farmington Municipal Schools wrote in the statement. The beaded cap was returned after graduation concluded. Farmington Municipal Schools referred to the districts protocols, which state that graduation caps and gowns can not be altered, per the 2023-2024 Student and Parent Handbook. The handbook does not contain policy language stating any exceptions to these rules. However, the schools statement noted that students could choose their clothing attire, which included traditional attire to be worn under the graduation cap and gown, regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels. Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed, the statement read. This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better, the statement read. Moving forward, we will work to refine our processes at the school level. Farmington Municipal Schools stated that the district is also committed to exploring policies that allow for additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire. Indigenous students comprise nearly 34% of the school districts population. School officials across the country need to be reminded who the first Americans are and whose land they inhabit, Curley said in a press release. No student in any school should be prohibited from wearing regalia that signifies their cultural and spiritual beliefs. Law under review New Mexico passed an anti-discrimination law in 2021 that might protect students against the Farmington schools district policy. However, the legal pathway is unclear according to responses from spokespeople in the governors offices, state education department, and even lawmakers who wrote the recent law. Each acknowledged that they were reviewing the law and could only give an official opinion once that was completed. Requests for comment were made to the New Mexico Department of Justice but were not returned in time for publication. Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), who co-sponsored the law, said the legislation stemmed from the national Crown Act push that targeted to stop policies that discriminate against hair style and texture, with a significant tilt against African Americans. New Mexicos version was written from the views of the Native American cultures present throughout the state, Pope said, and the bill included co-sponsors who are Dine and Jemez Pueblo. We wanted to make sure that we included cultural and religious headdresses to be even more inclusive than your hair alone, he said. And what I think is important in that language, when we look at Indigenous cultures, feathers are so cherished and protected and it is part of who they are. Its unclear now if the law will provide White Bull support for any legal action she could take against Farmington Municipal Schools District. It broke my heart After footage of White Bulls graduation experience spread on social media, it sparked an outpouring of support from Indigenous people and communities across the country. Navajo Nation leaders have voiced their support for White Bull and called for schools to support an Indigenous students right to wear regalia during their graduation ceremonies, saying denying it is a violation of their rights. It broke my heart, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Crotty told the Arizona Mirror when she learned what happened to the student. Crotty said graduations are meant to be one of the happiest moments of a students life, and White Bulls experience was tarnished by having something so important taken away from her. Thats so traumatic and not the best way to approach these situations when it comes to our Native students, Crotty said. In a day of celebration, just for her to be attacked like that. Crotty said the incident has been reported to the Nation Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination within border towns. Farmington borders the Navajo Nation, and there is a documented history of racism against Indigenous people living or visiting the city. In April 1974, three white Farmington High School students brutally murdered four Navajo men as part of a practice locals called Indian rolling. In response to the murders, Navajo and other Indigenous people held protests in the city of Farmington denouncing the pervasive racism and bigotry of the community. Due to escalating tensions in Farmington, the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights launched a study of the relationships between the city, San Juan County and the Navajos living in the community and on the Navajo Nation. The committee concluded that Indigenous people in almost every area suffer from injustice and maltreatment, according to their report. They recommended that city officials and San Juan County officials, in conjunction with Navajo leaders, work together to develop a plan of action to improve the treatment of Navajos living in the border areas of northwestern New Mexico. The advisory committee conducted another report 30 years later and found that, while race relations may have somewhat improved in the area, racism is still an issue within the city of Farmington. There is a lack of understanding of how Native students identify themselves and celebrate themselves, Crotty said. She said that it is time to move beyond having conversations about cultural sensitivity for Native students, mainly because incidents like this keep occurring. Thats why we want to support mom and the family, Crotty said. She does want the school to be accountable, and she does want some sort of apology. Crotty said the staffs actions at Farmington High School were inappropriate, and immediate action is needed rather than the school trying to justify what happened. The cultural identity of all Native American students attending Farmington High School are protected under the New Mexico Indian Education Act, she said, adding that what happened was a clear violation of the students rights. As we move forward in addressing this issue, we will be meeting with the school board and administration, Crotty added. In New Mexico, the law passed in 2021 is directed specifically to local school districts, but it does not allow the New Mexico Public Education Department to issue any statewide order on local issues, such as what students can wear at graduation ceremonies. New Mexicos 89 school districts decide on those policies, which is why other Indigenous students across the state have different experiences with graduation attire. New Mexicos Public Education Secretary, Dr. Aresenio Romero, offered support for White Bull but noted that the issue is the responsibility of the local district. I expect the Farmington Superintendent and school district to reevaluate their graduation policies, Romero said. I remain committed to promulgating tribal sovereignty and to respecting tribal cultural customs and practices. Governor issues statement Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying that it was unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration. I appreciate that the Farmington schools acknowledge that they could have handled this situation better and that their policy may be too restrictive, she added. However, it shouldnt have required the student raising this issue for a school to recognize its lack of inclusivity. Navajo Nation First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren released a statement supporting Indigenous graduating students who wear their cultural and traditional regalia during graduation. We stand with our Native graduates this graduation season and their decision to wear their traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance, including eagle feathers, eagle plumes, and beaded graduation caps, Blackwater-Nygren said in a statement she posted on her Facebook. Our graduates and families take immense pride in what they choose to wear on graduation day. Blackwater Nygren was a guest speaker at the Farmington High School graduation, but she said she was unaware of what occurred until after the graduation. I am deeply disappointed that this happened at a school where we have many Navajo and Native graduates, she said. I hope the school learns from this experience and can take corrective measures. Blackwater-Nygren said that, for many Indigenous students, deciding what to wear goes far beyond simply deciding what color dress or shoes to wear. For some Indigenous students, it is a day for them to wear their traditional regalia proudly. Our regalia reminds us of how far weve come as a people; it shows our pride in our culture and how we chose to identify ourselves as Native people, she said. Some graduates are the first in their families to graduate or are only one of a few high school graduates in the family. A beaded cap further signifies this symbol of achievement, accomplishment and Native resilience. Blackwater-Nygren is familiar with this issue because, as an Arizona State Representative, she helped pass House Bill 2705 through the legislature. As graduation season continues, I hope all schools will respect the decision of our Native students to wear their traditional regalia and objects of cultural significance, Blackwater-Nygren said. This story was originally published by the Arizona Mirror and Source New Mexico. Like South Dakota Searchlight, theyre part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Shaun Griswold for questions: info@sourcenm.com. Follow Source New Mexico on Facebook and Twitter. The post Navajo leaders outraged after a Lakota students tribal regalia was removed at graduation appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight. A school official at Farmington High School speaks with graduate Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, before taking away her personalized graduation cap and replacing it with a generic one. White Bull had adorned her cap with beads and an eagle feather, culturally significant tribal regalia. (Screenshot via Facebook) Graduation season is typically a time for celebrating the success of students making it through their education programs. For some Indigenous students, part of that celebration includes having tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance as part of their cap and gown during the graduation ceremony. In Arizona, Indigenous students are protected under state law. In 2021, then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2705 into law, barring public schools from preventing Indigenous students from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies. Not all states have similar laws to protect Indigenous students. New Mexicos lawmakers say they passed legislation to prevent incidents like this from occurring, but its now unclear if that applies to a case garnering attention in Farmington, New Mexico. On May 13, Genesis White Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, was standing for the national anthem alongside her graduating class at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony when two unidentified school faculty members approached her to confiscate her graduation cap. In video footage shared across social media, White Bull is seen being instructed to remove her graduation cap, which was embellished with an eagle plume and beaded around the rim. Brenda White Bull, Genesis mother, shared the experience with the Navajo Nation Council and reported that school officials later cut the plume from her daughters cap using scissors. The Navajo Nation Council stated in a press release that Brenda emphasized the sacred significance of the plume, which symbolizes achievement and cultural identity, marking Genesis transition into new phases of her life. The Arizona Mirror contacted the family for an interview, but the family did not respond before publication. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley called Farmington High Schools actions belittling, humiliating, and demeaning to the student and her family. There is no place for this type of behavior in our educational systems, Curley said in a press release. The school officials owe an apology to the student and her family. Farmington Municipal Schools, which oversees Farmington High School, released a statement on May 15 in response to the incident. During the event, a students beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one. The feather was returned intact to the family during the ceremony, Farmington Municipal Schools wrote in the statement. The beaded cap was returned after graduation concluded. Farmington Municipal Schools referred to the districts protocols, which state that graduation caps and gowns can not be altered, per the 2023-2024 Student and Parent Handbook. The handbook does not contain policy language stating any exceptions to these rules. However, the schools statement noted that students could choose their clothing attire, which included traditional attire to be worn under the graduation cap and gown, regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels. Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed, the statement read. This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better, the statement read. Moving forward, we will work to refine our processes at the school level. Farmington Municipal Schools stated that the district is also committed to exploring policies that allow for additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire. Indigenous students comprise nearly 34% of the school districts population. School officials across the country need to be reminded who the first Americans are and whose land they inhabit, Curley said in a press release. No student in any school should be prohibited from wearing regalia that signifies their cultural and spiritual beliefs. New Mexico passed an anti-discrimination law in 2021 that might protect students against the Farmington schools district policy. However, the legal pathway is unclear according to responses from spokespeople in the governors offices, state education department, and even lawmakers who wrote the recent law. Each acknowledged that they were reviewing the law and could only give an official opinion once that was completed. Requests for comment were made to the New Mexico Department of Justice but were not returned in time for publication. Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), who co-sponsored the law, said the legislation stemmed from the national Crown Act push that targeted to stop policies that discriminate against hair style and texture, with a significant tilt against African Americans. New Mexicos version was written from the views of the Native American cultures present throughout the state, Pope said, and the bill included co-sponsors who are Dine and Jemez Pueblo. We wanted to make sure that we included cultural and religious headdresses to be even more inclusive than your hair alone, he said. And what I think is important in that language, when we look at Indigenous cultures, feathers are so cherished and protected and it is part of who they are. Its unclear now if the law will provide White Bull support for any legal action she could take against Farmington Municipal Schools District. It broke my heart After footage of White Bulls graduation experience spread on social media, it sparked an outpouring of support from Indigenous people and communities across the country. Navajo Nation leaders have voiced their support for White Bull and called for schools to support an Indigenous students right to wear regalia during their graduation ceremonies, saying denying it is a violation of their rights. It broke my heart, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Crotty told the Arizona Mirror when she learned what happened to the student. Crotty said graduations are meant to be one of the happiest moments of a students life, and White Bulls experience was tarnished by having something so important taken away from her. Thats so traumatic and not the best way to approach these situations when it comes to our Native students, Crotty said. In a day of celebration, just for her to be attacked like that. Crotty said the incident has been reported to the Nation Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination within border towns. Farmington borders the Navajo Nation, and there is a documented history of racism against Indigenous people living or visiting the city. In April 1974, three white Farmington High School students brutally murdered four Navajo men as part of a practice locals called Indian rolling. In response to the murders, Navajo and other Indigenous people held protests in the city of Farmington denouncing the pervasive racism and bigotry of the community. Due to escalating tensions in Farmington, the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights launched a study of the relationships between the city, San Juan County and the Navajos living in the community and on the Navajo Nation. The committee concluded that Indigenous people in almost every area suffer from injustice and maltreatment, according to their report. They recommended that city officials and San Juan County officials, in conjunction with Navajo leaders, work together to develop a plan of action to improve the treatment of Navajos living in the border areas of northwestern New Mexico. The advisory committee conducted another report 30 years later and found that, while race relations may have somewhat improved in the area, racism is still an issue within the city of Farmington. There is a lack of understanding of how Native students identify themselves and celebrate themselves, Crotty said. She said that it is time to move beyond having conversations about cultural sensitivity for Native students, mainly because incidents like this keep occurring. Thats why we want to support mom and the family, Crotty said. She does want the school to be accountable, and she does want some sort of apology. Crotty said the staffs actions at Farmington High School were inappropriate, and immediate action is needed rather than the school trying to justify what happened. The cultural identity of all Native American students attending Farmington High School are protected under the New Mexico Indian Education Act, she said, adding that what happened was a clear violation of the students rights. As we move forward in addressing this issue, we will be meeting with the school board and administration, Crotty added. In New Mexico, the law passed in 2021 is directed specifically to local school districts, but it does not allow the New Mexico Public Education Department to issue any statewide order on local issues, such as what students can wear at graduation ceremonies. New Mexicos 89 school districts decide on those policies, which is why other Indigenous students across the state have different experiences with graduation attire. New Mexicos Public Education Secretary, Dr. Aresenio Romero, offered support for White Bull but noted that the issue is the responsibility of the local district. I expect the Farmington Superintendent and school district to reevaluate their graduation policies, Romero said. I remain committed to promulgating tribal sovereignty and to respecting tribal cultural customs and practices. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying that it was unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration. I appreciate that the Farmington schools acknowledge that they could have handled this situation better and that their policy may be too restrictive, she added. However, it shouldnt have required the student raising this issue for a school to recognize its lack of inclusivity. Navajo Nation First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren released a statement supporting Indigenous graduating students who wear their cultural and traditional regalia during graduation. We stand with our Native graduates this graduation season and their decision to wear their traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance, including eagle feathers, eagle plumes, and beaded graduation caps, Blackwater-Nygren said in a statement she posted on her Facebook. Our graduates and families take immense pride in what they choose to wear on graduation day. Blackwater Nygren was a guest speaker at the Farmington High School graduation, but she said she was unaware of what occurred until after the graduation. I am deeply disappointed that this happened at a school where we have many Navajo and Native graduates, she said. I hope the school learns from this experience and can take corrective measures. Blackwater-Nygren said that, for many Indigenous students, deciding what to wear goes far beyond simply deciding what color dress or shoes to wear. For some Indigenous students, it is a day for them to wear their traditional regalia proudly. Our regalia reminds us of how far weve come as a people; it shows our pride in our culture and how we chose to identify ourselves as Native people, she said. Some graduates are the first in their families to graduate or are only one of a few high school graduates in the family. A beaded cap further signifies this symbol of achievement, accomplishment and Native resilience. Blackwater-Nygren is familiar with this issue because, as an Arizona State Representative, she helped pass House Bill 2705 through the legislature. As graduation season continues, I hope all schools will respect the decision of our Native students to wear their traditional regalia and objects of cultural significance, Blackwater-Nygren said. The post Navajo leaders outraged after a Lakota students tribal regalia was removed at graduation appeared first on Source New Mexico. 'Taking on the longest possible term was the obvious decision for me' - Madeleine Ross On Thursday I become a homeowner. It is a dream that I have achieved precociously, thanks to the generous support of my parents. But the joy (and relief) is accompanied by the knowledge that when I am handed the keys, I am placing a 40-year burden on my shoulders. If I never move again, I will pay off this mortgage in 2064, when I am 63. My 40-year mortgage might not quite be into my retirement but this is only because I am lucky enough to be a first-time buyer more than 10 years before the London average of 35, and because the idea of an early retirement is a fantasy. It doesnt change the fact that the interest which will be added over those four decades is eye-watering. Once my five-year 3.99pc fixed term ends, my mortgage will revert to NatWests variable rate. If I dont remortgage, current predictions show that Id repay 489,266.76 or 3.14 for every 1 borrowed over the 40-year term. Yet after talking to my mortgage broker, taking on the longest possible term was the obvious decision. Why wouldnt I, I reasoned, when it will mean my monthly repayments are 400 less than the rent I was paying to live in a shared flat? Nothing is worse than paying rent and watching money effectively go down the drain. Even without a great sage to tell me what Ill be doing in 10 years (or even in 10 minutes), the stability offered by being a homeowner overrides most of my concerns. But its likely that this will not be the only time I take on a very long mortgage term. Im moving into a two-bedroom flat in Zone 2, so predicting that I will live here for 40 years would be tantamount to saying I will never marry or have children. When I sell, Ill likely pay off the remainder, pay back my dad, and take on another lengthy term on my own which will stretch long past any attractive retirement date. This is the real worry; will starting on such a long term mean that I can effectively never secure a shorter one? For older first-time buyers, being unable to secure another longer term mortgage in five or 10 years time might mean they cant afford to size up. Theyll be stuck in starter homes, effectively blocking those trying to get on the ladder behind them. The news this week that more than 40pc of mortgages being taken out will require repayments into retirement age is no great surprise, given the unaffordable nature of the current housing market. Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb said that serious questions should be asked about whether borrowing that runs into retirement was in the best interest of homeowners. But the truth is that I couldnt, even with my familys help, afford to do this without stretching my loan as far as I can despite earning well over the national average for my age. Neither could many others, and this is the true indictment of the housing market. Story continues When I spoke to the UK chief executive of a major lender earlier this year, he said he would be open to more innovative mortgage products if it would help more homeowners on the housing ladder. But even when they are offered, many of the schemes are not made widely available. Critics of Yorkshire Building Societys 99pc mortgage said in March that its restrictions on new builds and flats would mean most buyers would not be able to use it. Focusing on mortgage products is ignoring the true root of the problem. Trying to regulate demand can not be as powerful as increasing supply. House building targets should be brought in line with those of other similar developed countries and the Government should cut through the red tape that is stopping them being met. Then lenders might not need to risk mortgages that stretch into retirement, which simply store up problems for later life. But theres no point me worrying about it now. Ive got a flat to furnish. 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 Neptune Beach Police Department has announced the appointment of Gary M. Stucki as the new Police Commander. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Stucki, who serves as the Detective-in-Charge of the Criminal Investigations Division, will oversee the Services Division starting June 4. This appointment follows the retirement of Commander Gary M. Snyder on June 3. Commander Stucki, a native of the Beaches community, was born at the former Beaches Hospital and raised in Atlantic Beach. His interest in public service began during his upbringing, observing his fathers tenure as the Atlantic Beach Police Chief. Stucki graduated from Fletcher High School in the Duval County public school system. Stucki began his public service career in 1981 as a lifeguard for the City of Neptune Beach. After five summer seasons, he was sponsored by the Neptune Beach Police Department to attend the police academy. Upon completing his training, he started as a patrol officer with the Atlantic Beach Police Department. In 1988, Stucki joined the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office (JSO), where he served for 28 years, including two decades in the Homicide Unit. He contributed to the investigation of 310 homicide cases, over 1200 death investigations, and 161 officer-involved shootings. Following his retirement from JSO in 2016, Stucki joined the Neptune Beach Police Department as the Detective-in-Charge of the Criminal Investigations Division, bringing his extensive experience to the role. [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. First-time New Hampshire voters would be required to show a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers in order to register under a proposal approved Thursday in the state Senate. The bill, which is sponsored by Republican Rep. Bob Lynn also the former chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court would end the use of sworn affidavits, including for proving citizenship among new voters. Under current law, voters are permitted to sign affidavits attesting to their domicile and citizenship if they dont have proof of their qualifications when registering to vote. Though there is no evidence of abuse of this system, or of widespread voter fraud in general, supporters of the bill heard Thursday say requiring physical proof of qualifications is reasonable. Voters who move within the state would not need to show a passport or birth certificate when they register to vote in their new municipality. The bill passed the Senate on a 12-11 vote and now heads to the Finance committee for further hearings. It previously cleared the New Hampshire House on a 189-185 vote. Earlier this week, Gov. Chris Sununu told reporters that he was not interested in making any major changes to state election laws, but he was noncommittal when asked if he would sign the affidavit bill into law, should it reach his desk. The New Hampshire Secretary of States office has yet to weigh in on if it believes the measure is constitutional or necessary. Supporters of the bill, including Republican Sen. James Gray, of Rochester, said the affidavit system is ripe for abuse and difficult to enforce. Many of the people that have filled out voter affidavits cannot be found after the election, said Gray, who added that requiring proof of eligibility to vote would increase voter confidence in the process. Democrats meanwhile warned that the measure, should it become law, is likely to face legal challenges. This is really a departure from where we have been, said Sen. Donna Soucy, a Democrat from Manchester. Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, a Democrat from Portsmouth, told colleagues that a federal appellate court recently ruled that a similar measure in Kansas posed an unnecessary burden on voters. Its a huge change in the rules, Perkins Kwoka said of the New Hampshire affidavit proposal. Voters will be turned away in droves. Voting rights groups have cautioned the bill could potentially block thousands of voters from registering at the polls. Make no mistake: this bill would disenfranchise eligible voters with no evidence or data to back up any reason as to why, Henry Klementowicz, an attorney with the ACLU of New Hampshire, said following Thursday's vote. These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH Senate backs stricter proof of eligibility rules for new voters A Northbrook man was charged in the horrific crash that killed a 17-year-old Glenbrook South High School senior and injured himself and two others in Glenview Sunday, police said. Taeyoung Kim, 21, faces several felonies, including multiple counts of aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide, along with numerous traffic citations. Police responded to the two-car crash in the 1200 block of East Lake Avenue just after 11 p.m. Sunday. Kim was driving a 2021 Ford Mustang westbound in a reckless manner without his headlights on when he struck the vehicle of 17-year-old Marko Niketic, police said. Witnesses said the force of the high-speed collision split Niketics late-model Mercedes in half. Niketic was pronounced dead at the scene. Kim was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The passengers of both vehicles were taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge in critical condition, according to police. Niketic is survived by his parents and a brother, as well as extended family in the U.S. and Serbia, according to his online obituary. At this time, we are respecting the familys need for privacy as they process their loss, Glenbrook South principal Barbara Georges wrote a letter to students and families. Death can be difficult for us to understand, especially when it is sudden. Today, students may feel shock, sadness, or confusion. What is most important is that we care for and support each other. On Saturday, Cook County Judge David Kelly ordered Kim held in detention pending trial but granted the defendant access to medical care for a broken femur and other health issues related to the accident. He is scheduled to return to court next Friday. (FOX40.COM) For the first time in 80 years, a Northern California river welcomed an endangered species of salmon to its waters. Video Above: Underwater device to help endangered fish in Sacramento is up and running Currently, spring-run and winter-run Chinook Salmon are listed at the state and federal level as threatened and endangered, which means they are considered at critical risk of extinction. Since the 1940s, the winter-run Chinook salmon have been blocked from accessing the McCloud River area in California because of the Shasta and Keswick dams. These are the animals in California capable of causing human-wildlife conflicts Because of the restriction, the California Department of Water Resources, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association Fisheries Service said they partnered together to save the salmon and help the fish mitigate to areas of the McCloud River. Salmon are whats called an ecological keystone species, said DWR environmental scientist Theo Claire. Without salmon, our rivers starve. Salmon bring marine-derived nutrients from the ocean back up to our freshwater ecosystems. The salmon marine-derived nutrients allow the forests that we see around us to grow. Please dont plant these species in California, CDFW says Claire stressed the importance of creating a pathway for the salmon to enter local rivers. Generally, there is a scientific consensus that if we are going to prevent the extinction of salmon in California, we need to start getting fish above dams, Claire said. The new pilot project involves installing a floating structure that spans the width of the river called the Juvenile Salmon Collection System at the point where the McCloud River meets Shasta Reservoir, according to DWR. The collection system is designed to safely catch juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon as they emigrate out of the upper river, before they get stuck in the vast reservoir. CDFW and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe recently placed eggs into the river and incubators on the side of the river, according to DWR. The newborn Chinook salmon are caught by California officials, studied, and released into different areas of the rivers to be funneled into the ecosystem. This is kind of a unique system in that no ones ever really tried this before in terms of collecting fish at the head of the reservoir, said DWR senior engineer, Randy Beckwith. Its a passive system so it doesnt have any pumps on it to create any velocity. We have to manipulate the system itself to try to get velocity into the trap. And then were using fish behavior fish want to move downstream with the flow. Up to hundreds of Chinook Salmon are reportedly caught each day and to make sure extinction doesnt become a reality, DWR scientists said efforts like the Juvenile Salmon Collection System are necessary. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. As an heir to the Oscar Mayer fortune, Chuck Collins had the world at his feet. But in 1986, at age 26, Collins walked away from his family's wealth, and gave a $500,000 inheritance to four foundations that were working for peace and justice issues at the time. After average investment returns, said Collins, the money would equal to about $8 million in 2024. "I don't walk around with an Oscar Mayer wiener T-shirt on, but I also don't hide who I am or where I come from," said Collins. He is the great-grandson of German-born meatpacker Oskar Ferdinand Mayer, founder of the Oscar Mayer food corporation. Collins, a program director at the Institute for Policy Studies, has also authored 10 books and will appear at 6:30 p.m., Monday, at Morse Pond School auditorium in Falmouth. The author talk, "Closing the Racial Wealth Divide and Surviving Billionaire Disruption," is sponsored by groups like the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center and Racial Justice Falmouth. Chuck Collins "I share my story to talk about how the racial wealth divide disrupts the housing market, the environment, quality of life and democracy," said Collins. Co-founder of the Cape Verdean Museum Barbara Burgo initially met Collins at an author talk at Lesley University in Cambridge where he gave her one of his books. "Here's this white man who was born with a silver spoon and he's just standing there making so much sense and being just as modest as can be," said Burgo. "I felt the strength in his character and the warmth in his soul." Who is the heir to Oscar Mayer? Collins' appearance in Falmouth will be his third on the Cape. He will largely share concepts from his book "Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality." And he will share stories about his journey from being a part of the wealthiest 1% of the world population, to working on environmental and economic justice campaigns. "Its hard for each of us to say, 'Heres who I am,'" said Collins. "But it's powerful to hear each other's stories. It enables us to get past pigeonholing each other and making judgments on each other." Collins, who now lives in Vermont, manages a team of nine people at the Policy Institute who work on a multitude of social and racial equity campaigns that link to climate disruption, multi-generational wealth and advantages, philanthropy, the racial wealth divide, affordable housing, and billionaire wealth dynasties. "A lot of wealth and income is going to people who have over $30 to 40 million in wealth," said Collins. "That's a huge concentration of power." Around age 25, said Collins, he began working on housing issues surrounding mobile home parks in Massachusetts. At the time, said Collins, private equity firms were beginning to buy mobile home parks and were raising tenant rents. As Collins began helping tenants form resident-owned cooperatives, his perspective on wealth and privilege began to change. "I hadnt thought about mobile homes before and had never even been in one," said Collins. "That was a moment where the lottery of my birth deeply contrasted with these very hard-working people who were just trying to maintain a decent place to live and not be displaced." Racial Justice Falmouth has also been holding vigils every Sunday at the village green in Falmouth in remembrance of George Floyd's murder. Moving the needle of privilege For Meghan Hanawalt of Racial Justice Falmouth, Collins' ability to acknowledge his privilege is refreshing. "Chuck is a role model for wealthy Cape Codders. Maybe they'll consider following his lead," said Hanawalt. As a white woman, Hanawalt said she is also learning to acknowledge her privilege and life advantages. That growth, she said, came through "Watch, Listen and Read Workshops" that Racial Justice Falmouth began holding five years ago. "Im a 62-year-old white lady and my life is so easy and I am trying to make up for lost time," said Hanawalt. Racial Justice Falmouth has also been holding vigils every Sunday at the Village Green at noon in remembrance of George Floyd's murder. "We're trying to do what we can to make the world a better place," said Hanawalt. Collins' talk, said Burgo, is part of the push that can help expose what she calls the "myth of Cape." "People say they are in paradise on Cape Cod. But people here are running on nickels and dimes. Food pantries can't keep enough supplies," said Burgo. "It's not paradise. Its hell for far too many people." Does Collins ever regret giving it all away? Despite severing ties to his family's wealth, Collins said he still had a "great head start," with a debt-free college education and opportunity. "Ive had a mountain of privileges four generations of access to health care, and to land and property," he said. "Even just the opportunity to give money away is a privilege." Collins' family, he said, supports his life choices. "Not long after I made the decision to give away my money, my dad said I did the right thing," said Collins. "He supported the fact that I wanted to make my own way." A moment on Cape prompts a metaphor Several years ago, said Collins, he was camping at Nickerson State Park. One morning he decided to ride his bike along the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Initially, Collins said he was going to ride about 10 miles. But he felt strong and decided to keep going. "I'm heading south and just feeling great," he said. Once he hit 18 miles, he decided to turn around. All of a sudden, there was a head wind, said Collins. He realized that he was riding an invisible tail wind that had been propelling him along. "I thought it was me. I thought I was doing all the work. Privileged people aren't seeing that invisible tail wind," he said. "Other people are riding into the wind no matter what they do. Whether thats a legacy of racism, economic disadvantage, or some form of trauma." Racism, said Burgo, is alive and well on the Cape. "Most people just ignore it," she said. "As a person of color on the Cape, you feel weathered like youve been in the rain," said Burgo. "I can't get up and go about my day without having to address racism in some capacity." But Collins, she said, has put it all on the line to bring equity to all people. "Chuck will inspire a groundswell of people to care about each other," she said. "He has quite literally put his money where his mouth is." Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney. The Cape Cod Times is providing this coverage for free as a public service. Please take a moment to support local journalism by subscribing. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Oscar Mayer heir Chuck Collins gave wealth away. Talk on Cape Monday. Children watch as rescue personnel carry a manatee to the water during a mass release of rehabilitated manatees at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Fla., in February 2023. The fast-growing state of Florida saw a relatively small birth rate decline of 1% from 2022 to 2023, according to a Stateline analysis. Phelan M. Ebenhack/The Associated Press Births continued a historic slide in all but two states last year, making it clear that a brief post-pandemic uptick in the nations birth numbers was all about planned pregnancies that had been delayed temporarily by COVID-19. Only Tennessee and North Dakota had small increases in births from 2022 to 2023, according to a Stateline analysis of provisional federal data on births. In California, births dropped by 5%, or nearly 20,000, for the year. And as is the case in most other states, there will be repercussions now and later for schools and the workforce, said Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California who follows birth trends. These effects are already being felt in a lot of school districts in California. Which schools are going to close? Thats a contentious issue, Johnson said. In the short term, having fewer births means lower state costs for services such as subsidized day care and public schools at a time when aging baby boomers are straining resources. But eventually, the lack of people could affect workforces needed both to pay taxes and to fuel economic growth. Nationally, births fell by 2% for the year, similar to drops before the pandemic, after rising slightly the previous two years and plummeting 4% in 2020. Mostly what these numbers show is [that] the long-term decline in births, aside from the COVID-19 downward spike and rebound, is continuing, said Phillip Levine, a Wellesley College economics professor. To keep population the same over the long term, the average woman needs to have 2.1 children over her lifetime a metric that is considered the replacement rate for a population. Even in 2022 every state fell below that rate, according to final data for 2022 released in April. The rate ranged from a high of 2.0 in South Dakota to less than 1.4 in Oregon and Vermont. Trends for Latina women The declines in births werent as steep in some heavily Hispanic states where abortion was restricted in 2022, including Texas and the election battleground state of Arizona. Births were down only 1% in Arizona and Texas. When health clinics closed, many women might have been unable to get reliable birth control or, if they became pregnant, to get an abortion. Hispanic births rose in states where abortion is most restricted, even as non-Hispanic births fell in the same states, according to the Stateline analysis. Its hard, however, to tell how much of a role abortion access played compared with immigration and people moving to growing states such as Texas and Florida. In states where abortion access is most protected, births fell for both Hispanic and non-Hispanic women. The big takeaway to me is the likely increase in poverty for all family members, including children, in families affected by lack of access [to abortion and birth control], said Elizabeth Gregory, director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Houston. Many of the nations most Hispanic states where abortion and birth control are more freely available saw the biggest decreases in births: about 5% in California, Maryland, Nevada and New Mexico. Hispanic women as a group are facing more challenges in accessing reproductive care, including both contraception and abortion, Gregory said in a university report earlier this year. Unplanned births often directly impact womens workforce participation and negatively affect the income levels of their families. Hispanic women on average have more children than Black or white women. Their fertility rates rose throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, then fell in the late 2000s to near the same level as other groups. Thats because both abortion and more reliable birth control became more widely available, Gregory said. The fact that some of the steepest drops were in heavily Hispanic states outside of Arizona and Texas suggests that Latina women are continuing a path toward smaller and delayed families typical of other groups. Most of the decline in California has been associated with fewer babies born to Hispanic women, especially immigrants, said Johnson, of the Public Policy Institute of California. California has a high share of Latinos compared to other states, and so fertility declines in that group have a huge effect on the overall decline in California, he said. California was above replacement fertility as recently as 2008, he added, and would still be there if Hispanic fertility had not dropped. California is about 40% Hispanic, about the same as Texas and second only to New Mexico at 50%. Birth rates also declined steeply in heavily Hispanic Nevada and New Mexico, with each dropping about 4% from 2022 to 2023. But Arizona, Florida and Texas, also in the top 10 states for Hispanic population share but faster-growing, saw relatively small drops of about 1%. Texas banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The state also requires parental consent for birth control, a rule thats included federally funded family planning centers since a lower court ruling that same year. Arizona also saw the number of abortions drop in 2022. After the high courts Dobbs v. Jackson decision, an Arizona judge revived enforcement of a near-total ban on the procedure that was enacted in the Civil War era. Many clinics closed and never reopened. Abortions in the state plummeted from more than 1,000 a month early in 2022 to 220 in July 2022, and never fully recovered, according to state records. The rate of abortions dropped 19% for the year. Births that year increased slightly, by 500, over 2021. In Texas, Gregorys research at the University of Houston research saw an effect on Hispanic births when an abortion ban took effect in 2021. Fertility rates rose 8% that year for Hispanic women 25 and older, according to the report. Both Texas and Arizona also are growing quickly, making the smaller decreases in births harder to interpret, Arizona State Demographer Jim Chang noted. Chang declined comment on the effect of abortion accessibility on state birth rates. Budget effects Overall, the continuing fall in birth numbers could have significant effects on state budgets in the future. The slide augurs more enrollment declines for state-funded public schools already facing more dropouts since the pandemic. The decline we see in enrollment since COVID-19 is a bigger problem than just the decline in birth rates, said Sofoklis Goulas, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution. Rural schools and urban high schools have been particularly hard hit, according to a Brookings report Goulas authored this year. We dont have a clear answer. We suspect a lot of people are doing home education or going to charter schools and private schools but were not sure, Goulas told Stateline. Still, states need to recognize declining births as an emerging factor in state budgets to avoid future budget shortfalls, said Jeff Chapman, a research director who monitors the trend at The Pew Charitable Trusts. Nationally, births did increase slightly for women older than 40, indicating a continuing trend toward delayed parenthood, said William Frey, a demographer at Brookings. The last two post-pandemic years do not necessarily indicate longer-term trends, Frey said. Young adults are still getting used to a recovering economy, including childbearing. 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 The number of births continues to fall, despite abortion bans appeared first on North Dakota Monitor. The number of NYPD cops on the job is hovering around 33,500 -- the lowest it's been in more than three decades. The number of NYPD cops on the job this year and last is the lowest its been in more than three decades with about 200 cops leaving each month, according to data obtained by The Post. The current NYPD headcount is 33,695, just 154 more than last year and the lowest since 32,451 in 1990, stats from the department and city Independent Budget Office show. The problem is getting worse as retirements this year have surged 11%. This is shaping up to be a long, hot summer in New York City with lots of overtime for the NYPD, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Getty Images A total of 566 police officers have hung up their holsters through April, compared to 508 over the first four months of last year, NYPD pension data shows. A total of 823 NYPD cops have left the department so far this year. Of those, 257 cops quit before they reached the 20 years required to receive their full pensions. On Thursday alone, 27 cops resigned. Most are going to the higher-paying Nassau Police Department, police sources said. The NYPDs largest police union warned something has got to give. New York City police officers workload has exploded over the past several months, and the staffing is still nowhere close to keeping up, said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry. From the daily protest details to additional patrols in the subway, our members are beyond exhausted already and summertime crime spikes are just around the corner. Squeezing cops for even more overtime hours is not a solution. It will just send even more of them running for the exits. The current NYPD headcount is 33,695, just 154 more than last year and otherwise the lowest since 32,451 in 1990 the height of the crack epidemic. Christopher Sadowski A total of 566 police officers have retired in 2024 through April, compared to 508 over the first four months of last year, NYPD pension data shows. Syndi Pilar/SOPA Images/Shutterstock The NYPD has responded to 2,400 protests since Oct 7, and handle an average of 12 protests a day. Cops are often held over past the end of their shift to deal with the demonstrations. The union has proposed a flexible schedule currently being tested in select precincts that would have cops work longer hours on fewer days. One police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told The Post he retired in January after 20 years because he had had enough of the long hours, anti-cop rhetoric and bail reform laws that prevented him from doing a job he once loved. Two of the canceled NYPD academy classes are back on, Mayor Eric Adams announced last month. Corbis via Getty Images On Thursday alone, 27 cops resigned and most are going into the Nassau Police Department Academy, police sources said. Paul Martinka When I first got on the job there was a certain level of respect for the police officer. In regards to no-bail, these guys know they can punch a cop and be let out the next day. Theres no consequences. So, a lot of cops are like, What the hell are we doing?' said John, a 42-year-old assigned to the Bronx. Retiring was like somebody lifted an elephant and took it off [my shoulders], he said. As a married father of three, losing his regular days off and being re-routed to other commands to deal with protests and subway crime meant longer hours and took a toll on his family, he added. Retiring was like somebody lifted an elephant and took it off [my shoulders], said a now-retired cop, John, who was assigned to The Bronx. Gregory P. Mango If you go to any of the outer counties, particularly in Westchester or Long Island, those guys are making a tremendous amount of money for maybe half the work that our guys do. Two of the canceled NYPD academy classes are back on, Mayor Eric Adams announced last month, which will boost the dwindling ranks by 1,200. But the PBA contends the new hires will barely keep the headcount flat. The PBA has proposed a flexible schedule currently being tested in select precincts that would have cops work longer hours on fewer days. John Lamparski/NurPhoto/Shutterstock NYPD officers armed with rifles stand guard as revelers take part in the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet festival outside St. Patricks Cathedral. REUTERS The Adams administration called off five classes to train new recruits as part of multiple rounds of budget cuts to offset the cost of the migrant crisis, which has the city on the hook for nearly $10 billion through next year. Earlier this year, though, higher-than-expected revenue has led the administration to roll back a series of cuts, including one of this fiscal years police classes and more than $500 million in educational cuts next year. urbazon / iStock.com Got money on your mind? We all do from time to time, but if its all-consuming, youre probably obsessed. Being obsessed with being rich is just that: an obsession. Its not a strategy. Its not taking action. Its purely ruminating. Find Out: Heres How Much the Definition of Rich Has Changed in Every State Read More: 4 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money If you find that youre constantly focusing on how to grow your net worth, but your bank account isnt getting any fuller, its a problem. Here are the signs your money obsession has gone too far, according to experts, and how you can curb it to be something more healthy and productive. Youre Hyper-Focused on Your Balance Is your bank account your most visited website? Todd Stearn, the founder and CEO of The Money Manual, said checking it too much could mean youre obsessed. Its a good idea to check your bank account regularly to make sure everything is as it should be, Stearn said. But if youre checking your balance frequently just to watch the numbers grow, you may be a little obsessed. One idea is to set time limits on your bank website or even block the website if its taking up too much of your time. Of course, you can always make it password protected, so you can still access your bank site, but there is an obstacle to keep you from doing it without thinking about it. You can also wait to check it until days when you know youve earned money, so youre not just checking it absentmindedly. Learn More: Im a Financial Advisor: Heres Why My Rich Clients Identify With the Middle Class Youre Tying Your Self-Worth to Your Net Worth If you consider your greatest strength to be how much money you have, you might be too caught up in your cash flow. Alec Kellzi, a CPA at IRS Extension Online, and said that in order to be fulfilled, you need to draw self-satisfaction from other sources besides your bank account. If you find yourself willfully passing up precious moments with loved ones, neglecting your health or eschewing hobbies that once brought you joy, all for the sake of chasing another dollar, thats a surefire symptom of putting lucre on too lofty a pedestal. Kellzi recommended looking for other ways to bring happiness into your life that dont involve earning money. Redefine what wealth means by including dimensions like emotional wellness, spiritual contentment and cherished memories. Remember, money serves as a tool to experience the fullness of life, not the purpose of life itself. Youre Hoarding Money Some people hoard as much money as possible to feel safe from ever running out of it. If youve crossed the line from frugal to cheap by trying not to spend money so you can keep watching your balance grow, it may be time to rethink your relationship with money, Stearn said. This could look like wearing and holding onto things that are starting to wear out rather than replacing them even though you can afford it. Story continues Instead of never spending money, Stearn said its best to set a budget that allows you to spend some money every month, so you know youre still saving, but arent holding on to your cash too tightly. Setting and sticking to a clear budget can be a great way to feel fully in control of your finances, and that may help alleviate those concerns, Stearn suggested. Youre Working Too Much Are you only working late nights to add to your bottom line or do you really need the money? Stearn said this is an important question to ask. If youre putting in a lot of overtime or taking on a part-time job or side gig in addition to your full-time job despite your full-time job being more than enough to pay the bills and save well for retirement, you may be too obsessed with making money. Instead, work until you make enough to save each month, then save some time for yourself. Otherwise, you could burn out and have to quit working altogether, which would drastically reduce your income. You Have Terrible Time Management One sure way to identify if youre obsessed with making money is to look at how you divide and split your time among your family, rest and work, said Nojan Rahimi, a finance expert and mortgage broker. Most people obsessed with money are workaholics and they will work themselves to the ground, not giving time to friends or family. Rahimi said that its crucial to split your time between your money-making ventures and your family and friends, otherwise, they might leave you behind. Time management is extremely important for a healthy life, however, if money is all you think about then the value of friends or family is lost to you! More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Signs Youre Obsessed With Being Rich and What To Do About It When R. Derek Black was a child, they were considered the heir to the white nationalist movement in America. Their father, Don, a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan, had created Stormfront, the legacy white supremacist website; Derek ran Stormfronts corollary site for children, co-hosted a white nationalist radio show with their father, spoke at white nationalist conferences, and successfully won a Republican committee seat in Palm Beach County, Florida. Dereks mother had been married to David Duke; Duke was Dereks godfather. But Dereks life changed when they enrolled in New College of Florida. The Sarasota school is now known for its 2023 conservative political takeover by Christopher Rufoa takeover Black lamented in a previous interview with Slate. But for most of its history, New College was a progressive haven. Black, while attending, lived a double life until they were outed on a studentwide email thread; what followed was a remarkable and successful student-led effort to convert Black, as documented in the 2018 book Rising Out of Hatred by the journalist Eli Saslow. In 2013, Black publicly renounced their former ideology and now speaks out publicly against it, while also pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago researching proto-racism in early medieval intellectual history. This singular life story is now the subject of Blacks memoir. The Klansmans Son: My Journey From White Nationalism to Antiracism, which covers their childhood in the movement, their ideological transformation, the fallout, and their political awakening with the rise of Donald Trump, came out on Tuesday. Slate spoke with Black, who is transgender and now uses they/she pronouns, about their ideological journey, how they are thinking about student-led activism, the recent protest movementand how they understand this moment in American politics, when the war in Gaza has realigned people on the left and the right. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Slate: How did you decide to write this book now, and why? R. Derek Black: I thought about it for the first time shortly after the Trump election [in 2016]. About three years before that, I had written this public statement condemning my family, and I genuinely thought that would be the last time that I spoke publicly about anything. I was very happy that I had been able to find some kind of niche in academia in medieval history. And after wrestling with how much harm I had caused, I didnt even understand how it could be an ethical choice to speak out publicly. But watching the Trump campaign, it started feeling sort of cowardly to not be speaking out, as opposed to a moral choice. People asked me to write a book, and I chose not to. It didnt feel rightI didnt have enough context or distance from my family or the movement they built. And I didnt understand how to think about the Trump movement in relation to white nationalism. But after Biden won, I decided that this was the time. I had a strong sense that the far-right movement would likely surge, because thats just historically how that works. And thats what I would have been doing, had I been in the midst of it still; it just would have made sense as a strategy. With Jan. 6, once again, I had people interested in [a book]. Since January of 2021, Ive been working on it. How is your book different from the 2018 story of your conversion thats told in Eli Saslows Rising Out of Hatred? When I first started writing this one, I wrote it as 13 essays about how people change their minds. My big understanding of my life is that our beliefs that are really core to us are the same thing as the community of people we care about. If we want to try to persuade somebody, the question is, then, who is the community of people they care about? How do they see themselves as being loyal and beholden to those people? Somebody changing their mind is changing the network of people that they feel responsible for. I was trying to describe what it felt like to come into a community and have to change to maintain my sense of being a moral person in it. Im trying to make an argument that my experience was fundamentally one of being grounded in different communities. You come from a background that is both racist and deeply antisemitic. Do you have any insight into how that community is feeling about this moment where some on the right are accusing the anti-Zionist left of being antisemitic? I remember, shortly after Oct. 7, I got texts from some of my siblings. They said, I bet now even your lefty friends are on our side. And what they meant by that was anti-Israel. I have built these leftist circles who are adamantly protesting the Israeli government and coming up with this deep anti-colonialist discourse. And I feel deeply uneasy, because a large portion of my social circle is Jewish, and Im seeing this kind of reaction that even in the best of times really does not seem to take seriously the discrimination and fear that Jewish people in America feel a lot of the time. I think theres this idea among non-Jewish people on the left that I get incredibly frustrated with, that antisemitism is not an issue they need to be heavily worried about. They seem to take for granted that at least white-passing Jewish people arent facing fear or discrimination. The way that I grew up makes it kind of impossible for me to think that antisemitism is not powerful, not just because my family was running an antisemitic movement, but because they were organizing and seeking out membership, and it was very easy. There was a wealth of people with much more low-key antisemitic views who were always ready to become a part of this movement. Antisemitism was the thread that really held [white nationalism] together as an ideology. Global racism and global segregation was, theoretically, the goal of white nationalism, but the more I look back on it, the more I recognize that the organizing principles that ties it together is antisemitism. And so it just feels incredibly naive to dismiss how powerful antisemitism is in the modern world. And I really get upset and angry because [organizers] are not taking into account antisemitic people on the far right coming in and infiltrating. I think that really advantages the antisemitic movement in the United States. Which, to be clear, is broad. If anyone is in a position where theyre organizing against the attack on Gaza, not giving a home to the antisemitic movement has to be just a fundamental priority of what youre organizing. I want to emphasize that I dont see the protests as fundamentally antisemitic. But I am always very alarmed about the fact that antisemitism can easily attach itself to anything criticizing Israel. On the other hand, there has been Islamophobia and at least one incident of overt anti-Black racism from counterprotesters. This is such a messy conflict, because you also have incidents where pro-Israel counterprotesters ally themselves with traditional fraternities, which have sometimes been overtly racist. It seems to me like this whole situation would delight white supremacists. The power of the white nationalist movement is not that they have a ton of numbers. The reason theyve been a powerful force in the United States and other countries since the 1950s as an organized movement is they tap into messages that exist in more latent ways in the rest of society. And they get involved in other, larger protest movements and are able to magnify their own message. There is racism and antisemitism baked into so much of society that it appears even in the space where people are doing a liberatory protest. That is a perfect fertile ground; thats exactly what white nationalists look for. And this is something that theyre really reveling in, the idea that criticism of Israel is so pervasive that they can take that and turn it into broader antisemitism. Speaking of antisemitism being baked into society: Did you happen to see Marjorie Taylor Greene explained her vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act by arguing it could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing Jews killed Jesus? This seems to be in step with the recent rhetorical movement on the far right to position antisemitism as being a basic element of Christianity. I hadnt heard the Marjorie Taylor Greene comment, but it feels like exactly the kind of thing that white nationalists want to emphasize: this sort of natural idea of antisemitism as being a part of Christianity. People ask a lot if white nationalists are Christians, and I want to emphasize that there are not a huge number of normal Christian people in white nationalism. Its much more common for people to either be atheist, or be some sort of radical sect of Christianity, or to be some sort of religion theyve created for themselves. A big part of that is because of how fundamental antisemitism is to them and how inherently morally complicated it is to be very antisemitic via traditional Christianity. On its face, Christianity is a problematic religion to be an antisemite within. Its so fundamentally beholden to the Jewish tradition. You use they/she pronouns. Can you share how your view of gender has evolved? The only thing I think I regret about the book was around gender issues. Its not a gender book, but I do feel bad theres just a few little crumbs, because its become such a huge part of my life over the last few years. So I want to be more outspoken about it now. I do identify as trans. If anybody reads the book, know that youre reading about the experience of somebody who along the way had complicated views of their own gender and fear of being outed. Over the years, I just sort of forgot the difference between wanting something and not being able to do it. If I cant do this, if its not safe to do it, then I must not want it. And in my late 20s and 30s, I reassessed and said, Well, maybe I can want something and assess whether its safe to do it. Understanding that has been a more recent part of my life. Your story is a demonstration of how anyone can change. But do you think having your own struggles with gender identity made it so you could more easily exercise empathy than other white nationalists? Do you think your gender played a role? I feel confident in saying that it is definitely not the explanation, because it was so hard to come to a place where I disagreed strongly and firmly and clearly with my familys racism and antisemitism. And when I condemned it, there was no part of me that felt like I could come out with gender stuff, even though I had a lot of gender thoughts at that time. I didnt feel like it was something that felt possible in any way, so it wasnt something that was driving me. But even if I didnt think that I had any desire to ever live authentically, I still had the sense that people have things about themselves they cant change, and that to discriminate against them or to marginalize them is a very awful thing to do. Maybe if you never have that feeling, it would become a lot harder to be open to individuals in the ways that ultimately undid my worldview. To go back to the protests, gender seems to be playing a role in the politics of the backlash. Far-right commentators have noted how they seem to be led by women, and even made a point of arguing that the female protesters are ugly. Is that something you were familiar with in white nationalist politics? Im very familiar with that. Even when I was a kid, I remember arguing with white nationalists about this, like, just lay off. People have different aesthetic goals. White nationalists are not always conservative. Theyre open to expansive social programs; they kind of want Medicare for all, but only for white people. But one thing that is very conservative is the idea that there are prescribed beauty and presentation roles. There are supposed to be ways that we all agree to be in the world, and if you break from them, youre breaking the social contract. That kept me closeted, the idea that it doesnt matter how you feel inside, what is important is we all are given these social prescriptions, and we all agree that to live in a society and feel safe and have enough resources and get along with each other, we all have to follow these rules about how were supposed to dress and what were supposed to be. How seriously do you think people should be taking the white nationalist movement at this particular moment? I think people should be taking it very, very seriously. And I know that that can sometimes feel a little alarmist, but there is always a potential for direct violence. And I dont think there have been so many opportunities [for the movement] any time before in my lifetime. Most of my life, the American right has had lots of bulwarks against that kind of racism and antisemitismand militant, anti-democratic strains. White nationalists want to overthrow this country and install some kind of new racial nationalist regime; I cant think of any point in my lifetime when it felt like there were more figures within the mainstream Republican Party who were not willing to condemn that. The thing that Im most worried about, actually, is that theres nothing really to stop us from having far-right politicians with a following, who also have private mercenary armies. Thats something that I dont see Donald Trump doing, but I remember in 2020, I was living in D.C., and I was protesting in front of the White House most days. And he had called up all these security people from different divisions, the Bureau of Prisons and ICE and Border Patrol. In that chaotic moment, they didnt have identification on them, they werent wearing uniforms, a lot of them were carrying weapons and standing around the White House, and they would spit on the ground and show how much distaste they had for us protesters. [Trump] tear-gassed the protesters so that he could go stand in front of the church; helicopters would come really low and sort of buzz the crowd. The fact that while he was willing to use that kind of force against peopleIt was then that it occurred to me that white nationalists have this vision of 1930s-style fascist politics with politicians with mercenaries that go and intimidate their enemies and people at the ballot boxes. And weve seen that a little bit, and theres a real danger of it happening again in 2024. But theres even more danger of it over time becoming a staple part of our country, where far-right politics embraces intimidation and violence and personal retribution. And I just dont think Ive seen any part of my lifetime where the United States felt more susceptible to that than now. NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) Investigators have arrested and charged an NYPD school safety agent accused of driving while drunk on Saturday, authorities said. Elizabeth Carrasco, 34, was arrested in East Harlem at 1:48 a.m., according to the NYPD. More Crime News Carrasco was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving while ability-impaired alcohol, authorities said. Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. This article was originally published in Ohio Capital Journal. Two Republican lawmakers are trying to strengthen an existing Ohio law by requiring instead of just allowing school districts to create a policy letting students to be excused from school to go to released time religious instruction. State Reps. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, and Gary Click, R-Vickery, recently introduced House Bill 445 and it has had one hearing so far in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee. The correlation between religious instruction, schools, and good government are embedded in our constitution, Click said in his written testimony. You will notice that HB 445 does not establish which religion but merely acknowledges the opportunity for religious instruction. This opportunity is open to all faiths. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter May vs. shall Ohio law currently permits school district boards of education to make a policy to let students go to a released time course in religious instruction. HB 445 would require school districts to create a policy and changing the wording of the existing law in the Ohio Revised Code from may to shall. While many schools have taken advantage of the permissive language of the law, some school boards have been less accommodating, Click said. Regardless of their intentions, their failure to implement a sound policy in this matter results in a denial of both the students and parents constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. Cutrona agreed with his co-sponsor. Words have meanings and they really do matter, he said. So the difference between a little word like may versus shall can make all the difference in the world. Released time religious instruction must meet three criteria which would remain the same under the bill: the courses must take place off school property, be privately funded, and students must have parental permission. The United States Supreme Court upheld released time laws during the 1952 Zorach v. Clauson case which allowed a school district to have students leave school for part of the day to receive religious instruction. State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, questioned why this bill is needed if the law is already in place. My experience has been that if the federal law requires it, school districts are usually very hesitant to violate federal law or federal practice, she said during a recent committee hearing. Ive just wondered why you want to see that change also in the state law if its already required in practice. Click said he knows nearly a dozen school districts that have denied religious instruction programs like LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based religious instruction program that teaches the Bible. I believe that when we clarify this language, it will make a more broad statement that this is not only constitutional and legal, but it is something that needs to be done in the state of Ohio to accommodate parents and their children, Click said. LifeWise Academy Click mentioned LifeWise Academy in his testimony. (LifeWise founder) Joel Penton began to organize and create an efficient model that provided training for instructors, character-based bible curriculum, and a platform that is reliable and reputable for participating schools, Click said. While this opportunity is not limited to LifeWise, they have formulated the model program for release time for religious instruction. LifeWise was founded in 2018, launched in two Ohio school districts in 2019 and today enrolls nearly 30,000 students across more than 12 states. The program will be in more than 170 Ohio school districts by next school year more than a quarter of the states school districts. LifeWise, which is non-denominational, supports the bill. It gives parents the freedom to choose character-based religious instruction for their children during the school day, in accordance with Supreme Court rulings, Penton, the founder of LifeWise, said in a statement. However, there has been pushback to LifeWise. Freedom From Religion Foundation Legal Fellow Sammi Lawrence wrote a letter to more than 600 Ohio school districts urging them not to allow LifeWise from taking place in their district. Per its own words, LifeWises goal is clear: they seek to indoctrinate and convert public school students to evangelical Christianity by convincing public school districts to partner with them in bringing LifeWise released time bible classes to public school communities, Lawrence said. Online petitions against LifeWise have also sprung up before the program comes to a school district. Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and Twitter. Ohio Man Charged in Connection to 1989 Killing of Elderly Penn. Woman: This Case 'Was Never Forgotten' Rose Hnath, 78, was "stabbed and bludgeoned" to death in her North Whitehall Township home on Jan. 21, 1989 Pennsylvania State Police Rose Hnath. An Ohio man has been arrested and charged for his alleged connection to the 1989 killing of an elderly Pennsylvania woman, authorities said. Michael Breisch, 65, is being charged with homicide in relation to the Jan. 21, 1989, murder of 78-year-old Rose Hnath in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced during a press conference on Thursday, May 16. Hnath was "stabbed and bludgeoned" to death in her home over three decades ago. Her cause of death at the time was determined as blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries, Holihan told reporters, including NBC10 Philadelphia, which shared footage from the press conference. A spokesperson for the office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information. Related: Woman Charged with Murder of Baby Found in Woodland 26 Years Ago: 'Extremely Emotional Case' Getty Stock image of a police siren After multiple district attorneys worked on the case throughout the decades, Holihan announced the news of Breisch's Ohio arrest, stating that he's being held without bail in Lehigh County Jail. The D.A. referenced "DNA evidence that was collected and preserved" and said that technological advances not available in the "20th century" led to the arrest. He also specifically credited investigator Joseph Vasquez for his work on the case, as he had been involved since the beginning. Holihan explained that a knife and a pellet gun, found "at the scene of the crime and across the street," were maintained "in a condition sufficient enough to use [as] evidence decades later." He commended the "professionalism" of state police in 1989 and the "perseverance" of prosecutors in the years since. As CBS News reported, the victim was a widow who lived alone at the time of her murder. She was found dead by relatives after she didn't attend church. They also discovered her home had been ransacked. Holihan said that Hnath had "defensive injuries," which indicated that her attacker "continued the assault even after she fought back." 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. Breisch, who was 30 years old at the time, was living in the Lehigh Valley at a community corrections facility, according to CBS News. "Part of the reason for the violence involved and the reason some of the evidence recovered was able to be maintained was the fact that she fought back," Holihan said. "You're looking at cases that detectives don't forget about. And you don't get a free pass on murder," he later stated. "The cases stay around and the detective's memory stays around and the case files stay around. It's not lost on our current office that these are families that have lost someone. It doesn't matter how long ago it was. ... Although it went cold, it was never forgotten, it was never set aside." Breisch's preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 21, according to Holihan. As The Morning Call reported, Breisch was previously charged with escape and drug possession in 1989, which court records show he served six months for at the time. He was also reportedly arrested in 1993 for burglary in Pike County, per the outlet. The Morning Call said he's also been charged with robbery, burglary and aggravated assault. Despite Hnaths home having been burglarized weeks earlier, Breisch is only being charged with the burglary from the day of the murder. The victim's family is "gratified and relieved that there's been an arrest made," the D.A. said. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. An Ojai Valley man was sentenced to 18 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty last month in the 2019 sledgehammer death of his friend and roommate. During the hearing in a Ventura courtroom, family and friends of the victim, 22-year-old Houston Auer, gave statements to Judge Derek Malan. The defendant, Cameron Scott Lykins, also spoke during the sentencing hearing in Ventura County Superior Court. Lykins, 28, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter on April 19. He had initially been charged with murder, but admitted to the lesser charge in a plea agreement. He also admitted to use of a deadly weapon, namely the sledgehammer, in the commission of the crime. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office recommended the 18-year sentence in agreement with Lykins' defense team. Auer's family members read victim impact statements during Friday's session. The victim's mother spoke harshly about the legal process. I am appalled and disgusted with the outcome these courts have decided for punishment, said Abigail Collins, mother of Auer, who cried as she addressed the court. Collins also directed anger toward the defendant. Cameron Scott Lykins does not deserve a second chance, so help me God," Collins said. "...That is a life sentence for me every moment of every day. I got life and you deserve the same. Lehi Harris, Auer's uncle, told the court the crime had broken his family and they will never get over it. His nephew's personality stood out, Harris said. If you talk to any of Houstons real friends, theyll tell you how funny and friendly he was, Harris said while reading his statement. Talk to his employer and the residents at the nursing home that he took care of, theyll tell you how conscientious he was. Talk to former teachers and theyll tell you what hes like. Defendant speaks Cameron Scott Lykins Lykins also gave a statement, saying he expressed his deepest regrets for the pain and grief caused by his and Auers actions that night. I killed Houston Auer and I accept full responsibility for that and everything else that happened after he was killed, Lykins said. Lykins described how he killed his friend on May 12, 2019, with a small sledgehammer at the home where the two lived in Meiners Oaks. Before I got shot point blank, I picked up the hammer that he used to prop his door open and I hit him on the forehead, temple area, Lykins said. This whole confrontation was very fast and only lasted around one minute." After the hearing, Senior Deputy DA Christopher Harman said Lykins hit Auer more than once with the weapon, which he described as a 3-pound sledgehammer widely available at hardware stores. "The forensic evidence, as I mentioned at the trial, shows there were multiple blows to his head," Harman said of the victim's injuries during a phone interview. "(Lykins) may believe thats what happened, but evidence disagrees with him." The prosecutor described the sentence as an unhappy compromise but a just resolution. Its just hard because Houston was killed in such a brutal manner, Harman said. Retrial avoided with plea Prosecutors say Auer was in his bedroom in his grandmother's home, where both men lived on the property, when Lykins bludgeoned him to death. Lykins left through the bedroom window, dragging his friend's body with him, before later dumping the remains in Angeles National Forest. A state fish and wildlife warden found Auers body while patrolling a road in the forest about six weeks later. Lykins fled to his mothers home in Inyo Countys Lone Pine community, where he arranged for authorities to be contacted, prosecutors said. A jury trial was underway on the initial murder charge when a mistrial was declared in February after evidentiary items were inadvertently placed in front of the jury, the DA's office has said. In March, a new trial was approved. Procedural hearings had resumed in April when Lykins pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge. The DA's office said at the time new evidence uncovered by both sides, including text and verbal exchanges by the victim, weakened prosecutors' ability to prove malice. For a murder conviction in California, malice and intent are required. Voluntary manslaughter occurs with a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion, according to California law. Lykins remained housed at the county's main jail Friday night. He will later be transported to Wasco State Prison, court records show. Kathleen Wilson contributed to this report Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ojai Valley man sentenced to 18 years for sledgehammer death of friend A little time, it seems, makes all the difference. Not too long ago, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, frustrated that Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, was doing exactly what he said he would do, convened an unusual public budget summit in an effort to speed up the drafting process and convince Treat to hold a Senate vote on a second tax cut. A grocery tax cut had already been signed into law. Over the course of three summit meetings, Stitt and Republican House Speaker Charles McCall pushed Treat again and again to call a vote on a tax cut. The latest call came on Monday. Treat said: "Governor, it's like I've tried to tell you since Day One, you don't run the Senate chamber. I decide what goes up for a vote on the Senate floor with the consultation of my caucus." Treat did not back down on what he had said at least a dozen times since January that the Senate had already delivered on one tax cut and that he was doubtful the state could afford a second one. Even when Speaker McCall repeated the question, asking Treat if he would put a tax cut up for a vote, Treat, now visibly frustrated, responded with a terse, one-word answer "No." Intra-party wrangling over key budget issues is seldom so visible to the public. But budget "transparency" had been a goal for this legislative session. Fast forward to Wednesday. Following the governor's budget invitation Tuesday which sorta "uninvited" Treat and McCall from participation legislative budget teams met again and began to focus on the details of the FY 2025 budget. And, despite being forced to adjourn their morning meeting due to a noisy Latino protest rally outside, negotiators meet later that afternoon and began to work their way through the list of state agencies and budget priorities. From left, Senate Director for Fiscal Staff Anthony Sammons and Senators Chuck Hall, Adam Pugh and Greg Treat discuss a House proposal on education funding during Thursday's budget summit meeting. Treat: House no longer booking a tax cut Stitt and McCall were absent, along with their repeated calls for a tax cut. Treat, attended, however, in spite of the governor's suggestion, the discussion focused on budget specifics. That change in direction could be read in several different ways. One: McCall and Stitt may have finally realized that Treat, legendary for his stubbornness, wasn't going to budge on tax cuts and was time to focus on budget matters. The second: Somewhere, deep in the bowels of the Capitol, a deal may have quietly been made. Stitt and McCall have agreed to stand down on a public call for another tax cut vote. Once the budget is passed though, Stitt will line-item veto portions of the budget he disagrees with, and the House will support those efforts by refusing to override any vetoes. Or yet another: Lawmakers get the budget done which would give Stitt the opportunity to call yet another special session on tax cuts. But that call would, at best, have to be brief because it is an election year (the primary election is set for Tuesday, June 18) and at some point in time, those lawmakers running for re-election need to return to their districts to campaign. And even in a special session Treat could continue to say "No." More: Gov. Stitt's pushback against the Senate is personal, leader Greg Treat says Thursday, Treat said it appeared, at least for now, that the House and the governor had backed off their push for tax cuts. "They have not definitively said they have, but it appears they have," Treat said. "They are no longer booking it." Whatever the read, progress on the budget is being made and, at least for now, a second round of tax cuts won't happen. Actually, even with the on-going debate over tax policy and line-item spending, the House and the Senate aren't actually that far apart on a final budget. Yes, there have been disagreements, and at times the tension has been thick, but overall, negotiations this week have been productive. "We've worked hard, and there are many areas we agree on," House Budget Chairman, Rep. Kevin Wallace said recently. Wallace is correct. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, the lawmakers continued to find common ground. For example: Common education. House, Senate have agreed on many areas of the budget Initially hundreds of millions of dollars apart, came to an agreement on Thursday that would earmark $3.823 billion for the state's common education system. That was after the Senate stood down from its request for $99.6 million to fund a $2,500 stipend for school support staff. In March, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, the chair of the education budget subcommittee, said while the Legislature approved raises last year for teachers in Oklahoma, he heard from school support staff who told him they didnt receive raises as a result of that agreement. Pugh said there are about 40,000 school support staff members in Oklahoma. His initial idea was for $2,000 stipends per person, but he said he realized the stipend would be taxed at a 22% rate, he thought the amount left after taxes would be somewhat insulting. So he increased the stipend proposal to $2,500 per person, so recipients would actually net an amount around $2,000. More: Budget summit round four continues without Stitt or McCall, and without tax cut talks This is one time, Pugh told The Oklahoman in March. Its not going to be built into the recurring base of the (Oklahoma State Department of Education) budget, but it is something that this body should consider again in future years. Thursday, the Senate agreed to forego that stipend for FY 2025, though the Senate leader said he was disappointed there wasn't support on the House side for the Senate's proposal. 'It was part of the negotiation process," Treat said. "It was obvious the House was not going to want to put money toward support staff. They didn't support trying to put additional support toward bus drivers, lunch workers and the like. We felt very adamant that we needed to." Though schools continue to difficulty recruiting support employees, Treat said, there wasn't support for the funding. "I'll run at the same brick wall about five times but I try to move over three or four feet each time," he said. "I had to run at that brick wall every meeting and they (the House) had rejected support staff money so we dropped that in order to drop some money on their request." The end result, was a cut of $475 million, he said, which could go back into the Senate's plan to hold back $1 billion in cash. In addition, lawmakers also agreed to an $18.846 million allocation for the Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and $7.172 million in funding for the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. Along with education funding, budget negotiators finalized the number for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Transportation is set to receive $883.4 million for FY 2025, while Service Oklahoma the same agency that now issues driver's licenses will have an appropriation of $52.84 million. Funding for the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the state Senate would remain flat, with both last year's levels. The House at $22.786 million and the Senate at $12.780 million. Lawmakers have also agreed on increased funding for emergency management. Last week Treat, McCall and Stitt agreed to earmark $45 million for the state's emergency management system so those funds could be leveraged with federal money for clean-up from the recent series of tornadoes. On Thursday, the Senate passed two bills which lawmakers said would help Oklahoma counties approved for FEMA disaster assistance recovery and rebuilding funds following the storms. Both bills now go to Stitt. Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg McCortney, R-Ada, said these funds will go a long way toward helping with recovery efforts in communities across the state. The Senate fast-tracked this relief funding to help Sulphur, Barnsdall, Marietta and other cities and towns recover and rebuild as quickly as possible, McCortney said. Though this year's budget process has been difficult, the Senate's push for greater transparency has brought the ground level part of the process into clear focus despite concerns from some lawmakers that the new initiative caused some previously negotiated deals to go bad. Has 'hyper-transparency' helped with budget negotiations? Political scientist James Davenport, of Rose State College, said this year's 'hyper-transparent' budget process wasn't necessarily a good thing. "That is the drawback to having a hyper-transparent process," Davenport told The Oklahoman. "We're at the point of grandstanding and taking positions to appeal to whomever: donors and whatever constituency they are trying to appeal to. Having television cameras removes the ability for dealmaking." Officials at the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a statewide think tank, disagreed. "Our organization has long argued that for many years legislative leaders and their staff have made major budget decisions with a relatively small group of people, excluding many members of their own caucus, members of the opposite party, and the public at-large," Dave Hamby, the institute's spokesman said. "Seeing these conversations in public with insights into the lawmakers' positions has been enlightening." Hamby said the issue isn't that the budget talks are being made public, but rather they're happening in the last weeks of session just days before the pressing sine die deadline of May 31. "It doesn't have to be this way," he said. "Lawmakers could front load major projects and revenue issues in the first part of session so that there is more time to thoughtfully deliberate on these issues. Instead, waiting until this late in the session, it's very much like students hurrying through at the last minute to complete their big end-of-semester project. Sure, they'll turn in the assignment. But it's not their best work." Time goes forward. With 14 days remaining in the 2024 legislative session, this year's down-to-the-wire budget deal will be remembered not only for its difficulty, but for the problems it solved. Though it's doubtful that the FY 2025 budget will contain a second tax cut, the FY 25 budget will fund state government for the next year and, in the process, hold back a few billion, just in case the next fiscal year isn't as bright as some predict it will be. For many, this budget, despite the arguments and debate it took to get there, is a much better than one, say, a decade ago, when lawmakers had to slash millions of dollars in spending and use some legislative sleight of hand to keep the lights on. It is, as new Senate Appropriations Chairman Chuck Hall, R-Perry, said to his counterpart, House Budget Chairman Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, "Progress. We made progress." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma budget work continues amid public contention, breakthroughs One shot, two in custody after shooting in Del City DEL CITY, Okla. (KFOR) Two people have been detained following a shooting near Sequoyah Park in Del City late Friday afternoon. Shooting near Sequoyah Park in Del City. Photo courtesy KFOR. Del City Police say a teenager was taken to the hospital after being shot in the leg. The victims injury is said to be non-life-threatening. No other information is available at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. The Ontario Middle School Family Career and Community Leaders of America Parliamentary Procedure team is the first in school history to advance to the national competition in Seattle. The team competed at the state level in April and took home the silver medal. Hours of practicing parliamentary procedure, performing the opening and closing ceremonies and studying for the written test paid off as they now have an opportunity to represent Ohio at the National Leadership Conference June 29-July 3. The Ontario Middle School Family Career and Community Leaders of America Parliamentary Procedure Team is, from left, Aadi Kightlinger, Haylee Breitinger, Olivia Sandwall, Alex McAleer, Leah Bonen, Kennedy Sapp and Gia Gfrer. The team is headed to nationals. Seven Ontario Middle School girls to represent Ohio The girls will compete in the Level One category against teams from other states, according to Robin Owen, OMS FCCLA adviser. The OMS FCCLA team is comprised of seven students from eighth and seventh grades: Aadi Kigthtlinger, Haylee Breitinger, Olivia Sandwall, Alex McAleer, Leah Bonen, Kennedy Sapp and Gia Gfrer. In another significant first, this is the first team in OMS history to advance beyond districts. It's quite an achievement for a first-year team to qualify for nationals, Owen said. In Seattle, the students will perform the opening ceremony, conducting a meeting based on parliamentary procedure rules and doing the closing ceremony, which includes the FCCLA creed. This will be performed in a closed room in front of three judges, and the team will be evaluated based on knowledge, their ability to follow Robert's Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and how well they perform the opening and closing ceremonies. They must also complete a test before the convention based on questions relating to Parliamentary Procedure, Owen said. "This is a rigorous event and very few advisors take on this task. Fortunately, I participated in Parliamentary Procedure competitions when I was in high school and FFA," she said. More Ontario: Temporary branch site of Mansfield Richland County Public Library opens at mall FCCLA members say they have learned leadership, cooperation, public speaking Kennedy Sapp, 14, an eighth-grader, said through FCCLA she has learned so much and it has ultimately led her toward new and better opportunities. "With taking the president role these past two years, I have learned leadership, cooperation and I have learned to take on a whole new level of responsibility. By competing I have learned teamwork and been able to better build friendships with members in my chapter. Additionally, I have learned better public speaking even in front of complete strangers to a point where I am no longer nervous about speaking publicly," Sapp said. "FCCLA has taught me so many amazing things that I am so grateful for. Not only with FCCLA have I grown so much but I know I have much more to learn. The opportunities I have already had from FCCLA makes me so excited to see where else FCCLA can take me," she added. Gia Gfrer, 13, vice president and in seventh grade, said she has learned teamwork, leadership and responsibility. "Ive learned you need work hard to achieve important things. Im excited to continue learning new things and go to the national leadership conference," she said. The national event brings together more than 8,000 individuals, including more than 6,500 middle and high school students and some 1,500 educators. We are so proud of these girls and the effort they have put in to make it this far in the competition. This is a rare opportunity for middle school students to travel across the country to not only represent their school, but also the state of Ohio, Owen said. More: Ontario High School student's new mural unveiled at Richland Academy of the Arts FCCLA members seek donations for expenses of trip to Seattle Attending an event like this comes with many expenses including registration fees, travel costs and accommodations. The team is working hard to organize a bake sale, a car wash and other activities to raise money to offset the $28,800 cost. A donation page has been set up at grouprev.com/OMSFCCLA2NLC2024. On top of getting good grades, these girls participate in multiple other school activities and sports," said Chris Miller, Ontario Middle School principal. "Despite their busy schedules, they chose to be a part of FCCLA, and they take it seriously. They put in the time and effort to learn parliamentary procedure, no easy task. We have no doubt this team and these girls will make OMS and the state of Ohio immensely proud." For information, email Owen at owen.robin@olsohio.org. lwhitmir@gannett.com 419-521-7223 X (formerly Twitter): @lwhitmir This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Seven Ontario students to go in June to Seattle, Washington Editors Note: Jamal Simmons is a longtime Democratic political and communications advisor. He was most recently communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House and is currently a CNN political commentator. The views expressed in this commentary are his. View more opinion at CNN. In anticipation of President Joe Bidens commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday, Michael Levesque, executive director of the schools alumni association, invited me to lead a town hall style discussion with current students, faculty, alumni and members of the Board of Trustees last week. Two days before White House adviser Steve Benjamin met with students, I returned to my alma mater to hear directly from various segments of the Morehouse family about their priorities, concerns and expectations. Jamal Simmons - Courtesy Jamal Simmons The conversation was off the record, but I can report that students were concerned about the war in Gaza as well as the need to fight antisemitism. They were mindful of history and desired to speak truth to power while upholding the traditions of the college. They also dont know that much about Bidens background, or his Congressional career. Given that the presidents story is at the heart of his political appeal, it raises the question: How can they trust a man they dont know? Biden should start his speech by telling these young men who he is, what he believes and why, before telling them what he has done in the past four years or what he wants to do if he wins a second term. It is easy to assume Bidens decades-long political career makes him a known quantity, but these young voters have only been alive for two decades and have been paying attention to politics for maybe just a few years. To dig deeper, I asked Levesque to pull together another group of students for an informal but on-the-record focus group. The seven young men who joined me on Zoom were just a small sample, but they made up a cross section of the college by age and region of origin. They get their information in ways quite different from their parents. They consume news from Apple News, Instagram and TikTok, and cited the Guardian, Wall Street Journal and USA Today as news sources. Only three watched the news on TV and none read actual newspapers. Only one student knew the tragic story of the presidents first wife dying in a car accident with his one-year-old daughter. They were more familiar with his son Beau Bidens death from brain cancer in 2015, but barely. Four out of seven students thought the president was from a rich family. They knew nothing about his ties to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and were surprised to discover he was among the poorest members of Congress before he became vice president. About half knew Biden was for marriage equality but only one knew he was for it before President Barack Obama. These students knew little about the warmer parts of Bidens pre-presidential story, but a lot about the more troublesome aspects. It seems the online algorithms are still serving up negative news from the 2020 presidential campaign and theyre breaking through. They were familiar with the presidents work on the 1994 crime bill and its impact on mass incarceration. However, none knew that the bill included the Violence Against Women Act and the federal assault weapons ban. They didnt know much more about Vice President Kamala Harris background either (except a junior from Oakland, where she is from). However, they did call her the top cop and point to her prosecution record as San Francisco district attorney. Was this indicative of a wider phenomenon? Terrance Woodbury, a renowned Democratic pollster and CEO of the public opinion research firm HIT Strategies, says he sees evidence of the same phenomenon. In the absence of their bios, a lot of young people only know the negative info theyre being fed about the president and vice president. Thats whats giving context to their terms in office, Woodbury said. We have to give them positive context on who Biden and Harris are and what theyre fighting for. That kind of biographical layering is tough in a world where voters often get their information from short videos and memes. A speech like the one at Morehouse, therefore, provides a critical opportunity for Biden. Despite concerns about the US support for Israel in its war against Hamas, the students I talked to were not ideological puritans, and they will still be interested in what the president has to say. Biden should use the occasion to draw from his life before his presidency. Adding those biographical layers and showing them the man he is, rather than just the politician is how Biden can build some trust. His story might not sway everyone, but its a start especially with young Americans. The president must let these students know he is not just the lesser of two evils, because hes not evil. Hes doing a lot for people in this country and hes doing it because of who he is and what he believes about America. If they give him a chance, he might give them something they dont expect something to believe in. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Editors Note: Stacy Schneider is a criminal defense attorney in Manhattan and former contestant on the reality show The Apprentice. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion on CNN. The Manhattan District Attorneys Office made a significant tactical error announcing they were resting their case after calling Michael Cohen as their final witness in the Donald Trump hush money trial. But its not because Cohen, a convicted felon and disbarred lawyer, was a bad witness. He actually did pretty well in responding to the prosecutions warm-up when confronted with his prior bad acts, convictions and bias toward the former president, staying steady on the stand and not losing his cool. Stacy Schneider - CNN But Cohen lost his footing during cross-examination Thursday, where it appeared he omitted important information when recounting an October 2016 phone call he claims he had with Trump to discuss the hush money payment. The heated exchange between Trumps attorney Todd Blanche and Cohen marked the biggest blow to the prosecutions case so far. The prosecution thus far had done a good job backing up Cohens expected testimony by presenting other witnesses to bolster crucial facts and provide indicia of Trumps motives and/or complicity in allegedly buying adult film star Stormy Daniels silence so her story of a sexual encounter with Trump wouldnt damage his 2016 election prospects. (Trump denies the affair). The jury heard the testimonies of: David Pecker, the former CEO of the National Enquirers publisher, American Media Inc.; Keith Davidson, Daniels attorney who brokered the deal; Hope Hicks, Trumps former aide and campaign communications director; and even Daniels herself. What the prosecution left out of its case, however, is a second key witness to establish that Trump intended to falsify his business records to cover up another crime. Cohens testimony so far served to prove the elements of the alleged other crime, that the hush money payments resulted from a conspiracy to commit campaign interference or to make an illegal campaign contribution. But the DA also must prove the actual business records crime, for which Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (He pleaded not guilty). How I see it, Cohens testimony only satisfied half the equation beyond a reasonable doubt. According to Cohens testimony, there were three people in the room at the Trump Tower meeting after the 2016 election to discuss his expected reimbursement for Daniels payment: Cohen, Trump and Allen Weisselberg, then-chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Given Cohens credibility problems, it would make a stronger case for the DAs office to call a second witness to back up his claims. Weisselberg was Trumps right-hand man while serving as CFO, but he is currently serving time at Rikers Island on a perjury conviction stemming from his testimony to investigators in Trumps civil fraud case. Weisselberg could be the linchpin to validate Cohens claims about Trump agreeing to reimburse him through Trump Organization, as a business expense. The former CFO presumably knows about Trump Organizations books and whether Trumps hands were in them. The obvious choice would be to call Weisselberg to close any gaps in Cohens story if the jurors choose to discredit his testimony that Trump knew and approved the plan. But the prosecutors have a problem. Weisselberg also has credibility issues. Namely, he has been convicted for lying under oath. The DAs office told Judge Juan Merchan outside the presence of the jury that they believe his interests right now are very aligned with the Defendants, implying that they dont expect him to tell the truth on the stand. The DA is not allowed to impeach their own witness, so the safest thing for them to do is not call Weisselberg at all. It leaves a hole in the prosecutions case, and that also could leave room for reasonable doubt. Its unlikely we will ever see Trump take the stand to explain his version. He appears to have calmed down and gotten used to the cadences of the trial. I expect him to listen to his lawyers and exercise his right to remain silent. He has too much to lose, and he would not want to risk living through more questions about his alleged affair with Daniels and his friendship with Pecker, who, from his trial testimony, appears to know many Trump secrets. The former president knows that if he takes the stand, he wont be able to close his eyes and zone out. He will have to relive the unsavory details of the prosecutions case all over again. While Cohen did an efficient job testifying about the first half of the scheme, to influence the election by buying Daniels story and keeping it quiet, he doesnt know what happened when the business records that are the subject of the 34-count indictment were created. He wasnt working for the Trump Organization in 2017 when the reimbursements began. He was a lawyer and not a bookkeeper. If one juror has uncertainty about whether Trump was involved with how Cohens payback was recorded on the records and by whom, there will be a hung jury and Trump will walk free. Madeleine Westerhout, Trumps personal secretary in the Oval Office, gave the defense team its biggest gift: She testified that Trump sometimes multitasked and that she had seen him sign a bunch of checks while on the phone or engaging in other activities. The defense can easily argue that Trump was running the presidency in DC and no longer micromanaging what was going on in New York at the Trump Organization. If he signed checks put in front of him, they could have easily been part of a busy work pile to be FedExed back to the company with Trump barely paying attention. If so, there would have been no intent to falsify the business records. Without Weisselbergs testimony about what Trump knew or intended, the prosecution only has Cohen to rely upon. That might not be enough for a conviction. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Nazrin Abdul Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova, spoke at the 1st meeting of the Organizing Committee of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on May 17 as part of her official visit to Geneva, Switzerland, Azernews reports. Stating that many important issues were addressed during the discussions, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted that comprehensive and significant deliberations took place. Emphasizing the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in advancing peace, security, and the rule of law, she highlighted its close connection to our visions for the future. Sahiba Gafarova stated that the rule of law is a prerequisite for ensuring peace and security. Any approach to this issue should be based on strict adherence to universally recognized norms and principles of international law, such as respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-discriminatory application. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova emphasized that given the current global situation, the Inter-Parliamentary Union should also address this issue in its activities and within the framework of the 6th World Conference. The Speaker of the Parliament also addressed the issue of climate change, stating that it is one of the urgent global problems that must be solved. Sahiba Gafarova recalled that Azerbaijan was chosen to host COP29 with the unanimous support of all countries, and this grand event will be held in Baku in November this year. According to her, Azerbaijan will do everything possible to engage all parties and unite all countries and societies around a common goal. Sahiba Gafarova said that the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament should develop new ideas and approaches on this issue and reflect them in future activities. She also participated in the meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament on May 17 in preparation for the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. At the event, the results of previous summits were reviewed, and a number of organizational issues were discussed to prepare for the next summit. In her speech, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova drew attention to the challenges faced in ensuring gender equality worldwide. She stated that although the issue of gender equality has been discussed at various events, it is still not possible to solve the issues related to it in many countries. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said that increasing the social activity of women, realizing their right to education, and representation in high positions should be widely discussed at the next Summit. She also emphasized the importance of women's active participation in this issue, taking into account that the issue of global climate change is very relevant. sturti / Getty Images/iStockphoto Flipping houses has been a strategic way for individuals to make money for years. According to ATTOM, a leading provider of property data nationwide, home flippers saw an average of $66,000 in returns on their investments in 2023. This is slightly down from the previous year, but its still a sign that flipping houses can be lucrative. Discover More: Im a Real Estate Agent: Buy Property in These 5 Fast-Growing Cities To Be Rich in 5 Years For You: 5 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) It all depends on where you do it and how you go about it. Factors like location, price of the home and the cost of repairs or renovations can all affect your bottom line. The lower the demand and the more money you put into the property, the less youll actually see in returns and vice versa. Although there are no guarantees when it comes to your ROI, flipping houses in these key U.S. cities could net you the highest profits. Philadelphia One of the top U.S. cities to consider if you want to flip houses and see the most returns is Philadelphia. Flipping houses is an extremely lucrative business, if you know what youre doing and where you ought to do it, said Nick Hedberg, home improvement expert and owner of As-is Home Buyer. Philadelphia, according to my estimates, is a great market for doing this, because it shows great promise. The median home value is around $220,000 which is quite attractive for investors. And sure enough, with a foreclosure rate of 0.25%, it shows that many homeowners are dissatisfied. Investors, Hedberg said, can capitalize on the foreclosure rate by purchasing homes at below-market prices, renovating them and selling them for higher profits. According to ATTOM, Philadelphia is one of the top areas with the highest gross profit margins in 2023 with a 74.3% ROI. Though, if youre willing to look a little further out, Pittsburgh could be even better, with gross profit margins of 105.3%. Learn More: Rich Dad Robert Kiyosaki: Use This Two-Step Formula for Real Estate Investing San Jose, California With a sunny climate year-round, San Jose is both beautiful and boasts a lot of innovation. Its home to quite a few major companies, including Cisco, Netflix and Adobe all good signs for the savvy home flipper. This is a tech city driving big profits for well-paid professionals, demand for housing is and will continue to be high, prices for property are on the rise and, although, its expensive to get in, the margins for profit are enormous, said Martin Boonzaayer, CEO of The Trusted Home Buyer. Story continues The average home value in San Jose is quite high at $1,477,444, according to Zillow. However, ATTOM reports that flipped homes have a median gross profit margin of $275,250. Boston Boston is another U.S. city to look into if youre in the business of flipping homes. With a population of just over 650,000 and an average home value of $750,219, the city is prime real estate for those with a little capital to invest. Weve worked on projects where properties bought and renovated efficiently have seen ROI percentages between 20%-30%, said Kristin Hintlian, whos worked on renovating homes in the area with Bonsai Builders. The key here was the proximity to business districts and accessibility to transport, which means people are willing to pay a premium. ATTOM found that Bostons one of the top U.S. cities for those looking for a median-priced transaction and high returns. The median gross profit margin on these ventures is $158,000. Jacksonville, Florida Although it didnt quite make ATTOMs list, Jacksonville shows a lot of potential when it comes to making a profit from flipping houses, too. With its year-round sunshine and plethora of jobs for newcomers, the city attracts a steady stream of residents, said Boonzaayer. [The] city provides a nice combination of affordability and potential appreciation. The diverse neighborhoods provide the opportunity to choose to renovate a home for a niche consumer group. According to Zillow, the average home sale price is $302,071 in Jacksonville. For newer house flippers or those without much capital to spare, this could be a great opportunity to get started in the business. Just make sure youre prepared. Lorain, Ohio Ohio isnt known for its major metropolitan areas, but it has shown a lot of promise in recent years as a place to go if you want to invest in real estate, flip some houses and make a profit. In fact, ATTOMs report found that Lorain County in which Lorain is the largest city with about 65,000 people is the No. 1 U.S. city with the highest gross profit margin in the country. The ROI for the entire county was just 23.7% in the third quarter of 2022. A year later, itd risen to 195.3%. Right now, the typical home value in Lorain is $134,351. This is a 7.4% increase over the past year, which is a good sign that the real estate market is becoming more lucrative for investors. Not only that, but since the cost of homes is still relatively low, those new to flipping houses or those with a little less risk tolerance could create a highly lucrative business or side hustle there. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 US Cities Where House Flippers Are Making the Highest Profits OPRA 'reform' would badly damage access to public records in New Jersey The New Jersey Legislature gutted the Open Public Records Act this week, rolling back decades of progress in providing access to records on the local, county and state levels, even as members of the public and the press raised objections and warned of government overreach. A bill, which if signed by Gov. Phil Murphy will cut off access to a wide array of public documents and data, was passed by broad majorities in both the Senate and Assembly on Monday, May 13. The legislation was sold as needed reform after organizations like the League of Municipalities complained that providing access to records records paid for by taxpayers put an undue burden on municipal clerks, who are also paid by taxpayers. Open government advocates said the bill masquerades as reform but is in reality a way to keep important information from the public. Trenton, NJ February 27, 2024 -- Governor Phil Murphy's budget address for New Jersey's 2025 fiscal year. It was sponsored in the state Senate by state Sens. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, and Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, and in the Assembly by Assemblymembers Joseph Danielsen, D-Somerset, and Victoria Flynn, R-Monmouth. The USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board has been unequivocal the bill is bad for New Jersey, harms the public's right to know and should be met with Gov. Phil Murphy's veto pen. Editorials: OPRA 'reform' must be rejected Our view, May 16: If you care about the public's access to government data, we strongly urge you to contact legislators in Trenton who supported the measure. Our view, May 9: The proposed changes to OPRA even in the new, amended bill would undermine transparency and democracy. Murphy must veto the bill. Our view, March 14: Gov. Phil Murphy's veto pen may be the only thing to stop a fast-tracked attack on New Jersey's Open Public Records Act. He must use it. Charlie Stile's viewpoints Veteran political columnist Charlie Stile has weighed in on the attempt to veto OPRA: Stile, May, 21: Gov. Phil Murphy's reputation as a progressive is already waning. But now, with the choice he faces on OPRA, his legacy is on the line. Stile, May 16: If he signs the bill, Phil Murphy would actually be aligned with GOP-controlled Louisiana, which is moving to shield most records from public view. Stile, May 13: The voting public is frightened that America's democracy is in its death throes and Trenton Democrats are gambling with transparency. Stile, March 18: Leaders of the New Jersey Democratic Party failed to take the temperature of the grassroots anger and fear over the fate of democracy. News coverage New Jersey Statehouse reporter Katie Sobko has lead coverage of the bill's journey through to passage in both chambers of the Legislature: May 14: Good government advocates across New Jersey are urging Gov. Phil Murphy to veto legislation that guts public access to government data and documents. May 14: Heres a look at how every member of the Legislature voted on legislation that guts public access to government records and data. May 13: An alleged reform of the New Jersey Open Public Records Act was passed by the Legislature. It will largely gut access to public records and data. May 10: A New Jersey bill that would gut access to public records will be voted on by both chambers of the Legislature after it cleared an Assembly committee. May 9: The New Jersey state Senate Budget Committee advanced a bill that will gut access to public records. The Assembly will take it up next. May 2: Legislation to reform New Jersey's Open Public Records Act has yet to resurface in Trenton. What's next? April 12: As many as 81% of state residents polled say they would support keeping public records transparency legislation intact as it is. OPRA's impact on our journalism USA TODAY Network New Jersey investigations editor James M. O'Neill mapped out the legislation's impact on and service to our watchdog journalism. March 17: Advocates warn that new legislation would gut OPRA and reduce government transparency. NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey have used OPRA frequently in our watchdog role. More opinions The USA TODAY Network has published multiple op-ed perspectives on the bill that is alleged to reform the New Jersey Open Public Records Act. Here's a selection: Harry Pozycki, May 17: Murphys veto can open the opportunity for a better path forward for the New Jersey Open Public Records Act. Brian Bergen, May 15: My cowardly colleagues in the New Jersey Legislature just destroyed the public's right to know. Hold them and Phil Murphy accountable. League of Women Voters of Morristown Area, April 14: The goal of attempts to update or modernize OPRA should be to reinforce the public's trust in our democratic processes by improving transparency. New Jersey Labor Leaders, March 11: This legislation would make sweeping changes to the Open Public Records Act, severely limiting public access to government documents and information. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ OPRA reform: Legislation will damage access to public records Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, used a minor delay in transferring ballots from post offices to county election offices to spread doubt in Oregon's election system. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregons House Republican leader sent state election officials scrambling this week after he used a minor delay in delivering mailed ballots to clerks in two counties to raise doubts about the integrity of the states voting system. The short delays county clerks in Douglas and Lincoln counties experienced were caused by a miscommunication with postal workers and were fixed by Friday morning. State elections director Molly Woon told the Capital Chronicle that the short delays were not going to affect ballot returns and certainly wouldnt affect voters ability to cast ballots securely and safely. This is an issue very, very limited in scope that we were able to fix within 24 hours, Woon said. It was simply a miscommunication on the part of USPS, and once we talked to the statewide USPS folks, they were able to send a message down to local post offices, If youre doing this, stop, and then we were back in business. The issue normally wouldnt have drawn public attention. But late Wednesday, ahead of a scheduled meeting with election officials and USPS supervisors, House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich sent a press release erroneously claiming potentially thousands of ballots have been held from election offices. He went on to claim that two recent election laws, which he referred to as Democrat-passed laws were to blame for any delays. A 2019 law, introduced by then-Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and Republican Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and supported by members of both parties in the Legislature, requires the state to pay for postage for ballot return envelopes. A 2021 law, which also passed the House with some Republican votes, allows ballots that arrive up to a week after Election Day to be counted as long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day. Ballots affected by the delay made it to county election offices the same day they arrived at post offices; some in Lincoln and Douglas counties were just delayed by a few hours. Douglas County Clerk Dan Loomis said he was told new employees at the Roseburg post office were confused about how to count pre-paid ballot envelopes. It meant he ended up collecting ballots from the office around mid-afternoon instead of in the morning, as he typically does. On Wednesday, Loomis flagged the delays he was experiencing in an email to other county clerks, and the president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks contacted the Secretary of States Office. State and county election officials held a conference call with USPS supervisors Thursday morning, the postal service sent updated instructions to its employees, and by Friday, Loomis was able to pick up the days ballots a little before 10 a.m. The problem is solved as far as I understand, Loomis said. There were never ballots being held back or held on to, it was just a matter of they had to improve their practice of how to account for how many they received, so that they can bill the state properly. Woon said she plans to have another meeting with local election officials and USPS after the May 21 election is certified this summer to discuss any improvements ahead of the November general election. Shes concerned that USPS employees in Oregon have heard conflicting messages from their national headquarters. State election officials were blindsided by Helfrichs press release, as neither he nor anyone else within the House Republican office had reached out to election officials with questions before making those claims. He followed up Friday with a second release and a letter to House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, asking that Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade address the House Rules Committee during a May meeting. Unless I hear a specific plan to prevent similar delays, I find it hard to blindly have the same complete faith in the vote-by-mail system, Helfrich wrote. A spokesperson for Fahey said Friday evening that the speakers office was grateful to hear that the Secretary of States Office was able to swiftly resolve the issue and that Fahey hasnt had time to consider the Republicans letter. Helfrich did not return a phone call from the Capital Chronicle, instead having House Republican caucus spokesman Cole Avery call on his behalf. Avery confirmed that House Republicans didnt reach out to the Secretary of States Office before sending the initial press release claiming the states election system was vulnerable. He dismissed questions about whether Helfrich had any concerns about making claims about elections security without first having all the relevant information. Surveys in recent years have found that close to half of Republican voters in Oregon doubt that elections are fair and secure. We called for transparency because there are concerns about the integrity of our elections, Avery said. We felt that the best thing to do would be for the secretarys office to come out in full public view and say, here are where the issues were, heres how we fix it, heres how its not going to happen again, but instead, what we get from the Secretary of State is, We were told it was going to be fixed. Heres the link to OPB. That is ridiculous. So you want to talk about transparency, go ask the secretary of state when theyre going to be transparent about these issues. Jessica Ventura, chief of legislative and policy affairs for the Secretary of States Office, spoke by phone with House Republicans chief of staff Natalie Newgard on Thursday, and Newgard followed up with two emailed questions about whether the office would send a press release and how many ballots were affected. Emails reviewed by the Capital Chronicle showed that Ventura responded less than an hour later to say that the office was responding to media inquiries as they came up and that only two election offices reported a slowdown. Even so, this is a slowdown of hours, not days, and USPS has assured us all ballots will be received in a timely manner by clerks, she wrote. Ventura also included a link to an OPB article about the Thursday morning meeting with election officials and postal supervisors, writing that it did a good job of explaining the situation. Woon said the Secretary of States office didnt believe a minor delay in transferring ballots from post offices to county elections offices a problem, she stressed, that was fixed within 24 hours was worth notifying the public. Part of what we do at the Secretary of States office and elections is we solve problems for county clerks, and if we sent a press release out every time we helped solve a problem, everyone would get pretty sick of that pretty quickly, she said. Oregonians who have questions or concerns about whether their ballots have been received and accepted can use the My Vote page on the Secretary of States website, sign up for text alerts in larger counties that use them or call their county clerks office to confirm. Once the primary election is over, many clerks also offer tours of election facilities and answer questions for voters. Updated at 6:20 p.m. Friday with more information about an email exchange between the secretary of states office and House Republicans. The post Oregon House Republican leader used minor ballot delivery delay to question election integrity appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle. NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) The New Orleans City Council has released a statement regarding threats made to a member of the staff. The statement reads that on May 16, vandals covered the home of a Jewish city council staff member in red paint, possibly representing blood, in retaliation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Regardless of anyones passionate feelings on this issue, threats, vandalism, harassment, and violence are not the answer, said New Orleans City Council members. City council officials said the family, consisting of two small children, awoke to the sight of their home desecrated. All our families deserve to feel safe at home, including public servants who work tirelessly to make our city a better place. We will not tolerate hate in our community, said New Orleans City Council members. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO. Since the beginning of the day until 12:00, 22 combat engagements have taken place on the frontline, eight of which are still ongoing. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, information as of 11:30 on 18 May Quote: "Since the beginning of the day, there have been 22 combat clashes, eight of which are ongoing. Additionally, the Russian occupiers carried out one missile strike, deployed 25 kamikaze drones, and conducted 547 attacks on our troops' positions." Details: On the Kharkiv front, the Russians continue attempts to break through the Ukrainian defence. Since the beginning of the day, the Russians have launched two attacks near the settlements of Lyptsi and Vovchansk, but to no avail. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are attempting to push the Russians back towards the settlement of Hlyboke. Over the course of the day, Russian losses amounted to 19 personnel and 10 pieces of military equipment on this front. On the previous day on this front, they lost up to 200 personnel and 42 pieces of military equipment. On the Kupiansk front, Ukrainian forces have repelled two Russian attacks towards the settlement of Berestove. The situation is under control. Defensive forces continue offensive operations in the areas of the settlements of Synkivka and Terny, achieving partial success in certain areas. On the Kramatorsk front, the Russians attempted to breach the defence five times during the day. Ukrainian defenders repelled four attacks, and fighting is ongoing in the area near the settlement of Klishchiivka. The Russians persist in their intent to capture the city of Chasiv Yar. On the Pokrovsk front, there are two ongoing Russian attacks in the area of the settlement of Umanske. The situation is under control. The total losses of the Russians on this front over the past day amounted to 210 Russian troops and 23 pieces of weaponry and military equipment. On the Kurakhove front, the Russians continue their attempts to break through the defence. There are four ongoing combat engagements in the directions of Slavne-Paraskoviivka, Slavne-Novomykhailivka, Solodke-Vodiane and Solodke-Kostiantynivka. As of now, no positions were lost during the fighting. On the Orikhove front, the Russians made one unsuccessful attempt to push out Ukrainian Defence Forces northwest of the settlement of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The situation is under the control of Ukrainian forces. On the Prydniprovske front, the Ukrainian Defence Forces repelled one Russian attack. Another combat engagement is ongoing near Oleshkivski Pisky-Krynky. No positions were lost. Support UP or become our patron! Overnight lane closures on I-75 to occur in Miami County I-75 will undergo overnight intermittent lane closures in Miami County. I-75 will be closed in both directions at East Miami Shelby Road from 12 a.m. through 6 a.m. >> Officers, medics respond to crash in Germantown Road work started Thursday, May 16 and will last through Saturday June 8, Crews will be repairing the roadway. Pa. mail-in ballot laws 'not how this should work,' ACLU says. Why they're suing for fixes This article is made possible through Spotlight PAs collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat's free newsletters here. The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing one county and may file more cases in an effort to challenge a policy that it says disenfranchises voters who make an error when casting ballots by mail. The case against Butler County, filed after the April primary, appears to be the start of a broader statewide effort by the group targeting the notice and cure process, a major gray area in state law that leads to uneven rules for voters across Pennsylvania. Along with that lawsuit, the organization has signaled it is considering another, and has been filing public records requests to identify more counties that dont allow voters to correct flawed mail ballots or provide notice to voters that their ballot will be rejected. Such records requests are often a precursor to a lawsuit. A legal effort that changes where the courts stand on notice and cure policies could have a profound impact. Since Pennsylvania enacted its no-excuse mail voting law in 2020, counties have rejected thousands of ballots because voters failed to sign or date the outer envelopes, or made another technical error. The rejection rate goes down significantly when a county notifies voters and allows them to fix, or cure, the error, according to county officials and a Votebeat and Spotlight PA analysis of available data. This should not be a game of gotcha, said Vic Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Here is your ballot. You got one shot. If you mess it up, it wont count. Thats not how this should work. State law is silent on whether counties must allow voters to correct their ballots, and courts have interpreted the absence of rules to mean that its up to the counties to choose whether to allow it. The result is a patchwork of rules across the state. At least 17 counties allow some form of curing, though the methods vary. Others say theyre not obligated to do so, citing the Election Code and court rulings. The ACLUs lawsuit targeting curing marks a shift in its voting rights strategy following a failed challenge at the federal level to the state's requirements that voters put a date on ballot envelopes. More: US appeals court will not rehear case over Pa. mail-in ballots. Will SCOTUS take it on? In March, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the ACLU and other plaintiffs in a two-year case arguing that Pennsylvanias requirement that voters correctly date their ballot return envelopes violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ACLU has not said whether it will appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Election workers handle the initial processing of mail ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, at the Erie County Courthouse. What is notice and cure? Since Pennsylvania implemented Act 77, the no-excuse mail voting law, in 2020, counties have received thousands of ballots each election with errors that could cause them to be rejected by election officials. Some voters fail to sign or date the return envelope, as required by law, or dont place the ballot in a secrecy envelope designed to protect the privacy of their selections. Some counties inform voters of the errors and allow them to correct the issues, so their votes are counted. This notice and cure process quickly became a point of contention. In September 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a request from Democrats that all counties be required to contact voters and allow them to fix errors. The Democrats appeal to the free and equal elections clause in the state constitution, the court ruled, was not enough to surmount the lack of precise language in the law directing counties to allow curing. The state Supreme Court has also turned away an effort by Republicans to bar counties from allowing ballot curing, citing the same lack of precise language in the law. Just before the 2022 election, the court upheld a lower court decision that said Republican groups that were seeking to block counties from implementing curing had failed to show how it specifically violated the Election Code. Among counties that allow curing, practices vary. Some, like Allegheny County, return defective mail ballots to voters with an explanation of the error and a new return envelope. Nearby Fayette County allows voters to come into the elections office and fix mistakes in person. Philadelphia and Erie counties post lists of voters with defective ballots online and allow voters to correct mistakes in person. Chester County uses the states voter roll management system to send emails to voters, provides lists of defective ballots to the political parties in the days leading up to the election, and has its legal services department review the ballots to determine if they are truly in error. How successful curing is also depends on the method. A spokesperson for Allegheny said that nearly 62% of defective mail ballots were fixed in Aprils primary using its method. Data from Fayette County shows they saw roughly a 50% cure rate this past primary. In Chester County, roughly 66% of ballots at risk were rectified and counted, county officials said. Jeff Greenburg, a senior adviser on election administration for the good-government group Committee of Seventy, said the varying policies are a reminder that the legislature needs to clear up this and other vague portions of Act 77. If I was grading the General Assembly on Act 77, they would get an incomplete, he said. Greenburg said counties are acting in good faith to interpret the law and court cases, but the inconsistencies risk shaking voter faith in elections. Voters see that, and they understand that and begin to question why, he said. It's a valid question. Where the ACLU may be headed The ACLUs suit against Butler County was filed on behalf of two voters who didn't insert their mail ballots into secrecy envelopes before they returned them for the April 23 primary. Their mail ballots were rejected, and when those voters cast in-person provisional ballots on Election Day, the county rejected those votes, too. Provisional ballots are used by voters whose eligibility is in question but who still want to vote. Those ballots are only counted after the voters eligibility is confirmed. The ACLU brought a similar challenge against Delaware County last year and won. But because the case ended in county court, it did not set a statewide precedent. In the Butler County case, a judge recently granted the state and national GOP's request to intervene in the case in support of the county. If a judge rules against the county, the party organizations would have the option to appeal to Commonwealth Court. A ruling there could give the case a statewide impact. Even if the case reaches that level, a decision would be limited to one type of voting scenario: determining whether a voter can cast a provisional ballot in person if their original mail ballot is rejected. But more lawsuits on curing appear to be on the horizon. Starting in late March, the ACLU of Pennsylvania began sending identical public records requests to all counties. The requests copies of which were obtained by Votebeat and Spotlight PA through separate records requests sought information about the counties written policies on curing or notifying voters of errors, or documents reflecting the countys decision not to allow curing. We believe the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions require counties to make sure voters are not disenfranchised by mistakes on their mail ballot envelopes, Walczak said. He added that the organization has been investigating notice and cure procedures. The ACLU declined to discuss its specific legal strategy, but its recent actions hint at what its approach may be. In April, Washington County officials voted to reverse course and no longer notify voters of errors with ballots or allow them to fix them. In a letter before the April 23 primary election, the ACLU advised the southwestern county that the decision raised serious constitutional procedural due process concern(s), pointing to a U.S. Supreme Court case. Letters such as this one often precede litigation, as was the case in Butler County, and Washington County leadership said they expected the decision would result in a lawsuit. County election directors have anticipated more litigation on ballot curing procedures, often expressing frustration that it seems as though no matter what policy they adopt allowing or not allowing curing some group will be unhappy and sue. It's not going to increase public confidence in elections if we have groups suing over portions of the code which have already been litigated, Mercer County Elections Director Thad Hall said. Counties that dont allow curing, like Mercer, generally have based that decision on their county attorneys legal finding that the states Election Code gives no clearly defined authority to do so. Its nothing malicious, Hall said. It's just that we don't have a curing law. Hall said that those looking to change policy should lobby the legislature to clarify the law. He said he thinks litigation that aims to force counties to adopt notice and cure procedures may have an unintended, opposite effect if groups object to a certain kind of curing policy. Counties may very well say, Well, you wont allow us to have the curing that we want, so were not going to do any curing, he said. More: ACLU sues York County, alleging public wasn't allowed to witness the canvass of votes Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org. BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA election: ACLU lawsuit tests counties' mail-in ballot rules She had a simple job at a complex trial: Read a mans damning words. Not just any man, of course. The Twitter posts on the bright courtroom screens at Donald Trumps New York trial last Friday were the thoughtless intimidation tactics of the first American president to face criminal charges, in a fight that could alter the course of world history. The task fell to Georgia Longstreet, a tall, unassuming 24-year-old who walks into court every morning impeccably dressed. She and her two fellow paralegals show up half an hour before the prosecution team, lugging in binders of evidence and prepping for the seven-hour battle ahead. Longstreet had been monitoring Trumps social media for the past year and a half, and now prosecutors wanted jurors to hear those rants and the way he used his massively popular accountsto deny having affairs, to insult the woman whose silence he bought, and to intimidate a lawyer who flipped on him. Bootlicking Trial Crashers Prove This Is All a Joke to Trump On a Friday morning in May, Longstreet took the witness stand to be questioned by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Mangold about those posts. What handle is used? Mangold asked. @RealDonaldTrump, Longstreet said, referring to his Truth Social account. And what is the date and timestamp on this? August 4, 2023 at 4:16 p.m., Longstreet responded. Can you please read the content of the post to the jury? If you go after me, I am coming after you. The brief courtroom silence that followed only seemed to underscore the menacing tone of the post by a former commander-in-chief. Its a Bad Week to Be Named Michael Cohen. Trust Me, I Know. The inevitable made-for-TV rendition of this trial will give all the best lines to prosecutors like Investigation Division Chief Susan Hoffinger, whose booming voice fills the room, or bespectacled Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, whose nasal tone gives every speech an air of indignation. Trumps own online tantrums will stand as the record of his true feelingsparticularly if he decides not to testify next week. And Longstreets deadpan recitation of his Twitter and Truth Social posts will be a key, if small, part of the effort to convict him. The reading was only part of Longstreets performance. She also held her own against Trumps lead defense lawyerusing subtle body language and a hint of defiance to communicate to jurors that every counterargument was nothing more than a sideshow. Good morning again, Ms. Longstreet, Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who is defending Trump in cases across the country, said on May 10 after Mangolds second time questioning her was done. How are you? Good. How are you? she responded dismissively. We spoke last Fridaycorrect? We did. Donald Trump with his lawyer Todd Blanche Mike Segar/Getty By this point, the jury had already been shown how the National Enquirer had schemed in 2016 to pay off ex-Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels to keep them from dishing about their sexual affairs with Trump ahead of the election. Jurors had viewed the text messages and emails setting up the hush money deals, heard about the way former Trump confidant Michael Cohen had fronted $130,000 for the second woman, and they would soon see faked invoices for non-existent legal work that resulted in Trump signing reimbursement checks in 2017from the White House no less. But the panel could use some crucial context to explain why a raunchy sex scandal would be a coup de grace to the Trump campaign, and what would make him so desperate to save face with American women. The answer was obvious to any American who remembered how Trump publicly denied sexually harassing women and made up excuses after the leak of the Access Hollywood tape showed him gloating how hed grab em by the pussy. But in a trial, all the evidence that connects the dots needs to be formally entered into the record, which meant someone needed to read Trumps social posts under oath. And Longstreet was the perfect choice. I believe you testified last week, but correct me if I am wrong, that you reviewed thousands of tweets and Truths as part of your work on this case? Blanche asked her. I did, she said, answering like someone whos already wrapped up an annoying chore. The Vilification of Michael Cohen Paralegals always stay in the shadows. Attorneys get the glory while they get the grunt work. Rarely do they get hauled onto the witness stand. But now all eyes were on Longstreet as Blanche tried to suggest some kind of equivalency between an ex-presidents menacing comments with trolling by Cohen and Daniels on social media. Longstreet was not going to take the bait. So youre still not reviewing Mr. Cohens TikTok? Blanche asked. Not currently, no, she responded, utterly unamused. After some more back-and-forth, Blanche asked, Now, going back briefly to the social media that you reviewed, were you also tasked with reviewing Ms. Daniels social media over the last couple of years? Yes, she said in a tone that conveyed, Yeah so? And are you continuing to review it during this trial? Yes, she reiterated. For a little over 10 minutes, she answered every question from Blanche with a tinge of up-speak and the hint of a raised eyebrow. Her vocal fry only emphasized what came off as disdain. It wasnt her first face-off with Blanche. The previous week he had also questioned her. The straightforward answers in the court transcripts hide her sardonic tone. In that go-round, Longstreet actually drew courtroom laughs when her voice seemed to say what was on everyones mind: Cohen might be the DAs key witness but the guy who managed to rebrand himself from Trumps loyal henchman into his mortal enemy isnt exactly a likable person. Have you reviewed Michael Cohens TikTok? Blanche asked. Not really, no. Blanche later turned to Cohens burgeoning anti-Trump media project: And have you listened to all of the Mea Culpa podcasts? Absolutely not, she shot back, with the courtroom erupting in laughter. Anthony Scaramucci: How Dems Can Steal the Thunder at Trumps Trial Each time she wrapped up her testimony, Longstreet would snake her way back to the crowded desk at the far right end of the courtroom. A small dark tattoo at her wrist peeked out from behind a formal suit jacket sleeve as she nervously bit her fingers and took occasional swigs from her pink water bottle. Of all the characters who have sat in the witness chair at this trialdisgraced media executive David Pecker, sleazy celebrity lawyer Keith Davidson, Trump White House alumni Hope Hicks and Madeleine WesterhoutLongstreet was the only one whose testy demeanor treated this trial for what it is: a long overdue process the nation needs to slog through to figure out whats next. Longstreet, who grew up in New Jersey, is working through that too, according to a person who knows her. The recent Rutgers University gradshe majored in criminal justice with double minors in political science and sociologyis coming up on two years at the DAs office. A source says a future in prosecution is definitely not off the table. 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. PARSKLEY, Va. (WAVY) The Accomack County Sheriffs Office is warning residents of a scam letter, deputies said. If residents received a letter from the Parksley Town Council requesting donations of any kind, deputies warn that this isnt from the town and is a scam. Residents can report this to Accomack County Sheriffs Office at 757-787-1131 or Virginia State Police at 757-787-5813. 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. An auto-rickshaw driver drinks water as he takes a break in New Delhi, India, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Swathes of northwest India sweltered under scorching temperatures on Saturday, with the capital New Delhi under a severe weather alert as extreme temperatures strike parts of the country. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly) NEW DELHI (AP) Parts of northwest India sweltered under scorching temperatures on Saturday, with the capital New Delhi under a severe weather alert as extreme temperatures strike parts of the country. India's weather department expects heat wave conditions to persist across the north for the next few days, and has put several states on high alert. On Friday, parts of New Delhi reported up to 47.1 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit). The nearby states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan also saw temperatures soar and are likely to stay high over the next few days, said Soma Sen Roy, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department. Roy cautioned people against going outdoors under the afternoon sun, drink lots of water and wear loose-fitting clothes while those who are especially vulnerable like the elderly should stay indoors. The extreme temperatures in northern India coincide with a 6-week-long general election, with experts worried that the heat wave could increase health risks as people wait in long lines to cast their vote or candidates campaign aggressively in the outdoors. One minister fainted due to heat last month while addressing an election rally in Maharashtra state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as his main challenger, Rahul Gandhi of the opposition Congress Party, are expected to hold rallies in New Delhi later on Saturday, as the city heads to the polls on May 25. Satish Kumar, a 57-year-old rickshaw driver in the capital, said his work was suffering because of the heat. People are not coming outside, (markets) are nearly empty, he said. Pravin Kamath, a 28-year-old who runs a cart selling cold drinks, complained that it was so hot he could hardly stand being outdoors. But I must work. What can I do? I am poor so I have to do it. The main summer months April, May and June are always hot in most parts of India before monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures. But the heat has become more intense in the past decade and is usually accompanied by severe water shortages, with tens of millions of India's 1.4 billion people lacking running water. A study by World Weather Attribution, an academic group that examines the source of extreme heat, found that a searing heat wave in April that struck parts of Asia was made at least 45 times more likely in some parts of the continent by climate change. Climate experts say extreme heat in South Asia during the pre-monsoon season is becoming more frequent and the study found that extreme temperatures are now about 0.85 C (1.5 F) hotter in the region because of climate change. At least 28 heat-related deaths were reported in Bangladesh, as well as five in India in April. Surges in heat deaths have also been reported in Thailand and the Philippines this year, according to the study. Extreme heat is fast becoming a public health crisis in India, with more than 150 people dying last year during heat waves. The government estimates nearly 11,000 people have died during heat waves this century, yet experts say such figures are likely a vast undercount. slobo / iStock.com For many shoppers, Costco is more than just a one-stop shop for all things home goods, groceries, health and wellness, pet care and even car gear its a way of life. Whether they make bi-weekly trips to help keep a large family fed or a once-a-month pilgrimage to load up on essentials like toilet paper, vitamins or canned goods that keep a single-person household running, Costco shoppers are a devoted group devoted to great products and saving money. Find Out: The Single Best Thing To Buy at Costco When Youre on an Extra Tight Budget Read More: How To Get $340 Per Year in Cash Back on Gas and Other Things You Already Buy Even the most committed Costco members can sometimes find themselves on the hunt for new items to obsess over. 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Costco Kirkland Signature 100% Colombian Coffee, Dark Roast, 3 Pounds Whats even better than starting your day with the perfect cup of dark roast? Knowing youll have more than enough left over for your afternoon java needs. Costco offers three pounds of this rich, luxurious dark roast for only $15.49. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 50 Top Purchases at Costco in 2024 And How Much They Cost Training on the Patriot air defence system, which Germany has agreed to supply to Ukraine, has commenced. Source: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius after a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas in Berlin, as reported by European Pravda, citing Germany's Defence Ministry Details: Pistorius highlighted Germany's current contribution to supporting Ukraine. The official stressed that Germany would supply Ukraine with another Patriot system and that training of Ukrainian specialist personnel for this purpose had already begun. Pistorius added that Germany is also supplying Ukraine with IRIS-T systems, Gepard anti-aircraft systems and artillery ammunition. The German minister noted that Germany supports the long-term strengthening of Ukraine's air defence within the framework of the German-led Missile and Air Defence Coalition. Background: On 13 April, Germany announced the urgent transfer of one Patriot air defence missile system to Ukraine. This will be the third system provided by Germany. Bloomberg reported that Berlin is urging Washington to provide Ukraine with another Patriot air defence system. Bloomberg further noted that the United States was considering such a possibility. Support UP or become our patron! Penn. Man Charged with Murder of Roommate Whose Body Parts Were Found Scattered in 3 Different Locations Joshua Moser allegedly admitted to killing David Hittinger by strangling and hitting him with a hammer in his basement NBC Philadelphia The home were David Hittinger was allegedly murdered by his roommate, Joshua Moser A Pennsylvania man was arrested after his roommates body was found dismembered and scattered across three different locations. Police said David Hittingers remains were discovered in a trail, cemetery and quarry in Slatington, according to CBS News. In a news conference, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said that some of the body parts were located in garbage bags at Slatingtons Fairview Cemetery, while others were found along the D&L Trail and at a quarry off of Welshtown Road in Washington Township, according to WSYX, an ABC affiliate. Authorities began to search for Hittinger, 37, after a friend of his called state police to report him missing, CBS News reported. He had not been heard of in an unusual amount of time, per Holihan given that it was his birthday. The investigation began in the early afternoon of Monday, May 13, though Hittinger had allegedly not been seen by friends or heard from since Saturday, May 11, around 7 p.m. local time, per NBC News. After some digging, the search led investigators to Hittingers roommate, Joshua Moser, and his home, where the victim had recently moved in. State troopers executed a search warrant at the home and say they found evidence including hair and a large quantity of blood that connected Moser, 33, to the victim, according to CBS News and NBC News. Holihan said the evidence included a saw, a boxcutter, more evidence of blood, including bloody clothing," CBS News reported. Investigators also noted that Mosers basement had been hastily staged to conceal the blood, per NBC News. 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. Moser was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, abuse of corpse and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence, NBC News reported. While in police custody, he allegedly admitted to killing Hittinger by strangling him and hitting his head with a hammer in his basement, according to WSYX and NBC News. Authorities have not yet given an official cause of death or motive for the alleged murder. Pennsylvania Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. It was not clear if Moser has legal representation to comment on his behalf. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format) will take place on 20 May. Source: the Pentagon Details: Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary of Defense, and Charles Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will represent the US Department of Defense during the meeting. This will be the 22nd meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group since the group was created in April 2022. The meeting will bring together defence ministers and heads of defence departments from nearly 50 countries to continue coordinating the provision of equipment Ukraine needs to defend its sovereign territory. Previously: The 21st meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group took place on 26 April. Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary of Defense, announced following the meeting that the US would give Ukraine US$6 billion in military aid as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). During that same meeting, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the situation on the front was "tending towards escalation". Support UP or become our patron! People injured in Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts because of Russian attack On Saturday, Russian troops attacked the border settlements in Sumy Oblast 46 times, injuring a local resident. In addition, a man was injured in Chernihiv Oblast. Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration; Viacheslav Chaus, the Head of Chernihiv Oblast Military Administration on Telegram Details: As of 21:00 (Kyiv time), the Russians have attacked the border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast 46 times. 284 explosions were recorded. A local resident was injured in Esman hromada as a result of one of the mortar attacks (hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories). On Saturday afternoon, the Russians attacked a village in Semenivka hromada in Chernihiv Oblast. A local resident, about 59, was injured in the attack. Support UP or become our patron! From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch The political problem of our age is not knowing whom to trust. A superb little example is the story the New York Times published on Thursday about Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. The Times revealed that an upside-down American flag was flown outside the Alito home on January 17, 2021, shortly after the insurrection at the Capitol and shortly before Joe Bidens inauguration. A contemporaneous email sent by a neighbor claimed that the flag had been like that for several days. Multiple eyewitnesses assured the paper that it happened. The Times even snagged a photo from one. Flying the flag upside-down is a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property under the U.S. Flag Code but its been adopted by some as an expression of urgent political dissent. Notably, it popped up a lot among Stop the Steal fanatics after the 2020 election. Last night two different Dispatch colleagues reported seeing it flown commonly in Trumpy areas where they lived around January 6. There are photos of it being carried by the rioters outside the Capitol that day. And there it was, around the same time, in front of Sam Alitos house. Surprisingly, the justice himself confirmed the basics of the story for the Times. The upside-down flag had been there, he admittedbut observers had mistaken its meaning. I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag, he insisted. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. Whom do you trust here? Should you trust anyone? Do you trust Alitos neighbors? Lord knows what sort of bitter grudges might be distorting their accounts of the context surrounding the flying of that flag. Alito went on to write the majority opinion when the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, of course, a fact of which his pro-choice neighbors are no doubt keenly aware. If they interpreted the upside-down flag as a symbol of solidarity with the January 6 insurrection, its strange that they didnt think to mention it to reporters at the time. And if, as the Times claims, they kept quiet back then due to fear of reprisals, why arent they similarly fearful now? Do you trust the Times? Its verrrry curious that reporting on this three-year-old incident has conveniently emerged just as the Supreme Court is considering former President Donald Trumps claims of absolute immunity for his actions in trying to overturn the election. Our liberal media might be trying to preemptively discredit the courts forthcoming decision, expecting that it wont reject Trumps arguments as emphatically as it might. Perhaps the Times is even hoping to pressure Alito into recusing himself belatedly. Do you trust the partisan spin on either side? For the left, still bristling at Alito over the end of Roe, this story will slot easily into their case that the courts conservative majority is teeming with activist Republican hacks. For the right, grateful to Alito for a career thats produced numerous conservative wins, the story will be a hysterical overreaction to an ambiguous act thats obviously been contrived to discredit the justice and his jurisprudence. Needless to say, had the same set of facts involved a liberal judge and a slightly different flag, the partisan takes would instantly reverse. How about Sam Alito? Do you trust him? I dont. Although thats not entirely his fault. Its partly his fault. His explanation for how the flag ended up flying in front of his home makes little sense. He elaborated on what he told the Times in an interview with Fox News Shannon Bream on Friday. According to Alito, a neighbor had posted a sign that read F Trump within 50 feet of a school bus stop. When Martha-Ann Alito complained, the neighbor put up another sign accusing her of complicity in the January 6 attack somehow. One day the Alitos encountered someone who lived in the same home and he ended up cursing them out during the argument that ensued, even calling Mrs. Alito the C-word, her husband alleged. Thats when she decided to fly the upside-down flag. Ive never heard of that symbol being used as an expression of general anger. Itd be like burning a flag in your front yard and, when asked what youre protesting, replying, Nothing. I just hate my neighbor and want to annoy him. Its a weirdly political way to express personal antipathy. The most charitable interpretation of why Mrs. Alito did what she did is that she had no idea that the upside-down flag had become a symbol of Stop the Steal among right-wingers at the time. She was antagonized by the F Trump sign she saw but probably felt that she couldnt respond in kind with a F Biden sign lest that make trouble politically for her husband. So she chose the more debatable message of the distress flag instead. Its possible. But it would be quite the coinkydink if one of the most powerful conservative couples in America resorted to this symbol purely by chance at the very moment it was being popularized by insurrection sympathizers. What a stroke of bad luck for the Alitos. Another charitable interpretation is that Mrs. Alito was spitefully mocking the man who accused her of supporting the insurrection. Imagine Sonia Sotomayor responding to an angry neighbor who had called her a communist by running the upside-down flag up her houses flagpole. The same mischievous logic gripped Mrs. Alito, perhaps: You think Im anti-American, you jerk? Fine, heres the insurrection flag for you. People do foolish things in the heat of the moment when theyre angry. But it wasnt just a moment, was it? According to the Times source, the flag stayed up for days. And unless you believe the Alitos were blissfully unaware of its meaning among the populist right circa January 2021, its astoundingly terrible judgment on their part to have embraced the symbol even for the limited purpose of mockery. There would be no good explanation for a Supreme Court justice to burn a flag in his front yard, even if his intentions werent anti-American. Same here. To return to the Sotomayor hypothetical, no one on the American right would believe that a left-wing justice had flown a distress flag purely to spite a neighbor. At best, Republicans would treat it as a case of kidding on the square: The flag might have been displayed as a goof on the hyperbole of a neighbor, but to display something as offensive as that over your homeeven in jestyoud need to be more comfortable with giving offense than you should be. The same goes for the Alitos and their own distress flag. And so we arrive at Occams razor. The simplest explanation for all this is that Mrs. Alito, or both Alitos, sincerely sympathized with Trumps claims about an unfair election. They refrained from expressing those sympathies so as not to call the justices impartiality into question, but their anger at being harassed by their neighbors lowered their inhibitions. They flew the flag upside-down because they supported the political cause that it represented. Alitos account to Shannon Bream of what happened doesnt really pretend otherwise. The point of his version of events is less that his and his wifes intentions were innocent than that their left-wing neighbors are terrible, vulgar people. Dont focus on the bad thing we did, he seems to be telling conservatives, focus on the bad things the libs did to us. That type of damage control is very Trumpy in spirit. So, yes, its partly his fault that I dont trust him in this matter. But only partly. Not long ago, it would have been ridiculous to accuse the spouse of a Supreme Court justice of agitating for a coup. But its not so ridiculous anymore, is it? The shadow hanging over the Alitos is, of course, that of Clarence Thomas wife, Virginia. Flying an upside-down flag over ones home could plausibly be an innocuous gesture mistaken by bystanders as something sinister. What Ginny Thomas did following the 2020 election cant be mistaken for anything but earnest insurrectionism. Thats the lens through which the Times story is being viewed, perhaps unfairly but unavoidably. If one Supreme Court justice is in bed (literally!) with a coup-supporter, why wouldnt two be? If Virginia Thomas cares so little for her husbands and the courts reputation that she would undertake political activity destined to damage both once it was found out, why wouldnt Martha-Ann Alito? For a radical like Mrs. Thomas, diminished respect for the court might be a necessary evil of her political project. However ambivalent she might be about seeing her spouse and his place of business viewed suspiciously due to her activities, shaking the publics faith in institutions is what populism is all about. The less both parties trust the judiciary, the easier itll be for her party to justify ignoring adverse court rulings when necessary going forward. Its always been hard to believe that she did what she did after the 2020 election without the knowledge, and at least tacit support, of her husband. Its likewise hard to believe that Sam Alito didnt notice the upside-down flag flying outside his home for days or, if he did, that he didnt understand what it might represent. Irrespective of the political context, one would think a Supreme Court justice would move instantly to distance himself from a strange, disrespectful public display of the stars and stripes. But he didnt, it appears. Why not? Maybe he and his wife deserve the benefit of the doubt. Thanks to the Thomases, they cant have it. But not just the Thomases. The reason the Times report on the Alitos hit anti-Trumpers so hard is because it distilled the brazenness of MAGA fanaticism since the insurrection. Weve all come to accept, however uneasily, that true-believing populist radicalism long ago migrated up from the grassroots to the tippy top of the conservative establishment, even infecting the home of Justice Clarence Thomas. Yet the spectacle of a Stop the Steal symbol flying proudly in front the Alito home after January 6 raises the possibility that theres no longer any shame in associating with it, even among the rights leading intellectual lights. Including those who are duty-bound to place fidelity to the constitutional order above Donald Trumps desires. Its a microcosm of how conservatives accommodation of post-liberalism is happening in plain sight. The results of this years primary made that clear, but its worth remembering how recent it was that conservatives would scoff whenever anxious nerds like me wrung our hands about authoritarianism. Days after the 2020 election, figures like Mick Mulvaney were still insisting that Trump would concede gracefully. Eminent pundits like Ross Douthat declared in October of that year that there would be no Trump coup. In mid-November, in a story about Republicans starting to line up behind the presidents rigged election nonsense, the Washington Post printed this infamous quote from a senior Republican official: What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change. You dont hear much scoffing anymore. But why would you? Trumps illiberal plan for a second term is happening in plain sight. Time magazine summarized the takeaways from its recent interview with him this way: He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesnt carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from Americas founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasnt paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen. On Friday, no less than nine sources who are helping to prepare Trumps agenda for a second term confessed to Reuters that he aims to turn the Department of Justice into an attack dog for conservative causes. The plan has two parts, they eagerly explained. First: Flood the Justice Department with stalwart conservatives unlikely to say no to controversial orders from the White House. Second: Restructure the department so key decisions are concentrated in the hands of administration loyalists rather than career bureaucrats. Trump has been babbling about retribution on the campaign trail for more than a year. He salutes at rallies when a musical tribute to the insurrectionists is played. He makes no pretense that hell allow the criminal cases against him to continue if hes reelected. Lately, hes made his demagoguery of the justice system thats trying to hold him accountable a true Republican team effort by having respectable members of his party show up at the courthouse and join in the fun. This is all happening in plain sight. Its why, I suspect, Democrats have had such a hard time believing that Trump really is leading in the polls. It would be one thing if he were pretending to be a subdued, sober politician whod seen the error of his ways and vowed to uphold the rule of law in a second term, but he isnt. Hes flying his freak flag more brazenly than ever. The country is prepared to reelect him anyway. If it does, hell draw the appropriate lessons. Joe Bidens theory of the election at the moment is that Americans havent fully awakened yet to the likelihood of a second Trump presidency or what it would entail. Once they do, the polls will move. But that theory loses credibility day by day, as Trump patiently and relentlessly goes about making his intentions clear. Maybe the electorate is oblivious, like Justice Alito was oblivious to an insurrectionist symbol flying in his front yard. Or maybe each simply warmed up to the new reality of what it means to be right-wing in America. Our friend David French reminded his readers today of one of Jonah Goldbergs most famous columns, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers piece from March 2016. It was written just as Trump was locking up the Republican presidential nomination for the first time. The influence of ascendant MAGA populism on conservatives whom hed known for years wasnt merely profound, Jonah wrote. It was eerie. He described the change his way: Someone you know or love goes to sleep one night and appears the next day to be the exact same person you always knew Except theyre different, somehow. They talk funny. They dont care about the same things they used to. That was eight years ago. By now, every person reading this has had extensive personal experience with the phenomenon he observed. Its happened again and again, in plain sight. That experience is inescapable context for the reaction to the Times story. Maybe the Alitos are getting a bad rap about the flag. Maybe the justice is prepared to thwart Trumps unconstitutional ambitions in a second term. Or maybe another body is on its way to being snatched. Why should the Supreme Court be immune from to an ideological virus thats convinced right-wingers that vindicating Americas constitutional vision requires empowering Donald Trump? Until the body-snatcher era ends, no one who shows evidence of having been snatched gets the benefit of the doubt. Not at the bottom of the conservative movement and not at the top either. 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. Poland to spend around $2.5 billion on securing eastern border, says PM FILE PHOTO: Polish PM Tusk, President of the EU Council President Michel and Prime Ministers of Estonia, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain meet in Warsaw WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will invest 10 billion zlotys ($2.55 billion) in a programme to secure its eastern border, the prime minister said on Saturday, in a bid to bolster its defences against what it says is a rising threat from Russia and Belarus. Poland's border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021, after Minsk, a close Russian ally, opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe - a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, relations have become even tenser, with Warsaw ramping up defence spending and accusing Minsk and Moscow of attempts to destabilise Poland. "We have decided to invest 10 billion zlotys in our security, and above all in a secure eastern border," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference. "We are starting a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications as well as landscaping and environmental decisions that will make this border impossible to pass for a potential enemy." Tusk did not give further details of what kinds of fortifications would be built. The previous government built a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border that was over 180 km long and 5.5 metres high, to protect against illegal migration. It is complemented by a system of cameras and sensors monitoring the frontier. Tusk had announced plans to strengthen the eastern border earlier in May, but without giving details. Tusk also said that he would speak with the European Investment Bank on Monday about financing of 500 million zlotys for the satellite component of the European Sky Shield Initiative. The European Sky Shield Initiative is a common air defence scheme set up by Germany in 2022 to boost European air defence. Tusk has compared it to Israel's Iron Dome system. ($1 = 3.9157 zlotys) (Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Police to be given new powers to shut down pro-Palestinian protests Officials are drawing amends to the Public Order Act which allow processions to be banned and public assemblies to be restricted - DAN KITWOOD/GETTY Police will be given new powers to shut down pro-Palestinian protests, under plans being considered by the Home Office. Officials are drawing up a series of ways to amend sections of the Public Order Act which allows processions to be banned and public assemblies to be restricted. It comes as an official review by Lord Walney, the Governments independent adviser on political violence and disruption, is due to be published this week. The report will contain a series of recommendations for ministers on how to clamp down on the activities of hard-Left groups which have a policy of conducting criminal acts. The head of the Met police, Sir Mark Rowley, has faced calls to quit after officers threatened to arrest an openly Jewish man during a pro-Palestine rally. Scotland Yard has endured repeated criticism over pro-Palestinian marches, which have become regular weekend events in central London and have been criticised for displays of anti-Semitism. Earlier this year, the Home Offices independent adviser on extremism said that pro-Palestinian protests are turning London into a no-go zone for Jews. There have also been concerns about the cost of policing such large-scale protests, with hundreds of officers diverted from their duties in other parts of London. Now James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, and Chris Philp, the police minister, are looking at ways to amend the Public Order Act to empower officers to refuse permission for such marches to go ahead. James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, is looking at ways to amend the Public Order Act - VICTORIA JONES/PA Currently section 12 of the Act, police may take into account the relative cumulative disruption of a protest when deciding whether to prevent it from going ahead. This section of the Act is now under active consideration, The Telegraph understands, with Home Office officials focussing on tightening up the definition of what this can include. In particular, they are looking at the disruption faced by some members of the Jewish community who feel unsafe going into central London while the marches are taking place, as well as the cost to the Met and the public safety aspect whereby officers are redeployed from Londons outer boroughs to be on duty for the demonstrations. Another aspect of the act under consideration is to define disruption more widely than merely physical obstruction. This would allow police officers to take into account the broader disturbance to Londoners as a result of regular marches, such as the impact of businesses, tourism and pedestrians. Gideon Falter, chief executive of the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAAS), who was threatened with arrest last month for being openly Jewish, has held a series of meetings with Home Office and Downing Street officials in recent weeks to discuss the issue of policing the protests. Mr Falter said that policing of the pro-Palestinian protests has been a shambles, with practically nothing done to restrict them. He added: For over seven months, Sir Mark has claimed that he requires additional legal powers to curtail the marches even though the law already plainly gives him the powers he needs. To break the deadlock, we have turned to the Government to issue clarifications to the Public Order Act that give the Met nowhere to hide. These weekly takeovers of central London must be brought to an end and this move will make it completely undeniable that the Met has both the power and the duty to act. CAAS has also called on the Home Secretary to proscribe various organisations including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iran-backed Houthis to give officers the ability to tackle the dangerous glorification of terrorism that we have repeatedly seen on these marches. The Public Order Act was amended by the then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman in 2022 to curb the activities of eco-protesters such as Just Stop Oil. The changes, which came into force last year, allowed secretaries of state to apply for injunctions in the public interest, where protests are causing or threatening serious disruption or a serious adverse impact on public safety. Other changes included a definition of serious disruption and a range of new policing powers and offences such as updated powers to stop and search. A Home Office spokesperson said: The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, but there are clear concerns about the cumulative impact protests are having on some of our communities which we are looking at. All communities should be able to go about their daily lives without fear. We have been clear with the police that they must use all the powers available to them to police protests appropriately and will always have our backing in doing so. We thank the Campaign Against Antisemitism for their proposals and we will be looking closely at them alongside Lord Walneys recommendations which will be published this week. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. 12875116 / iStock.com When youre planning to buy a home, there are some cities that everyone who isnt rich knows to scratch off their short list before they even call a real estate agent. When people think of expensive real estate markets, cities like New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles often come to mind, said Juan Cava, real estate investor and CEO of Cash for Your Home. However, in recent years, several other cities across the United States have seen a surge in home prices, making them surprisingly costly for potential buyers. Read Next: Im a Real Estate Agent: 3 States Where You Should Sell Your Property in the Next 5 Years Find Out: 4 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money A confluence of factors has conspired to put the following cities mostly out of reach for average middle-class homeowners. Although these locations arent yet infamous for their prohibitive housing costs, theres a good chance you can no longer afford them. When reading, keep in mind that the national average home price is $358,734. Jennifer_Sharp / Getty Images/iStockphoto Boise, Idaho Boises small-town charm might give you the impression that it doesnt come with big-city housing costs. There was a time when that was true, but today, buyers have to dig deep. Once considered an affordable alternative to the bustling West Coast cities, Boise has experienced a significant real estate boom, Cava said. The citys attractive quality of life, coupled with an influx of remote workers and retirees, has driven demand sky-high. As a result, home prices have soared, making Boise one of the more expensive markets in the country. The average home value in Boise is nearly $490,000. Check Out: 9 Major US Cities Where Buying a Home Is Surprisingly Cheap Learn More: Dont Buy a House in These 5 US Cities That Have Shrinking Populations and Fewer Buyers Jonathan Ross / Getty Images/iStockphoto Nashville, Tennessee According to Business Insider, the population of Nashville grew by 20% between 2010 and 2020 and all that new demand means Tennessees capital no longer provides a respite from expensive cities on the coast. Nashvilles popularity as a cultural and economic hub has led to a rapid increase in housing costs, Cava said. The citys thriving music and healthcare industries attract a steady stream of newcomers. This demand, combined with limited housing inventory, has caused home prices to climb, making Nashville surprisingly expensive for homebuyers. The average home there now costs $441,700. For You: 5 Types of Homes That Will Plummet in Value in 2024 Mark Howard / Getty Images/iStockphoto Raleigh, North Carolina Like Nashville, Raleigh once offered a break from the burdensome prices of Northeastern cities, but according to CNBC and SmartAsset, its now one of the 25 most expensive cities in America. Story continues Raleigh is another city where home prices have risen more than expected, Cava said. He also mentioned the regions Research Triangle, which churns out high-paying jobs in a dynamic economy. The influx of tech jobs and educational institutions has made it a hotspot for young professionals and families, Cava said. This demand, along with limited housing availability, has caused home prices to increase significantly, surprising many potential buyers. The average home in North Carolinas capital city now costs $444,456. DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto San Bernardino, California Located east of Los Angeles, San Bernardino saw generations of buyers flock there to escape the suffocating cost of Americas second-largest city, but the deals are getting hard to find. Often overshadowed by its more famous neighbors, the city has experienced sharp price hikes in housing, said real estate lawyer David J. Greiner, president of Greiner Law Corp. Zillow reports that the average home value increased by 8% over the last year alone and that was hardly an anomaly. Data indicate that the median home price has surged by double-digit percentages over the past few years, driven by people moving inland for more affordable options, which ironically, are becoming less affordable, Greiner said. The average home in San Bernardino now costs over $485,000. Jacob Boomsma / Getty Images/iStockphoto Colorado Springs, Colorado Like San Bernardino, Colorado Springs was long a more affordable alternative to a bigger, more expensive adjacent city. But similarly, relentless demand sent prices soaring. Although not as pricey as nearby Denver, Colorado Springs has seen substantial growth in home prices, said Colten Claus, a Realtor and associate broker at 8z Real Estate. The citys appeal for its scenic beauty, outdoor activities and lower cost of living relative to Denver has attracted many new residents, pushing up property values. The average home value in Colorado Springs is $459,076. Read More: Im a Real Estate Agent: Buy Property in These 5 Fast-Growing Cities To Be Rich in 5 Years DianeBentleyRaymond / Getty Images Bozeman, Montana For those of you who are considering leaving the big city for Big Sky Country, the secrets out on Bozeman and the price is sky-high. Several experts who spoke with GOBankingRates mentioned the Montana city of 56,000, where the average home now costs roughly $750,000, which is approaching notoriously expensive cities like Seattle. According to the Bozeman Real Estate Group, the median home price there nearly doubled in the last six years. Familiar culprits helped steer the trend inventory is tight and the cost of development is high but one factor weighs heavier than all the rest. A flood of out-of-state money supercharged competition and gobbled up scant housing supply as the pandemic-era shift to remote work allowed people to earn a living from anywhere because when anywhere is an option, Bozemans famous quality of life is hard to resist. All average home prices are from Zillow. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 US Cities Where Buying a Home Is Surprisingly Expensive A police investigation into a former Boeing manager who raised questions about safety at the company and was found dead after giving depositions concluded Friday, with law enforcement saying their findings point to the manager having taken his own life. John Barnett, 62, was found dead on March 9. He was a longtime Boeing quality-control manager until he retired in 2017. Since retiring, Barnett shared his concerns about Boeing with reporters. He shared details about the manufacturing process, and things employees or the company did that could cause wiring or oxygen issues on the aircraft, The Associated Press reported. He was in Charleston, S.C., answering questions for depositions when he was found dead. His death caused controversy since it came after his whistleblower complaint, but police said his injuries were self-inflicted. More than 25,000 people signed a petition calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Barnetts death, along with the death of Joshua Dean, another Boeing whistleblower, who died after contracting a bacterial infection. John was deeply concerned about the safety of the aircraft and flying public, and had identified some serious defects that he felt were not adequately addressed, his brother, Rodney, said in a family statement after his death. He said that Boeing had a culture of concealment and was putting profits over safety. Boeing said in a statement that it is saddened by Mr. Barnetts passing and their thoughts are with his family and friends. Boeing has denied Barnetts claims, but his allegations come as the company is facing increased scrutiny following a series of mishaps, including a door panel blowing off mid-flight. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Police respond to possible rescue on Marquam Bridge during evening commute PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Authorities responded to a possible rescue on the lower deck of the Interstate 5 Marquam Bridge in Portland Friday evening, according to Portland police. Officers arrived at the scene of the northbound lane just before 4 p.m. in the middle of rush hour traffic. It is not clear how long the police presence will last. Jesse Lee Calhoun, accused serial killer, indicted in murder of three local women in 2023 Officers told KOIN 6 News were not sure whether the man they are seeking is in crisis, but that they are approaching it as if he could be. However, by 5 p.m., they talked to the man, determining he was no longer in a crisis and left the area. At that time, all traffic lanes were reopened with no additional delays. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Problem-Oriented Policing, also known as POP is a new concept brought in this year to the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas to help make the area a safer place. Our POP team is really developing those partnerships and friendships and relationships to major stakeholders here on Fremont Street, Chief Jason Potts of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department told 8 News Now. Chief Potts with the Department of Public Safety said he is thrilled to see the progress of this new team. It is located at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department substation on Fremont Street, he said since its debut last fall, there has been a drop in crime in the area. We havent had a shooting in 18 months down here and I just talked to Captain Seely of the Downtown Area Command and violent crime is down along with armed robberies, Chief Potts added. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments Problem-Oriented Policing, also known as POP is a new concept brought in this year to the Fremont Street Experience to help make the area a safer place. (KLAS) On Friday, 8 News Now had the opportunity to walk along Fremont Street to get a feel for what the POP team does. The teams main focus as of now is on the homeless crisis downtown and making sure people find the proper resources to get them off the streets. I was familiar with the issues as a civilian but now seeing it from a police lens, theres an array of crime that takes place here. Fremont Street is a magnet for nefarious activities, Deputy City Marshal and POP team member, Janelle Mazza shared. Director of Security at The Plaza Hotel & Casino Gil Chavez shared a statement with 8 News Now. We believe the new substation has had a very positive impact. Since it opened, we have seen response time improve significantly, and more personnel, both Marshals and LVMPD, are on active patrols on and near the Plaza. We also appreciate the greater communication and collaboration that the substation has fostered, he said. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments Problem-Oriented Policing, also known as POP is a new concept brought in this year to the Fremont Street Experience to help make the area a safer place. (KLAS) Circa Las Vegas, Vice President of Operations, John Fiato told 8 News Now he and his guests have noticed a better atmosphere downtown too. We deal with 24 million plus visitors a year on Fremont Street and the feedback Ive gotten from our guests is a positive one, Fiato shared. The visible presence of law enforcement has made our guests more comfortable. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. With the explosive growth in northeastern Polk County and throughout the county's unincorporated areas, more deputies will be needed to maintain public safety, the sheriff says. Over the next five years, Sheriff Grady Judd expects to add 125 more deputies, mostly in patrol cars. He oversaw the hiring of 25 last year. He says the deputies are needed because of the demand for deputies in public and private schools. Judd mentioned his agency's hiring push during the annual County Commission retreat in March. Scott Wilder, the sheriff's communications director, said the department first included the 25-deputy increase in its 2022-2023 budget, then again in 2023-2024, the current budget. The county of 800,000-plus residents is experiencing a historic low crime rate and that rate is also 45% lower than the rest of Floridas state average, Wilder said. The last available statewide crime rate data from FDLE was from 2021, which was 1.95 per 100 population, he said. For 2023, Polk's crime rate was 1.06 crimes per 100 population. Polk County sheriff's personnel say a prayer before leaving Bartow to help with Hurricane Idalia aftermath in Levy County in August. The Sheriff's Office hopes to add 25 deputies per year for the next five years to deal with explosive growth in Polk County. Population growth is driving the need to expand the force, including positions needed for the new district substation for Poinciana, which is expected to be built in the next year or so. As of May 6, 2024 we have 3 open positions (761 + 35 on stipend in the Law Enforcement Academy out of 799 allocation)," Scott Wilder, the sheriffs communications director, said in an email. We have 11 more approved to enter the academy and 141-plus in the hiring pool, Wilder said. The agency is offering new recruits several financial incentives. By July, the starting annual salary for a new deputy will go to $61,158, which is up from the current salary of $58,474. Also: There's a 100% scholarship for recruits who commit to attending the Kenneth C. Thompson Institute of Public Safety. There's a $3,000 per month stipend while attending the academy. A $2,000 bonus is offered for a current sworn law enforcement officer (in state and out). Moving allowance: $5,000 for out-of-state, $2,000 for in-state. State of Florida bonus: $5,000 for all law enforcement officers who come to a Florida agency from another state. Overall, law enforcement agencies are having a difficult time recruiting potential new officers in Florida and nationwide. Wilder said the anti-police narrative and defunding the police crowd are responsible for actively pushing a negative police narrative for several years. The national news media has amplified the negative police messaging, taking a few outrageous events and painting all law enforcement as villains, Wilder said. Locally, thankfully, our citizens and communities support law enforcement and law and order and we are not having that issue. He also said another reason the Polk County Sheriffs Office has not had the recruiting issues other agencies are experiencing is because of Judds high profile as a law and order, pro-law enforcement, hold criminals accountable, law enforcement executive. During Judds presentation to county administrators and commissioners at the retreat in March, he said the county is behind in infrastructure and personnel, according to the meeting minutes. In the past four years, Polk County has added an entire city the size of Lakeland, he said. The county has experienced a 15.5% growth rate. He added that there has been a 65% population increase since 2011. He said the unincorporated population will be 60% of the total population. Judd said the growth along the Interstate 4 corridor is one of the reasons his agency needs additional deputies. He said deputies are now responding to a higher number of calls at apartment complexes as urban areas become more densely populated. Further, with more visitors coming to Polk County every day as many as 15,000 visitors per day they are also driving up demand for public safety services. At the March retreat, Judd told county officials the good news is that his agency has 93 people in the law enforcement academies. Judd also said Polk Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid approached him concerning the Safe School Program and the need for a uniform system throughout the schools with one jurisdiction. North Lakeland shooting: Polk deputy 'fraction of an inch' from death after being shot by 'sovereign citizen' Judd said they added 54 deputies paid for by the Polk County School Board. He said the Sheriffs Office has taken over student safety at half of the districts schools within the westside of the county and cities and will take over the schools within the eastern half of the district this year. He added that the School Board funds the deputies almost 100%. He said they are able to keep the students safe with a unified response to issues involving children. He discussed the school population throughout the county and said it is has grown larger than the population of Lakeland. He said these deputies also cover the special events held at night. Judd told commissioners that last year he came before the board to discuss a jail expansion because of the increased population. He said the Sheriff's Office has worked its way through the COVID times, and the jail population average has gone down 11.1%. That means, he said, the department can push out the jail expansion by one year. Further, the recently implemented STARR program (or Substance Treatment Advocacy Recovery and Re-entry Program) could further reduce crime, jail population and recidivism, saving space and resources at the jail. The program puts inmates on probation and assists with their mental health medicine with the goal of reducing mental health-related repeat offenses. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Sheriff aims to add 125 deputies in next five years A Portland man faces life in prison after allegedly travelling to Seattle to have sex with children 56-year-old Mark David McCool, of Portland, was arrested Thursday after he arrived at a Seattle hotel. Police say he was there to sexually abuse 7 and 11-year-old children. There were never any children involved. The suspect had been communicating with an undercover agent for over a month. According to Department of Justice, McCool and the agent had been communicating via the Kik Messenger App for over 6 weeks. Finally, this week he decided to take a train and then a rideshare to the hotel, expecting to meet the children. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security as part of the Seattle Police Department Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC). McCool faces federal charges of attempted enticement of a minor and travel with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor. The attempted enticement charge carries a possible sentence of 10 years to life in prison. The other charge is punishable by up to 30 years. (KRON) Two suspects remain on the loose after they robbed a postal carrier in Palo Alto on Thursday, the Palo Alto Police Department said. The robbery comes days after two other suspects were arrested for robbing postal carriers on the Peninsula. Thursdays robbery happened at about 11:45 a.m. at the Southwood Apartments located at 2850 Middlefield Road. According to PAPD, the victim, a man in his 60s, was approached by two men who demanded his postal keys. The victim handed over his keys, but the suspects then asked him to give up his phone and wallet. The victim refused, and a fistfight ensued. David DePape sentenced to 30 years in Paul Pelosi attack The suspects knocked the victim to the ground and then ran back to the parking garage, police said. Shortly afterward, a black car was seen speeding out of the garage before going southbound on Middlefield Road. The car was described as an older-model Nissan Altima four-door sedan. The suspects both had a hand in their waistband when they approached the victim, but he said he did not see a weapon. The victim had minor injuries but declined medical care. The suspects were described by the victim as Hispanic men in their 20s, both about 5-foot-8 with average builds and no facial hair. They were wearing black sweatshirts with the hoods up. PAPD is investigating to see whether the suspects are the same men who committed a similar robbery in Palo Alto in December. It is unknown whether this case is related to the postal robberies that happened on Saturday. The United States Postal Inspection Service offers a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone who robbed a postal carrier. Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to call PAPD at (650) 329-2413 or USPS at (877) 876-2455. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. SELMA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) An investigation is underway after deputies discovered a possible explosive device at a canal in Selma, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office said on Friday. Deputies say they received a call at 3 p.m. from a person in the area of E. Mountain View and S. Temperance Avenues in Selma. They reported seeing an explosion from a far distance away from their location. At the same time, they saw a suspicious device floating in a nearby canal. Sheriffs officials say they responded along with their Eagle One helicopter and were able to spot the device as it became stuck against a trash grate in the canal. As a precaution and for the safety of motorists, deputies say they blocked surrounding roads so traffic could not pass through. Members of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (Bomb Squad) responded, collected the device, and rendered it safe. Deputies say they checked the area for other devices, but nothing was found. They also responded to the area of the original explosion but did not discover any damage or injury to anyone. This is an ongoing investigation as sheriffs officials say they are working to identify the person responsible for placing the device in the canal. They encourage residents to report any suspicious devices in the future. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. President Joe Biden has arrived in Atlanta on Saturday for a weekend of events. The president will arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport just after 12:15 p.m. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] He plans to hold a campaign event, but details on the event have not been released. Triple Team Traffic says there are rolling closures across Atlanta as Pres. Bidens motorcade moves, including Ga. 400, I-75, I-85 and the connector. They suggest using I-285 as an alternate route. RED ALERT Atlanta: Presidential motorcade is moving again causing rolling closure. This is impacting GA 400/sb, I-85/sb, I-75/sb and I-75/85/sb. Use I-285. #ATLTraffic Triple Team Traffic (@WSBTraffic) May 18, 2024 On Sunday morning, Pres. Biden is set to deliver Morehouse Colleges commencement address. His presence during Morehouses commencement ceremony has not been without some controversy. RELATED STORIES: A small number of student and faculty members held a protest march on the Morehouse College campus Friday to criticize the war in Gaza and the presidents visit. I definitely understand from a political aspect why he is coming, but from a human and moral level, it makes no sense for the college to invite him or give him an honorary degree, Morehouse student Anwar Karim said. Morehouse College President David Thomas made clear that disruptive protests during the graduation ceremony will not be tolerated. What we wont allow is disruptive behavior that prevents the ceremony or services from proceeding, in a manner that those in attendance can partake and enjoy. So for example, prolonged shouting down of the president as he is speaking, he said. If faced with the choice, I will cease the ceremonies on the spot if we were to reach that position. But this will not be a place where there will be a national photo op of individuals being taken out of the Morehouse campus in zip ties by the police authorities. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Its pretty contagious. Tuberculosis case confirmed at Chester High School, DHEC says CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Health officials in South Carolina have identified a lab-confirmed case of tuberculosis at Chester High School. The Chester County School District says a letter was sent home to parents regarding the TB case. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control says its working with school officials to investigate who had close contact with the infected person and those people will be tested. Its (tuberculosis is) pretty contagious, so if you have been around someone with it, we recommend you do get tested even if you dont have symptoms, said Bailey Ward, a family nurse practitioner, with Carolina Medical Consultants of Piedmont Medical Center. TB is a lung infection thats spread through the air by a person who has the disease by coughing or sneezing. It can be treated with antibiotics. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, a cough that lasts longer than three weeks, coughing up blood, and night sweats. It is treatable. If it goes untreated, you can have some pretty serious complications like blood clots in your lungs, lung cancer, and sometimes even death., said Ward. DHEC says its looking at the school layout and the activities of the person who has tuberculosis to figure out the level of risk for classrooms, lunchrooms, and other areas where students and staff gather. The agency says schoolwide testing is rare and that only people identified as a close contact with the person who has TB need to be tested. There are two types of tests: a skin test and a blood test. DHEC says the school itself is not a source of infection, so it is safe for students, staff, and visitors to be inside the school. If a parent does have concerns, I would definitely reach out to their childs pediatrician and explain their symptoms or if theyve been exposed and kind of go from there, said Ward. DHEC says parents will be contacted if their child may have been exposed to TB so that the students can be tested. There is a vaccine for tuberculosis, but its not given in the United States, only in other countries, to babies and young children, where TB rates are higher. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. May 18 (UPI) -- Police in Philadelphia and Chicago ended attempts by pro-Palestinian protesters to take over buildings at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago Friday. Protestors gathered around 8 p.m. Friday in the University City area of West Philadelphia and entered Penn's Fisher-Bennett Hall at Walnut and 34th streets local media reported. Penn Gaza Solidarity members said they intended to occupy the university building before police arrived. University police and Philadelphia Police stopped the attempted takeover and arrested several protesters, some of whom fought with police. University officials said 19 people were arrested, including six Penn students. A dozen of those arrested received citations for failing to follow police commands and disperse, while another seven remained in custody on felony charges, including one for assaulting a police officer. A university spokesperson said police officers found tools for picking locks and homemade metal shields. Exits were secured with barbed wire and zip ties and barricaded with desks and metal chairs, while newspaper and cardboard covered windows. The protestors also used bike racks and metal chairs to create makeshift barriers to block the outside entrances. Shortly before the attempted takeover at Penn, pro-Palestinian protestors briefly occupied the Institute of Politics building at the University of Chicago's campus in Hyde Park. Some protesters wore face masks, goggles and helmets as they surrounded the building at about 5 p.m. and used chairs to barricade entrances on one side. The protesters sprayed paint on security cameras and hung a banner listing demands, which include the university divesting itself of any investments in entities supporting or doing business in Israel. Another banner declared "bring the intifada home," the Chicago Tribute reported. University and Chicago police cleared the building by 6 p.m. There is no indication of how many protesters, if any, were arrested. The attempted takeover happened during the start of the university's alumni weekend. Protesters included students and alumni, one of whom identified himself as a member of a group calling itself the University of Chicago Alumni for Palestine. The attempted takeover happened during the university's alumni weekend, and protesters included students and alumni, one of whom identified himself as a member of a group calling itself the University of Chicago alumni for Palestine. By Nora Eckert VANCE, Alabama (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers failed in its effort to organize a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, but the loss on Friday was a good result for a first effort in a historically anti-union state, labor professors and analysts said. Employees at the Vance, Alabama, plant voted 56% against joining the union. Until the UAW won overwhelmingly last month at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, the union had repeatedly failed to organize a foreign-owned automaker in the region for its nearly 90-year existence. However, the defeat at Mercedes does not preclude the UAW from trying to organize other plants in the South, or eventually trying again at Mercedes, said Peter Bible, a former General Motors executive who was involved in labor talks with the UAW. "They'll be back," he said, adding that the UAW actually attracted more votes than he expected given the plant's location in the South. Worker uncertainty over the auto industry's transition to electric vehicles will only provide more opportunities for the union, Bible added. The UAW earlier this year committed $40 million to organizing more than a dozen non-union automakers, including Toyota and Tesla. Widening its reach beyond the Detroit automakers is critical for the UAW to maintain its influence within the industry. At Mercedes, a strong anti-union campaign from the German automaker and southern politicians swayed some to vote against the UAW, workers said. Six U.S. governors, including Alabama's Kay Ivey, signed a letter asking workers to reject the UAW. They said unionization would stunt the auto industry's growth across the South. However, Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed out that the UAW lost twice at VW in Tennessee before finally winning handily. The result at Mercedes was similar to an earlier loss at VW in 2014, when 53% voted against the union. UAW President Shawn Fain, speaking after the loss, did not outline the union's next steps, but signaled it's not the end of its efforts. The union and its representatives previously cited organizing progress at a Hyundai plant in Alabama, and Toyota plants in Missouri and Georgetown, Kentucky. OVER-ESTIMATING SUPPORT "We left nothing on the table," Fain said at a UAW union hall near Vance. "There's no regrets in this fight." "This is a David and Goliath fight," he added. "Sometimes Goliath wins a battle. But David wins the war." The UAW called for the election after it said a supermajority of workers signed cards supporting the union, but it clearly lost support in the run-up to the vote. Story continues Jay White, a Mercedes employee in Alabama for 18 years, said he believed the union over-estimated its support. The anti-union campaign really picked up steam in the last few weeks as those opposed handed out flyers and spoke individually to their co-workers, he said. "I just want the best for our team members, and for our company, and for our jobs," White said. In a region where 2-to-1 losses are regular, the Mercedes vote was a good first step, said Stephen Silvia, a professor at American University who has published on the UAW's past organizing campaigns in the South. In 2017, Nissan workers at a plant in Mississippi rejected the UAW by a wide margin. Outside the auto industry and the UAW, in 2021 workers at an Amazon.com warehouse in Alabama voted against forming a union by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Despite the closer loss at Mercedes, organizing in the South will still be tough, analysts said. Including the Mercedes plant, there are more than 10 non-union assembly plants in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee alone, with such automakers as Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Volvo, Hyundai, Kia and VW. The Mercedes loss is one of the first major setbacks for Fain, who was elected the UAW's chief in March 2023. The firebrand leader, who spent much of his career as an electrician for Chrysler - now a part of Stellantis - narrowly won the post in the union's first direct election. Even with the loss at Mercedes, it remains a good time for labor organizing in the United States given greater public support for unions, said John Logan, a labor professor at San Francisco State University. "I don't think we will be waiting a year before the next election in the South," he said. "It will be another hard battle." (Reporting by Nora Eckert; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman and Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie Adler) Attendees converge on the panelists at the end of a public forum on property taxes April 20, 2024, at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) Attendees converge on the panelists at the end of a public forum on property taxes April 20, 2024, at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) In the last legislative session, lawmakers werent able to agree on any significant changes to the property tax system. House Bill 1208, requiring the director of equalization to adjust certain agricultural land values, failed in the House on a 25-44 vote. Senate Bill 167, limiting annual valuation increases in owner-occupied single-family dwellings, failed in the Senate on a vote of 11-20. Lawmakers couldnt even agree on putting a proposed change in the system to a vote of the people when Senate Joint Resolution 505, limiting assessed value of real property and the amount of tax on real property, was sent to the 41st day by the Senate Taxation Committee on a 6-0 vote. Read more about taxes Lawmakers were able to agree on a summer study looking at the methodology of property tax assessments to make sure they are accurate and consistent. While the Legislatures Executive Board approved of the study, veteran senators on the committee cautioned against it. Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, a Watertown Republican, asserted that he would rather visit the dentist than open another study of property taxes. Sen. Jim Bolin, a Canton Republican, said he was worried that citizens would hear that the Legislature was studying property taxes and expect their tax bills to go down. Youre going to raise peoples expectations and not really accomplish anything significant, Bolin warned. Expectations for changes in the system are already running high, according to a South Dakota Searchlight story. At an April property tax forum in Rapid City, many of the 100 people in attendance expressed their frustration with rising property taxes. One solution floated at the forum was raising the state sales tax and using that revenue to offer property tax relief. This flies in the face of what legislators have been up to lately. In 2023 they cut the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2%. The effects of that cut are negligible for consumers. It amounts to a 30-cent savings on a $100 purchase, but it is estimated to leave a $104 million hole in the state budget. The sales tax reduction is designed to sunset in 2027. A bill to make the sales tax cut permanent failed during the 2024 session. Lawmakers likely had their eyes on the November ballot when voters will decide if they want to endorse a measure to eliminate the sales tax on food. Polls have shown that cutting the sales tax on food is popular with voters. If the measure is endorsed, it will mean another $120 million in lost state revenue. So much for raising the sales tax to provide property tax relief. Its apparent that South Dakota is headed for a showdown on taxes, with the Legislature and voters keen on cutting the sales tax and property owners seeking relief from burgeoning valuations and higher property tax bills. Back at the Executive Board meeting, while Sen. Bolin was not keen on a summer study of property tax assessment methodology, he did have the best idea for how to handle a tax system that is getting out of hand. He may have been half-kidding, but Bolin suggested that for real change, what was called for was a Super Blue Ribbon Panel much like the one instituted by Gov. Dennis Daugaard when the state decided to tackle the problem of low teacher pay. That panels solution, raising the sales tax to provide more pay for teachers, has already been rolled back with the Legislatures endorsement of the 4.2% sales tax and the states teachers have once again fallen to the bottom of the national pay scale. Given the fate of property tax legislation in the 2024 session, its obvious that a property tax fix with just a few sponsors isnt going to carry the day. What the South Dakota tax system needs, with all its variables and exemptions, is a thorough study and a workable solution that will serve the state, school districts, cities and counties. For legislators, a Blue Ribbon study of South Dakotas tax system likely has all the allure of a trip to the dentist, but it may be the only way to, once and for all, balance the needs of all taxpayers. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Property taxes, sales taxes on a collision course in South Dakota appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight. Two people were killed and two more were injured when a car with civilians trying to evacuate from Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast came under Russian fire, the Prosecutor Generals Office reported on May 18. Russia launched new offensive actions on May 10 in the north of Kharkiv Oblast toward Lyptsi and Vovchansk, a town located less than five kilometers (three miles) from the Russian border and around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the city of Kharkiv. Ukraine's Defense Ministry confirmed on May 15 that Russian units had entered the northern parts of Vovchansk, but the Ukrainian military reportedly prevented them from establishing a foothold deeper in the town. Four civilians were trying to leave Vovchansk by car on May 16 when they came under Russian fire, the Prosecutor Generals Office said on Telegram. "The 70-year-old driver of the car and the 83-year-old female passenger died on the spot. The driver's wife and another passenger were injured." Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko previously said that Russian forces were taking Ukrainian civilians captive and preventing their evacuation in the embattled northern part of Vovchansk. Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the police of the Kharkiv Oblast, said on May 17 that up to 40 civilians, most of them elderly, had been taken captive when trying to escape Russian shelling. Read also: Russias new Kharkiv offensive pushes Vovchansk to the brink of annihilation Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A forthcoming Supreme Court decision this June on access to lifesaving care threatens the very basis of why I became an emergency medicine doctor: anyone, anywhere, anytime. When a patient is rushed into my emergency department, I do not stop to ask them for their credit card. I dont require them to put down a deposit before stopping their bleeding, treating their pain, or getting them treatment for a heart attack. I dont stop to make sure our hospital accepts their insurance or to ask if they have insurance at all. I simply do what I have spent many years training to do: provide the best possible, and often lifesaving, care to people who are in crisis. Thats because the federal law the court will be ruling on has guaranteed that all Americans have the right to receive care at the emergency room of any hospital, regardless of income or insurance status. When any patient comes into the emergency room experiencing a health crisis, the hospital is required to stabilize the patient and if necessary, transfer the patient to a hospital with more specialized capabilities to treat them. Recent polling shows that when asked about the law, most Americans overwhelmingly support access to the life saving care that a patient needs without restrictions. It wasnt always this way. Before these legal protections guaranteed treatment regardless of the ability to pay, patients were routinely turned away from hospitals and emergency rooms just because of their inability to pay or lack of health insurance. In one instance, a sick child was essentially thrown out of a hospital because her parents could not pay the fee. It was $7 for a week. In others, a man experiencing third-degree burns was turned away by three hospitals because he was uninsured and a 63-year-old woman experiencing homelessness was dumped by a hospital on skid row and later found wandering around the streets in a hospital gown and slippers. Thanks to this law that guarantees lifesaving care, patients are now able to receive the treatment they urgently need in emergency departments. It has no exceptions and applies to all kinds of emergenciesincluding when emergency abortion care is necessary to preserve the patients health or to save their life. But anti-abortion extremists want to exclude pregnant people from these long-standing protections and force doctors like me to turn away patients suffering life-threatening pregnancy complications. The Supreme Court is now taking up a consolidated case Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States that will determine if state abortion bans and restrictions take precedence over this decades-old legislation that has saved countless lives. If the same Supreme Court that struck down the constitutional right to abortion sides with anti-abortion extremists again, it will have nationwide implications for the right to emergency abortion care and endanger the most vulnerable people who this legislation was enacted to protect. Nearly four in five voters polled support that the law takes precedence over state abortion bans in the case of an emergency. We are currently facing a maternal mortality crisis in this country, which has only been made worse by the many abortion bans and restrictions put in place after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. If the Supreme Court rules to exclude pregnant people from the lifesaving care protections, Black and Indigenous women who face high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity will be disproportionately impacted. The ruling would also further harm people who visit ERs at higher rates due to systemic barriers to health care including those in rural areas, those who earn low-incomes, are Latinx, Black or Indigenous, or are immigrants. These attacks wont only impact pregnant patients who need emergency care or the most vulnerable among us it will make it harder for emergency physicians like myself to provide care to all patients that come through our doors. If this group of patients is excluded from these critical legal protections, who will be next? This case is not an isolated attack on our reproductive freedoms; it is part of anti-abortion extremists strategy to completely ban abortion nationwide. This year alone, both Florida and my home state of Arizona have enacted extreme abortion bans and just last month the Supreme Court heard a case that will have far-reaching implications for access to the abortion medication mifepristone. I chose to go into emergency medicine to serve the most marginalized in our society, but conservative anti-abortion lawmakers are working to make it impossible for me to provide that care and are inserting themselves between me and my patients in every state in this country. Everyone who needs emergency care including abortion should be able to get the care they need without interference from politicians. Anyone, anywhere, anytime. Today, as Putin updates the world about his plans for the Kharkiv offensive, we discuss Ukraines huge drone attack on Russian naval bases overnight. Plus, we hear from distinguished Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko and hear an update on demining battlefields. Finally, we hear an interview from David Knowles on the ground in Lviv. Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraphs daily podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app. War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday The Telegraphs top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated. With over 70 million listens, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and correspondents reporting on the ground. We have been broadcasting ever since the full-scale invasion began. Ukraine: The Latests regular contributors are: David Knowles David is Head of Audio Development at The Telegraph, where he has worked for over three years. He has reported from across Ukraine during the full-scale invasion. Dominic Nicholls Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at The Telegraph, having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland. Francis Dearnley Francis is Assistant Comment Editor at The Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was chief of staff to the Chair of the Prime Ministers Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments. They are also regularly joined by Telegraph reporters and correspondents around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondent), James Kilner, (Foreign Correspondent and Editor of the Central Asia & the South Caucasus Bulletin), Sophia Yan (Senior Foreign Correspondent), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Middle East Correspondent), Roland Oliphant (Senior Foreign Correspondent), Colin Freeman (Foreign Correspondent), Danielle Sheridan (Defence Editor), and Tony Diver (US Editor). 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. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (R-Md.) called the recent verbal battle in his committee sparked by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-Ga.) words a failure of leadership. So, this was a failure of leadership, Raskin said on CNNs Erin Burnett OutFront Friday. When the chairman of the committee declined simply to rule her words out of order, and to have them taken down, as [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)] immediately moved to do, when he refused to do that, at that point, it unleashed the chaos in the committee. On Thursday night, lawmakers traded barbs during a House Oversight Committee hearing after Greene commented on the appearance of fellow committee member Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). The hearing was focused on holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt following him not handing over the audio of President Bidens interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. However, when Greene was questioning if Democrats on the panel employed the daughter of the judge overseeing Trumps New York hush money case, Crockett chimed in, pushing back against the relevance of Greenes words. I dont think you know what youre here for, Greene said to Crockett. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. From there, chaos erupted as Democrats expressed their indignation with Greenes behavior, and Greene continued to push back. At a certain point, the Republican conference is going to have to get on top of their Marjorie Taylor Greene problem, but instead, they continue to empower her, Raskin told Burnett Friday. Greene later said in a post on the social platform X that some people are upset about the scene from Oversight Committee last night, well Im upset and disgusted pretty much everyday at the Democrat controlled DOJ, federal government, and Congress in general. Pardon me if I dont talk as nicely as some people would like to hear. The Hill has reached out to House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Raskin says its worth investigating whether House members were drinking in hearing room (The Hill) Rep. Jaime Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, says its worth investigating whether lawmakers were drinking during Thursdays explosive hearing, after rumors circulated that non-committee members were intoxicated. I didnt see the drinking by the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury raised it, she said there are members drinking in the room, and thats something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place, Raksin said on Fox News. According to Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) there were some members in the room who are drinking inside the hearing room. Stansbury said the lawmakers who were drinking were not on the committee, Axios reported. On Thursday night, the Oversight Committee hearing became chaotic as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fought after Greene accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) of wearing fake eyelashes. The committee was holding a markup hearing to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress but fell into chaos with nearly an hour of the lawmakers shouting over one another. It began when a vote on whether or not to allow Green to continue speaking during the hearing. Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing former President Trumps hush money trial. Thursdays hearing was delayed a few hours after several Republicans who sit on the panel went to New York in the morning to support Trump in his trial. Crockett questioned why Greene would bring up Merchan and the two began arguing. Crockett asked Green if she knows what were here for? Green said she doesnt think the Texas Democrat knows what youre here for. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading, she said. At that point, Raskin interjected, saying, thats beneath even you, Ms. Greene. Ocasio-Cortez said it was disgusting and absolutely unacceptable to attack the physical appearance of another person. After a short break, the two lawmakers continued the argument, with Greene insulting Ocasio-Cortezs intelligence and saying she would never apologize for her comments. Later, Crockett hit back at Greene saying she has a bleach blonde, bad built, butch body. She said Friday that she believes Greenes original comment was absolutely racist. The entire scene drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, with both Democrats and Republicans agreeing on at least one thing: It was not a good look for the Congress. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. This week, the Gizmodo science team explored the disturbing trend towards raw milk amid a bird flu outbreak among cattle, and the technological disruptions stemming from the historic geomagnetic storm that triggered stunning auroras across much of the globe. Reporter Ed Cara broke down a study weighing the long term benefits of Wegovy, while reporter Isaac Shultz explored a new technique for using sunlight to produce temperatures reaching nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. - George Dvorsky A cow grazes in a field at a dairy farm on April 26, 2024 in Petaluma, California. - Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images) Sales of raw milk in the U.S. have risen 21% since bird flu was first confirmed in dairy cattle in late March, according to a report from PBS Newshour, citing new data from research firm NielsenIQ. Why on Earth would people drink raw milk at a time when pasteurization has been shown to kill the virus? Because some people believe intentionally being exposed to H5N1 will give them immunity to the disease. Seriously. - Matt Novak Read More The Northern lights were visible from the Bogus Basin ski resort in Boise, Idaho. - Photo: Kyle Green (AP) On May 10, Earth was hit by the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years. Intense solar activity sent bursts of radiation toward Earth, causing fluctuations in the upper atmosphere that led to disruptions in the power grid and radio blackouts, among other technologies and infrastructure. - Passant Rabie Read More Photo: Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register (Getty Images) An unknown number of orcas sunk a sailing yacht in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar on Sunday, according to Spains maritime rescue service. While orcas are typically peaceful, this is the latest in a string of attacks that have hit the region in the past four years. - Maxwell Zeff Read More Image: Getty Images (iStock by Getty Images) Results from the longest-running trial of semaglutidethe active ingredient in the popular drugs Ozempic and Wegovyare in, and the verdict is decidedly positive. The study found that people taking semaglutide tended to maintain their initial weight loss for up to four years. Other trial data presented this week also suggests that semaglutide can improve peoples heart health even without causing weight loss. - Ed Cara Read More An illustration of a heat trapping device. - Illustration: Device/Casati et al. Engineers are cooking up a new clean energy solution: charging up crystals with solar energy to temperatures of 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius), potentially making them a greener substitute for the carbon-intensive processes that smelt steel and cook cement. - Isaac Schultz Read More An image of the black hole merger. - Image: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, J. Dunlop, D. Magee, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, H. Ubler, R. Maiolino, et. al The cutting-edge Webb Space Telescope has spotted the most distant black hole merger yet, which occurred when the universe was just 740 million years old. Its the first time astronomers have seen a merger so early in the universes history, making it a record breaker. - Isaac Schultz Read More New research is tryin to better understand why both athletes and those with diabetes tend to store high levels of fat inside their muscle cells. - Image: David Davies/Press Association (AP) Scientists in the U.K. seem to have unearthed yet another benefit of exercise: It could make our bodies better at using up certain kinds of fat. In a new study out this week, researchers found that endurance athletes were much better at burning off saturated fat compared to sedentary people with type 2 diabetesa distinction that emerged in the diabetic group once they began to exercise as well. - Ed Cara Read More NASAs Juno spacecraft captured this image of Europa during the missions close flyby on September 29, 2022. - Image: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Bjorn Jonsson (CC BY 3.0) On September 29, 2022, NASAs Juno spacecraft made its closest flyby of Europa, coming to within 220 miles (355 kilometers) of the Jovian moons frozen surface. The closeup view of Europa revealed incredible details of the moons chaotic terrain, which suggest that its icy crust is not where it used to be. The images also showed a newly discovered feature that was nicknamed Platypus for its odd shape. - Passant Rabie Read More The mostly empty Newport Beach in California. - Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez (AP) Earlier this month, Brent Norman from South Carolina injured his foot on seashells while walking barefoot on the beach, leading to a Vibrio infection that caused severe swelling and pain. Luckily, the infection was caught in time, and after a two-week course of antibiotics, Norman is expected to fully recover and resume his beach activities. Though Normans case might be strange in terms of how he got sick, lakeside and coastal beaches are unfortunately home to all sorts of weird and horrifying infectious diseases. Heres a rundown of some of the worst offenders. - Ed Cara Read More NASAs Juno mission captured these views of Jupiter during its 59th close flyby of the giant planet on March 7, 2024. - Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing by Gerald Eichstadt Oh, there it is. Jupiters unassuming moon Amalthea was spotted in two recent images captured by NASAs Juno probe. During its 59th close flyby of Jupiter on March 7, the Juno spacecraft captured its usual stunning views of the giant planets swirling winds and colorful belts. The new photos offered an unexpected treat: a rare glimpse of one of Jupiters tiny, mysterious moons. - Passant Rabie Read More For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. (Bloomberg) -- A senior Apple Inc. executive told a US judge that the iPhone makers new 27% fee on purchases made outside its App Store are a good-faith attempt to comply with the law. Most Read from Bloomberg We are trying to enable what the law requires, Apple Fellow Philip Schiller said Friday during the fourth day of a hearing focused on Apples compliance. There was mentioned in the order about if Apple has a right to a fee even without developers using its in-app payment system. Schiller, a long-time executive who helped develop the App Store, is the most senior executive to testify at the hearing before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. She is deciding whether Apples new fees comply with her 2021 order that the iPhone maker must allow developers to provide links to cheaper payment options online. Schiller, who took the stand late Friday for about 90 minutes, said he was one of the three senior Apple executives who decided to impose the new fee in January along with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Luca Maestri. Under questioning by Gary Bornstein, a lawyer for Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc., Schiller said he isnt opposed to the link requirement despite prior public comments that it would detract from the user experience. Safe Solution The world has changed and linking out is being required, he said. I do not have a preference against link-out. I want to make the solution safe for our customers. Thats what Im focused on. Earlier in the hearing, Apples attempts to justify the 27% fee backfired as Rogers questioned another executive about a company-commissioned study showing half that rate would be reasonable. Carson Oliver, senior director for business management for the App Store, testified that Apple hired economic consulting firm Analysis Group Inc. to help create a new commission rate for purchases. But Rogers repeatedly chastised Oliver for statements about how Apple decided it would charge developers 27% for purchases of digital goods or services made outside its App Store, given that the lowest end of the range in the Analysis Group study is 12.3%. How did you justify the other 15% you are charging? she said. Services to Developers Apple provides a number of services to developers including discovery of apps, distribution, developer tools and platform technology, along with additional privacy, user trust and safety that arent comparable to other platforms, Oliver testified. He said Apple estimates the true low-end was 17%. Story continues Analysis Group estimated what each of those categories was worth by comparing them to what is charged by platforms including Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.s Google, Etsy Inc. and Shopify Inc. The Analysis Group study found the value of those services would amount to between 12.3% at the low end or 92% at the high end depending on factors like the size of the developer, Oliver said. And you are charging 27%, Rogers interjected. Oliver said Apple executives believe the effective rate of the commission is lower than that. Thats a big assumption, the judge replied. Your assumptions are just that they are assumptions. Theres no data for it. Thats not true, Oliver said. Schiller is expected to continue his testimony on May 22 when the hearing resumes. (Corrects name of lawyer in fourth paragraph of May 17 story.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Latin American obstetrician doing an ultrasound on a pregnant woman at the hospital - healthcare and medicine Getty Images With regards to Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rate, by Jennifer Shutt, May 3, 2024. Our nation is failing its mothers. In Louisiana, Black mothers are four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white mothers. Worse, still, is the fact that 92% of these deathsmay have been preventable. As States Newsroom reports, health care experts have pleaded with Congress for creative ideas to address these maternal health disparities. Specifically, the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act combines thirteen individual bills to provide sweeping maternal healthcare reform. While the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act is a crucial step in reducing maternal mortality, this legislation omits a creative and cost-effective solution that has a proven record of improving health outcomes and equitabilitydoula care. Doulas are trained professionals that provide physical and emotional support to mothers before, during and after birth. Doulas reduce the risk of medical interventions, which leads to better birth outcomes for the mother and the child. Specifically, a doula can reduce the rate of a risky C-section by 40% and can reduce the risk of a low-birth-weight delivery by nearly 10%. These benefits are amplified for women that are marginalized or may encounter barriers in the healthcare system. This is because doulas serve as advocates, which is essential for Black women and people of color that face discrimination and biases in our healthcare system. Doulas are also empowering, as they ensure that a mothers voice is heard and body is respected during birth. Doula care can complement current health initiatives such as the expansion of HBCU medical schools and the reduction of financial barriers for future doctors. In increasing the number of doulas, we will not only address the medical side of birth, but the emotional side, too. As Louisiana citizens dream up creative ideas to solve the maternal health crisis, let them not overlook the importance of doulas in providing equitable and essential care. Amelia Hartshorn, Hanover, New Hampshire The post Readers React: Doulas can help address deficiencies in maternal care appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. The recent wave of headlines about shoplifting and retail theft, accompanied by viral videos of people brazenly walking out of stores with stolen goods, has captured the attention of the media and politicians. The tough-on-crime crowd has advocated for a crackdown on shoplifters through more aggressive prosecution and harsher penalties. Others have emphasized the need for rehabilitation for offenders. One group of progressive California lawmakers claims to have found an even better solution: banning self-checkout machines from stores in the name of fighting crime. In reality, this "anti-crime" bill is nothing more than naked protectionism for union jobs. The proposed legislation would prohibit groceries and other retail stores from using self-checkout machines unless a host of conditions are met. These include having at least one staffed employee for every two self-checkout machines (and the employee must be exempt from any other duties), only permitting the machines to be used by shoppers with 10 items or fewer, and ensuring at least one regular cashier lane is also available at all times. The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (DLos Angeles), calls her approach "smart" on crime instead of "hard on crime," telling The New York Times: "We have so many bills in this Legislature that are trying to increase penalties.We know that what makes our community safe is not more jail time and penalties. What makes our community safe is real enforcement, having real workers that are on the floor." To underscore her point, Smallwood-Cuevas cites a study suggesting that retail theft is up to 16 times more likely to occur at self-checkout machines than at traditional registers, leading to an estimated $10 billion in annual losses for retailers. A closer look at the fine print of the bill, however, reveals the true intent behind it. The legislation mandates that any store seeking to install self-checkout machines must first produce a study analyzing, among other things, the number of employees "whose duties would be affected by the workplace technology," as well as the "total amount of salaries and benefits that would be eliminated as a result of the workplace technology." The study must then be provided to employees potentially impacted by the technology (or their collective bargaining representatives) and posted "in a location accessible to employees and customers." Were this a game of poker, this mandated study would be the tell: Smallwood-Cuevas and her fellow progressives are trying to tuck a prounion jobs bill inside the Trojan horse of crime prevention. Smallwood-Cuevas was a labor organizer before her legislative career, and some of the bill's biggest sponsors are labor unions. A press release on the United Food and Commercial Workers' website lauds the legislation, with the president of the local chapter complaining that "employers have increasingly implemented automated checkout to drastically cut staffing and reduce labor costs." The press release does not mention the word crime at all and only uses theft twice and shoplifting once. In contrast, jobs, staffing, and worker displacement are referenced a total of 10 times. Efforts to limit self-checkout in other blue states provide corroborating evidence, such as a proposed anti-self-checkout ballot initiative in Oregon that labor interests tried to get on the 2020 ballot, explicitly positioned as a prounion jobs measure. While a pro-labor bill in California may seem utterly unremarkable, some on the right may be buying the bill's anti-crime framing. Both Fox Business and the New York Post ran articles highlighting the bill as an anti-theft measure, with little reference to the real motivations behind the legislation. Given the right's increasing embrace of labor unions, it is not hard to envision an unholy alliance of pro-labor progressives and tough-on-crime populist conservatives supporting bills around the country to eliminate self-checkout. Supporters of the bill and numerous media outlets have cited two examples of large retail chains making their own internal decisions to reduce or remove self-checkout machines to clamp down on theft. The aforementioned statistics about self-checkout lanes leading to more shoplifting are also frequently referenced. But these points ironically cut against the need for government involvement: If self-checkout machines are really leading to massive inventory losses for stores, then retailers themselves have a direct bottom-line incentive to scrap self-checkout. No one cares more about inventory loss than store owners, whose entire business model is predicated on customers actually paying money for their products. That is why some retailers are reevaluating the efficacy of self-checkout and experimenting with new monitoring tactics such as "smart video" cameras that can halt the self-checkout process if they notice a customer declining to scan any items. There already is a built-in market response to theft concerns around self-checkoutmore government interference is simply not needed. If lawmakers still want to ban self-checkout machines anyway, they should at least be honest about why. The post The Real Reason for Self-Checkout Bans appeared first on Reason.com. The American Red Cross will host the 28th annual A Taste on the River Thursday, June 20 at 6 p.m. at Bend XPO in East Moline. Tickets and table sponsorships can be purchased online. Single admission tickets are $50 each and sponsorships, including eight tickets each, begin at $500. (American Red Cross) Enjoy a night of sampling culinary creations from top local chefs, enjoying live music, bidding on exciting live and silent auctions and connecting with friends at this beloved community event, which brings people together in support of the Red Cross. A Taste on the River is a longstanding tradition in the Quad Cities bringing together people to support the mission of the Red Cross in a fun way, said Trish Burnett, executive director of the Red Cross Quad Cities and West Central Illinois chapter. It is an opportunity to help friends and neighbors here in our community when they experience a disaster including home fires, tornados or flooding. We are grateful for everyone who is part of this event and supports the work of the Red Cross. (American Red Cross) Funds raised at A Taste on the River help deliver critical humanitarian services to the Quad Cities and West Central Illinois chapter every day. These services include providing vital resources in times of disaster, installing smoke alarms to make local homes safe, supplying over 40% of the blood needed for patients, and supporting local veterans, service members and their families. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. The justices will rule on two other critical cases that go to the heart of Donald Trumps fitness to govern, and hence the presidential outcome. The justices will rule on two other critical cases that go to the heart of Donald Trumps fitness to govern, and hence the presidential outcome. Photograph: Douglas Rissing/Getty Images With less than six months to go before America chooses its next president, the US supreme court finds itself in a profoundly unenviable position: not only has it been drawn into the thick of a volatile election, but swirling ethical scandals have cast doubt on its impartiality. The US supreme courts discomfort worsened dramatically on Thursday night when the New York Times published a photograph of an upside-down American flag being flown outside the Alexandria, Virginia, home of the hard-right justice Samuel Alito. The photo was taken on 17 January 2021, days after the insurrection at the US Capitol and days before Joe Bidens inauguration. Related: Trump immunity case suggests new role for supreme court: kingmaker At the time, upside-down flags were proliferating as a symbol of Donald Trumps false claim that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him. That one of the nine most powerful justices in the country who has potential to wield enormous influence over the 2024 election had a stop the steal icon flapping on his front lawn was, to put it mildly, incendiary. Theres little doubt that the supreme court will play a large role in the 2024 election, and you have to now ask whether the flag incident will forever cloud the publics view of its impartiality in those cases, said Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court, a non-partisan group advocating reform. The supreme court memorably handed the US presidency to George W Bush in its 2000 ruling Bush v Gore. Though no individual case so far this year has risen to that level, there is no doubt that the justices are deeply mired in the 2024 cycle. They have already decided that Trump cannot be ejected from the ballot for his role in the January 6 attack under the 14th amendment block on insurrectionists holding office. By the end of their term in June they are also set to rule on two other critical cases that go to the heart of Trumps fitness to govern, and hence the presidential outcome. The first asks whether Trump has presidential immunity in the federal criminal prosecution over his stop the steal antics in 2020/21. The other, which could also determine whether he can be tried for his attempt to overturn the election, looks at whether January 6 rioters can be charged under the obstruction statute. All of that before we even get to the election itself, and the possibility of renewed trouble in November should there be close and contested counts in key battleground states. As one of the justices expressly warned in the 14th amendment case, further insurrections were not impossible. I dont know how much we can infer from the fact that we havent seen anything like this before [that] were not going to see something in the future, the justice said. His identity? Samuel Alito. Until last Thursday, there had been plenty of talk about whether the supreme court was ethically equipped to tackle fundamental questions that could drastically change the course of Novembers election. But most of it concerned Clarence Thomas. His wife, Ginni, is a hard-right activist who was an active participant in efforts to stop the certification of Bidens victory. Yet Thomas has consistently refused to recuse himself from supreme court cases relating to January 6, even ones which directly invoked Ginni. After Thursday, we now have not one but two of the conservative justices whose spouses have engaged in apparent pro-Trump political activity. In his self-defense, Alito told the New York Times: I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag, putting it all down to a spat his wife, Martha-Ann, was having with neighbors who had defaced a Trump lawn sign. Some law scholars were prepared to give Alito the benefit of the doubt. Stephen Gillers, emeritus professor at New York University law school, said that he did not believe Alito knew the upside-down flag was flying, or that it was a coded message for stop the steal. While Alitos explanation for how it did happen is hard to believe, it is more credible than the view that he knowingly chose to fly the flag upside down knowing its import. But there is no doubt that the optics of the flag are atrocious. As Gillers also noted: Its obviously so damaging to the court, whose reputation is already suffering. The highest court has taken such a battering over its ethical standards mostly relating to private jets, vacations and other material benefits rather than political activities that it has been forced to adopt its first-ever ethical code. It says that a justice must recuse him or herself from a case where they have a personal bias or prejudice. That might involve their spouse being party to the proceeding or having an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding, the code states. Given what we now know about the behavior and convictions of both Ginni and Martha-Ann, it is arguable that there is at least a conversation to be had about whether Justices Thomas and Alito should disqualify themselves from any case relating to January 6. But theres the rub. Under the new code, the supreme court polices itself on all ethical matters. Not only that each individual justice polices him or herself, in effect sitting in judgment on themselves with even their eight colleagues having no say. Unsurprisingly, in the six months that the new code has been in existence very few justices have recused themselves. Where they have, only the liberal justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson have publicly explained their decisions. It all points towards more storms ahead. It is now all but inevitable there will be calls for both Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves as election year proceeds. The fact that two justices live in households with people who believe the 2020 election was stolen is astounding and disturbing, Roth said. Will they heed the calls for recusal? Probably not. Is there any way to force them? No. Suppose that David Cameron had returned from Brussels in February 2016 with something tangible. Perhaps he had acquired the right to deny benefits to new EU immigrants. Or perhaps he had recovered control of fisheries policy. Or maybe Britain had opted out of the EUs criminal justice system. The details dont particularly matter. A single win would have been enough, because it would have allowed him to show that the transfer of powers was not a one-way street. I have set an important precedent, the PM could have announced on his return. I have shown that sovereignty doesnt only shift from the nations to Brussels, that it can come back as well. Can anyone seriously doubt that he would have carried the ensuing referendum? OK, maybe not by a landslide. Plenty of people would have crossed a four-lane motorway to put their crosses in the Leave box. But, given the closeness of the result, it strikes me as incontestable that some repatriation of power, however slight, would have tipped the balance. Instead, EU leaders, irked by what they saw as British demands for special treatment, were almost performatively dismissive, refusing to give Cameron any concessions that he could sell as substantive. Many undecided voters, stunned by the EUs high-handedness, broke for Leave. Brussels had, in the most spectacular way, vindicated the central Eurosceptic contention, namely that being a member meant being on a conveyor-belt to full amalgamation. Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germanys CDU, has now acknowledged as much. I remember that David Cameron asked for changes to EU social policy and came back to London empty-handed, he says, in an implicit criticism of his predecessor, Angela Merkel. The Continental Europeans were not entirely blameless when it came to Brexit. That observation is undeniable, but it doesnt suit anyone to admit it. Eurosceptics like to present the referendum as the end of a bad dream, a reveil national, when Britain shook off its sleep, realised how many of its freedoms had been handed away, and took back its self-respect. Europhiles, for their part, cant bring themselves to blame Brussels for anything. As far as they are concerned, the referendum was a spasm of petty insularity. The idea that a modicum of flexibility from the EU might have made all the difference doesnt fit either sides narrative. Eurocrats themselves, perhaps understandably, were at first in total denial. I recall one Commission official, a German, mournfully muttering just after the vote, If only we had spent one per cent as much time addressing Britains concerns as we did with Greece and the euro. But his was a lone voice. For everyone else in Brussels, the only permitted response was contemptuous anger. The result, in their version, was delivered by unscrupulous demagogues lying to credulous oafs who must be made to pay for their arrogance. More than six years were to pass before a senior Commissioner could admit the obvious, namely that, as Ursula von der Leyen put it last September, We goofed it up. This refusal to see Brexit as the product of normal politics, subject to the same coincidences, miscalculations and close-run things as anything else, continues to distort our debate. For one thing, it has made it hard to have a meaningful discussion of economic policy. One side says that the UK has grown faster than comparable EU economies, and the other that it has grown less fast than its previous trajectory. Neither acknowledges the clunking fact of the lockdown, next to whose catastrophic impact all gains and losses associated with leaving the EU are rounding errors. For what its worth, I think our policy choices since Brexit have been disappointing. Yes, we have improved our terms of trade with some fast-growing countries, notably in the Pacific. But our commercial policy has been built around the demands of a sector that accounts for less than half of 1 per cent of our economy, namely agriculture. We have failed to sign an ambitious deal even with an ally as close as Canada, because we insist on sticking to the EUs unscientific ban on some beef imports. At the same time, we have been far too slow to deregulate. A combination of producer capture, official corporatism and surreptitious Civil Service Rejoinery means that we have not diverged in areas where we could have significantly cut costs, from chemicals to fine arts. Indeed, in some areas, we have gone backwards. Instead of removing the more burdensome financial services regulations, we have loaded so many costs onto our banks that they now have every incentive to debank their customers. Instead of cutting energy prices and poaching industries from the Continent, we have pursued more eco-zealotry than we did as members, and are now mimicking the EUs ludicrous carbon border adjustment tax a sure way to export production overseas. The culture war means that any attempt by either side to address these issues on their merits is met by catcalls from the other. Ah, so now youre admitting that Brexit is going well/badly! Ministers have therefore fretted more about symbolic than actual gains, leaving the single market but replicating it from the outside. Having paid a high negotiating price for the right to diverge, they have refused to exercise that right. Perhaps the single oddest aspect of the Brexit culture war, though, is the indifference among self-declared Europhiles to what is happening in the EU. For many Remainers and thus, by extension, for a big chunk of our media and cultural elites the EU is less a supranational bureaucracy than an ideal. To put it another way, they are less interested in the goings-on in Brussels than in what your support or opposition to Brexit supposedly says about you. Thus, for example, a writer called Rufus Wainwright was able, without irony, to blame the early closure of his play on the referendum result. Since Brexit, England has entered into a darker corridor, he said. One hears variants of this argument all the time. Brexit has supposedly turned us into philistines and xenophobes. But maintaining this line requires you not even to glance at what is happening on the Continent. For the awkward fact is that the UK is an outlier in not having a populist anti-immigrant party in its parliament a distinction in shares with only one of the EUs 27 members, namely Ireland. And Ireland, like the rest of the EU, may well cease to be an exception at the European elections in three weeks time when, as The Guardian reports with a shudder, far-Right parties could finish first in nine EU states. Perhaps, as some Leavers maintained throughout the campaign, Britain simply has a stronger liberal tradition. Or perhaps the very fact of taking back control served in part to assuage peoples concerns. In any event, something is now happening that almost no Remainers could have imagined in 2016. Just as Europe turns to the authoritarian Right, the UK, almost uniquely, is set to give a large majority to a party of the traditional Left. Indeed, just as Europe explores various Rwanda-style return schemes, Sir Keir Starmer is repeating his promise to scrap ours. Where does that leave the progressivist Remainer conceit? More immediately, where will it leave illegal migrants? Which country, in a reversal of the current trend, are they likely to find the most attractive? Funny how things work out, eh? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (FOX40.COM) A man who was previously convicted of several sex crimes and registered as a sex offender was arrested for trying to have sex with a 12-year-old girl, according to the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office. Around 2:30 p.m. on May 9, SCSO said a 12-year-old girl was waiting at a bus stop when a man approached her and asked her age and where she was going. The girl was reportedly scared and said she was 14. Next, the man allegedly asked her if she wanted to have sex with him. Sacramento State Police warn community after sexual battery reported in Hornet Tunnel Right then, the bus arrived, and both the girl and the man got on the bus, according to SCSO. She took a picture of the man, sent the photo to her parents, and said she was being followed. The man later got off the bus, stared at the girl through the window, then got back on the bus. Police said after the girl reached her final destination in East Sacramento, she got off the bus, and the man got off behind her. She immediately called 9-1-1, and the man walked away. Sacramento County Sheriffs Deputies responded to the area and searched for the man but could not find him. Deputies then transported the girl home. Two men caught assaulting a woman in Yuba County, police say SCSO said it ran the photo the girl took through facial recognition software and found a match. The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Kahlilullah Razaq. In 2013, Razaq was convicted in Sacramento County of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and sentenced to six years in state prison. While on parole in 2016, SCSO said Razaq was arrested and convicted of indecent exposure, but was released on parole in early 2024. On March 22, 2024, Razaq was arrested, again, when he offered money to an undercover sheriffs deputy in exchange for sex. He was released five days later pending trial, according to SCSO. On May 10, deputies said it arrested Razaq on a parole violation and booked him into the Sacramento County Main Jail for allegedly contacting a minor with the intent of committing a sex act. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. Kiev is at a disadvantage in its defence against Russian forces due to restrictions on using US weapons against targets on Russian soil, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The latest report from the US think tank, released on Friday in the US capital, states that Russia exploits these restrictions by launching attacks from protected areas near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for permission to use US weapons on Russian territory, which is currently denied by the United States to avoid escalation. The US approach to date has severely limited Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian attacks in the north of the Kharkiv region, it said. According to the Pentagon, the US is providing the weapons so that Ukraine can liberate its occupied territories, but not for attacks on Russia. Ukraine's goal is to attack bases in Russia with Western weapons in order to destroy them even more effectively than with its own less powerful drones and missiles. Russia, on the other hand, is warning of an escalation in the war if weapons from NATO countries are used against them. Reporter Puts Trump on the Spot Over His 2020 Vow on Minnesota KSTP In an interview with a St. Paul, Minnesota reporter that aired a few days before his scheduled appearance Friday at the state GOP Lincoln Day fundraising dinner, former President Donald Trump denied saying that he wouldnt return to the Midwest state if he lost it in 2020but the local ABC affiliate brought the receipts to prove otherwise. KSTP reporter Tom Hauser spoke with Trump over a video call conducted Tuesday before the indicted ex-president went to court to hear testimony from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Hauser at one point asked Trump about his speaking engagement and whether it should be interpreted as part of a play for Minnesota in November. I think at one point you vowed never to come back to Minnesota after you lost the state in 2020, he recalled. Is this a signal that you think you have a realistic chance to win the state of Minnesota in 2024? Trump denied saying so. Well, I never said Id never come back. I never even thought of that, he insisted, before pushing the false claim that he actually won the state four years ago. I thought I won in 2020easily. In fact, Trump said at a rally that September that he didnt plan on returning to Minnesota if he lost to Joe Bidena point that KSTP made by playing that clip. If I lose Minnesota, Im never coming back, I dont care. Im never coming back, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Duluth. Hauser said that Trump appeared to be joking. Whether thats the case isnt clear. Nevertheless, Trump obviously did not win Minnesota, as he claimed, but lost convincingly by seven percentage points, or about 230,000 votes. Trumps appearance in the Twin Cities comes on his rare day off from his criminal trial in Manhattan. He spent the first part of the day attending his son Barrons graduation from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. 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. By Anna Mehler Paperny TORONTO (Reuters) - Residents of the Canadian oil town threatened by an out-of-control wildfire can return home, authorities said Saturday, even as they warned the community will have to contend with the blaze for the foreseeable future. Thousands of residents of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta, had been ordered to leave their homes earlier this month. But favourable weather made a return home possible. "With the current and forecast weather conditions, specifically the amount of rain that has fallen on the fire, combined with continued fire suppression and community protection efforts, I am pleased to announce it is now safe for us to end the current evacuation and allow people to return to their homes," said Sandy Bowman, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo that includes Fort McMurray. "We thank all of you for your patience, resolve and strength." Fort McMurray is the hub for most of Canada's oil output. An early start to wildfire season a year after a historically fiery 2023 left some recollecting a devastating 2016 fire dubbed "The Beast" that forced the evacuation of 90,000 residents, burned down 2,400 buildings and idled more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of production. But while conditions are now favourable and the community is not presently under threat, authorities warned they were not yet out of the woods. The fire "is not yet under control," said Alberta Wildfire information office Josee St-Onge. Fire behaviour will likely increase when sunshine and warm weather return, she added. "While it is safe for evacuees to return, residents will have to live with an active wildfire near their community for weeks if not months. Bringing a wildfire of this size under control will take time and hard work." (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny, Editing by Franklin Paul) Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Bristol-Myers Squibb's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions 49% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business A look at the shareholders of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 79% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn). Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Bristol-Myers Squibb, beginning with the chart below. View our latest analysis for Bristol-Myers Squibb What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bristol-Myers Squibb? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. We can see that Bristol-Myers Squibb does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Bristol-Myers Squibb's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Bristol-Myers Squibb. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 9.2%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.0% and 4.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority. Story continues While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of Bristol-Myers Squibb The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our information suggests that Bristol-Myers Squibb Company insiders own under 1% of the company. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own US$65m of stock. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 21% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Bristol-Myers Squibb that you should be aware of. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. 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. Some of those who helped bankroll the U.S. Senate campaigns of John McCain and Kyrsten Sinema may be chatting this weekend with Democrat Ruben Gallego as he challenges Kari Lake, his most prominent Republican challenger. Gallego, a five-term Democrat vying for the seat held by Sinema, I-Ariz., who is retiring, will attend an event Saturday in Phoenix on behalf of Make Elections Fair, a group seeking to change the rules for voting in Arizonas primary elections to include more of the states independent voters. Its a nonpartisan effort, but the event hosted by Chuck Coughlin, a Phoenix-based political consultant, will bring some of those who have contributed heavily to Sinema or Arizona GOP politics into the room with Gallego. Rep. Ruben Gallego speaks in Phoenix on the state's Supreme Court ruling to uphold near-total ban on abortions on April 12, 2024. Among those expected to attend are people such as banking executive David Reese, who has given at least $63,000 to Republicans since 1978; and Don Budinger, a philanthropist who has divided about $140,000 between the two major parties, given to Sinema and to a Pennsylvania Republican running for the Senate this year. Coughlin, who has given $1,000 to Gallegos campaign, has told his Republican allies to come and kick the tires on what Gallego might be like as a senator. Theres this whole Republican narrative about how progressive he is. I dont think hes going to be that bad, Coughlin said. I think he had that role in the House, trying to distinguish himself in a body of 435 souls. I think hes read the tea leaves on this thing correctly and he wants to be useful and approachable in the tradition of Arizona senators who want to help the state. Others who are listed as attendees include Bob Bertrand, the chair of Concord Servicing Corp.; Craig Krumwiede, president of Harvard Investments; former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, a Democrat; and Terry Goddard, the former Democratic Arizona attorney general. Make Elections Fair is a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate partisan primaries and replace them with a single open primary. Supporters view it as a bulwark against partisan extremism. Coughlin said the effort had nearly 400,000 signatures and will be on the November ballot. Gallegos campaign declined to comment on its fundraising efforts. Through March, Gallego had opened up a significant financial edge over his Senate challengers. He had $9.6 million in cash and his campaign ads have become a regular presence on television and other screens. Lake had $2.5 million in cash and $451,000 in debt. She recently began a round of TV ads in cooperation with the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is also challenging for the GOP nomination, had $254,000 in cash and $117,000 in debts. Sinemas decision not to run for a second term created a financial opening for some of her more conservative donors who may be hesitant about backing Gallego and unwilling to support Lake, who has held firmly to an agenda modeled after that of former President Donald Trump. Gallego quickly picked up the support of many of Sinemas supporters after she quit the Democratic Party in December 2022 and he entered the Senate race a month later. When Sinema was a Democrat, she was among the most prolific fundraisers in the Senate. Her financial support cratered after leaving the party. Many of those who supported McCain, meanwhile, have been unwilling to invest in Lake, who, like Trump, has publicly feuded with McCains family. During her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Lake memorably asked a crowd, We dont have any McCain Republicans in here, do we? Get the hell out! She said the GOP was the party of McCain. It was bad. Arizona has delivered some losers, havent they? During a radio interview in February, Lake tried to claim her earlier remarks about McCain were said in jest. And I think that if John McCain, who had a great sense of humor, would have heard it, he would have laughed. Meghan McCain and Arizona Senate GOP candidate Kari Lake. Lake said all Republicans need to get a little bit thicker skin because were going through some tough stuff right now and we need to be able to take a joke. McCains daughter Meghan McCain wrote No peace, b---- on social media, setting the tone for another reminder of Lakes battles with Republicans, including former Gov. Doug Ducey and Karrin Taylor Robson, a rival who Lake defeated for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Senate race: Ruben Gallego to raise money from McCain donors Some of those who helped bankroll the U.S. Senate campaigns of John McCain and Kyrsten Sinema may be chatting this weekend with Democrat Ruben Gallego as he challenges Kari Lake, his most prominent Republican challenger. Gallego, a five-term Democrat running for the seat held by Sinema, I-Ariz., who is retiring, will attend an event Saturday in Phoenix hosted by Chuck Coughlin. He's a Phoenix-based political consultant who will bring some of those who have contributed heavily to Sinema or Arizona GOP politics into the room with Gallego. Rep. Ruben Gallego speaks in Phoenix on the state's Supreme Court ruling to uphold near-total ban on abortions on April 12, 2024. Among those expected to attend are people such as banking executive David Reese, who has given at least $63,000 to Republicans since 1978; and Don Budinger, a philanthropist who has divided about $140,000 between the two major parties, given to Sinema and to a Pennsylvania Republican running for the Senate this year. Coughlin, who has given $1,000 to Gallegos campaign, has told his Republican allies to come and kick the tires on what Gallego might be like as a senator. Theres this whole Republican narrative about how progressive he is. I dont think hes going to be that bad, Coughlin said. I think he had that role in the House, trying to distinguish himself in a body of 435 souls. I think hes read the tea leaves on this thing correctly and he wants to be useful and approachable in the tradition of Arizona senators who want to help the state. Others who are listed as attendees include Bob Bertrand, the chair of Concord Servicing Corp.; Craig Krumwiede, president of Harvard Investments; former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, a Democrat; and Terry Goddard, the former Democratic Arizona attorney general. Coughlin is involved with the group behind "Make Elections Fair," a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate partisan primaries and replace them with a single open primary. Supporters view it as a bulwark against partisan extremism. Coughlin said the effort had nearly 400,000 signatures and is on the Nov. 5 ballot. Gallegos campaign declined to comment on its fundraising efforts. Through March, Gallego had opened up a significant financial edge over his Senate challengers. He had $9.6 million in cash and his campaign ads have become a regular presence on television and other screens. Lake had $2.5 million in cash and $451,000 in debt. She recently began a round of TV ads in cooperation with the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is also challenging for the GOP nomination, had $254,000 in cash and $117,000 in debts. Sinemas decision not to run for a second term created a financial opening for some of her more conservative donors who may be hesitant about backing Gallego and unwilling to support Lake, who has held firmly to an agenda modeled after that of former President Donald Trump. Gallego quickly picked up the support of many of Sinemas supporters after she quit the Democratic Party in December 2022 and he entered the Senate race a month later. When Sinema was a Democrat, she was among the most prolific fundraisers in the Senate. Her financial support cratered after leaving the party. Many of those who supported McCain, meanwhile, have been unwilling to invest in Lake, who, like Trump, has publicly feuded with McCains family. During her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Lake memorably asked a crowd, We dont have any McCain Republicans in here, do we? Get the hell out! She said the GOP was the party of McCain. It was bad. Arizona has delivered some losers, havent they? During a radio interview in February, Lake tried to claim her earlier remarks about McCain were said in jest. And I think that if John McCain, who had a great sense of humor, would have heard it, he would have laughed. Meghan McCain and Arizona Senate GOP candidate Kari Lake. Lake said all Republicans need to get a little bit thicker skin because were going through some tough stuff right now and we need to be able to take a joke. McCains daughter Meghan McCain wrote No peace, b---- on social media, setting the tone for another reminder of Lakes battles with Republicans, including former Gov. Doug Ducey and Karrin Taylor Robson, a rival who Lake defeated for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Senate race: Ruben Gallego to raise money from McCain donors Rudy Giuliani belts out New York, New York at 80th birthday and then is served with indictment Rudy Giulianis 80th birthday bash was anything but dull. The former New York City mayor and lawyer for Donald Trump held a party at a home in Palm, Beach Florida to celebrate on Friday, where he served cake and posed for photos. Mr Giuliani was also filmed belting out Frank Sinatras classic New York, New York to cheers from guests. But after the celebration wound down, Mr Giuliani was met by two officials from the Arizona Attorney Generals office who served him with an indictment. Rudy Giuliani (right), pictured on Friday singing New York, New York at his 80th birthday party before being served an indictment accusing him of 2020 election interference (Rudy W. Giuliani/Americas Mayor Live (E410)) Arizona officials had been trying to track the former mayor down for weeks after a grand jury in the state issued an indictment. Mr Giuliani faces charges alongside 17 others for his alleged role in a 2020 election interference plot. He was the last to receive the papers. The mayor was served after the party and as he was walking to the car. He was unfazed and enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people, from all walks of life, who love and respect him for his contributions to society. We look forward to full vindication soon, Ted Goodman, spokesperson for Mr Giuliani, said in a statement to The Independent. Arizona officials had been trying to track the former mayor down for weeks after a grand jury in the state issued an indictment. Mr Giuliani faces charges alongside 17 others for his alleged role in a 2020 election interference plot . He was the last to receive the papers. A spokesperson for Mr Giuliani also previously suggested that he wasnt difficult to find. We are LIVE every night, where we regularly announce our specific location, the spokesperson said, referencing his live broadcasts on YouTube. The Arizona indictment accuses defendants of interfering with the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters, and depriving Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted. Mayor Rudy Giulianione of the most effective prosecutors in American history who took down the Mafia, cleaned up the streets of New York and locked up corrupt public officialsis proud to stand up for the countless Americans who raised legitimate concerns surrounding the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, a spokesperson for Mr Giuliani previously told The Independent. Mr Giulianis 80th birthday soirees - which took place in Palm Beach and New York - had their own gift registry where he asked for items such as an electric razor and Giorgio Armani cologne, according to Page Six. Rudy Giuliani, pictured leaving the U.S. District Courthouse after he was ordered to pay $148m in a defamation case, has since filed for bankruptcy (REUTERS) These asks come as he grapples with bankruptcy and $148m in debt. The former New York mayor declared bankruptcy in December after being ordered to pay the judgment sum to two election workers after he pushed a baseless conspiracy over their part in the 2020 election. He has subsequently missed deadlines to file financial disclosures. The judge in charge of his bankruptcy case said that he was disturbed that so little progress had been achieved in sorting out his finances earlier this week. On Tuesday, the judge blocked Mr Giuliani from appealing a $148m defamation judgment against him. Now, Mr Giuliani appears to have started a coffee business amid his financial troubles. Rudy.Coffee offers three styles of coffee beans, and the first 100 bags are signed by the former mayor. The three variations come with tag lines such as fighting for justice with an image of Mr Giuliani from his time as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and enjoying life, with an image of a flip-flop-wearing Mr Guiliani sitting on a beach. This article has been updated with a response from Mr Giulianis spokesperson. Rudy Giuliani was served Friday night with notice of his indictment related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona after his 80th birthday party and after boasting on social media that he had avoided being served. "The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted on X, replying directly to a post from Giuliani earlier Friday night taunting Mayes with a photo from his 80th birthday party for failing to deliver his indictment. MORE: Giuliani, Meadows indicted in Arizona fake elector scheme; Trump unindicted co-conspirator Giuliani, in a since-deleted tweet, wrote, "If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes." Mayes shared a screenshot of the post even after it was deleted. pic.twitter.com/jsyaDZcU6z AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) May 18, 2024 Giuliani was served with the indictment after his birthday party, which was hosted in Palm Beach, Florida, by GOP consultant Caroline Wren, had ended and as he was walking to a car, according to his spokesman Ted Goodman. "He was unfazed and enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people, from all walks of life, who love and respect him for his contributions to society. We look forward to full vindication soon," Goodman said. PHOTO: Former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/AP, FILE) When the indictment was announced in late April, an adviser to Giuliani said, "The continued weaponization of our justice system should concern every American, from Arizona to Michigan and everywhere in between, as it does permanent, irrevocable harm to the country." Giuliani is scheduled to be in court Tuesday for his arraignment. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, and former Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb were among the others to be indicted on charges including fraud, forgery, and conspiracy. Rudy Giuliani served with Arizona fake electors indictment after 80th birthday party originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was served a patriotic-themed birthday cake during his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday night then served with a notice of indictment related to an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona. Giuliani was indicted last month alongside 18 other allies of former President Donald Trump in connection with their unsuccessful bid to award the states 11 presidential electoral votes to Trump instead of Joe Biden, who went on to win the election. All of the defendants had been legally served aside from Giuliani, but that changed Friday night, not long after he shared a post on X, taunting Arizona officials. If Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow, they: 1. Must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes, he wrote. The post, which has since been deleted, featured a photo of a grinning Giuliani surrounded by a group of people at what appeared to be his birthday celebrations. Gold and black balloons can be seen floating in the background. Just one hour and 14 minutes later, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes confirmed authorities had finally located Giuliani after weeks of searching. The final defendant was served moments ago, she wrote on X at 11:20 p.m. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law. According to several reports, the one-time attorney was enjoying his birthday bash at the Palm Beach home of Caroline Wren a GOP operative and adviser to Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake when he was served. An unidentified party guest told CNN the celebration was interrupted late in the night by two agents from the Arizona attorney generals office, who stormed [Giuliani] on his way out. Many guests were visibly upset by the incident, the witness added. While that moment was not part of the livestreamed celebrations, clips from the same night show the ex-mayor enjoying the festivities alongside the likes of Roger Stone and Steve Bannon, both of whom served as strategists for Trump. At one point, Giuliani even belted out the Frank Sinatra hit New York, New York, as video shows. In a post to X on Saturday afternoon, Giuliani denied his celebration was ruined by the party crashers, instead calling it an incredible night. It felt like a strategy session on how to save America! he said. Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, echoed the sentiment, telling NBC News the former mayor remained in good spirits despite being served. The mayor was unfazed by the decision to try and embarrass him during his 80th birthday party, Goodman said. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love him from all walks of life and we look forward to full vindication soon. Giuliani turns 80 on May 28. Rudy Giuliani on Friday celebrated his upcoming 80th birthday by taunting prosecutors shortly before he was served with an indictment over his efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and longtime ally to ex-President Donald Trump, was partying with dozens of guests in Palm Beach, Florida, when officials with the Arizona Attorney Generals Office crashed the shindig to serve him with the indictment. In April, Giuliani and more than a dozen others were indicted by a grand jury over an alleged scheme to have fake electors claim that Trump won Arizona in the 2020 election. (Joe Biden won the state by more than 10,000 votes.) Following the grand jurys decision, prosecutors had been unable to find and serve Giuliani with the indictment, leading him to claim that if authorities couldnt serve him by Saturday, they would have to dismiss the charges he faces. If Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes, the ex-Trump lawyer wrote Friday on X, formerly Twitter. Giuliani later deleted that tweet, and his birthday bash was soon stormed by officials like it was Normandy, a person at the event told the New York Post. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) confirmed on X that Giuliani had been served around 11 p.m. The final defendant [in the fake electors case] was served moments ago, she wrote in reference to Giuliani, adding that nobody is above the law. Mayes also shared an image of Giulianis now-deleted tweet taunting prosecutors. Rudy Giuliani was served Friday with notice of his indictment related to an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona, according to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. The final defendant was served moments ago, Mayes, a Democrat, said in a post on X in which Giuliani is tagged. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law. The summons is a formal notice that a defendant has been criminally charged and must appear before a judge. Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for Mayes, previously told CNN that the attorney generals office had tried for weeks to locate Giuliani. Caroline Wren, a GOP operative and adviser to Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, told CNN she was hosting Giulianis 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening when the former New York City mayor was served. An attendee of the party told CNN that Giuliani was served papers by two agents of the Arizona attorney generals office in the late hours of the birthday bash. They stormed him on his way out, the attendee said, adding that many of the guests were visibly upset. The mayor was unfazed by the decision to try and embarrass him during his 80th birthday party. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love himfrom all walks of life and we look forward to full vindication soon, said Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani. CNN has reached out to Mayes office for comment. On Friday evening, Giuliani tweeted a taunting message and photo of himself surrounded by smiling friends. If Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow morning, he wrote in a now-deleted tweet, 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes. Hours later, Giuliani was served notice of the indictment. Giuliani is expected to appear Tuesday for an arraignment in Phoenix unless he is granted a delay by the court. Giuliani is among a group of former President Donald Trumps allies indicted last month in Arizona alongside the 11 individuals who acted as fake GOP electors from the state in the 2020 presidential election. The individual who CNN has identified as Giuliani is described in the indictment as spreading false claims of voter fraud across the country after the 2020 election, falsely claiming Arizona officials made no effort to find out whether the vote was accurate, and encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and in six other contested states to vote for Trump-Pence on December 14, 2020. Former Trump lawyer John Eastman was the first defendant charged in the Arizona case to appear in court. He pleaded not guilty in Phoenix on Friday on charges related to allegedly participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona. The others, including Giuliani, are scheduled to follow suit in the coming weeks. The Arizona indictment is just the latest legal woe for Giuliani stemming from his time as Trumps attorney after the 2020 presidential election. He filed for bankruptcy in federal court in New York in December days after a jury ordered him to pay nearly $150 million to two former Georgia election workers for making defamatory statements about them. Giuliani is also an unindicted co-conspirator in Trumps federal election subversion case, faces 13 charges in the Georgia election subversion case, and is being sued for defamation by both Dominion and Smartmatic, voting technology companies that he falsely said rigged the 2020 election. CNNs Zachary Cohen and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Giuliani was the last of 18 defendants in the case to be served, according to the Arizona Attorney General's office Rob Kim/Getty Rudy Giuliani in 2022 Rudy Giuliani has been served with indictment papers for his alleged involvement in the so-called scheme to steal votes in the 2020 presidential election. On Friday, May 17, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced via X (formerly Twitter) that the former New York City mayor has been served, noting that he was the final defendant in the case to have been handed the indictment documents that charge him with conspiracy, fraud and forgery. "Nobody is above the law," Mayes wrote. Related: Arizona Official Says 2020 Election Audit Found Just 1 Dead Voter, Not 282 According to reports from NBC News and the Arizona Republic, Giuliani received the documents during his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Fla., hosted by Caroline Wren, an advisor to Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. Before the attorney was handed the documents, Giuliani taunted Mayes by sharing photos of him posing with guests at his birthday celebration as balloons floated in the background, writing in a now-deleted X post: "If Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow morning; 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes." Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, told NBC News that he was not bothered by the interruption to his birthday party. "The mayor was unphased by the decision to try and embarrass him during his 80th birthday party. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love himfrom all walks of lifeand we look forward to full vindication soon," Goodman wrote in a statement to the outlet. Giuliani is one of 18 people, including former President Donald Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows named in the indictment which was filed on April 24, per the Associated Press for their roles in an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona in favor of Trump. Related: GOP Arizona Elections Official Calls Trump 'Unhinged' for His Repeated 'Insane Lies' About Election Getty Images Rudy Giuliani The Arizona Attorney General's office notably has difficulty serving Guiliani in the case, and several other defendants are much further along in their legal proceedings. NBC reported that 11 other defendants are set to be arraigned on Tuesday, May 21. Richie Taylor, the communications director for Mayes, previously told Spectrum News New York that agents could not find Guiliani for weeks. 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. "Agents spent two days (April 25-26) in New York City attempting to serve the defendant at his residence. Multiple attempts to contact the defendant by telephone to arrange service were also unsuccessful," Taylor told the outlet, adding that agents even spoke with front desk workers in the former mayor's apartment building in an attempt to make contact. "The defendant was also sent service via certified mail, we have not received notification that attempt was successful either." The Arizona indictment alleges that Trump's former attorney "spread false claims of election fraud in Arizona and nationally" and that he "pressured the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Arizona legislators to change the outcome of Arizona's election." "[He] was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and in six other contested states to vote for Trump-Pence on December 14, 2020," the indictment alleges. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Rudy Giuliani, youve been served. After weeks of evading agents, making light of his indictment by a state grand jury and generally acting like a jackass, Americas self-proclaimed and thoroughly bankrupt mayor has been served with a summons to appear in Arizona to face felony charges of fraud, forgery and conspiracy. Giuliani was in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday evening, throwing himself an early 80th birthday bash. Naturally, he was posting pictures of his party on social media, taunting Attorney General Kris Mayes as he has for several weeks now. If Arizona authorities cant find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they cant count votes, he wrote, alongside a picture of him surrounded by young women. Giuliani played a key role in Arizona's mess Rudy Giuliani is served by Arizona authorities during his 80th birthday party. About an hour later, just as his 75 guests finished singing Happy Birthday, Giuliani got what many in America might consider the best gift of all. The final defendant was served moments ago, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced, in reply to Giulianis since-deleted taunt. Rudy Giuliani, nobody is above the law. Giuliani was at the center of the plot to overturn Arizonas vote in 2020. Maybe you recall hearing about the Nov. 22, 2020, phone call, when Donald Trump and Giuliani called then House Speaker Rusty Bowers, claiming to have evidence of widespread fraud and pressuring him to convene the Legislature to replace Biden electors with Trump electors. Fortunately, Bowers, R-Mesa, is a guy with scruples. He asked for the evidence, believing you ought to have actual proof that an election was stolen before disenfranchising the states voters. Or maybe you recall that Nov. 30, 2020 legislative hearing in a downtown Phoenix hotel, at which Giuliani claimed, among other things, that a few hundred thousand of the states four to five million illegal aliens voted. (Given that the states total population is only 7.2 million, I suppose that makes five out of seven of us are here illegally.) Our state is looking forward to seeing him Maybe you recall the Dec. 1, 2020, meeting, when Giuliani met with Bowers at the state Capitol to try again to overturn our vote and the speaker again asked for the evidence. We dont have the evidence, Giuliani conceded, but we have lots of theories. You know who does apparently have evidence of fraud? Mayes. And on April 24, she presented enough of it to convince a state grand jury to indict Giuliani and 17 others, including Arizonas 11 fake electors. On Friday evening, the 18th of those 18 was served with a summons to return to Arizona. Happy Birthday, Rudy. Believe me when I say, we cant wait to see you. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRoberts. Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rudy Giuliani, you've been served. Oh, and Happy Birthday SRC Holdings opens Enterprise Self Storage Enterprise Self Storage at 1610 S. Enterprise Ave. This week, SRC Holdings opened its latest business venture, Enterprise Self Storage, serving east Springfield. The storage facility offers 300 units ranging in size from 10 feet by 5 feet up to 12 feet by 40 feet for indoor boat and vehicle storage. The facility also offers 24/7 video surveillance. The new business is the latest phase in SRCs decade-long, $100 million plan for real estate development anddiversification led by SRC Development Group. According to a press release, the new storage facility allows SRC to more efficiently utilize its land and diversify its income while meeting Springfield's high demand for storage space. This has been a fun project to work on, and were excited to be opening our doors. Weve already had a lot of reservations from members of the community, and were excited to see the growth this brings for our employee-owners, said Kim Bell, who manages the new venture. Blind Community Thrift Store introduces NaviLens codes The Blind Community Thrift Store on North Kansas Expressway in Springfield has become one of the first retail stores to introduce NaviLens codes. NaviLens allows blind, visually impaired, and non-English speaking customers to shop via the NaviLens app by scanning codes. The adaptive software uses voiceover technology to provide departments, directions, and prices throughout the store. NaviLens is free to use, and the codes are simpler to scan than traditional QR codes. They can also be scanned from up to 50 feet away. At the Blind Community Thrift Store, these codes are used to describe items, where items are located in the store, prices of those items, and descriptions of clothing racks. Codes can also be translated into 36 different languages. "Technology like this is just a step for accessibility, but it is an incredible step that we hope can be used as a model for the rest of the world," the store said in a press release. The Blind Community Thrift Store will also be providing free personal use NaviLens codes to those who need them. The codes can be taped to various personal items around the home and are fully customizable to the user's needs. These codes can be shared with up to five other people. For more information, stop by the Blind Community Thrift Store at 2713 N. Kansas Expressway. Nixa Public Schools wins international communications award Hermes Creative Awards has announced Nixa Public Schools as a Gold Winner of its international awards competition for the concept, writing, and design of emerging media. The school district, honored among companies such as AARP, Bank of America, Chicago White Sox, Cisco, and Pepsico, won the award for its district magazine, Eagle Express. Story continues This year, more than 6,500 corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies, and freelancers entered the Hermes Creative Awards competition. Hermes Creative Awards recognizes "outstanding" work in the industry. Hermes Creative Awards is judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. The international organization consists of thousands of marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and freelance professionals. Egg Central Station earns sustainability certification Egg Central Station, Vital Farms' egg washing and packing facility in Springfield, has earned a prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification for the 2022 expansion of its facility. LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council's internationally recognized green building rating system. "This prestigious acknowledgment underscores Vital Farms commitment to raising the standards in the food industry and the companys impact goal of reducing operational greenhouse gas intensity by 25% by 2027," the company said in a press release. Egg Central Station is at the heart of Vital Farms' operations. Each day, 6 million pasture-raised eggs from the company's more than 300 family farms are washed, sized, graded, and packed at Egg Central Station. Inside the facility there are features such as daylighting and climate control to improve conditions for workers. Food safety practices also go "above and beyond current regulatory requirements," and Egg Central Station also has advanced water filtration systems. Solar panels generate renewable energy while providing parking shade, and bioretention elements clean and cool rainwater. Additional construction elements include the use of low-VOC emitting materials and finishes made from high recycled content. Baxter joins OMB Bank commercial lending team OMB Bank has announced John Baxter has joined its commercial lending team as a vice president and loan officer. Baxter has two decades of banking experience. He began his career in 2004 as a mortgage loan officer for Central Bank in Sedalia. In 2006, he was named branch manager for Central Banks Ozark location and in 2008, he joined Central Banks lending team in Springfield. Before joining OMB, he was vice president of commercial lending for Simmons Bank, a position he had held since 2012. John brings an incredible amount of experience and a deep understanding of the local market to our commercial lending team, said Joey Orr, executive vice president of community banking. With 20 years in the banking industry, his expertise will be invaluable as we continue to support the financial needs of businesses in the communities we serve. We're thrilled to welcome John to OMB. Mediacom makes enhancements to internet speeds Mediacom announced this week that the company would make significant speed enhancements to several of its Xtream Internet services. Beginning May 17, new and existing customers can take advantage of the following speed increases: Xtream Internet 100 will become Xtream Internet 250. Speed jumps from 100 Mbps down to 250 Mbps down (a 150% increase) Xtream Internet 300 will become Xtream Internet 500. Speed jumps from 300 Mbps down to 500 Mbps down (a 67% increase) Mediacom has also replaced its Connect2Compete Plus service with a new and improved low-cost broadband plan called Xtream Connect. Xtream Connect offers speeds of 100 Mbps down by 20 Mbps up. Priced at $14.99 per month (plus modem rental if applicable) Xtream Connect provides qualifying households affordable internet access. Mediacom is further enhancing the program by allowing customers enrolled in the Xtream Connect program to add landline phone service for $5 per month. Xtream Connect is available to any household in Mediacom's service territory that participates in the National School Lunch Program, SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or certain other federal programs. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SRC opens Springfield self-storage site; NaviLens now at thrift store Russian forces struck 10 communities in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast in 44 separate attacks throughout the day, the regional administration reported on May 17. At least 183 explosions were reported in Sumy Oblast over the past 24 hours. The communities of Khotin, Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Myropillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Nova Sloboda, Shalyhyne, Esman, and Seredyna-Buda were targeted. Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, artillery, grenade launcher, and drone attacks. At least eight unguided rockets targeted the Myropillia community and surrounding areas, according to the Sumy Oblast Military Administration. The town of Velyka Pysarivka, with a pre-war population of about 4,200 residents, experienced the bulk of the attacks, with 40 explosions reported in the area. Velyka Pysarivka is located about 15 kilometers from the Russian border. Sumy Oblast borders Russia's Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts. Russian attacks against the region have become increasingly destructive in recent weeks, killing and injuring civilians. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia attacks 123 infrastructure facilities in 12 Ukrainian oblasts in one day The Russians attacked 123 infrastructure facilities in Ukraine during the day on 17 May. Source: Ukraines Defence Ministrys Military Media Centre Details: The Defence Ministry noted that Russian forces had attacked 12 Ukrainian oblasts during the past day. A total of 100 populated areas and 123 infrastructure facilities were targeted using mortars, artillery, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, air defence missile systems, strategic and tactical missile systems, UAVs and tactical aircraft. There are civilians killed and wounded. The number of people affected is being established. Support UP or become our patron! Russia claims explosion at St. Petersburg academy caused by World War Two ammunition Russia's military reported on May 17 that a blast at the Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps in St. Petersburg, which injured seven servicemen, was caused by the accidental detonation of World War II-era ammunition. According to Interfax news agency, the incident occurred while servicemen were inspecting underground areas at the academy in Russia's second-largest city, citing information from the Leningrad military district. St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the blast was not linked to terrorism. The condition of the injured in the blast at the academy was not immediately reported. The academy trains soldiers serving in the armys signal corps. St. Petersburg, home to approximately 5.4 million people, is located about 700 kilometers (approximately 435 miles) northwest of Moscow. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia is finally getting serious about its war, and it spells trouble for Ukraine Russia's war machine looks different today than it did at the start of the conflict. Moscow has new defense leadership in place and is setting the stage for an offensive this summer. Putin is finally getting serious about the fight, and it's not good for Ukraine. It took Russia more than two years of brutal war, thousands of armored vehicles damaged and destroyed, an estimated 450,000 casualties, and tens of billions of dollars to get to this point, but Moscow seems to finally be taking its war seriously. Much of the war in Ukraine has gone poorly for Russia. Its death toll alone by many estimates more than 50,000 troops is staggering. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine looks very different today than it did at the start of the conflict. The country's defense-industrial base has begun firing on all cylinders, and Putin recently installed an economist as his defense minister to boost the mass production of weaponry, especially firepower. Moscow blunted Ukraine's counteroffensive last summer with a strong defense while rebuilding stockpiles and transitioning to a wartime economy. It has effectively exploited Ukraine's material, manpower, and industrial disadvantages over the spring, especially as Kyiv's Western partners floundered, and it is now setting the stage for what could be a major, multi-pronged offensive this summer. Its forces have also found and copy-catted tactics to drive Ukraine back. Russia finally appears committed to its ambitions in Ukraine and, as some fear, beyond and it comes even as Ukraine's weapons stocks are being reloaded after US lawmakers passed a major Ukraine aid deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to meet Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow on May 9, 2024. Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP "The Russians are still dangerous and they're learning," George Barros, the geospatial-intelligence team lead and a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Business Insider. "They're improving every day." An 'inflection point' in Russia's war efforts The war began with Russia's botched invasion of Ukraine, with command failures, tactical missteps, and high levels of confusion in the Russian ranks in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance ultimately derailing plans for a swift victory. The Russian military continued to suffer from other problems in the first year of fighting, racking up troop and equipment losses while failing to capture significant amounts of Ukrainian territory. And Ukraine got the better of its more powerful enemy on more than one occasion, including in its 2022 counteroffensive pushes in northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson. But Russia found success in using a sophisticated array of defensive lines to prevent Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive from achieving notable forward progress. As it concluded last fall, the highly anticipated effort ended in failure, with Kyiv unable to liberate much of the territory, even with an influx of armored combat vehicles from the West. In the months that followed, Russia took advantage of stalled US military support for Ukraine, which spent much of the winter and spring outgunned and lacking critical munitions to defend itself. Ukraine also notably failed to adequately build out its defensive fortifications until the last minute. Moscow exploited these problems to make gains in the east and prepare for future assaults. A turret of a destroyed Russian tank is seen near the front-line village of Robotyne in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Feb. 21, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer Alarm bells have been ringing in the West in recent weeks. US intelligence assessed in March that, despite suffering serious damage in Ukraine, the battlefield deadlock has shifted momentum in Moscow's favor. The following month, a top US official and general said, respectively, that the Russian military was "almost completely reconstituted" and had "grown back" to its pre-war strength. "They've got some gaps that have been produced by this war, but their overall capacity is very significant still," Gen. Chris Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the head of US European Command, told Congress in April. "And they intend to make it go higher." And those intentions have since been put on full display. In a rather surprising move on Sunday, Putin nominated Andrei Belousov a civilian economist with no military background to replace his long-time defense minister Sergei Shoigu, who has faced resounding criticism over Russia's inefficiencies in Ukraine. The recent military leadership reshuffle indicates Putin's intent to put Russia on a "Soviet-style economy war footing" to increase the output of the country's defense-industrial base, Barros said. But this isn't just to satisfy Moscow's immediate needs in Ukraine, he added. It's also for "long-term force regeneration" in which there's a scenario where Russia goes beyond the borders of Ukraine and looks to project force against NATO's eastern flank. In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu (L) and Russian new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov attend a meeting of Russian President with military leaders in Moscow on May 15, 2024. Photo by VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Belousov, identified as a "competent, hard-head technocrat," was essentially brought in to audit the Russian defense ministry which is riddled with corruption and ensure that the country's tax dollars are actually going to the procurement of weapons and equipment that will allow Moscow to more successfully wage war in Ukraine, something the Kremlin previously struggled with, Barros said. "This is an important inflection point in the Russian effort to treat the 'special military operation' as a real war and gets serious about long-term strategic protracted efforts," Barros said, referring to the term that Moscow has long used to describe the conflict. It's not the first time Russia has tried to improve its war footing. Ukraine's blitz-style counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region during the fall of 2022 led Putin to announce a partial mobilization and take other measures to increase defense output, such as ramping up drone and tank production. The situation improved, but it still wasn't sufficient enough for Moscow. Now, Russia's defense-industrial base with the help of some key partners appears to be rolling. Military experts operate at the site of a Russian aerial bombing of a high-rise residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district on March 27, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo by Oleksandra Novosel/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images The Russian defense ministry in March, for instance, announced that it would increase production of several types of munitions, including the 1,100-pound FAB-500, 3,300-pound FAB-1500, and 6,600-pound FAB-3000 bombs a troubling development for Ukraine. These munitions can be converted to glide bombs, which are standoff weapons that can be released from a distance, thus reducing a Russian aircraft's exposure to Ukraine's air defenses. These highly destructive weapons can't effectively be intercepted and are hammering Ukraine's trenches and defensive lines. The employment of glide bombs to support ground maneuver is the primary example of how Russia's military is successfully learning from its past shortcomings, Barros said. It's a tactic that did not see widespread employment until the end of 2023, but one that Moscow relied heavily on earlier this year to capture the war-torn eastern city of Avdiivka, and is currently replicating during its new assault in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine is 'going to be in a difficult position' Since launching a new offensive effort in the Kharkiv region last week, Russia has been using glide-bomb strikes to enable ground maneuver so it can seize territory and create what it claims is a buffer zone along the border with Ukraine. Ukrainian servicemen of the 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in the Kharkiv region on May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko But Ukraine's ability to defend itself has been severely hamstrung by US restrictions on striking military targets inside Russia, analysts at the ISW wrote in an assessment this week. This has effectively created a sanctuary space where Russian aircraft can lob glide bombs against Ukrainian positions, and where Moscow's troops can gather ahead of combat operations, they added. Ukrainian officials have tried to push the Biden administration to rethink its stance, but Washington has been unwavering in its position. Meanwhile, with its new Kharkiv push underway, Russia now appears to be setting the stage for what could be a multi-pronged summer offensive that could stretch a Ukrainian army still depleted of critical materials and much-needed manpower. Ukrainian and Western officials, as well as war experts, have said that the months-long hold on additional US military aid to Ukraine put the country in the tough position in which it currently finds itself. Kyiv also faces morale and recruitment issues that didn't exist a year ago, when many were rather optimistic ahead of the summer counteroffensive. Russian conscripts called up for military service prepare to depart for garrisons from a recruitment center in Russia's Rostov region on May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov "The Ukrainians are going to be in a difficult position over the coming months," Barros said. The pattern of US support for Ukraine, where Washington surges assistance at the last minute when the situation gets dire, "is not a sustainable approach. What we're seeing now are the consequences of that approach to Ukraine," he explained Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and strategist who recently returned from Ukraine, wrote in April that Russia has clearly gotten over the "shock of its early failures" and seems able "to subjugate Ukraine in a way it was not capable of when it began its large-scale invasion in February 2022." "Russia is now a more dangerous adversary than it was two years ago," he wrote. Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that Russia is taking advantage of its numerical superiority, stretching out Ukrainian forces across a vast front line. Kyiv desperately needs more forces, ammunition, and air-defense interceptors if it hopes to brave Moscow's advances, he warned, noting that "the outlook in Ukraine is bleak." But, Watling argued in a new analysis this week, "if Ukraine's allies engage now to replenish Ukrainian munitions stockpiles, help to establish a robust training pipeline, and make the industrial investments to sustain the effort, then Russia's summer offensive can be blunted, and Ukraine will receive the breathing space it needs to regain the initiative." Read the original article on Business Insider Russia steps up recruitment of propagandists around the world Russia, through Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation, has increased spending on programmes for foreign "journalists, bloggers and youth". In the first four months of 2024, Rossotrudnichestvo announced tenders for 230 million roubles (about US$2.5 million) worth of "accurate coverage" of the war, more than in the entire year of 2023. Source: Ukraines National Resistance Center Details: Rossotrudnichestvo is a structure created for the functioning of the Russian agent network around the world. As part of its programmes, Rossotrudnichestvo annually pays for thousands of young "representatives of socio-political circles" from abroad to travel to Russia, including to temporarily occupied territories. In Russia, foreign so-called journalists are trained at the Sputnik news agency and the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. Later, they become propaganda centres in their countries and conduct information campaigns against Ukraine and the entire civilised world. The National Resistance Center noted that propagandists were no less responsible for the war in Ukraine than Russian soldiers. A propagandist can be reported here. Support UP or become our patron! Russian forces attacked ten border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast on May 18, firing 46 times and causing at least 284 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported. The communities of Mykolaivka, Khotin, Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Novo Sloboda, Esman, Shalyhyne, and Seredyna-Buda were targeted. The Russian military struck the communities using artillery fire, AGS-17 grenade launchers, FPV drones, and mortar shelling, while also dropping mines. In the village of Esman, one person was injured as a result of mortar shelling attacks. The town of Bilopillia experienced the most attacks, with 76 explosions recorded in the area. Bilopillia, which had a pre-war population of about 15,600 residents, lies just eight kilometers south of the Ukraine-Russia border. Russian strikes against the Sumy region have become increasingly destructive in recent months. Amid intensified attacks, Ukrainian authorities ordered further evacuations from the region. Read also: Zelensky: Our partners fear that Russia will lose this war Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Two civilians were killed when their car came under Russian fire as they attempted to evacuate from the town of Vovchansk. Source: Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office Details: An investigation found that four civilians were trying to leave Vovchansk by car on 16 May. They came under Russian fire as they were driving through the town. The driver, 70, and a passenger, 83, were killed instantly. The driver's wife and another passenger were injured. Support UP or become our patron! A Pacific Northwest Mexican restaurant chain has picked Redding as its first California location. Muchas Gracias is expected to open in the former Arbys building in the Raleys shopping center on Lake Boulevard within in the next two months. Evelyn Torres, the companys chief financial officer, recently told me that Reddings location makes it a natural gateway into California for the company, whose Oregon locations include Medford, Grants Pass and Roseburg. We felt we wanted to be in the California market and we felt the smartest move was to go from there and jump into Redding, Torres said. My Place Hotels also picked Redding for its first California location for some of the same reasons. Muchas Gracias Mexican Food expects to open early summer 2024 at the former Arby's location on Lake Boulevard in Redding. Muchas Gracias will move into a building that had been vacant since Arbys closed in late 2019. The building had become an eyesore and in recent months a fence went up around it. Fred Katz, principal of building owner Katz Kirkpatrick Properties, said its a relief to get the building leased out. The company had continued to collect rent from Arbys through Dec. 31, 2023. We talked about different potential uses for that space and once the rent stopped, we had to make a decision and we decided on Muchas Gracias, Katz said. Established more than 20 years ago, Muchas Gracias has 16 locations in Oregon and nine in Washington. Torres, who works with all the franchise owners, told me the company wants to open its first Nevada location in Las Vegas. A sign on the fence that surrounds the old Arby's building on Lake Boulevard in May 2024 announces the arrival of Muchas Gracias. The franchisee for Redding, Ana Cortez, also owns locations in Medford, Grants Pass and Winston, Oregon. Torres said Cortez is one of the companys oldest franchise owners. She has been a franchise (owner) since the inception of Muchas Gracias, Torres said. Torres, who works with all the franchise owners, told me the company envisions opening a second location in Redding. In Redding, Muchas Gracias will join a competitive Mexican food market. There is already a Mexican restaurant in the Raley's center, Raliberto's Taco Shop, and Julianita's Mexican Food recently opened in Shasta Lake. Google "Mexican restaurants in Redding" and more than 30 brick-and-mortar locations and food trucks pop up. Torres said they welcome the competition. We have never had a franchise (owner) fail at any of our locations; we have never defaulted on any lease, she said. We also do everything fresh. If you order a chicken burrito, the chicken is fried on our grill after the order is placed. Grand openings are an event for Muchas Gracias. Torres said she attends each grand opening, which are serenaded by a live mariachi band. Story continues We do 50% off on all our meals. It is a big, big day, she said. Green energy project near Cottonwood? Supervisor Chris Kelstrom, whose district includes the Anderson-Cottonwood area, has teased in recent board meetings that a big project is in the works in southern Shasta County. After the most recent supervisors meeting, I asked Kelstrom for an update. Kelstrom told me he recently spoke to the company. And I asked them if they are ready to go public and they still arent, he said. Shasta County District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom Kelstrom said he would like to identify the company, but at this point he cannot. I would like them to come here and do a presentation, he added. He did tell me that its a green energy project involving forest management. A cogeneration plant that produces electricity? Kelstrom is confident that it will happen. They got the funding and its green energy and so that mitigates a lot of nearby complaints, so to speak. Its kind of a win-win for everyone involved. Its jobs, its green energy, actually even forest management. Everything is positive about it, he said. County Resource Management Director Paul Hellman told me that his office has not received any paperwork for the project, which would include building plans. When a prospective applicant discusses a proposal with County staff prior to submitting an application, we do not disclose the content of such discussions; I can tell you that County staff has not had any discussions with any prospective applicant regarding such a project, Hellman wrote in an email. Stay tuned. Once Upon A Child grand opening This is a big weekend for Reddings newest childrens clothes, toys and accessory store, Once Upon A Child. After two months of stocking its shelves with the help of local residents bringing in used items such as clothes, shoes, furniture, highchairs and books and selling them to the store owners Emily and Andrew Marr are welcoming customers. Once Upon A Child in Village Plaza on Athens Avenue in Redding. Once Upon A Child is next to Sherwin Williams Paints in Village Plaza on Athens Avenue. The festivities started Thursday and run through Sunday. Gift card raffles, a balloon artist and double rewards points for all purchases Sunday are part of grand opening weekend. The festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday. The Marrs were living in Toronto when they discovered Once Upon A Child. They had just had twins and were looking for an affordable kids' retail store. They moved to the North State in 2022 and discovered there was not a Once Upon A Child store in Redding. Once Upon A Child has some 400 locations across the country. The closest store to Redding is in Chico at the North Valley Plaza on East Avenue. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Once Upon A Child is owned by the Winmark Corporation, a franchisor of sustainable resale brands. And to keep those store shelves stocked, the Marrs are still paying cash for gently used items." A big thank you for celebrating 20 years I'll leave you this weekend with a big shout out to those who attended the May 9 "Buzz on the Street" 20th celebration in the IOOF Hall downtown. A lot of good questions came up. Damon Arthur and I did our best to give you the answers. Like I told the audience, Damon and I started at the Record Searchlight when the Cascade Theatre was a multi-plex movie house and there was still a roof over downtown. A lot has changed in Redding and in the industry we work in. Damon and I have a combined 60-plus years of experience at the paper and we feel that institutional wisdom is important. We might not have the staff we did when we started, but we continue to work hard to bring readers local news. So, thank you for reading. David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. Hes part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: The Buzz: Pacific Northwest Mexican food chain expanding to California Russian forces struck a residential area in Kharkiv with UMPB D-30 glide bombs, injuring six people, including two children, on the afternoon of May 18, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Office reported. Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, sits just 20 miles south of the Russian border and has been a frequent target of Russian strikes. Russian forces launched new offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, exposing Kharkiv and several border settlements in the region to heavy attacks. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Tereknov said earlier in the day that several houses were destroyed in the attack. Among the wounded were two men, aged 47 and 74, a woman, aged 47, and two children, aged 13 and 16. An 8-year-old girl had an acute stress reaction. The regional prosecutors office did not specify the nature of their injuries or their condition. Following the attack, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Office launched an investigation into the alleged war crime. The day before, a Russian glide bomb strike on Kharkiv killed four people and wounded over 30, according to Terekhov. Read also: 48 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraines most-bombed major city Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, arrives for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. -/Kremlin/dpa The leader of the Russian parliament has accused the European Union of censorship and violating freedom of the press and expression after the EU's decision to ban several Russian media. Vyacheslav Volodin, a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Saturday that the European Union made the move because it lacks arguments to convince its own citizens and therefore has blocked what he said were alternative points of view. He made his comments on Telegram. Volodin accused the West, which repeatedly complains about censorship in Russia, of double standards. In Russia, many media outlets that report critically on Putin's policies and thousands of websites are blocked. On Friday, the EU member states imposed sanctions on the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Voice of Europe (VoE) platform and the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, which also owns a television station. VoE was targeted for alleged involvement in distributing pro-Russia propaganda. The four media outlets are prohibited from distributing their content across the EU over their support for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the punitive measures do not prevent staff from the outlets from carrying out their work like interviews and research, an EU statement said Russia said it will respond to the EU move. In a previous incident, it stopped Germany's foreign broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW) from broadcasting in Russia. DW had to close its office in Moscow and its journalists had to leave the country. That was in response to a ban on broadcasting by the Russian state broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today). Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine more than two years ago, EU countries have withdrawn the licences of a number of media outlets. The aim is to prevent Russian war propaganda and disinformation from being disseminated in the EU. Russian secret services may be behind arson in European shopping centres, Lithuania warns Lithuanias National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) has called on businesses and organisations supporting Ukraine to increase vigilance and improve their fire safety measures, warning of possible provocations by Russia. Source: LRT, as reported by European Pravda Details: The Centre's head, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, told reporters that the arson-related provocations are intended to cause public panic and reduce support for Ukraine, and that the Russian secret services may be involved. Quote from Vitkauskas: "The threat of arson, as observed in neighbouring countries, is also present in Lithuania. Therefore, we urge businesses and security services to be very vigilant, monitor the situation, and record any suspicious incidents." The NKVC head said arson is usually arranged over Telegram, where "easy work" is offered for a price. There have been multiple large-scale arson attacks across Europe in recent weeks. A fire at an IKEA shopping centre in Vilnius was reported last week, and a huge fire recently broke out in a Warsaw shopping mall. The Polish authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the multiple fires recently documented in the country were caused by hostile foreign actors. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently stated that there is no evidence of foreign involvement. Support UP or become our patron! Fire in the town of Tuapse. Photo: Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram channel A fire caused by a Ukrainian drone attack on the Tuapse oil refinery on Russia's Black Sea coast has led to an emergency shutdown of the facility. However, there has been a possibility of restarting the refinery fairly soon. Source: Reuters with reference to two sources familiar with the situation Details: The fire at Rosneft's oil refinery has been extinguished. Rosneft did not give any comment on the attack. One source stated that the drones hit a liquefied gas production unit in Tuapse, while the oil processing unit remained undamaged. The source noted that there was no black smoke during the fire, indicating that only liquefied gas was burning. The source added that, from a technical perspective, it is possible to bypass the liquefied gas unit and restart the refinery relatively soon. The Tuapse oil refinery shut down oil processing and production due to the fire caused by a drone attack on 25 January and remained closed for about three months. It had resumed operations at the end of April. Background: Two UAVs attacked an oil refinery in the town of Tuapse in Russias Krasnodar Krai on the night of 16-17 Friday. A fire broke out at the refinery. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that 108 Ukrainian UAVs and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) had attacked the territory of Russia and temporarily occupied Crimea on the night of 16-17 May and that all of them had been supposedly downed or destroyed. Support UP or become our patron! An ancient Egyptian papyrus that used to be in the library at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire is up for sale at Forum Auctions in London on May 30 and is expected to fetch perhaps 8,000. The sheet of papyrus, about seven inches high, is a letter of recommendation for the bearer to someone called Hermione and it is written in Greek. It dates from the third century AD and was found at Oxyrhynchus, near the Nile, excavated by two English papyrologists, Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt. Their story is of poignant human interest. Grenfell, the son of a schoolmaster, began excavations at Oxyrhynchus with Hunt, a friend from his Oxford college, Queens, in 1896, with spectacular success. They found religious texts such as the Sayings of Jesus (from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas) and part of an unknown ode by the Greek poet Sappho. Discoveries in volume continued, brilliantly edited by Grenfell. In 1908 Oxford University created the worlds first chair of papyrology for him, but he had already suffered what was then called a nervous breakdown in 1906, and four years of ill health prevented him from taking up the professorship. His friend Hunt took it up instead in 1913, and Grenfell continued editing their findings while Hunt was serving in the First World War. Grenfell never fully recovered, but the contents of the papyrus now on sale were published by Hunt and him in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, volume XIV, 1920. That was the year Grenfell made his last visit to Egypt, and there bought the earliest known fragment of the Gospels, a scrap of St Johns Gospel dating from perhaps AD 100, or later in the second century. It is on display at the John Rylands Library, Manchester. The size of a credit card, it bears on one side the answer of Jesus to Pilate: To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Most of the Oxyrhynchus papyri are kept in Oxford, at the Bodleians Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library, which until last year was called the Sackler Library. But, having taken the Sackler familys money to fund the library, it was decided to expunge their name by way of disapproval of their marketing of opioid drugs. Anyway, along with 2,000 papyri given to institutions between 1900 and 1922, a papyrus was presented to Ampleforth by the Egypt Exploration Fund, the charity which had funded Grenfell and Hunts work. The aim seemed to be encouragement of interest in papyrology and recognition of help given to the fund (now known as the Egypt Exploration Society). There seemed plenty of papyri to go round. Among British recipients were Blackburn Public Library; Wigan Record Office; Cheltenham Ladies College; St Pauls School; Dulwich College; Eton. Theres a University of Oxford online list of which papyrus is where. Here we are: No 1767, Ampleforth Abbey Library. Except its not there anymore. It was sold at Sothebys in London on December 7 2010, and fetched 6,000. Some people feel strongly that institutions should not sell such objects on the market, as in private hands they may be lost to scholars. Im not so sure in this case. Its contents have been published and it has been photographed. I doubt anyone has wanted to look at it in the past 100 years. The greatest danger would be that the next generation of owners might not realise its importance and chuck out the browning piece of holed papyrus between its protective sheets of glass. 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. Add one more incident to the "shocking but not surprising" pile that grows mountainously high in an era of rising fascism: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew a flag at his house signaling support for the Capitol insurrection in the days after January 6, 2021. The inverted American flag was a popular signal of support for Trump's lies about the 2020 election and the MAGA riot on the Capitol. As reported Thursday by Jodi Kantor of the New York Times, photographs and testimony from Alito's northern Virginia neighbors show an "upside-down flag was aloft on Jan. 17, 2021" at his home. At the same time, the Times notes, Alito unsuccessfully attempted to get the court to take a case undermining the 2020 election. Gross and undeniable in its meaning, of course. But Alito, who has never been interested in honesty with the public, offered a glib rebuttal, telling the New York Times, "I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag." Instead, he blamed his wife, saying she flew the inverted flag as a "response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." As Joe Scarborough on MSNBC retorted Friday morning, "nobody believes him." There's no universe, Scarborough noted, in which the upside-down flag is used as a way to throw the finger to neighbors you're in a spat with. This is Alito lying by omission. As Kantor swiftly discovered, the argument the Alitos were having with their neighbors wasn't over loud parties or defecating dogs, it was over Jan. 6, which the neighbors in question vociferously objected to. Martha-Ann Alito took offense to a neighbor who "displayed an anti-Trump sign with an expletive" around the election. Things escalated, and, as neighbors and documentary evidence show, the inverted flag was up in the days after the riot. Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only. A more honest description of the conflict would be that the Alitos rejected their neighbor's right to express their political opinions freely. In order to convey their disapproval of this use of First Amendment rights, the Alito household sent a message of support to people who used violence in an attempt to destroy American democracy. As more than one commentator pointed out, Alito continues to run around pretending he's a champion of "free speech," but when his neighbors expressed an opinion held by most Americans, he (or his wife, if you believe him) responded with an endorsement of violence to end constitutional democracy as we know it. When asked about this by Shannon Bream of Fox News on Friday, Alito doubled down on the faux outrage over curse words and claimed his wife only expressed support for the Jan. 6 rioters after neighbors said mean things to the couple about how violent insurrections are, in fact, bad. As a reminder, four rioters and five police officers died as a consequence of the riot. Alito is unsubtly suggesting that those deaths somehow are less offensive than some kids seeing a curse word. Even then, his "logic" falls apart at first blush. After all, children visit the Capitol every day, yet Alito is apparently fine with it being subject to people breaking windows, smearing feces, shedding blood, and threatening murder all with quite salty language, as the voluminous video evidence from that day shows. Additionally, Alito's snide dishonesty is insulting, and it is meant to be. For someone who feigns outrage at curse words, he is basically throwing a big middle finger to all American citizens. He's not just rejecting his duty as a public official to uphold democracy, but sneering at the idea that he even owes an explanation to the people he was supposedly hired to serve, who pay his salary. He feels no need to put the effort into a better lie. After all, what are any of us little people going to do about it? Alito's quasi-denials operate as confessions, and not just of his and his wife's sympathies for fascist seditionists. His open contempt for the idea that he has to answer to anyone radiates through these fake excuses. It ends up underscoring why he and the Mrs. were so enthused about Trump's attempted coup: They agree with the foundational sentiment that the American people should not be in control of their government. As Adam Serwer recently wrote in the Atlantic, Alito "expects the public to silently acquiesce" to his authority, "without scrutiny, criticism, or protest." Alito sees us as subjects whose duty is to bend the knee to him and his preferred leaders, like Trump. With this flag gesture, he's signaled support for violence as the enforcement mechanism. Again, shocking but not surprising. Alito has long taken a "tough on crime" attitude that leads to almost no sympathy for the rights of criminal defendants unless those defendants are aligned with him politically. When it comes to Trump and the Jan. 6 defendants, Alito has expressed a view that the criminal charges are illegitimate. As Scott Lemieux of Lawyers, Guns & Money noted, Alito's belief that he and his are above scrutiny of the law was evident even during Alito's confirmation hearing in 2006. When Alito was questioned about his participation in an organization dedicated to keeping Princeton's student body white and male, his wife threw a massive public tantrum, weeping giant crocodile tears and stomping out of the hearing. Their self-perception is not "public servant," so much as "medieval royalty." As Don Moynihan wrote in a recent newsletter, far too many Republicans and their apologists seem to excuse this far-right radicalism because the people who are expressing it have expensive clothes, elite educations, and fat investment portfolios. He notes that Speaker of House Mike Johnson, R-La., is laying "the groundwork for another coup attempt in plain sight," while the media's outrage is far more focused on "scruffy students" expressing their perfectly democratic right to disagree with their country's foreign policy. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., signaled support for an organization, the Proud Boys, whose leaders are currently in prison for violent sedition. I have one quarrel with Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.'s claim that Gaetz is trying to be "subtle" with his message. As with Alito, the dog-whistling is no longer about trying to smuggle fascist messages to supporters without the press or liberals noticing. Republicans are rubbing people's noses in the fact that there's nothing the rest of us can do to stop them from advertising their fascist sympathies. Their impunity is part of the argument against democracy. By flaunting their untouchability, they're treating the end of democracy as a done deal. If people as unapologetically hateful can't be removed from office, their behavior suggests, then democracy is dead already. And yes, it's hard not to look at these self-satisfied moral monsters without feeling despair. But no one should fall for their tricks. Because of Trump, anti-democratic forces have had some major victories, but the fight is far from over. President Joe Biden's presence in the White House shows that democracy prevailed in 2021. Trump's ability to mount another coup will be hamstrung by the fact that he's out of office and has fewer levers of power. That's why people like Gaetz and Alito are so focused on demoralizing their opposition. They know Trump's ability to end democracy depends heavily on whether or not people fight back. They haven't won until they've successfully scared people into thinking it's already over. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) The San Francisco Police Department is searching for a missing man. Kexiong Zhao, 78, is considered at risk because he suffers from dementia. He does not know his address or his name, police said. Zhao is 5-foot-2, 136 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark gray jacket and khaki pants. A picture of him in this outfit is at the top of the story. Zhao is known to frequent Chinatown. Anyone who sees him is asked to call 9-1-1 and report his location and physical description. UPDATE: As of Saturday, the Oakland Police Department safely located Zhao, SFPD said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Mondays San Francisco mayoral debate has been canceled, host organization SFTogether announced on Friday. The cancellation follows San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Mayor London Breed, and philanthropist Daniel Luries decision to withdraw from TogetherSFs intended mayoral debate, which had over 4,000 RSVPs. Former IRS officer and his brother sentenced for scamming over $3M in loan relief funds [Peskin, Breed, and Luries] refusal to show up and speak to the largest community of voters in San Francisco proves that our movement to hold our elected officials accountable to results is working, TogetherSF said, claiming the mere announcement of a debate shows that the political establishment must be really afraid of change. TogetherSF Action has been under scrutiny because of its ties to mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, who has hired multiple alums of the advocacy group, including his campaign manager. The head of TogetherSF Action, Kanishka Cheng, used to work for Farrell and Breed. Upon discovering more information about the events logistics, Mayor Breed pulled out of the debate on Tuesday, stating the event had been marked by chaos. The mayors decision followed Peskins refusal to attend for similar reasons, claiming showing up to the debate would be akin to Joe Biden going and having a debate [sponsored by] the National Rifle Association, Peskin said. TogetherSF believes Peskin pulling out is the result of attempting to pull off a good faith debate, claiming thats the risk [TogetherSF] runs when [TogetherSF] challenges somebody who has become accustomed to enjoying unchecked power in [Peskins] district for two decades, TogetherSF said. In other mayoral candidate news, San Franciscos Mission Local was set to host a forum between Peskin and Breed on Monday at Mannys, a longtime San Francisco gathering spot for political dialogue, but the event has since been postponed, the events Eventbrite said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) A Myrtle Beach-based pool company at the center of a News13 investigation suffered a major legal defeat this week, amid a string of lawsuits stacked up against it. While claims against Cascade Custom Pools continue to mount, the troubled company owned by Chris Harrington on Friday was ordered to pay more than $327,000 in total costs to SCP Distributors, including $268,448 in actual damages by U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Bryan Harwell. SCP lodged its federal complaint on Jan. 24, suing for breach of contract against Cascade Pools and its owner Christopher Harrington, unjust enrichment and recovery of secured collateral, among other allegations. Federal-judgment-against-Cascade-PoolsDownload Cascade has eight pending lawsuits in Horry County and one in Charleston County, court records show. In the latter, a behavioral health clinic called Aspire is demanding $186,300 in damages plus other costs. News13 began looking into Cascade Pools earlier this year and discovered at least a dozen families, most from the Grand Strand, were left with incomplete or unstarted work. Just between four families, $422,000 was lost. He wanted to basically sit back and collect money: Former Cascade pool employees describe experiences working for company Since then, several lawsuits have been filed on the state level and two of them have already gone against the troubled company, court records show. Horry County Magistrate Judge Manuela Areljan Clayton on April 22 ordered Cascade Pools to pay Myrtle Beach-based contractor Mr. Fence It $7,580 for undisclosed expenses. Mr.-Fence-ItDownload Then on May 2, a Georgetown County judge said Cascade owed a Murrells Inlet bank $7,500. Both were default judgments, which occurs when a judge rules in favor of one party if the accused doesnt answer any court notices. According to the Horry County Treasurers office, Cascade Custom Pools currently owes more than $10,000 in delinquent taxes for vehicle, personal, and property taxes. Even as complaints against the company from dozens of families poured into the News13 newsroom, there do not appear to be any criminal investigations underway. Robert Kittle, a spokesman for the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office, said his agency doesnt handle civil claims. Jimmy Richardson, Horry Countys top prosecutor, said last month that no charges have been brought to him. Law enforcement need to present a case to a magistrate judge, who decides whether enough evidence exists to obtain an arrest warrant. Cascade Custom Pools announced in mid-April that it was shutting down but offered existing customers a chance to get their projects finished through Quality Pools and Spas for an additional fee. Story continues Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau said it found 13 complaints over the past year, with none resolved. Cascade has an F rating with the consumer advocacy group. Harrington has ignored multiple attempts by News13 to contact him via calls, email and texts. * * * Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here. * * * Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Colleges brought unrest unto themselves As the roiling on college campuses continues, it must be considered the most predictable of situations. Consider: college admissions offices are suffused with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mindset. As a result, many if not most elite colleges, in evaluating their incoming applicant pool, actually select for social justice activism. These students come as ready-made revolutionaries, and are then almost exclusively fed Marxist/Socialist/Critical Theory pablum, with a generous dose of both subtle and overt antisemitism by overwhelmingly left-wing professors. Worse, since this mindset infects both high schools and even elementary schools, they have had this nonsense rammed into their skulls practically from infancy. It is impossible to have any sympathy whatever for these college administrators. They asked for this. The richest irony of course is that Joe Biden, despite government having driven college costs to stratospheric levels, wants the rest of us to pay these students' loans. Perfect. Robert A. Richer, Charlestown Stay the course on pension reform The front page of Tuesday's Providence Journal tells the story of Rhode Island's fiscal irresponsibility ("Mixed reviews on RI's economy," News, May 14). 44th in the nation in fiscal stability. Once again shortsighted policies by the latest weak political leader, Gov. Dan McKee, takes the place of leadership and fails to make the difficult but necessary decisions to strengthen the state's future fiscal picture. Our governor proposes using federal pandemic money to fund current operations. One more false step in a series of shortsighted decisions most glaringly exemplified by the nonstop hue and cry of pensioners to reinstate COLAs in spite of the continued weight of the state's unfunded pension liability on the long-term stability of our government. Do people really think that a Democratic governor would make such an unpopular decision to halt COLAs, if it were not supported by responsible and thoughtful analysis of the economics? Governor Raimondo had everything to lose and nothing personal to gain, other than being seen as an honest and smart leader who was trying to drag R.I. kicking and screaming into a healthy future, when she made the difficult but fiscally responsible decision to reduce the unfunded pension liability. But no, now folks want to walk back that decision and once again kick the can down the road. Let the next generation figure it out. I for one would like the next generation to be able to look back and be thankful that we put the state's long-term fiscal health above our own shortsighted concerns. Do not undo pension reform. Kathleen A. Carey, Providence Time is running out As the drafter and principal sponsor in the 1973 Constitutional Convention of present Article XIV of the Rhode Island Constitution that mandates periodic 10-year referenda to allow the voters to decide whether or not there exists a need to review or revise our states basic law, I strongly concur with the opinion essay by J.H. Snider and Gary Sasse ("Give priority to prep for constitutional convention," Commentary, May 12) regarding not only the need but also the constitutional obligation for its General Assembly to create a non-partisan citizens preparatory commission with an expert research staff. Time is running out for such a required commission to present a meaningful report to the voters ahead of this Novembers periodic referendum. Semper Paratus. Patrick T. Conley, Bristol This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Saturday letters: Turmoil on campuses; keep pension reform as is A monument to Harriet Tubman, which Tabernacle Baptist Church leaders will unveil June 1, the anniversary of the raid in which Tubman helped free more than 700 slaves. (Provided/Tabernacle Baptist Church) Quality Journalism for Critical Times A historic Black church in Beaufort, South Carolina will unveil a sculpture of Harriet Tubman on the 161st anniversary of the raid she led that freed more than 700 slaves from Lowcountry plantations. The June 1 unveiling of the sculpture, which is eight years in the making, will add to the long history of Tabernacle Baptist Church, where Civil War hero and South Carolina lawmaker Robert Smalls was buried in 1915. Born enslaved in Maryland in 1822, Tubman is the best-known conductor of the Underground Railroad, as she led at least 70 slaves in Maryland to freedom before the Civil War. But her work in South Carolina during the Civil War often gets overlooked, said Rev. Kenneth Hodges, the churchs pastor for 29 years. The monument will be the first in the state marking her daring mission in June 1863 along the Combahee River, he told the SC Daily Gazette on Monday. The raid made Tubman, known as the Moses of Her People, the first woman ever to lead a major military operation in the U.S., according to the Smithsonian. She remained the only African American woman to lead troops in the Civil War, according to the National Park Service. Harriet Tubman is a world-renowned figure, and right now, South Carolina isnt putting any resources into the fact that she was here, Hodges said. In 2016, the members of Tabernacle Baptist Church decided to change that. Despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the church raised $600,000 for the sculpture itself, plus another $100,000 for other expenses such as landscaping. The money, all private donations, also covered the funding for an interpretive center on church grounds nearby, where people can go to learn more about Tubman. The church will unveil the sculpture as part of a three-day celebration of the anniversary of the Combahee River Raid. The celebration, beginning May 31, will feature speeches from experts on Tubman, as well as her great-great-great grand niece, said Hodges, who represented that area of Beaufort and Colleton counties for 12 years in the House. The festival will also have food trucks, a nod to the fact that Tubman once worked in a bakery in Beaufort, Hodges said. Tubman, who escaped slavery alone to Philadelphia in 1849, first arrived in South Carolina in 1862. Using a network of spies, the abolitionist spent the following year gathering information about the plantations lining Beauforts Combahee River, where thousands of slaves farmed rice, according to the National Park Service. The night of June 1, 1863, Tubman led three steamships up the river that carried several hundred African American soldiers from the 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, a regiment consisting largely of freed men from the sea islands. Using Tubmans knowledge of the area, they avoided explosives and navigated to strategic points. From the river, the ships sounded their whistles, and hundreds of slaves, including children, came running to the river. Soldiers waiting in rowboats took them to the steamships, where they escaped to safety. Infantrymen burned the plantations behind them, striking a blow to the Confederacy with the destruction of several million dollars worth of homes and crops, according to the National Park Service. The 14-foot-tall sculpture will show Tubman flanked by soldiers, with people running toward them, just as the slaves ran toward the boats. The story was so evocative, the design came easily, said sculptor Ed Dwight, who lives in Colorado. That was the fun part, going back in history and seeing her being commissioned by the U.S. government, Dwight said. Dwight finds that his sculptures, which include the African American History Monument on Statehouse grounds, teach white and Black people alike about parts of history they didnt know. Often, they walk away with more empathy than they had before, he said. Thats the ever-so-quiet effect of doing memorials down there in the South, said the Black sculptor. People might forget Tubmans operation in South Carolina without reminders like the sculpture or the bridge over the Combahee River bearing Tubmans name, Hodges said. In 2006, while he was a state representative, Hodges sponsored the resolution to name the bridge before its construction. If we didnt put emphasis on that, that part of her life would be void, Hodges said. Its going to be a big, big thing for South Carolina. Tabernacle Baptist Church, officially organized the same year as the raid, is known for its historical connections, Hodges said. The church itself is part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. Smalls, who was a state legislator and five-term congressman along with being a Civil War hero, is buried on the churchs ground. Born enslaved in Beaufort, Smalls hijacked a Confederate ship to steer his family to freedom and deliver the ammunition on board to the Union on May 13, 1862. Last year, legislators approved designating every May 13 as Robert Smalls Day in South Carolina. Lawmakers agreed unanimously this year to create a commission tasked with recognizing Smalls on Statehouse grounds. The monument will be the first to memorialize an individual Black person on the capitol complex. Tabernacle is ahead of the state, Hodges pointed out: The church already has a bust commemorating Smalls. Tabernacle has always been associated with history and culture, Hodges said. Thats just an extension of our ministry, of our service to the community. This article first appeared in the South Caroline Daily Gazette, a member with the Phoenix in the nonprofit States Newsroom network. The post SC church to unveil Harriet Tubman sculpture commemorating raid freeing 700 slaves appeared first on Florida Phoenix. Scholz sticks on his wellies to inspect damage caused by flash floods and landslides Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday toured rain-hit regions of south-west Germany, where rivers have swelled and caused flash floods and landslides. A huge downpour on Friday in the German state of Saarland deluged buildings, left streets deep underwater and sparked evacuations, with rescuers carrying stranded residents to safety in boats. German emergency workers were on Saturday starting a major clean-up operation. Officials said it was the worst flooding in the area in nearly 30 years, with the capital Saarbrucken badly affected and reports saying that a breach in a dyke led to a power station in the state being shut down. No deaths were reported but at least one person was injured. Closed road in the flood-stricken town of Kleinblittersdorf - IRIS MARIA MAURER/AFP Mr Scholz cancelled his attendance at an election campaign event in Saarland, on the border with France, and instead wore rain boots as he walked on a partially flooded road in the village of Kleinblittersdorf together with regional governor Anke Rehlinger. Visiting a village in the affected area, he said: We can see here what violence nature can cause and how much we have to constantly prepare for such events. In Belgium, the province of Liege was hit by severe flooding overnight into Saturday, with authorities receiving hundreds of requests for assistance and 150 firefighters deployed, governor Herve Jamar said. Partially submerged road in the Belgium province of Limburg - BRUNO FAHY/AFP Over the border in the Dutch province of Limburg, two campsites were evacuated early on Saturday as they were threatened by rising floodwaters, officials said. In France, the Moselle area in the north-east was placed on flood alert as water levels rose in rivers following heavy rains. Flooding in Porto Alegre, Brazil - JEFFERS0N BERNARDES/GETTY IMAGES Meanwhile in Brazil, a third consecutive week of heavy rains in its southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul continued to devastate the region. More than 150 people have been confirmed dead and 104 remained missing, with some 600,000 displaced. In Afghanistan, fresh flash floods from heavy seasonal rains killed at least 68 people, Taliban officials said on Saturday. Last week the World Food Programme said exceptionally heavy rains had already killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses. Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of floods. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. An aerial view of a red rocky landscape split in the middle by a winding river. on the sides, dry riverbeds of water deltas. a cloud near the upper left casts a shadow below. Our planet's rivers are like our planet's arteries . They're woven across the globe in intricate networks, ferrying life-sustaining freshwater around the world. Rivers aren't just our own lifelines, providing us with the drinking water we need to survive, but their freshwater reserves are also the primary lifelines of 10 percent of all known animals and half of all known fish species, helping sustain healthy and diverse ecosystems. They are, in short, the most renewable, accessible and thus sustainable storehouses of freshwater we have. Yet, humans have a surprisingly limited understanding of how much water Earths rivers hold and how fast that water moves two features key to managing our planet's precious freshwater resource. Cedric David , a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California likens the situation to spending money from a checking account without knowing the balance. Related: NASA's SWOT satellite maps nearly of all Earth's water (video) "It's like we've had some idea of how much we're making and how much we're spending, but we didn't know how much was in the account," he told Space.com. Much of current literature surrounding rivers references 50-year-old estimates made by the Russian Academy of Sciences, outlined in a 1974 report published in Russian that was later translated to English in 1978. This is likely because updated estimates have been difficult to gather, particularly when it comes to rivers that are far from human populations. Even satellites cannot observe how much water flows into some rivers from the land, known as runoff, which is water resulting from rainfall leftover on the planet's surface that exceeds the land's absorption capacity. That surplus water then flows into nearby water bodies, including rivers. River speeds are also hard to determine based on conventional "back of the envelope" formulas that are based on in-situ measurements from 50 years ago, David told Space.com. In late April, David and a team of NASA researchers embarked on a quest to provide the best estimates yet of just how much water flows through Earth's rivers, the rates at which it flows into oceans and how much both figures have changed over time . "We are able to revisit some good old numbers with some tricks that even we didn't know were possible," said David. "We did what we could to fix everything we could based on the limited observations we have." By using previous satellite data to model runoff levels associated with rivers on a map, the researchers found that, from 1980 to 2009, the total volume of water in Earth's rivers was 539 cubic miles (2,246 cubic kilometers) on average, which is about half of Lake Michigan's water volume. The Amazon River Basin, which extends from the Andes Mountains in Peru to the Atlantic coast of Brazil, holds 38 percent of all Earth's water, according to the study , which was published last month in Nature Geoscience. That same basin also dumps the most water into the ocean about 1,629 cubic miles (6,789 cubic kilometers) per year, or 18 percent of the total discharge to the ocean worldwide. "I was hoping to demonstrate to myself that there is a lot more river water than we thought," said David. "Turns out, that's not what we got that's a little sobering." The new dataset, which covers 30 percent of the planet, consists of in-situ measurements and computer models accounting for nearly 3 million river segments worldwide. It also brings to light rivers that have depleted due to overuse by humans. Climate change , irrigation projects and other landscape-modifying actions are likely affecting water supply in multiple rivers, including the Colorado River basin in the United States, the Amazon basin in South America, the Murray-Darling basin in Australia and the Orange River basin in southern Africa. two globes of earth stacked on top of each other, one shows land highlighted in shades of blue. the bottom, not all land is hightlighted, and what is, is colored greens and browns. "We're trying to give data for people to make smart decisions and start some conversations," said David. To aid that goal, the new dataset and the study is open access, meaning it is free for anyone to read online. "We're hoping it might make a little bit of a difference," he said. He also noted the value of open science in aiding interesting scientific research as a whole. The work that resulted in the new paper began in early 2022, when the studys lead author, Elyssa Collins, came across a publicly available code for a climate model David had shared online. After a few months of tinkering with the code, Collins, now a doctoral student at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, reached out to David with a few ideas, an enterprising effort that resulted in a six-month internship under David at the JPL's location in Pasadena, California. "This is just one of the many success stories [of open science] if you give stuff for free, some cool stuff happens," said David. "It's so important that we learn from each other, that we share, that we include everybody that cares in the science we do." In the coming years, the researchers plan to compare their latest estimates, which are based on computer models, to upcoming satellite data from NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, or SWOT, to improve estimates of human footprint on our planet's water cycle. "You can think of it as camera images but they just tell you the elevation of water," David said of SWOT's data. The satellite, which has been mapping the heights of water surfaces on Earth since December 2022, is helping scientists calculate the changes in height of the river, from which they estimate how much water is present and discharged. Last month, the satellite captured the depth of a temporary, shallow lake that sprouted for several weeks at the bottom of Death Valley National Park, which spans the California and Nevada border and is the hottest place on Earth . The 1-foot-deep (0.3-meter-deep) lake, dubbed Lake Manly, is spread across more area than expected for such a body of water due to strong winds, allowing SWOT to study the happenings in a region without permanent, dedicated instruments. Other early results show SWOT's water-height data can also fill gaps in the literature about evolving conditions during and after floods , which satellites that usually just image flooded areas usually cannot capture, and improve flood predictions . Related Stories: NASA's new SWOT satellite to study Earth's water from space in a 'game changer' for understanding climate change Watch NASA's SWOT satellite unfold in space to map Earth's water in stunning video NASA climate change satellite back online after instrument shutdown In addition to SWOT, over 30 NASA satellites currently record data of Earth's land surface, ice, oceans and atmosphere. They're there as part of an effort the agency began in the 1980s, an effort dedicated to gleaning the data necessary to understand and forecast the weather, of course, but also to monitor cyclones, floods, wildfires and other devastating changes to the planet's climate that are exacerbated by human activities like burning coal. Offering us a view of Earth at scales that could never be achieved on the ground, these satellites are helping scientists keep an eye on animals vulnerable to habitat loss , search for signs of potential volcanic eruptions , decode the altered chemistry of coastal waters and track rates of declining sea ice . "It's relatively underappreciated how much Earth science we do at NASA," David told Space.com. In fact, half of all science done at JPL is Earth science, he said. "We don't have a Planet B this is it for a long time." Man accused of shooting wife at Lebanon apartment complex surrenders to police LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) A man who was wanted after allegedly shooting his wife at an apartment complex in Lebanon has turned himself in to authorities. According to officials, 42-year-old Steve Yarbrough peacefully turned himself in to officers at the Lebanon Police Department on Saturday, May 18. Yarbrough was wanted and considered armed and dangerous after he reportedly shot his wife at the Ridge Apartments along Fairview Avenue on Saturday just after midnight. Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts According to the Lebanon Police Department, officers were sent to the apartment complex just before 12:30 a.m. to respond to a shots fired call. Officials said when officers arrived, they found a woman who had been shot multiple times. The woman was reportedly taken to Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital where she died. Steve Yarbrough (Courtesy: Lebanon Police Department) After further investigation, officers said they learned that 42-year-old Steve Yarbrough, of Lebanon, shot the victim who is believed to be his wife multiple times and fled the scene. The Lebanon Police Department announced that Yarbrough was wanted for criminal homicide. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee He was believed to be driving a 1998 green Dodge pickup truck with a red lawn mower in the bed. Officials said the truck was located in Hickman County. In a statement, the Lebanon Police Department sent condolences to the victims family as the investigation continues. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com We are grateful for our detectives and officers, who worked steadfastly to bring justice to the victim. We will continue to keep the victims family and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, police said. No other 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Senate Republicans believe the partys chances of retaining its slim House majority will sink or swim with former President Trump in November as Democrats remain cautiously bullish of winning back the chamber despite chaos in the House GOP conference over the past year. Republican lawmakers have oozed confidence for months about the potential of winning back the Senate in 2024, but the House is an entirely different matter. Members indicated that they see it as a true toss-up, with Trump being the determinative factor for better or worse. It depends on if Donald Trump wins, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a former House member. The House is so tied to national waves and political cycles. If Donald Trump wins its hard for me to imagine Republicans losing the House. If Donald Trump doesnt win, I think we could very well win the Senate and lose the House, he added. With less than six months to go until Election Day, the battle for the House is on a razors edge. No matter what party emerges as victorious, a Democratic or Republican majority stands to have another thin margin to deal with heading into the 119th Congress. House Republicans are down to just a two-seat margin, having endured a number of early retirements over the past year in part due to dissatisfaction with the situation on Capitol Hill as dysfunction has reigned ever since the GOP took over the majority last year. This has helped turn the chamber into a jump ball. I would have to say its a toss-up, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who served seven terms in the House, told The Hill. Its anybodys guess. I think its a true 50/50 kind of election, which tells you that something could tip it at the end. According to the Cook Political Reports latest ratings, 210 seats are considered lean Republican or better, while 203 are deemed as such for Democrats, leaving 22 seats in the toss-up category to determine control. Those 22 seats are divided evenly between the GOP and Democrats, putting an even finer point on how close the battle for control is at this point. But Republicans have gotten one major boost this year in the form of redistricting. While the party saw some losses on that end this cycle, it got the biggest win of all in North Carolina where the evenly-divided delegation (7 to 7) is set for a seismic change that will see at least 10 seats controlled by the GOP next year. Democrats also declined to go for the jugular in New York and ended up with only modest change that could help determine the future of the lower chamber. Nevertheless, members on both sides are cautiously optimistic that their parties can pull out a win in the end. I think theres a path. Its about execution, said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who agreed that Trump carries a lot of weight on his shoulders to push the House over the finish line for Republicans. There may be some minor ticket-splitting, but if he performs well in these districts, then I think the House members will as well, Trump says. Despite the redistricting defeats, Senate Democrats still feel the wind at their sails due largely to the House GOPs performance or lack thereof over the past year. Headlining that was the tumult that consumed the conference in the fall as conservatives ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), sending the chamber into a free fall that reverberated for months. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has also been under question by some, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), after he worked with Democrats to advance must-pass spending bills and a national security supplemental that delivered aid to Ukraine. Democrats, who are also buoyed by a fundraising advantage, also believe that their performance in 2022 that saw Trump be a drag on Republicans will carry over despite the boost the ex-president has given House GOP candidates when he has been on the ballot, including in 2020. Its high, but guarded, said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who served eight terms in the House before winning his Senate seat in 2022. Its an incredible scene of dysfunction among the House Republicans. If performance is relevant to voter decisions, were in pretty good shape. The $64 question is with the extreme gerrymandering and the nature of tribal politics, does it matter? Welch said. Thats a question all of us are always asking. We dont know. Were just in a new world, he continued. Others, though, could not be more bullish. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), who led the House Democratic campaign arm in 2016 and 2018, told The Hill that his confidence level now is higher than it was heading into 2018. Democrats, of course, flipped the House in grand fashion then by netting 41 seats to end eight years in the minority. And in 18, we did pretty well, he added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) The UNC School of the Arts and plaintiffs attorneys announced a settlement agreement on Friday in connection to lawsuits filed in 2021. The $12.5 million settlement agreement ends litigation filed by 65 UNCSA alumni. The lawsuits alleged sexual abuse and misconduct at the UNCSA from the 1970s to the 1990s, according to a statement released by the UNC System and the UNCSA on Friday. Over four years, the UNC System will pay $10 million to the survivors and UNCSA will pay $2.5 million. The American Dream with a twist? Heres how some Charlotteans are affording homes in 2024 This resolution marks the end of a decades-long journey for these former UNCSA students, said Lisa Lanier, the attorney for the claimants. It takes tremendous courage to pursue claims borne of past trauma and it has been our privilege to represent them in this process to bring institutional accountability for the inexcusable conduct to which they were subjected. The university worked diligently with us to reach this settlement, acknowledging that it was time to make amends for the past. The lawsuits alleged that UNCSA officials did not act as faculty members sexually assaulted students over decades. Though this resolution cannot heal the wounds of the past, it is my deep hope that through it, the survivors who came forward feel our commitment to listening, acknowledging and doing right by them, said UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole. This has without a doubt been a dark time for UNCSA as we came to terms with accounts of sexual abuse, and we honor the courage it took for these alumni to share their experiences. It has always been our intent to do what we can to reconcile with the past in a manner consistent with our values, and with compassion and empathy for survivors. I am personally devastated that anyone on this campus would have experienced abuse, and commit to doing all that we can to continually bolster an environment of safety and trust at UNCSA. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Several Pittsburgh roads to close Sunday while bikers raise money for cancer research Several roads in Pittsburgh will be closed on Sunday while bikers raise money for cancer research. According to P3R, over 700 bikers are expected to take part in the second annual Rush to Crush Cancer Benefitting UPMC Hillman Cancer Center by riding a 15, 30 or 60-mile course. The 15 and 60-mile rides start and finish on the north Shore near Stage AE. The 30-mile point-to-point ride starts at Central Elementary School at 8 a.m. and ends at stage AE. Organizers say the roadways impacted include Federal St., Allegheny Commons, Sandusky St., East General Robinson, River Avenue, Liberty Avenue, Grant Street, West General Robinson, and Mazeroski Way. Additionally, the 31st Bridge and Roberto Clemente Bridge will be closed from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The road closures start as early as 4 a.m. and end by 2 p.m., with parking prohibited along the 15-mile course. See the 15-mile course sector map below to know exactly when certain roads will close. Organizers say bikers will share the road with vehicles on the 30 and 60-mile courses. People are encouraged to park at the Gold Lot 1 and Gold 1 Garage. Only the entrances on Art Rooney Avenue and Reedsdale Street will be accessible. Click here to learn more about the fundraising event. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Man dies after crash in Shaler Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium assessing damage after EF-1 tornado touched down in Highland Park LATEST: Confirmed EF-1 tornado touches down near Pittsburgh Zoo, 1st in city limits since 1998 VIDEO: Pittsburgh Riverhounds to build multifield sports complex in Westmoreland County DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Sex Offender Allegedly Faked His Own Death to Avoid Registry, Assumed New Identity with Ariz. Family: Police Benjamin Hollins, 50, was arrested in Arizona and booked into Pinal County Detention Center Pinal County Sheriff's Office Benjamin Hollins, 50, was arrested Tuesday, May 14. The woman told authorities that she had seen the convicted sex offender, Benjamin Hollins, jump to his death off Theodore Roosevelt Lake Bridge. Arizona authorities searched the dam just below it in October 2023. But they never found a body. Then on Tuesday, May 14, authorities arrested Hollins, now 50 and very much alive, on a slew of charges connected to what authorities allege was an elaborate attempt to elude Arizonas sex offender registry. Hollins is charged with failure to confirm identification as a sex offender, failure to provide change of name and address as a sex offender, failure to appear in court and two counts of a probation violation, as well as two counts of driving with a license that is suspended, revoked or canceled, according to his online inmate details cataloged by the Pinal County Sheriffs Office. He was a little bit surprised to see us, Sheriff Mark Lamb says in a video statement announcing the arrest. Pinal County Sheriff's Office Benjamin Hollins in mugshot, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. 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. Hollins was first convicted as a sex offender in California more than 20 years ago, according to the sheriffs office. He eventually moved to Arizona City where by 2018 he was not registered as a sex offender and he was ultimately hired as a behavioral health counselor. There, preying on a 16-year-old client, Hollins kidnapped and attempted to molest the teen, per the sheriff's office. He later pleaded guilty in the case in exchange for supervised probation. As part of his sentencing, he was required to annually register as a sex offender, according to the sheriffs office. Instead, authorities allege, he convinced a woman to file a false report in order to fake his own death in 2023. Now a lot of resources were wasted looking for his body, which was clearly not found because he wasn't dead, Sheriff Lamb says in his recorded statement. Using air quotes, Lamb says that with Hollins dead, his sex offender registration naturally lapsed. Believing that Hollins was still alive, on Tuesday, Chandler Police detectives tracked him down to a home in Mesa, Ariz., where he was allegedly living under a fake name with a family with young children, per the sheriffs office, which said the family had no idea about his history. SWAT team members arrested him, booking the sex offender into the Pinal County Detention Center later that day. Nice try, Benjamin, Lamb says in the video statement. We found you: you're not dead. We're gonna hold you accountable. Hollins is set to appear in court May 21, according to the sheriffs office. PEOPLE called Pinal County Superior Court to confirm. A clerk there said a case number had not yet been assigned. It was not clear if Hollins has yet retained a lawyer. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. 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. How high is it? Its a long way up, no matter the measure. From the bottom of the foundation to the top of the penthouse vent, it is 122.8 feet. From the ground floor to the top of the penthouse vent (all that will be seen above the ground) is 104.2 (Star Gazette June 4, 1970) It was a logical question resulting from the building of what then Elmira Mayor Edward T. Lagonegro would eventually call the new glamour girl in town. According to the newspaper a week earlier People staring into the sun at Water and Baldwin Streets saw a 1.5 ton yellow beam waving a flag and a tree swing high over the nearby buildings early Thursday afternoon. Crane operator Norman Snodgrass deftly lowered the beam to the street where Mayor Edward T. Lagonegro and Chemung Canal Trust Co. officials gathered around. "Snodgrass then maneuvered his giant toy around and hoisted the beam to the top of the six-story skeleton which will be Chemung Canals new bank office. The whole thing was the topping off ceremony marking completion of the steel work on the project which for the past seven weeks has been Elmiras greatest downtown spectator sport in many years. (Star Gazette May 29, 1970) Nothing said a bank had to be square so the construction of the six-story oval office building captivated Elmira. When the bank eventually held its open house it was reported that more than 8,500 people toured the facility with more than 11,000 in the first week. It was estimated that 625 gallons of soft drink were consumed and 4,000 roses given to the ladies inspecting the Bank, which the city had designated One Chemung Canal Plaza. (Star Gazette Aug. 30, 1971) Former County Historian Tom Bryne wrote in his "History of Chemung County, New York" that the Chemung Canal Bank was chartered by the Legislature in 1833, the same year the Chemung Canal opened to navigation. The capital was fixed at $200,000 divided into 4,000 shares with a par value of $50 each. The subscription book was opened June 24, 1833. It was closed two days later. The maximum subscription was for 50 shares. A total of 704 persons subscribed for stock representing $1,434,450." The first president of the bank was John G. McDowell. His great great grandson Boyd McDowell would follow in his footsteps becoming President of the Bank in 1976. John G. McDowell was a State Assemblyman 1830-31 and a State Senator for four years ending in 1836. He secured the passage of the act creating the Chemung Canal Bank in 1833. He also brought about the act creating Chemung County in 1836. He would serve as chairman of the Board of Supervisors for several terms. Story continues The Chemung Canal Trust Company building in downtown Elmira. The Bank operated out of temporary headquarters until it moved to its new home at 415 East Water Street, the current location of the Chemung County Historical Society. It opened at this location in 1834 and operated there until 1920 when it relocated to the northeast corner of East Water and State Streets. The new building featured a ceiling painting of Elmira as it looked in 1833, the banks founding year. The Village of Elmira had a population of 3,750 at that time. In 1842 John Arnot Sr., the Cashier, became the Banks third president. Interestingly, Arnot lived in the Bank building which was customary for the cashier. The Arnot name would become synonymous with the bank and indeed development in Elmira. Arnot would serve only a year as President, but would return to the office in 1857 serving until his death in 1873. According the 150th Anniversary pamphlet published by the bank, a major event in the history of the Chemung Canal Bank took place in 1857 when John Arnot Sr. ... indicated a desire to acquire the ownership of the Bank. With the approval of the stockholders, John Arnot Sr. became President, Stephen Arnot Vice President, John Arnot Jr. Cashier and Mathias Arnot Assistant Cashier, which began Arnot family control which would last for the next 46 years. An undated article noted that Mr. Arnot was closely connected with every public enterprise in the valley for more than half a century and often with the large means at his command in times of general financial distress held up the credit of the city and county with a firm and unyielding hand. He became a rock against when the waves of financial trouble, no matter how high they might roll, dashed in vain, and those who sought refuge with him found themselves safe. The Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press reported on March 5, 1895 that the Chemung Canal Bank had become a state bank and no longer a private concern. The change is due to the fact that the trend of legislation is now largely against private banks and it will not be very long before they will be legislated out of existence. Within eight years the Chemung Canal Bank would be No more. The newspaper reported that the formal merger of the Elmira Trust Company and the Chemung Canal Bank was accomplished Thanksgiving week last year and was the most important financial deal that had been accomplished in Elmira in over half a century. The merger did not go into effect until this morning ... The Chemung Canal Trust Company was created. (Daily Gazette and Free Press March 2, 1903) More history 'The Forgotten 1935 Flood': How Elmira area was impacted by storm that killed 37 people The newspaper noted that the passing of the bank was a memorable event. It has withstood all storms and trials. The bank's published history recorded that during the Arnot years the family was often called upon to make sizeable loans to New York City banks. Newspaper articles of the day claimed that loans ranging in size from $100,000 to $1,000,000 were made to those banks to tide them over and the Chemung Canal Bank became well known as a sound, growing financial institution. The Bank remains such today as it enters its 191st year. The Arnot connection remains. A number of years ago I approached Bank President Jan Updegraff, seeking a contribution to the Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery for historic restoration. Jan mentioned that he had a family connection to the Arnots. His great aunt Alice married Matthias C. Arnot, the grandson of John Arnot Sr. He then noted that the John Arnot tombstone in the Arnot plot, which is located next to the Langdon plot where Mark Twain is buried at Woodlawn, had tipped over. He indicated that if that could be corrected, perhaps the Bank could make a donation. The tombstone was stood up and the Bank was generous in their donation to the Friends of Woodlawn. -- Jim Hare writes a monthly history column. This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: How Chemung Canal Trust Company grew into an Elmira institution A convicted sex offender was arrested on Tuesday in Arizona, seven months after he allegedly faked his own death to avoid having to register. In October, 50-year-old Benjamin Hollins allegedly had a woman file a false police report claiming that hed killed himself jumping off the Theodore Roosevelt Lake Bridge in Roosevelt, Arizona. In a video statement posted to Facebook, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said his department had wasted a lot of resources searching for Hollins body, which was clearly not found, because he wasnt dead. Chandler PD didnt give up. They kept investigating and they found him, said Lamb. Police say they discovered Hollins living in Mesa, Arizona, with a family with children, who were not aware of his identity. He was arrested by a Pinal County regional SWAT team, and was being held at Pinal County jail on Saturday. Hollins was convicted as a sex offender in California over 20 years ago, but did not register as a sex offender when he moved to Arizona in 2018, where he worked as a behavioral health counselor. That same year, he was charged with kidnapping and molesting one of his 16-year-old clients, according to AZ Family. He pleaded guilty, and as part of a plea agreement, a sexual abuse count was dropped. Hollins also failed to register as a sex offender in 2019, and while he was allegedly pretending to be dead, his sex offender registration lapsed. Nice try, Benjamin, said Lamb. We found you. Youre not dead. Were going to hold you accountable. 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. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was only 7 when the Supreme Court ruled in the Brown v. Board of Education case that separate but equal was unconstitutional. Before that, though, Green rode the bus from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to Crestview, Fla., to go to school every day. I can tell you what it was like to be in a segregated school and drive by white schools, where the buildings were newer, the buses were newer, where they had the best books, Green told The Hill. The lawmaker remembered getting some of those books which were considered new to him and his classmates, even though sometimes the previous students name would still be written inside. Other times, pages would be ripped out of the books. When he entered his senior year, Green transferred from the all-Black W.E. Combs High School to the all-white Choctawhatchee High School. Green said he was one of just three Black students in a class of 600. Thats when I started to realize more of what was going on, what was happening to me, he said. Some people were very nice to me, but there were many that were not nice at all. Now, 70 years after the landmark ruling, Green and other leading Black voices are concerned that the ruling is slowly being chipped away. Weve come a long way since the Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told The Hill in a statement. But today, the most segregated school systems in America can be directly traced to policies put in place in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education. The case for change Before the Brown decision was handed down in 1954, there was Plessy v. Ferguson. In 1892, Homer Plessy, a Black man, refused to give up his seat to a white man on a train in New Orleans. When Plessy was arrested, he contested that Louisianas law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, but in an 8-1 vote, the court ruled against him. In 1952, five different cases from across the nation came before the high court. They would all be condensed under Brown v. The Topeka Board of Education explained Tona Boyd, associate director-counsel for the Legal Defense Fund. Oliver Brown was the father of Linda Brown, who was at the time trying to attend third grade in a school that was just around the corner from her. But because the school was all white, she was rejected, Boyd said. Thurgood Marshall, who would later become a justice on the high court, led a group of esteemed lawyers Robert Carter, Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley, Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, Louis Redding, Charles and John Scott, Harold R. Boulware, James Nabrit, and George E.C. Hayes in arguing the case before the court. And when they won, Boyd said, it opened the door for changes across the country. Brown was a case that was brought to challenge that malignant doctrine that had been endorsed by the court and allowed state sanctioned segregation to be permitted in almost all areas of American life, from public schools to trains, cars, to places of public accommodation, she said. The idea was that [education] would be the first place to strike at the heart of segregation and then from there the dominoes would fall which is exactly what happened, Boyd added. That allowed litigation and laws to be passed that got rid of state sanctioned apartheid across the United States. But advocates warn that the remnants of segregation remain scattered across the nation today. A legacy at risk Though segregation is illegal, our schools still remain segregated today, Jalisa Evans, chief executive officer and founder of The Black Educator Advocates Network, told The Hill. As white students fled school districts to avoid integration, redlining continued to create segregated schools through housing. Today, schools with large numbers of Black students are underfunded. In December 2022, the Education Trust found that districts with predominantly non-white students receive more than $2,000 less per student than predominantly white districts. In a district with 5,000 students, that would equate to $13.5 million in missing resources. Advocates also point to recent Supreme Court decisions they say disrupt the 1954 decision. While we celebrate 70 years of the first Supreme Court decision to break down Jim Crow in education and the implications were beyond education that celebration is dampened by the fact that we now have a Supreme Court that has taken out affirmative action and attacked voting rights, the Rev. Al Sharpton told The Hill. If this Supreme Court was sitting in 1954, they probably would have not voted for Brown versus the Board of Education, he added. While 70 years may seem like a long time ago, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) points out that many can still remember what it was like to be barred from seeking educational opportunities. As a child, Beatty attended a segregated school before her father saved up to move the family to an all-white neighborhood for better opportunities. My father was not an educated man, but he was a strong laborer and so he worked three jobs in two different states during the year to save up $7,000 because he could not get a loan for that house because of redlining because of the color of his skin, Beatty said. And all of this ties back to education. After he was able to buy that home, garbage cans were set on fire in our front yard, all because we wanted to integrate a school so that me this little Black girl could have a proper and adequate education, she added. The truth of what families like hers, or what Green endured, could be lost amid politicization of Black history, including Brown v. Board, she said. Theyre trying to ban the books we can read about Black folks who have been innovative in this country, Beatty continued. Those individuals who fought for justice [in] Brown versus the Board of Education, they were doing it for one reason: they were doing it for children. Despite seven decades of progress, the shadow of segregation still looms large in American education and beyond, she added. We have to continue to fight for our children today. Advocates argue that limiting what students learn is just one way the legacy of Brown is being diminished. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told The Hill that segregation can also be seen in things such as the rise in school choice options, or the ability for families to select alternatives to public schools. Studies show school choice exacerbates segregation in public schools, and todays schools continue to see segregation at staggering rates. The resegregation we are seeing in our schools is by no means isolated, Horsford said. It is in fact a part of a much larger effort to deny Black communities access to opportunities in our country. As we mark the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and reflect on our progress over the past several decades, we must urgently confront the efforts to undermine and reverse that progress on our campuses, in corporate America, in the federal government, and beyond, he added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. As the history of the United States has moved forward, two things have remained consistent. First, times change and what was considered taboo at one point isn't that big of a deal anymore. Second, state laws throughout the country just don't keep up with the times. No margarine or swearing? Here are odd state and city laws Every city and state has laws on the book that seem silly and, in the view of modern times, humorously needless. In Wisconsin, the serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place is still prohibited unless it's ordered by the customer. This is under the state law heading of "oleomargarine regulations" In Virginia Beach, Virginia, you can't swear while walking down the street. It's a $250 fine. According to vabeach.com, the city collected $6,000 in cursing fines in 2019. In New Jersey, the state seems to take pride in the fact it's the only place in the country where you cannot pump your gas. Delaware's odd laws Delaware, though, has its fair share of odd laws. All one has to do is look at the Widener Law Blog where there is a whole section dedicated to the head-tilting laws found in the First State. Here are a few examples: No R-movies at drive-ins Drive-in theaters in Delaware are not allowed to show movies rated R or above. According to the blog, when drive-ins started struggling in the 1970s, they started showing adult films or exploitation movies. People living near the drive-ins could see the movies on the screen. So the law was passed. However, the law is essentially moot since Delaware is one of six states that doesn't have a drive-in movie theater. It might cost an arm and a leg, but a pawnbroker can't take yours It's illegal for pawnbrokers in Delaware to accept as a pledge or pawn any artificial limb or wheelchair. According to the Widener Law blog, "It isn't illegal for a person to pawn their artificial leg, it's illegal for the pawnbroker to take it. Delaware blue laws Originally known as blue laws, Delaware has, in its history, several laws regulating what a person cannot do on Sundays. While many were repealed including outlawing any worldly employment, labor or business on the Sabbath some, while modified, are still in effect. Horse racing was banned on Sundays. That was amended to ban horse racing on only Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Alcohol can be sold on Sundays only between noon and 8 p.m. Hunting is prohibited on Sundays, except fox hunting with dogs. "Adult entertainment establishments" must be closed on Sundays. You cannot use a drifting gillnet for fishing until after 4 p.m. on Sundays. What to wear when you go to Rehoboth Beach Rehoboth Beach's boardwalk is shown on Memorial Day weekend in 2022. While laws for indecent exposure aren't odd, the rules for Rehoboth Beach are a little different. Topless bathing suits are prohibited for females over the age of 5. The top has to cover everything below the upper portion of the nipple. Therefore a 6-year-old girl could get cited if her swimsuit top or shirt is off. Disrobing under the boardwalk or on the beach is a no-no. However, it's also against the law to disrobe in your car or change your clothes in a public bathroom run by the city. If you do it, you can be cited and fined $25. If you take the fine to court, you could have to pay the fine plus $50 for court costs. Rehoboth Beach churches are quiet or else Have you ever whispered to someone at church? If so, be happy you weren't in Rehoboth Beach. According to the law, whispering, talking, swearing rude or indecent behavior is prohibited around a congregation or assembly met for religious worship or within 300 feet of the place of worship. So know how close you are to church before whispering to someone or uttering a dirty word. No drinking and dancing In Rehoboth Beach, alcoholic beverages are illegal in dance halls or dance clubs. A dance hall is considered any establishment other than a restaurant where dancing by patrons takes place or where dancing by the patrons is permitted to take place including dance clubs. In these establishments, you cannot sell, dispense or provide alcohol. However, with a quick Google search, you soon notice there aren't any dance clubs or dance halls in Rehoboth Beach. I think we know why. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Odd Delaware laws: Whispering in church, Sunday hunting, pawning limbs Colstrip Power Plant (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan). First, lets begin with a brief history lesson. Back in 1970 when Republicans and Democrats agreed clean air and water were vitally important to the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, established the Environmental Protection Agency, tasked with protecting public health from harmful, toxic pollutants. Flash forward 54 years to the present: On May 1, at a U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee and then on May 2, at a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing regarding the new EPA Mercury Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rules about toxic emissions, two of Montanans Congressional delegation Congressman Ryan Zinke and Sen. Jon Tester did a pretty good job of beating up on EPA Administrator, Michael Regan with a harsh line of questioning just for doing his job which is protecting people from toxic air and water pollution, and its adverse health effects. Later, Sen. Steve Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale also joined Zinke and Tester, and released press statements opposing the updated EPA MATS rules. Is it possible that each member of Montanas Congressional delegation (3 Republicans and 1 Democrat) doesnt know there is no safe level for humans of arsenic and lead which are emitted in abundance (in the tons) from the Colstrip power plant? These deadly poisons cause profound, often irreversible, health impacts from chronic exposure. There are also other pollutants emitted chromium, manganese, nickel, selenium and none of these are good for human lungs to breathe. And, lets not forget the greenhouse gases, emitted in the tons, and also not good for planetary health. Not one of Montanas Congressional delegation has displayed knowledge of the Clean Air Act, and the political courage needed to protect their Montana constituents health. They all ought to be ashamed of themselves. Instead, they sounded like shills or lobbyists for one of the utility companies that owns Colstrip NorthWestern Energy. Later, in the press NorthWestern CEO Brian Bird joined the act, complaining about the new EPA rules and how expensive it would be to install the equipment needed to clean up the air pollutants emitted at Colstrip. Gosh, its so unpleasant to read about a high-salaried utility CEO whining especially the CEO of a for-profit, investor-owned utility who just last year, thanks to a stupendously large gift from the Republican-controlled 2023 Montana legislature, got a huge tax cutand got to pay about $36 million less on its 2023 property tax bill, a 20% decrease from 2022. And, lets not forget that by law NWE also gets a guaranteed return on equity profit. The EPA did not spring the new rules to clean up toxic emissions from Colstrip on NWE and the other Colstrip owners out of the blue. These rules, as part of the Clean Air Act of 1970, amended in 1977 and 1990, are reviewed and updated every eight years as technology to protect public health evolves. There has been plenty of warning. In fact, most utilities have already complied and are still managing to generate cleaner, affordable electricity, leaving Colstrip with the notorious honor of having the highest emission rates of toxic air pollution in the nation as measured through filterable particulate emissions. The reality is NorthWestern Energy, in order to keep their profits rolling in has bet big on the wrong horse at Colstrip the dirty, more expensive way to generate electricity instead of cleaner, healthier and cheaper ways for consumers that renewables with battery backup provide. Instead, NWE is now is singing the blues that its profits will be adversely impacted because it must install equipment that will clean the air and protect the lungs and health of Montana ratepayers while also threatening Montanas captive ratepayers that electricity will be even more expensive than the 28% increase NWE gave Montana ratepayers last year all with the blessing of the five Republican members of Montanas Public Service Commission. Its time for NorthWestern Energy to wake up and for Montanas Congressional Delegation, and the PSC to also wake up and realize that many Montanans want clean air and water in order to protect their health, their childrens health and the planets health, as well as clean, affordable electricity. Dont keep betting on old, dirty, expensive technology to generate the affordable electricity Montanans want and need. The post Singing the blues about climate change rules appeared first on Daily Montanan. SLO is reducing exorbitant parking rates. Will it be enough to help downtown? | Opinion Well, thats a relief. A contrite San Luis Obispo City Council voted Tuesday to reduce onerous parking rates in the downtown following a near-rebellion by locals, especially business owners who saw their sales drop precipitously. With that one vote, the city hopefully settled what may have been the biggest controversy since a mandatory rental inspection ordinance was passed and later rejected. The City Council deserves credit for listening to constituents and rolling back rates that were nearly doubled last year to help fund the new parking structure under construction on the corner of Palm and Nipomo streets. Its especially gratifying that at a time when so many costs are rising gas, groceries, utilities the city found a way to substantially reduce parking fees. It also agreed to do away with the hated gateless system installed at the main Palm Street parking structure. It requires drivers to either pay on an app or at a pay station located inside the structure a confusing process that should be permanently ditched. Business owners in downtown SLO have openly opposed the parking rates that practically doubled last year. Theyll get some relief in July, when lower rates go into effect. No more free hour It wasnt all good news. To offset the lower rates, the council also decided to end the first hour free perk thats been so popular with locals. Free Sunday parking is also going away. Thats disappointing, but overall, the new parking fee schedule makes sense. The hourly fee for street parking in the city core will drop from $4 to $2.75. The parking structure rate will be $2 per hour, rather than $3, with a new daily maximum of $8 instead of $12. And monthly passes for the parking structures will be $45, down from $85. The new rates take effect in July. The lower rates will benefit sightseers, shoppers and diners, as well as those downtown employees who have been shelling out big bucks for the privilege of going to work. This must be a slap in the face to downtown businesses Granted, it would have been far better if the city had settled on a more modest rate increase in the first place. It should have recognized that a near doubling of parking rates would be disastrous for the downtown economy, especially after the huge hit sustained by the COVID pandemic. Instead, the city pressed forward and wound up alienating just about everybody, including one visitor from faraway Alaska. Upon visiting San Luis Obispo, we wanted to take in the downtown and its shopping. What a shock to discover that parking was $4.00 an hour. ... This must be a slap in the face to downtown businesses trying to survive and continue the charm of the city, Debbie Jaso wrote in a letter to The Tribune. She was exactly right. Businesses saw their sales drop, and many owners blamed it primarily on the steep parking rates that went into effect nearly a year ago. In just 10 months, the city has done extensive damage, Hemp Shak owner Katy Hemler told the City Council on Tuesday. A representative of Downtown Centre Cinemas said revenues dropped significantly in the past year and warned that if rates werent reduced, the theater would be forced to close. That would be another huge hit for a downtown that has already lost several popular businesses. Dont expect business to rebound overnight Cheaper parking is a good first step, but it may not be enough to win back the goodwill of those Central Coast residents who have been avoiding downtown for any number of reasons: traffic, street closures, the loss of some big retail stores like Ross and Beverlys Fabrics and an overall perception that downtown is just too darned expensive. Some of the downtown-averse have found other options. Paso Robles where the City Council recently voted to bring back free parking is one. Others include Madonna Plaza, the SLO Promenade, SLO Public Market, the Target and Home Depot shopping centers and the Pismo Beach Premium Outlets, all with plenty of free parking. On top of that, there is always Amazon. Still, theres no place quite like downtown San Luis Obispo for dining, shopping, museums, the Thursday night Farmers Market and other special events. To write it off would be a mistake. But it shouldnt cost $12 to spend a few hours downtown. So thank you, city of SLO, for listening to the publics concerns and making parking rates more affordable. Slovak Prime Minister and chairman of the Smer-SD party Robert Fico, center, last year was elected prime minister for a fourth time but was targeted by a would-be assassin Wednesday. Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA-EFE May 18 (UPI) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in serious condition but with an improved prognosis reported Saturday. Fico, 59, survived an assassination attempt by a gunman in Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday. Doctors say Fico is stable but remains in serious condition at a hospital in Banska Bystrica and won't be moved to Bratislava for at least a couple more days. A second surgical procedure lasted two hours on Friday, health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova told reporters. He suffered four bullet wounds to his stomach and arm when the gunman shot him at close range while Fico met with his supporters. Although hospitalized, Fico remains the acting prime minister. The gunman is identified as Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old man from Levice. He was charged with attempted murder during an arraignment hearing Saturday and remains in custody until his trial. The gunman acted alone in the politically motivated attack and recently participated in anti-government protests, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told media Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba blamed the opposition and Slovakian news outlet Dennik N for stirring hatred against Fico and others. Fico has been a controversial political figure in Slovakia for many years and returned to power last year on a pro-Russian and anti-United States platform. Slovakia supported Ukraine when Russia invaded it two years ago, but Fico halted arms shipments to Ukraine after regaining power last year. Last year's election win made it the fourth time Fico has served as Slovakia's prime minister. The condition of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is stable but serious after the attempted assassination on 15 May, and he cannot be transported at the moment. Source: Slovak government officials, as reported by European Pravda, citing Slovak news website Aktuality Details: The two-hour surgery on Friday contributed to a positive prognosis for the prime minister's health, Slovakia's Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said at noon on Saturday. The official noted that a medical board assessed the prime minister's health condition as stable but still serious this morning. Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kalinak explained that, for this reason, Fico's transfer to Bratislava will not be possible in the coming days. "The same applies to proposals from abroad, which we greatly appreciate," he added. Kalinak noted that several miracles have occurred in recent days in the Slovak city of Banska Bystrica, where Fico is staying after the assassination attempt, thanks to the doctors, nurses and all the staff of F. D. Roosevelt Hospital. "I will never find the right words to convey how grateful I am for the fact that we are getting closer to a positive prognosis. His condition allows him to recover, and the prime minister is conscious, of course, with all the limitations that such a serious injury presents," Kalinak said. At the same time, he explained how the government would be run during Fico's stay in hospital. "We have agreed that the government will continue working according to the programme that he [Fico] has set out. This means that at least two cabinet meetings will take place next week... Perhaps today in Bratislava, we will have more information about other aspects of Slovakia's functioning at this moment," the minister said. Background: On 15 May, Juraj Cintula, 71, shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico several times. The attempted assassination took place after a government meeting in the city of Handlova. On 18 May, the Specialised Criminal Court of Slovakia is considering the prosecutor's request for a pre-trial restriction for the attacker. Support UP or become our patron! Russia is collaborating closely with Azerbaijan and Central Asia to develop the North-South transit corridor, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk during his address at the plenary session of the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum," Azernews reports. "We have already discussed the infrastructure projects, including creating the North-South corridor that we are developing with our partners. We are working closely with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. This involves the development of both rail and road transportation," he said. Overchuk noted that Russia aims to enhance the transport and logistics connectivity of "Greater Eurasia" to provide better competitive conditions for manufacturers. "Our primary goal is to ensure the transport and logistics connectivity of Greater Eurasia. By doing this, we are providing our manufacturers with the best competitive conditions to enter the markets of the global South," the deputy PM added. He emphasized that Russia is not working alone in this effort but is cooperating with the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. ?t should be noted that the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" is an annual international economic forum held in Kazan, Tatarstan, aimed at fostering cooperation between Russia and the countries of the Islamic world. The forum serves as a platform for discussing economic, cultural, and political partnerships, and addressing common challenges. It brings together leaders, policymakers, and business representatives to explore opportunities for collaboration and development across various sectors. Last week, crypto was in the news yet again. Donald Trump declared himself an unabashed supporter while unveiling a new line of mugshot NFTs at Mar-a-Lago. On the same day, the Biden Administration announced it would veto efforts to undo a widely-disliked SEC accounting bulletin that prevents the custody of crypto by many firms. The stories underscored how crypto has become yet another battleground for this years presidential election. But for many Democrats, the Biden Administrations hardline felt as tragicomic as watching Sideshow Bob step on dozens of rakes, again and again. At the rate things are going, crypto owners may be the straw that breaks the Biden campaigns back. According to Paradigm polling from March, while Biden is losing 44%-43% among non-crypto owners, he is losing 48-39% among the 20% of voters who own crypto. And this is a change from 2020, when crypto owners recall voting for Biden by 43%-39%. As Democrats, we would like to see Biden give people in crypto a reason to believe in him. According to polls both of our organizations have done, about 20% of registered voters own crypto. Owners of crypto skew young, but they are of all partisan stripes. About 20% of Democrats own crypto, about 20% of Republicans own crypto, and about 20% of independents own crypto. People vote (or dont) for many reasons, but being anti-crypto is being taken as a proxy for being anti-innovation, anti-tech, and anti-change. The wounds to the campaign are self-inflicted. Crypto should not be a partisan issue. No technology should be. The idea of being pro or anti crypto should be as ridiculous as describing yourself as coming out in favor of computers or against toaster ovens. Yet, under this administration, we, lifelong progressives who have a healthy skepticism of technology, have watched with growing concern as our party has cast the entire digital assets industry as villains. Nowhere is this more clear than with the SEC under Chair Gary Gensler. The SEC Chair testified to Congress early in his tenure that there was a need for legislation on crypto to give the SEC critical additional authority to regulate the space. Over the following year, he erased that reasonable approach in favor of fighting with his fellow regulators, unceasingly attacking the industry in the press, and engaging in a sinners in the hands of an angry god campaign against the space. With some notable exceptions, the agency has shut its doors to the entire industry and made clear that there is nothing it can do to work with Chair Gensler. The Chair has provided no path to compliance for the industry, sending a singular message to crypto: I demand your destruction. This mindset has not bled throughout the entire Administration. There are some agencies and regulators who have not positioned themselves with such hostility. But there has also been little meaningful pushback at the top when it comes to reining in Genslers antics. Indeed, the White Houses statement calling for a veto of efforts to change SAB 121 (the rules that severely restrict who can custody crypto) was viewed by many as a vote of support for the Chairs entire approach to crypto. Happily, some Democrats in Congress have tried to create space from the SEC. Notably, 21 one voted to overturn SAB121, demonstrating that its not just industry actors who perceive political bias here. Both of us are progressives in crypto and think the party is making a mistake if itby lets a few loud voices dictate party-wide policy. Sheila got into blockchain after a decade in nonprofit law and civic tech, because of concerns around big data monopolies and inequity in the movement of money across borders. Justin got into crypto after working in and out of government because it provides an open space to build technology without control by a single entity. The idea of a decentralized platform that is owned by tens of millions is a reprieve from our current world of both tech and finance, filled with enclosed spaces ruled like feudal fiefs. While headlines focus on the worst actors, the reality is that the industry is not a monolith. Responsible firms have been calling for regulation for years, even though they know that regulation will create potentially complicated and expensive compliance requirements. But to a large extent Democratic leaders have ignored them. Why? When did Democrats become afraid of legislating and regulating? Why are Democrats choosing to pursue aggressive approaches in a conservative judiciary? Were in the upside down. Its not too late to change course. Democrats do not need to hang a giant I Crypto sign on the DNC to appeal to crypto owners; merely saying that they think crypto is an innovation that requires reasonable regulation would help immensely. But if Democrats dont at least try to appeal to this voting bloc, they risk sending them over to Donald Trump. In an election as important as this one, with Biden down in the polls, Democrats should be looking to get crypto voters into the tent, not thoughtlessly driving them away. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com By Anait Miridzhanian and Sfundo Parakozov JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is aiming to win a parliamentary majority in a May 29 election so that it can implement reforms without resistance from opponents, former President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. Zuma, who was forced to quit as president in 2018, has fallen out with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and has been campaigning for MK, which was formed in December. "We want to get an outright victory because if we don't get the two-thirds (majority), opposition may oppose us," 82-year old Zuma told thousands of supporters during a launch of the party's election manifesto. An Ipsos opinion poll published in April showed MK would win 8.4% of the vote, far short of the party's 66% objective. Speaking in Zulu at the Orlando Stadium in South Africa's biggest township Soweto, Zuma promised to provide free education for disadvantaged children, create jobs and fight corruption. If the polls are correct, the ANC is at risk of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela's victory in 1994 ushered in a new era of democracy after decades of apartheid rule. MK has emerged as a threat to the ANC, especially in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu Natal, where he is popular. A 31-year-old MK supporter, Girlsy Six, told Reuters she had travelled to Gauteng from neighbouring Mpumalanga province because the party represented change for people like her. "We want jobs, we want the land, we want (a) people's bank, we want a lot! We know that we can get the change we want in this party," Six said. Zuma told the crowd he had no choice but to stay in politics because other elected officials did not care about improving people's lives. "It can't be that at this age we are still fighting criminals to remove them from government because they are criminals. We should be resting and playing with our grand-kids," said Zuma. Last week, South Africa's top court heard legal arguments on whether the ex-president can run for parliament. It has not said when it will issue its ruling. The case stems from a decision in March by South Africa's electoral commission to disqualify Zuma on the basis that the constitution prohibits anyone given a prison sentence of 12 months or longer from holding a parliamentary seat. In 2021, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for failing to appear at a corruption inquiry. South African citizens living abroad started casting their ballots on Friday, more than a week ahead of the vote within the country. (Additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Timothy Heritage) Southern California man convicted for murder after fleeing to Mexico, turning himself in The Santa Ana Police Department announced a man has been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2020 slaying of a 57-year-old woman. Officers made a grisly discovery on Oct. 26, 2020 when they responded to a call about an unconscious woman in a vehicle located in the 600 block of West Russell Street. When they arrived, they found the body of Natalia Gamino Jaimes. She had been reported missing four days earlier from the city of Lake Forest. After Jaimes death was ruled a homicide, investigators identified Jose Valdez Jimenez as the suspect. Detectives served several search warrants and tried to contact Jimenez several times, before determining that he had fled the country. Although Jimenez had escaped to Mexico, authorities were able to get in contact with him by phone. In January of 2021, Jimenez called a detective and confessed that he had strangled Jaimes to death and drove her body to Santa Ana, leaving the woman inside a vehicle. Authorities began the extradition process between the U.S. and Mexico and began to zone in on capturing Jimenez. Deputies caught a break a short time later. On May 26, 2021, Jimenez contacted the same detective and told him that he was at the Mexican border and was ready to turn himself in to authorities. Jimenez was arrested without incident and charged with murder. On Friday, a jury convicted Jimenez of second-degree murder. He will be sentenced at a later hearing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. A man from Ojai has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for the 2019 slaying of his friend. Authorities say 28-year-old Cameron Scott Lykins killed Houston Auer on May 12, 2019, at Auers grandmothers home on the 1100 block of Meyer Road in Ojai. Lykins and Auer got into an altercation in a bedroom of the home, which led to Lykins using a sledgehammer to bludgeon Auer to death. Following the killing, Lykins dragged Auers body out of a window and dumped the victims remains in the Angeles National Forest. Lykins then went to his mothers home in Lone Pine, where he arranged to contact authorities and admit to the crime. Ventura County Sheriffs Department deputies arrested Lykins a day later and he was charged with Auers murder. The victims body was located in the Angeles National Forest by a warden with the Department of Fish and Wildlife more than a month later on June 23, 2019. A Nissan Frontier that investigators believe was used to transport a homicide victims body is seen in photos released May 14, 2019, by the Ventura County Sheriffs Office. Cameron Scott Lykins pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for the 2019 killing of his friend and roommate in Ojai. Lykins entered the plea on April 19, 2024. (Ventura County Sheriffs Office) Testimony at Lykins first trial began on Feb. 1. After 26 prosecution witnesses provided eight days of testimony, a mistrial was declared due to the inadvertent admission of evidence before a ruling on its admissibility. The case was set for a retrial and both sides said they uncovered new evidence before the second trial began. Some of the information that was discovered challenged the evidence prosecutors originally had when it came to the motive for the crime. Prosecutors found both verbal and text message exchanges between Lykins and Auer leading up to the killing that they felt would make it difficult to prove malice for a murder charge. Because of this new evidence, prosecutors added a charge of voluntary manslaughter, and Lykins agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge. The true tragedy of this case is that Houston Auer is gone, and nothing can bring him back, Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Christopher Harman said. Todays sentencing holds the defendant accountable for what the people could prove and will keep him off the street for a significant amount of time. Lykins previously pled guilty on April 19, 2024, to one count of voluntary manslaughter. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. SHEFFIELD, Ala. (WHNT) The Sheffield Police Department (SPD), is searching for an inmate who has escaped from custody. According to SPD, officers are looking for Johnny E. Kennamore. SPD says that Kennamore held a trustee status. Charges are pending at this time. Anyone who sees Kennamore should contact the Sheffield Police Department at (256)-383-1771. Stay connected with News 19 for additional information as we work to learn more. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) For voters in Californias 20th Congressional District, Tuesdays election is the third time theyve had the chance to vote for either Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux or Bakersfield area Assemblymember Vince Fong. Every vote matters. Please dont let that ballot just sit on the countertop, Boudreaux said. Both Fong and Boudreaux were the top two vote-getters in the March 5 primary ahead of Novembers general election- as well as during the March 19 special primary ahead of May 21s special election. Now, whoever wins on Tuesday will go to Washington D.C., and fill the remainder of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthys term. Boudreaux versus Fong: Comparing their positions ahead of special election for 20th Congressional District This is a critical election, May 21st. They get to select a representative to hit the ground running, Fong said. Then, the candidates are set to once again face off in November 2024, for the next full congressional term. Boudreaux, whos served as sheriff since 2013, has been with the department for decades. He says his background in law enforcement, rather than politics, is what sets him apart. Ive had 38 years of dealing with people who are impacted by bad legislation. And that being those living in poverty, we have people in this district right here in the Central Valley who dont eat every day. Thats important for us to understand that I deal with those people on a personal level. Ive arrested human traffickers and Ive looked human trafficking victims in the eyes. What I bring to the table is real-life experience, what I am not is a politician, Boudreaux said. Fong currently serves in the state assembly for District 32, representing parts of Kern and Tulare counties. He says his experience working as a legislator here in California prepares him for the challenges hed face in Congress. It is someone to make national policy that will affect the lives of every single resident of the 20th Congressional District. Who is the most knowledgeable, who has the proven track record on a whole wide range of issues, whether its health care, supply chain, agriculture to energy, forest management, the list goes on and on? Who has already been doing the job of passing good public policy? I believe Im the best candidate because Im the experienced, tested, and trusted individual in this situation, Fong said. However, it has also been a huge point of contention in this race. Before filing to run for Congress, Fong had already filed to run again for his assembly seat. Californias Secretary of State ruled that California state law doesnt allow one candidate to run for more than one office at once. However, the court sided with Fong. Well, not only do I believe that we should be on the ballot, but the courts agreed with me. We were successful in court twice. Unanimous decisions- and the Supreme Court unanimously decided in the appeals court. At the end of the day, the argument that weve made and that the courts agree with is that the voters get to decide, Fong said. As sheriff, Boudreaux has strong name recognition and polling within Tulare County, but less so in the Bakersfield area. He says hes spent the last few months working to close in on the lead Fong currently has in Kern County. Boudreaux said its all about meeting with voters face-to-face. You know, when it comes to the fundraising, when it comes to the amount of money that is spent on these types of campaigns, me personally, I feel its important that people see who I am, meet me personally, Boudreaux said. Fong has key endorsements from former President Donald Trump and McCarthy himself. Boudreaux says he thinks the endorsements he has matter too. Boudreaux says he has been endorsed by Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, the Bakersfield Police Officers Association, five members of the Clovis City Council, and State Senator Shannon Grove. Does Donald Trump really know Vince Fong? Most of us believe that they dont, and we believe that that endorsement came through Kevin McCarthy. Now he has it- and has it hurt me? Maybe in the in the voting, and maybe it has. Because I think voters need to educate themselves on how he received that endorsement, Boudreaux said. However, Fong says his team had been in contact with some of Trumps team as he was deciding to run and was in part encouraged by them. McCarthy who is also from Kern County has long been one of Fongs political allies. Fong says he had met Trump a few years ago at an event in Bakersfield. Its very humbling to have to have President Trumps endorsement. And we have endorsements from over 29 members of Congress. We also have we, more importantly, we have endorsements from people throughout the community, Fong said. When it comes to immigration, Boudreaux said he believes in tough border security. However, he said his experience as sheriff lets him understand the nuances of all the people who end up calling the Central Valley home. I dont believe that we should circumvent the system or cut in line to be here. But what about the migrant worker thats been here for 20 years, living on a dairy, and has raised his family? Is that who we deport first? Its not who we deport first. There needs to be a process and how we evaluate those who are truly a threat to us here in California, in the United States, Boudreaux said. Fong also agreed that the border needs to be the top priority for lawmakers. We need to increase the Border Patrol. We need to build a wall and physical barriers. We need to end catch and release. Those are the key items, the key foundations of what we need to do policy-wise. I travel to the border. What the average person doesnt see. You cant even imagine, Fong said. Another big topic is funding for Israel and Ukraine. Boudreaux said he fully supports Israel and stresses we should give them aid. However, he isnt sure if hed vote to send any more money to Ukraine. I say, before we go to Ukraine, why are we not spending money on our mental health crisis? Why do we not spend money on our homeless crisis thats plagued all across the country? And why are we not spending money on more border control and security when we know that countries that are attacking Israel want to attack us, Boudreaux said. Like Boudreaux, Fong also says he supports Israel fully, and said if he was in Congress, he would vote to make sure they get aid. However, he wouldnt vote to send Ukraine aid unless its paired with border security. Certainly, we needed to support Israel. We needed to support Taiwan. And so, when it comes to putting that package together, I might have some minor differences. But the biggest issue is that we have to tackle the border, Fong said. The special general election is on May 21. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. Mobile Police identify person who died in barber shop shooting, shooter may have acted in self-defense UPDATE 5/18/24 11:50 AM: The following is a news release from MPD: On Friday, May 17, 2024, at approximately 5:35 p.m., officers responded to the 2300 block of St. Stephens Road (Baggz on Da Fade) in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discovered a male victim inside of the business with a gunshot wound. The victim was then transported to a local hospital. Upon further investigation, officers identified the subject who was still on scene. The subject may have acted in self defense when he shot the victim. This is an ongoing investigation. The victim has been identified as Alfred Hector, 24, who later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. UPDATE (6:36 p.m.): The man who was shot on St. Stephens Road on Friday is dead, News 5 can confirm. Police officials also confirmed a person has been detained in connection to the incident, but their identity and involvement remain unknown at this time. ORIGINAL STORY: MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Mobile Police are investigating after a man was shot on St. Stephens Road Friday evening. Fairhope robbery at gunpoint leads to 2 arrests: FPD Officials with MPD said officers were called to the 2300 block of St. Stephens Road for a report of a shooting. LOCATION: This embedded content is not available in your region. A male victim was injured during the incident, according to the police. This is a developing story. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. HERVEY CITY, Ill. (WCIA) A sworn affidavit released by law enforcement is revealing more information, including a detailed description of events, about the shooting in Hervey City on Monday that left a tow business owner dead. The affidavit says that the shooting at Five Star Auto Sales happened during a physical struggle between Gregory Hostetler, his nephew Kolby Sunderland and alleged offender Tiimon Perry. The struggle, law enforcement learned, was over a dispute between Perry and business staff over a $50 tow that happened earlier that day. The four-page document, signed by a Macon County Sheriffs detective, includes testimony provided to law enforcement by Sunderland and Hostetlers father Leonard, who also worked at Five Star. The sequence of events that culminated in the shooting started with a call from a woman to tow a Hyundai with a flat tire. Staff brought the car to the business on Route 121, where Perry arrived just before 2:40 p.m. to change the tire. The detective said that Perry asked for a screwdriver, which the business provided, and then told staff he had to leave to get more tools. Leonard then requested that Perry either leave the Hyundais key or pay the $50 cost of the tow; they were worried Perry would fix the tire and then leave without paying. Weekend services set for Hervey City shooting victim The detective said Perry started arguing with Leonard. Hosteler, seeing that Perry wasnt cooperating, moved the Hyundai to a secure part of their lot and then came to the front of the business. He then started arguing with Perry, which turned physical. The two ended up fighting inside Perrys car through the passenger-side door. When Leonard went into the business to tell other staff about what was happening, Sunderland went outside and saw his uncle and Perry inside Perrys vehicle. The detective said Hostetler then yelled to his nephew that Perry had a gun and that he needed help. Sunderland subsequently climbed over his uncle and began hitting Perry to get him to drop the gun. At some point during the struggle, the drivers-side door of Perrys car opened and he and Hostetler spilled out onto the ground. When Sunderland exited the car through the passenger-side door and ran around to continue helping his uncle, he told law enforcement that he saw his uncle trying to get the gun from Perry. At some point during the struggle, the detective said Hostetler disengaged from the struggle for an unknown reason and when he tried to reengage, thats when Perry fired a shot that hit Hosteler in the face. Sunderland said that immediately after, he realized Perry was aiming the gun at Sunderlands face. Sunderland grabbed the gun and tried to push it away to the left, at which point Perry fired again and shot Sunderland in the left shoulder. Despite the injury, Sunderland continued to fight for the gun, slamming Perrys head against the ground until he let go of the weapon. Towing community honors business owner killed in Hervey City shooting The detective said that once he let go of the gun, Perry tried to flee by running north. Sunderland grabbed the gun and fired one round at Perry, hitting him in the buttocks and groin area. Perry continued to flee northbound until he was out of Sunderlands sight. Sunderland then emptied the gun of its remining bullets and gave it to his mother, who took it to the business office. The detective said that Sunderland advised responding officers that no one at the business, aside from Perry, had possessed a gun during the altercation until Sunderland himself grabbed Perrys weapon. Mt. Zion Police was the first agency to respond to the call of a shooting and their officers found Perry on the north side of the business between two parked vehicles. He was detained and taken to the hospital; when officers tried to question him, Perry refused to talk without an attorney present. Hostetler was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy confirmed he died from the gunshot he received to his face. Sunderland and Perry were both taken to a Decatur hospital. Both have been discharged, with Perry being taken to the Macon County Jail on first degree murder charges. Perry was denied pretrial release at his initial court hearing on Thursday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) Overdose deaths on Staten Island have increased four years in a row, with 155 deaths last year, according to local officials who released a comprehensive report. The epidemic is hitting all ages on all parts of the island, but those dying are mostly boys and men. Local authorities said it is clearly being driven by fentanyl flooding the market since 2020 and more could and should be done right now to save lives. The Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force is a bipartisan group of law enforcement and medical professionals that is led by Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon. Tranq making deadliest drug threat US has faced even deadlier: DEA This is something we need to speak about more, McMahon said. Its the crisis of our time. The task force comprehensively studied overdoses in the borough for the past few years. It determined fentanyl played a role in deaths 75% of the time, and it was particularly deadly when cut into cocaine or mixed with the powerful sedative xylazine, also known as tranq. The task force also found this is not an epidemic playing out on cold park benches though there are open-air drug markets the report revealed overdoses are happening quietly in homes and hotel rooms where people take something they do not realize will overwhelm their bodies. This is a crisis that affect everyone, McMahon said. You cant say its their problem. It affects the doctors son, the lawyers son, the sanitation workers son, the waitress son. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now PIX11 News Headlines The task force came up with several recommendations, including stopping the flow of fentanyl components from China and the finished product from Mexico. The group is advocating that those caught with large amounts of illegal drugs be bail-eligible once again in New York. Overall they make the case that more is needed: more substance abuse resources, more housing for those grappling with addiction, and more public awareness, especially in schools. McMahon said at this point, with what is out there, it is just no longer safe to experiment. With fentanyl, one pill can kill, thats the real tragedy here, McMahon said. But first and foremost, the Staten Island group wants Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a statewide Opioid Public Health Emergency to help with insurance copays, to speed opioid settlement payments, and to bring many other technical changes that would help. So far the governor has not been willing to go there. Other states have declared the state of emergency and we will continue to advocate for that, McMahon said. But were not stuck there, were going to try and implement as many recommendations as we can. In response to a request for comment from PIX11 about whether a state of emergency would be considered, a spokesman for the governor said: Our administration is engaged in aggressive, ongoing efforts to address the opioid and overdose epidemic. Weve distributed 100,000 naloxone kits and nearly 16 million fentanyl and xylazine test strips for free through our first-in-the-nation online ordering portal. Weve deployed more than $335 million in opioid settlement funds into our communities, and are making this funding available faster than any other state in the nation. And were expanding access to treatment and services through mobile medication units, outreach and engagement services, and crisis stabilization centers, among other resources. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Walgreens With more than 8,500 locations in the United States, its clear Walgreens has a following. Walgreens is in all 50 states and gets tons of shoppers each day. Frequent shoppers can even take part in Walgreens loyalty program known as myWalgreens. Members get cash rewards on purchases to use on future items and get access to sales that non-members do not. Find Out: 6 Expensive Costco Items That Are Definitely Worth the Cost Read Next: How To Get $340 Per Year in Cash Back on Gas and Other Things You Already Buy But what days should you avoid shopping at Walgreens? Consumer experts weighed in, and there are days that even loyal customers should avoid going to the store. Read on to see the worst days to shop at Walgreens, the best days to shop at Walgreens and how to save the most cash next time youre at the store. Worst Days To Shop at Walgreens: Mondays and Fridays If you thought going to Walgreens during the week was a smart idea, experts argue thats not the case at least for certain weekdays. Shane Finnegan, vice president of partnerships at Jow, said Mondays and Fridays can actually be the worst days to look for an item at Walgreens. On Mondays, doctors are able to sign off on prescription requests that came in over the weekend while they were off, Finnegan said. Fridays see patients requesting their prescriptions to be sent in before the doctor leaves for the weekend. Finnegan said these happenings can create long lines at the checkstand and pharmacy counters, so its best to shop on other days if you dont like waiting around to purchase your items. Check Out: 12 Best Aldi Items Dropping in Price Just in Time for Summer Best Days To Shop at Walgreens: Sundays (Tuesdays for Seniors) Youd think Sundays would be a particularly busy day for Walgreens, but Finnegan said that isnt the case. In terms of the best day, it has to be Sunday! Finnegan explained. Not only is it one of the slowest days of the week at Walgreens, meaning short lines, but their weekly promotions begin every Sunday of the week! This will give you the opportunity to get the best deals before the items get picked through. Some of the recent deals from Walgreens included 10% off fragrances, buy one get one vitamin sales, four for $10 detergent sales, and buy two get two free sodas. If you are 55 and over, youll want to shop on Tuesdays. Specifically, the first Tuesday of every month as thats when Walgreens holds its Walgreens Seniors Day. If youre a senior, youll receive 20% off select items. The discount isnt universal on all purchases, said Melanie Musson, a finance expert with Clearsurance.com. Rather, certain items are discounted for seniors, and youre limited to one item. Still, the opportunity to save 20% or more can make shopping on Tuesday worth it. Story continues Some items excluded from discounts for seniors include alcohol, dairy, tobacco, stamps, gift cards, lotto tickets and magazines. You can check the Walgreens website for more information. Ways To Save at Walgreens Going on the right days isnt the only way to make sure youre getting the best deal at Walgreens. If you download the Walgreens app, you can save the coupons from the weekly ad to your phone and present them at checkout, so you dont have to find a paper version of the coupon book. The app also allows you to talk to a pharmacist, book vaccination appointments and set up store pickups for your next Walgreens haul. In addition, you can check out sites like RetailMeNot to find coupons and promo codes that you can apply to items. Sometimes, you can apply these to items that are already discounted, so you can save even more money. Also, watch out next time youre checking out of Walgreens for special deals you can use on your next trip. Walgreens offers something called Register Rewards, which are attached to your receipt. These often give you a few bucks off a future purchase, so theyre good to hold onto. If youre at Walgreens every day no matter what experts recommend, it might be time to upgrade to the myWalgreens Mastercard. Youll get 10% cash rewards back on Walgreens branded products, and 5% on most other purchases at Walgreens. That includes prescriptions, so if you have a lot of medications at Walgreens, this card might be worth it for you. Youll also get between 1%-3% cash back on purchases outside of Walgreens, depending on what type of category they fall into. This card has no annual fee, and youll get access to sales that are only open to cardholders. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Dont Shop at Walgreens on This Day of the Week Childcare in Fort George Mead (Photo via Flickr | CC-BY-SA 2.0) More than a decade ago, Celia Sims sat in a room with parents whose precious children had died while at day care. Most had been neglected by their caregivers. Some died from injuries, others in their sleep. Most of the children attended licensed facilities, and at the time, their parents believed that licensing meant providers were safe, that unqualified workers were screened out. But they werent. In the early 2010s, there was no federal requirement that child care providers undergo background checks. Fewer than a dozen states required a comprehensive check of criminal, child abuse and sex offender registries most of the others only checked one, if that. Once these children died, police investigations revealed that providers at their care centers had past convictions for crimes like manslaughter and sexual abuse, Sims said. These people, the parents said, should not have been working in child care, period. The parents were outraged and rightly so, Sims remembers thinking. It seemed so unnecessary. So preventable. After that, you cant just close your eyes and walk away, said Sims, who was then a senior staffer for former Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican. She got to work. Burr and then-Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, worked with members of the child care advocacy community to draft bipartisan legislation that would, for the first time, establish national safety standards for child care. It would ultimately make its way into the 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the national funding mechanism. States use the money they receive from the grant to reduce the cost of care for low-income children and improve that care by implementing safety and licensing requirements. But to get the money at least in theory states must abide by CCDBG rules. And those rules would be stricter than ever. The reauthorization introduced eight background check requirements that state agencies must run on child care job applicants two federal checks, of the FBI fingerprint and sex offender registries. Three state ones, of the criminal history, sex offender and child abuse registries. And three more interstate checks of the same state registries in any state where a provider lived during the previous five years. All of these checks were meant to screen out people with a history of crimes like child abuse, assault or endangerment. As part of the new CCDBG rules, states would also be required to post inspection reports online and collect data on serious incidents. It was a statement of values: The government was saying that this was the nations standard for child care, no matter where a program was located. States had until 2018 to come into compliance. But 10 years after the law took effect, many states are still failing to uphold at least one of its components. According to a 2022 report to Congress analyzing the issue, at that time 27 states failed to conduct at least some, if not all, of the checks and hiring practices required by the law. Nineteen allowed staff to start working with children before background checks were completed. Nearly all of the states had been hampered by old technology systems, state bureaucracy and databases that range from incomplete to downright inaccurate. Its unclear where states stand today. The federal Office of Child Care, the regulatory agency that is meant to oversee states progress on fixing these problems, told The 19th that only three states had updated some of their policies since the report was published (New Hampshire, for example, no longer allows staff to start work before checks clear), but all 27 remain out of compliance because they do not yet conduct every required check. Yet several states disputed the agencys determination and provided detailed documentation on their background check procedures, opening the possibility that even the regulatory agency cant say for certain where states are falling short. The winding, chaotic path towards fixing these issues has baffled child care advocates. I have not been able to understand why, in some states, this hasnt been a big deal, said Sims, who went on to found The Abecedarian Group, a child care and education consulting agency. Background checks are a critical safety requirement in most jobs, but especially when it comes to safeguarding small children who may not be able to express when something has gone wrong. Yet the haphazard enforcement of these rules means that, in some states, barriers to child care jobs are too high, while in others they are not high enough. States with the most stringent requirements have made it more difficult for day care providers to hire workers, and for people to join a workforce of much-needed caregivers. Thats creating additional barriers for in-home care providers, who are disproportionately women of color and are often the most accessible caregivers in low-income communities. In states where the systems to run the checks are still not meeting federal standards, difficult questions remain about whether the screening mechanism meant to shield kids from injury, abuse and even death is functioning as it should. A decade later, no one can yet quite say what the right balance is between protecting children and protecting the child care sector. You never want a child to be hurt on your dime it is a terrible, terrible thing. If we didnt do everything possible to protect every child, we have fallen down on our job, said child care expert Danielle Ewen. If you dont have the systems in place to keep kids safe, who are you actually protecting and who are you hurting? At the root of this snarl is the reality that while the federal government made the rule, 50 different states have to carry it out. Each does it in their own way, with procedures that are often incompatible. For example, in 2014, interstate checks were added as a commonsense safeguard. Policymakers wanted to ensure caregivers didnt hop from job to job in different states, evading screening along the way, particularly in areas like Washington D.C. and Virginia, where workers may live in one state but work in another. But over time, those checks have come to illustrate why the system itself is broken. Eleven states didnt run interstate checks at all, the 2022 report found. Nine didnt respond to other states requests. Some checks cant be run because of simple and mystifying bureaucratic reasons: One state accepts credit card payments and the other doesnt, for example. States also have differing laws about what information they can share across state lines, and with what agencies. After a request is submitted, states can decide whether to provide all the records they hold on a person, only conviction information, or simply to give a yes or no determination as to whether that person is eligible to work in child care based on their local laws. That matters because states have different thresholds for what constitutes an offense that would prohibit someone from working with children. For example, a teenager who gets arrested for urinating in public might be considered a sex offender in one state, but not another. When that teenager applies for a job in a new state, their background check might indicate that yes, they have been arrested for a sex offense but not give any context about what it was. Tribes are also subject to the requirements of CCDBG, but none of them were given legal authority through the 2014 law or any other, for that matter to independently run federal background checks. To get around that, some tribes have had to ask states to submit requests on their behalf, creating the same problem: Child care workers may be disqualified based on state rules instead of tribal rules. Much of the information in the abuse registries is also incomplete or unreliable. The 2022 report to Congress, which was put together by an interagency task force, found that some states include unsubstantiated abuse cases as well as substantiated ones. That means people could be disqualified from working even if the allegations against them were found to have had no merit. Domestic violence survivors have particularly suffered as a result. In some states, they show up in registries not because they caused the abuse, but because an investigator determined that they failed to protect a child from the perpetrator or from witnessing the violence. Consequently, victims of domestic violence can remain on (abuse) registries for years, regardless of whether the individual themselves would be unsafe to provide care in a child care program, the report found. Experts have also questioned the racial and economic biases of the registry system, especially when it comes to flagging child neglect. About 75 percent of all child welfare cases are the result of neglect, not violence, and about half of states define neglect as a failure to provide basic needs. Caregivers living in poverty, the majority of whom are people of color, may get flagged simply because theyre unable to find affordable housing, for example. How much do we trust the gatekeeping mechanism to be fair and equitable? asks Gina Adams, a child care expert at the Urban Institute who has studied the racial disparities inherent in background checks for child care. The challenge is that, to the extent that it finds true situations of child abuse or child risk, it is an important mechanism to protect children so I strongly support that. However, Adams continued. I worry that because of inequitable policing, it may be also keeping out a whole bunch of people who should not be kept out. These inefficiencies have put a heavy burden on child care providers, who have seen how time consuming and burdensome it can be to run background checks, and how the wait can mean they lose staff to other employers. And theyve also wondered: How much are the background checks keeping out people who want to and should work in care? How often are they letting the wrong people through? Just last year in New York City, a 1-year-old died of a fentanyl overdose at a day care that was a front for a drug operation. The providers had passed background checks. Reports also revealed the city had a backlog of 140 child care background checks at the time. In Washington state, provider Susan Brown has been wrestling with this question after 35 years in the child care business. As part of the federal law, prospective staff who pass a fingerprint check either of the federal FBI registry or the state criminal history registry are allowed to start working while their other checks are being completed. But Washington is more restrictive: Nobody can work until they pass the five federal and state checks. For Browns employees, the drive to just get their fingerprints taken can take hours roundtrip. The entire background check process can take up to a month, she said. Why would a worker wait that long when they can get a job tomorrow at a fast food restaurant and get paid about the same wages? Child care providers cant afford to pay them until theyre in the classroom, said Brown, the president and CEO of Kids Co., a chain that provides child care services across Seattle. And she pointed to another problem: Day cares have been short-staffed since the pandemic, and thats limiting how many classrooms can be open and how many students can be enrolled. Now with the crisis being what it is, because no one has any extra staff, you cant even enroll kids to cover the wages of the person. Brown also questions why so many requirements have been imposed on child care providers, and not people in similar professions, like teachers. Weve had, over the years, the situation where we tried to hire public school teachers and they didnt pass the background check, Brown said. (In Washington, teachers need to only pass two checks an FBI check and a state patrol check.) The racial disparity is undeniable, Brown said. Women of color are overrepresented in the child care workforce and also face more scrutiny to enter jobs that are among the lowest paid in the country. Meanwhile, the majority of the teaching workforce is White women. In a January letter to the state, signed by more than 300 child care providers, Brown wrote: This disparity is not only unjust, but perpetuates systemic racism within our regulatory framework. Washington States current background check process magnifies the inequity by removing the possibility of beginning supervised work after completing a fingerprint background check, as outlined in federal requirements. In Washington, the state performs the five federal and in-state background checks together. Changing the process to do just the fingerprint checks first, so workers can start sooner, would take a lot of resources and time to develop, because all the results are currently submitted as one package, said a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families. We made the decision to comply with federal regulations by requiring the completion of all background check components for this reason. It takes about eight days on average to complete the checks once fingerprints are submitted, according to Washington states most recent 2024 data. Home-based providers feel the inequity of these checks most directly, because not only do these workers need to be background checked, but so does every adult who lives in the home. In-home child care is for many low-income families the only viable option, and its often run by women of color women whose families are more likely to live intergenerationally and to come into contact with the criminal justice system or the immigration system. It deters folks from becoming licensed, said Natalie Renew, the executive director of Home Grown, which works to improve home-based child care. They perceive risk. But what happens when states are also too accommodating? The risk is that children could be put in the care of harmful or negligent people the exact situations the federal requirements were designed to eradicate. That was the problem the Congressional task force was meant to help solve. Previous reports from 2022 and 2021 had concluded that numerous states fell short of requirements. But the task forces version, published by the Department of Health and Human Services, was the first to try to quantify which states were out of compliance, and why. The Office of Child Care then took on studying each states individual challenges and creating a plan to fix them. Some states do seem to be lagging. Mississippi, for example, doesnt check the national sex offender registry, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health told The 19th. Still, the state refutes the 2022 report, which noted that Mississippi did not have policies in place to conduct any of the checks as required by the 2014 law. The Mississippi spokesperson said that the information was dated. When The 19th asked the Office of Child Care whether any of the information in the 2022 report was outdated, it listed only three states as having made improvements since the report was published, though it considers all 27 to still be out of compliance. Mississippi was not on the list. (The states were New Hampshire, Alabama and Washington.) In fact, several states disputed the Office of Child Cares determinations. The 19th reached out to officials in five states that had significant issues flagged in the 2022 report, and which the federal agency still considers to be out of compliance. Many said those issues had either been partially or completely rectified. For example, according to the report, West Virginia only runs one of eight required checks. But Whitney Wetzel, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Human Services, told The 19th that determination should not be considered current. Wetzel said the department is confident that it is compliant with all statutory and regulatory background check requirements, and provided a list of the checks performed, including the FBI fingerprint check and national sex offender check, as well as the in-state criminal, sex offender and abuse registries. New Jersey was flagged in the report for failing to run checks on a sub-group of providers, those who are license-exempt, but a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services confirmed to The 19th that it has been running checks on those providers since mid-2021. Other states are in more of a gray area. According to the agency, Alabama only recently created policies to run in-state, federal and interstate checks, and remains out of compliance with other aspects of the background check law. However, a spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Human Services told The 19th: All checks required under the Child Care and Development Fund rules are performed, and the discrepancy is only in how the federal office would like the state to structure the process. Alabama is in the process of updating its background check procedures, but the current system still covers all the required checks, the spokesperson wrote. Vermont was the only state flagged in the 2022 report for allowing staff to start working with children unsupervised before fingerprint background checks were cleared. But the deputy commissioner for the states child development division, Janet McLaughlin, told The 19th that while the state does allow new staff to start working before those checks are finalized, that work is supervised. That is, however, still out of compliance with the federal rule. The Office of Child Care did not respond to The 19ths requests to clarify the discrepancies between its records and the states assertions. But an official from the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees the agency, told The 19th that the agency worked with state child care agencies and their partners to create plans to identify what staffing, technology and infrastructure investments theyd need to come into compliance. The agency went through an intensive process to document each states background check policies, the official said, and that study revealed gaps. But now, because of the disagreements between states and the agency, it is hard to say how close each has come to filling them. All of this begs the question: If the regulatory agency that oversees the states could be wrong, how will the problem ever get fixed? The more time that goes by, and the longer states have been out of compliance, the more states have also started to question whether what is being asked of them is even doable, Ewen said. She was the director of the Child Care and Early Education team at the Center for Law and Social Policy when the CCDBG rules were being crafted. If you have a system where people start to believe that you cant achieve the end goals, they are not incentivized to try. Theyre more incentivized to try and go to Congress and say, This doesnt work instead of going to their state leaders and saying, Were gonna get dinged for this in an audit, Ewen said. Linda Smith, the former executive director of Child Care Aware, the advocacy organization whose research was critical to the creation of the safety standards, said the federal government has long been too lenient with the states. In her view, its past time that the issue be resolved. These are some of these things that if you want to do it you do it, Smith said. I dont think there was ever any excuse for not doing them. We are talking about the basic safety of children who cant talk. Yet the 2022 report and the fact that the Office of Child Care has not credited any state with coming into full compliance since it was issued pointed out some uncomfortable truths. Yes, some states have delayed compliance. And yes, some tried but faced truly significant challenges. Its also clear by now, a decade later, Sims said, that we got some things wrong in the statute. The abuse registries were a mess, she said. And some of the things that seemed commonsense, like interstate background checks, turned out to be much more complicated than anyone had realized. Grace Reef, then the chief of policy at Child Care Aware who conducted the initial research on the issues with background checks, said the intention behind the law was sound: to help protect kids and give parents some peace of mind, she said. But they were operating with limited information about the quality of the data in the registries and the state laws that would make it difficult, in practice, to conduct all the checks they felt were important. We had trouble trying to figure out how to structure language, she recalled. You do the best you can. Advocates insist there has to be a middle ground. And changes are coming. This year, for the first time, states will be required to answer detailed questions in their state child care plans regarding the remaining obstacles they face with background checks. Each state needs to submit their plan, a roughly 300-page document that outlines how its system works, by July 1. At the state level, advocates like Lorena Garcia, the CEO of the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition, are working to ensure that her state narrows the list of offenses that would disqualify someone from working. Garcia works with what are known as family, friend and neighbor providers: Registered but unlicensed in-home providers who also need to undergo checks, but might be hesitant to do so because they live with people who have some kind of criminal record or because they are in mixed immigration status households. She wants to make sure only offenses that would affect the safety of children are counted. To address the interstate checks, Cindy Mall, the senior program director of the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, sees the National Fingerprint File as the most obvious solution. Twenty-four states participate in the FBI-maintained fingerprint database, which makes performing interstate checks a relatively simple experience. If all states were a part of it, more could come into compliance, Mall said including California, which the report currently lists as out of compliance on performing the national sex offender registry check and the three interstate checks. For her, the issue comes down to a question of resources. Its not enough to say something is a priority without the support to make it happen. In 2022, President Joe Biden tried to pass a $400 billion child care plan that would have given states funding they could have used to improve their systems and increase staffing. But that effort ultimately failed after Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia, withdrew support from the package saying it was too costly and expansive. The task force that studied the background checks came to a similar conclusion. Even if the states followed every recommendation the group laid out, they wrote, full implementation of the current array of checks is unlikely without major additional fiscal investment and changes to state laws not addressed in this report. It comes down to money, Mall said. Money is staffing, money is resources, money is databases. It also comes down to political will. Burr and Mirkulski have since left the Senate and few champions remain. But the problems linger. Since the pandemic, child care as an industry has been on life support, kept alive through a one-time federal investment that allowed states and programs to get the resources they needed to improve their systems. But that money was temporary the needs arent. Safety remains as important as ever. Ten years into this, Reef said, we ought to have sufficient information in a bipartisan way, not to make it a partisan issue, but to make sure the law works as intended by commonsense approaches. I think thats whats needed. This story was originally published by The 19th. A link to it can be found here. The Daily Montanan is one of the content-partner organizations in its network. The post States are required to background check child care workers. Many are falling short. appeared first on Daily Montanan. The same sunspot complex that caused the bright auroras in our skies last week took a parting shot at us as it slipped around the edge of the Sun. The resulting solar flare was the strongest we've seen so far this cycle, and going all the way back to September 2017. The Sun's activity is definitely intensifying as we approach the peak of Solar Cycle 25. A perfect example of this was Active Region 3664, an expansive array of sunspots that developed across the face of the Sun during the first two weeks of May. AR3664 - May 2, 7, 13 2024 - NASA SDO These three views of the Sun, from May 2, May 7, and May 13, show how AR3664 developed from a barely noticeable blemish on the Sun's surface into a monster sunspot complex. (NASA SDO) According to SpaceWeatherLive.com, when AR3664 swung into view on May 1, it was composed of just five individual sunspots. As it tracked across it grew to include over 80 sunspots and was several times larger than the Earth. Between when it first appeared and when it slipped out of sight on May 14, it had emitted more than 60 M-class flares and 11 X-class. Solar flares are ranked from weakest to strongest as B, C, M, or X-class, with each class being 10 times more powerful than the one below. Flares are also ranked within their class using the numbers 1-9, except X-class, where the numbers can climb significantly higher. The strongest flare from AR3664 ranked as X8.7-class was captured around midday on May 14 (Eastern Time), just as this immense sunspot group was disappearing from view. X8pt7 Solar Flare May 14 2024 193A - NASA SDO This view of the Sun is specifically filtered to look for major features bright active regions, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and coronal holes all on the same view. This particular frame captures the X8.7-class flare from May 14, 2024. (NASA SDO) This is the strongest solar flare we've seen so far in Solar Cycle 25. It is also the strongest solar flare we've seen since September of 2017, a few years before Solar Cycle 24 ended. Watch out, Mars!! Dr. Tony Phillips, of spaceweather.com, reported that a coronal mass ejection (CME or solar storm) that erupted as a result of this powerful flare is headed straight for Mars. "NASA models suggest it should hit Mars on May 17th, potentially sparking global auroras," Phillips wrote. Since Mars does not have a global magnetic field like Earth, auroras don't occur there in the same way they do here. Instead of appearing as bright colours near the poles, auroras on Mars tend to be in the ultraviolet invisible to the eye and to rover cameras, but still potentially observed by specific instruments orbiting the planet. MAVEN-NASA-GSFC The MAVEN spacecraft orbits Mars, observing radiation, solar particles and how the planet loses its atmosphere to space. (NASA/GSFC) One of these instruments just happens to be on NASA's MAVEN spacecraft the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission which is managed by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). "We're bracing for impact!" Nick Schneider of LASP told spaceweather.com. Schneider is one of the scientists who first characterized these diffuse ultraviolet auroras on Mars, back in 2015. According to NASA, as MAVEN orbits around Mars during the peak of this solar cycle, the spacecraft will be teaming up with the Curiosity rover on the surface to study how solar flares may impact future human missions to the Red Planet. "MAVEN observes radiation, solar particles, and more from high above Mars. The planet's thin atmosphere can affect the intensity of the particles by the time they reach the surface, which is where NASA's Curiosity rover comes in," NASA said. "Data from Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, has helped scientists understand how radiation breaks down carbon-based molecules on the surface, a process that could affect whether signs of ancient microbial life are preserved there. The instrument has also provided NASA with an idea of how much shielding from radiation astronauts could expect by using caves, lava tubes, or cliff faces for protection." RAD-instrument-on-Mars-Curiosity-NASA-JPL-Caltech The location of the Radiation Assessment Detector is indicated on this image taken by the Curiosity rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS) "When MAVEN detects a big solar flare, the orbiter's team lets the Curiosity team know so they can watch for changes in RAD's data. The two missions can even assemble a time series measuring changes down to the half-second as particles arrive at the Martian atmosphere, interact with it, and eventually strike the surface," NASA explained. So, even with AR3664 no longer affecting Earth, scientists here may still see some exciting data arrive from their explorers on and around Mars. Watch below: See the intense auroras that lit up Canada and beyond on the night of May 10, 2024 Click here to view the video Shannon Garland has been a college teacher for 10 years, including four at the University of California, Merced. She is a lecturer in music and has a doctorate from Columbia University. Planning, testing and grading are among the duties she handles for her classes. Garland estimates that she spends at least 15 hours per week on every class. Imagine her surprise to discover that she earns less than her teaching assistant, who Garland says helps her but does not have primary responsibility for teaching classes. Teaching 56 enrolled students in Elements and Cultures of Hip-Hop, Garland was credited for about 33.3% of a full-time instructional workload, because UC Merced requires lecturers to teach three courses per semester to meet a full-time standard. However, her student teaching assistant was credited 50%, which means getting paid for 20 hours per week, for helping in this class. Its ridiculous that somebody could have just graduated from undergrad, but they could be making more money per class than a lecturer with a PhD who has been teaching for five or six years, Garland said. It just speaks to the (idea that the) university does not value its teaching. This pay inequity is not unique to UC Merced. At UC Santa Cruz, teaching assistants earn about $300 more per month per class than lecturers. Amanda Reiterman resigned after inadvertently learning about the pay discrepancy. She said she felt the pay inversion was an insult and reflects what she sees as UCs devaluation of education. I was included in hiring documents for my former student, who could be my TA (teaching assistant), and I saw that he was earning $3,200, whereas I was receiving about $2,800 per month, said Reiterman, former lecturer at UC Santa Cruz history department. Reiterman said when she taught the class Woman and Gender in the Ancient Greek World, two TAs were under her supervision, one was an undergraduate student in her class the previous year. I said, this is crazy, and I asked for an unscheduled raise to reflect my work mentoring graduate students and managing these really large classes of 120 students, and they said, No, she added. After her pay raise was rejected, Reiterman brought the pay issue to her union University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which found the issue was prevalent throughout the UC system. According to Reiterman, most lecturers receive 30% to 40% credit per course, which means the wage is based on the expected workload for about 13 hours, except for classes with 500 or more students. The union further found that some lecturers see a pay drop when they graduate and stay in the same department to teach. There are also lecturers getting less money for teaching the same class that a graduate student instructs, wrote UC-AFT Vice President Josh Brahinsky in an open letter. Tara Thomas, a first-year lecturer at UCSCs literature department, saw the pay drop after receiving masters and doctoral degrees from the same department. I was a graduate student instructor at the time, fighting for higher wages, but I graduated before it was implemented, said Thomas. Back in 2021 before the student union strike and under the old contract, Thomas made $2,000 take-home pay. In 2023, putting in 20 hours a week to teach a 5-unit course, the lecturer received a $2,332 monthly payment over the three-month quarter. Since UCSC wouldnt guarantee a full-time teaching load for lecturers, Thomas had to work another job to afford to live in the area. The University of California recognizes lecturers valuable contributions to fulfilling our teaching mission across the university system. We strive to provide competitive compensation for these integral employees, the UC Office of the President said in a statement. Lecturers are considered contracted, non-tenured staff, whose teaching course load is not guaranteed. The pay discrepancy is not new but has been magnified by graduate students contract negotiation in 2022 that saw teaching assistants receive a 26% wage increase over three years in addition to pay bumps based on experience. By October 2024, teaching assistants at six of the nine UC campuses with an assigned workload of 20 hours per week will receive a minimum nine-month salary of $34,000. For UC Berkeley, UCSF and UCLA, graduate student assistants will make at least $36,500. For UC-AFTs current contract ratified in 2022, lecturers will see a wage rise totaling 20% through 2025 with additional merit and promotion increases. The minimum annual salary for a first-year full-time lecturer who teaches 40 hours a week in the 2023-24 academic year is $66,259. Neither contract guarantees work hours. Wages are calculated based on the appointment percentage and hourly rate. A full-time lecturers workload cannot exceed 100% and students are capped at 50%. In effect, a student teaching assistant, with less education and experience, will earn more than a lecturer on a class by class basis. UC attributes appointment differences to disparate expectations. Teaching assistants are also graduate students learning how to provide instruction, so the amount of work and type of work assigned to TAs is weighed differently than how we assess the work assigned to our lecturers, reads the UC statement. Katie Rodger, UC-AFT president, said the union is seeing the pay inversion happen for more lecturers. What were trying to do is immediately turn our attention to the university and say, Look, you settled this huge contract with UAW. It seems fair, it seems right, it seems professional that you would pay instructors more than the people who are supporting their classes, she said. Rodger said the union doesnt have an estimate of how many lecturers are affected because they dont have the salary data for graduate student workers, and they do not encourage members to request pay information from their teaching assistants. In addition, lecturer pay varies from campus to department, so the union is informed by extensive self-records with lecturers, which complicates data gathering. The union is organizing members to write letters to campuses executive chancellors and provosts demanding a pay raise or workload adjustments as the bargaining contract only sets a floor rate. Over 2,500 letters have been sent but neither individual lecturers nor the union has received a formal reply. Some lecturers talked to their departments or higher management team, said Rodger, and the general feedback was that they have to wait until the next contract negotiation in 2026. The University strives to provide fair, equitable and consistent compensation across its employee groups and will consider these important issues as it enters negotiations with bargaining units in the coming months, a statement provided to The Fresno Bee said. Brahinsky, the unions vice president, said job security was prioritized in the last negotiation in 2021 as the university was not required to give any notice regarding subsequent hiring. About 80% of lecturers besides those who have worked years and earned the title of Continuing lecturers used to look at the course enrollment system to find out whether they have classes to teach the following semester. We really havent paid attention to the wage issue, because we were just so concerned with just getting hired, he said. Garland, the lecturer at UC Merced, will soon move to the East Coast for a faculty position. It will be the first time in 11 years that she will not have to hustle to apply for a teaching position over the summer. The fact that there are tens of thousands of underemployed PhD holders across the country means that you can always rely on somebody who just needs a job, and theyre willing to take this low pay, Garland said. I hate to say this: UC Merced as an institution does not care about its students. It cares about rankings, reputation, branding, research money, she said. But as an institution, the upper administration the people dont teach and have never taught our students they do not care. BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL)The Sullivan County Sheriffs Office (SCSO) celebrated National Police Week with a memorial service on Friday to honor 13 fallen members. Former President John F. Kennedy designated the week of May 15 as National Police Week in 1962, with May 15 recognized as National Peace Officers Memorial Day. Every year during the observed week, the SCSO honors its members who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The SCSO remembered 12 officers and one constable at the memorial service. Area Methodist churches full embrace of LGBTQ Christians likely to be a process Its extremely important just to show them that well never forget about them, said Sheriff Jeff Cassidy. Well never forget about their families because those families have sacrificed a lot; theyre without a mother or father, a brother or sister. The sons and daughters are without parents, so theyve made those ultimate sacrifices, too. Cassidy said it is important to remember who all is part of protect and serve. Just remembering those officers that paid the ultimate sacrifice in the protection of their localities, their municipalities, their counties, whether it be state or federal, just to pay respect and never forget, he said. Blountville Christian Church hosted the event. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. President Biden and former President Trump agreed to take the debate stage later this year. as the two prepare for a rematch in November. As the 2024 election inches closer, the decision to go one-on-one will likely be a focus of this weeks Sunday shows circuit. Biden requested two debates earlier this week and Trump was quick to accept the offer. The first, on June 27, will be hosted by CNN, and the second will be hosted by ABC News on Sep. 10. Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasnt shown up for a debate. Now hes acting like he wants to debate me again, Biden said in a video posted on social media platform X Wednesday. Well, make my day, pal. Trump, who has been calling for debates with the president for months, agreed to the challenge. He claimed in his response that the last forum he had with Biden was the WORST debate I have ever faced. I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September, Trump wrote on Truth Social. I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds Thats only because he doesnt get them. He added, Just tell me when, Ill be there. Lets get ready to Rumble!!! State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Pa.), who serves as the Biden campaigns advisory board chair, will make an appearance on NewsNations The Hill Sunday. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaigns national press secretary, will join Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures. The two are likely to comment on the upcoming debates. Some possible contenders for Trumps running mate made their way to New York City this week for the former presidents hush money trial, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). Vance will make an appearance on this weeks Face the Nation on CBS, and Burgum will make an appearance on Fox News Sunday. A House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing went sideways Thursday following comments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (D-Pa.) on the appearance of a committee colleague. The hearing was focused on holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress following him not handing over the audio of Bidens interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. However, when Greene was questioning if Democrats on the panel employed the daughter of the judge overseeing Trumps New York hush money case, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) chimed in, pushing back against the relevance of Greenes words. I dont think you know what youre here for, Greene said to Crockett, who will appear CNNs State of the Union this weekend. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. From there, chaos erupted as Democrats expressed their indignation with Greenes behavior, and Greene kept pushing back. At one point, Crockett questioned if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach blond bad built butch body would break Congressional protocol. Her question seemed to be a swing at Greene, and she also questioned the Georgia Republicans racial undertones with her rhetoric. Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this weeks Sunday talk shows: NewsNations The Hill Sunday Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.); state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Pa.). ABCs This Week Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); Victoria Nuland, former State Department official; Marc Lotter, chief communications officer for the America First Policy Institute. NBCs Meet the Press Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D). CBS Face the Nation Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.); Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. CNNs State of the Union Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas); Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.); former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Fox News Sunday Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.); Will Scharf, lawyer for former President Trump. Fox News Sunday Morning Futures Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.); North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R); Karoline Leavitt, Trump 2024 national press secretary. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. 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. 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 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. 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 North Dakota Monitor. Suspect in assassination attempt on Slovakian PM to remain behind bars The suspected gunman has been identified by local media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula - Markiza TV/via Reuters The man accused of attempting to assassinate Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, was ordered to remain behind bars. The suspected gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, was placed in pre-trial detention by a special penal court in Pezinok, northeast of the capital Bratislava, on Saturday. Zuzana Dolinkova, the health minister, said on Saturday the prognosis for Mr Fico was positive. Mr Fico has been in hospital since Wednesday when a lone gunman shot him four times, including in the abdomen. He underwent a five-hour surgery on Wednesday and another surgery on Friday, both at a hospital in the central Slovak city of Banska Bystrica. Yesterdays surgery, which took two hours, contributed to a positive prognosis of the prime ministers health condition, Ms Dolinkova told reporters. The prime ministers condition is stable, but despite this, its still serious, she added. Explaining why the suspect was being held behind bars, Katarina Kudjakova, a court spokeswoman, said: The reason... is concerns about a potential escape or that the criminal activity may continue. The decision followed a request from a prosecutor made on Friday. Mr Cintula had been charged with a premeditated murder attempt earlier. Mr Fico was shot as he was walking to greet supporters after a government meeting in the central mining town of Handlova. Matus Sutaj Estok, the interior minister, said that if one of the shots went just a few centimetres higher, it would have hit the prime ministers liver. Robert Kalinak, the defence minister and deputy premier and Mr Ficos closest political ally, said the prime minister was conscious and his condition allowed him to recover. I dont think he could be taken to Bratislava in the coming days, his condition is still serious, he told reporters outside the hospital. Mr Kalinak told the TA3 news channel later on Saturday that Mr Fico had suffered four gunshot wounds - two light, one medium and one serious. He added doctors had removed all potentially infectious material from his wounds during Fridays surgery. It will take the organism four or five days to start winning over such injuries, but were not there yet, Mr Kalinak said, hailing the good physical shape of the prime minister who is known as a keen runner and body-builder. Mr Fico is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on proposals for peace between Russia and Slovakia's neighbour Ukraine, and for halting military aid to Kyiv - Denes Erdos/AP The 59-year-old Mr Fico took office in October after his centrist populist Smer party won a general election. He is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on proposals for peace between Russia and Slovakias neighbour Ukraine, and for halting military aid to Kyiv, which his government later did. Mr Kalinak said the government would carry on without Mr Fico according to the programme he has outlined, including two meetings next week. The assassination attempt has deeply shocked the EU and Nato member country of 5.4 million people, already sharply divided over politics for years. Outgoing pro-Western President Zuzana Caputova and her successor Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will take office in June, have called on fellow Slovaks to refrain from confrontation after the shooting. They called a meeting of all parliamentary party leaders for Tuesday in a bid to show unity in the aftermath of the attack. Mr Kalinak, however, suggested Smer would snub the meeting. They invited political party chiefs and our chairman is in the hands of doctors, he said. Mr Kalinak added he would call Ms Caputova about the matter, stressing that Slovakia needed reconciliation and peace. But he was among politicians pointing fingers at their opponents for the attack, slamming the opposition and selected media on Friday for labelling Mr Fico as a criminal, dictator or a servant of Russian president Vladimir Putin before the assassination attempt. All these lies are the main reason why Robert Fico is fighting for his life today, he said in an emotional message on Smers website. 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 car supposedly carrying the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, leaves the court in Pezinok, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Officials in Slovakia say Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after his assassination attempt and remains in serious condition. (AP Photo/Tomas Benedikovic) PEZINOK, Slovakia (AP) The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was ordered to remain behind bars Saturday as the nations leader was in serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshots, officials said. Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court ordered the detention of the suspect after prosecutors said they feared he could flee or carry out other crimes if set free, a court spokesperson said. The suspect can appeal the order to the Supreme Court. Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, officials said. Video showed Fico approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man stepped forward, extended his arm and fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested. Government ministers outside the hospital where Fico is being treated said his condition Saturday looked promising after two hours of surgery Friday removed dead tissue from his gunshot wounds. But he still is not healthy enough to travel to a hospital in the capital, Bratislava. Several miracles have occurred ... in the past few days, coming from the hands of the doctors, nurses and entire medical staff, Defense Minister Rober Kalinak said outside University F. D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. I cant find words of gratitude for the fact that we are steadily approaching that positive prognosis. The hearing in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was held behind closed doors and under tight security by heavily armed police. Reporters were not allowed on the grounds of the courthouse. Officers carrying rifles wore flak jackets, helmets and had balaclavas covering their faces. They guarded a gate that only opened when a vehicle presumably carrying the suspect came and later left with a two-car police escort. Little information about the suspect has been disclosed after prosecutors told police not to publicly identify him or release details about the case. Unconfirmed media reports have named him and said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard. Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didnt belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated. Its not clear how long the hearing lasted but the suspect was inside for about four hours. A day earlier, police took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station reported. Footage showed the gray-bearded man being escorted out of the building while holding a shopping bag full of items in his cuffed hands. He was wearing a helmet and protective vest. Police didnt comment on the apparent search. With authorities remaining largely silent about the case, it was not clear how the suspect got a gun. Slovakia has strict rules on firearms and gun owners must have a good reason to possess one and are required to pass a test. As a consequence, Slovakia has one of the lowest gun ownership rates in Europe. It was ranked 23rd out of 27 European Union countries with a gun ownership rate of 6.5 per 100 people, according to the Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the EU. World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Slovakia and Fico, who has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power for the fourth time last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly neighboring Ukraine. Slovakia was one of Ukraines staunchest supporters after Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, but Fico halted arms deliveries when he returned to power. Ficos government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism, have led opponents to worry Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path. Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies. Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions. Supporters of Fico who showed up outside the hospital Saturday spoke of the divisions in the country that had led to this moment. We are here mainly because the oppositions hatred of this government has come to such a point that a psychopath who is an assassin has been created and has (tried to) assassinate Prime Minister Robert Fico, Marek Soun said. He has been harassed for months and months by todays opposition. Despite nobody being named as temporary leader of Slovakia, there was nothing imminent that needed the premiers attention and the government was operating as planned and moving forward with Ficos agenda, Kalinak said. Communication with Fico was limited given his condition, Kalinak said. The next government session is planned for Wednesday and Kalinak will be in charge, the Slovak government office said. ___ Associated Press reporters Karel Janicek in Vsetin, Czech Republic, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report. Suspect to remain behind bars after failed assassination attempt on Slovak prime minister The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been ordered to remain behind bars, officials said. The Specialized Criminal Court in Slovakia ordered the suspect to be detained after prosecutors said they were worried he could flee the country or carry out other crimes if he was free. He could appeal the order to the nations Supreme Court, The Associated Press reported. Fico is in serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshots this week. He was shot after holding a Cabinet meeting in the Trencin region of central Slovakia. He underwent a four-hour-long surgery and his condition was described as really very complex since he was in life-threatening condition. Video showed Fico approaching a group of people gathered at a barricade. He reached out to shake hands with his supporters when a man stepped forward, extended his arm holding a weapon and fired five rounds before being arrested. Government officials said Saturday that his condition looks promising, but he still is not ready to be transferred to a hospital in the capital, Bratislava, the AP reported. His office also indicated Thursday that he was expected to recover. Prosecutors have told police not to publicly identify the suspect or release details about the case. Some media has named him and said he is a 71-year-old retiree. Officials said he doesnt belong to any political group, though they say the attack was politically motivated. Fico is a pro-Russian leader who won power for the fourth time last October. He previously warned about heightened tensions in the country. Its also not clear how the suspect obtained the gun, since Slovakia has strict firearm rules. The Associated Press contributed reporting. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. 17-year-old shot by officer in Haines City after chase in stolen car, officials say TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A 17-year-old was shot by an officer Friday evening in Haines City after a chase in a stolen car driven by a 19-year-old, according to officials with the Polk County Sheriffs Office and Haines City Police Department. Officers found a stolen 2014 Nissan Versa at about 7 p.m. that was stolen from Poinciana between Thursday night and Friday morning after a woman left the doors unlocked with the keys inside, officials said. The 19-year-old driver, Victor Espinoza-Rodriguez, took off after police attempted a traffic stop. Police stopped chasing the car after it entered a densely populated area, according to Haines City Police Chief Greg Goreck. After re-emerging, officers re-initiated the chase, which at times reached speeds of 100 mph. During the chase, Espinoza-Rodriguez crashed into two other vehicles. One person in one of the vehicles was recommended to go to a hospital after they complained about pain. An officer eventually stopped the stolen vehicle with a PIT maneuver, when the passenger, a 17-year-old, allegedly reached for a gun, officials said. The officer shot the 17-year-old, who was taken to a hospital for surgery. The Espinoza-Rodriguez, of Haines City, has previously been charged with 11 felonies, six misdemeanors, and three violations of probation, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. One year ago, he was also charged with fleeing to elude law enforcement. The 17-year-old, of Lake Hamilton, has previously been charged with four misdemeanors, a felony, and five violations of probation, Judd said. The officer didnt choose to shoot at them, Judd said. They chose for the officer to shoot, and thats exactly what happened. The driver, when talking to law enforcement while being treated at a hospital for injuries, reportedly said he wasnt driving. In addition to the criminal charges, hes a liar, Judd said. And well give him a chance to lie to us some more. Next to a gun in the vehicle, Judd said officers also found a bong, marijuana, and baggies. If anyone tells you this stuff is low-level and non-violent, call them a liar to their face, Judd said, while referencing an ad for an amendment on the Florida ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. Judd said more details about the shooting would be released next week. This is a developing story. Stay up to date on the latest from News Channel 8 on-air and on the go with the free WFLA News Channel 8 mobile app. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. By Fanny Potkin SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Tesla is pushing ahead with plans to power the global development of its self-driving system with data from China that could be processed within the country, part of a strategic shift by Elon Musk, according to people with knowledge of the work. As part of that effort, Tesla has been developing plans for a data center in China to train the algorithm needed for more fully autonomous vehicles, according to two people, who asked not to be named because the work remains private. Until recently, Tesla has focused on efforts to secure approval from Chinese regulators to transfer data generated by its EVs in China out of the country for its Full Self Driving (FSD) system, according to the two people and an additional person with knowledge of the matter. It was not clear if Tesla would proceed with both options for handling self-driving data from China - data transfer and a local data center - or if it was developing parallel plans as a hedge. Tesla's efforts underscore the speed of the electric vehicle makers pivot to bet on a breakthrough in AI at a time when EV demand has slowed and its competition has deepened. Its push to make fuller use of data from vehicles in China to develop the automaker's artificial intelligence for driving comes as the U.S. government has tried to clamp down on the transfer of AI technology from U.S. firms to China. Tesla has not been able to offer the full version of FSD, which costs the equivalent of almost $9,000, in China. A wider market for FSD in China would give a boost to the automaker's revenue and profits at a time when both are getting squeezed by pressure from Chinese rivals such as BYD. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Setting up a data center in China for FSD development would require Tesla to work with a Chinese partner, two of the sources said. There is also a potential hardware-sourcing challenge. It has had talks with Nvidia about acquiring graphic processing units for a China data center, according to one of the people, who was briefed on the discussions. U.S. sanctions bar Nvidia and its partners from selling its most advanced chips in China. Nvidia declined to comment on whether it had held talks with Tesla. Teslas campaign to make more use of data from China was kicked into high gear in a whirlwind trip by Musk to Beijing last month when he met with officials including Premier Li Qiang. In his meeting with Li, Musk sought to smooth permissions for Tesla's data transfer, two of the sources said. The potential of Tesla investing in a data center in China was also raised, they said. Story continues Musk also discussed the possibility of Tesla licensing its FSD systems to Chinese EV makers, one person said. Musk had said in April Tesla was talking to another "major" automaker about licensing FSD without naming it. China's State Council Information Office did not respond to a request for comment. THE CHINA EFFECT China, the worlds largest car market, has the biggest fleet of sensor-equipped cars capable of collecting data from congested cities with complicated traffic patterns, making data generated there valuable for automakers and AI providers. Musk previously expressed opposition to a China-based data center, arguing that data transfer to the United States was the most efficient option, two people said. Since 2021, Tesla has stored data collected by its Chinese EVs in Shanghai. Over that time, Tesla's China team has been seeking approvals from Chinese regulators to transfer data out of the country, two people said. Under a one-year pilot project, companies in Shanghai's Lingang Area, where Tesla's factory is located, will be allowed to transfer certain data without needing further security assessments, Reuters reported on Friday. Some analysts see Musk as trying to make China a launchpad for self-driving in the same way Teslas 2019 bet on its Shanghai Gigafactory allowed it to break through as a mass-market electric vehicle maker. "It would definitely be a milestone for Tesla if it rolls out FSD in China and leverages the China data for algorithm training," said Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. "China had played a key role in scaling up EV production for Tesla with the Shanghai factory. It would again serve a significant part in scaling up mass adoption of autonomous driving technologies," he said. Many industry experts expect it will take years before fully autonomous cars are commonplace, but predictions vary widely. Driver-assistance features now offered in China are "level two" systems, meaning they require a driver ready to take over. Tesla's FSD and its less-advanced options of Autopilot, are also level-two systems requiring attentive drivers. More fully automated vehicle fleets operated by Baidu, China's biggest search engine operator, and Pony.ai, an autonomous driving startup, run in limited test zones. But China's EV makers, including BYD, have made self-driving and advanced driver assist systems a priority. Mercedes and BMW have been granted licenses to test level-three systems that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and look away on a wider range of roads in China. At least five automakers - Hyundai, Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Nissan - have approval to transfer some of their data out of China, but none of those approvals are for data to be used to train AI systems, according to lawyers, state media reports and analysts. Penalties for violating data privacy laws that came into effect in China in 2021 are a major risk factor for data operations, groups representing foreign businesses in China say. When asked about competition from Chinese EV makers during a call with investors after Teslas quarterly earnings last month, Musk said Tesla should be viewed more as an AI company. He said he was confident Teslas FSD system would work pretty well without modification in almost any market. It would work better with country-specific training, Musk said. (This story has been refiled to add a dropped word in paragraph 2) (Reporting by Zhang Yan and Fanny Potkin; Editing by Sonali Paul) SPARTA Lowering taxes, increasing cooperation between the county's college and technical school and eliminating "dead spots" in internet and cell coverage in Sussex County were among the topics Thursday discussed during a forum of candidates seeking the Republican line in November's election for county commissioner. The event at the Sussex County Technical School featured incumbents Chris Carney and Earl Schick as well as would-be challengers Alan Henderson, Robert Kovic and Harvey Roseff. The forum was hosted and run by the Sparta Independent newspaper. The top two vote-getters in the June 4 primary will run in the fall for two, three-year terms as commissioner, in a county that heavily favors Republicans. A Democrat hasn't won a seat on the five-member board in a quarter-century. Carney is seeking a second full three-year term on the board while Schick was selected in a January GOP convention to fill the unexpired term of Dawn Fantasia, who was elected to the state Assembly. Roseff is a member of the Byram Town Council while Henderson is on the township committee in Lafayette, where he serves as mayor. Kovic, a Sparta resident is a former elected town official and former executive director of the Sussex County Republican Party. Roseff and Kovic are running as a team as are Carney and Henderson. The primary will also select two Democratic candidates. Although nobody has filed to run in the Democratic primary, a candidate or two could emerge from write-ins. Thursday's forum gave the candidates a chance to present their platforms and answer written questions from the approximately 50 people who attended, but there was little debate among the five. Fixing cell, internet service in Sussex County Alan Henderson, Lafayette All agreed that the county needs to step up efforts to bring internet coverage to all of Sussex County and stressed the importance of full cell phone coverage. Henderson, a retired Hardyston police officer, said cell service is almost non-existent in some parts of his town. "Imagine there not being service at the school," he said. "It's not enough to recognize the problem, we must all work together to solve that." Henderson said that the county's geography of mountains and valleys is an impediment to full cell phone coverage, but noted emergency services radio coverage has been improved by putting in more "repeaters" which direct transmissions into valleys. Roseff noted how he, as a member of Byram's council, has been able to expand the availability of utilities, including natural gas, in his town, located in the southeastern part of the county. Elizabethtown Gas has been working over the past decade on expanding its service northward into Sussex County. Friendly fire toward all-GOP board Robert Kovic, Sparta Kovic struck out at "incompetency at all levels" of government, criticizing both President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy both Democrats but also the current, all-Republican board of commissioners. "This county needs tax relief, better internet and utilities." When Kovic decried how the county is moving on those issues, Carney responded: "If you came to our meetings, you would see what's going on." Up until they declared their candidacy, neither Henderson, Kovic nor Roseff had been a presence at commissioner meetings. Until his selection in January, Schick was also seldom at the board meetings, which normally meet the second and fourth Wednesday of the month. How county deployed federal COVID relief Also discussed was the county's use of grants from the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion relief package passed by Biden and Congress in the depths of the COVID pandemic in 2021. Schick, who owns Byram Jewelers and Rare Coins, said the ARPA funds "fortified" many of Sussex County's programs but that, with those funds expiring, the county is seeking more federal and state funds. Christopher Carney, Frankford Carney said the county has distributed more than $2 million worth of grants in $15,000 increments to small businesses around the county to help them recover from the pandemic. It's also invested its own grant money in new equipment that will last several years into the future. Henderson agreed with that strategy, noting that his town used funds to buy a new fire truck. Budget woes at county Tech School questioned Perhaps the biggest issue among the candidates was concern about budgets and management at Sussex County Community College and the technical high school, both overseen by the county. Sussex Tech last month proposed a budget that would have eliminated three career fields of study, provoking outrage from current students, alumni and parents. The cuts were averted earlier this month after Commissioner Director Jill Space arranged for $100,000 that was earmarked for the college to be shifted to the high school budget. On Thursday, the candidates agreed there should be more "shared services" between the two schools, but did not offer specifics. The college offers a culinary arts program, which the technical school and some of the other high schools in the county do as well. More: Sussex Commissioners vote 'no confidence' in Tech School leaders over proposed cutbacks What they'd do for Sussex farmers One audience member asked what the commissioners are doing to help farmers and to keep open space in Sussex County. Carney said "our youngest commissioner" a reference to Jack DeGroot, who is in his mid-20s and comes from a farming family has made a point in his first year on the board to focus on agricultural issues. The county has also made new hires in planning and is concentrating on its open space programs, Carney said. Kovic used the question to note that dairy farming, once a thriving industry in the county, "is gone." He blamed taxes and cost of fuel as major factors. Harvey Roseff, Byram Roseff responded, "Well, the farmers I know just want us to get out of their way" Schick also noted that the cost of transporting farm products "is through the roof, and so is insurance and utilities." Declining aid to school districts On education funding, the candidates lamented cuts to state aid for local school districts. "We're not a blue county," said Schick, with fellow Commissioner Carney seconding the explanation. But Roseff noted that a "reduction in student population is leading to reduction in state aid." Henderson said there was little county government could do about it and said putting pressure on the governor "is more on the school boards." Kovic noted the commissioners can "stay engaged on how to help and assist" in lobbying efforts. Earl Schick, Newton June 4 primary: When, where and how to vote The polls are open on June 4 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. but voters must be enrolled in either the Republican or Democrat party to cast a ballot. In the Democratic primary, any write-in candidates must receive at least 100 votes, agree to run and meet other requirements, such as age and residency, to secure a nomination. Independent candidates can also be included on the November ballot by filing a petition with the County Clerk's Office by 4 p.m. on June 4. The petition must include at least 100 valid signatures of registered voters. That 100 minimum applies for the commissioner's race. In local municipal elections the number varies by the population of the municipality. More details are available on the elections tab at sussexcountyclerk.org. Early voting details Early voting begins Wednesday, May 29, and can be done at the Cochran House Building, Level PL, 83 Spring St., Newton; at the Sussex-Wantage Branch Library in Wantage or at the Louise Childs Branch Library in Stanhope. Polling hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday. Email: bscruton@njherald.com Twitter/X: @brucescrutonNJH This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex Commissioners race: Candidates meet public at Sussex Tech forum SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Salt Lake City Police took a 51-year-old man into custody after a domestic violence kidnapping situation in the Yalecrest neighborhood Saturday morning. At around 9:30 a.m. on May 18, police received a call about a suspicious circumstance involving a woman who was allegedly involved in a domestic violence situation. Worst I have ever seen it: Mormon crickets march on northern Nevada town SLCPD responded to the scene and found that the woman may have been in immediate danger, a press release states. Officers learned that the suspect had taken the womans keys and phone and prevented her from leaving a home near 1500 East Laird Ave. Officers reportedly locked down the area and began negotiations with the suspect, but the man refused to come out and would not let the woman leave the home. SWAT responded to the scene, and after several attempts to get the suspect to surrender, he finally released the woman and exited, where he was then taken into custody. The woman told officers [the suspect] prevented her from leaving and that she feared for her safety, the release states. The suspect was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on charges including kidnapping, damaging or interfering with a communications device, and interfering with a peace officer. The Salt Lake City Police Department encourages anyone who has experienced domestic violence to call 801-799-3000 and ask to speak with a Victim Advocate or call their 24-hour hotline directly at 801-580-7969. All services are free, and callers can get information anonymously. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Taiwan's FM: 'If Russia can do that to Ukraine, China might do the same to Taiwan' TAIPEI The start of Russias full-scale war against Ukraine was a wake-up call for Taiwan, with the island nation believed to be the next conflict zone in case of Kyivs defeat. Two years in, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu still believes that the islands future is dependent on the war in Ukraine. Officials from across the aisle believe that Beijing will aim to reunite the two Chinas by force if Russia succeeds in Ukraine. Trying to avoid a war at all costs, Taipei is attempting to walk a fine line. It defends its sovereignty while attempting to not provoke Beijing first and foremost by not seeking de jure independence from the mainland. Read also: Xi claims Beijing, Moscow want political solution to Russia-Ukraine war (One of Taiwans policies) is that we should not give authoritarian China any excuse to launch a war, Wu said in an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent in late April. Wu says that a surprise attack from China may be inevitable despite Taipeis efforts to prevent it at all costs. The war may sometimes happen in a very surprising way, and I'm sure Beijing is planning for a surprise attack against Taiwan as well, Wu said. Bracing for the worst-case scenario, Taiwan is stockpiling weapons and building its own drones. It wants to show China that the invasion wont be easy. Both Beijing and Taipei are learning from Russias war in Ukraine. They are also highly dependent on the eventual outcome, rooting for different sides. Taiwan's Armed Forces hold two days of routine drills to show combat readiness ahead of Lunar New Year holidays at a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Jan.11, 2023. (Annabelle Chih/Getty Images) For Taiwan, a 24-million-strong island whose de facto independence could be on the brink if China pulls the trigger, Ukraines defiance against Russia has served as a great example. Russias war showed how far authoritarian states are willing to go and how dangerous it can be to rely on third parties for protection and military support when facing an existential threat. Minister Wu said that international response is key to preventing authoritarian states from expanding further. He stressed that allowing them to get what they want would only leave them hungry for more. Read also: While Xi tours Europe, China feeds Russias war machine If you look at the Russian aggression against Ukraine, it didnt start in 2022 it started in Georgia (in 2008) and it started in Crimea (in 2014), Wu said. And because the Western countries did not help Ukraine in stopping Russia at the time, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin was encouraged to do it. And right now, Europe and major democracies around the world understand that if we don't stop Russia in Ukraine, it may continue. Learning from Russias war Just as China is studying Russias successes and mistakes on the battlefield, Taiwan is also closely observing Ukraines defense strategies from the formation of local Territorial Defense Forces to drone warfare. One of the lessons from the war in Ukraine is that the autocracies or authoritarianism or dictatorship they are not to be trusted, as Russia has no justification for invading Ukraine, according to the minister. So our lesson is that if Russia can do that to Ukraine, China might do the same to Taiwan, Wu said. We need to build up our defense, and defense capability is the first deterrence against the aggression by the authoritarian country. Wu warned that it is not just Taiwan at risk, but neighboring nations as well such as the Philippines that are similarly suffering from Chinese threat and harassment. If we are not able to stop the Chinese in Taiwan, then many other countries will be endangered, Wu said. But no matter how many lessons Moscow has shared with Beijing, theories could never replace experience, retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan said. Chinese military helicopters fly past Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest point from Taiwan, in Fujian province, Chin on Aug. 4, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) All the simulation in the world doesn't mean anything until you're actually in the midst of fighting with your enemy because the Taiwanese will probably have a few surprises for the Chinese as well, said Ryan, who is analyzing the war in Ukraine and the rising tensions over Taiwan. And while there are many parallels between Ukraine's and Taiwans situations, geography is a differentiating factor that serves both as an advantage and disadvantage. The 180-kilometer sea distance between mainland China and Taiwan is a very difficult preposition to launch a major operation against the island, Ryan said. But Taiwan has no land neighbors willing to swiftly increase its support. Chinas provocations While watching the war in Ukraine unfold from a distance, Taiwan is facing Chinese provocations every day. Taiwan faces Chinas so-called gray zone activities every day, which vary from military exercises near the island to cyber and disinformation warfare. Beijing denies the existence of the unofficial border that separates the two Chinas, regularly crossing into the territory de facto controlled by Taipei. As the city of Xiamen, China, is seen in the background, wartime anti-tank obstacles sit on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan , Oct. 7, 2023. Kinmen is a group of islands in the Taiwan Strait that is governed by Taiwan and lies only a few miles off the coast of the Peoples Republic of China. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) China has further intensified its campaigns in 2024, threatening the long-standing status quo over the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China. For now, Taiwan is trying to combat Beijings provocations by patrolling the sky and sea to prevent Chinese aircraft or warships from crossing its territory, according to the minister. Right now, the Chinese activities are below the threshold of war, and their purpose is trying to crush the will of the Taiwanese people, Wu said. What the Chinese are doing to us right now is trying to pressure Taiwan to its maximum capacity so that Taiwan would cave in to the Chinese pressure, he added. And at this stage, I think Taiwan needs to stand very firm against those kinds of gray zone activities. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Chief John Aquilino warned in March that China plans to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Read also: US includes 37 Chinese entities to trade blacklist due to national security concerns On a scale not seen since WWII, the PLA (Chinas People's Liberation Army) buildup is occurring across land, sea, air, space, cyber, and information domains, the admiral said in a statement. There is no officially announced plan of how Western nations would react in the case of a Chinese invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden has said that his countrys forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing attempted to take the island by force. Faced with daily threats, Taiwan is not willing to take risks. To compensate for its growing but small domestic arms industry, Taiwan has been ordering U.S. weapons, further soaring Washington-Beijing tensions. A woman uses her mobile phone as she walks in front of a large screen showing a news broadcast about China's military exercises encircling Taiwan, in Beijing, China, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images) Stepping up its drone game is also important to Taiwan. Reuters 2023 investigation, citing an internal government document, revealed that Taiwan aims to produce more than 3,200 military drones by mid-2024, which range from small short-range variants to 150-kilometer-range surveillance drones. This, it said, is to compete against Chinas 2-million-strong army that has over 50 different types of drones estimated to number tens of thousands. While pressuring Taiwan militarily, China is also trying to subdue its neighboring island on the diplomatic front. Beijing is working hard to poach Taipeis allies. Currently, Taiwan only has diplomatic ties with 12 countries. China won over Taiwans 10 diplomatic allies with economic and political incentives over the past eight years of the Democratic Progressive Partys (DPP) rule. Many are now incentivized by Beijing to cut their ties with Taipei. Wen Lii, DPPs director of international affairs, believes that Beijing is trying to manipulate public opinion in Taiwan. Taiwan is always fully on alert for any possible scenario, and it understands that the islands security is primarily our own responsibility and that we cannot take any foreign assistance for granted, Lii stressed. Soldiers disembark from AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles during the Han Kuang military exercise, which simulates China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) invading the island in Pingtung, Taiwan, on July 28, 2022. Taiwan military launches five days of live fire drills involving all forces of the military to repel simulated attacks from China. (Annabelle Chih/Getty Images) It's limiting Taiwan's international space, and the threat is still out there... They use that to hurt Taiwanese morale, to let Taiwanese understand that Taiwan has no foreign relations, (and that) Taiwan has no room to participate in the international organizations, Minister Wu said. Unofficial partnership The 69-year-old career diplomat spoke to the Kyiv Independent at the ministry in central Taipei a few weeks before he is set to resign on May 20. But Wu isnt done, and will take on the role of Taiwans Security Council secretary-general, a position he held for a year before taking office as foreign minister. Looking back at his six years as a minister, Wu said that his goal has always been to build Taiwans name even amidst international crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Those events may hurt Taiwan, just like those events hurting the rest of the international community, Wu said. But those were offering opportunities for Taiwan to be seen by the international community as a force for good. As soon as Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Taiwan followed the Western allies in imposing sanctions on Moscow and sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Taiwan ranks forth among Indo-Pacific nations in commitments to Ukraine, after Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Taiwan provided more than $110 million in aid since February 2022. But Taiwans most important support for Ukraine is its export ban on semiconductors. Moscow has been able to circumvent sanctions and import chips and machine tools for arms production via a third country, according to emerging media reports. Taipei said that export controls were tightened following the reports. Asked whether Taiwan is considering military assistance for Ukraine, Wu said that it is unlikely for now since the island needs to focus on its own security. The minister, however, agreed that Taiwanese drones could benefit Ukraine in theory and that the battlefield experience may be helpful for Taipei. He said that drone production is still in the initial stage, with the time frame for mass production of civilian and military drones still unclear. The Kyiv Independent journalist Asami Terajima (L) and Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (R) during an interview at the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 26, 2024. (Taiwans Foreign Ministry) Wu said that Taiwan has discussed with Ukraine how his country could assist wounded soldiers through the rehabilitation process, though indirectly, since the two dont have formal diplomatic relations. The minister promoted the idea of Ukraine opening a representative office in Taipei and that Taiwan would do the same in Kyiv. He explained that it is a two-sided agreement, and both sides opening an office would benefit tremendously the bilateral relations. (In the long run), I think we should think about the long-term friendship and institutionalize cooperation between Taiwan and Ukraine, Wu said. Of course, setting up institutions representing countries in each other's territory is probably the most important step to go. It remains a nearly impossible idea, as Kyiv is attempting to bring mainland China to its side. According to the sources of the Kyiv Independent in the presidents office, Kyiv has attempted to bring representatives of Beijing to the June Peace Summit in Switzerland to no avail. So, at this moment, we are not proposing this issue yet, but we are focusing on supporting Ukraine, Wu said. Read also: Kyivs frustration boils as flow of Western chips for Russian missiles continues uninterrupted Taiwan supports Ukraine through municipality-level or NGOs, as well as through neighboring countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and Lithuania. Ukraine is reluctant to accept direct aid from Taiwan amidst Chinese claims over the island and the absence of official ties between the two nations, according to D.C.-based think-tank Global Taiwan Institute. But Wu signaled hope in further growing Taiwan-Ukraine relations, adding that the two young democracies standing together is symbolic. Democracies around the world should unite with each other to prevent authoritarianism or dictatorship or autocracies from expanding further, Wu said. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Target came under fire last year when conservative groups attacked the company's Pride collection. In response to protests, the retailer pulled merch and shrunk in-store displays. Some on Target's Pride Council and past vendors say the company has done little to rebuild its relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. On Tuesday, May 14th, members of Target's LGBTQ+ employee resource group logged on for a much-anticipated virtual meeting to preview the 2024 Pride collection, two council members told Business Insider. A few days before that meeting, following the news that only a fraction of stores would be carrying Pride merchandise this year, VP of Brand Management Carlos Saavedra promised to "share all the details" about the celebration in an internal preview. The two council members said that in prior years, members of the 3,700-person group, known internally as the Pride+ Council, were able to participate in selecting vendors and products to feature in the collection. Target's online Pride collection on May 28. Target Pride+ Council members joined the May 14 meeting to find that only presenters could speak, comments were disabled, and no products were shown, the two council sources told BI. It's a far cry from just over a year ago, the members said, when Target was doing something that few large companies had ever done: embracing both halves of the LGBTQ+ acronym. For two years in a row, the company had offered a line of functional garments and a range of apparel and accessories boasting slogans that acknowledged and celebrated transgender and nonbinary members of the community. By this time last year, Pride products had already been on sale online for weeks by mid-May, and each of the retailer's nearly 2,000 US stores had displays near their front entrances. This year, the online collection that once boasted over 2,600 items now consists of several dozen items some rainbow-themed apparel and accessories, a few alcoholic drinks, pet gear, and a cutting board emblazoned with "It's Giving Charcuterie." Target declined to address specific questions when contacted by Business Insider and instead referred to its previous statement on the Pride 2024 collection. "We have long offered benefits and resources for the community, and we will have internal programs to celebrate Pride 2024," the statement said. "Additionally, we will offer a collection of products for Pride, including adult apparel, home products, food and beverage, which has been curated based on guest insights and consumer research." At a time of the year when corporations are often accused of "rainbow washing" for Pride month in June, members of the LGBTQ+ community held Target up as an example of what true ally-ship could look like. But late last May, conservative protesters took aim at Target's Pride collection, falsely claiming the merchandise was "Satanic" and sexualized minors. In response to what it said was a mounting security threat, the retailer pulled merch and shrunk in-store displays, alienating some of its LGBTQ+ employees, customers, and vendor partners in the process. A shirt reading "Trans People Will Always Exist!" was one of the items to be pulled from Target stores last year. Dominick Reuter/Insider Even as conservative groups claimed victory, the backlash continued in the form of a shareholder lawsuit and related shareholder proposal arguing that the company's diversity initiatives are harmful to shareholder value. Target says it rejects those assertions and is defending itself in court. However, the two Pride Council members and multiple LGBTQ+ vendors who worked on past Pride collections told BI they feel the company hasn't done enough to rebuild its relationship with its LGBTQ+ partners over the past year. Erik Carnell, the trans designer whose Target merchandise was pulled due to Satanic references elsewhere in his portfolio, told BI the company declined to provide him an explanation about its decision beyond what was included in its public statements, and he hasn't heard from them since. "I don't expect to hear from them again," he said. "I don't doubt that there are people working high up in Target who do genuinely care about or are part of the LGBT community and did honestly want to support the trans community, but these people aren't necessarily responsible for certain decisions," he continued. "At the end of the day, the pink dollar isn't quite as strong as the Christian Right dollar." Humankind, the trans-friendly swimwear brand that was at the center of the firestorm, first began working with Target in 2021 in preparation for the 2022 Pride collection, according to founder Hayley Marzullo. After Humankind products were pulled from shelves, a Target representative did reach out to Marzullo, according to emails seen by BI. Swimwear made last year in collaboration between Target and Humankind. Target "We understand this has an impact to you and your team and wanted to check in to see how you're doing and if there are any questions you might have," the Target representative said. The emails show that Target and Marzullo discussed a year-round assortment of gender-inclusive apparel in partnership with Humankind, but Marzullo told BI the idea eventually stalled. She said she eventually learned through a non-Target source that Humankind was not going to be part of this year's June collection. "Everything was set to continue to expand," Marzullo said. "We spent time and energy developing new products and new colors, only to be cut." Leslie Garrard, the CEO of TomboyX, said her company was invited to sell through the Target.com marketplace after a successful 2022 in-store collaboration. The brand still has over 60 items listed online not in stores but Garrard told BI she has noticed some items delisted in recent weeks, including a Pride rainbow design and a tucking underwear bottom. TomboyX fulfills all orders itself as Target does not generally stock or ship marketplace products. Target's Pride display last year. Dominick Reuter/Insider "If you're taking your Pride assortment and you're taking out a ton of apparel, or you're just associating Pride with cake mixes, tablecloths, and dog leashes, you're not really showing up for your community," Garrard said. One of the employees involved in the Pride Council told BI that a lot of LGBTQ+ people, herself included, joined Target specifically because of its stated support for trans and queer rights. Target's handling of Pride this year so far tells her that "they are here for the L, G, and B, but not the T, Q, I, A, and plus," she said. "This feels very much like a betrayal." Read the original article on Business Insider Tattoo artist Shani Louk became a symbol of the music festival massacre by Hamas. The IDF has finally recovered her body. The IDF recovered three hostages' bodies from the Gaza Strip, including Shani Louk's. Hamas militants killed the hostages on October 7 during the Nova Music Festival massacre. Shani Louk became symbolic of October 7 after photos and video footage of her abduction went viral. The Israel Defense Forces recovered three hostages' bodies from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military announced on Friday. In a press briefing, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, IDF spokesperson, said, "It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that last night the Israel Defense Forces and ISA forces rescued the bodies of our hostages: Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzchak Gleren-ter." Shani Louk became a symbol of Hamas' October 7 terrorist incursion into Israel after photos and video footage of her body being abducted went viral. Hamas militants killed the three hostages on October 7 as they tried to flee the Nova Music Festival massacre, and their bodies were taken into Gaza. Louk's father, Nissim Louk, spoke of the "relief" of finally having secured the body of his 22-year-old daughter. "We were informed that soldiers of a commando team were found bodies, and the condition of the body was really good. It was in a relatively deep place in a deep tunnel and very cold," he said, per The Daily Mail. The three bodies were transferred to medical professionals for forensic examination and identification, per Hagari's statement. After the procedure was complete, the IDF notified their families. "We will leave no stone unturned," said Hagari. "We will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home. We will not rest until we do." The Associated Press freelancer Ali Mahmud won the Reynolds Journalism Institute's award for the team picture story of the year for an image showing Shani Louk's lifeless body in the back of a pickup truck and surrounded by Hamas militants. Louk's father, Nissim Louk, defended the controversial decision to award the distressing image. "It's good that the photo won the prize," he said. "This is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years. These are some of the photos that shape human memory." Hamas militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk. AP Photo/Ali Mahmud More than 360 people were killed at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re'im, and 40 were captured, per the Times of Israel. On October 7 Hamas militants also seized 252 hostages in Israel; 129 hostages are still in captivity in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli broadcaster Kan. Since October 7, Israel's retaliatory military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than 10,000 are missing or trapped under rubble from the IDF's bombardments. Read the original article on Business Insider UPDATE: According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Lila Berry was found safe. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has issued a Silver Alert for Lila Berry, 75, of Johnson City on Saturday. Berry is 5 feet 3 inches tall and 210 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and glasses. The TBI said Berrys family last spoke with her on Friday, May 17. Berrys 2013 dark red Honda Accord was seen Saturday in Cleveland County, NC, with TN plate 671-BJMD, according to the TBI. The TBI said Berry has medical conditions that may impair her ability to return safely without assistance. Those who may know of Berrys whereabouts are asked to contact the TBI at 423-434-6160 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Michael Flynn and Roger Stone are spending time with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Mike Lindell is warming up the Trump rally crowd and Steve Bannon is plotting election strategy with Donald Trump Jr. on his show. Paul Manafort and Corey Lewandowski may be back in the fold too, and far-right firebrand Laura Loomer nearly joined Trumps campaign as some of the most controversial figures in his orbit over the last few years rally around the Republicans' presumptive 2024 presidential nominee for another election cycle. Trump is embracing his crew of convicted criminals, conspiracy theorists and the most outlandish of his high-profile backers. They played key roles in some of the most infamous aspects of his past campaigns and his presidency particularly the effort to overturn the 2020 election that culminated in a mob of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and their continued influence could have real-world implications. While Trump distanced himself from many of these individuals at one point, firing or forcing the resignation of Bannon, Flynn, Lewandowski and Manafort, he also later pardoned many of them after they faced legal jeopardy, largely stemming from their work for him. Flynn, Stone and Bannon in particular all drew the attention of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, who told USA Today in an interview that he finds it troubling that Trump continues to associate with them. "To bring them back in a campaign given their demonstrated lack of respect for the rule of law, it's a bad sign," Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said. There are bigger concerns too. If Trump wins another term, pardoning allies who broke the law and then pulling them back into his political orbit could encourage people in his next administration to ignore legal constraints knowing they'll likely be pardoned, said John Bolton, the former Trump White House national security adviser and veteran of past GOP administrations. Political experts say that could be a recipe for an explosive second Trump administration stocked with extreme figures who might feel empowered to pursue an agenda unconstrained by the rule of law, or traditional democratic norms and values. A future Trump administration likely would be staffed by loyalists, sycophants and "radicals," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "It will be the most frightening administration in American history times 100," Sabato said. President Donald Trump granted a "full pardon" for ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn. Foot soldiers in Trump's 'final battle' Trump is promising everything from mass deportations to purging federal agencies if he returns to the White House. The former president's rhetoric has been particularly stark, drawing comparisons to fascist leaders as he accuses immigrants of poisoning the blood of the country, calls his opponents vermin and America's "enemies from within," and continues to promote unfounded election fraud claims. Some of Trumps language has been apocalyptic, saying there wont be a country if he doesnt win and this is the final battle. That view has been echoed by figures such as Bannon, Flynn and Stone, who all use dire terms to describe the stakes of the 2024 presidential election. They have been some of the most radical figures in the GOP in recent years. Flynn said Trump could seize voting machines and use the military to "rerun" the 2020 election. Bannon helped instigate the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol and was later pardoned by Trump as he awaited federal trial for allegedly defrauding donors to a border wall fundraising effort. He has pleaded not guilty to a similar set of criminal charges in New York state court. Manafort and Stone also received Trump pardons after convictions stemming from Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether Trumps campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, is facing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems and another lawsuit by voting machine company Smartmatic over unfounded statements he made about a rigged election. Now they're rallying around Trump's 2024 White House run, exemplifying the hardcore nature of his latest campaign. Steve Bannon broadcasts outside of the convention hall during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. on Feb 22. 2024. Trump's former campaign and White House strategist was convicted in 2022 of contempt of Congress. Bannon was charged after defying a demand to appear before a U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack by Trump supporters seeking to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's November 2020 election victory. Bannon, who has appealed, has yet to be sentenced. Bannon also faces New York state charges of money laundering and conspiracy, accused by prosecutors of swindling Trump supporters in a scheme involving donations solicited to help build his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon, who pleaded not guilty, is due to go on trial in May 2024. He also was charged in federal court over that same project, but the case ended when Trump pardoned Bannon in the final hours of his presidency in 2021. White nationalist controversies No Republican president has had a closer relationship with the far right than Trump, who has welcomed in fringe figures who would have been shunned by past campaigns and administrations. Trumps flirtations with such figures has gotten him in trouble at times. Bannon was fired as White House political adviser after the uproar surrounding the then-president's comments amid a far right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 that drew a crowd that included white supremacists. Trump seemed unwilling to fully condemn those involved, saying there were "very fine people on both sides," a position some attributed to Bannons perceived white nationalist sympathies. Bannon's departure also was precipitated by conflicts with others in the administration as he pushed an aggressive nationalist agenda. Yet even after departing the White House, Bannon never strayed far from Trump world. He used his podcast to gin up support for the demonstration on Jan. 6, 2021, that spilled over into a siege on the Capitol. That Bannon still wields influence in Trumps orbit was clear when he spent more than an hour discussing election strategy, possible vice presidential picks and other issues with Donald Trump Jr. on his Rumble show last month. Trump Jr. is one of the family members most involved in the current campaign, as Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner take a backseat this time around, and he could play a key role in a future administration. Bannon name-checked Trump campaign aides he thought were doing a good job, praised certain strategy decisions, questioned others and laid out his views on what Trump should do in the first 100 days if reelected. He also painted the picture of a nation engaged in an epic battle. We are gonna fight every day for this, we have President Trumps back, Bannon said. Were not gonna back off one inch and people have to understand were at war. Five years after the Charlottesville controversy, Trump dined with white supremacist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago, the former president's estate in Palm Beach, and set off another round of recriminations that he was aligning himself with extremists. The former president claimed not to know anything about Fuentes, who has a long history of racist and antisemitic comments. Yet it showed how controversial figures continue to have access to Trump, with the private Mar-a-Lago club at times a nexus for the far right despite the former president hiring top advisers who are viewed as running a more professional and competent campaign than in the past. Trump's 2024 campaign is helmed by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who both have a long history in mainstream GOP politics. Those who know Wiles say she is no ideologue, and brings stability and order to the campaign. Yet Wiles didn't prevent the meeting with Fuentes and doesn't appear to be acting as a gatekeeper in limiting Trump's contact with more controversial figures in his orbit. "What Ive heard is she knows shes not going to control him," said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump 2016 campaign aide turned critic. "She cant manage him. She also makes strategic allies. Roger Stone speaks to supporters of President Donald Trump outside the Supreme Court on Jan. 5, 2021, in Washington as they protest the congressional certification of the Electoral College vote. Stone was pardoned in December 2020 after being convicted of seven felonies, including lying under oath. Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Laura Loomer at Mar-a-Lago As the election has ramped up this year, controversial figures such as Flynn, Stone and Loomer all have met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Flynn was Trump's first national security adviser. He pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador and was later pardoned by Trump. Loomer is a far-right activist who was banned from multiple media platforms for extreme anti-Islamic statements. Stone became infamous as a dirty trickster for President Richard Nixon's campaign and is one of Trump's longest serving political advisers. He was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. In early 2021, Stone was in Washington D.C. in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and used as body guards members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, two extremist groups whose members were later charged and convicted for crimes tied to the insurrection. Stone has denied having any knowledge or involvement in the events surrounding Jan. 6 or the conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2024 election that has led to federal criminal charges against Trump himself. In an interview with USA TODAY, Stone said he still speaks with Trump occasionally but doesnt have a formal role in the campaign. He has been spotted at events at Mar-a-Lago recently, and was there on Super Tuesday for Trumps election night party. Everything I do is on a voluntary basis and I kind of pick my shots, Stone said of his work for the campaign. That Trump remains close to leading rightwing figures outside mainstream GOP politics shouldnt be surprising given the makeup of his following, Stone said. Look, the Trump movement is much bigger than the Republican Party said Stone, noting it includes a lot of people outside the traditional Republican structure. Running a campaign that balances regular establishment Republicans who see Trump as a winner and America First Republicans who see Trump as an outsider, you need both, he said. That some of these figures, Stone included, are convicted criminals might not be a problem for many Republicans who are embracing Trump even as he faces four criminal cases, which he calls politically driven. A video of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is played as Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, on June 28, 2022. Flynn has emerged as a hero to the far right, and Trump has come to celebrate him again after initially distancing himself when he was forced out as national security adviser. A group Flynn leads staged an event at Mar-a-Lago on Mach 28, where he gave Trump an award and the former president called him a great gentleman. I just want to thank you for everything youve done for the country, Trump added, according to a video posted on X. Youre a brave guy and a wonderful man and a very smart one, and youre on my side and Im on your side all the way. Flynn met with Trump in the White House in December 2020 to discuss efforts to overturn the election. Stone said he believes Trump might give Flynn a position in his administration if he wins. Some Trump fans are happy to see Flynn's resurgence. "It's horrible what they did to Michael Flynn, horrible... I don't think he did anything wrong," said Mary Kane, 77, a retired credit union worker from the Philadelphia area who was at Trump's rally in Wildwood, NJ, this month. Other controversial figures have been considered for positions in Trumps campaign, including Loomer, Manafort and Lewandowski, according to reports in the New York Times and Washington Post. Manafort served as chairman of Trumps 2016 campaign. He was later sentenced to more than seven years in prison for financial, witness tampering and lobbying crimes, though he too secured a Trump pardon in the final days of the Republican administration. 9/17/19 1:07:14 PM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for President Trump, appears before the House Judiciary committee during a hearing on Presidential Obstruction of Justice and Abuse of Power on Sept. 17, 2019 in Washington alongside empty chairs of Rick Dearborn, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and Robert Porter, former Assistant to the President, both refused to appear before the committee under subpoena. -- Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff ORG XMIT: JG 138260 Lewandowski 9/17/2019 (Via OlyDrop) Lewandowski ran Trumps 2016 campaign before being fired. He was charged with battery at one point during that campaign for grabbing a reporter, but the charge was dropped. In 2021, a pro-Trump super PAC pushed Lewandowski out after a Trump donor accused him of unwanted sexual advances. In 2024, Trumps campaign reportedly has been considering using Lewandowski and Manafort to help with the convention. I mean, I think he talks to them from time to time but he has no formal or informal role, Stone said of Manafort, who used to be his partner in a lobbying business. Loomer did want to work on Trumps reelection effort and Trump wanted to hire her, Stone said, but the former president received pushback from some in his circle and ultimately decided not to. In 2018, Loomer posted on X that someone needs to create a non Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver. She was banned from both platforms, but continued to describe herself as a proud Islamaphobe. She has met with Trump regularly and flown on his plane, according to the Washington Post. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), left, opens a public hearing before the House committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 12, 2022 in Washington DC. Left is committee vice-chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). 'With Trump, you have a team of felons' Like many things that Trump does, bringing back into the fold a group of political operatives that he pardoned has no modern historical precedent. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley pointed to the Amnesty Act of 1872, which allowed former Confederate soldiers to be pardoned to serve in the U.S. government, as the last time a group of pardoned individuals were allowed to reengage in executive branch service. With Lincoln, they had a team of rivals," Brinkley said. "With Trump, you have a team of felons." Presidents normally try not to be associated with criminals, Brinkley noted. For Trump, though, the fact that these individuals endured legal problems for him may be a sign he can trust them to be loyal. "He saved their hides from jail so theyre dutiful to Trump," Brinkley said. "Their life stories are now melded together. So the trust factor for Trump with Manafort and Bannon and the like is quite high." The far right nature of some of these individuals who are close to Trump also is unusual. Presidential candidates usually try to steer toward the center as they move into the general election. "He's going full MAGA and these are his engineers" Brinkley said. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Sabato said Trump's continued association with people who committed criminal acts related to his administration and campaign is "totally unprecedented." "This is like Richard Nixon in 1972 and the remainder of his campaign bringing in the Watergate burglars, he said. Bolton, who has since become a vocal Trump critic since leaving his administration, said he is less worried about pardoned individuals continuing to have influence with Trump than the message it sends to members of a future administration. What I worry about is what it says to people," Bolton said. "That if they think theyre carrying out the presidents bidding theyre going to get pardoned no matter what they do, thats the bad signal." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: It's 'Trump 2024' for pardoned felons who remain in ex-president's orbit Teen arrested for calling bomb threat on Flagler County school, according to sheriffs The Flagler County Sheriffs office made an arrest after investigating a bomb threat made on Buddy Taylor Middle School. This arrest comes after a chaotic week for Flagler County public schools, during which Buddy Taylor Middle School and others received threatening calls from May 14 to May 17. The 13-year-old, whom we are not naming due to their minor status, called BTMS around 10:47 a.m., saying, The school will be blown up at 11. The school was locked down around 10:48 a.m. FCSO arrived on the scene and performed a sweep of the building and the school was cleared and resumed normal activities at 11:42, according to deputies. Read: Police investigate a high-speed car chase that led to an officer-involved shooting in Haines City Through investigative means, FCSO were able to determine the phone call originated in Daytona Beach. With the assistance of the Daytona Beach Police Departments Violent Crime Apprehension Team and the Volusia Sheriffs Offices Crime Suppression Team, the teen was located walking on Derbyshire Road in Daytona Beach. The phone that was used to make the phone call was discovered in his possession. The teen had attempted to delete evidence from the phone. Read: He doesnt understand whats going on: family of boy,11, accused of killing woman appears in court The teen does not attend BTMS, but told detectives that a friend who attends the school dared him to call a bomb threat into the school. The investigation is continuing on the BTMS student and FCSO encourages this student to tell their parents what they did and turn themselves in. The teen was arrested for false report concerning a bomb, tampering with evidence, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Daytona Beach Police took the teen to the Volusia County Juvenile Assessment Center for processing. Read: Severe storms threaten until sunset, with possibilities for a tornado warning Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. "Now his suffering is over and his kind, sweet soul is all around us, the family of Brian Ortiz, 17, said in a GoFundMe Alondra Ortiz/GoFundMe Brian Ortiz (C) A 17-year-old California student with cancer whose high school held a special graduation ceremony for him last month has died. Brian Ortiz was battling liver cancer when he passed away on Wednesday, May 15, his family announced, as reported by Fox affiliate KPMH and ABC affiliate KFSN. In a GoFundMe to pay for the teens funeral expenses, Brians family wrote: For the past few months, Brian had received news that his cancer was no longer responding to treatment and that his cancer was terminal. After months of brutal treatment, hospital stays, pain, and bad news after bad news he never complained. The type of cancer he had was aggressive and progressed quickly. In April, his school, Gustine High School, hosted an early graduation ceremony so that Brian could experience the milestone event, KFSN reported. He was given a police escort to take him from his home to the school, where he was later cheered on by students and teachers. "It means a lot to me," Brian said at the time. "I was going through a lot...I was able to get this day thanks to Gustine High School." Related: Teen Who Died of Cancer Will Be Honored at Graduation After Backlash Over District Policy He fought so hard to make every minute and moment count as well as making it his own graduation last month [in] April, continued the description on GoFundMe, which has so far raised over $10,000 as of May 17. He was such a loving and sweet soul to everyone around him. 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 family said that Brian was diagnosed with stage 4 fibrolamellar carcinoma last September. According to the National Cancer Institute, fibrolamellar carcinoma is a rare liver cancer that affects teens and adults under 40 years old. It says that the cancer is unique because it occurs in those with healthy livers and is believed to affect 1 in 5 million people in the U.S. Related: Her Goal Was to Graduate Middle School Before Cancer Took Her. Now Her Memory Helps Other 8th Graders "I remember when he had an accident they took it into the hospital and that's when they kind of figure out like that he had cancer, Brians sister Alondra said before his death, per KFSN. Our hearts and spirits are heavy after several traumatic months in the hospital. Now his suffering is over and his kind, sweet soul is all around us, his family continued in the GoFundMe. Related: Teen Reflects on Day His Wish to Become 'Batkid' Came True 10 Years Ago and Says Hes Still Cancer-Free PEOPLE reached out to Gustine High School for comment. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Teen found with more than five pounds of marijuana in Ashe County, charged: Sheriff ASHE COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A teen has been arrested after being found with an assortment of drugs including more than five pounds of marijuana, according to the Ashe County Sheriffs Office. On May 7, a deputy was patrolling in Jefferson when he saw a vehicle with several traffic violations. Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area >> Latest stories here The deputy performed a traffic stop and identified the driver as 18-year-old Joshua Smith Cordoba from Catawba, N.C. Officials say he was driving on an indefinitely suspended license. The deputy searched the vehicle and found three concealed handguns, a large sum of money, more than five pounds of marijuana, a bag of mushrooms and several drug paraphernalia items. Cordoba was booked into Ashe County Detention Center under a $40,000 secured bond for the charges of: Felony possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance Felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver marijuana Felony possession of a Schedule I controlled substance Felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule I controlled substance Possession of marijuana paraphernalia Carrying a concealed gun Driving while license revoked (not impaired) Resisting a public officer Possession of drug paraphernalia Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Teslas and scofflaws, get out of the carpool lane. California is cracking down | Opinion When I was environmentally virtuous by 2009 standards, I demonstrated it by purchasing my trusty Toyota Prius, which purrs to this day. California rewarded me with a yellow decal that granted me free access to Californias freeway carpool lanes and I was overjoyed. A few years later, California moved the climate change goalpost and only qualified all-electric and plug-in hybrids for the special carpool lane status, sticking me back in the interstate version of steerage yet again. Changing and updating the rules became a cottage industry for the California Legislature. The qualifying stickers changed from purple to orange to blue to yellow (again) to green and now, burgundy. The era of these special stickers will come to an end next year. It is exactly the right thing to do. Temporary government incentives to address temporary needs must eventually come to an end. Opinion Motivating a transition away from gas-guzzling vehicles is yesterdays news in California. By 2035, California is supposed to sell only electric vehicles as part of a plan to decarbonize the economy by 2045, which means stopping or reducing carbon gases, like carbon dioxide, from being released into the atmosphere. If everybody is driving an electric vehicle, everybody cant be in that carpool lane. The purpose of the express lane is changing along with the climate. It can no longer be for the fortunate few who can afford a Tesla to enjoy a shorter commute. The express lane has two legitimate occupants that can pass through at no charge: A carpool or a high-occupancy vehicle, like a bus. The other is the solo motorist who is willing to pay a toll that subsidizes the transportation system in exchange for getting to the destination faster. Although the Sacramento region doesnt have toll lanes yet, construction could begin as soon as this year on a project in both Yolo and Sacramento counties. The regional transportation planners at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, for example, are relying on an aggressive transformation to carpool lanes to help reduce overall emissions. On interstates 5 and 80, for example, SACOG envisions two carpool/toll lanes at rush hours, including one of the existing lanes. This could be a huge change from the status quo, but the California Department of Transportation is refusing to even study the regional plan as it looks to widen 80 between Sacramento and Davis. This head-in-the-sand mentality delays needed progress on carpool lanes and defeats the broader public message the Newsom administration should be sending that change is necessary. It was only a decade ago that the carpool lane sticker was a huge incentive to buy a qualifying car. One 2016 study estimated that at least 25 percent of Californians bought their electric cars or plug-in hybrids simply to go faster on the freeway, but this is not sustainable any longer. Everyone cant be in an express lane, particularly those single-passenger scofflaws who have never belonged there in the first place. Facing climate change as a shared challenge is the only possible way California can succeed as a pioneer. Nobody gets a pass. NORFOLK A light drizzle fell Saturday morning over West Point Cemetery as about two dozen community members gathered to honor Black Civil War soldiers for Military Appreciation Month. This marked the second year the soldiers were honored with a wreath-laying ceremony. With Taps playing in the graveyard, the wreath of white and blue flowers was placed in front of the cemeterys monument to the Black soldiers just after 10 a.m. The land holds a significant part of Norfolks Black history. The 14 acres serve as the final resting place for 58 soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil War and Black military who served during the Spanish-American War. According to previous reporting from The Virginian-Pilot, it is likely one of the Souths only monuments to Black Union soldiers Nearby is the grave of James E. Fuller, the son of slaves who later became Norfolks first Black city councilman in the 1880s. Fuller, a Civil War veteran, led the effort to establish West Point Cemetery and the monument honoring the soldiers. He also helped found Norfolks first public school for Black people. As we gather here today, it is my sincerest hope that you leave here with a greater understanding and respect for the efforts of those that came before us, said City Council member John JP Paige. I hope that as you gain an understanding of why we have a civil today, to honor this success, you will be a conveyor of this important part of history. Related Articles We must be unified in our efforts to share history, and this unity must be intentional, relentless and durable. We must never forget that freedom has never been free for us, not for our people. Preserving this history of African Americans is just as important as preserving the history of all Americans. The Hampton Roads Uplift Foundation worked with the Lambda Omega and Gamma XI chapters of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. to host the ceremony. Ted Price, chair of the military affairs committee for the Lambda Omega chapter, said the citys rich military history made the choice to honor the soldiers during Military Appreciation Month a no-brainer. We thought it was only a fitting thing to do, to honor them for their sacrifices, Price said. According to the city of Norfolk, it was one of the few major cities in the South where Black men could be recruited because the area had been re-occupied by Union forces. About 1,200 local African American soldiers served at the battles of Chaffin Farms, New Market Heights, Fair Oaks, Dutch Gap and the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond. Many were cited for bravery and awarded medals. As we all honor these great soldiers of the past, let us never forget their plight in times when they were not recognized as citizens of this country, but as tools and equitable property of a power of their era, said Ron Moore, leader of the Lambda Omega chapter. We still have roads to travel, but not as terminal as these great soldiers once experienced. I thank you, my fallen heroes. Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com THEODORE, Ala. (WKRG) A Theodore man was sentenced to 90 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to the United States Department of Justice. Court documents say Jason Duane Reynolds, 45, was involved with several other people in a large-scale conspiracy where significant amounts of methamphetamine were distributed in both Alabama and Mississippi. Murder suspect in Stockton mass shooting to face Aniahs Law hearing Jason Duane Reynolds (Photo courtesy of the Mobile County Sheriffs Office) Mobile County Sheriffs deputies pulled Reynolds over in April 2022, and they found methamphetamine in his vehicle. Investigators learned Reynolds was connected with conspirators that local and federal investigators had identified as methamphetamine targets. Reynolds was held accountable for approximately 224 grams of methamphetamine actual that was distributed during the conspiracy, while other conspirators were involved with multiple kilograms of the substance, the USDOJ release said. St. Stephens Road shooting victim dead; person of interest detained: Mobile Police United States District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose imposed Reynolds 90-month sentence. Reynolds will also serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence. Drug abuse testing and treatment was ordered as a special condition of Reynolds supervision, the USDOJ release said. The judge did not impose a fine, but ordered that Reynolds pay $100 in special mandatory assessments. The Southern District of Alabamas U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello made the annoucnmenent. The investigation included the Mobile County Sheriffs Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Mobile Police Department; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and Homeland Security Investigations. Spanish Fort Police find dead hog floating near Causeway Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria A. Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. The investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organization that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks, the USDOJ release said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. DENVER (KDVR) Gas tanks are being targeted for fuel, leaving victims on empty. A Denver man is now warning drivers after he said someone drilled into his trucks gas tank and took every drop of fuel. FOX31 spoke to him exclusively on Friday afternoon. Frontier Airlines is dumping change fees and making other moves A dried puddle of gas is a reminder of what a crook did to Robert Morris truck in the early morning of April 22. Life is a hustle, Morris said. It seems to me people care less about what happens to peoples stuff. Morris said his Ford F-150 was parked in front of his home in the historic Montclair neighborhood in Denver. Quick and easy. I dont have street lights either, so you know, really cant see anything. Its mainly an older part of town. Its pretty quiet at that time, Morris said. When he went outside the next morning for work, he quickly learned something was wrong. There was some kind of liquid underneath my car, in kind of a weirder spot than normal. I went to take a look, and somebody drilled a couple of quarter-inch holes into my gas tank, Morris said. I didnt really smell it at first. My neighbors smelled a little something and then one of my neighbors across the street told me they thought I was working on my car because he saw some type of pan under it early in the morning around 5 a.m. They spilled it all over the place. Dried up puddle of gas on asphalt Morris truck was out of service for a week. I had to take some time off to just figure out what I needed to do for it, he said. I used a product thats able to seal gas tanks. So I just did it myself, and so far, its been holding up pretty good. The problem not only took a stab at his gas tank but his wallet too. $20 fix compared to a $300 to $400 fix, Morris said. 50 Denver cases of fuel theft reported so far in 2024 After he posted his story to the NextDoor app, he learned he was not alone. The Denver Police Department told FOX31 there have been 50 cases involving gas taken from vehicles in 2024 so far. Its super frustrating. Really, you cant do much, Morris said. Im going to stick up a couple cameras myself to see if I can catch somebody doing it. Police say the best advice to prevent this is to secure your vehicle inside a garage. Otherwise, keep an eye out for suspicious activities. If you see something, say something. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Anyone with information about any of the cases is urged to call the Denver Police Department at 720-913-6161 or call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Brazil is still trying to recover from the overwhelming flooding that struck the country in early May. What happened? The worst flooding Brazil has seen in nearly 80 years devastated the southern part of the country, killing more than 140 people and forcing more than a half million people to flee their homes. Some parts of the country saw an estimated 20 to 40 inches of rain. This catastrophic event almost cut off the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, and its city's more than 1.3 million residents. According to a report in the Guardian, the torrential rain left an estimated half a million people without power and clean water. Why are these floods concerning? Flooding in this part of the world isn't unusual, but the scale of flooding here hasn't been seen since 1941. Climate experts think this flooding event was made worse by the influence of relatively warmer waters in the eastern Pacific brought on by the current El Nino phase and a warming world. Warmer air holds more water, which can mean heavier rainfall and worse flooding during events like this. A warming Earth means more snowmelt, rising sea levels, and an increased potential for storm surges. The contiguous United States endured a record 28 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2023, four of which were due to flooding. Worldwide, our planet had a record 63 billion-dollar weather disasters last year, as Yale Climate Connections reported, based on insurance data. According to the same data, the top 30 most costly non-U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters of 2023 included 11 flooding events. What can I do to help Brazil? Brazil announced a plan to provide 50.9 billion reais (about $9.9 billion) in aid to the millions of people impacted by the flooding, as Bloomberg reported. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is the UN agency that helps people who have been displaced. The agency is helping by supporting rescue teams in Brazil. According to data from the Brazilian federal government, the flooding has displaced more than 165,000 people, as Bloomberg reported on May 9. The UNRA and its partners will help assess the impact of the flooding and identify the needs of Brazilians who need help recovering from this event. Companies like Amazon are providing resources and support to the region. You can help the flood victims by donating to agencies that support their recovery. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy and The Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross are just two places to start. Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. CHARLOTTE (PINPOINT WEATHER) As we close out the week, we are tracking scattered showers this evening with more on the way as we head through the weekend. INTERACTIVE RADAR | Tracking passing showers, storms in the Queen City News viewing area Isolated strong storms are expected Saturday afternoon and evening before drier weather moves Sunday afternoon and heading into next week. Along with the drier weather, we are expecting a drop in humidity to start next week. As for tonight and Saturday, scattered showers are expected this evening along with cloudy skies as temperatures drift down towards the mid-60s. While an isolated thunderstorm is possible, do not expect any severe weather tonight with the showers moving out overnight. After a mostly cloudy and dry Saturday morning, scattered thunderstorms are expected during the afternoon and evening hours along with highs in the upper 70s. Severe thunderstorms are possible with the main concern being strong and damaging winds along with hail. Download the Pinpoint Weather app today! iPhone and iPad users, CLICK HERE. Android users, CLICK HERE. Showers are possible on Sunday morning before drier conditions move in for the afternoon and evening hours. Temperatures will be a little bit on the cooler side with highs in the low 70s. Heading into next week temperatures will rebound back into the low 80s, but the humidity will stay on the muted side making for a pleasant Monday and Tuesday. In the meantime, make sure you have the rain gear nearby for the next couple of days. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Once, as I was looking through files from Yad Vashem the Holocaust memorial and archive in west Jerusalem I found a postcard. On it, a mother from Amsterdam wrote to ask that her children be taken care of. They were far away, somewhere safer; she had hurriedly scrawled this last note before being hustled onto a train. She later slipped the postcard through the slats in the side of a cattle truck heading east through Nazi-occupied Europe a final plea that fell to earth, undelivered, by the tracks. Each cattle truck had a barrel of drinking water and an empty barrel for use as a toilet, writes Martin Sixsmith, journalist and historian, of the Dutch Jews journeys to the concentration camps. There were no seats or mattresses, no straw on the floor, and people were packed so tightly that it was impossible to sit or lie down. In the Holocaust, 75 per cent of the over-100,000 Jews in the Netherlands were murdered. The Dutch turned more Jews over to the Nazis than any other nation. There were traitors in every Resistance cell, explains Anna-Maria van der Vaart, a 99-year-old former member of the Dutch resistance. Her formidable exploits in resisting Nazi rule and rescuing Jews form the core of Sixsmiths My Sins Go With Me, which, in the now-large category of books broadly centred around hope and heroism in the Holocaust, constitutes a highly engaging albeit flawed candidate for the shelf. Van der Vaart and her husband, Pim Roest, joined the Dutch Resistance after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. With colleagues, they offered shelter for Jews, sabotaged German infrastructure, supported downed Allied airmen and assassinated Nazi officers. Drawing out both sides of the underground war, both Dutch fighters and the Nazi occupiers alongside collaborators, bystanders and victims Sixsmith takes us through the chronology of growing threat, using interviews with surviving participants to evoke the tenebrous atmosphere inside communities and homes. The creeping escalation of oppression and rebellion is often thrillingly told, reminiscent at points of The Wall, John Herseys masterful 1950 novel about the Warsaw Ghetto and the 1943 uprising. My Sins Go With Me also features 372 photos through the text, depicting figures, places and incidents mentioned; these are interspersed between short paragraphs and long quotations. Unfortunately, the pictures can disrupt the narrative flow, sacrificing atmosphere to a staccato rhythm. Nor do text and image always complement each other sufficiently to justify the parallel tracks: one resistance fighter is described as having a battered, outdoor complexion, and the sentence is immediately followed by an image of him outdoors, being pelted by the wind. The former Dutch resister Anna-Maria van der Vaart, aged 97 - Martin Sixsmith My Sins Go With Me, furthermore, is a divided book. Uncertain of its identity as a work of history, it seems to yearn for the qualities of a novel too. I have adhered to the facts where the facts are known, Sixsmith writes. Where they are not, I have filled in the gaps with a probable narrative of what happened in the shadows. Yet even when he uses long quotations and reconstructs conversations seemingly verbatim, he offers no footnotes or references. Memory can be an asset and a curse in writing history, but the answer cannot be to bypass the norms of scholarship. The Dutch National Holocaust Museum only opened in March 2024. And that same month, a new controversy erupted, after it was discovered that GVB, Amsterdams transport operator, had invoiced the West German government after the war for the transportation of 48,000 people to the concentration camps. My Sins Go With Me, then, is a powerful story of a history that remains far from settled. Its a shame that its too mired in the muddy territory between fact and fiction to deliver on its potential. My Sins Go With Me is published by Simon & Schuster at 22. To order your copy for 18.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books 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. heathrow airport Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial is seeking to offload three regional British airports as a separate deal to sell its stake in Heathrow falters. Ferrovial and co-owner Macquarie have enlisted advisers to sell AGS Airports, which owns and operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports. Bankers at Credit Agricole and Solomon Partners have been tasked with overseeing the process, which is expected to kick off in the coming weeks. A source close to the process said AGS will be sold in its entirety, allowing both Ferrovial and Macquarie to exit. Each owns 50pc of the business. The pair paid 1bn for the company in 2014 but the business is expected to be valued at much more when it comes up for sale. It comes as Ferrovials 2.4bn deal to sell its 25pc stake in Heathrow is at risk of collapse, fuelled by a dearth of prospective buyers for the wider business. Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund (PIF) and private equity firm Ardian teamed up to buy out Ferrovial last year but the deal is contingent on other Heathrow investors finding buyers for their stakes after shareholders triggered so-called tag-along rights. It means another 35pc stake of Heathrow must be sold for the deal to complete. Australias Macquarie had been touted as a potential bidder for the outstanding stake but subsequently scrapped its acquisition plans last month, as revealed by The Telegraph. During a call with investors earlier this week, Ferrovials chief financial officer Ernesto Lopez Mozo refused to say whether the Heathrow sale will be completed by the end of the year. Sources close to the deal have claimed there are no other bidders immediately apparent to support PIF and Ardian, with the latter unsuccessfully leading attempts to identify another investor. Abu Dhabis Mubadala investment fund, backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had reportedly shown an interest earlier this year but is thought to no longer be considering the deal. The proposed sale of AGS will represent the latest transaction in the aviation sector, after French infrastructure group Vinci Airports bought a majority stake in Edinburgh Airport for around 1.27bn last month. According to its most recent results, AGS reported revenues of 166m for the year to December 2022, up from 87m in 2021 when pandemic restrictions were still in place. Macquarie and Ferrovial declined to comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A Clark County jury heard key testimony Friday from a retired police detective in the murder trial of a convicted sex offender accused of strangling his young girlfriend in their downtown Las Vegas home in March 2017. Seven years later, prosecutors said Robert Roginsky, 46, killed Laura Guden, 21, and used multiple cell phones and various versions of events to mislead police investigating the murder. We had tons of probable cause to enter that house, retired Metro police detective Dan Long said on the witness stand Friday. That conclusion prompted Roginskys attorney to object, leading prosecutors to instead question Long about what they found when they entered the couples apartment in the Arts District. She had been in a fight, Long said of Guden. Her nails were broken and she had contusions, abrasions everywhere. Long testified that Roginsky had scratches and bruises on his face and body and that police were eager to look underneath Gudens fingernails. I wanted those nails, Long said. I thought, if she had used the nails and broke them on somebody, those nails would tell us a lot. Long also detailed how Gudens neck arguably showed evidence of both manual strangulation and strangulation with a foreign object. The jury, tasked with determining Roginskys guilt or innocence in Gudens death, is unaware of Roginskys troubling criminal history. In 2008, Roginsky spent more than three years in prison for sexually assaulting a child under 14. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he was eligible for parole after four years. Then in 2014, Roginsky was convicted for violating his lifetime supervision after he created an internet business under the name Robert Bailey. As a result, investigators say Roginsky broke six rules by using an alias name, his Internet use, and much more. However, his sentence included probation due to a plea deal. In this case, the allegations of the violations werent all that serious, but they were serious enough for us to bring a felony charge and get a conviction on him, Steve Wolfson, Clark County District Attorney told the 8 News Now. Roginsky, apparently, is still prohibited from using the Internet for any reason. As a result, Judge Carli Kierny checked with officers from Metro to see whether Roginsky could look at his attorneys computer screen to view cell phone data being discussed by a prosecution witness Friday morning before Long took the witness stand. The victims family, who has attended the entire trial, looks forward to Roginsky being convicted of killing Guden. I didnt realize how much closure I needed, Agna Guden, Lauras sister said. After seven years its really important to be able to be here and hopefully get some closure and justice for her. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. CNN political commentator Alice Stewart died suddenly on Saturday at the age of 58. Authorities said they discovered her body outdoors in Bellevue, Virginia, and believe Stewart suffered a medical emergency. No foul play is suspected. Stewart served as communications director for the presidential campaigns of former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), and most recently Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). She was hired by CNN ahead of the 2016 presidential election. She was a conservative commentator who would regularly appear on CNN, and offer criticism of former president Donald Trump. She appeared on Fridays edition of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. CNNs CEO Mark Thompson announced her passing in an email to staff on Saturday. Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN, Thompson wrote. A political veteran and an Emmy Award-winning journalist who brought an incomparable spark to CNNs coverage, known across our bureaus not only for her political savvy, but for her unwavering kindness. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss. Several CNN staff members took to X to post about Stewarts passing. My heart is broken over the passing of our dear colleague Alice Stewart. Weve been friends going back to the 2012 campaign, wrote CNN anchor Jim Acosta. My heart is broken over the passing of our dear colleague Alice Stewart. Weve been friends going back to the 2012 campaign. We spent so many weekends talking politics with the wonderful @MariaTCardona - they always spoke so passionately but with kindness and civility. Alice was pic.twitter.com/fv97A2LP7w Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 18, 2024 Political commentator Ana Navarro-Cardenas wrote that Stewart was a breath of fresh air -always professional- at a time when lack of decorum and civility reign in political discussions. Im very sad about this news. Alice was kind, decent, hard-working and a woman whose faith sustained her. She was a breath of fresh air -always professional- at a time when lack of decorum and civility reign in political discussions. May she rest in peace. https://t.co/e7qSWjzZOW Ana Navarro-Cardenas (@ananavarro) May 18, 2024 Alyssa Farrah Griffith, who also appears on The View and CNN, wrote, Alice Stewart was smart, savvy, funny & most importantly kind. She felt like she was from another era - a more decent one where we cd [sic] disagree respectfully. She was kind to me when I was in a low place & Ill never forget it. Gutted over this news. Alice Stewart was smart, savvy, funny & most importantly kind. She felt like she was from another era - a more decent one where we cd disagree respectfully. She was kind to me when I was in a low place & Ill never forget it. Sending love to those closest Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) May 18, 2024 Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie also posted about Stewart. I am stunned and saddened by the news of Alice Stewarts passing, he wrote. She was a political pro and a wonderfully nice person to just have a conversation with on any topic. I am stunned and saddened by the news of Alice Stewarts passing. She was a political pro and a wonderfully nice person to just have a conversation with on any topic. I will miss Alice and will pray for her family. https://t.co/RxJ22Xlxbr Chris Christie (@GovChristie) May 18, 2024 Jake Tapper wrote that he was gutted by the horrible news of Stewarts passing. Kaitlan Collins and Josh Campbell also wrote tributes to their late colleague. 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 true story of a Staten Island hero soldier, whose spirit lives on in the SSG Michael H. Ollis ferry A new book details the heroics of Mike Ollis, who tragically perished in Afghanistan. It was Mike Olliss final day in Ghazni, Afghanistan. After eight months, the 24-year-old Staten Islander was about to fly out to Bagram, Afghanistan, as Tom Sileo details in I Have Your Back How An American Soldier Became an International Hero (St. Martins). But as he waited, a truck carrying 3,000 lbs. of explosives slammed into the walls of Olliss base, followed by mortars and machine gun fire. Mike Ollis, 24, spirit lives on in the SSG Ollis Freedom Foundation and the Staten Island ferry, SSG Michael H. Ollis, which entered service in February 2022. U.S Army As smoke filled the air, Taliban fighters advanced and Ollis, without any armor, returned fire amid the devastation. Much of the landscape was littered with body parts, writes Sileo. It was almost impossible to identify who had been killed or if the remains were even human. It was then he saw a Polish soldier dressed only in shorts. Caught in the crossfire was Lt. Karol Cierpica, an officer in NATOs Reconstruction Team. Suddenly, a Taliban fighter wearing a suicide bomb vest charged at Cierpica and Ollis leapt in the way. In that split-second moment, the thought most likely filling the mind of Ollis was saving the life of the Polish soldier he only just met, writes Sileo. Ollis bore the brunt of the blast and despite medical assistance was pronounced dead, just three weeks before his 25th birthday. Olliss spirit lives on in the SSG Ollis Freedom Foundation and the Staten Island ferry. In many ways Ollis was destined to serve. His father, Bob, was wounded during the Vietnam Wars Tet Offensive and Olliss decision was cemented by 9/11, when 274 fellow Staten Islanders died. Many of Staten Islands dead were police or firefighters, writes Sileo. Their ultimate sacrifice deeply inspired Mike. Ollis was 17 when he presented his folks with a Parent Consent for Enlistment form. Soon, he toured Iraq where his friend was seriously injured in a bombing. On his first Afghanistan deployment, a suicide bomb killed six colleagues. Ollis rescued 11 but pulling out bodies had started taking a huge toll on Mike, writes Sileo. On January 19, 2013, Mike Ollis, now Staff Sergeant, returned to Afghanistan, to join Allied forces in NATOs International Security Assistance Force in Ghazni. He never returned. Today, Olliss spirit lives on in the SSG Ollis Freedom Foundation and the Staten Island ferry, SSG Michael H. Ollis, which entered service in February 2022. Lt. Karol Cierpica, meanwhile, had a son in 2015. He called him Michael. Gavin Newsham In May 2016, near the zenith of its political sway, the National Rifle Association endorsed Donald Trump for president in a symbolic but forceful show of support for a Republican whose commitment to gun owners was still largely unknown. The group then spent more than $30 million to help elect Trump that November. Trump arrived here Saturday for the NRAs annual convention having proved himself a reliable ally of Second Amendment activists over the intervening eight years. Significantly less clear, though, is how much the NRA can help Trumps bid to win the White House once again. The NRA enters the 2024 election cycle with its future uncertain and relevance in question. A series of cascading scandals related to financial misconduct have badly damaged the reputation and coffers of the nations most prominent gun rights group, culminating in February with a New York jury finding the organization and top executives liable in a civil corruption case. Amid the turmoil, the NRAs longtime CEO, Wayne LaPierre, stepped down. After several years of internal power struggles, the organization will attempt this weekend to install new leadership. Its a stunning fall for a group that at its peak commanded enough Republican votes in Congress to stall almost any action to restrict firearms, even amid periods of national grief over mass shootings. I havent heard anything about the NRA since I literally cant remember when, said one veteran Republican strategist, who nevertheless asked not to be named in order to speak freely. Its been years, plural. Ive heard nothing. Full stop, nothing. The strategist added: I just think theyre not relevant anymore. Trump, for his part, has publicly stood by the embattled organization. Political organizers affiliated with the NRA were among a recent gathering of conservative groups at Mar-a-Lago arranged by the Trump campaign to plot a grassroots strategy for the fall, a source with knowledge of the meeting told CNN. The campaign did not respond to questions about the looming NRA leadership vote, but two close allies, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and the former presidents son Donald Trump Jr., have at various times been linked to the top job. Addressing the NRAs annual meeting Saturday, Trump said the rights of gun owners were under siege and urged them to get active this political cycle. Gun owners dont vote. What is that all about? Ive heard that. If gun owners voted, we would swamp them at levels that nobodys ever seen before. So I think youre a rebellious bunch, but lets be rebellious and vote this time, OK? he said. Trump, who was endorsed by the NRAs political arm Saturday, boasted that as president he stood by the organization and did not bow to pressure to implement new gun restrictions. Were under siege, but they didnt move us an inch, and we have to stand strong, he said. Trumps appearance put him in a firmly red state in front of a loyal crowd on one of the few days hes not required in Manhattan for his criminal hush money trial. It follows another campaign stop outside the battleground map last weekend in reliably blue New Jersey. Trump will also speak at a Libertarian Party conference in Washington, DC, next weekend. However, the former president has also used his days off from court to raise money as his campaign continues an aggressive push to catch up to President Joe Bidens growing war chest. Trump has spent the majority of his time outside the courtroom hosting and attending fundraisers including one Friday in Minnesota and three others this week. Despite the NRAs recent tumult and Trumps limited opportunities to campaign, the annual gathering of gun enthusiasts remains a critical constituency for fundraising, said Bryan Lanza, a Republican lobbyist who was part of the former presidents 2016 campaign. Donald Trump has funded his campaign primarily on small-dollar donations, Lanza said. The NRA is a small-dollar organization that has built a behemoth, if not a political giant, in the United States. Their convention draws in 20,000, maybe even 30,000 folks, who are passionate about guns, who spend money. That seems like the audience Id want to be speaking to, even if it was in Wyoming. The NRA did not respond to a request for comment. As he seeks a second term, Trump has promised to remain an unflinching supporter of the NRA and its agenda to unravel four years of Bidens actions on guns. Bidens campaign has branded Trump the greatest defender of the Second Amendment to ever occupy the White House. Trumps speech was short on specifics about what he would do to protect or expand gun rights in a second term, but he promised to roll back every Biden attack on the Second Amendment. He sought to remind the friendly crowd of his administrations accomplishments while arguing that another four years of Bidens leadership would result in more firearms and gun owners being targeted. The Biden campaign and gun safety groups are eager to remind voters of Trumps alliance with the NRA and opposition to certain gun restrictions, believing it could motivate suburban parents worried about the next school shooting and minority communities that deal with daily gun violence. Trumps position on guns is expected to become a huge part of this campaign in the coming months, one Biden official familiar with the strategy told CNN. Donald Trump is winning no new voters when he boasts about doing nothing about gun violence during his presidency. Period, said Nick Suplina, a senior vice president at Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Suplina said Trumps NRA appearance shows that both the organization and the man are a bit desperate for each other. Trump needs the crowd, the NRA needs the political relevance. As with many issues, Trumps stance on gun control has shifted throughout his decades in the public spotlight. Prior to running for office, Trump supported an assault weapons ban, but he backed away from that stance during his first presidential campaign. After a gunman opened fire at a Parkland, Florida, high school in 2018, killing 17 students and staff, Trump appeared to briefly embrace a host of measures to restrict gun sales, only to quickly pivot again amid intense lobbying from the NRA. Trump did address one concern of gun safety activists when his administration moved unilaterally to ban bump stocks, devices that enable a rifle to fire hundreds of rounds of ammunition per minute. The Supreme Court earlier this year heard oral arguments in a case seeking to overturn the Trump-era regulation. If President Trump regrets that decision, thats something he should come out and say because gun owners are not going to forget that, said Aidan Johnston, a lobbyist for the Gun Owners of America, an organization that has at times criticized the NRA for not being vigilant enough in pushing for fewer gun restrictions. Trumps relative inaction stood at the heart of the stark divisions that emerged between Biden and Trump over firearms during their 2020 race. Among both gun safety advocates and gun rights groups, theres little disagreement about the stakes in 2024. Johnston called Biden perhaps the most anti-gun president in American history. Suplina said the current commander in chief was the strongest gun-sense president in history. Biden as president has championed new restrictions on firearms, including bipartisan passage in 2022 of the most comprehensive gun safety legislation in three decades a sweeping bill to strengthen background checks. Biden has also created the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and has issued a range of modest executive measures aimed at reducing gun violence. Among them are new regulations on the makers of ghost gun kits, which allow people to build untraceable guns at home, requiring the same compliance with federal laws imposed on commercially sold firearms. If reelected, Biden has said he would continue to pursue a long-sought ban on the AR-15, the firearm linked to many of Americas deadliest mass shootings. Trump in February vowed to undo any steps taken by Biden to regulate guns my very first week back in office, perhaps my first day. A top priority is halting a proposed rule from the Biden administration to bar hunters from using lead ammunition on certain federal lands. Firearm owners, gun manufacturers, and our beautiful 2A community know President Trump is the only one who has and will proudly stand for their Second Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution which shall not be infringed, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNN. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNNs Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Title icon The News Donald Trump agreed on Friday to a third presidential debate hosted by NBC News as the network continued to scramble to secure a televised debate slot. This week, the Biden and Trump campaigns announced that they were circumventing the longtime organizer of presidential debate contests, the Commission on Presidential Debates, and agreed to two debates in June and September respectively. But on Friday, the former president announced on Truth Social that he had agreed to participate in an additional debate, this one hosted by NBC News and Spanish-language network Telemundo. The third proposed debate caught the Biden campaign by surprise, and was the result of behind-the-scenes discussions between the Trump campaign and NBC News without the Biden teams participation. According to one person familiar with the talks, NBC News reached out to the Biden campaign on Wednesday saying it was interested in hosting a debate. It came after the presidents team sent a letter formally withdrawing from participation in the contests hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and suggesting that he would take part in two debates. But the network was slower than broadcast rivals CNN and ABC News, which within less than two hours had submitted formal requests that were accepted by both campaigns. One person familiar with the discussions told Semafor that the Biden team did not receive an offer from NBC until after the campaign had already agreed to debates with CNN and ABC, and that the offer was not as detailed as those submitted by CNN and ABC. NBC then turned its attention to seeing if it could secure the broadcast rights for the vice presidential debate, and held what were described by one source as serious discussions with Kamala Harriss team about hosting the contest. But NBC was concerned that potential dates could conflict with its planned Summer Olympics broadcasts, and the network was beaten again after the Biden campaign accepted an offer from CBS News. That debate, however, remains shrouded in uncertainty: Two sources familiar with the discussions told Semafor that the Trump campaign has not accepted the vice presidential debate, hoping to see if it can angle for a contest hosted instead by Fox News. Puck reported on Wednesday that NBC staff were blindsided by the whirlwind sequence of events that left the network without a debate. But the network wasnt done trying to secure its place at the table. NBC News held unilateral discussions with the Trump campaign about the potential for a third debate, which was quickly accepted by the Republican presidential nominee. It came as a surprise to the Biden campaign, which learned about the proposed debate on Twitter, according to one person familiar with the situation. Title icon Maxs view It seems unlikely that the proposed NBC debate will actually take place. When asked about it, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign pointed to its letter on Wednesday saying that the president would only participate in two televised contests. Trumps announcement Friday seems to serve two purposes. For his campaign, its an opportunity to needle Biden, and make the president appear like he is unwilling to debate. As he tries to court nonwhite voters, Trump could point out that the president is unwilling to accept a debate hosted on a Hispanic network. For NBC News, its a Hail Mary attempt to secure its own debate slot, lest the network be forced to simulcast the CNN or ABC News debates, which both networks have offered. In the eyes of some at NBC News, the uncertainty around the vice presidential debate and the Trump campaigns willingness to participate in future contests has left the door open for the network. Semafor Logo Donald Trump on Friday night attacked both Joe Biden and CNN over the upcoming debate during a speech in Minnesota, claiming the president isnt physically fit enough to debate him and criticizing one of the networks star anchors. During a nearly 90-minute speech at the Minnesota GOPs Lincoln Reagan Dinner in St. Paul, Trump lashed out at CNNs Jake Tapper, who is set to moderate the June 27 debate along with Dana Bash, and claimed that Biden should undergo a drug test beforehand. Trump and Biden are also set to debate on ABC on Sept. 10. If he makes it through the debate, theyll say it was the finest debate performance in history, Trump said of Biden. Trump said at another point in the speech: Remember that idiot from CNN? Oh I shouldnt say that Im doing a debate with them, theyll be slightly tougher. I have Fake Tapper as the stopping himself before he went further. Trump has long had a contentious relationship with CNN and has often accused it of being biased against him. But Trump last year spoke at a town hall on the network hosted by Kaitlan Collins, where he received cheers from the audience. CNN defended Tapper, saying in a statement that there is no one better equipped to co-moderate the upcoming debate. Trump has also suggested Biden be drug tested before. Trump said before the first debate of the 2020 campaign that, Im willing to take a drug test. I think he should, too. Trump also suggested Biden had used performance enhancing drugs during his State of the Union address, telling radio show host Hugh Hewitt that I think somethings going on there, because I watched his State of the Union, and he was all jacked up at the beginning. By the end, he was fading fast. Trump in 2016 made the same claims against his then-opponent Hillary Clinton. A Biden campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. During the Friday night speech, Trump also railed against the multiple criminal cases hes facing, though with less aggressive rhetoric than during his rally last weekend in New Jersey, when he said Biden is surrounded by fascists, and during a private donor retreat in Florida, when he accused the president of running a Gestapo administration. On Friday night, he repeated his often-used line that the judge overseeing his criminal hush-money trial in New York, Justice Juan Merchan, is totally conflicted and claimed without providing evidence, that hes corrupt. Although Trump is under a gag order that bars him from speaking out against witnesses, jurors and others in the case, he is not prohibited from publicly criticizing the judge or prosecutors. He also suggested the Biden administration was responsible for all four criminal cases hes facing in an attempt to prevent him from winning the White House even though two cases in New York and Georgia were brought by local prosecutors. Theyve weaponized the DOJ, Trump told the audience. Thats what their form of cheating is now. During the 90-plus minute speech, Trump touched upon many familiar topics from criticizing Bidens economic policies to illegal immigration to railing against electric cars that he often mentions during his rallies. Trump is looking to compete in Minnesota, a traditionally Democratic state that his advisers say is in play. During a recent donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, top Trump lieutenants presented polling data showing Trump and Biden running close in the state, which hasnt been won by a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. The campaign has also pointed to Virginia as another Democratic-friendly state it would like to compete in. This is an official expansion of the electoral map, Trump said. Former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro was sent to federal prison for obstructing Congress in its investigation of the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But once Navarro is out of prison, there are a couple things the former Trump White House aide should expect if his former boss wins the election: a pardon, and a new job. Over the past several months, Donald Trump has told some of his advisers and friends that federal clemency for Navarro, if Trump is back in office, is a very good idea, according to a person familiar with the matter and another source briefed on it. The former president, as some of his former staff say, often speaks in vague and thinly-coded terms that they refer to as mob speak. Like a number of former Trump advisers, Navarro received a subpoena to testify before the House Jan 6. Committee about his work attempting to delay Congress certification of the 2020 election results, and his role in producing a series of reports with bogus allegations of mass voter fraud during the election. Unlike most of his former colleagues, however, Navarro openly defied the subpoena, leading to a criminal referral by the committee, an indictment from a federal grand jury in June 2022, and his conviction in September last year. He received a four-month prison sentence, which began in March. In the years since Bidens inauguration, Navarro has surfaced on Trump and the MAGA elites informal shortlist of who should expect job offers for senior roles in a second Trump administration, according to numerous people familiar with the vast government-in-waiting preparations. As Navarros legal odyssey has unfolded, Trump has privately marveled at the extreme loyalty of the former White House trade adviser whom Trump has affectionately referred to as my Peter. The former president has said that once Navarro is out of prison, were going to take care of him, a source with direct knowledge of this comment says. The ex-president has also repeatedly asked confidants how Navarro is doing behind bars, this source, and another person briefed on the situation, add. Nor is Trump the only member of his family who has expressed affection for Navarro since his imprisonment. Peter was railroaded by the same corrupt system that is trying to railroad my father, and so I thought it was important to show my support for him, Donald Trump Jr. said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone. Hes a good man, who was wrongfully convicted. Even though I just had knee surgery a few days ago, I wanted Peter to know that my entire family is praying for him and will always have his back. As candidate Trump plots a return to the White House and faces his own criminal charges across four separate cases, he has expressed a desire to hand out jobs to former aides who have faced criminal charges while working for him. Among those are former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark, both of whom Trump has privately said he wants posted in his potential second administration. Last year, Rolling Stone reported that Trump had privately pitched the idea of issuing a wave of pardons, if he secures another term, of his high-profile allies who face criminal charges from the Biden Justice Department, including charges stemming from the federal probe into Trump and other Republicans efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcome. Trump has proposed even doing this near the very start of a possible second White House term. This would be like hitting the delete-key on all of DOJs work on these investigations and be an opening shot in his next war on the Deep State, a source familiar with the matter said at the time. This would be on top of his repeated public vow on which he is currently campaigning for the presidency to pardon scores of Jan. 6 rioters. Navarros decision to defy the Jan. 6 committee during its investigation into the insurrection baffled some Trump aides and close associates, who told Rolling Stone they believe he did not have to place himself in the position of open defiance of the investigation. A number of Trump aides who remain in the former presidents good graces either complied with the committees subpoenas or invoked their fifth amendment rights not to incriminate themselves in testimony. Only Navarro and his fellow former White House aide Steve Bannon stonewalled the committees so completely that they both earned criminal convictions and four-month prison sentences for contempt of Congress. While it may have been an ill-advised legal move for Navarro, his willingness to risk prison in support of his former boss has not gone unnoticed among the upper ranks of MAGAland. In recent weeks, Trump has joked behind closed doors that Navarro is so loyal to him that somebody could waterboard his former White House aide, and Navarro still would refuse to rat on him, according to a Republican source who was privy to the conversation. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Delmaine Donson / iStock/Getty Images The average American phone lasts a mere 2.5 years, according to The Wall Street Journal. This definitely aligns with the nature of the smartphone industry and the tech industry as a whole, where innovations are constantly introduced. The top manufacturers release successor models generally each year, thereby rendering the previous years models outdated, if only slightly, in specifications and features. Its profitable for the manufacturers to have this kind of rapid release schedule. Trending Now: Mark Cuban Reveals Why He Keeps a Strict Budget Everyday Try This: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) Smartphone manufacturers implement design decisions to incentivize you to keep upgrading as soon as possible, even in one year, like preventing access to the battery. The companies offer trade-ins for your current phone to save hundreds of dollars on a new one. They also limit how many years a model will receive software and security updates. For those who want to make the most out of their phone, here are 5 ways to help your phone last longer. 1. Keep Your Phone Encased This first one might seem obvious, but its worth noting because there are limitations to how sturdy a manufacturer can make a phone. Gorilla Glass-strengthened screens and reinforced bevels can only do so much against gravity. Plus, damage to the interior parts might not present itself immediately. Popular Science also recommends a screen protector, to protect against shattering. 2. Adjust Your Charging Habits Despite the wonderful benefit of fast charging, this method actually hurts the batterys lifespan, as stated by Android Authority. If you know you have time, like when going to sleep, make sure you set your phone to charge at a regular speed, which you can configure in the settings. Moreover, charging your phone to 100% when it is low or at 0% is less efficient in the long run versus capping it at 80% to 90%. You should also limit your phones heat exposure, as it can degrade its health. Keep it out of warm places and dont cover it when charging. 3. Keep Your Software Up-to-Date Phones regularly have software and security updates that improve functioning and help combat vulnerability risks. Its easy to do, but if you forget, you can lose out on any new benefits for your device, including optimizations for its various systems and parts. 4. Seek Professionals Fixes When Necessary PopSci advises addressing small breaks with a specialist, as youll save more money than replacing the phone entirely. Screen cracks can worsen over time, so its better not to wait. WSJ references a tool on Apples website that can estimate the cost of common repairs whether you go third-party or not, youll save money with repairs instead of replacement. Story continues 5. Keep Your Phone Clean Clean out the dust and lint buildup in your phones charging port, speaker, microphone, headphone jack and any other accessible areas where dirt can get clogged, CNET suggests. Charging your phone while the port is dirty can lead to component damage. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Five Ways To Make Your Phone Last Longer Former President Donald Trump, who four years ago called on Joe Biden to take a drug test prior to the pairs first debate that September, decided to make the same demand on Fridayone that Biden is sure to wave away once more. At a campaign rally in Minnesotawhere he said he would never return if he lost the state in 2020the indicted former president recycled his old line of attack against the now-president in advance of the debate next month on CNN. I just want to debate this guy, but you know, Im going to demand a drug test, by the way. I am, I really am, Trump told supporters at the state GOP Reagan Dinner in St. Paul. Trump then reiterated what has become a right-wing talking point on Fox News and other platforms regarding Bidens State of the Union address, which seemed to quell criticisms of the presidents demeanor. Trump: I want to debate this guy but Im going to demand a drug test pic.twitter.com/X9NCGloqoU Acyn (@Acyn) May 18, 2024 I dont want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite, Trump said without any evidence, similar to Fox News host Sean Hannity calling Biden hyper-caffeinated and jacked-up. In 2020, after Trump made the same ask, the Biden campaign responded sharply. Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it, Kate Bedingfield, Bidens deputy campaign manager, said then. Wed expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn't make a plan to stop COVID-19. For Trump to make any sort of personal testing demands of Biden seems a bit rich. According to his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Trump tested positive for COVID three days before that first debate against Bidenbut went ahead with it anyway. In his speech Friday, Trump also lied once again about the 2020 election, claiming he won Minnesota. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Former President Trump said Friday evening he thinks the inner halls of the White House should apologize for the New York hush money case Trump faces, and that the case should be dropped. There is virtually universal agreement of the fact that the Alvin Bragg Witch Hunt against me, a SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner hall so the White House and DOJ, should be immediately dropped, with apologies to me and all of the others who have had to live with this Election Interfering Hoax against Crooked Joe Bidens Political Opponent, Trump said on his Truth Social site Friday. Not nice!!! Trump is concluding another week of the trial in New York, where hes making history as the first sitting or former president to undergo a criminal trial. Hes pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about their alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. Trump is under a gag order for the case, meaning his communication about the sham trial has been limited. After attacking the judges family and others, the gag order restricts what Trump can say about the court proceedings and the people in it, including star witness Michael Cohen, who testified this week. The former president has earned the support from GOP members of Congress this week, many of whom traveled from Washington to the courthouse in New York to slam the case. They claim the case is an example of election interference because it is a way to keep Trump off the campaign trial and out of President Bidens sights. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Political contributions by judges, like the $35 Juan Merchan (pictured) gave to Democrat-aligned groups, are prohibited by a New York judicial commission. Political contributions by judges, like the $35 Juan Merchan (pictured) gave to Democrat-aligned groups, are prohibited by a New York judicial commission. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP The judge overseeing Donald Trumps hush-money campaign finance trial in New York has been cautioned by a state ethics panel over two small donations made to Democrat-aligned groups in 2020. The caution is likely to be seized on by Trump and his lawyers as evidence of his claims that the New York trial, now entering its fourth week, has been unfairly adjudicated by Judge Juan Merchan along partisan political lines. But the New York state commission on judicial conduct has not revealed who lodged the complaint against Merchan that stems from a $35 donation to the Democratic group ActBlue that included $15 earmarked for Biden for President and $10 each to Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. Related: Trumps hush-money trial: Heres whats happened in the case so far Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution, spokesperson Al Baker of the state office of court administration said in response to an inquiry from Reuters. The commission considers that contributions violate the rules on prohibited political activity. In its 2024 annual report, the body said several dozen judges had apparently made prohibited contributions in the last few years, mostly to candidates for federal office. Judges are prohibited from contributing to any campaigns, including for federal office. Like so much of the misconduct the commission encounters, making a prohibited political contribution is a self-inflicted mistake, the commission wrote in the report. The commission has also received a complaint against the Manhattan judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the former presidents civil business fraud trial that resulted in a $454m fine earlier this year. That complaint, brought by Trump lawyers, has yet to be adjudicated. Under commission guidelines, proceedings are confidential unless there is a public censure or the judge makes them public. Trump has been highly critical of the justices in both cases. In the earlier trial he was censured for describing Judge Engorons law clerk of being Senate majority leader Chuck Schumers girlfriend. In the current case, he has drawn attention to Judge Merchans daughter, who works as a Democratic political consultant. In response to a motion for Merchan to step aside, which the judge denied, a separate advisory committee on judicial ethics said the contributions did not create an impression of bias or favoritism. Reports of the contributions come a day after the New York Times revealed that the wife of conservative supreme court justice Samuel Alito had flown an inverted American flag outside the couples home in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Alito has said that his wife took that action because a Democratic neighbor had used a highly pejorative insult to describe her to her face. The Tukwila train trestle behind Industry Drive is being evaluated after a fire Thursday afternoon. Around 3 p.m. Thursday the trestle was engulfed in flames. Puget Sound firefighters were on scene, assisted by Tukwila police. A man believed to live in an encampment under the trestle was taken to the hospital for smoke exposure. It appears the fire started at the encampment, but the cause is still under investigation. The trestle appears to be usable, but an evaluation is needed. Claymont High School student wins award UHRICHSVILLE JA Company Program student Ellie Baker from Claymont High School student received the Billy Michael Leadership Award from the National World War II Museum, according to Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio. Junior Achievement is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and preparingyoung people to succeed in a global economy. Ellie Baker is a senior at Claymont High School. Baker serves as the CEO of JA Company Program Age Well, and has demonstrated outstanding leadership in her community, according to a news release. Age Well is a wellness kit designed to enhance the quality of life for its users, addressing various aspects of health. The kit is broken into five health areas, all covered in the curriculum booklet. The Wellness Kit is designed to help people to live well, not just survive, as they age. The Billy Michael Student Leadership Award recognizes one student from each state and the District of Columbia who embodies the American spirit in his or her community. As a recipient of this award, Baker will embark on trip to New Orleans this Thursday through Sunday. During this trip, she will represent Ohio at the 2024 American Spirit Awards and engage in various leadership activities, explore the city of New Orleans, and get behind-the-scenes access to the National World War II Museum. Dover City Schools receives award DOVER Dover City Schools recently was recognized by the Department of Education and Workforce with the Momentum Award. Dover was one of 42 to be recognized across Ohios more than 600 school districts. This award highlights schools and districts that have demonstrated significant improvement in both student achievement levels and academic growth, according to a news release. To earn recognition, a district or school must increase its performance index score, which measures achievement levels, by at least three points from one year to the next. At the same time, a district must achieve a value-added rating, which measures student progress or growth, of four or more stars. Dover High School honors students DOVER Dover High School recognized 78 seniors during its annual academic awards night. Total awards received by the Class of 2024 were $2,690,099, and 41 summa cum laude recipients were honored. Dover Chemical earns medal in business sustainability DOVER Dover Chemical Corp. recently achieved a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis, a provider of business sustainability ratings. This is the first year the company has earned a medal from EcoVadis. Dover Chemical Corporation scored a 57, which places the company in the top 35% globally. EcoVadis is the global standard for business sustainability ratings. The EcoVadis assessment evaluates 21 sustainability criteria across four core themes of environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. Central American Medical Outreach founder to speak DOVER Kathryn M. Tschiegg, founder of Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO), will present her book, Hope for the Forgotten: My Unlikely Journey, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Dover Public Library. During the program, Tschiegg will tell her story of overcoming obstacles, of achieving recognition as an ER and ICU nurse, and of building a nonprofit organization delivering education, medical services, and community development to those in need in Honduras. Tschiegg spends half the year living and working in Honduras and the other half at CAMOs headquarters in her hometown of Orrville. Register for the program at www.doverlibrary.org/events or call the library at 330-343-6123. Buckeye Trail High School student wins scholarship NEW CONCORD Chloe Milliken from Buckeye Trail High School has been awarded the Dale W. Dickson Endowed Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year at Muskingum University. Milliken will begin her studies at Muskingum University in the fall and plans to major in psychology. The scholarship fund was established by Dicksons family, friends and the Mace Club a social club at Muskingum University following his death in 1998. Fly-in is Saturday and May 26 NEW PHILADELPHIA The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1077 will have a Memorial Day Fly-in Saturday and May 26 at Harry Clever Field, 1834 E. High Ave. A 1942 Douglas C-53 Skytrooper will be featured. Aircraft tours will be available for a donation. A breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 26. For more information, call 330-987-9877. Entities in Tuscarawas, Columbiana counties receive grants NELSONVILLE The Dale Hileman Legacy Fund at the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio recently awarded grants to support projects investing in eastern Ohio students while promoting economic development and growth. Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Tuscarawas County received a grant to support a partnership with Claymont High School that provides summer jobs to low-income students interested in history as well as other entrepreneurial areas such as cooking, marketing, business and event planning. The Columbiana County Educational Service Center received funding to support a summer manufacturing camp, held in collaboration with the Columbiana County Business Advisory Council and 11 local school districts. Middle-school students will learn robotics and code development and tour local manufacturers to see the skills they are learning in action. The Dale Hileman Legacy Fund, created with support from the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance (EODA), supports economic development and growth and organizations within EODAs service area of Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Tuscarawas and Washington counties. Hileman was a native of Columbiana County. For more information about the Dale Hileman Legacy Fund, FAO and how to support or create opportunities in the region, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org, email info@ffao.org or call 740-753-1111. This article originally appeared on The Repository: Tuscarawas County roundup: News from the Dover-New Philadelphia area Two Republican members of Congress who have voiced their concerns over how transgender rights allegedly negatively impact society have admitted to a sexual affair. Texas U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne has confirmed she is dating fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia , following news of McCormicks divorce from his wife of 12 years, Dr. Debra Miller, an oncologist. McCormick filed for divorce on May 3, citing a breakdown in the couples marriage. The filing came amid growing speculation about his relationship with Van Duyne, sparked by sightings of the two engaging in intimate behavior on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Dr. Miller hinted at a possible affair, suggesting that inquiries should be directed to McCormick and his colleague. Van Duyne confirmed the relationship to the Daily Mail on Thursday, saying, His marriage has been over for quite some time, as I understand it. Hes filed for divorce. Im single. Were both parents of adult children and empty nesters. We are happily engaged in a relationship, and beyond that, its a personal issue. The Daily Beast reports that the pair had been seen holding hands beneath a table during a House Republican caucus meeting and displaying other signs of affection in the House chambers. Both representatives have a history of making disparaging comments about transgender people. On April 24, Van Duyne wrote on X (formerly Twitter), In case we needed another reason to abolish the Department of Education, their war on women and obliterating Title IX in favor of transgender insanity seals the deal. (@) In January, McCormick announced the introduction of the PROTECTS Act to prohibit federal funds from being used to provide gender transition procedures to minors, writing , The majority of America can agree that the federal government should not be funding sex change procedures for minors. Children do not have the cognitive development to make life-altering decisions. Those interventions aren't available to minors. At puberty, puberty blockers can be offered under the care of a physician and with psychological support. Except for some breast-related surgeries available to some older teenagers, no surgical interventions are available for those under the age of 18. McCormick, a Marine Corps and Navy veteran, has represented Georgias sixth congressional district since 2023. He previously made headlines for an unusual report of doing pull-ups at the top of the Capitol dome and for a physical altercation with fellow Georgian, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, over competing resolutions to censure Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Van Duyne, who has served in Congress since 2021, is also no stranger to controversy. She previously gained attention for her vocal opposition to COVID-19 lockdown measures and mask mandates and for her involvement in a contentious local dispute during her tenure as the mayor of the Texas town of Irving. According to the Dallas Moring News, in 2017, Van Duyne asked lawmakers to investigate the legality of an Islamic tribunal in North Texas and spoke at a Texas Homeland Security Forum hosted by Rep. Kyle Biedermann, which focused on defending against what they called radical Islamic terrorism in Texas. Utah 2nd District Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, answers interview questions at Roost Communications in Salt Lake City, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Maloy cosponsored The Youth Poisoning and Protection Act. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Legislation that would ban the consumer sale of concentrated sodium nitrite, which officials say has seen an increase in use by youth to attempt suicide, passed the U.S. House and is heading to the Senate where it appears to have support. Sodium nitrite is typically sold at 100% concentration. At these high concentration levels, ingesting sodium nitrite has become common among teenagers and young adults who die by suicide. Several states have already banned its sale. The Youth Poisoning and Protection Act bans the consumer sale of concentrated sodium nitrite, as concentrations above 10% are considered hazardous products. Sodium nitrite is a chemical that is useful for curing meats, treating wood and more. The bill does not conflict with commercial uses of sodium nitrite. Utah 2nd District Rep. Celeste Maloy was a co-sponsor of the Youth Poisoning and Protection Act, which had earlier been sponsored by Rep. Chris Stewart, who Maloy replaced in the 2nd District. One of my first acts in Congress was co-sponsoring this bill because Ive seen how too many of Utahs families have lost young people to suicide. Its the leading cause of death for teens in our state. With passage of this bill, we are working to restrict a top suicide poison, sodium nitrite, at lethal concentration levels without interfering in its key commercial uses, Maloy said in a statement shared with the Deseret News. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or chatting online at 988lifeline.org. Gregory Gerami still insists the value of his purported donation to Florida A&M University is worth an estimated $237 million. Yet, there's mounting evidence the donation and donor are not what they seemed when the gift was hailed as the largest act of philanthropy in HBCU history. On May 4, when he addressed the audience of graduates, their families, friends and alumni, he proclaimed to applause: "The money is in the bank." But it wasn't. Instead he transferred 14 million shares of stock of indeterminate value that could be worth $300 million or zero dollars, according to one FAMU Foundation board member. Gerami, a little known Texas-based hemp producer and CEO of Batterson Farms Corp, presented himself as an innovator on the rise, who owned one of the few Black hemp farms in Texas. Then Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the FAMU Foundation Shawnta Friday-Stroud, Batterson Farms Corporation CEO Gregory Gerami and FAMU President Larry Robinson sit in a conference room on the day of FAMU's last spring 2024 graduation ceremony on May 4, 2024. But few industry insiders knew his name and his scant digital footprint and missing money trail led to near instant skepticism. Despite six months of interactions and conversations, FAMU blew past possible red flags, which might have led them to a former Alabama politician listed as Gerami's co-CEO, who told the Tallahassee Democrat she never received a dime from him. Now, FAMU the nation's top ranked historically Black public university appears to have cut all public ties with Gerami, CEO of Batterson Farms Corp. At the May 15 special meeting by the FAMU Board of Trustees, President Larry Robinson apologized, saying the donation has been "ceased" though he did not explain what that meant. He admitted to missteps and "ignoring warning signs along the way" which has now led to the board's decision for a third-party investigation. In an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Gerami said he didn't watch the special meeting, adding he was on vacation and trying his hand at pickleball and was unable to tune in. As of May 16, Gerami said he hasn't received any formal communication from FAMU about its decision to cease all activity related to the donation, adding he hasn't been contacted by Robinson or anyone from FAMU leadership in nearly a week. And while he stands by his purported donation, he has not responded to requests from the Democrat to share any appraisal or valuation of the stock. 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. He said he was "aware of a few things," including Shawnta Friday-Stroud's sudden resignation as vice president for university advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation and that an interim director was named. When asked if FAMU has rescinded the gift, he said, "I haven't heard that." "I have not received information that they were going to pull from the gift (as of May 16)," said Gerami, who said he understands both FAMU Foundation board members and trustees want to see a third-party valuation of the private stock. "It's premature, and I can't speak for FAMU and I have no issues with FAMU ... My commitment still remains. Story continues "The university and other folks and the media are doing things that are premature because we don't even have a valuation." 'For the Love of Money': How the donation went down On May 4, during the spring graduation ceremony, FAMU believed it was making history with its megaphone announcement that it had received a historic donation from the Issac Batterson Family 7th Trust, to which Gerami is a family representative. The Al Lawson Multi-purpose Center erupted in raucous celebration as "For The Love Of Money" by the O'Jays piped through the speakers as the big check came out. Florida A&M celebrates its Spring 2024 Commencement with guest speaker Mr Gregory Gerami, This inspiring figure, who overcame a myriad of challenges to become the founder of Batterson Farms Corp., is championing the cause of sustainable farming. In days, jubilation turned to doubt, damage control and now the resignation of Friday-Stroud, one of Robinson's closest confidants in his leadership circle. Trust and transparency are at the root of concerns by several trustee members and foundation members. Articles by the Democrat revealed several inconsistencies associated with Gerami, including accounts by former City Councilwoman Kimberly Abbott who said she was never paid to be co-CEO at Batterson Farms Corp despite the company website listing her in that role and his cryptic responses to basic questions about his company location, the number of employees at the company and what city he lives in. FAMU administration said it was bound by a non-disclosure agreement imposed by Gerami and selected about half a dozen university officials to be involved with the details of the donation. Robinson, who's been both celebrated and chided for his handling of university affairs throughout his tenure, walked back the momentous announcement and said it was premature. He also publicly apologized to FAMU Board of Trustees Chairwoman Kristin Harper, who skewered him for not informing her of the announcement prior to being asked to pose for the check presentation and sign off on the Gift Acceptance Agreement. Gerami says he may participate in investigation In a Thursday interview with Gerami, the Demcorat asked if he would participate in a third-party investigation surrounding the donation. Gerami responded "it depends on what's asked." "We also understand that transparency is key to an extent," he said. "We also must protect our business and our proprietary information. So having a third party evaluate our business and determine the stock price, I think (that is) most important in this whole situation." Gerami also said he was not asked to participate in the FAMU Foundation emergency meeting last week nor the FAMU Board of Trustees meeting. Robinson, Friday-Stroud, Gregory Gerami, Chair Harper and Provost Watson. Florida A&M celebrates its Spring 2024 Commencement with guest speaker Mr Gregory Gerami, founder of Batterson Farms Corp. "I know for a fact no one said, 'Mr. Gerami, we'd like you to be on this Zoom call to answer whatever questions from the board,'" he said. "No one's asked that." If he had been on the call, Gerami said he believes his presence would have been well received by some and others would have attacked him. "That comes with the situation, right?," he said. "You learn that people are going to think what they want to think, and they're going to say what they want to say." Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU donation scandal: Gregory Gerami stands by value of his stock U.S. Marshals looking for Dayton woman indicted for $1.5M theft from Ohio Medicaid A Dayton woman has been indicted for an alleged $1.5 million theft from the Ohio Medicaid program, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. >> Man sentenced to 100 years in prison for federal child porn crimes; state child rape case ongoing Janay Corbitt, 36, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on eight felony counts. Those include: Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) Aggravated theft of $1.5 million or more (F1) Identity fraud against a person in a protected class (F1) Two counts of identity fraud (F2) Medicaid fraud (F3) Two counts of forgery (F3) Corbitt was previously barred from serving as a Medicaid healthcare provider, according to Yost. An investigation found that Corbitt allegedly stole multiple identities so she could open and operate two fake behavioral health counseling agencies in the Dayton area. Investigators believe Corbitt also stole several identities of licensed counselors and used their credentials to bill Medicaid for services that were not provided. According to Yost, Corbitt has allegedly stolen more than $1.8 million from Medicaid. In 2019, Corbitt was convicted of theft in a separate Medicaid scheme. >> Really disappointed; Local school district employee center of police investigation She has only paid $6,255 of the more than she owes She was ordered to pay more than $204,000 to the Medicaid program. So far, she has only paid $6,255. An arrest warrant was issued for Corbitt and the U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) is actively searching for her. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is encouraged to call the Dayton Police Department at 937-333-2677 or the Miami Valley Crime Stoppers at 937-222-7867. Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. The University of Central Florida on May 17 named Michael Okaty the new vice chair of its board of trustees after Harold Mills stepped down from the role earlier this week. UCFs trustees chose Okaty, the managing partner of Foley & Lardner LLPs Orlando office, for the role out of three candidates. The board considered Okaty; Keith Altizer & Co. PA Managing Shareholder Tiffany Altizer; and real estate developer Caryl McAlpin, with Okaty getting seven votes, Altizer getting three and McAlpin getting two. The move comes as Mills, UCFs former vice chair, stepped away from his board roles after his arrest in a Seminole County prostitution sting. Mills has pled not guilty to two misdemeanor charges. Read: Harold Mills resigns from UCF Board of Trustees, university says Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Representatives of the UCLA Academic Senate have voted against censuring and making a "no confidence" statement against UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, rejecting a call to issue a formal disapproval of his leadership amid criticism over the university's response to a pro-Palestinian campus encampment and violent mob attack against it more than two weeks ago. On a "no confidence" resolution, 79 faculty members approved, 103 opposed, five abstained, and seven members were present but did not vote, with 43% of representatives voting against UCLA's top leader. On censure, 88 faculty members approved, 88 opposed, three abstained and 15 were present but did not vote. Since the vote was split in half for and against censure, it did not pass as it needed a majority to succeed. Read more: Congress investigating UCLA over treatment of Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests Block declined to comment on the vote. In a Friday letter to faculty, academic senate Chair Andrea M. Kasko said it was "clear that we are not united in how we view the major events of the past weeks and the campus response to them." Kasko, a professor of bioengineering, said she hoped that "we can try to find common ground as colleagues and have the courage to listen with open minds and open hearts even when we do not agree." Following the vote, UC President Michael V. Drake said: These are extraordinarily complex and unprecedented times for American universities. I appreciate Chancellor Blocks dedication and commitment to the University during these difficult times. We will continue to provide our chancellors with the support and resources they need to respond to these ever-evolving situations. The decision by the academic senate, even if the motions passed, would have been a largely symbolic vote with no legal authority over Block's position. Both votes focused on whether Block failed to ensure the safety of our students and grievously mishandled the events related to the pro-Palestinian encampment at the university that began April 25. On April 30, a mob attacked the encampment overnight amid a delayed police response, leading to multiple injuries. Police later moved in to take down the encampment, arresting more than 200 protesters. The no-confidence and censure motions used the same language. The vote was conducted by a legislative assembly of more than 200 members across UCLA departments who are elected to represent 3,800 tenured and tenure-track faculty. It marked another somber moment for the leader of the nations top public research university. Block is ending his 17-year tenure in controversy after years of praise for steering the campus through a financial crisis and global pandemic by expanding enrollment, diversity, philanthropy and research funding. Block, a biologist, announced last year that he will step down on July 31 to return to research. "This shows that many faculty support Chancellor Block and they understand that he was adhering to UC policy," said a source who was not authorized to speak publicly. "People are realizing that Chancellor Block was put in an impossible situation." Faculty opinions reflected the divided vote. Jeffrey Maloy, an associate professor of teaching in molecular cell and developmental biology, voted no on both motions. "We support an investigation, but it didnt feel there was a sincere effort to gather information and do some soul-searching, find out what the policies are, and whether they were violated, Maloy said. "It felt like an attempt to find a scapegoat." Maloy said he felt the censure resolution was unclear: Was Block's behavior scrutinized for censure because the chancellor would not meet protester demands? Was it that he did not call police quickly enough the night of the mob attack? Or was it that he should not have called in police at all? "I may have been persuaded to vote on a specific action tied to a specific thing, but this felt incredibly vague and aligned with faculty who wanted to claim an ideological victory," Maloy said. Michael Chwe, a political science professor and legislative assembly member who was among a group leading the push for censure and no confidence, said he still viewed the votes as "an achievement." "There were 50% of our faculty from all over the university, including the medical school and dental school, [who] were in support of censure," said Chwe, who helped organize a letter signed by more than 900 faculty and staff members from across the University of California system that called for Blocks resignation. The letter also asked for amnesty for students, staff and faculty who participated in the encampment and peaceful protests, the university's disclosure of all investments and its divestment from military weapon production companies. Read more: USC's faculty senate censures President Carol Folt and provost over commencement "We obviously would like to have had more support," said Chwe. "This is the start of many things people are doing to bring accountability and to protect student safety on campus." Chwe said those efforts included faculty support of a strike by United Auto Workers 4811, an academic workers union that includes graduate students, that is scheduled to begin Monday at UC Santa Cruz. Renee Tajima, a professor of Asian American studies and a legislative assembly member, said the vote for censure and no confidence was a "no-brainer." "Who was in charge as our students were being beaten and injured as nobody from the university administration did anything to help them?" said Tajima. "To imagine students were brutally attacked and then the next day Block calls this huge police force to arrest them and use rubber bullets on them. ... This vote is the least we can do as faculty to make a statement of what's right and what's wrong." The senate's decision takes one issue off a list of mounting challenges the chancellor faces in his last six weeks on the job. In a Wednesday letter, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, requested that Block, Drake and Rich Leib, chair of the UC Board of Regents, produce all documents, communications and security videos related to alleged antisemitic events at UCLA since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The committee gave a May 21 deadline, two days ahead of a Washington, D.C., hearing in which Block and his counterparts from Rutgers and Northwestern will testify on antisemitism at college campuses the next in a series of congressional hearings that have featured the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, and the superintendent of Berkeley public schools. The vote regarding Block's leadership is the latest of several actions by U.S. university faculty over how administrations have dealt with pro-Palestinian protests. On May 8, the USC Academic Senate voted to censure President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman over widespread dissatisfaction and concern among the faculty about administrative actions and decisions related to the cancellation of a pro-Palestinian student's valedictorian speech and riot police clearing a campus encampment. Read more: 'Unacceptable': Why it took hours for police to quell attack at UCLA pro-Palestinian camp On Thursday, 61% of faculty members in the Columbia University School of Arts and Sciences voted "no confidence" in President Minouche Shafik, who is under fire for decisions to send in police to arrest campus protesters last month, including students who occupied a university building. Three weeks of turmoil at UCLA started April 25, when students set up an encampment in the campus grassy quad to express solidarity with Palestinians, condemn Israels actions in Gaza and demand that UCLA divest from firms that make and deliver weapons and services to Israel. The encampment was initially free of violence, with protesters engaged in teach-ins, art builds, yoga and other activities. UCLA declared the encampment unlawful on April 30. Later that night, a violent mob attacked the encampment and students were left to fend for themselves against beatings, pepper spray and fireworks for three hours. Law enforcement in riot gear moved in during the early morning of May 1, but it took hours to quell the violence. Since then, a number of people have been blamed for the debacle. Internal and external investigations are underway. 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. UK Defence Intelligence believes that recent successful Ukrainian attacks have led to an overall deterioration in Russia's ability to defend the airspace around Crimea. Source: UK Defence Intelligence review dated 18 May, as reported by European Pravda On 14 May 2024, Ukrainian military forces carried out strikes on Russian military targets, resulting in the destruction of elements of the S-400 anti-air system at Belbek airfield, including a radar system and launchers. In addition, at least two MiG-31BM aircraft were reported to have been destroyed on the ground. This marks the fourth instance in the past month when Russian air defence in Crimea has suffered losses. Previously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully targeted the Ai-Petri radar station and Dzhankoi airfield. The combined effect of these strikes has led to an overall deterioration in Russia's ability to defend the airspace around Crimea, while also demonstrating Ukraine's capability to impact Russian air defence operations, the review emphasises. It is highly likely that this will force Russia to disperse its air assets or risk losing more aircraft, as well as relocate air defence systems from other areas. The reduction in A-50 aircraft coverage and their dispersal from Crimean airfields will likely lead to an increase in flight hours and frequency of fighter jet sorties to fill coverage gaps, resulting in greater maintenance challenges for their fleets. Background: Earlier, UK intelligence noted that it is unlikely that Russia has built up sufficient combat power to capture Kharkiv without deploying additional forces to the region. In a previous review, UK Defence Intelligence analysed how Russian missile attacks are destroying Ukraine's cultural, historical and religious heritage. Support UP or become our patron! The anti-aircraft gunners of Ukraines 110th Mechanized Brigade have shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft in Donetsk Oblast, making it the fourth downed jet within two weeks, the brigade said on May 18 in a Facebook post. The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed Frogfoot by NATO, is a heavily armored ground-attack aircraft that provides close air support for Russian ground troops. The aircraft helps Russia carry out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, which covers much of Donetsk Oblast. Now, its remains are smoldering in one of the forests in Donetsk Oblast, the 110th Brigade said. The unit did not specify the exact place where the aircraft was downed, but the brigade is based near Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. The brigade also said that three other Su-25s were downed on May 4, May 11, and May 13. Russia has lost 354 aircraft since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's General Staff said on the morning of May 18. These figure could not be independently verified. Read also: Source: Russia lost 7 aircraft in Ukraines April 5 attack on air base Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine asks US for permission to strike Russia with US weapons WSJ A piece of military equipment on the battlefield. Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ukraine has asked US President Joe Biden's administration to help identify targets in Russia that Kyiv could strike with its own weapons. Ukraine has also asked the US to lift restrictions on the use of US-provided weapons on military targets in Russia. Source: The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials and defence officials Details: The request came at a time when Russia had made its biggest territorial gains in Ukraine in almost 18 months in the northeastern part of Kharkiv Oblast. Other US officials said that Ukraine's request, which was made last week, was being considered. If the US agreed to such a change, it could mark a major shift in policy for an administration that had long sought to reduce the risk of military escalation between Washington and Moscow while supporting Ukraine. Quote from Air Force General CQ Brown Jr.: "They did ask [the United States] for help to strike into Russia. It wasnt specific to a weapons system but additional help in striking the Russians." More details: Russia's attack on Kharkiv Oblast earlier this month forced Ukraine to divert troops and resources from other parts of the country, putting more strain on already overstretched forces that had long been waiting for additional US weapons. The White House spokesman said that current US policy does not support such targeting assistance or the use of US weapons on Russian territory: "We dont encourage or enable attacks inside of Russia, which has been our longstanding policy." The WSJ wrote that the US had provided surface-to-surface missile systems and other ATACMS weapons on the condition that they would not be used to strike targets in Russia. Ukraine agreed to this caveat as a condition for receiving the weapons, and it was intended to reduce the risk of the conflict escalating into a direct clash between the United States and Russia. In September 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the United States would "cross a red line" and be considered a "direct party to the conflict" in the eyes of the Kremlin if it supplied Kyiv with longer-range missiles. Since then, however, Russia has turned to North Korea for ballistic missiles and Iran for drones, and used these weapons to intensify attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Russia is now moving forces and equipment into Ukraines north-east from safe territory nearby, intensifying attacks in Kharkiv Oblast. Background: During his visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on Ukraine's use of US weapons. He said that the US side still did not authorise the use of US weapons to strike Russia. However, unlike previous statements from the White House, he did not oppose such strikes in principle. At the same time, the Pentagon said that the US position on the use of US weapons in Ukraine had not changed. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation reported on May 18 that it had charged Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), and another 20 top officials of Russian special services with curating and aiding the illegal obstruction of protests during Ukraine's EuroMaidan Revolution. The revolution began in November 2013 when people gathered at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv's central square, to protest pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the long-awaited Association Agreement with the European Union. Law enforcement officers, namely Berkut riot police, used violence to suppress the protests, including lethal force. More than 100 people were killed during the revolution, which culminated in Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office concluded earlier this year that murders and violence against the EuroMaidan Revolution's participants were carried out by Ukrainian law enforcement officers under the orders of Ukrainian authorities and Russia's guidance. Russia's Bortnikov is accused of "organizing treason by the former leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), inciting national enmity and hatred in Ukraine, and illegally obstructing protests in 2013-2014," according to the bureau. Read also: EuroMaidan Revolution Bortnikov allegedly developed a plan to suppress the EuroMaidan protests to preserve Yanukovych's regime. "The ultimate goal was the further annexation of part of Ukraine's territory under the pretext of an alleged 'civil conflict'." The EuroMaidan revolution was followed by Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and an invasion of the Donbas region by Russian-backed militants. Moscow's propaganda machine tried to portray the invasion as an internal conflict. "One of the key tasks of the FSB was to prevent the European integration processes of Ukraine and NATO membership, as this threatened Russia's aggressive plans to restore the union state and absorb the former Soviet republics into its composition," reads the report. Yanukovych's refusal to sign the Association Agreement with EU was "planned in advance by Russia," the bureau said, therefore measures to prevent protests and scenarios for their violent dispersal were also purportedly developed beforehand. Russian high-ranking security officials visited Ukraine before the demonstrations emerged to instruct Ukrainian law enforcement "to disperse potential protests with maximum brutality and use excessive force to intimidate other activists," according to the bureau. Bortnikov reportedly tasked the then SBU head, who had Russian citizenship, to assist FSB employees "in their illegal subversive activities." Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) On Thursday, Spirit AeroSystems announced layoffs of up to 450 employees. One local business professor said the community should look at layoffs in two ways. First: The aviation economy. Larry Straub, a business and technology professor at Newman University, said the recent quality issues with Boeing and Spirit have led to a production slowdown, but both companies are strong, and the aviation economy is generally stable. Second: The economy here in Wichita. Straub believes there will be opportunities for jobs here in town if workers want to stay. The Wichita area and region should be able to absorb a lot of these folks. And I think most of them are going to be in the skilled trades, and theyve got a lot of good opportunities, I would think, to not only get reemployed but also to date to do that within this region, he said. Local agencies and companies hope to keep laid-off workers in our community, but Straub said its a risk for both the Wichita economy and for Spirit to let that skilled workforce go. He said companies often hope to re-hire workers back when their business stabilizes but Spirit needs to be prepared for those workers to be gone. These folks may not be here in 6-9 months. Its a pretty tight job market right now, so thats the risk that spirits having to take, said Straub. Agencies already stepping up after Spirit announces layoffs Straub also said community leaders need to work to ensure these workers with valuable skills dont leave for other opportunities. We do know these layoffs have the potential to affect many other businesses that support Spirit. It will take time to see what that impact looks like. The Wichita City Council has given financial support to Spirit over the year, with the company pledging to add jobs. In July, City Council members approved $60 million in industrial revenue bonds for an Air Capital Flight Line to build a 300,000-square-foot building that Spirit would lease. Spirit said it would create 150 new jobs thanks to the help. The City has also approved Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) to Spirit directly in the last decade. KSN asked the City about clawbacks, the provisions that would allow the City to recoup money or lost tax revenue from those deals if the company has not kept up its employment promises. We are currently evaluating the impact that any layoffs may have with regards to any agreements that may have been previously entered into, said Assistant City Manager Troy Anderson. The City said they typically evaluate IRBs at the end of the year based on employment and other factors. Story continues Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. Ukraines foreign minister blames battlefield setbacks on everyone who is not doing enough Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Saturday he blames everyone who is not doing enough for Ukraines recent setbacks on the battlefield as he admitted the current situation on the frontline was tough. Im grateful to everyone, but I blame everyone who is not doing enough, Kuleba said speaking via videoconference at the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, Estonia. He was responding to a question from CNNs Jim Sciutto about whether he holds the US responsible for the delay in aid which Russian forces have been able to take advantage of and advance further into Ukraine. Kulebas comments come after Moscow has ramped up its offensive in northern Ukraine. Last week it launched its most surprising operation in two years of war, crossing the northern border in renewed attempts to take Kharkiv, the countrys second most populous city. Vovchansk, in the northern Kharkiv region, has faced an onslaught, with Russian forces claiming to control surrounding villages, forcing civilians to flee. A pillar of smoke rises from behind apartment blocks after the shelling of Russian troops in Kharkiv on Friday. - Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images Analysts say Russia was prepared for the hiatus in Western military aid to Ukraine and has exploited it for its own gain. Ukraine may need to make difficult decisions due to slowness of US action and the dilemma that is now causing, George Barros at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington previously told CNN. It comes as Kyivs forces are thinly stretched, with much less artillery than the Russians, inadequate air defenses and a lack of soldiers. Kuleba described Ukraines current position on the frontline as tough. Russia is strong, we are suffering from insufficient supplies of military assistance which we are forced to compensate with heroism and sacrifice of our soldiers, he said. So the main message remains the same: send us everything. Because we have proven over these two years that when our soldiers have everything they need, we succeed, and when we dont have everything that we need, we dont, he added. A Ukrainian serviceman fires a howitzer toward Russian troops in Donetsk region. - Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters The foreign minister went on to say the situation on the battlefield would be different if countries did more to assist Ukraine, claiming that if every country were to follow Estonias footsteps in allocating 1% of GDP to military aid for Ukraine they would be able to perform better on the battlefield. Estonia is a country that proves to the whole world that a small country with a big heart can make a big difference and its a paradigm for everyone to follow, he said. Kuleba said Ukraine will work hard on plan A which is the continuation of support and ramping up support to make Ukraine win. CNNs Tim Lister contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Max Hunder KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukraine said Russian shelling targeted civilians in two cities in the northeastern region of Kharkiv on Saturday while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported successes by troops fighting a renewed Russian assault there. Ukrainian prosecutors said they were investigating as a potential war crime a Russian air strike on a residential area of the regional capital Kharkiv in which six civilians were wounded, including a 13-year-old girl, 16-year-old male and an eight-year-old. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians but thousands have been killed and injured since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. About 70 km (45 miles) to the northeast in Vovchansk, a city just 5 km (three miles) from the Russian border, prosecutors said Russian shelling killed a 60-year-old woman and injured three other civilians. A 59-year-man was also injured in the village of Ukrainske, they said. Across the border in Russia's Belgorod region, Moscow's defence ministry said its forces shot down a Tochka-U missile fired by Ukraine. A similar missile caused a Belgorod apartment building to collapse last week, killing at least 15 people, Russia said. Late on Saturday Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone attack injured a woman and a man in the village of Petrovka. They were treated for shrapnel injuries in Belgorod, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that Ukrainian forces were on surer footing, particularly in Kharkiv region. "The occupier is losing its infantry and equipment, a tangible loss, even though, just as in 2022, it was counting on a quick advance on our land," Zelenskiy said, referring to Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. However, Russia's defence ministry said its forces captured the village of Starytsia in the Kharkiv region on Saturday, eight days after a new Russian push in the area began. Zelenskiy said his forces repelled an assault farther south in the eastern Donetsk region around Chasiv Yar, a city seen as a key target in Russia's campaign. "Our soldiers destroyed more than 20 units of the occupier's armoured vehicles," he said. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts. Regional governor Vadym Filashkin credited special units under the HUR military intelligence agency for the battlefield success, which he said took place on Friday. "There is not a single occupier in Chasiv Yar," he said on the Telegram messaging app. "They burned armoured vehicles and smashed enemy ranks," he added in comments accompanying a video showing vehicles exploding. In the village of Stanislav in the southern region of Kherson, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a Russian drone strike killed a man about 40 years old and injured a woman. (Reporting by Bogdan Kochubey in Kyiv; Additional reporting, writing by Elaine Monaghan in Washington; editing by Giles Elgood and Cynthia Osterman) Ukraine reports no artillery shortages for first time in war, says Zelenskyy Ukraine reported no shortages of artillery shells for the first time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian forces have been suffering from severe shortages of shells in recent months. Ukraine has been unable to fire more than 2,000 artillery shells a day, its defense minister said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Ukraine's forces had reported no shortages of artillery shells for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Kyiv Independent reported. "For the first time during the war, none of the brigades complained that there were no artillery shells," Zelenskyy said on May 16. According to reports, the refreshed artillery is now helping to blunt Russian advances around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city. In sharp contrast to battles in January-April, during which the US halted all military assistance to Ukraine, Ukrainian soldier and milblogger Stanislav Osman, author of the popular Hovoryat Snaiper channel, observed that Russian forces attacking in the Kharkiv sector have been facing punishing artillery fire and even attack helicopter strikes, The Kyiv Post reported. The shell famine A Ukrainian soldier prepares 155mm artillery shells in his fighting position as Ukrainian Army conduct operation to target trenches of Russian forces through the Donetsk Oblast amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 6, 2023. Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Ukraine's armed forces have faced severe artillery shortages in recent months, partly due to a US military aid package being stalled in Congress. Ukraine's defense minister, Rustem Umerov, wrote in a letter to EU counterparts in February that the shortages had left Ukraine unable to fire more than 2,000 artillery shells a day, roughly one-third of Russia's capacity. Ukraine has also lost significant territory in eastern regions since late 2023, and it has blamed munitions shortages on major losses, such as the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. Despite President Zelenskyy's upbeat messaging this week, a frontline report by BBC News this week appeared to suggest shells could still be in short supply for some units. Petr Pavel, the president of the Czech Republic, told reporters in March that eighteen countries are participating in the initiative to fund the purchases. The release of $61 billion in US aid in April also boosted Ukraine's hard-pressed forces battling the Russian invasion.The release of $61 billion in US aid in April was also a boost to Ukraine's hard-pressed forces battling the Russian invasion. Despite this, Russian artillery will likely outmatch Ukraine's for most of 2024, officials and analysts told Foreign Policy. Russia can produce around 250,000 artillery munitions a month or around 3 million a year, CNN reported, citing NATO intelligence estimates of Russian defense production. Russian forces are now focused on conducting an offensive on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, which Russian President Vladimir Putin claims is part of an attempt to create a "buffer zone" to protect Russian border areas from Ukrainian attacks. Gen. Christopher Cavoli said earlier this week that Russia likely does "not have sufficient forces to achieve a 'strategic breakthrough' in Ukraine," however, per the Institute for the Study of War think tank. He added that he expected Ukrainian forces would "hold the line" near Kharkiv City. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukraine can still beat Russia. It just comes down to enough Western aid. Ukraine can go back on the offensive, but it will require more troops and equipment. A RAND expert believes Ukraine can build a strike force capable of a decisive offensive. Right now, Ukraine's biggest problem isn't lack of manpower, but lack of equipment. With 14 to 21 well-equipped brigades, Ukraine could eject Russian forces from all Ukrainian territory, according to an American expert. The question is whether Ukraine can find the manpower, and whether Ukraine's allies are willing to spend the money to arm them properly. Yet what is remarkable is that despite Ukraine being outnumbered and outgunned by Russia, Kyiv still has a genuine chance of winning the war. "What has really kind of disturbed me is that we're two and a half years into this war, and no one's put forth a potential theory of victory yet," Michael Bohnert, a defense analyst at the RAND Corp. think tank, told Business Insider. Using data from a variety of sources, Bohnert has calculated the financial costs of Ukrainian victory, or at least for munitions. Ukraine's Western allies like the US and members of the EU would have to spend $54 billion to $72 billion per year to manufacture enough missiles and artillery shells to enable Ukraine to go on the offensive again. For this potential formula for Ukrainian victory, there are two prerequisites. One is Ukraine amassing a sufficiently powerful ground combat force that can defeat the estimated 500,000 Russian troops in Ukraine. Past history isn't promising. An ill-prepared Ukrainian counteroffensive in summer 2023 sputtered amid Russian minefields and inexperienced Ukrainian troops struggling to master newly arrived Western combat vehicles. However, Bohnert points to a 2015 RAND study of the US Army that suggests Ukraine could recapture its territory. As part of that study, researchers analyzed how big a force NATO would need to dislodge a Russian force that had invaded the Baltic States, and was entrenched on Baltic territory. "We estimate that an additional 14 brigades and their accompanying enablers will be needed, with perhaps six brigades and 86,000 total soldiers coming from the United States, and eight brigades and a similar number of troops from U.S. NATO allies, along with supporting air and sea forces," the 2015 study concluded. With Russian forces solidly dug in behind minefields and fortifications across eastern and southern Ukraine, that Baltic scenario bears similarities to the situation that Ukraine faces today. Or at least "close enough for ROM [rough order of magnitude] estimation," Bohnert said. However, amassing 21 brigades of roughly 4,000 soldiers each and training and equipping them to NATO standards won't be easy. For now, Ukraine is struggling to contain Russian offensives that have achieved small but symbolic gains in the north and south of the country. "To put this in perspective, 21 brigades is something like 50 to 60 percent of the active-duty US Army," Bohnert said. "Or, basically you would have to take the equivalent of the UK, German or French armies, train them and give them 100 percent of all the kit they need." Ukrainian soldiers fire D-30 artillery in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine on May 12, 2024. Anadolu via Getty Images Despite fears that Ukraine is running out of manpower which has spurred a new law to allow prison inmates to be conscripted Bohnert believes Ukraine can find the personnel for a strike force capable of launching a decisive offensive. "If they were to rotate forces over about a two-year time frame, combined with the new conscription they're pushing, they probably could get enough brigades converted," Bohnert said. Right now, Ukraine's biggest problem isn't lack of manpower, but lack of equipment. "Most of their battalions are still not fully equipped," said Bohnert. "NATO needs to give what they've promised and be willing to make sure that all their existing forces get supplied to at least some minimal level." This brings up the other vital question: How many munitions does Ukraine need? While tanks and drones have been useful in the war, the most devastating weapons have been artillery and long-range guided rockets. However, these weapons devour a huge amount of howitzer shells or scarce missiles. Russia is sending in 25,000 to 30,000 new troops per month, according to Bohnert. Which means that Ukraine must inflict more than 30,000 casualties per month or about 1,000 casualties per day to erode Russian strength. In 2024, Ukraine has been inflicting 800 to 1,000 casualties per day, despite being "munition-starved," Bohnert said. Given sufficient quantities of munitions, Ukraine could inflict enough losses to decisively attrit Russian forces that have already sustained an estimated 500,000 casualties. But demand for munitions also depends on what kind of war Ukraine chooses to wage. Bohnert estimated munitions costs for two scenarios: one where Ukraine remains on the defensive, and the other where it goes on the offensive. He started with a 2023 Estonian Ministry of Defense plan that laid out a roadmap for Ukraine to defeat Russia. "This war can be won within the next three years or less, by adjusting and increasing the Euro-Atlantic community's military production output and assistance to Ukraine, and imposing the perspective of an intolerable level of attrition on Russia," the Estonians stated. The Estonians estimated that Ukraine would need a constant stream of munitions. This includes 2.4 million artillery shells, 4,800 air defense missiles capable of protecting cities from Russian missiles, and 8,760 guided bombardment rockets per year. Even this doesn't cover all the items Ukraine would need, such as air defense weapons for the front-line troops, Bohnert noted. Bohnert factored in data on combat operations and munitions usage from RAND studies dating back to the 1990s, which examined conflicts such as Desert Storm. Overall, Bohnert estimated that $20 billion to $35 billion per year would be needed if Ukraine merely stays on the defensive, and $54 billion to $72 billion per year if it goes on the offensive. And still these figures are incomplete. "This is not including training, sustainment or equipment, which easily could be 50% or double that price," said Bohnert. "It's a lot of money, but actually about the same that the US spent on Iraq and Afghanistan for 15 years straight." Despite depletion of Western stockpiles and struggles especially in Europe to boost arms production, Bohnert believes that NATO can meet Ukraine's needs. The US, for example, aims to produce 14,000 GMLRS rockets in 2025, and it can produce up to 700 cruise missiles per year. America and NATO together manufacture about 4,600 anti-aircraft missiles per year. And what Ukraine's allies can't manufacture themselves, they might be able to acquire from other nations around the world. "It's not that this is impossible to do," Bohnert said. "It is very feasible. It's just going to take money." Ample Ukrainian ammunition stockpiles would partly alleviate Ukraine's manpower crunch. "You're basically substituting metal for people," Bohnert said. "But there will have to be a pretty big increase in Western donations." Inevitably, there will be a divergence between what Ukraine needs and what it will get. For example, US arms production may be diverted to the Pacific to face China, other American allies such as Israel also need weapons, and the US and European public may balk at the price tag. It's also unrealistic to expect that Russia will passively await a Ukrainian buildup. The recent appointment of economist Andrei Belousov as minister of defense suggests that Putin intends to mobilize his nation's resources for a long war. Nonetheless, it is revealing that despite being outnumbered and outgunned by Russia, there remains serious belief that Ukraine could win a military victory. The question is how to accomplish it. Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn. Read the original article on Business Insider By Dan Peleschuk DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (Reuters) - For Ukrainian gun commander Oleksandr Kozachenko, the long-awaited U.S. ammunition can't come fast enough as he and his comrades struggle to hold off relentless Russian attacks. His unit's U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer, which once hurled 100 shells a day at the encroaching enemy, is now often reduced to fewer than 10. "It's a luxury if we can fire 30 shells." America says it's rushing ammunition and weapons to Ukraine following the delayed approval of a $61 billion aid package by Congress last month. As of early May, though, two artillery units visited by Reuters on the eastern frontline said they were still waiting for a boost in deliveries and operating at a fraction of the rate they need to hold back the Russians. Gunners with Kozachenko's 148th Separate Artillery Brigade and the 43rd Artillery Brigade, both in the Donetsk region, said they were desperate for more 155mm rounds for their Western cannons, which had given them an edge over Russia earlier in the war. Resurgent Russian forces, which significantly outnumber and outgun the Ukrainian defenders, have been mounting multiple attacks across the eastern Donbas region in recent months and along the country's northeastern border last week. The drive has marked an inflection point in the conflict spawned by Russia's full-scale invasion more than two years ago. Russia has gained more territory in 2024 than it lost control of during Ukraine's much-hyped counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, according to Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Black Bird Group, a Finnish-based volunteer group that analyses satellite imagery and social media content from the war. Moscow's forces have claimed 654 sq km since the beginning of this year, outstripping the 414 sq km lost to Ukraine between June 1 and Oct. 1 last year, Paroinen said. Russia has gained 222 sq km of territory since only May 2, he added. Russia's defence ministry didn't respond to a request for comment for this article, while Ukraine's military didn't immediately respond. Colonel Pavlo Palisa, whose 93rd Mechanised Brigade is fighting near the key strategic city of Chasiv Yar, said he believed Russia was preparing a major push to break Ukrainian lines in the east. This echoed the commander of Ukraine's ground forces who said last week he expected the war to enter a critical phase over the next two months as Moscow tries to exploit persistent delays in weapons supplies to Kyiv. "Without a doubt, this will be a difficult period for the armed forces," said Palisa, adding that he believes the Kremlin wants to capture the entire Donbas industrial region by the end of this year. CITIES BRACE FOR RUSSIAN ADVANCE Russian forces are gradually making inroads that could come to threaten several big cities in the east including Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which serve as key military hubs for Kyiv's war effort. Some gains are striking fear in the heart of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians living in those Donetsk region cities as the enemy grinds ever closer. "We live only for today," said 31-year-old school teacher Nina Shyshymarieva, standing with her young daughter outside a church in Kostiantynivka as artillery thundered in the distance. "We don't know what will happen tomorrow." Russian cannons are now easily within range of Kostiantynivka; the closest Russian position at the start of 2024 was about 20 km away, according to open-source maps that show shifting positions along the frontline. Now it is 14 km. Shyshymarieva and the fighters on the frontline were among more than a dozen soldiers, commanders, residents and evacuation volunteers interviewed by Reuters in eastern Ukraine over the last two weeks. They painted a picture of deep uncertainty. Much of the Donetsk region, which along with Luhansk makes up the greater Donbas area, is under daily bombardment, typically targeted at least a dozen times a day by Russian artillery or air strikes, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin. Ruins of homes, apartment blocks and administrative buildings are common sights in towns and cities. Oleksandr Stasenko, a volunteer rescuer, said his team was receiving more evacuation requests particularly from Kostiantynivka and Kurakhove, another town further south, among other settlements. Russian forces have encroached toward Kurakhove, too, advancing 2-3 km along the road running east from the town so far this year. "Wherever the front line is approaching, people in those places are trying to leave as soon as possible," said Stasenko, adding that his group, East SOS, evacuates around two dozen a week, many of them elderly or infirm. 'TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE' Ukraine has roughly 1,000 km of frontlines to defend in the east, north and south. Some of the fiercest fighting in 2024 has centred on Chasiv Yar, which commands important high ground 12 km away from Kostiantynivka. It lies west of the devastated city of Bakhmut that Moscow seized last year after months of costly combat. Russian advances near Chasiv Yar, and further south around the village of Ocheretyne, could drive wedges into territory relied upon by Ukraine's war planners for logistics, analysts said, because they would expose key roads to Russian fire. A major highway leading west out of Kostiantynivka is already under threat. Cutting it off entirely would mean transit hubs further north, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, both numbering well over 100,000 people before the war, would lose a crucial supply line. Russia's fresh assault on the northeastern Kharkiv region, which began on Friday, also risks diverting stretched Ukrainian forces from the eastern front, further compromising their ability to hold the line, according to said Emil Kastehelmi, another analyst at Black Bird Group. "At the moment, it seems the goal of the (Kharkiv) operation is to cause confusion and tie remaining Ukrainian reserves to areas of lesser importance," he said. Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the London-based RUSI think-tank, said Russian forces would likely mount further attacks on northern and southern points of the frontline in order to stretch Kyiv's defences. "Once Ukraine commits its reserves in these directions, the main effort will see the expansion of the Russian push in Donbas," he wrote in a May 14 commentary. A new law strengthening Kyiv's mobilisation effort, which has been hobbled by public scepticism, takes effect on May 18. Experts and commanders say it could take several months before fresh recruits reach the front and reinforce exhausted troops there. Even if Ukrainian forces can hold out until all the American ammunition and weapons get through to the front, the challenge ahead remains daunting, according to many of those fighting. "I would say that it is unlikely that time is on our side, since a long war requires more resources," said Palisa, the colonel with the 93rd Mechanised Brigade, speaking hours after Russia launched its ground incursion in Kharkiv. He added that it would be critical to impose as heavy a cost on Russia as quickly as possible. "The enemy's resources, whether in terms of manpower or the materiel, cannot be compared with ours. It's extraordinarily large. That is why a long war, I think, is not in our favour." (Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Pravin Char) Ukraine's 110th Brigade downs fourth Russian Su-25 jet in two weeks A Su-25 fighter jet. Photo: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation Soldiers from Ukraines 110th Separate Mechanised Brigade have shot down the fourth Russian Su-25 fighter jet in two weeks in Donetsk Oblast. Source: 110th Separate Mechanised Brigade on Facebook Quote: "Anti-aircraft forces from the 110th Brigade are continuing to punish [Russian aircraft] for illegally crossing the border. Another enemy Su-25 has been downed! Its remains are smouldering in Donetsk Oblast." Previously: This is the fourth Su-25 jet the 110th Brigade has shot down over the course of the past two weeks. On 4 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the 110th Brigade shot down a Russian Su-25 fighter jet in Donetsk Oblast. On 11 May, the brigades soldiers downed another Su-25, and another one on 13 May. Support UP or become our patron! Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed a total of 77 times on Saturday, 18 May, with seven of those combat engagements still ongoing (as of 21:00 Kyiv time). Ukrainian forces undertook four assault operations. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 19:30 on 18 May Quote from the General Staff: "There were combat engagements on the majority of fronts along the entire frontline. Units of Russian occupation forces are continuing their attempts to improve their tactical positions. Ukraines Defence Forces are adequately responding to the occupiers actions and are taking measures to stabilise the situation. Our intelligence, artillery, aircraft, and drones are all active. Since the beginning of today, Ukrainian aircraft have struck 18 clusters of Russian military personnel and two anti-aircraft missile systems. Our rocket and artillery forces struck another three clusters of Russian military personnel and a radar. Overall, seven of todays 77 combat engagements are still ongoing. Ukrainian forces undertook four assaults to push enemy forces out of their positions. The information is being confirmed." Details: Ten combat engagements took place on the Kharkiv front. Russian forces carried out an airstrike on Kharkiv, dropping two guided aerial bombs on the city. They carried out assault operations on the HlybokeLukiantsi, LukiantsiVesele, and BuhruvatkaStarytsia axes. Russian forces lost 73 personnel (dead and wounded) and 16 pieces of military equipment, including two tanks, on this front. The remaining information on Russias losses is still being verified. Ukraines Defence Forces are carrying out measures to stabilise the situation and regroup in certain areas of the front. On the Kupiansk front, the number of combat engagements today rose to nine; seven clashes occurred on the Lyman front. Ukraines Defence Forces are taking measures to deter the Russians; they are maintaining control over the situation in the area. On the Kramatorsk front, Russian occupation forces are assaulting areas in the vicinity of Ivanivske and Kalynivka; a total of 14 Russian assaults occurred on this front today. Pokrovsk front remains the hottest spot on the battlefield. Four out of 23 combat engagements that took place today are still ongoing. Russian forces extended their attacks to the town of Netailove and deployed aircraft to strike areas in the vicinity of Oleksandropil, Voskhod and Yevhenivka. Details regarding the situation on this front are being confirmed. On the Kurakhove front, Russian forces made 10 attempts to break through the Ukrainian defences. Fighting near Krasnohorivka continues. On the Prydniprovske front, Ukrainian forces repelled four Russian assaults on the Ukrainian footholds on Dnipros left (east) bank. Support UP or become our patron! Three units of Ukraines Defence Intelligence Kraken, Artan and the International Legion repelled a Russian assault on Chasiv Yar (Donetsk Oblast) on Friday, 17 May. Source: Ukraines Defence Intelligence Quote: "There is not a single occupier in Chasiv Yar. Another assault has been repelled. On 17 May 2024, enemy forces made another attempt to capture the town of Chasiv Yar, deploying 20 pieces of military equipment to this end. Three units of Ukraines Defence Intelligence Kraken, Artan and the International Legion thwarted the enemys attempts, destroyed their military equipment and neutralised the attack. Chasiv Yar remains under our control!" Previously: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address on 18 May that Ukraines Defence Forces have repelled a Russian assault on the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast and destroyed more than 20 pieces of Russian military equipment. Zelenskyy did not specify when this happened. Support UP or become our patron! Key Insights Institutions' substantial holdings in Illinois Tool Works implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price A total of 13 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business Every investor in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 82% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Illinois Tool Works. View our latest analysis for Illinois Tool Works What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Illinois Tool Works? 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. Illinois Tool Works already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Illinois Tool Works' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Illinois Tool Works. Briar Hall Management LLC is currently the company's largest shareholder with 8.8% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.7% and 7.0% of the stock. Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 13 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership. Story continues 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of Illinois Tool Works The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Illinois Tool Works Inc.. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own US$236m of stock. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership With a 17% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Illinois Tool Works. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Next Steps: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Illinois Tool Works that you should be aware of before investing here. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Ukrainian forces shoot down Russian missile near Kryvyi Rih Three Russian aerial targets have been destroyed. Photo: Air Command Skhid (East) Ukraines Defence Forces shot down a Russian Kh-59/69 missile over the Kryvyi Rih district (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) on Saturday, 18 May. Source: Serhii Lysak, the Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration, on Telegram; Air Command Skhid (East) Quote from Lysak: "Another aerial target has been destroyed. A unit of Air Command East has shot down a missile over Kryvyi Rih district". Details: Earlier, Lysak reported that Ukraines Defence Forces had shot down a Russian Shahed loitering munition in the Kamianske district. Air Command East reported that three Russian aerial targets had been destroyed in its area of responsibility in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as of 16:00 on 18 May: a Kh-59/69 cruise missile, a Shahed loitering munition, and a SuperCam UAV. Support UP or become our patron! Russian forces attacked two energy facilities in Ukraine with drones overnight on May 18, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo reported. One of the facilities targeted in the Russian attack is located in Poltava Oblast, according to regional governor Filip Pronin. The second targeted facility's location was not disclosed. Ukrainian air defense shot down all 13 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia overnight, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported. Ukrenergo did not disclose the extent of the damage sustained by the two energy facilities. No casualties were reported. Russia renewed its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the spring, causing blackouts and scheduled power outages across the country. Read also: Ukrenergo: Restrictions on energy supply for industrial users remain in effect due to power shortage Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Unionized employees at Western Washington University joined forces with students and others who are protesting the war in Gaza for a march and rally Friday that drew an estimated 500 to 600 participants. Demonstrators assembled near the Wade King Student Recreation Center and marched through campus for a rally at the Performing Arts Center plaza and then to Old Main, where offices for campus administration are located. Along the way, they chanted slogans such as Free, free, Palestine! and Whats outrageous? Poverty wages! Union leaders told their supporters that they want a base hourly wage of $22.12. Some 1,100 members of Western Academic Workers United plan a walkout Tuesday if progress isnt made on their first contract. Nothing. Nothing in America, nothing in the world, has ever been won except when workers came together and fought for it, union representative Lexy Aydelotte said during the rally. Other speakers quoted from a list of demands that Gaza war protesters sent to WWU officials regarding university partnerships with businesses, organizations and educational institutions in Israel, among other issues. We believe in the necessity of critiquing and holding the state of Israel accountable for its egregious crimes against humanity and willful violations of international law. We vehemently reject the narrative that Judaism and Zionism are one and the same, and we stand firmly in our commitment to the Palestinian liberation movement and to Judaism beyond Zionism, said a speaker identified only as Jasmine, who refused an interview. A speaker who gave their name only as Jasmine speaks to union supporters and Gaza war protesters at a rally Friday on the campus of Western Washington University. Fridays protest was being held as WWU-sponsored events marking May as Jewish American Heritage Month were scheduled nearby without apparent incident. WWUs Police Department and the Bellingham Police Department were monitoring the demonstration, WWU spokesman Jonathan Higgins said. Our Chief of Police Katy Potts confirms that BPD is aware of events on campus and possible impact to areas in their jurisdiction. We have safety- and student-service teams across our campus to ensure the communitys safety and well-being, Higgins said. Protest organizers include the schools Arab Student Association and the Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group that advocates for Palestinian sovereignty. Those groups have also organized a protest camp of about 20 tents and 50 to 60 people the lawn between the Old Main administration building and Viking Union, according to a statement from the university. That group, which is protesting the war in Gaza, said theyll stay until university officials meet their demands. WWU response to students In a message posted online Friday morning, WWU President Sabah Randhawa addressed those demands. Again, it is important to recognize the significance of the issues driving the encampment. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is tragic and demands urgent attention. We support the calls from leaders from across the globe for an immediate cease-fire, working towards lasting peace in the region, the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, and a significant increase in humanitarian aid for Palestinians and all the people of Gaza, Randhawa said. Randhawa shared the text of an email that he and Chief Diversity Officer Jacqueline Hughes sent to the protest organizers in response to their demands. Neither WWU, nor the Foundation for WWU and Alumni, has direct investments in companies on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions list. We are open to developing a new process for consideration of divestment from companies or industry sectors, and we hope to continue to explore this concept in subsequent meetings with you. The core mission of WWU as an academic institution is to create and disseminate knowledge through research, teaching and service. Freedom of inquiry and expression, and the free exchange of ideas, are foundational principles of this work and must not be abridged by geopolitical considerations. Along these lines, WWU does not support curtailing students experiential learning programs and faculty research projects with private industry, including the Boeing Co. Western does not have its own agreement with the University of Haifa. It is also important to note that the University of Haifa has the most diverse student body in Israel, with nearly half of the study body comprising Arab students, many of whom are Palestinian. Westerns Ethnic Studies program is on track to launch this Fall and faculty searches for the program are underway. number of events and teach-ins have also been scheduled on campus to enhance understanding of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and we recognize the value in these exchanges for the broader community and are committed to ensuring that they continue. Both in our meetings, as well as publicly at a recent Board of Trustees meeting, we have acknowledged that a message to campus last fall related to the Israel-Hamas war may have inadvertently been hurtful or offensive to some students at Western. We respect the views our community members hold on geopolitical issues. However, as an institution, the university leadership will not take positions on international political matters that do not connect directly with university operations. At the same time, we are committed to raising awareness within the campus community about terms and words that have historical significance and that can be interpreted differently by different individuals within our community.We respect the views our community members hold on geopolitical issues. However, as an institution, the university leadership will not take positions on international political matters that do not connect directly with university operations. At the same time, we are committed to raising awareness within the campus community about terms and words that have historical significance and that can be interpreted differently by different individuals within our community. This University of Utah medical school alum runs the largest biomedical research institute in the world Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, gives the commencement address during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News It was a full circle moment. Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, sat on the dais Friday taking in commencement exercises for the University of Utahs Spencer Fox School of Medicines class of 2024. Thirty-nine years ago, Bertagnolli was sitting among her medical school classmates for her own medical school graduation ceremony at the University of Utah. There were fewer than 10 women in her graduating class in 1985. This year, 54% of the graduating class are women. After medical school, Bertagnolli trained in surgery at Brigham and Womens Hospital and was a research fellow in tumor immunology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is the first woman to lead the institutes surgical oncology division. She has been at the forefront of the field of clinical oncology. Her research focuses on the genetic mutations that lead to gastrointestinal cancer and how inflammation stimulates cancer. Prior to her appointment as the director of the National Institutes of Health in 2023, Bertagnolli was director of the National Cancer Institute. NIH is the largest biomedical research institute in the world. It has 27 institutes and centers and has an annual budget of more than $47 billion. Bertagnolli, who delivered the commencement address, reflected on significant advances in the treatments for hemophilia and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, since she graduated from medical school. We celebrate that for a disease that was formerly highly debilitating and sometimes lethal, the life expectancy for people in the United States with hemophilia is now equal to that of the general population and we can now entertain the possibility of a cure, she said. In the early 1980s, when Bertagnolli started medical school, an AIDS diagnosis was considered a death sentence, she said. We did not know what to do to treat it or how to prevent its spread, she said. It wasnt until the mid-1980s that a blood test to detect the human immunodeficiency virus was widely available in the United States. Despite public health campaigns intended to contain HIV spread, new diagnoses and fatalities rapidly escalated in the United States and around the world. In June 1995, the FDA approved the first protease inhibitor targeting HIV replication and just six months later came the first combination regimen targeting viral replication. ... AIDS diagnoses and deaths began to fall almost immediately, she said. Treatments have continued to advance with the development of antiretroviral and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drugs. As a result, mortality rates for those infected with HIV have now approached that of the general population, Bertagnolli said. Graduates wave at family and friends during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, gives the commencement address during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News A decorated graduation cap is pictured during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News The University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Jamie Talleh holds her child after the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Graduates are hooded during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Graduates listen during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Cameron Moore Arkin moves her tassel during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Graduates are hooded during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Graduates receive their degrees during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Govinda Dhakal hugs his daughter Ginisha after the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, gives the commencement address during the University of Utah's Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine commencement program at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 17, 2024. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News While there have been many advances in medical science over the years and new tools at researchers disposal, many challenges remain to develop treatments and perhaps cures for diseases that continue to vex researchers. For example, some 35 million people in the United States suffer from rare diseases, many of which are tied to mutation of a single gene, Bertagnolli said. How do we scale the development of gene therapy to meet the needs of those with rare diseases? If we succeed, how do we pay for this? This is the hope that so many have been looking for and we cant let them down, she said. Todays researchers have exciting tools that help increase the pace of developing treatments or vaccines, she said. One significant technological advance has been the electronic health record, which has had broad adoption across the country. Its a way when each of us goes to see a doctor, it has information about us, what happened, what our health was, how we were treated and that gets recorded. One of the things were working on at the NIH and across all of the Health and Human Services Department is to develop ways where we can use the information coming from the electronic health record and every clinical visit as a way of improving health, she said. Online shoppers are keenly aware that e-commerce merchants track their purchases. They know exactly who we are and what were interested in, she said. Medical researchers can use that same technology in a respectful way, with peoples permission, which I also am pretty passionate about. I dont think we should be doing research with peoples health information unless we have their direct permission. So with peoples permission, its being able to use this technology to benefit everyone, said Bertagnolli, who grew up on a ranch in southwest Wyoming and earned a bachelors degree in engineering from Princeton University. Trust plays a significant role in use of the data and encouraging patients to try new treatments or vaccines. During the pandemic, some people balked at vaccination, which Bertagnolli said was understandable considering the pandemics disruption of peoples lives, concerns that some people who were vaccinated still got COVID-19, and medical sciences evolving understanding of the virus. Even though some people contracted COVID-19 after vaccination, they tended to have milder cases. The vaccines also provide relief for some patients with long COVID. But deciding whether to get vaccinated is personal. I wouldnt want to go to somebody who really really really didnt want to take a vaccine and try and convince them otherwise. Thats just not appropriate. People get to decide based on whatever their belief systems are, what is right for them. Thats their decision. But what I would do instead is really try to get their trust for other things, she said. Are there other things that you that can directly benefit from, that you can be a research partner for? We certainly dont build trust by preaching to people or giving out public service announcements. We build trust by being present, being respectful and helping people get what they need. Research that meets the needs of the individual people, that really delivers for them, is going to build this trust. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) With summer right around the corner and the powerful sun here in the state, New Mexicans were encouraged to receive free skin cancer screenings earlier on Saturday. Several funds and dermatology organizations hosted the event, offering the screenings on a first-come, first-served basis. NMDOH offering online diabetes screening No appointments were necessary, and UNM medical students even assisted in the screenings by giving attendees information about the risks of the sun and skin cancer. Really, what we recommend is that people pay attention to their own skin, too. You know, if they notice something that is growing, bleeding, changing, not healing, they should definitely bring it up to their primary care doctor and see if its something that need to be seen by a dermatologist, said Dr. John Durkin, MD, assistant professor at the UNM School of Dermatology. Organizers of the event say the free screenings were in honor of Melanoma Month, which is observed in May. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. WASHINGTON (AP) An upside-down U.S. flag has long been a sign of dire distress and versatile symbol of protest. But in January 2021, when it flew over the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, it was largely seen in connection with a specific cause: the false claim by then-President Donald Trumps supporters that the 2020 election had been marred by fraud. The revelation this week about the flag flying at Alitos home was the latest blow to a Supreme Court that was already under fire as it considers unprecedented cases against Trump and some of those charged with rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Alito has said the flag was briefly flown by his wife amid a dispute with neighbors and he had no part in it. The American flag is not supposed to be flown upside down except as a signal of dire distress or extreme danger, according to the U.S. Flag Code. That significance has made it into a protest symbol on both the left and the right for decades. It took off as a symbol of Trumps Stop the Steal campaign as he spread false claims that the election he lost to Biden had been stolen. Durbin calls for Alito recusal from Jan. 6 cases over upside-down flag that flew at his home Martha-Ann Alito hung the upside-down flag during a dust-up with a neighbor in Alexandria, Virginia, who had a lawn sign referring to Trump with an expletive near a bus stop during a the heated time of January 2021, Fox News anchor Shannon Bream said in an online post, citing a conversation with Justice Alito. She became distraught after the neighbor used vulgar language and hung the flag for a short time, Bream wrote, saying Alito described some neighbors as very political. The incident reported by The New York Times adds to concerns about an institution thats increasingly seen as partisan and lacking strict ethical guidelines. The high court is now facing questions about whether the spouses of two of its members question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and if those justices should be hearing cases related to the Jan. 6 riot and Trumps role in it. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, has resisted calls for recusal after reports that his wife Virginia Thomas was involved in efforts to overturn President Joe Bidens 2020 election win. Were talking about a fundamental bedrock American value about peaceful transfer of power, about elections, said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog organization. Its just the integrity of the democratic process. Several Democrats in Congress called for Alito to recuse himself from Trump-related cases. Justices can and do voluntarily recuse themselves, but those are their own individual calls and they arent subject to review. Greene fracas at hearing leaves lawmakers shaking their heads There was no indication Alito would do so. He did not respond to a request for comment sent through the courts public information office. While the Supreme Court long went without its own specific code of ethics, an institutional reputation of staying above the political fray has long helped bolster its relatively high levels of public trust. But in the wake of the 2022 decision overturning a nationwide right to abortion an opinion that was leaked before its release public trust sank to its lowest level in 50 years. Theres also been sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The high court adopted a code of ethics last year, but it lacks a means of enforcement. Alito, a former prosecutor who was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed in 2006, has been one of the most courts most conservative justices and authored the decision overturning Roe v. Wade. During oral arguments in the election interference case against Trump, he appeared skeptical of Justice Department arguments that past presidents arent completely immune from prosecution, and seemed one of the justices most likely to find that prosecutors went too far in bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of participants in the Jan. 6 riot. Ethical guidelines generally make it clear that judges should recuse themselves in cases where their spouses have financial interest, but the situation is less clear when spouses have a publicly known political point of view, said Arthur Hellman, a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He pointed to a federal judge in California who refused to recuse himself from a same-sex marriage case in 2010 even though his wife was a head of the American Civil Liberties Union there. Spouses finances are generally intertwined, but the idea that wives and husbands always share political views is outdated, he found. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether Alito was aware of the inverted flag at the time or its links to Trump supporters, said Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at the New York University School of Law. I dont believe Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or if he did know, I find it hard to believe that he knew the relationship to Stop the Steal, he said in an email. Politics often overlaps into everyday life, and no human can be completely free of personal opinions, said Charles Geyh, a law professor at Indiana University. But the duty of a judge is to do what you can to keep them at bay. That means you dont trumpet your biases by running them up a flagpole, he said. Appearing to enter the political fray can contribute to a growing distrust of the U.S. Supreme Court, which Geyh warned could have dire consequences. But is there is no mechanism for sanctioning a justice, said Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court, an advocacy group pushing for judicial ethics. Complaints against lower court judges are filed with the chief judge of the district, who appoints special committees of judges to investigate and report back. To me the fact that such a protocol does not currently exist at the court is a real deficit, he said. Only Congress can impeach a justice, said Michael Frisch, ethics counsel at Georgetown Law. One justice, Abe Fortas, resigned from the Supreme Court in 1969 amid a controversy over receiving $20,000 from a Wall Street financier. An impeachment, though, has only happened once, to Justice Samuel Chase in the early 1800s. He was later acquitted by the Senate. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. US ban on strikes on Russian territory undermines Ukraine's ability to defend itself ISW The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the US ban on Ukraine using Western weapons to strike Russian territory significantly undermines Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian offensive operations in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast. Source: ISW Details: ISW continues to assess that the restrictions imposed by the US and other Western countries on Ukraine's ability to strike military targets in Russia have created safe zones in the Russian border areas. From there, Russian aircraft can launch glide bombs and missile strikes on Ukrainian positions and settlements. In addition, Russian forces and equipment can freely assemble before engaging in combat operations. US officials reiterated the Biden administration's reluctance to allow the use of US-provided weapons for strikes on military targets within Russia. US Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh stated on 16 May that the Biden administration has not changed its position on Ukrainian forces using US-provided weapons to hit targets in Russia, emphasising that these weapons should be used to liberate occupied Ukrainian territory. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 17 May: Russian President Vladimir Putin framed Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast as part of Russian efforts to create a "buffer zone" to protect Russian border areas from Ukrainian strikes, confirming ISW's previous assessments. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukrainian forces have stabilised the front in northern Kharkiv Oblast and that Russian forces have not reached Ukraine's "concrete" and "most powerful" line of defence in the area. Russian forces will likely be able to stretch Ukrainian forces along a wide front and fix Ukrainian troops in the international border area even as the tempo of Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast slows. Russian forces reportedly leveraged notable electronic warfare (EW) capabilities to support tactically significant gains during the first days of their limited offensive operation in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Senior NATO military commanders confirmed ISW's prior assessments that Russian forces do not have sufficient forces to achieve a "strategic breakthrough" in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces conducted a series of large-scale aerial and naval drone strikes against Russian energy and port infrastructure in Krasnodar Krai and occupied Crimea on the night of 16 to 17 May. US officials reiterated the White House's unwillingness to support Ukraine's use of US-provided weapons in strikes against military targets in Russia. Russian leader Vladimir Putin attempted to further known Russian information operations intended to directly undermine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's legitimacy as president. Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Avdiivka. Russian leader Vladimir Putin attended the annual Russian-Chinese Expo and forum on interregional cooperation and visited Harbin Polytechnic University during the second and last day of his trip to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 17 May. Ukrainian and Western sources continue to report that Russian forces are committing war crimes in newly occupied areas of Kharkiv Oblast. Support UP or become our patron! US intelligence suggests American who vanished in Syria in 2017 has died, daughter says she was told WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. officials have developed specific and highly credible intelligence suggesting that an American citizen who disappeared seven years ago while traveling in Syria has died, the mans daughter said Saturday. Maryam Kamalmaz said in an interview with The Associated Press that during a meeting in Washington this month with eight senior American officials she was presented with detailed intelligence about the presumed death of her father, Majd, a psychotherapist from Texas. The officials told her that on a scale of one to 10, their confidence level about her fathers death was a high nine. She said she asked whether other detained Americans had ever been successfully recovered in the face of such credible information, and was told no. What more do I need? That was a lot of high-level officials that we needed to confirm to us that hes really gone. There was no way to beat around the bush, Maryam Kamalmaz said. She said officials told her they believe the death occurred years ago, early in her fathers captivity. In 2020, she said, officials told the family that they had reason to believe that he had died of heart failure in 2017, but the family held out hope and U.S. officials continued their pursuit. But, she said, Not until this meeting did they really confirm to us how credible the information is and the different levels of (verification) it had to go through. She did not describe the intelligence she learned. A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment Saturday. The FBIs Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell issued a statement that did not offer any update on Kamalmaz but said that no matter how much time has passed, it continues to work on behalf of the victims and their families to recover all U.S hostages and support the families whose loved ones are held captive or missing. Majd Kamalmaz disappeared in February 2017 at the age of 59 while traveling in Syria to visit an elderly family member. The FBI has said he was stopped at a Syrian government checkpoint in a suburb of Damascus and had not been heard from since. Kamalmaz is one of multiple Americans who have disappeared in Syria, including the journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus. Syria has publicly denied holding Americans in captivity. In 2020, in the final months of the Trump administration, senior officials visited Damascus for a high-level meeting aimed at negotiating release of the Americans. But the meeting proved unfruitful, with the Syrians not providing any proof-of-life information and making demands that U.S. officials deemed unreasonable. U.S. officials have said they are continuing to try to bring home Tice. The New York Times first reported on the presumed death of Majd Kamalmaz. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. On May 15, 2024, Gregory Willis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL), sold 11,270 shares of the company. The transaction was documented in a recent SEC Filing. This sale is part of a series of insider transactions observed over the past year, where the insider has sold a total of 11,270 shares and made no purchases. Air Lease Corp, a company engaged in the leasing of commercial aircraft to airlines worldwide, has seen a mix of insider buying and selling activities. Over the past year, there has been 1 insider buy and 8 insider sells. On the valuation front, shares of Air Lease Corp were trading at $50.06 on the day of the transaction. The company currently holds a market cap of approximately $5.49 billion. The price-earnings ratio of Air Lease Corp stands at 9.96, which is below both the industry median of 17.86 and the company's historical median. According to the GF Value, the intrinsic value estimate for Air Lease Corp is $47.92 per share, making the stock Fairly Valued with a price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.04. Insider Sale: EVP and CFO Gregory Willis Sells 11,270 Shares of Air Lease Corp (AL) The GF Value is calculated based on historical trading multiples such as the price-earnings ratio, price-sales ratio, price-book ratio, and price-to-free cash flow, adjusted for the company's past performance and estimated future business outcomes. Insider Sale: EVP and CFO Gregory Willis Sells 11,270 Shares of Air Lease Corp (AL) The insider's recent transaction could be of interest to current and potential investors, providing insights into insider confidence and valuation perspectives at Air Lease Corp. 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. An American agriculture official in Cairo notified the FBI soon after Egypt granted a monopoly to a New Jersey company alleged to have been involved in bribing Sen. Bob Menendez, the official testified on Friday. The USDA official, Bret Tate, walked federal prosecutors and jurors through what he called his unusual introduction to the head of the company, Wael "Will" Hana, the Egyptian-American businessperson who owned IS EG Halal and is one of Menendezs co-defendants in the bribery case. In prosectors sprawling indictment of Menendez, they accuse him of aiding Hana and his company to hold onto a monopoly on halal imports and receiving bribes in exchange. In early 2019, Tate, who was stationed at the American embassy in Cairo, did a road trip across the American heartland with Egyptian officials. He hoped to get them to help expand the number of American companies who could certify meat exported to Egypt as halal, which means permitted for consumption by Muslims. But those plans came to halt when Tate flew to Washington for meetings before returning to Cairo. When he arrived at the Crystal City Marriott, he was told by the hotels clerk that people had been waiting for him and one of his Egyptian traveling companions. After he put his bags in his room, he went downstairs and found himself at a table with his companion, two other men and Hana. Im with you, Tate said Hana told him when they met. Tate didnt know what that meant. But in coming weeks, Tate would learn that instead of Egyptian officials allowing more companies to certify meat for export, they were going to give Hanas company sole authority to certify American meat exported to Egypt as halal. Tate said the USDA and the beef industry quickly tried to figure out what was going on, since IS EG Halal seemed new to the business. As far as we knew at the time, they had a lawyer and one employee, Tate said, while existing halal certifiers operating in America may have had hundreds of workers who supervised slaughter and who blessed meat at processing plants across the country. Separately, Tate said hed notified the FBI in the embassy in Cairo of suspicions that IS EG Halal may be worth looking into because of concerns about how Hana had obtained the monopoly. While jurors were not allowed to hear why Tate tipped off the FBI, attorneys arguing in front of the judge said the heads up to the FBI was not about Menendez at all but about potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits Americans from bribing foreign officials. Hanas attorney, Larry Lustberg, has said that Hana had contacts in the Egyptian government and came from a family with a background in wholesale food. He said Hana got the monopoly because of who his contacts with Egypt were, and because he worked hard, none of which, Lustberg said, is a crime. Lustberg has also said the USDAs concerns that American beef exports would dry up were unfounded because IS EG Halal, which continues to operate today, kept the exports to Egypt flowing. Tate also wrote a report that worried about the effect of Hanas monopoly, since the fees the company charged were 10 times higher than the fees other companies had. In Tates view, that would hurt American beef companies, which exported 70 percent of beef livers to Egypt, as well as low-income Egyptian consumers who benefit from low-cost American beef. Federal prosecutors allege that eventually some of the money from those fees found its way back to Menendez, who is accused of contacting another USDA official to brush back scrutiny of IS EGs monopoly. Menendezs defense is that he was looking out for a New Jersey-based company, which IS EG Halal is. But Tate suggested that a company with New Jersey ties, Amana Halal, was put out of business by IS EGs monopoly. Defense attorneys are expected to get a chance to cross-examine Tate on Monday. At times, Tate had to stop to explain a list of federal acronyms and the bureaucratic structures in both Washington and Cairo, like the various duties of undersecretaries, desk officers and deputy ministers, and the difference between an ambassador and charge d'affaires. Federal prosecutors also faced a setback on Friday. Their first witness, FBI special agent Aristotelis Kougemitros, returned to the stand Friday morning and took back some of his testimony from the day before. On Thursday, hed said 13 gold bars had been found inside the same locked closet as a Navy blazer that contained handwritten notes on Senate Democratic Caucus stationery from two months earlier. But on Friday, he said that blazer had been hanging outside the closet handing an early win to Menendezs defense team, which is trying to argue all the gold bars were found inside his wife's closet, an attempt to point the finger at her. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Utah State Auditor John Dougall (R) posted another video from a public restroom on Friday amid controversy over Utahs transgender bathroom law, HB 257, which disallows transgender people from using a bathroom different from their sex assigned at birth. The bill passed the legislature in January, restricting transgender people from using state-owned bathrooms or changing rooms that dont align with their sex at birth. Exceptions are carved out for adults who undergo gender-affirming surgery and change their birth certificate. As part of the legislation, the state auditors office was tasked with hosting a hotline where citizens could file complaints against government entities not in compliance with the law. GRAPHIC: Trans bathroom tipline audio complaints released After more than 12,000 tips were sent in, with most being fake and many containing graphic content, Dougall released a few of the recordings to the press to illustrate what his office has been dealing with, as well as posted a tongue-in-cheek video from a public restroom. Despite the complaints flooding into his office, Dougall said he found out about the bill the day it passed and accused State Rep. Kera Birkeland (R) of not understanding the workings of the bill she sponsored. Dougall has since posted a second video in which he pretends to be a bathroom monitor, and some on social media have called out the video as being crude, regardless of whether or not he supports the bill. Welcome! Im John Dougall, Utah State Auditor, and Ill be your personal bathroom monitor today, the video begins. Now this inspection will be a little more invasive than those pointless TSA screenings, Dougall says as he snaps his medical-grade glove against his hand. Are you ready? Drop em, Dougall says. Oh! No, no, no. Not your pants! The papers please. The legislature wants me to see your compliance plan. On Tuesday, Dougall told ABC4 that not a single complaint has been legitimate. In an earlier statement, he accused the Utah legislature of rushing the bill through, adding that he never asked to be the states bathroom monitor. Birkeland responded to Dougalls statement last week, saying that the joke is really on the transgender activists. While they waste their time, Utah will continue to protect girls and women. And I look forward to working with our next state auditor, because I know that he will take the role of protecting women seriously, she wrote on social media. Dougall bristled at the comment in Mondays video. The auditor said that if the law was really about protecting women, thered be money set aside to retrofit state-owned facilities. Currently, the bill only mandates that new government buildings have single-occupancy bathrooms and that agencies consider retrofitting existing facilities. Instead, this piece of the bill looks like its really more about show than substance, Dougall said. And it wouldnt be the first time the legislature did something like that, would it. ABC4 asked Birkeland for a comment on Dougalls video, and she responded saying that HB 257 tasks the auditors office with appropriate audit requirements of governmental entities. The legislature did not prescribe a process, instead we instructed the office establish the appropriate process to receive and investigate all alleged violations of a governmental entity, Birkeland said in the statement. The process chosen by the auditors office was of his own choosing, and the rollout was unfortunate. Many parents and women have reached out with frustration and disappointment that our auditor hasnt taken this role seriously and investigated their legitimate complaints. Dougall is not running for re-election as auditor in November. Instead, hes in the race to replace Rep. John Curtis in Utahs 3rd Congressional District. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Van Jones rails against Greene after spat with Dems: Shes a disgrace to that Congress Van Jones rails against Greene after spat with Dems: Shes a disgrace to that Congress CNN commentator Van Jones slammed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following her personal attacks on a fellow member of Congress during a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday night. The committee hearing, held to vote on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, divulged into chaos after Greene made a comment about the appearance of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and her fake eyelashes. I dont think you know what youre here for, Greene said to Crockett, after the Georgia Republican made comments about former President Trumps hush money trial. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. In response to the incident, Jones suggested that some lawmakers just want attention. I think that the standard of conduct has been pulled down slow by some of these folks in Congress, Jones said Friday in comments on CNN. They go there cause they want to be celebrities. Im talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene and others. Why do we even know her name? Marjorie Taylor Greene has never passed a bill, he continued in the panel interview, highlighted by Mediaite. Shes never chaired a committee. Shes never done anything but be a provocateur and a clown and get under the skin of people and this kind of stuff that goes on. After the eyelash comment, Crockett shot back at Greene later in the hearing, seemingly referring to her GOP colleague as bleach blonde bad-built butch body. The Texas Democrat, and many others, also accused Greene of making her comments laced with racial undertones. While Jones seemingly agreed with the assessment, he added that shes a disgrace regardless of the intent behind her remarks. Whether shes racist or not, she is a disgrace to the American people. Shes a disgrace to that Congress, he said. Following the incident, several committee members railed against the episode as disgusting, embarrassing, and a middle school fight. But despite the fracas, the committee ultimately voted to hold Garland in contempt in an effort to censure him for failing to turn over audio recordings of President Biden to use in their impeachment probe. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A new crop of early-stage startups along with some recent VC investments illustrates a niche emerging in the autonomous vehicle technology sector. Unlike the companies bringing robotaxis to city streets, these startups are taking their tech off-road. Two recent entrants -- Seattle-based Overland AI and New Brunswick, Canada-based Potential -- are poised to get a first-mover advantage on this segment of autonomy. While these startups are applying their tech in different ways, Overland AI and Potential do share some common off-road ground. Founders of each startup believe theyve cracked the code to one of the more challenging applications of automated driving by building software that doesnt rely on some of the main crutches of testing and deployment -- such as detailed maps, large swaths of training data and the ability to fall back on remote assistance. The U.S. Department of Defense and venture capital investors are taking notice. Overland AI, which is developing a self-driving system designed for military operations like reconnaissance, surveillance and delivering electronic warfare packages, was awarded in April up to $18.6 million from the U.S. Armys Defense Innovation Unit. The funds will be used to build a prototype autonomous software stack for its robotic combat vehicle (RCV) program over the next two years. This week, the startup, which was founded in 2022, raised a $10 million seed round led by Point72 Ventures. The funds will be used to expand Overlands team and continue developing OverDrive, the companys autonomy stack, according to CEO and founder Byron Boots. Meanwhile, Potential, which is making advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) that allow ATVs, underground mining vehicles and passenger cars to handle off-road environments, has raised a CA$2 million (~$1.5 million) extension to its seed round led by Brightspark Ventures, a Canadian early-stage VC. That brings Potentials total funding to CA$8.5 million (~$6.2 million). The startup has spent the last six years developing its technology and is now doing several pilot projects across power sports, motorcycles and automotive. Off-road opportunity Potential and Overland AI arent the only companies trying to apply autonomous vehicle technology to areas outside of public streets. The high-cost pursuit of commercial robotaxi and self-driving truck operations has thwarted dozens of startups over the past several years. As those shut down, a new batch of startups such as Polymath Robotics, Pronto.ai, Bear Robotics and Outrider have emerged with more grounded ambitions: applying AV tech to warehouses, mining, industrial and off-road environments. We are absolutely deploying capital in off-road autonomy, Alexei Andreev, managing director at Autotech Ventures, told TechCrunch. Actually, if anything, we are staying away from highway autonomy and completely doubled down on off-road autonomy. Most of the off-road companies that Autotech Ventures is investing in today are in the agricultural and construction sectors -- products like autonomous mining vehicles, forklifts and tractors. Andreev says for these sectors, its about addressing the labor shortage while increasing productivity and making farms and construction areas safer. And if you remove people, you immediately get a reduction in your insurance premiums. So the ROI for those vertical applications is now and it's significant, said Andreev. Another upshot: Off-road autonomy has found a friend in defense. Overland AI: From DARPA to seed funding Overland AI's off-road autonomous driving software, OverDrive, is being tested for defense and national security applications. When it comes to automating off-road driving, the U.S. Army can be a great customer. After all, autonomous vehicles started as a DARPA project, says Jeff Peters, a partner at Ibex Investors. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a U.S. Department of Defense agency focused on advancing technology for military use. The hype around AV moved a lot of the industry toward bigger potential commercial applications, but DoD projects have persisted, Peters told TechCrunch over email, noting that autonomous mining startup SafeAI and autonomous trucking startup Kodiak Robotics have also pursued defense grants. I think AV companies (those still around) will chase DoD projects because it offers large, non-dilutive funding in the interim prior to commercial operations. Overland AI is the latest byproduct of the DARPA program. Boots, a professor of machine learning at the University of Washington and founder of the Robot Learning Laboratory at the universitys school of computer science and engineering, has a long history of collaborating with the U.S. Army Research Lab and DARPA. Overland was spun out from Boots research and team involved in DARPAs RACER (Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency) program, the goal of which is to develop self-driving vehicles that can handle tough terrain. The program is still ongoing. Overland, which is stacked with deep tech veterans from Google, Nvidia, Apple, Waymo, Aurora, Embark and Argo, as well as software engineers whove worked on mission-critical solutions at SpaceX, RTX and the U.S. Army, was recently selected to continue on to the second phase. The high-level idea is that currently just about every ground vehicle that the military uses has a person inside of it, Boots told TechCrunch in a video interview. And you can imagine if you can just pull the person out of the vehicle, that confers safety and tactical advantages. To pull the person out means vehicles must autonomously navigate complex off-road terrain using only onboard sensors (mainly cameras, according to Boots) and compute, without relying on maps, GPS or remote human operators. That means Overlands software has to understand the geometry of the ground -- including things like vegetation and mud -- every step of the way, and how that affects vehicle dynamics. The terrain gets a vote on how the vehicle moves, said Boots. Overlands tech basically takes in the sensor data and builds a terrain representation as it goes, Boots explained. Then the vehicle uses that digital representation plus the goal that its trying to get to, which could be several kilometers away, to try to find a route through the terrain towards that goal. Part of the benefit of having an autonomous system is that when the system is tasked, if you lose a communication link to that ground vehicle, it will continue to move towards its goal and try to complete the task until the communication link is reestablished, said Boots. Most on-road driving today relies on that telecommunications link to remote assistance, in part because the risk to other road users is higher. Thats why youll see Waymo and Cruise robotaxis bricked up on the streets of San Francisco, waiting for a remote operator to give them a nudge after they stopped driving to meet a minimum safety requirement. Military ground systems often need to function in unstructured, dynamic terrain. We believe self-driving technology built for well-defined streets and enclosed lots will struggle there, and that it takes a very strong team to deliver operationally relevant ground autonomy in these environments, Chris Morales, partner on the defense tech team at Point72 Ventures, told TechCrunch. Potentials potential with off-road ADAS Potential's technology, Terrain Intelligence, aims to improve ADAS for off-roading. How can you actually enable somebody who maybe isnt the 100% expert driver, but somebody who wants to go off-roading and experience these more challenging conditions? Sam Poirier, CEO at Potential, asked in a recent interview. Potentials core platform, called Terrain Intelligence, uses computer vision to help vehicles see, interpret and prepare for complex terrain and changing surface conditions ahead. Terrain Intelligence can read data from a single camera, rather than relying on additional sensors like additional cameras, lidar and radar. At the most basic level, Potentials off-road ADAS alerts the driver to an impassable object up ahead or the need to switch to a better drive setting based on new terrain. The second level is, can we instead actually help to automate the changes of what are typically driver-assisted settings? said Poirier. Most vehicles have two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, sand mode, mud mode, things like that. Ultimately, at this stage, its up to the driver to switch between these and the driver has to understand when to use these different modes. Potentials final level would involve using existing sensor data and fine-tuning those settings and pushing the limits of performance. There are things that the assistance tools can do that an individual driver -- no matter how good your expertise -- cannot do on their own, said Scott Kunselman, an ex-Jeep chief engineer, auto industry veteran and advisor to Potential. Stability controls are a good example because to enable stability control, you need independent brake control. The driver only has one brake pedal and actuates the whole brake system at once. Whereas stability control can individually actuate each wheel and thats how you can produce, for example, the ability to offset yaw in a vehicle. Yaw, by the way, is when a vehicles weight shifts from its center of gravity to the right or left, which can cause it to spin out or fishtail. Potential said its working with both Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs to license its software and integrate it directly into the vehicles. Andreev suggests Potential focus on business relations with Tier 1 suppliers rather than OEMs that are less likely to take a chance on a small startup. PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will lift most lane closures for Memorial Day Weekend. Lane closures will be suspended beginning Friday, May 24 at noon and will remain in place until noon on Tuesday, May 28. Based on historical data, I-64 eastbound near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel will likely be congested on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and westbound congestion is expected on Friday and Monday. According to VDOT, some semi-permanent work zones will remain in place during this time. Motorist are advised to check VDOTs Travel Advisories for travel alerts. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Theyve been stuck for 7 weeks on the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge. This is what life is like for the Dali crew When the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt boarded the Dali cargo ship a week after it crashed into a Baltimore bridge, anxious questions emerged among the 21 crew members: When will I get off the ship? When will I be able to get home? More than a month later, crew members still dont know the answers. Theyve been confined to the ill-fated Dali ever since it lost power, veered off course and crushed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six construction workers. Since then, the 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan on board have mourned the deaths of those lives lost, had their cell phones confiscated by the FBI and endured a series of controlled explosions to break apart a massive piece of bridge stuck atop the ships bow. It has been tough for the seafarers, primarily (because) they know that theres been loss of life, said Gwee Guo Duan, assistant general secretary of the Singapore Maritime Officers Union, one of the unions representing crew members on the Singaporean-flagged ship. It is tough for them, being on board and having to look at the accident site every single day. But it could be weeks or even months before they can leave, due to an array of complications including US visas that expired while theyve been trapped. Heres why theyre still stuck on board and how theyre coping with unimaginable stressors: Maritime rules say the ship must be staffed A massive vessel like the 984-foot, 106,000-ton Dali requires constant care even if its not moving. And a ship stuck on a river still faces a host of potential hazards, said Philip C. Schifflin Jr., director of the Center for Mariner Advocacy. You can take on water. Theres machinery running anytime machinery is running, theres a particular risk of something failing and causing a fire or something like that, Schifflin said. So seafarers need to be on board ready to respond to those various hazards. And thats by law. The United States has minimum requirements for the manning of vessels, according to the Office of the Federal Register, and similar international regulations have been widely adopted. By international maritime regulations, there has to be some crew left on the vessel, said Nestlehutt, president and executive director of The Seamens Church Institute, which promotes the safety and welfare of mariners. The nonprofit responds to seamen in distress around the world, including those afflicted by hurricanes, pirate incidents or deaths at sea. When Nestlehutt visited the Dali crew on April 1, he immediately noticed their sense of great loss and sadness about the construction workers killed, and the seamen wanted to let their own family members know that they were safe, he said. But days later, the crew lost contact with their families when the FBI seized the crews cell phones on April 15 as part of its ongoing investigation into the crash. Unfounded fear among the crew members After the FBI boarded the Dali and seized the seamens cell phones, a wave of anxiety permeated the ship, according to a joint statement from the Singapore Maritime Officers Union, which represents the ships officers, and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen, which represents the other crew members. The seafarers have since received new cell phones, Duan told CNN Thursday. But the FBI has only returned some of the crew members SIM cards, he said. Although investigators have not blamed any individual for the power outages that led up to the fatal crash, seamen have felt an Unfounded fear of personal criminal liability, the two unions representing the crew members said. However long the investigation takes, the crews rights and welfare should not be infringed upon during its course, Dave Heindel, president of the Seafarers International Union, said in a statement. We call on the authorities to be mindful that seafarers utilize mobile devices to conduct personal business for bill payments and more importantly, transfer money to their home country to sustain families, he said. Crew members are becoming demoralized without the basic tools we all take for granted. From left: Bro Chen Chuanyi, executive secretary of the Singapore Organisation of Seamen, and Gwee Guo Duan, assistant general secretary of the Singapore Maritime Officers Union, speak with seamen aboard the Dali on April 24, four weeks ater the cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Key Bridge. - Singapore Maritime Officers Union/Singapore Organisation of Seamen/ITF The prolonged detention of MV Dali seafarers aboard their vessel and the failure by authorities to return their personal communication devices are unjust, Don Marcus, president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, said in a statement. Our hearts go out to the Master, Officers and Crew of the M/V Dali, who not only suffered a mortifying and tragic experience resulting in the loss of six lives, but who continue to remain in isolation from their loved ones. Stationary, but not sedentary While they await news about their fates, the crew members are staying busy not just with their ship duties but also by helping investigators and salvage crews. Obviously, this is not a normal environment for them. But theyre all professional seafarers, so theyre doing what they need to do, said Darrell Wilson, spokesperson for Synergy Marine Group the company that manages the Dali. Their days are full. They have normal duties on board. They need to look after the ship, look after equipment, make sure everything is working and functioning that needs to. Theyre also assisting with the salvors. The Singaporean-flagged Dali cargo vessel is shown on March 26, hours after it destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. - Julia Nikhinson/Reuters The seafarers play a critical role in helping the salvage crews because they know all the passageways. They know where everything is on the ship, Wilson said. So if somebody has a question about where can we hook up to get running water, the seafarers can help, Wilson said. The crew is essentially just assisting in any way possible. As for whos helping the crew members with food, toiletries and other day-to-day necessities, Synergy Marine dispatched reps here immediately making sure they have everything they need, helping bring extra supplies on board or arranging for extra supplies to be brought on board, Wilson said. In addition, they have coordinated to have visits by some of the seafarers organizations. Some of the seafarers ministries have been on. The two respective embassies have been in contact with the crew and even made a visit to the ship, he said. Synergy has also provided mental health services for the crew, which Duan the Singapore Maritime Officers Union official credits for helping a seaman who was traumatized after he frantically tried to search for survivors the night of the deadly crash. One of them actually ran to the front of the vessel, which is the bow, to actually try to look for survivors from the accident despite the heaps of debris from the bridge that could fall at any moment, Duan said. On May 13, after six weeks atop the bow of the Dali, a massive piece of the Key Bridge was blown apart in a series of controlled explosions with the crew still on board. Many hoped the removal would mean the crew might be able to set sail or at least get off the ship soon. But more hurdles loom. Their visas expired while theyve been stuck In addition to the staffing regulations, the ongoing investigations and questions about whether the Dali is fit to sail, the crew members cant even set foot on US soil. Their one-month visas expired during the nearly two months theyve been trapped on the Dali, Duan said. Even the ships management company doesnt know when the crew can leave. Theyre going to be on for the foreseeable future, Wilson told CNN Wednesday. Were working to refloat the vessel in a few days and move it to a local terminal here. And then at some point in the future and I dont have that date the company will look for guidance from the authorities on the next steps with the crew. Duan, who visited the crew April 24 and communicates with the captain regularly, said he doesnt expect the ship to leave the Baltimore area until authorities have completed their investigation. The National Transportation Safety Boards preliminary report about the crash did not include a probable cause, which will be part of a final report that could take investigators up to two years to complete. Without the final report, I dont think the vessel is going anywhere far from Baltimore, Duan said. On Monday, several tugboats towed the vessel to the Port of Baltimores Seagirt Marine Terminal the same spot the Dali departed from on its ill-fated voyage almost eight weeks ago. There, the ship will undergo any necessary, temporary fixes before more permanent repairs can be made, officials have said. In the meantime, Duan hopes nonessential crew members will be allowed to get off the ship and stay temporarily on dry land to ease their mental stress. The crew members unions have publicly called for the extension or renewal of the seamens visas. Duan also hopes US authorities will re-evaluate who must stay on the ship, and who might be able to fly home. We take their sacrifices for granted The plight of the Dalis crew highlights the personal sacrifices made by workers who often leave their families for months at a time to provide goods that many consumers use every day. I think most of us think of the items that we use on a daily basis show up on Amazon or Walmart, etc. The reality is 90% of the cargo in the world is carried on vessels, said Schifflin, the director of the Center for Mariner Advocacy. Vessels are manned by seafarers. And to most of us the vast majority of us theyre invisible. We dont even know theyre there. And I think a lot of times, we take their sacrifices for granted. CNNs Gloria Pazmino contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Vivian Sequera LA VICTORIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on Saturday he will ensure all political parties are free to operate if he unseats President Nicolas Maduro in a July vote, and he urged the military to uphold the country's institutions as intended by the constitution. Gonzalez, a former ambassador to Algeria and Argentina, was named by the Unitary Platform opposition coalition in April as its candidate after a ban against landslide primary winner Maria Corina Machado's holding office was upheld by the Supreme Court. The opposition has said Machado's ban is illegal and an attempt by Maduro's government, which has overseen a deep economic crisis in the country, to tamp down support for the opposition in the July 28 presidential election. Standing on a large truck bed, Gonzalez and Machado spoke to a chanting crowd of about 3,000 in La Victoria, Gonzalez's hometown in central Aragua state. Gonzalez said he will ensure political movements can exercise their rights under the constitution, urging voters to imagine a country "where the president does not insult or see his adversaries as enemies." "To the national armed forces - you play a fundamental part in the security of all of us, being guarantors of institutions under article 328 of the constitution," Gonzalez, 74, said. The previously low-profile Gonzalez told Reuters this month he believes Maduro's government would have banned him from office by now if it intended to. Machado has called on voters to throw their support behind Gonzalez, whom she calls a "good and honest" man, and has held campaign events waving large images of him. If the opposition fails to win the election, supporter Marian Tesorero, 22, said: "I will leave the country. I can't stand this anymore." Tesorero, who is finishing her high school studies after being forced to halt them years ago for economic reasons, said she dreams of attending university and meeting her young niece, who was born abroad to her migrant sister. "We must win because we want something better. There must be a change," Tesorero's mother, Jenifer Escobar, 51, said. Gonzalez will appear on the ballot on behalf of three opposition parties, while Maduro, who is seeking his third re-election, will appear for 13 including his Socialist Party. Machado and Gonzalez have demonstrated harmony, and Machado's campaigning with a photograph of Gonzalez "is working," said Saul Cabrera, president of local consulting firm Consultores 21. A recent survey by the firm showed 50% of voters backing Gonzalez, with 32% favoring Maduro. The poll had a margin of error of 3.16%. At a ruling party event in La Victoria, Socialist Party leader Diosdado Cabello said the opposition's "perverse project against the country" will be defeated. (Reporting by Vivian Sequera in La Victoria, additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) A Ventura County high school student was arrested on suspicion of making a false report about a gunman on campus, authorities said. The 17-year-old Moorpark High School student, who has not been identified, made one anonymous report Wednesday about a possible armed person on school grounds through a system known as "WeTip," according to Senerey De Los Santos, a public information officer for the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. Two additional reports were made Thursday with "more specific information of the location of the firearm on the campus," according to a sheriff's office news release. Eventually, 10 deputies responded to the campus Thursday morning and determined there was no threat to the school, officials said. Read more: Fake active shooter reports at California schools spur investigations, authorities say Investigators soon identified the student suspected of making the tips and arrested him on suspicion of falsely reporting an emergency. The teen is currently being held at the county's juvenile justice center in Oxnard, according to the Sheriff's Office. De Los Santos said the tips did not identify a specific student or individual as the armed person, describing the tips as "vague." It was not clear if the teen had legal representation as of Friday afternoon. 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. Sen. Bob Menendez strides into the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse in Manhattan on Friday, May 17, 2024, the fifth day of his corruption trial. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) On the fifth day of Sen. Bob Menendezs bribery trial in Manhattan, the Democrats name was barely mentioned, as federal prosecutors focused Friday on showing how co-defendant Wael Hana landed a monopoly on exporting halal-certified beef to Egypt. Hana had no experience in that industry, no relationship with the beef industry or Islamic organizations, and only one employee when Egyptian officials chose his company IS EG Halal in 2019 to be their sole importer of such meat, U.S. Department of Agriculture official James Bret Tate testified. U.S. agricultural officials were so mystified by the abrupt decision and Egyptian officials refusal to explain it that Tate reported his concerns to the FBI, triggering an investigation, he told jurors. We were concerned about the relationship Mr. Hana had with Egyptian government officials and how he had obtained the business, Tate said. Prosecutors have said Hana was a failed businessman who bribed Menendez and his wife Nadine, one of Hanas longtime friends, to help him secure the export deal with Egypt. The senator did so, prosecutors contend, by pressuring alarmed USDA officials to back off and by doing favors to benefit the Egyptian government at Hanas behest. Menendezs actions included releasing millions of U.S. dollars in military arms and aid to Egypt and revealing sensitive information about staffing at the American embassy in Cairo, prosecutors allege. The jury didnt hear any of that Friday, though, as prosecutors focused on backgrounding jurors on Hanas involvement in Egypt and his monopolys impact on U.S. trade. Tate spent hours explaining the intricacies of halal beef certification, which requires animals to be prayed over and killed in a certain, humane way in adherence to the Muslim faith, as well as U.S. efforts to persuade officials in Egypt which imports over 70% of U.S. beef liver to approve more certifiers. Hana popped up out of nowhere in the spring of 2019, Tate told jurors. Tate was working at the time as an agricultural attache at the U.S. embassy in Cairo when he organized a two-week trade mission for Egyptian agricultural officials in the U.S. The goal was twofold to persuade them to approve both the U.S. food safety system and more halal certifiers to their existing roster of four, Tate said. Together, the U.S. and Egyptian officials visited halal certifiers at four slaughterhouses across middle America before returning to an Arlington, Virginia, hotel, where the Egyptian officials were scheduled to meet four more. My objective was to support U.S. companies, Tate said. Instead, Hana was waiting at the hotel and waylaid the Egyptian officials. It was the first time Tate met him, and he didnt know who he was. In the days that followed, Hana appeared wherever the Egyptian officials went, luring them away from other scheduled meetings and looking to participate in their meetings with U.S. agricultural officials, Tate said. Hanas attorney accompanied them on at least one occasion, and both were so unfamiliar with how halal certification worked they asked Tate to explain it to them. Yet soon afterward, Egyptian officials notified American agricultural officials that Hana would be their sole importer of halal-certified meat, Tate said. The change roiled the market and the USDA, where officials warned the monopoly would have damaging effects on both sides of the globe. It was in the U.S. interest to maintain free competition in the U.S. halal market, Tate testified. Monopolies run counter to our economic interest and we tend to oppose them, writ large. Before long, the damage became evident, he said. Hana jacked up the weight-based fee charged for halal-certified beef exports more than tenfold, from about $200 to $400 per shipping container to over $5,000 per container, Tate said. Typically, such costs are passed on to the consumer, he added. And one of the four halal certifiers delisted by Egypts decision to grant Hana a monopoly went out of business, Tate said. The U.S. Meat Export Federation raised concerns that the shift would disrupt the market because IS EG Halal didnt have the staff or capacity to do the job, Tate said. All the plants will either be: a) clamoring to get the services of the new certifier; or b) refusing to do business with a totally unknown character, a federation representative wrote to U.S. agricultural officials. The circumstances around this are very shady, and I think many companies are going to be reticent to do business with this group at all. But Egyptian officials would not agree to U.S. agricultural officials requests for a meeting. Egypt is among the countries that receives the most U.S. military aid in the world, so such reluctance was unusual, Tate said. When the American embassy requests a meeting, we get meetings, he said. The monopoly was equally unusual, he added. Egypt is the only U.S. trading partner that has just one authorized halal certifier, Tate said. U.S. agricultural officials were so concerned about Hanas maneuvers that Tate penned a report they posted publicly to the USDAs website entitled: New Egyptian Halal Procedures May Disrupt Markets, Drive Up Prices. Late Friday afternoon, prosecutors began to question Tate about a telephone call Menendez made in 2019 to a top USDA official about Hana. That line of questioning didnt last long, though, as defense attorneys demanded a conversation with Judge Sidney H. Stein out of jurors earshot. Menendez attorney Adam Fee warned Stein that Tates comments about Menendezs call could be deeply prejudicial and asked him to limit what prosecutors could ask, saying it wasnt a case brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Can you stay away from the words corrupt or corruption? Stein asked prosecutor Eli Mark. As the debate grew heated and Fee railed about jurors speculating through the weekend, Stein lost his patience and banged his fist on his desk. Mr. Fee! You wait, sir! Dont interrupt! he snapped. Stein adjourned court for the day shortly afterward. Testimony will resume Monday morning, with prosecutors expected to call several witnesses including Joshua Paul, former director of the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees U.S. defense diplomacy, security assistance, and arms transfers to foreign governments. The ongoing trial is the second corruption trial for New Jerseys senior senator in the past seven years. His first ended with a hung jury in 2017. The post A very shady meat monopoly in Egypt dominates day in Menendez corruption trial appeared first on New Jersey Monitor. Vice President Kamala Harris, center, laughs with crews working with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to replace a lead water line on Lakewood Avenue in Pittsburgh's Elliott neighborhood on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress) Vice President Kamala Harris will return to Philadelphia on Tuesday to deliver the keynote speech at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) convention, the White House announced Saturday. The visit will be the vice presidents fourth trip to Pennsylvania of 2024; she joined actress Sheryl Lee Ralph for a conversation on reproductive rights in Montgomery County on May 8, and spoke at a roundtable discussion on student loan debt with educators in Philadelphia last month. In February, Harris visited Pittsburgh to highlight the Biden administrations $5.8 billion funding towards lead pipe removal and clean water projects. The funding for that project, which includes more than $200 million for Pennsylvania, is part of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The vice presidents Tuesday appearance will come a day after the SEIU is scheduled to elect a new president. April Verrett, SEIU secretary-treasurer, is running unopposed for the position, and union leadership has expressed its support for her candidacy. Verrett would be the SEIUs first Black president. Harris joined SEIU and nursing home care workers in Wisconsin last month, to announce two final rules to establish minimum staffing requirements for federally funded nursing homes, and help raise pay for home and community-based service workers. The SEIU represents about 2 million healthcare, service and government workers, and said in March it planned to spend $200 million to support President Joe Bidens reelection bid, as well as help Democrats in presidential battleground states in 2024. Biden has cast himself as the most pro-union president, and has garnered endorsements from large labor organizations, including the United Auto Workers and United Steelworkers, among others. He told steelworkers during an appearance in Pittsburgh last month he was a union guy from belt buckle to shoe sole. Hes believed to be the first president ever to walk a picket line, when he joined striking UAW workers in Michigan last September. The post Vice President Harris coming to Philadelphia to speak at SEIU convention appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called attention to the role of "disputes over water sources" in sparking conflicts around the world, Azernews reports citing Anadolu Agency. "Many conflicts in Asia, America, northern Africa, and the Middle East stem from disputes over water sources," Erdogan said in a speech at a meeting on agriculture organized by Turkish state-run lender Ziraat Bank in Istanbul. The president also touched on the adverse effects of climate change and their consequences for water-linked conflicts. "Due to the adverse effects of climate change, water sources and reservoirs are becoming areas of conflict," he added. On the Black Sea grain deal that Turkiye and the UN-brokered between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, "If it weren't for the Black Sea grain deal, led by Turkiye, many areas would have suffered from famine, particularly African countries," he said. The president emphasized that Turkiye "prevented the situation from getting worse by ensuring passage of 33 million tons of grain through our straits" amid the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine. On May 16, 2024, Rainer Blair, President & CEO of Danaher Corp (NYSE:DHR), executed a sale of 9,005 shares of the company. The transaction was filed on the same day through an SEC Filing. Following this transaction, the insider has sold a total of 75,265 shares over the past year, with no recorded purchases. Danaher Corp (NYSE:DHR) is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping customers solve complex challenges and improving quality of life around the world. Its family of world class brands have unparalleled leadership positions in some of the most demanding and attractive industries, including health care, environmental and applied solutions. On the date of the sale, shares of Danaher Corp were priced at $265, valuing the company with a market cap of approximately $196.87 billion. The price-earnings ratio stood at 45.05, which is above both the industry median of 32.94 and the company's historical median. The stock's valuation metrics show a GF Value of $206.20, indicating that Danaher Corp is modestly overvalued with a price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.29. Insider Sale: President & CEO Rainer Blair Sells 9,005 Shares of Danaher Corp (DHR) The insider transaction history for Danaher Corp reveals a trend of more sales than purchases among insiders over the past year, with 17 insider sales and no buys recorded. Insider Sale: President & CEO Rainer Blair Sells 9,005 Shares of Danaher Corp (DHR) This recent sale by the insider aligns with the broader trend observed within the company, potentially indicating a consensus among insiders about the stock's current valuation. Investors often monitor insider transactions as they can provide insights into how the company's top executives view the stock's value. 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. Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has vetoed two bills that would have stripped tax exemptions for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that has opposed the removal of statues of southern state generals during the US civil war and other markers of the southern states attempt to secede from the Union in defense of slavery. The Republican governor vetoed several measures, including those related to maintaining access to contraception, saying in a statement they were not ready to become law. The rejected Confederacy-related bill would have removed tax exemptions for real estate and personal property owned by several Confederacy heritage groups, including United Daughters organisations the Confederate Memorial Literary Society and Stonewall Jackson Memorial. Narrowly targeting specific organizations to gain or lose such tax exemptions sets an inappropriate precedent, Youngkin wrote in his veto statement, but added that property tax exemptions were ripe for reform, delineated by inconsistencies and discrepancies. That statement provoked a reaction from local Democratic party leaders, who have almost unanimously supported the measures. Senator Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk, one of the sponsors of the bill, wrote on X that the governor wants to keep giving our tax breaks to hate organizations like the Daughters of the Confederacy. Don Scott Jr, a Democrat and the first Black speaker of the Virginia house of delegates, told the New York Times that the purpose of the bill was not to interfere with the United Daughters charity work, but to make sure the state code better reflects the commonwealths modern values. But Jinny Widowski, the president of the group, which was founded in 1894 for women who are descendants of Confederate soldiers, said the legislative efforts against the group were unfair and discriminatory. The continued harassment of our ladies and our mission will not deter us from the charitable work that we do, she said. The organization acknowledges that memorial statues and markers are viewed as divisive and thus unworthy of being allowed to remain in public places, but also says they simply represent a memorial to our forefathers who fought bravely during four years of war and have been a part of the southern landscape for decades. Our Confederate ancestors were and are Americans, the Daughters group adds on its website. We as an Organization do not sit in judgment of them nor do we impose the standards of the 19th century on Americans of the 21st century. Youngkins veto came a week after an all-white school board in Virginias Shenandoah county voted to restore the names of Confederate leaders Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Turner Ashby to two public schools. Their names had been removed during the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd while in police custody in 2020. 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. The school board vote is one of the sharpest examples of a nationwide pushback by conservative groups against the changes that were made after the summer of protests following Floyds murder in Minneapolis. At least 160 Confederate symbols have been taken down. A coalition claimed to have conducted a survey of Shenandoah citizens that found that more than 90% wanted to revert to the original school names. The school boards current chair, Dennis Barlow, said during a contentious debate preceding the vote to restores the names 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. DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) A Vermilion County organization is looking for volunteers this weekend to help beautify the Danville area. Keep Vermilion County Beautiful is the local branch of Keep American Beautiful, which is hosting the Great American Cleanup on Saturday. From 9 a.m. to noon, event organizers will be leading volunteers around Danville to pick up trash, plant and mulch. Volunteer sign-ups open for Balloons over Vermilion There are six locations in Danville, including the Welcome to Danville signs, the entrance to Holiday Hills off of Voorhees Street and on Newell Road across from Walmart. Anyone who wants to volunteer can sign up by calling the groups Executive Director at 217-304-7541. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. After some much needed rain fell across parts of New Mexico Thursday, drier and warmer weather has returned today. Hotter weather is on the way this weekend. Much drier and warmer weather has returned to New Mexico Friday. Temperatures this afternoon are anywhere from a couple degrees to nearly 30 warmer than Thursday. Skies are mostly sunny across the state. A couple isolated showers and thunderstorms have tried to develop along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo and Sacramento Mountains this afternoon, but these do not last very long. Skies will be clearing tonight and low temperatures will be warmer Saturday morning. A very warm and even hot weekend is on the way. Saturday will be the quietest day this weekend as highs climb well above average for this time of year. Sunday will be the hottest day though as temperatures will be some of the warmest so far this year. Parts of southeast New Mexico will even make it into the triple-digits starting Sunday, with the Albuquerque Metro inching close to 90. The downside is winds start picking up Sunday afternoon, gusting to as high as 40 mph. Windier weather is on the way next Monday and Tuesday, when some areas could see 50 mph. A dry cold front will move in as well, cooling temperatures off only slightly into the middle of next week. It will still be a warm and dry rest of the week, with breezy to locally windy conditions each afternoon. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. TOPEKA (KSNT) Eighty business leaders from Africa were in Topeka this week as part of an international conference. The business leaders gathered from 14 different countries for the 24th Academy of African Business and Development (AABD) conference at Washburn University. The majority of the conference was held in the universitys Memorial Union, but the group also visited the Brown vs. Board of Education historical site for a social event during the week. Washburn University School of Business Professor and current Vice President of Finance for the AABD, Dr. Norma Juma, explained the importance of the annual event. This particular forum was actually founded just for that, Juma said. We come together once a year and talk about the research for the different fields and see how that research can inform practice. New principal revealed for Manhattan elementary school Hosting the conference in Topeka is a pretty big deal, as each year the group meets in a different country at a higher institution. Next years conference will be held in Kenya. 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Muskies are known to wolf down big meals. Theyll eat snakes and ducks and even muskrats, not to mention all the fish species theyre known to target. But a 4-foot muskie eating another 4-foot muskie? According to a recent Instagram video, it can happen. The short video clip shows two dead muskies floating on the surface, with one of the fish lodged in the other fishs gullet. It was shared Wednesday by greatlakes_finesse, a lure manufacturer that specializes in soft plastics and other finesse baits for smallmouth bass. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Great Lakes Finesse (@greatlakes_finesse) Ive seen weird things before, and I spend a lot of time on the water, but nothing like this, says Great Lakes Finesse brand manager Dan Miguel, who recorded the video on May 9 and can be heard talking in the background. Miguel tells Outdoor Life that he and a buddy were wrapping up their day chasing smallies on Lake Ontario when they came across the muskies. He noticed a bird standing on something floating in the water, so they pulled over to investigate. The two fish were already belly up by that point. A tournament bass fisherman, Miguel doesnt usually target the fish of 10,000 casts. He says hes caught plenty of pike in that area, but these were the first muskies hed personally seen on the lake. They werent small fish, either. I mean, those were legitimately big muskies, Miguel says. The biggest muskie Ive ever caught was 49 inches, and the biggest fish the one that was eating the other was for sure bigger than that. Id say in the 52-inch range. And the other one was close. He explains that his first instinct was to try and pull the two fish apart, but it didnt take long to realize they were goners. Read Next: Watch an Angler Pull a 22-inch Snake Out of a 16-inch Bass As soon as I touched the fish, I could tell the big one had been dead for awhile, Miguel says. The bottom ones gills were also pinned shut, and its fins didnt even budge when I touched it. No signs of life at all. He can only speculate as to how the muskies ended up like that, but Miguel doubts that one of the fish realistically thought it could eat and swallow the other. He thinks its more likely that the two fish were fighting each other. Muskies are extremely territorial, after all, and theyll often attack an intruder that swims onto their turf even if the fish is as big or bigger than they are. Great Lakes muskies also spawn in the spring, typically between mid-April and mid-May, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Like most other fish species, muskies will act even more aggressively during this period as they seek out mates and defend their spawning grounds. View comments Many Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period. 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. View our latest analysis for Elevance Health Elevance Health Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive VP & President of Government Health Benefits, Felicia Norwood, for US$6.8m worth of shares, at about US$535 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$548. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 36% of Felicia Norwood's holding. Insiders in Elevance Health didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Insiders At Elevance Health Have Sold Stock Recently Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Elevance Health. Specifically, insiders ditched US$8.5m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all. Insider Ownership Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Elevance Health insiders own 0.1% of the company, currently worth about US$176m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders. Story continues What Might The Insider Transactions At Elevance Health Tell Us? Insiders haven't bought Elevance Health stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But it is good to see that Elevance Health is growing earnings. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Elevance Health and we suggest you have a look. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. 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. WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) The Williamson County Sheriffs Office is investigating a deadly shooting that happened in an unincorporated area of Austin Friday night, according to a press release issued Saturday afternoon. Around 10:30 p.m. Friday, a 911 caller reported a shooting in the 9800 block of Copper Creek Drive, according to WCSO. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found a man with an apparent gunshot wound/s, the release said. The man was not identified Saturday, as WCSO said next of kin are being notified. WCSO said it is investigating the shooting as a homicide. Anyone with any information on this case is urged to call 911 or Williamson County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-253-7867. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, heres a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable research and experiments we didnt cover on their own. By the way, TechCrunch plans to launch an AI newsletter soon. Stay tuned. In the meantime, were upping the cadence of our semiregular AI column, which was previously twice a month (or so), to weekly -- so be on the lookout for more editions. This week in AI, OpenAI once again dominated the news cycle (despite Google's best efforts) with not only a product launch, but also with some palace intrigue. The company unveiled GPT-4o, its most capable generative model yet, and just days later effectively disbanded a team working on the problem of developing controls to prevent "superintelligent" AI systems from going rogue. The dismantling of the team generated a lot of headlines, predictably. Reporting -- including ours -- suggests that OpenAI deprioritized the team's safety research in favor of launching new products like the aforementioned GPT-4o, ultimately leading to the resignation of the team's two co-leads, Jan Leike and OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Superintelligent AI is more theoretical than real at this point; it's not clear when -- or whether -- the tech industry will achieve the breakthroughs necessary in order to create AI capable of accomplishing any task a human can. But the coverage from this week would seem to confirm one thing: that OpenAI's leadership -- in particular CEO Sam Altman -- has increasingly chosen to prioritize products over safeguards. Altman reportedly "infuriated" Sutskever by rushing the launch of AI-powered features at OpenAIs first dev conference last November. And he's said to have been critical of Helen Toner, director at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology and a former member of OpenAI's board, over a paper she co-authored that cast OpenAIs approach to safety in a critical light -- to the point where he attempted to push her off the board. Over the past year or so, OpenAI has let its chatbot store fill up with spam and (allegedly) scraped data from YouTube against the platform's terms of service while voicing ambitions to let its AI generate depictions of porn and gore. Certainly, safety seems to have taken a back seat at the company -- and a growing number of OpenAI safety researchers have come to the conclusion that their work would be better supported elsewhere. Here are some other AI stories of note from the past few days: OpenAI + Reddit: In more OpenAI news, the company reached an agreement with Reddit to use the social site's data for AI model training. Wall Street welcomed the deal with open arms -- but Reddit users may not be so pleased. Google's AI: Google hosted its annual I/O developer conference this week, during which it debuted a ton of AI products. We rounded them up here, from the video-generating Veo to AI-organized results in Google Search to upgrades to Google's Gemini chatbot apps. Anthropic hires Krieger: Mike Krieger, one of the co-founders of Instagram and, more recently, the co-founder of personalized news app Artifact (which TechCrunch corporate parent Yahoo recently acquired), is joining Anthropic as the companys first chief product officer. He'll oversee both the company's consumer and enterprise efforts. AI for kids: Anthropic announced last week that it would begin allowing developers to create kid-focused apps and tools built on its AI models -- so long as they follow certain rules. Notably, rivals like Google disallow their AI from being built into apps aimed at younger ages. AI film festival: AI startup Runway held its second-ever AI film festival earlier this month. The takeaway? Some of the more powerful moments in the showcase came not from AI but from the more human elements. More machine learnings AI safety is obviously top of mind this week with the OpenAI departures, but Google DeepMind is plowing onward with a new "Frontier Safety Framework." Basically it's the organization's strategy for identifying and hopefully preventing any runaway capabilities it doesn't have to be AGI; it could be a malware generator gone mad or the like. The framework has three steps: (1) Identify potentially harmful capabilities in a model by simulating its paths of development; (2) evaluate models regularly to detect when they have reached known "critical capability levels"; and (3) apply a mitigation plan to prevent exfiltration (by another or itself) or problematic deployment. There's more detail here. It may sound kind of like an obvious series of actions, but it's important to formalize them or everyone is just kind of winging it. That's how you get the bad AI. A rather different risk has been identified by Cambridge researchers, who are rightly concerned at the proliferation of chatbots that one trains on a dead person's data in order to provide a superficial simulacrum of that person. You may (as I do) find the whole concept somewhat abhorrent, but it could be used in grief management and other scenarios if we are careful. The problem is we are not being careful. "This area of AI is an ethical minefield," said lead researcher Katarzyna 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." The team identifies numerous scams, potential bad and good outcomes, and discusses the concept generally (including fake services) in a paper published in Philosophy & Technology. Black Mirror predicts the future once again! In less creepy applications of AI, physicists at MIT are looking at a useful (to them) tool for predicting a physical system's phase or state, normally a statistical task that can grow onerous with more complex systems. But training up a machine learning model on the right data and grounding it with some known material characteristics of a system and you have yourself a considerably more efficient way to go about it. Just another example of how ML is finding niches even in advanced science. Over at CU Boulder, they're talking about how AI can be used in disaster management. The tech may be useful for quickly predicting where resources will be needed, mapping damage, even helping train responders, but people are (understandably) hesitant to apply it in life-and-death scenarios. Attendees at the workshop. Professor Amir Behzadan is trying to move the ball forward on that, saying, "Human-centered AI leads to more effective disaster response and recovery practices by promoting collaboration, understanding and inclusivity among team members, survivors and stakeholders." They're still at the workshop phase, but it's important to think deeply about this stuff before trying to, say, automate aid distribution after a hurricane. Lastly some interesting work out of Disney Research, which was looking at how to diversify the output of diffusion image generation models, which can produce similar results over and over for some prompts. Their solution? "Our sampling strategy anneals the conditioning signal by adding scheduled, monotonically decreasing Gaussian noise to the conditioning vector during inference to balance diversity and condition alignment." I simply could not put it better myself. The result is a much wider diversity in angles, settings, and general look in the image outputs. Sometimes you want this, sometimes you don't, but it's nice to have the option. Tonight features scattered showers and storms, some of which could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy dense fog will also be possible as we head toward dawn, with low temperatures dropping into the upper 50s. Saturday does bring forth some good news, as the area of low pressure responsible for bringing showers to the region bobbles south. This means well have more breaks in showers, with some of our northern counties only seeing a few isolated showers! High temperatures will be in the low 70s. Sunday keeps the risk for scattered showers and storms, especially early, but there should be plenty of dry time than Saturday in the afternoon as our low pressure system scoots off to the south and east. Well see high temperatures in the low 70s. The forgotten history of Memorial Day Monday looks great! High pressure will be in control and that should bring nice weather into the region with plenty of sunshine and highs in the upper 70s. Tuesday will be dry for most of the day, but an isolated shower or two in the afternoon is possible as our next system begins to approach. High temperatures will be in the low 80s. Wednesday brings forth the potential scattered storms, with a cold front approaching from our west. This will increase rain chances, especially by the afternoon, with high temperatures in the low 80s. Thursday continues our risk for a few showers with high temperatures in the mid 70s as our front crosses, followed by a northwest flow behind the cold front providing us with a few showers. Best Memorial Day deals to shop this year Friday could provide a few isolated showers in the morning with plenty of sun expected by the afternoon with highs in the low 70s. Looking ahead, the pattern is a little quieter overall. The Memorial Day weekend at this juncture is looking great with high pressure in control both Saturday and Sunday and high temperatures near 80 degrees under plenty of sun. A few storms will be possible on Memorial Day itself with highs in the upper 70s but some changes will be possible between now and then. Help us with our growing community of weather photos with #weathertogether. Head to our website and search for the Weather together tab and upload your photos of weather going on around our region. We are in spring forest fire season in West Virginia this means dont burn between 7 AM and 5 PM through May 31st. Low humidity values during the daytime, along with breezier and warmer conditions will at times increase the fire threat, hence the burn ban during most of the daytime. Follow all regulations or be faced with potential consequences, such as fines! TONIGHT Scattered downpours, locally heavy rainfall possible. Lows in the upper 50s. SATURDAY Scattered showers, especially south. Drier north. Highs in the low 70s. SUNDAY Few showers early, plenty of afternoon dry time! Highs in the low 70s. MONDAY Mostly sunny. Highs near 80. TUESDAY Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 80s. WEDNESDAY Scattered showers and storms. Highs in the low 80s. THURSDAY Scattered showers likely. Highs in the mid 70s. FRIDAY Isolated showers. Highs in the low 70s. SATURDAY Mostly sunny. Highs in the 70s. SUNDAY Partly sunny. Highs in the 70s. MEMORIAL DAY Few storms. Highs in the 70s. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS. West Memphis animal shelter full; how you can help 70 rescued pups West Memphis animal shelter full; how you can help 70 rescued pups MEMPHIS, Tenn. The West Memphis Animal Shelter is now caring for 70 dogs found living in horrible conditions at Hughes, Arkansas home. Shelter director Kerry Facello said Thursday they were able to rescue the last of the dogs from the property on Earle Beck Road off Highway 147. Three kids, over 50 dogs rescued in Crittenden County after welfare check There were two more, and it was almost like they were waiting for us, said Facello. So we have them, and Im very thankful because one we were able to get had a very injured leg. Courtesy: West Memphis Animal Shelter Courtesy: West Memphis Animal Shelter Dogs being housed in cat facilitys Courtesy: West Memphis Animal Shelter Courtesy: West Memphis Animal Shelter 70 dogs rescued Tuesday, Crittenden County deputies found three children, ages 2, 8, and 10, living in a feces-covered house with dozens of small dogs, the sheriffs office said. The children were released to the Department of Human Services, and three adults also inside the home were arrested. Martin Huerta-Miller, 61, Victoria Martinez, 37, and W.L. Crump were charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and animal cruelty. Woman fled for help from house with 70 dogs, neighbors say The West Memphis Animal Shelter was already at capacity before the rescue. Theshelter is now housing most of the dogs in what used to be their cat room. The shelter issued a plea for puppy food and is receiving help from other Arkansas rescue groups and the Bissel Pet Foundation. Facello showed off some of their donations during a live-stream on Facebook. The Bissel Pet Foundation is partnering with us to care for the animals and find them forever homes, Facello said. Thank you to everybody who has said a prayer, sent a donation, or words of encouragement. She said the majority of the dogs are heart-worm positive, have parasites, are covered in fleas, and are in need of a little socialization. How are we going to come up with 70 names? she asked. We are going to have to become creative. Cabot Animal Services has offered to take some of the animals. Facello is also asking members of the community to adopt or foster a pet currently at the shelter to free up more space. The shelter is also in need of dry and wet Pedigree puppy food. Want to help? West Memphis Animal Shelter website Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Eleanor Frances will put her case at employment tribunal hearings later this year - David Rose for The Telegraph A whistleblower claims she was forced out of the civil service by a politicised culture which led to her being marginalised for her gender-critical beliefs. Eleanor Frances, who joined the civil service in 2019 after completing a PhD in engineering, managed a team of policy officials at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Her role, which involved working with government ministers, later moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). She is now taking both government departments to an employment tribunal on several grounds, including unfair constructive dismissal, and victimisation, as well as direct and indirect discrimination based on her philosophical beliefs. Ms Frances believes that she was left with no option other than to quit the civil service last August after she blew the whistle on allegations of discrimination and breaches of impartiality on sex and gender issues. She raised concerns formally about a series of issues internally, but claims that instead of being taken seriously, she was ignored and sidelined. A climate of fear around diversity policy Her concerns included complaints about a politicised climate of fear around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies, with the risk of negative professional consequences for civil servants who questioned the institutional position on issues such as sex and gender. Ms Frances also claims that an internal Gender Identity and Intersex policy was adopted, without proper consultation, following a workplace assessment by Stonewall, the controversial gay rights organisation. She says the policys use of politicised language and concepts for example, defining transphobia as including the denial/refusal to accept someones gender identity meant that civil servants were effectively compelled to recognise male people as women. She also claimed that the policy of self-identification in government premises meant that men were allowed to access female single-sex facilities, with the threat of disciplinary action against any women who might object. Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, to whom Eleanor Frances wrote a letter on behalf of concerned civil servants - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Ms Frances says that when she failed to get a response to her complaints internally, she went on to pen a letter to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, on behalf of 42 staff from 16 departments warning that the politicised culture risks improperly influencing Government policy. Mr Case was told in the letter, sent last year, that ideology on gender promoted by trans activists has become embedded in the Civil Service in a significant breach of impartiality. It says the concept that everyone has a gender identity which is more important than their sex is treated as undisputed fact. Approach to gender not impartial Ms Frances told The Telegraph: I asked [the Cabinet Secretary] in that letter to take urgent action to ensure civil service impartiality is upheld and freedom of belief is respected. I coordinated it because I had lost confidence in DCMS processes and felt I had nowhere else to turn. Two and a half months later, the response was telling me to use the departmental processes that had already failed me. Ms Frances said she believes the civil services approach to sex and gender issues is not impartial, adding: Government departments officially adopted internal policies which took one side of a major political controversy, and which compelled civil servants to do the same. In doing so, they compromised the privacy, dignity and safety of female staff. Another instance of the lack of impartiality demonstrated by her colleagues was following the death of the late Queen last September, she claims. Ms Frances said: Following the death of Her Majesty, a senior colleague put a post in a team WhatsApp group. She said Having to make that woman pm would be enough to send anyone over the edge tbh. That woman was Liz Truss, the then prime minister. I challenged the comment and complained that it breached civil service impartiality. In response, my manager reprimanded me. The same colleague was promoted the following week to be a senior civil servant and my new line manager. Ms Frances told The Telegraph that she raised concerns internally that her department was taking a politicised and discriminatory approach to EDI. I was stripped of my team and responsibilities She said: Whilst investigations into my concerns were ongoing, I was stripped of my team and responsibilities by individuals who are named in my complaint. I was given unsubstantiated and derogatory feedback including in relation to my approach to EDI. Every time I raised a concern, I was told to follow a process, but the process took months and did nothing. I sought help from senior civil servant leadership but they didnt protect me. When the investigation resulted in more action and I was forced out of my role, I had no choice but to resign citing constructive dismissal. Ms Frances is being represented by the Free Speech Union (FSU) at her employment tribunal. A preliminary hearing took place last month with further hearings expected for later this year. Jill Levene, legal counsel at the FSU, said: Impartiality is the cornerstone of a well functioning civil service. Eleanors treatment is a clear example of a civil service that has been captured by radical progressive ideology. 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 White House and top congressional Democrats are discussing a series of moves aimed at strengthening their hand on border security ahead of the first presidential debate next month. That includes potentially rolling out a sweeping executive order limiting migrants ability to seek asylum, revisiting the stalled bipartisan border bill in the Senate, and possibly sending President Joe Biden to the border, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. One of those sources said that some Democrats on Capitol Hill have encouraged White House officials to consider having the president make another visit to the border in the coming weeks. With border arrests down this year, thanks in part to Mexico stepping up its own enforcement efforts in January, the White House is looking to take advantage of a brief reprieve from one of the most politically fraught issues Biden faces in his reelection campaign. But senior administration officials are also bracing for the potential that border crossings will surge this summer, like in previous years, and are trotting out a series of policy changes to try to dissuade migrants from journeying to the US, and convince skeptical voters they are working to tighten up immigration at the border. If officials move forward with a border visit, it would mark Bidens second trip to the US southern border this year and third since taking office. The discussions have not been previously reported; no trip has been announced. A White House spokesperson told CNN that no border trip for Biden is under consideration at the moment. White House officials are in discussion with Senate Democrats about reviving the border policy package that failed to advance earlier this year, according to the two sourcesanother sign of ongoing efforts meant to show Democrats are aggressive on border security, an issue thats been a political liability for the party and the president. The pressure on Congress also reflects the limited tools the administration has at its disposal to affect the situation on the ground over the next few months. Discussions are ongoing on when the border executive action will be rolled out, according to sources, who say that one of the considerations is doing so after Mexicos election in early June and potentially before the first presidential debate. The White House is hoping to stave off another crisis and keep the focus on congressional Republicans who backed away from the border bill that included some of the toughest border security measures in recent memory, multiple sources told CNN. Aides say Senate Democrats expect to bring back up for a vote the border security bill that was blocked by Republicans after former President Donald Trump came out against the deal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy, who cut a deal with Republicans on the long-sought border security measure, have been heavily signaling their intention, though nothing has been formally announced. On the campaign trail, Biden has continued to hammer Republicans over the measure. After months, we finally came up with the strongest border bill, the most comprehensive immigration reform in decades, Biden said at a campaign fundraiser in California this month. The majority of the House and Senate members strongly support this. But politics derailed it. New guidance and regulations Over recent weeks, the Biden administration has rolled out new guidance and regulations that would tighten the immigration system to quickly reject migrants who are ineligible for asylum, and speed up court cases for some migrants measures Biden officials hope will, in part, dissuade people from journeying north. Mexican Municipal Police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 21. - Christian Torres/Anadolu/Getty Images Theyve also cracked down on countries facilitating irregular migration, like Nicaragua, by imposing visa restrictions on over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, nongovernmental actors, and their immediate family members. In order to meet the current moment, the administration has taken unprecedented steps to leverage existing resources, exercise our legal authorities and coordinate with our federal and international partners to reduce irregular migration and manage our borders in a safe and orderly way, a senior administration official told reporters this week. Also under consideration is a sweeping executive action that would restrict migrants ability to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border if they crossed illegally a maneuver reminiscent of controversial action from the Trump era. It involves using an authority known as 212f between ports of entry to try to clamp down on unlawful border crossings. The White House has repeatedly stressed the unique challenges it faces in trying to control record migration across the Western hemisphere thats resulted in thousands of migrants at the US-Mexico border and overwhelmed federal resources. But voters appear unconvinced, as Biden continues to lag Trump on border security in polls. In recent months, Mexico has surged operations to obstruct smuggling and movement to the border, targeting smugglers for prosecution, moving migrants away from the border and engaging in joint enforcement operations along the US southern border with federal authorities, according to Homeland Security officials. In April, Border Patrol recorded more than 128,000 migrant encounters between ports of entry, down from 137,480 in March, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. Last April, Border Patrol apprehended more than 183,000 migrants. A migrant cuts through concertina wire after crossing the US-Mexico border through the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday, April 2. - Justin Hamel/Bloomberg/Getty Images But Homeland Security officials are now preparing for an anticipated rise in border crossings, consistent with previous years when numbers tick up in the summer, including shifting resources to meet a potential surge and getting personnel in place. The White House is also bolstering its immigration team following anticipated staff departures earlier this year and plans to bring on one of the administrations chief architects of border policy, Blas Nunez-Neto, who currently serves as an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, to work even more closely with Bidens aides. Upcoming election in Mexico One wildcard is the upcoming election in Mexico slated for June 2, raising uncertainty in the minds of Biden officials about what, if anything, will change with a key partner when it comes to border cooperation at a critical moment. Whether were talking about elections in Mexico or here in the US, it always provokes a level of uncertainty with everyone, generally, but especially in the migrant population, a Homeland Security official told CNN. US and Mexican officials are in touch on an almost daily basis and high-level delegations have traveled back and forth as the two countries try to stem the flow of migration. Current and former US officials describe Biden and Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador relationship as friendly and professional. In an aerial view, a US Border Patrol agent searches for immigrant footprints while looking through the US-Mexico border fence on March 9, in Yuma, Arizona. - John Moore/Getty Images Late last month, Biden spoke to Lopez Obrador about migration management, marking the second call between the two leaders this year. In the short term, the two leaders ordered their national security teams to work together to immediately implement concrete measures to significantly reduce irregular border crossings while protecting human rights, according to a White House readout. Officials expect that a new administration in Mexico would likely continue cooperating with the US on migration given years of partnership, but its unclear how migrants and especially, smugglers might plot their next moves in a moment of government transition. Mexican officials are also observing another surge of migrants coming from further south at a time where their own resources are already stretched. What the Mexican government has done is slow people down by bussing them south and rationing out permits for some nationalities to move across the country, said Andrew Selee, president of the nonpartisan think tank, Migration Policy Institute. But its not a long-term strategy to stop people and return them to their country of origin. Thats whats missing in all of this, he added. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com White House not pleased that Russia is invited to anniversary of Normandy landings The White House has acknowledged that France can reserve the right to invite a representative of Russia to the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy during World War II, but does not support this decision. Source: Politico, citing two anonymous US officials, reported by European Pravda Details: One of the officials said that they would "defer" to the French government, which was organising the Normandy commemorations. "But perhaps this will remind the Russians that they actually fought real Nazis once, not imaginary ones in Ukraine," he said. Another official explained that the White House tended to view French President Emmanuel Macron as someone who feels he could have influence on Vladimir Putin, and the US broadly accepted his diplomatic efforts in the context of the full-scale war in Ukraine. The official added that Paris's decision to invite a Russian representative to Normandy has largely been viewed from this perspective. Background: Last month, it was reported that France had invited a Kremlin representative but not Putin himself to take part in events marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied operation. This created the possibility that the Russian official could cross paths with European leaders and Biden. The decision sparked outrage among some European countries, given that Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than two years, while the D-Day events are meant to commemorate the collective sacrifice of the Allies in World War II to preserve democracy. Support UP or become our patron! A House Oversight meeting turned chaotic on Thursday when Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threw insults at one another and even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got into the mix. The hearing held to discuss holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress got heated after Greene mocked Crockett for wearing fake eyelashes. Here's what you need to know about the situation and whats been said in the days since. Who is Jasmine Crockett? In 2023, Crockett became the U.S. representative for Texas's 30th Congressional District, which represents portions of Dallas and Tarrant counties. Before her role in Congress, Crockett served in the Texas House of Representatives. She was previously a public defender and later opened her own law firm, where she represented a number of clients, including more than 400 protesters whom she represented pro bono. What happened at the hearing? What did Marjorie Taylor Greene say about Crockett? Republicans are moving ahead with contempt charges against Garland for not complying with subpoenas for audio recordings related to an investigation into President Biden's handling of classified documents. On Thursday, Crockett suggested that Greene wasnt aware of the purpose of the hearing. Greene, the controversial representative for Georgia's 14th Congressional District, responded to the congresswoman, I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. The House Oversight Committee devolved into chaos amid personal attacks during a meeting to discuss whether Attorney General Merrick Garland should be held in contempt of Congress. https://t.co/xOVVEmmpZC pic.twitter.com/DGL7XlI6OZ Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 17, 2024 House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer called for order, while Ocasio-Cortez called for the committee to mark down Greenes unacceptable words, as they constituted a personal attack on Crockett. This gives the speaker the chance to withdraw words deemed out of order. This, however, only led to a more contentious exchange, with Greene retorting: Are your feelings hurt? Ocasio-Cortez fired back: "Oh girl, baby girl. Dont even play." Greene agreed to strike her words, but refused to apologize for them, as the swipes between her and AOC continued. Comer, meanwhile, continued to call for the women to cease. Greene called for Ocasio-Cortez to debate her before saying that the congresswoman didnt have enough intelligence to do so. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks at the Capitol on May 1. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Crockett strikes back Comer eventually ruled that Greene was not violating House rules with the comment about Crocketts appearance. Crockett then asked, I'm just curious, just to better understand your ruling: If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach-blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? The House quickly descended into chaos again, with Comer begging everyone to stop yelling. Democrats then sought to enforce rules to prevent Greene from speaking further, but Republicans voted to allow her to continue. Comer called for a recess to address rule debates and reminded members to maintain "the House's standard of decorum" upon returning. Crockett calls Greene's comments 'racist' Crockett made clear she did not approve of Greenes comments about her appearance in a Thursday post on X. "So MTG wanted to talk about my appearance in COMMITTEE?!" Crockett wrote. "This is what happens when mentally deficient people who cant read and follow rules or just dont give a damn somehow end up in CONGRESS!" She also called Greenes comments racist in a Friday interview with reporters, stating that Greene's words were more of the same from MAGA Republicans. When asked to clarify, Crockett stated, A lot of times when I would go viral, instead of them trying to address the things that I laid out in a very factual way, what they would try to do is say, Oh, look at her hair, or Look at her nails, or Look at her lashes, and they would all then associate anything I do as a form of beautification with being quote-unquote ghetto. She added, I am not the only woman in Congress that wears lashes, and there are women on her side of the aisle that wear lashes as well, as well as hair extensions. But shes never felt like that was a dig that she needed to take at anyone except for me, a Black woman who sits on the committee. Greene says her remarks were 'facts,' not 'attacks on personalities' Greene who is notorious for her outspoken, and often outlandish comments wrote on X on Friday, Every single committee hearing. Every single floor speech. Democrats attack, smear, and hurl personal insults against President Trump. Just like Jamie Raskin did in his opening statement last night. How ridiculous is it that the Speaker runs his mouth about decorum when our opposition refuses to follow it at all. AOC isnt intelligent. Jasmine Crockett has fake eyelashes. These arent attacks on personalities. These are just facts. Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, called the situation a failure of leadership from Comer. When the chairman of the committee declined simply to rule her words out of order, and to have them taken down, as [Ocasio-Cortez] immediately moved to do, when he refused to do that, at that point, it unleashed the chaos in the committee, he said. Raskin also said it's "worth investigating" whether lawmakers were drinking during the hearing on Thursday after Axios reported that Rep. Melanie Stansbury complained that noncommittee members were "drinking inside the hearing room." Why no one knows exactly how much old-growth forest we have left About 25% of all the remaining old-growth trees across all national forests and grasslands in the lower 48 states are in national forests in the Northwest that are managed by federal agencies. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) About 25% of all the remaining old-growth trees across all national forests and grasslands in the lower 48 states are in national forests in the Northwest that are managed by federal agencies. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) This story was first published by Columbia Insight. Its said that the map is not the territory. This statement, say critics, is especially true of the maps created by the U.S. Forest Service to inventory the nations largest carbon sinks: its mature and old-growth forests. In April 2023, under pressure from the Biden administration, the Forest Service completed its first-ever nationwide inventory of mature and old-growth forests found on federal lands. This inventory of older trees is part of an ambitious Biden administration plan to harness the power of our nations forests as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis. The idea is simple: rather than cut older trees down, the Biden administration is proposing we leave many of them standing, allowing them to do what years of scientific research has shown older trees do very well: take climate change-causing carbon out of the atmosphere and store it for long periods of time. Announced in December 2023, the awkwardly named Land Management Plan Direction for Old-Growth Forest Conditions Across the National Forest System has been widely lauded by environmentalists and many scientists as a long-overdue step to help address the nations over-sized carbon footprint. The nationwide forest plan is expected to lead to revisions of local forest plans throughout the country, including the Northwest Forest Plan governing Washington, Oregon and sections of northern California. But whether the nations older trees will be enlisted in the fight against climate change and spared the chainsaw could depend on knowing where those trees are. And that, according to both critics of the Forest Service and the Forest Service itself, is not something the Forest Services inventory and mapping can do, because these maps are just not detailed enough to be used for management purposes on a stand-by-stand basis. A study written by Forest Service scientists and published in August 2023 in the journal Forest Ecology and Management hints at this fact. The studys authors write that although the maps they created contain a high degree of accuracy. Identifying mature and old-growth forests in a stand management context will likely require additional measurements, adjustments to criteria at local scales, and incorporation of social and traditional knowledge within a consistent definition framework. In other words, the maps show the forest but not the trees. Low-res maps The Forest Services mature and old-growth inventory used data on trees collected at individual forest plots that are part of the agencys Forest Inventory and Analysis, a long-term scientific monitoring effort designed by the Forest Service to assess the health of the nations forests. Data from the FIA program goes back decades. These data, and the FIA program generally, are widely respected and used by scientists both in and out of the Forest Service. Nonetheless, FIA has its limitations, according to Richard Birdsey, retired Forest Service scientist turned senior scientist at the nonprofit Woodwell Climate Research Center. Richard Birdsey (Courtesy of Woodwell Climate Research Center) Based in Massachusetts, the Woodwell Climate Research Center funds scientific research related to climate change. Many of its scientists have been critical of the Forest Service and its practices. The FIA data is adequate for looking at large areas, maybe a whole state or a group of national forests. But theres just not enough FIA sample plots in the typical old-growth stand to characterize it or monitor it carefully, says Birdsey, who in addition to spending 15 of his 40 years at the Forest Service working on the FIA program has also conducted his own analysis of the carbon-storing potential of Americas older forests. [FIA is] a terrific program and really is a backbone for policies, says Birdsey. But its a little less effective when trying to monitor whats happening at smaller scales or at the project scale. And thats where a lot of public interest is. Heres the problem. While the Forest service has 355,000 FIA plots (on public and private lands) in forests across the United States, the FIA plots themselves are small, covering approximately two-and-half acres each. The plots are also miles away from each other, with one plot every 6,000 acres, or nine square miles, of forested land. This leaves big gaps in the available data set, gaps that need to be filled with scientific guesswork that has to come from other sources of data. What you get from this is a big picture look at the forest, but not a detailed one. And this, says Birdsey, is exactly what the Forest Service ended up producing in 2023. The Forest Service mature and old-growth forest inventory maps were created at whats called a fireshed scale. Firesheds are 250,000 acres each, or roughly 390 square miles. This means a single 390-square-mile fireshed gets a single classification, for instance, Moderate Mature, High Old Growth or High Mature, Moderate Old Growth, as can be seen on an interactive online map displaying the agencys mature and old-growth data. By most scientist standards, this resolution is considered low or coarse, according to Birdsey and other scientists. This stand of Douglas fir and other species includes trees of multiple ages. (Courtesy of Jurgen Hess) This low resolution has been widely criticized not only by scientists but also by environmentalists hoping to protect mature and old-growth forests, says Steve Pedery, conservation director at the Oregon-based environmental nonprofit Oregon Wild. The Forest Service maps did give a total picture in terms of the volume [of mature and old-growth trees], but they were so vague that you couldnt actually identify any particular specific stand of old-growth anywhere, says Pedery. Pedery says the low-resolution maps could make protecting older trees more difficult. For its part, the Forest Service admits its maps are vague and cant be used to manage individual stands, but the agency doesnt necessarily see this as a bad thing, according to Jamie Barbour, assistant director for adaptive management at the Forest Services Monitoring and Analysis Team, which oversaw the implementation of the mature and old-growth inventory. We didnt want to create the impression that we knew exactly where these clumps of old forest were because that would have ramifications that might not be very useful, says Barbour, adding that the agency wanted only to present an idea of where large accumulations of older forests were. Asked what he meant by ramifications, Barbour responded, People misinterpret things. If were saying that a specific small area is mature old growth and its not, then that could lead to disputes about how to manage it. Barbour says high-resolution mapping of mature and old-growth forests should ideally happen at the local level. Though, he says, the Forest Service is also exploring using a NASA-led effort called GEDI, a project that is literally out of this world. Monitoring old-growth from space GEDI stands for the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation which, yes, is a reference to a galaxy far, far away and is pronounced Jedi. Befitting its namesake, GEDI uses a high-resolution laser system known as LiDAR to map the Earths surface. The projects LiDAR system is located on the International Space Station. The GEDI system can observe nearly all tropical and temperate forests. The projects goal is to provide answers to how deforestation has contributed to atmospheric CO2 concentrations, how much carbon forests will absorb in the future and how habitat degradation will affect global biodiversity, according to its website. The NASA-led effort has been used to map old-growth trees in Australia but was not used as part of the Forest Service mapping project, despite the fact that GEDI data for U.S. forests were available at the time. However, GEDI might be used by the Forest Service to continue monitoring older forests, at least according to promotional material posted by NASA on its website and on YouTube. This material suggests that adding GEDI to the Forest Services mapping effort will soon enable the public to view some of these [old-growth] forests like never before and help fill in those spatial gaps that FIA data and the Forest Services current inventory was unable to fill. Exactly if and when GEDI will be used by the Forest Service is unclear. GEDI project lead, Ralph Dubayah, professor of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, couldnt be reached for comment. The projects LiDAR system is also currently not in use on the ISS. Instead, its being stowed away to make room for a Department of Defense project, according to Barbour. GEDI data wont provide a complete picture of whats out there, says Barbour, but echoing NASAs promotional material, he says it could help fill in the gaps between FIA plots. Mature trees need protection, too Beverly Law, a retired forest ecologist at Oregon State Universitys College of Forestry and leading researcher on how to harness the carbon-capturing power of older trees, says she was also disappointed with the Forest Services inventory of mature and old-growth trees. In 2018, Law came under fire from the timber industry following the publication of her study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study demonstrated that the state of Oregon could sequester more carbon and slow climate change if it slowed the rate at which it harvested its forests. Beverly Law. (Courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Law is impressed with the Biden administrations efforts to push the Forest Service in the direction of carbon storage. But she worries about how the plan will be implemented by an agency that historically has had to be ordered to conserve rather than log the nations trees. Its the best move thats been made by any administration, ever, says Law of the old-growth forest plan. But the devils in the details in how its carried out. In February, Law was one of over 190 scientists who study the carbon-capturing potential of older trees to sign an open letter to the Biden Administration requesting it immediately direct the Forest Service and BLM to suspend all timber sales in mature and old-growth forests, and refrain from proposing new timber sales in these forests until the environmental impact statements required by law to implement the old-growth forest plan are completed. One of those devilish details Law and others are concerned about is the possibility that the Forest Service is now trying to sidestep its obligation to protect both mature and old-growth trees. As critics pointed out in December 2023, when it was published, the Land Management Plan Direction for Old-Growth Forest Conditions Across the National Forest System, while creating nationwide protections for old-growth forests, fell short of also providing broad protections for mature forests. Because many mature tree stands are now old enough to be carbon-capturing powerhouses in their own right, and because many are now just decades away from being classified as old-growth, many scientists, Law among them, argue that the lack of protections for mature trees is a major loss both for trees and for fighting the climate crisis. Leaving out mature trees, they say, also violates the intent of the larger push to use the nations forests to sequester carbon, a push that doesnt originate with the Forest Service but with two executive orders issued by the Biden Administration. The first executive order, EO 14008, was signed shortly after President Bidens inauguration in 2021. It directs federal agencies to protect 30% of the nations lands and waters by 2030. The second executive order, EO 14072, was issued in April 2022 and directs the Department of Agriculture (which contains the Forest Service) and the Bureau of Land Management to create a national inventory of mature and old-growth forests found on federal lands as part of a larger effort to use these forests to, among other things, retain and enhance carbon storage. According to the Forest Services own estimates, while old-growth forests cover just 17% of the federal lands they inventoried, mature forests can be found on 45% of surveyed lands. Barbour, however, takes issue with claims that his agency is no longer concerned with mature forests as a way to fight climate change. We would like to manage [forests] for a suite of conditions, some of which are older forests, and were trying to understand where we can maintain forests for a very long period of time, says Barbour. Barbour says ultimately the goal of carbon storage needs to be balanced against the need to provide economic opportunities in rural communities through ongoing forest management. As for the Forest Services inventory of mature and old-growth forests, Law, who helped design the Forest Services FIA program, says one important question is why it took so long for the Forest Service to develop official mature and old-growth maps when the scientific community more generally has been doing this kind of analysis for decades. Weve been waiting for this since before [President George W.] Bush, and even now its like, what the heck took so long? says Law. The post Why no one knows exactly how much old-growth forest we have left appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle. APPLETON Wisconsin's top Republican urged the battleground state's party faithful to unify their position on the abortion in order to win in November, warning Democrats will seek to make the 2024 presidential election a referendum on the issue. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in a speech to the Republican Party of Wisconsin's state convention in Appleton sought to frame the issue in a misleading argument as protecting abortion policy from becoming one that allows infanticide. He cited broad congressional Democratic support for a bill that would have barred government restrictions on abortion access that would allow abortion access up until the point of fetal viability, which is roughly reached at 24 weeks of pregnancy, and would allow the procedure to take place after 24 weeks only if a doctor determined continuing a pregnancy would pose a risk to the mother's health or life. Johnson has characterized these policies as supporting abortions "up to the moment of birth." Johnson said Republicans should unify on the issue or face more ballot losses. "I said this election is about it's a referendum on democratic governance, not what the Democrats are going to turn it into, which is referendum on abortion," Johnson said. Members of county Republican parties gather for 2024 Republican Party Of Wisconsin State Convention on Saturday at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton. "Within the Republican Party, we have a broad spectrum ... and I have complete respect for people who, because I think we all agree that life begins at conception, want to protect life," Johnson said. "I completely respect that. But that's not where probably most Americans, most Wisconsinites, and probably even most Republicans land." "I know people don't like what I'm saying. Many people in this room do not like what I am saying. I'm just laying out the reality of the situation because in the end, we have to win elections." More: Voters should be shown what 'abortion looks like at every stage of pregnancy,' Sen. Ron Johnson says Johnson's comments come as Republicans seek to boost former President Donald Trump on an issue created by members of the U.S. Supreme Court he appointed when they overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In the most-recent Marquette University Law School poll, Trump and President Joe Biden are in a tight race within the margin of error. Biden has focused heavily on the issue of abortion as he campaigns against Trump. Wisconsin Republicans have struggled to combat the political effects of the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, which effectively put back into place a law that had been interpreted for more than a century to ban all abortions except when the mother would die without one. Abortion has become a central issue in races in Wisconsin since. The issue of abortion was central to the 2022 midterm elections in Wisconsin and the 2023 state Supreme Court race, leading to victories for Democratic and liberal candidates who made the issue a focus of their campaigns. In a recent Marquette University Law School poll, 24% of Democratic voters said they consider abortion their most important issue in deciding who to vote for, followed by the economy. For independent and Republican voters, 5% of those groups saw abortion as their top issue. While abortion was the leading issue among Democratic participants, the economy was the No. 1 issue for all respondents in the survey, followed by immigration and abortion policy. Voters saw Democratic President Joe Biden better at handling abortion and health care, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump better on the economy and immigration. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson makes remarks during the 2024 Republican Party Of Wisconsin State Convention on Saturday in Appleton. A majority of registered voters in Wisconsin, 54%, also said they strongly or somewhat favor a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and the life and health of the mother. In the same poll, 64% of voters said they believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 35% said it should be illegal in all or most cases. Johnson previously supported legislation in 2011 declaring the right to life starts at fertilization and has repeatedly co-sponsored federal legislation that would ban abortion 20 weeks after fertilization. Following the overturning of Roe, Johnson suggested voters should be able to weigh in on the question, "At what point does society have the responsibility to protect the life of an unborn child?" with options ranging from banning abortion at the moment of conception, to each month of pregnancy up until the eighth month or "never." In April, Johnson also suggested voters weighing their position should be shown what abortion looks like at every stage of pregnancy. "We need to understand, first of all, what an abortion looks like at every stage of pregnancy. We've not had that discussion, which is why I recommended a referendum to ask that question: at what point does society have the responsibility to protect life?" Johnson told reporters at the time. Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson urges GOP to unify on abortion or face election losses MADISON The leader of the Wisconsin Republican Party is not ruling out urging voters to utilize absentee ballot drop boxes during the fall presidential election even as Republicans are in court seeking to stop their use. Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming said twice this week he will urge Republicans to take advantage of all forms of voting, including returning ballots to drop boxes, if the state Supreme Court overturns a ban on the use of drop boxes in a case the liberal-controlled court will likely decide in the coming weeks. I have spoken nationally, in the state, and at local levels about the need for Republicans to be realistic and if the state law that affects this election says well have drop boxes or we end up with ballot harvesting, were going to do what it takes to win, Schimming told reporters Saturday at the state GOP convention in Appleton. "All I can tell you as chairman is I'm not going to leave any potential advantage that we might have on the table. Period." Earlier this week, Schimming also said in an interview with WisconsinEye he is "not going to sit around and leave tools on the table." Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming makes remarks during the 2024 Republican Party Of Wisconsin State Convention on Saturday May 18, 2024 at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton, Wis. "You have to deal with reality when you're state chair," he said in the WisconsinEye interview. "I can see a situation where we have to deal with a change in state law on drop boxes ... but we'll be ready for all that." Schimming's comments come as the state GOP and Republican National Committee have urged justices on the state Supreme Court not to overturn the court's previous ruling banning the use of ballot drop boxes that are not inside election clerks' offices. "There is no justification here special or not. Voters must deliver their absentee ballots in one of twoways: by mail or in person, to the municipal clerk. Drop boxes do neither," attorneys for the state and national GOP wrote in a brief to the court as part of the lawsuit under review. "Like anything of value, elections are targets for malicious actors. Even if fraud is rare, it is still a threat. And because elections are the very essence of our democracy, it is essential that people perceive them to be run according to the highest standard of integrity," the attorneys wrote. "Short-circuiting those safeguards and imposing a novel drop-box requirement that the Legislature never enacted, the Governor never signed, and the voters never ratified would contravene the manifest purpose of the statute." Supporters of drop boxes say clerks have wide discretion over what tools should be used to administer elections in their communities, noting drop boxes had been in use for decades leading up to a 2022 court decision that banned them. Liberal justices on the court questions the conclusion the former conservative majority reached in its 2022 decision. Wisconsin Republicans have struggled to project a clear message on absentee voting since former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential candidate, sought to sow distrust in his election loss in 2020 by blasting the safety of mail-in voting. Schimming has for months sought to create a public campaign to the party faithful to embrace absentee voting in order to combat Democratic turnout. But at the same time, Trump continues to argue against the idea in visits to the state. During a rally in Waukesha earlier this month and in an interview this week with a local TV reporter, Trump said he his preferred voting strategy is one-day voting with paper ballots. In an interview with the Journal Sentinel earlier this month, Trump did not commit to accepting the results of the election. Schimming and the state's top elected Republican, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, urged supporters of Trump at Trump's April rally in Green Bay to also embrace early voting a form of absentee voting that Democrats have heavily promoted in recent elections. But when Trump took the stage at a rally in Green Bay, he again sought to dampen trust in the state's election system by promoting the false claim that he would have won the presidential contest in Wisconsin 2020 if it had not been for election malfeasance driven by absentee voting in Milwaukee. U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican from Janesville who represents the state's 1st Congressional District, conveyed a different message during Saturday's state GOP convention, however. "If we want to win, if we want to win as Republicans and as conservatives, we need to use every legal tool in the toolkit to get the job done. And that's going to require people going out, voting early, banking the vote, and driving out the turnout in the state of Wisconsin," Steil said. Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin GOP leader says party may need to embrace ballot drop boxes Supporters listen as UAW President Shawn Fain speaks at a press conference at the UAW Local 112 office on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Coaling, Alabama. Local Mercedes-Benz workers in Vance, Alabama voted against unionizing Supporters listen as UAW President Shawn Fain speaks at a press conference at the UAW Local 112 office on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Coaling, Alabama. Local Mercedes-Benz workers in Vance, Alabama, voted against unionizing. (Laura Chramer for Alabama Reflector) VANCE, Alabama Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant voted Friday to reject a union after a months-long campaign to organize the plant. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversaw the election, said 2,045 workers (44%) voted for the union, while 2,642 workers (56%) voted against it. The results, the first setback for organized labor after a string of recent victories dating back to last fall, came after an intense battle between the United Auto Workers, who have tried to unionize the plant for decades; Mercedes-Benz, which opposed it, and Alabama state officials and business groups, who waged an aggressive anti-union campaign. The no comes after state leaders advocated against the union amid a series of labor victories nationwide. Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, said at the Coaling UAW office on Friday that the result was not what they were hoping for, but the workers made gains in their campaign. Justice isnt just about one vote or one campaign, said Fain. Its about getting a voice and getting your fair share. Rick Webster, an employee at the Mercedes-Benz plant speaks with reports at UAW headquarters Friday, May 17, 2024 in Coaling, Alabama. Mercedes-Benz United States International (MBUSI), the entity overseeing the plant, said in a statement Friday that they wantedto ensure every eligible Team Member had the opportunity to participate in a fair election. We thank all team members who asked questions, engaged in discussions, and ultimately, made their voices heard on this important issue, the statement said. Workers who supported the union said they had concerns about work-life balance, pay, benefits and policies, such as a doctors note not excusing time off when a worker is out of days. Rick Webster, a two body panel adjuster, told reporters ahead of the vote counts becoming public on Friday that he hoped a union would allow employees to negotiate on an equal playing field. Well be able to sit down at the table with the company, and we will be able to negotiate what we need as workers and not have it dictated to us by the company, he said. He also said that if the union vote fell short, supporters would try again. Fain accused Mercedes of engaging in intimidation tactics. The NLRB wrote in an email earlier this week that Region 10 was investigating Mercedes-Benz for claims filed by the UAW. Kirk Garner, who works in companys audit department and supported the union, accused Mercedes of engaging in anti-union behavior. Other workers previously accused managers of advocating against the union and spreading anti-union propoganda. Its written in their corporate policy to be neutral, and they werent neutral, he said. Fain said he would leave it to their legal team on whether they would challenge the results of the election based on Mercedes conduct. Our fight isnt just here, he said. Our fight is in the legislatures, in the halls of legislatures. Garner said organizers would try again for next year. Were not giving up, he said. Weve been doing this for 25 years. Defeat after victories As the votes rolled in, pained sounds came from people in the room as the vote count swung to no as the votes came in chunks throughout the day. The early vote counts did not look favorable for unionization. Near the end of count, the running vote totals on the white board were changed to ONWARD! The vote at Mercedes, whose arrival in Alabama in 1993 is credited with creating the states automotive industry, was the first defeat for organized labor after a string of victories. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to unionize in April. UAW won a major strike against the Big Three automakers last year, and secured a contract with 25% wage increases at Daimler Truck earlier this month. Volkswagen employees had first rejected the union in close votes in 2014 (712 no; 626 yes) and 2019 (833 nos among around 1,600 who voted), according to the Washington Post and New York Times, respectively. Drew Hall, a team lead in the paint shop at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, drove down with his wife, Kristina Hall, in support of the drive on Friday. Hall, who was also involved in the 2019 Volkswagen union drive, said that the victory at the Chattanooga plant was exhilarating. The amount of time that youve actually put into it that once its over and done with all you want to do is cry, he said ahead of the vote counts becoming public. Andrew and Kristina Hall, from Chattanooga, Tennessee. wait for the Mercedes-Benz plant vote count at UAW headquarters Friday, May 17, 2024 in Coaling, Alabama. In February, the UAW said that a majority of the workers had signaled support for the union. The union called for a vote in April and had previously said that they would call for a vote when 70% of workers had signaled support for the union, though they did not disclose their level of support at the time. A November report from the progressive non-profit organization Alabama Arise found that wage growth had stalled for the workers. The report found that real wages had declined 11% from 2002-2019 and that Alabama workers made less than autoworkers in other states. Hispanic, Black and women workers also made less on average. The UAW has tried to organize the plant for years, but none have made it as far as the current effort. While the wages had stagnated, autoworkers still make more on average than others in the state. Workers who did not state support of the union told the Reflector at a recent shift change that they were not sure where they would find better work. The union drive has faced push back from state leaders, with both Gov. Kay Ivey and the Business Council of Alabama opposing the union. Ivey, who claimed the union drive was a threat to Alabamas economic model, recently signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, which would require companies to forfeit state economic incentives if they voluntarily recognize unions. In a statement released Friday afternoon, Ivey called the automotive industry a crown jewel industry in the state and wrote that she was grateful for the companies. The workers in Vance have spoken, and they have spoken clearly, she wrote. Alabama is not Michigan, and we are not the Sweet Home to the UAW. We urge the UAW to respect the results of this secret ballot election. A message was left with BCA Friday morning. UAW President Shawn Fain speaks at a press conference at the UAW Local 112 office on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Coaling, Alabama. About 7.5% of Alabamas workforce is unionized, the highest rate in the South, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. But that number is below the 10.1% average nationwide. Until the Chattanooga election last month the UAW had struggled to organize the regions auto plants. Fain said he hopes the American dream can be achieved in the South. When I hear the governor talk about hurting the economy, I mean, what drives the economy is when workers do well, when workers do better, they stimulate the economy, they drive the economy, they spend money, he said. Fain said he didnt consider the vote a setback in the momentum. I think workers are going to continue to vote for unions, and were gonna keep building, he said. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE This report was first published by Alabama Reflector, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network. Its 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 X. The post Workers at Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama reject union after months-long campaign appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. Tasha Johnson, a Yelm High School teacher and the co-president of the Yelm Education Association, said she and other teachers were blindsided by the districts decision to send layoff notices that could eliminate more than 200 positions. Johnson said the union wasnt notified until May 10 just how deep the budget cuts would be. And she doesnt understand why the superintendent and school board didnt explore program cuts before issuing layoff notices to more than a third of Yelms teaching staff. She said staff knew that if the local tax levy failed twice, then they would lose some staff. To find out that it was 122 (teachers) last Friday, we were blindsided, Johnson said. At no point was a number shared at a school board meeting. She said the cuts include not just teachers but counselors, nurses, speech language pathologists, support staff and more. Johnson said the Yelm Education Association repeatedly asked to be part of decision making about where to make cuts. She said they were told by district leadership that everything was on the table. But so far, programs havent been touched. District leadership hosted a community forum Thursday evening to discuss cuts to solve the $15 million budget deficit left when voters turned down district property tax levy proposals in February and April. The second tax proposal was turned down by a vote of 3,115 no to 3,054 yes on April 23. Johnson said the purpose of Thursday nights meeting was to review budget priority survey results and gather ideas on what programs might need to be modified or cut. But she believes the district has already decided where to make deeper cuts. Theres clearly been some program decisions made, and we were not included in that conversation, she said. We havent been made aware of them as union leadership. Johnson said the whole plan has been confusing. She said she doesnt understand why leadership didnt start by making cuts that dont directly impact classrooms. And she questions why Yelm isnt getting more state funding for basic education. The Yelm School District was already underfunded by 21 teachers this school year, she said. We already didnt have enough people, and now we have even less. Im not sure how that is in the best interest of students. The next school board meeting is May 23. Meeting Thursday night to discuss layoffs, other cuts as result of Yelm levy failures Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a slew of bills Friday, including one focused on protecting access to contraceptives. While I look forward to working with the General Assembly to see if we can reach agreement on language in the future, today I must act on the language before me, and there are several bills which are not ready to become law, Youngkin said in a release shared by his office. This includes legislation related to contraception. Let me be crystal clear: I support access to contraception. However, we cannot trample on the religious freedoms of Virginians, he added. In his veto statement, Youngkin said the legislation created an overly broad cause of action against political subdivisions and parents, as well as medical professionals acting in their expert judgment and within their scope of practice. That is the issue the recommendations I sent back to the General Assembly addressed, he wrote. I will continue to uphold the oath that I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Companion bills in the State House and Senate chambers state that a person shall have the right to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception and that the right shall not be infringed upon by any law, regulation, or policy that expressly or effectively limits, delays, or impedes access to contraceptives or information related to contraception. Youngkin, in his rebuke, said contraceptives are already protected under the Constitution. He originally sent back substitute language that would make access to the birth control a policy, rather than signing a new law, according to local outlet WRC-TV. However, when state officials let his motion expire, the original bill was sent to his desk. Despite his veto, Youngkin reiterated his support for contraceptives. Quality health care for women is essential and contraception remains a crucial component of reducing abortions and fostering a culture of life, making Virginia the best place to raise a family, Youngkin wrote in the statement. In a response to the veto, the Virginia Democratic Party took a swipe at the governor. Governor Youngkin just proved to Virginians that once again, he does not care about their health or rights, Susan Swecker, chair for the Virginia Democratic Party, wrote in a press release. Contraception is used to manage a wide variety of health conditions, and by choosing not to protect it, Youngkin is hurting thousands of people, she continued This comes down to health and freedom, and Youngkin and Republicans continue to carelessly and blatantly disregard both. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Ukraine's partners "are afraid of Russia losing the war" and would like Kyiv "to win in such a way that Russia does not lose," Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists attended by the Kyiv Independent. Kyiv's allies "fear" Russia's loss in the war against Ukraine because it would involve "unpredictable geopolitics," according to Zelensky. "I don't think it works that way. For Ukraine to win, we need to be given everything with which one can win," he said. His statement came on May 16 amid Russia's large-scale offensive in Kharkiv Oblast and ongoing heavy battles further east. In a week, Russian troops managed to advance as far as 10 kilometers in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast, according to Zelensky. Washington has not changed its negative position on potential Ukrainian strikes with U.S.-supplied weapons on Russian territory even after Russia had launched its offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, the Pentagon said on May 16. Zelensky commented on this statement during the meeting, saying that "there should be no bans because this is not about a Ukrainian offensive using Western weapons on Russian territory. This is about defense." In an interview with AFP on May 17, the Ukrainian president said that the Kharkiv Oblast offensive could be the first of several waves, and Russian forces may try for the regional capital of Kharkiv. Read also: 48 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraines most-bombed major city In recent months, Russia has maintained initiative on the battlefield, taking advantage of delays in defense aid to Ukraine from Western allies and Kyiv's troop shortages. The U.S. Congress approved a $61 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine in April after six months of political infighting. The Pentagon warned that it would likely take some time before its effects on the battlefield were felt. Kyiv has also ramped up calls on allies to send more long-range weapon systems to target Russian military facilities deep behind the front line and defend against Russian glide bomb strikes heavily impacting the battlefield. The U.S. has recently supplied Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine reportedly used to strike Russian targets in occupied Crimea. Washington's restrictions, as described by Ukrainian officials, would prevent the replication of such an attack inside Russian territory. Germany has refused to supply Ukraine with its Taurus missiles with a range of over 500 kilometers due to fears of escalation from Russia. Read also: When and how will US aid impact the front lines in Ukraine? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Zelensky: Russias Kharkiv Oblast offensive could be first of several waves Russia's offensive in Kharkiv Oblast this month could be the first of several waves, and Russian forces may try for the regional capital of Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on May 17. Russia launched new offensive actions on May 10 in the north of Kharkiv Oblast toward Lyptsi and Vovchansk, a town located less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border and around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the city of Kharkiv. Russian troops managed to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) as a result, Zelensky said earlier on May 17. The Russian military's advance was stopped by Ukraine's first line of defense and the situation in the region has stabilized, according to Zelensky. "They (Russia) started their (offensive) operation. It could consist of several waves. There was the first wave (in Kharkiv Oblast), and the situation there is controlled," the president told AFP. Subscribe to newsletter War Notes Subscribe Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov suggested on May 14 that Russian forces may launch a similar offensive in Sumy Oblast when the conditions are more favorable. "We have to be sober and understand that they (Russian troops) are going deeper into our territory. Not vice versa. And that's still their advantage," Zelensky said. Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv is a major Russian target, but Moscow understands that it would be "very difficult" to try to take it. "It is a big city, and they understand that we have forces that will fight for a long time," Zelensky added. Read also: 48 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraines most-bombed major city Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. brazzo / Getty Images/iStockphoto Some dream jobs can land you in a financial nightmare thanks to an exorbitant amount of student loans, which happens to many medical doctors. Having the initials M.D. behind your name is an impressive accomplishment, but it comes at a high cost for physicians. According to the Education Data Initiative, The average medical school graduate owes four times as much as the average college graduate, which is, on average, $202,453, excluding premedical undergraduate and other educational debt. Check Out: 5 Ways To Become a Millionaire in Your 50s Read Next: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) Tuition and fees at some schools range from about $68,000 to $73,000, leaving 73% of medical school graduates have educational debt, per the Education data Initiative. While repaying student loans can take years, Dr. Josh Lumbley, Head of Member Engagement for Doc2Doc Lending and Chief Quality Officer for NorthStar Anesthesia, had a strategic plan to pay off his debt early and celebrated his successful endeavors with an unforgettable trip. I was fortunate enough to have less than $100K in student loans when I finished my residency, Dr. Lumbley told us. My wife and I were aggressive in paying off the debt, and we were very fortunate to have paid them off in around 18 months. He added, Luckily, I had a track scholarship in college, so any savings that my family had accrued for college was applied to medical school. Dr. Lumbley graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his residency in Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Brigham & Womans Hospital in Boston, MA. He also holds a masters degree in business operational excellence from The Ohio State University. In addition, he was previously a fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, informing congressional health policy. Although he holds a remarkable resume, Dr. Lumbley didnt live a lavish lifestyle. Instead, he budgeted sparingly and carefully avoided unnecessarily spending to pay off his loans. At the time, we lived very frugally, he shared. We had one car, which was paid off, so our only substantial expenses were a reasonable mortgage payment and a partial tuition payment for a business degree. Looking back on it, I think we probably lived too frugally, but it did the job! Besides sticking to a tight budget, Dr. Lumbley worked additional hours and relied on his wifes income to help. Well, besides the aforementioned frugality, we were fortunate enough to be a dual-income family (at the time, my wife was a schoolteacher), so we could apply both salaries to any debt on bills. Additionally, I spent a lot of extra time in the hospital picking up extra shifts and calls to help supplement our income. After living so frugally for months, working long hours, and making tough sacrifices, Dr. Lumbleys and his wifes hard work paid off. After paying off the debt, our first real splurge was flying first class to Hong Kong and Thailand. For both of us, traveling internationally in first class had always been something we had dreamed of. It was an incredible experience getting to celebrate in such an enjoyable way. Story continues Check Out: 30 Best Games That Pay Real Money in 2024 Today, Dr. Lumbley continues to serve as a Board-Certified Anesthesiologist while combining his passion for lifelong learning, data-driven decision making, and strategic leadership to improve clinical performance and elevate physician wellness. He continued: This was pre-pandemic, so premium airfares were not nearly as expensive as they are now. But airfare was somewhere around $10,000, he told us. And the entire trip to Hong Kong and Bangkok probably landed somewhere close to $15,000. We love street food, so we hit up so many day (and night) markets in Hong Kong. We went all over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. While in Bangkok we did a boat tour of the Chao Phraya River, two days at the Chatuchak Weekend Market, and an evening food tour. It was an incredible trip. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Doctor: How I Spent My First Huge Paycheck Zelensky: Ukraine only has 25% of needed air defense capabilities Ukraine only has 25% of the air defense capabilities it needs to adequately repel Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on May 17. Kyiv has been urging its partners to send additional air defense systems as Russia intensifies its strikes against Ukrainian population centers and infrastructure. Ukraine would need 25 Patriot systems or their equivalents to protect the country, Zelensky said earlier. Ukraine also needs over 100 advanced aircraft, including F-16 fighter jets, to counter Russia's air power, the president told AFP. "As for the aircraft, I say this openly, so that Russia does not have air superiority, our fleet should have 120 to 130 modern aircraft," Zelensky added. Ukraine could prevent Russia from occupying the city of Kharkiv with two additional Patriot anti-air systems, according to Zelensky. Russian forces launches new offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, exposing Kharkiv and a number of border settlements in the region to heavy attacks. Kyiv is believed to operate at least three Patriot systems and associated equipment provided by the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. Berlin pledged in April to send one additional system. Ukraine should receive another IRIS-T system from Germany in May. European allies are also working on plans to send additional air defenses to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported earlier this week, citing unnamed sources. Read also: Russian strikes overwhelm Ukraines overstretched air defense amid Western aid delays Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 18 that Ukrainian forces had repelled a Russian assault on Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, and that Russia is losing troops and military hardware. Chasiv Yar, a largely destroyed town, has been seen as Russias next target after the fall of Bakhmut, while Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, is also a major Russian target. Zelensky said that Russian forces also lost over 20 pieces of military hardware in Chasiv Yar. Our forces are delivering a strong rebuff to the occupiers wherever the situation is difficult - besides Kharkiv, in Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and the southern direction, Zelensky said in his evening address. The president also said Russia suffered a significant loss, in Kharkiv Oblast, although Russian troops were counting on a rapid advance through our land like in 2022. Read also: Russias new Kharkiv offensive pushes Vovchansk to the brink of annihilation Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed on May 17 that Russia has no plans to capture Kharkiv "as of today" and is attacking Kharkiv Oblast in order to create a so-called buffer zone in the oblast to prevent shelling of Russia's Belgorod. The Kremlin has made similar claims in the past about its intentions, namely when it repeatedly stated in the months, weeks and even days before the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that it had no plans to invade Ukraine., Russia has lost 491,080 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 18. This number includes 1,210 Russian casualties just over the past day. Russia's offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in mid-May could be the first of several waves, and Russian forces may target the regional capital, Kharkiv, Zelensky said a day before in an interview with AFP. Russian troops managed to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) as a result. Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, suggested on May 14 that Russian forces may launch a similar offensive in Sumy Oblast when the conditions are more favorable. Read also: Sumy Oblast fortifies amid looming threat of Kharkiv attack Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants to work with countries like China with influence on Russia as his country faces a renewed Moscow offensive, urging Beijing to attend peace talks next month. Zelensky said Chinese leader Xi Jinping assured him in a phone call that Beijing supports Ukraines territorial integrity though he did not say when the exchange happened. He was speaking in an interview with news agency AFP aired on Friday, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putins two-day visit to China, during which the two countries pledged deeper strategic cooperation. Beijing has never condemned Russias February 2022 invasion, instead claiming neutrality in the conflict, having released a vaguely articulated 12-point position on its resolution. Ahead of expected peace talks in Switzerland next month, Xi has called for negotiations that take both sides positions into account. Engaging global players like China is crucial because they have influence on Russia, and the more such countries we have on our side the more Russia will have to move and [more countries] to reckon with, Zelensky said. Noting the assurances he says Xi gave him over the phone about territorial integrity, he added: They support, but what they will do, we are yet to see. The only known phone call between Zelensky and the Chinese leader was in April last year. Zelensky said he would like to see China at the international talks in Switzerland next month, aimed at paving the way for a peace process in Ukraine. The summit has drawn delegations from more than 50 countries so far, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Swiss President Viola Amherd. Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's leader Xi Jinping attend an official welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on May 16, 2024. - Sergei Bobylov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images China has not committed to the event, though its ambassador to Switzerland Wang Shihting said in March that Beijing was considering participating. Russia has not been represented at any of the four rounds of closed-door international peace talks that have taken place so far, and will not be at this one. China has attended one, hosted by its increasingly close strategic partner Saudi Arabia. During a recent six-day trip to Europe, Xi pushed back against allegations that his country has been supporting Russias war in Ukraine, saying China oppose[s] using the Ukraine crisis to shed responsibility or defame a third country and provoke a new Cold War. But he joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling for a global Olympic truce, which would see a pause in fighting in all conflicts during the upcoming Summer Games in Paris. Zelensky, however, expressed skepticism about the ceasefire proposal, citing inadequate guarantees against Russian advances. Even if we imagine that there is some kind of Olympic truce for two weeks and everyone is standing still, tell me, I told Emmanuel, who can guarantee that Russia will not use this time to bring its forces to our territory, Zelensky told AFP. There is a risk that while we are not fighting them back and not stopping them with artillery fire, even (in the areas) where they are advancing, there is a risk of them bringing more heavy military equipment to our territory. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Zelenskyy expects attendees of Peace Summit in Switzerland to draw up 3-point action plan President Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine expects the attendees of the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland to draw up an action plan on three points. Source: Ukrainian President's Office, citing excerpts from President Zelenskyy's interview with the French news agency AFP, as reported by European Pravda Details: The president noted that these include free navigation, nuclear and energy security, prisoners-of-war swaps and the release of children illegally deported by Russia. The free navigation point envisages the protection of port infrastructure, food security for the whole world and the development of Ukraine's economy. The nuclear and energy security point seeks to stop Russia's attacks on critical infrastructure. "If we come out of the Summit with these three steps, with these positions agreed upon in most countries, it means that Russia will not block them any further, and we will develop a step-by-step, very detailed plan for each of these points with certain countries at the technical level," Zelenskyy said. So far, fifty of the 160 countries and organisations invited to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland have confirmed their attendance. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have already confirmed their attendance. The Global Peace Summit will take place on 15-16 June in Burgenstock, Switzerland. Russia was not invited to the Peace Summit this is Ukraine's stance. Russia declared its unwillingness to attend, but Switzerland would very much like to launch a process involving Russia. Support UP or become our patron! Zelenskyy expects Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast to be only first wave President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russian advances in Kharkiv Oblast are only the first of several waves of offensives. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with AFP Details: Zelenskyy said the situation in Kharkiv Oblast was "controlled" but "not stabilised." He said Russian troops had advanced five to ten kilometres along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces. Quote from Zelenskyy: "The Russian offensive could consist of several waves. The first wave was in Kharkiv Oblast. We must be sober and understand that they are going deep into our territory. And not vice versa. And this is still their advantage." Support UP or become our patron! Zelenskyy: Ukraine has only quarter of what it needs to protect its skies Stock photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine has only about 25% of what it needs to defend itself in terms of air defence. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with AFP Details: Zelenskyy stated that 120-130 F-16 fighter jets or other modern aircraft are needed to be on a par with Russia. AFP reported that the president was "highly critical" of the restrictions on using Western-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory. Quote: "They can fire any weapons from their territory at ours. This is the biggest advantage that Russia has. We can't do anything to their systems, which are located on the territory of Russia, with Western weapons." Support UP or become our patron! FatCamera / iStock.com Historically speaking, investing in real estate has seen significant returns. The S&P 500 Index found that the average annual return on commercial properties is about 9.6% a year, only about 0.7% less than residential properties. But investing in anything, real estate included, does come with some inherent risks. Market timing, location, demand and how well the property appreciates over time among other things can all affect your returns. Read Next: 8 States To Move to If You Dont Want To Pay Taxes on Social Security For You: 7 Reasons You Must Speak To a Financial Advisor Before Spending $50,000 or More Given how important location is, GOBankingRates asked two real estate investors Christian Gore and Itay Simchi where theyd never buy property. Heres what they said: Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week. Chicago, Illinois The average home value in Chicago is $296,901, a 4.4% increase over the past year. Liquidity ensures youll see solid returns on your real estate investment, but this city doesnt have that. The state is fiscally irresponsible and in a bad position, said Christian Gore, the founder and managing partner of G1 Capital Partners, a private capital firm specializing in multifamily and industrial real estate investments. There are scenarios in Cook County where property taxes have increased four to six times virtually, making it an illiquid market. Trending Now: 20 Best Cities Where You Can Buy a House for Under $100K Detroit, Michigan From my experience, there are several areas in the U.S. that I would never purchase property in, said Itay Simchi, a real estate investor and the founder of Proven House Buyers. One of those cities is Detroit, Michigan. With a staggering 35% vacancy rate, Detroits real estate market is still recovering from the automotive industrys decline, Simchi said. Ive seen firsthand how difficult it is to find reliable tenants and sell properties in this area. Housing prices in Detroit hover at $73,843 on average, less than a 2% increase from last year. San Francisco, California Housing prices in San Francisco are almost exorbitantly high. The average home value is $1,296,843, but this is a 1.6% drop over the past 12 months. Its not all about the cost of real estate that makes the city less attractive to investors, though. According to Gore, he wouldnt purchase property there because he feels the environment is unsafe and unpleasant for people to live and work. This, combined with the high overall cost of living, makes it a poor investment opportunity. Story continues Baltimore, Maryland Baltimores high crime rates (55.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2022, FBI data) and declining population (a 1.2% decrease between 2020 and 2022) make it a risky investment for me, Simchi said. Ive had issues with property damage and low rental income in the past. The area may be a slightly better investment for residential properties, but its all subjective. Currently, the average home in Baltimore is valued at $187,223, less than half the national average. This is a 5.3% increase from last year, however, a potential sign that real estate is on the up and up. New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans is another potentially risky investment, Simchi said. Crime rates, especially violent crime, is still high in the area. Along with this, the city is lacking when it comes to overall economic growth. In New Orleans, the average home is valued at $247,524. This might seem initially attractive, but its also a 6.4% decrease from the previous year. And then when you add in high property insurance rates, you could be looking at a potentially expensive investment. Ive seen properties damaged by natural disasters and struggled to find quality tenants, Simchi said. New York City, New York Investing in New York City real estate isnt for the faint of heart, nor is it for the newer investor unless they know what theyre doing and have a lot of capital on hand. On average, homes cost $748,012 in the city and have remained relatively stable over the past year. No dips could be a good thing, but no increases could also mean negligible returns. The tax burden in NY has climbed significantly, Gore said. This has made it very tough to make sense of investing here. Gore also added that many people in New York have actually migrated to the Southeast. This doesnt bode well for those looking to make their fortune in real estate investing in New York. St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is another area thats struggled with high crime rates and a slow economic growth rate, according to Simchi. This has made it difficult for him to find good tenants for rental properties, as well as made it harder to quickly sell properties. Of course, everyones experience is going to be different. Right now, the average home value in the city is $177,243, a 5.3% jump since last year. Memphis, Tennessee While Memphis has potential, its high poverty rate (24.6% in 2022, U.S. Census) and low median household income ($44,445 in 2022, U.S. Census) make it a tough sell for me, Simchi said. Ive seen properties sit on the market for months and rental income is often unreliable. Properties in Memphis cost about $151.054 on average, so it could be a decent place for newer investors who want to start small to look. At the same time, Zillow found that property prices have dropped by 2.7% since last year a potential concern for those seeking higher returns. Washington D.C. Home prices in Washington, D.C. have remained steady over the past year, with the average home valued at $621,991. But while that might encourage some investors to buy property, Gore has a different take. The city has many laws and rules that make investing here difficult and more politically driven rather than fundamentally driven, he said. Cleveland, Ohio The average home value in Cleveland is just $109,453, according to Zillows data. While this is far below the national average, property prices have gone up by 8.5% over the past year. This could make the city an attractive place for newer investors especially if they dont have quite the same amount of capital to invest. But this doesnt necessarily make it a good place to invest. For Simchi, the citys declining population and high vacancy rates are major red flags that keep him from buying properties there. *All average home values are according to Zillow. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Real Estate Investor: 10 Places I Would Never Buy Property President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraines Defence Forces have repelled a Russian assault on the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast and destroyed more than 20 pieces of Russian military equipment. Source: President Zelenskyy in a video address on 18 May Quote from Zelenskyy: "Lets not forget about other fronts beyond the Kharkiv front: the Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove fronts, and the southern fronts; its tough on all of those fronts, and our forces are fighting back with dignity. I am especially grateful to the soldiers who repelled the Russian assault on Chasiv Yar. Our forces destroyed more than 20 pieces of the occupiers equipment. Good job!" Support UP or become our patron! What are zombie fires, and why are they becoming more common? (NEXSTAR) Zombie fires, much like the persistent reanimated corpses for which theyre nicknamed, are known for coming back to haunt the same regions from year to year. These fires, also called holdover fires or overwintering fires, are essentially wildfires that never fully extinguish, and instead continue smoldering under the ground or snow for extended periods of time, emerging as full-on blazes when conditions allow. They typically occur in the boreal (northern) forests in high-latitude regions, feeding off peat, decomposing matter and tree roots, as some researchers have observed even if conditions aboveground become freezing. When these fuels are exceptionally dry, wildfires smoulder in deep duff layers and within large logs, remaining active underground with the potential to resurface come spring, Canadas wildfire service in British Columbia explained in a recent spring outlook report. Risked his life: Man hailed a hero after saving baby from burning home in Cleveland Of the wildfires currently burning in Canada, many are considered to be holdover fires from the 2023 fire season, which were never fully extinguished and remained largely underground for the colder months. Because zombie fires are largely flameless when dormant, and can smolder under huge swaths of land, fighting them can be extremely difficult in colder months. In many cases, there isnt much that can be done to saturate ground that has already frozen over. But firefighters will monitor the areas believed to be active, sometimes with thermal-imaging technology, and concentrate on areas that pose immediate threats. Unfortunately, zombie fires may pose an increasing threat in northern forests due to climate change. Canadian officials have already said that the dryer, hotter weather experienced in recent years is creating ideal conditions for wildfires in general. A spokesperson for the British Columbia Wildfire Service told Nexstar that holdover fires are common, and dont necessarily contribute to a worsening wildfire season. He admitted, however, that certain areas are currently seeing a greater number of holdover fires that firefighters might expect during a slower season, partially due to hot, dry conditions. We are more concerned about holdover fires this spring due to persistent drought conditions, he said. McDougall Creek wildfire bc canada Researchers believe additional wildfires also increase the likelihood of zombie fires, too. As discussed in a 2021 article published in the science journal Nature, researchers in Amsterdam and the U.S. found a link between especially hot summers and the intensity and total area of subsequent zombie fires. And for these we do see a pronounced upward trend hotter summers and more burned area with continued climate warming, co-author Rebecca Scholten, of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told NASAs Earth Observatory of the findings. High school students, frustrated by lack of climate education, press for change More zombie fires will also potentially contribute to more re-emerging wildfires in coming years, continuing a cycle that can threaten more of the population, and will likely increase carbon emissions and send more smoke into the atmosphere, Dr. Michael Mehta, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told NewsNation last year. Im not gonna say [itll affect us] the rest of the summer; Ill probably say the rest of our lives, unfortunately, Mehta said. And it is something that has been predicted for decades going forward. Were going to have to learn to live with it. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The City of El Paso and the El Paso Zoological Society have traded charges over the weekend concerning an expired agreement between the two that was not renewed earlier this year. The El Paso Zoological Society said in a statement issued late Friday night, May 17, that the City is demanding the transfer of all its funds without committing to their use for the betterment of the zoo. Back in March, the City of El Paso ended a longstanding partnership with the Zoological Society when the City decided not to renew the non-profits contract. City decides to cut ties with Zoological Society The El Paso Zoological Society remains resolute in its commitment to support the El Paso Zoo amidst the, as of now, unexplained nonrenewal of the agreement with the City of El Paso, the nonprofit organization said in a statement. The Zoological Society said that since the agreement between their organization and the City expired in March, discussions have been underway to find an amicable resolution. However, recent correspondence from the City has reignited challenges, as the City has reverted to its demand for the Society to transfer all its funds without committing to their use for the betterment of the Zoo, the Zoological Society said. The City, however, countered with a brief statement on Friday, saying they are concerned about a lack of transparency and financial accountability of donations made to and memberships sold by the society in support of the zoo. The City also said it has every intention of using the funds for the betterment of the zoo and has always communicated as such. The City also said: It has repeatedly urged the society to consider allowing for a full accounting of funds and expenditures by a mutually agreed upon third party CPA. They have declined to do so. On Sunday, May 19, the City issued what it called a comprehensive statement regarding the Zoological Society. The City said it had repeatedly declined media inquiries about this issue because the City said the society had requested through their lawyer that the City stop making statements. The City believed that this dispute could be resolved amicably between City staff and the Societys board members, it said in its Sunday statement. However, in light of the societys recent press release, the City is once again compelled to provide answers to numerous questions asked by media, the Citys latest response said. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said: Ensuring the El Paso Zoo continues to thrive is a top priority for our community. The funds raised must directly benefit the zoo and fulfill their intended purpose. Transparency and accountability are vital, and we urge the Zoological Society to work with us to resolve these matters responsibly. We remain committed to finding a solution that supports the zoos mission and serves the best interests of our citizens. Our number one priority is the success of the zoo as we close out the prior agreement, and explore various avenues to continue to support the zoo for the benefit of our entire community. The mayor and City Council will be getting legal advice in Executive Session on Monday, May 20, at which time they may act and direct staff on next steps, according to the Citys statement issued on Sunday. Here are other points raised by the Zoological Society in its statement issued Friday night: Ownership of Funds: The society clarifies that funds under its administration were generated through public memberships and donations earmarked for specific zoo-related purposes. The societys fiduciary responsibility lies in ensuring these funds are utilized in accordance with donors wishes, a commitment upheld during the term of the license agreement. Demand for Fund Transfer: The society contends that the Citys demand for unrestricted access to funds is unsupported by the terms of the license agreement. Moreover, the lack of articulated plans for fund utilization raises concerns about accountability and adherence to donor intent. Legal Obligations: The society asserts that the Citys request for financial accounting post-agreement termination lacks legal basis. Despite past cooperation and provision of financial reports, the society maintains its position against undue scrutiny without a new agreement in place. Call for Mediation: Recognizing the impasse, the society proposes mediation as a constructive way forward. Emphasizing the mutual benefits of resolving the dispute outside of litigation, the society seeks City cooperation in engaging a neutral mediator. In light of these developments, the El Paso Zoological Society reiterates its unwavering dedication to supporting the zoos financial needs and urges the City to reconsider its stance in the interest of a swift and equitable resolution, the Zoological Society said in its statement. As KTSM previously reported, the Zoological Society is run by a volunteer board and receives funds from local donors. For more than 60 years, the organization has worked with the El Paso Zoo assisting with education programs, operational support and memberships. The contract was initially set to expire in December 2022 but was granted two extensions. On Feb. 26, the Zoological Society was notified that the contract would not be renewed, and the non-profit would need to vacate zoo grounds by March 17. In the Citys comprehensive statement issued on Sunday, the City says the society still holds substantial funds collected during the term of the agreement. The society has an obligation to account for and transfer those funds to the City for their intended purpose, the City said. The City also said the City will not contemplate entering into a new agreement because the society refuses to be transparent with the funds it holds which were collected under the previous agreement. As for the societys calling for mediation, the City said that traditionally, parties engage in mediation after a period of fact finding and the exchange of information, which is another reason for a full accounting is needed. Furthermore, at no time has the City been unwilling to meet and discuss how to move forward, the City said in its longer statement on Sunday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Construction giant awarded multimillion-dollar contract to transform major seaport into one of nation's largest offshore wind projects here's its expected potential In a major step forward for clean energy, construction giant Skanska has been awarded an $861 million contract to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into one of the nation's largest offshore wind ports, according to Electrek. This critical infrastructure project, set to run through 2026, will support the 2.1-gigawatt Empire Wind project currently being developed in multiple phases by Equinor just off the coast of New York. With up to 147 turbines, the full Empire Wind project is expected to have the capacity to power over 1 million households with renewable energy. The 73-acre seaport transformation involves demolishing existing buildings, preparing the site to stage massive wind turbine components, installing underground utilities, and adding two new heavy-lift crane pads. Skanska will also make significant upgrades to the waterfront and marine facilities. So, what does this mean for you? Every investment in clean, renewable wind power helps reduce our reliance on planet-overheating emissions. By curbing carbon and methane, offshore wind projects like Empire Wind play a crucial role in protecting our communities from climate change impacts like extreme weather events and threats to our food supply. But it's not just about the environment this project will also make New York a leader in the booming offshore wind industry. The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will serve as a central hub for the expanding East Coast offshore wind market, with the potential to create thousands of good-paying jobs. Once the port transformation is complete, it will be capable of receiving, storing, and pre-assembling massive offshore wind turbine components. It will serve as the operations and maintenance base for Empire Wind 1, and it will connect the wind farm's clean power to New York City's electricity grid. "This is a promising new beginning for Empire Wind and we're ready to get started," Equinor Renewables Americans President Molly Morris said of the project. "We commend the Hochul Administration and NYSERDA for their strong commitment to offshore wind. "Now it's time to deliver a major renewable energy project that will power half a million homes and generate thousands of jobs." The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment is scheduled to begin later this year. For New Yorkers, it represents an exciting step toward a clean energy future that benefits both our planet and our economy. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. Starlink has a network of nearly 6,000 satellites orbiting around 350 miles above the Earth - MARIANA SUAREZ/AFP via Getty Images EE mobile customers in rural signal blackspots would be able to connect directly to Elon Musks satellite network Starlink under plans being explored to boost connectivity. BT, EEs owner, has signed a trial agreement with Starlink to use its network of low-Earth orbit satellites to carry calls, text and data to mobile masts. This is expected to pave the way for a more advanced service that would see mobile signals beamed directly to smartphones. This service would allow customers on the EE network to make calls and use mobile data in even the most remote locations. However, sources warned discussions were at an early stage and it would be several years before the technology is ready to be rolled out. Mr Musks company has laid the groundwork for developing a satellite-powered mobile network in the UK after filing an application with regulator Ofcom to expand its network of ground terminals. The move has sparked a race between rival mobile network operators, which are vying to secure an exclusive deal with Starlink. Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has already struck a similar deal with the company to boost its rural connectivity. This is focused on using satellite technology where fibre cables, which usually underpin mobile networks, are too difficult or costly to install. It is understood that Liberty Global, which owns VMO2 alongside Telefonica, is also in discussions with Starlink over a Europe-wide deal for its customers. Handsets including recent versions of the Apple iPhone are capable of connecting directly to satellites, although mobile operators have been wary of the potential competitive threat. Mobile talks between Starlink and BT comes after The Telegraph revealed the pair were in talks about a satellite home broadband offering to deliver internet to remote areas. Starlink has a network of nearly 6,000 satellites orbiting around 350 miles above the Earth, which beam down signals to satellite dishes for homes and businesses. It has begun trialling direct-to-mobile technology with basic text message functions and this is expected to be expanded to data and calls. Ministers and mobile operators hope the technology could play a crucial role in fixing so-called signal not spots in remote rural areas. While direct-to-mobile services are not currently authorised in the UK, Ofcom is expected to launch a call for evidence on the technology in the coming months. The issue has taken on greater urgency amid delays to a 1bn government project to upgrade rural mobile signals, dubbed the Shared Rural Network. Mobile firms have warned they will miss an initial deadline at the end of next month, but ministers have ignored their pleas for an extension. Starlink is one of a number of companies using satellite technology to improve telecoms services in the worlds most remote locations. OneWeb, which is backed by the UK government, is trialling similar technology, while Vodafone has invested in satellite firm AST Space Mobile. 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. Microsoft hasnt been shy about pushing first-party services and apps in Windows, but this time, its getting a little ridiculous. As reported by Windows Latest, the Microsoft application PC Manager claims you can fix your computer simply by changing Bing to be the default search engine. The change was spotted when using the Edge browser and having, for example, Google as the default search engine. After you run a health check, one of the suggested changes will be to set Bing as your default search engine. If thats how you want to go, theres a button to make it happen. If you take its suggestion and set Bing as your default search engine, youll get a message letting you know youre all set and that your PC is using recommended settings to be sure, fast, and efficient. But if you decide to ignore the recommendation, youll notice that your computer will continue to work as usual, just as mine did. Some may question Microsofts recommendation, especially since the default search engine has nothing to do with PC performance or security. It also feels particularly problematic because of the way PC Manager is positioned, which is to safeguard your PC in a quiet and reliable way. The app gives no reason for why Bing would be safer or faster to use than Google, making the change feel like nothing more than an attempt to trick people into switching. Of course, Microsoft isnt the only company to do things like this. If youre using Google Search in a Microsoft Edge browser, seeing a suggestion to use Chrome may not come as much of a surprise. This recent example from Microsoft feels particularly egregious though, and hopefully is something that Microsoft will address in the future. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rose into the night sky for an on-time liftoff of 8:32 p.m. EDT Friday from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. Onboard was the next batch of Starlink satellites, Starlink 6-59. With clear skies, and the sun just below the horizon, conditions were perfect to create a "jellyfish" effect over the Space Coast. Beautiful hues surrounded the rocket as the stages separated. Meanwhile, the last bits of sunlight illuminated the rocket's vapor trail. The colorful scene was reminiscent of a mission this booster flew in 2021 Inspiration4: the first all civilian mission to orbit. That launch, happening just after sunset, also created a "jellyfish" effect. Launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 6-59 mission launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:32 p.m. EDT Friday, May 17th. When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida SpaceX Falcon 9 booster flies 21 times After eight-and-a-half minutes into the flight, the booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9 booster used for Starlink 6-59 had flown 20 previous times. In addition to Inspiration4, it also flew the first Axiom crew (AX-1), which was the first privately organized mission to utilize the International Space Station. Starliner crewed launch delayed again Meanwhile, the wait for the first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner continues. NASA announced Friday that teams are now targeting no earlier than 3:09 p.m. on Saturday, May 25. During the first launch attempt on May 6, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were preparing for launch when crews discovered a "flutter" coming from an oxygen valve on the second stage of the Atlas V rocket. Upon rolling the rocket back to Vertical Integration Facility to replace the valve, Boeing crews discovered a helium leak coming from the service module, which is the expendable bottom of the Starliner craft containing engines and thrusters. The helium leak was narrowed down to one of the thrusters. NASA said Friday that the team would need additional time to investigate the helium leak and ensure Starliner is ready for its maiden crewed launch. Once it completes this Crewed Flight Test, Starliner will fly NASA astronauts alongside SpaceX's Dragon on regular rotations to the space station. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lights up Florida night with "jellyfish" effect A person standing beside a very large piece of debris. the debris is charred and roughly the same width as a person's height. Pieces of a SpaceX spacecraft might have landed in Saskatchewan. A charred piece of debris, possibly from a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, was found in a Canadian farmer's field in a town northeast of Regina, one of the largest cities in the prairie province. "We knew it came from the sky, because it couldnt get there by itself," Barry Sawchuk, owner of the land on which it fell, told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix of the charred and giant black piece he discovered while seeding in late April. CBC News, which also interviewed Sawchuk, said the fragment was six feet (two meters) wide and weighs 90 pounds (40 kg). SpaceX has not confirmed whether the debris is from them, but a ground track from a Crew Dragon "trunk" (storage compartment) re-entry in February suggests it is plausible. Related: SpaceX counters FAA claims that its reentering Starlink satellites could hurt or kill people Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches and re-entries, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the trunk from the private Axiom Space Ax-3 mission fell over Saskatchewan on Feb. 26. "Looks like bits of it have been found on the ground," wrote McDowell, who is also an astrophysicist with the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, of the SpaceX trunk. Saskatchewan has rather deep snow and no crops grow there during the winter, both of which mean that Sawchuck would not have spotted the debris until planting season came around and he was working in the fields. a close-up of a charred black piece of hardware The debris, which may have come from a SpaceX Crew Dragon trunk that re-entered Earth's atmosphere in February 2024. (Image credit: Adam Bent/CBC) If confirmed, this would not be the first time a trunk made it through Earth's atmosphere. Back in August 2022, a fragment from Dragon was found in a rural Australian sheep paddock (the find was confirmed by SpaceX and the Australian Space Agency). Benjamin Reed, senior director of SpaceX's human spaceflight program, addressed the debris during a livestreamed NASA Crew-5 press briefing that August. He said there were "no injuries, no damage" associated with the reports and that the debris fell in "an expected path of where things may come down." "We use models that are ultimately approved, to predict and plan for these things," added Reed, emphasizing SpaceX works closely with NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration or FAA (which licenses launches in the United States) with such matters. RELATED STORIES: Starlink close encounters decrease despite ever-growing number of satellites SpaceX celebrated Starship's 1st launch. Some locals called it 'truly terrifying' SpaceX Dragon debris lights up sky in bright fireball over western US during reentry (video) "The trunk segment typically burns up in the atmosphere over the open ocean posing minimal risk to public safety," the FAA added in its own statement to CNN at the time. Debris from a SpaceX launch in April 2021 was also found on a central Washington farm, although this one was from the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The Grant County Sheriff's Office confirmed it was SpaceX hardware, although the California company did not respond to comment back then. Space debris, if it causes injuries or damage, technically can be covered under a section of the United Nations' Outer Space Treaty popularly known as the Space Liability Convention. A claim under that treaty has only been invoked once, after the nuclear-powered Soviet Kosmos 954 satellite fell in the far north of Canada in 1978, requiring years of pricey cleanup in the ecologically sensitive area that is home to numerous Indigenous groups. Moscow settled with the Canadian government for $3 million CAD in 1981; that's roughly $10 million CAD today, or $7.3 million USD with current exchange rates. In a bid to reduce the vulnerability and attack surface for secure remote access, the Norwegian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) invites all businesses to replace their SSLVPN/WebVPN solutions. The recommendation is to switch to services offering Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) with Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2) or, when this isn't possible, using 5G broadband instead. The suggested date to complete the transition is by the end of 2025. The good news is that all the best business VPN services on the market right now already include this system by default (more on this below). Norway joined the likes of the US and UK to recommend using a VPN with IPsec connections for better security. Let's now see why this matters in more detail. SSL VPNs are convenient, but flawed First of all, let's clarify the differences between VPN solutions using a Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) and those deploying Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) with Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2). The main difference between the two is where encryption and authentication are performed. IPsec with IKEv2 VPNs do that on the network level. This means that they encrypt data packets sent between systems that can be defined by an IP address, while periodically refreshing a set of encryption keys. SSL VPNs, also known as WebVPN or clientless VPN services, operate on the data in transit by encrypting data sent between any devices identifiable by port numbers on network-connected hosts. Contrary to IPsec products, SSL VPNs don't require the installation of additional hardware or software. Yet, this ease seems to come with a drawback. "NCSC has for a long time observed and notified about critical vulnerabilities in VPN solutions that use Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS)," the NCS wrote in its official announcement. The biggest issue with SSL VPN is that, contrary to IPsec, it does not have an open industry standard meaning that different manufacturers create their own implementation on a case-by-case basis. Throughout the years, this approach has led to numerous security flaws. For instance, two of Fortinet's SSL VPN credential exposures were the most exploited security vulnerabilities of 2022. These were also exploited by the Chinese Volt Typhoon hacking group again in 2023, Fortinet revealed in February. "The severity of the vulnerabilities and the repeated exploitation of this type of vulnerability by actors means that the NCSC recommends replacing solutions for secure remote access that use SSL/TLS with more secure alternatives. NCSC recommends Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) with Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2)." Specifically, Norway's recommendations include: Reconfiguring existing VPN solution to support IPsec IKEv2: in case this isn't possible, businesses should plan for and replace the solution with one that does like 5G broadband systems. Migrating users and systems: using SSLVPN to IPsec IKEv2. Turning off SSLVPN functionality: while verifying that any endpoints are not responding. Blocking all incoming TLS traffic to the VPN server. Adopting certificate-based authentication. At the same time, the NCSC also emphasizes that VPN products using IPsec with IKEv2 aren't certainly free of vulnerabilities, either. Take for example the Ivanti VPN case. In 2023, Ivanti discovered multiple security vulnerabilities in its VPN products, which different threat actors exploited to drop infostealers, malware, and ransomware, on vulnerable targets. After fixing these flaws, the provider found even more problems in February this year. Nonetheless, the NCSC explained, "This choice of technology [IPsec] entails a smaller attack surface and a lower degree of fault tolerance in the configuration of the solution." The best VPN for your business At TechRadar, our experts have spent over 3,000 hours testing over 100 VPN servicesincluding a wide range of business VPN services. From the most important features spanning from security levels and speeds to their interface and ease of setup, we also consider other important variables including the number of devices they support, their pricing plans, and overall performance, among other things. Below are our top three favorite VPNs for business on the market right now: 1. Perimeter 81: the best business VPN A highly customizable service, Perimeter 81 offers a huge list of valuable tools and features such as leading-edge WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols. Even better, all come at a very fair price. It's also so easy to set up and use, too. Check our detailed Perimeter 81 review to see why it's the best VPN for businesses in 2024.View Deal 2. NordLayer: a close second from a huge name Formerly known as NordVPN Teams, this is the enterprise version of the biggest name in the VPN market. The good news is that it's equally as impressive, boasting tons of servers, double data encryption, fully functioning kill switches, and much more. Head to our NordLayer review to find out more. View Deal 3. Twingate: mixing security with usability Another easy-to-use service, Twingate isn't the classic business VPN. However, its zero-trust security network can efficiently secure your organization while running in the backgroundyou'll barely know it's there! Check all the details in our dedicated Twingate review. View Deal People who had an iPhone 7 may qualify for piece of $35 million Apple settlement (NEXSTAR) If you were once an owner of the iPhone 7, or its larger sibling the iPhone 7 Plus, you could qualify for a piece of the $35 million settlement Apple has agreed to pay out. The class action lawsuit stems from claims that both models of the iPhone, which Apple released in 2016, have issues with the audio integrated chip, or audio IC. Signs of a faulty IC chip include not being able to use the phones loudspeaker, the microphone not working properly, an unresponsive device, or an unexpected phone restart. Microphone-dependent features, like Siri and voice memos, may also have been glitchy. Other plaintiffs in the suit said they were only able to hear calls on speakerphone, or they would hear static when trying to play videos. The lawsuit claims Apple was aware of the issues, but didnt offer to repair the phones for free. Apple denies all wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay out the $35 million to settle the lawsuit. Red Lobster is closing dozens of restaurants and auctioning off equipment In order to qualify as part of the settlement class, you need to have owned an iPhone 7 or 7 plus between September 2016 and January 2023 and reported audio chip issues to Apple. Theyll be noted in Apples records if you contacted the company for support. After lawyers take their cut and administrative fees, the total amount that goes to the settlement class is severely reduced. Exactly how much you receive will depend on a few factors. If you paid out-of-pocket for repairs, your piece of the settlement fund will be larger than for those who complained to Apple but never paid for repairs. People who reported the issue to Apple but did not pay for repairs or replacements are expected to get around $125. If you paid for a fix, youll get at least $50 but no more than $349. These cars and trucks are thieves biggest targets, national data shows The claim deadline is June 3. You can select how youd like to be paid electronic check, money transfer or paper check and learn more about filing a claim on the settlement website. If youre not sure if you qualify for a payout, you can call the settlement administrator at 1-833-633-0343. A hearing is scheduled for July 18, where a judge will decide whether to grant final approval to the settlement. Payments will be sent out after that date, assuming there are no objections, appeals or other delays. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Let Google do the searching for you. That is the new tagline from Googles I/O conference this week, where the company announced it will be injecting AI-generated answers at the top of Google Search across the United States. The moment has come, and Google is doubling down on AI. But what if you dont want Googles AI answers? Unfortunately, Google isnt making it easy to opt out of the AI revolution, and not everyone is thrilled about it. These AI overviews have proven to hallucinate about as much as any other AI chatbotwhich is a lot. One viral example showed Google Gemini recommending you drink two quarts of urine every 24 hours to pass a kidney stone (dont do that). Sadly, if you dont want gems like this, theres no easy button to just return to classic Google Search. As Google notes on its help page: Screenshot: Google AI Overviews are part of Google Search like other features, such as knowledge panels, and cant be turned off, says Google. Awesome! Without even remarking on how monumental it is that Google is flooding its landmark offering with AI, and not offering you any alternative, lets get into the workarounds. Someone already made a Chrome extension to block Google AI overview, which you can download here. Its possible Google could thwart extensions like this, but for now, it works. Just in case, heres another surefire way to get back to regular Google Search. Part of Googles AI revolution includes a new tab called Web which houses the Google Search results you know and love. Were going to set that as your default search engine in Chromes address bar. First, you want to head to Google Chromes search engine page. You can copy and paste this into your address bar chrome://settings/searchEngines or you can click Settings -> Search Engine -> Manage search engines and site search. Screenshot: Google Once there, click the Add button next to Site search. Then youll get a dialog box with three fields for Name, Shortcut, and URL. You can fill them in as follows: Google(Web) ; www.google.com ; {google:baseURL}/search?udm=14&q=%s Screenshot: Google Once youve done that, you want to select Make default from the three-dot menu next to this Google(Web) entry. Screenshot: Google At this point, Google(Web) will appear on the Search engines list, and it should be set as your default. From now on, any queries entered into the address bar will direct you straight to the Web tab on Google. While this is a decent workaround, its a shame that Google is not offering loyal users an easier way around AI answers. Its clear at this point that Google sees AI as an existential moment for the company. ChatGPT and other generative AI products threaten the Search business, and Google feels the need to dominate in this space. In the process though, Google is throwing a product full of hallucinations into the faces of billions of users, hurting the integrity of its landmark information-finding tool and making everyones lives a little bit more complicated. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A Blue Origin rocket will launch the company's first private astronaut spaceflight since 2022 this weekend. If you're hoping to watch it live online, you'll need to know when to tune in but don't worry, we've got you covered. Blue Origin is currently targeting Sunday (May 19) to launch six space tourists on its suborbital New Shepard rocket and RSS First Step capsule. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 CDT/1330 GMT) from the company's West Texas spaceport. The upcoming NS-25 launch is Blue Origin's first crewed space mission since August 2022. Flights were halted after an uncrewed New Shepard launch failed in September 2022. The company resumed flights with the uncrewed NS-24 science flight in December. Here's when and where to watch Blue Origin's NS-25 flight. What time is the Blue Origin NS-25 astronaut launch? Blue Origin is currently targeting 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Sunday to launch its six-person NS-25 mission, which will lift off from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas, near the town of Van Horn. It will be 8:30 a.m. local time at the pad during launch time. The exact time of Blue Origin's NS-25 mission may change on launch day, as the company says 9:30 a.m. EDT is when the launch window will open. That means the company could target a slightly later time in the window depending on weather or vehicle conditions. If a timing change does occur, Blue Origin will likely announce those updates via X (formerly Twitter). Can I watch Blue Origin's NS-25 launch online? Yes, you'll be able to watch Blue Origin's NS-25 launch online. The company will provide a live webcast at its NS-25 mission page, as well as via the Blue Origin YouTube channel. The webcast will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff, Blue Origin has said. Given that Blue Origin is currently targeting the NS-25 launch for 9:30 a.m. EDT, the live webcast should begin at about 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT/7:50 a.m. CDT). You will also be able to watch the livestream at the top of this page, as well as on Space.com, which will simulcast the launch. Who is flying on Blue Origin's NS-25 mission? The crew of Blue Origin's upcoming NS-25 suborbital mission. Blue Origin's NS-25 mission will launch six people into space, with most of them purchasing their seats for an undisclosed price, although at least one person is flying thanks to a sponsorship by nonprofit groups. Here's a brief look at who is flying on NS-25. Mason Angel: Angel is the founder of the venture capital fund Industrious Ventures. He aims to use his flight on NS-25 to "inspire children and advance partnerships with nonprofits focused on STEM in early education" in conjunction with his family's foundation, Blue Origin has said. He has a dog named Leo, which is short for "low Earth orbit." Sylvain Chiron: Chiron, of Savoy, France, is the founder of Brasserie Mont Blanc, one of the largest craft breweries in France, and is a lifelong pilot aviator and skier who earned his pilot's license when he was 16, according to Blue Origin. He's served as a ski instructor for the French Air Force and a NATO pilot, earned an MBA at Temple University, studied business in Japan and focuses on philanthropic works in support of nature conservation and children's education. Ed Dwight : Dwight, 90, is a former U.S. Air Force test pilot who in 1961 was selected to join the Aerospace Research Pilot School and was recommended by the USAF in 1963 to be an astronaut, but was ultimately not selected. He would have been the first Black astronaut if so. Dwight left the Air Force in 1966 to become an accomplished entrepreneur and sculptor. His seat on NS-25 is sponsored by the non-profit Space for Humanity and the Jaison and Jamie Robinson Foundation. Kenneth Hess: Hess is an entrepreneur and software engineer who developed the Family Tree Maker product line in the 1990s that was ultimately acquired by Ancestry.com in 2003. His nonprofit Science Buddies aims to boost STEM interest in students across grades K-12 through hands-on science and space exploration activities. Carol Schaller: Schaller, of Lumberville, Pennsylvania, is a retired certified public accountant and adventure traveler with a lifelong dream to see space. In 2017, she was informed by her doctor that she'll likely go blind and has since traveled to 25 countries; she has gone on expeditions to Mount Everest Base Camp, the South Pole and to see mountain gorillas in Uganda's Bwindi Forest. Gopi Thotakura: Thotakura is a pilot and co-founder of Preserve Life Corp., described as a "global center for holistic wellness and applied health," near Atlanta. He flies jets commercially and has flown a wide variety of aircraft, including aerobatic and sea planes, gliders, hot air balloons and more. He's also served as an international medical jet pilot and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, according to a Blue Origin profile. The six NS-25 crewmembers will launch into space in reclined seats aboard their New Shepard capsule. Shortly after liftoff, the capsule's booster will separate and return to Earth to make a vertical landing so it can be used again. The crew capsule will continue into space and ultimately make a parachute landing in the West Texas desert. During the trip, the NS-25 passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness and dazzling views of Earth from space through the New Shepard capsule's large windows. A triangular Blue Origin NS-25 mission patch with a capsule floating out of a stylized hand filled with stars. What if Blue Origin's NS-25 mission can't launch on time? RELATED STORIES: Blue Origin says it knows what caused its New Shepard rocket launch to fail The future of space tourism Black astronauts celebrate ISS, Artemis 2 moon missions while reflecting on history While Blue Origin is targeting a 9:30 a.m. EDT liftoff on May 19 for the NS-25 mission, the company may opt to delay or scrub the launch if weather or rocket conditions don't cooperate. That means the launch could occur within a short window, typically a couple of hours, after the initial target time. If bad weather or a glitch prevents New Shepard's NS-25 launch on May 19, Blue Origin could potentially be able to try again on Monday (May 20) at the same target time, depending on the nature of the delay. However, Blue Origin has not publicly stated any backup dates for this NS-25 mission. As its name suggests, the NS-25 mission will mark the 25th New Shepard launch for Blue Origin. It is the company's seventh launch to carry passengers since Blue Origin began astronaut flights in July 2021. Vermont lawmakers just defied national trends by passing the toughest-yet state bill protecting online data privacy and they did it by using a new tactic designed to get around industry pressure. The bill lets Vermont residents sue companies directly for collecting or sharing sensitive data without their consent. As they drafted and finalized it, lawmakers deployed a countermeasure against business pushback: They brought together lawmakers in states from Maine to Oklahoma who had fought their own battles with the tech industry and asked them for advice. The biggest thing I have learned from this entire bill is that Big Tech has a playbook, said Rep. Monique Priestley, the Democratic state lawmaker who called the hearing and said she hoped to create a grassroots playbook to fight back. The Vermont story is a rare but powerful exception to an emerging national current: With little action in Congress, the burden of regulating tech has shifted to the states. And that pits state lawmakers, often with small staffs and part-time jobs, against powerful national lobbies with business and political clout. Its not clear Vermonts new game plan is waterproof: Republican Gov. Phil Scott has yet to sign the bill, and lawmakers and industry are still jousting over it. But already, national consumer advocacy groups are looking to Vermont as a possible model for lawmakers who want to pass tough state tech regulations around the country a battle that states have, until now, largely been losing. Lobbying back-and-forth The battle for privacy regulations has played out in states since 2018, after California became the first state to pass a comprehensive data privacy law. In March this year, Vermonts House of Representatives began discussing a state privacy bill to give residents the right to sue companies for privacy violations, and to minimize the amount of data businesses could collect on their customers. Local businesses and national groups said the bill could harm industry, but the House nevertheless passed it unanimously. Next, the bill headed to the state Senate, where local businesses found a more receptive audience. The chief financial officer of Vermont outdoors outfitter Orvis wrote state senators that limiting data collection would put Vermont businesses at a significant if not crippling disadvantage. A spokesperson for Orvis said the company did not work with tech industry groups against Vermonts privacy bill. Vermonts Chamber of Commerce updated its members on April 12 that it had met with state senators and that they improved the bill to ensure strong consumer protections that do not put an undue burden on Vermont businesses. The pressure alarmed Priestley, she said in an interview. It reminded her of L.L. Beans influential opposition to Maines privacy bill. She learned about similar industry campaigns against state privacy regulations in Maryland, Montana, Oklahoma and Kentucky. She invited lawmakers from the five states to share their experiences, in the hopes of showing this pattern to her colleagues. It felt like once it hit the Senate side, there was a coordinated, massive national push against this, Priestley told POLITICO. It felt like the only thing that could counter a big national lobbying push was to spotlight that on-the-record for everybody. She convened the hearing for April 26. Two days before, Vermonts senators passed an amended version of the bill to remove private right of action provisions and recommended more changes to align with Connecticuts privacy bill, favored by industry. Insights from out of state The out-of-state lawmakers described how local businesses echoed tech industry groups. They recalled a deluge of amendment requests to water down the proposals and noted that lobbyists turned to the opposite legislative chambers when a strong bill passed through the House or Senate. Maine Democratic state Rep. Maggie ONeil said her chamber passed a bill with data minimization and a private right of action, but local businesses including L.L. Bean were key to killing it in the state Senate. Data minimization would require companies to only collect and use data that would be necessary to provide their services. In Maine, if L.L. Bean says something, people are going to respect that, she said at the hearing. L.L. Bean denied coordinating efforts against Maines privacy bill with tech industry groups. Marylands Democratic Del. Sara Love described a similar experience: a lobbying blitz from tech industry groups who highlighted concerns about local businesses when the privacy bill was set to pass. They only brought out the small businesses card at the very end, and I think theyre learning thats something that sways legislators, Love said. Lawmakers from Kentucky and Oklahoma said their states Chambers of Commerce applied pressure to weaken privacy proposals. While I was busy trying to get my bill out of the Senate, the Chamber was busy holding it back, said Kentuckys Republican state Sen. Whitney Westerfield. They were working hard in the House poisoning the well. The Kentucky Chamber told POLITICO that it was critical for Kentucky to pass a bill that not only protected consumers, but also worked for businesses in the ever-changing world of technology. Raising suspicions in Vermont Vermonts Republican state Rep. Michael Marcotte, who was negotiating a compromise bill between the two chambers, told POLITICO he had been on the fence about private right of action until he heard testimony from Kentucky. It made him suspicious of local Vermont businesses who appeared to be closely aligned with state and national tech industry groups, he said. In particular, Marcotte pointed to arguments made by Jim Hall, CEO of the Vermont Country Store and board chair of the American Commerce Marketing Association. Hall warned Vermonts lawmakers against a private right of action, noting a 2013 lawsuit cost his company $100,000 for failing to comply with a California law requiring lead exposure labeling on its licorice products. That makes you wonder, is he speaking about the Vermont Country Store, or is he representing his organization? How can we be sure that theyre genuine?, Marcotte said. It was hard for us to try to parse that out. Hall told POLITICO that he did not have any discussions with Big Tech on privacy regulations and supported less stringent regulation preferred by industry groups. I spoke out, as did the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, to protect small business, Hall said in an email. Not all Vermont lawmakers watched the hearing, including Democratic state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, who introduced the amendments that loosened her chambers bill. She said she found it vital to hear from local businesses and dismissed the idea of a concerted tech effort. Im trying to operate in reality, not with conspiracy theories about who was involved in what, and Jim Hall brought his own specific example of a labeling law that caused him a lot of financial harm, she said in an interview. Marcotte helped negotiate a last-minute compromise to include the private right of action, but only make large data brokers and businesses liable. He said he used his new insights to convince his colleagues in the Senate to vote for the measure, which passed on May 11. When we had our discussions with the Senate, we just let them know this is directly from the playbook the same things that other legislators heard in their states is the same thing were hearing here, Marcotte said. A new strategy for privacy advocates R.J. Cross, director of consumer privacy at the Public Interest Research Group, said her group hopes to replicate Vermonts success and build a coalition to counter the tech lobbys influence. In particular, she said lawmakers were more receptive to advice from fellow legislators than from advocates. When you look at whats happened in the last five years, its obvious that industry has a playbook, and that its effective. It may be the strategic thing to do to take a lesson from that and to get organized on your own terms, she told POLITICO. Vermont business groups and national tech lobbyists denied they were working together to weaken the privacy bill, but remained committed to stopping it. This isnt a product of a Big Tech national conspiracy; its a direct response to misguided policies imposed by external special interests, which undermine the vitality of local businesses, Megan Sullivan, the Vermont Chambers vice president of government affairs, said in an email. Still, the Chambers points overlap those made by national tech industry groups NetChoice, TechNet and the State Privacy and Security Coalition. Its unfortunate that Vermont lawmakers ran roughshod over the pains of small businesses rather than passing a law that protects the privacy of citizens while providing easy to adopt rules, NetChoice general counsel Carl Szabo said via email. TechNet executive director for the Northeast Chris Gilrein wrote POLITICO that the bill includes many untested provisions and definitions that would put the states businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Both NetChoice and TechNet are urging Vermonts Republican Governor Phil Scott to veto the bill; he has five days to sign it once he receives the bill from the legislature. A spokesperson for the governor told POLITICO, it was passed at the last minute with a major amendment with little scrutiny by the Legislature. No matter the outcome, state lawmakers say they see new power in their cooperation. Speaking to Vermont lawmakers, Montanas Republican state Sen. Daniel Zolnikov said he strengthened his states data privacy bill after he learned lobbyists who had pushed him to weaken it had backed a stronger model in Maryland. They think were all decentralized, he told his colleagues. Luckily, their technology, we can use to our benefit. Jasper Kenzo Sundeen's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com. You are the owner of this article. John F. Shoro, managing partner at Bowditch & Dewey LLP, was recently named a Go-To Taxation Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Shoro helps business owners, professionals and executives with sophisticated tax and planning needs. He works with clients in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida, often serving as a personal representative and trustee for trust and estate clients. Shoro Shoro is the immediate past leader of Bowditchs estate, financial, & tax planning practice. Best Lawyers in America honored him as Lawyer of the Year in 2020, 2022 and 2024 for his work in trust and estates, and the publication has also cited his work in elder and tax law. Massachusetts Super Lawyers, meanwhile, has included him in its directory every year since 2004 for his estate planning and probate work. A graduate of Boston College, Shoro holds a law degree and master of laws in taxation from Boston University. Bowditch & Dewey LLP has offices in Boston, Worcester and Framingham. ###### Dr. Patrick Cushing was recently promoted to vice president of operations of Rentschler Biopharma Inc., the Milford-based U.S. subsidiary of Rentschler Biopharma SE. The company is a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization for biopharmaceuticals. Cushing In this newly created position, Cushing oversees and manages all operational processes at the site. He joined Rentschler Biopharma in 2021 and had most recently served as senior director of manufacturing operations. He holds more than a decade of experience in structure-based drug discovery and large molecule process development. ###### Dianne Brady, of the Amego School in Franklin, was recently issued the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools (MAAPS). She was honored for her above and beyond effort toward the education of her students, according to a press release from MAAPS. Brady Brady has received a Sheltered English Emersion endorsement from the Department of Education and is finishing up work on a master's degree. The Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools represents more than 80 approved schools for students with special needs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. ###### Ethan Miller, a building envelope sciences technician at Hopkinton-based Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects, recently achieved certification from the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS). Miller The certification reflects the firms ongoing commitment to sustainable and energy efficient architectural practices. Story continues GRLA is an award-winning architecture, planning, interior design and building envelope consulting firm. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Bowditch and Dewey attorney named go-to taxation lawyer By Urvi Dugar, Akanksha Khushi and Yuka Obayashi , TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Nippon Steel said on Saturday its vice chairman, Takahiro Mori, a key negotiator for its planned purchase of U.S. Steel, will travel to the United States next week to meet stakeholders as part of continued efforts to complete the deal. A spokesperson for Nippon Steel in Tokyo said Mori will visit the United States to continue dialogues with various stakeholders of the deal to gain a better understanding. She declined to give further details such as who Mori will be meeting with and how long he will stay in the U.S. U.S. Steel deferred to the Japanese counterpart for comment. In December, Nippon Steel offered nearly $15 billion to take over U.S. Steel, drawing resistance from both Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump, as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) union. To win support from the USW, Nippon Steel has pledged to move its U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is based, offering commitments on job security and additional investments if the deal goes through. Bloomberg reported on Friday in the U.S. that Mori will travel to Pittsburgh next week to meet with local staff and elected officials, citing people briefed on the matter. The Japanese steelmaker expects to close the deal in the second half of 2024, compared with its prior deadline of the second to third quarter, after the U.S. Department of Justice sought more details and materials in an antitrust review. The European Commission has already approved the deal. Despite mounting opposition, an overwhelming majority of U.S. Steel shareholders voted in favor of the deal in April. (Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Leslie Adler) Thirteen years ago, military aerospace and shipbuilding giant Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) made the strategic decision to jettison its shipbuilding unit and focus its business on aerospace instead. At the time of the spinoff, the rejected unit, Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII), was valued at approximately $2.5 billion in market capitalization, leaving the rest of Northrop Grumman with about a $14 billion market cap. Today, Northrop Grumman is a $70 billion defense business worth five times its price 13 years ago. Huntington Ingalls stock has performed well too, but is up a bit less than 5x in value. Looked at that way, maybe Northrop Grumman didn't necessarily need to spin off its shipbuilding unit, but at least it didn't suffer from the decision. And Northrop may even have performed a bit better without its shipbuilding business than it would have, with it. NOC Chart So why is Northrop Grumman trying to get back into the military shipbuilding business today? Northrop Grumman: Navy drone-driver That's exactly what Northrop seems to be doing. In a widely publicized announcement earlier this month (curiously widely publicized for what you'd expect to be a secret project), the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced that Northrop Grumman has just completed full-scale sea trials of a new large drone submarine, built for DARPA and dubbed the "Manta Ray." Shaped like its namesake, a manta ray with an oval body and two outstretched fins, the Manta Ray appears to measure roughly 40' at its widest point by 40' at its longest. DARPA describes the vessel as "a new class of long-duration, long-range, payload-capable UUVs" and equipped with "several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets." It does not say what those missions will be. Northrop Grumman itself, however, drops a hint, saying that Manta Ray will operate "in ocean environments where humans can't go," which seems to suggest the vessel is designed for deep-sea operations. Indeed, Northrop notes that Manta Ray is an energy-efficient vessel, able "to anchor to the seafloor and hibernate in a low-power state." Some media commentators have suggested the Manta Ray may be designed to sit dormant and undetectable on deep sea floors until activated and given a mission. Others are more specific, saying Manta Ray's stealthy design and long endurance make it purpose-built to "scour the seas for Russian and Chinese submarines." Story continues What's in this for Northrop Grumman? Assuming these guesses are accurate, it's clear why the U.S. Navy might want a few Manta Rays in its fleet and why DARPA has been enlisted to recruit defense contractors like Northrop to build them. (In addition to Northrop, privately held PacMar Technologies has also won a contract to build its own Manta Ray for $55 million). What's less clear is why Northrop Grumman is diving back into naval waters, and for such a paltry sum. Assuming Northrop also got $55 million for its Manta Ray, that would amount to barely 0.1% of the $40 billion in contracts that Northrop rakes in in any given year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. So why change tack now? Thirteen years ago, Northrop Grumman apparently decided that military shipbuilding wasn't a profitable enough endeavor and that its time would be better spent focusing on building airplanes. In recent years, the company has diversified further into space systems, acquiring one rocket maker (Orbital ATK) and partnering with another (Firefly Aerospace), and generally doing pretty well for itself. The company did hit something of a rough spot last year when cost overruns in the development of its new B-21 stealth bomber for the Air Force pushed its aeronautics division into an operating loss. But even so, the rest of Northrop's businesses helped to smooth out the losses, and Northrop ended 2023 with a respectable $2.1 billion profit. Pick a lane, Northrop Grumman The problem with Northrop, it seems to me, is that whenever one of its business units starts to enter a rough patch, management overreacts and lurches in a new direction. Thirteen years ago, it made the decision to toss Huntington Ingalls overboard as the division was still dealing with losses from hurricane damage to its Gulf Coast shipbuilding facilities. Thirteen years later, Northrop may be lurching back into shipbuilding as a way to diversify away from the risk of overbidding on airplane contracts! Not to knock Manta Ray or anything -- it truly looks like a great drone -- but maybe Northrop Grumman would be better off if it could just "pick a lane." Focus on one business to do well in, and when that business encounters problems, fix them -- rather than getting distracted and di-worsifying itself into something completely different. Should you invest $1,000 in Northrop Grumman right now? Before you buy stock in Northrop Grumman, 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 Northrop Grumman 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 $578,143!* 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 13, 2024 Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Northrop Grumman Is Back in the Warship Building Business was originally published by The Motley Fool New Delhi: Cognizant has issued a warning to its employees about complying with the return-to-office policy. The company explained that not following the return-to-office policy will be seen as serious misconduct. This could lead to disciplinary actions and could result in termination. The company stated in the report Please note that failure to adhere to the directions will amount to serious misconduct as per company policies and accordingly appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated against you which may lead up to termination. (Also Read: RBI Revises Timeline For Government Treasury Bill Auctions) Employees were reminded to review previous messages from company leaders about the return-to-office policy. Cognizant didn't have a mandatory office return policy before this year and allowed teams to visit the office based on project needs. The move comes after Cognizants CEO Ravi Kumar issued a memo back in February stating that all India-based employees are expected to work from the office an average of three days per week, according to Reuters. (Also Read: Wipro COO Amit Choudhary Resigns; Sanjeev Jain To Take Over) The mandate follows similar moves by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro, which also instructed their employees to return to the office in 2023. Cognizant has a large workforce in India with about 2,54,000 of its 3,47,000 employees based there, as per the companys annual report. New Delhi: In a tragic incident a moving bus caught fire near Tauru in Haryana's Nuh district in the wee hours of Saturday and 10 people lost their lives. As many as 20 people were injured in the incident and were rushed to the hospital. The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all of whom were residents of Punjab and Chandigarh and were returning from Mathura-Vrindavan, police said, reported PTI. Locals noticed the fire, chased the bus and asked the driver to stop. They also informed the police and the fire department. #WATCH | Haryana: Eight people were killed and over 20 injured after the bus they were travelling in caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway in Nuh. The bus was returning from Vrindavan. pic.twitter.com/16IuWriUgo ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024 Speaking to ANI, a passanger Meena Rani who was also injured in the incident said, "We were returning from Vrindavan. We don't know how the fire broke out. 10 people have died. 64 people were there on the bus" #WATCH | Nuh, Haryana: Meena Rani, one of the injured says, "We were returning from Vrindavan. We don't know how the fire broke out. 10 people have died. 64 people were there on the bus..." pic.twitter.com/S2DgovbYWq ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024 Expressing his sorrow over the tragic incident Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed said, "This is a very painful, sad, and heart-wrenching incident." New Delhi: BJP national president J P Nadda said that that party has become "Saksham" (capable) from the time it needed the Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and the saffron party runs its own affairs now. Nadda said the RSS is an "ideological" front and minds its own business. In an interview to the Indian Express, the BJP chief, while answering a question on the contrast between the RSS' presence during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now said, Shuru mein hum aksham honge, thora kum honge, RSS ki zaroorat padti thi Aaj hum badh gaye hain, saksham hai toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai (In the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself). Thats the difference. When asked about whether the BJP does not need the RSS now, Nadda said See, the party has grown and everyone has got their own duties and roles. RSS is a cultural and social organisation and we are a political organisation Its not the question of need. Its an ideological front. Woh ideologically apna kaam karte hain, hum apna. We are managing our affairs in our own way. And thats what political parties should do. Clearing air over the construction of temples at the disputed sites in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura and Varanasi, the BJP president said there are no such plans. The BJP does not have any such idea, plan or desire. There are no discussions either. Our system works in a way in which the partys thought process is set by the discussions in the Parliamentary board, then it goes to the national council which endorses it, he said. Several high-profile BJP leaders like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have mentioned about building the temples at these disputed sites during the campaigning for Lok Sabha Polls. When asked about the same, Nadda said, There is no ambiguity. The BJP had incorporated the demand for the Ram temple in its Palampur resolution (of June 1989). The temple became a reality after a long struggle. That was on our agenda. Some people become emotional or get excited and talk about other issues. Our party is a big party and every leader has a style of talking. Hari Om Rai, the former Managing Director of Lava mobile phones, experienced an unforgettable Thursday. Despite Rai's 'well-thought' efforts, the Delhi High Court rejected his plea for an extension of his medical bail. Rai was accused of staging a scheme at AIIMS, involving a decoy 'patient' to fabricate a medical report claiming he had severe cardiac problems. What Happened At AIIMS? ED officers waited at AIIMS for nearly four hours for an accused individual, Hari Om Rai, to arrive for a medical check-up. To their surprise, they discovered that Rai was already inside the hospital, undergoing tests. Upon inspection, they found out that a man was found posing as Rai, undergoing medical checks. How Did This Faux Pas Happen? The ED coordinated with Rai over email and asked him to appear at AIIMS. Rai's son informed the ED that Rai was unwell but was trying to come as soon as possible. After waiting for around four hours, the ED officers went to meet the cardiologist to confirm that Rai did not appear. According to Indian Express, They went inside the cardiologists office, and were informed that he was examining Rai, who was lying in a bed. The ED officers were shocked and they asked the patient to reveal his identity. Initially, the patient said he was Rai but when asked strictly, he disclosed his identity as Naval Kishore Ram. He was accompanied by his nephew Nitish Kumar, an officer said. Why Send An Impersonator? Rai allegedly sent a 50-year-old impersonator with heart issues to undergo tests in his name at AIIMS. This was supposedly done to secure an extension on Rai's bail from the Delhi High Court on medical grounds. What Did ED Do Thereafter? The ED filed an FIR against the impersonator, identified as Naval Kishor Ram, and Rai. Naval Kishor Ram was later arrested and sent to judicial custody. Investigation With The Impersonator - Naval Kishor Ram: Naval revealed during questioning that he was lured with promises of free treatment. He was sent to a clinic in Hauz Khas for several tests, where Rai's name was used instead of his own. Naval was then asked to visit AIIMS for an examination by a doctor based in Vasant Kunj. All About The Hari Om Rai Case Rai, along with three others including a Chinese national, was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering probe against smartphone maker Vivo. Rai was granted interim bail for three months on medical grounds by the Delhi High Court. Rai filed an application for a six-month extension of the interim bail due to his heart condition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Friday that if elected, the Congress and the SP would run a bulldozer over the Ram temple, and he urged them to learn from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about where bulldozers should be used instead. The prime minister held public meetings in Barabanki, Fatehpur, and Hamirpur. He attacked the Congress and the Samajwadi Party over the Ayodhya temple. "On the day of Ram Navami, a senior SP leader declared that the Ram temple is useless. "At the same time, the Congress is planning to overturn the Supreme Court's decision on the Ram temple," he claimed. "If the SP and the Congress come to power, they will send Ram Lalla back to the tent and bulldoze the temple," he claimed, urging them to seek "tuition" from Adityanath on where bulldozers should be deployed. #WATCH | In his address to a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki, PM Narendra Modi says, "...If SP and Congress come to power, Ram Lalla will be in a tent again and they will run a bulldozer on Ram temple. They should take tuition from Yogi ji, where to run a bulldozer pic.twitter.com/rfhqN0XiXc ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2024 The Congress strongly opposes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the party will "bulloze the Ram temple" if elected. They accuse Modi of inciting people and demand that the Election Commission take action against him. The Adityanath government has been accused of using bulldozers to illegally raze alleged criminals' property, with the opposition claiming that the victims are mostly Muslims. He insisted that "nothing is bigger than the vote bank" for the opposition's allies. "The SP and Congress have succumbed to appeasement." And when Modi tells the truth to the country, they claim he is causing a Hindu-Muslim divide. "The vote bank that these people seek has begun to understand the truth," he stated. "Our mothers and sisters are happy with the law on triple talaq and are continuously blessing the BJP," he stated. He slammed the opposition's "attempts" to include Muslims in the quota. In Hamirpur, the prime minister reiterated his claim that the opposition intended to distribute people's wealth to members of the Muslim community. Congress Knocks EC's Door Over PM's 'Bulldozer' Remark Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, claimed that the BJP uses the bulldozer. "The BJP uses the bulldozer. We have never used a bulldozer on anyone to date. The Election Commission should take action against Modi ji and the BJP for making such statements about the temple of God, which is currently being built by the trust. By saying such things, they incite public outrage. "They are inciting the public."The Prime Minister himself is making provocative speeches; action should be taken against him. We would not have paid attention if a small leader had done this, but the Prime Minister is speaking in such language," Kharge said in X post. In response, the Congress president stated that Modi is inciting people by saying impossible things such as "we cannot do such things". "The people of the country understand that this will never happen. Everything will be protected once our government is established. "This is what our constitution says, and we will only work under it," he stated. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram stated that the party's manifesto promises to "put an end to the weaponization of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice." "That is a complete answer to the outrageous and false charge that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will take bulldozers to the Ram Temple," he wrote in the X Post. "Bulldozer justice may be the signature tune of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, but it is anathema to the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc," the former union minister added. Twin terror attacks within an hour in South Kashmir have sounded the alarm just a week before the Lok Sabha elections on May 25. In a series of unfortunate events, a tourist couple from Jaipur, Rajasthan, was injured, and a former Sarpanch was assassinated in two separate terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam and Shopian districts. In response to these incidents, security protocols have been strengthened to protect both residents and visitors to the area. According to a senior police officer, the initial incident involved a tourist couple from Jaipur, Rajasthan, who were attacked by terrorists in the Yannar Pahalgam region of Anantnag. The injured couple was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The male victim's condition is described as critical, while the female victim is stable. Following the attack, security personnel cordoned off the area and launched a comprehensive search operation to apprehend the perpetrators. The following incident took place in the Shopian district of South Kashmir, where unidentified terrorists targeted Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh, a former Sarpanch affiliated with the BJP. Terrorists shot Sheikh at close range in Herpora village, Shopian. Despite being rushed to the hospital in critical condition, he was pronounced dead on arrival. These attacks have prompted authorities to strengthen security measures in the region, particularly in light of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency on May 25. With political parties actively campaigning in the area, security agencies in South Kashmir face significant challenges in maintaining security and preventing further attacks. New Delhi: Amid ongoing mob violence against international students in Kyrgyzstan, the Indian Embassy on Saturday advised Indian students to stay indoors and stay connected with the Indian embassy. The Indian embassy in Kyrgyzstan informed that they are connected with the students and they have shared a helpline contact number with the students for assistance. "We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 24x7 contact number is 0555710041," Kyrgyzstan's Indian embassy said, ANI reported. As per reports, there are multiple incidents of mob violence against foreign students have been observed in Bishkek since last evening. Addressing the ongoing situation in Kyrgyzstan, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that they are monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. "Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. The situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy," he said. Pakistan embassy also shared a post regarding mob violence incidents against foreign students in Bishkek. "There have been a number of incidents of mob violence against foreign students in Bishkek since last evening. According to the Kyrgyz press, the matter boiled over yesterday due to sharing online of videos of a fight between Kyrgyz students and medical students from Egypt on May 13," the Pakistan embassy stated. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also shared a post on X and highlighted that they have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide support to the students living in Bishkek. "Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan's Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance. My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation," Shehbaz Sharif said. Two of the 26 seats that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is running for in the Bihar Lok Sabha elections will be among the most intimate electoral contests for party supremo Lalu Prasad. This is because both of his daughters, Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya, are in fray against tough BJP opponents. His two daughters are running against BJP candidates, one of whom previously defeated them. One of the candidates defeated Rohini Acharya's mother and Lalu's confidante, Chandrika Rai. According to locals, Rajiv Pratap Rudy is in a very strong position in Saran. He's contesting from there for the third time. Rohini is also putting up a tough fight against the BJP MP, who is running for a fifth term. The Saran Lok Sabha seat, located 75 kilometres from Patna, was known as Chhapra just before delimitation, or before 2008. Rohini, 44, will face Rajiv Pratap Rudy in the fifth round on May 20. RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav Camping In Saran Lalu Yadav has won this seat four times. Misa Bharti, Lalu's elder son and 47-year-old daughter, is running for the Rajya Sabha from Pataliputra. He is up against the BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav. According to the Indian Express, Lalu is spending the majority of his time in Saran ahead of the May 20 election. Special camps are being organised in the constituency. Rohini is getting praised in the constituency for donating one of her kidneys to her father. It is being said that this act had an emotional impact on the RJD's voter base. Rohini is also counting on her brother, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, and her father's old charm. Saran's estimated 18 lakh voters include approximately 3.5 lakh Yadavs and 3.25 lakh Rajputs. There are two lakh Muslims and one lakh Banias and Kushwahas (other backward classes). Rohini is currently represented by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a four-time BJP MP. RJD's Campaign High On Emotions Rudy lost to Lalu in 2009, but he defeated former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi five years later and retained the seat in 2019. Lalu Prasad, who has avoided campaigning in recent years, met with local RJD workers in Chhapra and Patna over the last fortnight to discuss Rohini's campaign. Campaigning with Tejashwi in Amnour on Thursday, Rohini said, "I want to be Saran's daughter and have come here to live and work for the people. We addressed the issue of development." Tejashwi recalled in his speech how his sister had easily donated one of her kidneys to his father. Throughout his tenure in government, he also adhered to his campaign promise of providing jobs for young people. Misa Bharti's Situation From Pataliputra Lok Sabha Seat The Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat is also hotly contested. Misa Bharti, Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter, is running for this seat for the third time. Misa ran for office from here in 2014 and 2019, but was defeated by BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav on both occasions. Yadav is again contesting against Misa. However, the addition of Asaduddin Owaisi's party AIMIM to has upended the equations. Farooq Raza, an engineer, has been fielded by Owaisi-led party. He was previously associated with the RJD. The Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat has over four lakh Yadavs, the majority of the nearly 17 lakh voters. There are three lakh Bhumihar voters, over one lakh Brahmins, 2.5 lakh Kurmis, 1.5 lakh Muslims and the rest Dalits and other voters. The Pataliputra seat was created from the Patna Lok Sabha constituency in the 2008 delimitation. The eldest child of Lalu and Rabri Devi is counting on her brother Tejashwi's Muslim-Yadav-plus pitch. However, her success will be determined by how the roughly evenly distributed social combination swings before the June 1 vote. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's PA Bibhav Kumar has been arrested by Delhi police on Saturday in connection with the AAP MP Swati Maliwal assault case. AAP Rajya Sabha MP and former DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal filed an FIR against Kejriwal's PA Bibhav for assaulting her in the CM's residence. The police have arrested the Vibhav from Kejriwal's house. Kejriwal's PA Vibhav reached out to Delhi Police via email and stated that he was ready to cooperate in the ongoing probe into Maliwal's assault claim. Additionally, he urged them to consider his complaint as well. On the arrest of Bibhav Kumar in connection with AAP MP Swati Maliwal's assault case, Sanjeev Nasiar, state president of AAP legal cell informed that the application has been filed in the court stating we haven't received a copy of FIR yet. "We have filed an application in the court saying that we have not yet received a copy of the FIR. The order is reserved till 4 pm but now I have come to know that he has been brought here without any notice. Now we want to go inside (Civil Lines PS) but we are being stopped from going inside," Nasiar said. He is to be produced before Delhi's Tis Hazari Court later today, the police informed. Meanwhile, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma shared a post on her official X handle, "Delhi CM's aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested from his house. So, (the) CM was giving shelter to (an) alleged criminal." On Friday, Bibhav lodged a counter-complaint with police, alleging Maliwal of unauthorized entry into the CM's residence and verbally abusing him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the opposition INDIA bloc can go to any length to pursue its "vote bank" politics, claiming that during the 2014 elections, the then-Congress government gave the Waqf Board 123 properties spread across prime locations in Delhi in exchange for votes. In his first rally in the national capital for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Modi slammed the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi as opportunistic, claiming that the world is watching how one corrupt party covers for another. The AAP and the Congress are members of the INDIA bloc, which was formed to compete against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Modi stated that if he has any heirs, they are the 140 crore Indians. His every moment is for the country, and his life is dedicated to realising the dreams of its citizens, the prime minister stated while speaking at a rally in North East Delhi in support of BJP candidates in the North East Delhi, East Delhi, and Chandni Chowk parliamentary seats. "The norm in society is that the head of a family considers, plans for, and works towards it. I have no heirs. You are my only heirs. The 140 crore people of the country are my heirs. As a result, I work tirelessly for you. "Every moment of my life is for you and the country. Your dreams strengthen my resolve. This life is sacrificed to ensure the success of your dreams," PM Modi said. Though he made no direct reference, Modi's remarks came amid repeated claims from Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal that he will make way for Home Minister Amit Shah when he turns 75 next year. Though he made no direct reference, Modi's comments came amid repeated claims by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal that he will give way to Home Minister Amit Shah when he turns 75 next year. He has chosen Shah as his successor, according to Kejriwal, an assertion refuted by top BJP leaders who claim Modi will continue to lead the party after 2029. Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed several signature projects, including the new Parliament building and the war memorial. Modi is the person at the heart of democracy, he said, noting that his government has built a museum dedicated to all prime ministers. This Congress-AAP alliance appears determined to destroy Delhi, he said, blaming its leaders for lowering political standards and undermining people's faith. Those who came to root out corruption are in jail for scams worth thousands of crores of rupees, Modi said, taking a swipe at Chief Minister Kejriwal. The Congress, he said, would never tyre of taking credit for exposing the AAP government's scams, but the Gandhi family forced its Delhi leaders to align with the city's ruling party. The prime minister stated that the Congress has ruled Delhi for four generations but lacks the strength to contest even four seats here. "The Congress is not even contesting in the (New Delhi) constituency where Parliament House and their '10 Janpath Darbar' are located. Still, their arrogance persists," Modi stated. Modi continued his attack on the opposition alliance for alleged pro-Muslim politics, claiming that during the 2014 elections, the Congress collaborated with those advocating for "vote jihad" to increase its vote bank. They agreed to vote for the Congress, and the government handed over the country's properties to the Waqf Board, he said. These properties were spread across prime locations where a yard of land costs lakhs of rupees, Modi claimed, implying that the opportunist opposition alliance can incite violence for appeasement politics. Under the "Manmohan Singh remote-operated government, Sonia entered into an agreement with 'Vote Jihad' people", he said, and claimed that 123 properties in prime locations of Delhi were given to the Waqf Board. These elections are to protect the poor and middle class from forces conspiring to seize their assets, he said, emphasising that the INDI Alliance should not receive a single vote. "Their manifesto appears to be inspired by the Muslim League," Modi said, urging people to reject the nepotism mindset that has ruined the future of the youth, to build a strong India, and to defeat the forces attempting to weaken the country. He claimed that the INDIA bloc has gone to extreme lengths to appease and wants to award contracts and create budgets based on religion. "The 'shehzada' of the Congress wants to give half of your property to his vote bank," said Modi. He blamed the opposition for the 2020 North East Delhi riots. In the national capital, which sends seven members to the Lok Sabha, the AAP and the Congress are contesting four and three seats, respectively, under a seat-sharing arrangement. The AAP has fielded candidates in New Delhi, East Delhi, South Delhi, and West Delhi, while the Congress is running in Chandni Chowk, Northeast Delhi, and Northwest Delhi. Finland respects China's choice to further engage with Russia, but the close business ties between the two countries are not regarded as a "positive thing", a Finnish minister has told the Post. In an exclusive interview in Doha on Thursday, Finnish Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Minister Ville Tavio said that relations between the European Union and China "will get only better" despite Brussels' move to de-risk from Beijing, but China's leaders will need to build trust with the bloc's business entities. "We wish China to use its influence to Russia, to [ask] Russia to stop their aggression. So naturally, I would like to see China having a constructive dialogue with Russia about this illegal war," Tavio said. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "I have no objection if China can play the mediator role, but of course, negotiations are difficult ... and the negotiations would be conducted between two parties anyhow, Russia and Ukraine," he added. Ville Tavio, the Finnish minister for development cooperation and foreign trade, is pictured prior to an EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels in November. Photo: Getty Images alt=Ville Tavio, the Finnish minister for development cooperation and foreign trade, is pictured prior to an EU trade ministers meeting in Brussels in November. Photo: Getty Images> The interview came as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Vladimir Putin to Beijing on his first trip abroad since being re-elected as Russia's president. During their meeting, Xi reaffirmed Beijing's willingness to "play a constructive role" for peace, adding that both Beijing and Moscow agree that "a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis is the correct direction". Xi said that Beijing would "respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and the legitimate security concerns of all parties". China's strong trade relations with Russia since the invasion have come under intense scrutiny, with Western leaders calling into question Beijing's proclaimed position of neutrality. China-Russia trade hit a record US$240 billion in 2023, more than double the US$108 billion reached in 2020, largely driven by Chinese imports of Russian oil and exports of cars, electronics and industrial equipment. Story continues "We have sanctioned Russia, because of their prejudgment of international law and the UN Charter. Of course, it would be the legally and morally right thing [for China] to do the same," Tavio said. "So I'm not naturally happy that China has continued to do business with Russia ... from our perspective, that is not a positive thing," he added. China is also facing pressure over accusations from the United States and the EU that it is flooding their markets with "overcapacity" in the new energy sector, especially with electric vehicles. Tavio said he would not regard overcapacity as a "negative meaning for China", but rather see it as "a natural flow of trade". "Chinese people have gotten a completely different position. China has become wealthier year by year. China has money to invest around the world. So China is active, of course, also being part of these emerging markets." While he expected that China-EU trade relations will improve, he added that both sides have demanded "equality" in trade talks. The EU has had a trade deficit with China for at least a decade - its highest level was 397 billion (US$431 billion) in 2022. The deficit declined to 291 billion in 2023. Finland's trade deficit with China last year was 3.4 billion. As Brussels moves ahead with calls to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains, Tavio said that Finland will follow the EU's common trade policy "with no doubt" as investors worry about China's future after encountering Russia's geopolitical shift. "The whole de-risking discussion also comes from the companies themselves. I [see] Russia more as to blame here ... my message to the Chinese would be that when Finland has invested in Russia, and we have lost those investments, because of Russia's behaviour, I think it is natural that China would only gain to keep on building the trust." As a key player in Arctic scientific exploration, Tavio added that Finland would like to maintain cooperation with China under the Arctic Council framework, but China's increasingly close relations with Russia will be an obstacle in the future. "If China would decide to basically go hand in hand with Russia, it would probably make it difficult for [China] to cooperate," he said. In a joint China-Russia declaration released on Thursday, Beijing and Moscow agreed to further cooperate in the Arctic, developing infrastructure, and increasing commercial activities in Arctic shipping lanes. "The two parties advocate that the Arctic should remain a place of peace, stability, constructive dialogue, and mutually beneficial cooperation, and should not create military-political tensions in the region," the statement read. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Anant Raj Limited is currently focussing at their 200-acre integrated residential township in Sector 63A, Gurugram which has composition of Villas, Floors, Commercial and Group Housings. They recently introduced their Ultra Luxury Project, "THE ESTATE RESIDENCES," featuring just 248 units of spacious 4 BHK residences, totalling over 1.00 million sq. ft. of saleable area. The market response to this project has been overwhelmingly positive, with units sold within a few days of launch. In addition to the above township, Anant Raj also possess significant land holdings, approximately 100 acres in Delhi and another 100 acres in NCR. Development of lands in Delhi is said to commence once the Master Development Plan 2041 of Delhi is notified. Not only ultra-luxury apartments, Anant Raj Limiteds Founder Chairman Sh. Ashok Sarin has also announced affordable housing project in Neemrana, Rajasthan, tailored to meet the needs of industrial workers. One more such project in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, represents another step towards enhancing the living conditions of factory workers. The concept of beauty transcends superficial appearances. Merely covering up imperfections like dark circles and applying foundation to mask dry skin may no longer suffice, as consumers increasingly recognize the importance of a holistic approach to skincare, which starts with a good nights sleep. Reflecting this evolving mindset, beauty industries are broadening their offerings and messaging to encompass not just physical enhancements but also mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental well-being. A recent study from Oxford highlights the critical role of sleep in our overall well-being. Described as a temporary state of reduced awareness and sensitivity to external stimuli, sleep is intricately linked to our circadian rhythm and plays a pivotal role in regulating various aspects of skin physiology, including surface pH, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), blood flow, and skin temperature. It serves as a crucial period for both internal and epidermal rejuvenation. Aditi Jain, Marketing Head, Oteria highlights that, While maintaining a consistent skincare routine remains important, optimising your skin-sleep relationship can yield noticeable benefits, throughout your day. In the age of getting your beauty sleep, it is important to note that the skin is the most delicate yet the toughest organ which requires 24x7 replenishment in line with our circadian rhythm. Having said that, a good night's sleep is the most essential factor in your skincare routine as in the modern age, with digital pollution and extreme weather conditions, it is all the more important to sleep, rest and replenish. The visible effects of a restless night are unmistakable when it comes to your facial appearance. Research dating back to 2013 indicates that just one night of inadequate sleep can lead to a myriad of undesirable outcomes, such as drooping eyelids, swollen eyes, darker under-eye circles, paler complexion, increased prominence of wrinkles and fine lines, droopier corners of the mouth. Understanding the importance of circadian rhythm is crucial here. Sleep is just not about feeling rested; it's also the prime time for your body, including your skin, to undergo repair. While you snooze, your skin receives a boost in blood flow, enabling it to rebuild collagen and address damage caused by factors like UV exposure, which in turn helps diminish wrinkles and age spots. Everyday exposures can significantly impact the health and appearance of your skin over time. To take control of your skin health, here are some practical tips to give your skin a complete overnight transformation through the synergy of skincare: Sleep, Rest, Replenish Like Sleeping Beauty Yourself The foundation of good skin health, as well as overall well-being, begins with prioritising adequate nightly rest. The consequences of poor sleep on your skin can be significant, ranging from accelerated ageing and decreased protection against the sun to compromised skin recovery and diminished satisfaction with your skin's appearance. While occasional off days happen, aiming for an average of seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night sets the stage for optimal skin health and vitality. Before You Hit The Pillow Cleanse Your Face With Hydrating Cleansers Sleep aids in skin repair by increasing blood flow, rebuilding collagen, and relaxing facial muscles, going to bed with a dirty face can undermine these benefits. Cleansing your face nightly holds particular importance; it might even outweigh your morning routine. You don't need an elaborate array of products or aggressive scrubbing. A gentle cleanser to eliminate dirt, makeup, and excess oil will suffice. By skipping this step, you risk allowing the day's pore-clogging pollutants to settle overnight, potentially leading to enlarged pores, dryness, irritation, rashes, infections, inflammation, and acne flare-ups. Taking a moment to cleanse ensures your skin can fully benefit from its overnight rejuvenation process. Turn Your Moisturiser into Your Overnight Ally Taking care of your skin involves more than just cleansing. It's a delicate balance, especially when it comes to maintaining moisture. Washing your face might seem like a simple step, but it can actually strip away natural oils, leaving your skin feeling dry. And if you're catching some Z's in a dry environment, that can further sap moisture from your skin. Staying hydrated internally by drinking water is important, but it's not always enough to keep your skin moisturised. That's where a good topical moisturiser comes in, especially at night when your skin is in repair mode. What you really need is something rich and emollient, like a thicker cream or oil, to nourish your skin while you sleep. Choose Sleeping on your back or Special Pillowcases For Better Skin Sleeping on rough cotton surfaces can cause skin irritation and prolonged compression of the face, leading to the development of wrinkles. While many wrinkles are a result of facial expressions during waking hours, those on the face and chest can be exacerbated by sleeping on the stomach or side. A simple remedy is to try sleeping on your back, which offers additional benefits, even though it may require some adjustment over time. If you prefer sleeping on your side, investing in a skin-friendly pillow can make a difference. Opting for satin or silk pillowcases can help minimise skin irritation and reduce compression, while copper-oxide pillowcases may even aid in reducing fine lines and crow's feet. New Delhi: It is that time of the year when Bollywood and our desi fashion pundits shift their gaze to the French Rivera. It is the official lets check out what Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is wearing, time of the month. The actors first appearance at the 77th edition was in a Falguni and Shane ensemble. The charismatic star, despite an injured hand, bravely sported a cast, as she walked in a gown, which as per the designers was a celebration of the timelessness of her career and life. A black taffeta corseted gown, with white billowy sleeves, with generous touches of gold. A long trail with dramatic gold flowers. However, her hair, makeup and the gold hoops were on point. Her second look also by Falguni and Shane was a silver blue gown with voluminous sleeves failed to impress as well. As fans and as well as netizens had a classic Why OWhy moment, designer Anand Bhushan couldnt help express his disappointment. Someone as beautiful, talented and iconic as Aishwarya Rau Bachchan, sure never disappoints to disappoint on the red carpet at Cannes year after year. This year her outfit looked a bit DIY ( do it yourself) kids' project with detachable flowers. This look was not worthy of the queen of the Cannes Film Festival. I hope designers and stylists keep things simple for her and let her beauty shine. A statement one cannot help but agree, it seems stylists are unable to do justice to the most beautiful woman in the world. A Cannes regular since 2002, her first appearance being the premiere of Devdas. In 2003 she became the first Indian female juror at the festival. As the country cheered, it was her Neeta Lulla-designed outfits which were dismissed by the fashion police. Remember the neon green saree with a heavily embellished long bustier, or the pink choli and the brown lehenga? The actor has made appearances from the Oscar De La Renta, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, and Ellie Saabs to hometown designers, Abu Jaani Sandeep Khosla and Sabyasachi Mukherjee over the years. There have been several hits and misses, but she has taken them all on the chin. I remember meeting her soon after her Cannes 2016 outing when she offset her floral Rami Kadi gown with a bright purple pour. Her look had been slammed and generated a meme fest. She had matter-of-factly responded, "I enjoy the art and the creativity which goes with the fashion at Cannes and that's why people see me do different things. I just go with the flow and enjoy the show and art evokes a response. There are such great ideas out there. Though she seems generous enough to sport ensembles and creations suggested by her stylist, a designer feels she needs to be a bit attentive. She is one of Indias most illustrious names on the International circuit. Unlike others, she does not need her outfits to grab eyeballs. On the other hand, she should experiment and wear outfits which flatter her figure and enhance her striking looks. She has a stunningly arresting face and can carry any colour. Simple, classic lines would work best on her. Here it seems it is the designers trying to get attention by making her wear some very unflattering creations. Well, we hope her stylists are listening, after all, ARB is worth it! Encountering the splendor of the 4,000-year-old ancient Shu civilization at Sanxingdui People's Daily Online) 09:49, May 18, 2024 Editor's Note: Chinese civilization has moved forward with enduring vitality throughout history. Discoveries at the Liangzhu archaeological site that reveal the origins of Chinese civilization, along with the ancient Chinese characters on oracle bones from the Yin Ruins and the cultural treasures of the Sanxingdui Ruins, all testify to China's splendid civilization. Chinese civilization, spanning ancient and modern times, radiates brilliance. It is deeply rooted in the nation's identity and the wisdom of its people. To truly understand China, one must grasp the essence of this civilization. People's Daily Online presents the "Tracing the origins of Chinese civilization" series of promotional videos. These videos explore the treasured aspects of Chinese culture, decipher the ancient codes of civilization that have been passed down over thousands of years, and share how China's ancient civilization continues to thrive in modern times. During his visit to the Sanxingdui Museum in July 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping remarked: "The archaeological achievements of Sanxingdui are world-renowned, demonstrating the fruits of a civilization more than 4,000 years ago. They also provide more convincing archaeological evidence for the integration of Chinese civilization as well as the mutual influence of the ancient Shu civilization and the Central Plains civilization." The Sanxingdui Ruins site, located in Guanghan, a county-level city in Deyang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, offers a glimpse into the ancient Shu civilization that thrived thousands of years ago. The site was the biggest and most culturally significant city in the Yangtze River region during that period, showing the advanced level of development and unique characteristics of the Shu people. Under the scorching sun, dust filled the air. Large parasols stood at an excavation site at the Sanxingdui Ruins. Xu Danyang, a researcher of the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, was at work. Over four years, Xu has unearthed many cultural relics, with the challenges encountered during his excavations etched in his memory. "In the sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui, we discovered a significant amount of ivory. After years of burial, their texture had softened, resembling melting ice creams," Xu recalled. After considering various opinions, the team ultimately decided to use moistened high-polymer bandages to cover the ivory to preserve their shape and then carefully excavated them one by one. At the excavation site, many villagers helped dig under professional guidance. "A lot of archaeological work is done outdoors in the fields, where you interact with the land, engage with local villagers, and meet all kinds of people." said Xu, adding that field archaeology is at the forefront of the discipline, where new discoveries can happen at any moment. These discoveries are always the first to be presented to the public. New archaeological techniques and methods, driven by technological advancements, have made the excavation and restoration of cultural relics more scientific, systematic, and sustainable. Archaeological excavations and restoration work at the Sanxingdui Ruins happen simultaneously. Xie Li, an artifact restoration specialist at the Sanxingdui Museum, was cleaning a bronze human head sculpture. "We employ various observation devices, such as the stereomicroscope I am currently utilizing. This instrument enables me to closely examine the artifact's intricate details, facilitating a more precise restoration process," Xie explained. Xie has worked on cultural relic restorations for 10 years since graduating from university. While many people may find the work repetitive and dull, Xie finds it invigorating. "This occupation is far from monotonous, as every restored artifact possesses its own distinctiveness, offering a constantly evolving experience," Xie said. "Every artifact is precious because it is irreplaceable and non-renewable," said Xie. Every step in the restoration process is crucial and requires patience. Xie often spends an entire day working on a single artifact. "Every artifact has a story behind it, not just its own story in the traces of history, but also the story of the restorers efforts. It will also carry the stories of those who come to witness it," said Xie. On July 26, 2023, the new building of the Sanxingdui Museum opened. With a floor area of 54,400 square meters, it is the largest single structure among all archaeological museums in southwest China. Lei Yu, curator of the Sanxingdui Museum, said that the unearthed relics from the ruins include a wide array of jade and bronze artifacts. Another notable collection comprises distinctive Sanxingdui-style items, such as a giant standing bronze figure, bronze divine trees, and bronze masks. These treasures demonstrate the beauty and grandeur of the Sanxingdui Ruins, capturing the public's curiosity. Lei began working at the Sanxingdui Ruins in 1984. Shortly after, two accidental discoveries in 1986 had a profound impact both domestically and internationally, leaving a lasting impression on Lei. In July 1986, workers at a brick factory stumbled upon a burial site while excavating soil. They uncovered more than 10 pieces of jade and stone artifacts, leading to the discovery of the No. 1 sacrificial pit. Less than a month later, while digging soil just 30 meters from the No. 1 pit, workers discovered more relics, leading to the excavation of the No. 2 sacrificial pit. The discovery of these two sacrificial pits astonished the world and is widely regarded as one of the most significant archaeological findings of the 20th century. "On the day the new Sanxingdui Museum building opened, President Xi visited the restoration and preservation center," Lei said. "He inquired about the combination of the gold foil pieces and even stooped down to examine the bronze sun-shaped object, which was under restoration. He also engaged in a discussion with us about the five parts of the object. His deep familiarity and expertise in the cultural relics of Sanxingdui left a lasting impression on me." As of 2023, Lei had worked at Sanxingdui for 39 years. "President Xi told me that it is not easy to dedicate oneself to something for almost 40 years. These words were highly encouraging and motivating for me," he said. Lei stated that the Sanxingdui Ruins site reveals the civilization achievements of the ancient Shu people from over 4,000 years ago and demonstrates that the ancient Shu civilization, represented by Sanxingdui, is an integral part of Chinese civilization. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chengliang) (Bloomberg) -- OpenAI has effectively dissolved a team focused on ensuring the safety of possible future ultra-capable artificial intelligence systems, following the departure of the groups two leaders, including OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever. Most Read from Bloomberg Rather than maintain the so-called superalignment team as a standalone entity, OpenAI is now integrating the group more deeply across its research efforts to help the company achieve its safety goals, the company told Bloomberg News. The team was formed less than a year ago under the leadership of Sutskever and Jan Leike, another OpenAI veteran. The decision to rethink the team comes as a string of recent departures from OpenAI revives questions about the companys approach to balancing speed versus safety in developing its AI products. Sutskever, a widely respected researcher, announced Tuesday that he was leaving OpenAI after having previously clashed with Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman over how rapidly to develop artificial intelligence. Leike revealed his departure shortly after with a terse post on social media. I resigned, he said. For Leike, Sutskevers exit was the last straw following disagreements with the company, according to a person familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified in order to discuss private conversations. In a statement on Friday, Leike said the superalignment team had been fighting for resources. Over the past few months my team has been sailing against the wind, Leike wrote on X. Sometimes we were struggling for compute and it was getting harder and harder to get this crucial research done.Hours later, Altman responded to Leikes post. He's right we have a lot more to do, Altman wrote on X. We are committed to doing it. Other members of the superalignment team have also left the company in recent months. Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov, were let go by OpenAI. The Information earlier reported their departures. Izmailov had been moved off the team prior to his exit, according to a person familiar with the matter. Aschenbrenner and Izmailov did not respond to requests for comment. John Schulman, a co-founder at the startup whose research centers on large language models, will be the scientific lead for OpenAIs alignment work going forward, the company said. Separately, OpenAI said in a blog post that it named Research Director Jakub Pachocki to take over Sutskevers role as chief scientist. Story continues I am very confident he will lead us to make rapid and safe progress towards our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits everyone, Altman said in a statement Tuesday about Pachockis appointment. AGI, or artificial general intelligence, refers to AI that can perform as well or better than humans on most tasks. AGI doesnt yet exist, but creating it is part of the companys mission.OpenAI also has employees involved in AI-safety-related work on teams across the company, as well as individual teams focused on safety. One, a preparedness team, launched last October and focuses on analyzing and trying to ward off potential catastrophic risks of AI systems. The superalignment team was meant to head off the most long term threats. OpenAI announced the formation of the superalignment team last July, saying it would focus on how to control and ensure the safety of future artificial intelligence software that is smarter than humans something the company has long stated as a technological goal. In the announcement, OpenAI said it would put 20% of its computing power at that time toward the teams work. In November, Sutskever was one of several OpenAI board members who moved to fire Altman, a decision that touched off a whirlwind five days at the company. OpenAI President Greg Brockman quit in protest, investors revolted and within days, nearly all of the startups roughly 770 employees signed a letter threatening to quit unless Altman was brought back. In a remarkable reversal, Sutskever also signed the letter and said he regretted his participation in Altmans ouster. Soon after, Altman was reinstated. In the months following Altmans exit and return, Sutskever largely disappeared from public view, sparking speculation about his continued role at the company. Sutskever also stopped working from OpenAIs San Francisco office, according to a person familiar with the matter. In his statement, Leike said that his departure came after a series of disagreements with OpenAI about the companys core priorities, which he doesnt feel are focused enough on safety measures related to the creation of AI that may be more capable than people. In a post earlier this week announcing his departure, Sutskever said hes confident OpenAI will develop AGI that is both safe and beneficial under its current leadership, including Altman. (Adds response from OpenAI CEO in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Key Insights Phillips 66's estimated fair value is US$193 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of US$147 suggests Phillips 66 is potentially 24% undervalued Analyst price target for PSX is US$164 which is 15% below our fair value estimate Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Phillips 66 The Method We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$4.73b US$5.73b US$6.03b US$5.36b US$5.62b US$5.60b US$5.62b US$5.67b US$5.75b US$5.85b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -0.50% Est @ 0.36% Est @ 0.97% Est @ 1.39% Est @ 1.69% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.4% US$4.4k US$4.9k US$4.7k US$3.9k US$3.8k US$3.5k US$3.2k US$3.0k US$2.8k US$2.6k ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$37b After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.4%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.4%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$5.8b (1 + 2.4%) (8.4% 2.4%) = US$100b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$100b ( 1 + 8.4%)10= US$45b The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$82b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$147, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 24% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. dcf Important Assumptions Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Phillips 66 as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.298. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. SWOT Analysis for Phillips 66 Strength Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Earnings declined over the past year. Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Oil and Gas market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years. Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Threat Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the American market. Looking Ahead: Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. 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. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Phillips 66, we've compiled three further elements you should further examine: Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Phillips 66 you should know about. Future Earnings: How does PSX's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. digicomphoto / iStock.com Picking out individual stocks is never an easy task. Businesses are complicated systems what makes one stock a better choice than the other? For example, if you wanted to invest in a pharmaceutical company, should you go with Pfizer (PFE) or Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)? Its impossible to declare with certainty which stock will be the winner, but there are some things to look at that can help guide the decision. Check Out: Retirement Savings: I Lost $400K in a Roth IRA Read Next: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) Growth Potential A companys future growth prospects or at least the markets perception of those growth prospects is one of the biggest factors in how stocks get priced in the market. Since PFE and JNJ are both mature businesses, neither is likely to be poised for meteoric growth, but its still worth looking at. The easiest way for retail investors to get a handle on the outlook for a stock is to look for the average analyst growth rates investment firms and research companies employ analysts who specialize in following a specific company, and their estimates are usually fairly accurate. Analysts currently are projecting an average annual growth rate of 4.84% for JNJ over the next five years. Pfizer, on the other hand, is actually projected to contract, with a growth rate of -1.23% over the same time frame. Valuation The reason that valuation is so important to consider is that ultimately the price you pay will determine the return on your investment. The best businesses in the world could still be a bad investment if you overpay. One of the most common valuation metrics used for stocks is the price to earnings (P/E) ratio. JNJ currently trades at a trailing twelve month P/E ratio of around 10.5, which is a pretty reasonable valuation for a high-quality company. Pfizers trailing twelve month P/E ratio is negative, indicating that it has actually been operating at a loss over the last twelve months. Edge: Johnson and Johnson Learn More: 7 Best Stocks To Buy Under $1 PFE and JNJ are both high quality companies, but based on their growth prospects over the next five years and current price relationship to earnings (or losses) JNJ looks like the better choice right now. That might not be the case in the future. Things change fast in the stock market be sure to do your own research before investing. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Which Pharmaceutical Company is the Best Investment? The Deutsche Bank logo is pictured above the entrance of a branch in Oldenburg city center. Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa An arbitration court in St Petersburg has frozen the assets of several banks in Russia, including Deutsche Bank, after the planned construction of a terminal, which the German bank had helped to guarantee, was cancelled. The court action was taken at the request of RusChimAllianz, a Gazprom subsidiary operating an LNG terminal on the Baltic Sea. The company is claiming 239 million ($260 million) against Deutsche Bank, according to a report by the Russian state news agency Tass on Saturday. The assets blocked are securities belonging to Deutsche Bank and other companies in which it holds an interest, as well real estate and money in bank accounts. This represents only part of the bank's assets in Russia. The court had previously also frozen bank accounts and assets of the Italian bank Unicredit in Russia. Other lenders are also affected. The move comes after a terminal construction was cancelled due to Western sanctions. The banks had helped to guarantee the project. RusChimAllianz wants 444 million from Unicredit. Assets worth 463 million are to be frozen. Deutsche Bank stated that it remains to be seen how this decision will be implemented by the Russian courts and what consequences this will have for the bank's operations in Russia. "We see ourselves as fully protected by an indemnification from a client," the bank said in a statement. The bank has provided a provision of around 260 million and "a corresponding reimbursement asset under the indemnification agreement," it said. Unicredit is the largest foreign bank still active in Russia after Germany's Raiffeisenbank, and by its own estimation is one of the 20 largest banks in the country in terms of balance sheet assets. RusChimAllianz had concluded a contract in 2021 with the German industrial group Linde and the construction company Renaissance Heavy Industries for the construction of the plant. RusChimAllianz reportedly paid an advance to Linde for this. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the West imposed sanctions. Linde has reportedly informed its client that the work has been stopped. The banks that had acted as guarantors for the deal also withdrew their guarantees due to the sanctions. In addition to Deutsche Bank and Unicredit, Commerzbank, Bayerische Landesbank and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg were also sued before the arbitration court in St Petersburg. Unlike Unicredit, however, these companies did not have major branches in Russia. German companies have lost billions in investments in Russia as a result of the sanctions. On the most popular routes, the best savings are on Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates - Emirates We all know the old joke about the tourist in Ireland who asks a local for directions to Dublin. If I were you, the local replies, I wouldnt start from here. Who knew the same applies to long-haul air travel from Britain in 2024? If you are prepared to start your long-haul journey outside the UK, you can save a small fortune, especially on business-class tickets. Telegraph Travel chose the cheapest fares on major carriers to popular long-haul destinations starting in London and then compared them with the cheapest fares on the same airlines starting from the Continent and Dublin. We chose flights in economy and business class for travel from June 10-17 and November 4-11. All the analysis was done last month. The best savings on the most popular routes are to be had on the Gulf carriers Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates which offer hub-and-spoke services from their bases in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Qatar Airways is attractive to many UK-based fliers since it is part of the OneWorld airline alliance, which means you can earn British Airways tier points and earn or spend Avios (BAs air miles) when you fly. Since all long-haul Qatar flights are two legs via Doha, you can earn more tier points than going direct on BA. Economy class save up to 268 in summer Below are the top 20 deals if you fly from continental Europe or Dublin on Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, instead of from London. Youll need to factor in the cost of getting to those European cities from the UK, of course (as an example, the cheapest return flight from London to Budapest for June 10-17 is 93, reducing the overall saving to 161). Passengers should also note that of the Etihad services listed, it is only on the Dublin to Bangkok, Vienna to Bangkok and Vienna to Melbourne routes that the airline uses its own aircraft on every leg. For flights from other European cities listed to and from its Abu Dhabi hub, it works with partner airlines. Business class save up to 3,392 in summer Savings increase dramatically when you upgrade to business class. Here are the 20 routes where you can save the most. As before, youll need to factor in the cost of reaching each European city, but with low-cost return fares from around 100, the savings are still huge. Economy class save up to 331 in autumn In November, the savings are greater in economy class than business class, compared with June, so if you are looking for the best economy class bargains, book ahead. Business class save up to 2,810 in autumn Again, far bigger savings can be found for those in business class. Heres the top 20: Story continues The best European airlines for stopover savings It is not just the Gulf carriers that offer big savings. Aer Lingus, the Dublin-based carrier, and Helsinki-based Finnair (which, like Qatar Airways, is part of the OneWorld alliance) offer better value than flying from London but they fly to far fewer destinations than the Gulf carriers. Heres what you will save starting your journey in Dublin with Aer Lingus and on Finnair, starting from Helsinki, compared with going direct on British Airways from London. The biggest savings are on business-class tickets bought two to three months before departure. 10-17 June, Economy Finnair, Helsinki-Tokyo, -686 10-17 June, Business Aer Lingus, Dublin-New York JFK, -3,433 Finnair, Helsinki-Singapore, -1,173 4-11 November, Economy Finnair, Helsinki-Tokyo, -103 Aer Lingus, Dublin-New York JFK, -67 4-11 November, Business Finnair, Helsinki-Singapore, -950 Finnair, Helsinki-Hong Kong, -533 Aer Lingus, Dublin-New York JFK, -496 Finnair, Helsinki-Tokyo, -195 Explaining the gulf in fares, Jeremy Pollock, Etihads General Manager for the UK and Ireland, said: The price for any route involves multiple factors, including government taxes and fees, dynamic pricing across various points of sale, consumer demand, and the airlines strategic focus across key routes. Translation? Taxes and other fees are higher in Britain than on the Continent and in Ireland. Demand for fancy business-class seats is lower in smaller continental cities than in London, so airlines offer cheaper fares to lure customers. Emirates also highlighted the higher cost of doing business in Britain. There is high demand to and from London throughout the year, where supply is limited by airport slots constraints, and where operating costs are higher, as are UK government departure taxes borne by travellers. These all contribute to higher fares from the city, a spokeswoman said. Thierry Antinori, chief commercial officer at Qatar Airways, said the airline used one of the youngest fleets in the industry and vast global network to optimise costs and offer competitive fares from many destinations on the Continent and in Ireland. A spokeswoman for British Airways pointed out that unlike most long-haul services on Finnair and Aer Lingus from London, all BA flights from London are direct. Customers do not need to take a positioning flight to start their journey from another destination or connect through a hub. Fares also include taxes and charges which are stipulated by the Government and airports and are often higher for journeys beginning in the UK than other areas of Europe. Whatever the reasons for the lower prices outside Britain, canny travellers can save thousands of pounds on long-haul flights and maybe enjoy a weekend city break in Europe at the start or end of their journey. 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. Political pressure will almost surely force Washington to shore up the Social Security program before the social safety net program faces reduced monthly checks as soon as 2033. But the question is when. Will lawmakers mobilize in the next few years, or will they wait until the proverbial last minute and pay increased costs because of that delay before finding a compromise? The bad news for recipients is that recent history, not to mention rhetoric on the 2024 campaign trail, suggests that procrastination may win out. Washington has made two runs at reform in recent years one under George W. Bush and another under Barack Obama but both came up short. That's led some to look further back for lessons about how this coming standoff could play out. Perhaps the most apt historical comparison is what happened in 1983. That was the last time lawmakers successfully implemented large-scale reforms to stave off insolvency in the program. What's also notable about that Reagan-era deal is that it barely came together in time. Reduced checks were looming in July of that year. The pact was signed into law in April. In a ceremony on the South Lawn, President Reagan signs a bill to avert Social Security insolvency in 1983. Looking on are a range of figures, including Alan Greenspan, far left, Senator Robert Dole, third from left, and House Speaker Tip O'Neill, standing to Reagan's left. (Getty Images) (Bettmann via Getty Images) "'83 was a crisis," noted Bipartisan Policy Center chief economist Jason Fichtner, suggesting that perhaps a lesson from the episode is that "it seems to take a crisis" before anything gets done. Fichtner formerly worked at the Social Security Administration and also on Capitol Hill. He is now trying to prod lawmakers to act, noting that delayed action does more than increase worry among program participants. It also makes it harder to solve the problem. Washington's delays have already removed what Fichtner calls "one-and-done options," with a steeper challenge remaining. "I start seeing this now as a jigsaw puzzle," he said, with multiple tough pills likely to be needed as part of any eventual solution. A 2023 Brookings analysis pegged the changes required to right the system over the coming decades as already "at least double" what lawmakers faced in 1983. And a recent Social Security trustees report also underlined the unforgiving math in the years ahead. By 2033, Social Security may only be able to pay out 79% of benefits to seniors unless lawmakers act. Lawmakers may be able to use a maneuver and delay things until 2035, but there are few options after that beyond reforms. Read more: Retirement planning: A step-by-step guide What happened in 1983 and Biden's role The US was in a similar position roughly 40 years ago. Like now, many in Washington in the late 1970s and early 80s saw the problem of insolvency coming in advance. Story continues It was prominent in the 1980 campaign. Then, after Ronald Reagan took office, the issue was squarely on the desk of his chief of staff, James Baker. President Ronald Reagan, left, and his Chief of Staff James Baker ride in the presidential limousine in 1981. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images) (David Hume Kennerly via Getty Images) A recent biography of Baker unearthed how in 1981, even with insolvency just a few years away, the first order of business was another round of brinkmanship. The key early move as recounted by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser in their biography of "The Man Who Ran Washington" was a White House plan from David Stockman, Reagan's budget director. Stockman proposed making the program solvent through the GOP preferred method of cuts, identifying reductions of $100 billion. It would have slashed benefits significantly. "That quickly flopped," Baker and Glasser wrote, as Democrats attacked the plan and even Republicans soon abandoned Reagan on this issue. It was only then, in December 1981, when Reagan created a National Commission on Social Security Reform. Alan Greenspan, who later in the decade became chairman of the Federal Reserve, was chosen to head it. The group was tasked with studying the issue for a year, conveniently putting the topic on the back burner until after the 1982 elections. Social Security Commission Chairman Alan Greenspan, left, shakes hands with Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa as Senate Finance Chairman Robert Dole looks on prior to a hearing on Social Security's needs. (Getty Images) (Bettmann via Getty Images) By 1983 the issue was unavoidable. The Greenspan Commission finished its work with many final negotiations taking place at Baker's house and produced a plan that passed Congress and Reagan signed into law on April 20, 1983. The legislation reshaped the program and staved off insolvency by increasing the payroll tax rate, subjecting benefits to income taxes, and gradually increasing the retirement age. Read more: What is the retirement age for Social Security, 401(k), and IRA withdrawals? Joe Biden was also involved in the debate as a young Delaware Senator and helped pass the package. Biden discussed the experience in a 2007 NBC appearance in which he recounted what Kansas Senator Robert Dole told lawmakers after they reached an agreement on the politically explosive issue of gradually raising the retirement age. Dole urged the negotiators that when opponents "attack us on this point, we'll all stay together," likening it to stepping into a wobbly boat. "That's the kind of leadership that is needed," Biden added at the time. Then-Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware holds a news conference in Washington in 1983. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) (AP) The question is whether that kind of leadership is present now from either Biden or Trump. Biden spent decades entertaining ideas that critics call benefit cuts from raising the retirement age to means testing but he has notably taken them off the table in 2024. Trump, meanwhile, briefly floated before backing away from the idea of entitlement program "cutting." In any case, both 2024 candidates are now in lockstep that any benefit cuts are off the table. It's a fact that leads figures like Jason Fichtner to be skeptical of any immediate-term prospects for wide-ranging negotiations needed to tackle the problem. He said he was once cautiously optimistic that Biden might tackle the problem, but now the president may be "just another politician who kicks the can down the road. And President Trump is doing the exact same thing." The bottom line, he said, is that it's possible "we're five years away at least from having a conversation." Cautionary tales from two efforts that came up short Washington has also tried to reform the program twice in more recent history but came up short both times. George W. Bush made the "partial privatization" of the program a top priority in 2005. It ran into a wall of opposition, with Democrats opposed from the beginning and Republicans eventually backing away. Many pushed back at the concept of retirement benefits being subject to the whims of the stock market and also noted the idea might not help the looming insolvency. That unsuccessful effort came up at a recent Social Security symposium in Washington. Andrew Biggs, who saw the effort up close as he worked on Bush's National Economic Council, reflected that "one of the lessons from the Bush reforms, which you can now see, is that you don't get these chances very often." President George W. Bush arrives at a roundtable discussion of Social Security Texas in 2005. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) (JIM WATSON via Getty Images) Washington tried again in 2011 during the Obama-era negotiations for a "grand bargain" to reset the nation's fiscal path. Biden, then vice president, was center stage as the administration's point person in talks with then-House Speaker John Boehner. That effort also fell short largely because of GOP opposition to tax increases but not before Biden and the Democratic side of the table put possible benefit cuts in the form of smaller cost-of-living adjustments on the table. And as recently as a 2018 event, Biden appeared open to a mix of solutions to shore up the program: increased taxes as well as benefit cuts. In brief comments that year at the Brookings Institution that largely focused on tax increases, Biden seemed to invoke the ideas of means testing decreasing benefits for the wealthy to save money by telling the audience: "I don't know a whole lot of people in the top one-tenth of 1 percent or the top 1 percent who are relying on Social Security when they retire." But now, just a few years later, Biden says benefits cuts are a nonstarter. And he's proven eager to pressure Republicans on the issue, charging nearly every week that Republicans will slash the program as the 2024 campaign has heated up. President Joe Biden discusses Social Security and Medicare in Tampa, Florida in 2023. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (Anadolu via Getty Images) At the end of the day, the worry among many is that political divides are too deep at the moment, even as some figures on Capitol Hill push for action sooner. As for what savers should do in the meantime, Biggs had some advice during a recent Yahoo Finance Live appearance. "If I were somebody saving for retirement, and I am, I would save a little bit more today," he said, "because you don't know exactly how the government is going to resolve that funding gap 10 years from now." Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for politics news related to business and money Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Landfills are major greenhouse gas emitters. They're the third-largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 14.4% of the total. Landfills produce carbon dioxide and methane gas. Methane is the more dangerous contributor to global warming. It's 28 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. While methane gas is harmful to the environment when emitted, it's much less damaging when burned as a fuel to generate electricity or power commercial vehicles. That's leading several energy companies to invest heavily in facilities to capture landfill gas and convert it to valuable renewable natural gas (RNG). Building RNG platforms Energy giants BP (NYSE: BP), Enbridge (NYSE: ENB), and Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) have invested heavily in recent years to buy and build RNG platforms. British energy giant BP made the biggest splash, acquiring Archea Energy for $4.1 billion in 2022. At the time, Archea operated 50 RNG and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the U.S. BP aimed to grow Archea's output fivefold to 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d) by 2030. The deal enhanced BP's already large biogas business, which was producing around 11,000 BOE/d at the time of the deal. That transaction is part of BP's bold plans to grow its energy transition businesses into meaningful contributors by the end of the decade. Natural gas pipeline giant Kinder Morgan made a few RNG acquisitions in 2022. It paid $310 million for Kinetrex Energy, which had a 50% interest in a landfill RNG facility and three more under development. Kinder Morgan also bought North American Natural Resources for $135 million. That company owned seven landfill gas-to-power facilities, some of which it planned to convert to RNG production facilities. The company also bought three landfill assets from Mas CanAm for $335 million, which included an RNG facility. Kinder Morgan sees tremendous growth potential for its RNG platform, fueled by the view that the U.S. will grow its RNG production from 0.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) last year to 3.7 Bcfd by 2050. That provides the company with a very long growth runway. Canadian energy infrastructure giant Enbridge has also entered the growing RNG market. Last year, it bought seven U.S. landfill gas-to-RNG facilities from RNG developer Morrow Renewables for $1.2 billion. The deal established a U.S. RNG business for Enbridge. The company expects the facilities to contribute to its earnings this year. Enbridge also invested in Divert, a company aiming to turn wasted food into RNG. Story continues A potentially needle-moving investment opportunity awaits Energy companies looking to get into the RNG business (or expand their existing platforms) have an opportunity to purchase a sizable platform. Leading U.S. waste manager WM (NYSE: WM) recently put its RNG business up for sale. It's reportedly seeking up to $3 billion for the business, comparable to the valuation multiple Enbridge paid for the Morrow facilities. WM would sell the rights to develop RNG operations at 115 of the landfills it owns. The company had planned to invest $1.2 billion through 2025 to grow its RNG business. However, it now wants to sell the platform so that it can invest that cash into other areas. The business currently generates about $150 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). This platform could grow its earnings to more than $500 million by 2026 as more of the RNG projects under development come online. WM's RNG platform would be an ideal fit for an energy company looking to grow its RNG business. Of those already mentioned, Kinder Morgan seems like the best fit. It has the financial flexibility to acquire the platform and fund the capital needed to build out the associated projects. Acquiring WM's RNG business would enhance the long-term visibility into Kinder Morgan's earnings growth. Other potential bidders could include big oil giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX). The oil giant aims to grow its RNG production to more than 40,000 MMBtu per day by 2030. It formed a joint venture with Brightmark to help it reach that goal. Acquiring WM's RNG platform would accelerate Chevron's ability to reach that goal, much like its $3.2 billion acquisition of Renewable Energy Group boosted its biofuels business in 2022. Going green (and making a lot of it in the process) Energy companies are investing heavily in acquiring and building out RNG platforms. These landfill gas-to-RNG facilities help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while generating cash flow for their owners. There's a lot of growth ahead for the sector as energy companies build more RNG facilities at landfills across the country. RNG makes these energy stocks look like potentially more compelling investment opportunities compared to their fossil fuel-focused rivals since it will grow their earnings from lower-carbon energy sources, making them more sustainable in the long term. Should you invest $1,000 in Enbridge right now? Before you buy stock in Enbridge, 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 Enbridge 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 $578,143!* 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 13, 2024 Matt DiLallo has positions in Chevron, Enbridge, Kinder Morgan, and Waste Management. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BP, Chevron, Enbridge, and Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool recommends Waste Management. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Turning Trash Into Treasure: These Energy Stocks Are Betting Big on Converting Garbage Into Gas (and Cash) was originally published by The Motley Fool If you're seeking passive income, you need to think about investing in a slightly different way. Dividends become more important, for sure, but so does a company's ability to keep paying that dividend through thick and thin. On that score, energy giants ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) have proven they are both buy-and-hold stocks for dividend investors. Exxon and Chevron: The basics Exxon's dividend yield is around 3.2% today. Chevron's is roughly 3.9%. Looking purely at yield, Chevron is probably the more attractive of the two integrated energy giants right now. Exxon has increased its dividend annually for 42 consecutive years, while Chevron has increased its dividend annually for 37 years running. Both are very respectable streaks and prove that each of these companies clearly cares about returning value to investors via dividends. These streaks are doubly impressive when you consider that Exxon and Chevron both operate in the energy sector, which is known for being highly volatile. Indeed, oil and natural gas prices are prone to swift and dramatic price swings based on supply and demand, geopolitical events, economic events, and even natural disasters. The pair attempt to ride out the ups and downs of the industry by operating diversified businesses. That includes having operations that span from the upstream (production) through the midstream (pipelines) to the downstream (chemicals and refining). They also have geographic diversification via global asset portfolios. Before buying either of these companies, you have to understand that revenue and earnings will be volatile because of the impact of energy prices on the top and bottom lines. But, historically speaking, Exxon and Chevron have proven they know how to deal with the swings and that they think long-term, focusing on the entire cycle and not just the current direction of the energy market. The secret sauce is on the balance sheet One of the most important aspects of the dividend success Exxon and Chevron have achieved is found on their balance sheets. At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Exxon had a debt-to-equity ratio of roughly 0.2. That's low for any company, let alone an energy company. Chevron's debt-to-equity ratio was even lower at 0.14. The next-closest peer had a debt-to-equity ratio of around 0.4 or so. XOM Debt to Equity Ratio Chart Being financially strong is a great thing and it is something that investors should look for in every company they consider buying. But it is doubly important in an industry that is known for its volatility. The deep energy price decline that occurred during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic is perfect proof of this. Story continues XOM Debt to Equity Ratio Chart The blue line in the chart above is the price of Brent crude, a key global oil benchmark. Notice that as the price of oil dropped in 2020, which crushed revenue and earnings for energy companies, Exxon and Chevron both increased their leverage. The cash they raised via debt sales was used to fund their businesses during the weak patch and to keep paying dividends to investors. As oil prices recovered, meanwhile, both companies reduced leverage, effectively preparing for the next industry downturn. The key here is that given their low leverage, Exxon and Chevron both have ample room on their balance sheets to endure the low points of the cycle. The best time to buy? As noted above, Chevron is probably the more attractive dividend stock right now given its higher yield. That said, if you really want to buy at the "best" time, you should probably wait until the next major oil downturn, when most investors will be indiscriminately selling energy stocks. During those turbulent periods, Exxon and Chevron can yield close to 10%. And, if history is any guide, their long-term strategy has proven they can work through downturns while continuing to pay dividend investors well. But even if you buy today, you can rest easy knowing that these two energy giants know how to handle the industry's big swings. Should you invest $1,000 in Chevron right now? Before you buy stock in Chevron, 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 Chevron 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 $578,143!* 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 13, 2024 Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Want Decades of Passive Income? 2 Stocks to Buy Now and Hold Forever was originally published by The Motley Fool While E-commerce has lost some of its luster to newer hype cycles like generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is still one of the most transformational technology megatrends in our lifetime. And Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) offers investors exposure to the small business side of the equation through its storefront creation platform. Let's dig deeper into what the next five years could have in store for the company. A business in recovery mode Like many online-focused companies, Shopify's business and stock price boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latter hitting an all-time high of $169 in late 2021 (stock split adjusted). At the time, more small businesses were signing up for Shopify's platform to meet surging stay-at-home demand for goods and services. But eventually, a combination of slowing growth, rising interest rates, and inflation made the market sour. Shopify's growth stalled, and its stock price collapsed throughout 2022. And while the company has begun digging itself out of the hole, it is still down 66% from its all-time high. Weaker-than-expected first-quarter results have done little to improve the situation. Shopify's revenue grew by a healthy 23% year over year to $1.9 billion as more small businesses and merchants signed up for its online storefront solutions. But net income fell from $75 million to a loss of $281 million because of a non-cash charge related to the sale of its logistics arm to Flexport in mid-2023. However, the biggest headwind from earnings was probably Shopify's disappointing future guidance. A lackluster near-term outlook In the second quarter, management expects Shopify's year-over-year revenue growth rate to decelerate to the high teens while gross margins fall 50 basis points. This modest forecast could be a sign that Shopify's rebound is running out of steam in the near term. But it isn't the end of the world for investors who plan to hold the stock long term. Management seems to be taking the appropriate steps to set the company up for success over the next five years. The platform continues to attract large clients, such as Coach Outlet, a discount store owned by Fashion holding company Tapestry. And Shopify's push into enterprise-level solutions for big businesses could enhance its growth and provide much-needed diversification away from potentially less stable small businesses. The company is also targeting international expansion. Image source: Getty Images. According to Shopify's president, Harley Finkelstein, international business is a "massive area of growth." And the company has developed a platform called Shopify Markets Pro designed to help clients sell internationally as easily as in their domestic markets. This strategy involves Shopify's Israel-based partner, Global E Online, which offers tools for website translation, customs compliance, and international returns. Story continues Should investors buy the dip? So far, Shopify shares have slid a whopping 25% since the first-quarter earnings announcement on May 8th, with declines still ongoing at the time of writing. This crash may have something to do with the company's abnormally high valuation. With a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 60, Shopify stock is priced for perfection, so even minor disappointments could lead to seemingly outsized declines in the equity value. For context, the S&P 500 trades for an average P/E of 27, while e-commerce alternative Amazon trades at a relatively reasonable 41 times its forward earnings. Shopify stock is expensive. And while its respectable growth rate and compelling international expansion could help it beat the market over the next five years, investors may want to wait for an even lower price point before buying the stock. Should you invest $1,000 in Shopify right now? Before you buy stock in Shopify, 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 Shopify 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 $578,143!* 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 13, 2024 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Will Ebiefung has positions in Global-E Online. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Global-E Online, and Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Where Will Shopify Stock Be in 5 Years? was originally published by The Motley Fool I like to buy companies with long histories of dividend increases while they are offering historically high dividend yields. On the surface, that would suggest that I might want to buy Altria (NYSE: MO) and its huge 8.7% yield. No, thanks: I'd rather own Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) and its much lower 3.1% yield. Here's why. Altria's core business is shrinking fast Altria's biggest business is selling cigarettes, with its iconic Marlboro brand having a massive 42% market share in the U.S. market. The problem is that the company's volume has been in a steady decline for years, as smoking has increasingly fallen out of favor. To put a number on that, first quarter 2024 volume declined 10% year over year. That's not an anomaly, with the company consistently raising prices to offset the volume declines it has faced. Image source: Getty Images. Price hikes have protected the dividend and even allowed Altria to increase the quarterly payment steadily. At some point, however, price increases will likely exacerbate the declines in the steadily shrinking cigarette business. Worse, the company has made several strategic missteps as it has tried adjusting to the changing cigarette space. That includes spinning off its foreign operations as Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM), a move that effectively created a new competitor in smoking alternatives like vapes. And Altria's early investments in vapes and marijuana both led to massive write-downs, effectively costing shareholders a lot of money. Even though Altria's yield is historically high, I don't like the business enough to buy. I'd rather own a lower yielding stock like Hormel Foods, which has a much more attractive business. Hormel has problems, too Hormel's yield is just 3.1%, but that happens to be near the highest levels in the company's history. Notably, it has increased its dividend annually for over five decades, making it a Dividend King. The key here, however, is that I believe the problems facing Hormel are temporary. For example, the food maker has been having less success than peers in passing on rising costs. Time should fix the pricing headings even though margins are being crimped in the near term. Avian flu has caused disruptions in its turkey operations. There's only so much that Hormel can do here, but this isn't a new issue and it impacts the entire industry. Avian flu is likely to be less of an issue over time. China's post-COVID reopening hasn't gone as quickly as hoped. Once again, given enough time, Chinese consumers will probably start buying again. Lastly, the company's acquisition of Planters came just as the nut segment of the snack category started slowing down. Platners is outperforming the industry, so, one more time, it seems like time will heal this wound when nuts come back into favor. Taken together all of these problems seem daunting. Taken one by one, however, each one is surmountable in time. This is why investors will probably want to look at the stock while it is so deeply out of favor. Notably, fiscal first quarter 2024 earnings showed broad-based improvement, with volume growth in every division. One quarter isn't a trend, and the company still has headwinds to address, but it seems likely that Hormel will start to regain its footing. Investing is about balancing risk and reward At the end of the day, when I look at Altria I see a business that is in a secular decline. And, worse, the efforts management has undertaken to solve the problem have only made things worse. A high yield isn't enough to offset the risk I see at Altria. Hormel, on the other hand, has a diversified portfolio of food products that are most likely facing temporary headwinds. Although the yield is far lower, it is still historically high for Hormel. I'm happy to own the stock and collect that dividend as management works through its turnaround effort. Should you invest $1,000 in Altria Group right now? Before you buy stock in Altria Group, 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 Altria Group 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 $578,143!* 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 13, 2024 Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Hormel Foods. The Motley Fool recommends Philip Morris International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. I Wouldn't Touch This Stock With a 10-Foot Pole: Here's What I'd Buy Instead was originally published by The Motley Fool Twenty Years Ago This Week: In a twist of fate that surprised political pundits, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Miles defeated state Attorney General Ken Salazar at the Colorado Democratic Assembly to gain the coveted top-line ballot position in the primary election. Even the candidates themselves seamed stunned as the results were announced. As a result of 101 bills passed by the Colorado legislature, over $2.8 billion in state TABOR refunds will not go to Colorado taxpayers between 2024 and 2026, according to a recent report from the Common Sense Institute. Supplies for drug users are seen at an overdose prevention center, at OnPoint NYC in New York, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Also known as a safe injection site, the privately run center is equipped and staffed to reverse overdoses, a controversial response to confront opioid overdose deaths nationwide. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a Navajo man who claims that the charges he faced for in the tribal and federal justice systems for a single crime in Colorado violated double jeopardy. Days ahead of Sunday's Colorado College commencement, pro-Palestinian protests on campus have come to a halt as students dismantled an encampment Wednesday afternoon. The fenced-in encampment on the CC Tava Quad was more of a memory by Thursday afternoon, with only two empty tents remaining out of dozen or so that had been stood for the past two weeks on the north side of the campus green. The peaceful end to the protest is in stark contrast with the ongoing situation in Denver, where tensions between protesters, campus officials and law enforcement have been high for weeks on the Auraria campus, home to the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Denver. According to a social media announcement from the CC Liberation Zone on Instagram Thursday, an agreement was reached following a meeting between protesters and CC administration on Wednesday. "It is official: After 13 days in winds, rain, sun and community, we have de-encamped after a generative second negotiation meeting with President L. Song Richardson and Interim President Elect Manya Whitaker. STAY TUNED for our official updates on the outcomes of our meeting," the announcement reads. On Thursday, students and faculty received an open email from CC leadership regarding protests in support of Palestinians and the college's actions and stance on the continuing conflict in Gaza. "At CC, we believe a liberal arts education must be grounded in humanity, at its core and as its outcome," the letter from Richardson and Whitaker reads. The letter addresses several of the demands the encampment protesters and the Colorado College group Faculty for Palestine had made; among them, that the college leadership "publicly condemns the genocide in Gaza as well as Israeli settler-colonial practices." "In the last eight months, our community has experienced intense grief and anguish as we bear witness to devastating losses of Palestinian, Israeli and other lives in Gaza, Palestine and Israel. The suffering is unbearable, and the death toll continues to rise. We have been asked by students, staff, faculty, alumni and parents to share our view on where we, the president and interim president-elect, stand on genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and human rights violations. We condemn all these acts," the letter states. The letter also announces a partnership with the Scholars at Risk and the University in Exile programs "to identify a displaced scholar who (the college) could invite as a visiting faculty member." Additionally, the college is planning to leverage its HAVEN program for students affected by the war who wish to transfer to CC to finish their education. The letter also included a promise to bring students' demands for divestment from companies linked to Israel or Israel-Hamas military suppliers to the college's Board of Trustees' Investment Committee, "the same process it followed to respond to requests to divest from fossil fuels." The Instagram account Faculty for Palestine described the college leaders' letter as containing "some important wins!" "Although this is not what we hoped for, this is a welcome first step," the social media post reads. "(We want CC leadership to) take up the responsibility and and moral duty to LEAD rather than hesitantly respond to efforts toward justice in Palestine," the group's response post reads. One of the protesters' demands was an expunging of the disciplinary records of all student activists involved in pro-Palestinian activism. While the leaders' letter seemed to stop short of that, it offered what the Faculty for Palestine characterized as "a good-faith path" to expunging charges, and an offer to include faculty in revising the college's conduct policies in the future. Dialogue with administration On May 1, a class walkout and teach-in at CC attracted hundreds of students, faculty, college alumni and members of the community to the Guava Quad in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, calling for the college to divest funds from all weapons manufacturers and businesses profiting from the Israeli-Hamas war. The demonstration was peaceful. However, it did not elicit a response from college officials. A day later, roughly a dozen tents popped up on the campus green as an established liberation zone to continue demonstrators' call for action. Featured Local Savings On May 2, an Instagram account under the name Colorado College Liberation Zone was created, posting a list of demands and priorities, calling for transparency of college funds, a divestment from all arms companies, companies profiting from the Israeli apartheid and occupation ... and for CC officials to condemn the genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli and United States government, according to the social media post. Additionally an encampment packing sheet was posted, telling students what to bring if they wanted to participate. Scheduled programming for those participating was published as well featuring a plethora of activities, including morning yoga, potlucks, letter writing, poetry readings, open forums, and teach-ins regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. The students' decision to take down the encampment Wednesday afternoon followed at least two meetings between student and faculty protesters and Whitaker. According to social media posts by the group Colorado College Faculty for Palestine, 30 faculty members and 150 members of the student body attended an open forum regarding the protesters' demands with Whitaker and Richardson on May 10. "Over the past three weeks, we have urged you repeatedly to do the necessary and courageous work to urgently and publicly align the administrations stance on the genocide of Palestinians with the colleges stated commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution. Might we all remember that it is the colleges antiracist initiatives that are to be credited at least in part, for the positions that many of us, including you as current and incoming presidents, hold at this institution," the faculty letter to administration reads. "As individuals in the highest administrative positions at CC, and as scholars whose work centers questions of justice, equity, and inclusion, your silence and suppression on a matter of such grave moral and historical significance, not only directly contradicts the colleges antiracist commitment and its pillars of courageous conversations, bold actions, and student transformation, but has left a moral vacuum at this institution." In response to both the faculty and student letters sent to the administration, Song said, "I can not respond to your letter (or demands) because I have not had a chance to read it," according to post online. Demonstrators responded to this claim, saying the most recent letter sent to administration was the fifth of its kind since March. While the post by the faculty organizers following the May 10 forum states Whitaker agreed in a smaller previous forum to "take minor steps" toward some of the stated demands by protesters, she claimed frustration at the May 10 forum, saying, "I met with students and 3 faculty members and said what I have to say. Now it just feels like people want conflict, not resolution." In response, the group replied saying, "Whitaker was too frustrated to repeat words that she uttered a day ago to students for the first time, to a room full of faculty who have their own separate concerns and demands. Faculty have sent five unanswered letters and participated in several dead end meetings over the month, but she maligned our requests for further dialogue as seeking conflict." However, social media posts from the protesting groups indicate talks resumed on May 15, leading to the May 16 letter, and the subsequent encampment closure. CC Dean Pedro de Araujo told The Gazette in an email Friday morning that the college is unaware of any planned demonstrations scheduled during the CC commencement ceremony Sunday, but is prepared. "We communicate our conduct policy to our students in the days leading up to commencement, which includes our freedom of expression policy and code of conduct violations. Whether we are made aware of protest plans or not, we prepare for any scenario at any time," Araujo said. Additionally, Aruajo said, "there were no plans to cancel or change the Class of 2024 commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19, or any of the weekend events leading up to it regardless of the protest (encampment)." Campus chaos continues The student protests over the past months come a year after a student demonstration at CC's commencement over commencement speaker and CC alumna Liz Cheney. As the former Wyoming congresswoman was introduced at the ceremony, roughly half of the graduating class turned their chairs and sat with their backs to Cheney for the entirety of her speech. CC Dean Pedro de Araujo told The Gazette in an email Friday that the college is unaware of any planned demonstrations scheduled during this Sunday's commencement, but that it is prepared. "We communicate our conduct policy to our students in the days leading up to commencement, which includes our freedom of expression policy and code of conduct violations. Whether we are made aware of protest plans or not, we prepare for any scenario at any time," Araujo said. While the local demonstration at Colorado College has come to an end, student demonstrations and encampments continue throughout multiple academic institutions and universities around the country. At the University of California, Irvine, police ejected student protesters on-campus Thursday from a university lecture hall after demonstrators occupied the space for hours, resulting in, "minimal arrests," reports state. Additionally, approximately 50 pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted Colorado University Denver's commencement ceremony on May 11, for roughly five minutes, according to a report by The Gazette. Meanwhile, the protests at the Auraria Campus home to the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Denver continue to escalate. Reportedly costing the campus nearly $300,000 in damages thus far, dozens of student protestors set up tents inside the Tivoli Student Union building Tuesday, despite law enforcement threats of trespassing citations, a report by The Gazette states. Campus officials at Auraria have described escalating health and safety conditions arising out of the encampment, noting that feces and drug paraphernalia now litter the area. Miss Colorado USA has given up her crown amid calls for reform within the national pageant organization. Arianna Lemus, who was crowned last year after finishing as first runner-up in the 2022 competition, said she was stepping down to show her support for Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, respectively after they resigned earlier this month amid rumors of mistreatment. Voigt gave up her crown last Monday, according to multiple reports. Srivastava stepped down two days later. I stand in solidarity with Noelia and UmaSofia as I step down from my role as Miss Colorado USA, Lemus said in a statement last week. (Their) voices have been stifled by the constraints of a contract that undermines their rights and dignity. These remarkable women serve as a poignant reminder of the urgent need for reform within the Miss USA organization. Lemus told The Gazette that she resigned, in part, to be a voice for Voigt and Srivastava, who are under nondisclosure agreements. It was a difficult decision to resign, said Lemus, who hails from Gunnison. I want to see transparency from the Miss USA organization and I am calling for current management to release the ladies from their NDA. If theres nothing to hide, then that shouldnt be a problem. Denise Wallace, executive co-director of Miss Colorado USA, said she was disappointed that Lemus resigned, but respected her decision. Featured Local Savings We know Ariannas experience with Future Productions, the state pageant licensee, was positive and vastly different than the controversy surrounding the management of the national titleholders, Wallace said in a statement. However, we respect that this is what she felt was the right decision for her and we wish her the best. Lemus agreed that her experience with Colorados pageant organization has been positive. I am grateful to my state directors Future Productions, sponsors, family, friends and everyone who supported me in the pageant journey, she said. I hope to continue to support women and be an inspiration to many to always stand up for whats right in your heart. Savannah Gankiewicz, the Miss USA runner-up, was crowned upon Voigts resignation. Stephanie Skinner, the Miss Teen USA runner-up, declined to accept the title after Srivastava stepped down. At press time, no plans had been announced to replace Lemus as Miss Colorado USA 2023. We look forward to crowning Miss Colorado USA 2024 in Greeley next month, Wallace said. The Colorado Springs Fire Department conducted a high-angle rescue for a hiker injured on Mount Muscoco in Cheyenne Canon on Friday. The CSFD posted on social media that the hiker was injured at the top of the mountain. As of 5:20 p.m. the hiker had been brought down and sent to an area hospital. The CSFD said the hiker had minor injuries. On April 27, hundreds of enthusiastic fans lined up during the China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC) in Beijing, eager to get the newly released "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon." A three-part collection of short stories, the anthology compiles works from 56 Chinese sci-fi writers that portrays their hometowns through the lens of sci-fi imagination. A display of the three-volume collection "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon: 56 Chinese Science Fiction Writers' Fantasies of Their Hometowns." [Image courtesy of Popular Science Press] "It is a dream come true to present Chinese-style sci-fi narrative and expression to the world," explained Shi Yi, the chief editor of the collection. "Science fiction is actually a concept from the West and has profoundly influenced Chinese sci-fi creation since the local literature was born on Chinese soil 120 years ago. In 2010, at China's top sci-fi award, the Chinese Nebula Awards, the organizers raised the vision of 'New Sci-Fi Rises from the East' for Chinese sci-fi literature, which also inspired the idea to create this book." After an in-depth conversation in June of last year with long-time colleague and esteemed sci-fi writer Cheng Jingbo, Shi and Cheng agreed to begin the creation for this sci-fi compilation. Previously, Cheng was the chief editor of "She," an acclaimed collection that was released in 2021 and featured works by 33 female sci-fi writers. With its publication, She rocked the industry by shattering stereotypical thinking toward womens contribution to the sci-fi literature market. "Then I realized that when Chinese sci-fi writers who have a significant influence on the progress of our country's science fiction sector come together and appear collectively in one book to showcase the style and charm of themselves, it constitutes a very attractive thing for writers, editors, readers, and researchers alike," Cheng told China.org.cn, reflecting on her time working on both She and "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon." The creation of "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon" was also masterminded by Gan Weikang, president of Eternal Vision Science Fiction Media Co., Hainan (EV/SFM), an important player in Chinese sci-fi and an organizer of the Chinese Nebula Awards. With Gan on the project, the anthology was able to find a publisher: the Popular Science Press. Once all the groundwork was set, the team started to solicit writers for stories. With a title that makes reference to a verse from a famed poem by Li Bai, China's most famous Tang Dynasty poet, "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon" evokes "virtual nostalgia," as Song Mingwei, a professor of Chinese literature at Wellesley College, described it, by drawing inspiration from various traditional Chinese works about homesickness. Shi concurs, stating that he feels that Homeland sci-fi could become a new subgenre within the sci-fi genre. According to Shi, they selected and collected works from leading writers within Chinas sci-fi community, many of which having already won numerous prestigious awards, such as the Hugo Awards, the Chinese Nebula Awards and the Mao Dun Literature Award. Seven writers created new stories specifically for the collection, while others contributed their favorite pieces that they had previously written. For example, "The Three-Body Problem" writer Liu Cixin contributed "Love of Taiyuan," a story written in 2009 about Taiyuan, a city in his home province of Shanxi, with which he has a personal and emotional connection. Another prominent author, Wang Jinkang's "Escape from the Mother Universe," originally published in 2014, is also included in the compilation and is partially inspired by his deep affection for his home province of Henan. Han Song's story, "Journey to the Three Gorges," first published in 1998, tells a story about his hometown, Chongqing, from his childhood perspective. Cheng Jingbo also contributed one of her own sci-fi works that is set in her hometown of Chengdu, Sichuan province. She pointed out that the collection further pairs each writer's sci-fi work with a non-fiction essay about their hometown memories. With each of the 56 writers contributing two pieces, the collection presents 112 works, offering comparative narratives that are set in both imagination and reality. Sci-fi writers pose for a group photo with fans and readers during the launch event of "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon" held during the China Science Fiction Convention in Beijing, April 27, 2024. [Photo courtesy of the CSFC Organizing Committee] Shi Yi believes that "The Mountain, the Pine and the Moon" not only is a platform for writers' to talk about their hometowns but is also a means to reimagine these places, connecting their pasts, presents and futures. "It is a new definition and a new subgenre added to Chinese sci-fi, a bold attempt to achieve the vision of 'New Sci-Fi Rises from the East.' I think this is a very unique creation and compilation by the Chinese, and a new contribution from the Chinese sci-fi community to the world." He added that this book is also a gift to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Chinese Nebula Awards, which is being held from May 17-18 in Chengdu, Sichuan province. In the future, there is potential to expand the franchise to develop new projects. For example, he mentioned a tentative idea titled "New Dreams About Hometowns." A budget presentation by the Woodland Park School District made to the Woodland Park City Council on Thursday turned contentious at best and hostile at worst. The altercation included assertions of non-transparency, fraud and "shenanigans." The school board had agreed to do a budget report to the council as part of the new intergovernmental agreement between the parties over a 1.09% sales tax that the city collects and is earmarked for the school district. The sales tax revenue represents 11% of the district's $3.23 million budget. Amid council's allegations of foot dragging on the part of the board to renew the IGA, an ordinance was proposed on Feb. 15 that would eliminate the tax. A work session between council and the board was quickly agreed upon and held on Feb. 29. The new IGA was signed on March 26. Rather than removing the proposed ordinance, council opted to continue it until July. At Thursday's meeting Superintendent Ken Witt presented a pair of rudimentary pie charts outlining, in very general terms, the percentage of the district's budget proposed to be allocated to six broad categories. The district budget was presented as preliminary. The budget will be formally approved by the school board in June. Councilmembers Carrol Harvey and George Jones asked for, and received, clarification concerning teachers' salaries and a few expenses. Councilmember Teri Baldwin wasn't as cordial. "I am sorely disappointed in this pie chart," she said. "I would really like to see some line items; some accountability for how you're spending taxpayer money. "I came from two of the largest school districts in Colorado, so I'm very familiar with how school boards are supposed to work and how superintendents are supposed to work. And this isn't it." Councilmember Jeffrey Geer, who has a child in the district, upped the ante, calling the presentation "completely inadequate and ridiculous." "We've been getting a tremendous amount of feedback from the community that you no longer need this tax and that we, as council, should discontinue it as quickly as we can," Geer said to Witt. "I've watched my kid's quality of education decline since you've taken over as superintendent. Why should the community of Woodland Park continue to fund this amount of discomfort and distaste in your specific behavior and the behavior of the existing board?" Woodland Park School Board President Mick Bates responded. Featured Local Savings "I'm going to be perfectly frank with you as well," Bates said to Geer. "I believe that there are a number of people in the community that are attempting to use these monies to punish this board. "I want to be very clear that the only people who would get punished by this being taken away are our children." Geer brushed off Bates' explanation and launched into an attack on the American Birthright Standard for social studies, which is used in Woodland Park. Geer characterized one assignment his child, an eighth grader, brought home as having to "explain why not all slavery was bad." The allegation drew gasps from the audience. "I know saying (repealing the tax) is going to hurt the kids plays really well publicly because none of us up here want to harm kids," Geer said. "But that's just a sound bite." Baldwin suggested a forensic audit, to which Witt responded that the district is audited every year by the Colorado Department of Education. "I know what the CDE requires and it's skeletal compared to a forensic audit," she said. "They're not looking for fraud." Toward the end of the meeting, Geer called for a consensus to bring the school sales tax repeal ordinance to the agenda for the next city council meeting rather than waiting for July. That proposal found no traction as other councilmembers said the public needed more time to weigh in. Harvey pointed out that more information would be needed on the consequences of repealing the tax. Mayor Kellie Case said that the tax was put in place by a vote of the people and that should be considered. In the end, council decided a work session would be needed to clarify a number of objectives, including exactly what level and types of reporting would satisfy all councilmembers and the citizens. The date of that session is yet to be determined. "I feel it's incumbent upon somebody to get to the bottom of the shenanigans," said Baldwin without defining the shenanigans. Harvey advocated for a work session, imploring council to look into how the tax came about, what the citizens' goals were when they voted it in and whether those goals were still being served. You are here: Arts People visit the Chinese Archaeological Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Museums in China logged 1.29 billion visits in 2023, surpassing the figures of previous years, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. The figures were unveiled on Saturday at an event marking International Museum Day in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The administration said that throughout 2023, museums in China hosted more than 40,000 exhibitions and over 380,000 educational events. In 2023, 268 museums were newly registered in China, bringing the total number of museums in the country to 6,833. The country is also expanding its free-entry policy, with over 90 percent of all museums now offering free admission. Mark Hillman served as Senate majority leader and state treasurer. To read more or comment, go to www.MarkHillman.com. Jim Darcy Elementary School hosted Ag Day on Friday, a 26-year tradition at the school, educating students on what agriculture offers the community. The day was filled with animals, seeds, flour and bees. Students walked inside the school and outside viewing different presentations from participants around Helena. The event had 19 participants who showcased multiple forms of agriculture that some of the students did not know were a part of agricultural careers. Deacon, a second grade student, said he enjoys Ag Day because of the different activities. "We got to lasso a cow and we learned about bees," Deacon said. He added that he did not know that agriculture was not just farming and growing plants, which surprised him. The school's principal, Jill Nyman, said the day is great to bring people together and brings the community into the school, giving kids exposure. "The fact that they get to get up, move around, they get to make muffins, touch emus, spin wool, all of those things are incredibly unique experiences," Nyman said. "We are so thankful for the teachers that helped and staff along with community members that donated their time." Photos: Ag Day educates Jim Darcy students in the Helena valley Museums in China logged 1.29 billion visits in 2023, surpassing the figures of previous years, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. Speaking at the opening ceremony on Friday night, Fiji's Minister for iTaukei Affairs, Culture, Heritage and Arts Ifereimi Vasu said the exhibition is a significant cultural exchange event between his country and China. According to the minister, this is the first display of contemporary Chinese oil paintings in the Pacific island country. Through the collaboration, Vasu said, "We will not only share our artistic heritage, but also strengthen the bonds of friendship and understanding between Fiji and China." Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian said he hopes the joint efforts to promote China-Fiji relations can contribute to the development and prosperity of developing countries, as well as to regional and global peace and stability. On display are 30 oil paintings by 30 renowned Chinese artists. "The paintings are absolutely fantastic. This exhibition represents a high level of creativity and skills," Fijian artist Irami Buli said. Painting is the expression of ideas and emotions of artists, Buli said. "That's how they can share the knowledge between peoples, and countries." The exhibition is jointly-organized by the China Cultural Center in Fiji, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Fiji Arts Council. It will last a month. Catawba Valley Community Colleges Tarlton Complex was filled with purple robes on Friday evening as Challenger Early College High Schools class of 2024 received their high school diplomas and some associates degrees. Student speaker Juthasinee Mueangsrimat, known as Jan, said, If I had told my 11-year-old self, who had moved from Thailand to the U.S. not knowing any English at all, that I would be giving a speech all in English, she would have laughed in my face and said, 'Thats impossible.' Mueangsrimat recalled her first day at Challenger. She said she asked herself, Am I really going to survive this school? Before applying to Challenger, she was told it was a difficult school. Mueangsrimat said she struggled at times, but has fond memories of Challenger. I remember us avoiding Ms. Richards eyes in class, when in reality, she wasnt even looking at us, Mueangsrimat said. I remember crying over math GST (class), and it got so bad to me to the point where I ended up crying in Ms. Borowskis room under her table. Im sorry about that, Ms. Borowski. Mueangsrimat said Challenger is where she learned a sense of community thanks to her classmates. On a pleasant note, as many of you know, I have an obsession with a game called Genshin Impact, Mueangsrimat said. My friends like to make fun of me for it, but honestly its a pretty good game with quotes and life lessons. One of the quotes that I would like to share with you tonight is said by one of the characters: I felt that, even if things get tough, I must never give up. Because after all, light cannot exist without darkness. I will not know true happiness without knowing sadness. The class of 2024 is comprised of 75 students. Seven will go on to two-year colleges and 60 will go to four-year colleges. Six are going into the workforce and one opted for an alternate post-high school training. One student plans to enlist in the U.S. Navy. Charisma Amaro said she want to enlist and pursue a degree in physical therapy. Amaro said during the COVID-19 pandemic, her father caught the virus and almost died. He survived, but was so weak he could not even grasp a water bottle. Physical therapy restored his mobility and strength, Amaro said. She said she wants to be able to do the same for others. Another student, Savannah Murphy, is going to N.C. State University to pursue a bachelors degree in animal science. Murphy said she wants to become a veterinarian. She said she loves all animals, including snakes, though she is a bit frightened of spiders. Challenger Early College High School graduation 2024 Challenger graduation 2024 (1).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (2).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (3).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (4).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (5).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (6).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (7).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (8).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (9).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (10).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (11).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (12).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (13).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (14).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (15).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (16).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (17).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (18).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (19).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (20).jpg Challenger graduation 2024 (21).jpg Tourists visit the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province, May 2, 2024. (Photo by Liu Huanyu/Xinhua) China's tourism sector has witnessed a notable boom, greatly facilitating the country's social and economic development. At a national meeting on the development of the tourism sector held on Friday, efforts were demanded to promote the high-quality development of the sector and accelerate the building of China into a country strong in tourism. The meeting also highlighted the importance of protecting cultural heritage and ecological resources, enhancing the level of supply and quality of services, and deepening international tourism exchanges and cooperation. During the five-day May Day holiday this year, domestic tourist expenditure in China amounted to 166.89 billion yuan (about 23.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 12.7 percent from the same period in 2023. The holiday season travel rush evident at popular travel destinations recently has underlined tourism's strong driving role in China's process of economic and social development. For instance, the city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, which is renowned for its winter scenery, received 10 million visits during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday. The visits generated total tourist income of 16.4 billion yuan, 235.4 percent higher than the same period last year. The fact that tourism is becoming an emerging strategic pillar industry is also evident in China's rural areas, where it is playing a major role in the country's rural revitalization drive. Xiantan Village, once a little-known location hidden in the mountains of Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, is one of the villages that was totally transformed through the development of tourism. Far from being the secluded village it once was, this village is now a popular tourist destination with a robust homestay industry, said Shen Jiangrong, secretary of the village's Communist Party of China committee and also a local homestay owner. The village currently features 166 homestays and many restaurants and cafes, which have created more than a hundred jobs for villagers and facilitated the development of tourism-related businesses in surrounding areas. During the 2024 May Day holiday, Deqing County received over 1.38 million tourist visits, which generated almost 1.9 billion yuan in tourism revenue. Several regions in China are continuing to explore ways to further unleash their tourism potential, seeking to integrate local culture into travel products, so as to provide travelers with unique experiences. "While protecting and inheriting history and culture, we should strengthen cultural characteristics, innovate ways of presentation, integrate them into products and services, develop more scenarios for travelers to experience them, further unleash their charm, and form a brand image more recognized by consumers," said Wang Zhifa, a former tourism official. SALISBURY Rowan-Cabarrus Community College marked a significant milestone with the successful completion of its 60th Graduation Ceremony on Friday, May 17, at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord. Graduates participated in a traditional ceremony, wearing their caps, gowns, and honorary regalia, with over 4,200 family, friends, and other guests seated in the audience. The college also streamed the ceremony live on its Facebook page. There were more than 1,200 students eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony who earned 1,587 associate degrees, diplomas and certificates and over 100 High School Equivalency/Adult High School students who completed their diplomas. More than 400 curriculum and High School Equivalency/Adult High School graduates participated in the ceremony. The graduates ranged in age from 16 to 65 (average age is 23). The event celebrated students who earned degrees through one of the Colleges programs including Associate in Arts, Associate in Engineering, Associate in Science, Associate in Fine Arts in Visual Arts, Associate in Applied Science and Associate in General Education. Additionally, the ceremony recognized students eligible for various program-specific diplomas and certificates, along with those who fulfilled high school equivalency or adult high school requirements. Dr. Carol S. Spalding, president of Rowan-Cabarrus, expressed her pride in the graduates, As we celebrate our 60th commencement, we are reminded of the rich history and tradition of excellence at Rowan-Cabarrus. Each of you has added to this legacy with your hard work, dedication and persistence. Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant delivered the commencement address, congratulating the graduates on their accomplishments and encouraging them to continue pursuing their dreams with determination and resilience. During his speech, Mayor Hinnant inspired the graduates by saying, I am here to convince you that if I can do it, you can do it too! Navigate forward, stay true to your goals, and never underestimate your potential to achieve greatness. Tabitha Harry, parliamentarian of the Rowan-Cabarrus Student Government Association and the Central Division Chair for the statewide Student Government North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Government Association Executive Board, served as the student speaker. Harry graduated with an Associate in Arts degree and plans to transfer to Wesleyan University to pursue a degree in Organizational Leadership. Success is not tied to location or circumstances but rather to your mindset, your actions, and your attitude. Wherever you go, success can follow, said Harry. Dream big, do the work and achieve the impossible! In addition to celebrating graduates, the College also recognized its nominees for three prestigious community college state awards: Rachel Parton, Academic Excellence Award Richard White, North Carolina Dallas Herring Achievement Award nominee Tabitha Woodall, Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award nominee An outstanding faculty member also was recognized as the winner of the Colleges Excellence in Teaching Award: Aaron Bradley Scott, Excellence in Teaching Award recipient for full-time faculty This years graduation is not just a culmination of years of study but a testament to the enduring spirit and ambition of our students, Dr. Spalding added. It is not just a celebration of their academic achievements but also of their resilience and commitment to shaping a brighter future for themselves and their communities. For more information about Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, please visit www.rccc.edu or call 704-216-RCCC (7222). A nonprofit organization that advocates for North Carolinas public education system has launched a statewide billboard campaign that carries a simple and direct message pay teachers more. Billboards bearing the message Better Pay For NC Teachers They Deserve It! began showing up around Winston-Salem, and the entire state, last week during North Carolinas annual Teacher Appreciation Week. The organization behind the campaign is Public Ed Works, which was founded by Winston-Salem resident and Walnut Cove native Paul Fulton. Fulton, 89, knows a few things about public education and marketing. A former president of Sara Lee Corp., from 1988-1993, Fulton was a key part of the team at Hanes Hosiery that launched Leggs pantyhose in 1969. The eye-catching egg-shaped package revolutionized the hosiery market. After retiring from Sara Lee, Fulton became dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill from 1993-97. He has also served on the UNC Board of Governors and the Winston-Salem State University Board of Trustees and was instrumental in forming Crosby Scholars, which has provided scholarships for thousands of local high students over nearly 35 years. Fulton said he got the idea for the billboard campaign after reading a recent report from the National Education Association that showed North Carolina falls below the national average, and ranks near the bottom, in what it pays its veteran and starting teachers. According to the report, average teacher pay in North Carolina was $56,559 in 2022-23, slipping from 36th in the country to 38th, behind such states as Alabama, South Carolina and Virginia. The national average teacher salary is $69,544. As for salaries for starting teachers, the state average of $40,136 in 2022-23 was 42nd in the country. Though the starting average salary increased by $2,500 last year, it still lagged behind the national average of $44,530. Those figures, coupled with a conversation that he had with a local teacher who also waits tables, bothered Fulton. We came up a bit in starting teacher salaries, but whos bragging about that? Fulton said of being 42nd in the country. So, how do you get peoples attention? He reached out to some folks he knows at Lamar Advertising, which owns a network of billboards, and came up with a succinct message on improving compensation, an issue that he said is at the core of improving public education in the state. In all, 170 billboards around the state proclaim the message. He has heard from several people thanking him for the campaign. You dont really know what to do, but you know you have to do something, Fulton said of the billboards. The one thing about billboards is you cant measure the results. But we knew it had to be visible where people could see it, and teachers could see it. Once called Higher Ed Works, the nonprofit organization that Fulton started in 2014 became Public Ed Works around 2023. One of its goals is to push for better funding for all public education, from pre-kindergarten through college. Fulton worked long enough in higher education to see the importance of its feeder system, the states public schools. We need to improve the pipeline or inevitably, its going to decline, he said of public education. And were not going to have a trained workforce unless the public schools generate it. I believe teachers are the heart and soul of it. They really are. I know from business that if you compensate people properly, there is less attrition and better morale and performance. Thats irrefutable. Gov. Roy Cooper is calling for an 8.5% average pay raise for teachers, as well as a $1,500 retention bonus and the restoration of Masters pay, in his most recent budget proposal. It will need to pass the General Assembly, which has a Republican super-majority. On the local level, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools is asking Forsyth County commissioners to boost the local teacher supplement by $5 million in its budget proposal. That would add about $1,000 to each teachers annual salary. A product of public schools, Fulton said he continues to champion public education because of what it means for the state. He recalled a time when North Carolina had some of the best teacher pay in the Southeast. If you care, he said, you cant sit around and do nothing. China's efforts to control organic pollutants won recognition from foreign ecological experts on Friday. "China's pivotal role in global chemical management cannot be overstated," said Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. "From ratifying amendments to implementing its national plans, China has exemplified dedication in tackling persistent organic pollutants." "China's active participation in scientific processes under the Stockholm Convention, such as the global monitoring plan for persistent organic pollutants, underscores its commitment to not only national implementation but also to regional and global progress," Payet said. He made the remarks at a meeting organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Convention entering into force in China. The Convention, formally known as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, was adopted in 2001 and came into force in 2004, with China being one of the first countries to sign the convention. With 186 parties, the convention has achieved nearly universal participation and has broadened from initially addressing 12 types of persistent organic pollutants to covering 34 types. Persistent organic pollutants are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment, accumulative through the food chain and have the potential for long-range environmental transport, posing risks to human health and the environment. Examples involve certain pesticides, industrial chemicals and unintentional byproducts of industrial processes. Being the biggest contributing part to the Convention's core budget, China has endeavored to regulate these pollutants and its domestic measures have greatly increased, said Inger Andersen, executive director at the United Nations Environment Programme. China has phased out 29 of the 34 types of the pollutants, cleaned up over 100,000 metric tons of persistent organic pollutant waste each year and brought down the emission intensity of dioxins in major industries, Andersen said. "In basic terms, persistent organic pollutants can be categorized into two groups: those intentionally created by human activities as products, which China has striven to eliminate, and those like dioxins, which are byproducts commonly generated during processes with chlorine and carbon and are challenging to avoid completely," said Hu Jianxin, professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Peking University. Hu added that by implementing strategies such as restructuring the national industrial framework and enhancing technological capabilities to capture and deposit these persistent and inevitable substances, China has successfully reduced dioxin emissions while maintaining steady national development. Zou Ciyong, deputy to the director general and managing director at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, pointed out that to tackle industrial and environmental challenges, it is important to expand from downstream interventions and end-of-pipe approaches to a comprehensive and scientific look at the entire product chain, and "move from the elimination of legacy persistent organic pollutants to address the use of such pollutant chemicals in products and introduction of innovative process in production systems". As the only province in China boasting all 41 types of industrial sectors categorized by the UN, Shandong has encouraged local enterprises to find green alternatives for materials like fire retardant, according to Zhou Liwei, vice-governor of the province. In addition, while emphasizing the interlink between chemical management and sustainable agriculture, Maria Helena Semedo, deputy director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, praised China for its achievements in phasing out the production, use, import and export of the majority of pesticide persistent organic pollutants through policies and programs, promoting safer alternatives and advocating greener agricultural production practices. "Together, we must push the boundaries of innovation, science and technology to develop sustainable solutions to manage persistent organic pollutants," she said. A jury late Friday afternoon found Brent Lopez guilty of four felonies for firing two shots out his front door at Nebraska Health and Human Services caseworkers, hitting and wounding one of them. Lopez admitted he had fired the shots on Sept. 26, but said he thought he and his family were in danger and that the men were coming in retaliation to an incident at the Air Park Rec Center two days earlier where Lopez had assaulted two teenage girls. At the end of a weeklong trial, his attorney, Trevin Preble, argued that Caden Dirks's wounds weren't serious enough to be a first-degree assault and that there had been no evidence he fired at the second HHS worker, Kenny Nguyen. "If a crime was committed it was a third-degree assault," Preble said in closing arguments Friday afternoon, urging jurors to find Lopez guilty of the misdemeanor charge. One of the two bullets fired struck Dirks in the left buttocks and exited his thigh. He was treated at the hospital and released, though described bleeding and pain that lasted several days, as well as ongoing nerve damage. By law, "serious bodily injury" means injury that involves a substantial risk of death or serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body. On the other side, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Amy Goodro said there was no mistake as to Lopez's actions. "He didn't accidentally pull the trigger. It didn't engage in a misfire. He pointed and directed the gun at Mr. Dirks and Mr. Nguyen and he pulled the trigger," she said. "Now he may have been mistaken to the danger, but he still intended to fire that gun at the two caseworkers." She said Nguyen was just lucky enough not to be shot. In closing arguments, Goodro said they talked a lot about self-defense in jury selection, but in the end the jury wasn't allowed to consider it. "Mr. Lopez assaulted two girls, he invites a crowd to 'come see me,' then he proclaims he's in danger for the next two days. His hyperbolized reality continues after their are news media reports on the story. This culminates in him using a 9mm handgun to fire two shots at two Department of Health and Human Services case workers," the prosecutor said. Meanwhile, the defense asked about what the caseworkers were wearing, as if they were being blamed for doing their jobs, trying to be relatable to the people they're talking to, as if "somehow that means they deserve to be shot at," she said. All because of the fear that Lopez created in his own mind, Goodro said. "As quickly as Mr. Lopez felt guilty for what he did ... he could have looked out the window," she said. Preble countered the notion, saying paranoia is not why this happened. At the rec center parking lot, he had been threatened, then told by police it likely wasn't going to be over that day. When Lopez's teenage son saw the men walking up to the house, he told his dad, thinking they were there to harm the family. "Mr. Lopez moved to protect his family. This was not a paranoid person. This was a parent," the defense attorney said. In the end, the jury of six men and six women found Lopez guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree assault and two counts of use of a firearm to commit the crime. He'll be sentenced in June for it as well as for two third-degree assault charges for the incident at the rec center Sept. 24, to which he pleaded no contest on Monday. Most dangerous cities in Nebraska Dangerous Cities in Nebraska 6. South Sioux City 5. Scottsbluff 4. North Platte 3. Lincoln 2. Grand Island 1. Omaha A note about the numbers Elizabeth Gajardo-Stitt of Lincoln, a student in the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences in West Des Moines, Iowa, has been named the 2024 CPMS Student of the Year. She is a graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Gajardo-Stitt was selected for the honor by her CPMS classmates. "Elizabeth is a dedicated student leader who demonstrates great organizational skills and professionalism," said CPMS Dean Kevin Smith, D.P.M., Ph.D., M.S., FACFAS. "She was nominated and selected by fellow students because she exemplifies all the traits associated with competent leaders." At DMU, Gajardo-Stitt has served two years as president of the CPMS Student Government Association and a student ambassador for the college. She also was a teaching assistant in surgical skills, clinical medicine and in the university's Simulation Center, where students practice and hone their clinical skills using medical mannequins. "I've always had the drive to help and advocate for others," she said. "I earned my undergraduate degree in biology and social work because of my passion for connecting people with the resources they need." That drive was inspired in large part by her parents, Carol Stitt and Joel Gajardo, longtime advocates, leaders and volunteers for organizations and causes in the Lincoln community. Tragically, they died while Gajardo-Stitt was in medical school. "Getting involved in activities and leadership at DMU has been a way for me to continue honoring them," she said. She found being president of the CPMS Student Government Association to be particularly rewarding. In that role, she attended national podiatric conferences, which was "an opportunity to be a voice for DMU students." She also led in organizing efforts such as a "Foot in the Door" networking event for her podiatric medical classmates and a sock and shoe drive to benefit Central Iowans experiencing homelessness. Prior to attending DMU, Gajardo-Stitt worked as a medical assistant at Capital Foot and Ankle, part of Bryan Health, in Lincoln. There, she met several CPMS graduates, including Joshua Vest, D.P.M., and Jeffrey Wienke Jr., D.P.M., who encouraged her to consider pursuing podiatric medicine at DMU. After she did, Vest sponsored her first medical white coat. Gajardo-Stitt, who will soon begin her fourth-year podiatric medical rotations before graduating in May 2025, said that becoming a podiatric physician will enable her to blend her passions for practicing medicine and serving others. "As a physician, you can look just at a patient's chief health complaint, but it's important also to consider factors such as their economic status, their ability to take care of themselves after surgery and, if they have diabetes, whether they're taking care of their feet and wearing proper footwear," she said. "You can look at an x-ray, but you need to make a full treatment plan that best serves the patient in front of you." Aurora offers classes BURLINGTON Aurora Health Care is offering the following programs: Stepping On 10 a.m. to noon Mondays, through June 3, Love Inc., 480 S. Pine St. More information about this seven-week falls prevention program is available at aurora.org/events. Living with Chronic Pain 10-10:45 a.m. Tuesdays, through June 18, telephonic. Visit aurora.org/events for more information. Babysitting Classes 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 19, Aurora Wellness Center, 300 McCanna Parkway. For more information, visit aurora.org/events. Free Blood Pressure Clinic 8 a.m. to noon and 1-4:30 p.m. every Wednesday. To make an appointment, call 262-767-8000. Childbirth and Beyond Get ready for a new addition through free, ongoing classes, including Preparing for Labor and Birth, Bringing Baby Home, Breastfeeding Basics and Infant CPR & Safety. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/ALMCchildbirth. Movement and Music This free class for people with Parkinsons disease incorporates stretches, strength training, posture, balance and walking drills, as well as vocal exercises. Manage Parkinsons symptoms and improve quality of daily life while having fun. Modifications will be provided to ensure a safe and effective setting for all participants. Caregivers are also welcome. Register at mail@wiparkinson.org or 414-312-6990. Stroke Support Group This group provides emotional support through opportunities to interact with others who have experienced a stroke. Informational programs also will be provided about stroke/brain attack. The group welcomes individuals newly diagnosed, those with a history of stroke and caregivers. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/ALMCstroke. Memory Cafe Memory Cafe is a comfortable, free social gathering that allows people experiencing memory loss and a loved one to connect and build new support networks at the Aurora Wellness Center, Classroom C. For information, or first-time attendees, contact Chad at 262-212-3596 or csutkay@touchinghearts.com. Walk with a Doc Get out, get active and enjoy good conversation from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month at Burlington High School, 400 McCanna Parkway. Learn about a current health topic, then spend the rest of the hour enjoying a walk at your own pace and distance with a medical provider. The program is free, and no registration is required. Meet at the front entrance vestibule by the flagpole. Art Therapy Open Studio Open Studio is an art group designed to aid in self-expression relaxation, and personal growth. Open Studio is open to current and past cancer patients, companions and caretakers. Each session is facilitated by a credentialed art therapist and will include a featured project. All supplies provided. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/AMCBarttherapy. Medicare Counseling Free counseling and support services are available from a certified counselor with the Wisconsin State Health Insurance Assistant Program. The counselor can help with a variety of things including enrollment. Contact Amy Waldoch at 262-948-5862 or amy.waldoch@aah.org to schedule an appointment. For more information about Aurora Health Care programs, www.aurorahealthcare.org/classes-events/ or call 800-499-5736. You are here: World Flash Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech and communicates with teachers and students at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 17, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday visited Harbin Institute of Technology in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and met with students and faculty at the university. Harbin Institute of Technology carries out extensive scientific and educational cooperation with well-known Russian universities. Putin said in his speech that the cooperation between Russian and Chinese universities provides excellent learning opportunities for young people in both countries, and also deepens mutual understanding between the two peoples. Russia is willing to continue strengthening cooperation with China to provide more platforms for exchanges and mutual learning for young people in both countries, he added. Putin added that as the fields of cooperation between Russia and China become wider, more and more talents who understand both languages and are proficient in professional fields are needed. Scientists in Thailand have released a group of endangered sea turtles in an effort to save the wild population. A total of 11 baby leatherback sea turtles were recently released into the Indian Ocean from Thailands vacation island of Phuket. The researchers are hoping the one-year-old turtles will get strong in the wild and return in 20 years to reproduce. The release follows an intense conservation effort in recent years that centered on improving longtime survival rates for the sea creatures. In 2018, scientists discovered that leatherback sea turtles had returned to lay eggs in southern Thailand. Some stronger members of that group successfully entered the ocean, but others died after hatching. So, a program was launched to help the weak baby leatherbacks grow, said Pinsak Suraswadi. He is the Director-General of Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. Thailand is one of five countries including Sri Lanka and Canada that has been able to keep leatherback turtles in good health through their first year. Usually, a leatherback will lay eggs after 20 to 25 years. The baby sea turtles, released last month, have satellite devices attached to them to follow their progress. The release was part of an international effort by the nonprofit conservation organization Upwell Turtles. Pinsak told Reuters news agency that it is necessary for researchers to study the animals travel path in order "to understand where they are going. This helps the group know which measures to launch to protect the turtles hatching process. Leatherback sea turtles are believed to have developed more than 150 million years ago. But the animals are now extremely endangered in the Pacific area. The World Wildlife Fund estimates the current population in the Pacific to be fewer than 2,300 adult females. While in the ocean, the turtles face dangers from fishing equipment, eating plastic waste and coming in contact with poisonous substances. "I'm happy to know whether our effort in nurturing the leatherback sea turtles for a year proves fruitful or not," said Hirun Kanghae. He is with Thailands Phuket Marine Biological Center. "If they survive it answers everything about the conservation and population restoration of the leatherback sea turtles in the best way possible," Hirun added. Im Bryan Lynn Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________ Words in This Story conservation n. an organized effort that aims to protect animals and natural resources hatch v. the process of an egg opening to give birth to a particular animal nurture v. to take efforts to look after, feed and protect young children, animals or plants fruitful adj. producing good or useful results Mexico Citys Tacos El Califa de Leon recently became the first Mexican taco stand to get a Michelin star an award presented by the famous French restaurant guide. Chef Arturo Rivera Martinez recently stood over a very hot grill when Michelin representatives came to present him with one of the companys heavy white chefs coats. But Rivera Martinez did not put the jacket on. In this very small, 3-meter by 3-meter business space, the heat makes the meat. And the heat is strong. At El Califa de Leon there are only four things on the menu -- all of them tacos. The food business has been doing the same four things since opening in 1968. The secret is the simplicity of our taco. It has only a tortilla, red or green sauce, and thats it. That, and the quality of the meat, said Rivera Martinez. He is also probably the only Michelin-starred chef who, when asked what drink should go with his food, answers I like a Coke. Other than perhaps one street food stand in Bangkok, Thailand, El Califa de Leon is probably the smallest restaurant ever to get a Michelin star. And half of the small space is taken up by a solid steel plate grill that is hotter than the salsa. Thousands of times a day, Rivera Martinez gets a fresh, thinly sliced piece of beef and puts it on the hot steel grill. The heat is one of the few secrets Rivera Martinez would share. The steel grill has to be heated to 360 Celsius. Asked how it felt to get a Michelin star, he said in classic Mexico City slang, its neat, its cool. The prices at his stand are quite high by Mexican standards. A single taco costs nearly $5. But many customers are sure it is the best in the city. Its the quality of the meat, said Alberto Munoz, who has been coming to the place for about eight years. I have never been disappointed. And now Ill recommend it with even more reason, now that it has a star. His son, Alan, who was waiting for a beef taco alongside his father, noted this is a historic day for Mexican cuisine, and were witnesses to it. It really is about not changing anything the freshness of the tortillas, the menu, the design of the restaurant. Owner Mario Hernandez Alonso will not even tell where he buys the stands meat. By law, following the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico City restaurants have been permitted to open up street-side seating areas. But El Califa de Leon does not even have a sidewalk where customers could eat because of all the street vendors. Asked if he would like them to make room for a street-side seating area, Hernandez Alonso said pointing to the street vendors, As the saying goes, why fix or change something thats alright? You shouldnt fix anything... Its the way God ordered things, and you have to deal with it. Im Caty Weaver. Mark Stevenson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. ________________________________________________ Words in This Story grill n. a metal object or frame that is used to cook food over hot coals or a fire tortilla n. a round, thin Mexican bread slang n. an informal word or expression used in everyday situations cuisine n. a kind of cooking vendor n. a person who sells something (often on the street) The Lexington School Board on Monday approved travel plans for Lexington High School students poised to compete on the national stage in June. Christian Burton secured a spot at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America national competition in Seattle. Meanwhile, Grace Goodwin earned a place at the National Speech and Debate Competition in Des Moines, Iowa. Earlier in the meeting, the school board greenlit a one-year contract with Ambience Consulting to provide school psychology and mental health services. Superintendent John Hakonson said Ambience Consulting will provide services for the 2024-25 school year, pending the recruitment of a permanent school psychologist. School board members also approved insulating a walk-in freezer at the high school. RARE Refrigeration was chosen to install a new walk-in cooler and freezer, with the project estimated at $123,986.57. Additionally, the board approved a $61,973 bid from Pro-Tint for installation of glass security film. Single sided glasses will be installed for the Preschool, Morton, Pershing, Bryan, Central Office, Middle School and High School. Amid the proceedings, it came to light that Hakonsons son, Aaron, has been hired as a temporary summer technology assistant. Hakonson quipped, He better do a good job because hes on the agenda! On Hakonsons request, the board unanimously recommended the approval of his sons employment. He will be working alongside Mark Burson. Toward the meetings conclusion, LPS Principals Eric Bell, Amber Nicholas and Scott West elaborated on plans for the summer school program. West shared the middle schools incentive program, which rewards students for meeting academic milestones. He said qualifying students did not have to attend the final day of school. West said that 70% of sixth grade students qualified for the incentive, 67% in seventh grade and 55.8% of eighth graders. China slams provocative U.S. naval moves, invocation of UNCLOS Xinhua) 10:12, May 18, 2024 BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Friday slammed a U.S. military vessel's recent "provocative moves," stating that the U.S. side's invocation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) reveals its hegemonic nature. Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference in response to a media query about U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey's sailing through the Taiwan Strait and trespassing into China's territorial sea. "The U.S. military vessel sailed through the Taiwan Strait, trespassed into the territorial sea and internal waters of China's Xisha Qundao, and publicly hyped the move. The Chinese side strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side," Zhang said. "Xisha Qundao is China's inherent territory. The Chinese government released the baselines of the territorial sea of Xisha Qundao as early as 1996. What we did was in line with international law and practices," he said. "The U.S. side is not a State Party to UNCLOS, but it has repeatedly invoked the Convention to make an issue of it, and even sent military vessels to intrude into the territorial sea and internal waters of Xisha Qundao," Zhang noted. "Such provocative moves violate China's sovereignty, threaten our national security and undermine regional peace and stability. They are typical behaviors of hegemony," he said. "The People's Liberation Army will remain on high alert, take resolute countermeasures against any infringement and provocations, and firmly safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he added. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Flash A file photo shows the frontal exterior of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Washington, D.C., U.S. [Photo/Xinhua] China urges the U.S. side "to stop arming Taiwan and its provocative moves of using Taiwan to contain China," the Chinese Embassy in the United States has said at a press briefing. "The U.S. side needs to take concrete actions to preserve the overall as well as mil-to-mil ties between China and the U.S., and safeguard regional peace and stability," Minister Counselor Liu Pengyu said Tuesday as he elaborated on China's position on the Taiwan question. On the upcoming "inauguration" on May 20 in the Taiwan region, Liu, also the embassy's spokesperson, said the elections in Taiwan are local elections. The result cannot change the basic fact that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China; nor can it alter the historical trend of Taiwan's reunification with the motherland, Liu said. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, which is an undeniable, universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations, said Liu. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities are constantly promoting "de-sinicization" and undertaking separatist activities step by step and attempting to expand Taiwan's so-called "international space," Liu noted. Promoting peace across the Taiwan Strait means opposing separatist moves, and the stronger the commitment to the one-China principle, the more peaceful the Strait will be, he said. Noting that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests and the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations, Liu said China urges the U.S. side to act on U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" and not taking Taiwan as a tool to contain China. The U.S. side should stop official interactions with the Taiwan authorities and not make them feel supported in seeking "Taiwan independence," he added. The Taiwan question is China's internal affair, which should be left to the Chinese people, Liu stressed. "We will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and the utmost effort. In the meantime, we will not allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China by any means. No one should underestimate China's determination, resolve and capability to safeguard her sovereignty and territorial integrity," Liu said. Noting the recent negative moves and statements by the U.S. side on the Taiwan question, Liu said that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. The U.S. side invited the Taiwan region to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, and certain U.S. officials have made misleading remarks on United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758. "We stress that UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 fully reflect and recognize the one-China principle. They should not be challenged or tempered with. Taiwan's participation in international organizations must be and can only be approached under the one-China principle," Liu said. On U.S. congressional visits to Taiwan and the second phase of negotiations under the so-called "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade," Liu said that China firmly opposes official interactions between the United States and the island or U.S. interference in Taiwan affairs that are China's internal affairs. Liu also pointed out that U.S. arms sales to the Taiwan region is a "dangerous bet," which violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques. North Korea has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new autonomous navigation system, state media said Saturday, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to boost the countrys nuclear force. Kim oversaw the Friday test-launch into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on a mission to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system, Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. - Advertisement - The launch was the latest in a string of ever more sophisticated tests by North Korea, which has fired off cruise missiles, tactical rockets and hypersonic weapons in recent months, in what the nuclear-armed, UN-sanctioned country says is a drive to upgrade its defenses. The Friday launch came hours after leader Kims powerful sister Kim Yo Jong denied allegations by Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine. Seouls military on Friday described the test as several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles from North Koreas eastern Wonsan area into waters off its coast. The suspected missiles travelled around 300 kilometers (186 miles) before splashing down in waters between South Korea and Japan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said. The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire, Pyongyangs KCNA said Saturday, adding leader Kim expressed great satisfaction over the launch. In a separate report released on Saturday, KCNA said Kim visited a military production facility the previous day and urged for more rapidly bolstering the nuclear force of the nation without halt and hesitation. During the visit, he said the enemies would be afraid of and dare not to play with fire only when they witness the nuclear combat posture of our state, according to KCNA. Pyongyangs nuclear force will meet a very important change and occupy a remarkably raised strategic position when its munitions production plan, aimed to be completed by 2025, is carried out, it added. President vows PH to vigorously defend what is ours The Philippines will vigorously defend what is ours, President Marcos said on Saturday, as Manilas maritime row with Beijing over the West Philippine Sea escalates. The President likewise ordered graduates of the Philippine Military Academy to keep our people safe in their homes, our territory secure, our defenses against threats strong, and our democracy stable. - Advertisement - Against intruders who have been disrespecting our territorial integrity, we will vigorously defend what is ours, Mr. Marcos said in his speech that came on the heels of media reports saying that Beijing has issued a regulation empowering its coast guard to detain foreigners trespassing in the South China Sea. He said the PMA Bagong Sinag Class of 2024 graduates have answered the call to serve at a crucial time in the countrys history. What we are facing now is a blatant disregard of internationally accepted principles and deployment of weapons of mass destruction by parties who seek to drive a wedge between a united citizenry. But people are not fooled. They can see through such schemes, Mr. Marcos said. His remarks follow a series of incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels near disputed reefs in the South China Sea that have strained diplomatic ties. In a report published by the South China Morning Post on Thursday, the China Coast Guard warned that under the new regulation that will take effect in June, they can detain trespassers in the South China Sea without trial. Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela immediately denounced Chinas directive, calling it illegal. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion over the waterway has no legal basis. To press its claims, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarized. China Coast Guard vessels have used water cannons against Philippine boats several times in recent months in the contested waters, where there have also been collisions. To address the emerging challenges, the President ordered the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to review the curriculum and ensure that cadets are equipped with 21st century skills to counter conventional and asymmetric threats. The President said amid the digital battlefield, necessary tools are needed to combat attempts at disinformation and infiltration. The PMA has long been a reliable institution in nation-building. However, in this time of great complexity, the PMA needs to step up and take on the task of ensuring that the next generation of leaders in the country are ready for the emerging and future challenges, Mr. Marcos said. With AFP Suzukis latest offering, the XL7 Hybrid, has recently captured the attention of the local motoring media, who experienced the vehicles impressive fuel efficiency during a long-distance test drive. The Suzuki Exciting Excapade, a media event held from the Suzuki Kawit Showroom to the Phoenix Station in Nasugbu, Batangas, showcased the XL7 Hybrids exceptional performance. The 72-kilometer journey saw 36 participating media personnel divided into 12 Suzuki XL7 Hybrid vehicles. To the amazement of both the media and Suzuki Philippines officials, the vehicles achieved an average fuel consumption of just 1.7 liters. Even more impressive, the winners of the test, with three participants per car, managed to complete the route using just over a liter of gasoline. The second-place finisher consumed around 1.3 liters. - Advertisement - Suzuki Philippines had previously conducted an official mileage test with experts, which had the XL7 Hybrid registered at 22 kilometers per liter. Based on this figure, the media test drive should have consumed around 3.3 liters of fuel. However, the actual results far exceeded these expectations, highlighting the XL7 Hybrids exceptional fuel efficiency. The test drive route took the participants through various road conditions, from the plain and smooth roads of Cavite to the steep and winding sections leading into Nasugbu. Despite these challenges, the XL7 Hybrid maintained its impressive fuel economy, leaving both the media and Suzuki officials in awe. Norihide Takei, the director and general manager of Suzuki Philippines automobile division, enthusiastically welcomed the participants, noting the much-anticipated event and the opportunity for them to experience the New XL7 Hybrid firsthand. The XL7 Hybrids appeal extends beyond its fuel efficiency, with Suzuki describing it as an exquisite package of a vehicle crafted to amplify your power to make bold moves whenever and wherever. The model boasts a robust SUV look combined with the practical utility of an MPV, making it a compelling choice for Filipino consumers. Suzukis dedication to intelligent hybrid solutions is evident in the XL7 Hybrid, which features a 12V Hybrid Technology that optimizes fuel efficiency without compromising power. The K15B engine with an Engine Auto Stop Start System further enhances fuel efficiency by up to 13% in urban driving conditions. Moroccos unwavering commitment, under King Mohammed VIs leadership, to Africas economic integration and prosperity was highlighted at the 2024 Governance Colloquium, held in Nairobi. Under the enlightened leadership of HM the King, the Kingdom of Morocco has been at the forefront, pleading for a prosperous and integrated Africa, Moroccos Ambassador to Kenya, Abderrazzak Laassel, emphasized Friday at the Colloquium, held under the theme Governance, Trade and African Unity Fostering Intra-African Trade and Unity through Governance. Moroccos commitment to the continent is unwavering, as evidenced by the many strategic initiatives and partnerships forged over the years, the Moroccan diplomat underlined, citing mainly the various Royal visits to several African countries and the signing of thousands of agreements covering many sectors. Laassel, who reiterated Moroccos support to the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), given its role in the development of intra-African trade, noted that the Kingdom has undertaken several flagship initiatives to boost intra-African trade. In this respect, he brought up the Atlantic Initiative launched by the Sovereign, and explained that the initiative is designed to improve economic integration and connectivity between 23 Atlantic African countries, while creating new economic opportunities and promoting regional stability. As part of this initiative, Morocco has pledged to make its road, port and rail infrastructure available to Sahel countries, he recalled. In the same vein, the Moroccan diplomat pointed out that the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline is a strategic project that will benefit more than 440 million people across West Africa, strengthening energy security, and stimulating economic development. The prospects for Morocco-Africa relations are promising, driven by a shared commitment to unity and mutual prosperity, the diplomat insisted. Morocco has become a leader in sustainable development, with a 38% share of renewable energies in the energy mix and an ambition to reach over 50% by 2030, he reported, noting that the Kingdom is committed to sharing its expertise with sisterly African countries to build resilient supply chains and foster regional value chains. HM King Mohammed VIs vision for a united and prosperous Africa is not just a dream, but a tangible reality, Laassel said, calling for forging stronger partnerships, boosting intra-African trade, and building a resilient and prosperous continent. The 2024 edition of the colloquium focused this year on the role of African economic integration in achieving prosperity brought together eminent speakers from different political, economic and social backgrounds. The role of pan-African companies as catalysts for economic integration, health inequalities in Africa, and youth involvement in governance were among the topics discussed during this event, which represents a forum for exchange between opinion leaders, political decision-makers, and representatives of youth and civil society. The aim is to deliberate on strategies for strengthening good governance and consolidating economic development in Africa. Flash Photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Moscow. [Photo/Xinhua] Russia will retaliate against Ukrainian attacks on its regions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Russia will respond to such encroachments on its territory, the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by the ministry as saying. She added that Western involvement is clearly evident behind Kiev's "attacks." Zakharova noted that the West is not only supplying Kiev with longer-range missiles and heavy weaponry, but also clearly authorizing their use against Russia, thereby contributing to further escalation. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying that his country is no longer experiencing an artillery shell shortage. "For the first time during the war, none of the brigades complained that there were no artillery shells," said Zelensky. 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 World Health Organization recently announced an outbreak of hepatitis E in the eastern Ouaddai province of Chad. Between January and April 2024, 2,093 suspected hepatitis E cases were reported from two health districts. The Conversation Africa asked Kolawole Oluseyi Akande, a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist, to explain the causes, symptoms, spread and treatment of hepatitis E. What is hepatitis and how many types are there? Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. It is the way the liver responds to various injuries or harmful agents. Hepatitis is caused by a variety of infectious viruses and noninfectious agents, leading to a range of health problems, some of which can be fatal. Common causes include viruses (viral hepatitis), excessive consumption of alcohol (alcohol hepatitis), excessive fat in the liver (steato-hepatitis), drugs and toxins (toxic hepatitis) and autoimmunity (autoimmune hepatitis). There are also a number of types of the disease. The most common, especially in developing countries like Chad, are the viral hepatitides. There are five main viruses that cause viral hepatitides. They are hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses. They are not strains of the same virus but different viruses. The outbreak in Chad was of hepatitis E. All the various types of hepatitis cause liver disease but differ in modes of transmission, severity of the illness, geographical distribution and prevention methods. An estimated 354 million people globally live with hepatitis B or C. Globally, approximately 939 million (1 in 8) individuals have ever experienced hepatitis E infection. Fifteen million to 110 million individuals have recent or ongoing hepatitis E infection as at 2020. It is widespread with prevalence rates of 21.8%, 15.8%, 9.3%, 8.5% and 7.3% in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America respectively. Its presentation ranges from asymptomatic to severe acute failure which can lead to death. How does hepatitis E spread? Of the eight genotypes of hepatitis E virus, four are known to affect humans. Genotypes 1 and 2 are spread by faeco-oral routes, especially through drinking contaminated water. This is why these types of hepatitis E are common in underdeveloped countries of Asia and Africa with poor sanitation, poor hygiene, and lack of safe drinking water. They are the types that can affect large numbers of people in epidemics. Genotypes 3 and 4 are spread through ingestion of contaminated meat, especially swine, goats and cattle, and sometimes through contamination of water by feces of animals. So, these are diseases of animals that can spread to humans (zoonotic diseases) and therefore tend to affect people who deal with animals like farmers, butchers and veterinarians. There is evidence that hepatitis E virus can be spread through blood transmission. A few developed countries, such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France and Japan, have incorporated hepatitis E RNA screening of blood donations before transfusion. The RNA screening is the most reliable way of detecting hepatitis E virus in the blood or stool. What are the risks to humans? Hepatitis E is a global health problem with about 20 million cases occurring annually, three million symptomatic cases and 60,000 deaths. Hepatitis E can cause acute hepatitis without symptoms, or mildly symptomatic, or sometimes severely symptomatic illness. Pregnant women are more likely to experience severe illness. It could also be severe in people with already established liver diseases, the elderly, and those whose immunity is low (immunocompromised). In a survey of 177 asymptomatic food handlers across 12 restaurants in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria, we found 9% had evidence of acute hepatitis E in their blood. Asymptomatic people with hepatitis E virus can transmit the virus if their blood is given to another person. In pregnancy it can lead to severe disease or death of the mother and the baby. The mortality rate in pregnancy may be as high as 30%. Symptoms of hepatitis include malaise, weakness, yellowness of the eyes, upper abdominal pain, dark urine and if there is liver failure, alteration in the level of consciousness and bleeding tendencies. Hepatitis E is not distinguishable, based on symptoms and signs, from other forms of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E is the most frequent cause of acute hepatitis globally. In certain circumstances, especially in organ transplant patients, hepatitis E can lead to chronic hepatitis (lasting for more than three months) and this can lead to liver cirrhosis. This is quite common in developed countries where there are many organ transplant patients who are on immunosuppressive medications. Is it preventable? Yes. What's needed is adequate personal hygiene, proper waste disposal systems and the provision of safe and clean water. Another way to prevent hepatitis E is to avoid uncooked or undercooked meat. A study suggests that heating food to 71C for 20 minutes could inactivate hepatitis E virus. There is also a vaccine against hepatitis E available in China, but this is not widespread yet. How is it controlled? Treatment of hepatitis E when symptomatic includes bed rest and avoidance of drugs and substances that can further damage the liver. Ribavirin and interferon alpha are drugs that are sometimes used, although not for pregnant women. Those with acute liver failure or liver cirrhosis may need a liver transplant. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: Health-care workers received the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020. A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that repeat vaccination with updated versions of the COVID-19 vaccine promotes the development of antibodies that neutralize a wide range of variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as related coronaviruses. Credit: Matt Miller/Washington University The COVID-19 pandemic is over, but the virus that caused it is still here, sending thousands of people to the hospital each week and spinning off new variants with depressing regularity. The virus's exceptional ability to change and evade immune defenses has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend annual updates to COVID-19 vaccines. But some scientists worry that the remarkable success of the first COVID-19 vaccines may work against updated versions, undermining the utility of an annual vaccination program. A similar problem plagues the annual flu vaccine campaign; immunity elicited by one year's flu shots can interfere with immune responses in subsequent years, reducing the vaccines' effectiveness. A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helps to address this question. Unlike immunity to influenza virus, prior immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, doesn't inhibit later vaccine responses. Rather, it promotes the development of broadly inhibitory antibodies, the researchers report. The study, available online in Nature, shows that people who were repeatedly vaccinated for COVID-19initially receiving shots aimed at the original variant, followed by boosters and updated vaccines targeting variantsgenerated antibodies capable of neutralizing a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants and even some distantly related coronaviruses. The findings suggest that periodic re-vaccination for COVID-19, far from hindering the body's ability to recognize and respond to new variants, may instead cause people to gradually build up a stock of broadly neutralizing antibodies that protect them from emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and some other coronavirus species as well, even ones that have not yet emerged to infect humans. "The first vaccine an individual receives induces a strong primary immune response that shapes responses to subsequent infection and vaccination, an effect known as imprinting," said senior author Michael S. Diamond, MD, Ph.D., the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine. "In principle, imprinting can be positive, negative or neutral. In this case, we see strong imprinting that is positive, because it's coupled to the development of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with remarkable breadth of activity." Imprinting is the natural result of how immunological memory works. A first vaccination triggers the development of memory immune cells. When people receive a second vaccination quite similar to the first, it reactivates memory cells elicited by the first vaccine. These memory cells dominate and shape the immune response to the subsequent vaccine. In the case of the flu vaccine, imprinting has negative effects. Antibody-producing memory cells crowd out new antibody-producing cells, and people develop relatively few neutralizing antibodies against the strains in the newer vaccine. But in other cases, imprinting can be positive, by promoting the development of cross-reactive antibodies that neutralize strains in both the initial and subsequent vaccines. To understand how imprinting influences the immune response to repeat COVID-19 vaccination, Diamond and colleagues including first author Chieh-Yu Liang, a graduate student, studied the antibodies from mice or people who had received a sequence of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters targeting first the original and then omicron variants. Some of the human participants also had been naturally infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. The first question was the strength of the imprinting effect. The researchers measured how many of the participants' neutralizing antibodies were specific for the original variant, the omicron variant or both. They found that very few people had developed any antibodies unique to omicron, a pattern indicative of strong imprinting by the initial vaccination. But they also found few antibodies unique to the original variant. The vast majority of neutralizing antibodies cross-reacted with both. The next question was how far the cross-reactive effect extended. Cross-reactive antibodies, by definition, recognize a feature shared by two or more variants. Some features are shared only by similar variants, others by all SARS-CoV-2 variants or even all coronaviruses. To assess the breadth of the neutralizing antibodies, the researchers tested them against a panel of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 viruses from two omicron lineages; a coronavirus from pangolins; the SARS-1 virus that caused the 2002-03 SARS epidemic; and the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus. The antibodies neutralized all the viruses except MERS virus, which comes from a different branch of the coronavirus family tree than the others. Further experiments revealed that this remarkable breadth was due to the combination of original and variant vaccines. People who received only the vaccines targeting the original SARS-CoV-2 variant developed some cross-reactive antibodies that neutralized the pangolin coronavirus and SARS-1 virus, but the levels were low. After boosting with an omicron vaccine, though, the cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against the two coronavirus species increased. Taken together, the findings suggest that regular re-vaccination with updated COVID-19 vaccines against variants might give people the tools to fight off not only the SARS-CoV-2 variants represented in the vaccines, but also other SARS-CoV-2 variants and related coronaviruses, possibly including ones that have not yet emerged. "At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world population was immunologically naive, which is part of the reason the virus was able to spread so fast and do so much damage," said Diamond, also a professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology & immunology. "We do not know for certain whether getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine every year would protect people against emerging coronaviruses, but it's plausible. These data suggest that if these cross-reactive antibodies do not rapidly wanewe would need to follow their levels over time to know for certainthey may confer some or even substantial protection against a pandemic caused by a related coronavirus." More information: Chieh-Yu Liang et al, Imprinting of serum neutralizing antibodies by Wuhan-1 mRNA vaccines, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07539-1 Journal information: Nature This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Wireless implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) eliminate the lead-related complications that come with a wired ICD, but they are unsuitable for patients with ventricular tachycardia, when the heart beats too quickly, or bradycardia, when the resting heart rate is seen as low. Research led by Amsterdam UMC, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that the first wireless modular system suitable for these patient groups is safe and exceeds performance expectations. Opening the door for a wider roll-out. In 2021, Amsterdam UMC was the first in Europe to implant this wireless pacemaker that communicates with a subcutaneous ICD. This implantation took place at the beginning of the global Modular ATP study. "It is the first system in which medical devices, which are implanted separately in the body, are in contact with each other and work together. Its development will reduce the number of complications and invasive procedures all while maintaining patient safety," says Reinoud Knops, cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC and leader of the study. The study followed almost 300 patients in 38 hospitals across Europe and North America, and in no cases where pacing was not delivered due to communication failure. Amsterdam UMC and other academic partners, including Emory University, Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Barcelona, worked together with Boston Scientific to develop this technology, which also exceeded performance expectations. "We aimed for the two wireless parts communicating successfully in 88% of the attempts but this turned out to be a lot higher, with a success rate of almost 99%," says Knops. Use of ICD for cardiac arrhythmias An ICD is often implanted in patients with life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. If cardiac arrhythmia occurs, this subcutaneous defibrillator can terminate it in two ways. First of all, an ICD can give one or more electric shocks. These shocks are often experienced as painful when the patient is still conscious. An ICD can also deliver a number of pulses in quick succession via a wire in the heart. Patients do not feel anything from this technique, because the pulses are much smaller than a shock, but not every ICD can also give this second therapy and if it can, the wire is still a disadvantage, because it can regularly cause complications, relating to the wire itself, such as detachment and infection. This is the driving force behind the search for a fully wireless alternative. "If the ICD detects a cardiac arrhythmia, it sends a signal to the pacemaker to deliver the pulses. If the arrhythmia persists, the ICD will still give a shock. As a result of this fine-tuning process, the patient will receive an electric shock less often," says Knops. More information: A Modular Communicative Leadless Pacing-Defibrillator System, New England Journal of Medicine (2024). Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine Each Saturday Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. Flash The United States should do something practical to facilitate a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, instead of driving a wedge between China and Europe, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday. Wang made the remarks at a regular press briefing, in response to the recent remarks by a U.S. Department of State spokesperson saying that China cannot hope to build relations with Europe and other countries while continuing to fuel the biggest long-term threat to European security. Wang refuted the comment by saying that the U.S. black-or-white logic represents an attitude of seeking enemies instead of peace, which is a continuation of its Cold War mentality. "In fact, the Cold War mentality of the United States bears unshirkable responsibility for the outbreak and aggravation of the Ukraine crisis," he added. Noting that China is neither the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it, Wang said China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and actively supporting the building of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. China's objective and just position and constructive role have been widely recognized by the international community. "To untie the bell, you need the person who tied the bell. China urges the United States not to blame China, not to try to drive a wedge between China and Europe, not to pour fuel on the fire, but to do something practical for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis," he added. A grid providing thousands of Montanans with water is undergoing a massive inspection on the part of state and federal officials following a contamination. For nearly a month, residents of Havre have been advised to boil their water in the wake of three confirmed cases of giardiasis earlier this year. Although experts have yet to find the source of the disease, which is linked to ingesting fecal matter, the local public health department has suspected the municipal water supply. (The plant operators) never detected giardia in the citys water supply, said Havre Mayor Doug Kaercher in an interview over the phone. Its suspect. Its potential. But we havent been able to find the source. Water passing through Havres water treatment plant and into local faucets comes from the Milk River, flowing from headwaters that start on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and Glacier National Park. The plant has the capacity for 3,100 gallons per minute and pumps water to roughly 10,000 people in and around Havre. Contamination of the Milk River and its tributaries just upstream from Havre has historically been recognized as a hazard for the towns water supply, according to a previous assessment from the water plants operators, as contaminants can reach Havre before operators have a chance to close the intake. Public water systems in Montana anything that provides water to 25 or more people for more than 60 days a year or with 15 or more service connections fall under the oversight of the state Department of Environmental Quality. There are thousands of such systems across Montana, with dozens added every year. Its the job of the DEQ to ensure every site is compliant with safety and quality standards. The majority of all the drinking water in Montana is derived from water systems within the state lines. The main threats to the Milk Rivers water quality as it flows past Havre are nitrates and microbials from agriculture, and fuels being transported on the highways and rails that parallel the river. In the United States, the parasite Giardia duodenalis is the most common cause of intestinal parasite infections, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease giardiasis transmits through feces that has contaminated food, water or any surface, and is then swallowed. Water is the most common mode of transmission for giardiasis. Half of all infections are asymptomatic, but symptoms can include serious gut trouble: diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and dehydration. From 2012 to 2017, the CDC tracked 111 giardiasis outbreaks in the United States, with 760 people infected. There are about 150 cases of giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, another waterborne disease, reported in Montana every year, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. In February, Kaercher said gaffs in water treatment at the Havre plant resulted in the Hill County Public Health Department to issue a health advisory regarding Havres water in March. Specifically, plant operators failed to meet the minimum disinfection standards for treating the water on Feb. 2 and March 1 of this year. Those failures were not reported to DEQ, according to a health advisory notice published in March. On Feb. 29, there was a failure in the plants filtration system, increasing the chance that contaminated water passed through it untreated. On April 19, following two confirmed cases of giardiasis, that health advisory became a boil advisory. Because those cases were confirmed during the same period that the plant was failing to meet treatment standards, county health officials believed the citys drinking water was the cause. All residents were then advised to boil any water from the public water supply for at least a minute, whether that water be for drinking, cooking or washing. The boil advisory has remained in place since then, and there has been an additional case of giardiasis in Havre. For the past month, Kaercher said, city officials have met with members of Montana DEQ and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to thoroughly test the plant. As of Wednesday, public health officials had yet to pinpoint the source of the contamination. Kaercher said he hopes the boil advisory will be reduced to a health advisory by next week, during which the DEQ and EPA will be conducting an evaluation of Havre's entire public water system. Going forward, our plan is to make sure we learn from our mistakes, Kaercher said. VMPL New Delhi [India], May 18: Odomos, India's leading mosquito repellent brand, is committed to combating mosquito-borne diseases and is striving to make India dengue-free. With a steadfast dedication to educating and protecting communities from mosquitoes and dengue year-round, Odomos continues to make significant strides in this critical public health battle. Odomos is relentless in its efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of dengue and the importance of protection from mosquito bites. The brand uses its influential voice to reach out to millions, emphasizing the need for continuous vigilance and proactive measures to prevent mosquito bites. By consistently communicating the message of dengue prevention, Odomos has been instrumental in driving increased awareness and participation in preventing dengue, malaria, and other mosquito-borne diseases. The brand's commitment is evident through its various campaigns, such as the annual #MakingIndiaDengueFree campaign. This initiative includes van activations, free Odomos sample distribution, and leaflets with dengue prevention tips, reaching out to communities and educating them about effective protection from mosquito bites. These efforts reinforce the brand's message of comprehensive safety against mosquito-borne diseases and demonstrate Odomos' dedication to safeguarding public health. Sanath Pulikkal, Head of Marketing Home Care at Dabur India Limited, shares his thoughts on the initiative: "At Odomos, our mission goes beyond offering products. We strive to be at the forefront of the fight against mosquito-borne diseases. Dengue remains a significant threat to public health, and all our efforts are focused on making our country dengue-free. We are committed to educating and protecting communities, creating a lasting impact that brings us closer to our goal of a dengue-free India." Through its unwavering commitment, Odomos is playing a pivotal role in #MakingIndiaDengueFree a reality. The brand's consistent efforts throughout the year reflect its dedication to this cause, ensuring that communities remain informed and protected against the threat of dengue. Odomos: Odomos, a trusted mosquito repellent brand from Dabur, provides clinically proven and effective protection against mosquitoes. Independent institutes have certified Odomos as one of the best protectors against mosquitoes carrying deadly viruses. Choose Odomos as a safe and effective way to protect yourself and your loved ones from mosquito-borne illnesses. Dabur India Ltd: Dabur India Ltd is one of India's leading FMCG Companies. Building on a legacy of quality and experience for 139 years, Dabur is today India's most trusted name and the world's largest Ayurvedic and Natural Health Care Company. Dabur India's FMCG portfolio includes nine Power Brands -Dabur Chyawanprash, Dabur Honey, Dabur Honitus, Dabur Pudin Hara and Dabur Lal Tail in the Healthcare space; Dabur Amla, Dabur Red Paste and Vatika for Personal Care; and Real in the Food & Beverages category. For more information, please visit https://www.odomosprotect.com Media Contact: Dabur India Limited |0120-3962100| corpcomm@dabur.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) The members of the Telugu film industry invited the CM to be a part of the special programme organized to celebrate Directors' Day. During their meeting with Revanth Reddy, the members of Telugu film fraternity also posed for pictures with the CM and greeted him with a flower bouquet. The event will be held on May 19 at LB Stadium in Hyderabad. The star-studded event will honour late filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao for his immense contributions to Indian cinema. Stars like Chiranjeevi, Prabhas, and Allu Arjun are expected to attend the special event. Reportedly, Prabhas donated a huge sum of money to the Telugu Film Directors Association for Director's Day celebrations. Dasari Narayana was a film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician. He worked predominantly in Telugu films apart from Hindi cinema. His works emphasised on social injustice, corruption and gender discrimination. Dasari Narayana directed 150 Telugu movies and holds the Limca World Record for directing most number of films worldwide. He directed his first film in the early 1970s. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honors from the Andhra Pradesh government. He passed away on 30 May 2017. He was 75 when he breathed his last. (ANI) Air Commodore V M Reddy, Deputy Director General of the AP and Telangana Directorate, reviewed the ongoing Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat-I, an all India camp at CMR College of Engineering and Technology in Medchal on Thursday (May 16). The camp, which was held from May 14 to May 25, 2024, saw the participation of six hundred cadets from the Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Rajasthan directorates. In his address to the cadets, the DDG welcomed them, especially those from the Rajasthan Directorate, and expressed hope that they would enjoy their stay and learn about the customs, traditions, and languages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as well as share their own customs and traditions. He also shared his personal experiences from his time in Rajasthan and highlighted the similarities in cultures, clothing, and lineage between the tribes of Rajasthan and Telangana. Air Commodore Reddy also interacted with the cadets and briefed the media on the importance of the camp, providing glimpses of the training. Additionally, he inspected the living areas and facilities of the cadets and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements at the camp. Air Commodore VM Reddy assumed the charge of Deputy Director General of the NCC Directorate (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Secunderabad, in June last year. The Air Commodore said that he had plans to expand the NCC into the newly formed districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Air Commodore VM Reddy is a resident of Hyderabad. He was commissioned in the Fighter Stream of the Indian Air Force on December 16, 1989. He is a pilot attack instructor and has over 2000 hours of flying experience on fighter aircraft. Air Cmde Reddy tenanted various diverse appointments in the Indian Air Force. He commanded a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Squadron, Electronic Warfare Range and a frontline fighter base. (ANI) Union Minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at Arvind Kejriwal over the issue of AAP MP Swati Maliwal's allegations that she was assaulted inside Delhi chief minister Kejriwal's house by the latter's personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar. The issue has snowballed into a massive poltical controversy ahead of the polling in the National Capital scheduled for May 20. AAP has denied the allegations. "Who is taking them seriously? He came out of Jail for few days for poll campaigning and see what kind of things he is doing"," Piyush Goyal told ANI. He was reponding to Delhi minister Atishi terming the Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal's allegations of "assault" against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistance Bibhav Kumar as a "conspiracy". Earlier, Delhi CM Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar filed a written complaint against Maliwal, alleging unauthorized entry, verbal abuse, threats, and the possibility of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) involvement in the matter. In his written complaint to the SHO of Civil Lines Police Station on Friday, Kumar urged authorities to take appropriate legal action against Maliwal and requested an investigation into her possible ties with BJP leaders, suggesting political motives behind the incident, especially considering the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This complaint came amid a row over Swati Maliwal's allegations against Bibhav Kumar for 'assaulting' her at the CM's residence AAP attacked Maliwal on Friday over a purported video clip from the CM's residence that was supposedly taken on the day of the alleged assault. The video, posted by a news channel, was shared by the party with a caption that read "Swati Maliwal ka sach (Swati Maliwal's truth)." It purportedly showed Maliwal having an argument with the security personnel at the CM's residence. This was the first time that AAP has taken a stand against Maliwal in the case, contradicting AAP MP Sanjay Singh's statement that Arvind Kejriwal has taken cognizance of the incident and has directed "strict action," adding that the party is "with Swati Maliwal." Earlier, the Delhi Police filed an FIR based on the complaint of Maliwal on Thursday. In her complaint, Maliwal alleged that Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, "slapped" her "at least seven to eight times" while she "continued screaming" and "brutally dragged" her while "kicking" her in her "chest, stomach, and pelvis area." According to the Delhi Police FIR, Maliwal described the events of May 13 when she went to the Civil Lines residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal. As the row over the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP intensified, Swati Maliwal attacked her party, accusing it of saving a "Gunda" (hitman) and indulging in her "character assassination." Maliwal's response came soon after a press conference by AAP leader Atishi, where she termed the Rajya Sabha MP's visit to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence as "part of a conspiracy." In an apparent jibe at Atishi, Maliwal stated in her post, "kal ke aaye neta" (leaders who joined the party yesterday), while drawing comparisons with her long association with AAP. The AAP MP also pointed out that while her party had initially accepted the assault against her, they have now taken a "U-turn" in the case. Delhi's Tis Hazari court recorded the statement of Swati Maliwal in the assault case on Friday. An FIR has been filed by Delhi Police against Bibhav Kumar and other persons based on her complaint. The FIR was filed under IPC Sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (Word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). (ANI) Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has said that truth will prevail in the Swati Maliwal''s assault case and the victim will get justice, adding that Delhi Police has finally registered an FIR into the matter. Chaturvedi''s remark came during the INDIA bloc rally at BKC Grounds, Maharashtra on Friday. The development comes at a time when Maliwal, who is the Aam Aadmi Party''s Rajya Sabha MP alleged on Friday that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal''s residence were being tampered with. Taking to the microblogging site X on Friday evening, Swati Maliwal, the former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) said, "I have received information that now these people are tampering with the CCTV of the house." Maliwal also tagged Delhi Police in her post. Earlier, a team of Delhi Police, led by Additional DCP Delhi North, Civil Lines Police Station SHO, and a team of forensic officials, arrived at the CM''s residence on Friday evening for scene recreation. Maliwal was also called there as part of the investigation into the alleged assault on her. The team departed from the CM''s residence at around 2.15 am on Saturday after investigation and videography of the premises. This comes after Delhi CM Kejriwal''s aide, Bibhav Kumar filed a written complaint against Maliwal, alleging unauthorized entry, verbal abuse, threats, and the possibility of the Bharatiya Janata Party''s (BJP) involvement in the matter. Notably, the Vigilance Department had last month terminated the service of Bibhav Kumar, personal assistant (PA) to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, over a pending criminal case. In his written complaint to the SHO of Civil Lines Police Station on Friday, Kumar urged authorities to take appropriate legal action against Maliwal and requested an investigation into her possible ties with BJP leaders, suggesting political motives behind the incident, especially considering the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This complaint came amid a row over Swati Maliwal''s allegations against Bibhav Kumar for ''assaulting'' her at the CM''s residence. AAP attacked Maliwal on Friday over a purported video clip from the CM''s residence that was supposedly taken on the day of the alleged assault. The video, posted by a news channel, was shared by the party with a caption that read "Swati Maliwal ka sach (Swati Maliwal''s truth)." It purportedly showed Maliwal having an argument with the security personnel at the CM''s residence. This was the first time that AAP has taken a stand against Maliwal in the case, contradicting AAP MP Sanjay Singh''s statement that Arvind Kejriwal has taken cognizance of the incident and has directed "strict action," adding that the party is "with Swati Maliwal." Earlier, the Delhi Police filed an FIR based on the complaint of Maliwal on Thursday. In her complaint, Maliwal alleged that Kejriwal''s aide, Bibhav Kumar, "slapped" her "at least seven to eight times" while she "continued screaming" and "brutally dragged" her while "kicking" her in her "chest, stomach, and pelvis area." According to the Delhi Police FIR, Maliwal described the events of May 13 when she went to the Civil Lines residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal. As the row over the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP intensified, Swati Maliwal attacked her party, accusing it of saving a "Gunda" (hitman) and indulging in her "character assassination." Maliwal''s response came soon after a press conference by AAP leader Atishi, where she termed the Rajya Sabha MP''s visit to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal''s residence as "part of a conspiracy." In an apparent jibe at Atishi, Maliwal stated in her post, "kal ke aaye neta" (leaders who joined the party yesterday), while drawing comparisons with her long association with AAP. The AAP MP also pointed out that while her party had initially accepted the assault against her, they have now taken a "U-turn" in the case. Delhi''s Tis Hazari court recorded the statement of Swati Maliwal in the assault case on Friday. An FIR has been filed by Delhi Police against Bibhav Kumar and other persons based on her complaint. The FIR was filed under IPC Sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (Word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday criticised Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for the alleged manhandling of senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal by his personal assistant Bibhav Kumar inside his official residence. CM Yadav also said that whatever needed to be said should be said by Kejriwal into the matter as it all happened at his residence. "Whatever needs to be said should be said by Arvind Kejriwal as it all happened at his party and residence. An FIR has been lodged and an arrest has been made into the matter. People are watching all these things and they will not forgive him (Kejriwal)," Yadav told ANI in Mumbai on Saturday. Notably, AAP MP Maliwal alleged that Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar "slapped" her "at least seven to eight times" while she "continued screaming" and "brutally dragged" her while "kicking" her in her "chest, stomach and pelvis area." The Delhi Police had filed an FIR following the complaint filed by Swati Maliwal against the aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. According to the Delhi Police FIR, Maliwal describes the events of May 13 when she had gone to the Civil Lines residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal. The accused Bibhav Kumar, was arrested on Friday, Delhi Police confirmed. He is to be produced before Delhi's Tis Hazari Court later on Saturday, the police informed. CM Yadav further took a dig at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on his remark that 'BJP will ban RSS' saying the Sangh needs no certificate from him and the Sangh has its nationalistic face, they are not a political party. "I want to tell Uddhav Thackeray to fight for his Shiv Sena and to take care of its internal matters. Sangh needs no certificate from him. It has its nationalistic face, they are not a political party. To raise questions on such a pious organisation isn't right," the CM added. (ANI) The Delhi Police has lodged an FIR against Lava's former MD, Hari Om Rai for sending an imposter to AIIMS to get a heart test done for an extension of interim bail on medical grounds. The Enforcement Directorate filed a complaint at Hauz Khas Police Station alleging that Rai sent another person to AIIMS in his name for a heart test on May 16. On the basis of this complaint, an FIR has been registered. The Delhi High Court on May 15 directed to get Rai's heart test done. The test was scheduled for May 16. However, Rai did not turn up; instead, he sent another person to AIIMS. It's said that ED officers were waiting outside the cardiologist's chamber. When they went inside to confirm that Rai did not turn up, they were told that Rai was inside and his test was being done. When the ED officers went inside to check, they found another person on the bed being checked by the doctors. He was identified as Naval Kishore Ram, who has heart issues. The imposter told the ED officers that he was arranged by a doctor-based Vasant Kunj. After this, Rai approached the ED and surrendered. Thereafter, his plea for an extension of interim bail was also withdrawn. Rai was arrested on October 10 of last year in a Chinese Mobile Vivo money laundering case. He was granted three months of interim bail on medical grounds on February 16. He moved a petition seeking an extension of interim bail before the Delhi High Court on May 6. (ANI) New Delhi District police busted a NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) paper-solving gang and on Saturday also arrested four persons, including two MBBS students. Devesh Kumar Mahla, DCP, New Delhi, while speaking with ANI, said that they had received a complaint of proxy students appearing for the medical entrance test. He said, "On May 5, during the examination of NEET, we received a complaint that instead of real students, proxy students have come to give the exam. Taking cognizance of the matter, we registered an FIR and transferred the case to Special Staff..." Mahla added, "During the investigation, we found that the consultant agents had misguided the children. They talked with the students and told them that they would arrange for proxy students who could give the examination on their behalf and clear it as well." Elaborating on the investigation, Mahla stated, "For this, they take huge amounts of money from their family. We got to know that these people used to mix the photos of real and proxy students with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) so that their identification becomes difficult at the exam centre." The DCP also gave information about the arrest of people related to the case. "We have arrested two people, who are agents. These are Kishori Lal, a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Prabhat Kumar, who hails from Bihar," he said. Mahla added further, "Along with these, we have also arrested proxy students. We are searching for more agents involved in this incident." Notably, Rajasthan's Bharatpur police had also arrested four accused, including the dummy candidate in the NEET exam. Mridul Kachhawa, SP, Bharatpur, had said, "At an exam centre in Bharatpur, during the biometric investigation, the agencies present there observed a mismatch in the biometrics of a candidate. Upon questioning, it was revealed that a dummy candidate had come in place of the real candidate..." Kachhawa said that during a police investigation, it was revealed that the dummy candidate was Abhishek Gupta, who was a third-year MBBS student. (ANI) Five constituencies of Bihar will go to polls during the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20: Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur. Muzaffarpur parliamentary constituency, located in North Bihar, will witness a face-off between Ajay Nishad of the Congress and Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad representing the BJP. Two-time MP from Muzaffarpur, Ajay Nishad, resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Congress on April 2. Ajay Nishad, son of veteran leader late Captain Jai Narain Prasad Nishad won this seat twice from BJP in 2014 and 2019 and is contesting on a Congress ticket. BJP did not give him the ticket: It is said that his report in the party's internal survey was not good. Dr Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad, who had fought against Nishad from Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in 2019, is a candidate from BJP this time. BJP, in its fifth list of candidates, gave the election ticket to Raj Bhushan Choudhary from Muzaffarpur, who was defeated by Ajay Nishad in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with more than 4.10 lakh votes. After joining the Congress, Ajay Nishad said, "I always worked as per the party. They (the BJP) said that the survey was not good for me. The party leaders (of Congress Party) will decide this and I am ready (to contest elections)." Earlier, while resigning from the BJP, the Muzaffarpur MP said that he was shocked by the betrayal of the BJP. "Respected @JPNadda ji, shocked by the betrayal of @BJP4India, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party," he posted on X. The Congress expects Nishad's candidature to help them consolidate votes from the extremely backward classes in Muzaffarpur. Earlier, Muzaffarpur used to be a Congress stronghold. In 1952, Shyam Nandan Sahay of Congress became the first MP. Praja Socialist Party (PSP's) Ashok Mehta won in 1957 and Congress's Digvijay Narain won in 1962 and 1967. In 1971, senior Congress leader Nawal Kishore Sinha won from here. George Fernandes won on Janata Party ticket in 1977 and 1980. There are about 17.5 lakh voters in this seat. The upper caste voters are three and a half lakh, Yadavs are two and a half lakh, Muslims are two lakh and Vaishya are two and a half lakh. The main election issues are poor infrastructure, lack of clean drinking water, hospitals, drainage systems and roads. People had expected an airport to be built in Muzaffarpur, but it was built in Darbhanga. Recently while addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur, PM Modi attacked the INDIA bloc leaders over remarks made by Farooq Abdullah, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and said that it appeared that certain leaders of the INDIA bloc had taken 'Supari' to speak against India. The Prime Minister said that there is a storm in favour of the BJP and NDA in the country.PM Modi further said that the people of Muzaffarpur and Bihar have suffered the wounds of Naxalism for decades and that RJD's Jungle Raj had pushed Bihar back several decades.PM Modi asserted that during the Congress regime, an LED bulb used to cost Rs 400 and in Modi's regime, it costs Rs 40-50. The RJD and the Congress are allies in the INDIA bloc, formed to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined hands with the BJP in January 2024, leading to the collapse of the 'Mahagathbandhan' government in the state. Notably, the 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases. In 2019, BJP-led NDA swept the state by winning 39 out of 40 seats, while Congress won just one seat. RJD, a formidable force in the state failed to open its account. The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats. As part of the NDA, BJP and JD(U) will contest on 17 and 16 seats respectively. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest five seats, and Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest one seat each.The counting of votes will be held on June 4. (ANI) Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Saturday demanded to hand over the investigation into the alleged obscene video case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Speaking to ANI on Saturday, BY Vijayendra said, "Many prominent names are being heard in connection with this case. Therefore I want to tell the state government that the victims should get justice and for that to happen it is not possible for the SIT but rather the case should be handed over to the CBI. This is what I'm requesting from the state government." Earlier in the day, HD Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief, urged to "pursue all possible" legal action against his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna in connection with the case. The former PM, however, alleged that the case against his son and Holenarasipura MLA HD Revanna was orchestrated. HD Revanna was arrested on May 4 in connection with an alleged abduction case and was subsequently released on bail on May 14. "HD Kumaraswamy has already spoken on behalf of our family and party regarding the allegations against Prajwal Revanna and HD Revanna. The government must pursue all possible legal avenues against Prajwal Revanna. However, it is evident that the cases against HD Revanna were orchestrated to target him," Deve Gowda told reporters on Saturday. Despite refraining from naming specific individuals, Deve Gowda echoed Kumaraswamy's criticism of the state government and Congress leader DK Shivakumar, hinting at broader involvement in the scandal. "Many individuals are implicated in this case. It is essential that all those involved are held accountable, and justice is delivered to all the women who have been victimized," he said. Earlier on May 6, the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had urged the centre to help the Karnataka SIT team in its investigation by helping bring Prajwal Revanna to India from abroad. "The Special Investigation Team constituted to probe the allegations of sexual assault against MP Prajwal Revanna will conduct an independent and impartial investigation in which the state government will not interfere even a single inch. The success of the SIT investigation is now entirely dependent on the cooperation of the Central Government. The central government should cooperate in bringing the accused Prajwal Revanna, who is said to be abroad, to India," CM Siddaramaiah said. HD Revanna and his son, Prajwal Revanna, are facing a probe by an SIT constituted by the Karnataka government over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked in their household. (ANI) According to a Defence Ministry release, Air Marshal PK Vohra, Senior Air Staff Officer, Western Air Command was the Reviewing officer for the parade. The Reviewing Officer congratulated the Garuds on the successful completion of their training. He emphasised the importance of rigorous training and honing of Special Forces skills to keep pace with the changing security scenario. He then presented the Maroon Beret, Garud Proficiency Badge and Special Forces Tabs to the successful Garud trainees and gave away trophies to the meritorious trainees. The best all-rounder trophy was presented to Flight Lieutenant Shashwat Rana, the release said. As part of the ceremony, Garuds demonstrated combat firing skills, hostage rescue, firing drills, assault explosives, obstacle crossing drills, wall climbing, slithering, rappelling and military martial arts. The Maroon Beret Ceremonial Parade is a significant event that marks the culmination of an extremely demanding training schedule. These newly passed-out trainees enter the elite Garud force and add strength to the operational capability of IAF. (ANI) Calling the leaders of the Congress party and INDIA bloc as "spokespersons" of Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Opposition saying this is "Modi's era" and "Hum ghar mein ghus kar marte hain". Targeting leaders of INDIA bloc for cautioning India to be "scared" of Pakistan, PM Modi reminded the opposition that ceasefire violations have been reduced at the border during his 10-year regime. Referring to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's remark that 'Pakistan has atom bombs', PM Modi at a public gathering in Haryana's Sonipat, said, "Congress has been out of power for 10 years, so it is completely frustrated. They are remembering the old days when the royal family used to run the government through remote control. All the schemes used to be in the name of one family. In the name of schemes, the country's money went into the coffers of corrupt people, scams worth lakhs and crores of rupees took place." He attacked the Congress party and INDIA bloc accusing them of being "spokespersons" of Pakistan and said that the Opposition wants India to be "scared" of Pakistan. "During Congress rule, firings happened on borders regularly, there was continuous news of ceasefire violations...Modi didn't do anything, it's all the power of your vote. All I did was gave full freedom to our soldiers. I said there is no need to keep a count of the bullets, and the result is in front of all of you," PM Modi said. He added, "But, Modi's decisions are breaking the heart of the Congress and INDI alliance. They cannot see this condition of Pakistan, so now Congress people are threatening India by being Pakistan's spokesperson. They are saying Pakistan has a nuclear bomb...This is Modi's era -- 'Hum ghar mein ghus kar marte hain'." Taking his attack further, he accused the Congress party of doing "appeasement politics" and said their manifesto resembles that of the Muslim League. "All of Congress' tactics is just around appeasement politics. Their election manifesto resembles that of Muslim League. They want to do an x-ray of people, they will evaluate how much money, jewellery and property people have, and if they find it to be more, they will distribute it among the 'vote jihad'," the Prime Minister said. Prime Minister Modi also slammed the Congress party over the abrogation of Article 370. He alleged that Congress wants to bring back Article 370, while strongly affirming that it will never be allowed to happen. "A leader of INDI alliance told the media- five years five Prime Ministers. You tell me will the country benefit from this? Will you throw this country into instability? This is a chance to run the government and not to eat sweets," PM Modi said. "Congress is no longer hiding its anti-national agenda. They are openly saying that they will destroy whatever Modi has done...We have dumped the wall of 370 into 'Kabristaan'...Their leaders are saying that they will bring back Article 370 in Kashmir, which means terrorism will again be given a free hand and there will be bloodshed in Kashmir again...Now only our tricolour will fly in Kashmir. I want to give it in writing, this is Modi, give up the dream of bringing back Article 370. If you try, you will have to suffer the consequences," he added. Voting for all 10 seats in Haryana will occur in a single phase of the sixth phase on May 25. The counting of votes will be done on June 4. In 2019, BJP swept the state by winning all 2019 seats. (ANI) The Tis Hazari Court in Delhi has sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide, Bibhav Kumar, to five-day police custody after he was arrested in connection with AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal's assault case. Bibhav Kumar was produced before the court late on Saturday night. Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal remanded Bibhav Kumar to five-day police custody for questioning. He is scheduled to be produced before the court on May 23, after the expiration of his remand. Delhi Police had sought seven days of custody for Bibhav Kumar, who was produced before the court around 9.15 pm. He was arrested by Delhi police at 4.15 pm. Delhi police have registered a case under sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 354B (assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Srivastava argued over the custody of Bibhav Kumar. "He has been arrested today. The complainant is a public figure and an AAP MP," the APP submitted. "She was brutally beaten and attacked in sensitive parts," he added. "We asked for the DVR, which was provided on a pen drive. The footage was found to be blank," APP argued. APP submitted that an iPhone has been given to the police, but now the accused is not sharing the password and that the phone has been formatted. APP Srivastava submitted that the accused was present even today at the place of the occurrence. "The accused has influence over the witnesses. In this case, footage was deleted, the phone was formatted, and the accused himself reached the place of occurrence," the APP submitted. The accused has not shared the password for his phone. He has to be taken to the expert to get the phone password. The phone has been formatted, and he has been taken to Mumbai, APP Srivastava added. "He was terminated from the service. It is a question of how he was able to reach the CM's residence," the APP submitted, adding that we have to find out whether he is connected to anti-social elements or not. Defense counsel Rajiv Mohan argued and submitted that the incident occurred on May 13. There is a delay of three days. "Swati Maliwal visited the CM's residence camp office at 9 AM on May 13. There was neither permission nor any prior appointment," the defense counsel submitted. The defence counsel submitted that her visit to the CM house was on her own accord. There was no allure for her to visit the CM house. There is no mention in this regard. Defense counsel submitted that the CM is a public figure, but not all the time. "The alleged fact can be verified by the security personnel who are of the Delhi police," the defense counsel submitted. Defense counsel further argued that the police are distorting the facts. The complainant made a PCR call, and police were present outside the CM's residence. The defense counsel submitted that what stopped her from filing a complaint the same day of the assault. The complaint was lodged on May 16. "She made a PCR call but did not wait for the response. Why did Maliwal not report the matter to the police if she was beaten?" the defense counsel submitted. The PCR call was made from inside the CM's house, which is the VIP area. PCR reached the spot, but she did not ask to be taken to the hospital, the defense counsel submitted. "PCR calls are recorded, and police personnel attending file a report. She also visited the police station, Civil lines and narrated the incident to the SHO. There is no need for seven-day custody as this case is not the use of a weapon," the defence counsel submitted. "The complainant did not make a complaint to the SHO. There is no mention of any treatment at any private hospital in four days," the defense counsel added further. "The complainant filed a complaint after three days, but she did not take treatment for her alleged injuries. Two DD entries were made by the police, and there is no reporting on these two till May 16. In FIR, it is mentioned that there is no delay. But what happened on two DDs is not mentioned anywhere," the defense counsel submitted. "There is no mention of any medical documents, not even an MLC, on record," the defense counsel submitted. "The incident pertains to May 13, but the complaint was lodged on May 16 as the complainant thought she committed a trespass in the CM's house. She made a call from there. There is no CCTV camera in my (CM) drawing room or cameras on the gate," the defense counsel submitted. "It is not in our control, police can get the data from the department," the defense counsel submitted. Delhi police countered the submission and said the CCTV footage was under the control of PWD. There is no CCTV in the drawing room. CCTV data can be collected only from the main gate to the residential area, the defense counsel submitted. "Can I (Bibhav) be compelled to give the password of my phone?" the defense counsel submitted. The accused cannot be compelled to give a password, the defense counsel submitted. "If there are no allegations of messing with WhatsApp from the accused, then what is significant about the formatting of the phone?" the defense counsel submitted. The defense counsel submitted, "The accused was arrested today at 4.15 pm in haste as I filed an anticipatory bail. A copy of the anticipatory bail application was supplied to the police at 2.00 pm in advance. There was no requirement of arrest. Two DD entries were not inquired into." "It is submitted that the arrest in this case is not justified, therefore the remand should not be granted," said defense counsel Rajiv Mohan. "No ground of arrest was mentioned. The accused was arrested only to render the anticipatory bail application infructuous," defense counsel Shadan Farasat submitted. "The lady was beaten by a person whom she had known for a long time. She was disturbed by the goonda behaviour, and it took her three days to gather her courage," Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava rebutted. "The complainant was not a trespasser, but the accused is himself a trespasser," APP rebutted. "SHO attended the call himself and went to the CM house," APP Atul Srivastava submitted. Speaking to the media after the Court's decision, additional public prosecutor, Atul Srivastava, said that the accused was produced and a request was made by the police for the grant of seven-day custody remand, which had been argued extensively on behalf of the defense as well. "After considering the entire aspect, the Metropolitan Magistrate was pleased to grant five days of police custody remand. One of the grounds for seeking custody was that he was to be taken to Mumbai for a proper investigation, and that has been considered," Srivastava said. Following the court's decision, Rishikesh Kumar, the advocate and counsel for Bibhav Kumar, said that the police filed an application seeking seven days of remand. And out of the seven days of remand, five days of remand have been ordered, after which he will be produced on May 23. Speaking about the relief granted to the accused, the defense counsel said, "Bibhav Kumar has been allowed to meet his lawyer during the investigation and the family members, and if any medicines are required, he will be duly supplied." (ANI) Seventeen of the 20 American doctors who were stuck in Gaza after Israel shut the border crossing from Rafah to Egypt have safely departed the enclave, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday. The Americans who made their way out did so with the support of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, said a State Department spokesperson. "We have been in close contact with the groups that these US doctors are part of, and we have been in contact with the families of these US citizens," the spokesperson added. CNN reported, citing that the three American doctors who opted not to depart Gaza did so understanding that the US Embassy may not be able to facilitate their departure in the same manner, the source familiar said. They added that it "was an extremely unique operation." The Embassy team travelled to Kerem Shalom crossing to receive the doctors at the border, the source added, without providing details about how the doctors travelled to the border crossing. CNN reported that the aid organizations will face challenges getting doctors back into Gaza following the departure of 17 of the 20 American doctors who were stuck there after Israel shut the border crossing from Rafah to Egypt. Sources familiar with the efforts to help the American doctors escape said that backfilling them remains a major concern, largely because the Rafah crossing remains closed after the Israeli military seized it early last week. The Rafah crossing, when it was operating, was the only entry and exit point for foreign aid workers. Israeli and Egyptian officials have so far failed to reach an agreement on reopening it. One of the doctors who decided to stay behind is Dr. Adam Hamawy, who helped save Sen. Tammy Duckworth''s life 20 years ago in Iraq, according to a source familiar with the matter. Hamawy travelled to Gaza with the Palestinian American Medical Association and did not feel right leaving without other doctors coming in to take over, CNN reported citing source. Many members of Congress, including Duckworth, are working with the Biden administration to push Israel to do more to get aid and humanitarian workers into Gaza, and to get the protections needed for those workers. Earlier this week, a top USAID official said that Israel was not doing enough to ensure the safety of aid works. "The deconfliction measures are not where they need to be yet, given the complexity of the environment. So those conversations are ongoing, they need to continue and they need to get to a place where humanitarian aid workers feel safe and secure and able to operate safely. And I don''t think we''re there yet," said Sonali Korde, assistant to the administrator of USAID''s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, noting that Gaza is a "very dangerous place to work." (ANI) The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has vehemently criticised the federal and Punjab governments for their recent attempts to amend the defamation law, denouncing it as a fascist manoeuver aimed at quelling dissent and suppressing media freedom, Dawn reported. In a joint statement released on Friday, PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Arshad Ansari lambasted the authorities, accusing them of pushing forward with authoritarian measures that undermine the ability of journalists to fulfil their professional obligations and hold those in power accountable. The PFUJ expressed alarm over the Punjab government's decision to revise the defamation law, while also highlighting Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's disclosure of plans to penalise individuals involved in the dissemination of classified documents, as reported by Dawn. According to the union, Asif outlined punitive measures, including a two-year imprisonment term, for individuals found responsible for such actions. The PFUJ's statement follows the unveiling of a proposed amendment known as the Punjab Defamation Bill 2024, which the union deems more draconian than the Defamation Ordinance of 2002 introduced during the tenure of military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf. Describing the bill as containing an overly broad definition of defamation and imposing harsh financial penalties and sweeping restrictions on commentary related to ongoing legal proceedings, the PFUJ asserted that its primary objective is to instill fear among those considering criticism or airing grievances against those in positions of authority. The union of journalists questioned the rationale behind amending defamation laws, suggesting that the process lacked transparency and asserting that existing legislation adequately addresses defamation concerns. Accusing Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz of adopting dictatorial tactics, the PFUJ leaders decried efforts to silence journalists through the threat of legal action, fines, and arrests, calling on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to defend press freedom and oppose the proposed legislation. Asserting that any legislative changes should involve consultation with all stakeholders, the PFUJ accused Nawaz's administration of mirroring the repressive tactics employed by past military regimes, particularly highlighting concerns raised by Defence Minister Asif's statements, which they interpreted as echoing anti-democratic sentiments. Warning of widespread opposition from the journalist community, the union vowed to launch a nationwide campaign against what they perceive as fascist measures by the government, Dawn reported. (ANI) Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chaired the 28th session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK), titled "Unity. Creation. Progress," during which he focused on his government's efforts to aid those impacted by severe floods that began nearly a month ago. According to a release by the Embassy of Kazakhstan, participants in the session included Senate deputies from the APK, leaders and members of republican ethnocultural associations, APK volunteers, and regional delegates of the Assembly via video conference. On flooding in Kazakhstan, President Tokayev emphasised that the people of Kazakhstan showed unity and togetherness during the difficult days experienced by the country during the flooding. He said, "As a result of coordinated actions by the government, state agencies, specialised services, and the assistance of volunteers, more than 119,000 people, including almost 45,000 children, were evacuated in a timely manner." "In a very short time, the national and regional headquarters of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan were established to provide comprehensive support to the victims of flooding. A large-scale campaign, "From Heart to Heart," is underway, having already dispatched over 1,500 tonnes of food and essential goods worth approximately 770 million tenge to the disaster areas," he also said. The involvement of 12,000 volunteers from ethnic-cultural associations in collecting charitable and humanitarian aid, organising evacuations, and informing citizens exemplifies the unity and mutual aid among citizens. The primary task is to ensure the safety of citizens. "The government is taking all necessary measures, and appropriate funds have been allocated. Large companies and business representatives are also providing assistance. The government will reduce budgetary expenses in favour of urgent tasks to eliminate the consequences of the floods. A regime of strict economy of state funds will be introduced in the country," the President also said. The government is committed to a rapid and comprehensive response to natural disasters, including compensation for damages, construction of housing, and restoration of infrastructure. A significant financial commitment from the state to ensure the well-being of its citizens, with an expedited timeline of 5 months for major reconstruction efforts, the Embassy of Kazakhstan said. The President announced that the affected families will receive a one-time payment and compensation for damaged or destroyed property after assessments. The state will repair damaged housing and construct new homes, replacing those destroyed in the floods. Large-scale construction is expected to provide new opportunities for citizens to relocate to areas with better economic and environmental conditions, he also said. President Tokayev also shed light on tackling floods and preventing natural disasters in the future "There is a need to fundamentally rebuild the interaction between the state and science to create an effective system for combating natural disasters. The Kazakh Hydromeliorative Construction Institute will be reestablished, and the work of the Institute of Seismology in Almaty will be enhanced. There needs to be special focus on studying and mitigating climate change impacts," he said. The entire water management system will be reorganised, including modernising companies like "Kazvodhoz" and "Nurinsky Group Water Supply." Twenty new reservoirs will be constructed, and 15 existing ones will be reconstructed across 11 regions of Kazakhstan to reduce flooding risks in 134 settlements. The Development Concept for Water Resources Management will be enhanced to include advanced international practices for flood prevention and impact reduction, according to the Embassy of Kazakhstan. "The technical resources of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will be updated and its supply of specialised equipment will be enhanced, including helicopters and airplanes. The National Hydrogeological Service will be reestablished to explore and protect underground water resources. Ongoing initiatives to green and clean territories across all regions, urging local community engagement to improve living conditions," he also said. President Tokayev briefly touched upon the reforms in the country, noting that all branches of power are now operating in a new coordinate system, centred on protecting and promoting the legitimate interests, rights, and freedoms of the individual. "Kazakhstan has begun transitioning to a new economic model based on principles of fairness, inclusivity, pragmatism, and laying a solid foundation for improving the welfare of its citizens. Kazakhstan is building a country of equal opportunities, where everyone will have a decent standard of living," he added. Meanwhile, in international relations and foreign affairs, Tokayev covered several issues related to global affairs and challenges. Citizens of Kazakhstan can visit dozens of countries without a visa, and this list is continually expanding thanks to the country's targeted efforts. Kazakhstan is currently ranked 66th in the World Passport Index. Every citizen of Kazakhstan enjoys all the privileges regardless of ethnic background, views, and beliefs. The turquoise passport of Kazakhstan symbolises the high values upon which our country is built. It is recognised worldwide as the document of a progressive, modern state, according to the Embassy of Kazakhstan. Founded in 1995, the assembly is a constitutional body aimed at strengthening the ethnic accord in the country and ensuring all rights and freedoms of citizens are observed regardless of one's ethnic affiliation. (ANI) Pakistan independent Senator Faisal Vawda rebuked the remarks by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and demanded evidence for being called a 'proxy' after the Senator came out against the judges of the IHC over their letter, alleging spying by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs, reported ARY News. The High Court had taken exception when Justice Athar Minallah while pointing towards the AGP at a hearing, regretted that the judiciary was "being threatened through proxies". Senator Faisal Vawda, on Friday, castigated the remarks by IHC Judge Athar Minallah. In an ARY News program 'Aitraaz Hai,' Vawda asserted not to remain silent but to seek proof of this allegation, as it is his democratic right as a Pakistani national to question. Emphasising that it is his democratic right as a Pakistani national to question these accusations, Vawda said that no one should make such claims without having proof to support the allegations, ARY News reported. He further expressed his readiness to appear before the Chief Justice on June 5, adding that it is an honour to appear and get a chance to address before an 'impartial bench'. Moreover, Vawda said that he would accept the Supreme Court judge's decision and is willing to apologise if found guilty, as reported by ARY News. Earlier on Friday, the Pakistan apex court issued contempt of court notices to independent Senator Faisal Vawda and MQM-Pakistan MNA Mustafa Kamal over anti-judiciary rhetoric. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and including Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan heard the case. The apex took suo moto notice of a press conference held by Senator Faisal Vawda who demanded evidence of interference in the judiciary. "Stop targeting the institutions, enough is enough. If there is any interference by institutions, then provide evidence and we will stand together (against it)," the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader said during the presser. Claiming that the country's agencies were being targeted again and again, the Senator said, "Give evidence and we will stand with you." (ANI) Tensions rode high during a United States House Committee meeting with lawmakers of the Republican and Democratic Parties, who resorted to hurling body shaming insults at each other. Republican Party Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene sparked outrage when she made a comment on the appearance of Democratic Party Representative Jasmine Crockett, CNN reported. The House panel had met on Thursday to discuss holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur. During the hearing, Greene told Crockett, "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading." According to ABC News, Democrats called for Greene's eyelash comment to Crockett to be struck off from the record and the congresswoman to be barred from speaking for the rest of the proceedings. Greene repeatedly shouted she was "not apologizing." Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Greene's remarks were "absolutely unacceptable -- how dare you attack the physical appearance of another person?" To this Greene responded with "Are your feelings hurt? Awww," Greene replied. "Why don't you debate me?" Ocasio-Cortez then replied: "I think it's pretty self-evident." And Greene responded: "Yeah, you don't have enough intelligence." CNN reported that Crockett, however, did not take Greene's remarks lying down. And made a dig that appeared to be directed at the Republican. "I'm just curious. Just to better understand your ruling. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach blonde bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?" Crockett said. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer responded, "Uh, what now?" Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, said he is disappointed in the chaos and name-calling that happened. "It was not a good look for Congress," the speaker told ABC News. "We all -- I think -- need to control the emotions better and get the job done." (ANI) After Pakistan advises students in the Kyrgyz Republic to stay indoors as mob violence continues against international students, Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch said that a demarche has been made with Kyrgyzstan at the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. Spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch emphasised that the Kyrgyz Republic have been impressed to take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students. "At the instructions of DPM @MIshaqDar50 a demarche has been made with the Kyrgyz Republic. They have been impressed to take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani students and citizens residing in the Kyrgyz Republic," Mumtaz Baloch said in a post shared on X. https://x.com/Mumtazzb/status/1791718018860356070 Reportedly, there have been several incidents of mob violence against foreign students in Bishkek since last evening, the Pakistan embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a social media post, adding that the situation heated up on Friday due to the sharing of videos online of a fight between Kyrgyz students and medical students from Egypt on May 13. She further highlighted that the Pakistan embassy has opened emergency helplines and is in close contact with senior Kyrgyz authorities. "Pakistan Embassy has opened emergency helplines & is responding to queries of students & their families. Amb @hazaigham has been in close contact with senior Kyrgyz authorities. 4 Pakistanis were provided first aid and discharged while one is under treatment for jaw injury," she added. Further, she stressed that the Pakistan government has pledged to hold an inquiry and punish the perpetrators. Mumtaz stated, "Government of Pakistan has been in contact with the Kyrghyz Government to ensure the safety & security of its nationals at risk in view of the mob riots of last night. They have expressed regret at the incidents of violence, pledged to hold an inquiry & punish the perpetrators." Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday expressed concerns about the ongoing situation in the Kyrgyz Republic and instructed Pakistan's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan to facilitate them. "The reports of mob attacks on students in the Kyrgyz Republic are extremely concerning. We have established contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure the protection of Pakistani students. I have instructed our Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan to fully facilitate them," he said in a post shared on X. Moreover, a few hospitals of medical universities in Kyrgyz's capital and private residences of international students have been attacked, the Pakistan embassy said. "The hostels are inhabited by students from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There have been reports of light injuries to a number of students from Pakistan," it added. "So far, the violence appears to be directed against all foreign students and not specific to Pakistanis," the Pakistan embassy stressed. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Kyrgyzstan advised the Indian students to stay indoors and to get in touch with the Indian embassy. The Indian embassy also shared a helpline contact number for the students. "We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 24x7 contact number is 0555710041," the Indian embassy in Kyrgyz posted on X. (ANI) The United States has called on China to provide information about the 11th Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism after Dalai Lama, who was "abducted" at the age of six by People's Republic of China 29 years ago. The press release of the US State Department underscored ongoing concerns about human rights and religious freedom in China, particularly in Tibet and other areas with Tibetan populations. On May 17, the press statement of the US State Department said, "Today marks 29 years since the People's Republic of China (PRC) abducted the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, as a six-year-old child". It added, "Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains missing and has not appeared in public since that day. The PRC government is denying members of the Tibetan community access to this important religious figure and instead continues to promote a state-selected proxy." The statement further said, "The United States supports Tibetans' human rights and their exercise of those rights in connection with their distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic identity. Tibetans, like members of all religious communities, should have the ability to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs and without government interference." Taking to the social media platform X, Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the United States Department of State, and Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, also called for Beijing to be held accountable for the issue at hand. https://x.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1791447853472059522 The disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 17, 1995 remains a deeply concerning issue. Days later, the Chinese government's anointed its own Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu, who has faced widespread rejection from Buddhists both in Tibet and around the world. The Panchen Lama controversy is a poignant reminder of the ongoing tensions between China and Tibet, and the suppression of Tibetan religious and cultural autonomy by the Chinese government. Despite international pressure and calls for his release, Panchen Lama's whereabouts remain unknown. (ANI) Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Central Working Committee (CWK) on Saturday accepted the resignation of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from the party's presidency and nominated him as acting president, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. On May 13, Shehbaz Sharif stepped down from the position of PML-N President, stating that "the time has come" for his brother Nawaz Sharif to retake his "rightful place as the president of the party." In 2018, former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif was removed as PML-N president after a Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar in a verdict said that an individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as head of PML-N. Earlier in April, PML-N's Punjab President Rana Sanaullah urged party supremo Nawaz Sharif to assume its presidency after he got relief in the cases registered against him, Dawn reported. PML-N's General Council has been convened at 11 am on May 28, which is when Nawaz Sharif will be elected president of the party, as per the party leadership. Moreover, Rana Sanaullah has been nominated as the PML-N's chief election commissioner. The latest developments came as the PML-N held a meeting in Lahore's Model Town, which lasted for more than an hour and a half. Several PML-N leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, and Khawaja Saad Rafique attended the meeting. The meeting presided over by the PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal announced the acceptance of Shehbaz Sharif's resignation. He was praised for taking care of PML-N for seven years, according to Dawn report. Following this, PML-N leaders proposed Shehbaz Sharif's name as party president, which received the support of other members, including PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, the report said. According to PML-N leadership, Nawaz Sharif will be the final president of the party. However, considering the party rules, Shehbaz Sharif has been nominated as the president of the party. (ANI) Baloch Yakjeheti Committee (BYC), a Baloch rights organization from Balochistan, organized a day-long conference in Quetta Press Club on Saturday highlighting the issue of erecting a wall of barbed fencing around Gwadar city, calling it a project to open prison for locals. The fencing project, if and when completed, will cut off the heart of Gwadar city. China, which is worried about the safety of its men and machines stationed at the strategic Gwadar port, has forced the Pakistanis to create a divide in Gwadar restricting the local Balochis from travelling within the city. The conference witnessed participation from Baloch rights activists, journalists, students, panelists locals and intellectuals. Initially, the BYC announced organizing the conference at the Quetta Press Club. However, several reports after the announcement pointed out that Pakistan's defense personnel blocked the entrances of the Press Club. In a post on X, prominent Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch stated, "Authorities locked the press club gate, violating its sanctity, just before the event began. We raised the issue with the press club administration but were told that the press club office bearers have no control over civil administration and authorities. The assistant commissioner of Quetta is creating trouble on behalf of powerful agencies." https://x.com/MahrangBaloch_/status/1791742623541272597 In a video statement, Mahrang Baloch stated that conference panellists are standing outside, however, the press club has been locked. She highlighted the issues faced by the people of Balochistan. Baloch stated, "Our conference panellists are standing outside but the press club has been locked. The District Collector and the Assistant Commissioner are present here and have taken orders from the defence forces not to let this event happen." "If Pakistan claims that there is no fencing of Gwadar city, then why is there so much resistance against organizing this event? This is the level of freedom of expression in Balochistan, the head of the press club and the press secretary have been captured within the premises of the Press Club, and a peaceful conference is being interrupted," she added. The BYC said that later, the defence forces were eventually revoked and the BYC was able to organize the conference on Gwadar fencing. During the event, activists like writer and activist Mohammad Ali Talpur in a speech on CPEC highlighted Gwadar fencing and its geopolitical impact on Balochistan. In a post on X, the BYC stated, "The full-day conference #COFG2024 organized by BYC has been successfully continuing at the Quetta Press Club, where esteemed guests and participants are present. This gathering has facilitated insightful and critical discussions and meaningful exchanges on the critical issue of fencing Gwadar." https://x.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1791742629501166063 "We are grateful to our scholars, lawyers, and political activists who have gathered here to play their positive role in the struggle against the apartheid and oppressive regime, and their policies of segregation and division of Gwadar. However, the administration and the so-called law enforcement agencies are barring some participants from joining the conference," it added. https://x.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1791747380741611562 In another statement shared on X, the BYC stated that Quetta's district administration has blocked the entrance to the Press Club and stopped participants from joining the conference. It said that state institutions justify their environment of terror In another statement on the same, the BYC stated "The district administration of Quetta has blocked the entrance of the Press Club and barred participants from joining the conference. On every occasion, state institutions justify their environment of terror, which they have maintained for decades. Voices are suppressed, people are abducted and killed, and they cannot tolerate a peaceful academic conference. Every means of expression has been sanctioned. Meanwhile, they are brutally plundering resources and selling them to foreigners." Previously, the BYC organized a protest at the Javed Complex in Gwadar as BYC's resistance against what they perceive as exploitative policies by the state aimed at displacing indigenous inhabitants. The BYC's resistance movement denounces the fencing of Gwadar as detrimental to the livelihoods and security of the local populace. Highlighting the plight of those affected by enforced disappearances and recent floods that ravaged the region, the committee contends that the fencing serves the interests of external stakeholders while disregarding the welfare of indigenous communities. (ANI) Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has nominated the public security minister, To Lam, to be the country's next president, months after his predecessor stepped down as part of an anti-corruption crackdown, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday. The decision was taken following the party's central committee's approval of To Lam's name for the president post on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported, citing Vietnam News Agency. 66-year-old Lam has been public security minister since 2016 and has taken a hard line on human rights movements in the country. In March, President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little more than a year in office due to "violations" and "shortcomings", the party said. Al Jazeera reported that Thuong was the second president to quit in two years amid an anti-corruption crackdown that has seen several senior politicians fired and top business leaders tried for fraud and corruption. When he took office, Thuong said he was "determined to fight corruption" and was believed to be close to party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - who is seen as the most powerful figure in the country. Thousands of people, including top officials and senior business leaders, have been caught up the country's "blazing furnace" campaign against corruption, which has touched the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics and is led by Trong. Tran Thanh Man, 61, was also nominated as the new head of Vietnam's National Assembly, state media said, becoming one of Vietnam's four most powerful leaders, Al Jazeera reported. Man succeeds Vuong Dinh Hue, who asked to step down last month because of "violations and shortcomings." The nominations have been accepted by the party's central committee but will be officially voted in by the National Assembly, which is due to meet next week. All top leadership "must be truly united, truly exemplary, wholehearted and devoted to the common cause", the central committee said, Al Jazeera reported. In April, a court in Vietnam sentenced a property tycoon to death for her role in a USD 12.5 billion financial fraud case, the country's largest on record. Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery and violations of banking rules at the end of a trial in Ho Chi Minh City. (ANI) The crash took place at 4:45 a.m., when a 2001 Dodge Durango headed east on the highway near its intersection with Old Evergreen Road ran off the right side of the road, according to a news release. The vehicle then hit a mailbox and a tree. TOKYO, May 18 (News On Japan) - An estimated 68,000 elderly people die alone in Japan each year, according to recent data. From January to March this year, about 17,000 people aged 65 and over were found deceased in their homes. Addressing this issue of social isolation in Japan is becoming increasingly important. In Tokyo's Sugamo district, elderly residents shared their thoughts on this matter. A man in his 70s living alone commented, 'It's fate, I suppose. Honestly, being alone is lonely.' An elderly couple in their 80s mentioned, 'We try to always be together to avoid loneliness. We're discussing what to do if one of us ends up alone, considering options like moving into a care facility.' A woman in her 70s living with her daughter's family said, 'Even though we live together, we have different living spaces. I do want to join in, but I don't want to be a burden.' As the number of elderly living alone increases, studies suggest that social isolation can elevate the risks of stroke and dementia. Combating 'Kodoku-shoku' with Virtual Reality To tackle the issue of solitary meals, known as 'kodoku-shoku,' Hyogo Prefecture's Minamiawaji City initiated a project in 2017 called 'Virtual Granny.' This project allows elderly individuals to virtually dine with a grandmotherly figure via video. Takayuki Doi from the city's Food Promotion Division explained, 'We want to prevent isolation and solitary meals among the elderly. Eating alone can be dull, but sharing a meal, even virtually, can make it enjoyable.' In the videos, a grandmotherly figure says, 'Good morning. Breakfast is ready,' creating a sense of shared dining. This initiative provides a simulated experience of dining with a large family, making meals feel less lonely. Ryusaburo Nakata, an associate professor at Hokusei Gakuen University, noted, 'Even seeing oneself in a mirror while eating can make the food taste better. We've confirmed with both elderly people and students that virtual dining improves the eating experience.' Businesses Turning 'Kodoku-shoku' into Opportunities Businesses are also exploring ways to reduce solitary dining. A startup named 'shokujii' organizes lunch events aimed at fostering communal dining experiences. At a recent lunch, 12 participants, mostly aged 20 to 50 and living alone, gathered to share a meal. These events, held around 30 times a month at community spaces and senior centers, facilitate social interaction and reduce loneliness. Ken Soga, a 41-year-old certified public accountant, said, 'Living alone at 41, I join these events hoping to meet new people. At home, I have a cat, so I'm not lonely, but cats aren't conversational partners.' Mayu Sato, a 29-year-old engineer, added, 'These gatherings are enjoyable and make meals tastier. Cooking for oneself can be tedious and limited in variety, but dining with others expands the menu.' Naohiro Yasukawa, president of Nijyuu-ni, which operates shokujii, reflected, 'The pandemic made loneliness unbearable. We don't want to return to that state and hope to reduce the number of people feeling that way.' These efforts highlight the importance of addressing social isolation and finding innovative ways to connect individuals, especially the elderly, to foster a sense of community and improve quality of life. Source: ANN Moroccan-Spanish cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organized crime, and cybercrime was at the focus of talks held this Friday in Agadir by Director General of Moroccos National Security and Territorial Surveillance, Abdellatif Hammouchi, and Director-General of the Spanish national police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras. The Spanish official who is leading a delegation of the national police taking part in the 5th DGSN Open Days, held this year in Agadir, told the media after the meeting that cooperation between DGSN and the Spanish national police is very effective, especially in three key areas, namely the fight against terrorism, organized crime, and cybercrime. The two institutions enjoy important cooperation also in the field of training, which is fundamental to guarantee citizens security in the two countries, he said. The Spanish official noted that Spain and Morocco are two neighboring and friendly countries that cooperate in all areas, including security. Security forces and bodies across the world are currently facing global challenges that can only be effectively addressed through international cooperation, he pointed out. Regarding the Spanish national police delegations presence in the 5th DGSN Open Days, he said the delegation is honored to attend this event. We have closely observed the efforts to modernize Moroccan police made by DGSN, which I would like to congratulate, he said. The 5th edition of the Open Days hosted by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) is held in Agadir May 16-21, under the theme National Security: Citizenship and Solidarity. This civic initiative aims to inform the public about the DGSNs modernization efforts to ensure safety and maintain public order. Morocco and the World Bank have reaffirmed their shared will to strengthen their cooperation, and called, in this connection, for the acceleration of their partnership through a new joint roadmap This came during a meeting in Washington between Moroccos ambassador to the United States, Youssef Amrani, and the president of the international financial institution, Ajay Banga. The new roadmap would strengthen, better support and enrich the exceptional cooperation between Morocco and the Bretton Woods institution, the two sides underlined. During the meeting, the World Bank president praised the leadership of King Mohammed VI in economic reforms and social construction, noting that the Kingdom is a model of resilience and crisis management, thanks to targeted and effective government actions. He pointed out that the World Banks new priorities for South countries will be focused in particular on five key job-creating sectors: electrification, infrastructure, health, agribusiness, and tourism. The WB Chief added that the partnership with Morocco will soon be further strengthened in several priority areas to promote job creation in the private sector, strengthen human capital, and support the fight against climate change. In addition to these strategic pillars, the Washington-based institution will also focus on cross-cutting issues, including increasing the participation of women in the job market and digital transition, he said. The WB chief also congratulated Morocco for the excellent arrangements put in place to ensure the success of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, held in Marrakech in October 2023. The Moroccan diplomat on his part recalled the structural and evolving nature of the Morocco-WB partnership, and underlined that the various opportunities offered, combined with the long-standing trust that binds us, consolidate our common desire to build stronger and broader convergences together. It is about emulating this ascending dynamic through more ambitious and targeted interaction channels which ensure permanent fluidity to our exchanges at all levels, he said. Such a structuring of the partnership provided for by the joint roadmap constitutes an imperative induced both by our shared vision and by the substantial increase in cooperation projects which link us in various issues, particularly in highly strategic and priority areas for Morocco and its international partners such as education, agriculture, health, water, and energy. The Moroccan ambassador underlined in this regard the crucial role of World Bank operations in the transfer of know-how and expertise, particularly in terms of integrated risk management, inclusive development, and climate issues. In this holistic approach, the human dimension is the primary prism through which all considerations, orientations and choices taken for the nation take place, he said. Mr. Amrani also stressed that the Royal Atlantic Initiative reflects this commitment through which the Kingdom seeks to promote regional spaces of shared prosperity where efficient collaboration and sincere solidarity ensure more inclusive development and security for all. Black students being bused to integrated schools, circa 1970. Photo: Denver Post via Getty Images Friday was the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education that formally struck down state-enforced racial segregation of public schools as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. An assessment of Browns legacy in the Washington Post, based on new public opinion research, made three salient points on how people view its impact today: (1) Retroactive support for the basic holding in this decision is at an all-time high; but (2) many Black Americans are disappointed by the educational benefits of desegregation; and (3) large segments of the White population oppose strategies that would help make [integration] a reality. Anyone with a good memory of the fraught history of conflict over desegregation knows that Black disappointment owes a lot to white resistance. In reality, the full implementation of Brown has been hampered by wave after wave of what came to be known as white flight: first from integrated schools and then from public education itself. But even before that happened, the impact of Brown was frustrated by a proviso in the decision itself that desegregation should be dismantled with all deliberate speed. This was an amber light that gave southern proprietors of the separate but equal school systems Brown theoretically condemned abundant time to challenge more specific measures in the courts and in general drag their feet. This is why over a decade after the decision, I was attending an all-white public high school in majority-Black Atlanta, Georgia. Eventually, desegregation occurred even in the Jim Crow South, but that didnt mean actual integration. Even in multiracial jurisdictions, neighborhood schools tracking segregated-housing patterns provided one way of escape for white students whose parents didnt want them in classes with Black peers. But as urban areas outstripped the boundaries of core cities, the ability to reconstruct majority- or even all-white schools in suburbs was a significant factor in white flight that perpetuated both residential and school segregation. The controversy over busing to overcome white flight by overriding school-district boundaries, as federal courts dictated in many urban areas around the country, dominated the politics of education in the 1970s and 1980s. A whole generation of white politicians in both parties including, famously, the current president of the United States cut their teeth on anti-busing movements, and by the end of the 1990s, the very federal courts that created busing threw in the towel and put an end to it. But long before busing rose and fell, a second and more invidious strategy for fighting school integration was born in mostly rural southern counties with unitary public-school systems that couldnt be resegregated by school-district or political boundaries: white flight from public education altogether. Born in the 1950s when segregationist pols flirted with closing public schools altogether rather than integrating them, white communities and their churches sponsored pop-up private schools, often quite inexpensive, that were universally and accurately known as segregation academies. In 1976 in a landmark decision nearly as important as Brown, SCOTUS ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned racial discrimination in private-school admissions. It was so heated a controversy that most historians now believe the threat to segregated church-sponsored schools (including colleges and universities) rather than legalized abortion was the genesis of what came to be known as the Christian right. Though overtly racist public or private schools became unavailable by the end of the 1970s, white flight from public schools continued, usually accompanied by efforts to give private (and again, often church-sponsored) schools tax subsidies that in effect made them publicly sponsored private schools following religious doctrines and serving a select (and usually majority-white and middle-to-upper-class) clientele. Various and increasingly widespread experiments with private-school vouchers have been embraced by Republicans (and, to a more limited extent, by some Democrats) in the 21st century. Most recently, individualizing school subsidies has been a frequent by-product of the conservative parental rights movement in education, in which the very idea of public schools as a means of promoting racial, economic, or social equality is under attack. And while some school-voucher programs are marketed as a boon to Black students trapped in underfunded public schools, the historical record is that they ultimately produce racially and economically stratified instruction by taking the public out of public schools altogether. The bottom line is that realization of the dream of an integrated public-school system has been frustrated by decades of delays, evasions, and outright opposition stemming from white political resistance a resistance increasingly championed by todays Republican Party as part of its pervasive Trump-driven mission of bringing back the greatness of America as it existed before the 1960s came along and spoiled everything. Perhaps the vision represented by Brown was always naive, and the strategies adopted by courts and schools to implement it were sometimes ham-handed or even counterproductive. But just accepting segregated schools is inimical to civic and religious values much older than a 70-year-old Supreme Court decision. This Things Incredible A series where we share products that are so good we would do an entire infomercial about it. (But instead, we published this review.) Read more here. Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers My feet are constantly humbling me. I have always struggled with foot pain I blame all the Steve Madden flats I wore in college but the problem has worsened since I turned 30 in 2020. I still cringe remembering the April wedding in 2022, when I wore the J.Crew velvet platforms that had been my go-to walkable heels for years. After the ceremony, my ankle gave out en route to the reception, causing more than a dozen wedding guests to crowd around to see if I was okay. Even the bride stopped in her tracks. After that embarrassment, I knew I needed to find a better evening shoe. And with seven weddings and three bachelorette parties to power through within ten months, the pressure was on to do so quickly. I wanted a pair that could keep up with me on the dance floor yet look at home at a black-tie affair. I wanted these shoes to feel fancy and functional so I wouldnt be tempted to take them off halfway through the night. (My goal was to feel chic, which meant I was not going to carry around a tote bag stuffed with flats.) I looked at Madewell and J.Crew, where Ive bought shoes in the past that could get me through a wedding reception, though not without feeling intensely tempted to take them off on the dance floor. But I quickly came to terms with the fact that comfort was my No. 1 priority. I lowered my style expectations and headed to the Aerosoles website to browse its selection. Thats when I saw them the Cosmos. The silhouette was classic, with a crossover strap at the front, a sturdy block heel, and an ankle strap with an elegant silver clasp. The product description said the heel was three inches high tall enough to feel formal, but low enough that I wouldnt have to worry about my ankle rolling as I walked. I ordered a glittery silver pair thinking theyd add some playful texture to formal looks I had planned. The minute I put them on, I knew these were the ones. They felt so supportive and cushioned that after my try-on at home, I kept them on walking around my apartment all night with ease. The ultimate test came at the first wedding of the year: an outdoor black-tie wedding at a sprawling location, with lots of walking between the ceremony and reception spaces, and dancing for upwards of four hours. I was in my heels for about ten hours total, and when the night was over, my feet were tired but not screaming in pain (which I had experienced with nearly every other pair of heels). I considered it a win. After Miami, the Cosmos graced my feet at every fancy event on my calendar. On the cobblestoned streets outside a chateau wedding in Provence, they held their own. Soon after, I wore them to a bachelorette party in New York, where they garnered many compliments; I even convinced my friend to order her own pair the same night. The next nuptials I attended was a summer wedding in Chicago. I planned to wear a bright Mara Hoffman dress to the welcome party and ordered the Cosmos in black to perfectly complement it. Having a neutral version in my closet ensured that I was really ready to wear these to everything. After Chicago, I took the same black pair to an indoor wedding in San Diego, where they worked as a perfect neutral with a busy floral dress. At my friends wedding in Hudson, New York. Photo: Gaby Grossman Wedding No. 5 was in October in upstate New York a gorgeous event saddled with rain (and therefore mud) in the tented outdoor happy hour. My black pair got a bit muddy, but with a quick wipe-down, they recovered beautifully. Wedding No. 6 was my brothers, and I wore a red floor-length gown. The sparkly pair didnt match the outdoorsy, California aesthetic, and the black with the red didnt quite gel. So I bought the Cosmos in beige, bringing my count up to three pairs. At my brothers outdoor California wedding. Photo: Gaby Grossman For the final wedding of the year, a casual, cowboy-themed soiree in a dive bar, the sparkles made their triumphant return. At my friends cowboy-themed wedding. Photo: Gaby Grossman The quality of the Cosmos is high and consistent across all colorways they show a little wear and tear but, overall, hold up beautifully and I ultimately dont feel like I sacrificed style too much. I love having a pair to match most any color I would ever wear. Now I have my eye on a new version called the Cleveland, which is like a trendier Cosmos dressed up in silver jewelry with a western buckle. My friends have become Cosmos converts, too. This past Halloween, a friend of mine broke her shoe, and so I stopped home to lend her one of my pairs. She couldnt believe how comfortable they were. Her exact words: These are like walking on clouds! get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Recommended by Experts A series where we find out which products the professionals (who really know what theyre talking about) actually use and really stand behind. Read more here. Photo: Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers Whether you use measuring spoons to measure spices, baking powder, or vanilla extract, using the wrong measurement can result in disastrous outcomes. I once mistakenly put a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper into a soup for Thanksgiving and my whole family coughed their way politely through dinner. When I asked Zack Wangeman, chef and owner of Sobre Masa, what measuring spoons he would recommend, he told me he prefers a scale: I havent used a measuring spoon since culinary school. I heard this sentiment from many of the professional chefs I interviewed. Scales offer accuracy and consistency in a home or professional kitchen, but that does not mean that there is no place for measuring spoons. There are many things to consider when purchasing measuring spoons. Rounded spoons are easier to clean, but flat-bottomed spoons will not tip over on the counter. A magnetic set that sticks together is easier to organize, but a set on a ring is easier to hang. A single adjustable spoon can save space, but you may have to clean it multiple times as you follow a recipe. Dual sides are convenient if you need the same measurement for liquid and dry ingredients, since you can flip it around to use the other side without having to wash it in between. I have seen measuring spoons come in sizes ranging from two tablespoons, which is generally sold as a coffee scoop, all the way down to a pinch or a dash which are not standard measurements. Of the measuring spoons I tested, I found that a majority were more than a milliliter short of their indicated volume, while a few held more than the standard. Most of them also had slight variations in the dual-sided spoons, with the round and oval spoons holding different volumes. To help you find the best measuring spoons, I spoke to four chefs and four bakers, and I also included a few of the most accurate options I tested. Whether youre in the kitchen every day or youre only an occasional cook, there are a slew of options out there to fit your budget and needs. And if youre looking for other baking-tool recommendations, we have guides to all the gear you need for making pies, cakes, and cookies. All-Clad Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons $30 $30 Glass also suggested the All-Clad stainless-steel set for durability reasons, as did April Franqueza, the pastry chef at High Hampton Inn. Another stainless-steel set with etched measurements, the All-Clad spoons have a sleeker look than the Vollrath. While you likely wont have to use it, All-Clad offers a limited lifetime warranty for its products if you buy through its authorized retailers. Plus, the company still manufactures its products in Pennsylvania, as it has since 1971. These also fit chef and food writer Shani Frymers preference for rounded stainless-steel spoons, which she finds durable and easy to clean. I dont like any funny shapes or plastic spoons, she says. Odd shapes can prevent proper measurement. $30 at Amazon Buy $30 at Amazon Buy Spring Chef Magnetic Measuring Spoons Set $10 $12 now 17% off $10 The Spring Chef set comes in a variety of color combinations and is a solid set if you are on a budget. Jill Waldbieser, a recipe developer and editor who has worked for the Food Network and Campbell Soup Company, recommends it. Its just so functional to have spoons that stay together so you wont lose them without a ring, which hampers their use, she says. They are double-headed, and one side is round and the other oval, which allows you to get into narrow neck bottles or spice jars. This set feels hefty and was the most accurate magnetic set I tested. Waldbieser does have a caveat, based on experience: The spoons magnets are so strong that they can stick to a baking sheet without you realizing, and if the sheet has just come out of the oven, the plastic handles will melt. Waldbieser is already on her second set, but for the price, she says, Ive gotten my moneys worth and then some out of them. $10 at Amazon Buy $10 at Amazon Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Notes: Cedarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, nutmeg, cinnamon, amberwood | Scent family: Woody | Wax: Soy wax blend | Burn time: 60 hours When thinking about the best overall candle, I took a few things into consideration: wax composition, how evenly it burns, scent profile, throw. I also thought about cost, because it doesnt make sense to recommend a candle so pricey that it feels painful to repurchase it. That led me to Maison Louis Marie No. 04. Id previously recommended the Boy Smells Kush candle as the best overall candle, but Ive changed my mind for two reasons: First, it seems like the OG Kush is being discontinued, second, Maison Louis Marie has a better burn. Recently, I was burning another Boy Smells candle alongside the Maison Louis Marie one (I love to layer scents) and noticed that my Boy Smells candle was tunneling while the latter burned evenly. It was the first burn for both candles and I let them go for around two and a half hours each. As far as scents go, Kush and No. 04 are different but share an amber note, which I tend to like in a candle. The top notes are sandalwood and cedarwood (another two of my favorites), which smell clean and grounded. No. 04 also has a hint of freshness thanks to the vetiver in the mid-notes, along with nutmeg and cinnamon, which help to round out the scent. In comparison to Boy Smells. Id say the throw is a little stronger I notice it more when Im in a room, and it burns a bit slower. I burn it for many hours at a time and have been impressed with how long a single candle lasts. The price is right, too. Under $40 feels like a good spot for designer candles a little spendy but not excessive and an approachable price for gifts as well. Dabney Coleman, the popular comic actor from 9 to 5 & Tootsie whose many redeeming qualities including a knack for portraying characters who had none, has died. He was 92.Coleman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his daughter told The Hollywood Reporter.My father crafted his time here on Earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity, she said. As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery.The Emmy-winning actor also portrayed a talk show host on the TV series Buffalo Bill, but that critical favorite lasted just 26 episodes.He had at least three other cracks at headlining his own sitcom, but The Slap Maxwell Story, Drexells Class and Madman of the People never made it through their first seasons before being canceled.More recently, the actor played the owner of a law firm and father of Simon Bakers character on the drama The Guardian; an Atlantic City power broker on Boardwalk Empire; and the father of Kevin Costners character on Yellowstone.Source: My Brother who has a bike, The Hollywood Reporter terrifying wtfffff Reply Thread Link also meth is a fucking scourge i swtg the things ppl think sound sane when they're on that shit will never cease to amaze and scare the living crap out of me Reply Parent Thread Link The bear would never Reply Thread Link banned from contacting Zendaya for 10 years Uhhhh how bout banning him forever? Literally what circumstance could possibly exist where he should be contacting her after ten years???????????????????? Reply Thread Link Probably from her social media - liking and commenting on posts, and sending DMs is what I would assume. Edited at 2024-05-18 02:11 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Ok??? Theres no reason for him to follow her on social media in 11 years or 20 years or 500 years. Edited at 2024-05-18 02:15 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I wasnt disagreeing. I was just answering your question and realised I read your post wrong. Reply Parent Thread Link Gotcha. No problem. Reply Parent Thread Link remember when people were trying to make her leaving about relationship drama? we really know nothing about people's lives. Reply Thread Link She had already been gone from social media before that timeline but in general I dont really blame celebs who are zero with social media. Reply Thread Link She was still fairly active (liking and commenting posts) in late September and early October but then disappeared completely until she had to start promoting Dune and Challengers in early 2024. Reply Parent Thread Link Liking and commenting is different from when she used drop pics more frequently. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah now i wonder if that was bc of this? bc it really seemed to come out of the blue, people were like "oh i guess she finally decided to use her instagram just for her work" and she's no longer on twitter either but idk... i feel like she would have def been more active for challengers Reply Parent Thread Link its so scary how common this shit is & that we really only hear about it when it escalates to a level that gets the law involved. like the guy who broke into taylors house is only one of several stalkers she has but the others have thankfully not made headlines there must be so many famous women who have to deal with this on some level that we just will never know about Reply Parent Thread Link Im remembering Bjorks stalker Reply Parent Thread Link How do you go from I got it into my head that Zendaya needed me and that I could be her friend to sending "I'mma rape your ass" messages Baby Reindeer style in the thousands? Fuck him; I think he lied about being on meth so the courts could be more lenient on him. Stay locked up, you piece of shit. Reply Thread Link Probably thought he could be Zendaya's "friend" (lbr he thought she'd have sex with him) and when she didn't respond, he got angry and that's when the threats started... typical incel behavior tbh Reply Parent Thread Link People are fucking demented. Stalking is a whole other level because you never feel safe going anywhere. Reply Thread Link this is terrifying. the right wing has been using Zendaya as a scapegoat to be horrible misogynists and racists in a way to claim her and her body, this is a direct consequence of their actions. they don't see her as a human being. Reply Thread Link This is so terrifying. The silver lining is that the case was tried in france. No way in hell hed be actually admitted & treated the full sentence in america. Hed be pulling the same shit by memorial day. Reply Thread Link this is so fucking scary and i hope she is starting to feel safe again. Reply Thread Link Damn they convicted him fairly quickly. Good, I hope she can know peace with him not bothering her. Reply Thread Link I feel like the high security hospital (I'm not an expert on these things, I only know normal psych hospitals) suggests that the court figured that it wasn't all drugs, if any. Reply Thread Link My guess is maybe some form of erotomania but that tends to make people think they're in a relationship with the victim, not rape threats. His "I didn't think she would see the messages" is suspect too because he kept sending them. He wanted her to see them and be frightened. Fuck him. Reply Parent Thread Link more info from the source: Read aloud in Rennes Criminal Court, one message sent to the star threatened the star with his knowledge of the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, into which she was flying, and said that if he didnt hear from her within 24 hours of receiving his message, she will tremble. (..) The public prosecutor in the case noted that, based on the mans behavior until this point, we could fear a very probable act, as we are dealing with someone sick and [an] erotomaniac. (..) He was arrested initially for the barrage of threatening messages on Feb. 7, and hospitalized for psych treatmentbut he continued the behavior once he was released from that hospital. He was arrested again on Wednesday, and this time faces a more severe five-year term. so definitely not just the drugs Reply Parent Thread Link I just dont get why celebrities or their teams dont limit dms to friends only. Why did Zendayas team allow literally thousands of disturbing messages to reach her. Does not compute. Reply Thread Link yeah i also wouldnt expect celebrities to see these messages. iiii dont even check the message request folder on insta. BUT at the same time it seems necessary to have someone check so that you can be aware of possible danger. so scary. Reply Parent Thread Link Horrifying and sickening. That shiiii scary. Hope Zendaya remains all safe and sound etc. Tom aint playin either. Reply Thread Link In a few countries around the globe, governments are using an innovative method to warm buildings using body heat. The long-talked-about idea is finally becoming a reality, but it is not yet widely used. A resting male can generate between 100 and 120 watts of energy, most of which is lost as excess heat. However, capturing this heat for other applications is complicated. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the body heat power generation industry, but scientists believe that applications of body heat can be much more widespread if managed effectively. In 2015, in Paris, a seven-story building on Rue de Beaubourg in the center of the city was transformed to use the warmth from human bodies moving around a nearby metro station as a source of heat. As the air temperature in the metro station is roughly 10oC higher than outdoors, due to crowds of people and heat from trains, it can provide heat for other applications. A heat extraction system extracts warm air from the metro tunnel through the existing passageway, as the warm air passes through a heat exchanger to produce hot water, which is used for space heating, according to Genevieve Littot, a climate and energy strategist at the social housing construction company Paris Habitat, which designed the heat extraction system. The waste heat contributes around 25 percent of the heat needed for the 20 apartments as well as commercial spaces in the Beaubourg building. Around half of the worlds total energy consumption is currently used to heat homes and buildings, demonstrating how much projects like these could contribute to decarbonization efforts. However, very few places are using these types of technologies at present, with many opting for alternatives such as solar heating or electric heat pumps, or simply sticking to gas. Sweden is one country looking to utilize body heat more to reduce its conventional energy use. around 250,000 people pass through Stockholm Central Station every day, which the government decided could support its heating aims. The heat generated at the station is extracted to warm the nearby 17-story Kungsbrohuset building, reducing energy consumption in the building by around 10 percent. Roger Bjork, the technical manager at Folksam, the company that owns Kungsbrohuset, explained, We take in seawater to cool the ventilation in Kungsbrohuset and the Stockholm Central Station When the water returns, it is pretty hot [warmed by body heat]. Then we recycle the water to generate heat in our district heating system. Sweden is not only using body heat as a source of heating for buildings. Its district heating system uses geothermal heat, biofuel from waste, and surplus heat from industrial buildings transporting heat through underground pipes to buildings countrywide. The Scandinavian country has been exploring alternative ways to power buildings since the energy crisis of the 1970s, with heat pumps and the use of waste heat in district heating now providing most residential heating needs. Another example is the massive Mall of America, in Minnesota in the U.S., which does not use a central heating system. The mall maintains its 21oC year-round temperature using passive solar power through 1.2 miles of skylights, heat generated from lighting and body heat. It also has over 30,000 living plants and 300 trees, which act as air purifiers. Governments worldwide are looking to expand the use of body heat for other applications. For example, hospitals could benefit greatly from the use of excess body heat and heat generated from machines. However, distributing the heat evenly and effectively throughout the building is both necessary for vulnerable patients and complicated. Nonetheless, the Klinikum Frankfurt Hoechst hospital in Frankfurt, Germany is putting the technology to the test. It has more than 1,000 triple-glazed windows, to enhance insulation. The hospital uses a ventilation system to preheat fresh air before it flows into the room to maintain indoor temperature and avoid unpleasant odors. There are many more obvious places where body heat could be captured and transferred to provide heat where needed, such as concert venues, nightclubs, airports, and other commercial spaces. In 2023, a nightclub in Glasgow announced plans to use the body heat released from people on the dance floor to power heat pumps and provide sustainable heating. The Scottish tech start-up BODYHEAT plans to use the heat generated in a nightclub, from up to 1,000 dancers, to either sustainably cool down the building or to store heat underground for later use. The SWG3 nightclub stated, Were hugely excited to reveal our plans to introduce a state-of-the-art renewable heating and cooling system to the SWG3 complex, transforming body heat from clubbers and gig-goers into a source of energy to be used again. In Europe, a 30m2 studio using electricity for heating and hot water consumes around 4,350 kWh of energy annually, meaning that harnessing the heat of 430 people sharing a space for around an hour could provide enough energy to power a small home. This demonstrates the huge potential for using body heat from crowded spaces to provide cheap, carbon-free power. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Two men and three juveniles have been arrested in connection to the Sunday shooting near Omaha's Cinco de Mayo Festival, according to authorities. The arrests come after a 16-year-old boy was located suffering from a gunshot wound at 4 p.m. Sunday near 22nd and L Streets, The World-Herald previously reported. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center by ambulance with an injury that was not considered to be life threatening. Jerry Bernal-Mejia, 20, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, according to police. Luis Contreras-Gallardo, 18, was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony, according to police. Two 16-year-old suspects were taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree assault, use of a gun to commit a felony and shooting at an occupied dwelling, according investigators. Nebraska schools have increasing challenges meeting students' special education and mental health needs and are struggling with absenteeism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic school years, state education officials told a federal panel. "What we're seeing, through the court appointments, is many children, once they stopped (going to school) during COVID, they didn't come back," Elizabeth Eynon-Kokrda, general counsel of Omaha's Education Rights Counsel, told the panel. "Right this minute, we are representing well over 20 children that have missed two or more years of school. "They just didn't come back. And part of the reason they didn't come back is because their disability is standing in their way of access." She and others testified about the continuing impact of COVID-19 Wednesday as part of the final briefing from the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is collecting information about the pandemic on K-12 education. Past briefings featured perspectives from higher education officials and discussions about the state's teacher shortage. The Nebraska committee, a 13-person group of volunteers, will provide findings and recommendations from public testimony to the federal commission. 'Special education teachers have not returned' Eynon-Kokrda said need for services for special education students has continued to grow each year since 2020. Her nonprofit works with local school districts to increase access to school services for all students, especially those with special education or with disciplinary needs. Teacher shortages, which are also more extreme in the special education field, have contributed to special education students not receiving the services they need in Nebraska schools. At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, Nebraska had more than 900 reported unfilled teaching positions, according to the latest data from the Nebraska Department of Education. Almost one in four of those unfilled positions were in special education 209 jobs in total. Last year, Nebraska had 143 unfilled positions in special education. In the 2018-19 school year, there were 73. Eynon-Kokrda said special education teachers are leaving especially in the larger school districts because as special education needs are growing, children are suffering more, are becoming more violent in school and are less equipped with social emotional skills. "Special education teachers have not returned," Eynon-Kokrda said. At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, the Omaha Public Schools, where more than one in five children receive special education services, had to reassign students in three North Omaha elementary schools because there were no special education teachers. Plus, more than 1,200 special education students had to switch to virtual speech therapy because of a lack of staff. The district has recently implemented changes to increase special education recruitment and retention, such as a pay increase for special education teachers who work after hours or teachers who have higher caseloads because of vacant positions. 'We don't have services for them' The pandemic also exacerbated youth mental health issues and those challenges continue, said Zainab Rida, an equity officer with the Nebraska Department of Education. "We don't have the infrastructure, we don't have the services, we have shortage in providers," Rida said. "When you talk aboutrefugees and immigrant (students), we don't have services for them, and it's continued as a result of COVID. Mental health needs especially when it comes to K-12 it's really significant, but unfortunately, we do not have the infrastructure to address that." Rida said Nebraska students, along with students around the nation, experienced increased anxiety, depression and trauma through the pandemic and are still struggling today. One in 6 children in the U.S., from age 6 to 17, experience a mental health disorder, according to 2023 data from the National Alliance on Mental Health. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among all U.S. children ages 10 to 14. Jon Cerny, superintendent of Bancroft-Rosalie Public Schools and Nebraska Rural Schools Association board member, said he's seen youth mental health issues grow "exponentially." But he's also seen school districts across the state ramp up efforts to offer more resources to students. Cerny said school districts are more willing to spend money on mental health personnel and invest in initiatives like telehealth counseling. "There are lots of things going in place right now across Nebraska," Cerny said. "I think the mental health needs are now more important in the school environment. They're seen as more important and our policies, I think, are addressing that." More than 1 in 5 students chronically absent Rida said the shortage of mental health providers and stigma around mental illness is still contributing to chronic absenteeism in schools. More than 1 in 5 Nebraska students are chronically absent, she said, meaning they miss 10% or more of school days in an academic year. Many state officials have blamed the pandemic for the high numbers, saying it changed students' attitudes about attendance. The rate of absenteeism has dropped from previous years in the 2021-22 school year, almost 1 in 4 students were chronically absent. "I think one of the problems that resulted from COVID is that we sent a message to kids that school isn't necessary for you to attend," Cerny said. "You can miss a whole quarter of school and it doesn't make a difference. So now kids come back to school with the attitude of 'You know what, why am I here?'" An aversion to school has contributed to Nebraska's chronic absenteeism, plus challenges with discipline and school climate, Rida said. "There is a growing recognition of the significant impact that health-related factors really have on educational outcome, addressing gaps and barriers to mental health services is important for reducing chronic absenteeism and to promote students' well-being and academic success," she said. "And unfortunately, in Nebraska, these gaps and barriers are significant, particularly in small districts." Eynon-Kokrda said each Nebraska school district deals with absences differently. Its each districts responsibility to alert their county attorneys office about students who accrue more than 20 days of excused or unexcused absences, but state statute also allows districts to come up with a collaborative plan with families who have children with a lot of absences instead. "School districts make a judgment call about when they're going to refer and why they're going to refer. Unfortunately, what happens sometimes with the referrals is that our perception gets in the way of our reality," Eynon-Kokrda said. "Some school districts may say, 'You know, after 20 days, I'm done. That's it.' Others wait until 60 (days)." Members of the public can submit written comments to the commission about these topics. Comments will be considered until June 15 and can be sent to Victoria Moreno at vmoreno@usccr.gov. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of May 2024 China reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases in nearly six weeks on Monday, as the country tries to prevent a second wave of COVIS-19 infections. Authorities counted 108 new coronavirus infections over the past day, including 98 cases among travellers returning from abroad, according to the National Health Commission. This is the highest number of reported infections since March 6, when authorities counted 143 new cases. China is focusing its efforts on preventing a second wave of COVID-19 infections, especially among Chinese citizens returning from abroad. Beijing on March 28 banned the entry of foreigners into China. However, state media has reported that travellers crossing the border from Russia are spreading the coronavirus in the Chinese border city of Suifenhe in the north-eastern Heilongjiang province. Around 300 cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in the city by Saturday, including 100 infected people who did not appear to be showing any symptoms. Of the new cases reported Monday, 10 were locally transmitted infections, including seven cases in Heilongjiang province and three cases in the southern Guangdong province. The spike in locally transmitted infections comes after authorities had reported a string of days with no such new cases in late March. A new cluster of infections is also feared in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, in Guangdong province. CNN reported on Sunday that the African community in Guangzhou was being targeted amid prevention efforts. Africans in the city have reportedly been evicted from their homes and turned away from hotels even if they hadnt travelled abroad recently. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that it expected local authorities in Guangzhou to reject all racist and discriminatory remarks. China has so far reported 82,160 coronavirus cases including 3,341 deaths and 77,663 recovered patientts. CHICAGO The team behind the LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr is preparing to move into a new office later this summer with plans to grow the companys presence in Chicago. The company announced the move Thursday, citing the apps strong financial performance in 2023, according to a news release. The new space is under construction, said Joel Keating, senior vice president of engineering. The plan is to move in by Aug. 1. The new space is half of the top floor of an office building at 230 W. Monroe St., Keating said. With current configuration plans, the space could hold up to 60 employees. There is also room to grow, Keating said, which the team hopes to do. Keating is the head of the apps engineering team and based in Chicago. He said the teams current office at 625 W. Adams St. is part of a WeWork space, which theyve effectively outgrown. The Chicago office is hiring about a dozen new positions with intentions to add more in the next few years. Roles include data engineering, cloud engineering and engineering management. The company opened a Chicago office in September 2021. What started as a team of about four grew to some 30 employees working out of the Chicago office. We anticipate that Grindrs expansion will not only bolster our citys tech sector but also contribute to our ongoing efforts to foster a vibrant and inclusive business environment, Mayor Brandon Johnson said in the news release. There are three other offices in California and one in New York, including where the app was started in 2009 in West Hollywood. The other offices are quite a bit more mixed in their work, Keating said, handling other branches of the company such as product, sales, finance and more, as well as some engineering. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2022. Grindr employed about 130 people total as of the end of March, which is still far from what the employment level was early last year, according to a shareholder letter released in early May. In the first quarter of 2024, total revenue increased by 35% year-over-year to $75 million, with a net loss of $9.4 million. The growth was driven by more paying users, the company said in its shareholder letter. The companys revenue grew by about 33% from over $195 million in 2022 to nearly $260 million in 2023. Average monthly active users of the app were up 7% year-over-year to 13.7 million in the first quarter, while average paying users increased by 17% year-over-year to 1 million, according to the shareholder letter. Grindrs engineering team increased by over 50% quarter-over-quarter in the first three months of the year, the letter said. Keating said the Chicago office is primarily the engineering division for the social networking app. Ultimately, growing the local team is also an effort to make Chicago the engineering hub. Our plan is to really invest in Chicago because not only does it have a very diverse economy and is a really great place to live and work, but theres also a really strong pool of engineering talent in Chicago, Keating said. Another reason is Chicagos very thriving and large LGBTQ community, which is very much ingrained in the culture. Keating said a Grindr bus is going to make its way from California to New York with a stop in Chicago during Pride Fest weekend in June. In a news release Wednesday, the company announced the Grindr Ride America tour to celebrate the apps 15th birthday. The Grindr engineering team will also be at Pride Fest, he said, which is a great opportunity to engage outside of office elements. We want people to know that were here and there are jobs here, Keating said. Its a really fun culture and a thriving business. Photos: Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2023 Brandon Johnson - 2023 Brandon Johnson - File Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 SPRINGFIELD The Illinois House passed legislation aimed at reining in the potential for runaway damages under the states biometric privacy law Thursday, more than a year after the Illinois Supreme Court suggested the legislature revisit the law. Illinois biometric privacy law, which the state legislature passed in 2008, requires companies to gain consent before they collect and store biometric information such as fingerprints or retina scans. Its considered the strictest such law in the country, in part because it allows individuals to sue over alleged violations. Companies that have been caught in the laws crosshairs include Facebook, which paid out a $650 million settlement over its facial tagging feature, and Google, which settled a case over its facial grouping tool on Google Photos for $100 million. In February 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court suggested the legislature revisit the language of the law in a much-anticipated split opinion issued in a case involving fingerprint scanners used by employees at fast-food company White Castle. In that case, the court ruled that damages under the law accrue each and every time a person provides their biometric information without prior informed consent. But in the majority opinion, the court acknowledged its reading of the statute opened the door to potentially excessive damages in BIPA cases and suggested the legislature revisit the language of the law. We continue to believe that policy-based concerns about potentially excessive damage awards under the Act are best addressed by the legislature, Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the opinion. We respectfully suggest that the legislature review these policy concerns and make clear its intent regarding the assessment of damages under the Act. The legislation passed Thursday amends the law to state that a violation of the act occurs and damages under the law accrue only once when an entity collects or discloses a persons biometric information without consent, rather than every time. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in the House supermajority to pass the measure in an 81-30 vote. After passing through the Senate last month in a 46-13 vote, the bills next stop is to Gov. J.B. Pritzkers desk for his consideration. Once it reaches his desk, Governor Pritzker will give the final legislation careful review, said Alex Gough, a spokesperson for the governor, in a statement. This is a really straightforward requirement in BIPA for a very significant and valuable privacy right, said the bills main House sponsor, state Rep. Ann Williams, a Chicago Democrat. This bill addresses the invitation by the court to address damages, and thats exactly what were doing here. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, a Democrat from Bridgeview, also defended the bill, saying it preserves the critical privacy protections at the core of the law, including shielding the public from social media companies data harvesting of personal information. But he also said the legislation adds much needed clarity to help small businesses operate in a more predictable, regulatory setting. I know that many small business owners will be relieved to see this measure pass, Rashid, who co-sponsored the measure, said shortly before the House vote. In March, a coalition of major business groups including the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association issued a statement saying they could not support the legislation in its form as introduced. Though the bill would place some limits on financial liability under BIPA, the group said, it is not retroactive and therefore fails to help the thousands of businesses still fighting against massive judgments even though there is no proof that harm ever occurred. On Thursday, the Technology & Manufacturing Association, a trade organization for small and mid-sized manufacturers, praised the legislation and called for Pritzker to sign it into law. Many of the small and midsize manufacturers who have been impacted by BIPA are 2nd and 3rd generation manufacturers who dont have a legal department and have been subject to annihilative lawsuits that made many get to a point where they had to consider closing their doors, but this new law fixes that from continuing to happen, lobbyist David Curtin said in a statement. One of the House Republicans who voted against the measure Thursday, state Rep. Dan Ugaste, said during floor debate he didnt think the bill went far enough to be fair to businesses, especially if the violation was merely a mistake. He also raised concerns over whether data centers, which function as a storage apparatus for computer systems, could still be open to liabilities with the legislation. I dont want anyone taking my biometric data and sharing it with anyone, neglecting proper care for it or doing anything of that nature, said Ugaste, of Geneva. But I also dont believe a company should be penalized when no actual harms been done. I just think we need to keep talking and go a step further in order to make certain that businesses do what theyre supposed to and protect the data theyre collecting, but at the same time arent punished unnecessarily, Ugaste said. Then if were going to apply a penalty to something, we make certain its something such as a data center can even comply with if were requesting it of them. Attempts to amend the biometric privacy law last year stalled after the legislation at the time didnt address various concerns from business groups. Its quite notable that this passed, said Matthew Kugler, a law professor at Northwestern Universitys Pritzker School of Law. I think it shows how concerned people are in the wake of the White Castle decision. That said, Kugler added, the legislation if the governor signs it into law would not necessarily elicit a major departure from the status quo in terms of how settlements under the law typically shake out. It indicates that the long tail of high damages is not on the table, he said. In that sense, it should result in lower settlements. Having said that, I dont think many prior settlements were based on the idea that you could recover (damages) for each individual scan. Damages under the law are $1,000 for negligent violations and $5,000 for intentional or reckless violations. When applied to each time a company collected someones biometric information, the potential for damages could grow exponentially. The White Castle case which could have left the company on the hook for $17 billion in damages had it lost at trial was settled last month for $9.4 million in federal court in Chicago pending a final approval hearing in August. Lior Strahilevitz, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School, said he would expect damages in cases involving smaller groups of class members such as employees in the White Castle case to go down under the amended legislation, or for those cases to not even be brought in the first place. A plaintiffs lawyer has to make a decision about whether its worth their while, Strahilevitz said. If a company has collected fingerprints from its 100 employees but not its customers, for instance, the maximum amount the plaintiffs could recover under the amended legislation would be $100,000 for negligent violations of the law. The attorneys, Strahilevitz said, would be better off dealing with an automobile injury or taking a slip-and-fall case. But the types of BIPA cases many Illinois residents are more familiar with those that resulted in checks from big tech companies for millions of Illinoisans, for instance may not see as much impact because plaintiffs attorneys will still consider those large cases worth their trouble, Strahilevitz said. I think youll still continue to see large settlements in cases involving companies like Facebook that have millions of Illinois customers, he said. Photos: Pritzker Military Archives Center SPRINGFIELD After more than half a century, cannabis may soon no longer be listed among the federal governments most dangerous and addictive drugs. The Biden administration on Thursday officially proposed reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III on the federal list of controlled substances. As of now, cannabis sits in the same category as heroin, LSD and methamphetamine. If reclassified to Schedule III, it would join Tylenol, testosterone and anabolic steroids, among others. The impacts of this move would be felt nationwide and throughout Illinois. Across the 24 states, two territories and Washington, D.C., where recreational use is legal, reclassifying cannabis to Schedule III would allow certain tax burdens for businesses within those areas to be eliminated. The move, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, would allow cannabis businesses to take standard business deductions and align federal law with Illinois tax code. Gov. J.B Pritzker told Lee Enterprises earlier this month that he believes reclassifying cannabis is the right move and would help many of Illinois cannabis businesses with banking. As the federal government changes the classification of marijuana, I think that will help with Congress passing a law that will allow people to do banking in a way that theyve never done, Pritzker said. Right now, you literally have people with safes and cash. You can imagine the security problem of that for these dispensaries and other sellers. The move would also make researching the drug easier, and would allow licensed health care providers to prescribe cannabis and licensed pharmacies to dispense those prescriptions legally. Tiffany Chappell Ingram, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, said the organization applauds the move, as it affirms their advocacy for safe, legal and community-building uses of cannabis. In the decades since marijuana was erroneously categorized as a dangerous drug on par with heroin, Black and Brown communities have experienced countless repercussions stemming from the war on drugs, Chappell Ingram said. While this decision does not legalize marijuana on a federal level, it recognizes the medical benefits of cannabis and eases the tax burden on marijuana companies by allowing them to take federal tax deductions," she said. "This is a huge step in the right direction for the cannabis industry and our society at large, and we hope this continues to pave the path towards federal legalization." The reclassification would not legalize state-level programs like Illinois'. But many are hopeful that this will potentially lead to the federal government decriminalizing and legalizing it at some point in the future. Erin Johnson, IDFPR cannabis regulation oversight officer, said the department is among those supporters based on the success and results seen from Illinois cannabis industry. This includes expungements of minor cannabis-related offenses; a medical program that many Illinoisans, including veterans, have benefitted from; and a growing, regulated, and safe cannabis industry, which includes some of the first social equity businesses entering the market to large multi-state operators that are proudly headquartered in Chicago, Johnson said. Illinois is a leader in the cannabis industry, and we welcome the federal governments long overdue recognition that cannabis deserves to be regulated, not criminalized. Photos: Pritzker Military Archives Center The Commission of Technical Vocational Education and The German Development Cooperation (GIZ) have emphasized the need for continuous collaboration and industry involvement in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to shape the future of skills development in Ghana. They stressed that partnerships between government, industry, and development partners are crucial for transforming the TVET system and ensuring that training programs meet the evolving needs of the labour market. Speaking at a media engagement at Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), Mr. Michael Andivi Naah, a Technical Advisor with GIZ, highlighted the importance of industry engagement in the TVET landscape for development. The event, organized by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) in collaboration with GIZ and KsTU, under the Pact for Skills: Support to the Transformation of the TVET System in Ghana, co-financed by the European Union, served as a platform to emphasize the significance of Sector Skills Bodies (SSBs) in shaping a skilled and responsive workforce. Mr. Naah emphasized the integration of industry insights into curriculum development and providing hands-on training opportunities to shape the next generation of skilled professionals. He stated that this symbiotic relationship not only ensures that graduates possess the requisite skills for employment but also enables industries to address their workforce needs efficiently. The Director-General of CTVET, Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, stressed the importance of industry involvement from the start of skills training and development to improve the quality and success of TVET implementation. He called on the private sector and industry players to become key drivers of TVET in Ghana, highlighting that a sectoral approach to skills development allows industry stakeholders to collectively develop solutions to skills challenges. The Vice-Chancellor of Kumasi Technical University, Prof. Gabriel Dwomoh, welcomed the establishment and development of Sector Skills Bodies as beneficial for educational institutions, particularly for Technical Universities that rely heavily on the industrial sector. He believed that the event would have a significant impact on transforming TVET for accelerated development and guaranteed employability in the country. Operating under the Commission for TVET, the SSBs consist of related industries coming together to drive growth and competitiveness by focusing on business opportunities, innovation, and capacity needs. Their key mandates include reducing skills gaps, improving productivity, increasing employability, and promoting creativity and sustainable development through research. Source: Peacefmonline 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 planned mass wedding of about 100 orphans has sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria. The orphans, some of whom are feared to be underage girls, are set to be married off on 24 May in the north-western state of Niger. They have all lost parents to attacks by armed bandits, who regularly target civilians across the state. Nigeria's Women's Affairs Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye said she has filed a court order to stop the ceremony. According to reports, the mass wedding was supported by the Speaker of the Niger State Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, who said local religious leaders had approached him for help funding it. The Imams Forum of Niger have said that the marriage ceremony should go ahead, insisting that the girls are not below the 18 - the legal age of marriage. However, critics have expressed concern that some girls may be younger than 18, or being forced to comply for financial gain. Minister Kennedy-Ohanenye said the girls "deserve better" and that her department was looking into who the 100 girls are, their ages and whether they consented to the marriage. Her department will offer the girls education and training, she said, adding that if the Niger State speaker attempts to block these efforts "there will be a serious legal battle between him and the Ministry of Women Affairs". On Friday, senior presidential aide Abiodun Essiet reiterated Ms Kennedy-Ohanenye's plan of action. Ms Essiet added: "My appeal to all stakeholders is to stop embarking on policies and programs that exploit economically handicapped vulnerable people, increase and recycle poverty, and deepen ignorance." Human rights activists in Nigeria have launched a petition to stop the plan. As of Friday evening, it has 10,500 signatures. According to international campaign group Girls Not Brides, 30% of girls and 1.6% of boys in Nigeria are married before the age of 18. Some 12% of girls are married before their 15th birthday. Child marriages are most common in the northern part of the country, among poor, rural households. It is seen as a way to reduce their families financial burdens or to improve political and social alliances. Northern Nigeria is mostly Muslim and religious and cultural norms, such as polygamy, favour the practice. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A family, community and groups have called for justice to be served after a one-year-old girl was raped at a creche in Newlands East in Durban, South Africa. The incident allegedly occurred on May 6, 2024, when the other children at the daycare were taken for swimming lessons, and the girl was left behind because she was still wearing nappies. Upon handing the baby over to the creche owner, the owner told the mother that she, her husband and only two babies were on the premises. When the baby was collected from the creche, she cried a lot. Once the mother inspected her daughter at home, she saw that her baby's private part was swollen and red. The mother took the baby to the hospital but was sent away. When she went to another doctor the following day, he identified clear signs of abuse but did not have a rape kit. Two days later, a surgeon finally confirmed that there was indeed penis penetration and a case was opened against the suspect, who is the owner of the creche's husband. Following the mother's post on social media about the horrific incident, there were further allegations that the suspect had raped another girl at the facility. Newlands East police are investigating an alleged rape case. Meanwhile, the grandmother of the victim, who did not want to be named to protect the child's identity, shared the events that led to the tragic incident. On May 6, my daughter left the baby at the creche at 8am. Upon handing the baby over to the creche owner, the owner told my daughter that there were only two babies the 1-year-11-month baby (i.e. my grandchild) and another baby including herself and her husband on the premises as all the other children who were not wearing nappies went for swimming lessons, the grandmother narrated. "At around 5.45pm to 6pm, my daughter called to ask if (my partner) could go pick up the baby at the creche. (My partner) went to pick up the baby. Upon her arrival, the baby was crying. When the baby arrived home, she was still crying. My daughter arrived 10 minutes later and upon her arrival, the baby was still crying and was pulling on her nappy, indicating to mom that her cookie (vagina) is sore "We initially ignored it as we thought it was just a peeing issue; that the pee was burning. She was crying for extended hours. We went to King George Hospital later that night and the paediatrician said it was just an infection and that if it is still sore/swollen in two weeks, then we must come back. I was not happy with the reply as I also do not have money for the script. "The next day (May 7), we went to the Newlands East Medical Centre. Upon our visit with the general practitioner, (she) said the baby had been tampered with. She referred us to Addington Hospital. There, the doctor did not have a rape kit. On Wednesday, May 8, we went back to the GP and asked where to go because we were not getting results despite multiple visits. On Wednesday, they went to Newlands East police station and were contacted by a warrant officer. She said the officer spoke to her daughter and said that she was about to arrest her due to defamatory messages that were posted on social media, and there were complaints from the owner. The officer also mentioned that no case was opened. She even said that she would take the child for social care. We explained that we have been sent up and down from the various hospitals, looking for a rape kit. We even showed her the referral letter from the GP. I even showed the video and pictures, the grandmother said. Upon showing the pictures and videos, the warrant officer could see that something was wrong and directed her to the Thuthuzela Care Centre, she said. We only received a district surgeon in the early hours of Thursday morning. The surgeon confirmed that there was indeed penis penetration. Later that evening, we opened a case at the Newlands East police station. "On Friday, an investigating officer from the Family Crisis Services visited us and asked questions. On Monday, he alerted us that the investigation is still ongoing. Rapid Response Team Leader on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Newlands East (ward 11), Dr Nadia Bernon, raised the issue of the creche only taking baby girls and that they must be at the age of 5. "They dont have boys. As activists in the community, we did not know the husband has a sexual offence and rape case history. Knowing that her husband has such a history, why did she open a creche and leave the baby to the husband? At 8pm on Thursday, I was served with harassment papers from the creches owner while I was on the call with the grandmother. Bernon asked if the owner and the alleged rapist could be arrested and if the creche could be shut down. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that Newlands East police are investigating an alleged rape case. 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 Special Prosecutor Martin Amidus has filed a petition calling for the removal of his successor, Kissi Agyebeng. His petition, dated April 30, 2024, was formally submitted to President Akufo-Addo and subsequently forwarded to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo on May 6, 2024. In his petition, Mr Amidu cited procurement irregularities in the acquisition of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and alleged misconduct involving judges and the administration of justice. Martin Amidu's standard Tamale North Member of Parliament (MP), Alhassan Suhuyini, speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday, May 18, 2024 panned Martin Amidu for seeking the removal of Kissi Agyebeng. According to him, "Mr Martin Amidus standards are not the ones by which we should judge Kissi Agyebengs performance because Mr Martin Amidus standards are low. And in his petition, he seems to be suggesting that his standard was the best standard and that was the way Kissi Agyebeng should have proceeded and that again in my view is typical Martin Amidu for you." Meanwhile, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has criticized Martin Amidus recent petition describing it as nonsensical. 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 This photo taken on May 18, 2024 shows a local market near the scene of a shooting attack that killed three Spanish nationals on the previous day in Bamyan City, central Afghanistan's Bamyan Province. The three foreign nationals killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday.(Photo by Ziaodin Azad/Xinhua) BAMYAN, Afghanistan, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The three foreign nationals killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday. Four foreign nationals were also wounded in the attack, respectively from Spain, Norway, Australia and Lithuania. Of them, two were women, Bamyan's provincial police spokesperson Muhammad Khawani Rasa told Xinhua. Besides the foreign nationals, one Afghan was killed while three other Afghans were injured in the shooting attack, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X on Friday. Four suspects have been arrested, Qani added. An Afghan security force member checks a vehicle following a shooting attack that killed three Spanish nationals on the previous day in Bamyan City, central Afghanistan's Bamyan Province, May 18, 2024. The three foreign nationals killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday.(Photo by Ziaodin Azad/Xinhua) An Afghan security force member checks a vehicle following a shooting attack that killed three Spanish nationals on the previous day in Bamyan City, central Afghanistan's Bamyan Province, May 18, 2024. The three foreign nationals killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday.(Photo by Ziaodin Azad/Xinhua) This photo taken on May 18, 2024 shows a view of Bamyan City, central Afghanistan's Bamyan Province. The three foreign nationals killed in a shooting attack in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Friday have been confirmed to be Spanish, two of them women, a local police official said on Saturday.(Photo by Ziaodin Azad/Xinhua) The Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has hailed the late Deputy Minister of Finance, John Kumah, for what he described as his "invaluable contributions" to the New Patriotic Party. The late Kumah passed away in March this year and his burial and final funeral rites were held in his hometown, Onwe, in the Ejisu Constituency on Saturday, May 18. Dr. Bawumia, in a tribute to the late Minister, highlighted the political trajectory of John Kumah in the NPP stating "John's contributions to the New Patriotic Party were invaluable". "He made a lasting impact with the Young Patriots. He was not only a driving force but also a fervent advocate for advancing the NPP's agenda...Under his leadership, this group played a crucial role in promoting the party's ideals and engaging the youth of our country. Additionally, John served the party with distinction as a communicator, effectively conveying the NPP's message and fostering political engagement among the populace." Dr. Bawumia also praised John Kumah for his dedicated commitment to national development which he said "remains indelible" and "has left an enduring mark on our country's trajectory". Describing him as a close friend, Dr. Bawumia said John Kumah was "a man blessed with a good heart"; "his departure has left a void". 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 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: Auroras may be pretty, but the solar storms that cause them can cause serious havoc on Earth, scientists have warned. Tourists normally have to pay big money and brave cold climates for a chance to see an aurora, but last weekend many people around the world simply had to look up to see these colorful displays dance across the sky. Usually banished to the poles of Earth, the auroras strayed as far as Mexico, southern Europe and South Africa on the evening of May 10, delighting skygazers and filling social media with images of exuberant pinks, greens and purples. But for those charged with protecting Earth from powerful solar storms such as the one that caused the auroras, a threat lurks beneath the stunning colors. "We need to understand that behind this beauty, there is danger," Quentin Verspieren, the European Space Agency's space safety program coordinator, told AFP. Mike Bettwy of the US Space Weather Prediction Center said that "we're focused on the more sinister potential impacts" of solar storms, such as taking out power grids and satellites, or exposing astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation. The latest auroras were caused by the most powerful geomagnetic storm since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003, which sparked blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. There appears to have been less damage from the latest solar storms, though it often takes weeks for satellite companies to reveal problems, Bettwy said. There were reports that some self-driving farm tractors in the United States stopped in their tracks when their GPS guidance systems went out due to the storm, he told AFP. Massive explosions on the surface of the Sun shoot out plasma, radiation and even magnetic fields at incredibly fast speeds born on the solar wind. 'Definitely not over' These strange effects are caused by massive explosions on the surface of the sun that shoot out plasma, radiation and even magnetic fields at incredibly fast speeds born on the solar wind. The recent activity has come from a sunspot cluster 17 times the size of Earth which has continued raging over the week. On Tuesday it blasted out the strongest solar flare seen in years. The sunspot has been turning towards the edge of the sun's disk, so activity is expected to die down in the short term as its outbursts aim away from our planet. But in roughly two weeks the sunspot will swing back around, again turning its gaze towards Earth. In the meantime, another sunspot is "coming into view right now" which could trigger "major activity in the coming days", ESA space weather service coordinator Alexi Glover told AFP. The northern lights over mountains in Austria. So the solar activity is "definitely not over", she added. It is difficult to predict how violent these sunspots could beor whether they could spark further auroras. But solar activity is only just approaching the peak of its roughly 11-year cycle, so the odds of another major storm are highest "between now and the end of next year", Bettwy said. What threat do solar storms pose? Geomagnetic storms such as the recent one create a magnetic charge of voltage and current, "essentially overloading" things like satellites and power grids, according to Bettwy. The most famous example came in 1859 during the worst solar storm in recorded history, called the Carrington Event. As well as stunning auroras, the storm caused sparks to fly off of telegraph stations. The charge that originated from the sun was so strong that some telegraphs worked without being plugged into a power source. A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky in Utah. So what would happen if such a powerful geomagnetic storm struck Earth again? Bettwy said most countries have improved their power grids, which should prevent prolonged outages like those that hit Sweden in 2003 or Canada in 1989. Still, he suggested people have an emergency kit in case electricity is knocked out for a day or two. Fresh water might also help in case filtration plants go offline. Astronauts are particularly at risk from radiation during extreme solar activity. Those on the International Space Station usually take the best shelter they can when a bad storm is expected. Bettwy said a massive solar storm could expose astronauts to an "unhealthy dose" of radiation, but he did not think it would be lethal. Emphasizing that he did not want to "instill fear", Bettwy added that radiation can also potentially "get through the fuselage" of planes flying near the north pole. The most powerful solar storm to strike our planet in more than two decades caused dazzling auroras in many nations, including Russia. Airlines sometimes change routes during extreme solar storms to avoid this happening, he added. Several upcoming missions are expected to improve forecasting of the sun's intense and unpredictable weather, aiming to give Earth more time to prepare. If the ESA's Vigil mission, planned to launch in 2031, was in place today, it would give us far more information about the currently rotating sunspot, Glover said. 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Shattered windows are seen on buildings in downtown Houston on May 17, 2024, one day after the city was hit by severe storms. The death toll from severe weather that lashed the Texas city of Houston has risen to seven, authorities said Friday. The three additional deaths came after Houston, the fourth-largest US city, was hit Thursday by heavy rain and winds up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, leaving downtown streets covered in glass from blown-out windows. Downed trees and power lines littered residential areas and the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in the suburb of Cypress. According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the new victims included an 85-year-old woman who died after her mobile home was struck by lightning and caught fire. A 60-year-old man was found unresponsive and pronounced dead after going to his truck to try and power his oxygen tank, after electricity was cut across wide swaths of the storm-hit area. And a 57-year-old man collapsed and died after trying to move a downed power pole. Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Thursday after the storm that four people died, though specifics were not immediately available. Schools in Houston, home to 2.3 million people with an economy centered around oil and petrochemicals, were closed on Friday and non-essential workers urged to stay home. 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: Corals in Key West, Florida in 2023 -- the world is in the middle of a major coral bleaching incident. The massive coral bleaching episode signaled by US authorities last month is expanding and deepening in reefs around the globe, scientists warned Thursday. Amid record ocean temperatures, coral bleaching has been recorded in 62 countries and territories since February 2023, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) saidan increase of nine from its warning in April. "This event is still growing in size and impacts," Derek Manzello, coordinator for NOAA's Coral Reef Watch program, told a press briefing, adding: "This is not something that would be happening without climate change." New coral damage since NOAA's April 15 warning was reported in India, Sri Lanka and the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean, Manzello said. Severe or prolonged heat stress leads to corals dying off, though there is a possibility for recovery if temperatures drop and other stressors such as overfishing and pollution are reduced. The consequences of coral bleaching are far-reaching, affecting not only the health of oceans but also the livelihoods of people, food security and local economies. The ongoing mass coral bleaching is the world's fourth on record, with three others occurring between 1998 to 2017. Some 60.5 percent of the world's reefs have experienced bleach-level heat in the last 12 months, a record, according to NOAA. The previous widespread global bleaching, which occurred from 2014 to 2017, retains the record for the greatest cumulative impactfor now. Graphic explaining the process of coral bleaching which can occur following higher than normal ocean temperatures. Bleaching could further occur at reefs across Asia and off Mexico, Belize, the Caribbean and Florida as oceans continue to heat over the summer, Manzello said. So far, the Great Barrier Reef off Australia has been hit by bleaching, which is also affecting coral in Thailand. Record temperatures There is a 61 percent chance 2024 will end as the Earth's hottest year on record and a 100 percent chance it will be one of the top five warmest years, said Karin Gleason, monitoring section chief at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Last month, meanwhile, the world's oceans saw their hottest ever April temperatures, a record broken each month for the past 13 months. "The heat stress accumulation has been most unprecedented and extreme in the Atlantic Ocean," Manzello said. Understanding the consequences of coral bleaching can take time: in the Caribbean, for example, coral could survive the immediate heat stress only to die later from "disease outbreaks or aggregations of coral predators," Manzello added. Last year was the hottest year on record, attributed to a gnarly mix of climate change and the El Nino weather pattern. This year, as the cooling La Nina pattern takes effect between now and autumn, "my hope is that... we will start seeing that percentage of reef areas impacted start coming down," Manzello said. 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Experimental scheme. Credit: Nature Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02472-6 Strong field quantum optics is a rapidly emerging research topic, which merges elements of non-linear photoemission rooted in strong field physics with the well-established realm of quantum optics. While the distribution of light particles (i.e., photons) has been widely documented both in classical and non-classical light sources, the impact of such distributions on photoemission processes remains poorly understood. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU) and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light recently set out to fill this gap in the literature, by exploring the interactions between light and matter with a non-classical light source. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, demonstrates that photon statistics of the driving light source are imprinted on the electron number statistics of emitted electrons from metal needle tips, an observation that could have interesting implications for the future development of optical devices. "The field of strong field physics is now highly developed, as apparent from the 2023 Nobel prize in Physics," Jonas Heimerl, co-author of the paper and researcher at FAU, told Phys.org. "This physics is not limited to atoms but also happening at metal surfaces like metal needle tips. Similarly developed and even more diverse is the field of quantum optics. One aspect of this field is the generation of light with non-classical light statistics, such as bright squeezed vacuum." The primary objective of the latest research by Heimerl and his collaborators has been to understand how quantum light originating from non-classical light sources interacts with matter. Notably, the interactions between quantum light and matter have so far only been explored using classical light sources. "Our next-door neighbor Professor Maria Chekhova is a world-leading expert in the field of bright squeezed vacuum generation, a particular form of non-classical light," Peter Hommelhoff, co-author of the paper and researcher at FAU, told Phys.org. "We thus teamed up with her and our long-time partner Ido Kaminer of the Technion in Israel to investigate electron emission driven with non-classical light." Heimerl, Hommelhoff and their research group at FAU carried out their experiments in close collaboration with Chekhova, a researcher with extensive expertise in quantum optics. Chekhova is specifically known for her work on bright squeezed vacuum generation, a technique that entails the use of non-linear optical processes to generate bright squeezed vacuum, a form of non-classical light. Artists impression of the two-emission regime: a non-classical (purple) and a classical (blue) light source trigger nonlinear photoemission from a metal needle tip, leading to different statistics of the emitted electrons. Image credit: Meier, Heimerl | Laser Physics | FAU Erlangen. "In our experiment, we used this non-classical light source to trigger a photoemission process from a metal needle tip that is only a few tens of nanometers in size," Heimerl explained. "Think of it as the well-known photoelectric effect studied by Einstein, but now with a light source that exhibits extreme intensities and extreme fluctuations within each laser pulse." For every laser pulse generated, the researchers counted the number of electrons, both for classical and non-classical light sources. Interestingly, they found that the number of electrons can be directly influenced by the driving light. "Our findings could be of huge interest, especially for imaging applications with electrons, for instance when it comes down to imaging biological molecules," Heimerl said. Biological molecules are known to be highly prone to damage and reducing the dose of electrons used to image these molecules could reduce the risk of such damage. The paper by Heimerl et al. suggests that modulating the number of electrons to meet the needs of specific applications is possible. "Before we can tackle this, however, we have to show that we can also imprint another photon distribution to electrons, namely one with reduced noise, which might be hard to achieve," Hommelhoff said. The findings of this recent work could soon open new opportunities for research focusing on strong field quantum optics. Concurrently, they could serve as the basis of new devices, including sensors and strong-field optics that leverage the interaction between quantum light and electrons. "We think that this is only the beginning of investigating the experimental research in this field," Heimerl added. "There is already much theoretical work going on, some of which is led by our co-author Ido Kaminer. One observable we didn't investigate yet but carries much information is the energy of the electron, which could shed even more light on the light-matter interaction." More information: Jonas Heimerl et al, Multiphoton electron emission with non-classical light, Nature Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02472-6. Journal information: Nature Physics 2024 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Virginia Tech physicist C. Nadir Kaplan (at left) and doctoral candidate Chinmay Katke (right) discovered a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery. Credit: Spencer Coppage for Virginia Tech. In a May 15 paper released in the journal Physical Review Letters, Virginia Tech physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery. The paper, written by doctoral candidate Chinmay Katke, assistant professor C. Nadir Kaplan, and co-author Peter A. Korevaar from Radboud University in the Netherlands, proposes a new physical mechanism that could speed up the expansion and contraction of hydrogels. For one thing, this opens up the possibility for hydrogels to replace rubber-based materials used to make flexible robotsenabling these fabricated materials to perhaps move with a speed and dexterity close to that of human hands. Soft robots are already being used in manufacturing, where a hand-like device is programmed to grab an item from a conveyer beltpicture a hot dog or piece of soapand place it in a container to be packaged. But the ones in use now lean on hydraulics or pneumatics to change the shape of the "hand" to pick up the item. Akin to our own body, hydrogels mostly contain water and are everywhere around us, e.g., food jelly and shaving gel. Katke, Korevaar, and Kaplan's research appears to have found a method that allows hydrogels to swell and contract much more quickly, which would improve their flexibility and capability to function in different settings. What did the Virginia Tech scientists do? Living organisms use osmosis for such activities as bursting seed dispersing fruits in plants or absorbing water in the intestine. Normally, we think of osmosis as a flow of water moving through a membrane, with bigger molecules like polymers unable to move through. Such membranes are called semi-permeable membranes and were thought to be necessary to trigger osmosis. Previously, Korevaar and Kaplan had done experiments by using a thin layer of hydrogel film comprised of polyacrylic acid. They had observed that even though the hydrogel film allows both water and ions to pass through and is not selective, the hydrogel rapidly swells due to osmosis when ions are released inside the hydrogel and shrinks back again. Katke, Korevaar, and Kaplan developed a new theory to explain the above observation. This theory tells that microscopic interactions between ions and polyacrylic acid can make hydrogel swell when the released ions inside the hydrogel are unevenly spread out. They called this "diffusio-phoretic swelling of the hydrogels." Furthermore, this newly discovered mechanism allows hydrogels to swell much faster than what has been previously possible. Why is that change important? Kaplan explained: Soft agile robots are currently made with rubber, which "does the job but their shapes are changed hydraulically or pneumatically. This is not desired because it is difficult to imprint a network of tubes into these robots to deliver air or fluid into them." Imagine, Kaplan said, how many different things you can do with your hand and how fast you can do them owing to your neural network and the motion of ions under your skin. Because the rubber and hydraulics are not as versatile as your biological tissues, which is a hydrogel, state-of-the-art soft robots can only do a limited number of movements." How could this improve our lives? Katke explained that the process they have researched allows the hydrogels to change shape then change back to their original form "significantly faster this way" in soft robots that are larger than ever before. At present, only microscopic-sized hydrogel robots can respond to a chemical signal quickly enough to be useful and larger ones require hours to change shape, Katke said. By using the new diffusio-phoresis method, soft robots as large as a centimeter may be able to transform in just a few seconds, which is subject to further studies. Larger agile soft robots that could respond quickly could improve assistive devices in healthcare, "pick-and-place" functions in manufacturing, search and rescue operations, cosmetics used for skincare, and contact lenses. More information: Chinmay Katke et al, Diffusiophoretic Fast Swelling of Chemically Responsive Hydrogels, Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.208201 Journal information: Physical Review Letters This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A river once ran alongside many of Egypt's pyramids, which helped to move the massive materials that built the famous monuments, scientists say. Scientists have discovered a long-buried branch of the Nile river that once flowed alongside more than 30 pyramids in Egypt, potentially solving the mystery of how ancient Egyptians transported the massive stone blocks to build the famous monuments. The 64-kilometer-long river branch, which ran by the iconic Giza pyramid complex among other wonders, was hidden under desert and farmland for millennia, according to a study revealing the find on Thursday. The existence of the river would explain why the 31 pyramids were built in a chain along a now inhospitable desert strip in the Nile Valley between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago. The strip near the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis includes the Great Pyramid of Gizathe only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient worldas well as the Khafre, Cheops and Mykerinos pyramids. Archaeologists had long thought that ancient Egyptians must have used a nearby waterway to move the giant materials used to build the pyramids. "But nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site," lead study author Eman Ghoneim of the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the United States told AFP. The international team of researchers used radar satellite imagery to map the river branch, which they called Ahramat"pyramids" in Arabic. Radar gave them the "unique ability to penetrate the sand surface and produce images of hidden features including buried rivers and ancient structures," Ghoneim said. Surveys in the field and cores of sediment from the site confirmed the presence of the river, according to the study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. The once mighty river was increasingly covered in sand, potentially starting during a major drought around 4,200 years ago, the scientists suggested. The once mighty river was increasingly covered in sand. The great pyramid mystery The Giza pyramids stood on a plateau roughly a kilometer from the banks of the river. Many of the pyramids had a "ceremonial raised walkway" which ran alongside the river before ending at the Valley Temples which served as harbors, Ghoneim said. This indicates that the river played "a key role in the transportation of the enormous building materials and workmen needed for the pyramid's construction," she added. Exactly how ancient Egyptians managed to build such huge and long-standing structures has been one of history's great mysteries. These heavy materials, most of which were from the south, "would have been much easier to float down the river" than transport over land, study co-author Suzanne Onstine of the University of Memphis in the US state of Tennessee told AFP. The banks of the rivers could have been where the funeral entourages of pharaohs were received before their bodies were moved to their "final burial place within the pyramid," she suggested. The river may also indicate why the pyramids were built in different spots. "The water's course and its volume changed over time, so fourth dynasty kings had to make different choices than 12th dynasty kings," she said. "The discovery reminded me about the intimate connection between geography, climate, environment and human behavior." More information: Eman Ghoneim, The Egyptian pyramid chain was built along the now abandoned Ahramat Nile Branch, Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01379-7. www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01379-7 Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The UK government has released new plans for relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in primary and secondary schools in England. This would see age parameters introduced for key issues in sex education, with no education on sex at all for children under the age of 9. A consultation on these plans has been launched. If adopted, this guidance will diminish years of progress in how young people are educated about sex and relationshipseducation that keeps them safe. The recommendations set out in the policy are in direct conflict with many years of research in this area of education. The age limits in the new draft guidance set out that puberty should not be taught before year four, when pupils are aged 8 and 9. Sex education, which should be in line with what children learn in science about conception and birththe "factual description of conception in the science curriculum"shouldn't be taught before year five, when children are 9 and 10. Issues regarding sexual harassment shouldn't be taught before year seventhe first year of secondary school, when children are 11 and 12. No direct references to suicide should be taught before year eight. No explicit discussion of sexual acts should take place before year nine, when children are aged 13 and 14. Having strict parameters around the ages children can be taught specific information will restrict teachers from delivering potentially crucial education adapted to their pupils' needs. For instance, puberty may start any time from 8 years old with some young people starting their periods at 9. Before this happens, incremental education to prepare children needs to have taken place. The guidance states that there can be flexibility on what is taught at what age if there is a safeguarding risk to childrenfor instance, if pornographic material is circulating among children at a primary school. But the problem is that children and young people may be experiencing something like this without the school knowing about it. Research with teenagers found that just 2% reported receiving an unwanted sexual image to their school. A NSPCC survey found that one in 25 primary school children had been shown or sent a naked or semi-naked image by an adult. That's the equivalent of one child in every class. But under this guidance, children wouldn't learn about specifically sexual harassment like this until they are in secondary school. A survey by the Children's Commissioner for England found that 10% of children had seen pornography by age 9, and the average age children see pornography is age 13. This means many children will have seen footage of sexual acts before the age their school would be permitted to teach them about this. Research has found that women who received inadequate sex education as children were more likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse. And evidence suggests that children who have received education aimed at preventing sexual abuse may more likely to tell an adult if they experience abuse. A great deal of research also tells us that young people are more likely to delay sex the more information that they have about it. What's more, there are clear conflicts between what the new draft guidance includes and what children and young people consistently say they want and need. What young people want I carried out research with children and young people to hear their views on sex and relationships educationresearch that the Department of Education wanted and welcomed, to help inform this draft guidance. The young people said they wanted more, not less, RSHE. They stated that the education they already receive is too little, too late and that they are being taught things they already know. They want safe spaces to talk about the issues that surround them. My findings echo a plethora of research in this area about what is needed in RSHE. Children and young people need more, better sex education to inform them and keep them safe. The draft guidance also states that while young people should learn the law about gender reassignment, "schools should not teach about the broader concept of gender identity." The result of this will be that young people receive less information about LGBTQ+ identities. Again, this conflicts with what young people say they want from RSHE. Young people say that they want a more diverse RSHE education that encompasses differing identities and LGBTQ+ knowledge. Research has found that all young people benefit from inclusive RSHE: comprehensive sex education improves the school environment for all students, making it welcoming and creating a better environment for learning. Teaching RSHE is a challenge. It throws up moral issues that teachers may feel uncomfortable with, often as a result of our society's perceptions about sexual development and what children should know about sex. This means that teaching staff and schools need more evidence-based training and resources on how to teach about sex and relationships, not guidance that may leave them fearful about doing or saying the wrong thing. The new proposals conflict with many years of robust evidence in this field. In my view these guidelines are naive when considering access to the internet and current social contexts. When considering the wealth of evidence in the field they are nothing short of dangerous. This guidance poses a serious risk to the psychological and physical health and well-being of children and young people. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. QUEENSBURY Queensbury Union Free School District has been awarded $194,000 in grant funds to cover the cost of the new UPK classroom being added this fall. The school district announced it was awarded a Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Grant which will cover the full cost of salary, curriculum and furniture for the new classroom the Queensbury Union Free School District announced Thursday. The new classroom with be the districts fifth UPK classroom. The first year of our UPK program has been a tremendous success, said Queensbury UFSD Superintendent of Schools, Kyle Gannon, in a statement. And, we are excited to receive this grant funding. Our Board of Education has been highly supportive of our plans to expand the UPK program. The district is committed to giving more Queensbury children access to this high-quality, full-day early education. Queensbury was among 64 school districts in New York to receive funding for expanding universal prekindergarten. In total, the state awarded $34 million in grants this week. The funds will allow school districts to establish new full-day prekindergarten placements or to convert existing programs from half-day to full-day, New York State Education Department Commissioner, Betty A. Rosa, announced. When we provide equitable opportunities for children in their early years, they reap the benefits throughout their lives, Rosa said in a statement. The department is deeply committed to providing a strong educational foundation to every single child in New York, because that is what each of them deserves. Grants were awarded based upon a districts plan to serve a communitys highest need schools and students; the level of existing prekindergarten services; the extent to which a district planned to maximize the total number of eligible 4-year-old children served in its programs; and other factors. When children enroll in high-quality and effective PreK programs, they gain a significant advantage in early skills that prepare them for success in elementary school, Regents Chancellor. Lester W. Young, Jr. said in a statement. Expanding access to full-day PreK programs through these grants will help more of New Yorks children succeed. Queensbury was previously awarded a state education grant in the amount of $582,316, which covered the cost of the first year of the four sections of Queensbury UPK. European green industries look to China for upturn, debunk overcapacity claim Xinhua) 10:14, May 18, 2024 * A beacon of the successful collaboration between China and Croatia, the wind farm also epitomizes the trend in recent years that the cooperation between China and European countries boasts great potential, particularly in green energy development. * The BYD plant will boost Europe's green transformation and improve the wellbeing of local people. Moreover, healthy competition with Chinese companies has also promoted innovation and R&D by European companies, said Kiszelly. * The China-Europe cooperation in the green sector is poised to lead to more significant advancements in the global drive for sustainability. * However, given the rise of China's EVs, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, as well as its promising green cooperation with the globe, some American politicians and media have employed the rhetoric of China's overcapacity in new energy industry. BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Situated on the Adriatic coast of western Croatia, the Senj Wind Farm has reduced the country's carbon dioxide emissions by about 460,000 tons annually since it was inaugurated in 2021. The cheaper green electricity it generates satisfies the demand of more than 100,000 households in the country. The green project, developed by China's Norinco International Cooperation Ltd., is a "model of cooperation" that benefits both countries, said Senj Mayor Jurica Tomljanovic. The revenue from its operation has been used to invest in infrastructure, water supply, sewerage, beaches and "everything important for the residents" in the city. A beacon of the successful collaboration between China and Croatia, the wind farm also epitomizes the trend in recent years that the cooperation between China and European countries boasts great potential, particularly in green energy development. This photo taken on Sept. 27, 2020 shows a lifting operation at the construction site of the Senj Wind Farm project in Senj, Croatia. (Photo by Ding Decai/Xinhua) WIN-WIN GREEN COOPERATION As Chinese battery producer CATL announced the decision to build its second European battery plant in Hungary in 2022, the two countries have witnessed increasing cooperation in advancing many green projects. Chinese carmaker BYD also decided to invest in a production base for its electric vehicles (EVs) in the European country. Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy regarded the investment that came along with the rise of China's EV industry as an opportunity. By welcoming Chinese companies, Hungary has become a hub for electric car and battery manufacturing. Cooperation with China is not only beneficial to Hungary, but also to the EU as a whole, Zoltan Kiszelly, director of the Center of Political Analyses at Hungary's Szazadveg Institute, told Xinhua in a recent interview. The BYD plant will boost Europe's green transformation and improve the wellbeing of local people. Moreover, healthy competition with Chinese companies has also promoted innovation and R&D by European companies, said Kiszelly. The entry of Arcfox, the EV brand of Chinese giant automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation, into the European market through Spain last week made another significant mark in China-Europe energy cooperation. In collaboration with Spanish Atium Logistic Group, Arcfox has established a logistics center for vehicle storage, deposit, and exportation at the port of Ferrol in northwest Spain. The center will cover a storage area of 9,000 square meters. By 2025, the Chinese firm expects sales of 5,000-8,000 units in the European market. A man looks at a BYD electric vehicle in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 17, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) "This is an initiative with a long-term vision that promotes Ferrol's prominence on the map of global logistics and, of course, of China, which could be a magnet for new investments," said Francisco Barea, president of the Port Authority of Ferrol. In the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona, a new pact signed in April between Spain's Ebro-EV Motors and China's Chery Automobile will not only turn the city into an EV production center but also deliver benefits to its residents. The joint venture created by the pact will re-employ some 1,250 former auto manufacturing workers, who lost their jobs in 2021 when Nissan closed its Barcelona plant. Rosa Maria Jimenez was one of them. "For such a large and important company in China as Chery to come here means that we'll be able to continue doing what we know best, which is making cars," Jimenez told Xinhua. "This is going to create many jobs and not only for the workers in the company itself but all those jobs around that are connected to a car manufacturer," Jimenez added. The joint venture is expected to produce 150,000 vehicles a year in the Zona Franca port area. HIGHLY ANTICIPATED The China-Europe cooperation in the green sector is poised to lead to more significant advancements in the global drive for sustainability. Committed to providing high-quality products in coping with climate change, the Chinese new energy sector has contributed remarkably to the green transformation of countries worldwide, not least the EU members, said China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong in April. As manufacturing powerhouses, China and Germany are reinforcing collaboration in emerging sectors, including EVs and other green transformations. A growing number of Chinese enterprises are seizing new opportunities in Europe's largest economy by joining hands with local partners. A report by the Germany Trade &Invest earlier this week showed the country's foreign direct investment projects from China in 2023 surged by 42 percent year-on-year. According to the report, one-fifth of investment projects by Chinese companies went to Germany's renewable energy sector, tripling the number in 2022. The increasing global engagement of Chinese firms has benefited Germany, as their investments have contributed to Germany's goal of achieving climate-neutral production by 2045, said Thomas Bozoyan, author of the report. A staff member (L) introduces a NIO vehicle to a visitor at a NIO House in Berlin, capital of Germany, May 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei) "China and Germany could be important partners in the global climate goals, which can only be achieved together. We would welcome Chinese companies coming to Germany and producing here," Hildegard Mueller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. She noted the rapid ramp-up of the Chinese EV market has benefited the European country technologically. In April, Zhu Jing, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Mission to the EU, also highlighted the strong consensus between China and Europe on green and low-carbon development at a tech forum held in Brussels. He emphasized eco-friendly cooperation between the two parties, pointing to substantial opportunities for collaboration in technology research and development, standardization, and industrial development. "The pressing challenges of climate change entails enhanced green cooperation between China and the EU, which will not only expedite their green transformation but also contribute significantly to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Zhu said. OVERCAPACITY FALLACY However, given the rise of China's EVs, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, as well as its promising green cooperation with the globe, some American politicians and media have employed the rhetoric of China's overcapacity in new energy industry. Experts and officials from countries and international organizations refuted this fallacy and pointed out that politicizing China's new energy industry out of conservative protectionism to curb its development momentum shows no good signs for the global consensus and trend towards green and low-carbon pursuits, or for the burgeoning development of electric vehicles worldwide. "The fact that buyers still desire Chinese EVs suggests that the global market is not saturated yet and the assertion of overcapacity in China may be misplaced," said Eunice Kamwendo, a senior official from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Mueller also regarded the claim as "questionable", saying that "the Chinese numbers do not speak for it." The German auto association chief said that around 16 percent of the cars produced in China are exported, while the German car industry has higher export figures, with three out of every four produced cars exported. "We are not the right people to complain about overcapacity," instead, fair competition should be embraced globally and that is good for all parties, she emphasized. This photo taken on April 19, 2024 shows a scene at the signing event for an agreement between Spain's auto company Ebro-EV Motors and China's Chery Automobile in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Gosa/Xinhua) Against the background of huge demand for new energy in the world, China's production capacity advantages have played an important role in promoting the globe's carbon-neutral goal. The green cooperation with China taking place in multiple European countries naturally dispels the unfounded claim. From a global perspective, overcapacity in EVs is not happening, said Wu Kegang, a former China adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce. He suggested that more Chinese companies should consider deepening cooperation and building EV manufacturing closer to the UK and EU markets. As to reducing global carbon emissions, Carl Fey, a professor of strategy at BI Norwegian Business School, told Xinhua, "The Chinese government deserves a lot of credit for early recognizing and believing that electric vehicles could be a solution." In the short term, it's good that the Chinese companies produce more "good quality, affordable electric cars from several manufacturers" to the world; in the long run, it's also good that the European and U.S. vehicle-makers can compete in the global arena, Fey said. "China has done a lot to help the world move towards a green future. And that is encouraging," he added. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Last Monday, May 13, Chilean authorities formally returned 117 fossils dated back 400 million years ago to Morocco at a repatriation ceremony held in the National Library of Chile. The then-lost artifacts were seized from smugglers by the country's customs officials. About the 117 Repatriated Moroccan Fossils It was San Antonio Customs Inspector Ximena Cartagena who realized a cargo that was suspiciously declared as "ornaments" was actually a collection of paleontological pieces of heritage value. Between 2018 and 2022, Metropolitan Customs officials Ximena Oyarzun and Jorge Mercado found themselves in a similar predicament, when items presumed to be mundane transports inspected from the Traveler and Courier sectors of the Santiago International Airport turned out to be valuable artifacts. After a long joint investigative work carried out by Chile's Customs, the Council of National Monuments, the National Cultural Heritage Service, the Chancellery, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco, the 117 fossils were finally sent back to their country of origin. Chilean National Heritage Service Director Nelida Pozo Kudo praised this collaboration between the countries' agencies and customs arms to rightfully repatriate the artifacts. "Chilean customs' seizure of these Moroccan-origin fossils and their return to the kingdom is a clear example of both countries' commitment to combating illicit access to cultural property in accordance with international law," he said. "Smuggling of antiquities and fossils dating back millions of years may be worse than drug trafficking," added Morocco's ambassador to Chile, Kenza El Ghali. In addition, during the ceremony, representatives of the two nations took the opportunity to perfect a cultural collaboration agreement with their respective signatures. CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE Former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron pleaded not guilty to the latest charges filed by the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office in an arraignment before Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury on Friday. Byron and current Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., along with Wildwood Commissioner Steve Mikulski, were all back in the Cape May County courthouse Friday on charges connected to their acceptance of benefits through the State Health Benefits Program, to which the state alleges they were not entitled. All three have denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Also in court on Friday, attorneys mentioned a motion to separate the three cases so they could be tried individually rather than in a joint trial. That matter is expected to be back before the court June 14, when it could be decided. All three men are represented by separate attorneys. Defense attorney David Stefankiewicz represents Mikulski, while Eric Shenkus with the Cape May County Public Defenders Office is representing Byron. Attorney Charles Nugent made his first court appearance on behalf of Troiano on Friday. Brian Pelloni had represented Troiano, but the judge found in February that he had a conflict of interest in the case because he was also employed by the Attorney Generals Office, which is prosecuting the case. The attorneys for Troiano and Mikulski want to separate the cases, while Byrons attorney does not. Former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron charged with official misconduct Former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron faces fresh charges, including an allegation of official misconduct, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Monday. Last month, the Attorney Generals Office announced additional charges against Byron, alleging official misconduct, tampering with public records, failure to pay taxes, filing a fraudulent tax return and other offenses. The early afternoon appearance was the latest small step in the health benefits case that began in 2023. Since it began, Byron resigned as mayor under pressure from the state and failed in an election campaign in the fall, which saw the reelection of Mikulski and Troianos return to the three-person board, which appointed Troiano mayor this year. In 2023, Byron pleaded guilty to federal tax charges related to more than $40,000 in income from an additional job in 2017 and 2018. As part of that case, documents indicated Byron had sought the job from an unidentified attorney in Gloucester County. This year, the state charged that Byron also failed to report that income on New Jersey income tax returns, and that he had abused his office as mayor by asking for a job from a firm that had a city contract. The charges also allege Byron did not properly include the income on financial disclosure statements required of a public official. Elected officeholders are expected to serve the public, not use their authority to line their own pockets, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said when the charges were announced April 22. The most serious of the charges could carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000 if convicted. Shenkus described the latest charges as nothing more than an attempt to bolster the charges already filed against Byron, saying after the hearing they had no legal merit. Byron wore a blue blazer with a turtleneck for the court appearance. Troiano wore a long sleeve Carhartt T-shirt, and Mikulski wore a black quarter-zip sweatshirt. Deputy Attorneys General Brian Uzdavinis and Niccole L. Sandora represented the state in the court appearance, which primarily focused on scheduling. Judge orders disqualification of Troiano's attorney in Wildwood misconduct case The attorney representing Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. against charges of official misconduct was disqualified from the case Friday after accepting a job with the Attorney General's Office, the same office that is prosecuting his client. After the hearing, they declined to comment on the case, saying any statement would come from the attorney generals press office. On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson said the office had no comment. Wildwood officials voted in 2011 to include elected officials as full-time employees who work at least 35 hours a week and eligible to participate in the State Health Benefits Program. Those accused say they worked far more than that as elected officials. The state alleges Byron and Troiano falsified time sheets to show full-time work. Prosecutors allege Mikulski, who was elected later, made false statements on health benefits forms submitted to the city. Prosecutors allege the State Health Benefits Program paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums and claims on behalf of the three men. Trump failed us during pandemic The first responsibility of a president of this country is to protect its citizens. An opportunity to protect the people of the United States was presented to then President Trump during the pandemic. Even though he clearly understood the potential dangers and consequences of inaction, this is the selfish path he chose. His message of playing it down, encouraging people not to wear masks and to generally ignore the dangers of the virus contributed to the overall deaths of more than a million Americans. Clearly, this is an egregious failure to serve and protect the people of this country. Along with his other failings as a leader, it is clear that he cannot be given another opportunity to put United States citizens in harms way. James Burke Egg Harbor Township Suddenly, you cant count? Wow, was I wrong! I and most of my neighbors and friends agreed that there would be slanted coverage (if any) of the May 11 Trump rally in Wildwood, even though Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano described it as a perfect weekend. Pretty amazing how The Press can easily estimate how many people attend the Atlantic City Airshow, a country or rap beach concert in AC or Wildwood, but seem to be totally in the dark as to the way-above-predicted turnout and non-destructive behavior of us hated Trump supporters. Some estimates of the brainwashed Facebook folks saying there were 4,000 people! The Hard Rock concert hall holds five grand, for crying out loud! And the Ventnor block party was mentioned on that days weather page, but no mention of the beach rally! So deny and cry all you want, the 2nd District is Republican, headed by Mr. Van Drew; lie any way that makes you feel better! Or just go see President Biden at a speech where there are maybe 100-200 people! Folks are fed up with two major wars, record high grocery prices, gas prices, and Kamalas job as Border Chief. Like Wildwoods mayor said, You like Biden? God bless you. Also a nice touch with the 3-by-4-inch partial crowd photo on Page 10! Proved my point nicely! Frank Murphine 3rd Millville Hannibal Lecter joke uncalled for After reading the coverage and seeing video of Donald Trumps recent unhinged rally in Wildwood, I am reminded of how happy I am to have moved to Vermont two years ago. Its a shame. I love New Jersey and the home I grew up in, but to see people cheering for Hannibal Lecter is disappointing to say the least and downright scary if Im being honest. I dont care if it was some sort of joke. That Trump says this and thinks its funny should prompt questions from serious thinkers. What was the point of invoking a killer? What was the premise, the context? Why at a political rally would one quote a fictional murderer who ate his victims? What has gone wrong with people? Its not OK, and it is not funny. Its actually pretty sad, and if we are not careful, the joke is going to be on us. Thomas Angello Jr. Barre, Vermont Trump should not be running I find all of the discussion around the potential of a presidential candidate going to prison, as well as Donald Trumps claims that the trials are interfering with his campaigning, unsettling and, at best, ludicrous. The trials are not interfering with his campaigning. His campaigning is interfering with his trials. He should not be running! Will the majority of the Republicans who can choose to select another candidate take their heads out of the sand long enough to do so? If not, and Donald Trump is convicted, he should be barred from office just because of the logistics of justice for the American people. If the Republicans dont wake up, Donald Trump, who thinks he can write his own rules and have the outcome that he wants, apparently may. Should the Republican Party within the next few months wake up, is there time for them to pull a candidate out of a hat? Is it possible that Joe Biden will be the only candidate? Barring those two impossible scenarios, I beg all those who, for whatever reasons, dont want to vote for Joe Biden and plan to either sit this one out or vote for a third party candidate, to please consider what is at stake. Harriet Diamond Atlantic City In a new addition to the series of protests in light of the Israel-Palestine conflict all over North America, would-be exhibitors and artists for Toronto's annual, month-long Contact Photography Festival have backed out. The boycott sees damage to the numbers of some 130 exhibitions and 250 artists that were originally expected to participate in this year's iteration this May. The flames of the outrage were fanned by a grassroots campaign initiated earlier this year, encouraging constituents of the event to withdraw due to its long-standing sponsor, Scotiabank, having ties with the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. About the Protest Against Scotiabank and the Festival The movement was organized by the groups No Arms in the Arts, which was formed specifically to demand the divestment of Scotiabank from Elbit, and Artists Against Artwashing, an organization focusing on demanding Canadian cultural institutions to move away from "settler colonialism and genocide." Since the start of this year, the protests have already yielded devastating results for the month-long event, with over a dozen exhibitors removing themselves from Contact's roster this year. In the early part of this week, Scotiabank said that it halved its investments in Elbit. Brooklyn-based artist Umber Majeed is one of the artists originally slated to hold an exhibition in Contact before she decided to wholly transfer her show, "Dil Dil Trans-Pakistan (Heart, Heart Trans-Pakistan)," virtually. In a statement to The Art Newspaper regarding her decision, she said: "If I'm talking about land-grabbing and class warfare by large corporations, ethically and morally as an artist, it doesn't make sense to take money from people who are contributing to that process elsewhere." Members of both NAITA and AAA have considered these recent developments as a win, as apparent in a post on the Writers Against the War on Gaza Instagram account, saying that Scotiabank's stake in Elbit has dropped "from 5.1 percent to 2.5 percent" since October 2023. This divestment represents around $250 million, according to the post. As for Contact, CEO Darcy Killeen expressed her sadness for the whole fiasco that the 28-year-old festival has been experiencing, 15 years of which sees Scotiabank as its title sponsor and main funder. Killeen added that he was "shocked" to know Scotiabank had $440 million at stake in Elbit when it was revealed to the public last November, especially because he looks at the event as a "a community-based organisation" sharing many of the "same values" as the campaigners. With the official tapping of the ceremonial keg of beer, Col. Daniel Mitchell, Garrison Commander of the Rock Island Arsenal, opened this years Armed Forces Day celebration on Friday. The celebration will carry on through Sunday at the Arsenal with bands, a carnival with rides and games and, of course, a display of military vehicles and weapons. Armed Forces Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1950, Mitchell said. Its a holiday that brings together all the armed services. We here at the Rock Island Arsenal have been celebrating Armed Forces Day with the Run the Rock race for many years, and the past two years weve turned it into a whole weekend celebration, he added. The traditional tapping of the keg, he added, is something we use for many events. Its getting the party started. This is our opportunity to celebrate all the armed forces and our party where were welcoming the Quad-Cities here like an open house. Were your army, were your military and we want you to get to know us. Saturdays festivities will begin at 8:45 a.m. with a kids run. Run the Rock begins at 10 a.m. The celebration will last until 9:25 p.m. when there will be a fireworks display. The QC Cruisers Auto Show begins at 9 a.m., while the carnival with rides and games opens at 10 a.m. There also will be food and other vendors where people can eat and shop. The event is free and open to the public. The public can enter at either the Moline or Rock Island gates. All that is needed to get onto the Arsenal is a valid government issued ID, such as a drivers license or passport. Service dogs are welcome, but pets should remain at home. Rock Island County Board Chair Richard Brunk enjoyed one of the opening ceremonial beers, and said all the local, state, and federal politicians always fight for the Arsenal. The Rock Island Arsenal is an intricate part of our county and region in so many ways, Brunk said. Historically, the Arsenal has played critical roles in our nations history, and its impact has been felt locally, nationally, and globally. Its history is part of our local fabric, Brunk added. Economically, it is a powerhouse of an economic engine that helps drive our regional economy. The Rock Island Arsenal and those who work here or call it home continue to be a greatly valued part of our communities. Denise Bulat, Executive Director of the Bi-State Regional Commission, said the Arsenal's economic impact in 2016 was calculated at $1.2 billion for the local economy. "Those numbers are old so it would be more than that today," Bulat said. Among the vendors are Evelyn Imdieke and her brother, Luke. Evelyn makes bracelets and Luke makes models. Evelyn said she wanted to make beautiful bracelets for girls that they could afford and that wouldnt break. I like designing them and putting the beads together, she said. I like the sparkly ones. Luke said he enjoys models, such as train models, but with four siblings there isnt enough room for those. Instead, he makes models with acorn people doing things throughout the year, such as snowball fights in winter and fishing in the summer. Ive been doing this for two or three months, Luke said. The one with the fishermen even has fish in the water. Their father is stationed at the Arsenal. Their mother, Rachel, said Luke and Evelyn did a good job of experimenting and learning how to make it all work. For Evelyn, YouTube was a big help. While Memorial Day is for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to America, and Veterans Day celebrates all veterans, Armed Forces Day celebrates the men and women serving in all branches of the military. We have service members stationed all over the world to ensure the security of our world and our nation, Mitchell said. Federal lawmakers this week overwhelming passed a bipartisan bill sponsored by Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson aimed at reducing the more than 20,000 pregnancies that end in stillbirth every year in the United States. The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2023 passed the House by a vote of 408-3. A similar version previously passed the Senate, where Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced companion legislation. The bill would clarify that public health agencies can use existing federal grant dollars earmarked for mothers and children for stillbirth prevention and research, including initiatives that encourage expectant parents to be aware of and track their babies movements in the womb. Other prevention efforts include smoking cessation for pregnant women and reducing incidence of congenital syphilis. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, said the clarification will enable the U.S. medical community to use federal resources to advance evidence-based stillbirth prevention efforts, saving the lives of mothers and babies. I was blessed to spend Mothers Day with my two sons this last weekend, but of course my heart aches for the women who are mourning the loss of a child that they never got to meet, Hinson told reporters Friday. By passing this bill this week, we are making meaningful progress to reduce stillbirths, ensure expecting women receive the care they deserve and support growing families. Every year, over 20,000 pregnancies in the United States end in a stillbirth, the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. Nearly 1 in 4 stillbirths may be preventable, but the United States is trailing other countries in making progress. The annual number of deaths far exceeds the top five leading causes of deaths among children ages up to 14 combined, including unintentional injuries, congenital anomalies, preterm birth, homicide, SIDS and heart disease, said Emily Price, an Iowa stillbirth prevention advocate and chief executive officer of Healthy Birth Day Inc. The deafening silence of a baby born still echoes through hospitals across our country 65 times every single day, said Price, who joined Hinson on a call with reporters. This legislation says we can end preventable stillbirths and make it a maternal health tragedy of the past. The legislation is an outgrowth of Count the Kicks, a public health program founded in 2008 by five Iowa mothers who experienced stillbirth or infant death in the early 2000s. The program is based on Norwegian research that found a 30% reduction in stillbirth by teaching pregnant women how to monitor fetal movement during the third trimester by doing kick counts daily. The program helps parents get to know their expectant baby's normal movement patterns and speak up if they notice a change. Iowa's stillbirth rate decreased nearly 32% from 2008 to 2012, the first 10 years of the Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention campaign. This bill is a call to action from Congress that states can use their Title V funds that Congress has given them to invest in programs and research to move the needle like Iowa has, Price said. She said her organization is working to partner with the University of Iowa on stillbirth prevention research. March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health, said in a statement it looks forward to seeing the legislation signed by Democratic President Joe Biden. Iowa's maternal death rate and infant mortality rate have climbed as birthing units have closed in recent years. Iowa is one of four states in the nation to have significant increases in infant mortality rates from 2021 to 2022. The states infant death rate per 1,000 live births rose from 3.99 to 5.20 in 2022 a 30% jump. At least 34 maternity units have closed in the state since 2000, leaving rural Iowans less likely to access care. A 2023 report from the March of Dimes found a third of Iowa's counties are "maternity care deserts" they have no hospital birthing centers or OB-GYN providers. Iowa has the fewest OBGYNs per capita of any U.S. state, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Price said its commonplace for rural Iowa mothers to drive an hour or more to see an OBGYN or visit a hospital maternity ward. In some cases that can be deadly, if youre driving an hour and you have a real urgent need but theres no one nearby equipped to assess or investigate your obstetric emergency, she said. As Iowa struggles with a provider shortage, Hinson has also pursued legislation to expand access to midwives to improve maternal health care. Hinson also secured $1.1 million to expand and modernize the maternity health care unit at the Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital and Clinics in West Union, and has requested $1.25 million to support the expansion of the Grinnell Regional Medical Center labor and delivery unit, increasing their delivery capacity up to 250 births annually. According to Hinsons office, the current facility is unable to meet the demands of the rural six-county region that the hospital serves. Editor's note: This is the ninth in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer and host of SDPB's "South Dakota Focus" is writing for South Dakota News Watch. Each month, she previews the upcoming show. SIOUX FALLS Thousands of South Dakota high schoolers are planning their first steps into adulthood this graduation season. Some may follow relatives into the family business of farming, law or teaching. Others, like Cordelia Rieck of Sioux Falls, plan to join the family business of raising families. The number of day cares in South Dakota has almost halved since 2009, from 1,195 to 646 in 2020, according to the Kids Count Data Center. As conversations about the lack of child care access and affordability intensify across the state, the Rieck family is among the dozens of families in South Dakota that run in-home or family day cares. That journey began years before Cordelia was born. After Karen Rieck and her husband Justin moved to Sioux Falls, they went to see a movie. Karen had a few years of experience with child care at that time. "Oddly enough, we had gone to see 'Daddy Day Care' in the theater," said Karen. "And that's what got my brain going. Like, 'Really, you can do this. You can do child care out of your home. You don't have to run a center.'" A week later, the Riecks were creating a business plan. That was 21 years ago. Today, Mrs. Karen's House Childcare and Preschool is a state registered family daycare with capacity for a dozen children. When the South Dakota Focus team visited in April, the children's ages ranged from six to a pair of five-month-old twins. Karen said the in-home setting emphasizes a feeling of family, which was attractive when she and her husband started the venture. "Family in general is important to us, and we want to be able to instill that with the kids that we help raise," she said. In fact, a connection made through one of their clients helped the Riecks expand their own family. They'd previously been told having children would be difficult, if not impossible, based on some health complications. Then, in the early days of their child care operation, they watched the child of a pharmacy assistant. "She's the one who introduced me to a physician who was able to figure out what was wrong," Karen remembered with a smile. "Needed some help, but I have four kids now." 'I've always had somebody to play with!' Those kids have grown up alongside the kids who attend Mrs. Karen's House Childcare and Preschool. The Riecks' firstborn is Cordelia. She graduates from Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School this month. "She was born into family child care," said Karen. "We literally had her on a Thursday at 6:27 p.m. and our doors were open on Monday." "Well, I've never had a bad experience of going to somebody else's daycare," Cordelia explained matter-of-factly. "I always had somebody to play with!" Cordelia still plays and helps with the daycare kids before and after school. "I come back and all of them, they bombard me at the stairs. I don't even make it up the stairs, and they're just all over me. It's great," she said. When it came time to decide what to do after high school, Cordelia knew one thing for sure: "I just wanted to help people. I didn't care how." As a child, she'd considered being a doctor or veterinarian. Today, she shudders at the math and science involved. "And I was like, 'You know, I want to help people. I can help children.' Because first of all, I love children and children usually love me, because I am a child," Cordelia joked. Few early childhood degree options South Dakota does not require child care providers to hold higher education credentials for licensing purposes, but as research continues to demonstrate the relationship between a child's earliest years and their future learning outcomes, many providers and parents want to see child care staff with some level of specialized education. Some child care and preschool providers have begun requiring a one-year Child Development Associate as a minimum credential to lead a classroom, though there are more intensive options. South Dakota State University offers the only four-year degree specialization in early childhood education in the state. Northern State University began offering a two-year associate degree in early childhood education just last year, along with scholarships sponsored by the state Department of Social Services. Ultimately, Cordelia Rieck decided on an Early Childhood Specialist associate degree from Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls. "I wanted to stay here because I wanted to help here," she explained. Cordelia admits none of her classmates are considering a career in child care. "They go, 'I'm not having kids, so why does that pertain to me,'" she said. "It's really irritating sometimes, because sometimes they're really arrogant about it." Recent coverage of low wages for child care providers likely doesn't help. In 2021, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said child care workers earn in the bottom 2% of occupations in the nation. That has contributed to staff burnout, which perpetuates the lack of child care providers. A 2022 report from South Dakota's Department of Social Services put the turnover rate of direct care staff at 88 percent. However, that same report shows the lowest turnover rate among group family day care providers, at 60 percent. Karen Rieck believes her daughter has seen both the challenges and the benefits of running a family day care. "Having Justin and I both home all the time, she actually got to have us here," she explained. "She had that friend group here that she grew up with...I think she also sees on those days when it's 30-below and we're standing here with our hot cup of coffee and people are coming to us, and we didn't have to go out in that. There's perks to that." Looking forward As excited as Karen is to have Cordelia follow in her footsteps, she's also excited for her to blaze her own trail. "To go from being someone who never thought I would have kids, to Cordelia...we thought we were losing her at 12 weeks," Karen explained through tears. "I've seen her grow up and just become an amazing person, and even when she turned 18, that was so hard for me. She doesn't need her mommy anymore! Part of that moving into the child care world, she's still going to need me, but I want her to do her own thing and create who she is." In the meantime, Cordelia is looking forward to high school graduation and the next steps even if few of her peers are worker towards the same goal. "The average teenager does not care at all. It's kind of sad, because they don't have any of the childlike experiences after their childhood. I get to experience them every single day." How to watch 'South Dakota Focus' on SDPB The next episode of "South Dakota Focus" airs on Thursday, May 23, at 8 p.m. Central time / 7 p.m. Mountain time. It can be viewed on SDPB-TV 1, Facebook, YouTube and SD.net. The episode includes: A Build Dakota scholarship winner graduates from the surgical tech program A youth center in Ft. Thompson provides job and mentorship opportunities Stories from South Dakota high schoolers on what's next after graduation Kristi Noem has been a hot topic in Indian Country since she first claimed January 31 that Mexican cartels are operating on tribal land in South Dakota. Since then, the governor has repeatedly insisted cartels are operating on reservations. Noem even has alleged that tribal governments benefit from cartel presence and are failing their youth. On May 17, Noem held a press conference to address her banishment from eight of the nine reservations in South Dakota. I ask them right back, Why have they not banished the cartels? Why have they not banished the cartel affiliates? Noem said. Why have they only focused their attention on me, who has offered them help, and not gone after those who are perpetuating violence? During the press conference, Noem again alleged the cartel is operating on tribal land in South Dakota. More specifically, she alleged the cartel has influence over drug trafficking in the state. Beside her as she spoke was a printed quote from Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out. The quote originated from Star Comes Outs December 20 testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee regarding crime on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The State of South Dakota lacks criminal jurisdiction over Indian Country crimes; thus, in reality, the sole provider of law enforcement services to the Oglala Sioux Tribe is the federal government, Star Comes Out, according to Noem, said during the testimony. We believe this federal neglect has resulted in the cartel moving on to our reservation, an increase in overdoses, and a proliferation of guns on our school properties. The quote may have influenced Noems recent claims that the cartel is operating on tribal land in South Dakota. Crime on tribal land While crime is an issue on reservations, tribes are frustrated with Noems approach. In 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe launched a lawsuit against the federal government over inadequate funding for law enforcement. In November 2023, the tribe declared a State of Emergency over continued crime on the reservation. A federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but did not determine a specific amount of funding. On May 17, Noem said cartels on tribal land could be linked to President Joe Bidens mishandling of the U.S. southern border. We all know that this starts at the open border that is down along our southern border that has become a war zone, Noem said. Because of the neglect of this administration and the change in policies by President Biden, we have seen an infiltration of dangerous individuals, weve seen people that are coming into this country that are on the terrorist watch list. Noem said she would like to work together with tribal governments to find a solution. She commended the current model many local county sheriffs departments have adopted with tribes. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office have been working together under a memorandum of understanding since 2015. Under the memorandum, both law enforcement divisions provide aid to each other with runaway children. In 2022, both parties signed a Memorandum of Mutual Support expanding aid to include vehicle pursuits traveling on or off the reservation, incidents involving special or tactical responses, real-time kidnapping, search and rescue of missing persons, and natural disasters. The agreement does not waive the tribes sovereign immunity or authorize cross-deputization. In a press release in February, Star Comes Out said Noem was using the tribes law enforcement issues and crime to push an agenda. I dont want to see our Indian people and reservations used as a basis to create a bogus border crisis just to help Trump get re-elected as President and Governor Noem his running mate as Vice President, Star Comes Out said when banning Noem on February 2. In February, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate met with Noem to discuss how to approach the matter in the future. The tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe were singled out by the governor as places where the cartel was supposedly operating. Again on May 17, Noem listed both the Pine Ridge Reservation and Lake Traverse Reservation as places where the cartel is operating. Noem referenced a 2022 incident in which an FBI victim specialist was kidnapped by three Latino individuals near Red Shirt Table on the Pine Ridge Reservation. One of the individuals, 25-year-old El Salvadorian Juan Alvarez-Sorto, was not a legal citizen and had previously been deported. However, there was nothing to indicate cartel presence in the 2022 kidnapping, said Ace Crawford, public information officer for the South Dakota District U.S. Attorneys Office, to ICT and the Rapid City Journal. Noem also referenced a 2022 traffic stop in Roberts County, part of the Lake Traverse Reservation, that resulted in the largest seizure of fentanyl in the states history. Edwin Giovanni Salinas of El Salvador and Berta Rosmelvi Gonzales of California were both convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Part of the distribution was intended to go to the Lake Traverse population. This incident also has not been publicly linked to a specific cartel by the states U.S. Attorneys Office. It is true that the Tribe has filed two lawsuits in federal court alleging that drugs and gang activity on the Reservation are overwhelming law enforcement resources, Star Comes Out said on Feb. 2. This is a result of the future (failure) of the U.S. Government to fulfill its treaty obligations to the Tribe. But it isnt only Biden that is to blame for not complying with the courts order. It is the gridlock, primarily caused by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, that has refused to pass a budget that would allow for more police officers on the reservation." Drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl are an issue statewide, not just in tribal communities, a topic that was discussed briefly on May 17. Both the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Oglala Sioux Tribe insisted all drugs entering the reservation are coming from larger cities such as Denver, or more locally, Rapid City and Sioux Falls. In the last year, the U.S. Attorneys Office prosecuted more than 140 individuals for major federal drug offenses committed in the District of South Dakota, resulting in the interdiction of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills that would have otherwise landed in communities throughout the state, said U.S. Attorney Allison Ramsdell in an email to ICT and the Journal. Ramsdell said this work is done alongside local, tribal, state and federal law enforcement who work to intercept drugs headed for South Dakota. Ramsdell also encouraged anyone with information on drug trafficking to please contact the Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement. Ramsdell declined to comment on where a majority of drug trafficking arrests are made in South Dakota. During a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons conference on May 6 in Rapid City, South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations officers Dane Rasmussen and Matthew Glenn were asked about drug trafficking in South Dakota. Theres been rumored to be about one or two fentanyl labs in America, nowhere near here, Glenn said. They come across the border from Mexico and are sold here. Thats where all of the fentanyl we see here comes from. Weve seen a huge price reduction in fentanyl pills here in the last year, which is a bad, bad sign because it means that its flooded in our state. Theyre getting cheaper and cheaper. Despite a one-on-one conversation with Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal officials, Noem again singled out tribal communities on March 13 during a press conference in Winner, South Dakota. Previously that day, she also claimed that tribal governments are failing their youth. Cartels and gangs Noems remarks on January 31 that a gang called the Ghost Dancers existed within Rapid City left many confused and frustrated, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Despite this, again on May 17, Noem insisted there is a gang referred to as the Ghost Dancers operating on the Pine Ridge reservation and in Rapid City. I know that many people said that I shouldnt have named the gang, but I did not name the gang, they named themselves that, Noem said. Its part of their strategy to hide behind this name so that people wont say it. But the truth is that this gang, the Ghost Dancers, are Bandidos or are in support of the Bandidos motorcycle gang. The Ghost Dance refers to a ceremony that originated in the southwestern United States and became very important in Native spirituality throughout the nation as settlers continued to encroach on Native lands. The dance is directly linked to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 in South Dakota. The only Ghost affiliation refers to the Ghost Dance, said Chase Iron Eyes, Oglala Lakota and the director and lead counsel of the Lakota Law Project. When Kristi Noem is impugning Ghost Dancers and implying that tribally elected officials are in cahoots with members of the Mexican criminal illegal cartel, shes trying to dog-whistle about the border. Iron Eyes, like many other Native leaders, said hes been frustrated with Noems approach to the situation and feels shes using Native people to further her political career. Theres a reason that Kristi Noem is saying all these things, Iron Eyes said. I ran for Congress in 2016, and there are talking points that are given to you or that you create. You try and stick to those. Native people are being used like a prop. Cartel presence has been reported in all 50 states per the Drug Enforcement Administrations 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment. South Dakota is one of the states with a low amount of cartel influence per the assessment. The DEA did not respond to requests for comment regarding cartel presence on tribal land in South Dakota. On May 17, Noem and South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations Secretary Dave Flute, Sisseton Wahpeton, read comments sent to them by tribal members across the state supporting her claim that cartels are present on tribal land. We received a call from an individual who worked in casinos for 20 years as a security officer and saw the sex and drug trafficking first-hand, Flute said. They saw cartel members pretend to work on dairy farms as a cover and that reservations are their favorite places to go. During the May 17 press conference, Noem said she has been working with Chris Hansen to document evidence of the cartel on tribal land in South Dakota. Hansen is most well-known for his television series To Catch a Predator, which aired from 2004 to 2007. Even before her remarks on the cartel, Noem has had a tumultuous relationship with the Oceti Sakowin tribes since before she first took office in 2019. Noems history with tribes During the May 17 press conference, Noem stated she has been advocating for Native Americans since she first served as a state representative and in the House of Representatives. Noem served as South Dakotas lone member of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. In 2012, she claimed she fought for Native American Rights in Congress. However, there was a one-year period from May 20, 2011 to June 26, 2012 where she did not attend a single House Indian and Alaska Native Affairs subcommittee meeting. After 2012, her attendance and engagement with Indian Affairs as a Representative did improve. Notably, she sponsored several bills regarding Indian Country, including the AMBER Alert In Indian Country Act of 2017, which was incorporated into the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act and enacted in 2018. After being elected South Dakota governor in 2019, Noem immediately upset several tribal governments by supporting anti-protest legislation against Dakota Access Pipeline protesters. This support led to her first ban by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, but several months later that ban was lifted. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem again upset tribal governments by challenging COVID-19 checkpoints on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River reservations. When she was unable to dismantle the checkpoints, she turned to the Trump Administration for help. In 2021, tribes were frustrated with changes made to the Oceti Sakowin standards. The States Department of Education removed references to Indigenous culture, including origin stories and symbology like the Cangleska Wakan (medicine wheel) and buffalo robes. In 2024, her relationship with the nine tribes deteriorated rapidly, leading to her current banishment from eight of the nine tribes. On January 31, the governor first began claiming that the cartel was operating on reservations in South Dakota, after which she was banned by the Oglala Sioux Tribe. During a question-and-answer session after signing two new education bills on March 13, Noem commented on low graduation rates and low attendance rates due to a lack of parental involvement. Because they live with 80% to 90% unemployment, their kids dont have any hope. They dont have parents who show up and help them, Noem said. 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. When asked to comment on these remarks on May 17, Noem said, I dont know what youre talking about. In the span of one week from May 8 to 15, she was banned by four tribes, the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek proposed the resolution to ban Noem himself. Lengkeek said the tribe was particularly offended by her comments in Mitchell on March 13, where she claimed tribal governments are failing their students. She generalized us In my research, what Ive looked at is those issues are present in all school districts, whether theyre Indians or non-Indians. To single us out like that is very offensive to us tribal members, Lengkeek said in an interview. A majority of Native children in South Dakota are enrolled in public schools off-reservation. Data from the South Dakota Board of Education indicated only 5,013 children, or 25% of the states Native youth, attended tribal schools for the 2023-2024 school year, 300 fewer than the previous school year. Statewide, one-third of Native students dont graduate from public high schools and 84% are not considered college-ready. Statewide, 84% of all youth, regardless of race, graduate from high school. In March, Noem called for tribes to undergo an OMB Circular-A-133 audit, which is an organization-wide financial statement and federal-awards audit of a non-federal entity that expends $750,000 or more in federal funds per year. But tribes already are mandated to undergo these audits and many have done so, officials said. Three days after requesting tribes undergo audits, Noem showed up unannounced and uninvited to a quarterly PeSla meeting in Rapid City. Her presence angered several tribal leaders and was addressed in a Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association meeting the following day. After her PeSla attendance, she was banned by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Despite strings of other allegations regarding tribal governments in South Dakota, Noem has generally focused on crime in Indian Country. In April, Noem and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the formation of a new local tribal law enforcement training program. The training would take place from June through August this year in Pierre. The training is open to law enforcement from all nine tribes within South Dakota. Shortly after this announcement, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced its support for the upcoming summer training. As of May 17, between 13 and 14 potential officers are set to participate in the training starting June 3. Even though eight tribes have banned her, several tribes are sending their officers to be trained at the states inaugural summer session. On May 14, Noem announced the appointment of a Tribal Law Enforcement Liaison. Algin Young, the former police chief of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, will be the first to serve in the position. In a May 14 post on X, Noem claimed Young found himself without a job after testifying before Congress that cartels were present on the Pine Ridge Reservation. On March 20, Young and President Star Comes Out both testified about public safety in Indian Country. However, neither mentioned the cartel in their verbal testimonies. The verbal testimonies can be viewed on the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Website. Interim Police Chief John Pettigrew said in an interview on May 3 that Young was not fired, but that his contract was set to expire on April 20 and neither party elected to renew. Young did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the only tribe in South Dakota that hasnt banned Noem, will be holding an emergency meeting on Saturday, May 18 to address the matter. Until then, the governor is still banned from eight reservations. Gerald Browe of Hamilton enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at 17 years old and spent two decades traveling the world on combat and humanitarian missions as an explosive disposal technician before a parachute accident in September of 2021 dramatically changed the trajectory of his life. Browe was left with multiple injuries that ultimately ended his military career and left him wondering what would come next. On Friday, May 17, nearly three years later, he received his Associates of Applied Science degree from UM Bitterroot College surrounded by his family and friends. He now has a new mission, with plans to continue his education by attending classes at the UM campus in Missoula to pursue a degree in wildlife biology. Yes, I was a bomb technician to serve multiple tours in Afghanistan and abroad, but there's a lot of those same stories, Browe said. What is truly interesting is how after suffering a substantial traumatic brain injury and spending almost two years in and out of specialized clinics relearning how to see, move and communicate, my family, friends in this institution, especially my children were unfazed. The University of Montana Bitterroot College celebrated their graduating class of 2024 with a ceremony on Friday. Under a white tent on the grounds of the Daly Mansion, family members watched as their loved ones received their hard-earned accolades. Browe served as the student speaker at Fridays ceremony, expressing gratitude for the patience, kindness and support of his family as well as the faculty and staff at UM Bitterroot College who helped guide him on his journey. He said Associate Professor Matthew Taylor was one of the most influential people in his education at the Hamilton campus. I never felt like a burden, Browe said. He took a guy that felt like he had nothing to contribute and gave him a voice. By writing, I can express myself in ways I never thought possible, creating something instead of destroying I would be lying if I didn't admit that my journey has been difficult times. But every failure is just another opportunity to succeed. The fact that I'm up here to deliver this speech is a testament to that. Browe is one of the many students at Bitterroot College whose path in life didnt include attending a traditional four-year college right out of high school. Nineteen-year-old Ellie Jessop of Corvallis graduated with her Associate of Arts degree on Friday and is planning on perusing a degree in neuroscience. She said the staff and faculty were 100% the best part of attending classes at Bitterroot College. With all of the teachers, you just get the best quality of help, she said. They just remember your face and they treat you like your family. Kristina Berger, who is celebrating her first year as director of Bitterroot College, said it has been a rapid-fire year with lots of changes on campus and growing enrollment, but said that she will never forget her first graduating class. I will always remember this graduating class, she said. They're fantastic. Berger congratulated Bitterroot Colleges class of 2024 during the ceremony. She also praised their accomplishments and encouraged them to keep striving. I encourage you to embrace new challenges with the same enthusiasm and curiosity that has guided you thus far, Berger said. The world is full of opportunities and I'm confident that you will make the most of them. Remember, your journey does not end here, continue to learn, grow, and make a positive impact on society. You are the future leaders, innovators and change makers of tomorrow. Congratulations class of 2024, we are immensely proud of you, and we wish you all the best as you embark on this new and exciting phase of life. On April 29, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its long-awaited Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The guidance references the 1986 Supreme Court case establishing the framework for harassment, and notes, Decades later, harassing conduct remains a serious workplace problem. This is true. Im in workplaces all the time. Harassment is prevalent and systemic in too many workplaces. In addressing employer liability, the EEOC explains the responsibility of the employer to prevent harassment and properly respond to allegations of harassment after being on notice in order to avoid liability. Employers must first take steps to prevent harassment. According to the guidance, These steps usually consist of promulgating a policy against harassment, establishing a process for addressing harassment complaints, providing training to ensure employees understand their rights and responsibilities, and monitoring the workplace to ensure adherence to the employers policy. The EEOC explains that an anti-harassment policy is effective if it: defines what conduct is prohibited; is widely disseminated; is comprehensible to workers (taking into consideration language and other barriers to comprehension); requires that supervisors report harassment when they are aware of it; offers multiple avenues for reporting harassment (policies should not require that the employee first confront the alleged harasser); clearly identifies accessible points of contact to whom reports of harassment should be made and includes contact information; and explains the employers complaint process, including the processs anti-retaliation and confidentiality protections. Employers must also implement effective complaint procedures to include a process that provides for prompt and effective investigations and corrective action, as well as adequate confidentiality and anti-retaliation protections. The EEOC explains that employers are expected to conduct training for employees and managers. According to the guidance, effective training: explains the employers anti-harassment policy and complaint process, including any alternative dispute resolution process, and confidentiality and anti-retaliation protections; gives a description and examples of prohibited conduct under the policy; explains employees rights if they experience, observe, become aware of or report conduct that they believe may be prohibited; provides supervisors and managers with information about how to prevent, identify, stop, report, and correct harassment, such as actions that can be taken to minimize the risk of harassment, and with clear instructions for addressing and reporting harassment that they observe, that is reported to them, or that they otherwise become aware of; is tailored to the workplace and workforce; is provided on a regular basis to all employees; and is provided in a clear, easy-to-understand style and format. Effective policies and training will be meaningless if managers fail to do their part of reporting any concerns of harassment to the appropriate source (customarily human resources) so that an investigation and corrective action, if necessary, can occur. Usually this is where the breakdown occurs. Upon being made aware of harassment, employers must conduct a prompt and adequate investigation. Investigations are considered prompt if they are conducted reasonably soon after the employee complains or the employer is made aware of possible harassment. Investigations must be sufficiently thorough to arrive at a reasonably fair estimate of truth. Investigations should be conducted by an impartial party and seek information from all parties involved. Investigators are expected to make credibility assessments and therefore investigators should be well-trained in the skills required for interviewing witnesses and evaluating credibility. There isnt always a video or audio recording. Sometimes there are two or more completely different versions of events. Employers must be prepared, through their investigator, to make credibility assessments and render a finding on what happened. While this makes employers uncomfortable, those are the rules. This is why employers will want to only use competent and well-trained investigators to investigate harassment concerns. The guidance explains that, Upon completing its investigation, the employer should inform the complainant and alleged harasser of its determination and any corrective action that it will be taking, subject to applicable privacy laws. Employers must also make sure that employees who complain of harassment, regardless of the outcome of the investigation, are not retaliated against. If the investigation confirms that harassment occurred, the EEOC states that, To avoid liability, an employer must take corrective action that is reasonably calculated to prevent further harassment under the particular circumstances at that time. Employers must do more to create a culture where harassment is not acceptable and to ensure that employees can bring concerns forward without fear of retaliation. The full guidance is at EEOC.gov. The Virginia Museum of History and Culture was founded in 1831 with John Marshall as its first president. It was initially named the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and focused on collecting documents from the founding era. From its founding just decades before the Civil War to its renovation in 2021, the museum has seen many changes. The renovation, which started early because of pandemic, added 50% more exhibition space and made the entry hall a much brighter and more welcoming space. One of the exhibitions added with the renovation was Our Commonwealth which showcases the five regions of Virginia. Our Commonwealth features cultural aspects of Virginia, in contrast with The Story of Virginia, which presents a chronological story of Virginia starting with the settlement of indigenous people more than 10,000 years ago. That beautiful exhibit really hits home with a lot of people who are visiting from other places in Virginia, Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement Joseph Rogers said. I know a lot of folks have come up to me and said that felt like I was seeing an area of my own, my own home. In addition to Our Commonwealth and The Story of Virginia, the museum includes a central area for its youngest visitors called Commonwealth Explorers, the Lost Cause exhibit featuring a statue of Robert E. Lee from the Virginia Capital and a traveling exhibit about the life of Julia Child. From the Archives: Mail in Richmond Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, smiled ruefully after a meeting of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Monday as the General Assembly prepared to act on a state budget compromise that included all of the spending that Democrats had sought in a political showdown with Gov. Glenn Youngkin. We gave up some good stuff, said Deeds, one of 12 legislators who negotiated the compromise with the Republican governor. The budget did not include an expansion of the state sales tax that Youngkin had originally proposed as part of a package of tax cuts and increases. After Democrats scrapped his proposed tax cuts, Youngkin drew a red line on the proposed sales tax expansion, raising the possibility of an unprecedented veto of the entire $188 billion budget to fund state government for two years, beginning on July 1. It also did not include a requirement that Virginia return to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an 11-state compact to combat air pollution that scientists link to global warming and climate change. That was another red line for Youngkin, who had forced the states withdrawal from the regional compact last year. The state had joined the compact under a law that the assembly, then controlled by Democrats, passed in 2020 and never repealed. Under RGGI, as it is known, power plants have to pay to buy allowances for every ton of carbon they emit. Youngkin said returning to RGGI would amount to an additional $500 million tax on Virginians electricity bills as utilities pass on the costs to customers. Ultimately, budget negotiators recognized that they did not need the expanded sales tax for their priorities with a potential $1.2 billion surplus of state revenues. And the governors decision to withdraw from RGGI already faces a challenge. A lawsuit pending in state court alleges he violated the law by pulling Virginia out of the compact without legislative consent. But the compromise disappointed some Democrats, as well as climate and tax policy advocates, who did not want to abandon those priorities without more of a fight. I was not happy about (dropping) RGGI, acknowledged Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton. Her district sits on the front line of rising sea levels that threaten the regions communities and economy and the countrys military readiness. Locke, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus and shares a desk with powerful Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said, We knew the governor was going to take it out anyway, or potentially veto the entire budget if he could not remove the requirement. A rift over RGGI The decision on RGGI led to a behind-the-scenes rift between Democratic budget negotiators from the Senate and the House of Delegates over an alleged deal with Republicans on the conference committee. The Republicans had warned that including the requirement would undermine the goal of reaching a bipartisan agreement that both parties could support. House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, said Democratic senators should have included the RGGI requirement in the budget they adopted in February, as the House did, if it was the priority they now make it. I think folks are obviously upset with the governor because hes breaking the law, Scott said in a phone interview on Friday. I think everybody should be focused on the litigation, which is still ongoing. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, had proposed an amendment to the Senate budget to require the return to RGGI, but it was not part of the bill adopted by the Senate in February. I wanted to put an end to the governors illegal conduct and alleviate the need for the lawsuit, he said. Surovell said he also worries about betting that Democrats will win the governorship next year and keep the House majority. While there is a lot of optimism about our chances in the next governors election and holding the House, he said, I think its important to take advantage of opportunities when you have them. House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, who led the House budget delegation, said the budget language could have complicated the ongoing litigation. Technically, we do not try to engage in passing legislation when theres litigation going on, Torian said. Deeds said membership in RGGI returned far more to Virginia in money for flood control projects and energy conservation than it cost utility ratepayers before Youngkin forced the state to withdraw. But he acknowledged in a newsletter to constituents: The language we inserted into the March 9 budget may very well have yielded additional litigation. The lawsuit is pending in Floyd County Circuit Court. A judge ruled that the Association of Energy Professionals had legal standing to challenge the State Air Pollution Control Boards decision last year, at Youngkins urging, to withdraw the state from the compact. A judge in Fairfax County Circuit Court ruled last fall that three other organizations originally named in the suit lacked standing to sue the state. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which is leading the legal challenge, has stayed out of the budget fight. It was an independent pathway to get us back into RGGI, said Nate Benfarado, lead attorney on the case for the Charlottesville-based law center. Weve just really been focused on the lawsuit itself. Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, who initially described dropping the RGGI requirement as a travesty, placed the blame on Youngkin. Governor Youngkin illegally took us out of RGGI, Town said. He has stonewalled climate progress, and he needs to be held accountable. We are working to make sure the progressive climate agenda is a priority for both the legislature and the governor, he said. Lucas, who led the Senate budget negotiators, acknowledged that the Senate had not included the RGGI requirement in its initial version of the budget, while the Houses version did. It was their option whether they keep it, she said. I dont think that they caved. I think they were being as responsible as they could to get a budget passed. Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged that House Republicans did not support either the RGGI requirement or the expanded sales tax, but declined to comment on discussions in the budget conference committee. I think we ended up with a good budget, Austin said. Im happy with the process. Sales tax expansion The decision to drop the sales tax expansion to digital services has caused less dissension among Democrats, who say it made no sense to risk a budget veto after state revenues increased by 5% this year, instead of declining slightly. Youngkin confirmed the improving outlook on Thursday with the release of revenue results in April that showed the state about $1.2 billion ahead of the forecast through the first 10 months of the fiscal year. They found more money and they punted on some tough decisions, which is not all that surprising, said Bob Holsworth, a veteran political scientist in Richmond. The larger challenge lies ahead, as a joint legislative subcommittee considers potential changes to state tax policy including the sales and income taxes that many people agree does not reflect the reality of Virginias economy in the 21st century. Youngkin acknowledged those shortcomings when he proposed a tax package in December that included expansion of the sales tax to digital services, which currently are not taxed, while goods, such as compact discs and DVDs, are. He called for closing the big tech loophole, but he included it in a package that also would have slashed income tax rates in every bracket and raised the sales tax by 0.9%. The assembly rejected the proposed income tax cuts and sales tax increase as unfair to low- and middle-income Virginians, but embraced the sales tax on digital services and expanded it to software services that businesses buy from one another. It carried over the governors tax package for study by the joint subcommittee, which will also look at proposals by Democrats to add a new top income bracket for wealthy taxpayers who currently pay the same rate as anyone earning more than $17,000 a year. We have a flat tax, Scott said. It is a regressive tax. With Youngkin remaining governor through the end of next year, Democrats might have a hard time passing a tax policy package with a new top income tax bracket or expansion of the sales tax, unless they can offset new revenues with tax cuts. Holsworth said the governor still appears to be positioning himself to possibly run for president in 2028. The last thing that Youngkin wants to be associated with is a tax increase. He made the mistake this time of putting one in the budget ... and he almost got stuck with it. Scott, who this year became the first Black person elected speaker of the House, said he sees an opportunity to address inequities in Virginias tax structure next year, with some offsets to changes that would increase tax revenues. In the meantime, he wants Democrats to savor what he termed the victory they just won on spending priorities in the budget instead of grousing about what was left out. I think we do a disservice by not celebrating all the things that we did get done, Scott said. Virginia localities most concerned about climate change Localities most concerned about climate change in Virginia #50. Surry County #49. Essex County #48. Accomack County #47. Caroline County #46. Staunton #45. Prince Edward County #44. Suffolk #43. Lancaster County #42. Greensville County #41. Spotsylvania County #40. James City County #39. Chesapeake #38. Brunswick County #37. Chesterfield County #36. Franklin #35. Montgomery County #34. Sussex County #33. Hopewell #32. Stafford County #31. Nelson County #30. Charles City County #29. Northampton County #28. Danville #27. Henrico County #26. Lynchburg #25. Martinsville #24. Roanoke #23. Emporia #22. Portsmouth #21. Lexington #20. Albemarle County #19. Manassas #18. Hampton #17. Winchester #16. Prince William County #15. Harrisonburg #14. Loudoun County #13. Williamsburg #12. Newport News #11. Norfolk #10. Fairfax County #9. Fairfax #8. Fredericksburg #7. Petersburg #6. Falls Church #5. Charlottesville city #4. Manassas Park #3. Richmond #2. Arlington County #1. Alexandria At the Jefferson Hotel an overstated example of Beaux Arts architecture there was a comparatively understated side entrance through which politicians and plutocrats could discreetly slip into the Rotunda Club, one of the few places in Richmond they could dine and do what state law would discourage until 1968: order with a meal a highball or three. The Rotunda Club, now no more than a memory, was in December 1958 where Lindsay Almond, a conservative Democratic governor absolute on preserving racial segregation, was warned by 29 business and professional leaders that the states economy could be crippled by continued defiance to the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing separate public schools for white and Black children. Friday was the 70th anniversary of the decision. Virginias response to the courts 1954 order built, in part, on a challenge to horrendous conditions at a Black-only high school in Prince Edward County, in the tobacco belt about an hours drive south of Richmond unfolded over five years, with the state ignoring Brown and deliberately closing schools targeted for desegregation. That the corporate class chose to challenge the political class was stunning. The former had long prospered under policies enacted by the latter that kept down wages, kept out unions and kept away competitors. This was a symbiotic relationship, however, with business generously underwriting the local and state elective officials whose bottom line was to keep in power the boss of bosses, U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr., D-Va. The unannounced dinner meeting in addition to Almond, present were Lt. Gov. A.E.S Gi Stephens and Attorney General Albertis Harrison Jr., who would succeed Almond as governor in 1962 was organized by, among others, the influential banker J. Harvie Wilkinson Jr. and Lewis F. Powell, a high-powered lawyer whose Richmond firm had assisted in the states defense of segregation and who would later become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. News accounts of the secret soiree, attended as well by Norfolk publishing executive Frank Batten Sr. and Stuart Saunders, head of the then-Norfolk and Western Railway, emphasized that Almond, Stephens and Harrison were told Virginias stance against desegregation Massive Resistance, as it was known imperiled economic development in a state then starting to shed its rural past for a suburban future by eroding an already under-financed education system that was supposed to produce laborers and managers. But there was more to the message, said Wilkinsons son, Jay a Reagan-appointed federal appellate judge, former Powell clerk, ex-editorialist for a Batten-owned newspaper and longtime student of Virginia politics whose 1968 book on Byrd is regarded as a useful introduction to the white-male oligarchy that the governor-turned-senator led for nearly a half-century. Recalling conversations as a teenager with his father years after that storied meeting, Wilkinson speaking by telephone from Charlottesville this past week said the business and professional leaders also underscored that Massive Resistance represented nothing short of lawlessness and the state was committing a deeply moral wrong by failing to treat Black Virginians with dignity and respect. It was time for it to end, Wilkinson said. Though Almond and the other elective officials on leaving the dinner were described as somber, the governor would in a broadcast address the next month attempt a final desperate defense of Massive Resistance, which rested on the cynical view of Byrd and his inner circle that essential to killing desegregation was delaying its implementation. The federal government, they believed, would ultimately retreat, wearying of endless school-by-school court battles in Virginia and across the South. But the courts, indeed, would deal the final blow to Massive Resistance. On Jan. 19, 1959 the anniversary of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees birth the Virginia Supreme Court and a federal court in Norfolk ruled that school closings were an unconstitutional response to the law of the land, as decreed in the Brown order throwing out separate-but-equal in public education. Almond took to the airwaves in angry disbelief, then surrendered to the new legal reality. Schools had been closed by state decree in Charlottesville, Front Royal and Norfolk. Prince Edward County, whence sprang the Virginia case that was bundled by the Supreme Court in the larger Brown dispute over segregated education, closed its schools until 1964, when they were nudged open by a federal commission. Not that there werent attempts to perpetuate segregation, using arguments that might resonate with business. James Buchanan, a future Nobel laureate in economics as a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax County, was on the faculty at the University of Virginia in the late 1950s, when Virginia adopted tuition grants to finance the private school educations of students whose parents shunned desegregated public schools. Such grants despite what scholars in later years described as Buchanans discomfort with segregation would affirm the enduring principle of his theories: that self-interest shapes the overall economy. Not surprisingly, there were economic arguments, otherwise also emerging from the University of Virginia. Lorin A. Thompson, of the schools Bureau of Population and Economic Research and, later, the first president of George Mason University, wrote and shared with the General Assembly a paper that described the paralysis of the states public schools as a crisis. This could be reversed, Thompson argued, if Virginia developed an economic development program that was education-focused. Its a point of view with staying power and proven results. Embraced by many of the governors of the post-segregation era and with the full support of the business community economic development and education are, for all intents and purposes, one and the same. This is embodied by an initiative more than 30 years in the making: the creation, in the early days of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkins term, of a state agency responsible for workforce development. One of its leading proponents is a Democrat: Jim Dyke, former secretary of education to Gov. Douglas Wilder and a longtime lawyer-lobbyist with a vast education portfolio that includes a special focus on the states historically Black colleges and universities. Dyke a Black Virginian who was a clerk to federal appellate judge Spottswood Robinson, one of the lawyers in the Prince Edward case was honored two days before Browns 70th anniversary by the century-old Virginia Chamber of Commerce for a career advocating for education. Dyke, whose own education began in an all-Black primary school in Bedford County outside Lynchburg and who reflexively spotlights enduring vestiges of segregation as obstacles to economic opportunity, noted an eerie parallel in the evenings proceedings with those in the 1950s and of which nearly all in the audience were likely unaware. At this very hotel, 66 years ago, 29 Virginia business leaders, including members of this chamber, met with then-Gov. Almond to urge him to end the abomination known as Massive Resistance, said Dyke, adding that because of Virginias business community, Virginias history took a decisive turn. VIDEO & PHOTOS: Statue of segregationist Harry F. Byrd Sr. removed from Capitol Square in Richmond Mexican Consulate in Orlando supporting affected families after 8 workers killed in DUI bus crash Mexico City, Mexico The Mexican Consulate in Orlando continues to provide support to the families of Mexican workers killed in a Florida bus crash. The crash happened May 14 north of Citrus County. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) indicated that a driver under the influence of alcohol hit the bus, causing it to leave the countryside road and roll. Eight Mexican agricultural workers who were traveling on H2A work visas were killed when the bus rolled after hitting a tree. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), six other Mexican workers are in serious condition and another three in critical condition. The alleged drunk driver has been arrested and is facing eight charges of involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. Originally it was reported that 55 people were traveling on the bus, however, information has been corroborated by the FHP and the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor that 44 people were being transported. Photo: Marion County Fire Rescue May 14, 2024. The Mexican Consulate in Orlando moved to the accident area and the hospitals where the injured people are located. The titular consul, Juan Sabines Guerrero, and consular staff are at the hotel where the company is hosting workers during the agricultural season in Gainsville, Florida, in order to continue conducting protection interviews to complete the list of people affected. Photo: Marion County Fire Rescue May 14, 2024. The Consulate will continue to communicate with authorities from the Highway Patrol and the Wage and Hour Office to provide consular assistance to affected workers and the families of the deceased. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs deeply regrets the death of the eight compatriots, the SRE reported in a statement. The accident happened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning when the driver of a pickup truck hit the bus. Bryan H , the driver of the pickup truck accused of colliding with the bus, was in Florida court Wednesday morning. According to U.S. media, 41-year-old Bryan H is facing eight charges of DUI manslaughter. Photo: Marion County Fire Rescue May 14, 2024. According to Marion Country Court records, his criminal history goes back to 2006, which to date includes charges of leaving the scene of an accident, drug possession, accident with property damage and driving with a suspended license. More than half a million Japanese visit Ancient Mexico Mayan, Aztec and Teotihuacan exhibition Mexico City, Mexico More than half a million Japanese have visited the Ancient Mexico Mayan, Aztec and Teotihuacan exhibition that had been on tour for 11 months. Since June of 2023, the ancient exhibition has been on display in three of Japans most important museums. The exhibition, which concluded its tour May 6, 2024, was made up of 143 invaluable pieces including the trousseau of the Red Queen of Palenque. The traveling exhibition was organized by the federal Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the production company Nippon Hoso Kyokai and the national museums of Tokyo, Kyushu and Osaka Art. A total of 556,715 visitors came to admire the trousseau of the Red Queen of Palenque among other pieces. Mexicos ancient exhibition was first set up at the Tokyo National Museum, the oldest in the Japanese nation, from June 15 to September 3, 2023. During that time, according to museum officials, 330,000 visited the exhibit. From October 3 to December 10, 2023, the pieces were shown at the Kyushu National Museum, which was attended by 88,895 people before finally moving to its third and final venue at the Osaka National Museum of Art. There, the 143 Mexican pieces were on display to the public from February 6 to May 6, 2024, where 137,087 visitors arrived. The traveling exhibition was divided into four thematic axes, An invitation to ancient Mexico, Teotihuacan. City of Gods, The Rise and Fall of the Mayan City-States and Great Aztec Temple of Tenochtitlan, and consisted of 143 pieces. Photo: National Coordination of Museums and Exhibitions, INAH The curatorship was carried out by research professors from Arizona State University, Takeshi Inomata and Saburo Sugiyama, in collaboration with the Director of the Templo Mayor Project (PTM), from INAH, Leonardo Lopez Lujan. The exhibition was conceived to convey the depth of the ancient civilizations of Mexico, mainly the Mayan, the Mexica and Teotihuacan, which prospered over more than three millennia, in the period from 1500 BC, to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, in the 16th century. Some of the pieces exhibited were the trousseau of the Red Queen of Palenque, gold objects recovered in recent archaeological seasons of the PTM, and green stone sculptures from the Tlalocan Project, from Teotihuacan as well as a Chac Mool from the collection of the Yucatan Regional Museum of Anthropology. Photo: National Coordination of Museums and Exhibitions, INAH It also included Palacio Canton, the eagle warrior and a Tlaloc pot from the Templo Mayor Museum, the Disk of Death from the National Museum of Anthropology and monumental sculptures found in the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in the Archaeological Zone of Teotihuacan, among others. The exhibition explored the enduring complexity of these cultures, through their cosmologies, the artistic manifestations they created in diverse environments, as well as the universal expressions of prayer with which they supplicated the gods and Mother Nature. The works that made up the exhibition belong to the archaeological zones of Palenque, Tonina, Teotihuacan, Templo Mayor and its site museums, as well as the National Museum of Anthropology, the Regional Museum of Anthropology of Yucatan, Palacio Canton, the Templo Mayor Project, the National Library of Anthropology and History and the Great Museum of the Mayan World, in Merida. Photo: National Coordination of Museums and Exhibitions, INAH The collaboration between both nations allowed them to share the richness and beauty of ancient Mexican cultures with the ancient Japanese people, while reaffirming the ties of friendship. Last week, the INAH reported over 1.2 million people to date have attended Mexicos Mesoamerican cultural exhibition at the Liaoning Provincial Museum in China. PDC firemen continue investigation into morning palapa fire Playa del Carmen, Q.R. Sparks are being blamed for a late morning palapa fire in central Playa del Carmen. On Saturday morning, Playa del Carmen firemen arrived to a building on 38 Avenue and 10 Street where area residents reported the fire. Building tenants called the fire department after seeing the grass rooftop smoking. Smoke quickly turned to flames which ended up consuming the small palapa structure. However, firemen were able to put it out before the fire moved to other nearby buildings. According to early information, Civil Protection and firemen continue to work on an official cause which according to available information, could have been an electrical short circuit likely caused by overheating somewhere along the set of lines. An electrical spark from a nearby pole and set of cables is being looked into as a cause of the fire. Photo: May 18, 2024. A possible electrical short or overheating in the low-lying cables that hung just above the palapa roof may have set the grass on fire. Local authorities are also looking into the wiring of an old air conditioner that was next to the palapa. Solar company looking to convert Riviera Maya hotels after installation of first Telsa battery in Cancun Cancun, Q.R. A Cancun hotel is the first in the region to use a Tesla battery to store its solar energy. Company SolarFuel installed the Tesla made battery earlier this week on the grid of a 200-room hotel. The battery will allow the hotel to store solar energy which is used to power the Golden Parnassus hotel during the hours of greatest electricity demand. The U.S. imported battery relies on the energy supply provided by solar panels installed on the roof. Andres Munoz, Southeast Commercial Manager of SolarFuel, says the new system provides the hotel with a 35 percent savings on its monthly elctric bill. The company, with capital from Monterrey, says that in Quintana Roo the hotel industry is eager for options to generate green energy so as not to depend solely on the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Officials have been participating in talks with state hotels to install more of this energy solution. We currently have negotiations that represent potential sales for approximately $500 million dollars and cover some 30,000 rooms that we can land here in Quintana Roo, from Costa Mujeres and Cancun to Rivera Maya, said the representative of the Monterrey firm. The Tesla battery is programmed to be operational between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., a period that is called high demand and doubles the rate per watt, which increases the monthly billing for energy consumption by up to 35 percent. The system installed in Cancun involves three types of installations that include the battery, water heaters and rooftop solar panels that generate 330 kilowatts per hour. The 200-room building uses the stored battery energy to power the hotel during peak times. While the general cost is around $3.5 million, the business scheme they are proposing to the Quintana Roo hotel industry is zero investment for the hotel in exchange for SolarFuel keeping the 35 percent savings that the solution represents in the monthly billing. The plan is for a period of 25 years after which the hotel becomes the owner of the installed equipment and extends a maintenance plan to SolarFuel. The Golden Parnassus hotel is the first in Cancun to have a Tesla battery and an entire renewable energy system with solar panels. The model was presented Thursday at a press conference in Cancun. Photo: May 16, 2024. The model was presented Thursday at a press conference by the Cancun Hotel Association with Directors Manuel Ricardez and Andres Munoz providing technical details. Only 5 percent of Mexican Caribbean hotels use renewable energy and depend on the energy supplied by the CFE they reported. Support Us Your Support will ensure EPWs financial viability and sustainability. The EPW produces independent and public-spirited scholarship and analyses of contemporary affairs every week. EPW is one of the few publications that keep alive the spirit of intellectual inquiry in the Indian media. Often described as a publication with a social conscience, EPW has never shied away from taking strong editorial positions. Our publication is free from political pressure, or commercial interests. Our editorial independence is our pride. We rely on your support to continue the endeavour of highlighting the challenges faced by the disadvantaged, writings from the margins, and scholarship on the most pertinent issues that concern contemporary Indian society. Every contribution is valuable for our future. This is part of Sly as Fox, a short series about the perils of underestimating Fox News in 2024. In the wake of historic lawsuits, Rupert Murdochs exit, Tucker Carlsons firing, and more, it might seem like Fox News is in retreat. It isntand the people who are likely to decide the next election tend to watch the network. Below, a 24-hour diary of what theyre hearing on a typical day: in this case, May 9, the day Stormy Daniels was cross-examined in Donald Trumps trial. 5:27 a.m. Stormy Daniels will be back on the witness stand today, where she is reportedly expected to face a longer cross-examination is Fox & Friends First co-host Todd Piros lead-in to the story of the day. After establishing the topic, Piro transitions to an interview segment with Gene Hamilton, the vice president of America First Legal, a Stephen Millerfronted group intent on opposing the radical lefts anti-jobs, anti-freedom, anti-faith, anti-borders, anti-police, and anti-American crusade. Gene, as to this longer cross-examinationmakes sense to me. A longer cross gives Stormy Daniels more time to self-destruct on the stand, says Piro, a former lawyer. Bad for the prosecution, great for the defense. Your thoughts? Youre absolutely right, Todd, says Hamilton. That is exactly the purpose of an effective cross-examination. You have to undermine the witnesss credibility and show to the jury that what she is saying might in fact not be true. An informative observation! Alas, I cannot tell you much more about the substance of this segment, because I got distracted by an unfortunately placed lighting fixture in Hamiltons background, which made it look like there were antennae sprouting from his head. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 5:42 a.m. Piros co-host Carley Shimkus is joined by Republican Rep. Joe You Lie! Wilson, best known for interrupting a 2009 Barack Obama speech with the aforementioned blurt, and I cannot help thinking that this is a man who missed his moment. If the South Carolinian had timed his outburst to coincide with the peak conservative wingnut era, You Lie! wouldve been on T-shirts, and he wouldve immediately become a right-wing social media icon. Instead, hes stuck doing live hits before sunrise with the Fox News C-team. So what is Wilson outraged about this morning? Joe Bidens immigration policies, of course. What theyre proposing, really, is a fraud, says Wilson, and it doesnt really have the same ring to it as his first catchphrase. I guess some people peak early! Advertisement 6 a.m. Good mornin, everybody! It is 6 a.m. here in New York City. Also, we have 60 degrees. Its beautiful outside! sings Steve Doocy as Fox & Friends First throws to Fox & Friends, the networks long-running three-hour-long morning chat extravaganza. Its gonna be nice, says Ainsley Earhardt. It is! Were gonna go outside and see some dogs in a little while, but, in the meantime, welcome aboard, says Doocy, as Earhardt chuckled and a stone-faced Brian Kilmeade stares directly into the camera, nodding grimly. Dogs, weather, and barely suppressed ragethats the Fox & Friends formula! Advertisement 6:05 a.m. Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, is in studio with the Fox & Friends crew for an animated discussion that touches on several newsy topics, including the Israel-Gaza war. (Doocy: So whose side is Joe Biden on? Scott: Well, hes clearly on Hamas side.) Scott is in New York to attend Trumps trial, and the segment eventually works its way over to that story. This is just political persecution. Its a crime to use the courts for political persecution, Scott says. And, by the way, I saw this. It happened to me. I fought HillaryCare, and guess what happened when I fought HillaryCare? [The Department of] Justice came after me and attacked me and my company. The incident to which the senator was referring happened decades ago, when Scott was CEO of Americas largest for-profit hospital chain, which under his leadership came under FBI investigation for Medicare fraud; Scott was ousted as CEO, and the company eventually paid a then-record $1.7 billion fine. If we dont stop this, they can go after you. Every Americans at risk, Scott continues, and it probably seems like a very good point to all of the corporate health care profiteers who tuned in to watch their buddy on TV. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 6:27 a.m. Theres a huge spike in Chinese migrants, says Doocy, as an on-screen graphic sourced to U.S. Customs and Border Protection announces that 1,026 Chinese nationals were apprehended the previous week for illegally entering the United States. He is soon joined by former acting ICE Director Tom Homan, a burly man with a perpetual scowl who supervised and has since vociferously defended the Trump administrations family separation policy. Homan has since become a Fox News contributor, and we will be seeing a lot of him this year as the network attempts to persuade viewers that the Biden administrations migrant policies have made the country dangerously unsafe. Homan has plenty to say on that topic. Unfortunately for Fox, much of what Homan has to say is hard to understand, because he mumbles. Advertisement 7:07 a.m. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, fresh off of successfully thwarting Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes misbegotten motion to vacate the speakership, joins the gang live from the Capitol rotunda. In the background of the shot, you can see a separate camera and lighting setup awaiting a guest, presumably belonging to a different network. I like to imagine Johnson concluding his Fox hit and then running halfway around the rotunda to immediately hop on with some other show. Now thats what I call a victory lap. Advertisement 7:27 a.m. Earhardt convenes a segment about the vicious anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University, as part of the networks ongoing efforts to portray them as entitled children and their actions as violent and unruly. To that end, she plays a clip of a Free Press interview with one of the Hamilton Hall custodians who was on duty when protesters briefly occupied the building, and then sits down with John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union of America, who earlier that week had announced his intent to sue Columbia on behalf of the workers negatively affected by the building takeover. (Those workers are members of the TWU.) Advertisement Advertisement What was your reaction when you knew that your guys were stuck in that building? Earhardt asks. Well, we were appalled, says Samuelsen, who speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent and flaunts an untucked shirt. Dont be fooled by surface impressions, though: Samuelsen, who previously led the NYC public transit union, is a smart operator who knows exactly what Earhardt is up to. Just to be clear, it wasnt every protester, and not every protester at Columbia has been hostile to our workforce. Were particularly incensed at Columbia for not protecting the workers, and particularly pissed at those particular protesters that tried to hold our workers in the building, Samuelsen says. I, for one, would subscribe to an organized labor-themed podcast called John Samuelsen Is Pissed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 7:34 a.m. A poorly lit Mike Huckabee appears in an ad for something called The Kids Guide to the Presidential Election. Presidential elections are something that Huckabee understands very well, having failed to make it out of the primaries in two of them. As the candidates race toward the White House, America hopes for a clean and fair election. But do your kids understand what that means? he asks. Judging by the excerpts shown in the ad, it is not at all clear whether Mike Huckabees pamphlet is capable of enlightening them. (Did you know? that a Lame Duck is not a poor duck with a broken leg? Find out what it is on Page 16.) 8:01 a.m. At the top of the third and final hour of Fox & Friends, the gang teases some of the material theyll cover in the remainder of the show. Can the way you text give your age away? Kilmeade reads, as a TikTok video of someone texting with both thumbs takes up the screen. Hmm! Definitely, Earhardt interjects. Advertisement Advertisement One TikTok user claims each generation has a different way of communicating, Kilmeade finishes, and as the camera cuts back to the hosts on the studio couch, Steve Doocy, apparently on his ninth cup of coffee, is all but bouncing up and down in anticipation. Advertisement Oh, thats a good tease! I wanna know the answer, Doocy says. Right, but I dont want TikTok. TikTok evil, says Kilmeade. The final hour of Fox & Friends starts right now, and you know the deal. You know the deal! Mornings are better with friends!!! Doocy exclaims. 8:24 a.m. After laughing their way through the generational texting story and announcing that Kilmeade is the worst texter of all the Fox & Friends crewit was a legitimately fun segmentthe gang gets back on topic and throws to their man on the street at the Donald Trump trial. Well, it will be stormy for Stormy when she returns to the stand this morningas you said, in just about an hour from nowafter, man oh man, what we heard here from the stand on Tuesday, says correspondent Eric Shawn, whom you also might remember from his cameo appearance as TV Reporter #2 in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Shawns cheesy introductory wordplay is the highlight of his segment, which the hosts speed through quickly, presumably to deprive Shawn of the chance to say the line again. Advertisement 8:27 a.m. Last time Stormy was on the stand, in the morning, when the prosecution was interviewing her, the testimony was good for the prosecution. Then, on cross-examination, things kinda fell apart, says Doocy, in prelude to an in-studio segment with attorney Rebecca Rose Woodland, who has appeared on many different TV networks as a legal analyst. Advertisement Advertisement Yes, they did, they fell apart, because whats happening here is the judge is allowing a ridiculously wide scope of factual information to come in that has nothing to do with this case, Woodland says. This is a records case on bookkeeping. Advertisement Yes! breathes Earhardt, from off camera. As the segment goes on, it becomes clear that Woodland still has gum in her mouth. Advertisement 8:55 a.m. Almost three hours after they were first invoked, Doocy, Earhardt, and Kilmeade finally make it outside to see those damn dogs. 9:19 a.m. Were into Americas Newsroom, anchored by Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, both of whom made my December 2021 Slate ranking of the 10 least despicable people left at Fox News in the wake of Chris Wallaces then-recent departure. While Hemmer and Perino wont go out of their way to avoid or rebut Foxs daily storylines, their show is more distinctly journalistic than the two programs that precede it each day. What does that mean in practice? Basically, instead of sitting on a couch, they sit behind a big curved desk with a graphic on the front that says Americas Newsroom. Advertisement Advertisement At 9:19 a Fox News Alert is sounded, and Perino throws it to a live feed of Donald Trump walking into the courthouse and reading a brief statement to the press. As he approaches the cameras, I spy the gaunt Rick Scott looming sepulchrally in the background, presumably waiting for somebody to notice him so that he can launch into his HillaryCare spiel again. 9:24 a.m. Hemmer and Perino, alongside former MTV VJ and current Fox commentator Kennedy and former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro, take a few minutes to poke fun at Michael Cohens TikTok account. Cohens TikTok last night was incredible, Mauro says. Hes wearing a T-shirt of Donald Trump behind bars in cuffs, and hes begging his followers to get to a million followers, and hes begging for subscribers. Honestly, Mauros bemused recitation of Cohens TikTok performance doesnt seem all that different from the sort of thing I might send to my editor in prelude to pitching a blog post on the topic. In this momenteven if only in this momentAmericas Newsroom really does seem like a newsroom. Advertisement Advertisement 10:06 a.m. As Stormy Daniels resumes her testimonythe judge has barred cameras from the courtroom, which means there is no live footage for cable news to airHemmer brings in former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, who sets up what we can expect from the mornings cross-examination. Now, what youre gonna see now is the defense team is going to adapt a strategy that is very common on cross-examination, and that is the strategy to get the witness unsettled, get them defensive, and then go in for the kill on some of the more important details of the transaction thats at hand, Tolman predicts. Its basically the same point that Gene Hamilton was making almost five hours earlier, with one critical difference: Tolman, who is appearing in front of a mountainous backdrop, does not appear to have little antennae growing out of his head. Sucks for him! Justin Peters Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 11 a.m.: We kick off The Faulkner Focus with a lovely rant from host Harris Faulkner, who marks Day 2 of the nasty storytelling sex film worker. We even get a little word from Ted Cruz, who sputters about how no one believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life. 11:06 a.m.: Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who reportedly arrived at the courthouse alongside Trump, is once again ranting to the press about how the justice system went after my company and is now targeting Trump. Im proud of him for standing up for all of us, Scott says. Because if they can go after him, they can go after any of you. 11:08 a.m.: We go from Scotts empty lectern to a Faulkner Focus panel, featuring legal analyst Jonna Spilbor, Fox Business commentator and ex-congressman Sean Duffy, and former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, whose wife is a devoted Slate reader. Duffy starts by raging against woke-ified law schools and the supposedly woke-ified graduates going on to staff a woke-ified justice system. Spilbor jumps off Scotts point about Democratic Partyconnected prosecutors to hint that there might be some ramifications for Judge Juan Merchan when this case is over, and remember I said that, earning a loud and affirmative mmm! from Faulkner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 11:18 a.m.: Weve got an ad here with Mike Huckabee on guitar. 11:37 a.m.: Faulkner cycles through a couple clips from MSNBCs Morning Joe and CNNs Inside Politics where commentators appear to cast doubt on the effectiveness of Stormy Daniels testimony, especially when it came to the more explicit sexual tales. The liberal networks [are] now pointing out this is damaging for the prosecution, says Faulkner, as her producers then visually showcase a Wall Street Journal editorial board op-ed about The Stormy Daniels Sex Trial and a Washington Examiner op-ed about The Trump Trial Farce. While she reads out from a segment from the latter piece, she makes sure to shout out the Journal by name but not the Examiner. Ouch! Advertisement 11:50 a.m.: Former George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen joins to make a solemn point: Totaling up his state and federal trials, Trump is facing 91 distinct charges. But Charles Manson only faced 10! Isnt that weird? 11:53 a.m.: New rage bait just dropped: A photo of Daniels and her attorney, Clark Brewster, taken from inside the witness room and posted on X, formerly Twitter. That picture is absolutely ridiculous, seethes Spilbor. Now they are taking photo-ops at a sham trial of a former president and likely future president. Look how happy they are! The legal analyst then bets Daniels will attempt to profit from the photo. Advertisement Advertisement Stormy Daniels was on the stand in NY v Trump criminal trial for a day and a half, ending at 12:30p today. Couldnt be prouder of my client. pic.twitter.com/riTnzwdsQf clark brewster (@cbrew1) May 9, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement 12:11 p.m.: Not even 20 minutes after Fox viewers were introduced to the photo of Daniels and her attorney, were already back at its foul nature and moneymaking potential. This is a grift! yells Faulkner. This is not selfie-taking time! 12:40 p.m.: Legal commentator Mark Eiglarsh joins by video to yell/chat with Faulkner about how hes holding back disdain for this prosecution until I hear it rest, but this TRIAL has JUMPED the SHARK OFFICIALLY. He doesnt appear to be holding back. Advertisement 1 p.m.: Were now ready for a two-hour broadcast of America Reports, co-anchored by John Roberts and Foxs White House correspondent, Jacqui Heinrich, whos filling in for Sandra Smith. Advertisement 1:05 p.m.: Beloved Fox fixture Judge Jeanine Pirro is here, having gone to check out Thursdays trial proceedings for herself. Now, if Trumps lawyer Susan Necheles cross-examination of Daniels wasas my colleague Susan Matthews characterized itastonishingly simplistic and, frankly, petty, full of sexist questions that tried to drag Daniels as both a slut and a money-grubber, thats not how Pirro saw it. Instead, the host lavished praise upon Necheles for giving a master class in cross-examination and making Daniels come off as hateful and kooky. 1:12 p.m.: Oops, we lost Pirro right as Roberts, Heinrich, and Pirro were about to tear into something Jen Psaki said on MSNBC. So we have Townhall.com editor Katie Pavlich helping kill the time until they figure out the technical difficulties. Advertisement 1:22 p.m.: Well, perhaps we wont figure out those technical difficulties, because weve already moved on to correspondent Lydia Hu, standing outside the courtroom and offering a preview of the forthcoming testimony from former Trump Organization bookkeeper Madeleine Westerhout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2 p.m.: Upon the second hour of America Reports, we must ask: Will America ever stop reporting? 2:10 p.m.: Washington Times opinion editor Charlie Hurt has been on for a few minutes to rant about the fundamentally unserious trial of Donald Trump, and we go to a clip of the defendants morning remarks, in which he quotes fromwhaddaya know!an April 16 America Reports segment where legal commentator Jonathan Turley described the lawsuit as a Frankenstein case. John Roberts makes a riff referencing Young Frankenstein, which causes Hurt to guffaw and rave about one of Trumps greatest gifts, which is to take whats obvious to everyone and boil it down into very vivid and colorful language. Advertisement 2:12 p.m.: Weve got an ad about how the Federal Reserve is printing too much money, so its time to stock up on gold. 2:27 p.m.: Mark Eiglarsh returns, this time alongside legal analyst Mercedes Colwin. Eiglarsh once against screeches about the salacious details from Daniels testimony, Colwin kiddingly thanks him for getting that image in my head, and John Roberts wonders if the poor jury will be able to unsee any of this. 2:44 p.m.: Fox & Friends Brian Kilmeade is here! With more of the same regarding every aforementioned topic, although he gives a little sneak preview of his forthcoming One Nation broadcast, where West Virginias own Joe Manchin will have lots to say about his own party. You dont say. Advertisement 2:53 p.m.: Jonathan Turley re-rereturns to paint a picture of how the vibes in the courtroom went from a Sex Pistols concert to Gregorian chants with the witness transition from Daniels to Westerhout. 3 p.m.: Its time for The Story With Martha MacCallum, although to take it from the opening monologue, it doesnt appear this story will be much different from what weve been hearing throughout the day: BAD Stormy Daniels. Advertisement 3:14 p.m.: Judge Jeanine is back, comparing her courtroom experience Thursday to watching The Sixth Sense. 3:28 p.m.: Another former Trump lawyer yells a lot. 3:40 p.m.: A real cursed blunt rotation here as Ari Fleischer, ex-Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and former Obama White House adviser Robert Wolf join to discuss a Quinnipiac poll that shows Biden ahead of Trump in Wisconsin. Wolf touts the strength of the Biden record without all of this nonsense from the courts; Fleischer makes the point that the polls will be close until November; and Chaffetz mocks Biden as someone who can barely communicate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4 p.m.: Whose world is this? Its Your World With Neil Cavuto. We begin with Fox News correspondent Nate Foy recapping his time in the courthouse, when Madeleine Westerhout became emotional on the stand describing Donald and Melanias relationship. 4:30 p.m.: John Torture Memos Yoo is on to rip the case against Trump, to denigrate Daniels credibility, and offer kind words to Madeleine Westerhout, because she happily recalls her time working with Trump. More of the same, folks. Nitish Pahwa 5 p.m.: We launch into The Five, which has five co-hosts and begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time. A fun idea there, all the 5s. Host Dana Perino notes that Daniels appeared on a supernatural investigations show in which she discovered that what she thought was a ghost in her house was actually a possum. Advertisement 5:06 p.m. Jeanine PirroJudge Jeaninesays that Daniels credibility suffers because she said she wouldnt tell the story of her alleged affair to Slate.com unless she was paid for it. Hey, thats us! I wouldve paid her, personally. 5:11 p.m. All five co-hostseven Richard Fowler, the days liberalturn out to agree that Daniels testimony was not helpful to the prosecutions case. Advertisement Advertisement 5:18 p.m. Greg Gutfeld pronounces Holocaust as, like, Hole-o-caust. Never heard that one. 5:25 p.m. Fowler pushes back on Pirros claims about the moral righteousness of Israels war in Gaza, pointing out that none of the children whove died in bombardments chose to be led by Hamas, which leads to Jesse Watters making a relatively sophisticated/fair point about Biden wanting to avoid the PR blowback of a Rafah invasion despite having essentially sponsored Israels war up to this point. A commercial for MyPillow follows. 5:45 p.m. Gutfeld pronounces fentanyl as fenta-nol. Advertisement 6:31 p.m. Turley againbusy day! He appears on Bret Baiers news show to discuss antiwar protests at George Washington University. Turley says the protests have prevented him from being able to drive to his office. 7:01 p.m. Laura Ingraham calls Alvin Bragg pudgy and says Daniels is an angry shrew, then plays videos of other cable networks analysts reacting to Daniels testimony. To emphasize: The subject of her opening segment is MSNBC and CNN panel reactions. 7:22 p.m. Its harrowing how silent the studio of a single-host show can sound when theyre delivering a line that isnt landing. It feels, right now at 7:22 p.m., like Laura Ingraham, during her segment about how disgusted she purportedly is about how insensitive Joe Bidens comments about grocery prices were during an interview he did with CNN, is the only person on Earth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 7:51 p.m. A commercial for NeuroQ pills says their formula relies on the work of brain scientists and brain doctors. 7:59 p.m. Ingrahams show concludes with commentary on a clip from MSNBC. 8:04 p.m. Jesse Watters show starts with two clips of people talking on CNNand not even people whose analysis he disagrees with; they were being critical of Biden. Its just there as, like, exposition. He does this again a few minutes later with Anderson Cooper laughing about the Stormy Daniels/possum thing. Advertisement Related From Slate The Most Successful Man on Fox News Is Almost the Dumbest. This Is Not a Coincidence. Read More 8:51 p.m. Credit where its due: It was a good idea to ask people attending a furry convention in New Jersey whether theyve noticed that the price of fur suits has gone up in Bidens economy. (Some of them said yes.) Advertisement 9:04 p.m. First segment of Sean Hannitys show? You know its Anderson Cooper talking about the possum thing! 9:25 p.m. Holy crap, thats what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounds like now? Wow. (Segment about Kennedys appearance on a podcast in which he said abortion should be legal at any time during pregnancy, part of the wave of right-wing attacks on Kennedy that have followed a wave of anxiety about his potential to draw votes away from Trump. Hannity assures his guests that we have 179 days left to spread awareness of Kennedys positions.) 9:41 p.m. Guest Mark Levin concludes a segment about Biden holding back a shipment of weapons to Israel by shoutingliterally screaming and shoutingfor three-and-a-half uninterrupted minutes. (The premise is that hes talking to Bidenhow dare you, sir, etc. This happens a lot on Fox prime time.) Levin describes Bidens comments about indiscriminate Israeli bombing as blood libel against Jews and says that Biden funded Oct. 7. (Its a convoluted accusation involving Iran.) For the last 78 seconds of his segment Levin is shouting over the music that signals that its time to go to commercial, like what happens when acceptance speeches go on too long at the Oscars. Advertisement 10:04 p.m. Greg Gutfelds show opens with an actual late-night comedy monologue. One of his topics is about the dating app Bumblewhose gimmick was that only women were allowed to make initial contact with other userschanging its rules to allow men to make the first move. It turns out putting women in the drivers seat for dating was as bad of an idea as putting them in the drivers seat for driving, he says. I laughed. Some of the other jokes were problematic, though. 10:43 p.m. Gutfelds panelists are not impressed by a bill introduced by Republican Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles that would send any college student convicted of unlawful activity to Gaza for six months of community service. One calls it virtue signaling. 10:57 p.m. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appears in a commercial promoting a sleep drug called Relaxium. The next advertisement is for something called Super Beta Prostate. Ben Mathis-Lilley We have known for some time now that the current Supreme Court is not comprised of conservatives and liberals, or even jurists and reactionaries. It has split into those who care about the future of the court and the country, and those who do not. Because the group that cares is much larger than the one that doesnt, its members could have at any time done many things to signal to the latter group and we can go ahead and name them, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alitothat accepting lavish, undisclosed gifts and vacations from billionaire donors who have interests before the court was a rolling, public-confidence-and-democracy-threatening disaster. They said nothing, even as this sordid conduct degraded the nations highest court, for many of the reasons powerful individuals often say nothing: To protect the institution at large; to preserve the long-tarnished myth of a collegial court; and because, when there is nothing to be done about it anyhow, whats the point? In a sense, then, nobody should be all that surprised by Jodi Kantors bombshell reporting on Thursday night about the upside-down flag that hung outside the Alitos home in suburban Virginia in the days after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The symbol of support for the attempted coup flew during a time when the court was considering cases seeking to set aside the election results. Alito has confirmed that this flag display happened. Multiple neighbors and Supreme Court employees have corroborated the reporting. Advertisement We can certainly quibble (and Alitos defenders surely will) about whether an upside-down flag really represents Stop the Steal, as Kantors experts affirm, or some other message of peace and goodwill. We can and will debate over Alitos claim that his wife hoisted the flag because one of the neighbors hurt their feelings (so, #feminism). But the saddest and most arresting part of this endless downward spiral for the seven jurists who should know better, and the two who do not, is not that they dont care about what they are doing to the courtits how pitifully, shabbily small these ride-or-die political battles really are. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every one of the Supreme Courts nine justices is well aware of the recusal statute that binds federal judges and the ethics code that, even in 2021, they purported to consult and follow. Even then, before SCOTUS produced its own totally voluntary, never-say-never ethical guidelines in 2023, internal policy and external law required them to refrain from acting like thin-skinned partisan nuts, and to recuse themselves from relevant cases when they failed to adhere to this standard. Advertisement This is a low bar to clear. And yet, in statements to the New York Times and Fox News Shannon Bream, Alito implied that he and his wife, Martha-Ann, simply had no choice but to disrespect the stars and stripes by vulgarly violating the U.S. Flag Code because it was necessary to own a liberal neighbor. The justice told Bream that this neighbor put up a Fuck Trump signwhere children might see it!and then another sign personally blaming Martha-Ann for Jan. 6. Finally, a male in the home called Martha-Ann the c-word while she was on a walk with her husband. All this led her to join countless Stop the Steal enthusiasts in hanging her American flag upside down. Advertisement Advertisement At the time, this act was associated with fringe-right, QAnon-style conspiracy theorists who supported Trumps failed coup and dismissed Fox News as too squishy. None of the Alitos explanations so far even attempt to explain why Martha-Ann landed on this gesture, out of all the possibilities, to further upset and provoke her progressive neighbors. Readers are also left to guess at the true origin of the conflict; are we really supposed to think that the neighbors picked this fight unprovoked, and the Alitos are completely blameless? The justices defenders are scrambling to muddy the waters with some alternate explanation, but the truth is crystal clear, and unrefuted by the Alitos themselves: That flag was hung upside down to piss off some libs. At best, Martha-Ann Alito was trolling her neighbor by professing a militant belief that Biden stole the election; at worst, she held that belief sincerely. Advertisement Advertisement Lets be clear that everything these neighbors stand accused of doing is obviously protected speech under the First Amendment. There is no allegation of genuine harassment or true threats; these people just wanted to express displeasure toward a very public figure and his somewhat public wife. And though Alito seems to believe that he and his wife were within their rights to fight back against an irritating neighbor, the staff who work under Alito at SCOTUS would have no such luxury. The Times piece lays out the strictures on court employees that ban political signs and bumper stickers, partisan political activity, and even nonpartisan political activity that could reflect adversely on the dignity or impartiality of the court. Advertisement Advertisement The court would not say whether the rules that censor its staff also apply to the justices. But Alito must know how terrible it looks for his own household to breach the decorum requirements imposed on the people who work for him. The very idea that the neighbors unkind words forced the Alitos to violate the network of rules that prevent shows of bias is just a variation on last years defense that a comped seat on a private jet is not subject to disclosure rules because it would have been vacant otherwise. Advertisement So when Alito throws his wife under the busthe flag was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signshes issuing another justification: He gets to break the rules because she was in a fight with the neighbors. He gets to break the rules because the seat on the plane was otherwise unoccupied. He gets to break the rules because the rules are always trying to trip him up and catch him out. Advertisement The justices perpetual victimhood mentality, which shines through in his opinions and interviews and myriad grievance-laden speeches, has now literally reached his own front yard. The Alitos are not here fighting some vitally important civic-minded battle about the nature of freedom or democracy. No. This is, as Alito concedes, just payback because of a lawn sign and a bad word. Presumably, fourth-period detention and a note home to the neighbors parents were not an option. Advertisement Advertisement Justice Clarence Thomas, who at a judicial conference last week complained yet again about how loathsome Washington, D.C., has become, is also the king of the petty grievance: Its a hideous place, as far as Im concerned, he said of the District. Because the rest of the country,its one of the reasons we like RVingyou get to be around regular people who dont pride themselves in doing harmful things, merely because they have the capacity to do it. The super-luxury RV, financed by a wealthy friendthat is the solution to Thomas persecution and heartache? Its the cause of our own. This is the hill Thomas seeks to die on, then? His hurt feelings? That ethics experts, and indeed the American public, might find it problematic that Thomas wife could enthusiastically participate in efforts to delegitimize Joe Bidens 2020 election win and support and attend the Stop the Steal rally at the ellipse on Jan. 6 is an outrage he must elevate over the court itself? Advertisement The sheer pettiness of these gripesthe fact that these men continue to filter justice through their small, round, grudge-colored glassesis what is breathtaking here. If being an unelected, lifetime-appointed, unbound-by-rules jurist means anything at all, should it not mean that you perhaps rise above your grassy suburban neighborhoods feelings wars? Apparently not. Apparently the life-altering principle of self-soothing your small injuries matters above all things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps the saddest line in Kantors reporting is this one: The half-dozen neighbors who saw the flag, or knew of it, requested anonymity because they said they did not want to add to the contentiousness on the block and feared reprisal. Even his neighbors didnt want to complain about Alitos Stop the Steal flag, both because theres no possibility of accountability, and also because they fear reprisal. This, right here, is the reason we create accountability: because without it, we are hostages to the unaccountable. This is also the reason Chief Justice John Roberts will say and do nothing about Martha-Ann Alitos MAGA flag stunt; and the rest of the justices will say nothing about it; and also the reason that parties that litigate Jan. 6 cases before Thomas and Alito will never raise it. Mention that this is rank lawlessness and you become one of the nasty bullies. Payback only ever flows in one direction. Advertisement Just last month, the court heard two such cases. One would overturn hundreds of Jan. 6 convictions while undermining the indictment against Trump for election subversion. The other would immunize Trump from criminal prosecution for his role in the insurrection. Big surprise: Alito loudly and angrily defended the former president in both. He can act like a brain-poisoned hack on the bench for the same reason that he can shrug off his own households association with the most dangerous and demented MAGA conspiracy theorists: There will never be consequences for his offenses. And we all make ourselves perpetually smaller to accommodate that concession. When R. Derek Black was a child, they were considered the heir to the white nationalist movement in America. Their father, Don, a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan, had created Stormfront, the legacy white supremacist website; Derek ran Stormfronts corollary site for children, co-hosted a white nationalist radio show with their father, spoke at white nationalist conferences, and successfully won a Republican committee seat in Palm Beach County, Florida. Dereks mother had been married to David Duke; Duke was Dereks godfather. But Dereks life changed when they enrolled in New College of Florida. The Sarasota school is now known for its 2023 conservative political takeover by Christopher Rufoa takeover Black lamented in a previous interview with Slate. But for most of its history, New College was a progressive haven. Black, while attending, lived a double life until they were outed on a studentwide email thread; what followed was a remarkable and successful student-led effort to convert Black, as documented in the 2018 book Rising Out of Hatred by the journalist Eli Saslow. In 2013, Black publicly renounced their former ideology and now speaks out publicly against it, while also pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago researching proto-racism in early medieval intellectual history. This singular life story is now the subject of Blacks memoir. The Klansmans Son: My Journey From White Nationalism to Antiracism, which covers their childhood in the movement, their ideological transformation, the fallout, and their political awakening with the rise of Donald Trump, came out on Tuesday. Slate spoke with Black, who is transgender and now uses they/she pronouns, about their ideological journey, how they are thinking about student-led activism, the recent protest movementand how they understand this moment in American politics, when the war in Gaza has realigned people on the left and the right. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Advertisement Slate: How did you decide to write this book now, and why? R. Derek Black: I thought about it for the first time shortly after the Trump election [in 2016]. About three years before that, I had written this public statement condemning my family, and I genuinely thought that would be the last time that I spoke publicly about anything. I was very happy that I had been able to find some kind of niche in academia in medieval history. And after wrestling with how much harm I had caused, I didnt even understand how it could be an ethical choice to speak out publicly. But watching the Trump campaign, it started feeling sort of cowardly to not be speaking out, as opposed to a moral choice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People asked me to write a book, and I chose not to. It didnt feel rightI didnt have enough context or distance from my family or the movement they built. And I didnt understand how to think about the Trump movement in relation to white nationalism. But after Biden won, I decided that this was the time. I had a strong sense that the far-right movement would likely surge, because thats just historically how that works. And thats what I would have been doing, had I been in the midst of it still; it just would have made sense as a strategy. With Jan. 6, once again, I had people interested in [a book]. Since January of 2021, Ive been working on it. Advertisement How is your book different from the 2018 story of your conversion thats told in Eli Saslows Rising Out of Hatred? When I first started writing this one, I wrote it as 13 essays about how people change their minds. My big understanding of my life is that our beliefs that are really core to us are the same thing as the community of people we care about. If we want to try to persuade somebody, the question is, then, who is the community of people they care about? How do they see themselves as being loyal and beholden to those people? Somebody changing their mind is changing the network of people that they feel responsible for. Advertisement I was trying to describe what it felt like to come into a community and have to change to maintain my sense of being a moral person in it. Im trying to make an argument that my experience was fundamentally one of being grounded in different communities. Advertisement You come from a background that is both racist and deeply antisemitic. Do you have any insight into how that community is feeling about this moment where some on the right are accusing the anti-Zionist left of being antisemitic? Advertisement I remember, shortly after Oct. 7, I got texts from some of my siblings. They said, I bet now even your lefty friends are on our side. And what they meant by that was anti-Israel. I have built these leftist circles who are adamantly protesting the Israeli government and coming up with this deep anti-colonialist discourse. And I feel deeply uneasy, because a large portion of my social circle is Jewish, and Im seeing this kind of reaction that even in the best of times really does not seem to take seriously the discrimination and fear that Jewish people in America feel a lot of the time. I think theres this idea among non-Jewish people on the left that I get incredibly frustrated with, that antisemitism is not an issue they need to be heavily worried about. They seem to take for granted that at least white-passing Jewish people arent facing fear or discrimination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The way that I grew up makes it kind of impossible for me to think that antisemitism is not powerful, not just because my family was running an antisemitic movement, but because they were organizing and seeking out membership, and it was very easy. There was a wealth of people with much more low-key antisemitic views who were always ready to become a part of this movement. Antisemitism was the thread that really held [white nationalism] together as an ideology. Global racism and global segregation was, theoretically, the goal of white nationalism, but the more I look back on it, the more I recognize that the organizing principles that ties it together is antisemitism. And so it just feels incredibly naive to dismiss how powerful antisemitism is in the modern world. Advertisement And I really get upset and angry because [organizers] are not taking into account antisemitic people on the far right coming in and infiltrating. I think that really advantages the antisemitic movement in the United States. Which, to be clear, is broad. If anyone is in a position where theyre organizing against the attack on Gaza, not giving a home to the antisemitic movement has to be just a fundamental priority of what youre organizing. Advertisement Advertisement I want to emphasize that I dont see the protests as fundamentally antisemitic. But I am always very alarmed about the fact that antisemitism can easily attach itself to anything criticizing Israel. On the other hand, there has been Islamophobia and at least one incident of overt anti-Black racism from counterprotesters. This is such a messy conflict, because you also have incidents where pro-Israel counterprotesters ally themselves with traditional fraternities, which have sometimes been overtly racist. It seems to me like this whole situation would delight white supremacists. Advertisement The power of the white nationalist movement is not that they have a ton of numbers. The reason theyve been a powerful force in the United States and other countries since the 1950s as an organized movement is they tap into messages that exist in more latent ways in the rest of society. And they get involved in other, larger protest movements and are able to magnify their own message. There is racism and antisemitism baked into so much of society that it appears even in the space where people are doing a liberatory protest. That is a perfect fertile ground; thats exactly what white nationalists look for. And this is something that theyre really reveling in, the idea that criticism of Israel is so pervasive that they can take that and turn it into broader antisemitism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking of antisemitism being baked into society: Did you happen to see Marjorie Taylor Greene explained her vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act by arguing it could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing Jews killed Jesus? This seems to be in step with the recent rhetorical movement on the far right to position antisemitism as being a basic element of Christianity. I hadnt heard the Marjorie Taylor Greene comment, but it feels like exactly the kind of thing that white nationalists want to emphasize: this sort of natural idea of antisemitism as being a part of Christianity. People ask a lot if white nationalists are Christians, and I want to emphasize that there are not a huge number of normal Christian people in white nationalism. Its much more common for people to either be atheist, or be some sort of radical sect of Christianity, or to be some sort of religion theyve created for themselves. A big part of that is because of how fundamental antisemitism is to them and how inherently morally complicated it is to be very antisemitic via traditional Christianity. On its face, Christianity is a problematic religion to be an antisemite within. Its so fundamentally beholden to the Jewish tradition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You use they/she pronouns. Can you share how your view of gender has evolved? The only thing I think I regret about the book was around gender issues. Its not a gender book, but I do feel bad theres just a few little crumbs, because its become such a huge part of my life over the last few years. So I want to be more outspoken about it now. I do identify as trans. If anybody reads the book, know that youre reading about the experience of somebody who along the way had complicated views of their own gender and fear of being outed. Over the years, I just sort of forgot the difference between wanting something and not being able to do it. If I cant do this, if its not safe to do it, then I must not want it. And in my late 20s and 30s, I reassessed and said, Well, maybe I can want something and assess whether its safe to do it. Understanding that has been a more recent part of my life. Advertisement Your story is a demonstration of how anyone can change. But do you think having your own struggles with gender identity made it so you could more easily exercise empathy than other white nationalists? Do you think your gender played a role? Advertisement Advertisement I feel confident in saying that it is definitely not the explanation, because it was so hard to come to a place where I disagreed strongly and firmly and clearly with my familys racism and antisemitism. And when I condemned it, there was no part of me that felt like I could come out with gender stuff, even though I had a lot of gender thoughts at that time. I didnt feel like it was something that felt possible in any way, so it wasnt something that was driving me. Advertisement Advertisement But even if I didnt think that I had any desire to ever live authentically, I still had the sense that people have things about themselves they cant change, and that to discriminate against them or to marginalize them is a very awful thing to do. Maybe if you never have that feeling, it would become a lot harder to be open to individuals in the ways that ultimately undid my worldview. Related From Slate Why the New Social Media Trend to Block Celebrities Over Gaza Is Really Catching On Read More To go back to the protests, gender seems to be playing a role in the politics of the backlash. Far-right commentators have noted how they seem to be led by women, and even made a point of arguing that the female protesters are ugly. Is that something you were familiar with in white nationalist politics? Advertisement Advertisement Im very familiar with that. Even when I was a kid, I remember arguing with white nationalists about this, like, just lay off. People have different aesthetic goals. White nationalists are not always conservative. Theyre open to expansive social programs; they kind of want Medicare for all, but only for white people. But one thing that is very conservative is the idea that there are prescribed beauty and presentation roles. There are supposed to be ways that we all agree to be in the world, and if you break from them, youre breaking the social contract. That kept me closeted, the idea that it doesnt matter how you feel inside, what is important is we all are given these social prescriptions, and we all agree that to live in a society and feel safe and have enough resources and get along with each other, we all have to follow these rules about how were supposed to dress and what were supposed to be. Advertisement How seriously do you think people should be taking the white nationalist movement at this particular moment? Advertisement I think people should be taking it very, very seriously. And I know that that can sometimes feel a little alarmist, but there is always a potential for direct violence. And I dont think there have been so many opportunities [for the movement] any time before in my lifetime. Most of my life, the American right has had lots of bulwarks against that kind of racism and antisemitismand militant, anti-democratic strains. White nationalists want to overthrow this country and install some kind of new racial nationalist regime; I cant think of any point in my lifetime when it felt like there were more figures within the mainstream Republican Party who were not willing to condemn that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The thing that Im most worried about, actually, is that theres nothing really to stop us from having far-right politicians with a following, who also have private mercenary armies. Thats something that I dont see Donald Trump doing, but I remember in 2020, I was living in D.C., and I was protesting in front of the White House most days. And he had called up all these security people from different divisions, the Bureau of Prisons and ICE and Border Patrol. In that chaotic moment, they didnt have identification on them, they werent wearing uniforms, a lot of them were carrying weapons and standing around the White House, and they would spit on the ground and show how much distaste they had for us protesters. [Trump] tear-gassed the protesters so that he could go stand in front of the church; helicopters would come really low and sort of buzz the crowd. The fact that while he was willing to use that kind of force against peopleIt was then that it occurred to me that white nationalists have this vision of 1930s-style fascist politics with politicians with mercenaries that go and intimidate their enemies and people at the ballot boxes. And weve seen that a little bit, and theres a real danger of it happening again in 2024. But theres even more danger of it over time becoming a staple part of our country, where far-right politics embraces intimidation and violence and personal retribution. And I just dont think Ive seen any part of my lifetime where the United States felt more susceptible to that than now. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/business-as-usual-elite-whatsapp-chat-found-influencing-nyc-mayor-gaza-public-opinion--1118511250.html Business as Usual: Elite WhatsApp Chat Found Influencing NYC Mayor, Gaza Public Opinion Business as Usual: Elite WhatsApp Chat Found Influencing NYC Mayor, Gaza Public Opinion Sputnik International The elite group held a Zoom video call on April 6 with Adams, about a week after the mayor sent New York police to the campus, the newspaper reported. 2024-05-18T06:37+0000 2024-05-18T06:37+0000 2024-05-18T06:37+0000 analysis eric adams jon jeter brandon johnson new york city israel the washington post forbes us israel-gaza conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118513139_0:90:3072:1818_1920x0_80_0_0_9f83290906e6b7903033b0f4b211f6cf.jpg The Washington Post reported on Thursday that a group of billionaires and business titans privately pressured New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University. The elite group held a Zoom video call on April 6 with Adams, about a week after the mayor sent New York police to the campus, the newspaper reported.Jon Jeter, an author and journalist, sat down with Sputniks The Critical Hour on Friday. Jeter told the shows hosts that he finds it ironic the US has Black mayors in the biggest cities in the country, and yet their approval ratings are in the toilet. According to a recent poll, only 16% of likely voters in NYC would vote for Adams in the next election, and two-thirds say they would vote for someone else.Following his first year in office, Johnson has slammed into a net approval rating of -29% with only 28% of likely voters saying they approve of his performance in office, and a majority (57%) saying they disapprove and 41% strongly disapprove.And, by the way, his policies are neoliberal to the core and they are prescriptions which are only digging a deeper hole for his city, said Jeter. And so, they've always taken their orders from this corporate elite. This is business as usual. I'm sure this is not their first time calling Mayor Adams and telling him what to do.The report suggests the chat group - titled Israel Current Events - which was formed after the October 7th attack, has influenced the highest levels of the Israeli government, the US business world and other elite universities. The report also found that more than a dozen of the roughly 100 members of the group appear on Forbess annual list of billionaires. Prominent figures who appeared in the chat include: former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and brother of Jared Kushner, former president Donald Trumps son-in-law. The newspaper adds that the chat was initiated by a staffer for Barry Sternlicht, who never joined the group directly.He's not intellectual. He does exactly what they say. They put ideas in his head because he has none of his own, right. And so this is clearly starting to become problematic, right. Because people are no longer responding, but they don't know what else to do.Just four days after the group chat members held a video call with the NYC mayor, student protestors occupied Hamilton Hall, a campus building, when the schools president invited police back to clear it. At least 112 were arrested in the process, and police claim that 32 were not affiliated with the school.More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel has lost about 1,200 Israelis who were killed by Hamas in the assault in October. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231121/expert-slams-bidens-hypocrisy-on-gaza--ukraine--1115088598.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240310/there-is-no-red-line-regarding-israeli-actions-in-gaza---biden-1117235997.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240517/before-oct-7-there-was-an-oct-6-student-protests-continue-despite-media-spins-1118486837.html new york city israel gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg mass demonstrations, whatsapp, elite group, wealthy class, working class, gaza, report, columbia university, protests, protests in us, protestors in capitol, pro-palestinian demonstration, pro-palestinian protest, pro-palestinian protestors, support palestine, genocide, students protest, fight zionism, fight zionists, save palestine, free palestine, stop rafah invasion, stop israel https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/death-toll-in-frances-new-caledonia-climbs-to-6-amid-public-unrest---reports-1118517515.html Death Toll in France's New Caledonia Climbs to 6 Amid Public Unrest - Reports Death Toll in France's New Caledonia Climbs to 6 Amid Public Unrest - Reports Sputnik International A man died and two people were wounded in a shootout in France's New Caledonia, bringing the total death toll to six amid public unrest organized by the supporters of the island's independence, French media reported on Saturday. 2024-05-18T10:53+0000 2024-05-18T10:53+0000 2024-05-18T10:53+0000 world france new caledonia https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118517588_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_e82de41f336acb545a144c534d9b3d25.jpg Gendarmes responded to reports of gunfire and three people were taken to hospital, two of them with serious injuries, the BFMTV broadcaster said. On Monday, a peaceful demonstration against a bill on voting rights spiraled into unrest in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia. Protesters, including many minors, were robbing and setting fire to stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and car centers. On Thursday, French lawmakers voted in favor of the bill 351 to 153 as unrest continued. The controversial bill provides for lowering the residency bar for voting rights for people living in New Caledonia to 10 years. Pro-independence forces say it would dilute the share of the vote held by indigenous Kanak people that make up about 40% of the population. As of today, only those who were on the electoral register during the 1998 Noumea Agreement, which gave the territory a higher degree of autonomy, along with their children, have the right to vote. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240516/why-cant-macron-afford-to-lose-french-pacific-territory-of-new-caledonia-1118471324.html france new caledonia 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 france unrest, new caledonia unrest, french unrest, death toll new caledonia, kanak people france https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/fico-attack-conjures-up-ghosts-of-maverick-european-politicians-strange-deaths-1118517927.html Fico Attack Conjures Up Ghosts of Maverick European Politicians' Strange Deaths Fico Attack Conjures Up Ghosts of Maverick European Politicians' Strange Deaths Sputnik International Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok has revealed that police are investigating some 40 hateful publications on the internet that could have played a role in the shooting of the countrys Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday. 2024-05-18T13:42+0000 2024-05-18T13:42+0000 2024-05-18T13:42+0000 world europe robert fico russia european union (eu) slovak pm fico assassination attempt https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102189/22/1021892271_0:0:3600:2026_1920x0_80_0_0_4e148b607508b0b01d4861e13f4c2e41.jpg After searching the house of gunman Juraj Cintula, Slovak police have stuck to their initial conclusion: Robert Fico's shooting was an attempt at a political assassination of a non-mainstream European leader. Just like the EU establishment and its media, Cintula was irritated by Ficos opposition to sending Slovakian weapons to Ukraine - for him, it was reason enough to justify a public murder of the prime minister.Was this a unique incident in Europe? No, because the hatred that Fico provoked in mainstream press with his reluctance to add fuel to the fire in Ukraine was not exceptional, but typical. Putins pal, illiberal threat, Kremlin-friendly hardliner such cliches became commonplace in mainstream European press against any non-systemic political leader who stands for his or her country's sovereignty or veers from the EUs common foreign policy, not necessarily in unison with Russia. Often, such politicians become victims of hushed-up assassination attempts or die strange deaths.The assassination attempts against the leader of Frances RN party Marine Le Pen (2017) and the co-chairman of Germanys AfD Tino Chrupalla (2023) were largely ignored by the press or even put in doubt (in the case of Chrupalla). And two strange deaths of political figures of primary importance for Germany and Poland the sudden suicides of Germanys longtime Vice-Chancellor Jurgen Mollemann and Polands Vice-Premier Andrzej Lepper were never properly investigated or explained.GermanyMollemann, a passionate and experienced sky-diver, died in the air on June 5, 2003. During his jump, the steering lines of his parachute malfunctioned 22 minutes after the Bundestag lifted the former vice-chancellors parliamentary immunity.Before that motion, the politician had been accused of anti-Semitism because of his opposition to the policy stance of his party the liberal Free Democrat Party of Germany (FDP). Mollemann considered the partys policy too pro-Israel and accused FDPs chairman Guido Westerwelle of blocking his appointment as minister. In his book "Klartext", Mollemann wrote that Westerrwelle did it at the behest of the then-prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon.In response, Westerwelle lashed out with personal attacks against the maverick party member. After the latters death, Westerwelle for many years was the foreign minister in Angela Merkels governments something that would hardly be possible if Mollemann, a longtime political partner of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, had remained a leading figure in the FDP, or founded his own party (Mollemann mentioned such a possibility shortly before his death.)On a side note, Westerwelle supported the violent Maidan coup in Ukraine in 2013-2014 coming to Kiev on Merkels orders and speaking at Maidan rallies even after they became violent.PolandFor his part, Lepper, Polands former vice-premier and the leader of a very successful Samooborona (Self-Defense) party, was found dead in his office on August 5, 2011. According to the official version, Lepper - a rich landowner and a father of three - hung himself on the hook of his punch bag in a moment of depression.According to the version of the Polish prosecutors office, Lepper, was suffering from the consequences of the collapse of Polands right-wing ruling coalition, of which he was a part. The problem is, however, that this coalition had collapsed in 2007, four years earlier.Both Leppers widow and his son Tomasz do not believe that he could have committed suicide - especially without leaving any note and on the eve of a planned family gathering. Daddy never allowed political problems to damage his family life, Tomasz told TVP television after his fathers death. He does not give credence to the official version up to this day.However, Leppers political enemies keep calling him Russias stooge even after his death because of his membership in Soviet-backed Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) in 1978-1980 and his constant feuds with Leszek Balcerowicz, a US-supported liberal reformer in the 1990s.It is interesting to note that in his reaction to the attempted murder of Fico, the speaker of Polands parliament, Szymon Holownia called on Poles to stop seeing a Russian agent in everyone. Maybe, if Warsaw had followed that advice in 2011, Lepper could still be alive and leading his party, changing the Polish political landscape. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240516/ficos-enemies-risked-slovak-civil-war-to-keep-eu-leaders-in-line-on-ukraine-1118477119.html russia 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 who shot fico, why they tried to kill fico, jurgen molemann death, andrzej lepper death https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/germanys-closure-of-crimean-bridge-attack-leaked-conversations-case-hypocritical---moscow-1118512911.html Germany's Closure of Crimean Bridge Attack Leaked Conversations Case Hypocritical - Moscow Germany's Closure of Crimean Bridge Attack Leaked Conversations Case Hypocritical - Moscow Sputnik International Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Germany's decision to close the investigation against an Air Force inspector who discussed strikes on Russia's Crimean Bridge a manifestation of Western hypocrisy. 2024-05-18T06:14+0000 2024-05-18T06:14+0000 2024-05-18T06:14+0000 world maria zakharova foreign ministry crimean bridge ingo gerhartz margarita simonyan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/14/1117438850_0:133:3012:1827_1920x0_80_0_0_cdab946e2be725047d12c5b44a190278.jpg The Berlin prosecutor's office earlier closed the probe against German Air Force inspector Ingo Gerhartz, conducted in connection with the interception of a conversation between Bundeswehr officers about the possible use of Taurus cruise missiles in a potential strike on the Crimean Bridge. The prosecutors office of Berlin earlier closed investigation against an inspector of the German air force, Ingo Gerhartz, related to the leaked conversation between high-ranking German military officials about a potential attack on Russia's Crimean Bridge. On March 1, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya international media group, Sputnik's parent company, published the readout of a conversation among four German military officers discussing a potential attack on Russia's Crimean Bridge with long-range Taurus missiles. The talk, which took place on February 19, involved Gerhartz, Brig. Gen. Frank Graefe, the head of the operations and exercises department at the air force command in Berlin, and two employees of the air operations center of the Bundeswehr Space Command. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to promptly investigate the circumstances around the leaked conversation. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240301/full-transcript-of-german-top-military-officials-leaked-plot-to-attack-crimean-bridge-1117078481.html crimean bridge 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 crimean bridge, maria zakharova, germany crimean bridge leaked conversation, ingo gerharts crimea, taurus crimean bridge https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/golden-dragon-awakes-china-and-cambodia-start-joint-drills-1118515109.html Golden Dragon Awakes: China and Cambodia Start Joint Drills Golden Dragon Awakes: China and Cambodia Start Joint Drills Sputnik International According to official information, over 2,000 servicemen, 3 Chinese large warships and 11 Cambodian warships will participate in exercises. 2024-05-18T12:35+0000 2024-05-18T12:35+0000 2024-05-18T12:35+0000 multimedia photo china pla people's liberation army (pla) navy chinese people's liberation army (pla) cambodia https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118516938_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_2deee30823c806ccb3eb11cc250ee7ec.jpg China and Cambodia continue their largest-ever joint annual military drills dubbed Golden Dragon. The drills are aimed at boosting their armies capacity, and, according to official information, over 2,000 soldiers, three large Chinese warships and eleven Cambodian warships are participating in them.The exercises have been held regularly since 2016. According to the Chinese Defense Ministry, this year's drills will be dedicated to joint counter-terrorism operations and humanitarian relief.The People's Liberation Army press service expresses certainty that the drills are conducive to further consolidating the iron-clad friendship between the two countries, enhancing the strategic coordination level between the two militaries, and jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability."The commander-in-chief of the Royal Armed Forces of Cambodia, Army General Vong Pisen, expressed gratitude to the Chinese military for support in modernizing military facilities, including the Ream naval base. china cambodia 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 pla, chinese army drills, golden dragon drills, china cambodia drills, chinese cambodian military exercises https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/grossi-describes-iaea-russia-cooperation-on-zaporozhye-nuclear-plant-issues-as-professional-1118509875.html Grossi Describes IAEA-Russia Cooperation on Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant Issues as 'Professional' Grossi Describes IAEA-Russia Cooperation on Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant Issues as 'Professional' Sputnik International The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russia cooperate on a professional level when it comes to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (https://t.me/SputnikInt/54817?single), including the issues of monthly rotation of the IAEA experts, agencys director general Rafael Grossi, told Sputnik. 2024-05-18T06:06+0000 2024-05-18T06:06+0000 2024-05-18T06:06+0000 zaporozhye npp zaporozhye international atomic energy agency (iaea) russia rosatom world nuclear disaster nuclear terror iaea international atomic energy agency https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118512534_0:7:3618:2042_1920x0_80_0_0_a97781ebd9b36e41bd2db8803104291f.jpg I have said before and I would repeat to you that the cooperation is a professional cooperation, it is very professional at different levels. I am in constant contact with the [Russian] Foreign Ministry, with of course Rosatom and CEO of Rosatom Mr [Alexey] Likhachev, with the Russian nuclear regulator, so we are keeping in contact and exchanging constantly on technical aspects related to the plant, Grossi said when asked to describe the IAEAs cooperation with Russia on the Zaporozhye nuclear plant issues, including the logistically complex operation of the monthly rotation of experts.Grossi told Sputnik that he discussed with Putin the condition of the nuclear plant but did not make any warnings about the danger of its rapid restart. The New York Times ran an article on Wednesday recalling Grossi's visit to Russia in early March, during which the IAEA director general had talks with Putin. According to the publication, Grossi's goal during the meeting was, among other things, to warn the Russian leader about the dangers of restarting the nuclear plant too quickly. The director general added that the sides discussed in general terms what are the different possibilities of whether the nuclear plant can continue to operate in the same way as in the past or not. Grossi added that he expects to continue discussing the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with Putin, as he considers this dialog indispensable.Putin held a meeting with Grossi on March 6 in Sochi. During the meeting, Putin said that Russia continues to actively cooperate with the IAEA on many issues. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230714/scientist-ukraine-attacking-russian-nuclear-plants-is-height-of-lunacy-and-moral-irresponsibility-1111877770.html zaporozhye russia 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 rafael grossi, zaporizhzhia, zaporizhzhia area, zaporozhye area, zaporozhye direction, ukrainian military moving, ukrainian terrorist attack, attack on npp, russian security agencies, nuclear sabotage, ukrainian crisis, nuclear terrorism, ukrainian terrorism, zaporozhye npp, zaporozhye nuclear power plant, zaporozhye, international atomic energy agency, nuclear plant in zaporozhye, nuclear plant shelled, nuclear plant attack, nuclear terrorism, iaea, nuclear terror https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/israel-defense-forces-says-eliminated-significant-target-during-strike-on-jenin-1118511524.html Israel Defense Forces Says Eliminated "Significant" Target During Strike on Jenin Israel Defense Forces Says Eliminated "Significant" Target During Strike on Jenin Sputnik International The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), jointly with the Israel Security Agency (ISA), said they eliminated one of "significant" targets in an airstrike on their operations center in the West Bank city of Jenin. 2024-05-18T04:55+0000 2024-05-18T04:55+0000 2024-05-18T04:55+0000 world middle east israel hamas west bank israel defense forces (idf) israeli-palestinian conflict israel-gaza conflict palestine-israel conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105174/23/1051742355_0:164:3136:1928_1920x0_80_0_0_9f066a82b31ad1a12d847f32c1f5bb73.jpg Earlier, the IDF said an Israeli fighter jet carried out an airstrike in the area of Jenin. The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that one person was killed and eight others injured in Israeli shelling of Jenin. The statement stressed that the IDF eliminated the militant, who was on the search list for alleged involvement in a number of attacks, including a shooting incident in May 2023. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240511/the-zionist-project-doomed-itself-by-rejecting-peace-advocates-1118381341.html israel west bank 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 middle east, palestine-israel conflict, israel-palestine conflict, gaza strip violence, gaza genocide, mideast crisis, israel vs hamas https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/profit-generating-and-woke-brainwashing-whats-happened-to-us-military-1118520874.html 'Profit-Generating' and Woke Brainwashing: What's Happened to US Military? 'Profit-Generating' and Woke Brainwashing: What's Happened to US Military? Sputnik International The third saturday of May is celebrated in the United States as Armed Forces Day, an observance honoring all members of the countrys military. But many experts are not joining the celebrations, raising concerns about the state of the US troops. 2024-05-18T18:30+0000 2024-05-18T18:30+0000 2024-05-18T18:30+0000 analysis military & intelligence us military recruits hardware https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/1c/1117029274_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_e7b48a13f10b77fbe286ec84f4a5762d.jpg This years Armed Forces Day in the United States takes place as Washington's war machine appears to be but a shadow of its former self, its reputation tarnished by the de facto humiliating defeat in Afghanistan in 2021 and the inability to stop Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.The decline of the once-powerful US Armed Forces could be traced to the 1990s, the time right after the end of the Cold War, argued former US State Department counterterrorism analyst Scott Bennett.What started with reforms to those who could serve eventually cascaded into an avalanche of social justice, acquainted theorems and attitudes towards the military," he said.Following that, the 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered a wave of US military interventionism across the world, ostensibly aimed at fighting terrorism but in reality serving as an enrichment exercise for the military-industrial complex.So you've seen the military transform from a nationally-owned organization to an organization that was really being used to feed corporate entities like Raytheon, McDonnell Douglas, Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, a myriad of defense contractors, missile manufacturers, arms dealers, and that was another death blow to the military because suddenly it became a profit-generating organization, Bennett remarked.According to him, the US military during the Obama administration suddenly lost interest in winning wars and resolving conflicts instead, it became interested in perpetuating conflicts and in using the military as a social re-engineering organization".He also noted that most Americans are reluctant to enlist because they do not want to join a military that is at odds with their moral, traditional religious values.Comparing the US military to the Russian military today, Bennett argued that the latter is clearly superior.Bennett also pointed out that the Russian military does not allow homosexuality and transgenderism and all of these perversions that the West has allowed.Meanwhile, US Navy veteran Mike James - who served in Iraq in 2008 - observed that the United States military is surprisingly amateurish.We're surprisingly caught up in such an enormous sense of false superiority and security that there's just really bad decisions made all up and down the chain of command, even at the highest levels. Yeah, just generally quite unprofessional and immature and goofy, he told Sputnik. Just goofy sh*t all across, up and down the chain of command.According to him, Western military science as a whole is essentially an imperial project and depends on complete hegemony.James noted that the majority of US military recruits enlist for education and travel, work experience rather than out of a huge feeling of patriotism, with the veteran adding that the US military has become heavily reliant on immigrants and foreigners who are operating as mercenaries.He also did not seem particularly impressed with the current level of US military tech, suggesting that both the US military hardware and IT infrastructure have become a giant hunk of shit. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240514/us-military-challenging-russia-and-china-amid-size-reduction-and-overall-decline-1118432461.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240517/emperor-with-no-clothes-rival-russian-us-takes-on-chinese-tech-reveal-washingtons-weakness-1118502253.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240507/us-bid-to-strategically-weaken-russia-backfired-creating-army-adapted-for-postindustrial-warfare-1118318719.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 us amred forces day, us military, stroongest military in the world, is us military degrading, will us be able to win against russia, is us stronger than china https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/russias-trade-with-oic-members-up-30-in-2023---deputy-pm-1118509096.html Russia's Trade With OIC Members Up 30% in 2023 - Deputy PM Russia's Trade With OIC Members Up 30% in 2023 - Deputy PM Sputnik International Russia's trade turnover with the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2023 increased by 30 percent, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said after a plenary meeting of the International Economic Forum "Russia Islamic World: KazanForum 2024." 2024-05-18T00:16+0000 2024-05-18T00:16+0000 2024-05-18T00:16+0000 russia marat khusnullin russia kazan organization of islamic cooperation (oic) russian export center jsc (rec) exhibition forum islam tatarstan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118509445_0:295:3072:2023_1920x0_80_0_0_9bc837e0cd3d0ce4a65ab6953b0348bd.jpg Thanks to this event, we have become even closer with our colleagues - Muslim countries... Our trade turnover is increasing. I can say that over the past year our trade turnover with the countries of [the Organization of] Islamic Cooperation increased by 30 percent, Khusnullin told reporters. He said there have been more tourist exchanges, and the volumes of exports and imports of products between Russia and OIC members have increased. Speaking about the forum, Khusnullin said that this year, more than 20,000 people are taking part in the event, which is more than last year. A total of 85 countries and 84 Russian regions are represented. The International Economic Forum of Russia and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" is being held in Kazan on May 14-19. KazanForum is a platform for strengthening trade, economic, scientific, technical, social and cultural ties between Russia and OIC countries. The forum received federal status by a presidential decree in 2023. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240516/russia-islamic-world-to-make-major-contribution-to-multipolarity-1118470312.html russia kazan tatarstan 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 and islam, russia and islamic world, russia and islamic nations, russia and the middle east, russia-islam, islam in russia, islamic countries, cooperation with oic, cooperation with islamic countris https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/shake-off-the-shackles-france-struggles-to-keep-its-colonies-1118510358.html 'Shake Off the Shackles': France Struggles to Keep Its Colonies 'Shake Off the Shackles': France Struggles to Keep Its Colonies Sputnik International The unrest is a response to Paris-backed changes to local voting laws. The island nation is between Australia and Fiji, and has been a French territory since the 19th Century. 2024-05-18T06:17+0000 2024-05-18T06:17+0000 2024-05-18T06:17+0000 analysis europe ilham aliyev new caledonia azerbaijan emmanuel macron france neocolonialism voting voting reform https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118511663_0:188:3070:1915_1920x0_80_0_0_129a91fb3d5cc73bebf174cb8a27da54.jpg On Thursday, Sputnik reported that the French government had deployed military units to New Caledonia after a state of emergency was declared in the French Island Territory amid violent mass protests. The unrest is a response to Paris-backed changes to local voting laws. The island nation is between Australia and Fiji, and has been a French territory since the 19th Century. The indigenous Kanak people make up about 40% of the population.The peace activist, writer and teacher, KJ Noh and analyst Steve Poikonen sat down with Sputniks The Critical Hour on Friday and discussed the ongoing unrest in the island nation.But eventually the French decided that they would make accommodations with the Kanak people for independence, and in 1988, they signed what's called the Matignon Agreement, agreeing that within 10 years, they would hold a referendum for full independence. When 1998 came around, the French, instead of holding the referendum, said, oh, you have to wait another 20 years. This is called the Noumea Accord, and this was essentially kicking the can down the road for another 20 years, Noh suggested.On Thursday, France accused Azerbaijan of fomenting the riots in New Caledonia, with French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin saying that the violence has been actively supported by Azerbaijan. Philippe Gomes, the former president of the government of New Caledonia has also claimed that Azerbaijan is bankrolling the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. The Eastern European country has strongly rejected the accusations.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly accused France of neocolonialism and supported independence from France. The country has also founded the Baku Initiative Group, which brings together 14 political movements across the former French Empire in an effort to decolonize.The French do not want to give up their empire, said Noh. They want to keep their colonies, and then, of course, there are domestic considerations as well. Macron is not looking good. He does not want to be the one who lost yet another territory.Commenting on the French neocolonial ambitions Poikonen highlighted the recent fails of Paris in maintaining control over what used to be its overseas territories. And Macron knows that but he lost what 70% of France's uranium when they got kicked out of Niger. They're losing contracts. The thing that they're ultimately fighting over, I think, is to maintain some sort of international influence as far as shipping lanes are concerned. And, other than that, save face and try not to look like they're getting spanked everywhere they go, everywhere they are, Poikonen added. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240516/why-cant-macron-afford-to-lose-french-pacific-territory-of-new-caledonia-1118471324.html new caledonia azerbaijan france Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg france, azerbaijan, new caledonia, neocolonialism, voting rights, french colony, colonies, overseas territories, colonial empire, french empire, french colonialism, colonial past, colonial rule https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/ukraine-begging-us-to-provide-more-intel-data-on-russian-military-facilities---reports-1118520756.html Ukraine Begging US to Provide More Intel Data on Russian Military Facilities - Reports Ukraine Begging US to Provide More Intel Data on Russian Military Facilities - Reports Sputnik International Kiev has been increasingly requesting more intelligence data about the location of Russian troops and its most important military facilities from the White House amid continuing difficulties on the battlefield 2024-05-18T17:20+0000 2024-05-18T17:20+0000 2024-05-18T17:20+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine kiev intelligence us intelligence https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/04/18/1118100166_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_54318c2d65c5f823b2cc570ddf0ee248.jpg The Ukrainian authorities have intensified their calls as Ukrainian servicepople have been struggling to maintain ground positions amid Russia's progress in the direction of Kharkov, the newspaper reported.Although US President Joe Biden's administration did use to provide Kiev with some intelligence data, it had long rejected such requests as the White House wanted no US intelligence reports to be used for attacks deep into Russian territory. However, the most recent request has been accepted by the White House for consideration, the report said.Ukrainian officials believe that more intelligence data in real time and more data on the most important targets would improve the efficiency of Kiev's cross-border strikes, according to the publication.Western countries have been providing massive military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240517/patriot-games-why-zelenskys-lobbying-for-us-air-defenses-wont-stop-ukraine-from-losing-1118503575.html russia ukraine kiev 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 who is winning in ukraine, ukraine updates, how much us spending on ukraine, us aid to ukraine, why is us helping ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/us-congress-republicans-want-to-replace-house-speaker-despite-trumps-support---reports-1118521162.html US Congress' Republicans Want to Replace House Speaker Despite Trump's Support - Reports US Congress' Republicans Want to Replace House Speaker Despite Trump's Support - Reports Sputnik International The US Congress' Republican Party members intend to replace incumbent House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson after the November elections to the lower chamber 2024-05-18T18:10+0000 2024-05-18T18:10+0000 2024-05-18T18:10+0000 mike johnson us donald trump congress americas https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/17/1115166339_0:111:3072:1839_1920x0_80_0_0_afaf9748b76c276f5e4acc5c9e4ebf9f.jpg "Everyone that's gonna be voting for President Trump hates Mike Johnson," Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was quoted as saying. Furthermore, Congressman Jim Jordan has been preparing the groundwork to promote his candidacy to replace the incumbent House speaker, the news outlet wrote, citing multiple sources. At the same time, Trump and Johnson have talked over budget priorities, energy and tax policy among other things, the news outlet wrote, citing sources. The two have deepened their relationship since 2019 when Johnson defended Trump while on his impeachment defense team, the news outlet wrote. Overall, the former president sees the House speaker as a "good enough ally," a top Trump ally told the news outlet, and Johnson "respects him [Trump] as the party leader," the outlet added, citing a senior GOP source. The US presidential election is slated for November 5. The main contenders expected on the ballot are incumbent US President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, who have both won enough delegates' votes to be their respective Democratic and Republican parties' presumptive nominees. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240509/mtg-says-uniparty-win-saving-johnsons-speakership-will-mean-more-money-for-foreign-wars-1118364964.html americas 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 will mike johnson be impeached, who is mike johnson, republicans want johnson out https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/was-robert-fico-the-wests-next-color-revolution-target-what-we-know-so-far-1118510683.html Was Robert Fico the Wests Next Color Revolution Target? What We Know So Far Was Robert Fico the Wests Next Color Revolution Target? What We Know So Far Sputnik International Sputnik investigates the role of the media and foreign-backed NGOs in turning up the political temperature in the Central European country. 2024-05-18T03:01+0000 2024-05-18T03:01+0000 2024-05-18T05:48+0000 analysis europe robert fico george soros samantha power slovakia ukraine bratislava us agency for international development (usaid) national endowment for democracy (ned) https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118510526_0:161:3069:1887_1920x0_80_0_0_656ccc1240fe0e3f1cccd37495b6ca21.jpg Robert Fico remains under the care of doctors at a hospital in the city of Banska Bystrica after a brazen assassination attempt Wednesday against the Slovak Prime Minister shocked the country and brought politics to a standstill.Officials claimed the populist leaders life was no longer in danger after an hours-long operation earlier this week. However, Fico experienced a setback as doctors recently revealed his condition required a second surgery. Officials continue to await updates on the prime ministers condition to judge whether it will allow him to be transported to a larger hospital in the capital of Bratislava next week.As Fico recovers, light is being shed on the highly contentious political and media environment in Slovakia that the prime ministers defenders say contributed to the attempted assassination. The Slovak Prime Minister had previously warned about the potential for polarization in the country to boil over into political violence, claiming in a video message just over a month ago that the rhetoric of opposition media outlets could result in the murder of some of the leading government politicians.Still others have questioned the influence of foreign NGOs and Western government-backed organizations, which frequently play a role in instigating political unrest and even regime change across the world. Fico has earned scorn for his steadfast refusal to contribute military aid to the regime in Ukraine, insisting he does not believe it is in Slovakias interest.Here, Sputnik summarizes what is known so far about the role of foreign influence in Slovakias politics.Russian tiltFico has been frequently criticized in Western media since beginning his fourth term as Slovakias Prime Minister in 2023. As leader of the countrys Social Democratic party commonly referred to as Smer Fico has remained perhaps Slovakias most prominent politician, serving as prime minister for a longer period of time than any other leader in the countrys post-independence history.But Ficos electoral success has not stopped liberal columnists from insisting that somehow the popular leader represents a vague threat to democracy in Slovakia. Mainstream European media has heavily stigmatized the prime minister as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his opposition to arming Ukraine, with a columnist for The Guardian writing that he showers praise on Moscow.No examples were cited of the prime minister doing so. Instead, the author employed guilt by association, insisting Fico models himself on Viktor Orban, the alt-right leader in neighboring Hungary (Fico is, in fact, a left-wing politician). The prime minister is also faulted for having fulminated against the west for his domestic audience, while his partys vice-chair identifies the war in Ukraine as a proxy war of the United States against Russia. These critiques, at least, make clear that Western medias complaints against Fico are ideological.The Guardian once again turned to the subject of Slovakia just over a month before the recent assassination attempt on Fico, with a hit piece blaming him for being "out of sync with the liberal west. As proof of the claim, the testimony of a communications advisor for the opposition party is cited. The article came shortly after Fico ally Peter Pellegrini won the countrys presidency, once again on a platform of neutrality regarding the Ukraine conflict. The Guardian again warned of the countrys Russian tilt.Slovak opposition protests taking place early this year received heavy coverage in the European press, leading some to wonder whether Western leaders would begin openly encouraging unrest as they have done in Georgia. Had the seeds of a regime change operation been planted?USAID to the rescueThe US Agency for International Development (USAID) has become one of the United States most important regime change tools. Under the banner of such causes as economic development and government transparency, the agency invests in various social causes globally.But the organization has also been wielded as a weapon of US influence, funding organizations, activists and politicians that align with Western interests. Thus funding for such priorities as the development of independent media obscures support for opposition-aligned journalism outlets; strengthening civil society invariably means strengthening US-aligned pressure groups.Along with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) a government agency described by one of its founders as dedicated to continuing the work of the CIA USAID forms an important part of US efforts to interfere in foreign countries political systems.Controversial USAID Administrator Samantha Power visited Slovakia in 2022 to meet with members of the then-ruling opposition party. Her trip also took her to nearby Moldova where she visited the offices of Mediacor, a USAID-sponsored organization ostensibly dedicated to strengthening independent journalism.Claims that the Kremlin weaponizes disinformation played a central role in Powers trip as the Biden administration uses the talking point as a pretense to regulate and censor social media. Power met with the organization GLOBSEC during her time in Slovakia, a US government-backed organization dedicated to furthering US and NATO interests in the country. GLOBSEC emerged from the Slovak Atlantic Commission, an agency dedicated to encouraging Slovakias integration into NATO and the European Union.The organization has hosted figures such as former British Prime Minister David Cameron, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and current European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at glitzy speaking engagements in Bratislava.In 2021, GLOBSEC hosted Belarusian opposition members in Slovakia for a meeting dedicated to discussing systemic reforms. It was hoped that Belarusian professionals could become familiar with the Slovak experience of market economy transformation as the US-sponsored Belarusian opposition hoped to take power in Minsk to implement pro-elite neoliberal policy.Such systemic reforms have remained a key motivation for the efforts of billionaire donors like George Soros, who stand to benefit from the loosening of economic regulation across Europe.Hand of Soros?George Soros political giving has made the wealthy financier a controversial figure a 1991 article in the Washington Post dubbed him an overt operative of US-backed regime change operations. Alongside US government organizations like the NED, Soros funnels his massive wealth towards pro-Western activists who help bring down Russian and social democratic-aligned governments.But how has the billionaire exerted his influence in Slovakia? The record is murky, as Robert Ficos leadership has allowed the country to keep its social democratic economy relatively intact, but the billionaires organizations maintain a presence in Slovakia as they do throughout the continent.Earlier this month, a member of Ficos Smer party publicly criticized the NGO Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS), which has attacked a proposed foreign agents registration act in Slovakia. The organization rejected the charge that it is funded by George Soros (the agency is actually supported by the US government), but Soros funds a number of other organizations that operate in the country, including the Slovak branches of the Open Society Foundation and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).IREX has funded a number of fellowships for liberal activists in the country, including at least one who went on to work for Aktuality.sk one of the media outlets Fico blamed for stoking political hatred in Slovakia.Meanwhile, the Georgian branch of Soros Civil Society Foundation (CSF), which has been instrumental in promoting anti-government protests in Tbilisi, has similarly labeled Robert Fico as an authoritarian leader for Slovakias NGO transparency legislation. The allied Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) has contributed to so-called media monitoring efforts in Bratislava.Some anti-government demonstrations erupted in Slovakia earlier this year, but protests have not yet reached the size they have in Georgia. Outside-backed NGOs are recognized as a way for foreign interests to covertly exert influence abroad, allowing their donors to raise and lower the temperature of political controversies at will. If events have not yet been brought to a boil of regime change in Slovakia, it may be simply because outside interests are occupied elsewhere or still waiting for the right moment.However, the shooting of Prime Minister Fico is certainly a highly detrimental development that demonstrates the polarized environment in the country. Those concerned with guarding Slovak society must stand guard against such pernicious outside influences as the country seeks to chart its own path.Russophobia has done much to damage the political discourse, in the United States and elsewhere. In Slovakia it appears it has almost led to the death of the nations leader. Countries deserve the right to discuss matters of foreign policy with their own sovereign interests in mind without accusations of ties to a Russian boogeyman. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240517/shooting-of-slovak-prime-minister-reveals-hateful-rhetoric-against-ukraine-heretics-1118484831.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240328/usaid-us-imperialisms-most-cynical-regime-change-tool-1117622413.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240505/hand-of-soros-georgian-prime-minister-denounces-us-color-revolution-tactics-1118262117.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240327/billionaire-financier-george-soros-overtaken-by-trump-in-list-of-worlds-wealthiest---report-1117591872.html slovakia ukraine bratislava Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg robert fico color revolution, robert fico regime change, robert fico george soros, george soros slovakia, usaid slovakia, us influence slovakia, slovakia regime change, assassination attempt, slovakia's fico, slovak fico, robert fico, slovak prime minister, fico alive, fico talks, fico survived, fico lives Mercedes worker Rick Webster watches as votes from the union election are reported at the United Auto Workers union field office on May 17 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The United Auto Workers union was defeated in a vote on unionizing at two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa. Voting at two Mercedes factories comes a month after the UAW scored a breakthrough victory at Volkswagen's assembly factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. Kim Chandler/AP TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Workers at two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Friday voted overwhelmingly against joining the United Auto Workers, a setback in the unions drive to organize plants in the historically nonunion South. The workers voted 56% against the union, according to unofficial totals released by the UAW, which had people watching the vote as it was counted by the National Labor Relations Board. About 5,200 workers were eligible to vote at an auto assembly plant and a battery factory in and near Vance, Ala., not far from Tuscaloosa. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The loss slows the unions effort to organize 150,000 workers at more than a dozen nonunion auto factories largely in the South. United Auto Workers union supporters attend a rally on May 4 in Birmingham, Ala. The United Auto Workers union was defeated in a vote on unionizing at two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Ala. Kim Chandler/AP The voting at the two Mercedes factories comes a month after the UAW scored a breakthrough victory at Volkswagens assembly factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In that election, VW workers voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW, drawn by the prospect of substantially higher wages and other benefits. The mood was somber at the UAW field office near the assembly plant, where union officials were tallying votes on a whiteboard. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The UAW had little success before then recruiting at nonunion auto plants in the South, where workers have been much less drawn to organized labor than in the traditional union strongholds of Michigan and other industrial Midwest states. A victory at the Mercedes plants would have been a huge plum for the union, which has long struggled to overcome the enticements that Southern states have bestowed on foreign automakers, including tax breaks, lower labor costs and a nonunion workforce. Some Southern governors warned that voting for union membership could, over time, cost workers their jobs because of the higher costs that the auto companies would have to bear. The Mercedes emblem is displayed outside the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. plant on May 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The United Auto Workers union was defeated in a vote on unionizing at two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa. Kim Chandler/AP Fridays defeat notwithstanding, the UAW is operating from a stronger position than in the past. Besides its victory in Chattanooga, it achieved generous new contracts last fall after striking against Detroit Big 3 automakers: General Motors, Stellantis and Ford. Workers there gained 33% pay raises in contracts that will expire in 2028. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Top-scale production workers at GM, who now earn about $36 an hour, will make nearly $43 an hour by the end of their contract, plus annual profit-sharing checks. Mercedes has increased top production worker pay to $34 an hour, a move that some workers say was intended to fend off the UAW. Toyota Motor Corp. employees in the U.S., including those at the Japanese automakers plant on San Antonios South Side, received pay raises late last year, which the company announced days after the last of Detroits Big Three concluded contract negotiations with the UAW. Toyota has about 3,800 employees in San Antonio, where it builds the hybrid Sequioa SUV and Tundra pickup. Shortly after workers ratified the Detroit contract, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a drive to organize about 150,000 workers at more than a dozen nonunion plants, mostly run by foreign-based automakers with plants in Southern states. In addition, Teslas U.S. factories, which are nonunion, are in the UAWs sights. The union had a tougher challenge in Alabama than it did in Tennessee, where the UAW had narrowly lost two previous votes and was familiar with workers at the factory. The UAW has accused Mercedes of using management and anti-union consultants to try to intimidate workers. In a statement Thursday, Mercedes denied interfering with or retaliating against workers who are pursuing union representation. The company has said it looked forward to all workers having a chance to cast a secret ballot as well as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice on unionization. Advertisement Article continues below this ad With the Mercedes workers rejecting the union, Marick Masters, a professor emeritus at Wayne State Universitys business school who has long studied the union, has said he expects the UAW leadership to explore legal options. This could include arguing to the National Labor Relations Board that Mercedes actions made it impossible for union representation to receive a fair election. Though the loss marks a setback for the UAW, Masters suggested it does not deal a fatal blow to its membership drive. The union would have to analyze why it couldnt garner more than 50% of the vote, given its statement that a supermajority of workers signed cards authorizing an election, Masters said. The UAW wouldnt say what percentage or how many workers signed up. It took the union three plantwide votes at Volkswagen before it won. A UAW loss, Masters said, could lead workers at other nonunion plants to wonder why Mercedes employees voted against the union. But he said he doesnt think an election loss would slow the union. I would expect them to intensify their efforts, to try to be more thoughtful and see what went wrong, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If the UAW eventually manages to organize nonunion plants at Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Honda with contracts similar to those it won in Detroit, more automakers would have to bear the same labor costs. That potentially could lead the automakers to raise vehicle prices. Some workers at Mercedes say the company treated them poorly until the UAWs organizing drive began, then offered pay raises, eliminated a lower tier of pay for new hires and even replaced the plant CEO. Other Mercedes workers have said they prefer to see how the company treats them without the bureaucracy of a union. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240518/watch-russian-artillery-crush-ukrainian-infantry-in-zaporozhye-1118519240.html Watch Russian Artillery Crush Ukrainian Infantry in Zaporozhye Watch Russian Artillery Crush Ukrainian Infantry in Zaporozhye Sputnik International Artillery which is often dubbed the God of War plays pivotal role in the special military operation. Russia outguns Ukraine several times, leaving Kiev regime no chance. 2024-05-18T13:06+0000 2024-05-18T13:06+0000 2024-05-18T13:06+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russian army russian armed forces ministry of defense d-30 zaporozhye ukraine ukrainian crisis https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/12/1118518784_135:0:1714:888_1920x0_80_0_0_e9a7465167742457b1bccaabafd24f1d.png Russias Ministry of Defense has published footage showing 122 mm D-30 howitzers in combat action near the town of Verbovoye in the Zaporozhye region. Reconnaissance units from the Feodisia Airborne Forces detected Ukrainian troops trying to gain a foothold in the town's suburbs. The coordinates of the enemy were immediately transmitted to the artillery control post. The crew of the D-30 howitzer obliterated the enemy with a precise strike from a 122mm projectile. zaporozhye 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 rimean 122-mm D-30 howitzer crews destroyed Ukrainian infantry near Verbovoye Sputnik International rimean 122-mm D-30 howitzer crews destroyed Ukrainian infantry near Verbovoye 2024-05-18T13:06+0000 true PT0M36S 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, russian army, russian howitzer, d-30 howitzer, verbovoye ukraine defeated, d-30 ukraine Sophomore trotters took center stage on Friday, May 17 at Harrahs Hoosier Park with a pair of $34,247 series finals highlighting the 14-race card. Agent Of Fortune completed a clean sweep of the Msnaughtybynature Series while Helpem Dance shook loose late to claim the Expresson Series, each for non-winners of two races. The Msnaughtybynature for the fillies and mares served as the eighth race on the card, with Agent Of Fortune sent off as the 1-5 favourite from post four. Trainer/driver Robert Taylor settled Agent Of Fortune in the third position off the gate while Ponda Aesthetic (Jordan Ross) worked hard to clear Swan So Fine (Marvin Luna) for the lead just beyond the first quarter of :28.2. Taylor gave Agent Of Fortune her cue on the backstretch to quickly take command of the field before reaching the halfway point in :57.1. Agent Of Fortune began to separate herself from the field on the final turn, stretching her lead to 2-1/2 lengths at three-quarters in 1:26, while Swan So Fine ranged first-over into second. Turning for home, Swan So Fine utilized her momentum to reach the leaders wheel at the top of the stretch, but Agent Of Fortune dug in gamely to rebuff the challenge. Trotting home in :27.4, Agent Of Fortune reasserted her lead back out to two lengths on the wire over Swan So Fine to score in a lifetime best 1:53.4. Kanita and Atlee Bender completed the trifecta. An Indiana Sire Stakes winner as a freshman, Agent Of Fortune is now perfect through four starts in 2024 and the daughter of Dover Dan-Posterity boosted her career bankroll to $121,073 for Taylor Racing LLC and Bert Paddock. The victory was one of two training wins on the evening for Taylor, who also teamed up with Jordan Ross to score in the $30,137 Open Pace with Crooked Smile in 1:49.3. Helpem Dance used off-the-pace tactics to take the Expresson final in just his second start of his three-year-old season. Leaving from post six, driver Ricky Macomber Jr. took back in the early stages with Helpem Dance while Hudson Swan (Jordan Ross) protected the rail position to lead to the quarter in :27.1. Bears The One (Robert Taylor) pushed to the lead and took charge to the half in :57 while Water Torpedo (Mike Oosting) assumed command of the outer flow. Bears The One continued to lead as the field entered the final turn, reaching three-quarters in 1:26.3 as Helpem Dance shook off the rail from sixth with five lengths to make up turning for home. In the stretch, Helpem Dance swung wide and began to pick up steam, exploding home with a :27.1 final quarter and powered to the lead. Helpem Dance crossed the wire 2-1/4 lengths clear to stop the timer in a career best 1:54.4. Hudson Swan rallied up the passing lane to finish second, with First Option (Dan Shetler) closing for third. Helpem Dance returned $7 to his backers at the betting windows. Helpem Dance recorded his second win through eight lifetime starts and boosted his bankroll to $38,763. The gelded son of Helpisontheway-Serenas Serenade is trained by Jamie Macomber and owned by Doug Overhiser. Racing continues at Harrahs Hoosier Park on Saturday, May 17 with a special first post of 7:20 p.m. due to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. The 12-race Hoosier Park card features the series finals for both the Go On BB and Hal Dale, which serve as races seven and nine, respectively. (With files from Hoosier Park) In this week's edition of Rewind Robert Smith takes a slightly different path as he recalls the once popular practice of sending and receiving postcards in the mail. His piece includes quite an array of "oldies" based on harness racing scenes and memories. He also talks about a bit of the history behind postcards. At one time the sending of postcards was a very popular happening. Postcards could contain pictures of just about anything you could think of. A short list of favourite subjects would probably include palm trees, mountain tops, African safaris, ski slopes, world events and, yes, even harness racing. I can recall a time when people went on vacation, especially to a warm climate in the winter months, they would send a postcard back to fellow workers just to brag a bit about what a great time they were having. Invariably because of the slow mail delivery it often did not arrive until you were back on the job. I have a special memory of a postcard I received as a very young lad. A man that I knew very well and actually worked for in later years (he was known as "Uncle Joe" even though he was not related) took a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. He sent a postcard to me and believe it or not it contained a tiny cloth bag attached that read "a bag of salt from Salt Lake City." Imagine nowadays something like that would probably shut down the entire postal system! Although the popularity of postcards ended many years ago, the practice of collecting them has been a pastime that even has its own name which is referred to as deltiology, the official name for postcard collecting. It is thought to be one of the three largest collectable hobbies in the world, along with coin and stamp collecting. Shown below are a number of postcards depicting harness racing scenes and themes. These were chosen at random in an effort to show a wide cross section of just how many of these old gems once existed. A brief description will accompany each one. What better picture than the iconic judge's stand and grandstand at the Charlottetown Driving Park. Reverse side "Regards George." Messages sent on postcards were often brief. This one is an early years shot taken at Montreal's Blue Bonnets track. Most people might remember it with a bit of a different look. None other than the often photographed Greyhound depicting his world record at the Red Mile in Lexington. A somewhat modern age postcard showing the famous Bye Bye Byrd with Clint Hodgins in the sulky. Postcard showing Harness Racing at Cairo, N.Y. in the Catskill Mountains. Postmarked 3-Jun-48. Front: (Dan Patch 1896 - 1916 One of the most famous Pacers of all time. Fouled in Oxford, Indiana in 1896. Set the world mile pacing record of 1:55 in 1906.) Back: (Dan Patch was owned by Dan Messnar of Oxford, Indiana until 1901 when he was sold to M.W. Savage of Savage, Minnesota. The great horse is honored annually by the Oxford Lions Club's "Dan Patch Day" held on the first Saturday after Labor Day). Note - I believe the creator of this postcard may have erred slightly by using the word "fouled" when they likely meant "foaled". This postcard is a real oldie" depicting a scene at the Windsor Driving Park in Windsor, Ont. This once popular track was located at the current site of Jackson Park which was once known as Windsor Fairgrounds. Located very near the downtown area it still has the track gates that welcomed racing fans back around 1900. This postcard is one you might send to someone back up north when Pompano was usually racing during the winter months. Here is one complete with the address shown on the front. Most often postcards had a split back with half reserved for the address and the other half for the sender's message. Harness Racing Postcard. View of Paddock at Roosevelt Raceway, N.Y. Westbury, Long Island, N.Y. -- from a painting by Richard Stone Reeves. On back reads: Roosevelt Raceway. Night trotting races are held at Roosevelt Raceway, America's leading trotting track, every weekday night, starting at 8:40, throughout the summer and fall. It is located in Westbury, L.I. and is easily accessible by Long Island Railroad or automobile. Quote For The Week: "Figures can lie and liars can figure." Who Is It? This old photo was taken a very long time ago at a horsemen's gathering at Buffalo Raceway. The question is, who is the rather young lad at the very front of the group with a nice smile? (Harness Horse Photo) Who Else Is It? Can you name these two fellows in a photo taken at Saratoga in front of a horse statue? The Iredell County Emergency Communications team was honored with five prestigious awards at the recent North Carolina Chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (NC APCO) and North Carolina Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NC NENA) state awards celebration in Wilmington. The awards ceremony, which took place May 8, recognized the outstanding achievements and dedication of emergency communications professionals throughout the state of North Carolina. The Iredell County team was proud to bring home five awards in various categories, showcasing their commitment to excellence in public safety communications. I am incredibly proud of our team for their hard work and dedication to serving the residents of Iredell County, said Candy Miller, director of emergency communications for Iredell County. These awards are a testament to the professionalism and expertise of our employees, and I am thrilled to see their efforts recognized at the state level. The Iredell County team was honored with awards in the following categories: 2024 Communications Director of the Year presented to Nikki Carswell 2024 Radio Technician of the Year presented to Jamie Barrier 2024 Support Personnel of the Year presented to Scott Niblock 2024 Communications Trainer of the Year presented to Kristie Harbison 2024 Communications Supervisor of the Year presented to Ashley Crankshaw These awards highlight the exceptional skills and accomplishments of the Iredell County Emergency Communications team and their commitment to providing the highest level of service to the community. We are truly grateful for the dedication and hard work of our emergency communications professionals, said Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell. Their commitment to public safety and their ability to respond to emergencies with professionalism and compassion is truly commendable. Congratulations to all of our award recipients on this well-deserved recognition. For more information about the Iredell County Emergency Communications team and their award-winning services, visit https://www.iredellcountync.gov/1777/911-Emergency-Communications or contact Director Candy Miller at 703-832-2183. Jesse Lee Calhoun, identified last year as a person of interest in a series of suspicious deaths of women in Oregon, has been indicted in three of the killings as authorities continue to investigate two other deaths, investigators said Friday. The announcement capped more than a year of fear and speculation about the possibility of a serial killer preying on women in and around the Portland metro area as police discovered the bodies of women left in remote areas over a three-month span. Sheriff Nicole Morrisey ODonnell acknowledged the wait for charges to be filed in the investigation and the grief of the families of the women who went missing and thanked the public for its patience to reach this point. Todays indictment of Jesse Calhoun marks a significant step toward justice for three women, Charity Lynn Perry, Bridget Webster and JoAnna Speaks, their families and our communities, Morrisey ODonnell said at a news conference with the district attorney, Portland police chief and detectives and prosecutors handling the case. We realize that until today there have been many questions and that their deaths have caused fear and anxiety across our area, she said. And for the families who have been waiting for answers, we want our community to know that all of us in public safety have been working tirelessly to achieve this result. And that public safety, your safety, was and continues to be our highest priority. A Multnomah County grand jury on Thursday returned a six-count indictment against Calhoun, 39, charging him with three counts each of second-degree murder and three counts of abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and 32-year-old JoAnna Speaks. Police and prosecutors said they continue to investigate the deaths of two other women Ashley Real, 22, and Kristin Smith, also 22. Police and prosecutors didnt answer questions about how their investigation linked Calhoun to the crimes or how he knew the women. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said he met with the womens families earlier in the morning. He said he wanted to acknowledge the deep pain and the grief theyve shouldered the past year. This community holds you in our hearts and is here to support you, he said. Theres still more work to be done. Investigations are ongoing. County sheriffs detectives worked with Portland police detectives, Clackamas County sheriffs deputies, other law enforcement agencies and investigators in the district attorneys office on the case. The mothers of three of the women and other families and friends attended the news conference, wearing shirts bearing photos of their loved ones. Theyve clamored for answers in the womens deaths for the past year. CoLene Vargas, the mother of JoAnna Speaks, described her past year as hell. She said she has lots of questions still and didnt get many of them answered during the news conference. She said she just feels empty. County prosecutors said last summer that they had identified one man as a person of interest in the deaths but didnt name him. Sources familiar with the investigation identified Calhoun as that man. Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said police and prosecutors last year scheduled a grand jury to hear the case in May, aware that Calhoun was set to be released from prison next month. We knew that we would need to move forward by that time, she said. Marrero dismissed suggestions that the indictment was in any way obtained to influence Tuesdays election for district attorney. The election had nothing to do with why we chose to do it at the time we did or the speed at which the investigation went forward, she said. The collection and development of the evidence is what controlled that completely. Calhoun is being held at the Snake River Correctional Institute, where hes been serving the second half of a four-year sentence in a burglary and car theft case dating back to 2019. His punishment was cut short in 2021, when then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted his and 40 other prisoners sentences as thanks for serving as volunteer firefighters. Gov. Tina Kotek rescinded Calhouns commutation in July 2023 and police arrested him. He will be transferred to the Multnomah County Detention Center to face charges here, prosecutors said. Portland Police Chief Bob Day said the indictment resulted from extensive collaboration among law enforcement agencies and was gratifying. But he also called Friday a very somber day, a day to remember the lives lost and the sacrifice that these families are experiencing from that loss. Although we cannot bring them back, we will do our very best to find justice and resolution in this process. All three of Calhouns alleged victims named in the indictment were in vulnerable circumstances as they struggled to survive on the streets or while grappling with the effects of addiction, their families previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Speaks was found dead April 8, 2023, in a derelict barn east of the Interstate 5 interchange in Ridgefield, about 20 miles into Washington state. Homicide detectives previously announced they believed she had died in Portland and was later moved across state lines. Perry, who suffered from schizophrenia and was last seen alive near a notorious open-air drug market in downtown Portland, was found April 24, 2023, in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park. Her mother, Diane Allen, previously told the newspaper her daughters body had likely been left in the drainage ditch for two weeks before being discovered. Websters body was found next, on April 30, 2023, on Harmony Road near Mill Creek in northwest Polk County, though she was known to frequent the Portland area and last lived in Clackamas County. Perrys mother, Diana Allen, and Melissa Smith, whose daughter Kristin Smiths death remains unsolved, stood to speak at the news conference. Kristin Smith, of Gresham, was reported missing on Dec. 22, 2022, and her body was found in a wooded area in Southeast Portlands Pleasant Valley neighborhood in Feb. 19, 2023. Allen said not having answers has been very frustrating but she praised the detectives dedication to the investigation. Just because not all of these girls have charges that have been brought up yet, that does not mean were not still standing beside them. Were still together, Allen said. Melissa Smith said she has hope a resolution will come in the future for her family and the family of Ashley Real. Real, 22, disappeared from Southeast Portland on March 27, 2023, and was found dead in a heavily wooded area in the Eagle Creek area on May 7, 2023. Weve done a lot of investigating all year, Melissa Smith said. We just keep going. We keep waiting. We keep praying. ... We stay hopeful that we soon can get justice for them as well. The mothers wore matching shirts that bore photos of their daughters. The back of the shirts read, We demand justice. Last year, the specter of a suspected serial killer given a second chance by state leaders unleashed fierce criticism and finger-pointing among law enforcement leaders. Schmidt previously said he was given only a week to review the 14 commutations, including Calhouns, that were submitted by the governors office. A spokesperson for Schmidt said he ended up not having time to review the commutation request. Brown signed off on Calhouns early release in July 2021 about a year before his sentence on burglary, stolen car and assaulting a public safety officer convictions was up. The first of his alleged victims was found dead about 18 months later. The common cold has an entire category of medicine you can take to try and fight your symptoms, and theyre sitting on shelves at pharmacies, grocery stores and even gas stations all over the world. But when a health problem isnt so common, solutions stop being quite so obvious, or readily available. Unfortunately, when it comes to medical transportation, one size does not fit all. Earlier this month, The Daily News reported on the case of Vince Vieira, a 57-year-old Longview resident who lost the use of his legs after an accident 11 years ago. He now weighs 536 pounds. Between his mobility issues and weight, he feels trapped inside his home. He needs help to see a doctor and doesnt know where to turn. Eric Koreis, Longviews EMS chief, defended the agencys position that they cant transport Vieira to doctor appointments because they are not true emergencies. We agree, such services need to be withheld for life-or-death situations in our community. The 911 system is something Washington takes seriously too; under certain circumstances, its misuse can even be a felony. But, if Vieira cant use an ambulance to reach his doctors when he needs more than a virtual checkup, and less than an emergency room, who should he ask? We tried to figure this out, and it wasnt an easy as expected. The state department of health suggested we ask our county department. Our county department suggested Vieira ask his primary care doctor. The Washington State Health Care Authority maintains a list of free and low-cost, but a representative from Cowlitz County provider Community in Motion said they arent able to move someone his size. Helping someone of Vieiras size is classified as a bariatric transport, which requires special equipment and training, such as emergency medical services. We can see why Vieira is at a loss. Rise in obesity Other local residents may be searching for answers as well. According to data from the nonprofit advocacy group Obesity Action Coalition, almost 32% of people in Washington are considered obese. Vieiras problems are not just his weight, but also his lack of mobility, which could pose similar problems in the future as Longviews population continues to age and face their own mobility struggles. Furthermore, obesity rates have been trending upwards for decades. According to a 2021 report from the Center for Disease Control, adult obesity and severe obesity have not only been increasing since the 1960s, but they began a steeper rise in the 2010s. By 2020, over 42.5% of adult Americans are considered obese, and 9% of those are considered severely obese. We hope these trends reverse. Theres reason to believe that it might, with kids getting better nutrition in school lunches and a clearer picture of what healthy behavior looks like. But we cant be sure. And even if it does, we dont want even one person trapped in their home, unable to see their doctors. Who to call? We did find possible solutions. RiverCities LIFT reports staff could possibly transport Vieira, but cant go into his home to help him reach the vehicle. LIFT acts as a safety net for people who cannot use RiverCities traditional bus services by themselves because of a disability. And since Vieira is on Medicaid, he can use the medical insurance for the low-income to pay for a caregiver or two, who could help him reach the LIFT vehicle, which picks up people within 3/4 of a mile of RiverCities bus stops. Kaiser Permanente also suggested contacting 211 Washingtons free call service to connect people to local health and human services. Kaiser, as well as PeaceHealth, said Cowlitz Tribes wheelchair transportation could possibly help. Kaiser suggested Woodland-based TLC Wheelchair as well but added that calling 211 is the best bet to find an answer. It can be hard to answer a question when you dont know who to ask. With the internet becoming an ubiquitous part of everyday life, many things might be more convenient, but its come at a cost: tasks that might once have been done over the phone or in-person, with another person to guide you, have become self-service. This has made many routine tasks simpler, but when your problem is complex, as Vieiras is, having someone experienced to point you in the right direction makes a huge difference. We hope he finds the help he needs. Local transportation services Addus HomeCare (patients only, $30hr + mileage): 360-575-1984, 1338 Commerce Ave Ste 212, Longview. American Medical Response (AMR): 360-578-9313, 603 Royal St., Kelso. Community in Motion: 360-694-6577, 312 SE Stonemill Drive Ste 115, Vancouver. Cowlitz Tribe Transport Hub: 360-232-8585, 1104 Hemlock St., Longview. Columbia County Rider (Oregon): 503-366-0159, 1155 Deer Island Rd. Saint Helens. Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Medical Transportation: 360-713-6004, 1305 Columbia St Ste 100, Vancouver. Golden Chariot Specialty Transport Service: 360-944-9833, 608 N Devine Rd., Vancouver. Greyhound Bus Station: 800-231-2222, 501 S 1st Ave., Kelso. Human Service Council Reserve-a-Ride: 360-258-2103, 120 NE 136th Ave. #215, Vancouver. Lower Columbia CAP: 360-425-3430 (main) or 360-200-4911 or 360-200-4910 (senior transit), 1526 Commerce Ave., Longview. Medicaid Transportation: 800-752-9422. Med Coach: 360-751-6222. Mercy 1 Transportation: 360-896-5156, 5406 NE 107th Ave., Vancouver. Owl Taxi: 360-577-6777. RiverCities Transit: 360-442-5663, 1135 12th Ave., Longview. Uptown Taxi: 360-575-8294. Volunteer Chore Service (Catholic Community Services Western Washington): 360-577-2200 Woodland Community Service Center: 360-225-9998, 736 Davidson Ave., Woodland. Woodland Wheelchair Service: 360-281-5575, 1331 N Goerig St., Woodland. Source: PeaceHealth. San Antonio model Maya Henry was engaged to Liam Payne, a former member of boy band One Direction. John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI Maya Henry, the model and author daughter of San Antonio lawyer Thomas J. Henry, opened up in a new novel about having a "painful" abortion. The 23-year-old's debut novel "Looking Forward," released this week, is a book "inspired by true events." The main character Mallory meets and falls in love with a member of her favorite boy band after getting into the modeling industry. Henry was cast into the spotlight after her father threw her a $6 million quinceanera in 2016, and just a few years later she was pursuing a modeling career and engaged to popstar Liam Payne, former member of hit boy band One Direction. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The San Antonio-raised model told People that those aren't the only similarities she shares with the protagonist of her novel Henry also suffered complications from an abortion and took herself to the hospital. In the story, Mallory is pressured by her boyfriend to get an abortion and is encouraged not to seek medical attention when she begins experiencing hemorrhaging. "If it were up to me, I wouldnt have done it," Henry told People. "But then also, if I were to have made a different decision, then I wouldve lost the person that I loved...But looking back now, things happen for a reason." Henry said in the interview that she felt alone during the ordeal, especially after male doctors assured her the abortion wouldn't be painful. "But Im like, youve never even gone through anything like [this], so how would you know to tell me?" she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Two years after splitting with Payne, Henry is about to graduate with a creative writing degree from New York University. The short bio released with her book describes her as a philanthropist and female empowerment activist. Kevin Young watches retired SAPD Crime Scene Investigator Eugene Jones take the stand during at his murder trial Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal Senior District Judge Maria Teresa Tessa Herr presides over the murder trial of Kevin Young on Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal Senior District Judge Maria Teresa Tessa Herr presides over the murder trial of Kevin Young on Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal A Bexar County jury found a man not guilty of murder in a 12-year-old case in which someone else shot the victim. Kevin Young was charged in the killing of Rakim Tarik Charles, 23, in what prosecutors said was a drug deal turned robbery. But defense attorneys contended he was just along for the ride with two others who were trying to buy some marijuana, and that the shooting was an accident. The panel took three hours Friday to reject the charge. Young, 36, could have faced up to life in prison if convicted. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After Senior District Judge Maria Teresa Tessa Herr released the jury, Young breathed a huge sigh of relief as he went to the gallery to hug and cry with relatives who had sat through his trial. Yall tried to make me look like a criminal, Young said through tears when asked for comment. I aint no criminal. Kevin Young sits next to his lawyers at his murder trial Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal Throughout the three-day trial, assistant district attorneys Jason Garrahan and Hank Wilkins sparred with defense attorneys Arlene Gay and Karen Corby in front of jurors and outside their presence. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The prosecutors said Young was guilty under the states law of parties because he participated in the drug deal that led to Charles death on July 16, 2012. Retired SAPD Crime Scene Investigator Eugene Jones takes the stand Friday during the murder trial of Kevin Young. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal Young was the last to be tried of three men accused of killing Charles. A co-defendant, Christopher Cooper, has died. A jury convicted Andre Antoine Dunn, 31, of murder in 2018 and he is serving a life sentence. Testimony in Youngs trial established that Dunn shot Charles. Police recovered a little more than four ounces of marijuana from inside the vehicle in which he died. The night Charles was killed, Young and the other men were hanging out with Youngs girlfriend, Laski Charles, a cousin of the victim, and decided to buy some marijuana. Laski Charles called Rakim Charles and arranged for the men to meet him at a Northeast Side apartment complex parking lot. Young got into a car with Charles. Dunn, outside the vehicle, later told police he saw Charles reach for something under the seat, panicked and shot Charles by accident. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A medical examiner testified that the bullet entered the upper right side of his back, severing his spine and aorta as it traveled between his ribs and through his lungs. Charles called 911 before he died at the scene. Senior District Judge Maria Teresa Tessa Herr presides over the murder trial of Kevin Young on Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal Young began serving a prison sentence for an unrelated offense before he was indicted in the Charles case. He got out of prison two years ago. Gay advised the jury not to believe Laski Charles testimony this week or her statements to police a year after the shooting. Gay also questioned why prosecutors did not charge her, since she was the one who set up the deal on the phone. Laski has given three different versions of a story, she told the panel. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Corby reminded the panel that 12 years ago, Young was 24 years old, with similarly young people hanging out, chilling out. Laski says hey, lets call my cousin. He sells to family and friends. He trusts her, she trusts him, Corby said. Did she really think he was going to be robbed? How was Kevin supposed to know? But Corby also attacked Laski Charles credibility, saying she changed her story to fit a narrative that didnt make her look responsible. Kevin Young sits next to his lawyers at his murder trial Friday. A jury found him not guilty after deliberating three hours. Kaylee Greenlee Beal In his closing argument, Garrahan told the jury that through the years, witnesses became reluctant and unresponsive. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As he pointed to Young sitting with his attorneys, Garrahan said, The fact is, that man sitting there and he knows it is a party to this. Its common sense. Garrahan said the fact Young was there means he helped, aided, attempted to aid, before, during and after the crime. Wilkins said Young had no idea Dunn was going to take his gun with him to buy a misdemeanor amount of weed and that he never intentionally or knowingly participated in a robbery, much less a slaying. OAMHC board to meet May 23 The Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center Board of Directors will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center, 2319 St. Matthews Road. The meeting is open to the public. Wellness program set A health and wellness coalition, hosted by the Downtown Orangeburg revitalization Association, is planned for 1 to 3 p.m. May 30 in support of The Samaritan House. Orangeburg's health and wellness agencies come together once a month to provide information and resources for the community. The event is open to the public. If your agency would like to participate, contact Ashley Bryan at downrownorangeburg@gmail.com. Prayer breakfast in July The Samaritan House Faith-Based Prayer Breakfast will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, at I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium, 300 College St. NE, Orangeburg. For clergy and church officers: For more information, email orangeburgsamaritanhouse@gmail.com; subject line -- Faith-Based; include clergy and/or church officer's name, name of church, mobile number, email address. Call 803-539-1020. Line dance classes in Bamberg Line dance classes are held every Monday and Tuesday at Copper Oak Plantation, 6380 Charleston Augusta Highway, from 5 to 6 p.m. The schedule may vary during the holidays. All ages and skill levels are welcome. Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult. For information, call 803-682-3379, or any member of the Bamberg County Line Dancers. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held daily at the Alano Inc. Building, 590 Louis St., Orangeburg. Monday through Saturday, citizens can meet from noon to 5:15 p.m.; on Sunday they meet from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 803-990-0020. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday, at the Church of the Redeemer, 1606 Russell St., Orangeburg. For more information, call 803-990-0020. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held at 7 p.m. on Mondays; a Women's Meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays; Saturday meeting will be held at 10 a.m., at the Santee Presbyterian Church, 306 Bradford Blvd., in Santee. For more information, call 803-990-0020. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held at 7 p.m. Thursdays at John Ford Community Center, 304 Agnes St., St. Matthews. For more information, call 803-990-0020. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held 8 a.m. Sunday, and 6:30 p.m. Monday and Thursday at the Branchville Christian Church Family Life Center, 6907 Freedom Road, Branchville. For more information, call 803-990-0020. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. Fridays at the North United Methodist Church, 8301 Salley Road, North. How to submit your events Please submit Community Datebook column items in writing. Items must be received no later than noon Tuesday of each week. The T&D does not guarantee when items will run. Items may be submitted by email, news@timesanddemocrat.com, or in person, 1010 Broughton St. COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Department of Transportation seeks public comment on the action to amend the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to include the preliminary engineering, right of way, and construction phases of work for four bridge replacement projects in Orangeburg, Greenville, Lancaster, and Chester Counties. SCDOT will receive public comment for a 21-day period from May 16, 2024 through June 6, 2024. The proposed project in Orangeburg County is the replacement of a 60-foot bridge on S-92 (Ebenezer Rd) over Cow Castle Creek. The project cost is $4,725,000.00. The proposed project in Greenville County is the replacement of S-507 (Brooks Avenue) over Langston Creek. The project cost is $4,645,000.00. The proposed project in Lancaster County is the replacement of a 150-foot bridge on S-29-20 over Camp Creek. The project cost is $3,670,000.00. The proposed project in Chester County is the replacement of a 75-foot bridge on S-12-50 over Tributary to Fishing Creek. The project cost is $2,740,000.00. 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. (TBTCO) - Voi muc tieu en nam 2025 ua Kho bac Nha nuoc van hanh tren du lieu so va en nam 2030 hoan thanh xay dung Kho bac so, tu nam 2022, Kho bac Nha nuoc Tra Vinh a xay dung va ang ky mo hinh Dan van kheo voi chu e ay manh thuc hien dich vu cong truc tuyen trong kiem soat cac khoan chi ngan sach nha nuoc. Tu o en nay, mo hinh tiep tuc phat huy va at hieu qua tich cuc. GFH Financial Group has posted first-quarter (Q1) net profit attributable to shareholders of $27.14 million, an increase of 13.03% on Q1 2023, profiting from growth in the groups investment banking and its commercial banking business. Earnings per share for the quarter was US cents 0.77 compared with US cents 0.72 in the first quarter of 2023. Total income was $162.97 million for the first quarter of the year compared with $105.06 million in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 55.13%. Consolidated net profit for the first quarter was $30.34 million compared with $24.44 million in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 24.14%. Total expenses for the quarter were $89.18 million compared with $62.50 million in the prior-year period, up 42.69%. Total equity Total equity attributable to shareholders was $955.67 million on March 31, 2024 down 3.42% from $989.54 million on December 31, 2023, primarily due to distribution of dividends for the year 2023. Total assets of the Group were $10.55 billion compared with $11.12 billion on December 31, 2023, a decrease of 5.13%, due to realignment of the groups assets. Currently, GFH manages over $20.6 billion of assets and funds including a global portfolio of investments in logistics, healthcare, education and technology in the Mena region, Europe and North America. Abdulmohsen Rashed Al Rashed, Chairman, GFH Financial Group, said: Were delighted to announce continued growth and enhanced profitability for the first quarter of 2024, marked by double-digit increases to the top and bottom line. These results reflect the sound contributions made from the groups subsidiaries, and strong income generated from placements and fees from the groups investment portfolios and treasury activities. Investing in well-performing sectors Ongoing growth and progress remain rooted in the success of the groups strategy and its focus on investing in well-performing sectors and high-growth markets, in the region and internationally, where we have an active and growing presence. Having entered the year with positive momentum, we look forward to further expanding the groups investments across core business lines and geographies and generating even greater value for shareholders and investors throughout the remainder of the year. Hisham Alrayes, CEO and Board Member, GFH Financial Group, said: We are pleased to announce another quarter of growth and solid performance for the first three months of the year, where income increased by 55.1% and consolidated net profits rose by 13% year over year. Gains made during the quarter are the result of further growth and enhanced contributions from our investment banking business and treasury and proprietary investments, as well as healthy income generated from our commercial banking activities. During the quarter, we successfully placed new investments in recession-proof sectors and high-growth regional and global markets, worked to maximise the value of our existing portfolios, and secured several well-timed and profitable exits. GFH Partners closed additional new investments in the US in our key medical clinics and student housing sectors for $450 million, as well as in the fast-growing electrical infrastructure services sector. We also generated solid income from the partial sale of our stake in Gulf Holding Company and sold a 25% stake in Khaleeji Bank, which saw us bring on board new strategic shareholders as we work to take the Bank to the next level. Alrayes, added: Across the groups business lines, we remain focused on accelerating our strategy for non-organic growth through new investments and the acquisition of funds, portfolios, and other financial institutions, such as the investment portfolios of Ithmaar Holding that we are currently evaluating. Additionally, we have an attractive pipeline of opportunities. Ramping up growth In the US, GFH Partners is working closely with our specialist asset management subsidiaries on-the-ground to identify and close new transactions to grow our existing portfolios. Similarly, in the GCC markets, and particularly, Saudi Arabia, GFH Capital is looking to build our presence and contributions to the growth of priority Vision 2030 sectors such as healthcare, education, and logistics, where we have expertise and a track record of success. We look forward to further ramping up the groups growth trajectory throughout 2024. Business Unit Highlights The group continued to deliver sound performance and contributions from across its core business lines during the first quarter of 2024. Investment Management During the first quarter, the groups investment banking activities generated $46.16 million in income, through various deal across the region and beyond, including investment in a market leading, high growth company in the US electrical infrastructure services sector, which serves a number of blue-chip clients in fast-growth end- markets such as renewable energy, battery energy storage, utilities, industrial and more. GFH Partners, the groups global real estate investment arm, concluded investments totalling $450 million in the medical clinics and student housing segments of the US real estate market, which are each benefiting from proven rental growth, low national vacancy, and market stability. Income from proprietary investments included proceeds from the partial sale of investments in subsidiaries and land parcels. The group acted as one of the Joint Lead Managers and bookrunners for the successful issuance of a $500 million 5-year sukuk by Arabian Centers Company (trading as Cenomi Centers), Saudi Arabias largest shopping mall owner, developer, and operator. Commercial Banking The groups commercial banking business, Khaleeji Bank, contributed $38.76 million in income during the first quarter. Treasury & Proprietary Investments Contributions from the groups treasury and proprietary investment activities significantly grew year-over-year to $78.06 million despite a $7.9 million mark-to-market loss during the first quarter.--TradeArabia News Service Bank ABC Islamic has posted a first-quarter (Q1) net profit of $10.8 million, 9.6% higher than the same period last year on the back of growth in core customer business as well as higher profit rate environment. The balance sheet remained healthy, maintaining strong capital ratio. The banks operating income of $43.2 million in Q1, is 29.7% higher than the same period in 2023 and net income attributable to quasi-equity of $24.0 million, 23.1% higher compared to Q1 2023. Operating expenses were $6.7 million, 64.8% higher compared to $4.0 million for last year. The banks capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 42.1%. Positive business momentum Hammad Hassan, Managing Director of Bank ABC Islamic, said: We started 2024 with continued positive business momentum from last year, which was a record year for the bank with respect to income and profitability. Core client business grew further at the back of strong performance from various product lines including trade finance, cash management as well as capital markets and treasury products. We closed 6 Sukuk mandates during the first quarter as Joint Lead Manager. The growth in operating income was partially offset by a rise in operating expenses due to a one-off legal charge arising from a legacy transaction. Despite the extra-ordinary expense, we have closed the first quarter with healthy profitability. We remain cautiously optimistic of the business environment for rest of the year. The banks allowances for credit losses for the period were a charge of $1.6 million compared to a write back of $0.2 million reported during the same period last year. Operating expenses Operating expenses were $6.7 million, compared to $4.0 million for the same period of last year. Adjusting for exceptional charge, expenses were 9.5% higher compared to quarter one 2023. ABC Islamic Banks total assets stood at $2.508 billion as of March 31, 2024, compared to $2.501 billion at 2023 year-end. Investments were at $1.0 billion, compared to $809 million at 2023 year-end. Murabaha receivables, Ijarah and Musharaka financing were at $1.44 billion, compared to $1.57 billion at 2023 year-end. Shareholders equity on March 31, 2024, stood at $328 million, in line with 2023 year-end. The banks capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 42.1%, predominantly Tier 1, which totalled 41.0%.--TradeArabia News Service Bahrain-based hospitality group Sayacorp has announced the opening of Conrad Bahrain Financial Harbour, the first Conrad Hotels & Resorts property in the kingdom. Part of the renowned global luxury hospitality company Hilton, the Conrad brands newest destination is situated within the new Sayacorp Tower located in the heart of Manama, just minutes away from key landmarks such as The Avenues Bahrain, MODA Mall, Bahrain Financial Harbour, and the Bahrain World Trade Centre. The hotel features 98 rooms, including one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites that are meticulously designed to ensure unparalleled guest comfort. Additionally, four-bedroom penthouses with fully-equipped kitchens and private pools boast floor-to-ceiling windows for captivating views. To guarantee a smooth and safe stay for guests, the hotel also offers personalised concierge services for each penthouse to deliver the ultimate experience of luxury and comfort. The Conrad Bahrain Financial Harbour was inaugurated by Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Abdulla AlSuwaidi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sayacorp, lauded the leadersship's unwavering support for the private sector and all initiatives that contribute to strengthening the national economy and achieving the tourism sectors development milestones. He pointed out that Bahrains tourism sector was receiving great attention from the leadership, which greatly encourages investments and enhances the quality of services and facilities offered in the Kingdom. "We are thrilled to witness the opening of our first hospitality venture in Bahrain. We are confident that Conrad Bahrain Financial Harbour will become one of the most preferred local accommodations, thanks to its exclusive waterfront views and exceptional services," stated AlSuwaidi. "We hope to raise the bar for the tourism sector in the Kingdom with our world-class facilities. We also aspire to provide our guests with an unforgettable experience in a luxurious residential destination that embodies the rich cultural heritage that Bahrain is known for," he added. Echoing the excitement, Guy Hutchinson, President of Hilton Middle East & Africa said: "We are delighted to start welcoming guests to Conrad Bahrain Financial Harbour, our third Hilton property and a first for the Conrad brand in the country." "Each room in the hotel is a suite, providing guests with the comforts of home alongside intuitive service and luxurious leisure facilities," he stated. "With its prime location and standout dining options, including SUSHISAMBA, the hotel is set to become a destination of choice in Bahrains capital city," he added. For the first time in Bahrain, the globally acclaimed SushiSamba restaurant has opened doors at the Conrad to offer an extraordinary culinary experience with cuisine that blends three distinct cultures from Japan, Brazil, and Peru. With a tantalising fusion of flavours and enchanting decor, diners can indulge in vibrant beats and stunning views from the hotels rooftop pool overlooking the mesmerising Manama and Bahrain Bay skyline, said the developer. "Further enriching the guest experience, Conrad Bahrain Financial Harbour also features the Tomo Lobby Lounge with a design inspired by the Tomoyasu style known for its vibrant colours, and the elegantly designed library-style Trade Room. Guests can unwind at the rooftop pool, utilise the 24-hour state-of-the-art fitness centre, and rejuvenate in the separate male and female saunas," explained AlSuwaidi. The property also includes three meeting rooms named after Bahrains significant historic milestones and landmarks. The Bab Al Bahrain Hall is named after the first gateway to Bahrain, the Harbour Hall refers to the rich local maritime heritage, while the 1920 Hall is inspired by the year the first bank was opened in the kingdom, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Bahrain-based Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY) has announced plans to launch Itqan, an internal initiative focused on employee-led development and innovation. The campaign will encompass several development-focused projects, based on a strategy of open communication and an exchange of ideas and suggestions between the executive management and all ASRY employees. This collaborative approach aims to spark innovation within the workplace, strengthen teamwork, and encourage employees to gain skills that align with current labor market needs. By prioritizing skill acquisition, the company aims to build a strong foundation for its operational success, it stated. According to Asry, the organizing committee will be accepting proposals through several methods, including submitting proposals electronically through designated forms, or through designated boxes located across the company. "We at Asry believe that building proposals collaboratively can unlock a new era of innovation in our work systems. By harnessing the collective talents and ideas of our team members, we can propel the company towards achieving the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves," said its acting CEO Shaikh Mohamed bin Rashed Al Khalifa. "This initiative is a multipronged approach designed to strengthen our companys core values, foster a more positive work environment, and ultimately elevate both productivity and quality standards. We aim to achieve this by leveraging the latest technologies," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Yango, a global tech company, is set to showcase its latest solutions for business process optimisation at Seamless 2024 in Dubai. The event will feature autonomous last-mile delivery robots, a comprehensive tech stack for e-grocery businesses, and the debut of Yango's robotic pick-and-place platform and other solutions to streamline warehouse automation. All these products are designed to enhance operational efficiency and provide Middle East businesses with a competitive edge. Delivery robots Having made their regional debut earlier this year, Yangos autonomous delivery robots offer several benefits to businesses. These innovative vehicles deliver food and packages in cities, automate routine processes, and execute deliveries in restricted areas with limited access to outsiders. They also offer advanced navigation for quicker routes and reduced delivery times. The robots perform well in various weather conditions and terrains, ensuring safe and secure package delivery. Moreover, they support sustainable operations by using clean energy and lowering carbon emissions, which aligns with the GCCs commitment to environmental sustainability. The autonomous robots are managed through an admin panel, which provides live updates on the status of each delivery. Attendees at Seamless Middle East 2024 will get a chance to see the robots in action and understand the fleet management process. We are excited to present our autonomous delivery robots at Seamless Middle East 2024. We believe that our delivery solutions have the potential to transform the industry and serve the diverse needs of businesses and consumers in the GCC region. At the moment, we are actively seeking partnerships to bring our products to the vibrant cities of the Middle East, said Nikita Gavrilov, Regional Head of Autonomous Delivery Solutions, Middle East, Yango. AI-driven robotic pick-and-place platform For the first time, Yango will demonstrate its AI-driven robotic pick-and-place platform and other solutions for warehousing and logistics challenging rising fulfillment costs. The platform is designed to improve warehouse efficiency leveraging computer vision, enabling any off the shelf stationary robot to operate with human-like capabilities. It accurately navigates warehouse environments, makes optimal decisions in real time, and helps reduce costs. Visitors will also experience new AI-powered technologies for retail business expansion. At the companys booth, they can place an order via the White Label App and track it with the Warehouse Management System and Last Mile Solution. Moreover, businesses can explore the AI Shelf Monitoring System, and interact with a demo store that showcases the smart camera system providing real-time analytics.--TradeArabia News Service The success of the 33rd Arab Summit affirms Bahrains high standing and its important pan-Arab role under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, reported BNA citing a senior official. Lauding the leadership for the successful summit, Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, said that it was characterised by positivity and optimism, demonstrating the determination of their Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses the Arab leaders on consolidating Arab solidarity and unifying efforts to counter challenges facing the Arab world, its security and stability, and development. Dr Al Zayani was speaking at the press conference along with Ahmed Abul El Gheit, the Secretary General of the Arab League, on the outcomes of the 33rd Arab Summit hosted by Bahrain. Dr Al Zayani started his remarks by expressing the pride of the kingdom in presiding over the summit for the second time. The first time was in Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt in 2003. The second presidency of Bahrain during this session of the summit coincides with the first time it hosts it. He said that the Arab leaders discussed reports submitted by the General Secretariat on Arab joint action and efforts to advance cooperation and integration on political, security and economic levels, reported BNA. They endorsed the proposed recommendations and resolutions regarding items on the agenda and discussed regional and international developments, it added. Dr Al Zayani said the Arab leaders underscored the importance of consolidating joint action in light of the current regional and international developments, to maintain security, stability and peace in the region and the world. The minister indicated that this approach sought to emphasise unified stances of Arab states on achieving peace and the importance of the region in the context of the global economy, security and peace. Furthermore, Dr Al Zayani said that the leaders endorsed the Bahrain Declaration at the summit. The declaration asserted Arab condemnation of the destructive Israeli war on the Gaza Strip which has led to large scale losses of lives and property, in addition to the ongoing Israeli violations in occupied Arab land. The leaders called for immediate measures to achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, releasing hostages and detainees and facilitate entry of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of civilians. Dr Al Zayani indicated that the Arab leaders reiterated the firm position and call for a just and comprehensive peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue, the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the borders of 4 June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital based on a two-state solution and international legitimacy resolutions. They also emphasised support for the request of full Palestinian membership in the United Nations. The leaders stressed the imperative of preserving the unity and independence of Arab states, ending all disputes and non-interference in internal affairs. The leaders also highlighted the importance of fostering values of tolerance, human coexistence and understanding among religions and cultures to promote world peace and stability. This is in addition to the rejection of any support for armed groups or militias that operate outside the sovereignty of states; combating extremism, hate speech and incitement; reaffirming commitment to the freedom of maritime navigation; and the reiteration of the call for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. The declaration also underlined the determination to continue efforts to strengthen partnerships, strategic dialogues and joint cooperation with international blocs and friendly countries, as well as the keenness to cooperate closely with the United Nations and its specialised agencies to address global challenges, maintain international peace and security, and support their efforts in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Dr. Al Zayani also highlighted that the Arab leaders endorsed key initiatives proposed by Bahrain, which include: *Issuing a collective call to convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to resolve the Palestinian issue based on the two-state solution, which ends the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories, embodying an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, to live in peace and security alongside Israel, as a way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace. *Immediate action to engage with foreign ministers of the world to urge them to quickly recognise the state of Palestine. *Providing educational services to those affected by conflicts in the region. *Improving healthcare for those affected by conflicts in the region. *Developing Arab cooperation in the field of financial technology, innovation and digital transformation. The minister then read the statement of Arab leaders regarding the Gaza Strip which condemned the continued brutal Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, the crimes committed against Palestinian civilians and Israel's unprecedented violations of international law and international humanitarian law- which include targeting civilians and civilian installations, the use of blockade as a weapon, starvation and attempts at forced displacement, and the resulting death and injury of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians. The statement also denounced the expansion of the Israeli aggression to Rafah, which has become a refuge for more than one million displaced persons, and its catastrophic humanitarian consequences. It condemned the Israeli occupying forces' control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which is aimed at tightening the blockade on civilians. This has led to the suspension of the crossing and the entry of humanitarian aid. Dr Al Zayani said the leaders called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, a halt to all attempts at forced displacement, an end to all forms of blockade, allowing the full and sustained entry of humanitarian assistance for the Gaza Strip, and Israel's immediate withdrawal from Rafah. For his part, the Arab League Secretary General said the large attendance at the Arab Summit demonstrated the high regard from the Arab countries and governments to Bahrain and His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He noted that the 33rd Arab Summit was held in a very calm atmosphere and did not witness any disagreements. He added that the Palestinian cause and the situation in Rafah took centre stage at the summit. This was clearly demonstrated when Arab leaders issued a special statement, in addition to the Bahrain Declaration, half of which was devoted to the Palestinian issue, he added. Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) has announced a strategic partnership with iMedia 24/7, a leading UAE media company. As a key development in the recently launched Project Landmark initiative, iMedia 24/7 has secured exclusive naming rights to four Emarat service stations, a milestone towards elevating customer experiences and setting new standards for fuel companies both in the UAE and globally. Following the successful launch of Emarats Project Landmark in March, this new partnership continues to push the boundaries of traditional service stations, incorporating unique branding opportunities. Rebranding stations iMedia 24/7 is the second strategic partner to leverage the benefits of rebranding Emarat stations, following the inaugural strategic partnership with Al Maryah Community Bank. The Emarat and iMedia 24/7 brand identity will be creatively applied to stations in strategic locations through a co-branding initiative. The brand transformation is underway with facade redesigns and upgrades to surrounding spaces and facilities, aligning them with the company's brand and visual identity. The "Landmark" project represents a significant advancement in the fuel station sector, both within the UAE and globally. Through this initiative, "Emarat" has redefined its strategic partnership model, aligning with its commitment to delivering value-added services and enhancing customer experiences. This underscores the company's unwavering commitment to excellence in service quality for the public. Unique advertising platform Eng Ali Khalifa Al Shamsi, Director General of Emarat, said: With this partnership, we are proud to reinforce the significance and success of the landmark project. Serving as a comprehensive and integrated platform, it stands as a unique advertising platform that amplifies the visibility of diverse company brands. Furthermore, it emphasises the economic viability of our business operations and activities while delivering value-added services to our esteemed customers. This alliance represents our dedication to nurturing enduring relationships, enriching our service stations, and offering unparalleled value to both our customers and partners. "This partnership with iMedia 24/7, a leading UAE media company, exemplifies Emarat's unwavering commitment to bolster cooperation with both local and international entities, solidifying our reputation within the wider public and the business community alike," Al Shamsi added. Rafiq Abu Hijleh, founder at iMedia 24/7, said: iMedia 24/7, a leading entity in the advertising sector, led by an experienced leadership with over two decades of expertise in media, is embarking on a new initiative through its partnership with Emarat on the Landmark project. Leveraging our extensive industry experience, we are confident in our ability to steer this project towards success. Naming rights This partnership with Emarat will grants us exclusive naming rights and advertising privileges across four of its stations. It demonstrates our commitment to pioneering innovative advertising solutions and our dedication to fostering mutually beneficial relationships with esteemed partners like Emarat. The Project Landmark is pushing new boundaries and ensuring that Emarat remains at the forefront of the industry, demonstrating the economic viability and strategic importance of transformative partnerships in the region. Through these strategic partnerships, leading local and international brands can reach their customers even more effectively through the new rebranding opportunity and Emarat can continue to transform its service offering. For over four decades, Emarat has been providing its services to millions of customers across Dubai and the Northern Emirates, including supplying high-value and quality fuel, alongside various other retail activities, around the clock, seven days a week, through more than 139 service stations strategically located, which see a turnout of about 8,000 cars per day.--TradeArabia News Service AlUla, the ancient city in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, has entered into a partnership with Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabias new airline, to increase the visibility of the desert region, and the new carrier among travellers across Saudi Arabia and around the world. The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024 in Dubai, on May 8, will see the entities collaborate on multiple initiatives: Increasing the tourist number to AlUla among key global markets Seamless and immersive digital experiences across multiple touchpoints Sharing and leveraging data insights to produce refined content and product strategies for optimal campaign performance Enabling both sides to identify trends and behavioural patterns to produce data-driven decision-making and strategies Rami AlMoallim, Vice President of Destination Management and Marketing at The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: By working together, we can leverage the growing global excitement about AlUla as the Kingdoms premier luxury boutique heritage destination while also making a significant contribution to the Kingdoms broader tourism landscape. Osamah Alnuaiser, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Riyadh Air, said: As a major Saudi tourist destination, AlUla already offers such rich and unique experiences to visitors while continuing to enhance its tourism offerings and packages. At Riyadh Air, we have no doubt that with us both working towards a shared goal of increasing travellers numbers to the kingdom, it will only move us towards a positive direction. In our short history weve made a habit of signing big agreements with world-renowned partners and today is yet another milestone moment for Riyadh Air with us putting pen to paper on a deal with what can arguably be described as the jewel in Saudi Arabias tourism crown AlUla. This agreement will see us sharing ideas and platforms with AlUla and we are fully confident that through this partnership well be raising the profile of both the destination of AlUla and Riyadh Air in the coming months. With an ambitious target to fly to over 100 destinations by 2030, Riyadh Airs maiden flight is due to take off in mid-2025. ATM Dubai, centred on the theme Empowering Innovation Transforming Travel through Entrepreneurship, concludes on May 9. - TradeArabia News Service Chinese youths spark craze for visiting ancient architectures Xinhua) 10:25, May 18, 2024 TAIYUAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lin Guodong's trip from Shanghai to Yuncheng City in Shanxi Province, north China, over the May Day holiday this year was his third visit to this region known for ancient buildings. "I have loved history since I was a child. Compared to reading books, a study trip offers a multidimensional experience. It allows me to feel history up close and systematically enrich my knowledge," said Lin, 29. There are some 28,000 existing ancient buildings in Shanxi, including three Tang Dynasty (618-907) wooden structures and the world's tallest wooden pagoda. The province also boasts 509 Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) wooden structures, accounting for over 80 percent of such buildings in China. It has more colored sculptures, murals, and ancient stages than anywhere else nationwide. In recent years, an increasing number of young people like Lin have flocked to Shanxi to explore its treasure of ancient buildings, sharing their experiences and travel tips on social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. "Although my itinerary was already packed, there were still many places I didn't visit. Shanxi is worth multiple visits," wrote Zhou Zhiyu, a 21-year-old student at Beijing Institute of Technology, on Xiaohongshu. Zhou, who grew up in Zhejiang Province, east China, has been to Shanxi twice to explore its ancient buildings. She fondly recalls watching a flock of birds fly over the colorful glazed pagoda at Guangsheng Temple in Hongtong County. "The ancient buildings in Shanxi, with their earthy colors, exude history. I prefer this kind of atmosphere," she said. Yang Jie, an ancient building enthusiast born in the 1980s, shares Zhou's passion. In 2016, he left his job to pursue his love for history. The following year, he founded Jinxingji research and study center, which specializes in in-depth educational tours focused on history and culture. "Starting with no participants on our first tour, we now receive nearly 5,000 visitors a year, 31 percent of whom are under 30. It indicates that an increasing number of young people are interested in ancient buildings, and the demand for professional guides is growing," said Yang. Yang and his team are devoted to selecting the iconic ancient buildings from across the country and hiring professionals to explain their structures, murals, and sculptures, in an effort to perfectly blend tangible heritage with expert knowledge. The growing enthusiasm for ancient buildings is fueled by the revival of traditional Chinese culture. As more people seek to understand Chinese history and civilization through these historical sites, the movement for ancient building conservation is also gaining strength. Wang Kai, an ancient building enthusiast working at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is dedicated to ancient building protection. Inspired by the works of renowned late architect Liang Sicheng, he followed in Liang's footsteps and began to visit ancient buildings in 2015. "There are many old photos in the books, and I wanted to see what these ancient buildings look like now. It quickly became an unstoppable passion, and I've since visited hundreds of them," said Wang. He believes ancient buildings are crucial carriers of traditional Chinese culture, with their sculptures, murals, and inscriptions being significant elements. After visiting many buildings, Wang and other enthusiasts like He Yanjun from Changzhi City, Shanxi, established a volunteer service center for cultural heritage protection, where they plan to organize voluntary patrols and explanations at ancient buildings. As an overseas returnee, Wang also decided to print his photos into books with English captions to introduce the materials and aesthetics of Chinese traditional architectures to foreign friends. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Smuggling of migrants is pervasive in South Texas. A former official of the Starr County District Attorney's Office has pleaded guilty to transporting migrants in her county vehicle. Ken Branca A former official of the Starr County District Attorney's Office has admitted to her role in a human smuggling operation that used a government vehicle to transport migrants from the border to Houston. Bernice Annette Garza pleaded guilty on Friday to a federal charge of conspiracy to transport people illegally within the United States, myRGV.com reported. Migrants allegedly paid $3,000 each to be transported to Houston from a stash house in Rio Grande City. Garza was driving a DA's office vehicle with official markings when a Victoria County sheriff's deputy stopped her near Victoria on Dec. 7, 2022. The deputy was suspicious because the vehicle's window tint appeared to be in violation of state law, according to a federal criminal complaint. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the car with Garza were Magaly Rosa and her husband, Juan Antonio Charles, both then 40 and part of the smuggling operation, according to court records. The deputy also found four undocumented migrants in the car, records show. They were visibly trembling, were wearing new clothes and appeared to answer questions as though rehearsed," the complaint says. Rosa told authorities that Garza had recruited her to smuggle migrants in her county vehicle. She said Garza provided fraudulent court papers that identified migrants as crime victims, the complaint says. Rosa and her husband operated their home as a stash house for newly arrived migrants, according to the criminal complaint. They would buy them clothes and feed them, and then Garza would pick up the migrants and Rosa in her county vehicle for the trip to Houston, the complaint says. Garza eventually confessed and said she and her co-conspirators had made more than 40 trips to transport migrants from Rio Grande City to the Houston area from June to December 2022, the complaint said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Garza was fired from her job with the DA's office on the same day as her arrest. The Sharm El Sheikh International Conference Center in Egypt will host from May 20-21 the first edition of African Tourism Forum 2024 (ATF24Egypt), and more than 2,000 professionals of the tourism industry are expected to attend. Organised by GMT Fair and Rixos Hotels Egypt, the forum will bring together industry specialists and investors, who will work to enhance cooperation, discuss sector developments, explore tourism opportunities in Africa and Egypt and strengthen vital connections in the sector. It will offer participants innovative ideas through conferences, panels and B2B meetings, and specialised courses. Selcuk Meral, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GMT Fuarclk, said: Launching the African Tourism Forum in Sharm El Sheikh aims to create added value for the tourism sector, professionals, investors, and dynamics, paving the way for new perspectives and providing a platform for business and information exchange most effectively, much like the Antalya Tourism Fair in Turkey, which has been ongoing for five years. Erkan Yldrm, CEO and Managing Director of Rixos Hotels Egypt, said: It is a great honour for Rixos Hotels Egypt to sponsor the African Tourism Forum, the first of its kind in Africa and Egypt. At Rixos Hotels Egypt, we see this opportunity as a significant responsibility in shaping the future of tourism, extending beyond providing luxury accommodations; we aim to add great value to both the tourism sectors in Egypt and Africa by enhancing cooperation, innovation, and communication. "We are working together to create a future where tourism and travel rates increase, celebrating the beauty of each destination. Starting in 2025, this forum will become an annual tradition aimed at celebrating diversity and enhancing the prosperity of the tourism industry in Egypt and Africa. ATF24Egypt is the first edition of the Africa Tourism Fair, set to become one of the largest tourism fairs in Egypt and Africa. This event will assist leading brands in the sector in shaping their plans for 2024-2025, focusing on key advantages of the tourism sector such as economic growth, employment, and revenue generation. GMT Fair, which introduced a new concept of exhibitions exclusively focused on business meetings for tourism professionals, initiated the ATF Forums series in 2019 with the Antalya Tourism Fair. ATF began in 2019 to bring together tourism professionals, investors, opinion leaders, policymakers, and decision-makers at the national and international levels with on-site marketing principles, hosting individual business meetings with over 20,000 professional participants and 2,000 travel agencies with official invitations every October. TradeArabia News Service The Saudi aviation contributes $20.8 billion through industry-related activities, enabling a further estimated $32.2 billion in tourism economic activity, according to a report by Saudi Arabias General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The sector supports 241,000 jobs with a further estimated impact of $32.2 billion generated in tourism activity, stated GACA in its inaugural State of Aviation Report developed in line with its strategic regulatory mandate. GACA will be officially unveiling the inaugural 2024 State of Aviation report at the Future Aviation Forum, which opens this week, detailing the contribution of the aviation sector to Saudi Arabias economic development and Vision 2030 transformation programme. Hosted by GACA under the patronage of Saudi King Salman, the Future Aviation Forum will kick off in capital Riyadh on May 20 featuring more than 5,000 aviation experts and leaders from over 100 countries to shape the future of aviation, including executives from international carriers, all major global manufacturers, airport executives, industry leaders and regulators. The GACA report also captures the transformation of Saudi aviation, with the kingdom outperforming global aviation sector growth rates in 2023 achieving 123% of international pre-pandemic seat capacity compared with a global and regional average recovery rate of 90% and 95% respectively, with 2023 growth amounting to 26% as total passenger volumes reached 111.7 million. Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and Chairman of GACA Saleh Al Jasser, said Saudi Arabia was providing unprecedented opportunities for the global aviation sector, achieving major leaps in global rankings in support of Vision 2030 and in line with the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics services. The GACA report, he stated, details the economic contribution of the aviation sector across Saudi Arabia, and provides a snapshot of economic contributions and job figures across the airline, airport, cargo and logistics and sectors. GACA President Abdulaziz Al Duailej pointed out that the report highlights that Saudi Arabia was building a more resilient, connected and high-performing aviation sector - spanning its airlines, airports, cargo and logistics, and human capability and training systems. "GACA has developed this report to fulfill its role as a strategic aviation regulator, measuring and recording the progress of the sector in line with the targets of the Saudi Aviation Strategy," noted Al Duailej. "The report also informs GACAs ongoing regulatory work, and the impacts of new regulations in creating greater competition, value and choice in Saudi Aviation," he added.-TradeArabia News Service 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. Total War Developer Reportedly Working on New Star Wars Game The developer behind the Total War franchise, Creative Assembly, is reportedly working on a new Star Wars-inspired game that is currently known as Total War: Star Wars. The upcoming title is said to have been in development since at least October last year and is not the only game in the franchise that is being worked on at the studio. The reports also claim that Total War: Star Wars is one of three new games in development. Rumors of a New Star Wars Game However, there are so far no details on what the other two titles that are currently being worked on are. It was also not known which one of these three projects is furthest along in development at the studio. This means that the developer is aiming to release Total War: Star Wars in the next couple of years or somewhere further down the line. The idea of a strategy game set in the Star Wars universe is not a new one but is still highly popular. Other games like this include Empire at War which was released in 2006 and Force Commander which launched in 2000. However, it has been quite a while since fans of the franchise have gotten a new Star Wars real-time strategy game, according to Kotaku. If the reports are accurate about the new Total War: Star Wars game, it would mean that there are not one but two Star Wars strategy games currently being worked on. Previously, Electronic Arts announced that it was developing a turn-based strategy game back in 2022 from developer Bit Reactor in collaboration with Respawn. Read Also: Assassin's Creed Shadows Day-One Missions Exclusively for Season Pass Holders, Preorders The new Total War game comes as Creative Assembly has endured a difficult time in the past few years. The struggles include the cancellation of its live-service shooter Hyenas as well as the lackluster sales of Total War: Pharaoh which was released last year. The studio also went on to apologize for various missteps that it had taken regarding the Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC. Sega announced in March that it was making layoffs that affected Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and Sonic Dream Team developer Hardlight. Creative Assembly's Current Projects At the time, the company said that the Total War developer "continues to have multiple projects in development with Total War and a new unannounced project." Fans of the franchise have, for years, called on Creative Assembly to give a Star Wars game a shot, said IGN. Talking about the other two games rumored to be in development, it would be safe to assume that one of these is the heavily rumored Total War: Warhammer 40,000. Creative Assembly has a longstanding relationship with Games Workshop that has proven to be profitable for both companies. The other one can be presumed to be a historical title as Total War: Three Kingdoms was the fastest-selling game that Creative Assembly has ever done. Many fans of the franchise have also been calling for a Medieval or Rome 3. Creative Assembly is a studio that is considered to have built its name on and has consistently released a steady flow of historical games, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. Related Article: Valve is Rumored to be Working on Deadlock, a New Overwatch-Style 6v6 Shooter Visits to one of Arizonas most intact ghost towns will soon be a thing of the past. After more than 30 years of welcoming tourists, the private owners of Ruby will permanently close the abandoned mining camp about 75 miles southwest of Tucson on June 3. Its just gotten to be too much work, said one of the owners, Pat Frederick. Were all very sorry to have to close, but its time. Frederick is 80 years old, and Ruby has been in her family for most of her life. She was still a student at Salpointe Catholic High School when her father, Tucson real estate broker and devoted fisherman Richard Frailey, recruited four partners to buy the 356-acre townsite in 1961. He discovered there was a lake with fish in it (on the property), and that was it, Frederick said. She fondly recalls family outings to Ruby to camp and fish and explore the old buildings. It was just a casual place to enjoy, she said. Frederick and her husband, Howard, eventually inherited a share of the property as it was passed down through the families of the original owners. Though the ghost town surrounded by Coronado National Forest land was occasionally made available to people by request over the years, Frederick said the ownership group decided to formally open the place to visitors in 1991, after researching Rubys history and hearing from former residents who were interested in seeing it again. A few years later, they hosted the first of several reunions for people who had lived and worked in the town. Organizers were expecting no more than about 150 people to attend the inaugural event in 1993, but roughly 400 showed up instead. We had men in their 80s who had worked in the mine. It was very special, Frederick said. Rise of Ruby Early prospecting in the Atascosa Mountains, west of Nogales, dates back to the 18th century, 100 years before the range would be added to the Arizona Territory by the Gadsden Purchase in 1854. The first significant American mining activity in the area began in the 1870s, and by the turn of the century, several mills were operating in the shadow of Montana Peak. The adjacent settlement was known as Montana Camp until 1912, when a local merchant applied for a post office for the town he christened with his wifes maiden name of Ruby. Before it was even a decade old, the young community was the scene of two grisly murders the first in 1920, when brothers Alex and John Fraser were gunned down during a robbery at their general store, and the second just 18 months later, when bandits robbed and killed the mercantiles new operator, Frank Pearson, and his wife, Myrtle. Rubys most prosperous period lasted just 15 years, beginning in 1926 with the arrival of the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Co. By 1930, Eagle-Picher had built a 17-mile pipeline across the Atascosa Mountains to supply its Montana Mine and the rest of Ruby with water from the Santa Cruz River. By 1935, more than 1,200 people lived in tents, wood-frame houses and adobe structures dotting the hills. Diesel engines supplied electricity to the town, which boasted its own medical clinic, boardinghouse, schoolhouse, Sunday school, Boy Scout troop, barbershop, ice cream parlor, pool hall and jail. By some estimates, Eagle-Picher pulled more than $7 million worth of lead, zinc, silver and copper from the underground mine before the profits dried up and the operation shut down in 1941. Rubys residents emptied out after that, leaving behind about a dozen buildings, three man-made lakes and a sun-bleached sand dune of fine-grain tailings stretching for more than a quarter of a mile. Several smaller mining ventures came and went in the decades that followed, but the town remained abandoned, save for a few hippies who squatted on the property without permission in the late 1960s and early 70s. Frailey and his fellow investors floated several development ideas for Ruby over the years, including as a movie set, a private club or a lakeside historical attraction. They even considered swapping the ghost town for other Forest Service property or putting it on the market for $350,000, but none of those plans materialized. Instead, the Ruby townsite was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the same year Frailey died. Back to nature Another 18 years would pass before a concerted effort was made to preserve what was left of the town. According to a 2004 history of Ruby, Frederick teamed up with Ned and Jim Daugherty, sons of original owner Louis E. Daugherty, to secure a $28,000 grant from the State Historic Preservation Office in 1993. Then, they recruited volunteers from the area to help stabilize and protect the crumbling buildings, with Howard Frederick supervising the construction. That work, along with later efforts, have succeeded in saving many structures, but nature has been gradually reclaiming the rest of the isolated property, 4 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border and about 7 miles from the nearest paved road. The old mine now hosts a colony of more than 100,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that arrive each year in late spring and stay through the summer. They just showed up a week ago, Frederick said. Its fascinating to watch them come out at night. Rubys wildness is one of the things she likes best about the place. Once, while spending the night in one of the old buildings on the property, she said she was awakened by the roar of a jaguar as it moved through the abandoned townsite. A biologist later told her the animal she heard was almost certainly the endangered cat known as Macho B, which was the only known jaguar in the U.S. at that time. More recently, one of the other owners stitched together a composite image showing all the animals that had walked past a trail camera on the property over the course of a single month in 2022. The picture showed a mountain lion, a bobcat, a coyote, a javelina, a gray fox, a white-tailed deer, two kinds of skunks and a family of raccoons, all crossing the same small patch of ground at different times of night. Frederick said Rubys rebirth as a haven for native plants and animals received a major boost about 25 years ago, when the owners partnered with the Arizona Game and Fish Department on a fencing project designed to let wildlife come and go while keeping out stray cattle that were fouling the lakes and eating the plants down to the ground. Since then, Frederick said, a thicket of trees has grown up to shade the canyon at the south end of the property, creating a new oasis for aquatic animals and other critters. That was not there until we fenced it, she said. Its a very special place. Closing time Ruby has seen its share of trouble in recent years. In 2022, a 12,000-acre wildfire burned right to the edge of the ghost town. Then last October, vandals pulled down the old front gate to the property, and several remote cameras were smashed or stolen. But Frederick prefers to focus on the positive. She said that since they announced the upcoming closure, a number of people have reached out to thank them for keeping the ghost town open for as long as they did. The final decision was made in March, and the owners began advertising it on social media in April. Since then, she said, there has been a horde of people trying to get in to see the place before the gates are locked for good. Frederick and company plan to keep selling entry permits for single-day and overnight camping visits through their website at rubyaz.com right up until the last day. Because of the higher-than-usual volume, she urged people to be patient while their permit requests are processed. Frederick said she is counting on the public to be respectful and stay out of Ruby after June 2. Just in case, though, the property will be monitored with security cameras, and there will be people there on a regular basis, including the biologists, historians and archaeologists who periodically will be granted access to continue their research. Aside from the locks on the gates and the no trespassing signs, not much else about the ghost town is expected to change. Frederick said there are no plans to restart mineral exploration at Ruby or otherwise develop the property. Its going to be preserved much as it has been for the past few decades: as a nature sanctuary amid the remnants of a historic mining town. We are very much conservationists. Were going to make it as comfortable as we can for animals, Frederick said. Not cattle, though. Just wild animals. The phone rang when Pima County Attorney Laura Conover was at home in Tucson washing dishes, and the caller was at a Phoenix-area restaurant. It was Nick Acedo, an attorney on contract for Pima County, returning Conovers call about her plan to vacate the criminal case against Louis Taylor, the man convicted of setting the deadly 1970 Pioneer Hotel fire. Acedo didnt like the plan and, according to Conover, lost his temper. The call happened two years ago, on May 27, 2022, but it still resonates powerfully today. It could help determine whether Taylor wins significant damages against Pima County and the city of Tucson in a trial scheduled for July 8. In this election year, with Conover facing a Democratic primary challenge, it also helps shed light on how she has handled one of the trickiest issues of her first term as county attorney the criminal and civil cases involving Louis Taylor. By her own description during the 2020 campaign, Taylors questionable 1972 conviction for the Pioneer Hotel fire helped inspire her career. She said in Facebook comments that year that Taylor should have been compensated in my humble opinion. When she took office, Conover had a chance to do something about it. In the end, she didnt take that chance, and thats what makes that May 2022 call so important. Was she influenced by an implied threat Acedo allegedly made to report her to the State Bar if she vacated the charges? Was she influenced by Pima Countys desire to minimize any settlement or damages paid to Taylor? If so, that could help Taylors legal team overcome one of their big legal obstacles, the fact that the convictions against Taylor remain standing. The idea that Nick or his behavior or tone or anything along those lines had anything to do with the decision is totally false, Conover told me Thursday. All that came out of the conversation she said, was her agreement to look at a few filings that Acedo recommended. But thats not how some of Conovers allies saw it, and the timeline is suspicious. The new integrity unit When Conover took office, she put Gabriel Jack Chin in charge of a passion of both of theirs: He headed the new Conviction and Sentencing Integrity Unit. This was a unit that would look back at Pima County cases with questionable outcomes. In early 2021, Chin started reviewing Louis Taylors conviction. Youd be forgiven if you thought all this was resolved in 2013. Thats when then-Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWalls team came to a new plea agreement with Taylor, who was 16 when the fire happened. Taylor agreed to plead no contest to 28 counts of murder, and he was released from prison after 42 years. But it didnt end there. In 2015, Taylor, represented by a high-powered legal team, filed suit against Pima County and the city of Tucson. He alleges that racism and poor training in the Tucson Police Department and Pima County Attorneys Office led to a wrongful conviction and decades of Taylors life lost in prison. There is, indeed, a question about whether the Pioneer Hotel fire resulted from arson at all. After more than a year reviewing the case, Chin recommended to Conover that she ask a judge to vacate Taylors convictions. By most accounts, thats what she decided to do. On that Friday before Memorial Day in 2022, she called key parties, including victims and their representatives, to tell them she planned to move to vacate Taylors convictions the next week. She even wrote a press release. On Thursday, Conover told me she was telling these people that she was likely going to move to vacate the charges. But I dont understand why you would call these parties unless you had made a firm decision. And the language of the press release granted, an unpublished draft sounds a lot more certain than that: Last week, I concluded that the Pima County Attorneys Office could no longer support the criminal conviction against Louis Taylor in the Pioneer Hotel fire of 1970. An ethical bind In a strange turn of events, Acedo ended up questioning Conover under oath during a September 2023 deposition about the conversation the two of them had on May 27, 2022. Did I tell you that I was going to file a bar complaint? Acedo asked. No, Conover answered. Did I tell you that I was going to contact the State Bar? he continued. No, she said. So, what is it that you recall me saying about the State Bar? That the State Bar would have a firm opinion about this. The possible ethical issue at play was that, as Pima County attorney, by vacating Taylors criminal conviction, she would be putting Pima County in jeopardy. But on the other side, Conover was ethically required to do justice for any wrongfully convicted defendant, whatever the impact on the county. It was a bind. But two of Conovers allies said Acedo had a decisive effect on her thinking. In a deposition in September 2023, Chin said that conversation is what caused Conover to pause her decision to vacate the convictions. He added, I believe it was clear that Mr. Acedo or someone else from his firm had taken the position that the county attorneys office as counsel for the county, had duties to the county. Nina Trasoff, the former newscaster and Tucson City Council member, got involved in the issue because Conover, a friend, asked her to review the draft press release. In an affidavit obtained by Taylors attorneys, Trasoff attributed Conovers change of mind to a threat. Conover, she swore, told me she had not gone forward with the original press release, which had been scheduled for May 28 (2022), because Phoenix lawyers had threatened bar discipline and possible disbarment if she went forward with the plan to exonerate Mr. Taylor. Deciding not to act Conover, of course, says thats not it at all. On Thursday, she told me that after the May 2022 call, she agreed to go back and look at some filings that Acedo asked her to read. That weekend, her team talked it over. Weeks passed, and she decided not to pursue vacating Taylors conviction. A new press release was drawn up. This one actually was released, on Aug. 3, 2023. At the end of the day I felt like there was no way we could carry our burden, but getting to that decision was rough, Conover said Thursday. There was robust internal debate for sure. "I eventually sided with the legal experts that say Arizona law is deeply restrictive on relief later in time," she continues. "Unless I can point to something since the no-contest plea of 2013 that proved actual innocence, there was nothing I could do on the criminal side." The call continues to resonate this month. In the first week of May, Acedo filed two sworn declarations, under seal, both of which apparently discuss the May 2022 conversation with Conover. Taylors team referred to them in a subsequent filing, not sealed, saying that in the second affidavit, Acedo takes back much of what he said about the call in the first affidavit. Taylors team wrote that Acedo implies in his declarations that Conover committed perjury at her deposition. Acedo denies that his declarations say or imply that at all. What strikes me, in retrospect, is that in 2022, Conover made a risk-averse legal decision not to vacate Taylors convictions. Coincidence or not, her decision protected her from a likely Bar complaint and getting crosswise with Pima Countys financial interests. Its probably not the decision that 2020 Laura Conover, the first-time candidate, would have made. Few of the passengers on the shuttle from the parking lot to the door of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Muskogee recognized their driver. But veterans seeking medical treatment would have been impressed had they known their driver was Jack C. Montgomery, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, for action in Italy during World War II. Montgomery drove that shuttle for several decades beginning in 1972 at the medical facility now named the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in his honor. And the federal agency he served for so many years as an employee and as a volunteer has been renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs. Montgomery, a Cherokee who died at age 84 in 2002, was one of five American Indians who received the Medal of Honor during World War II. The citation accompanying the medal that was awarded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt said Montgomery killed 11 Nazi soldiers, captured 32 and wounded an unknown number of the enemy. The action started two hours before dawn on Feb. 22, 1944, when a strong force of German soldiers established a position in front of Montgomery's platoon and threatened its position on Anzio Beach. "Cover me, I'm going forward," he told soldiers as he grabbed his rifle and several grenades and started crawling through the ditch toward where the German soldiers had been reported. He was a first lieutenant commanding a platoon in Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division. He fired his rifle and threw his grenades so accurately that he killed eight of the enemy and captured four before returning to his platoon for another rifle and more grenades. At that point he also called for artillery fire on a house where the enemy was firing machine guns. As enemy soldiers fled from the house, he captured more Nazis and sent them back to the rear. Three dead Nazis were found there later. "I didn't look back," he told a reporter later. "I knew I was going to be covered. We had that kind of confidence in each other." "I'd been training for it all those months and years," Montgomery said. "I can't tell you what I was thinking about at the time. I wasn't conscious of thinking about anything." Montgomery, a native of Long in Sequoyah County, attended elementary school in Cushing and high school at Chilocco Indian School. He attended Bacone Junior College for two years and graduated with a degree in education from the University of Redlands, Calif., in 1940. He joined the National Guard in 1937 and was mobilized when the Guard was called to active duty in 1940 in anticipation of World War II. He received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant in 1943 when he was cited for bravery. By the time of his Anzio Beach action, he had been promoted to first lieutenant and had received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart with Cluster and the Military Cross of Valor from the Italian government. He was sent back to the U.S. for treatment of serious wounds he suffered when hit by mortar fragments later that day while helping another platoon. After his discharge from the Army in 1945, Montgomery went to work for the Veterans Administration in Muskogee, Durant and Bartlesville before re-enlisting in the Army in December 1950, a few months after the beginning of the Korean War. He volunteered for combat but because Medal of Honor recipients are not allowed to return to combat, he was assigned as an infantry instructor at Fort Benning, Ga. Montgomery returned to the VA in Bartlesville in 1953 but retired in 1972 and began his volunteer job as a shuttle driver for the hospital in Muskogee a job he held for several decades. The hospital was renamed in Montgomery's honor last summer by legislation introduced in Congress by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla. They said they had consulted with veterans across the state before introducing the bill. "Jack Montgomery was a true Oklahoma hero and embodied the American spirit of service, honor and sacrifice," Coburn said. "His life and legacy are far-reaching," Boren said. Photograph research by Rachele Vaughan Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive. Only in Oklahoma is a series from the Tulsa World Archive that was written by former Tulsa World Managing Editor Gene Curtis during the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007. The columns told interesting stories from the history of the countrys 46th state. The Tulsa World Archive is home to more than 2.3 million stories, 1.5 million photographs and 55,000 videos. Tulsa World subscribers have full access to all the content in the archive. Not a subscriber? We have a digital subscription special offer of $1 for three months for a limited time at tulsaworld.com/subscribe. In the days after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021, an upside-down American flag a "Stop the Steal" symbol embraced by the rioters flew outside the Virginia home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the New York Times reported Thursday. The flag at Alito's home in Alexandria was photographed by neighbors and obtained by the New York Times. At the time, the high court was considering cases involving the 2020 election between Joe Biden and Trump. The court is currently considering whether the former president should be immune from prosecution, an argument that has sidelined the federal trial against him stemming from his actions on Jan. 6. Alito blamed his wife. "I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag," Justice Alito said in an emailed statement to the New York Times. "It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." He did not detail the language. Judicial experts told the newspaper that the flying of the upside down flag was a blatant violation of ethics rules because it was expressing a political opinion. "It might be his spouse or someone else living in his home, but he shouldn't have it in his yard as his message to the world," Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told the Times. This is the "equivalent of putting a 'Stop the Steal' sign in your yard, which is a problem if you're deciding election-related cases," she said. The court has advised its employees about public displays of partisan viewpoints, and court ethics demands that judges remain independent and steer clear from making statements or opinions about matters that could come before the court. "You always want to be proactive about the appearance of impartiality," Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge and the director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, told the newspaper. "The best practice would be to make sure that nothing like that is in front of your house." Two students of the Vietnamese team won second prize at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF) 2024, organized from May 11-17 in Los Angeles, the U.S. At the award ceremony held on May 17 (local time) in Los Angeles, Nguyen Le Quoc Bao and Le Tuan Hy, 12th graders at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted in Ho Chi Minh City, jointly received the second prize for their project in the Systems Software category. The project, entitled Integration of deep learning into automatic volumetric cardiovascular dissention & reconstruction in simulated 3D space for medical practice, aims to support doctors in providing diagnostic results from computed tomography (CT) scans. In addition, it can be used to serve medical practice in schools. This project also grasped a special award presented by the U.S.'s Association for Computing Machinery. The second prize is the highest achievement that Vietnamese students have earned after 12 years of participating in the annual Regeneron ISEF, the Ministry of Education and Training said, adding that Vietnam won the third prize last year. The project of Bao and Hy also earned the first prize at the National Science and Technology Competition organized by the ministry in late March this year. This year, the Vietnamese team of 17 students took part in the competition with nine projects selected from the 149 entries of the aforementioned national contest. These projects included one individual and eight collective projects, in nine fields, set up by students from many localities in the country. The Regeneron ISEF 2024 attracted nearly 1,700 high school students with 1,353 projects in 21 fields from 67 countries, according to news site VnExpress. About 25 percent of these projects won first to fourth prizes. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki has said he wishes to further boost official development assistance (ODA) loans for Vietnam and speed up high-quality infrastructure projects to help further foster the countrys economic development. Ambassador Naoki made the statement in his greeting message posted on the Japanese Embassys website on Saturday, after presenting his credentials to Vietnamese Acting State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan on the same day to mark the official start of his four-year term in Vietnam. Naoki said he had been looking forward to that day since he was appointed ambassador to Vietnam in late March. Commenting that the Vietnam-Japan ties are in the best condition following last years anniversary of 50 years of diplomatic relations, the diplomat said he was very pleased to serve as ambassador to Vietnam for the further development of the bilateral cooperation. Reiterating that the two nations upgraded their ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world' in November 2023, the ambassador said he will work to further strengthen friendly and cooperative relations in various fields to make the actual relationship worthy of the name of the upgraded partnership. The ODA amount provided by Japan to Vietnam in the last fiscal year exceeded 100 billion yen (US$642.5 million) for the first time since 2017, Ambassador Naoki said in his message. Japans ODA disbursement rate in Vietnam has recently increased significantly, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Based on the agreement between the leaders of the two countries, the new ambassador said he intended to further promote ODA loans for Vietnam and boost its quality infrastructure development projects to help further bolster economic development of the Southeast Asian country. Japan is currently Vietnams biggest ODA provider, offering more than 2.7 trillion yen ($17.3 billion) in ODA loans for the Southeast Asian country since 1992, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported. Highlighting economic cooperation as the most important driving force for the Japan-Vietnam ties, Ambassador Naoki said he would listen to Japanese companies operating in Vietnam and do his utmost to contribute to further improving the business environment. In addition, as innovation progresses rapidly on a global scale, he said he would like to join Vietnamese partners to foster cooperation in new fields such as digital transformation and green transformation. At the meeting with Acting President Xuan after the credential presentation ceremony, Naoki said the Japanese government supports Vietnam in achieving its goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045 with ODA loans as well as with expanded cooperation in the fields that are strengths of both sides, according to VNA. He expressed his hope that Vietnam will continue improving the business and investment environment and facilitating Japanese enterprises operation in the country. Acting State President Xuan suggested that Japan give continued support for Vietnam's industrialization and modernization process and provide new generation ODA loans for the country in the fields of strategic infrastructure development, healthcare and climate change response. She also recommended promotion of cooperation in new fields such as semiconductors, digital transformation, green transition, and net zero emission. The Vietnamese leader affirmed that Vietnam considers Japan to be a top and long-term important partner, and that all Vietnamese agencies and localities will create favorable conditions for the new ambassador to successfully fulfill his duties. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam has nominated Minister of Public Security To Lam to be the countrys new state president and Standing Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man to be the countrys top legislator. The nominations were made during the closing session of the 9th plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee that was held under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on Saturday morning. Born in 1957 in the northern province of Hung Yen, To Lam was appointed as deputy minister of public security in August 2010 and then head of this ministry in April 2016. He also serves as member of the Politburo and deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption. As for Tran Thanh Man, born in 1962 in the southern province of Hau Giang, he had held various posts during his time in the hometown and neighboring Can Tho City. He used to be chairman of the Can Tho City administration and secretary of the Can Tho Party Committee. Man became vice chairman of the countrys law-making National Assembly in April 2021. The 13th Party Central Committee announced the government personnel nominations after former State President Vo Van Thuong and former Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue resigned from their posts. Previously, the Vietnamese legislature dismissed Vo Van Thuong from his posts of President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the 2021-26 tenure and Deputy of the 15th National Assembly at an extraordinary meeting in Hanoi on March 21. Reports from the Central Inspection Commission and relevant authorities indicate that Thuong breached regulations prohibiting certain actions for Party members. Thuong also failed to fulfill the responsibility of setting an example for officials and Party members, particularly crucial for members of the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Party Central Committee. On May 2, the countrys law-making body agreed to remove Vuong Dinh Hue from the legislature chair role for the 2021-26 term and to relieve him of the duty as a deputy of the 15th National Assembly. The 13th Party Central Committee had convened a meeting in Hanoi on April 26 to discuss and give opinions on relieving Hue of all his political roles and ending his public service. According to the Central Inspection Commission and relevant authorities, Hue had flouted regulations prohibiting certain actions for Party members. He failed to meet the obligation of demonstrating exemplary behavior for officials and Party members, which is especially vital for those in the Politburo, Secretariat, and Party Central Committee. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A group of seven endangered Indochinese silvered langurs has recently reappeared at Chu Mom Ray National Park in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum after vanishing from sight for five years. On Friday, Dao Xuan Thuy, director of Chu Mom Ray National Park, revealed that a group of Indochinese silvered langurs had been spotted via camera traps in the Ya Mo forest. The camera traps captured images of seven offspring and adult langurs, all exhibiting signs of good health and active state. This sighting marks the first appearance of Indochinese silvered langurs in Chu Mom Ray National Park in five years. A group of seven endangered Indochinese silvered langurs reappear at Chu Mom Ray National Park in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, Vietnam after not being seen for five years. Video: Chu Mom Ray National Park Indochinese silvered langurs, scientifically known as Trachypithecus germaini, are native to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar. They are classified as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species since 2015. The population of these langurs in Vietnam has significantly declined over the decades, making sightings rare. Furthermore, aside from the Indochinese silvered langurs, Chu Mom Ray National Park also documented the presence of gray-shanked douc langurs. During recent camera trap inspections, the park authorities also identified several other rare animal species, including Germains peacock-pheasant, pheasants, wildcats, and Annamite muntjac. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB), the investor of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro project, on Friday carried out a drill to simulate emergency incidents on the metro line prior to its commercial operation in July. During the drill scenario, as a train traveled from the S02 - Minh Khai station to the S01 - Nhon station, passengers reported dense smoke emanating from a computer battery in a suitcase beneath a seat. Upon detection, the train proceeded to the S01 - Nhon station for passenger evacuation and rescue operations. To minimize the impact on the S01 station, the train only partially approached for passenger evacuation. Volunteers participate in an emergency drill on the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line, May 17, 2024. Photo: Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board Some passengers sustained injuries of varying extents, necessitating evacuation from remaining compartments. Authorities swiftly extinguished the fire, guided passengers to emergency exits, and assisted victims trapped onboard to safety at the station. Rescuers evacuate a victim during an emergency drill on the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line, May 17, 2024. Photo: Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board The emergency evacuation rehearsal successfully completed, with all stakeholders involved, achieving its objectives, ensuring the metro lines system readiness before commercial operation in July. The drill aims to assess the systems response to major incidents, testing emergency crisis management plans and coordination with other agencies to handle emergencies effectively. A staff member evacuates a victim during an emergency drill on the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line, May 17, 2024. Photo: Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board Currently, MRB is finalizing acceptance work on the elevated section of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line, preparing for the handover to Hanoi Metro, responsible for providing and supervising operations and maintenance employees. The Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line will run 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in Nam Tu Liem District to the Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown area, with 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks, four kilometers underground, and one depot. Medical staff give first aid to a victim during an emergency drill on the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line, May 17, 2024. Photo: Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board Work on the metro line, the second of its kind in Hanoi, began on September 25, 2010 and its completion was initially scheduled for 2016. However, the project was delayed several times for various reasons, increasing its total investment from VND18 trillion (US$731.5 million) to VND34.5 trillion ($1.4 billion). Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Bomb disposal officers in Ho Chi Minh City in the wee hours of Saturday finally handled a 350-kilogram wartime bomb, the municipal High Command said on the same day. The High Command of the southern hub was informed at around 4:00 pm on Friday that a local resident detected a bomb while leveling ground at a vacant plot of land in Binh Loi Commune under the outlying district of Binh Chanh. Bomb disposal agencies, vehicles and equipment were subsequently sent to the scene where the agencies ordered the suspension of ground leveling, protected the scene, and adopted measures to defuse the bomb. Official data from the forces showed that this wartime bomb is 1.15 meters in length, 0.41 meter in diameter, and is 350 kilograms in weight, with the explosive filling being tritonal. After the bomb was safely handled, it was transported to a storage site for explosive materials in Cu Chi, another suburban district in the city. The military forces also made efforts to find possible unexploded wartime bombs in the area as well as briefed local residents on regulations on promptly reporting their discovery of wartime explosives to authorities. As per prevailing regulations, those who failed to report and hand over bombs, mines to authorities will get administrative fines of between VND10 million (US$393) and VND20 million ($786). Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnams first international ginseng and aromatic, medicinal herbs festival will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 24-26, according to a press conference on Friday. Le Truong Duy, apprentice deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Relations, said the festival, which was planned three years earlier, will take place on Le Loi Street in District 1. Explaining the organization of the event in Ho Chi Minh City, which does not plant ginseng, Duy said the city has many enterprises operating in the ginseng sector. Vietnam has exported ginseng to many countries and territories but national ginseng brands remain weak in the international market, Duy added Vietnam is currently a major importer of South Korean ginseng, while the quality of Vietnamese ginseng is also good. Therefore, the event is expected to help turn ginseng cultivation, processing and export into a key sector. The festival is aimed at bringing international cooperation opportunities in ginseng cultivation, processing and export, Duy added. Huynh Khanh Thuy Nguyen, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Agricultural Consulting and Support, said the festival will feature four main areas, including those for Vietnams Ngoc Linh ginseng, experiencing ginseng, Ho Chi Minh Citys booths, and booths of 20 other cities and provinces. The fest will also include an area simulating the Ngoc Linh ginseng cultivation. Besides representatives of Vietnamese ministries, agencies, and localities, 60 Vietnamese firms and cooperatives as well as many ginseng and automatic and medicinal herb enterprises from Canada, the U.S., South Korea, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia have put their names down for the international ginseng and aromatic, medicinal herbs festival in Ho Chi Minh City. The event will consist of 32 international booths and 25 booths for local firms to display fresh ginseng and ginseng-based products. Seminars and cultural and artistic programs will also be part of the festival. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Firefighters managed to rescue more than 50 people from a four-story building in Hanoi after a fire broke out in this facility on Friday night, the municipal police agency announced on Saturday. At around 10:15 pm on Friday, the citys police were notified of the fire in the building, which is located at 1174 Lang Street in Dong Da District and offers billiards, fitness, and game services. Firefighters and five fire trucks were dispatched to the scene, where the forces discovered that the fire emanated from the electrical cabinet area in a gyms reception area on the second floor. The forces swiftly approached the third and the fourth floors to rescue lots of people trapped there. The victims were instructed to wear breathing apparatuses and gas masks before rushing to the rooftop to escape the smoke-filled areas. Rescuers managed to evacuate more than 50 people, the police agency confirmed. The fire was completely put out at 10:36 pm. It caused no human damage. The cause of the fire is under investigation. A firefighter cuts an overhead door for a firefighting and rescue operation. Photo: Supplied A firefighter approaches the scene of the fire. Photo: Supplied Inside the scene of the fire. Photo: Supplied Many people climb to the rooftop of the fire-hit building to wait for evacuation. Photo: Nguyen Giang The victims were instructed to wear breathing apparatuses and gas masks before rushing to the rooftop to escape the smoke-filled areas. Photo: Supplied Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Former Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice said she wants an apology from producer Dan Schneider, two months after her former coworkers exposed his alleged misconduct in a shocking five-part documentary. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV featured former Nickelodeon child actors, including Drake Bell and Alexa Nikolas, recounting their negative experiences on the cable TV channel's shows overseen by Schneider, now 58, accusing him of sexual harassment. While Justice, 31, claimed her personal experiences with Schneider were never sexual, she said the former Victorious show runner was narcissistic. "Something that was very evident in the documentary is that Dan had a very large ego, and sometimes that ego clouded his better judgment and affected the way he treated people, and there were times I felt like I was being treated unfairly," Justice said in an interview with Marie Claire published earlier this week. In response to Schneider's statement released shortly after the debut of Quiet on Set, during which he admitted he "definitely owe(d) some people a pretty strong apology," Justice said she is "definitely one of the people on that list." "At the end of the day, my relationship with Dan is a very complex one: I met him when I was 12 years old, and he's the person that gave me this big break. He completely changed my life," she told the magazine. "Most likely I wouldn't be here where I am today if it weren't for him, and for him seeing something in me. For that I will always be grateful. After watching his apology, I think he recognizes that he did a lot of things wrong, and I think if he could step back into a time machine, he would do a lot of things differently." Earlier this month, Schneider sued the creators of the docuseries for defamation. "There is no doubt that I was sometimes a bad leader. I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behavior, and I will continue to take accountability for it," Schneider said in a statement to HNGN. A dozen pigs at a local farm in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam have been destroyed after they were found to be infected with African swine fever (ASF), authorities confirmed on Friday. The ASF outbreak was detected at a pig farm owned by Le Van Kham, residing in Tien Phong Commune, Quang Yen Town. His pig herd, including one 60-kilogram sow and 11 piglets, developed suspected ASF symptoms like fever, loss of appetite, and skin redness from Tuesday this week, the Quang Yen Agricultural Technical Service Center said on Friday. The center teamed up with a regional animal health agency in neighboring Hai Phong City to collect samples from the sick pigs. After these pigs tested positive for the ASF virus, local authorities in Quang Yen ordered the culling of the affected pigs and asked the owner to disinfect the farm to prevent the highly contagious disease from spreading further. The administration of Quang Yen also asked the communes and wards across the town to ramp up efforts to brief local residents on ASF-related information and preventive measures. Local authorities of Quang Yen Town, Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam ordered the culling of the 12 ASF-hit pigs. Photo: Bui Nien / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! VietKings, the Vietnamese record organization, awarded a certificate for a national record of 150 types of fillings and side dishes for banh mi (Vietnamese baguette), showcased on a giant model of banh mi at the second Vietnam Banh Mi Festival inaugurated in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. Banh mi, which is a Vietnamese baguette filled with paste, cold cuts, herbs, cucumber, chili sauce, and pickles, is ranked fourth on a recent list of 60 of the worlds best sandwiches. The expansive banh mi model set up at the second Vietnam Banh Mi Festival features an assortment of variants of the dish, including banh mi with pate and chili salt sauce, banh mi with salmon and lemon sauce, banh mi with vegetable and cheese, and Saigon (an old name of Ho Chi Minh City) style mixed banh mi. Taking place at Le Van Tam Park in District 1, the fest adopts the theme Vietnamese Banh Mi - World Cuisine Value, anticipating an attendance of 100,000 visitors over the course of three days, from Friday to Sunday. Nguyen Thi Khanh, chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, emphasized the festivals enhanced features this year, with numerous enticing spaces for public exploration and interaction. The event boasts the participation of renowned banh mi brands, some with over five decades of history, alongside restaurants serving banh mi-based dishes, bakeries, and vendors offering banh mi-making seasoning ingredients and equipment. In total, there are about 130 booths. VietKings, the Vietnamese record organization, awards a certificate for a national record of 150 types of fillings and side dishes for 'banh mi' (Vietnamese baguette), showcased on a giant model of 'banh mi' at the second Vietnam Banh Mi Festival inaugurated in Ho Chi Minh City May 17, 2024. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre During the opening ceremony on Friday, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, praised the festivals organization, content, and unique activities, which highlighted the distinctive essence of Vietnamese baguette compared to its global counterparts. Hoa pledged to collaborate with the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association to effectively introduce the festival to tourists and businesses. She also committed to continuing research efforts to develop more impactful activities aimed at showcasing Vietnams unique culinary offerings to the world, thereby bolstering Vietnams culinary and tourism reputation. Additionally, the festival will host seminars centering on banh mi, cuisine, and tourism. Furthermore, the organizing committee will distribute carts to newbies in the bakery industry, facilitating experiential sessions in baguette-making using rice flour, cereals, and Vietnamese agricultural products. The first Vietnam Banh Mi Festival took place in Ho Chi Minh City in late March last year, attracting some 100,000 visitors. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! 14 years after Mildura become the first region in Australia to switch from analogue to digital television, it will be forced to switch off Mildura Digital Television, after owners, Seven and WIN were no longer interested in maintaining their joint venture. Originally published November 20, 2009. Mildura will switch off analogue TV on 30th June 2010. When it flicks the switch it will become the first region in Australia to begin the rollout to a digital-only landscape, to be completed by the end of 2013. Senator Stephen Conroy confirmed the date for the Mildura and the Sunraysia region today. Sunraysia is Australias leading digital television market and will be the first region to switch to digital-only broadcasts, he said. Already 79 per cent of households in the Mildura and Sunraysia area have converted and are enjoying the benefits of digital television, such as improved picture and sound quality, new content and new channels. Digital switchover is our biggest national format change since the swap to decimal currency and it will be an historic moment when Mildura switches to digital-only TV. Dates for capital cities are still a long way off: Brisbane and Perth on 30 June 2013 and in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney on 31 December 2013. Other regions will be made as switchover progresses. The date for the Mildura region has been left as late as possible to fit in with previous statements it would take place in the first half of 2010. ONE HD was announced this week to launch in Mildura on December 1st. The government has also appointed Digital Switchover Liaison Officer, Kellie Boyce, to work with community groups for the big switch. She can be reached through the Digital Ready Information Line: 1800 20 10 13. FILE PHOTO: Participants, including Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili, walk during a procession in support of the country's membership in the European Union in Tbilisi , TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has announced that she has vetoed a draft law on foreign agents, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported on Saturday. Zourabichvili had said previously that she would veto the bill, which has sparked street protests, but her decision can be overridden by another vote in parliament, controlled by Georgia's ruling party and its allies. "Today I vetoed a Russian law. This law is Russian in its essence and spirit," TASS quoted her as telling t a briefing. "It contradicts our constitution and all European standards, therefore it represents an obstacle to our European path." TASS quoted the president as saying her veto was legally competent, and that it would be handed over to parliament on Saturday. "This law must be repealed," it quoted her as saying. Parliament, is, however, widely expected to overturn the veto. Mass protests have swept through the Georgian capital Tbilisi over the past month since the first reading of the draft law was passed in parliament. The law would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, imposing onerous disclosure requirements and punitive fines for violations. Opponents see the bill as a test of whether the country stays on a path towards integration with Europe or pivots back towards Russia. The United States and the European Union have repeatedly warned the ruling Georgian Dream party to drop the bill, which protesters fear will harm the South Caucasus country's bid to join the EU. (Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Louise Heavens and Timothy Heritage) By Tom Sims FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German police arrested eight climate activists who breached the grounds of Munich airport on Saturday, briefly causing the airport to close and leading to around 60 flight cancellations during a busy holiday weekend. Six of the activists glued themselves to a runway, a police spokesperson said, adding the situation was now under control, with both of the airport's runways open for arrivals and takeoffs. Climate group Last Generation, which has carried out similar protests in the past, said it was responsible for the action in a series of posts on X showing members on what appeared to be a runway or tarmac with protest signs. The group later said six individuals had seated themselves on airport asphalt at 4:45 a.m. local time (0245 GMT) to block planes, and it criticised Berlin for subsidising airlines at the expense of rail. "Problem is the government, not our holiday," one of the signs read. Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said security measures at the airport would be reviewed. "Such criminal actions endanger air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause contempt and anger," she wrote on X. "The perpetrators must be vigorously pursued," she said. Germany's transport minister, Volker Wissing, said new laws were needed to punish such actions as criminal, with up to two years in prison. Current laws classify them as minor offences. An airport spokesperson said the airport had been fully closed to takeoffs and landings for nearly two hours. Some 11 flights had been diverted, around 60 had been cancelled, and delays were still possible, the person said. The disruption occurred during one of the busiest travel periods for the airport in southern Germany, second only to the Easter holidays, according to the airport. (Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by William Mallard and Mark Potter) Bob Clark may be better remembered by many as the director of classics like A Christmas Story and a slew of generally bad family-friendly films in the 90s. Horror fans will remember him best for his numerous creepy contributions. Nestled in between Children Shouldnt Play with Dead Things and the terrifying Black Christmas, Bob Clark delivered the terrifying Deathdream (AKA Dead of Night). A low-budget and straight-to-the-point Horror/Thriller, it was one of the first films to focus on soldiers returning from war and their families attempting to deal with these changed men. In the case of the Brooks family - their son returns as a literal monster! All Charles Brooks (John Marley), his wife Christine (Lynn Carlin), and their daughter Cathy (Anya Ormsby) want is for Andy (Richard Backus) to return home from Vietnam unharmed. On the night the military delivers the worst-possible news in a yellow envelope, Andy comes home in the middle of the night. Alive. Only Andy isnt his old self anymore. Charles can see his son isnt the same young man that shipped out, but Christine is blind by her joy. When a string of mysterious murders all point to Andy, Charles must face the monster his son has become. Right around the time I rented a tape for Deathdream, I was also reading Stephen Kings Pet Sematary. I mention this only because Ive always wondered if this film wasnt an inspiration for the terrifying segment of Timmy Baterman in King's novel. The returns of Andy Brooks and Timmy Baterman are strikingly similar and equally terrifying. Where King kept Baterman to just a brief segment of the novel (even more brief in the film), Bob Clark and screenwriter Alan Ormsby uses almost 90 minutes to tell this story of a family ravaged by grief and the monster that returns. And its a hell of a film! John Marley and Lynn Carlin are particular standouts delivering incredible performances. Marley is impressively adept at recognizing the situation and the truth but feels powerless to stop it. Carlin does an amazing job as a mother who knows the truth but refuses it because its more important to have a creature that resembles her son than face the loss. As this little family drama plays out, Bob Clark ratchets up the tension and horror with a steady pace and some incredible makeup work and gore effects from Tom Savini (in his debut as makeup artist with some uncredited help from Ormsby). I hadnt seen Deathdream in so long I was worried that itd hold up. In my head, I thought of it as that movie thats kinda like George Romeros Martin but isnt Martin. Andy may kill and drain the blood of his victims in unique ways, but his vampiric tendencies arent completely fleshed out (so to speak). While some may get hung up that the rules of our monster Andy arent fully developed, I find that aspect even more compelling. Because we dont know the power that brought him back like Timmy Baterman and we dont know why he needs blood like Martin, we have a creature capable of anything for any reason. 4/5 Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Blue Underground resurrects Bob Clarks Deathdream for a new two-disc 4k UHD Blu-ray release. Pressed on a BD-66 disc with a BD-50 reserved for the 1080p version and the bulk of extra features, the docs are housed in a black Scanovo case with identical slipcover artwork. The case insert art is reversible revealing the alternate title Dead of Night. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Hajj 2024 Digital ID Through Absher - Steps to Create The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Arabia has launched Digital Identity (ID) Platform Absher for the pilgrims who are arriving in the Kingdom for the Hajj 2024. Saturday May 18, 2024 5:28 PM , ummid.com News Network Hajj 2024: The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Arabia has launched Digital Identity (ID) Platform Absher for the pilgrims who are arriving in the Kingdom for the Hajj 2024. Hajj 2024 According to the Islamic Calendar noting, Hajj ritual this year will begin on Friday 08 Dhul Hijjah, corresponding to June 14, 2024, and culminate on Wednesday 14 Dhul Hijjah, corresponding to June 19, 2024. It should however be noted that the final and confirmed date of Eid al Adha 2024 and Arafat Day 2024 (Youm ul Hajj 2024) will be confirmed only on 29th of Dhu al Qadah 1445 AH after sighting of the New Moon of the month of Dhul Hijjah. The pilgrims from around the world however have started arriving for the annual pilgrimage to Makkah, and to make their Hajj Journey an experience of the lifetime Saudi Arabia has announced various measures, including introduction of Digital Identity Service Absher for this years Hajj. Hajj Digital ID Services Hajj Digital ID Services has been developed in collaboration with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Haj and Umrah, as well as the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The service allows Hajj pilgrims to electronically verify their identity through the Absher and Tawakkalna platforms to streamline their journey, enhance the quality of services provided to them, and improve their experience. The national identity service for pilgrims aims to maintain high standards and keep pace with digital transformation advancements in Kingdom services. Steps to create Hajj Digital ID Click here to visit the Absher website: www.absher.sa . . Once on the homepage, select the Individual option to proceed with personal services If the website is in Arabic, switch to English for easier navigation (which can be accessed at LINK) Once on the main page, locate and click on the Digital Visitor Card tab Enter your personal identification numbers and any other necessary details. Complete the captcha verification process by entering the characters shown in the image Submit the form after entering all required information and completing the captcha, youll be able to generate your Digital ID for Hajj 2024. Hajj pilgrims should note that the authorities have made the process of creating Hajj Digital ID as simple as possible. Pilgrims should also note that generating one Hajj ID will be enough for one person to easily gain access to almost every sacred place. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Watch: Israeli official heckled at International Court of Justice An Israeli official who was defending the occupying regimes bloodletting in the refugee-packed city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was Friday May 17, 2024 heckled at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Saturday May 18, 2024 9:52 AM , ummid.com News Network The Hague: An Israeli official who was defending the occupying regimes bloodletting in the refugee-packed city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was Friday May 17, 2024 heckled at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was hearing a South Africa plea to intervene in Gaza war where the Israeli Occupation Forces after destroying over 40% of the besieged enclave are now planning to invade Rafah. On the first day of the hearing Thursday , South Africa reiterating its accusation that the Israelis are committing genocide of the Palestinians, urged the UN court to make explicit what was implicitly said in its order first announced in January and later in March . In response, Israel denied the allegations even as the Israeli killing machine is continuing the massacre of the Palestinians even as the world court is in the midst of hearing the case against it. On Friday, Israeli legal advisor Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman was asking the ICJ to dismiss the case before the tribunal by South Africa . "Israel requests the Court to reject the request for the modification and of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of South Africa," Tourgeman was telling the court. She was, however, interrupted by a woman shouting, Liars! Liars! in a rare protest in the Great Hall of Justice courtroom. Israeli legal advisor Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman was interrupted by a protester while defending Israel at the International Court of Justice on May 17 pic.twitter.com/iTD17gvQx1 TRT World (@trtworld) May 17, 2024 The interjection made the Israeli official turn back to try to locate the source of the voice, who was escorted out of the venue by security guards. Around 1.5 million Palestinians had moved to Rafah from the ravages of a genocidal war that the Zionist regime has been waging against Gaza since October 7 last year. Out of them about 500,000 have relocated themselves to North of Gaza once again. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Will Muslim Population Overtake Hindus in India - An Analysis As per this study, Hindu population share in 1950 was 84%, but it came down to 78% in 2015. However, in the same period, the share of minorities, including Muslims, Christian, Buddhist, and Sikhs, went up. Saturday May 18, 2024 9:48 AM , Ram Puniyani As the election season is in progress the divisive propaganda is also peaking. Chief propagandist of the ruling BJP is Prime Minister Modi himself. In these elections, his narrative has been built around the falsehood that if the INDIA alliance comes to power it will give all the facilities to Muslims, it will ensure that Muslims have the first right to live and they will make changes in the Constitution whereby Hindus will become second class citizens. Quite an Orwellian method, where reality is made to stand on its head. A fright is being spread amongst Hindus that Muslims will get away with all the privileges. To add to this propaganda now Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) has come out with a report which concludes that Hindu's population share declined by nearly 8% between 1950 and 2015 while Muslim's share grew a record 43% in the same period. As per this study, Hindu population share in 1950 was 84%, but it came down to 78% in 2015. However, in the same period, the share of minorities, including Muslims, Christian, Buddhist, and Sikhs, went up. The number of Jains and Parsis in the population mix decreased. What is this PMEAC? Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) was constituted in 2017 and is supposed to be doing research to advise the Prime Minister on economic matters. One sample of its research came to light a couple of years back when its chief, Bibek Debroy, quoted a study to show that the lifespan of written constitutions is just 17 years. Further, terming the present Constitution of India as a colonial legacy, he wrote: Our current Constitution is largely based on the Government of India Act of 1935. In that sense, it is also a colonial legacy. And now comes this strange study at the time of general elections. This boosts the anti Muslim rhetoric and the Hindu Khatre mein hai scare created over many decades. The three researchers, who produced the report, have violated most of the norms for analysis, to come to this conclusion. 'Research' Methodology To begin with, demographic studies are based on population census. This one is based on the survey of nearly 23 lakh people, from Association of Religion Data Archive (ARDA), a miniscule sample of our vast population. Census figures are more reliable and comprehensive, bringing out different facets of population growth. For reasons best known to the ruling party the 2021 census which was due has not been held and these researchers have used survey data rather than more reliable census data. Then the study compares the population figures of 1950 with that of 2015, again an arbitrary method. The media and communal organizations are using this data to intensify prevalent divisive propaganda. It reinforces the present social understanding that Muslims produce more children. To begin with, it was popularized by our Prime Minister when he was chief Minister of Gujarat. While deciding to close down the refugee camps where Muslims had taken shelter, he called them, 'Children Producing Factories. In the present scenario, he is merrily shouting from the house tops that Congress will snatch away Hindus Mangal Sutra and buffaloes, and give them to those who produce more children. The myth of rising Muslim population What is the truth of the number of children produced by Muslims? One of the best parameters for this is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR). According to a National Health Family survey, the fertility rate amongst most communities is coming down. In 1992-93 it was 3.3 for Hindus and 4.41 for Muslims. In 2019-21, it was 1.94 for Hindus and 2.36 for Muslims. The percentage change for Hindus is thus -41.21% for Hindus and - 46.49% for Muslims. The decline in percentage is more amongst Muslims than Hindus. This shows that if such a pattern continues, the rate of Muslim population growth will further fall down and become close to that of Hindus. This is an interesting pattern. The permanent question is whether fertility rate is determined by religion or other factors. The sectarian nationalists have harped on the fact that Muslims are deliberately increasing their population vis a vis Hindus so that they will be a majority in this nation and will declare India as Gazava-e-Hind (Conquest of India by Muslims)! Factors influencing the number of children in a family This is one of the major falsehoods of communal politics to state that Hindus will become a minority if this pattern continues. The first point is that the factors influencing the number of children in a family are determined by two major things. One is the level of poverty and second is the rate of the literacy community as a whole and that of women in particular. This is amply clear when we compare the rate of fertility of Muslim women in Kerala, Kashmir and Karnataka, with the TFR for Hindu women in Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is lower for Muslim women in these states. An important study by Saswata Ghose points out: Thus, comparing state-level fertility differentials between Hindus and Muslims as estimated from Census 2011 and Census 2001, it can be ascertained that though the overall convergence of fertility between Hindus and Muslims has been underway, significant regional variations persist in the process of convergence since different states and religious groups are at different stages of transition. As per S.Y. Quraishi, whose book on the issue The Population myth: Islam. Family planning and Politics in India is quite a comprehensive account of the issue, in 24 of the 29 states of India TFR is already coming close to 2.179, the one indicative of a stable population, 2.1 is a mere replacement level. It is estimated that the Muslim population which is 14.2 % as per 2011 census will stabilize to 18% by 2050 and will stay put there as the trends amongst Muslim community show. The decadal rate of Muslim population growth also shows a substantial decline. Irrespective of the immaculate studies, the communalists in various ways mock the Muslim community. I recall one instance where a team of Muslim elite sought an appointment to talk to RSS Sarsanghchalak . Dr Quraishi was a member of the team. He presented Bhagwat with his book which debunks the notions spread by RSS Combine. And lo and behold in a statement a few weeks later, Sarsanghchalak stated that there should be a balance in population among different communities! Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. In Vietnam, BW and ESR are developing three joint venture projects with a total GFA of 346,000 sqm HO CHI MINH/HONG KONG [May 16, 2024] BW Industrial Development Joint Stock Company (the 'Company' or 'BW'), Vietnams leading logistics and industrial real estate developer and ESR Group Limited (ESR; SEHK Stock Code: 1821), Asia-Pacifics (APAC) leading real asset manager powered by the New Economy, have announced the commencement of construction of two double-storey projects with a total gross floor area (GFA) of 270,000 sqm in Bac Ninh, cementing BW's strong foothold in Greater Hanoi, while expanding ESRs APAC footprint in the high-growth Southeast Asian region. The first project, BW-ESR Nam Son Hap Linh Logistics Park ('NSHL'), will deliver a GFA of approximately 112,000 sqm of modern ramp-up logistics facilities for lease. With convenient access to National Highway 1, NSHL is situated just an hours drive from Hanoi Central Business District ('CBD'), making it a prime delivery base for third party logistics players, retailers and e-commerce companies to serve Greater Hanoi. With a clear height of nine metres and a floor loading capacity of 2.5 to 3 tons, NSHL is designed to cater to a wide range of industries in need of high-quality warehouse facilities in the area. With a GFA of 162,000 sqm , the second project, BW-ESR Yen Phong Industrial & Logistics Park ('YPE'), offers two institutional grade products ramp-up ready-built warehouse spaces with modern specifications similar to NSHL, as well as ready-built factory spaces equipped with cargo lifts. YPE is well-placed to serve tenants from electronics and other related high value-added sectors. The park is located within the established Yen Phong manufacturing hub, which hosts a significant electronics cluster anchored by powerhouses, such as South Korean technology giant Samsung and American semiconductor company Amkor. Noi Bai International Airport is just a 30-minute drive away from YPE, offering customers excellent connectivity to the global supply chain. With a clear height of up to seven metres, floor loading of up to two tons and varying unit sizes, the factory space is designed to accommodate customers various production requirements. NSHL and YPE are scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2025. In addition to NSHL and YPE, BW and ESR are currently developing Project Nam Dinh Vu, a one-storey ready-built factory project with a GFA of 72,000 sqm located in Nam Dinh Vu IP (Phase 1), Hai Phong province. The project started construction in December 2023 and is expected to be completed in July 2024. BWs CEO Lance Li said: We have received increasing leasing enquiries for ready-built space in the North, due to its strong infrastructure, established electronics and other high-tech manufacturing clusters and its strategic geographical proximity to China. These two projects, being BWs second and third double storey projects in Bac Ninh, serve as part of our key strategy to accelerate the expansion of BWs footprint in the Northern Key Economic Region, in response to rising customer demand. Being Vietnams leading and fastest-growing for-rent logistics and industrial space provider, we are also taking the lead in the industry to intensify land use in prime locations by building more floor area vertically, thereby making better use of scarce land resources that are in close proximity to Hanoi. Jai Mirpuri, Head of Southeast Asia, ESR Group said: Our two additional project starts in Vietnam attest to the continued success of our partnership with BW and our positive outlook on Vietnams industrial and logistics real estate. It is a market poised for robust growth driven by the confluence of favourable macro-economic factors and the diversification of supply chain activities into Southeast Asia. In line with this growing market trend, we are fully committed to driving our Groups Southeast Asia growth engine for regional scale, and to deliver high quality spaces to meet the needs of multi-national enterprises and domestic customers looking to expand their operations in this region. Vietnam attracted nearly US$36.61 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2023, a rise of 32.1% year-on-year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The disbursed foreign investment in Vietnam reached US$6.28 billion in the first four months of 2024, the highest in five years, according to the General Statistics Office. This year's prominent investment hotspots in the country include the northern provinces such as Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Hanoi and Bac Ninh. In addition, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2023 Report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the digital economy in the SEA region is projected to reach around US$45 billion by 2025, driven by high economic growth expectations. E-commerce is set to drive the GMV growth of the national digital economy in the next two years. This positions Vietnam as an appealing investment destination for e-commerce and last mile delivery related businesses. About BW BW Industrial Development Joint Stock Company ('BW') is Vietnams leading logistics and industrial real estate platform, with approximately US$2.7 billion of gross assets under management. BW currently has more than nine million square meters of industrial land in prime locations under control across over 50 projects in 12 key provinces in Vietnam, with approximately 3.4 million square meters of gross floor area (GFA) of completed or under-construction properties. As of Q4 2023, BW has secured equity commitments of US$1 billion from stakeholders and has formed strategic partnerships with leading global manufacturers, e-commerce, and logistics players to serve one of the fastest-growing markets in Asia. For more information about BW, please visit https://bwindustrial.com/. About ESR ESR is Asia-Pacific's (APAC's) leading real asset manager powered by the New Economy and one of the largest listed real estate investment managers. With approximately US$81 billion in fee-related assets under management as of 31 December 2023, ESR's fully integrated fund management and development platform extends across various APAC markets, comprising Australia/New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia and India, with a presence in Europe and the U.S. We provide a diverse range of real asset investment solutions and New Eco006Eomy real estate development opportunities across the private funds business, which allow capital partners and customers to capitalise on the most significant secular trends in APAC. Our purpose Space and Investment Solutions for a Sustainable Future drives us to manage sustainably and impactfully and we consider the environment and the communities in which we operate as key stakeholders of our business. ESR is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and is a constituent of the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (Large Cap), Hang Seng Composite and MSCI Hong Kong Indices. Visit www.esr.com for more information. 1 Fee-related AUM excludes AUM from Associates and levered uncalled capital. Based on FX rates as at 31 December 2023. HA NOI The 10th industry and trade conference of the 28 northern provinces and cities opened in Ha Noi on Friday, proposing a series of mechanisms and solutions to increase ties and cooperation among the local areas as soon as possible. Speaking at the opening of the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan emphasised that 2024 is an important year for the localities to complete economic development goals for the 2021-2025 period. The ministry has issued many policies to promote developments in industry and trade between the regions, following on the success of closer cooperation developed at their 2023 conference. Le Hong Son, vice chairman of Ha Noi People's Committee, said that coordination among localities in the Northern region still had many limitations. For sustainable development, these localities' industry and trade departments needed to further strengthen the coordination to contribute to improving efficiency in production and business activities, Son said. Quach Tan Liem, vice chairman of Hoa Binh Provincial People's Committee, proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) create links based on the strengths of each locality. Ngo Quang Trung, director of MoIT's Department of Local Industry and Trade, said he expected delegates and departments to focus on solutions to improve connections among local industry and trade sectors. Pham Van Hoa, director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Nghe An Province, said that the ministry could increase support for trade promotion programmes and expand production and business in mountainous and border areas. Nghe An also suggested that regional connectivity could be strengthened by the inclusion of large centres such as Ha Noi, Nghe An and Quang Ninh. Also at the conference, Hoang Chi Hien, director of Lao Cai Province's Department of Industry and Trade, said a review needed to be undertaken of logistical development mechanisms and policies, which contributed to perfecting the legal framework for logistics services. Conference participants also discussed other issues such as improving the business environment and competitiveness and developing industrial production, especially in priority industries. They also talked about management and development of industrial clusters, work on developing night-time economies and exploiting the advantages of existing signed free trade agreements. VNS HA NOI Benchmark indices extended gains on Friday, with the VN-Index crossing 1270 points, while many pig farming stocks rose sharply. On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index increased 4.33 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1,273.11 points. This marked a fourth consecutive day of gains. Throughout most of the day, the VN-Index traded above the reference level, maintaining a relatively stable range and closing the session higher. The market's breadth was positive as the number of gainers surpassed that of losers by 189 to 118. Liquidity on the southern bourse still remained high with more than VN23 trillion (US$904 million) in transaction value, equivalent to a trading volume of 937 million shares. The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on the HoSE, increased 1.88 points or 0.14 per cent, to 1,310.15 points. In the VN30 basket, 14 stocks ticked up, 12 inched down and four ended flat. Data compiled by a financial website vietstock.vn showed that Masan Group Corporation (MSN) was the biggest gainer on the market and led the market's trend in terms of capitalisation. Shares of the food and beverage producer rose by 4.28 per cent. Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR) shares were up 2.46 per cent, Lien Viet Post Bank (LPB) soared 5.45 per cent. Pig farming stocks were also notable risers on Friday. Led by Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG) and BAF Viet Nam Agriculture JSC (BAF), both stocks hit ceilings, up 6.96 and 6.76 per cent, respectively. On the downside, banking stocks were the biggest losers after Thursdays gains. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) was the biggest loser, followed by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBB). Not only did bank stocks weaken fast, many other top-cap stocks also moved into negative territory. FPT Corporation (FPT) decreased by 0.66 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (GAS) decreased by 0.26 per cent and Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VNM) decreased by 0.3 per cent. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished higher on Friday. It rose 0.63 per cent, to 241.54 points, the twelfth consecutive positive trading session. During the day more than VN2.1 trillion worth of shares, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 107 million shares, were traded on the northern market. Foreign investors returned to sell a strong net of VN794.6 billion on HoSE. Over the week foreign investors withdrew another VN2.1 trillion with HoSE shares. VNS HA NOI Paint and ink firms need to draw up effective business strategies to cope with harsh competition in prices and quality from foreign rival companies, trade experts have suggested. Vuong Bac au, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Paint and Printing Ink Association, said that Viet Nam is one of the potential locations that foreign investors are targeting to move their manufacturing facilities from China, including those in paint and printing ink industries. This will not only open up opportunities and challenges for domestic businesses as enterprises in some neighbouring countries such as China will also shift their production bases to Viet Nam, the vice chairman told vnbusiness.vn. He said that Viet Nam's printing ink firms, especially in the offset printing sector, have been encountering many difficulties due to their dependence on imported raw materials and competitive pressure from other enterprises in the region. Competitive pressure comes not only from technology but also from output as foreign competitors have strong financial capacities so domestic enterprises cannot compete, he said. Meanwhile, the biggest challenge that enterprises in the wood paint segment are facing is that their scale and production output can not be compared with that of Chinese manufacturers, resulting in their failure to hold a large market share, au said. Pham Trung Hieu, Chairman of HF Group JSC in Ha Noi, said that amid fierce competition in the local market, if enterprises increase product prices, they will lose their market share. Meanwhile, input raw materials are directly affected by the unstable situation in the world. For example, the price of Titanium Dioxide - a white pigment used in over 90 per cent of paint products - has surged from 10-15 per cent while that of acrylic resin - a common ingredient in latex paint - has also increased. At the same time, the policy stage should also be more open to help remove difficulties for domestic enterprises in this industry from problems of accessing loans, creating market advantages for key sectors related to the paint and printing ink industry. In this context, besides the firms' efforts, support from the Government is also necessary, trade experts said. State's policies should also be more open to help remove difficulties for domestic enterprises in this industry from accessing loans, creating market advantages for key segments related to the paint and printing ink industries. The painting industry recorded negative growth last year, with output decreasing by 10-35 per cent due to a stagnant property market. The printing ink industry also witnessed a decrease of 10-15 per cent in output last year, au said. This year the painting industry has shown signs of recovery thanks to the Governments efforts to mitigate difficulties in terms of funding and boost the property market, he said, adding that wood paints and industrial paints are expected to grow by 20 per cent. Decorative paints, electrostatic powder paints and coil paints will see a modest recovery of around 10 per cent. The printing ink industry is showing signs of recovery and is expected to grow by 10 per cent. VNS The Democratic National Committee is placing billboards highlighting the pro-gun comments made by Donald Trump outside the arena in Dallas where he will address members of the National Rifle Association on Saturday afternoon. The billboards carry the former president's comments about gun violence in an effort to underscore his opposition to gun control measures. One of them will feature Trump's comments in Iowa about a shooting in January in which a sixth-grade student was killed and seven others wounded. "It's just horrible so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward," he told the audience at his rally. "From telling gun violence survivors to 'get over it' to blocking commonsense reforms that would save lives, Donald Trump has bent the knee to the NRA and gun lobby at every turn," DNC spokesperson Cameron Niven said in a statement to the Hill. "Under his presidency, the murder rate skyrocketed after Donald Trump chose to roll back reforms that made it easier for criminals to carry guns," Niven added. "If he returns to the White House, Trump will continue to put the NRA and gun lobby ahead of the safety of American families." The DNC said there is a world of difference in the way Trump and President Joe Biden approach gun safety. "In stark contrast, President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken on the gun lobby by passing the strongest federal gun safety legislation in nearly thirty years," Niven wrote. "While Trump sides with the NRA over our kids' safety, voters will side with President Biden this November." At a rally in Minnesota Friday night, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, accused Democrats of trying to take away people's guns. "You know, it's an amazing thing. People that have guns, people that legitimately have guns, they love guns and they use guns for the right purpose, but they tend to vote very little and yet they have to vote for us," he said, the Associated Press reported. "There's nobody else to vote for because the Democrats want to take their guns away and they will take their guns away," he said. HA NOI The Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA) has announced a significant achievement after it secured a position among the top 12 crude steel producers worldwide. This accomplishment not only highlights the industry's rapid growth in production output but also signifies its increasing independence and diversification of product types. Nghiem Xuan a, Chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said that since 2015, the industry has emerged as a leading manufacturer within ASEAN in terms of both production and consumption of finished steel products. In 2023, Viet Nam's crude steel production reached an impressive output of 20 million tonnes, propelling the country to 12th position globally. Viet Nam's Central region is home to several significant industrial complexes, including the Hoa Phat Dung Quat Iron and Steel Production Complex, a modern and large-scale closed steel production facility that stands out in the region. Steel industry expert Nguyen Van Sua said that Viet Nam's has made remarkable progress, solidifying its position on the global steel map. Prior to 2000, the industry was relatively small and technologically limited, with key players like Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel in the North and Southern Steel Company. Crude steel output at that time was merely around 100,000 tonnes per year, primarily catering to domestic demand. The 2000s witnessed a transformative period as private enterprises like Hoa Phat Steel, Hoa Sen Steel, Viet uc Steel and joint ventures with Viet Nam Steel Corporation (Vinakyoei, SSSC, Vinausteel) emerged, reshaping the industry's structure. Between 2011 and 2020, Viet Nam's steel industry experienced a significant boom. Industry giants such as Hoa Phat Steel and Formosa Ha Tinh made substantial investments in technology and expanded production capacity. Projects like Hoa Phat Group's current capacity of 8.5 million tonnes of crude steel per year and the Formosa Ha Tinh factory with a capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per year contributed to Viet Nam's increased crude steel output. In 2020, Viet Nam's crude steel production reached 19.9 million tonnes, elevating the country to the 14th position globally and making it the leading consumer of finished steel within ASEAN, with consumption reaching 23.3 million tonnes. VNS QUANG NGAI South Korea firm Doosan Enerbility Vietnam (Doosan Vina) has handed over two Rail Mounted Quayside Cranes (RMQCs) to Chu Lai international seaport in Quang Nam Province. The ship-to-shore (STS) cranes will help increase loading and unloading capacity of Chu Lai port in providing service for 50,000 DWT cargo ships. It was the first time the crane was manufactured at the construction site instead of being completed at Doosan Vinas factory. Bui Minh Truc, General Director of Truong Hai International Logistics Limited Liability Company said: We are happy that Doosan Vina agreed to execute two STS cranes right at Chu Lai port. "This helps us save a lot of costs and we also learn many valuable things about professional working style from Doosan Vina. We are really impressed with Doosan Vinas quality and project progress controls every day and every hour throughout the project implementation process. The operation of these two STS cranes is a very important step in the progress of Chu Lai port. It is increased almost three to four times higher than before. I hope that in the future, we will continue to cooperate with Doosan Vina and Thaco Industries to invest more equipment to further increase loading and unloading productivity. The cranes have been put into commercial operation with a total lifting capacity of 60 turns per hour, helping Chu Lai port increase productivity and cargo services. Doosan Vina has produced 132 cranes for international and domestic customers. Their cranes are currently operating in PSA (Singapore), Samarinda (Indonesia), JNPT and BMCT (India), Saigon New Port, a Nangs Tien Sa Port, Nghi Son Oil Refinery Port, Gemalink Port, Nam inh Vu Port and Chu Lai Port among others. Doosan Vina, a high-tech industrial complex in the Dung Quat Economic Zone in the central Quang Ngai Province, supplies the mega infrastructure products including boilers for thermal power plants, desalinations, cargo container crane for seaports, fired heaters, modules and structural steel for petrochemical refineries, buildings and infrastructure developments. VNS HCM CITY Traveloka, the leading travel platform in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic partnership with Filipino low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) to attract more foreign tourists to visit the Philippines by implementing an application programming interface that will allow inbound travellers to explore CEB flights through the travel app. Aligned with Travelokas commitment to helping the tourism industry in Southeast Asia recover from the pandemic, this initiative is expected to positively contribute to the growth of Philippine tourism by making it easier for foreign tourists to explore the country's exciting destinations. Apart from domestic tourists, travellers from Indonesia are among the top six countries traveling to the Philippines based on Cebu Pacific flight data, followed by travellers from Viet Nam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. Philippines is a beautiful archipelago in Southeast Asia and is one of the top destinations for Vietnamese tourists. In the first three months of 2024, Viet Nam ranked 15th out of 233 countries for sending tourists to the Philippines, according to the Philippine Department of Tourism. Previously, in December 2023, Cebu Pacific also opened a direct flight route connecting the capital city of Manila in the Philippines to a Nang with a frequency of three flights per day. Alongside CEB's collaboration with Traveloka, this event will contribute to bringing even more Vietnamese travellers to the Philippines. Iko Putera, CEO of Transport Traveloka, said: Our partnership with Cebu Pacific, one of the premier and most affordable airlines for the Philippines, will provide diverse possibilities for travellers and spearhead innovation to deliver optimal solutions for customers. We will also contribute to growth within the tourism industry in the Philippines and the wider region. Xander Lao, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Cebu Pacific, said: We are delighted to collaborate with Traveloka to support the local tourism industry and make traveling to the Philippines much easier. The partnership between Traveloka and Cebu Pacific offers international travellers additional flight choices to explore the Philippines and its incredible tourist spots. VNS HA NOI The Party Central Committee's ninth plenum, which was chaired by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, concluded on Saturday after three days of discussions. Member of the Politburo, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh moderated the closing session. In three days, the PCC reviewed and provided feedback on the draft reports and agendas for the upcoming National Party Congress (NPC). While agreeing with the documents, the PCC instructed the sub-committees to further refine them, ensuring ideological consistency and clarity for implementation. In his closing remarks, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasised that the documents must be worthy of being presented to the NPC, reflecting the Party's and the people's will. He said the documents must be based on the implementation of the 13th National Assembly (NA)'s Resolution, the PCC's resolutions, the review of 40 years of oi Moi (The Renewal) and 15 years of implementing the Party's Charter (revised in 2011). He highlighted key issues requiring in-depth analysis, including developing a comprehensive framework for Viet Nam's technology and innovation advancement, building talent pools and laying the groundwork for digital transformation and energy transition. He revealed the PCC had given feedback and reached a high consensus on the subjects that the Politburo brought up, which centred around which part of Directive 35-CT/TW is relevant, which needs to be revised and which to be removed. He said reviews must be carefully conducted to select and nominate highly qualified personnel. Attention must be paid to "new blood" to ensure a proper ratio of young officials, female officials and ethnic minority officials. He also said the PCC had discussed and agreed on a plan to introduce nominees for the positions of President of Viet Nam and Chairman of the National Assembly. The Party's delegations to NA would propose the nominations to the NA for consideration in its 7th session starting on May 20. He also underlined four officials being elected to the Politburo with a high rate of confidence votes, namely Le Minh Hung, PCC Secretary and Chief of Office; Nguyen Trong Nghia, PCC Secretary and Head of the Central Commission for Information and Education; Bui Thi Minh Hoai, PCC Secretary and Head of the Central Commission for Mass Mobilisation; and o Van Chien, PCC Secretary and Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. The Politburo, he added, had decided to relieve Truong Thi Mai of her positions as a Politburo and PCC member and retire due to violations of the Party code of conduct. He said PCC had also imposed disciplinary measures of expulsion from the Party on Duong Van Thai, PCC member and Chairman of Bac Giang Province and Mai Tien Dung, former PCC member and Minister-Chairman of the Government Office. Meanwhile, Le Thanh Hai, former Politburo member and Secretary of HCM City, was dismissed from all positions in the Party for his legal violations. The Party General Secretary requested that, immediately after the plenum, the following be done: The drafts must be finalised and submitted to the PCC by the end of the year for consideration; the Politburo's directives must be well implemented to prepare for the 14th National Party Congress; and the action plan for the 2024-2025 period must be put in place in line with the Resolution of the 13th NPC. VNS The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday halted water releases from Lake Waco and other flooded reservoirs in surrounding counties to relieve flooding far downstream in the Houston area. Lake Waco remained 15.8 feet above its conservation pool of 462 feet above sea level after heavy rains in recent weeks. The lake had climbed 20 feet into the flood pool earlier this month, followed by a decline and a slight uptick this week. Lake Whitney was 7.7 feet over its normal level Friday and Lake Aquilla was up 6 feet. Those three lakes are upstream of the Waco gauge on the Brazos River, which saw its flow drop quickly from 19,400 cubic feet per second early Friday to 14,000 by afternoon. Corps of Engineers officials at the three lakes work together to determine release rates, Lake Waco manager Mike Champagne said. The Corps had already slowed the release of water by several thousand cubic feet per second Thursday due to expected flooding in the Brazos before closing the dams Friday morning. Waco Regional Airport received 1.2 inches of rain Thursday, but the heavy rains predicted for the region that night did not materialize. Instead, the storms moved southeast down the Brazos River and doused the Houston area with 3 to 7 inches of rain and 100 mph winds. Four died in the storms and some 800,000 people lost power. In Waco, Champagne said downstream flooding has hindered the amount of water Lake Waco can release, and it will likely be several days before the dam is opened again. Campgrounds and picnic areas at Lake Waco are expected to be closed for several weeks as officials wait for water levels to recede and wont know the full extent of damage until the water recedes. Walkways at the downtown riverwalk also remained submerged Friday afternoon. According to the National Weather Service, the Waco area has seen 9.4 inches of rain since May 1, more than double the amount of rainfall in April and nearly double the total rainfall for May 2023. Matt Bishop, a meteorologist with the Weather Services Fort Worth office, said Thursday that sunny weather should greet Waco over the weekend before storm chances return Tuesday. Spring rains have erased lingering drought from Bell and Coryell counties southwest of Waco. The U.S. Drought Monitor showed most of the land in those counties in drought as of February, but none now. Stillhouse Hollow and Belton Lake, both in Bell County, remained several feet down until this month after a two-year drought. As of Friday, Stillhouse Hollow was 8.6 feet over its conservation pool of 622 feet above sea level. Belton Lake was 13.5 feet over its regular level of 594 feet. Both lakes are also Corps of Engineers flood control reservoirs that empty into tributaries of the Brazos River. The Corps has cut off water releases from both dams. WATERLOO The Cedar Valley Faces of Excellence is hosting its eighth community-wide baccalaureate ceremony for high school and college graduates June 2 at Antioch Baptist Church, 426 Sumner St. The event begins at 4 p.m. CVFEs mission is to recognize students accomplishments. Participating African American high school and college graduates from the Cedar Valley area who have graduated between August 2023 and May 2024 will be recognized. A required lunch rehearsal for participants will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 1 at Antioch Baptist Church. For more information, contact Miriam Tyson at (319) 291-7698, mtexcellence12@gmail.com. Financial aid falling short? Here's 6 ways to close your college funding gap Financial aid falling short? Here's 6 ways to close your college funding gap 5. Think About Private Student Loans Financial aid falling short? Here's 6 ways to close your college funding gap Ocean temperatures that have gone crazy haywire hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. More than three-fifths 62.9% of the world's coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That's nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world's coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program. When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die. In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with "very very severe'' losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA's monthly climate briefing. Sixty-two countries are seeing damaged coral, with Thailand shutting off a tourist-laden island to try to save the coral there. Meteorologists say a La Nina a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes the weather worldwide is forecast to develop soon and perhaps cool oceans a bit, but Manzello said it may be too little and too late. I still am very worried about the state of the world's coral reefs just because we're seeing things play out right now that are just very unexpected and extreme, Manzello said. This wouldn't be happening without climate change. That's basically the cornerstone of all the ocean warming we're seeing, Manzello said. But on top of that are changes in El Nino, the reverse of La Nina and a natural warming of ocean waters; reduced sulfur pollution from ships and an undersea volcano eruption. Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen said acceleration of global warming is now hard to deny" in a new analysis and statement Thursday. For coral, it comes down to how hot the water is and things have just gone crazy haywire with ocean temperatures in the last year, Manzello said. He said hurricanes bring up cool water from deep and benefit coral reefs if they don't hit them directly. Hurricanes can be devastating for reefs, Manzello. But in the grand scheme of things and given the current situation we are in on planet Earth, they're now a good thing essentially, which is kind of mind-blowing. On Wednesday, parts of the Atlantic where hurricanes often develop had an ocean heat content which measures water warmth at depths equivalent to mid-August, said hurricane researchers Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University. The world's oceans last month broke a record for the hottest April on record. It was the 13th straight month global seas broke records, and because the oceans are slow to cool or warm, more records are likely, said Karin Gleason, NOAA's climate monitoring chief. Coral reefs are key to seafood production and tourism worldwide. Scientific reports have long said loss of coral is one of the big tipping points of future warming as the world nears 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit of warming since pre-industrial time. That's a limit that countries agreed to try to hold to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. This is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, said Andrew Pershing, a biological oceanographer who is vice president for science of Climate Central. It's an ecosystem that we're literally going to watch disappear in our lifetimes. Extreme heat drives up food prices. Just how bad will it get? Extreme heat drives up food prices. Just how bad will it get? Extreme heat drives up food prices. Just how bad will it get? Donald Trump is demanding President Joe Biden take a drug test before their upcoming debates, baselessly claiming Biden was "high as a kite" at his State of the Union address in March. "I just want to debate this guy, but you know and I'm going to demand a drug test, too, by the way," said the former president, who was speaking in St. Paul, Minnesota. "I really am. I don't want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite," Trump added. Trump previously claimed after the State of the Union address that Biden was "all jacked up." Im going to demand a drug test. Trump demands President Biden take a drug test before the debates, claims Biden was high as a kite during the State of the Union. (Video: RSBN) pic.twitter.com/HgQK74BZ2i Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 18, 2024 Trump refused to publicly reveal if he had a test for Covid before his first debate with Biden in 2020. Former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed in his book "The Chief's Chief" that Trump had tested postive for Covid three days before the debate, but then tested negative in a subsequent test. Trump has been accused by comedian Noel Casler of abusng the stimulant Adderall while working on Trump's reality TV program "The Apprentice." The Rolling Stone reported in March that sources described the White House Medical Unit during the Trump administration as a "Wild West" of prescriptin drugs with easy access by staffers to stimulants and sedatives. The upcoming debates between Trump and Biden will break with tradition in two significant ways: there will be no live audiences, and the microphone of any candidate not recognized to speak will be muted. The first Biden-Trump debate in the 2020 election was riddled with eruptions, as then-President Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden and moderator Chris Wallace. 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The two heads of state jointly signed and issued a Joint Statement of the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era in the Context of the 75th Anniversary of China-Russia Diplomatic Relations. The video below is one that shows the truth of a China and Russia relationship and that is that These last few days have been amazing, simply amazing. Ten years from now our world will have been transformed into a better place, if we can stop the West from destroying us and the world What a wonderful world it is WtR Still, the idiotic NATO strategists sincerely want almost all of Ukraine to come under Russian control. That is why they are giving the Bandera government ever longer-range weapons. But this is not the first time President Putin has said that for a peaceful life, our country will have to create a sanitary zone, within which the neo-Nazi regime will not have the opportunity to hit targets on Russian territory (including, of course, all the lands that have returned to our state). It is not difficult to calculate that if the Kyiv regime uses Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG type missiles with a range of at least 550 km and with a distance between Belgorod and Kiev of 429 km, almost the entire central and significant part of the western territories would be destroyed. Ukraine falls into such a sanitary zone. In other words, Russia should be everywhere there (550 km plus another 70-100 km to be sure). Otherwise, the security of our cities and villages cannot be ensured. Even if we imagine that some kind of document has been signed with Kiev (or rather, with Washington), any new Bandera idiot with missiles is quite capable of violating it. The consequences are obvious. If this continues, the guaranteed sanitary zone will be somewhere on the border with Poland. Or already in Poland itself. And this is completely dangerous. Moreover, non-strategic nuclear weapons, which our country announced about conducting exercises with, are a very loose concept. Such weapons (tactical or non-strategic), as everyone knows, include nuclear charges that significantly exceed the power of Little Boy and Fat Man. So carefully calculate the range of what you allocate to the Nazis, gentlemen. Medvedev WtR STONECREST, Ga. (AP) Hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues joined Roger Fortson's family, friends and others at a suburban Atlanta megachurch on Friday to pay their final respects to the Black senior airman, who was shot and killed in his Florida home earlier this month by a sheriff's deputy. People lined up well before the start of the service at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest to file past the open coffin and say their goodbyes to Fortson, who was shot six times by a deputy responding to a May 3 call about a possible domestic violence situation at Fortson's apartment complex in the Florida Panhandle. He was 23. Fortsons face and upper body were visible in his Air Force uniform, with an American flag draped over the lower half of the coffin. After viewing the body, many mourners paused to hug one another. As you can see from the sea of Air Force blue, I am not alone in my admiration of Senior Airman Fortson, Col. Patrick Dierig told mourners, referring to the rows of airmen who took up nearly an entire section of the sprawling church. We would like to take credit for making him great, but the truth is that he was great before he came to us, said Dierig, who commands the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Air Force Base in Florida, where Fortson was stationed. The Rev. Jamal Bryant opened his eulogy with a story about how civil rights icon Medgar Evers joined the Army during World War II even though he and other Black American service members were fighting for freedoms abroad that they didn't enjoy at home. The 1963 killing of Evers, a Mississippi NAACP leader who was gunned down by a white supremacist, showed all of America that you can wear a uniform and the uniform wont protect you, that regrettably sometimes the skin you wear is more of a magnet to opposition than the uniform that you bear," Bryant said. Because in America, before people see you as a veteran, as an airman in the United States Air Force, theyll see you as a Black man. Bryant also called for justice in Fortson's killing. Weve got to call it as it is Roger died of murder, Bryant said. He died of stone cold murder. And somebody has got to be held accountable. Roger was better to America than America was to Roger. A police officer came to his door and shot him up like a dog in the street, as if he was not defending the rights of America all over the world, Bryant added. The Fortson family's lawyer, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, delivered a rousing address, telling the gathering: We will remember him for the American patriot he was. He was the best from East Atlanta. ... He was the best from the state of Georgia. He was the best from America. He was one of the best this world had to offer, Crump said. In a recorded video played at the service, the Rev. Al Sharpton also highlighted Fortson's military service and called for his death to not go unpunished. He as a young Black man stood up, signed up to fight for this country. The question now is will the country stand up and fight for him? ... That is the question and that is what we intend to get an answer to, Sharpton said. After the service, airmen saluted and Fortsons mother embraced mourners outside the church as his casket was carried to a horse-drawn carriage draped on the inside with gold curtains. The black horse that pulled the carriage away was adorned with red, white and blue flowers around its mane and silver on its hooves. On Thursday, Fortson's mother vowed to get justice for her son, who had served in overseas combat zones. At a news conference held by the family and Crump, Meka Fortson spoke glowingly about how her son had always stayed on a positive path and had never been in trouble or shown signs of violence. She also had a message for Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden: Youre going to give me justice whether you want to, Sheriff Aden, or not, she said. On the day he was killed, Fortson opened the door while holding a handgun pointed toward the floor, according to the deputy's body camera footage. The deputy shouted, Step back! and then shot Fortson six times. Only afterward did he shout, Drop the gun! Drop the gun! The deputy then called paramedics on his radio. Fortson's family and Crump argue that the shooting was completely unjustified and that the deputy had gone to the wrong apartment while responding to a call about a possible domestic disturbance in progress at the apartment complex. Fortson was home alone and talking to his girlfriend on FaceTime when he grabbed his gun because he heard someone outside his unit, Crump has said. The deputy, whose name has not been released, shot Fortson within moments of the airman responding to the deputy's knocking and opening his door. Sheriffs officials say the deputy acted in self-defense. Two weeks after the shooting, the sheriff has yet to release an incident report, any 911 records or the officers identity, despite requests for the information under Floridas open records act. The case is among many around the country in which Black people have been shot in their homes by law enforcement personnel. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating and the deputy has been placed on administrative leave. A billionaire philanthropist put his money where his mouth was at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth graduation. Robert Hale Jr., the CEO of Granite Telecommunications and co-owner of the Boston Celtics, surprised the class of 2024 during his address as commencement speaker on Thursday by announcing that and his wife, Karen Hale, were giving $1,000 to each graduate, the university said. The loot came with a loaded message. "We want to give you two gifts," Hale said, WBSM reported. "The first is our gift to you. The second is the gift of giving." These "trying times have heightened the need for sharing, caring and giving," said Hale, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes to be worth $5.4 billion. "Our community needs you and your generosity more than ever." After his announcement, he pointed to two large duffel bags that had been brought up on the stage and were filled to the brim with envelopes of cash. Hale, who talked about how he overcame filing for bankruptcy earlier in his career, his philanthropy work and the need for resilience, told the students never to allow failure to define them. For him and his wife, Hale said, "the greatest joys we've had in our life have been the gift of giving." He added: "Our community and our world need our help now more than ever." About 1,200 graduates received the cash. A new bike and pedestrian bridge was installed over the Truckee River on Friday. It connects the new West River Street Park, which is expected to be done this summer, with the extension of the legacy trail. According to Mayor David Polivy, some of the goals of the bridge include separating bike and pedestrians from cars, providing more transportation options around Truckee, decreasing parking demand in town, and decreasing traffic issues. "This is such a milestone for the town... we're connecting the people to the river. Everybody, our town staff and the community, has put a lot of effort into envisioning both this side of the river, the West River Street Park, the new streetscape, so really this just connects it all," said Mayor Polivy. (Tahoe Truckee Media contributed to this report.) General manager Moniece Shead celebrated during a grand opening event Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, at a new HEB store in Katy. The grocer, which began as a one-room store in Kerrville in 1905, has grown to have more than 400 stores in Texas and Mexico and legions of devoted fans. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Fresh tortillas and salsas, creative flavors of ice cream and chips, all of the staple products and a sense of good cheer and community: H-E-B is probably the most beloved brand in Texas. And its reputation precedes it across the nation, even though H-E-B does not have a physical presence in any other state. In 2020, it was named Grocer of the Year by trade publication Grocery Dive, and in 2023, Food & Wine magazine deemed it Americas best supermarket. Here's what to know about the store, which has now been the grocer of choice for several generations of Texans. What is H-E-B? H-E-B is a grocer or, perhaps, the grocer in Texas. The privately held company, headquartered in San Antonio, has more than 400 locations and about 150,000 employees, and tends to inspire unwavering devotion from its legions of fans. Advertisement Article continues below this ad How long has H-E-B been around? The store we now know as H-E-B got its start over a century ago, in 1905, as Mrs. C. C. Butt's Staple and Fancy Grocery a one-room store below the family home in Kerrville, then a tiny Hill Country hamlet. In 1919 her son, Howard Edward Butt, began managing the business. He expanded to Del Rio and the Rio Grande Valley in the 1920s, according to the Texas State Historical Association. Where does the name come from? H-E-B takes its name from the aforementioned Howard E. Butt's initials; he began using that moniker when he opened a store in San Antonio in 1942. The company's current slogan also uses his initials: Here, Everythings Better. Who owns H-E-B? The Butt family continues to own H-E-B, which is the fifth-largest privately held company in the United States, according to Forbes, with revenue of about $44 billion in 2023. Chairman, Charles Butt is a grandson of Florence Butt and ranks 353rd among the world's billionaires, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $7.6 billion. He also served as the company's CEO for 40 years before turning that role over to his nephew, Howard Butt III, in 2021. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Is H-E-B all over Texas? Interestingly, it is not. While H-E-B has an international presence with a number of stores in Mexico, there are millions of Texans who don't have easy access to the store. There is no H-E-B in El Paso, and the company is a relatively recent presence in north Texas, having opened its first stores in Frisco and Plano in 2022, and last month opened its first store in Fort Worth. In fact, there are still no H-E-Bs within Dallas city limits. By contrast, there are two H-E-Bs in Del Rio, a city of approximately 35,000 people. Why do Texans love H-E-B so much? In general, people like their local grocer, and experts agree that H-E-B performs well on the usual metrics such as quality, store experience, price and private-label offerings. But what animates the particular devotion Texans have for H-E-B is likely its outsize presence in the state's public square: The company regularly supports everything from Little League games to major events such as Houston's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Charles Butt, the current chairman, is a longtime advocate for public education through his Charles Butt Foundation, Advertisement Article continues below this ad It's been a year since the release of 'Kutch Express,' but it would not be wrong to say that the film is still charging high to become a part of conversations around. Recently, actress and producer of the Gujarati blockbuster film, Mansi Parekh, has made the disclosure of an intriguing detail that has left everyone bewildered. During a first-of-its-kind actresses' Roundtable 2024 streaming on Shemaroo Gujarati Manorajans YouTube Channel, the actress spoke about her experience working with Ratna Pathak Shah and also shared her initial thoughts when she approached the veteran actress for the Gujarati film. Mansi Parekh shared, It was an incredible experience working with Ratna Pathak Ma'am. When I shared the 'Kutch Express' script with her, we were unsure if she would agree to do a Gujarati film. But within 10 days of reading the script, she was on board. I learned so much from her throughout the shooting process. Working with veterans like Ratna Ma'am has been a tremendous learning experience. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to absorb so much from her. Talking about Kutch Express, it is a Gujarati drama film highlighting the strength of the unique bond between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and a son that encourages his mother to pursue her dreams and live her life to the fullest. Directed by Viral Shah, the film stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Manasi Parekh, Dharmendra Gohil, Darsheel Safary and Viraf Patel in lead roles. It is produced by Parthiv Gohil and Manasi Parekh. The film is available to stream in Gujarati and Hindi languages, on ShemarooMe OTT platform. The roundtable, hosted by Deepali Chhatwani, also includes prominent figures such as Aarti Patel, Manasi Parekh, Aarohi Patel, Esha Kansara, Puja Joshi, and Kinjal Rajpriya in an open and candid discussion about the industry's intricacies. Don't miss out on this insightful conversation, available on the Shemaroo Gujarati Manorajan YouTube channel. In the dynamic landscape of Indian politics, every election season brings forth a whirl of campaigns, strategies, and promises intended at encapsulating the minds and hearts of voters. In the exuberant state of West Bengal, where political ardour is running deep, ABP Digital has unfolded its new election campaign with a slogan that captures both resolution and innovation: Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo. Embedded within this narrative is the seamless integration of Anandabazar.com's election campaign, Dillibarir Lorai, which resonates with the spirit of Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo. The slogan itself, Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo serves as a call to action. In Bengali, dekhe nebo embodies a dual meaning. It connotes to check out and also the colloquialism to fight it out. Hence Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo from the perspective of electoral candidates means, Will fight it out this election. On the other hand, from the perspective of readers, Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo means this election, we will check out anandabazar.com for everything poll-related. This double entendre captures the spirit of the campaign which seeks to highlight the electoral theatre and also put emphasis on the need and the importance of proper verified news and information. Central to the campaign's imagery is the portrayal of prominent political leaders clutching mobile phonesa symbolic representation of their commitment to staying informed through ABP Digital's comprehensive coverage. This visual metaphor not only underscores the significance of staying abreast of election-related developments but also positions anandabazar.com as the go-to source for reliable information in the digital age. Moreover, the campaign features a stellar lineup of political stalwarts from various parties. From the Trinamool Congress (TMC), noted film personalities like Dev, Rachana Banerjee, and Saayoni Ghosh, alongside seasoned politicians Sougata Roy and Mahua Moitra, stand front and center. On the opposing end, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is represented by formidable roster of leaders, including the likes of Locket Chatterjee, Dilip Ghosh, Arjun Singh, Sukanta Majumder and Abhijit Gangopadhyay. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) is represented by Sujan Chakraborty and Mohammed Salim. The Indian National Congress is represented by seasoned politician Adhir Chowdhury. Vote e Ebar Dekhe Nebo hoardings adorn prominent locations across Kolkata, amplifying ABP Digital's commitment to shaping a vibrant and participatory democracy. Moreover, the success of the campaign is further amplified by the support of its esteemed partners. With V-Guard as the presenting partner and Bandhan Mutual Fund, Subhas Bose Institute of Hotel Management (SBIHM), and Lux Cozi as the associate partner, the campaign benefits from the credibility and reach of these trusted brands. As the West Bengal election season unfolds, ABP Digital remains steadfast in its dedication to delivering comprehensive coverage and insightful analysis to its audience. Through its digital platform, anandabazar.com, the leading Bengali digital publisher continues to serve as a beacon of information, empowering voters with knowledge to make informed choices. As the political landscape evolves and the electoral journey unfolds, one thing remains certainABP Digital's commitment to empowering voters and fostering informed citizenship will continue to shine bright, guiding the way towards a more engaged and inclusive democratic future. To know further, visit: www.anandabazar.com/elections/lok-sabha-election-2024 Get ready for a summer filled with fun and imagination! Weikfield Foods and Doraemon, the beloved cartoon cat from the future, have joined forces to launch the "Weikfield Jelly Hai Doraemon World Japan Jane Ka Ticket Contest." This exciting campaign is more than just a chance to win a prize; it's an invitation for kids to unleash their creativity and storytelling skills. A Delicious Gateway to Adventure This summer, Weikfield Jelly isn't just offering a tasty treat, they're offering an unforgettable experience. The contest encourages young dreamers to participate by writing captivating stories or creating vibrant comic strips featuring Doraemon and Weikfield's delicious jelly. The grand prize? A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan to explore the incredible Doraemon World! Mr. Ashwini Malhotra, the visionary Managing Director of Weikfield Foods Pvt. Ltd., expressed his enthusiasm, declaring: "At Weikfield, we don't just sell products; we craft experiences that linger in the hearts and minds of our consumers. Our Indias first 100% vegetarian Jelly is more than a treat; it's a portal to boundless imagination and joy. With our latest 'Weikfield Jelly Campaign with Doraemon,' we're not just offering jelly; we're offering a ticket to the extraordinary!" Speaking about the collaboration, Mr. Bhavesh Solanki, Director from Animation International India Pvt Ltd, said: Doraemon, the lovable robotic cat from the future, is thrilled to announce a delightful new partnership with Weikfield Jellies, aimed at bringing smiles and happiness to children across the nation. The collaboration between Doraemon and Weikfield Jelly represents a celebration of friendship, fun, and adventure. Now, in partnership with Doraemon, we are embarking on a journey to make snack time even more magical for children everywhere. Pervin Bhesania, the mastermind behind the creative brilliance, added: "This campaign is a testament to the power of imagination and the magic of childhood. With the simple yet profound message - 'Weikfield Jelly khaane mein bhi mazaa, Japan jaane mein bhi' - we're inviting consumers to embark on an exhilarating journey filled with fun and flavor!" With presence in over 35,000 retail outlets nationwide, along with all popular modern trade chains, e-commerce, and quick commerce platforms, participating in the contest has never been easier. It's an invitation for both Weikfield and consumers to dive headfirst into a world of wonder and excitement. Randy Philpott assembles a new generator as he prepares to ride out Hurricane Laura in his home in Bridge City on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Philpott is staying because his mom and aunt, who live close by, have decided not to leave. "It's heck if you do, it's heck if you don't," Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Customers were waiting to buy generators that had just arrived at M&D Supply. With two storms churning in the Gulf of Mexico, folks in Southeast Texas were out picking up what they may need if the bad weather hits the area. Photo made on August 22, 2020. Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Fran Ruchalski, The Enterprise / The Enterprise As parts of Houston head into their third day without power, it's important to revisit best practices for the gas-powered generators that thousands of household are relying on. Risks of misusing generators include death and illness from carbon monoxide. It's typical for Houston hospitals to see an uptick in the number of patients with carbon monoxide poising after natural disasters knock out power. During the freeze and subsequent power grid failure in 2021, for example, Harris County saw at lease 580 carbon monoxide poisoning cases, including two deaths. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, nausea, fatigue, confusion, muscle aches, and vision changes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Here are tips on safely using gas-powered generator from Consumer Reports and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute: 1. Perhaps the most important rule is that a gas-powered generator should never be used in an enclosed space -- not even in a garage or a building with windows open. Generators produce carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that can kill you in as little as five minutes if levels are high enough, according to the National Institutes of Health. 2. Always place your generator outdoors, at least 20 feet from your home, withe the exhaust directed away from windows and doors. 3. Use the right fuel, recommended by your generator manufacturer. Add fuel stabilizer to any fuel that has been sitting in a gas can for more than 30 days. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 4. If youre using a generator to keep lights on use a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector, too. (Its not a bad idea to have one indoors as well.) 5. If its raining, you can put your generator under a generator-specific tent for protection, but do not leave it out in the rain. 6. Before adding more gasoline, turn it off and let it cool to avoid fires caused by spilled gasoline on hot engine parts. This will also reduce the risk of burns. 7. If you stock up on extra gasoline, be sure to store it properly. Only use ANSI-approved containers and keep them in cool, well-ventilated areas. Do not store it inside a home. 8. If you use extension cords with your generator, they must be heavy-duty for outdoor use, rated at least equal to the sum of the energy loads of the appliances you will plug into them. Make sure the cord is in good condition (no cuts) and the plug has all three prongs. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 9. If you plan to connect your generator to your circuit panel, install a transfer switch. It will cost $500-$900 for a 5,000-rated-watt or larger generator. Wipro Limited has announced the appointment of Sanjeev Jain as the Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Sanjeev Jain takes over from Amit Choudhary, who is leaving the company to explore new opportunities. Reporting to Srinivas Pallia, Sanjeev will remain a member of Wipros Executive Committee. Sanjeev Jain joined Wipro in 2023 as the Global Head of Business Operations. With over 30 years of experience, he has a proven track record in leading large, diverse teams, scaling global operations, and applying Lean Six Sigma and design thinking principles to achieve operational excellence and business transformation. As Chief Operating Officer, Sanjeev will be responsible for advancing Wipros mission to create a client-centric delivery organization focused on sustainable, profitable, and delivery-led growth. He will oversee Global Business Operations, the Chief Information Office, the Chief Information Security Office, and the Enterprise Risk Management function. Additionally, he will continue to collaborate with Wipros leadership teams on various transformation initiatives. In the short time that Sanjeev has been with Wipro, he has developed strong relationships with on-the-ground delivery teams and made a significant impact on our strategic thinking and execution prowess, said Srinivas Pallia, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Wipro Limited. Under his leadership, weve built out our approach to AI training and upskilling and trained over 225,000 of our people in AI principles. Sanjeev has also been instrumental in devising our career development strategy for next-gen associates and significantly enhancing our utilization. As COO, he will be responsible for continuing to simplify our operating model, building a client-centric delivery organization, and driving operational excellence with a focus on execution rigor and speed. I would like to thank Amit for his leadership over the last two years and for building a strong operations foundation and structure that will be invaluable as we move forward. Amit will be with us until the end of May, working closely with Sanjeev and me to ensure a smooth transition. Commenting on his appointment, Sanjeev Jain said, I am honoured and excited to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer. I look forward to further strengthening our operational and delivery capabilities to bring more value to our clients. Before joining Wipro, Sanjeev held leadership roles at Kyndryl Holdings (IBM spin-off), IBM, Cognizant, and GE. He will be based in Bengaluru. "Their credibility is not zero, it's in minus": JP Nadda slams AAP over Swati Maliwal assault case 2 Coming down heavily on the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal assault case, BJP President JP Nadda has said that the AAP doesnt have any credibility adding that Kejriwal has been exposed in front of the people. In an interview with ANI, Nadda said that the AAP is built on the foundation of lies like its leaders. First of all, the Aam Aadmi Party is a party built on the foundation of lies and its credibility is not zero, it is in minus. Kejriwal has been exposed infront of the people of Delhi. He used to say that he would not enter politics, not contest elections, not take the bungalow or convoy, and not compromise with Congress. He used to say that he would not commit corruption, and respect the woman. But which of the things did he follow? He made the party, contested the elections, and compromised with Congress, the BJP leader said. He went to jail in a corruption case and is out on interim bail for a few days on the order of the Supreme Court, he added. Hitting out at Kejriwal over his silence in the press conference with Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Nadda said, The incident happened in his house and he kept silent. If it was the conspiracy of the BJP then why did you shift the mike from one place to the other? As Kejriwal entered the venue for his press conference with Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Thursday, reporters attempted to question him on the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal. The AAP supremo however refused to answer any questions. During the press conference when the issue was raised, Akhilesh Yadav brushed aside the question saying There are other issues that are more important than this. Nadda further raised alleged atrocities against women committed under the AAP regime and asked the reason for Kejriwals silence in the matter. Why are you silent on the disrespect of women? What is stopping you? Your actions are speaking. What is the culture of the party? Sometimes the Chief Secretary is beaten and sometimes a woman is beaten in his house, and that also a woman who is the MP of Rajya Sabha, and one of the founding members of his party. This is their thought. They have such low thinking. This shows your culture and youre exposed. Everything will be clear and the people of Delhi will answer them, the BJP President said. Answering whether Swati Maliwal asked for help from the BJP, Nadda said that the former never came close to their party. She never came even close to our party. We never talked. This is not our way of working. We are straightforward people. We do not work like this. No one should be misguided like this. This means that if your thefts are caught, youll blame the police. Ulta chor kotwal ko daantey, he said. They dont have any credibility. Their party, leaders and even Kejriwal also dont have any credibility. They can reach any distance. They can stoop to any level and make any allegation. But they cannot escape from any blame, the BJP President added. Swati Maliwals allegations that she was assaulted inside Kejriwals house by the latters personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar, has descended into a massive political controversy, with the Aam Aadmi Party refuting her charges. While Mailwal claimed she was beaten inside Kejriwals house, Kumar claimed she was trying to implicate him in a false case and also indicated the possibility of the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) involvement in the matter. A team of Delhi Police, led by Additional DCP Delhi North, Civil Lines Police Station SHO, and a team of forensic officials, arrived at the CMs residence on Friday evening for scene recreation. Maliwal was also called there as part of the investigation into the alleged assault on her. Kejriwals aide, Bibhav Kumar also filed a written complaint against Maliwal, alleging unauthorized entry, verbal abuse, threats, and the possibility of the BJPs involvement in the matter. The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians and the town of McIntosh will celebrate American Idol contender Triston Harper with upcoming events that are free and open to the public. Harper, a 15-year-old tribal member from McIntosh, made it all the way to the Top 5 of Idols 2024 season. The shows celebrity judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan repeatedly praised him for the maturity of his voice, his authentic demeanor and his rapidly improving stagecraft. Harper has captured the hearts of Americans and become an inspiration for his hometown and all of Alabama as he continues to shine with his musical endeavors, said an announcement for a planned concert and parade. From humble beginnings to the national stage, Tristons story is a true testament to the power of chasing your dreams! According to information provided by an organizer with the MOWA Band, the following events are planned: Friday, May 24, 6 p.m. Triston Harper: The Dreamcatcher in Concert will take place on the MOWA Choctaw Reservation at 1080 West Red Fox Road in Mt. Vernon, Ala. The show is expected to last until 8:30. Lillie Steiner, executive director of the MOWA Choctaw Housing Authority, said that visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets, but that coolers and alcoholic beverages are not allowed. Some food and beverage vendors will be on hand. Saturday, May 25, noon A homecoming parade will be held in McIntosh. Saturday, May 25, 5 p.m. The MOWA Choctaws will hold a Pow Wow in Harpers honor. Steiner said the event will offer visitors a chance to learn about and experience the MOWA Choctaw culture. As at the concert, lawn chairs and blankets are welcome, but coolers and alcohol are not. For more on the MOWA Choctaws, visit mowachoctawindians.com. Mobile police are investigating the shooting death of a 19-year-old man Friday at an apartment complex. According to police, Tramell Williams was found suffering from a gunshot wound inside a parked vehicle around 10:55 p.m. at 3125 Government Boulevard. Another man, who remains unidentified, was also found suffering from a gunshot wound while seated in the same vehicle. Both victims were transported to a local hospital for their injuries. Williams was eventually pronounced dead. The other victims condition is unknown. Mobile police determined that the shooting occurred earlier in the night at an apartment complex at 601 Village Green Drive E. Police ask that if anyone has information that could assist in the investigation, to contact 251-208-7211. Alternatively, an anonymous tip can be texted to 844-251-0644 or by visiting mobilepd.org/crimetip. Mobile police identified Saturday the victim of a fatal Friday night shooting at a Mobile barbershop and are investigating whether the shooter may have acted in self-defense. According to police, 24-year-old Alfred Hector was shot and killed sometime around 5:35 p.m. inside Baggz on Da Fade at 2300 St. Stephens Road. Hector was inside the business at the time he was shot and was then transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say they identified the suspected shooter who was still at the barbershop when they arrived. The subject may have acted in self-defense when he shot Hector, according to police, who are not releasing the shooters name. The investigation is ongoing. One person was killed, and a child injured in an afternoon crash in Birmingham. The wreck happened about 4:45 p.m. Friday in the 3900 block of First Avenue. It involved a dump truck and a sedan, said Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Lt. Catina Williams. The driver of the sedan was pronounced dead on the scene. A minor was transported to the hospital with undisclosed injuries. The dump driver was not injured. Birmingham police are investigating. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said Friday that she had been racially targeted by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene when the Georgia Republican insulted her fake eyelashes during a committee hearing the night before. She is racist, Crockett told reporters at the Capitol. I dont have any questions about that. The exchange between Greene and Crockett, who responded with her own shot at Greenes appearance, went viral online and had reporters asking representatives about broader implications for civility and the ability of the House to function. Greene aides did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Crockett is serving her first term after succeeding longtime U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas. She is a member of the House Oversight Committee, which has been mired in bitterly partisan fighting this session. Crockett said Friday she is attacked online, often by supporters of Greene and former President Donald Trump, whenever she confronts Republicans on the committee. Online critics frequently attack her appearance, Crockett said, with comments about her having fake nails, hair or eyelashes. That is them attacking me, really, as a Black woman, and all theyre trying to do is be like racists. Thats it. Thats all it is, is racism, Crockett said. And [Greene] decided that she was going to be that person out loud and out front [during the hearing]. The difference is I just wasnt going to take it laying down. Asked about the incident, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said House members need to treat each other with dignity and respect. It was not a good look for Congress and we all, I think, need to control the emotions better and get the job done, and thats what were trying to do here, Johnson told ABC News. Decorum in the House is an important tradition to maintain, so well be talking about that with our members. I think [Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries needs to do the same on the Democrat side. The Oversight Committee met Thursday to consider holding U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over audio recordings of President Joe Bidens conversations with special counsel Robert Hur. The session had been scheduled for the morning but was postponed until late evening because some committee Republicans had traveled to New York to be in court with Trump during his hush money trial. That meant tensions were already high before Greene asked whether any committee Democrats were employing the consultant daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trumps trial. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland, Crockett responded, adding a moment later: Do you know what were here for? After some crosstalk between Crockett and Greene, the Georgia Republican said, I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what youre reading. Democrats on the committee swiftly rose to Crocketts defense. Thats beneath even you, Ms. Greene, said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the committees top Democrat. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, asked that Greenes words about Crockett be taken down as a violation of committee rules against personal attacks, a procedure that would have prevented Greene from speaking further during the hearing. That is absolutely unacceptable, how dare you attack the physical appearance of another person? Ocasio-Cortez said. Are your feelings hurt? Greene said. Oh girl, baby girl, dont even play, Ocasio-Cortez said as the session devolved from there. As members and staff conferred, they could be heard on hot mics debating whether Greene could be allowed to remain if she apologized and whether such an apology would be sincere. You will never get an apology out of me, Greene said later. After the chairman ruled against Ocasio-Cortez, Crockett asked for recognition to better understand the ruling. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebodys bleach-blonde, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? she said in an obvious reference to Greene. That prompted more back-and-forth between members as they continued to talk over one another and hurl insults. Crockett said Friday she had no regrets about using physical-appearance language during the hearing, adding she needed to demonstrate she was willing to stand up for herself to show she would stand up for her constituents. She said she waited patiently for the committees Republican chairman to follow the rules and take Greenes words down, but after he declined, she wanted to know how the committee was going to operate and whether only Greene was allowed to make insults. She also suggested Greene was looking for attention that will help her raise money from supporters. ____ 2024 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Alabama Supreme Court, in a decision Friday, backed a trial judges ruling in October that a third-party receiver is needed to oversee the embattled Prichard Water Works and Sewer Board and the operations of a water system that has fallen into ruin. The decision affirms Mobile County Circuit Judge Michael Youngpeters ruling that a receiver be appointed to oversee the system after the water board failed to pay back a $56 million loan entered into with Synovus Bank in 2019, to fund capital improvements for the aging system. Youngpeter appointed John Young Jr. as the receiver to administer and operate the system over the boards objections that it had a calculated and targeted plan to decrease water loss through a newly hired operations manager, Mac Underwood. The board appears to concede that it was necessary that someone other than the board take control of its operations because it not only hired Underwood to serve as its operations manager beginning in January 2023, but also requested that the trial court appoint him as the receiver to administer and operate the system, wrote Justice Will Sellers in an opinion backed by Chief Justice Tom Parker and three additional associate justices. None of the high court dissented. The evidence supports the trial courts findings that irreparable harm would occur through the continued dissipation and wasting of the boards assets if a receiver was not appointed, Sellers wrote. The water board contended that it was not in the trial courts authority to appoint a receiver, claiming that the Alabama Legislature has not authorized receivers to be appointed for waterworks and sewer boards under state law. The board had claimed that judicial appointments of receivers represented a violation of the separation-of-powers doctrine. Sellers disagreed, writing that Alabama state law grants a public utilitys governing board like the Prichard Water Board broad powers to enter into contracts to operate and maintain its system, and that boards are required to adhere to those provisions. He also said that state law does not contain any language expressly prohibiting the board from contractually agreeing to the appointment of a receiver as a bargained-for remedy to protect bondholders in the event of a default. The Supreme Court also disagreed with the water boards claims that a receiver represents an impartial officer of the trial court. Sellers, in writing for the court, said it was clear that the trial court deemed it necessary to have a checks-and-balances system confirm that terms of the loan are complied with, and that the system is administered and operated efficiently. The Supreme Court, in its ruling, noted the concerns raised during the trial court proceedings last October that the board failed to make full interest payments on its bonds on May 1, 2023, along with other financial obligations. The trial courts statements about the system in crisis was noted, recognizing the loss of 60% of water purchased by the board through faulted infrastructure amid years of poor planning, mismanagement or worse. Bond payments, according to Youngpeter, originally earmarked for capital improvements, were mostly used as operational funds. Prichard does not treat its own water, but it distributes water purchased from the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS) to its customers. Many of the water pipes in Prichard are more than 80 years old, well past their expected life span. An Alabama Department of Environmental Management engineering report cited in the petition to the Environmental Protection Agency found that the system is facing excessive water loss of nearly 64%. The water systems financial crunches have resulted in staggering water rate hikes, which were not mentioned in the Supreme Courts ruling. Those included a 22% rate hike for water board customers in September 2023, which were viewed as especially burdensome for low-income residents of Prichard and neighboring Eight Mile. Prichard, with about 20,000 residents just north of Mobile, is considered one of the states poorest communities. Scrutiny on the water board and how it operates the system has been going on for decades, and the Alabama Supreme Court has had to rule on past cases affecting the solvency of the Prichard system. More than a decade ago, the Alabama Supreme Court invalidated a statewide referendum supporting the dissolution of the water utility in favor of having the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System take it over. A more narrowed referendum, only including voters in Mobile County, was approved by voters in 2014. But days before that vote, the Prichard Water Board approved a five-year multi-million-dollar contract with Severn Trent Water to handle the management of the system. The vote was viewed as a poison pill by MAWSS representatives, and the utility backed out. The drama involving the water board has continued into more recent times with a new twist occurring in 2022 after the FBI raided the boards offices and the home of at least one employee, with the investigation resulting in four water works officials being charged with theft or fraud. That scandal became known as Gucci-gate, after charges that former waterworks manager Nia Bradley used a waterworks credit card for perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses, including trips to New York, Chicago and Sandestin, Fla., as well as luxury items like Gucci handbags, designer clothes and firearms. Her case is still pending. The water boards longtime attorney Jay Ross described the spending to one TV station as the worst case of public corruption I have ever seen. In February 2022, just before its offices were raided by the FBI, the Prichard water board applied for $330 million in state and federal infrastructure funds being distributed by ADEM, by far the largest request in the state. That total included $100 million for repairing leaks in the water lines, $135 million for citywide sewer extension, and $76 million for systemwide project improvements. Hungary, Serbia vow to reinforce ties amid regional tensions Xinhua) 10:26, May 18, 2024 Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (R) shakes hands with Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric during their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on May 17, 2024. Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stressed on Friday the importance of his country's alliance with Serbia amid heightened regional tensions. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) BUDAPEST, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stressed on Friday the importance of his country's alliance with Serbia amid heightened regional tensions. Szijjarto, at a joint press conference in Budapest with his visiting Serbian counterpart, Marko Djuric, highlighted the development of bilateral ties in recent years, citing Serbia's grant of extensive rights to the Hungarian national minority in Vojvodina, as well as Hungary's reliance on natural gas from Serbia. The two countries, plus Slovenia, have established a joint regional electricity exchange, which has enhanced supply and mitigated price rises. Plans are also underway to build an oil pipeline connecting Hungary and Serbia, as well as Europe's most modern border crossing in the Roszke region. A railway line linking Budapest and Belgrade is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Hungary is preparing for its upcoming presidency of the European Union (EU), during which it aims to advance Serbia's EU membership bid by opening the third chapter of accession negotiations, Szijjarto said. He also announced Hungary's intention to vote against a UN General Assembly resolution that aims to "demonize the entire Serbian nation" in connection with the Srebrenica tragedy. Hungary will also oppose Kosovo's membership application to the Council of Europe, advocating for the success of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue before any application to international organizations, according to the top diplomat. Djuric praised Hungary's achievements in defending its national interests and economic growth, which serve as an inspiration for Serbia. He also conveyed a message from President Aleksandar Vucic, affirming that Serbia will not forget Hungary's friendship and support, and underlined the importance of the exemplary minority rights enjoyed by the Serbian community in Hungary. Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (R) meets with Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric in Budapest, Hungary, on May 17, 2024. Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stressed on Friday the importance of his country's alliance with Serbia amid heightened regional tensions. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (2nd R) meets with Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric (2nd L) in Budapest, Hungary, on May 17, 2024. Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stressed on Friday the importance of his country's alliance with Serbia amid heightened regional tensions. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (R) and Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric attend a press conference in Budapest, Hungary, on May 17, 2024. Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stressed on Friday the importance of his country's alliance with Serbia amid heightened regional tensions. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) Purple Martin is one of the birds that stop in League City during the spring migration. Jeff Huth/Getty Images/iStockphoto League City encourages residents to be on the lookout for birds not commonly found in the region during spring migratory season. The City of League City As a flyover during The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, League City is in full swing of a spring bird migration season. City officials are encouraging residents to be on the lookout for birds not commonly found in the region. The Baltimore oriole, the indigo bunting, the purple martin these are some of the birds that have already made League City a rest stop for food, shelter, and nesting opportunities as they travel across the Texas Gulf Coast to their breeding grounds. Advertisement Article continues below this ad From a bird-watching journal where residents can take notes and track these birds to a kids' activity boo and a detailed guide to each bird, the city has put together guides on how to watch, what to watch for, and where to look for birds that are not common to the area. League City is already a year-round home to the Coopers hawk, great blue heron, yellow-crowned night heron, snowy egret, and roseate spoonbill and others, but spring migration gives citizens a glimpse of more exotic birds. This is a wonderful chance to us to see all these visiting birds that are migrating through our area, said Stephanie Polk, manager of the citys convention and visitors' bureau. Why is League City a major stop during spring migration? More than 1.3 million birds have been counted in the League City area during peak periods of spring migration, according to the citys website. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail runs the entire length of the Texas Gulf Coast and League City is located on the upper Texas coast portion of the trail, making it a top migration hotspot during peak periods. The reason for this is League Citys location on two North American migratory flyways, the central and Mississippi flyway, making it a major bird haven during spring migration. Our location in important because we are on the crossway of the two migratory flyways, so we get birds coming from South America who are flying for two months over the ocean and they are exhausted, explained Polk. When they get to our area, they see land and they are literally falling out of the sky. The birds rest, some for a few weeks, others longer. For instance, the Baltimore oriole makes its home in League City through May, while a few, like the ruby-throated hummingbird, might remain until October. Advertisement Article continues below this ad What is spring migration? There are two migration seasons for birds, spring, and the fall. Its a similar event to people migrating to a different climate that is better for their quality of life. Starting in March and April and lasting through May, millions of birds travel long distances to their breeding grounds. In the spring, they migrate north to find food, shelter, and nesting opportunities that accompany warmer weather. Its like a layover in between two flights, where League City is the bird layover. Advertisement Article continues below this ad What to look for when bird watching Size and shape: notice the birds overall size and shape, and the length of its legs, feet, and beak. Behavior: sounds, behaviors, and actions say something about what the bird: if its nesting, hunting or looking to mate. Habitat: certain birds are drawn to certain habitats. Identifying the habitat will help to identify the species. Plumage: the colors and patterns of a birds feathers can help determine gender. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Birds to watch through May and October Baltimore oriole: April-May Facts sheet: The state bird of Maryland, and sings flute-like, disjointed series of brief notes. Where: Heritage Park, Clear Creek Nature Center, and Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside. Indigo bunting: April-May Fact sheet: Travels at night and guided by stars. This bird can sing 200 songs per hour. Where: Heritage Park, Clear Creek Nature Center, Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside, and Rustic Oaks Park. Northern parula: March-May Fact sheet: Spends the winter in warm climates from Florida to Central America and feeds on insects and spiders and eats berries and other vegetation in the winter months. Where: Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside and Rustic Oaks Park. Painted bunting: March-May Fact sheet: Brightly colored and can be shy and hard to spot, sings from open perches and hops to the ground. Where: Clear Creek Nature Center, Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside, Challenger 7 Memorial Park, and Rustic Oaks Park. Purple martin: March-May Factsheet: Largest swallow in North America. This bird is known for its speed, and agility in flight, dives fast from the sky with wings tucked. The only bird that lives almost exclusively in man-made bird houses. Clear Creek Nature Center, Heritage Park, Challenger 7 Memorial Park, and Rustic Oaks Park. Ruby-throated hummingbird: March-October Factsheet: Identifiable by its metallic-green back and head; males have a bright red throat. This bird can hover in midair while flapping its wings 53 times per second and uses a long extendable tongue to catch insects. Where: Clear Creek Nature Center, Heritage Park, Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside, and Rustic Oaks Park Birdwatching stations: Heritage Park: 1220 Coryell St, League City Dr Ned and Fay Dudney Clear Creek Nature Center: GWH6+RH, League City, While most Alabama cities saw population increases in 2023, one in the booming Huntsville metro outpaced the rest. Athens, in fast-growing Limestone County, is now home to nearly 31,000 people, making it the fastest-growing Alabama city with more than 10,000 residents, new Census estimates show. Athens added 2,262 people from July 1, 2022- July 1, 2023, marking an increase of nearly 8% in a single year, according to the Census data released this week. The second fastest growing city, Foley, saw a 5% increase. Located along the Gulf Coast in fast-growing Baldwin County, Foley is now home to 24,873. (Cant see the map? Click here.) While Alabama saw population decreases in the Black Belt and three of the four major cities the states beach and college towns kept growing. Most of the 10 fastest-growing Alabama cities from 2022-2023 were in south Alabama, with five located in Baldwin County. And while the populations in most of the suburbs around Birmingham shrank over the year, Chelsea, home to 16,771 people in Shelby County, welcomed more than 550 people and grew by over 3%. Here are the 10 fastest growing cities in Alabama: Athens 7.9%: Located west of Huntsville, Athens added 2,262 people last year. Its now home to 30,904 in Limestone County, the fastest-growing county in Alabama. Foley (5)%: Located just north of the beach in fast-growing Baldwin County, Foley added 1,180 people last year. The city is now home to 24,873 Fairhope (4.6)%: Also located in Baldwin County on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, Fairhope welcomed 1,108 new residents last year, bringing its population to 24,974. Pike Road (4)%: This small city outside Montgomery continues to see rapid growth, adding 430 new people last year. Its now home to 11,117. In This small city outside Montgomery continues to see rapid growth, adding 430 new people last year. Its now home to 11,117. In 2022, Pike Road led the list of Alabamas fastest-growing cities. Gulf Shores (3.5)%: The beach city of 16,850 people in Baldwin County, welcomed 569 new residents to the Alabama coast last year. Chelsea (3.4)%: Located on the outskirts of Birmingham in Shelby County, Chelsea added another 556 residents last year. The small suburban city is now home to 16,771 people. Cullman (3.4%): Located in Cullman County, the city saw 648 added residents, putting the total population at 19,913 in 2023. Spanish Fort (2).5%: Located near the beach in Baldwin County, Spanish Fort added 268 new people. The city is now home to 10,923. Opelika (2.4)%: Located just outside Auburn in Lee County, Opelika grew 801 new residents for a total 2023 population of 33,572. Daphne (2.2%): Yet another fast-growing Baldwin County city, Daphne added 654 residents and is now home to 30,321. [Read more: These are Alabamas 10 fastest-growing counties] Heres a look at how the populations of these fast-growing cities have changed since 2020: (Cant see the chart? Click here.) With the possibility of a unionized workplace at Alabamas first auto plant seemingly in the rearview mirror for now, the states economic strategy for recruiting major employers is expected to remain status quo. But that comes with a cost dubbed the Alabama discount. Thats what union advocates and some workers use to describe the states practice of handing over millions of dollars in economic incentives to big companies like Mercedes-Benz without, they say, ensuring better working conditions and pay for the people who make the cars. Read more about the Alabama Mercedes union battle Though the United Auto Workers can still challenge the election results with the National Labor Relations Board, the vote tally on Friday showed about 56% of workers at the states two Mercedes plants in Vance and Woodstock opted against unionizing. Workers voted 2,045 to 2,642 against UAW representation. Nearly 5,100 production and maintenance workers at the automotive plant in Vance and the electric battery plant in Woodstock were eligible to vote. The most difficult fight so far The failure was unexpected by experts as well as union advocates, as 70% of workers in Alabama signed union authorization cards as of April. It came amid UAWs $40 million push for unionization in the South and on the heels of a landslide victory last month at Volkswagens factory in Chattanooga. The loss in Alabama is emblematic of UAWs uphill battle, experts say, in right-to-work states that have historically had strong resistance to unionization. The UAW still has the winds in its sails coming off its wins, said Abe Walker, an assistant professor of Sociology who researches the labor movement at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. While that momentum wont last forever, it also wont reverse course because the union lost what everyone knew would be its most difficult fight so far. UAW could still challenge the election results, especially since the outcome came down to a small number of votes. Either party will have five days to file any objections with the National Labor Relations Boards regional director in the southeast. Heres what the loss means for Alabamas economy, other automakers, and workers. What does it mean for workers? Pro-union workers at these two Mercedes plants said they hoped organizing could help them achieve better pay and retirement plans, as well as improvements to healthcare and working conditions. But some anti-union workers said they didnt trust union leadership to deliver on their promises. With the failure, workers could miss out on opportunities for increased pay and better benefits that unions typically negotiate, said Wafa Orman, associate dean of the College of Business at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. On the other hand, Orman said, some workplaces hire fewer people if unions negotiate for higher wages. That means some employers have less of a reason to cut back on manufacturing jobs in nonunionized workplaces, Orman added. While this failure could slow down further attempts to unionize, she said doesnt expect this to completely halt other efforts to unionize across the state amid a labor organizing push nationwide. Faiz Shakir is the president of More Perfect Union Solidarity, a media organization thats supported UAWs campaign in Alabama. He said he expects the labor organizing momentum among Alabama workers to spread to other industries, such as meatpacking. Amazon workers were courageous to try this. Vance workers were courageous to try this, Shakir said. Alabamas got no shortage of the types of workers who are over-indexed with the courage to take on powerful actors. While Haeden Wright, a senior organizer for Jobs to Move America who lives near Vance, expected a victory for UAW, she doesnt see the results as a total failure. It doesnt mean that they havent built power in their workplace, because theyve still come together, she said. Theyve already seen Mercedes making concessions just by having the threat of having a contract there. Earlier this year, Mercedes increased Alabama auto workers pay by 6% and ended its two-tier pay system. The companys U.S. CEO Michael Gobel also resigned after leading a mandatory anti-union meeting. What does it mean for automakers in Alabama? Mercedes-Benz was the first to open an automotive assembly plant in Alabama, back in 1993. Since then, others have joined in opening plants across the state: Honda in Lincoln, Hyundai in Montgomery, and Toyota in Huntsville. Alabama now leads the nation in passenger vehicle exports, shipping out $11 billion worth of cars last year. Workers at the Hyundai plant launched their own campaign to join the UAW in February, and experts say that the Mercedes-Benz result doesnt necessarily doom pushes elsewhere in Alabama largely because of timing. The UAW went on strike at a time when automakers profits were increasing, Orman said. They saw an opportunity and they went for it. If they tried to seek these tactics when profits were falling, it would have been disastrous. Stephen Silvia, politics and economics professor at American University and author of The UAWs Southern Gamble, said that the Alabama loss impacts UAWs ability to tell a compelling story as part of its southern campaign. Its a bump in the road after successfully negotiating contracts for unionized workers at Detroits Big Three car companies, and the recognition election with Volkswagen in Tennessee. But he added that he thinks successful labor organizing ultimately comes down to the local experience. If UAW loses at Mercedes, the extent to which that would hurt, for example, an organizing drive in Montgomery at Hyundai, could hit the margin, he said. But he said that he doubts those effects will be lasting. The most important thing is what your coworkers are thinking and saying, what your friends, what your relatives are saying, in your planet, in your community. What does this mean for Alabamas economy? Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and other political leaders across the state rejoiced over the news of UAWs failed election on Friday afternoon, calling it a win for the auto industry and Alabamas economy. I am grateful to these companies who provide good pay, benefits and opportunities to many men and women across our state, Ivey said in a statement. Automotive manufacturing is one of Alabamas crown jewel industries and number one in the country, and we are committed to keeping it that way. Keeping Alabama automotive plants nonunionized means that, in state leaders view, they can maintain the status quo as the top auto exporter and a major hub for manufacturing, Orman and Silvia said. But that comes at the expense of blue-collar workers, who lose out on pay and job security compared to unionized workers. Alabama politicians have tried to attract investment, and the way theyve attracted investment is to say we have low taxes, low regulation, low land prices, low cost of living, and we have low wages, Silvia said. You will have a lot of discretion in how you run a workplace because we have low unionization rate. A unionized workforce could also strengthen company loyalty and produce healthier workers, with improved healthcare access, Wright said. But Silvia said he believes that union representation wouldnt eliminate all the advantages to producing cars in southern states like Alabama. Yet, earlier this week Gov. Ivey signed a law that could incentivize current employers to avoid cooperating with unions in the future. The legislation allows Alabama to withhold economic incentives from companies that dont hold secret ballot elections or voluntarily recognize unions a shorter, more direct process than the election route that UAW took. Any companies that violate these provisions would have to repay incentives starting in 2025. When you have an election, that opens up the opportunity for anti-union consultants, Silvia said. To the extent that they do affect outcome, it would mean that unionization would be a little less likely, on average. A man is dead, a woman is fighting for her life and the womans infant daughter was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after the vehicle they were traveling in landed in a pond after it was shot into Friday night in Birmingham, police said. South Precinct Officers were dispatched to the 1500 block of Coosa Street on a call of a person shot, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. Officers began receiving updates on the incident and learned that a person was possibly shot inside of Greenwood Park, in the 3900 block of 16th Avenue North, said Fitzgerald. Officers responded to the park when they were flagged down by a community members who said a vehicle crashed into a pond in the park. Our officers then had to tread water to get into that vehicle, Fitzgerald said. Once they got to the vehicle, they observed an adult male inside the vehicle suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Officers also found an injured woman and an unharmed infant girl. Fitzgerald said the three victims are related but declined to detail their relationships. It was unknown whether the victims were targeted or were innocent bystanders. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, Fitzgerald said. BFRS personnel took the woman to UAB Hospital, where she is being treated for life-threatening injuries. The infant girl -- the womans daughter -- was taken to Childrens Hospital as a precautionary measure. Her main concern was her baby, just like you would expect from a mother, Fitzgerald said of the second injured victim. This womans been shot, her loved one, her friend, is deceased, and her main concern was the safety of her child -- to show you the character of that mother. Fitzgerald said police have a few unanswered questions. The major question is: where did the shooting happen? he said. Based on the location of the crashed vehicle, police believe the vehicle -- a red Dodge Charger -- was traveling on I-59 South. Police were working to determine where the original shots were fired and where the vehicle was when it was struck by gunfire. No suspects were in custody as of 7:45 p.m. Friday. Our detectives are going to remain [at the scene] as long as they need to, Fitzgerald said. The officer said it was pretty miraculous that the infant girl was unharmed. This incident tonight just points to how amazing our patrol officers and Birmingham police officers are, he said, adding that he viewed the body cam footage of the rescue. Our officers wasted no time getting into that water, doing their best to rescue whoever they can rescue, he said. This is just an example of what our officers put on the line each and every day to help save our community. A male victim died after he was shot Friday night in Mobile, police said. Officers responded to the 2300 block of St. Stephens Road on a report of a shooting. Police spokesman Blake Brown said the victim, only identified as a male, died of his injuries. The preliminary investigation revealed the shooting appeared to have occurred inside Baggz on the Fade, a business located on St. Stephens Road. Further information was unavailable. On Friday at 6:47 p.m. the National Weather Service issued an updated tornado watch in effect until 10 p.m. for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties. Tornado watches and warnings: Your safety guide When it comes to tornadoes, understanding the distinction between a Tornado watch and a Tornado warning can be a matter of life and death. Here's a breakdown: Tornado watch: Be prepared! A Tornado watch is your advance warning that conditions are ripe for tornado formation. It's your cue to review and discuss your emergency plans, check your supplies, and locate your safe room. While it doesn't indicate an imminent tornado, it's a heads-up to be prepared to take swift action if a Tornado warning is issued or if you suspect a tornado is approaching. Watches come from the Storm Prediction Center and often cover a large area, potentially spanning multiple counties or even states. Tornado warning: Take action! A Tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or detected by weather radar. This is the real deal there's an immediate threat to life and property. Your response should be swift: move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, away from windows. If you're in a mobile home, a vehicle, or caught outdoors, seek the nearest substantial shelter and shield yourself from flying debris. Warnings are issued by your local forecast office and pinpoint a much smaller area, typically the size of a city or a small county, where a tornado has been identified, either by radar or through reports from trained spotters and law enforcement. Knowing the difference between these two alerts is essential in staying safe during tornado season. Stay informed, have a plan, and act promptly when danger approaches. Prepare for a tornado Be weather-ready: Keep an eye on the weather forecast to stay informed about tornado risks. Tune in to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio for updates on tornado watches and warnings Sign up for notifications: Familiarize yourself with your community's warning systems. Some places have outdoor sirens, while others rely on media and smartphone alerts for severe storm notifications. Establish a communication plan: Create a family emergency plan that includes a designated meeting place and important contact information. If your home lacks a basement, identify a nearby safe building, like a church or a relative's house, that you can reach quickly. Choose a secure shelter: Pick a safe room within your home, such as a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor without windows. Practice your plan: Conduct a family severe thunderstorm drill regularly so everyone knows what to do if a tornado is approaching. Make sure all members of your family know to go there when tornado warnings are issued. Don't forget pets if time allows. Prepare your home: Consider having your safe room reinforced. You can find plans for reinforcing an interior room to provide better protection on the Federal Emergency Management Agency website. Extend a helping hand: Encourage your loved ones to prepare for the possibility of tornadoes. Take CPR training so you can help if someone is hurt. Tornado survival guide: Immediate actions for your safety When a tornado strikes, taking swift action is crucial to ensuring your safety and minimizing potential harm. Follow these guidelines from the weather service: Stay informed: To ensure your safety during a tornado, remember that acting promptly is crucial, according to the weather service. Stay informed about tornado watches and warnings through regular updates on local news or a NOAA Weather Radio. At home: If you are at home and a tornado warning is issued, make your way to the basement, a designated safe room, or an interior space away from windows. Don't forget to ensure the safety of your pets if time allows. At work or school: If you are at your workplace or school, adhere to tornado drill procedures. Move promptly and calmly to your designated tornado shelter, avoiding large open areas like cafeterias, gymnasiums, or auditoriums, and steer clear of windows. Outdoors: If a tornado is on its way, seek shelter inside a solid building immediately. Sheds, storage facilities, mobile homes, and tents are not safe places to be. In a vehicle: Being inside a vehicle during a tornado is highly unsafe. Your best course of action is to drive to the nearest shelter. If reaching shelter is not possible, either stay inside your car while covering your head, or abandon the vehicle and seek safety in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine. Always keep in mind that taking swift action and following established safety procedures are crucial for your well-being when a tornado threat is imminent. 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. It aint easy being white. I should know. On the Caucasian paleness spectrum, Im perilously close to albino. Ive seen cadavers with more color than moi. In a snowy landscape, Im practically invisible! And Ive lived my long, happy life thinking that the prevailing American culture has been all about respect for others, no matter which sex, no matter how different in appearance, no matter the level of melanin in their skin. Yet I woke up one morning, not too long ago, and found out that it was perfectly fine to discriminate against exactly one group of Americans: white people! And not only could you get away with dissing, demeaning, and disparaging Whitey in public, but it turns out theres only one shade of American whos even capable of racism. Who, you ask? Why, Whitey, thats who! You can say the most awful, despicable things about palefaces in general because theyre the only racists! Circular logic, anyone? Trying hard to understand the presumably sentient bipedal life forms of all hues and shades who actually believe such tripe, I asked myself: what have white people ever done for us, huh? Well, they formulated the polio vaccine, which, unlike the COVID vaccines, actually prevented both the acquisition and transmission of that terrible disease. And the telephone OK, Whitey did that. And the electric light bulb. And cardiac bypass surgery those awful Caucasians somehow developed that life-saving technique. But beyond that? Um, they built the printing press, the Sistine Chapel, and the Brooklyn Bridge. They invented the light bulb, the combustion engine, and the airplane. Yeah, but except for that, what have light-hued people ever really accomplished? Well, they discovered America, founded the thirteen colonies, and wrote the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and many thousands of them died to abolish slavery. Nevertheless, white folks are somehow now deemed the bad guy and must do penance for past offenses, based on what their distant relatives may, or may not, have done. Sounds fair to me! So whats a white guy to do? Educate Yourself You could read Robin DiAngelos White Fragility and try to realize that youre inherently racist, whether you know it or not, a view our first half-black president avidly subscribed to. Imagine how turbulent Barry Os heart, mind, and soul must be, knowing hes halfwhite supremacist! Or you could peruse Dr. Ibram Kendis How to Be an Anti-Racist, and realize its high time you got your richly deserved racial comeuppance. Go to College You may be old, pale, and inherently racist, but youre never too old to matriculate. Consider taking college-level courses to help you understand white privilege, intersectionality, colonialism, and reparations. Spend many thousands of dollars studying white rage, subconscious race discrimination, and white power structures. And then hope our pretend president wins re-election and subsequently forgives the student debt of anyone stupid enough to have spent thousands of dollars on such absolute poppycock. Fake It If you cant beat em, join em. White and got high cheekbones? Pretend youre Native American, like Liz Warren. Gets you a plum teaching position at Harvard. Have a penchant for fibs, dark makeup, and curling irons? Pretend youre a black woman, like Rachael Dolezal. Gets you a high-paying gig with the NAACP. Got a thing for donning blackface, like Ralph Northam, Jimmy Kimmel, or Justin Trudeau? Its perfectly fine, if youre the right (leftist) kind of white guy. Prostrate Yourself Just surrender, already. As some NYPD officers did during the mostly-peaceful BLM riots. Just kneel on the pavement and confess the sins your distant ancestors may, or may not, have committed. If you must, have a George Floyd likeness tattooed on your sad, pale epidermis. Or observe a moment of silence for St. George (the deceased criminal druggie, not the dragon-slayer) by wrapping yourself in Kente (not Kendi) cloth and kneeling down on the Capitol Building floor, like Nancy Pelosi and some other rather pallid Democrat losers did back in 2020. Like they care. Keep It Gay Youre white, and youre the worst. What to do? Well, do what Mel Brookss Roger DeBris would do. Keep it light, keep it bright, keep it gay! Thats right: ride on through to the other side, take a walk on the wild side, embrace the love that dares not speak its name. Gayness is the perfect antidote to whiteness. Youre a victim of the patriarchy whatever that is and you subsequently score significant points in the victim hierarchy. Only thing worse than a Caucasian is a straight one, amirite? Pray for a Better Time As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King would say, I have a dream. And the same way so many Americans in the past fought for the rights of black, Hispanic, Asian, and other minority citizens, I say its time we stopped denigrating white folks. Its time we valued the hard work, studiousness, punctuality, and lawfulness of every American, no matter the color of his skin. Its high time we judged people by the quality of their character, not the inborn and unchangeable unless youre Michael Jackson shade of their skin. Its past time to remove from office the indolent swine who peddle anti-white crap just to keep us at one anothers throats and thereby enrich themselves. Lets face it: every ethnic group known to man fears the other. It takes courage, maturity, and an abiding love for your fellow man to rise above the crowd. Prejudice, frankly, is the human condition. So all the halfwits presently hating Whitey are the exact sort of tools who hold the human race back, the same kind of jerks who formerly hated blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or whatever. But what would I know? Im white. Image via Pexels. In 1963, the BBC debuted Dr. Who, a show about an earth-friendly alien who zooms around time and space in his Tardis, a spaceship disguised as a 1960s-era police callbox. In every episode, he has exciting adventures with his female sidekick and often saves mankind from bad aliens. The original show was retired in 1983, only to be rebooted in 2005. Along the way, the Doctor periodically regenerated, allowing new actors to replace the old ones. The latest regeneration is a woke, black, gay guy. When audiences felt he failed in Dr. Who-ness, he told them not to watch...and it appears that 50% of them promptly turned off their sets. Dr. Who has always been a leftist show because its a BBC production. It routinely castigates Christianity, capitalism, and guns (although its perfectly willing to have the good guys take up arms and kill in defense of saving England). However, of late, the show decided to take a dive into the sexual aspect of cultural Marxism. When one of the most popular Dr. Who actors returned to the show for a 60th anniversary special, the BBC inserted transgenderism into the plot: Doctor Whos 60th anniversary special clarifies the pronouns of the Doctor after Jodie Whittakers regeneration. After being called out for assuming the creatures pronouns, the Doctor asks Beep the Meep what pronouns to use. The Meep says that, rather than using pronouns, the Meep uses the definite article in conjunction with the creatures name. The Doctor says, I do that too, providing a definitive answer to how the Doctor uses labels after regenerating as both a masculine-presenting and feminine-presenting Time Lord. Given that editorial direction, it was inevitable that Dr. Who would eventually be gay. Mizero Ncuto Gatwa, the latest Dr. Who, is a black man, born in Rwanda and partially raised in Scotland. Heres the trailer: Aside from that nice Rwandan-Scottish accent, you should have noticed two things watching that trailer. First, Gatwa couldnt look more gay...which the actor is. Second, did you notice the Disney+ logo in the lower right-hand corner of the video? Yup. Dr. Who is now part of the Disney franchise and Disney went straight to the LGBTQ corner of the room, not only casting Gatwa, but also casting Jinkx Monsoon, a drag queen. For Gatwa, his gayness is centrally important to his take on Dr. Who, along with other leftist shibboleths: Davies is keenly aware that we live in dark, challenging times, and he wants the series to reflect that with pointed references to political topics including abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Attacks on drag queens ... We just see the waves coming. And obviously, that's my world, says Davies, a gay man who frequently makes television about queer characters. I will always have something to say about that. Dr. Who fans were less enthused than Gatwa about seeing the venerable show used as a platform for cultural Marxism. However, Gatwa was unperturbed. Indeed, he sees his casting in a show that generations of children have enjoyed as a great groomi... er, educational opportunity: I think if youre 6 years old, you dont care not at all, he says. But nonetheless, as the world darkens and I do think the world is darkening around queer rights there is a joy and a celebration, and theres a community. Whether youre 12 years old and just beginning to work out who you are, 62 years old and youve never been who you are, or 61 years old like I am and beginning to worry about where we are in society there is a hero out there cutting his way through the universe, looking damn good in his suits and doing it with a laugh and a smile. And for those who arent onboard with having yet another Disney show turned into a forum for LGBTQ+ advocacy, Gatwa was clear: Dont watch. Turn off the TV. Go and touch grass, please, for Gods sake. Drag queen Jinkx Monsoon had the same message, opining that, if we lose some of the transphobic ones, dont let the door hit you on the way out! It turns out a lot of people took Gatwas and Monsoons advice50% of the audience to be precise: Unfortunately for them, thats exactly whats happened, with viewership for the last two episodes down 50%. The first episode last week, Space Babies, drew 2.6 million viewers. The second episode, The Devils Chord drew just 2.4 million. By comparison, the debut episode back in December boasted 4.7 million viewers (which itself was actually the lowest rated Doctor Who premiere since 1963). Only a single episode from 2017 (The Eaters of Light 2.89M) comes close to sinking as low as the ratings are now, in terms of viewership in the last eight years. Back in the day, everything that Mr. Walt Disney touched turned to gold. Lately, everything that the Walt Disney Corporation touches turns to dross. Im sad to see a once lovely company commit seppuku this way, but Im even more happy to see that most people are still resistant to the non-stop drumbeat trying to tell us that homosexuality or so-called transgenderism are normal, happy lifestyles. Theyre not. There will always be homosexuals and sexually confused people (usually a result of parenting issues and abuse), and a humane society does not persecute them. However, as ordinary people look at whats happening when homosexuality and its subsets are moved from the fringes of society to the center, they realize that this sexuality should not be either a societal norm or a goal.and the Dr. Who audience is leading the way. Image: Mizero Ncuto Gatwa. YouTube screen grab. I was recently made aware by one of our staunchly conservative county council members Amy Drake that one can plant solar panels in just about any farm field you want in Indiana without any permitting or rezoning whatsoever. A solar field suddenly showed up near my shop in St. Joseph County, Indiana. I made an erroneous assumption this required permitting to convert valuable farmland to a worthless solar field. Amy writes: Our current rules are wide open for solar. I wrote a few months ago how we received a special gold solar designation from a lobbyist organization, because our rules are so lax. We are highlighted on SolSmart's page here: St. Joseph County | SolSmart. We currently have measly set-back rules, shockingly less than even state standards (and remember the state also considers itself open for solar). Most disturbingly, no extra step is needed to go from agriculture to solar. So, for instance, an agriculturally zoned property can go straight to solar without any zoning change or special permitting use required. Even though solar farming has nothing to do with agriculture, and if anything, is more of an industrial use. Across the street from this blight, Microsoft is in the process of purchasing 900 acres of the most historic and prime farmland in this region to construct a data center right smack in the middle of a very rural and peaceful residential community. Zoning to industrial for this was just approved by the county council this week (6-3, three proper Republicans voting no but two Republicans joining all the Democrats in approval) despite a majority of local property owners objecting to it. Surrounding these two developments are several thousand more acres of prime farmland that the county has decided is best used for industrial purpose. Of course, they didnt ask anyone who actually lives here -- they made this decision from their offices in downtown South Bend. With the enormous power needs of this data center, availability of massive amounts of neighboring farmland easily convertible to glass panel fields and no requirement for permitting to install these panels on farmland, we fear this will forever change the landscape of the community. While some are working feverishly here to hold the construction of solar fields accountable to the public by zoning or at least permitting, the proliferation of these useless eyesores will march forward everywhere there are no boundaries. Elsewhere in Indiana, farmers who lease their land to these highly responsible solar companies can destroy the potential of the land to return to farming with impunity. "Dave Duttlinger's first thought when he saw a dense band of yellowish-brown dust smearing the sky above his Indiana farm was: I warned them this would happen. About 445 acres of his fields near Wheatfield, Indiana, are covered in solar panels and related machinery -- land that in April 2019 Duttlinger leased to Dunns Bridge Solar LLC, for one of the largest solar developments in the Midwest. On that blustery spring afternoon in 2022, Duttlinger said, his phone rang with questions from frustrated neighbors: Why is dust from your farm inside my truck? Inside my house? Who should I call to clean it up? ...Crews reshaped the landscape, spreading fine sand across large stretches of rich topsoil, Duttlinger said. When Reuters visited his farm last year and this spring, much of the land beneath the panels was covered in yellow-brown sand, where no plants grew. 'I'll never be able to grow anything on that field again,' the farmer said. About one-third of his approximately 1,200-acre farm -- where his family grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa for cattle -- has been leased." "...(W)hen he approached NextEra about the damage to his land, the company said it would review any remedial work needed at the end of its contract in 2073, as per the terms of the agreement." Repeat: 2073. Within the linked Reuters article lies a gloomy statistic: Researchers at American Farmland Trust, a non-profit farmland protection organization which champions what it calls Smart Solar, forecast last year that 83% of new solar energy development in the U.S. will be on farm and ranchland, unless current government policies changed. Nearly half would be on the nation's best land for producing food, fiber, and other crops, they warned. Solar power generation is not agricultural. It is industrial. Period. These are not solar farms, and using that language is both an insult to real farming and facilitates the notion that rezoning or permitting isnt required to convert farmland to solar fields. I implore you all to reach out to your lawmakers to create boundaries in your own communities before a solar field pops up in your backyard, and you had nothing to say about it. Image: National Archives In Itasca, Minnesota, the county jail just painted over its display of the Ten Commandments. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: DULUTH - The Ten Commandments display painted inside the Itasca County jail is no more, painted over with two coats. The list of religious texts stood two stories high inside the jail's gym until earlier this month, part of a recently completed $75 million justice complex in Grand Rapids. Other inspirational and religious quotes painted inside the jail were also covered, said Brett Skyles, Itasca County administrator. With two coats, no less, just to make sure a commandment or part thereof didnt eventually become visible. Other religious and inspirational quotes were also slathered into oblivion. I mean, why would somebody doing time need those, right? Truth be told, it would have been better for the jails inhabitants if they had read, say, Thou shalt not kill and Thou shalt not steal before they were incarcerated. Why was the decision made to obliterate the Ten Commandments? Brett Skyles, an Itasca County administrator, told the Star-Tribune: Ultimately, it just had to do with defending the situation and how many public dollars might be at risk there. Huh? In truth, the Freedom From Religion Foundation was involved. Imagine that. The Madison, Wisconsin-based organization claimed to have received 20 complaints about the jails pious and hope-inducing displays, most of them alleging they were unconstitutional due to violating the First Amendments establishment clause which states government must not advance any particular religion. Im pretty sure Thou shalt not kill and Thou shalt not steal are tenets of most religions and not specific to Christianity and/or Judaism. Itasca County commissioners recently informed constituents that theyd received hundreds of emails, calls and texts about the issue, the majority of them in favor of keeping the religious writing on the wall. Moreover, the jails voluntary faith-based programs are well attended, so it is unlikely the opposition came from inmates. But, as per usual, authorities bowed to the wishes of a tiny but aggressive minority, and to Hell with the majority. FFRFs co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, told the Star-Tribune: Even those who are incarcerated have the right to be free from religion. Nice take, Gaylor. Sadly, there are a great many things we are no longer free from, that we should be free from. Religion isnt one of them. And perhaps if the inmates werent already free from religion, they wouldnt be inmates and would be free. An Itasca county resident named Karen Ferlaak was one of those who could simply not abide the religious nature of some of the jails quotes and art work. She told the Star-Tribune, I don't mind sayings on the walls if theyre accurate and they're not religious based. Karen? Of course. Yes, Karen is a stickler, as such Karens are for accuracy, going straight to tell the management. But, even if the sayings are accurate, if they are religious-based, she wont stand for them. Not on her walls, and not on anyone elses. Non-religious, secular sayings such as, say, There once was a girl from Nantucket she can tolerate. Apparently, the authorities agree. Though I dont see how this potentially helps the inmates. Not that Karen, or the authorities, care about anything but how they think others see them. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License What happens when you live in a one-party blue city in a large urban area? With no political competition and no battles of ideas, just rule by rigging, it doesn't take long before the left starts to eat its own. Which is what we see in San Diego, where politics has turned into a Mexican telenovela. Amy Reichert, a Republican who ran for office a few times in that city, with no luck against this political machine, has outlined this clown show with this tasty tweet: Welcome to the San Diego soap opera Telenova with corruption, betrayal, power struggles & revenge. Characters include Lorena Gonzalez, Nora Vargas, & Cindy Chavez. Lorena Gonzalez is a Union Boss & head of the California Labor Federation. When her now-disgraced husband, pic.twitter.com/NKLQ52tviW Amy Reichert (@amyforsandiego) May 17, 2024 The storyline goes as follows: Nathan Fletcher, a rising Democrat politician who ran the county board of supervisors and became its most powerful politician after the mayor, was thrown out of office for sexually harassing young women on the job. But he was in deep with the public employee unions, such as SEIU, and seems to have owed them "debts." To 'deliver' for them, he named Cindy Chavez, a Santa Clara County labor leader who was became a county supervisor there, to become the city's Chief Administrative Officer, a $400,000 a year job administering an $8 billion city budget in what is sometimes called 'the mayor of the county' job. Obviously, a job like that requires some significant financial chops to avoid scandal stories about $60 billion losses on homeless programs as has been seen in corrupt San Francisco, but Chavez didn't have that, nor did she have any obvious ties to the city. The unions who supported her, according to La Prensa, didn't even know her. But one for all and all for one is the union way. Fletcher's successor, Nora Vargas, wasn't quite so malleable or unioned-up or in debt to unions as Fletcher, so she rescinded Fletcher's job offer and said she would be interviewing other candidates, which is her prerogative. That didn't go over well with unions, who were obviously going to get something from this appointment, wrecking their big plans for whatever it was they had going with Chavez, so they raised a stink and accused Vargas (note that name) of anti-Latina racism, despite, as Reichert notes, the city's top positions being comfortably overrepresented of Latinas of the leftist stripe, (conservative Latinas need not apply). In the San Diego Union-Tribune, dueling op-eds were run a couple days ago, one from Liz Ramirez, the leader of the Chicano Federation, who said she had behind her a host of similar Latino groups standing by Vargas (Nora, that is), and unioned-up Rep. Juan Vargas (no relation to Nora) who urged the former union leader Chavez to be reinstated in her job offer. As a sideshow, the activist demanded the resignation of a white labor leader, Bridget Browning, who had used vulgar Spanish-language argot against Vargas (Nora, that is) for squelching Chavez's appointment, and thus appropriated their culture. Vargas (the congressman) wrote the other op-ed and called that flap "a sideshow" and urged that the Latina activists forgive Browning for her vulgar language and Chavez to be brought onboard. Ramirez wrote: We will continue to stand in solidarity with workers, but we cannot condone discriminatory, vulgar and racist behavior. No one gets a pass on offensive behavior. No one. So lets put election year and insider politics aside and denounce hate speech. It has no space in our communities. We are better than that. Chicano Federation joined more than 130 other organizations denouncing Brigette Brownings racist and offensive attacks on Nora Vargas including organizations like the Latino Victory Fund, National Latina Business Women Association of San Diego, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, MAAC and MANA National and more than 100 Latino leaders across our state. We are all standing up in solidarity and saying no to hate. Because if we dont do it, then who will? We cannot stand by and allow vulgar speech like that used by Brigette Browning to be normalized. Its not OK! If people feel comfortable mocking Spanish speakers and Brown people at a public press conference, I can only imagine what they do behind closed doors. Chavez, based on the looks of her from her pictures, could best be described as a white Latina. But that's not stopping the union faction for calling anyone who opposes her as city manager anti-Latina racist, too, even if they are real Latinas, as Vargas is. Vargas (the congressman) wrote: We were disappointed to see that Ms. Cindy Chavez was removed from even being considered for the countys top job. Ms. Chavez is a highly qualified Latina leader who county supervisors themselves were ready to hire a year ago. The Santa Clara County supervisor would have been the first-ever Latina CAO in county history. As a first generation Mexican-American and someone committed to social and economic justice, it was an inspired choice. This week we also saw misleading attacks leveled against Labor Council President Brigette Browning after she fiercely questioned the countys decision. Prior to this current board, the county was long indifferent to the plight of San Diegans living in poverty. Ms. Chavezs support from unions and her pledge to prioritize economic justice would have been a strong step towards change and a new, brighter chapter. Mrs. Browning and the unions she leads were absolutely right to speak out forcefully for working people who will be the most harmed if a Latina leader like Ms. Chavez is not even considered. Thats exactly what unions should be doing: fighting for workers to be heard, holding those in positions of power accountable. Yet some in our community attacked Mrs. Browning for speaking out under the pretense that she used an insulting Spanish phrase. Were her words inartful? Maybe, and she has since made clear she never intended to insult or offend anyone. Vargas (the congressman) asserted that he was speaking out on his authority as a Latino. As a senior Latino elected official, I represent one of the most heavily Latino congressional districts in America. What does offend me is people purposefully distorting Mrs. Brownings words to mask their true intentions: undermining unions and dragging county government backwards. But it's not just a racism-on-racist matter as both sides are trying to gain the upper ground on, the Fletcher/Gonzalez/big labor faction is claiming that Vargas (Nora, that is), an avowed leftist, is in cahoots with that rara avis on the board of supervisors, Jim Desmond, who is a Republican. Desmond, see, is more powerful than any of the leftists in control in San Diego, with a Svengali-like power to get avowed Democrats, like Nora Vargas, to do what he wants. It's all pretty ridiculous, and it gets even more ridiculous when Amy Reichert brings up that Nora Vargas doesn't want Cindy Chavez anywhere near the city owing to some kind of love interest gone bad back when the pair were in the statehouse as most of these characters have been, including both Gonzalez and her wayward hubby Fletcher. She rightly calls it a backroom deal, this bringing in of the unqualified Chavez to a major job with control over the county purse and like anyone, including the Latina activists, she opposes it. Obviously, someone's ox is being gored here, there's no guarantee that Vargas (the county supervisor) will appoint someone less a crony, so the two leftist factions are going at it with all the racism accusations they can hurl. The Republicans, with no political power, stand on the sidelines as the fight over money and influence goes on. Meanwhile, the border stands wide open with San Diego at the epicenter of the migrant surge in, the migrants are rolling in by speedboat in broad daylight, crime is skyrocketing, the cops have retired at their desks, the potholes draw attention to Tijuana's superior street maintenance, and the beaches are being fouled by TJ's raw sewage. Sound like a telenovela? It does to a lot of us. Image: Screen shot from Office of Lorena Gonzalez video, via shareable YouTube Juan Angeles, left, cleans out a bedroom in his apartment in the aftermath of a severe storm, where the roof of his home was torn away, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer The day after a devastating storm swept through the city, leaving at least seven people dead and hundreds of thousands without power some possibly for days or even longer Houstonians picked across the wreckage of felled trees and shattered windows to assess the damage and begin rebuilding. This is a wow event, I keep telling myself, Wow, and Ive seen a lot, Mayor John Whitmire said Friday as he toured downtown with public safety officials, warning the public to stay away from the area. This is striking as to the intensity and the suddenness of this storm. The severe weather crashed through Thursday evening, with torrential rainfall and winds peaking at 100 mph downtown and a confirmed tornado near Cypress with peak winds of 110 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Advertisement Article continues below this ad WATCH THE ROAD: Search our map for the latest hazards on Houston roadways Area schools and some businesses closed Friday as crews worked to clear streets and highways and to restore power. People struggled with spotty cellphone service and gathered at neighbors homes to charge their devices. Chemical facilities and refineries flared gas. Houston Independent School District reported that nearly half of its campuses were without power and that dozens had damage from wind and trees. High-rise buildings downtown glowered like jack-o-lanterns, with windows blown out, the shards of glass scattered across the streets. Snapped trees blocked roads and punched through ceilings. Twisted metal sheets dangled from power lines. Families from a southwest Houston apartment complex scrambled to figure out what to do after the wind tore through, leaving shredded pink insulation scattered across a bed and their ceilings open to the sky. A man stands on his balcony near a fallen tree in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Mayor John Whitmire and Fire Chief Samuel Pena survey damaged buildings downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A man uses a chainsaw to cut up a tree that tore off the facade of this house at 27th and Ashland on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Isiah Turner, a volunteer with Trae the Truths Relief Gang, cuts branches from a tree that fell onto the roof of Carrie Turners home in the 200 block of De Haven, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer The entire roof of a house on Hogan Street came off after Thursdays storm Friday, May 17, 2024 in Northeast Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Children play amongst fallen tree branches at an apartment complex in the 4600 block of Sherwood in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Residents at the 174-unit Pleasant Hill Village Retirement Community in Fifth Ward line up for food provided by rap artist Trae tha Truth and his ReliefGang in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Travis Haggard assesses his pool after last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. The Haggards bought this new house and was waiting to remodel the house. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Olga Amaya, right, and Carlos Sanchez, from two families, grill tortillas for dinner because they lost power Friday, May 17, 2024 in Northeast Houston. A tree fell down in front of their house on 1700 block of Fulton Street during Thursdays storm. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Adrielle Palmer serves food, brought in by Trae tha Truth and his Relief Gang, to the residents at the 174-unit Pleasant Hill Village Retirement Community in Fifth Ward in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Residents of a northeast neighborhood of Houston wait for the city to remove wires tangled in a tree that fell into the yard due to a severe storm with high winds on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Carrie Jenkins stands in her living room by the light of her open front door, the only light in her home since she has been without power since the night before, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Glass debris from windows blown out of damaged buildings downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A tree fell through the roof and damaged a science lab during Thursdays storm Friday, May 17, 2024 at Pugh Elementary School in Houston. Two more classrooms in a portable building also sustained damages at the school. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Families at the Ravenswood apartment complex on Amelia Road in southwest Houston are looking for a place to stay after several units' roofs caved in during deadly storms on Thursday, May 16. Cleanup was ongoing on Friday. Ralph Green/Houston Chronicle Rap artist Trae the Truth and his ReliefGang serves pizza to residents at the 174-unit Pleasant Hill Village Retirement Community in Fifth Ward, that was without power in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Tree service crews climb atop an SUV to cut apart a tree that fell on it at an apartment complex in the 4600 block of Sherwood in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A worker works on a street light that was damaged downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Families at the Ravenswood apartment complex on Amelia Road in southwest Houston are looking for a place to stay after several units' roofs caved in during deadly storms on Thursday, May 16. Cleanup was ongoing on Friday. Ralph Green/Houston Chronicle Trae tha Truth, out doing storm relief work with his ReliefGang, cuts branches from a tree that fell onto Carrie Jenkins roof in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least five people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Families at the Ravenswood apartment complex on Amelia Road in southwest Houston are looking for a place to stay after several units' roofs caved in during deadly storms on Thursday, May 16. Cleanup was ongoing on Friday. Ralph Green/Houston Chronicle A worker digs out bricks from a collapsed wall near Commerce and Main Street downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Emilia Kobina, left, and Denise Kobina stand near a fallen transmission line tower along the US 290 feeder road as they walk Emiliaa dog, Zaid, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A Magnolia Park residents truck is damaged by a fallen tree after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Glass in a truck is blown out in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Tree removal workers moving tree debris after cutting down trees in the back of Ajay Singhs house Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. An electrical post fell onto Singhs roof so he had to put a tarp over the roof. Singh said he doesnt have water or power so he will be staying at a hotel. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Edgar Perez stand outside and an apartment that suffered damage and a fallen brick wall in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Tree removal serviceman Ricardo Vidal cuts down an uprooted tree on Harvard Street near East 7th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer David Figueroa, left, and Delmy Suazo toss bricks to a pile as they work to clean up debris after a wall came down at an apartment complex in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer David Figueroa, tosses bricks to a pile as as he works to clean up debris after a wall came down at an apartment complex in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A portable classroom is damaged from Thursdays storm Friday, May 17, 2024 at Pugh Elementary School in Houston. The portable building sustained roof and ceiling damages. Two portable classrooms were damaged and one regular classroom also sustained damages from a tree fell through the roof. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Workers repair a damaged street light downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Daniel Beagen walks through his damaged back yard Friday, May 17, 2024, at his home in Houston. A neighbor died during the storm. Im not going to sit here and whine about this, were blessed, were absolutely blessed, he said. Everything we lost can be replaced. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Tree removal serviceman Jose Navarrete removing an uprooted tree that went over the fence on Harvard Street near East 15th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Stray dogs wander after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A sheet of metal is tangled up with the anchor wire of an electrical post at Stude Park Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, center, speaks alongside Houston Mayor John Whitmire as they update the public after Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle) Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Neighbors survey damage around their homes near Bingle Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A resident in a northeast neighborhood of Houston repairs damages to his roof after a severe storm with damaging high winds passed through on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire, right, speaks alongside Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo as they update the public after Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A person walks up to check out an uprooted tree and downed wire thats blocking Norhill Boulevard at White Oak Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A US Postal Service truck is flipped on its side at the intersection of Bingle and Sowden in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, left, exchanges words with Houston Mayor John Whitmire as they update the public following Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A crane sits on top of a cement truck at an address where authorities say a man was killed when a crane fell on the cement truck he was sitting in during the previous nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A Dominican Sisters Of Houston helps a sister to get her car out of a tangled situation after an uprooted tree bringing down wires and is blocking Norhill Boulevard near White Oak Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Customers wait in a darkened dining room for their to go orders at Anitas Honduras Restaurant that lost power in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dionysius Torreros, of the City of Houston, works on clearing a tree that toppled across Bingle Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Workers remove a downed tree on Omar Street in the Heights on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle) Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle A Houston police officer walks back to his vehicle after clearing people away from a damaged tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Customers wait in a darkened dining room for their to go orders at Anitas Honduras Restaurant that lost power in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A building under construction that collapsed during last nights storm on Memorial Heights Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. According to a neighbors security camera, the building collapsed at 6:31pm Thursday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A car driving around a fallen tree, which blocks one southbound lane, on Studemont Street at Washington Avenue Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A snapped tree blocks one lane on southbound Studemont Street at Washington Avenue Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A woman films storm damage with her cell phone Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer People walk over broken glass to cross Louisiana Street on Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Neighbors looking at a building under construction that collapsed during last nights storm on Memorial Heights Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. According to a neighbors security camera, the building collapsed at 6:31pm Thursday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A woman crosses a street covered with debris and broken glass following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A crane sits on top of a cement truck at an address where authorities say a man was killed when a crane fell on the cement truck he was sitting in during the previous nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle) Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle) Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Neighborhood kids check out an uprooted tree thats blocking East 15th Street near Arlington Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Emilia Kobina, left, and Denise Kobina stand near a fallen transmission line tower along the US 290 feeder road as they walk Emiliaa dog, Zaid, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Emilia Kobina, left, and Denise Kobina stand near a fallen transmission line tower along the US 290 feeder road as they walk Emiliaa dog, Zaid, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Tree removal serviceman Jose Navarrete removing an uprooted tree that went over the fence on Harvard Street near East 15th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Tree removal serviceman Jose Navarrete removing an uprooted tree that went over the fence on Harvard Street near East 15th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Tree removal serviceman Jose Navarrete removing an uprooted tree that went over the fence on Harvard Street near East 15th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Daniel Beagen looks out his broken window Friday, May 17, 2024, at his home in Houston. A neighbor died during the storm that damaged his home. Im not going to sit here and whine about this, were blessed, were absolutely blessed, he said. Everything we lost can be replaced. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Daniel Beagen walks through his damaged back yard Friday, May 17, 2024, at his home in Houston. A neighbor died during the storm. Im not going to sit here and whine about this, were blessed, were absolutely blessed, he said. Everything we lost can be replaced. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Jose Vasquez wipes away sweat as he cuts up a large pecan tree that fell on a house Friday, May 17, 2024, near North Main Street in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Jose Vasquez wipes away sweat as he cuts up a large pecan tree that fell on a house Friday, May 17, 2024, near North Main Street in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A cyclist rides past a fallen transmission line tower along the US 290 feeder road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A window of Travis and Erin Haggards new house was blown in after the storm Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. The Haggards bought this new house and was waiting to remodel the house. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A Magnolia Park residents truck is damaged by a fallen tree after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Tree limbs fell and sat on a roof of a house at East 7th Street and Harvard STreet Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A Magnolia Park residents truck is damaged by a fallen tree after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer A Magnolia Park residents house is damaged by a fallen tree after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer United States Postal Service Letter Carrier Paris Washington walks around an uprooted tree uprooted that crushed Neil Peakes car on Harvard Street and East 7th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Peake said 30 seconds after his son took the trash can inside, the tree fell over Thursday night. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer The roof is blown away from the structure on East 7th Street near Harvard Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A woman stands on her balcony under a fallen tree in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer David Figueroa, left, and Delmy Suazo toss bricks to a pile as they work to clean up debris after a wall came down at an apartment complex in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A tree is seen toppled over on an apartment building in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Efrain Jimenez helps to cut down a tree that fell on a Magnolia Park residents house after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Laura, who wishes not to give her last name, tries to save her haus plants from last year from the bottom of an uprooted tree while tree removal serviceman Ricardo Vidal cuts down the tree on Harvard Street near East 7th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Bayron Angeles cleans out a bedroom in the aftermath of a severe storm, where the roof of the home was torn away, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Efrain Jimenez and Eduardo Lopez work to cut down a tree that fell on a Magnolia Park residents house after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Brandon Angeles cleans out a bedroom under a water-damaged ceiling in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Efrain Jimenez and Eduardo Lopez work to cut down a tree that fell on a Magnolia Park residents house after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Kenneth Roland, a barber, talks about his experience providing first aid to a woman who died the night before during a storm, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A tree uprooted and crushed Neil Peakes car on Harvard Street and East 7th Street Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Peake said 30 seconds after his son took the trash can inside, the tree fell over Thursday night. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Juan Angeles, left, cleans out a bedroom with his daughter, Samara, after the roof of the apartment was damaged in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Erasmo Guerrero pauses while talking about his late wife, Lydia Guerrero, who was killed the previous night when a tree branch fell on her during a storm, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Edgar Perez stand outside and an apartment that suffered damage and a fallen brick wall in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer John Weinel, 45, cuts down a tree that fell in front of his house after a severe storm with damaging winds hit Houston on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Maria Castillo cleans up water and debris from a broken window at her apartment in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Crews work to clean up debris after a wall came down in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fallen trees litter the street in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Adam Velazquez walks past an SUV that had its back window broken out in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Glass in the back of an SUV is blown out in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Virginia Ramirez surveys damage in the aftermath of a severe storm, that caused a tree in her yard to fall across the her street, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Virginia Ramirez surveys damage in the aftermath of a severe storm, that caused a tree in her yard to fall across the her street, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Virginia Ramirez takes photos from her front yard in the aftermath of a severe storm, that caused a tree to fall across the her street, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A Houston Police Department patrol car blocks off the intersection of White Oak Drive and Norhill Boulevard due to downed wire Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. A tall 18-wheeler drove past the intersection and brought down the already low-hanging wires to the ground. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Janet Melgar, left, and Veronica Caal make to go orders using the light of her phone and an open door after losing power at Anitas Honduras Restaurant on Hempstead Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Residents of a house on Norhill Boulevard near White Oak Drive assess their neighborhood Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. A tree on their property was uprooted in Thursdays storm and brought down wires, as well as blocking Norhill Boulevard. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Families check out damage in Woodlands Heights on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle Customers wait in a darkened dining room for their to go orders at Anitas Honduras Restaurant that lost power in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Ada Duarte takes to go orders using only the light of her phone after losing power at Anitas Honduras Restaurant on Hempstead Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A Dominican Sisters Of Houston helps a sister to get her car out of a tangled situation after an uprooted tree bringing down wires and is blocking Norhill Boulevard near White Oak Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer An uprooted tree and downed wire is blocking Norhill Boulevard at White Oak Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A tree sits on top of a vehicle at an address where authorities say a person was killed when a tree fell on her car during a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A person walks up to check out an uprooted tree and downed wire thats blocking Norhill Boulevard at White Oak Drive Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A Houston police officer walks back to his vehicle after clearing people away from a damaged tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A cyclist stops to take a photograph of a sheet of metal that got tangled up with the anchor wire of an electrical post at Stude Park Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Ethan Martinez, 12, right, and his grandfather Raymond Baeza, bending over, and his grandfathers brother, Lewis Beaza, standing, clear debris at Martinezs great-grandmothers house after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle) Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A television photojournalist shoots footage of damage at a tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Esther Ramirez, 88, eats breakfast on her porch as her two sons and great-grandson help clean debris from her yard after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. That was terrible, that wind was crazy, she said. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Dionysius Torreros, of the City of Houston, works on clearing a tree that toppled across Bingle Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer City of Houston crews work on clearing debris that fell across Bingle Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer City of Houston crews work on clearing debris that fell across Bingle Road in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Julio Ferrera, left, Jose Martinez and Amalia Mendoza clear debris after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Antonio Mendoza clears debris after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Jose Martinez, left, and his neighbor Antonio Mendoza clean up damage after a strong storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A man surveys damage from a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Two men clean debris and broken glass after last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A man works in a building with broken windows Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A woman films storm damage with her cell phone Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A woman crosses a street covered with debris and broken glass following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A woman films storm damage with her cell phone Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A man works as broken glass covers the sidewalk Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A Houston Police officer walks near the downtown headquarters Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer People walk over broken glass to cross Louisiana Street on Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Houston Police officers survey damage from last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A large tree blocks a road after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, near North Main Street in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, left, exchanges words with Houston Mayor John Whitmire as they update the public following Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire, right, speaks alongside Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo as they update the public after Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle) Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire listens as Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo updates the public after Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle) Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A resident of a northeast neighborhood is seen behind a mound of roofing scraps torn off the roof of his home by a severe storm with high winds on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, center, speaks alongside Houston Mayor John Whitmire as they update the public after Thursdays storms which brought damaging winds and rains to the Greater Houston area during a press conference at Houston TranStar, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Residents in a northeast neighborhood of Houston repair damages to a residents roof after a severe storm with damaging high winds passed through on Friday, May 17, 2024. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer People look at a collapsed wall near Commerce and Main Street downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Windows blown out of a walkway of a damaged building downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Windows blown out of a damaged building downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A Houston police officer wears a helmet to protect himself from more debris and falling glass out of windows blown out of damaged buildings downtown on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Houston Independent School District F. Mike Miles gives a press conference regarding to the storm damage assessment of the school district while a tree in the courtyard fell over Thursday night and damaged a classroom Friday, May 17, 2024 at Pugh Elementary School in Houston. Miles said the school district is planning to be back on Monday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A man carries water on his shoulder as volunteers at the Memorial Assistance Ministries distributed water and ice, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As of Saturday afternoon, 486,000 people in the Houston area remained without power after a Thursdays thunderstorms killed at least seven people. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Jose Guzman, front right, gets food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Guzman lives with his 75-year-old mom and his daughter. Its nice, he said, adding that hes never received food aid before. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climb. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank worked in the heat to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A volunteer sweats as she gives away food to people in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A box of food aid sits during a distribution in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climbed. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank organized the food giveaway to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Laundry-4U employees install new sheet metal siding along the roof of the business, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Laundry-4U employees install new sheet metal siding along the roof of the business, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Ramona Saldana and her husband Jose get food and water during a distribution in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. She said a tree fell on their house during the storm. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climb. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank worked in the heat to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Margaret Cantu waits in the heat to get food and water from volunteers Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Im trying to forget the storm, it really scares me, she said. Cantu, 68, lives with her 70-year-old husband. She said they dont have power. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Andrew Hallard, a mechanic with Harris County Precinct 4, works through the heat to distribute food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A woman keeps track of the number of vehicles served with food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Cecil Haney, a fleet manager with Harris County Precinct 4, works through the heat to distribute water and food in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Volunteers said the community center was still without power. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A line of electric trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Workers sit along on of several lines of tree trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky stage in a separate lot from the large number of electrical trucks at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A line of electric trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Women pass a chopped up tree on the trail at Memorial Park on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A man walks around a fallen tree on the trail at Memorial Park on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A tree bucket truck pulls into a parking lot staging area for electric trucks and tree trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Several propane tanks await refill at 2650 Tidwell Road on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A line of people wait to refill their propane tanks at 2650 Tidwell Road on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A man checks his laundry at the Pine Shadows apartments, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Daniel Valdez places a fresh bag of ice in a cooler his brought on foot from his apartment as volunteers at the Memorial Assistance Ministries distributed water and ice, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As of Saturday afternoon, 486,000 people in the Houston area remained without power after a Thursdays thunderstorms killed at least seven people. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Hector Garcia, owner of OSO Coffee Co., gives a fist-bump to Erica Mata, a regular at the small Navigation Boulevard establishment, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief, Garcia said, whose business hasnt had power since Thursday. There was a line around the block this morning. pEople are coming to charge their phones, just get some relief. For us, as a small shop, we needed to be open - if nothing else for our employees. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Hector Garcia, owner of OSO Coffee Co., hands a pair of puppuccinos to Lucia Maynec, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief, Garcia said, whose business hasnt had power since Thursday. There was a line around the block this morning. pEople are coming to charge their phones, just get some relief. For us, as a small shop, we needed to be open - if nothing else for our employees. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A man takes a photo of damaged windows along the side of Wells Fargo Plaza, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer In a city scarred by years of natural disasters from storms to flooding to a freeze that knocked out power for days it was a sobering reminder just two weeks ahead of hurricane seasons official kickoff. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Even so, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the damage to the northwest part of the county was less extreme than initially feared. She said she missed a call from President Joe Biden while she was on an aerial tour but plans to follow up with him and his team to combine a disaster request for the recent floods and Thursdays storm. POWER OUT? See where the outages are with our tracker Crews work to clean up debris in the aftermath of a severe storm at the Ravenwood apartments in the 7900 block of Amelia Road on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Austin Appleton, manager of disaster recovery for Harris Countys engineering department, said more assessments will happen over the weekend. The good news about all this is with the flooding about two weeks ago and the winds yesterday, we have not seen the level of damage we have expected, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But for many, the impact is still tangible. When the storm slammed into Carolyn Riveras house in the northeast Houston neighborhood of Settegast, she hit the floor and crawled to the bathroom. The power flickered out and never came back on. On Friday, she went outside to observe the aftermath. A tree had fallen atop the garage, damaging the edge of the roof and the windows beneath it. Already, volunteers had come by to tarp over where the window panes had been. She picked up a set of cables to connect a battery to solar panels and set off to a neighbors home. She took in the scene along the street some houses were obscured by debris, while others stood pristine, as though they had lived through entirely parallel timelines. She covered her mouth with her hand. It wasnt supposed to be like this As the winds roared along Buffalo Bayou, Texas Concrete worker Francisco Hernandez and his colleague dashed to shelter in their trucks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Two cranes plunged to the ground, hitting the trucks. One worker was injured. Hernandez was killed. He had a wife and three children. It was so sudden, said Pablo Bolanos, a plant operator for the company. PHOTOS OF THE DAMAGE: Images from the storm's destruction At least seven deaths across the region are connected to the storm, according to law enforcement officials from the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriffs Office. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One person died when the storm ripped through the 6800 block of North Main Street just south of 610 North Loop when three men were outside in a backyard. Two rushed indoors; when they tried to call for the third, he didnt respond. He was found under a fallen tree and pronounced dead. (Residents at the home declined to comment Friday. A neighbor, David Began, looked at a tree that fell on his home and said, Were blessed. Everything we lost can be fixed or replaced.) A sheet of metal is tangled up with the anchor wire of an electrical post at Stude Park Friday, May 17, 2024 at The Heights in Houston. (Yi Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle) Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Another man was driving when he saw a downed power pole and someone trying to move it. The man got out of his vehicle and attempted to help when he collapsed. Emergency responders arrived and took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An 85-year-old woman died after lightning struck her residence, according to Angelique Myers, a sheriff's office spokeswoman. A 60-year-old man was found not breathing in the seat of his truck near Cloverleaf. Hed gone to plug in his oxygen tank after the storm knocked out power. At Kenneth Rolands barbershop north of 610, the lights flickered as the skies dimmed. A woman named Lydia Guerrero stepped outside to move her car. The winds picked up. Her husband of 30 years went after her. He dashed back into the shop, begging for anyone to help save Guerrero from a mess of fallen tree branches. She was unconscious and bleeding. Roland and another customer carried her inside. Someone else did CPR. Others dialed 911. A family member drove off to flag down a police officer. It was too late. Guerreros husband, Erasmo, fought back tears Friday as he said, She was my life. WHAT TO DO? Here are some ways to get through the day without power Christin Martinez, a mother of four living in the greater East End, went outside to try to move the familys only vehicle when a tree fell on it. Her husband heard the crack. On Friday morning, Martinezs brother-in-law, Paul Garza, drove to the familys home. He could see the fallen tree. The cars hatch was still open, revealing a stroller for Martinezs months-old baby. She was a good mom, Garza said. She was just being considerate. It wasnt supposed to be like this. Stray dogs wander after a storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle) Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Power outages continue At Kroger on 20th Street in the Heights on Friday morning, people lined up to grab emergency supplies. They left with cases of water, bags of ice and cold cuts to keep them fed for a few days. A Kroger staff member stood in front of the entrance, allowing people to enter one by one, shouting, We can only take card! Mary Young made her way to the grocery from her Houston Heights Tower apartment on 19th Street to buy cold cuts. Her apartment was without power, she said, and she had nothing to eat. Restoring power to the hardest-hit areas will take several days or even longer, CenterPoint Energy said in a Friday morning statement. At the height of the outages, nearly 922,000 customers lost power, according to the company. The company serves approximately 2.6 million customers across the Houston area. The hardest-hit area was likely over the U.S. 290 corridor from Jersey Village to Waller, in the north region west of Interstate 45, according to CenterPoint. OPEN OR CLOSED: Which Houston restaurants and bars are open and closed following severe storm? On Friday afternoon, Hidalgo said there is some optimism that outages in the region could be repaired in days not weeks after a conversation with CenterPoint officials about the potential to bypass damaged transmission lines. Without power, some Houstonains trekked to the next logical place: Starbucks. The drive-thru line at the location along Shepherd, on the western edge of Montrose, snaked onto the street. So did the one at the Dunkin' Donuts a few blocks north at San Felipe. A tree, presumably, knocked out the power at Cade Sessions' Heights home. He fled south to Dunkin' for breakfast. "You go to one part of the city and it looks like everything got torn up," Sessions said. "You go a couple streets over and nothing." Until his power comes back on, Sessions said his plan was to just grab and go. "I mean, what else can you do?" he said. Amalia Mendoza walks among downed trees Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle) Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A neighborhood helps itself Carolyn Rivera didnt have to remain in her powerless house in Settegast. Her daughter, who still had power, had asked her to come stay with her. But Rivera wanted to stay. She wanted to help. And she had the supplies and the people to do it. She pulled out a binder labeled NAC short for Northeast Action Collective, a grassroots organization in which neighbors help neighbors in northeast Houston and flipped to her roster. There, the names of people who lived nearby were listed, along with their medications. Rivera runs one of Northeast Action Collectives Hub Houses, meaning her home is stocked with supplies for neighbors in case of a storm. Her garage is packed with generators large and small, shelf-stable foods, water, socks, bug spray bottles, first aid kits, diapers and over-the-counter medications. She looked at her roster and dialed 73-year-old Larry Duplechin. Im not doing good, he said. While he had been sitting at his kitchen Thursday evening, outfitted with crisp white cabinets he had installed himself, he heard a roar. Then, a BOOM. His living room was gone. With it, the door to his house. He was trapped inside. Broken windows are seen following last nights storm Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Two Northeast Action Collective organizers, Felix Kapoor and Andrew Barley, arrived, and they and Rivera walked to Duplechins house, where his nephew and brother were removing debris. Already, they had removed enough for him to emerge. My God, Larry! Rivera exclaimed. What? Duplechin asked, standing within his kitchen, which was exposed like a dollhouse. A chandelier hung from the beam that divided the untouched portion of his house from the part that was destroyed. How did you get through this? Barley brought over waters and snack-size packages of peanuts. Kapoor asked if he could call contractors to help. Duplechin looked at his living room and decided: He wasnt going to get upset. My favorite pastime is watching TV, he said. Its a real flat screen now. Back in January, AT posted Terrorist attacks in America: for what are they waiting? I noted: The FBI has admitted theyre watching at least 300 people on the Terrorist Watch List (TWL). Never mind why people on the TWL were allowed into the country so they could be watched in the first place. Thats need to know and Americans dont have a need to know. Our security apparatus has also admitted thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of military aged males from countries that would like every American dead have crossed the border. These are countries like Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and many others. Theyve also grudgingly admitted it appears plenty of these military aged males, who happen to be Chinese, just might be members of the Chinese military. Thats the military aged males with whom they briefly chatted before giving them free rides on buses or jets to their preferred destinations. There are loads more gotawayspeople they saw but didnt chat with or give free rides--and even more they never saw. As I also noted in that article, the FBI, and other governmental agencies supposedly responsible for deterring and intercepting acts of terror, had begun warning there were probably people in America who kind of, sort of, maybe, represented a danger of terrorist strikes. Since January, our feckless FBI Director, Christopher Wray, has, on multiple occasions, admitted the foreign terrorist threat levelinside Americais at unprecedented heights. For instance, two terrorists tried to breach a Marine base on May 3. All we know is they were caught, one is a Jordanian who recently crossed the northern borderprobably illegally, but no one is sayingand the other, who remains unidentified, was on the Terrorist Watch List. Did they have guns? Explosives? Who sent them? We have no need to know. Adding to the fun, our crackerjack State Department just issued a worldwide caution: Graphic: government warning They just noticed traveling while American is dangerous? Since January, tens, even hundreds of thousands of terrorists, spies and Chinese military personnel have swarmed over our borders, unvetted, in many cases unobserved. Theyre not here to defect or sell Girl Scout cookies. Why is the world so dangerous for Americans? There are a number of simple reasons: *The utter failure of Biden deterrence. Our enemies know Joe Bidenactually his handlersnot only negotiate with terrorists, he negotiates for terrorists. He pretends to support our allies while simultaneously funding their, and our, enemies. Whatever weak response our armed forces are allowed to make commonly involves bombing an empty warehouse because Biden warned our enemies beforehand. There is little, usually no, downside to attacking America, and perhaps a bit less to attacking Americas allies. *It pays to threaten and harm America. Biden has paid billions for a handful of hostages, so our enemies, in the best capitalist tradition, know business is good and take more. They know Biden will eventually make them billionaires, and in the meantime, they have plenty of time to amuse themselves with rape and torture. Oh yes, they rape men, too. *Beyond direct hostage payments, Biden directs billions to our terrorist enemies via the State Department, UN, NGOs and other useful idiots/enemies of America. Hamas, for example, takes virtually all the aid pouring into Gaza, and recently mortared the pier Biden sent to pour in more. *Our enemies know Democrats/socialist/communists (d/s/cs), like those in power in the State Department, believe merely talking to ones enemies is the highest diplomatic achievement. Not only do they care nothing for advancing Americas interests, they think the second highest diplomatic achievement is giving our enemies everything they want. Nor do our traitorous diplomats set any time limit on negotiations, particularly when theyre going badly for America, which is always. It would be wise for Americans, in this at least, to take the governments advice. Theyre making these warnings because theyre scared to death there will be mass terrorist atrocities in America before the election, and theyll take the electoral blame. Theyre not worried about American casualties; theyre worried about losing power. At least with all the warnings, they can say: see? We told you so! Its Trump's, Traditional, Radical Catholic's and MAGAs fault! The border is secure and the economy is great! Just this once, it might be a good idea to put off foreign travel untilifwe have a president who actually gives a damn about America and Americans. True, most of our blue cities and states are akin to third world war zones, but at least people can still escape to red America without having to dodge hordes of Islamist madmen. At least for the moment--and outside of Michigan. Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor. The recent construction of a humanitarian aid pier in Gaza has been widely touted as a crucial lifeline for the citizens of Gaza. However, few people realize the true nature of this initiative. This pier is nothing more than a photo op, a charade akin to fake wrestling on steroids, suggesting that Israel is failing to provide for Gaza's needs and that the U.S. had to step in. This narrative distracts from the real issues at hand and misleads the international community about the situation in Gaza. First, let's address the claim of starvation in Gaza. There are no bloated belly pictures of starving Biafran, Ethiopian, and Rwandan children in Gaza because there are no such cases of starvation. The people of Gaza are not starving, and the portrayal of such is misleading. The idea that a humanitarian aid pier is necessary to prevent starvation is a fabrication designed to garner sympathy and justify unnecessary intervention. Most of the hundreds of humanitarian supplies trucks rolling into Gaza every day are routinely hijacked by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. These supplies, intended to help civilians, are often diverted to support terrorist activities. This misuse of aid is a significant issue that the media frequently overlooks. Building an expensive pier, as insisted upon by Biden and Blinken, is just a political maneuver to look good in the eyes of their voter base, which is increasingly radical left and anti-Israel. There is no humanitarian crisis, and there are no starving children in Gaza. This pier is an unnecessary expenditure and a distraction from the real problem. In historical context, there were no humanitarian piers in Afghanistan built to feed Taliban civilians, nor were there hundreds of American humanitarian aid trucks flowing into Berlin to feed Nazi civilians during WWII. The current situation in Gaza should be viewed through a similar lens. Humanitarian efforts should not enable or embolden terrorist activities. The best way to ease Arab civilian suffering during the war in Gaza is to allow Israel to unleash its full military might on Hamas and to win this war decisively. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists and their Palestinian civilian cohorts made an unprovoked invasion of Israel, killing more than 1,000 innocent Jewish civilians. We have the right to fight and win this war that we did not start. Forcing Israel to fight with one hand tied behind its back and feed their enemies with the other is unfair and only prolongs human suffering. Despite this, Israel has provided tons of humanitarian aid to the citizens in Gaza, but their leaders take the food and trade it for weapons or sell it for high prices. It's a sham. War is not pretty, but this war, started after the savage Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, is the most just war since WWII. In war, civilians often are killed unintentionally, and more than 80% of Arab civilians in Gaza have consistently supported the intentional October 7 massacre. If a few thousand of them lose a few meals or are killed or wounded in this very justified war, neither I nor most of my fellow Israelis will lose any sleep. I will not shed any crocodile tears over the stopping of aid trucks. Wars are won by defeating the enemy. This includes both the Hamas terrorists and the Hamas-supporting civilians. The U.S. media needs to report on this accurately. Unfortunately, this includes many in conservative media who do not understand the sham going on in Gaza. The Shiloh Israel Children's Fund is dedicated to healing the trauma of children who have been victims of terrorist attacks. We provide therapeutic, educational, and recreational programs to help these children rebuild their lives. For more information and to support our efforts, please visit IsraelChildren.org. David Rubin is the former mayor of Shiloh, Israel, and a noted author and speaker on Israeli politics and security. He is also the founder of the Shiloh Israel Children's Fund, dedicated to healing the trauma of children who have been victims of terrorist attacks. Image: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Hamas is not unique in taking hostages, although its genocidal fury and the sheer number of hostages seized are unique. In fact, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Afghanistan, China, Syria, Haiti, North Korea, Somalia, the Philippines, and the Palestinian Authority are all pariah governments that take hostages for profit or political purposes. Using hostages for shields or as pawns in a negotiation is an exceptionally effective tactic in asymmetric warfare by a weak combatant against a moral one. An adversary can turn Western values on its head by forcing the good guys to kill their own countrymen by engaging in war to recover them, by negotiating for the hostages, which creates a bargaining chip for an enemy that should have no ability to bargain, or by abandoning the fight and yielding to the enemy in the hope of recovering the hostages. Israels choosing the first option has subjected her to worldwide condemnation. Bidens new redline is the protection of non-combatants but offers no solution for winning against an enemy that uses hostages to maximize collateral damage. Once, Western nations recognized that there was a price to pay for stealing enemy civilians as pawns in war. Those days are gone. And because we no longer know where to assign moral blame for hostage-taking, its a factor in breaking apart Western civilization. Since October 7, Israelis have been split between those wanting their loved ones back at any cost and the reality of how few hostages will be returned if Israel destroys Hamas, which should have a profound deterrent effect on future hostage-taking. Those who want the former also want to force Israel to lose the war. The paradox of hostage-taking makes it unlike any other crime or act of war. When war or terrorism kills or maims, you can still find closure. However, wondering if your loved one is dead or alive, in pain or fear, and with the foreboding belief that they are not likely to come home alive, what could be worse? Hostage-taking is the most emotional of crimes. Those close to the abductee are left feeling powerless, manipulated, and pawns in a larger game, a game they have no central part to play except to be victims. Whether a hostage taken in the October 7th Hamas raid or 276 young, primarily Christian girls taken by Boko Haram, the intent was both political and financial and sometimes for clan or tribal reasons. Hostage-taking is simply terrorism by other means. The only way to fight terrorism is to eliminate them and never let them believe they can win with that tactic. To do otherwise encourages more acts of terrorism. I fear that the mass hostage-taking in Israel signifies a new chapter in the history of taking hostages. Never before in modern history could a nation be beaten militarily by caving to hostage-takers. The decisions Israel undertook to save a small number of hostages must be weighed against the real possibility of losing the war (or calling it a draw) for the first time. You would hear the joyful screams of Muslims all over the world celebrating their victory while planning underway for the next October 7th if we do not learn our lesson and not reward the tactic. Unless the practice of hostage-taking is beaten decisively, all our enemies will realize that a new trump card is in play. Who will be the next adversary to throw down that card? Only in the Bible (Matthew 5:5) do the strong not prevail. God Bless America. Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com Image by AI. The recent statement by the former Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley We slaughtered people in massive numbers, innocent people who had nothing to do with their government, men, women, and children is a rare admission by someone in his rank. At the same time, in March 2023, still on active duty, Milley said that Ukrainians on the current battlefields are the sons and grandsons of the people who fought against Stalin and Zhukov. Not sure if he realizes that both these statements actually disparage or even betray American World War II veterans, since Milley should have known that we were allies with Stalin in the war with the Nazis. Still, when it comes to the war in Ukraine, which is at the center of the current crisis, one should admit that Milleys rhetoric is less dangerous compared with what is emanating from Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan or some of their NATO and E.U. colleagues, like Sunak, Macron, Scholz, Duda, and co. It seems there is no indication that they are prepared to listen to the sober voices calling to give a chance for diplomacy to end the Ukraine war. In the U.S., the list of these voices is long and includes university professors and think-tank experts; retired military, intelligence officers, and diplomats; journalists; and even members of Congress regrettably, so far, only Republicans. Their opinion was recently summarized by George Beebe and Anatol Lieven, who said the conventional wisdom that a negotiated end to the Ukraine war is neither possible nor desirable is false. They correctly observed that the war is not trending toward a stable stalemate but toward Ukraines eventual collapse. Instead, House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries did not rule out that the U.S. would have to send troops to the Ukrainian conflict zone if Kyiv is defeated. We cant let Ukraine fall because if that happens, there is a significant possibility that America will have to get involved in the conflict, not just with our money, but with our troops, Jeffries said. He also claimed that a pro-Russian faction within the Republican Party was gaining momentum and does not want to support Ukraine and believes that Russia is not an enemy of the United States. Taking into account that all this is going on in the middle of the presidential campaign, where the level of hateful rhetoric is unprecedented, there is an additional danger of using this conflict to gain an advantage in the polls. Speaking from what is called the Public Diplomacy circle, let us throw an idea to use the upcoming June 6 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy to initiate the process settlement in Ukraine that would bring broader stability in Europe and the world. As the great American historian and a former senior international correspondent for the Washington Times, Martin Sieff, said, The success of D-Day was only made possible by annihilating the German Army Group Center in the East. That supreme Soviet victory did not just break the back of the still formidable Wehrmacht: It vaporized it. In the end, nine out of every 10 German soldiers killed in World War II were killed by the Red Army, as Winston Churchill openly admitted. Inviting Russia to join in these celebrations would be a grandstand showing that at least some of the sacred values of Western civilization are still alive. Image: The Presidential Administration of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. We learned weeks ago from Special Counsel Robert Hur that President Biden, to be charitable, is an old man with a bad memory. Therefore, Mr. Hur decided not to indict the President because the jury might learn that the man with the last word on using nuclear weapons can't think straight. So the GOP wants to hear the audio of that interview between the President and Hur. And AG Merrick Garland is objecting with that "executive privilege" card. The GOP wants to issue a subpoena. Here is the story: The House Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of special counsel Robert K. Hurs interviews with President Biden over his mishandling of classified documents. The Republican-led panel voted 18-15 hours after the president sought to shield the attorney general. Mr. Biden asserted executive privilege over the audiotapes that Mr. Hur used during his two-day interview in October. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, said the presidents last-minute executive privilege assertion underscores the recordings unique perspective and that the panel wants to review them to determine whether Mr. Biden received favorable treatment by the Justice Department. Okay. So what's going on? The subpoena is proper if the DoJ continues to play the privilege card game. What happened to transparency or equal application of the law? The larger issue is the President's mental state or that cognitive word that we hear often. Don't we have the right to know just how bad the president's memory is? Yes, we have a transcript but hearing his voice will tell us a lot more. P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. Image: PickPik I have been patiently waiting for someone in the media to explain the meaning of tariff to the general public, rather than going on endlessly about the implications of imposing, for example, a 50% tariff on vehicles, a 20% tariff on steel, and a 10% tariff on aluminum on foreign nations, specifically now on China. Its my belief that the general public would like an overview explaining tariffs instead of listening to political tirades from numerous politicians and knee-jerk journalists, reporters, editors, and talking heads about what might happen if the United States adopts these new tariffs. Im no economist, but my undergraduate degree from the George Washington University was in American studies. I worked at U.S. Customs in the 1980s, having interacted directly with the commissioner of customs on a number of issues, including his frustrating attempts to interest Congress in the boring subject of revising tariff laws for trade equality/reciprocity with foreign nations. Congress was much more interested in U.S. Customs other mission, law enforcement, which included immigration and illegal activities including alcohol and drug interdiction, all of which I was party to as well. U.S. Customs, at that time (until 2003), was a part of the U.S. Treasury. Why? To collect tariffs. Whats a tariff? Simply stated, its an import tax (AKA a duty) on foreign goods, primarily in place to protect and support U.S. economic and financial interests, including industry and defense. Tax = money (AKA revenue), and therefore the U.S. Treasury, through U.S. Customs, was directly involved. Now lets briefly go back in history for a perspective. The Revolutionary War created much debt for the newly formed United States, and since Congress had not enacted any domestic taxes, there was no method of collecting income. The U.S. Customs Service was created shortly after ratifying the U.S. Constitution in 1789 to provide revenue through the collection of duties and tariffs on imported goods from foreign nations. For more than 100 years, until the emergence of the United States as a world power at the end of the 19th century, the U.S. Customs Service collected the vast majority of revenue to sufficiently fund the U.S. government and military. When the revenue was deemed no longer adequate, Congress eventually enacted the 16th Amendment in 1913, which created domestic income taxes, collected by what is known today as the Internal Revenue Service, also under the umbrella of the U.S. Treasury. It is generally accepted that up until World War II, most of our tariff laws were intended to strongly protect U.S. industries and defense interests. Some were effective, some not. Controversy on different tariffs throughout our U.S. history was nearly always present, so this newest debate should not come as a surprise, except to many of those in the media. After World War II, the United States was tasked with rebuilding much of the world, including our allies and our vanquished enemies, in order to promote the creation of democracies, stability, and world peace. Uncle Sam, as the emerging global superpower with deep pockets and unequaled industrial might, did not pay much attention to the many foreign nations that imposed more restrictions and tariffs on U.S. imports than we did on similar foreign imports, to promote and protect their interests. These domestic and foreign tariff policies helped to create large trade imbalances and cheaper imported goods than domestic ones, with a few modern trade agreements exceptions attempting to create a more level playing field. In todays fiercely competitive global economy, we can no longer have a tariff laissez-fare attitude, where the United States gives more than it receives. Bottom line: When trading with foreign nations, we need to push for tariff reciprocity and, when necessary, enact stiffer tariff protections for our industries and defense interests. Image: pasja1000 via Pixabay, Pixabay License. It seems like Google cant go more than a few months without some AI-related controversy on its hands. The company recently unveiled its AI Overviews during Google I/O 2024, and much of the web is reacting negatively. Thats surprising seeing as this technology ONLY threatens to put millions of sites out of business just to cater to people who are too lazy to scroll halfway down the page and read a few links. Anyway, heres how to disable AI Overviews. Currently, Google does not offer a native way of bypassing AI Overviews, so these will require a few extra steps. Also, since there arent any native methods of doing so, results may vary across different platforms. So, youll need to keep this in mind. First off, what are AI Overviews? AI Overviews is a feature just released by Google, that uses Gemini to create AI-generated overviews of your Google searches. For example, if you search how to swaddle a baby, Google will give you a concise explanation. So, this tool basically gives you short and sweet answers to your searches. Well, whats the problem? The issue is that using AI Overviews gives you the opportunity to forgo visiting websites that would give you useful information. This is bad because those websites depend on your visit. Whenever you visit a website, you contribute to the ad revenue that the site gets. If no one visits the website, then the site cannot receive ad revenue, and many of them will be receiving no money whatsoever. This will force them to shut down. Millions of websites across the internet depend on the ad revenue provided by traffic, but many websites are seeing drastic drops in traffic. Several sites have reported seeing an over 90% drop in traffic, and that significantly cuts their revenue. How to disable AI Overviews Hopefully, Google will eventually provide a way to natively disable AI Overviews. However, in the meantime, you will have to rely on some different methods. Hide Google AI overview Chrome extension A pretty simple way of getting rid of AI Overviews is using the dedicated Chrome extension. Unfortunately, since this is a Chrome extension, you cannot use it in other browsers. Also, this means that you cannot use it with the Chrome mobile app. So, if you mostly use the Chrome desktop application, then you will be able to use it. Go to the Hide Google AI Overviews extension page, and click on the add to Chrome button. When you do that, you will see a pop-up appear asking if you want to give the extension permission to read and change site data. The only sites data it can change is Googles. Once you install it, you will be good to go. Using the Web filter While Google does not give you an option to completely block AI Overviews, we have to give the company some credit for providing at least some way to sidestep the feature. When you do a Google search, you will see a horizontal row of buttons including All, Videos, Images, Forums, Shopping, News, Etc. When Google introduced AI Overviews, the company brought in a Web filter. When you click on the web button, it will show you the traditional results with no overview. If you want to use that method, youll have to do it for each search you make. Removing AI Overviews for desktop browsers If you want to always get results through the Web filter, you can do so as well. However, this method is a little bit more involved. This method wont get rid of it entirely. What it will do is make it so that, when you do a Google search, youll automatically be sent to the results under the Web filter. This process will differ depending on the browser youre using, but youll be basically doing the same thing. Chrome First, youll want to go to your settings in the Chrome application for your desktop. In your settings, go to the Search engine section using the side panel on the left side of the screen. In that section, click on the Manage search engine and site search button. However, if you dont feel like going through the settings, you can simply type this into the search bar: chrome://settings/searchEngines. On the resulting page, click on the Add button under the search engines section. When you do that, youll see a pop-up with three text fields. In the name field, type Google (Web). Next, in the shortcut field, type: google.com. Lastly, in the URL with %s in place of query, type: {google:baseURL}/search?udm=14&q=%s. After you add that new search engine, you will see it appear at the top of the list of search engines. At the right side of that new search engine, click on the three-dot button. In the little drop-down menu, click on the Make default button. After doing that, every time you do a Google search, the results will pop up under the Web filter. Edge When using Microsoft Edge on your computer, the process is pretty similar. Both browsers are based on Chromium, so many of the menus and settings are in similar parts. However, there are some key differences. On your home screen, click on the three-dot menu at the top right of the screen and click on the Settings button at the bottom of the drop-down. On the general settings screen, click on the Privacy, search, and services button on the left panel. Scroll down on the resulting page, until you see the Address bar and search button. This will be near the bottom of the screen. Once you do that, click on the manage search engines button on the resulting screen. The next screen you see will be a rundown of all of the default search engines on your browser. On this screen, youll be able to add, edit, and remove default search engines from your browser. Click on the Add button at the top right of the screen. When you do that, youll see a popup appear with similar text fields to what you see in Chrome. Enter the name you want to call the search engine (it doesnt have to be specific). Under that, add a shortcut name. Lastly, youre going to want to paste: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 into the bottom field. After saving it, find your new default search engine in the list and click on the three-dot button. Click on the Make default button. Once you do that, any Google search you make will bring you to the web results. Safari Things are a little complicated with Safari, as it involves installing an extension. Since Safari doesnt allow you to set custom shortcuts out of the box, youll need to install the Smart Keyboard Search extension. Once you do that, youll be good to go. Head over to your Settings and click on the Extensions menu. Select Smart Keyword Search and click on Edit Websites and allow by clicking the drop-down button next to google.com. Next, exit the settings and click on the Smart Keyword Search icon next to the address bar. A popup will appear with the text Rules followed by a list of sites. From that point, youll click the Compose button to create a new rule. Give the rule a name and prefix. When assigning the target, paste: https://google.com/search?q={search}&utm=14. Just be careful, as this code is different from what you paste into Edge and Chrome. Firefox When using Firefox, you wont be creating a new default search engine. Rather, youre going to create a new bookmark and link it to a keyword. So, it will act as a default search engine. On the home screen, click on the hamburger-style menu at the top right of your screen, and click on the Bookmarks button. Youll see a new page up on the dropdown. Click on the Manage Bookmarks button at the bottom. Youll see a little window appear with all of your bookmarks. To add a new bookmark, right-click on any folder and click on the Add new bookmark button. On the resulting window that appears, give your bookmark a name (it doesnt need to be anything specific). In the URL field, paste: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. Next, give this bookmark an easy-to-remember keyword. Make sure that its short and sweet because youll need to type that into the search bar before you type in a web address. Using the mobile app In order for this one to work, you will not be able to use Chrome. Instead, its recommended that you get the Firefox browser. Once you install the browser, tap on the three-dot menu at the top right of the screen and go down to the Settings button. Under the settings, tap on the search button. On the resulting page, tap on the default search engine button. Here, youll be able to add a new search engine. Just like with the option before, type: Google (Web) in the name field. Under the search string URL, type: google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s. Just like before, save the search engine and assign it to your default. Samsung is all set to host its next Unpacked event on July 10. At the event, the company is rumored to introduce its next-gen foldable smartphones, including the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. Alongside the new flagship phones, the South Korean tech giant is also expected to introduce a handful of wearable devices. These are expected to be the new Galaxy smartwatches and earbuds. While Samsung is yet to confirm anything, the rumor mill indicates that the brand will launch the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch FE as its next-gen smartwatches at the upcoming Unpacked event. Now, before an official announcement, the alleged Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch FE are certified by the FCC. Multiple Galaxy Watch 7 variants have visited the FCC certification portal Folks over at Droidlife have spotted FCC certifications for SM-L300, SM-L305, SM-L310, SM-L315, and SM-R861 devices. These model numbers are believed to be for the Galaxy Watch 7 (Bluetooth), Watch 7 (LTE), and the Galaxy Watch FE smartwatches. While the Galaxy Watch 7 series will have premium devices, the Watch FE will be an affordable smartwatch from the brand. Its worth mentioning that the Galaxy Watch 6 was certified by the FCC in June last year before the official launch in July. Now, the newly surfaced FCC certifications suggest that the Galaxy Watch 7 series and Watch FEs launch is imminent. We should have more details in the coming days, so watch this space for regular updates. The Galaxy Watch 7 could arrive in three variants with Samsungs first 3nm Exynos W1000 chip According to recent reports, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 could launch in as many as three variants. These are expected to be called the Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch 7 Pro, and a high-end Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra. All these variants are said to be available in Wi-Fi only and eSIM variants. We already spotted the test software builds for the Galaxy Watch Ultra a few weeks ago. Furthermore, the rumors suggest that the Galaxy Watch 7 will be the companys first product to utilize a 3nm chipset. The wearable is expected to be powered by Samsungs first 3nm chip called the Exynos W1000. The processor will be built on the brands second-gen 3nm process node. It is the most advanced tech available in the semiconductor industry at the moment. The reports suggest the new 3nm chipset will offer over 20 percent faster performance and power efficiency than Watch 6. The new Galaxy Watch would likely overtake the Apple Watch Series 9, which utilizes a 5nm chipset. Unfortunately, not many details about the affordable Galaxy Watch FE model are available yet. Google Photos could soon roll out a new feature that lets you hide all backed-up GIFs and memes from other apps to declutter the apps main view. Google Photos is one of the top photo storage apps, thanks to several useful features. However, like any Android app out there, theres room for improvement in this one too. And, it looks like Google is aware of it and making important changes that could soon come your way. Google Photos new feature will let users have more control over backed-up photos Android Authority reports that the Google Photos app will soon let users have more control over what they see in the main Photos feed. The Google Photos upcoming feature will hide some of the backed-up photos from different apps to give you a clear view of the apps main feed. At present, the Google Photos app shows all the photos stored in the DCIM folder of your devices storage. This folder usually features photos that you capture using your phones camera. However, it often mixes up with photos backed up from WhatsApp and other apps. Eventually, ends up cluttering the Google Photos apps primary screen. But this will change soon. Last month, AssembleDebug reported this feature was in the works. However, Android Authority now reports that AssembleDebug spotted this feature in Google Photos, version 6.813. The publication also shared some screenshots to showcase how the new Google Photos feature would hide backed-up memes and GIFs in the future. Users can choose from four different options to customize what they see in the apps main view Theres a new section called Photos view in the apps settings. You will be able to choose from four options to ensure how backed-up photos are displayed in the apps main Photos view. These options are Show all, Hide clutter, Show none, and Custom. Upon selection, the Show all option will display all backed-up photos in the main Photos view. This includes all those images backed up from other apps too. Secondly, choosing the Hide clutter option will hide low-priority photos like GIFs and memes from the Google Photos main feed. The Show none option wont show any of the backed-up photos in the apps main view. However, you can always access it from somewhere else within the app. Lastly, the Custom option allows choosing apps from which you want photos to be visible in the main Photos view. It is worth noting that the Custom option is currently available for WhatsApp only. Hopefully, other apps will also be supported down the line. Lets not forget that the backed-up photos are clearly tagged. And, it will make it easy for users to identify and manage them in secondary devices. All in all, Google Photos users will cherish the new feature that offers them more control over backed-up images and ways to hide content that could clutter the main Photos view. Jeeps, trucks and ATV's crowd Crystal Beach during the annual Go Topless Jeep weekend in Crystal Beach on Friday. Photo taken on Friday, 05/17/19. Ryan Welch/The Enterprise Ryan Welch/The Enterprise The thousands of Jeep enthusiasts converging on Bolivia Peninsula this weekend are causing business owners to take some surprising steps slashing hours or closing for the weekend entirely. It's a paradise 51 weeks out of the year, said Brad Vratis, owner of the Stingaree Restaurant, and the 52nd is a real nightmare. Vratis, who is also vice president of the Bolivar Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, estimated that businesses have about 20-25 weeks per year to make most of their money with the other weeks about maintaining their presence. Advertisement Article continues below this ad With only a limited time frame to maximize profits, closing or limiting hours during a beautiful May weekend might seem counterintuitive. But the chaos associated with Jeep Weekend has become too much for some businesses on the Peninsula. Some are shutting down their businesses for the weekend. Some, like the Stingaree, are operating with limited hours. Vratis said that Jeep Weekend, also known as Go Topless Day, was once an economic win for the community. The Jeep community, also known as Jeepers, engaged with local businesses and acted respectfully. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It was a great generator for the beach, Vratis said. It's just like your Harley riders, they're great customers. Come in, spend money with you, visit all the venues, go to the beach, do their thing. They have fun together. But that changed once non-Jeep riders started attending the weekend. While the Jeep community made the trip to the beach to celebrate a national day of camaraderie and being able to put their tops down once again, many non-Jeepers are coming to party. Some Jeepers still go to Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula but others go elsewhere and others stay home. It doesnt help that many people who normally do business at these establishments plan on being out of town this weekend to avoid the crowds and traffic. Jim Walters, who owns Swedes Real Estate, said that the Jeep community is good for local businesses. He estimates that most of the around 160 properties owned by Swedes Real Estate that will be rented out will be occupied by "Jeepers." Hes never once had a problem with them. The daytrippers that are coming down, they're certainly not renting houses, Walters said. They're not going to the restaurants and spending money. They're there just for the party and they're not really doing anything to help the economy. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Vratis estimates his business during Jeep Weekend is down 50% from where it was the first couple of years of Go Topless. It's not just a money problem, either. Last year or two years ago, Vratis said the police had to go to one store and remove people. A restaurant owner told him they werent opening this year because many people last year dined and dashed. The Peninsula's famous Big Store, he said, was hammered with a whole lot of shoplifting. Vratis also cited that all the Peninsulas businesses are small businesses where owners know their co-workers. Putting them in potential harm with the rowdy crowds and major gridlock is not something they want to do if it can be avoided. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Davey: The Tories and SNP are both out of excuses and out of time Both the Tories and SNP are out of time and should be out of power at Westminster and Holyrood, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey declared. With a general election due to be held sometime this year, he urged his partys supporters to make it a once in a generation ballot, by electing a whole new generation of Liberal Democrat MPs. His plea came as he insisted his party could take the UKs broken health service and fix it with care. Sir Ed said the scandal of delayed discharge where patients who are medically well enough to leave hospital have to stay while waiting for arrangements for their care to be made could be ended by hiring more carers. He called for a higher minimum wage for all carers across the UK, as he also urged the UK Government to write off benefits overpayments made to those who claim Carers Allowance while looking after a loved one. https://x.com/LibDems/status/1786433641339293813 His comments came as he addressed the Scottish Liberal Democrat spring conference in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire marking his first campaign visit north of the border since John Swinney took over from Humza Yousaf as First Minister and SNP leader. And the Liberal Democrat leader used his speech to hit out at both the Tory Government at Westminster and the SNP administration at Holyrood. Both Governments, Sir Ed said, had shown people that they cannot be trusted with the economy, their health, the environment or our place in the world. Sir Ed Davey likened John Swinney taking over as Scottish First Minister and SNP leader to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic (Jane Barlow/PA) He told supporters that people have had enough of both the SNP and the Conservatives branding them two tired old parties that are out of touch, out of excuses and out of time. He told his party: Its up to us to get them out of office. Sir Ed continued: I firmly believe that we can make this a once-in-a-generation election, electing a whole new generation of Liberal Democrat MPs. ED: The other parties are too inward looking, too comfortable with the status quo, to realise. They just dont seem to get it. Scotland needs change. The UK needs change. And simply installing a new Prime Minister, or a new First Minister, just wont cut it. Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) May 18, 2024 He said: Scotland needs change. The UK needs change. And simply installing a new prime minister, or a new first minister, just wont cut it. I would accuse the SNP of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. But that would imply that theyre any good at building and launching a seagoing vessel in the first place. That remark was a jibe at the failure of the state-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard on the Clyde to build two new ferries to serve the islands off Scotlands west coast with the vessels now several years late and massively overbudget. His speech came after the Liberal Democrats enjoyed staggering by-election victories in England last year in which they defeated they Tories, with these results followed by this months council elections in England which saw the party win more councillors than the Conservatives. Sir Ed said his party had not beaten the Tories into third in local election for 28 years, telling the PA news agency: We are really back. He said in parts of Scotland his party was now the opposition to the SNP, as well as challenging the Conservatives in part of England. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is greeted by supporters as he arrives to join local Lib Dem campaigners at a celebratory rally in Winchester, following the results in local government elections (Stefan Rousseau/PA) We feel we are on a roll, he said. The momentum in whole parts of the country is with us. We are increasingly excited about our chances. We see the biggest opportunity we have had for years. He said the party had increased quite significantly the number of seats where it is focusing resources ahead of the general election. The Liberal Democrat leader added: Our biggest constraint is we dont have financial resources (of the Conservatives). But we are getting some generous support from people and that is enabling us to be competitive in many more seats. Its really exciting. He went on to liken the new Scottish First Minister John Swinney to Rishi Sunak, who became Prime Minister after disastrous terms in office from Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. He said at the time many thought Mr Sunak, a former chancellor, would be a safe pair of hands, but said he had been an absolute disaster as Prime Minister. Sir Ed said: Mr Swinney may have come in after Humza Yousaf, and people might think he is going to be a safe pair of hands. But be careful he might turn out not to be quite the sure-footed person some people might think. And he has the whole record of the SNP completely on his hands. Speaking about the SNP, the Liberal Democrat leader said: If they are judged on their record, on things like the health service and schools and justice, they will go down. It looks to me, from my reading of the polls, that people have found them out and realised they have been focused on so much, obsessed by the constitutional question, that they have taken their eye off the ball on things that matter to ordinary people. 18 May 2024 at 2:24 am Girls Aloud have performed the first night of their reunion tour, honouring late bandmate Sarah Harding. Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh appeared on stage to a delighted audience, 30 minutes later than scheduled due to Dublin motorway closures, standing on individual podiums singing opening track Untouchable. The tour has been dedicated to Harding, who was diagnosed with cancer and died in September 2021 aged 39. Show 1 done Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour @Shutterstock pic.twitter.com/S0HnOzv74o Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) May 17, 2024 During the show, the foursome performed a duet with Harding, whose vocals to song Ill Stand By You played as the group sang along live on-stage, in videos circulating on social media. They later performed one of their biggest bits, The Promise, as the four women stopped and turned their backs to the audience to watch a screen play footage of Harding singing the song on her own. A post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: Show 1 done. Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour. The singers won Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and formed Girls Aloud, going on to achieve four UK number one singles and a Brit award for track The Promise. They reunited with new music for their 10th anniversary in 2012, while a second reunion was planned for their 20th anniversary when Harding was diagnosed with cancer. Sarah Harding died in September 2021 aged 39 (Ian West/PA) Less than an hour before their expected arrival at the 3Arena in Dublin, the group issued an updated stage time on X. It said due to Dublin motorway closures, the foursome would arrive 30 minutes later than expected at 9.15pm. Despite the unexpected changes, fans including Aaron ORegan, based in Waterford, Ireland, told the PA news agency: Im really excited for it! My boyfriend got us tickets last year for our first anniversary so its going to be a great night. We love Girls Aloud, its fantastic to see them back together again and touring. My boyfriend even got us T-shirts for tonight, its going to be so fun! Updated stage time tonight due to Dublin motorway closures 9:15pm pic.twitter.com/iw4kabjG8h Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) May 17, 2024 Ahead of the show, a post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: Rehearsals? Done. Choreography? Ready. Outfits? Fitted. Girls? Aloud. Weve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you. After two back-to-back opening nights in Dublins 3Arena, Girls Aloud will play two concerts at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday, before heading to the Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday. In November, the group had to add six extra dates to their UK and Ireland 2024 arena tour due to unprecedented demand following ticket pre-sales. A Russian dissident who is serving a 25-year prison sentence after criticising Russias war in Ukraine has written to his former Cambridge University College from Siberia where he is incarcerated. Dual British-Russian citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza said in his letter to Trinity Hall that the truth, in the end, does come out stronger. He said he was incredibly honoured to learn he had been made an Honorary Fellow of the College in recognition of his bravery, adding that good news are a scarce commodity in a special-regime prison in Siberia. The 42-year-old, a journalist and opposition activist, was imprisoned in April 2022 and convicted of treason last year. The note from Mr Kara-Murza said the truth, in the end, does come out stronger (Trinity Hall, Cambridge/PA) He is among a growing number of dissidents held in increasingly severe conditions under President Vladimir Putins political crackdown. The UK Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron, last month called for Russian authorities to release him immediately on humanitarian grounds. Mr Kara-Murza was last year made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, where he studied, in recognition of his bravery in speaking out on Russian foreign policy despite the clear danger. The honour was accepted on his behalf by his wife, Evgenia. Mr Kara-Murza addressed his handwritten letter to the Colleges Master, Mary Hockaday. He wrote: Good news are a scarce commodity in a special-regime prison in Siberia, but I was so heartened and so incredibly honoured to learn that I have been inducted among this academic years Honorary Fellows at Trinity Hall. I would like to convey my most profound gratitude to you, to the College Fellows, and to the entire Trinity Hall family for this humbling recognition from my alma mater. It is often said that every historian subconsciously wishes to personally experience the period of his or her study and, given that among my main topics at Cambridge was the history of the Soviet dissident movement, I suppose I really cannot complain. But being a historian also gives the advantage of having a larger perspective and of being able to see beyond the next turn. If the dissident movement in the Soviet Union and other eastern European countries has taught us anything, it is that, however unpromising the odds may appear, the truth, in the end, does come out stronger. I look forward to staying in touch and to one day meeting you and joining fellow Trinity Hall members and alumni at our magnificent college, a place like no other. He signs off his letter, Yours ever followed by his signature. Evgenia Kara-Murza speaks after her husband was named a Pulitzer Prize winner earlier this month (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP) Mary Hockaday, Master of Trinity Hall, said: It was humbling to receive this message from Vladimir and wonderful to think that in some small way he was heartened by the news of his Honorary Fellowship. He was and remains an excellent historian as well as a courageous political campaigner. Trinity Hall aims to foster critical thinking and intellectual resilience in all its students and Vladimir exemplifies this with his reminder that times change and that a longer perspective can be a source of hope. However, in the immediate present, we continue to declare his imprisonment a travesty and we add our voice to all those calling for his release. Lord Cameron described Mr Kara-Murza last month as a committed human rights activist striving for a democratic Russia, and an outspoken critic of the war in Ukraine. He said the dissident was considered a threat by the Kremlin and that Putin locked him up in a bid to silence him. Russias depraved treatment of political prisoners must end, said Lord Cameron. Mr Kara-Murza, who twice survived poisonings that he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to Mr Putin. He likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Mr Kara-Murza has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the passionate columns he penned for the Washington Post while in a Russian prison cell. Jimmy Tarbuck has said the joy of people laughing has been the only drug he has wanted during his 60 years in show business. The veteran comedian and entertainer, 84, rose to fame in the 1960s as the host of hit variety show Sunday Night At The London Palladium and went on to front a number of quiz shows. Tarbuck is still entertaining crowds after more than six decades in the business and is set to open for US singer Barry Manilow on Sunday at the newly opened Manchester Co-op Live Arena, followed by 14 nights at The London Palladium. Jimmy Tarbuck will open for Barry Manilow on Sunday at the newly opened Manchester Co-op Live Arena followed by dates at The London Palladium (Ian West/PA) Asked what he loves about performing, he told the PA news agency: Its a chance to show off. And people said to me: Are you on drugs? Only one and its called laughter and the joy of people laughing, it thrills you. Ive been uncommonly lucky, I will say that. Ive enjoyed it. And for all the people who have come to see me over the 60 years and said: Yeah, youve made us laugh and if thats the case, Id like to say thank you to all of them. The entertainer became one of the most popular household names in the 1960s, known for his broad Liverpudlian accent and quick wit. He secured his first comedy show, Its Tarbuck, in 1964 and he later presented Sunday Night At The London Palladium and Live From Her Majestys. His success with these shows led him to perform at a host of Royal Variety Performances over the years. Reflecting on his career, Tarbuck said securing The London Palladium job changed my life. When I first came on when I was 18 or 19, I have one man to thank for that and that was (television managing director) Val Parnell, because he ran the Palladium and he gave me a chance, Tarbuck said. And Ill be eternally grateful to him and when I have a word with the man upstairs Ill say: I want to thank him because it changed my life. Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck at The London Palladium before appearing on Barry Manilows UK tour (Ian West/PA) The entertainer added that it will be a pleasure to return to the theatre for the upcoming series of shows where he will be Manilows special guest. Tarbuck hailed Manilow as a very fine performer and said he felt lucky to be performing 15 shows with him. The comedian is also currently touring his own show, titled An Evening With Jimmy Tarbuck, where he takes the audience down Memory Lane as he pulls on his vast repertoire of tales and celebrity anecdotes from across his more than six decades in the industry, including meeting the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. The audience also get the chance to ask him their own burning questions. Jimmy Tarbuck opens for Barry Manilow on Sunday May 19 at the Manchester Co-op Live Arena followed by 14 nights at The London Palladium and his solo show, An Evening With Jimmy Tarbuck, will tour across England and Wales until November 3, with more details available on his website. Ben Miller credits his love of reading to the fact that his parents were English teachers - John Lawrence Ben Miller has said that pupils at top private schools often look bored when he reads to them, but when he visits state schools the students nearly start a riot. The 58-year-old actor, comedian and author has visited primary schools around the country to read excerpts from his childrens books as well as to champion programmes that support childrens literacy. He told The Telegraph: Whats so fascinating is getting this kind of snapshot of what the different experiences for different children in different schools are. Ive been to Im not going to name any names but quite well-known independent schools, where the kids are so bored. [Im] another author coming to talk about their book and I am struggling to get kids interested. And then Ive been to state schools where youre virtually having to suppress a riot because there are 300 kids and theyre so excited that someones book they have read actually exists. Crowd management Mr Miller, who supports the Chase School Libraries Programme to deliver 100 new primary school library spaces in 2024, credits his stand-up career for preparing him to deal with that kind of crowd management. Speaking about how reading has impacted his own upbringing, the Professor T star said: My parents were English teachers, so I just loved books growing up and I feel like I also owe my whole life and career to books. I just feel like its given me so much in my life and I owe so much to the fact that I had a good reading experience growing up and I want my kids to have that. The father-of-four added: They say when you become a parent you become a parent to all children and in that sense I want all kids to be able to have access to good books. New research from Chase has shown that 59 per cent of adults believe access to libraries and books as a child played a significant role in their future career successes. Bore a saint The pioneering programme, which works in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, has now entered its third year to improve reading experiences for 32,000 children in disadvantaged areas of the UK. Mr Miller said that diversity of choice is what makes the difference in getting children to pick up books, explaining: I remember when I was a kid, you had virtually the only thing that was available were these books called Janet and John that were just they would bore a saint, frankly. And I certainly struggled to find interest in reading those, so I wouldve loved to have more choice when I was a kid growing up and I think thats something we really have to provide for our children now. The Johnny English actor added that he always has to have a book on the go, or else his mind goes a bit haywire but it hasnt been simple teaching his own children to read over the years. Anyone who has taught a kid to read knows how hard it is and how much effort you have to put in, he said, adding: Ive had a real variety with my own kids. Claude the dog He explained that two of his children loved reading from the start, but his middle child had to discover a picture book about an adventurous dog named Claude in a beret to get stuck in. For some reason the lights came on and it didnt matter what else we gave him, he just wanted to read books about Claude...Then he went straight from dog to Lord of the Flies, so there is literally no way to predict it! He added that the Chase programme allows a whole new chapter for countless children to be written, adding that it may inspire a new generation of thinkers, leaders and dreamers in the process. Radoslaw Sikorski went to university with Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron at Oxford - Piotr Wojcik/Picture Doc/Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry Brexit has allowed Britain to respond quickly to Russian aggression and claim a leadership role on aid to Ukraine, Polands foreign minister has told The Telegraph. Radoslaw Sikorski said that the UK could move faster than EU member states. It did not have to reach consensus in a 27-member bloc on issues such as sanctions against the Kremlin and aid to Ukraine. The UK has found a niche, a very useful and honourable one, namely to take advantage of its quick decision-making. You do the right thing before others, and therefore encourage the rest of us, he said. Mr Sikorski said that it would be ideal if Ukraine won the war and echoed the call from Lord Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, for Nato allies to meet their defence spending target of 2 per cent of GDP. Poland, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, has ramped up its defence spending to 4 per cent of GDP this year. The UK has pledged to raise its spending to 2.5 per cent. Poland leads by example. Even more than the UK, because we are spending 4 per cent this year, which is the highest proportion in Nato including the United States, Mr Sikorski said. He said that he expected the overwhelming majority of allies to hit the target, which was set a decade ago, by a Nato summit in July. Welcome change of British policy Its really high time, said the Oxford-educated minister, who went to university with Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron. Mr Sikorski was speaking after Lord Cameron, his fellow Bullingdon Club member, urged European allies to boost their defence spending earlier this month. Well, thats a very welcome change of British policy, he said. Let me remind you that we only have a European defence budget as a benefit of Brexit because before Brexit, as you know, Britain consistently vetoed [it]. But he added that Britain had kept a security leadership role in Europe after Brexit. Mr Sikorski said, The UK is, in absolute numbers, the biggest spender, and has done a great job over Ukraine. Were very grateful. Britain has been consistently good in standing up to Putin. I suppose the Russian death squads in Britain have helped, in that sense, alerted you to the nature of the beast. Boris was ahead of the curve on Ukraine, and David [Cameron] has worked with us very closely. We communicate very often, our security services collaborate closely. We respect your decision This month, Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said that Poles would be richer than the Brits in five years because of Brexit. He took the figures from a Labour forecast based on World Bank data that said Poland would outstrip the UK in GDP per capita by 2030. The standard of living depends on at least two factors. Number one is current income. Number two is accumulated wealth, Mr Sikorski said. Britain has been wealthier than Poland for a thousand years, and you have some assets a global language, top universities, Shakespeare, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the British Museum, London that we just dont have. So dont worry. You will still be richer than us for a long time. I believe we now have more motorways, he added, which is true in the case of England but not the whole UK. When I became a refugee in Britain in the early 1980s, I would not have imagined a world in which Poland would be in the EU and Britain wouldnt, he said, before admitting he never expected his old friend Mr Johnson to be the man who delivered Brexit. He added: We respect your decision and we respect your preference, to work closely with the EU or otherwise. The fact is that Britain was once in the room at the Foreign Affairs Council, and now it has to ask others what transpired inside the room. I wouldnt call that an enhancement of your status. He confirmed that he has already engaged with Labour which will pursue closer ties with Brussels if elected on foreign policy on multiple occasions. cbt Seek help for a common mental health problem these days, and you may well find yourself referred for cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT. In a 2018 study in Frontiers in Psychiatry, experts argued CBT to be the gold standard, or best standard we have in the field constantly available in treating common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. According to the charity, Mind, one in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, with one in six experiencing anxiety or depression in a given week. CBT was invented in the 1960s by the American psychotherapist Aaron Beck, and now forms a major pillar of the NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression programme. In 2022/23, 1.76 million people in England were referred to TTAD, many of whom received CBT. Whether youve received a diagnosis from your doctor, or just suffer with everyday moments of spikes of worry or fear, the CBT way of viewing the world can be life-changing. Read on: What is CBT? Cognitive behavioural therapy teaches a person to ask themselves: why am I struggling with this? says Owen OKane, a psychotherapist. People get stuck with ways of thinking; CBT teaches them to stop their behaviours working against them, so they become unstuck. The NHS defines CBT as a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think (your cognition) and how you behave. The clue is in the title, says OKane, who is also the author of How to Be Your Own Therapist. Most people dont realise how their thinking influences their mood, and their emotions such as anxiety or fear. Our thoughts impact on our emotions and our emotions impact on our thoughts. Its a two-way street. CBT teaches us how to reframe that thinking and change our relationship with our thoughts with a view to changing our actions, he says. With the guidance of a therapist, you learn to use problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations, and learn a greater confidence in your own abilities. How does CBT work? CBT isnt as simple as positive thinking, as people often believe. Rather, its learning to think realistically, using the evidence in front of you to come to a more likely and sensible conclusion. Our emotions are the product of what we are thinking, how we respond in our behaviours and how our body reacts, says Colette Hirsch, a professor of cognitive clinical psychology and an honorary consultant clinical psychologist at Kings College, London. You cant just feel less anxious by trying, but you can if you change your thinking process. By doing this, she and other experts claim, you will eventually start to break self-defeating patterns of behaviour. People get into thinking habits that can lead to interpretation of the world in a particular way, says Hirsch. If you are anxious, you interpret the world more negatively. Say, for example if you are on a business Zoom call and your clients face is not particularly animated. An anxious person might think: Im boring him, says Prof Hirsch. On the other hand, a person with healthier thinking habits might just think: this client is simply processing what Im saying and taking it all in, and not get upset by it. The goal is to start thinking more in the second type of way. Unlike some other types of therapy, CBT is practical, has a limited number of sessions, and is aimed at looking and moving forward. Most of the work happens outside the therapy session, as clients are encouraged to use the strategies they have learned in daily life. How successful is CBT? Cognitive behavioural therapy has a higher success rate than antidepressants and comes without the problems of side effects, dependency and withdrawal that can present with medication. Moreover, patients treated with cognitive therapy are less than half as likely to relapse following treatment termination as patients treated to remission with medications, found a 2020 study in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research. Given the length of NHS waiting lists, patients might see a CBT therapist more quickly by going privately. But the real goal of CBT is that with practice you wont need a therapist at all. Who is CBT for? CBT has been shown to have good outcomes for people with any form of depression, anxiety, health anxiety, PTSD or obsessive compulsive disorder, says Prof Hirsch. Evidence suggests that CBT is particularly useful for those with anxiety. OKane says: 70 per cent of people with an anxiety disorder who attend CBT will recover. And you dont have to suffer from a diagnosable condition such as depression or anxiety to benefit from it: we all have moments of worry or uncertainty. How about bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis? Its now being used with the more serious conditions such as bipolar disorder or psychosis, where for many years it wasnt considered, says Prof Hirsch. In these latter conditions, CBT is used in partnership with medication. It can also help with eating disorders and substance disorders, as well as insomnia. More recently research has shown it can help those going through the menopause, which has proved controversial to those who feel menopause is a physical condition that needs treatment with HRT. Some CBT tricks Stop catastrophising You walk past your boss at work, and they do not return your smile. An anxious persons thoughts will go into overdrive. What if they dont like me? What if they think Im rubbish? What if I lose my job? How will I pay my mortgage? Will I be homeless and end up in the gutter? In CBT, we call this catastrophising, says OKane. Its like a snowball caused by overthinking. The healthy way to stop this is to look for a different interpretation: maybe your boss has just had a bad meeting themselves. Right now you are telling yourself: Ill be fired. But how many times in your life have you really been fired? You need to look at the evidence, stop the worry, as there is a possibility its exaggerated. Take the charge and the energy out of that thought. Learn to let go of safety behaviours and avoidance Most anxious people put a lot of energy into not being anxious, says OKane. They act in a certain way to avoid these feelings - often avoiding the situation that makes them worried - but this only has short-term gains. For example, say you are terrified of public speaking. The anxiety tells you you are going to fail, so your safety behaviour says dont do it, says OKane. This will bring you short-term relief but avoiding the situation has reinforced your belief, and set a pattern. Instead, encourage yourself to find a gradual, graded way to drop your safety behaviours, starting with a very short public talk. Face your fear and in so doing, you will defuse it. If you are scared of flying, the only way to really get over this is to get on a plane - but start with a short hop. Reassurance from others brings only short-term gain Seeking reassurance from family or social networks might take the edge off in the short term, but this behaviour feeds the pattern of avoidance and stops you building self-reliance. The best way is to learn to self-reassure, says OKane. I can do this, I will be OK, the evidence is that I managed this last time. Concentrate on behaviours that will serve you rather than undermine you Exercise, learn to relax and eat well, and try not to rely on substances to comfort yourself, such as alcohol, drugs, or even food. If you use an external stimulus to comfort your anxiety, youll feel chemically worse the next day, says OKane. How is CBT delivered? There are a lot of therapists out there offering CBT, but check their credentials to make sure theyve done more than just a weekend course, says Owen OKane. Take a good look at their website to find out. Things to look out for include: Membership of BABCP (British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapists) https://babcp.com/ rather than just BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) That they are fully accredited, registered, and still active That they have experience and confidence in your particular area. CBT covers a big area, from PTSD to health anxiety and OCD, each of which requires skill in managing Digital apps for CBT Given the global shortage of psychiatrists and the lack of mental health care access in rural regions, apps have emerged as a viable tool to bridge the mental health treatment gap said a 2018 study in the journal mHealth. Here are a few to choose from MindshiftCBT was voted NHS app of the month in March 2022 Headspace Sleepio (CBT for insomnia) Be your own CBT therapist I have a fundamental belief that most people benefit from the skills therapy teaches, says Owen OKane. We arent taught as children to deal with difficult thoughts and emotions, and we have greater control than we realise. OKane maintains that micro-injections of CBT can make the difference between a good day and a bad one. One rejection wont make you feel useless and one funny look wont ruin your day. An example of CBT in action, by Owen OKane Cornish Gems has around 200 properties on its portfolio, having started in St Ives. (ELLIOTT WHITE) Nadia Macer-Wright admits to going through a "Del Boy of jobs" in St Ives before hitting upon her holiday lettings idea in 2007. Today, Cornish Gems has 200 luxury properties in its portfolio, voted one of the top firms to work in travel and anticipates 10m turnover this year. We saw the niche and we grasped it, says Macer-Wright. She had first met her future co-founder Julianne Shelton at the University of Gloucester and both harboured dreams of one day starting a company. Several years later, Macer-Wright travelled down from Wales, picked up her then boyfriend and future husband, Tom, and joined Shelton in Cornwall. It wasnt long before they took on some lettings close to St Ives, providing a one-stop shop package for bookings, lettings, cleaning and guest management. Tom built a website, Shelton took on sales and Macer-Wright led meet and greets. Read More: Community Clothing founder: 'The UK high street offering is cheap garbage' It was no man's land as no one was renting holiday lets in the area, Macer-Wright recalls. Thats what gives us the agility and bravery today as we know we can do the jobs ourselves and have that capability if things go awry. Its a good position to be in. Their first St Ives letting is still on Cornish Gems portfolio today. She adds: Its at the epicentre of where we started. Its in the location where a lot of things have changed but the owners have kept up with that change. It does take a combination of an excellent property, a great location but also owners who just get it. The business then grew through word of mouth. We were the first of the little upstarts against the industrys bigger players, adds Macer-Wright. We were just being honest and providing a really good service. Nadia Macer-Wright co-founded leading travel company Cornish Gems in 2007. Photo: Supplied The properties we have now are in a different league. We are focusing on the top luxury end and also the properties that fit with our ethos and value. As Cornish tourisms only B Corp status company, Cornish Gems also aims to have its portfolio at the top of its own green-grading element, which assesses a range of sustainability measures such as bio diversity and energy efficiency. Macer-Wright adds: The more we see that its what guests want, we have to provide that. Over the last 17 years, Cornish Gems has received offers to sell but remains fiercely independent. Staying true to their own instincts, says Macer-Wright, has been one of the mainstays of success. They also realised, after receiving bad advice, that they are the best people to run the business. We know what it takes and following our gut is a far more rewarding way to run the business. she admits. To lead with the heart is one of the most important aspects. Read More: 'One Freja customer said his grandmother called it the Italian penicillin' It is one of the reasons why Cornish Gems became one of the top 20 places to work in travel in the UK last year, voted for by her team. You can direct but you cant dictate, Macer-Wright says of her leadership style. Its more of a mentoring approach. My passion is people and how they react and how we can motivate them to get the best out themselves. We work in an amazing place and we need to reflect on what is real and meaningful. Thats what gets me out of bed in the morning. Cornish Gems aims for the top end, such as this property in Carkeen, North Cornwall. Last year, the Macer-Wrights took the decision to buy their business partner out over selling the company completely. We felt we could influence and make a difference to peoples lives down here and to the industry, which hasnt been easy. "We had the Covid boom where people were out to make a quick buck and the market has dropped off considerably. Sales dipped close to 25% last year in a tricky market, with Cornish Gems now exploring the German and Italian markets for year-round success, all while avoiding the online booking giants. Truro-based Cornish Gems can also lean on its interior design arm, which allows owners to keep properties up to spec and without breaking the bank. Around 30% of their letting owners live in Cornwall, with the rest predominantly based in the South East and from abroad. Cornish Gems' Bodrigy property is set above the fishing cove of Cadgwith on the Lizard Peninsula. Cornish Gems, which aims to keep to its 200 lettings portfolio, are now championing a community initiative, bringing the top travel agencies in Cornwall together following negative press, such as second homes, on the tourism industry. The industry down here has been a bit like the Wild West, claims Macer-Wright. Nobody has really galvanised people and asked how we can do business together. The community, who are being exploited, allows us to operate and we have a duty of care to give back. It was exploited after Covid and it cant go on. We can use our influence to be a force for good and improve the experience. Read More:'We turned down Dragons' Den offers - our eyecare company is worth 7m now' The government will haphazardly put legislation on the loudest voice. If we were to join as an alliance, we can have a voice and stand by our own practices. Cornish Gems, which employs 40 full-time staff and swells to 130 in peak season, is also looking to evolve the corporate market, helping companies discover and embed a wellbeing strategy into its business and use Cornwall to help team culture. We have an opportunity in Cornwall to set the scene, adds Macer-Wright. You can be a regenerative, responsible business and still be profitable. Watch: Holidaymakers can rest in peace by booking into a converted funeral home decorated with COFFINS Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Soft, subtle scents of wild garlic, bluebells and hawthorn blossom are the essence of spring here. Photograph: Jennifer Jones Early on a calm May morning I am in a triangle: an isosceles triangle to be precise, with two equal sides and a shorter base. This is Halewood Park Triangle, south Merseyside: a wedgeland. The Triangle was forged by 19th-century developments in the railways, its base marking the main Liverpool-Manchester line, while the east and west arms were branch lines carrying passengers and freight north to Aintree and Southport. Today those abandoned east and west lines have been replaced by pathways, enclosing mature woodland and linking to the Liverpool Loop Line and the Trans Pennine Trail. At the southern end, braids of cow parsley border the main eastern track, interrupted by bursts of red campion, cerise commas in a long filigree sentence. Garlic mustard and greater stitchwort embroider the path margins. Soft, subtle scents of wild garlic, bluebells and hawthorn blossom are the essence of spring here. The air is rich with post-dawn birdsong. Fluting blackcap and chiffchaff dominate, with robin, wren and nuthatch providing counterpoint. The soothing sounds of wood pigeon and blackbird add to the ambience. A mallard pair and a moorhen explore The Ducky Pond, marsh marigolds defining its margins. This wedgeland, squeezed by 1960s suburbia, is nature-rich. Here is a place to gather and tell stories. Following the Roots is a project aiming to gather stories of the Triangle and anastomose them with local residents memories. The result is a series of plaques on willow, ash, oak, hawthorn, hazel and silver birch, connecting tree species with local history: arboreal storytelling. Different stories are forged every time I visit a young man passes me talking on his phone. Im in the Triangle, mate, Halewood Triangle. Its a massive forest. Not massive, nor strictly speaking a forest, but still it induces awe in his dawn walk. He takes a photo of trees with his phone. One to share with his mate. Trees, plants and birds evoke inspiration here. Desire lines branching from the main path whisper of explorations; intricately constructed dens are ghosts of childrens woodland adventures. A mainline train rumbles past en route to Manchester, packed with peak-hour travellers unaware of the tales being forged in the Triangle. Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary A memorial titled The Unfillable Chair sits outside Santa Fe High School dedicated to the victims of the schools 2018 mass shooting on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Santa Fe. The piece will be part of a larger memorial the Santa Fe Ten Memorial Foundation announced the design plans for Saturday, May 18, 2024. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer The Santa Fe Ten Memorial Foundation unveiled the design Saturday for its memorial honoring those who died in the 2018 school shooting at Santa Fe High School. The announcement came six years to the day when eight students and two faculty members were killed during a school shooting at Santa Fe High School. Those students and teachers, they're heroes, all of them. They need to be recognized for their efforts, said Megan Grove, the Santa Fe Ten Memorial Foundation Chair. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Santa Fe ISD Board of Trustees approved the memorial plans earlier in the week. The architecture firm PBK and the landscape architecture practice Edgeland Group worked together to create the design. Students at UHs Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design crafted the original concept for the memorial. The memorial is centered around the sacred space, which Grove describes as the memorial's "heart and soul." The space will feature 10 large stainless steel feathers in a circle honoring each victim. Each feather will be curved in a unique way based on the characteristics of the person they're memorializing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Multiple walking paths within the memorial lead to the sacred space. There will also be other small green areas and trees included in the memorial, along with an outdoor classroom and the The Unfillable Chair monument that is already on the High School's property. We really tried to program the space in a way where it was inviting, and at the same time, but still allowed for more tranquil spaces, said Austin Taphorn, an associate principal in the Houston office of the Edgeland Group. Some spaces that provide seclusion and offer points of reflection for visitors and at the same time is a functional piece for outdoor classrooms and outdoor learning. The memorial will also include the 9/11 Survivor Tree seedling gifted to the foundation in 2021. The 9/11 Memorial distributes three seedlings from its Survivor Tree, a damaged tree found at Ground Zero in October 2001 that was nursed back to health and later returned to the area as part of the Memorial, every year to an area that recently dealt with tragedy. ONE STORY: Santa Fe shooting victim Rome Shubert wraps up college baseball career 6 years later at Sam Houston One thing Grove and the architects highlighted was the collaborative nature of the process as it was important to receive input from the victims' families. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It's one of the more special projects in my 25-year career as an architect that I've ever worked on, said Christopher Green, an associate principal at PBK. I like that the families were integral to the process and that they were happy at this point in the design process. To see smiles on their faces, it was just special. The May 18, 2018, shooting took place in an art classroom and a school hallway during first period at Santa Fe High School, leaving 10 dead and 13 injured. Dimitrios Pagourtzis was arrested on the day of the shooting. He was charged with capital murder and aggravated assault. But Pagourtzis has never gone to trial. The now 23-year-old accused shooter has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial multiple times since his arrest. His parents are also being sued by survivors and family members of the victims, who claim they are partially responsible for the shooting because their guns were not properly stored. UPCOMING TRIAL: Judge delays civil trial for parents of accused Santa Fe gunman until July Advertisement Article continues below this ad The civil trial begins July 29. Grove said the organization needs to raise approximately $2.5 million to begin construction on the project. The hope is to meet that goal within two years but obviously the quicker they can raise funds, the faster they can transform the memorial renderings into real life. Ambulances line up as a electronic sign funded by the trust gives out coronavirus pandemic information to visitors and staff at the Aintree University Hospital The Conservative Government is presumably about to be ejected from office. This is being treated as a judgment on their record of 14 years in power, their general incompetence and their failure to deliver what voters believe is needed. Because the discussion of electoral politics tends to be conducted in parochial terms, the expected defeat of the sitting Government is being assessed as if it were unique to this country and these particular political leaders. Hardly anyone seems to notice that almost all the European governing parties or coalitions which held power during the pandemic have been rejected outright or had their authority seriously undermined sometimes with shocking results. This effect has not been confined to notoriously volatile countries like Italy, whose government was one of the first to go. Germany, which has relied on moderate consensus for generations in its determination to atone for a terrible historical legacy, is now seeing the rise of an extreme Right which was believed to have been extinguished. A country regarded, until very recently, as stable and socially liberal, the Netherlands, has elected a populist rabble rouser whose rhetoric is so incendiary that it has taken months to form a workable coalition. In France, Emmanuel Macron holds onto power without a majority. So this is clearly not just a phenomenon peculiar to the circumstances of each of these countries and its own distinctive political class. It looks more like a crisis of confidence in democracy itself or, at least, the complacent, consensual version of it which is the dominant model. Voters in one country after another are not simply turning to traditional opposition parties out of conventional dissatisfaction with the status quo. They are supporting, often in startling numbers, much more visceral messages that appeal to atavistic emotions which were thought to be long buried. Perhaps it is time to examine just how much damage was done during the pandemic years not just in economic terms but on a much wider scale to the psyche of populations as a whole. Maybe what we are seeing is some sort of mass nervous breakdown: a furious rejection of virtually everyone who was in charge during that bizarre period in which the most socially sophisticated peoples of the world were subjected to a form of deranging isolation from which they are struggling to recover. Perhaps, to put it bluntly, quite a lot of people went quietly crazy and a lot more became disoriented in ways that no thriving, active, urban society had anticipated. Might it be that the widespread syndrome of anxiety and depression, which is often assumed to be a pretext for failing to seek employment, is actually a genuine phenomenon: a form of mass agoraphobia that was induced in susceptible people by the unnatural conditions imposed on them at what might have been a sensitive point in their lives? There is much talk about the damage to school age children in formal educational terms, but what about the loss they suffered in psychological development: the emotional initiation that is a feature of those critical years between childhood and adult life? What happens when you miss out on that? And even before adolescence, when social interaction is so obviously crucial, there is the wider contact that should be part of the daily lives of very young children and infants. A few weeks after the face mask mandate on public transport was lifted, a woman carrying a baby sat down opposite me on the train. The babys gaze locked on to mine. I smiled and the baby giggled. It was one of those moments of social interaction between an infant and a stranger that had been, for most of the previous two years, made illegal. What sort of price was paid for that? What if children have essential developmental stages, and missing them causes irreparable damage? The inchoate anger and recklessness of so many electorates seems somehow disproportionate to the problems their countries are facing. Certainly, there are serious difficulties, economically and culturally, but they are not insoluble. Germans are not wheeling around barrows full of worthless currency as they were in the 1930s. Italians are not subject to the whims of corrupt mafia-led governments. The British may be enduring a cost of living crisis and a housing shortage but we have survived and laughed through much worse. Somehow the old assumptions that have underpinned political behaviour however cynical they may have been have been profoundly destabilised. In most of Europe, this mood of almost nihilistic rejection is taking down parties of the Left or centrist coalitions because they are the ones that happened to be in power at the time when the world went mad. Here, it is a centre-Right party that will bear the brunt. But this is not a matter of political orientation. It is a rejection of government itself because it stole from peoples lives much of what made them worth living. Who would have thought that free societies would be debating whether children should be allowed to hug their grandparents? Or whether it should be illegal to have a sexual relationship with someone from outside your own household? All these years after the end of the Cold War, we were bringing in repressive laws that went beyond anything the East German Stasi ever dreamt of. So let me suggest a theme that Rishi Sunak might explore as he tries to come to terms with this extraordinary historical moment. How about a speech that tells the truth. We have just been through an unprecedented period in our history. You, as a people, accepted restrictions and prohibitions on the most personal aspects of your lives that would once have been unthinkable and we in government were grateful for your courage and self-sacrifice. Some of our decisions, taken in good faith, were mistaken and we accept responsibility for the damage that was done. Now I ask you to join us in renewing our commitment to a hopeful future. What about that? Even if his party lost, it would go down with honesty and humility. Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, promised to create an EU centre to counter foreign interference is she is re-elected. Photograph: Ida Marie Odgaard/EPA The stories are doom-laden, laced with vitriolic sneers about Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Ursula von der Leyen. Ukrainians are ready to depose their leader, Macron is breaking French rules with aid to Ukraine, an uncontrolled influx from the east is seriously harming the Germans. According to new research, these are just a few examples of a vast pro-Russian propaganda campaign washing over Facebook accounts of French and German citizens, before the European parliament elections next month. The adverts collected by tech expert Paul Bouchaud and shared with the Observer all ran on Facebook during the first 13 days of May. According to Bouchaud, none were labelled as political advertising, which they see as a clear breach of Metas rules and a possible breach of EU law. In April, the EU executive opened an investigation into Meta over suspicions that it was failing to prevent the dissemination of deceptive ads and disinformation. Bouchaud, a PhD researcher at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, thinks that the ads reveal a systemic failure at Meta. In an earlier report for AI Forensics, they found that the pro-Russian propaganda ads had reached 38m individual accounts in France and Germany between August 2023 and March 2024, with most going undetected. Fewer than 5% of undeclared political ads shown on Facebook in 16 European countries were caught by Metas detection system, according to AI Forensics. It is technically feasible to detect in real time a coordinated propaganda network, Bouchaud said. The fact that Meta does not systematically address this issue [shows] a lack of willingness, more than a lack of technical feasibility. Meta said it welcomed research into inauthentic activity using its ad library, but rejected the claim that no action had been taken. While the full findings [on the May ads] werent shared with us, a sample of these ads clearly shows that our security team had already blocked them and disabled the pages behind these ads, as part of our routine, daily enforcements against inauthentic behaviour. Meta had similarly rejected the claims in AI Forensics earlier report, saying the pages cited were removed within hours. This is a highly adversarial space with malicious groups constantly evolving their tactics to evade detection by companies across the internet, which is why we invest heavily in regularly sharing our threat research publicly, Meta said. Disinformation is just one facet of foreign interference that European democracies are confronting, alongside spying, influence operations and cyberattacks. The scale [of the threat] is very high, Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP in Macrons party, who chairs the European parliaments subcommittee on security and defence, told the Observer. Russia has been investing for decades in interference in a certain number of western countries, notably France, the MEP said, referring to Kremlin support for French political parties, close links with French intellectuals and politicians, and Russias massive investment in information manipulation. Nor is it an abstract threat. It is not science fiction, it is already here, Loiseau said, citing the 2023 Slovak elections, where a pro-European, pro-Nato candidate, Michal Simecka of Progressive Slovakia, lost a tight race to Robert Fico, the populist leader who was the victim of an assassination attempt this week that shocked Europe. Simeckas defeat came after a fake audio emerged purporting to show him discussing how to rig an election by buying votes. Katarina Klingova, a senior research fellow at the Globsec thinktank based in Bratislava, cautioned that we really do not know how that fake influenced the result, but said it played into well-established narratives. A poll by Globsec in March 2023 found that 53% of Slovak citizens expected the election to be rigged. So this [audio] really confirmed that [narrative] and the people who are more vulnerable to pro-Kremlin propaganda believed it. European officials have uncovered thousands of examples of disinformation in nearly a decade. And they are braced for a surge of malign stories in the final days before the votes, designed to sow doubt and confusion about the democratic process. In recent elections across the continent, voters have been confronted with made-up stories about electoral pens with disappearing ink, fake polls and fraud via voting machines, mailing or online voting. Related: EU calls on tech firms to outline plans to tackle deepfakes amid election fears Ursula von der Leyen, who is campaigning for a second term as European Commission president after the EU elections, last week promised to create an EU centre to counter foreign interference, if she is re-elected. Europe now needs its own dedicated structure on countering foreign interference, von der Leyen told a democracy conference in Copenhagen. The commission, she added, would be vigilant and uncompromising in the enforcement of EU law, notably the EUs Digital Services Act, which is intended to protect people against disinformation and provides the legal basis for the investigation into disinformation on Meta platforms. Loiseau said she took a very favourable view of an EU centre to counter foreign interference. She has argued that the EU needs an equivalent to Frances Viginum agency, which helped expose the doppelganger operation, a relentless campaign that created clone versions of official and media websites, including Frances foreign ministry, Le Monde, the Guardian and Bild, to peddle pro-Kremlin narratives. In an interview before von der Leyens pledge was announced, Loiseau said that the EUs response was inadequate to the scale of the threat: There is a kind of indolence or complacency that allows Russia to keep on working. In 2023 MEPs voted in favour of a resolution to strengthen the EUs response to disinformation, including naming countries thought to be engaged in such dark crafts. Russia profits from silence, Loiseau said. There is nothing worse for those who commit interference than the light. Selena Gomez in Emilia Perez - Shanna Besson Cannes needs big flexes from its trusted auteurs, not just films where they play it safe and stay in their lanes. Few flexes come bigger, love it or hate it, than Emilia Perez. Whatever lane weve tried to stick the French director Jacques Audiard in before now he of the Palme dOr-winning Dheepan (2015) and Bafta-winning prison drama A Prophet (2009) he chicanes here across about five at once, with a reckless disregard for oncoming traffic. This is a musical with around a dozen choreographed song-and-dance numbers not a semi-musical like Barbie, but a full-scale one. Its mostly set in Mexico City yet was mainly shot in Paris. Oh, and its all about cartel violence and gender reassignment. Sicario with songs? Selena Gomez veering from karaoke to kidnapping? Almost any two of its elements feel like an unpromisingly eccentric combo. Audiards trick is to make the overblown melange into something amazingly confident its clever, earnest, ridiculous, knowing, forceful and absolutely bonkers. Its hard to believe he pulls it off, but he does. Before we get to the musical number in a clinic with the chorus Rhinoplasty! Vaginoplasty!, theres a first act to explain everything. Zoe Saldana plays Rita, a paralegal full of self-loathing but with a lot of great dance moves whos sick of the corrupt system shes part of: she helps murderers get acquitted and feels shes wasting her life. Emilia Perez - Shanna Besson Then she gets abducted by a cartel boss named Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascon), who wants to pay her $2 million to relocate him and his family well away from the hell hes helped create. More to the point, he wants to become a woman, having faked his own death, and to pose as a distant cousin: not even his tough cookie of a wife (a spunky Gomez) is in on the plan. Gascon, a Spanish transgender actress, plays the character with beguiling panache both pre- and post-surgery. An especially brilliant notion is that Manitas, with gold grills, tattoos and an aggressive presence, is a man who got ahead by faking his outsized masculinity. Born in a pigsty, as we learn in one ballad, he had to be the biggest bastard in the criminal ecosystem to survive. He wants to live more purely, which he thinks a gender reset is going to make possible. Emilia Perez steps in, then, with Manitas supposedly dead, and only Rita knows the score. Emilia, though, remains tethered inescapably to her past by the children who find her smell poignantly familiar, and also a conscience haunted by the many deaths on her hands. She doesnt want to be dead-named, but it would be a form of moral cowardice to deny her previous identity altogether, which complicates the films stance controversially, no doubt on whether he can be fully erased by the she. Gomez gets maybe three-and-a-half songs the strongest is her last in a role they might have beefed up more: her fling with a pimp played by Edgar Ramirez is purely functional. Still, its not as if Audiard doesnt have enough to cram in, as the film hurtles towards a gun-toting, explosive finale that will be as polarising as everything else. This wild ride could easily be his threat for a second Palme. We all know that Greta Gerwig, chairing the jury, loves her musicals but shes certainly never seen one like this before. 130 min, cert TBC. Screening at Cannes Film Festival; UK release date TBC Benny Gantz, leader of National Unity party, called for a plan for post-war governance of Gaza to be approved by 8 June. Photograph: Tsafrir Abayov/AP The Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has threatened to resign if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to adopt an agreed plan for Gaza, calling into question the future of the Israeli government. During a press conference on Saturday, Gantz announced that if a plan for postwar governance of the territory is not consolidated and approved by 8 June, his opposition National Unity party will withdraw from the coalition government. The press conference came just hours after the Israel Defense Forces said it had recovered the body of another hostage, Ron Benjamin, 53, who had been taking part in a cycle ride near the border with Gaza when Hamas launched its bloody attack on 7 October. His body was found along with three other hostages Itzik Gelernter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila whose remains were recovered on Friday. Personal and political considerations have begun to enter the most sacred parts of Israels defence, Gantz told reporters. Prime minister Netanyahu, I look you in the eye tonight and tell you: the choice is in your hands, Gantz said. The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Are you willing to do the right and patriotic thing today? The people of Israel are watching you, he added. You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and factionalism, between responsibility and lawlessness and between victory and disaster. His departure would leave Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, even more beholden to far-right allies who have taken a hardline on negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release. On Thursday, defence minister Yoav Gallant challenged Netanyahu over the same issue, saying he would not permit any solution where Israeli military or civil governance were in the territory. Gallants comments were immediately backed by his fellow minister Gantz, Netanyahus main political rival in the emergency coalition, plunging Israels leadership into a highly public row. Gantz demanded a six-point plan, which includes demilitarisation in Gaza and the establishment of a joint US, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage Gazas civilian affairs and the return of hostages. The previous day, the IDF announced that the bodies of three hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including the German-Israeli Shani Louk, had been retrieved from Gaza. Images of militants parading Louks bloodied and broken body through Gaza on the back of a pickup truck were among the first to capture the horrors of the brutal 7 October attack. The family initially hoped she had been injured and survived, but three weeks later learned that she was presumed dead, after fragments of her skull had been found at the festival site, her father, Nissim Louk, told the BBCs Today programme, saying his family is relieved they will finally be able to bury their beautiful girl after her body was recovered from Gaza. She brought light to the world, and beauty, he said, in a tribute to his daughter. Her remains were brought back with those of Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, who were also murdered at the festival. Despite domestic pressure over the fate of the remaining hostages still held in Gaza more than a quarter of whom are thought to be dead including weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv, hopes of a deal to release them have ebbed. Negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage releases have virtually stalled, with Hamas and the Israeli government blaming each other. The unity that brought traumatised Israelis together in the immediate wake of the cross-border attack when Hamas and other Palestinian groups killed 1,200 people and took 254 hostage, has long since splintered. Now with much of Gaza in ruins, the humanitarian crisis drawing criticism from even Israels close ally the US, and Hamass leaders on the ground neither killed nor captured, criticism of how Netanyahu is conducting the war is increasingly fierce and public. As Israeli troops pushed into Rafah last week, and returned to parts of northern Gaza it claimed were cleared of Hamas months ago, a former Mossad deputy director turned opposition MP described the campaign in Gaza as a political, economic and military failure. This is a war without aim and we are unequivocally losing it, said Ram Ben-Barak in a blunt interview with Israeli public radio. We are forced to go back and fight again in the same areas, losing soldiers, losing in the international arena, destroying relations with the US, the economy is collapsing, he told the Reshet Bet radio station. Show me one thing we are succeeding in. For months, Netanyahu has dodged questions about what will come after the war, saying Israel must focus on destroying Hamas. Critics say he has no incentive to end a war, when peace will bring an official reckoning with the political, military and intelligence failures. As Israeli forces pushed further into Rafah, which had been the main gateway for aid into all of Gaza, humanitarian organisations warned that not enough food was getting into an enclave which the US says faces an imminent famine. Humanitarian assistance has begun to arrive via a US-made pier, but the US aid chief said the new sea corridor could not be a substitute for land crossings, and warned that deliveries of food and fuel had slowed to dangerously low levels. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said that since Israels Rafah operation began, there had been a massive movement of people. Nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May, he said in a post on X. Protesters in Tbilisi demonstrate against the law this week after it was voted through by the Georgian parliament. Photograph: Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto/Getty Images Georgias president has vetoed a foreign agents bill that has split the country and appealed to the government not to overrule her over a law she said was Russian in sprit and essence. Salome Zourabichvil followed through on her stated intention to use her veto on Saturday although the governing Georgian Dream party has the votes to disregard her intervention. Today I vetoed a Russian law, she said. This law is Russian in its essence and spirit. It contradicts our constitution and all European standards, therefore it represents an obstacle to our European path. Under the law on transparency of foreign influence, which passed its third and final reading last Tuesday, civil society organisations and media receiving more than 20% of their revenues from abroad will be obliged to register organisations serving the interests of a foreign power. The legislation has brought hundreds of thousands of people out on to the streets of the capital Tbilisi who accuse the government of trying to smear dissenting voices as traitors. The legislation is regarded as a copy of a law introduced in Russia in 2012 and which was used as a tool for repressing those with sympathies to the west. The EU has said that the law will be an obstacle to the countrys accession to the bloc while the US has warned that the legislation and the governments anti-western rhetoric is turning Georgia into an adversary and that it could pull billions in economic and military aid. Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said in a statement that the veto offered Georgias government a way out of the crisis. He said: President Salome Zourabichvils veto of the transparency law offers a moment for further reflection. In its current form the law is not in line with EU values and path. I call on all politicians and leaders in Georgia to make good use of this window of opportunity and ensure Georgia stays on the European course the population supports. I continue [to] closely monitor developments in Georgia. Under the Georgian constitution, a president has two weeks to either sign and promulgate the law or send an argued alternative back to the parliament in the form of justified remarks. The prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has suggested he would open the law to amendments but opposition groups see that as a trap designed to take the energy out of the protests that have swelled Tbilisis streets in the last month. Zourabichvili called a press conference on Saturday to tell reporters that she had effectively vetoed the bill through her proposed changes. This law must be repealed, she said. A failure by parliament to vote on the presidents proposals could effectively kill the bill. The constitution does not stipulate how long MPs can wait to hold a vote. Parliament can reject the presidents changes and pass the initial bill if it can find 76 out of 150 possible votes, sending it back to the president within three days for signature and promulgation within five days. The governing Georgian Dream party has 90 seats. If the president does not sign it, the bill passes to the speaker of parliament for their signature. Georgia will hold a general election in October. Tina Bokuchava, leader of the parliamentary party of the main opposition, the United National Movement, said: Young people, who have flooded the streets of our cities to protest in recent weeks, will applaud this decision, while also knowing the battle is not yet won. A severe contest now lies ahead between those who want Georgias future to be at the heart of Europe, and those who would take us back to the darkest days of Russian rule. Steve Backshall and family minus Olympic rower wife Helen who was busy training on a Wild Camper Trucks holiday in Cumbria. Photograph: jgios.com/Jonny Gio Camping trips with a young family can be thoroughly challenging, especially in the UK, when the weather often skips from sunshine to deluge in the blink of an eye. My extra challenge is that my wife, Helen, cant join us for our Easter break (shes away training for her fourth Olympic Games reasonable excuse). My three kids (twins of four, and an older brother not quite six) are a tornado handful at the best of times. I definitely dont want to be flying abroad with them, but I want to give them a memorable wild outdoors experience. So what to do? Inspiration comes in the form of Wild Camper Trucks, a small enterprise set up by entrepreneur Andrew Clark, who rents out a fleet of four-wheel-drive campers from bases in Kendal and Inverness. The vans are go-anywhere robust and reliable, but kitted out with enough home comforts that they feel like glamping on the go. Thanks to the additional roof tent, theyre set up to sleep four, but with kids as young as ours we could definitely push it to five. Theres a bijou kitchen and eating area, plenty of lounging and kipping space, and a huge amount of storage, which allows us to take all the outdoor toys we want. Andrew has teamed up with websites Off Grid Camp and Nearly Wild Camping, which connect 4x4, campervan and canvas wild campers with landowners. Campers subscribe to the websites, and pay their hosts as they would at any campsite. So, accompanied by my friend George, who rents an awesome teardrop caravan, we opt for a few days in Cumbria. Our first site is utterly dazzling, a farm in a part of the country I could have barely found on a map. The Howgill Fells lie to the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales national park, separated from the Lake District national park to the west by the River Lune. Cautley Spout, in the south of the Howgills, is considered Englands highest cascade-type waterfall above ground, with a drop of about 200 metres. The higher Howgills, such as the magnificently named Great Dummacks and Randygill Top, are more than 600 metres high. Even in the height of summer, this corner of the north remains quiet while parts of the Lakes and Dales can be overrun. In early spring, we have every field, peak and waterfall to ourselves. Our first night is a tester. A storm rages in from the east, with biblical rain and wind The celebrated fell conqueror Alfred Wainwright said the Howgills looked like a herd of sleeping elephants, and its easy to see why. The hills are bulgy, the streams and rivers that pour down the flanks of these curved giants give them a wrinkled, creased look. The word Howgills is derived from the Old Norse haugr, which means barrow or hill, and they feel less intimidating than the peaks to the west. For me and my brood they prove more achievable, and lead to some delightful hikes. We park our truck in the high fields of a sheep farmer. Shes busy zipping around the fells on a quad bike and helping ewes through breech births, but makes time to show us around, giving the kids the opportunity to bottle-feed the new lambs so new they still bear their scraggly umbilical cords (which my youngsters mishear then repeat as miracle cords). Were the only campers out on the hillsides, and could be a million miles from home. Cooking up a barbecue, we play Grandmothers Footsteps as cloud shadows race over the tallest Howgill peak, the Calf (676 metres), and jackdaws caw overhead. Dinner is hotdogs cooked outside. Easy enough with the gas burners and fridge/freezer included in the camper truck. Theres a camping toilet and a shower, which uses water heated on the stove, so an alfresco wash behind a tarp is totally doable and ethical toiletries are provided to reduce the nasties getting into the water table. Bedtime rolls around and the tent is up in seconds, accessed through a hatch inside the camper truck. Our first night is a tester. A storm rages in from the east, with biblical rain and winds at buffeting force. My oldest boy and I are sleeping in the expandable rooftop tent, which fills like a yachts sail in an ocean gale. He snores through the whole thing, but at 3am I carry him (still sound asleep in his sleeping bag) downstairs. Had I been in the family tent it would have been a survival situation, but all four of us snuggle together in the huge double bed, and its actually pretty cosy. Come morning, we are ready to roll. The camper truck handles like a car in many ways: its smooth to drive and you soon get used to the weight in the back. To help counter emissions, Clark plants 25 trees for every 1,000 miles his customers drive. Wherever we stop, we find places for the children to run rampant in nature Our big adventure activity today is a whitewater paddle trip down the River Lune on inflatable rafts. The rafts coast over tame rapids for most of the day, with dippers bobbing around and huge flocks of oystercatchers taking to the sky as we round every corner. Rain pours down for the entire four hours were on the river, and by the end the kids are blue and shaking. As we coast into the Devils Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale, theyve had enough, so being able to just chuck them in the back of the truck and wrap them in sleeping bags is perfect. Other overnight stops range from a wild beachside spot north of the Wirral, where we can step out of the van and on to the sands, to Ashgill Forest in the North Pennines, where the wildlife includes red squirrels and pine martens. Wherever we stop, we find places for the children to run rampant in nature without risking constant apologies to other campers. We have an itinerary planned, but change it daily according to the weather and the kids moods. In soggy April conditions, we couldnt have safely accessed any of these sites without the 4x4 (or at the very least would have been begging the local farmers for a tractor tow). Despite the rain, we all love being outdoors. In calmer conditions, the rooftop tent provides ample room for sleeping, and next time well be fitting Helen in too, once her rowing in the Olympics is done. Im also hoping well have a chance to use the trucks own cinema: an awning rolls down on one side of the van and turns into an outdoor movie screen, so you can watch a film under the stars. All in all the trip is great fun. It delivers on the wildness in a way campervans and motorhomes cant quite, but comes with comforts that canvas leaves you craving. Wild Camper Trucks sleep up to four and start at 140 a day including insurance (five nights minimum) Eight people were also injured in the Israeli strike on the Jenin refugee camp. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA Israel says its jets have struck 70 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours, while an airstrike in Jenin killed a significant Islamic Jihad figure who operated as the head of logistics for the organisations brigade in the city. The strike, carried out on Friday night by a fighter jet and a helicopter, killed Islam Khamayseh, a senior terrorist operative in the Jenin camp who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area, the IDF said. A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound, it said in a statement posted to Telegram. Related: Supplies arrive in Gaza via new pier but land routes essential, says US aid chief Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that one of its members was killed and several others wounded during the Israeli raid. Al-Quds Brigade said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian ministry of health said one person was killed while eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of the strike. In a related operation in the city about six months ago, a drone strike resulted in the killing of five men who, according to the IDF, were part of a terrorist organisation. On Saturday, Israeli troops and tanks pushed into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said. Armed forces edged into streets so far spared the ground offensive, residents said. In one strike, medics said 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded. The Gaza health ministry and the Civil Emergency Service said teams received dozens of calls about possible casualties but were unable to carry out any searches because of the ongoing ground offensive and the aerial bombardment. After the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on 7 October, a wave of violence has swept through the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. Palestinian officials report that more than 500 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the conflict. During the same period, at least 20 Israelis have also been killed, according to a tally from the Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official Israeli data. In Gaza, Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded parts of Rafah on Friday, while the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had fired anti-tank missiles and mortars at forces massing to the east, south-east and inside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Reuters reported. One person was killed and other passengers were severely injured after a car was struck by a drone in the western part of Rafah, according to the Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud. Mahmoud, who is reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the car was on the way to central Gaza on the coastal road. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said more than 630,000 people had fled Rafah since the offensive began on 6 May. Theyre moving to areas where there is no water weve got to truck it in and people arent getting enough food, Sam Rose, the director of planning at Unrwa, told Reuters on Friday by telephone from Rafah, where he said it was eerily quiet. Humanitarian assistance has begun to arrive in Gaza along a US-made pier, but the US aid chief said the new sea corridor could not be a substitute for land crossings, and warned that deliveries of food and fuel entering Gaza had slowed to dangerously low levels. The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, confirmed on Friday that truckloads of humanitarian aid, including food from the United Arab Emirates, sent by ship from Cyprus, had been unloaded on the Gaza coast and handed over to the control of the UN. Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing: Hopefully by the time were done here, some of that stuff will actually be in the mouths of some hungry people. The Associated Press, however, quoted an unnamed UN official as saying distribution of the shipment had not begun as of Friday afternoon. The UK said the aid delivery unloaded on Friday also included 8,400 kits to provide temporary shelter made of plastic sheeting. Hamas issued a statement on Friday saying the US-built pier off the Gaza Strip was no alternative to opening all land crossings under Palestinian supervision, adding that they rejected any military presence on Palestinian land. Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip started rolling across a newly built US pier and into Gaza for the first time. Fridays shipment is the first in an operation that US military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day, reports the Associated Press (AP). It comes as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies seven months into the Israel-Hamas war. The war was triggered by Hamass attack in Israel in which 1,200 died, mainly civilians, and about 250 were taken hostage. As a result of Israels retaliatory offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, at least 35,386 Palestinians have been killed and 79,366 have been wounded, the Gaza health ministry said on Saturday. About half of the approximately 250 people abducted on 7 October have since been freed, most in swaps for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November. According to Israeli authorities, about 30 are confirmed to have died. On Saturday, the Families Forum released a statement saying one hostage, Ron Benjamin, had died. The organisations statement said 128 hostages remained in captivity. The bodies of three hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including the German-Israeli Shani Louk, have been retrieved from Gaza by the Israeli military, it announced. The other two hostages were identified as Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, according to the military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari, who said the three victims were taken to Gaza after being killed by Hamas at the Nova music festival. Footage of what appeared to be the body of Louk, 22, on the back of a pickup truck on the streets of Gaza was among the first images to surface after 7 October, as the scale of the attacks became clear. She was initially believed to have been alive when she was kidnapped during Hamass assault in Reim. However, on 30 October, Louks sister Adi confirmed Shani had died, probably during the attack, after the discovery of human remains that suggested fatal injuries. AFP, Reuters and AP contributed to this report James Cleverly: 'This Conservative Government has been relentlessly focused on stopping the boats' The more Labour talk about how they would tackle immigration, the clearer it is that their pitch is a total sham. They can pretend, but its obvious they have no plan. When Sir Keir Starmer set out his five missions last year, he showed how much he cared about the security of our borders by not mentioning it at all. Not a word. Meanwhile, this Conservative Government has been relentlessly focused on stopping the boats, breaking the criminal smuggling gangs and expanding strong cooperation with international partners, especially France, and with Rwanda. We are, right now, preparing to send a regular rhythm of migrant flights, having secured the legislation for that in the teeth of Labour opposition. Now Labour have suddenly come up with one idea. Just one a Small Boats Operational Command run by a former military chief to direct work across key intelligence and enforcement agencies to protect our borders. The flaw in Labour making this their one idea is that its our idea, and its already up and running. Labour are really taking the British people for fools. Despite clear evidence from political parties and 19 governments in Europe, who are asking for third-party safe destination country solutions similar to our Rwanda partnership, Labour vow to scrap it even if it works, and instead want some deal with the EU that would see us take even more migrants. Despite the Irish Government saying migrants had come to the Republic to avoid being sent to Rwanda, and recent examples across the media of migrants from different countries explaining they want to leave the UK or not try to come at all because they see our Rwanda plan become a reality, Labour are right now throwing away the only deterrent that is in play. Despite it being clear to everyone but Labour that, without Rwanda, they have absolutely nowhere to send those from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and anyone whose home country is unsafe, theyre determined to stop the flights, not the boats. Despite the fact that, to solve that self-inflicted problem, theyd have to negotiate returns agreements with the Taliban, Assad and the ayatollahs, Labour dodge this question. Despite the fact that, by scrapping Rwanda, Labour are embracing the costs of keeping people in the UK indefinitely an overall bill that will rise to 11 billion a year unless you can remove people Labour would still scrap it. The only people secretly cheering Labours stance are the people smugglers, because Labour are saying that if you get here we have nowhere to return you to, and boasting theyll remove the only thing that was making migrants think twice about putting their lives in the hands of violent criminals who dont care if they die. Which is an irony because, when you look at the whole range of things this Government is doing to tackle these criminal gangs, Labour chose to be left with one lonely idea to tackle immigration. Its a good idea. Its just not their idea, and it already exists. Our Small Boats Operational Command is staffed by the very specialists Sir Keir boasts will fill his new unit. Its run by a former major general, and it does exactly what he claims his new unit will do. He wants to convince people it is different. It really isnt. However, I will never ask those who keep us safe from terrorism, espionage and state threats to take their eyes off those vital jobs for a moment, and certainly not for a stump speech bullet point. So why is their pitch so thin? Labour have always been squeamish about tackling immigration. They cant make the difficult choices. They dont like actions that might make them feel or look bad. They are more comfortable with a younger Sir Keir, who once branded any measures to tackle immigration racist. Our plan is to stop the boats and to stop people, including children, drowning in the Channel. It is the right thing to do. To do that, you need a deterrent and we Conservatives have one. You need a destination to send people to. We delivered one. And yes, you need a team of specialists working to break the business model of the gangs. We Conservatives created it. Labour cant be trusted to tackle illegal migration, because they have no plan to do it. James Cleverly is the Home Secretary Luo Kuo-lin, a neighbour of Taiwan's incoming president Lai Ching-te, walks through the old mining tenement where they both group in in Wanli, Taiwan. Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian The house itself is a modest, two-storey dwelling on a larger parcel of picturesque land. Mist floats down from the jungled hills behind, settling in the narrow lane that winds towards the rundown remnants of a mine. The only people there on the day the Guardian visits are curious tourists. They are there for one thing: to see the family home of Lai Ching-te, Taiwans next president. Lai was one of seven children born to a working-class mining family in Wanli, a small hillside village near Taiwans north-east coast. His father, Lai Chao-chin, died in a mining accident when Lai was two, leaving his mother to raise them alone in the small house on the mining tenement. In 2023 Lai told Time magazine that the familys hard life taught him a sense of determination. That determination has taken him to the top of Taiwan politics. On Monday, Taiwan will celebrate the inauguration of Lai, its fifth president since free and direct elections began after decades of martial law. He will be taking over from Tsai Ing-wen, at a dangerous time in Taiwans history, with Chinas threats to annex Taiwan growing in scope and seriousness. In Wanli, Luo Kuo-lin, a neighbour of Lai since childhood, says that when they were young, Lai had wanted to become chief of the village, but his dreams got bigger. Lais mother died some years ago, but is described as having high expectations of her children, and an aversion to her son working in politics. Yet the teenage Lai was politically curious, says Luo. In the late 70s, Taiwan was still under martial law, and students were taught to venerate the government and its authoritarian ruler, Chiang Kai-shek. Luo says Lai instead read books that taught him to question the status of the Chiangs. He never talked about Taiwan becoming independent, says Luo, but he thought it should be more open. The families of Lai and Luo were among the few who stayed in Wanli after the mine closed and the land became public. Ambiguities around the legal status of the houses would later haunt Lais presidential campaign, as opponents accused him of owning an illegal dwelling after he rebuilt it in 2003 for his elderly mother. These days the old entrance to the mine tunnel complex where Lais father died is partially hidden behind undergrowth but it is marked by a recently erected sign lauding the achievements of the villages successful son. Luo says Lai wasnt a fan of the sign, but this small community is now of national interest. Gearing up for a fight Lai is preparing to take over as president of the self-governed island at a time of increased geopolitical danger and intense global scrutiny, but analysts and rivals say Lai is not the kind of leader to shy away from a fight. They describe the 64-year-old as driven, compassionate and principled, but also stubborn and hot-tempered. Lai, who served as Tsais vice-president faces a combative first term, operating without a majority in Taiwans deeply divided legislature. There are splits inside the ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP) on multiple domestic issues, and a significant divide exists over the issue of Taiwan independence. Lai is associated with the deep green faction, which favours full and recognised independence. In 2017, he described himself as a pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence, a quote that has followed him ever since, particularly throughout the recent campaign. It has been used to bolster accusations by the opposition that the DPP government has worsened tensions with China. Its a line he has since walked back, instead aligning himself with Tsais more moderate stance. We have to be unified, continue to strengthen Taiwan, protect the democratic frontline and ensure Taiwans security, Lai said in April. Analysts and others who know Lai tell the Guardian they dont think he has changed his mind, its more that hes seen one of two political realities: that his earlier positions could now put Taiwan in more danger, or that they would be politically unpopular. Some say its a bit of both. Lai has become more mature in the way he fights, says Dr Wang Cheng-kun, a former colleague at a hospital where Lai worked. Dafydd Fell, director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at Soas University of London says: Hes a pragmatic politician who like most DPP politicians prioritises maintaining Taiwans de facto independence. Lai will be fighting on multiple fronts. Beijing despises Lai more than Tsai and the Chinese Communist party will be watching his inauguration speech closely, but analysts say it doesnt matter much what he says if they want to react they will find a reason. No matter what he says during the inauguration, China will always disagree, DPP legislator Puma Shen told Reuters. In the lead-up to the inauguration, Chinas military launched increasing numbers of war planes and ships into Taiwans air defence identification zone and across its median line a provocative greyzone tactic to intimidate Taiwan and wear down its defences. He always insists on what he believes is correct After finishing high school, Lai trained as a doctor, including at Harvard, and became chief resident at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) hospital. He led a residents representative group, advocated for better pay and conditions and held numerous events that were always about democracy, says Dr Wang, a colleague at the time and long time friend of Lai. In 1994, Lai assisted with a DPP gubernatorial campaign, and in 1996 he formally entered politics, representing Tainan city at a national level. Lai has previously told the media he was prompted to run and contribute to Taiwans defence because of the Taiwan Strait Crisis of the time. It marked the beginning of Lais ascent. After four terms in the national legislature, he became the mayor of Tainan, serving from 2010 to 2017. When he runs for something, he gets elected, says Wang. As chief resident at NCKU hospital, legislator, and then mayor of Tainan, Lai developed a reputation for being a perfectionist, and working his staff hard. In his younger years he could be aggressive, thumping tables and shouting during meetings, recalls Wang. Lai is very stubborn, he always insists on what he believes is correct, he says. He drew fame as Tainan mayor for boycotting meetings in protest against corruption, and for his fiery clashes with his long-time political rival, KMT politician Hsieh Long-jie. In 2017, Lai was appointed premier by President Tsai, but resigned the next year after the DPP suffered widespread defeat in district elections. In early 2019, Lai sought preselection as the DPPs presidential candidate for the upcoming election, directly challenging Tsai the first time such an act had been taken against a sitting president in Taiwans modern democratic history. He lost the battle, Tsai won 35.67% of the primaries vote to Lais 27.48%, but what could have been a party-damaging rupture was handled swiftly, with Lai invited to run as Tsais vice-president, says Fell. Tsai was very skilful in the way she was able to bring Lai back into the fold and to project the image of a united party in the 2020 campaign. The Tsai-Lai ticket won the election with record-breaking support. Four years later, Lai has pledged to continue Tsais path, which means a diversion from his past and possibly current beliefs. Tsai moderated the impact of her pro-sovereignty position by advocating for cross-strait relations to be conducted within the framework of Taiwans laws and constitution, which hold references to the existence of one China of which both China and Taiwan are part. The ambiguity helps keep the peace, analysts have said. But in some public statements, including the presidential debate and political rallies, Lai has revealed scepticism about the concept, and of the constitution. From major to minor Some people in Taiwan are still wary of his independence-leaning past. And he has inherited cost of living and other domestic issues. In Taipei, an ardently pro-DPP taxi driver says he was a huge fan of Tsai. He thinks Lai is not bad. The wariness among even party diehards is just one of the challenges Lai faces. Beijing is bound to launch cognitive warfare over the fact that he won the presidency with just 40.5% of the three-way vote, says Professor Shen Yu-Chung at the department of political science at Tunghai University. His party also lost control of the legislature. The DPPs lack of a majority in parliament will definitely undermine Lais presidency, says Fell. I am not sure whether either [opposition party] is interested in collaborative policy making. Lais minority win is something of a setback for a politician more used to high popularity. The campaign attacks did some damage. The illegal house accusations painted him as a kind of elite landlord flouting the laws something Luo says insulted the whole village. Back in Wanli, one group of tourists take selfies outside the door. The property is not as upmarket as they were led to believe but they think the criticism of Lai was fair. Ben, from Taipei, tells the Guardian there are houses all over Taiwan that fall into legal grey areas, including his own. But Im not the president. Lais KMT rival, Hsieh, is warily withholding judgment. Hsieh says Taiwan should give Lai a chance. Lai is very stubborn on some things, but there is a lot of compromise. Image that has gone viral of Ana Minadze fixing her lipstick As she applies her lipstick in the reflection of the riot policemans shield, Ana Minadze has only one thing on her mind: defiance. I was not afraid because if they see fear they will never stop, she told The Telegraph in a coffee shop in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It worked as a mirror, she said, explaining that she had been inspired by a 2015 photo of a woman demonstrator in Macedonia. Maybe the policeman was smiling. I couldnt see his face but I could see his eyes. Ms Minadze is just one of tens of thousands of Georgians who have been protesting almost daily for six weeks against a Russian-inspired foreign agents law, which was finally passed by parliament on Tuesday. The Bill will undermine Western-backed non-government organisations (NGOs) by forcing them to register with a government unit. It has been interpreted as an attempt to destroy Georgias Europe-leaning civil society. The government says it is needed to improve transparency. Ever since a friend snapped Ms Minadze touching up her make-up in front of riot police at a demonstration on April 16, the 20-year-old political science student has become Georgias lipstick protester the face of a wider brewing confrontation between the West and Russia. Ms Minadze and other protesters see the daily evening protests outside Georgias parliament as part of a new ideological front line. They feel a duty to stand up to the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is unofficially run by a shady billionaire linked to the Kremlin. The government wants Georgia to be part of Russia, said Ms Minadze. But we are a new generation born in independent Georgia and we will fight for the future of Georgia. Sandwiched between Turkey, Russia and the Black Sea, the Caucasus country has been held up as a poster boy for Western democracy in the former Soviet Union. Economy is booming The drive into Tbilisi from the airport winds down George W Bush Street, named in honour of the former US presidents visit in 2005. The country fought a bloody war against Russia in 2008 over Putins support for two rebel regions. In December, the EU granted Georgia candidate status for membership of the bloc, which polls show more than 80 per cent of the population support. The economy is booming and tourists are queuing up to explore it. But the Georgian government has quietly increased its ties with Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 by strengthening economic, educational and travel links. Analysts and many Georgians put this unwanted shift down to one man: Bidzina Ivanishivili, who controls and funds the governing Georgian Dream party despite holding no elected political position. An eccentric recluse, he made an estimated 4 billion roughly the equivalent of a fifth of Georgias annual GDP while working in finance in Russia during the 1990s and has retained links with the Kremlin ever since. Mr Ivanishivili entered Georgias political scene in 2012 to unseat a staunchly pro-Western government, led by the now imprisoned Mikheil Saakashvili. Mr Ivanishivili served as prime minister until 2013 and then stepped down. Analysts said that he could once again be consulting the Kremlin but that his agenda is likely mainly driven by anti-West paranoia. In a speech in April that could have been written by the Kremlin, Mr Ivanishivili described a peaceful 2003 revolution in Georgia as a foreign-backed plot. He is a Macbeth of the Caucasus who is trapped in his own projections, trapped in a maze of his own making, said Hans Gutbrod, professor of Public Policy at Ilia State University in Tbilisi. Ana talking to The Telegraph in an interview in a Tbilisi coffee shop Prof Gutbrod said that the war in Ukraine has exacerbated these paranoias and was pushing Georgia into a crisis. But its not just a problem taking place in Georgia. If Russia prevails in Ukraine, this will come to you, to Europe, he said. This is part of a pushback against open society, part of authoritarian leaders cementing their control. Street politics has always been a feature in Georgia but the country is now becoming much more polarised. MPs have brawled in parliament, pleas by the EU and the US for compromise have been ignored and there is growing fear of a civil war. At the protests, riot police fire tear gas and charge protesters while squads of thickset men wearing balaclavas target individuals and drag them away. Demonstrators often emerge hours later badly beaten. People are not safe even when they are not protesting. Last week, gangs of hooded thugs ambushed several opposition activists outside their homes, kicking and punching them repeatedly and then leaving them bloodied lying on the floor. Posters were also plastered on to the offices of NGOs that oppose the foreign agents law, describing staff as traitors. Activists, journalists, lawyers and academics who have spoken out now look warily over their shoulders and carry cans of pepper spray. Some, like gay rights activist Giorgi Tabagari, have gone into hiding. He left Tbilisi after his car was vandalised and posters agitating against him were plastered onto his 77-year-old fathers house. These methods are designed to terrorise people, he said. It is extremely unsafe for me at the moment to hang out in Tbilisi. Compromise feels distant The Georgian government did not respond to a request for an interview. On Friday, thousands of people joined an annual rally organised by the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi to defend family values against LGBT rights. There, people said that although they also supported joining the EU, they were wary of its corrupting influence and backed Georgian Dream. They described the protesters as spoiled Tbilisi youth who had goaded police into a crackdown. We have seen how French police treat demonstrators and it is much worse, said Elene, a 29-year-old accountant. Compromise feels distant. Georgias pro-West French-born president Salome Zurabishvili is expected to veto the foreign agents law within a fortnight but MPs can ignore her and force it into law anyway. In the coffee shop, Ms Minadze shrugged. She is preparing for more protests, and police violence. Of course, there is some fear because we know now that they can do anything against us, she said. She opened her handbag and emptied out the contents: a basic first aid pack, cotton pads, Vaseline and a saline spray for dousing tear gas from eyes. I usually carry at least one gas mask too, she said. Its no longer just lipstick. A tree tangled up with electrical lines blocks the entire road at 27th and Nicholson on May 17, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer As crews are deployed dealing with power line and system failures from Thursday's pounding storm, the site dedicated to alerting Houston area people when their power will return is going through some outages of its own. CenterPoint Energy's outage tracker for many the first place to check on power problems has been experiencing "technical difficulties" throughout Saturday morning, according to the website. Company officials eventually abandoned the map in favor of updating people on the total number of outages, steering them toward its X social media platform and its text and phone service. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The tracker was slowed by a combination of the large demand and the wide area of the map with power problems to report, said Alyssia Oshodi, director of communications for CenterPoint. "It is tied to the amount of outages," Oshodi said. She said the company would work to provide information as they can, but as of Saturday the map "was not functional." "We will of course look to see what we can do to improve," Oshodi said, noting CenterPoint's focus remains on restoring power. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Those looking for information on when to expect electricity, however, were noticing the lack of information. "This seems unacceptable that in the midst of this horrible situation, CenterPoint can't even ensure that they have a working site to share information with those impacted," Alissa Ritter wrote in an email. Ritter, who was working to move her 77-year-old mother from their hometown of Houston to Ritter's residence in Colorado, and her sister have been trying to share information with their mother but striking out. "It's incomprehensible to me that a company with this much profit can't even ensure the bare minimum is being done for their customers to have easy access to information and updates during catastrophes," she said. As specifics on its online outage tracker remain spotty, CenterPoint Energy officials, as of 4 p.m. said 467,014 customers remain without power, after more than 276,000 were restored in the past 24 hours. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Crews are dealing with 5,220 active outages, the company reported online. With about 2,200 workers spread around the Houston region handling breaks in the power system, CenterPoint said Saturday it expects restoration will be "substantially complete" by end of the day Wednesday. Tory MPs say proposals to give EU border guards access to the Rock's airport are 'unacceptable' - iStockphoto David Cameron risks ceding British sovereignty over one of the most important military strategic assets in the world with his Gibraltar deal, Conservative MPs have warned. Tories said proposals to give EU border guards access to the Rocks airport are unacceptable and that the Foreign Secretary risked a backlash from his own MPs if there is any kind of sellout. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory situated on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, where it shares a border with Spain. For months, discussions have been taking place between the EU and Britain over the management of Gibraltars border now that Brexit has been finalised. To keep the border open, proposals have been made for EU officials to carry out immigration controls at the airport. Checking arrivals there would allow the Rock to join the passport-free Schengen Zone, eliminating the need for identity controls at its border with Spain. That is expected to include people travelling to the territory from the UK who, from later this year, would have to provide their fingerprints to enter. However, such plans are controversial because the airport is a joint civil-military facility that doubles as the RAF station on Gibraltar. The issue is also highly sensitive because Spain has consistently claimed sovereignty over the territory. Last week, the UK and the EU published a joint statement saying that an agreement was getting closer, and on Monday Lord Cameron is due to be grilled on negotiations by MPs on the European scrutiny committee. The Foreign Secretary has been warned that, if a deal is agreed in its current form, he risks a major backlash from Tory MPs. A senior Conservative, who asked not to be named, said: Im concerned about it. The principal issue is one of sovereignty and control. Half of the worlds shipping passes through the Straits of Gibraltar. Its therefore essential that we should have proper control of what happens there. The proposals that weve got which include having Schengen border guards at the airport are really unacceptable. If you havent got sole control over the access to your own territory, which is what would be the case if they had Schengen border officials in the airport, then your sovereignty has clearly been compromised. We need to ensure that British sovereignty is maintained and the security of the Rock is maintained If we compromise on that its going to be absolutely disastrous, simply because it is literally one of the most important military strategic assets in the world. Its hard to think of anything thats more strategically important. The MP said that the Conservative benches were particularly concerned about it, adding: If they feel that anything is being done thats going to compromise the sovereignty of Gibraltar there will be a very adverse backlash. Lord Cameron has been warned that he faces 'a very adverse backlash' - Lucy North/PA Last week, Fabian Picardo, Gibraltars chief minister, told The Telegraph that it was wrong to suggest that the deal would in any way affect British sovereignty and criticised Tory MPs for wanting to set themselves up as a greater guardian of Gibraltars sovereignty than the people of Gibraltar. However, the senior Conservative hit back, saying: Picardo speaks about Gibraltarian sovereignty. Hes a Kings Counsel for heavens sake, and he knows the sovereignty rests with the UK. The issues that were concerned about here defence, foreign relations and security are all issues that are reserved to the UK Government and are not bestowed upon Gibraltar. He knows all this. Another Tory MP said of the negotiations: The worry obviously is any kind of sellout anything that gives an inch or the idea that were not fully in control of who goes in and out. Asked about Lord Camerons appearance in front of MPs on Monday, the MP said: Its not really good publicity for him or the Foreign Office if they came out and said anything other than that the territorial integrity remains intact. Meanwhile, a Government source accused the European scrutiny committee of rebuffing a request by Mr Picardo to give evidence alongside Lord Cameron on Monday. The source said: Its important that the voice of Gibraltar is heard in this debate. Its unfortunate that the committee wont allow the Gibraltar chief minister to appear and answer questions when is so keen to. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: As the chief minister of Gibraltar has said, it is wrong to suggest that this deal in any way affects British sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over Gibraltar. The UK will only reach an agreement with the EU: which the government of Gibraltar is content with; safeguards Gibraltars sovereignty; and fully protects the operations and independence of the UKs military facilities in Gibraltar. Green Party councillor Mothin Ali - Facebook Six in ten voters think it is inappropriate for politicians to shout Allahu Akbar or to praise God after winning an election, polling has found. The finding came after a Green Party councillor provoked controversy by shouting the Arabic wordswhich mean God is the greatestafter being elected in Leeds in a victory he declared as a win for the people of Gaza. However, the poll by Savanta found that the public were more divided on local politicians campaigning on issues connected to foreign affairs, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict. At the local elections earlier this month, Mothin Ali won the Gipton and Harehills seat for the Greens with 3,070 votes. Delivering a victory speech after the result was announced, he said: We will not be silenced. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine. Allahu Akbar! Following criticism of the remarks, Mr Ali later said he was sorry for any upset my comments caused about the Gaza conflict, adding: It is not unusual for somebody of my faith to use the words Allahu Akbar as an expression of gratitude and celebration. Some have sought to misrepresent this, and it suggests Islamophobia to me. Supporters of successful Green party candidate Mothin Ali unfurled a Palestinian flag as the results were counted, shouting "we will not be silenced" - Twitter However, the Greens have opened an investigation into the councillor after it emerged that he had previously described a Jewish chaplain at the University of Leeds, who was forced into hiding by threats from protesters, as a creep and a kind of animal, and referred to Israel as a settler, colonial, occupier. Keeping it secular Polling by Savanta of 2,102 UK adults for The Telegraph found that a majority of the public are opposed to politicians expressing religious sentiments when making victory speeches after their election. Fifty-eight per cent said that it is inappropriate for politicians to express religious sentiment, such as praising God or saying Allahu Akbar in their victory speeches, while 29 per cent thought it appropriate. The only actions deemed more inappropriate are politicians attacking their own partys policies (64 per cent) and not acknowledging their rival candidates (63 per cent) in their speeches. However, the polling showed the public is more open to local politicians campaigning on foreign policy issues. Asked whether it is appropriate or inappropriate for local politicians, such as councillors and metro mayors, to campaign on foreign affairs, such as the conflict in Gaza, 41 per cent thought it appropriate and 42 per cent thought it inappropriate. People who voted for Labour in the 2019 general election are significantly more likely than 2019 Conservative voters to say that it is appropriate for local politicians to campaign on foreign affairs when they are trying to be elected (52 per cent to 36 per cent). After the local election results, some commentators voiced concerns about candidates putting Gaza at the centre of their campaigns, arguing that it was evidence of a growing sectarianism in British politics. In the West Midlands mayoral race, an independent candidate endorsed by George Galloway and running on a pro-Gaza platform, Akhmed Yakoob, nearly swung the election after appealing to traditional Labour voters disillusioned with the partys Middle Eastern policy and picking up nearly 70,000 votes. Victoria Atkins: Every concern should be investigated, and every staff member should be free to raise them without fear of recrimination or damaging their career. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA The NHS must listen to whistleblowers and investigate their concerns in the interests of patient safety, the health secretary has said. Victoria Atkins said she had asked officials to look into cases where there were claims of mistreatment of people who had spoken up about the issues they had experienced. It cannot be right that NHS management spends millions of pounds fighting doctors who have concerns over patients safety, Atkins wrote in the Daily Telegraph. I will never put protecting reputations ahead of protecting patient safety. Every concern should be investigated, and every staff member should be free to raise them without fear of recrimination or damaging their career. Related: NHS trust under investigation accused of hypocritical email to staff Atkins said it was a priority to develop a culture within the NHS that encourages speaking out, protects whistleblowers, and always puts patient safety first. Atkins said each of Englands NHS trusts now had a dedicated member of staff known as a freedom to speak up guardian, to listen to and support staff who want to report concerns. These guardians have already handled more than 100,000 cases and more than eight in 10 staff who spoke out to give feedback said they would feel comfortable doing so again, Atkins said. She said a national independent guardian and helpline service had also been set up. Standardised background checks had been brought in for NHS board members, to prevent irresponsible leaders from covering their tracks by jumping between organisations, she said. A review of the whistleblowing framework announced last year was continuing and evidence and next steps would be published in due course, she said. She added: I have asked my officials to look closely at these NHS whistleblower cases to identify the common themes and to consider what possible action could be taken to address the issues. This is to ensure a positive culture that encourages speaking out within the NHS becomes the norm, not the exception, across England. Atkins was responding to an investigation by the Telegraph into the NHSs treatment of doctors and nurses who said they had been targeted after they raised concerns about patient safety. Prof Phil Banfield, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, wrote in the same paper that doctors who raised issues were often met with hostility and risk losing their careers. A doctor from Justice For Doctors, which was set up in 2019 to support medical professionals who feel targeted because of whistleblowing, said on Thursday the group had noticed a pattern of doctors who raise concerns being investigated themselves. Dr Salam Al-Sam told the Patient Safety Conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London: They say: Concerns were raised against you, you are not allowed to practise until weve finished our internal investigation. Residents of Vovchansk and nearby villages arrive at the evacuation point, an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region. Photograph: Jedrzej Nowicki/The Guardian Evacuating the last remaining residents of Vovchansk, the town at the centre of Russias recent offensive in Kharkiv region, becomes more dangerous with every passing day. As fierce street battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces continue in the northern part of the town, a band of local police and volunteers have been journeying in daily to evacuate the last, terrified residents out of a place which was once home to 18,000 people. We dont know how many people are left now, but we hope its not more than 200, said Oleksiy Kharkivskyi, head of the Vovchansk police force, speaking on Friday morning in a village a few miles south of the town. The road into Vovchansk was under artillery fire at that very moment, he said, and it was possible that his latest mission would have to be called off. The previous day, six people had been wounded in a Russian strike on an evacuation point, including two medical professionals and the head of the Vovchansk administration. In the end, Fridays evacuations went ahead and, although Kharkivskyis car came under fire, he managed to make it out with an elderly couple in tow. Dressed in military-style fatigues and with a pistol tucked into his body armour, Kharkivskyis years of experience as a beat cop can hardly have prepared him for these rescue missions that require dodging drones and artillery fire. We barely made it out of there, he said in a shaky Instagram story filmed later in the day. The people who emerged from Vovchansk and the surrounding villages on Friday were mostly those who had planned to stick it out to the very end in their homes, but finally changed their mind when the intensity of the fighting became too much to bear this week. Most of them were elderly, frail and deeply traumatised. They registered their identities with police and waited for a minibus that would take them to a hub for displaced people in Kharkiv. Why the hell didnt you leave earlier? Weve been telling you all to leave for days, shouted one policeman, voice wrought with frustration, at Olha and Mykola, an elderly couple just shy of their 50th wedding anniversary, who were standing at the evacuation hub with a few plastic bags of possessions and a bucket of eggs, perhaps the last to be laid by their chickens. We didnt think it could get this bad, said Olha, forlornly, cradling a large grey cat, swaddled in a blanket from which it was attempting to wriggle free. We didnt want to leave. Its our home. We dont know where to go. She said they would first stay in a shelter in Kharkiv and then hoped to stay with relatives, though she was not sure if there would be space. Standing together with them was Natalya, the 55-year-old post office operator of Vilcha, just south of Vovchansk, and with 1,800 residents before the war. Our village is a Chornobyl resettlement village, it was built for us in the 1980s after the disaster, it was called Vilcha there too. Many of us moved together. And now everyone has been scattered all over, she said. She wasnt sure where she might go either; her immediate family is in Poland, and would not have space for her and her two dogs. This region already spent seven months under Russian occupation at the start of the war, and if Vovchansk falls to Russia, it would be the first time Moscow has retaken a town already won back by Ukraine. In recent months, Russian forces have seized the initiative in the conflict, as Kyiv experiences difficult shortages of reserves and weaponry, the latter partly caused by months of wrangling in Congress that delayed a huge US military aid package. The speed with which a relatively small contingent of Russian troops pushed several miles into Ukrainian territory and made it to the outskirts of Vovchansk has alarmed many in Ukraine, who have asked why defences were not stronger, and whether the countrys second city, Kharkiv, might be under threat again. Russia tried to take the city at the beginning of the war and was repulsed, but has been pounding Kharkiv with missiles and airstrikes in recent weeks. To stave off the threat, there has been a flurry of military activity in the area between Kharkiv and the Russian border this week, with trucks clawing out earth to construct new trenches and fortifications. Military vehicles and jeeps packed with soldiers ply the roads. Air alarm sirens sound almost constantly in the city. President Vladimir Putin, speaking during a visit to China on Friday, said Russia does not have plans to seize Kharkiv, though he added a sinister for now to the sentence. Russias goal in the current operation is to create a buffer zone to protect border areas, including the city of Belgorod, from Ukrainian attacks, Putin claimed. In an interview in Kyiv, a top aide to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed that Russia will not push on to Kharkiv now, saying Moscow had just 15,000 troops allocated for the offensive. Instead, said Mykhailo Podolyak, the idea was to extend the frontline, forcing Ukraine to reposition its reserves, and to take advantage of the delay to the US aid package. There would be two to three more weeks when they have total dominance in resources, and then it will start to level out, he said. Another reason behind the mini-offensive, said Podolyak, was psychological: to show that Russia can fight for as long as it takes and that it is pointless to try to resist. This is not a message for us, this is a message for the elites in the countries that support us, he said. The visual consequences of this new offensive have been gut-wrenchingly familiar after more than two years of Russias war on Ukraine: urban landscapes assaulted with heavy weaponry, the glazed eyes of displaced residents who had little and have now lost it all, and spirited resolve from many soldiers and civilians who refuse to let the Russian army roll through the country unopposed. Despite this, the last week caught many Vovchansk residents totally off-guard, partly because the fighting largely passed the town by in the opening stages of the war. The first time around, Russians entered Vovchansk with no resistance on their ultimately futile push towards Kharkiv. When they retreated seven months later, it was hasty and without major exchanges of fire. We went to the church to a service with the Russians in charge, and by the time we came out of church two hours later, the Russians had gone and there was a Ukrainian flag flying, claimed Ludmyla Sorokolitova, a 39-year-old who is training to be a paramedic. Nobody expected there could be fighting like this. Sorokolitova and her husband spent six days sheltering in a cellar, until Wednesday, when they made a dash through incoming fire towards her parents home, a kilometre away. They were all able to leave in an evacuation car; both of their homes are destroyed beyond repair, she said. Now the family is living in a room in the dormitory of a Kharkiv boarding school, sleeping in small single beds. Ludmyla is looking into Kharkiv apartment rentals, but her mother, Natalya, who has lived in Vovchansk for 50 years and spent decades working as a music teacher there, said she was determined to return home as soon as possible. We all want to go home, said Ludmyla, quietly. Im just more realistic about the fact that we have nothing to go back to. Researchers said parents tended to be overconfident about their childrens academic performance in reading and maths. Photograph: Robert Daly/Getty Images Parents are more likely to overestimate maths ability in sons than daughters, according to research that suggests that gender stereotypes at home may hinder the progress of female students. The findings, presented in a lecture at University College London this week, found that parents tend to be overconfident about their childrens academic performance in reading and maths regardless of gender. But, in maths, parents overestimated boys skills to a significantly greater extent. We know that gender stereotypes can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, said Dr Valentina Tonei, an economist at the University of Southampton who presented the research in a talk at the Institute of Education. We sometimes hear that girls dont like maths, but what has been done to look at why they dont like maths? Im quite convinced that this is not that girls dislike maths, but that it is the result of years of being exposed to stereotypes. There continues to be a substantial gender gap in maths, physics and engineering, with female students only making up 23% of A-level candidates for physics and 37% for maths in the UK and forming an even smaller proportion beyond degree level. The governments former social mobility commissioner, the headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, told a select committee in 2022 that girls did not choose physics A-level because they disliked hard maths, prompting anger from leading scientists. The latest work, suggesting that parental bias could play a role, follows previous findings that teachers expect girls to be worse at maths and mark them accordingly. Tonei and colleagues analysed data from about 3,000 children and their parents who had participated in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Parents were asked to rate their childs ability in maths and reading at various time points and these scores were compared with the childrens actual performance on Naplan tests, the Australian equivalent of Sats, taken at the age of eight to nine years old. The test scores showed a slight gender difference, with girls achieving the equivalent of an extra 1.7% on reading and boys an extra 0.6% on maths. In reading, parents tended to rate the ability of girls more highly but in proportion with girls superior test scores. In maths, though, parental overconfidence in boys skills significantly outstripped their marginally better performance. However, this gender bias was not seen in the roughly one-tenth of parents who happened to answer the questionnaire after they had received their childs scores. The effect was also smaller in highly educated mothers and those working in predominantly female-dominated occupations. Related: Pupils in England can learn about gender surgery but not ideology, says Keegan Parents need clear and objective information about skills and abilities to support their children in the best way, said Tonei. A lot of biases are unconscious so we need to act early in life. These test scores can be quite a powerful tool in terms of how to change the beliefs of parents. The research also hinted that parental bias could have an impact on a childs educational trajectory. When the researchers tracked how children were performing in their next Naplan tests two years later, those whose parents were most overconfident about their abilities tended to do better. In line with this, the gap between girls and boys widened in maths. The more parents overestimate, the higher the level of skills of these children two years later, said Tonei. Because parents overestimate mathematical skills more in boys, it leads to an amplification of the difference in mathematical skills between boys and girls. This can contribute to a widening of the gap over time. Prof Gina Rippon, a neuroscientist at Aston University who has studied the question of gender differences in the brain, said the findings fitted with a wealth of evidence in psychology that gender stereotypes could affect parenting. Psychology has known for some time that parents expect different things of boys and girls, she said, adding that it was encouraging that providing objective scores appeared to help counteract this effect. I thought that was quite hopeful, she said. The Duke of Edinburgh, representing King Charles III as Lord High Commissioner, and John Swinney, the First Minister, with Rev Dr Shaw Paterson after he was officially installed as the Moderator at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday - Lesley Martin/PA The Duke of Edinburgh has said that the death of the late Queen so soon after Prince Philip made it far more emotional for the family. Prince Edward, who lost his mother 17 months after losing his father, said that the outpouring of support following the death of Queen Elizabeth II was overwhelming. His comments came while he deputised for the King as Lord High Commissioner at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday, where he welcomed the newly elected Moderator, Reverend Dr Shaw James Paterson. As he addressed the Edinburgh assembly, the Duke spoke of the support he received from royal chaplains following the death of his mother. The late monarch passed away in September 2022 at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, bringing an end to a 70-year reign and sparking tributes and memorials across the country. The Duke said: 'I just want to pay personal tribute to the chaplains of the Chapels Royal and especially those here in Scotland' - Chris Jackson/Getty Images But the death of his father, Prince Philip, his predecessor as Duke of Edinburgh, just the previous year, Prince Edward said, made his mothers passing far more emotional. For my own part, I just want to pay personal tribute to the chaplains of the Chapels Royal and especially those here in Scotland, he said. There have been moments recently where I have been lucky to have sensed Gods care and love. And who could forget the scenes that followed the passing of my mother? The outpouring of emotions, the demonstration of respect, love and grief was overwhelming and a privilege to experience and behold. I think I can speak for my whole family when I say we will remain forever grateful for that support. Prince Edward attends the opening ceremony of the 2024 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Duke of Edinburgh, flanked by First Minister John Swinney and Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said he was really touched and comforted by how chaplains helped the Royal family behind closed doors and away from the public gaze and the scrutiny. I know its part of the job description, so perhaps I shouldnt have been surprised, yet it is not necessarily what they did, its how they did it, he said. Here were centuries of tradition, of rituals long practised, of prayer, of care and of comfort. Prince Edward also congratulated Dr Paterson on his appointment as Moderator for the next 12 months - replacing the Right Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton - remarking of the similarities between the life of a child of a minister with that of a child of the Royal family. Growing up in the family of a minister is never easy; having to come to terms with sharing one or both of your parents with the wider parish family, he said. And believe me, I can empathise. Responding to the Duke of Edinburghs address, Dr Paterson asked him to urge the King, who has been diagnosed with cancer, to take the time he needs before he gets up to full speed. His health is important, and we will be praying for him and all who have got health concerns, the Moderator added. Placards are seen as demonstrators gather during a pro-Palestine rally outside the 2024 Victorian Labor state conference in Melbourne on Saturday. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has accused pro-Palestinian protesters of bringing violence, homophobia and antisemitism to the front door of state conference. On Saturday morning, ahead of speeches by Allan and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, a group of protesters entered the Moonee Valley Racecourse building and began chanting outside the conference room filled with MPs, unionist and other rank-and-file members. Protesters had earlier been rallying outside, with Senator Lidia Thorpe and Brunswick MP Tim Read among speakers. As attendees arrived at the conference, protesters attempted to bar their entrance. Footage shows Fraser MP Daniel Mulino being shoved by members of the crowd before security guards stepped in and began escorting Labor members. One guard fell on to a moving escalator as protesters pushed past. Guardian Australia understands at least one state minister was taunted with homophobic slurs as they arrived. In a post on X after her appearance at the event, Allan said she was disgusted by the protesters behaviour at Victorian Labors state conference. Today, protestors and intruders brought violence, homophobia and anti-Semitism to the front door of state conference, she wrote. Im disgusted. No one should be cowered by these bullies. As premier, my priority is a cohesive society where all Victorians feel safe and respected. Thats what Im fighting for. Allan, surrounded by plain-clothed personal security, was in the conference room as some members of construction union the CFMEU and the Industrial Left faction formed a barricade inside. The room remained locked for about 15 minutes and the chanting continued throughout the in memoriam section of the conference, marking the deaths of former Labor minister Simon Crean, Dunkley MP Peta Murphy and Senator Linda White. State MP Sonia Kilkenny, whose seat of Carrum partly overlapped with Murphys, said her neighbouring MP for Frankston, Paul Edbrooke, was meant to join her on stage but had been locked out of the conference room. After Kilkennys speech concluded, Labor official Alice Smith told the room that the protesters who were outside have been moved on. She sought to reassure parents that the protesters did not enter the on-site childcare, which she said remained secure and safe. A group called Trade Unionists for Palestine said it had called the rally along with other community groups to protest against state and federal Labor aiding and abetting the genocide of Palestinian people. Later on Saturday afternoon, the Labor rank and file carried six urgency motions calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. One motion called on the federal government to support the inalienable right of self-determination for the Palestinian people and to immediately recognise Palestine as a fully independent sovereign state within the current term of parliament. Another urged the Albanese government to introduce visa bans for violent Israeli settlers and to make it illegal for Australian citizens, companies and organisations to fund settlement activity. The Allan government, meanwhile, has been urged to scrap a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Israel ministry of defence in 2022 and end co-operation and investments with Israeli weapons companies, including Elbit Systems, in another successful motion. Two Labor members, Garth Head and Nick Dyrenfurth, spoke against the motions, with the latter describing them as a gesture of opposition to Israel, which means de facto a gesture of support for Hamas. But Kat Hardy, a supporter of the motions, told the conference floor Paul Hamer, a co-chair of the parliamentary friends of Israel group, played a constructive role in engaging in the debate. While the motions are non-binding on either state or federal Labor MPs, they provide an opportunity for rank-and-file members to shape policy. The federal government has strengthened its language on the Gaza war in recent months. After calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in December, Albanese joined his Canadian and New Zealand counterparts to urge Israel not to commit what would be a devastating and catastrophic ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza. Other motions passed on Saturday opposed the federal governments new gas strategy, urged the state government to guarantee no public land would be sold to private developers when it knocks down the states 44 public housing towers, and urged Labor to vocally and consistently oppose the Liberal party policy to allow people to access superannuation for housing. Delegates also passed a motion calling on the state to mandate presumption of bail for children charged with any offence in Victoria and abandon plans to trial ankle bracelets for youth offenders. This article was amended on 18 May 2024. A previous version incorrectly attributed a quote by Alice Smith to Labor party member Pamela Anderson. Celebration of the liberation at Carentan by the dance troupe Flying Cool Cats - THIERRY HOUYEL A town in Normandy has appeared to drop the British flag from bunting commemorating D-Day. Carentan is one of a number of communities on both sides of the Channel preparing to remember the many thousands of soldiers involved in the largest amphibious invasion in history, launched on June 6 1944. But with the 80th anniversary just weeks away, eagle-eyed visitors have spotted that the Union Flag appears to be absent from the bunting hanging in the town, even though it can be seen in the photos from the past two years. Flags of the US, Canada and the EU are still flying in the bunting. The apparent exclusion has angered many Britons. Neil Geddes, a 59-year-old engineer from Fleetwood, Lancashire, told The Sun: Its wrong, considering our involvement in Frances evacuation and liberation. Two years ago in Carentan, the Union flag was on display with other national flags - ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Pointing to the flags of Switzerland, Sweden and Ireland, he said: They have no right to flags here when it was us who battled the Nazis. Gordon Bridge, 83, said: For the brave contribution our country gave to defeating evil we should never be forgotten. But an employee of the towns tourism board blamed recent political developments. Carole Zarb, 54 said: The town hall is behind this. We think it is because of Brexit. We are not behind their decision. Carentan was a vital location for the Allied forces, providing the only crossing point between two of the five assault beaches, codenamed Utah and Omaha. After six days, on June 12 1944, German forces were forced to withdraw from the town and it remained under Allied control until the end of the war. A Carentan town hall spokeswoman told The Sun that both the buntings origins and the reason for Britains exclusion were unknown. Security services are understood to be concerned about the threat of disinformation about the war in Gaza circulating online - Sinai Noor/Alamy Russia and China are manipulating public opinion in Britain by promoting pro-Palestinian influencers online in an effort to stoke division, Whitehall sources have told The Telegraph. Senior Government figures fear rogue states are promoting polarising online narratives about the Israel-Hamas conflict using an army of fake social media accounts. Analysis of some of the leading pro-Palestinian social media influencers in the UK, who have ballooned in popularity in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, has revealed that many of their followers are fake. Experts said such a boost from fake profiles would disproportionately amplify pro-Palestinian voices the more bots that engage with them and promote them, the more platform algorithms are likely to ensure that other social media users see them. Security services are also understood to be concerned about the threat of disinformation about the war in Gaza circulating online, as well as the possibility of hostile state involvement. A Government source said: Its clear that foreign states are engaged in trying to manipulate public opinion by skewing the way we interact online. They hope to destabilise and undermine our institutions. Its the role of the defending democracy taskforce to work across Government and the security services to understand and combat those threats. A second senior Whitehall official said: Oct 7 and the conflict in Gaza are exactly the kind of issues that Russia tries to exploit to spread disinformation and division here in the UK. Defending Democracy Taskforce A taskforce launched by the Government last year, aimed at protecting the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of interference by nations such as Russia and China, is looking at ways to tackle the spread of online disinformation and conspiracy theories. The Defending Democracy Taskforce, chaired by Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, and including members of the security services, focuses on the role of rogue state actors in spreading disinformation. Officials in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) have been concerned about disinformation about the war in Gaza circulating online and are understood to be in close contact with social media firms about it. The national security online information team, part of the DSIT, has been tasked with keeping a close eye on the issue and flagging any suspicious behaviour. Robert Clarke, a senior fellow at Civitas, the civil society think tank, said Russias aim in using bot farms to promote pro-Palestinian accounts online was twofold. Firstly, Mr Clarke said Moscow was absolutely desperate to divert attention away from the war in Ukraine, adding: They will exploit, with their own bot and troll farms, the international outrage over Israel so that people focus on another major global event. There is very little awareness in the general publics mind about their involvement, they have been so captivated by the anti-Israel narratives. Mr Clarke says Moscow is 'absolutely desperate' to divert attention away from the war in Ukraine Secondly, he said its aim was to stoke divisions in British society, explaining: The vast majority of people aged under 21 turn to social media for their news content. It is incredibly difficult to try and influence people when they have been exposed to an overwhelming narrative. Divisive activists on social media Fiyaz Mughal, who founded the interfaith groups Tell Mama, Faith Matters and Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, has been monitoring the rise of divisive activists on social media since Oct 7. Their rise has been literally exponential in the number of followers that these accounts have got, he said. What it has done, particularly for Muslim-Jewish relations, is that it has totally, utterly decimated them. It has othered Jewish communities. It has also created a sense that any Muslim who does not jump to our tune in effect is a collaborator. This is dangerous stuff. He warned that this kind of activity was meant to fracture, to divide and to create a sense of you are either with us or you are on the other side. Research by Cyabra, a tech firm specialising in countering disinformation online, found a number of leading pro-Palestinian voices on social media had a substantial number of fake accounts artificially bolstering their following. The analysis, seen by The Telegraph, showed that one in five of the accounts that engage with Dilly Hussain, a commentator and podcaster, are fake. Mr Hussain, who has 118,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, has used his social media channels to refer to Israeli soldiers as genocidal sexual perverts and baby killers. He has claimed Israel is a safe haven for paedophiles and compared the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the terror group Isis. He also appeared to promote a conspiracy theory that the IDF had carried out the Oct 7 attacks, writing on X: Massacre at Nova music festival? Not by Palestinian fighters, it was very likely the IDF and its Hannibal Directive order. A pro-Palestine protest in London on Saturday - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Researchers studied the rapper Lowkey, whose real name is Kareen Dennis, and found that 11 per cent of profiles that engaged with him on X were fake. Lowkey, who has more than 390,000 followers on the social media channel, posted on Oct 7: The arrogance to believe you could keep two million trapped in an open air prison indefinitely. He has also claimed that Israel is not a country and has been deliberately starving Gazans. Researchers also analysed the profile of Robert Carter, who works for the 5Pillars website and has 125,0000 followers on X, finding that 15 per cent of accounts that engage with him are fake. Within days of the Oct 7 massacre, he accused Israel of being propaganda peddlers with fake stories of beheaded babies to con the public into sympathy with Israel. In October, he claimed Israel had started using chemical weapons in Lebanon as well as Gaza. Mr Carter said: Any details regarding fake accounts on platforms such as X is Elon Musks problem, not mine. Mr Hussain and Mr Dennis declined to comment. There is no suggestion that any of them are aware of, or have control over, fake accounts interacting with them online. Rafi Mendelson, the Cyabra vice president, said: Iran, China and Russia are very active in creating fake accounts on social media. Using our technology, we can see the scale and sophistication of these campaigns, and from that we can infer or understand whether this looks like a state actor activity. The sophistication and level of what we have seen does suggest a state actor level of involvement. It comes amid growing concern among Israeli ministers about the grip that social media influencers have on British discourse about the war in Gaza. A recent report circulating among senior Israeli officials said influential pro-Hamas figures were engaged in creating, resonating and promoting the pro-Hamas narrative in England. Amichai Chikli, Israels minister of diaspora affairs, told The Telegraph: The grip of the Muslim Brotherhood of Hamas in Britain is far beyond what the average citizen in Britain might think. There is a direct threat to Britain from pro-Hamas organisations that are operating all across Britain with a clear purpose to impose Sharia law and to make Britain a Muslim island thats the reality and thats their vision. He said the British authorities need to be far more active, far more aggressive against these enemies, which threaten not just the Jewish community, but the way of life and the basic values of Britain as a democratic state. Although home-made lasagne might be better, ready-made is a good option for a midweek treat, writes Clay Lasagne: the dish we all love to eat, but not to make. Seductive slippery sheets of pasta, basted with rich ragu, sliding under creamy white sauce and a golden, bubbly top sounds good. But spending four hours making a slow-cooked ragu, tenderly cooking out a bechamel and playing lasagne-sheet Tetris? This is the sort of thing that weekend cooking enthusiasts love, weeknight supper providers not so much. Happily, its a dish that takes well to being prepared in advance. Great for those get-ahead cooks but also for picking up from the chiller cabinet in the supermarket, as its the kind of ready meal thats got a sporting chance of tasting good. Time to put the high streets range to the test. Close examination of the labels on such products can be a bit less appetising. Many ready-made lasagnes fall back on modified starch, that favourite of the ultra-processed food (UPF) manufacturer, as its a cheap way to bulk out food. Other UPF markers to look out for in the ingredients list are maltodextrin (a thickener and preservative), dextrose (also used as a preservative), and palm oil. Most ready-meal lasagnes are high in fat, saturates or salt, many showing the red traffic-light symbol on all three but its important to look at that in context. The colour-coded nutritional information on food labels has its uses, highlighting egregiously high levels of the kind of stuff (the negatives) we ought to eat in moderation. But it doesnt value the positives in a product: nuts, for example, score red for fat but this ignores the fact they are not a processed food and are actually packed with good stuff, a fantastic source of things we need more of such as protein, vitamins B and E and a host of minerals including potassium and iron. Fat in itself, meanwhile, can be a good carrier of nutrition. In the same vein, the only lasagne of the 21 I tried which had no red traffic lights on its nutritional label was Morrisons Savers, whose fat, saturated fat and salt levels are marked yellow/amber. Kudos for that (and the price, which at 2.20 for 400g makes it one of the cheapest fresh lasagnes available). The ingredients list isnt too bad either, with proper durum wheat in the pasta (which should make for a decent springy texture). Maltodextrin and onion concentrate are the only obvious UPF ingredients. But how much good nutrition does Morrisons Savers lasagne contain? Theres barely 20g protein in a portion, for example; the lowest in the test and less than half than some of those I tried. Not a disaster, granted, and still a good chunk of your daily requirement, but it is an example of how seeking out low-fat or low-salt foods only tells half the story (Id love to see products labelled with additional traffic lights for high protein, high fibre and high levels of antioxidants, for example). Wondering how the shop-bought lasagnes fare in comparison with homemade, I found a recipe by Marcella Hazan, the godmother of Italian home cooking, and calculated its fat and protein content. The fat in Hazans dish comes to over 47g per portion, of which 23g is saturated. Thats substantially more than even the richest of the ready-mades, an M&S Best Ever Beef Lasagne at a total of 38g fat (18g saturated). Most are around half that. As for protein, Hazens contains a healthy 31g per portion perfectly respectable, but not as much as Sainsburys Taste the Difference lasagne (which delivers over 40g). I know how dare I suggest that a homemade lasagne isnt an impeccable choice? And the truth is, there are lots of reasons why homemade will be better: its fresher, there are no weird ingredients and youll know what went into it, just for starters. But ready-made lasagne might still be a good option for a low-stress, midweek supper treat, provided you choose carefully. Let my exhaustive taste test guide you to the goodies. The taste test If you don't have time to make lasagne from scratch, don't fear. Find a tasty ready-made one Stodgy pasta with all the depressing flavours of school dinners which bring a whiff of gym lockers and unfinished homework. The sauce is like school gravy and the product overall is bechamel-heavy. Very stodgy; some of the pasta sheets have stuck together lumpily like a sports-centre yoga mat. Tastes overcooked. An oddly translucent white sauce, as if it is thickened with starch not flour. Nasty, overcooked pasta and dull meat. Looks a mess like its been hit by an earthquake. Theres virtually no white sauce and the soggy pasta tastes oddly sweet, as if someone has put sugar in it. The meat sauce tastes porky rather than beefy, while the flavour of the white sauce is all wrong, as if its made with UHT milk, and theres an aftertaste of raw flour. Theres no excuse at this price. The flavour of this one is actually OK and its very nicely layered with stringy cheese, but unfortunately its ruined by very soft, overcooked pasta. Massively let down by the white sauce which has been thickened with cornstarch, not flour. The result its translucent which isnt a good look. However, the pasta is fine and it has quite a smoky and herby taste, albeit with less meat than others and more tomato. lasagne Two layers of the pasta are stuck together in a thick clump, which is poor. Theres not much white sauce and the meat and tomato sauce is overcooked. OK but lacking in oomph and a bit stodgy. Looks a bit pallid but blimey, youre whacked with garlic it overwhelms the flavour. The pasta is quite good but its probably a bit intense for some people, I think. Mind you, garlic addicts might give this a 5. The meat sauce has a smell of offal (which would be very authentic) although none is listed in the ingredients. The pasta is so soft its like a thin sheet of jelly. Soft, gelatinised pasta and a tomatoey meat sauce that tastes of yeast extract and leaves a slick of red oil on the base. Not terrible but not delicious. Another pallid-looking lasagne. The pasta layers are slipping over each other which feels authentic and the meat has a good nubbly texture. Theres definitely flavour there, but the heavy dried herb flavour and lack of tomato-ness reminds me of Dolmio theres also too much white sauce that has an industrially-produced flavour. Stodgy pasta thats pale and sunken in the middle. The sauce tastes overcooked the sort of lasagne youd be happy to eat in a motorway service station. A bit bland, but its got nice, bouncy pasta and its generously meaty a decent option. lasagne Another one that has two sheets of pasta stuck together makes it feel unloved. Very meaty with a brown coloured sauce that still carries a tomato flavour and the bechamel is very cheesy. Feels like a British family supper rather than an Italian one. Similar to the Tesco one. Lots of tomato sauce that tastes of dried herbs and good, nubbly meat. However its a bit more watery and theres a generally weird colour on top. Intensely flavoured meat, well-balanced herbs and quite cheesy on top. Vital, as it covers the dodgy, translucent white sauce. Excellent, satiny pasta and a great rich texture. The balance of meat to sauce is good. No weird ingredients but the dried oregano flavour is on the strong side, reminiscent of a jar of Dolmio. The pasta is a cut above, silky with a fraction of bite. Theres lots of meat at the bottom, and it slices very well, though it is a bit heavy on the herbs. Great value. Nicely defined layers, with a chunky, meaty sauce thats not drowned in tomato. Tastes like a proper homemade British family supper, rather than Italian, but none the worse for that. David Figueroa, left, and Delmy Suazo toss bricks to a pile as they work to clean up debris after a wall came down at an apartment complex in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Emilia Kobina, left, and Denise Kobina stand near a fallen transmission line tower along the US 290 feeder road as they walk Emiliaa dog, Zaid, in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A man carries water on his shoulder as volunteers at the Memorial Assistance Ministries distributed water and ice, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As of Saturday afternoon, 486,000 people in the Houston area remained without power after a Thursdays thunderstorms killed at least seven people. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Jose Guzman, front right, gets food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Guzman lives with his 75-year-old mom and his daughter. Its nice, he said, adding that hes never received food aid before. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climb. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank worked in the heat to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A volunteer sweats as she gives away food to people in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A box of food aid sits during a distribution in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climbed. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank organized the food giveaway to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Laundry-4U employees install new sheet metal siding along the roof of the business, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Laundry-4U employees install new sheet metal siding along the roof of the business, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Ramona Saldana and her husband Jose get food and water during a distribution in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. She said a tree fell on their house during the storm. Many Houstonians are still without power as temperatures climb. Staff and volunteers with Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank worked in the heat to help residents around the school. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Margaret Cantu waits in the heat to get food and water from volunteers Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. Im trying to forget the storm, it really scares me, she said. Cantu, 68, lives with her 70-year-old husband. She said they dont have power. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Andrew Hallard, a mechanic with Harris County Precinct 4, works through the heat to distribute food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A woman keeps track of the number of vehicles served with food and water in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A line of electric trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Workers sit along on of several lines of tree trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky stage in a separate lot from the large number of electrical trucks at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A line of electric trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Women pass a chopped up tree on the trail at Memorial Park on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A man walks around a fallen tree on the trail at Memorial Park on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A tree bucket truck pulls into a parking lot staging area for electric trucks and tree trucks from Tennessee and Kentucky at the AMC Gulf Pointe movie theater at Beltway 8 and I-45 on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, as help comes in after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening, knocking out power to nearly a half a million people. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Several propane tanks await refill at 2650 Tidwell Road on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A line of people wait to refill their propane tanks at 2650 Tidwell Road on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston, after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday evening. Karen Warren/Staff photographer A man checks his laundry at the Pine Shadows apartments, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Daniel Valdez places a fresh bag of ice in a cooler his brought on foot from his apartment as volunteers at the Memorial Assistance Ministries distributed water and ice, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As of Saturday afternoon, 486,000 people in the Houston area remained without power after a Thursdays thunderstorms killed at least seven people. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Hector Garcia, owner of OSO Coffee Co., gives a fist-bump to Erica Mata, a regular at the small Navigation Boulevard establishment, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief, Garcia said, whose business hasnt had power since Thursday. There was a line around the block this morning. pEople are coming to charge their phones, just get some relief. For us, as a small shop, we needed to be open - if nothing else for our employees. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Hector Garcia, owner of OSO Coffee Co., hands a pair of puppuccinos to Lucia Maynec, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief, Garcia said, whose business hasnt had power since Thursday. There was a line around the block this morning. pEople are coming to charge their phones, just get some relief. For us, as a small shop, we needed to be open - if nothing else for our employees. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A man takes a photo of damaged windows along the side of Wells Fargo Plaza, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Jose Mejia repairs the storm damaged roof of his sportswear business at the corner of the Food Town lot on Uvalde Road near San Jacinto Colleges North Campus on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Houston. Rebekah F. Ward Rising temperatures Saturday replaced earlier wind warnings and calls to avoid power lines as recovery began after a Thursday thunderstorm that lashed through the Houston area with wind speeds greater than 100 mph, killing at least seven people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Follow along below for live updates on the aftermath of the storm. Here's a recap of Friday's coverage. To support our journalism, please consider subscribing to the Chronicle. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Houston Community College Southeast Campus is hosting a supply dispersal event from 2 p.m. to approximately 4 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can pick up fruit, water and food alongside cleaning products, diapers and other items at 6815 Rustic. The event may end early or later than 4 p.m. depending on how long as supplies last. As of 5 p.m., the utility said its crews had restored more than 252,000 customers, leaving 447,550 without electricity. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the aim is for 90% of customers to have power by the end of Wednesday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Nearly 200 cars lined the shoulder of Maxey Road Saturday afternoon, waiting to pick up ice, food and personal care supplies at Next Generation Churchs distribution site in Northeast Houston. The pop-up operation that ran from 3 to 5 p.m. came together quickly, as local congregations, nonprofits and city officials leaned on the relationships they built during hurricane recovery efforts. Thursdays surprising destruction left them no choice. We had to mobilize pretty quickly because nobody knew this was going to happen, said Houston City Council member Joaquin Martinez, who joined a swarm of volunteers directing cars along the drive-thru operation. Martinez said the coalition had drummed up enough supplies to serve 600 to 700 households at each of their centers, with help from Convoy of Hope and H-E-B. Advertisement Article continues below this ad His districts other distribution site, Iglesia Fe y Poder, is in East End/Magnolia Park. Additional precincts and council districts hosted similar giveaways throughout the city Saturday. Robert Dixon, who serves as pastor of Next Generation Church, said the congregation always makes itself available for disaster recovery efforts. Oftentimes the northeast quadrant of the city is a forgotten area when it comes to disasters, Dixon said. But its often the hardest hit, and the need is great it has the lowest income per household in the state of Texas. Larry Hargraves, the former pastor of a nearby church who waved waiting cars into the driveway five at a time, said this storm was no different. The area had heavy damages; most houses and apartment complexes were still without power, and few had the money to repair the heavy home damage they had sustained. For many in the vicinity, recovery was still day-by-day. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Were cooking on a grill, showering wherever we can. Were surviving, but its very difficult, said Alexi Gonzalez, a resident who drove from her still-dark home to wait for supplies. We have no power theyre saying it could be weeks. Officials have since it is likely power for the vast majority will be restored by Wednesday. Gonzalez left the church parking lot in a car loaded with ice, food, water and toiletries but worried about what she would do if the blackout lasted into June. - Rebekah F. Ward 4:59 p.m. Cecil Haney, a fleet manager with Harris County Precinct 4, works through the heat to distribute water and food in the aftermath of a destructive storm Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center in Cypress. Volunteers said the community center was still without power. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the county "should be eligible" for public disaster funds, which would help the county and likely other public agencies tap Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for costs related to road cleanup and damage to public buildings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "This is a big deal," Hidalgo said. "Instead of us having to foot the bill on recovery, we can get reimbursed and use those funds on mitigation for the future and keep a balanced budget." The county alone has calculated significant damage to public assets, as well as the cost to help people rebuild. In a release, county officials said the damage included: 1.2 million cubic yards of debris that will cost about $27 million to remove. Harris County Engineerings Delta building has significant damage that will cost an estimated $1.2 million to fix. 178 traffic signals not working. The county is coordinating with TxDOT to get generators to 8 locations that are critical intersections. 14 county buildings without power, 3 of which are courthouses. "These are estimates for unincorporated Harris County and do not include any damage within individual cities or (school districts)," officials said. "Cities and (school districts) will report damage in the coming days, but this gives us a sense of the cost of the damage." In an update posted on social media, Hidalgo said 90% of people should have power restored by Wednesday, as crews work to narrow outages. She added that CenterPoint's efforts to bypass damaged transmission lines were successful. Officials, citing the increasing heat, are already planning for community resources Sunday. Harris County Precinct Two Commissioner announced a pair or cooling centers for tomorrow. Restoration crews are making headway in getting Houston customers back online. As of shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, CenterPoint Energy reported 467,014 customers without power, out of the 2.7 million in the Houston area. The number has, albeit gradually, declined throughout the day. Officials are contending with about 5,200 problems related to locations losing electricity. As the number of powerless customers drops, however, the temperature is rising and posing additional risks, especially for the elderly and infirmed. "Knock on their door, check on them," said state Rep. Gene Wu, who represents southwestern parts of Houston. "Call, text, whatever you need to do," Houston City Council Member Abbie Kamin said during a midday press conference. Texas Department of Transportation crews from outside the eight-county Houston District are driving into the region to help maintain state highways and the significant traffic systems that keep the region moving. Our crews are working diligently to restore our traffic signals and efforts to recover to normal operations," said Eliza Paul, district engineer for TxDOT's Houston office. "To expedite restoration, TxDOT is leveraging our forces to get our system up and operating." In the region, 125 of the 1,100 signals maintained by TxDOT -- roughly one of every eight -- is inoperable, highway officials said. That is in addition to the hundreds of blinking or powerless lights maintained by Houston or Harris County. In order to make the repairs, officials are urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Drivers who do venture out should look out for road crews, treat any inoperable traffic signals as an all-direction stop and report any road damage or debris. Saturday morning, Sam Tijerina took to his black truck with his tools and six-year-old son, grabbing gloves, eye protection, water and snacks before heading to the Iron Workers union training center near Hobby Airport. There, the pair waited for an assignment, Superman water bottle in tow. Working down a list from Jay Malone, the communications lead for the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, Tijerina and his son went to multiple addresses that had reported needing help with major damages. After Harvey we did the same thing, the union organized, Tijerina said. The father of three got involved in organizing during his decade of work as an elevator constructor. Now he has a family and just finished his first year at law school, but still jumped in to support the recovery effort. The first two homes on his list did not end up needing an assist; at one, a massive tree blocked the road completely during the storm, but other helpers already managed to chop and stack its thick trunk neatly on the side of the road. Tijerina was not deterred by the false alarms. Its always like this. Theres no reason I wouldnt do it again, he said. You just never know. To me its about the elderly people, who dont have friends or a network. Or the coworker that dont talk to nobody, who is out there just waiting for help. His son didnt mind either, after a ride in the truck and a treat candy and chips, the good snacks. Malone said any volunteers were welcome to join the effort, whether or not they were with the union. He planned to continue sending people out with water and assignments from 7521 Fauna St. both Saturday afternoon and Sunday. -Rebekah F. Ward, 3:15 p.m. Customers have been surging into a Hampton Inn in North Houston since Thursday, many bringing stories of wrecked homes, strong winds and blocked off roads, said Consuelo Tello, the hotel's manager. The hotel on Karissa Court booked up all of its remaining 25 rooms on Thursday after 6:30 p.m. Within 20 minutes, the hotel was full. Most of the guests have been coming from northeast Harris County and leave as their power comes back on. The hotel, which has less than 100 rooms, is full, Tello said. Theres still people trying to book right now, she said. I have a waiting list of people." The storms and the aftermath reminded Tello of Hurricane Harvey, she said. At the time she was working at a hotel in Pasadena and watched as National Guard members filled the rooms. A local school district has reached out to coordinate a food drive for people without electricity, and she said she is planning on hosting the event tomorrow in the hotel. It feels pretty good to help out the community, she said. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, said FEMA is traveling to Houston to help residents recover from the storm. Specific locations are going to be set up across the county. She highlighted two FEMA programs that will provide immediate funds: Serious Needs Assistance, which provides a $750 payment for necessary items such as water; first aid and baby formula, and Displacement Assistance, which provides money to help with housing options. "Our recovery will continue," Fletcher said. Local and state officials joined together to ask for federal aid. Saturday, officials cheered that cooperation as a model of kicking off the rebuilding necessary. "We are not worried about who gets the credit," Houston Mayor John Whitmire said. - Peter Warren 3:49 p.m. Fire departments are staying busy from the storm, even with the sun shining in Houston. Rodney Reed of the Harris County Fire Marshalls Office said fire departments on the west side of Harris County received 256 calls for service on Thursday. A typical Thursday night is 64 calls for service. We need to be very conscious when the power returns, Reed said. Make sure you are going out, accessing your area, checking the lines, making sure theyre no sparks, making sure were not touching any power lines or anything else that may be energized. He also alerted people to be careful with their generators. First responders dealt with one woman Friday night acting irrationally because her generator was pumping dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide into the house. - Peter Warren 2:33 p.m. Under a hot midday sun, many Houstonians who sell their wares out of food trucks and street stalls opened for business even while patching the battered vehicles used to drum up their livelihoods. East of downtown, Jose Mejia leaned over the top of an angled ladder, drilling a new corrugated metal roof on the wood frame of the sportswear stand he runs with his wife. The small business has stood at the corner of the Food Town lot on Uvalde Road for 15 years, near San Jacinto Colleges North Campus. Mejias wife Martina, who watched the ladder while tending to customers, said this was only the second time the stall had been hit this hard since they opened. She said she had not expected such heavy damage based on the forecast. I saved what I could, its inside, Martina said in Spanish. But the wind started and took everything. It flew across the parking lot. She expects they are down about $4,000 from the storm, between the roof, shredded side tarps on their wood-frame stand and gutted merchandise and it would have put them farther in the hole, if her husband wasnt repairing the roof himself. For us thats a lot of money, a lot of money, Martina said. Despite the tattered stand, the couple already had customers again, drawn in by fresh jerseys and gear they brought from home to restock. Vivid blankets emblazoned with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid logos fluttered from a rope nearby, vibrant under a faded Food Town sign ripped open during the storm. -Rebekah F. Ward 2:25 p.m. Jose Mejia repairs the storm damaged roof of his sportswear business at the corner of the Food Town lot on Uvalde Road near San Jacinto Colleges North Campus on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Houston. Rebekah F. Ward Thursday's storm cleanup continues, but Mother Nature might not be done messing with Texas. "We know it is getting hotter by the minute and we know that approximately 500,000 people are still without power," Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said. "It could be multiple days before power is restored." With temperatures expected to send the heat index above 100 degrees, Briones said it is incumbent on people to protect themselves. "I worry about our seniors, to those who are vulnerable," she said. "Please reach out." An army of volunteers stand ready to address needs, Briones said, flanked by federal, state and local officials. Cooling centers and distribution sites around the region are available. The wireless network operated by AT&T is "operating at more than 99% of normal," the company said Saturday afternoon, as technicians remained in the area to address problems. "Our crews continue to navigate storm damage to deploy and refuel generators until commercial power is restored," a company spokesman said. "We have additional generators in the region and are deploying them as needed." In many cases, the interruptions in telephone and data service are related to widespread power outages in the Houston region. Carriers, including AT&T, have waived fees and limits for cell phone use and texting as people recover from storm damage. Music from a large speaker inside Hector Garcias OSO Coffee Co. cut through the stillness of what normally would have been a busy section of Navigation Boulevard on a Saturday afternoon. Made still even more by the lack of electricity in the area, forcing OSO to brew with a backup generator. Illuminated inside by a work light and a bank of small, wooden panel windows, dedicated regulars and those simply looking for a brief, cool diversion filled the small shop. "As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief," Garcia said. "There was a line around the block this morning. People are coming to charge their phones or just get some relief. Whatever people need. For us, as a small shop, we needed to be open - if nothing else for our employees." - Jason Fochtman, 1:19 p.m. Hector Garcia, owner of OSO Coffee Co., gives a fist-bump to Erica Mata, a regular at the small Navigation Boulevard establishment, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Houston. As soon as we could, we started up the generator so people could have some relief, Garcia said, whose business hasnt had power since Thursday. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Saturday morning that access to federal disaster recovery resources is open to local residents. The website for disaster recovery follows the decision late Friday by President Biden to approve a Major Disaster Declaration at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott. With about 2,200 workers spread around the Houston region handling breaks in the power system, CenterPoint Energy said Saturday it expects restoration will be "substantially complete" by end of the day Wednesday. The announcement is the clearest sign yet that predictions by officials of days, not weeks for the power to return are likely. About 90 Houston ISD campuses were still without power Saturday morning, but Superintendent Mike Miles said that he hopes the district can make enough progress in its recovery over the weekend to reopen the majority of HISD schools in time for classes on Monday. Miles said the district was assessing its options for schools that were still without power, and that families would be notified about their school's status for Monday on Sunday afternoon or evening. In cases where the district determines it's feasible, students at a school without power may be moved to another HISD campus for the school day. Otherwise, the school will likely be closed. "We don't have a lot of schools with that much space. We have some schools with space, and if that's the case, then we can do that, but most likely, if a school doesn't have power, then it will remain closed," Miles said. As parts of Houston head into their third day without power, it's important to revisit best practices for the gas-powered generators that thousands of households are relying on. Risks of misusing generators include death and illness from carbon monoxide. It's typical for Houston hospitals to see an uptick in the number of patients with carbon monoxide poisoning after natural disasters knock out power. During the freeze and subsequent power grid failure in 2021, for example, Harris County saw at least 580 carbon monoxide poisoning cases, including two deaths. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, nausea, fatigue, confusion, muscle aches, and vision changes. Here are tips on safely using gas-powered generator from Consumer Reports and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. As specifics on its online outage tracker remain spotty, CenterPoint Energy officials, as of 11:40 a.m., say 485,779 customers remain without power after more than 222,000 were restored in the past 24 hours. Crews are dealing with 5,015 active outages, the company reported online. Our crews visual inspections and damage assessments of our infrastructure yesterday showed that we have a lot of hard work ahead in the coming days," said Lynnae Wilson, CenterPoint's senior vice president. for electric business. Any downed lines or problems should be reported to the company at 713-207-2222. As crews are deployed dealing with power line and system failures from Thursday's pounding storm, the site dedicated to alerting Houston area people when their power will return is going through some outages of its own. CenterPoint Energy's outage tracker -- for many the first place to check on power problems -- has been experiencing "technical difficulties" throughout Saturday morning, according to the website. "The company is experiencing slower-than-normal system performance from the Outage Tracker tool on its website," officials said in a statement. As of 10:30 a.m., the company said 82 percent, or 2.3 million of its customers had power, leaving some 500,000 in the dark. With half a million Houstonians still without power after Thursday's storm, it's time to start thinking about how long perishable food will keep. Some items spoil quickly, especially meats, leftovers, some dairy and any product with mayonnaise. They need to be thrown out if they've been above 40 degrees for two hours or more. Food in a refrigerator will stay safe for up to four hours if the doors remain closed during a power outage, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A full freezer will keep its temperature for 48 hours, and a half-full freezer will last about 24 hours. Once the temperature in the fridge reaches 40 degrees or higher, perishable food is only good for two more hours. Read more details here. - Jennifer Radcliffe 11:05 a.m. A lingering sewage smell still hovered over White Oak Bayou near the University of Houston-Downtown campus Saturday morning, after Thursdays storm triggered a massive wastewater spill in the area. Contractors working on buildings close to the spill pointed out brown residue underfoot, saying the putrid water had now largely drained but had at one point backed up into nearby streets. 308 Washington Ave. at Milan Street was one of three Houston locations with sewage spills that topped the 100,000 gallon reporting threshold in the storms aftermath, according to a notice from Houston Public Works Friday. The others were 1 Main St. at Girard Street and the Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant on Maxey Road. The spills were caused by intense, heavy rainfall combined with high winds and widespread power outages The public should avoid contact with waste material, soil, or water in the area, Houston Public Works said in a press release. City of Houston water remains safe to drink without boiling, the city agency said, but residents using private wells within half a mile of the spill sites should have their water tested for contamination. Houstonians with private wells nearby should use only water that has been distilled or boiled at a rolling boil for at least one minute until it can be tested, Houston Public Works said. - Rebekah F. Ward 10:57 a.m. Entergy, which supplies power in northeastern parts of the Houston region in Montgomery, Liberty and Chambers counties, expects to have almost all power restored to its customers by the end of the day. In a statement, the company said all of the 4,500 still in the dark "who can safely be restored" should be. A crew of 900 is in the area. "Damage assessments are still ongoing, but initial reports indicate damage to 63 poles, 28 transformers, 41 crossarms, and approximately 155,000 feet of wire needing replacement," officials said. Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation union members are combining forces Saturday to help people whose homes have been damaged by the storm. "Our affiliated building trades unions and other unions are coming together to go out into the community and help folks whose homes have been impacted by the storm," said Jay Malone, communications director for the organization. "Apprentices and journeymen will be going out and helping to clear debris, doing some basic temporary repairs to homes, and then also delivering water and other supplies to people that need them." Malone said 25 people are confirmed to help, but the total could be 75-100. They will all meet at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ironworkers Local 85/135 Joint Apprentice Training Center before spreading out into the community. The organization has a list of people identified as having urgent needs. - Peter Warren, 10:35 a.m. The two confirmed tornadoes that tore through the Houston metro area last Thursday boasted peak winds of 100 to 110 mph while cutting paths of about three-quarters of a mile, according to early findings by the National Weather Service. The first twister struck in Waller County, starting at 5:44 p.m. Thursday about 5 miles south-southeast of Pine Island. With estimated peak wind speeds of 100 miles mph, the tornado lasted only about a minute, cutting a path only 0.71 miles long and 100 yards wide, the weather service said. The weather service survey teams also determined on Friday that the fierce winds that whipped Southeast Texas, uprooting trees and tearing up buildings, constituted a derecho event. - Robert Villalpando, 10:25 a.m. Slices of office tower windows shattered by high winds Thursday glistened along Houstons downtown streets Saturday morning, where cleanup crews built scaffold ceilings to protect themselves from the shards still hanging dozens of stories above. The crews descended on near-empty streets as most Houstonians stayed away from the city core. One family of three from Norway surveyed the wreckage, snapping photos of tree limbs that had crushed the Smith Tunnel entrance on Shaw Street. Where we come from, theres nothing like this, said Harvard Henriksen, who was visiting the city with his brother and father. The situation doesnt look good. The three men landed in Houston on Friday after learning of Thursdays destruction from the news while en route. Henriksen, who had left his hotel a few minutes earlier, said the area was probably not the safest place to be right now, while large pieces of glass could still drop down onto the roadway. Crews donning hard hats prepared to start work on two of downtown Houstons distinctive Chevron towers, formerly the home to Enron. While largely intact, the mammoth towers were peppered with spots where Thursdays wind had popped out the long glass windows coating their exterior. - Rebekah F. Ward, 10:02 a.m. People walk over broken glass to cross Louisiana Street on Friday, May 17, 2024, in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer As residents sweep up branches and head out, a flurry of new reports of street hazards and inoperable traffic signals have streamed into Houston Public Works. Nearly 800 open reports of street hazards, 400 inoperable or flashing traffic signals and 300 storm debris complaints remain, based on a review of 311 data. Many are clustered where it is suspected the strongest winds and storm knifed across Houston. Check our interactive map for a look at current street hazards. -- Matt Zdun, 9:53 a.m. Finca Tres Robles, a nonprofit urban farm in Second Ward, is hosting a modified version of its Reunion Communitaria (Community Meeting) and salsa festival, opening it to anyone in need of some relief, food or phone charging. "In light of all thats happened, weve decided to host a modified festival... in the spirit of community togetherness," organizers wrote on Instagram. The event will be at 235 Norwood from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. "The salsa competition may look a little different, but please stop by if we can serve you," organizers said. "Come eat, charge up, enjoy music, and be in your community." Harris County's emergency management department is warning people, as they dig into the damage around homes, to use care and the proper equipment. Although temperatures are expected to climb, officials said long pants and long sleeves are important, as are work gloves. Anything that involves downed wires should only be handled by professionals. There's no love from Mother Nature for a city event in Love Park, as officials have again canceled Cigna Sunday in the Park because of weather in the area. The event, set for tomorrow, is canceled, officials said. Power in the Heights, where Love Park is located, remains out and the city's is still assessing all the damage from Thursday's storm. The family-friendly events usually take the summer off, so people might have missed their chance until October or longer. More than 540,000 customers in the Houston region remain without power as of 8:20 a.m. Saturday, based on a review of CenterPoint Energy reports, with more than 520,000 of those in Harris County. A quarter of customers in Harris County remain offline. Crews are spread across the region restoring lines and systems, but officials still have not said when all power could be returned to customers. In some areas, numerous repairs will be needed to bring homes and businesses online. For updates, go to the Chronicle's power outage tracker. Harris County Precinct 4 is opening four community centers at 10 a.m. Saturday for residents still without power after Thursday's storm. Some of the sites will also distribute food, water and ice. The community centers are: Tracey Gee Community Center, 3599 Westcenter Dr. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Saturday for charging, cooling Bayland Community Center, 6400 Bissonnet St. 10 a.m.- 7 p.m. for charging, cooling on Saturday and Sunday 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. or until supplies run out Sunday for food distribution Radack Community Center, 18650 Clay Road 10 a.m. Saturday for ice and water distribution 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. or until supplies run out Sunday for food distribution Weekley Community Center, 8440 Greenhouse Road in Cypress, 10 a.m. Saturday for ice and water distribution 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. or until supplies run out Sunday for food distribution Houston Chronicle metrologist Justin Ballard writes that a high atmospheric pressure system building over Southeast Texas Saturday will mean that daytime high temperatures could reach the low 90s through next week. Heat and humidity will lead to heat index values that make it feel like it is nearly 100 degrees, especially along and south of Interstate 10. With hundreds of thousands of people still without power, Southeast Texas residents without power could be at risk for heat-related illnesses once this pattern of hot and rain-free weather kicks off this weekend. The City of Houston is opening several drive-thru distribution centers for ice, water, non-perishable food and other supplies in the areas hit hardest by Thursday's storm. They are at: Fifth Ward Multi Service Center, 4014 Market St 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Salvation Army, 12507 Windfern Rd 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Salvation Army, 4026 N. Interwood 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Northshore Fellowship Church, 444 Maxey St. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Iglesia Fe y Poder, 6714 Navigation Blvd. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said that City Council offices plan to check on residents who are registered with the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry, or STEAR, program. This helps responders connect with the most vulnerable residents. Artist Jonathan Yeo and King Charles III at the unveiling of Yeo's portrait in Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Aaron Chown/AP Why do reports always say that a portrait of someone great and good has been unveiled? The word is an empty metaphor that turns the first viewing into a ceremony; it also mystifies the entire procedure and makes it somewhat morbid. Portraits of kings, presidents, prime ministers and the like are effigies, meant to replace the mortal being. Once the official image has been fixed in place, the living subject can be sent off to die. The unveiled portrait draws a veil over another ceremonial occasion: what we are looking at is posteritys verdict, so in effect we are attending a funeral. At Buckingham Palace the other day, no veils or theatrical curtains were parted to disclose Jonathan Yeos portrait of King Charles, which shows him depending on your whim as a viewer either afloat in a lake of blood or undergoing incineration in a fiery furnace. That is quite red indeed, said the flushed subject. Queen Camilla told Yeo: Youve got him. But what exactly had Yeo got? The kings grey, worried face is detached from the uniform into which the rest of him has been shoe-horned, which implies that his military role is an exercise in dressing up; a butterfly flaps its flimsy wings above his shoulder, hinting at some of his more air-headed pantheistic enthusiasms. Portraits are supposed to tell complimentary lies about their subjects, which is why they have institutional value. That is also their appeal to narcissists like Oscar Wildes hero in The Picture of Dorian Gray, who first delights in a beautiful replica of himself and then grumbles because it will outlast him, remaining young while he grows old and ugly. The etiquette of the genre requires the painter to be deferential, either in awe of, or in love with, the subject. Andy Warhols silk-screened portraits of movie stars painted glossy personae, not actual, imperfect faces. Nowadays painters tend not to be so obsequious: a portrait after all is about the artists attitude to the subject. Yeo himself is a wily and sometimes impudent practitioner of the art, and in 2007, when a commission to paint George W Bush fell through, he subtly revenged himself by collaging a portrait out of clippings from pornographic magazines, so that Bushs grinning face is actually composed of snatches from the pink erogenous zones of several flagrant women who would surely not have voted for him. Is that it? Are you sure? barked Prince Philip at the end of a sitting with Yeo in 2006. By contrast with his towering blow-up of King Charles, Yeo had squeezed Philip onto a canvas a foot square and given every angle of his taut, armoured face an edge of highlighted aggression. Despite his thin-lipped grin, Yeos Philip looks like a grenade with a loose pin. The kind of people who deign to sit for portraits think of themselves, to quote a Shakespearean sonnet, as lords and owners of their faces, and they tend be riled if they dont see their self-image reflected back. Velazquez painted Pope Innocent X as a shrewd and wary politician, not a holy father: Its too true, its too true, the subject allegedly sighed when he saw it. The portrait was not placed on public display, but at least it survived. Winston Churchills widow is said to have burned a portrait by Graham Sutherland which made the bellicose old bulldog look like a derelict grubbed from the gutter, and the antiquarian bookseller Bernard Breslauer destroyed Lucian Freuds portrait of him because the painter had the temerity to notice he was bald. Last week, Gina Rinehart a Trump-loving iron ore magnate, enthroned at the top of Australias rich list called for the National Gallery in Canberra to remove her portrait from a display by the indigenous painter Vincent Namatjira, who has given her a pair of mad eyes, a mouth smeared with the remains of a vampires snack, and a continental shelf of chins sagging onto a chest that fortunately remains outside the frame. Namatjira, no respecter of either wealth or rank, has his own view of Australias hand-me-down head of state. Last year he painted King Charles sweltering in the arid outback, his chest festooned with unearned medals, his hand on a sword that is a theatrical prop, his head liquefying in the heat as it pokes out of a fussy Elizabethan ruff. The portrait is literally an act of lese-majeste, a reappropriation of Australian terrain by one of its rightful owners. I see myself as royal, Namatjira has cheekily said. Yeos vision of Charles stops short of causing this kind of offence, but its wash of infuriated colour and that transitory butterfly challenge viewers to reach their own conclusions about the man, his temperament and his right to permanence. Dorian Gray has a better understanding of the balance of power between painter and sitter. There is something fatal about a portrait, he tells Basil Hallward when refusing to model for him a second time. The fatality is Grays own: beautiful and powerful only briefly, he is a temporary king. Portraits are effigies. Once the official image has been fixed in place, the living subject can be sent off to die In what sounds like an act of desperation, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden last week renewed his offer to distribute photographs of King Charles to hospitals, universities, job centres, coroners courts and to any other establishment keen to proclaim its loyalism. Could this be the governments attempt to atone for Yeos teasing? Small hope: all those photographs will fade into invisibility on bureaucratic walls, merging with the office furniture. The truth is that portraiture and monarchy are alike: irrelevant and anachronistic. The time has come for both to take the veil, or for us to close the curtains on them. An aerial view of Toronto, by the shore of Lake Ontario. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Toxic PFAS forever chemicals are ubiquitous in the Great Lakes basins air, rain, atmosphere and water, new peer-reviewed research shows. The first-of-its-kind, comprehensive picture of PFAS levels for the basin, which holds nearly 95% of the nations freshwater, also reveals that precipitation is probably a major contributor to the lakes contamination. We didnt think the air and rain were significant sources of PFAS in the Great Lakes environment, but its not something that has been studied that much, said Marta Venier, a co-author with Indiana University. PFAS are a class of 15,000 chemicals used across dozens of industries to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. The chemicals are linked to cancer, kidney disease, birth defects, decreased immunity, liver problems and a range of other serious diseases. They are dubbed forever chemicals because they do not naturally break down and are highly mobile once in the environment, so they continuously move through the ground, water and air. PFAS have been detected in all corners of the globe, from penguin eggs in Antarctica to polar bears in the Arctic. The new paper is part of a growing body of evidence showing how the chemicals move through the atmosphere and water. Measurements found PFAS levels in the air varied throughout the basin they were much higher in urban locations such as Chicago than in rural spots in northern Michigan. That tracks with how other chemical pollutants, like PCBs, are detected, Venier said. But levels in rain were consistent throughout the basin virtually the same in industrialized areas such as Chicago and Cleveland as in Sleeping Bear Dunes, a remote region in northern Michigan. The finding was a bit puzzling Venier said, adding that it probably speaks to the chemicals ubiquity. PFAS background levels are now so high and the environmental contamination so widespread that the atmospheric counts, including in rain, are relatively consistent. The PFAS in rain could be carried from local sources, or have traveled long distances from other regions. Regardless, it is a major source of pollution that contributes to the lakes levels, Venier added. Water contamination levels were highest in Lake Ontario, which holds the most major urban areas, including Toronto, and is last in line in the lake systems west-to-east flow. Lake Superior, which is the largest and deepest body with few urban areas on its shores, showed the lowest levels. PFAS tend to accumulate in Lake Superior and Huron because theres little water exchange, while Lake Ontario relatively quickly moves the chemicals into the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Atlantic Ocean. The study did not address what the levels mean for human health and exposure, but fish consumption advisories are in place across the region, and many cities have contaminated drinking water. The levels found in water and atmosphere will probably increase as scientists are able to identify more PFAS, most of which cannot be detected by currently reliable technology. We need to take a broad approach to control sources that release PFAS into the atmosphere and into bodies of water since they eventually all end up in the lakes, Venier said. Mollie Pearce says being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis robbed her of my teens - Nancy Collins Id had a vague idea of what ulcerative colitis was since I was little, as my dad had suffered from it since his forties. But when I noticed blood on a trip to the toilet when I was 11, I thought it was my period. I had no idea that it was the first sign that Id inherited the condition too and that it was about to overturn my life. Looking back now, I feel so stupid but I remember calling my mum and telling her that my period had started and her saying that it definitely wasnt my period and looked worrying. The blood was actually in my stool and my bowel movements became increasingly erratic over the following months. I started going to the toilet a lot more, was suffering from diarrhoea and losing a lot of blood. At my worst, I was struggling to make it to the bathroom on time and soiling myself. My parents of course took me to the doctor and, despite my mum explaining that my dad had ulcerative colitis and I probably did too, it was really hard to get diagnosed. Ulcerative colitis is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes ulcers to develop in your colon or rectum, or both. They bleed and release pus, which is then passed in your stool. It causes you to pass stools much more often, suffer diarrhoea and feel very tired. The exact cause isnt known but its thought to be caused by a problem with the immune system and can run in families. It usually requires a colonoscopy to diagnose but my doctor didnt order, in my experience, doctors dont like performing them on children, so I went undiagnosed and untreated for eight months. On one trip to the doctors, ahead of my Year 6 school camp, I was told I simply had a virus. I begged my mum to let me go on the trip with my school friends, as the doctors had said it would get better and I would be fine. But I wasnt fine. I went really downhill and became so poorly that I passed out in the shower when I got home. My parents rushed me to A&E and I spent the next two weeks in hospital. I finally had the colonoscopy and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. However, despite the comfort of a diagnosis and starting treatment, none of the typical medicines that can reduce symptoms made mine any better. My quality of life got worse as I entered my teens and went to secondary school, as I started missing out on sleepovers, parties and nights out. I remember once spending the night at a friends house and rushing to the toilet the next morning and not quite getting there in time. It was so humiliating, especially being a girl in my teens and having to tell my friend that Im so sorry but this has happened. That experience just put me off sleepovers as it built up so much anxiety around them. My mental health took a massive hit I would have a panic attack if I wasnt near a toilet and I felt isolated as it was so hard to communicate what was going on. This was probably one of the hardest ages for me because it all felt so unfair. Adding to that, I was born without my right hand as well. Doctors dont know why its completely unrelated to my ulcerative colitis. Its just a double whammy that Ive been saddled with. When I started college at 16, my anxiety around my bowels was so bad that I struggled to get into my car to make the drive to classes. At the time, I felt like my condition was so embarrassing I feel bad about that now, because it shouldnt be, but its definitely how I felt at the time. Mollie would spend up to a week in hospital during flare-ups on the condition Throughout all of this, I was also spending up to a week in hospital during flare-ups. These can last days, weeks or months, when symptoms are especially bad. Mine would occur every six months or so and were often triggered by stress. During these times, I would go to the toilet up to 25 times a day, lose control of my bowels and suffer crippling fatigue as my body wasnt absorbing enough nutrients from the food I was eating. I knew I was running out of options. Doctors told me when I was 15 that I would eventually need surgery to have a stoma fitted. The procedure involves diverting the bowel through an opening in the tummy, which is hooked up to a pouch that collects stools. I was adamant that I wouldnt get a stoma because I really thought it would be the end of the world. 'Waking up with a stoma was really scary but very quickly I knew I'd done the right thing,' says Mollie - Kayleigh Gresty Its difficult to open up about your bowels it was, and still can be, a taboo subject. Ulcerative colitis is an invisible illness, so its hard for other people to appreciate how bad it really is, but my friends really rallied around me as we got older as they understood it more. On my 18th birthday we were out clubbing and between them they had a spare pair of pants, a change of clothes and extra toilet roll in their bags to help me clean myself up if anything happened. When I was hospitalised shortly afterwards due to a particularly bad flare-up, doctors told me they were really worried that my colon was going to erupt. Its a complication of ulcerative colitis that can lead to septicemia. But I was so stubborn and said Id rather die than have a stoma. I went home with some medication that didnt work for me and I ended up back in hospital about six months later and I was just done. Id been fighting my body for seven years and suffered so much anxiety and wasnt able to live my life. Not long after being admitted, I was having the surgery. Waking up with a stoma was really scary but very quickly I knew Id done the right thing. Soon after I came out of hospital, my dad took me for a drive-through takeaway, which I would have been so anxious about before. I would have felt trapped in the car and worried about where the nearest toilet was. But now, I had no anxiety because I knew I wouldnt need to go. My experience of ulcerative colitis is nothing like my dads (he is largely in remission and never had a stoma fitted), but it was so nice that we understood each other. While he wasnt diagnosed until midlife, he still had the pressure of managing his symptoms around work. Then, two days after that trip with my dad, I put on a pair of jeans that I didnt think I was going to be able to wear with my stoma. My mindset completely shifted and I knew I was starting to get my life back. I started calling my stoma Sid and now when my stoma makes noise, which it frequently does, I just make light of it and say sorry, that was Sid. It makes things less embarrassing and easier to laugh it off. I still have to go to hospital sometimes as my ulcerative colitis is concentrated in my rectum, so I sometimes pass a little bit of blood and mucus. My rectum was left behind during surgery, in case I could have the procedure reversed in the future if my symptoms calmed down. But I wont ever reverse it. It wouldnt be worth it, especially when my symptoms are still in my rectum. My life has become so much better from having Sid why fix something thats not broken? Mollie at this year's Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London - WireImage Im now 22 and live a completely normal life, surrounded by great friends, family and my boyfriend, who Ive been with for three years. Growing up without my hand, my mum had always told me that if people dont like it, then youve sieved a bad person out of your life and Ive taken that on board with my stoma too. I was really worried about getting a partner but my boyfriend doesnt care about it he doesnt even notice. Ive been posting about ulcerative colitis on social media for years but Ive definitely become even more open about it over time. Ive lost that embarrassment and come out of my shell. When the opportunity came up to go on BBC Ones The Traitors, I knew it would be great. It involves players who are faithfuls trying to eliminate the traitors from the group. I didnt go into it thinking that it would be a platform to talk about ulcerative colitis, but I knew it would be a big deal to see someone on TV who has a stoma and limb difference doing the same challenges as everyone else. Ive had lovely messages since the show aired, saying its changed peoples lives, just seeing that little bit of representation on TV. Before the show, I was a healthcare assistant but Ive not been doing that since the finale because Ive been so busy advocating and doing social media. Im now just taking things as they come, including raising awareness for this years World IBD Day (Sunday, May 19), which focuses on improving access to diagnoses and treatment. The campaign is in association with Celltrion, which is developing treatments for IBD, among other conditions. The campaign takes some of its inspiration from the Wheres Wally? series of books and its a really fun way to educate people about ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease and IBD and shows how someone with ulcerative colitis can so easily blend in and hide their symptoms. Im now excited for my holiday in Turkey. Before I had Sid fitted, holidays would become stressful events as Id be worried about having a flare-up. Now, Im not stressed at all. Its so nice to plan things and know you can do them. As told to Emily Craig About 250,000 of Australias 4m households with solar panels have batteries but storage is growing faster than take-up and consumers get almost nothing for their exports. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters Many households with solar panels in New South Wales face the prospect of being charged for some of the surplus power they generate from the start of July. Heres what you need to know. Whats the proposed change? Since 2021, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has been assessing the states or territories where electricity prices should take into account the cost of having lots of solar panel owners exporting power to the grid. The move was originally prompted by groups such as the Australian Council of Social Service and St Vincent de Paul. They argued it was unfair that households unable to afford solar panels (or batteries) had to pick up additional costs caused by modifying the grid to absorb two-way electricity flows. The public interest advocacy centre also supports the move. Related: Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power The AERs five-year rolling regulatory pricing updates meant three NSW-based energy firms Ausgrid, Endeavour and Essential were told in April they could impose a fee on households exporting surplus power during the period of the day that is sunniest when the spot power prices are often negative. Other regions, such as Victoria, have no plans to impose such costs when their 2026 renewal time starts. The ACTs Evoenergy withdrew its two-way pricing submission and will not charge for exports until at least July 2029. South Australia and Queenslands networks tariffs will be updated in 2025, the AER said. The Australian Energy Regulator said the electricity network was not designed for large amounts of energy flowing back into the network. This two-way flow of energy, with peaks in supply during the middle of the day, is overloading the network in many areas, it said. How much will be the charge be? In Ausgrids case, the charge will be 1.2 cents/kWh for exports between 10am-3pm. There will be no charge for about the first 6.8kWh, depending on the time of year. Those able to supply power to the grid between 4pm-9pm presumably from batteries for the later part of that period would be paid 2.3 cents/kWh. Related: Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power Ausgrid says it has 280,000 customers with solar panels ranging from eastern parts of Sydney and coastal regions to the north and south and expects 180,000 more to have them by 2030. They estimate the annual cost will be $6.60 for a typical customer, or 13 cents a week. Its a very tiny signal were sending, a spokesperson said. Even then, some customers may get a rebate and it will be up to retailers to pass on the charge not all will. By contrast, the Albanese government this week announced all households would get a $300 energy rebate. This pricing has been designed to encourage customers to use their own solar power first and keep energy bills lower for everyone across the network in the long term, Ausgrid said. What can customers do to minimise the charge? Increasingly, electricity appliances come with timers so households can shift their power use to the middle of the day. Electric hot water systems including heat pumps and pool pumps are examples of appliances that dont need anyone at home to operate. Dishwashing, clothes washing and drying, and electric cars can also soak up extra power rather than export it to avoid any feed-in charge. We do need to encourage people to self-consume, Warwick Johnston, founder of SunWiz, a consultancy said. It already makes sense to do so. Of Australias 4m households with solar panels, about 250,000 already had batteries, he said. Storage was growing faster than panel take-up as battery prices fall and consumers get next to nothing for their exports and may even cop a cost. However, Heidi Lee Douglas, the chief executive of Solar Citizens, a lobby group, said many households with solar had already shifted their demand. Not everybody washes clothes every day, nor needs to charge up their electric vehicles, she said. We know solar is a success story, she said. Are we going to lead with a stick or are we going to lead with a carrot? Is the charge reasonable? NSWs energy minister, Penny Sharpe, told ABC Radio on Friday that we need to make sure that the grid is stable into the future. Almost 1m households in NSW with solar were saving about $600 a year on average on power bills, she said. Solar and batteries are absolutely the future in terms of individual households and working in communities in being able to share the benefits of solar, Sharpe said. Dylan McConnell, an energy expert at the University of NSW, said charging for exports during the sunniest part in the day was a long time coming and had been encouraged by the regulator. Related: Turn on or drop out: new rules could give energy consumers more power on the home front He said it was contestable whether there is too much solar energy in the middle of the day. However, the equity issue of households with solar enjoying a cross-subsidy from those without would get worse over time. Cross-subsidies werent limited to solar panels, McConnell said. About 15 years ago, many people started getting air-conditioners that added to demand, requiring networks to invest heavily spreading the cost on to people without those devices. We need to think about this in the context of everyone getting [electric vehicles] lifting demand on the grid, he said. If we want to encourage the right time [to plug in], then we should be putting these things in now rather than after the fact. Defence chiefs are scrambling to secure more planes for a parachute drop to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day as crises in Ukraine and the Middle East have left the RAFs transport fleet stretched. Hundreds of paratroopers had been expected to jump into Normandy to honour the actions of their predecessors in the Second World War, but plans have been scaled back due to a shortage of aircraft. The Mail on Sunday reported that just one plane had been left for the Parachute Regiment to use, but defence sources are hopeful at least one more can be made available. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has ordered an urgent review. Paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team will jump from an RAF A400M and the Red Devils Parachute Display Team will also jump into Normandy. Humanitarian aid being air-dropped over Gaza from an RAF A400M Atlas aircraft (Cpl Tim Laurence RAF/PA) But resources have been stretched by Nato operations at a time when Russias invasion of Ukraine has increased activity by the alliance and the RAFs transport aircraft have also played a crucial role dropping aid in to Gaza. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: D-Day 80 will offer a comprehensive programme of tributes from todays armed forces to their forebears with a significant amount of activity in both France and the UK, involving thousands of personnel, Royal Air Force flypasts, and Royal Navy vessels. This will include a commemorative jump by UK paratroopers from an A400M aircraft on June 5 alongside Allied counterparts. A source close to Mr Shapps said: This is a special anniversary of D-Day and the UK will play a full part in the commemorations with a significant military representation. The A400 fleet has been involved in a wide range of complex operations, including Nato missions and aid drops to Gaza, and the Defence Secretary is grateful for all the work of those involved. Writing in the Daily Mail, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said the pared-back memorial jump is indicative of the MoDs modern funding approach. As things stand, the Paras hopes of putting on a large-scale multi-plane parachute drop has been limited to a single aircraft and just 100 of them jumping out, he said. The issue demonstrates a sad and simple truth todays RAF lacks heavy lift transport capacity after all Hercules transport fleet, which served our nation so well for more than 50 years, was scrapped to save money. Labour MP and former defence minister Kevan Jones called on Mr Shapps to resolve the issue out of respect for those who fought for Britain. Veterans who took part in the historic operation on the blood-soaked Normandy beaches and the Nazi-infested territory beyond it will rightly be furious that 80 years on, the MoD cant provide enough planes, he told the Daily Mail. Grant Shapps should pull his finger out and sort this immediately. Defence sources are hopeful one more A400M at least can be made available for the D-Day events. Thousands of people can now safely drink their tap water again after days of being told to boil it first following a parasite outbreak, the regions water supplier has announced. About 16,000 households and businesses in the Brixham area of Devon, supplied by South West Water (SWW), had been told not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday that 46 cases of cryptosporidium, a disease which can cause unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, had been confirmed in the town and that more cases were anticipated. SWW said around 14,500 households in the Alston supply area can now use their tap water safely, although some 2,500 properties in Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear should continue to boil their supply before drinking it. The water company said the decision on Saturday afternoon came after rigorous testing and was made in consultation with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the local authoritys environmental health department. Around 16,000 households and businesses in Brixham were told not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first last week (Piers Mucklejohn/PA) The microscopic parasite which caused the waterborne disease likely entered the water network through a damaged air pipe in a field containing cattle, the company previously said. SWW chief customer officer Laura Flowerdew said: Following rigorous testing this week, it is now safe to lift the boil water notice in the Alston water supply area. This decision has been supported by the Governments public health experts and the local authoritys environmental health department. This situation has caused an immense amount of disruption, distress and anxiety. We are truly sorry this has happened. The public rightly expect a safe, clean and reliable source of drinking water and on this occasion, we have fallen significantly short of expectations. We will not stop working until this has been fully resolved. ALERT The boil water notice has now been lifted in the Alston supply area.Todays decision has been supported by the governments public health body, the UK Health Security Agency, and the local authoritys Environmental Health Department. Dr Bayad Nozad, Consultant in Health pic.twitter.com/443EN2JBM1 South West Water (@SouthWestWater) May 18, 2024 With the boil water notice still in place in Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear, we are urging customers who are unsure if they are still affected to visit the postcode checker on our website or call us so we can check for them. SWW added that an additional 100 compensation will be paid to customers in the areas which continue to be affected bringing the total to 215. The number of confirmed cases of cryptosporidium is expected to continue rising, the areas top public health official warned. Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Torbays director of public health said symptoms of the disease can take up to two weeks to develop, meaning reported numbers of those affected may rise in the coming week even though we are lifting the boil water notice in some areas. Conservative MP Anthony Mangnall, whose Totnes constituency includes Brixham, had previously told the PA news agency that SWWs response to the outbreak was contemptible and just generally incompetent. About 16,000 households in the Brixham area had previously been told to boil their tap water before drinking it (Piers Mucklejohn/PA) Responding to the announcement that thousands of households can now safely drink their tap water, he said: The illness suffered and inability to access safe drinking water has been totally unacceptable. The continued boil water notice for residents relying on the Hillhead reservoir must be accompanied by a further increase in support and compensation from South West Water. It is my priority to see this situation resolved as quickly as possible and that those who are suffering from illness receive the support they need. Water minister Robbie Moore said he was still receiving regular updates from the water company, adding: We need South West Water to resolve this issue and ensure clean water returns to the Brixham area as soon as possible. SWW said it will continue to offer bottled water at three stations in the area, having so far provided 386,000 bottles of water to customers. Residents had been urged to boil water and let it cool before drinking it, preparing or cooking food or cleaning their teeth, although the company said water can continue to be used as normal for washing, bathing and flushing the toilet. The disease can be picked up directly from the faeces of another person or animal, from swimming in or drinking contaminated water, or by eating contaminated food such as unwashed vegetables. 18 May 2024 at 11:45 am Thunderstorms and heavy showers could cause flooding and travel disruption, forecasters have warned. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms for parts of Wales and south-west England during Saturday afternoon. It warns that scattered, slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop, with the potential to cause flash flooding. Spray on roads could result in dangerous driving conditions, the forecaster said. Yellow weather warning issued Thunderstorms across southwest England and Wales 1300 2000 today Latest info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/3hO4P9QL68 Met Office (@metoffice) May 18, 2024 There is a chance some communities could temporarily be cut off by flooded roads, while lightning strikes may lead to delays and cancellations to train and bus services. Some locations could see 20-30mm of rain in an hour or two, while there is a small chance repeated shower development could result in a few places seeing 40-50mm, the Met Office said. The warning, which covers areas including Swansea, Cardiff, Bath, Exeter and Plymouth, is in place from 1pm until 8pm. Any showers and thunderstorms will gradually fade during Saturday evening, and much of the country will see no rain at all on Saturday, the forecaster added. Yvette Fielding has questioned the BBC after claiming disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris sexually assaulted her during her time as host of Blue Peter. The 55-year-old presenter joined the BBCs long-running TV show when she was a teenager in 1987 and left five years later, before hosting a string of BBC programmes including The Heaven And Earth Show, The General and City Hospital. In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Fielding has claimed she was left alone in a TV studio with Harris, who used the opportunity to sexually assault her. Rolf Harris died last May, aged 93 (Gareth Fuller/PA) Harris was a family favourite for decades before being convicted of a string of indecent assaults in June 2014. He died of neck cancer and old age in May last year, aged 93. Speaking about the incident, Fielding told the Sun: It was very confusing and shocking just bizarre to think Rolf Harris was squeezing and patting my bottom and I am standing there, thinking I dont know what to do. Other people in the industry must have known what he was like and you left me alone in the studio with him. That shouldnt have happened. I must have been 18 or 19. I think a lot of them did know. Jimmy Savile died aged 84 in October 2011 (PA) Fielding also recalled an incident with Jimmy Savile, who is now believed to be one of Britains most prolific sex offenders but managed to conceal his crimes until after his death. Savile died aged 84 in October 2011 and an ITV documentary a year after his death revealed the story of his abuse. He took my hand and started stroking it. Look into my eyes, he said, And tell me what youre thinking, she told the Sun. He was grotesque. I just dont understand why the BBC allowed him to get away with that for as long as he did. Savile worked for much of his career at the BBC presenting programmes including Top Of The Pops and Jimll Fix It. Fielding also told the Sun there used to be a culture of cover-up in the TV industry. The BBC has been approached for comment. Zayn Malik has made his debut UK solo performance at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. The Bradford-born singer sang tracks from his fourth album, Room Under The Stairs, which focuses on his personal journey, healing, and growth. The performance on Friday coincided with the records release featuring Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb. ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS is out now everywhere.Thank you for all your unwavering love and support. I hope you love this record just as much as I loved creating ithttps://t.co/ZWVdXd4UVD pic.twitter.com/LjUVbnLP2N zayn (@zaynmalik) May 17, 2024 In videos circulating online, Malik thanked fans during the performance for waiting for new music from him after his third studio album, Nobody Is Listening, was released in January 2021. Malik attempted to chat to the crowd between songs but was drowned out by screaming fans. He is heard saying, Ive missed this. The 31-year-old departed One Direction in 2015 to embark on a solo career and had a debut number-one album with Mind Of Mine. In 2016, he performed on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theatre in New York to celebrate the release of that record. Ahead of the UK performance, Reece Cancho, a 25-year-old teacher based in London, told the PA news agency: I honestly have no words to describe how I feel. This is his first gig after years and Ive been waiting long enough for something like this, it feels like a dream Im going to wake up from at some point. Its unreal that I can say I am seeing Zayn perform. Ive been a fan since the very beginning and got his name tattooed with lyrics as soon as I turned 18, and Ive no regrets about that. Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Nial Horan from One Direction at the 2014 Brit Awards (Ian West/PA) Fellow fan Faustine, who lives in London and works in the theatre industry, told PA: Ive been a fan of Zayn since he went solo; Ive never been a Directioner. I fell completely in love with his music and art since his first release, and it just got bigger and stronger with the years, enough for me to get a tattoo related to him. Being able to be in the venue tonight is incredible. Ill forever be grateful for the friend who got me the ticket. The 28-year-old said when she received the ticket: I cried my eyes out. I know it will be incredible to see him and hear him live, she said. His music has had a huge impact on me and has helped me, among other stuff, through some of the darkest and toughest times of my life. Malik rose to fame in 2010 on The X Factor with his fellow boy band members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson. If you ever get bored during congested traffic and you have an infotainment system running native Android software, you'll have plenty of things to keep you occupied. In addition to other apps, Google is adding streaming services and a familiar game to your infotainment system. Google Adds Max, Peacock, and Angry Birds Getting stuck in traffic can be the worst thing for drivers, not only because it could cause you to be late to work, but also because there's not much to do as you sit inside a vehicle. While a smartphone can do the same, it's nice to have the option to turn to your car system to kill time. Google just announced that two streaming services are coming to cars with the native Android software built in. Drivers will now have access to Max and Peacock while they are parked, as well as Angry Birds if watching video content isn't as appealing at the moment. Several models from manufacturers like Renault, Polestar, and Volvo will have the new feature. Unfortunately, not all cars with built-in Google will have it, such as Ford, Acura, and Honda, as reported by The Verge, although the company might add support for them soon. Rivian vehicle owners will now be able to have their pick in streaming services on their phones, as phone mirroring will soon be possible with the new Google Cast feature. Previously unsupported, Rivian used to only have native support for Google Maps to use for navigation. "If you don't already offer casting in your app, this is a simple way for your content to reach new audiences in the car," Google stated. The feature is already available for certain infotainment systems with Google built into the system. Furthermore, Android Auto users can now mirror their phones on the vehicle's screen to add the Uber app. Drivers have been using their smartphones with no problems, but having a bigger screen for navigation could be a good change. Perks of Google Built-In The Google built-in feature comes with a lot more than just streaming content and playing Angry Birds to pass the time. There are several other functions that can make for a smoother drive with the help of a virtual assistant. Since the system will already come with Google Maps, drivers can now use it to navigate instead of opening an app on their phone. It even has sub-functions like rerouting its users based on the latest traffic updates. For EV drivers, Google Maps will factor in locations for EV chargers, planning the most efficient route and showing charging speeds and payment options as well. Since it has voice control, drivers won't have to look away from the road. Just start the command with "Hey Google," and the infotainment will do the rest. Drivers can ask about locations for food, refueling, and other destinations. It's even possible to change the temperature of the car through voice control. With connectivity, the smart infotainment system can be linked to smart home devices, allowing the driver to turn on appliances and utilities before they arrive home such as adjusting the thermostat or turning on the lights. ST. PETER, Minn. Earl "Sonny" Meyer stood at the center of the cavernous chapel Friday afternoon, surprised his little medal was such a big deal: hundreds of spectators, a U.S. senator, the senior enlisted advisor for the Minnesota National Guard, and all of Meyer's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Of course it was a big deal. Seventy-three years after a piece of mortar shrapnel struck Meyer's left thigh during the chaos of Korean War combat, a representative of the U.S. military finally pinned the Purple Heart, the oldest and most hallowed of American military honors, to his chest. His eyes were damp with tears. The retired St. Peter farmer, 96 years old, didn't really want all this attention. In his view, this medal was really about his comrades who didn't make it home. He thinks of them every day. "Oh my," Meyer had said a few minutes before, leaning on a cane his daughter had crafted from Lake Michigan driftwood. "I'd rather be home in my recliner. It's all a bit much." It had been a long road from Meyer's wartime service to the front of Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College on Friday. His time as a rifleman and machine-gunner in Korea was traumatizing: sleepless nights in mountain foxholes, Army buddies dying next to him, never knowing if his number was next to be called. In June 1951, his unit was trapped by enemy forces when the piece of shrapnel struck him. A medic bandaged him in the field, telling Corporal Meyer he'd put his name in for a Purple Heart. Most of the people from his unit didn't survive the battle. Meyer never saw the medic again. Living a farmer's life, he didn't talk about the war much with family. His three daughters didn't even know he'd been injured, with shrapnel still lodged in his thigh, until Meyer's granddaughter interviewed him for a high school project. His daughters decided they'd try to get their dad his Purple Heart. For years, the military rejected the request, citing lack of evidence. The family gained advocates, with the office of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar persistently nudging the military, and with Alan Anderson, a Minneapolis attorney who first read about Meyer in a 2020 article in the Star Tribune, advocating for his medal. Anderson sued the U.S. Department of Defense on Meyer's behalf but only after he convinced Meyer this fight could help other veterans who are having issues with the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. At the chapel, a Minnesota National Guard officer read a letter sent by the highest-ranking noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army. Scrawled in black Sharpie ink was a note from Command Sergeant Major Michael Weimer: "Thank you for not giving up on us! Long overdue!" Then Command Sergeant Major Jason Rost, the senior enlisted advisor in the Minnesota National Guard, opened a black case. Inside was Meyer's Purple Heart. Before Rost pinned it to Meyer's chest, he explained why this moment was so personally important. Rost had been born in Seoul and adopted by a Minnesota family. Rost had pinned medals before, but never a Purple Heart, and never a medal with such a direct connection to his own heritage. "I am certain that my life and my service would not be possible without the sacrifice and service of men and women like yourself," Rost said. "Thank you." He turned to the crowd: "Standing here today, over 73 years later, we have the opportunity and honor to recognize Corporal Earl 'Sonny' Meyer's sacrifice in the summer of 1951, on a thousands of miles away, a land that's now a prosperous country, a democratic country, a free country, because of the sacrifices of men like Corporal Meyer." He affixed the medal to Meyer's left breast pocket. It fit beautifully. And all the people who came out for this humble 96-year-old veteran burst into applause. Toledo, Ohio A little over four years ago, seniors at Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio, walked into their school gym for an assembly, and then received the surprise of a lifetime. "If you're sitting here in this room today, tuition, room and board, books and fees will be paid for you, and you will go to college for free," philanthropist and businessman Pete Kadens told them back in February 2020. Kadens had started a nonprofit, called HOPE Toledo, for students like Chris Rowland. Rowland said he could have never afforded college, especially after his mother, Abena, lost her job, and his father died in a house fire. "It's a lot that I've been through," Rowland told CBS News this week. Then, shortly after starting college, Rowland's brother, Jo'Von, was murdered. "My grades took a dwindle," Rowland said. "They went completely downhill." Rowland quit school, struggled to hold a job and got in with the wrong crowd. Although he gave up on Hope Toledo, not all hope was lost. From that first day in the gym, to now, Kadens remained in Rowland's life. Through all the missteps and blown opportunities, Kadens has been there, mentoring, lecturing, feeding and fathering. Because of Kaden's ever-presence, today Rowland is back on track. He just finished his freshman year at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio. "You know what I realized along this journeyif all we do is give them money, they're not going to make it," Kadens said. "You have to look at all the different things that create a successful student and a successful person." Most importantly, Kadens was committed for the long haul. "Pete has always constantly been there," Rowland said. "When I gave him plenty of reasons to stop believing in me, he stayed. And he's still sticking it out with me. He's something special. It's hard to put in words." Woman attacked by bull on Mexico beach after ignoring warnings Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene insults colleague's appearance on House floor Pope Francis on blessing same-sex couples On Saturday, Emma Stone attended a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for her new film Kinds of Kindness with director Yorgos Lanthimos and co-stars Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, and Willem Dafoe. The star wore a white Louis Vuitton minidress with a skirt that ended halfway down her thighs. The dress featured a plunging neckline with structured lapels and three-quarter sleeves and was cinched at the waist with an overly long mens dress belt looped stylishly to one side. Michael Buckner She accessorized with strappy black heels and a pair of round sunglasses in brown. Stone had her hair back in a long straight ponytail and wore diamond studs in her ears. She was wearing a coral pink lip. JB Lacroix This is the second Louis Vuitton look Stone has worn to Cannes this weekend. On Friday, she wore a long sleeveless gown on the red carpet made of a rich plum fabric that ruched in several tiers around her feet, ending in a short train. The gown also featured a plunging neckline and she wore it with her hair down in waves and a large chunky gold bracelet. Lionel Hahn During the press conference, a reporter from Kazakhstans 98 Magazine reportedly addressed Stone as Emily, which is actually her given nameshe chose Emma when the name Emily Stone was already chosen in her union, SAG-AFTRA. Lanthimos jumped in to correct the journalist only to have Stone explain the situation. My name is Emily, thank you, she said, laughing. Very nice. In the past, the Poor Things star has said she chose Emma for its similarity to her real name, to honor her favorite Spice Girls band member, Emma Bunton, and because shed identified with it previously. Growing up, I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily, but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice and guess what? Now I am, Stone explained on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in an interview in 2018. It wasnt necessarily because of her but yes, in second grade, did I go up to the teacher on the first day and ask her to call me Emma? Yes, I did, and was it because of Emma Lee Bunton from the Spice Girls? Yes, it was. You Might Also Like Boeing shareholders pulled no punches at the aviation manufacturers shareholder meeting on Friday, asking the board how it could justify the CEOs $33 million compensation plan and whether Boeings culture can reorganize itself around safety in the manufacturing process. The concerns from investors offer a behind-the-scenes view of the battle Boeing has been waging on all fronts: A whistleblower testified before Congress last month that he was told to shut up after raising safety concerns in meetings; two Boeing whistleblowers died in succession; CEO Dave Calhoun is leaving at the end of the year and there is no readily apparent successor to take his place; other airlines are seeking repayment from Boeing for late aircraft deliveries; and, the Justice Department is considering pursuing charges of fraud against the company. On top of that, the stock price is down 29% year-to-date, making Boeing the second-worst performing company in the S&P 500 index. The timing almost couldnt be worse for Fridays annual shareholder meeting and Boeing stuck to crisis management 101Chairman Steven Mollenkopf remained calm but offered almost no real details about the progress of the companys CEO search. Still, shareholders exacted their toll, firing off sharply worded questions about the boards effectiveness and its key decisionsan uncomfortable position for a company that boasts a slew of current and former CEOs from such Fortune 500 companies as Amgen, Carrier Global, Duke Energy, and others in private equity. A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment to Fortune on the pointedness of the questions. One investor asked about the process for finding a new CEO to lead the complex $112 billion company. Mollenkopf, who is leading the search, said almost nothing about timing or criteria but stated that he had been meeting with investors and customers for feedback. We will announce the new CEO once we have completed a thorough and thoughtful process, he said. Calhoun read prepared remarks aloud. He said Boeing has added more quality controls, including at its suppliers. In response to a shareholder question about safety, Calhoun added that the company is increasing training for new employees and simplifying some of its processes to help avoid defects. Whistleblowers have reported a culture of retaliation at Boeing for those who raise safety issues, but Calhoun added that the company is addressing it with investigations and stricter enforcement of its non-retaliation policy. We will measure our progress one airplane at a time, he said in the prepared remarks. While management proposals are usually rubber-stamped with unanimous support, shareholder opposition began even before the meeting, ramping up the difficulties the embattled airplane manufacturer has contended with following a January incident in which a door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight. Following the Alaska debacle, Boeing dramatically revamped its comp plan to incentivize executives for safety and quality and paid zero bonus to Calhoun at his request, according to the companys proxy statement. But it wasnt enough for at least some of its shareholders. Ahead of the meeting, some investors protested against Calhouns reelection to the board and the approval of his $33 million compensation package. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co. recommended that shareholders vote against Calhouns reelection, along with two other directors, Akhil Johri and David Joyce, who chair Boeings audit and aerospace safety committees, respectively. Glass Lewis said a vote against Calhoun and the other directors would, strongly signal dissatisfaction with the Company's oversight of its safety culture and its efforts to transform said culture, which, in our view, have not progressed quickly enough Proxy Adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended shareholders vote against Calhouns giant compensation package because of the large increase he saw last year, Bloomberg Law reported. Calhouns pay jumped 45% to $32.8 million, according to the companys proxy statement. While the committee provided rationale, it was not viewed as particularly compelling for such a significant increase, especially given two other recent increases since Calhoun became CEO in 2020. Despite the objections, both proposals were approved, based on the preliminary results at the meeting. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Mario Tama/Getty Images Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to launch a crewed rocket for the first time in nearly two years. The New Shepard rocket was grounded for months after a failed uncrewed launch in September 2022. The delay has let space tourism competitors like Virgin Galactic catch up. Jeff Bezos' private space company, Blue Origin, recently announced its plans to launch a crew of six aboard its New Shepard rocket this Sunday. If all goes well, this will be the company's first crewed rocket launch in nearly two years. The last crewed flight was in August 2022 and included Sara Sabry, who became the first Egyptian person and Arab woman in space. This weekend's scheduled launch will be a major milestone for the company; marking its return to crewed suborbital spaceflight and the multi-millions in revenue that comes with it. Still, late last year, Jeff Bezos told Lex Fridman on Fridman's podcast that "Blue Origin needs to be much faster." Here's why Blue Origin is lagging behind competitors like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX. Why Blue Origin's upcoming launch took 2 years New Shepard lifted off during its 22nd mission back in August 2022 the last time the company flew a crew to suborbital space. Blue Origin Blue Origin was on a roll in 2021 and the first half of 2022, completing about one New Shepard launch every two months the most in the company's history. But then one of its uncrewed rockets failed on September 12, 2022. About one minute into the flight, Blue Origin lost the first-stage booster due to a faulty nozzle in the booster's engine. The first-stage fell from the skies and crash-landed in a Texas desert. No people, buildings, or other properties were harmed. What was damaged, however, was the space company's momentum. Afterward, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded New Shepard until Blue Origin addressed 21 corrective actions, including redesigning some engine and nozzle components to prevent a similar mishap. The space company went more than 400 days before another launch. That gave one of Blue Origin's competitors, Virgin Galactic, time to catch up after suffering its own setbacks in the early 2020s. Blue Origin's suborbital business Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket is fully reusable so the company can launch and relaunch payloads and crews to suborbital space. Blue Origin Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are both in the suborbital space tourism business. They fly people to suborbital space, about 60 miles high, where they can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning. In 2023, Virgin Galactic completed half a dozen crewed launches with its SpaceShipTwo vehicles. These launches included the company's first commercial service flight with Italian Air Force members in June 2023 and its first flight carrying a private astronaut in August of that same year. The company was grounded in February, however, after a small part fell off the mothership of its space plane on Virgin Galactic's latest space tourism flight. So, this Sunday's launch may be Blue Origin's chance to catch back up. However, the cost of a ticket on Blue Origin's rocket versus Virgin Galactic's space plane is worth noting regarding the companies' competitiveness. Prices vary widely, and Blue Origin won't release what it charges per seat on New Shepard. However, Quartz reported that a seat on Blue Origins' last crewed launch in August 2022 cost about $1.25 million. That's nearly three times the cost of a $450,000 seat on Virgin Galactic. Blue Origin's orbital dreams and delays An illustration of Blue Origin's reusable New Glenn rocket launching toward space. Blue Origin While suborbital tourism can be lucrative, the real money is in orbital spaceflight. Private companies, including SpaceX (founded in 2002), United Launch Alliance (founded in 2006), and Rocket Lab (founded in 2006), have been doing this for years. Getting to orbit requires bigger, more powerful rockets that are more costly and time-consuming to build. But the major benefit is that there's a much larger market for companies who want to send a satellite or other technology into orbit than for floating in a spaceship for a few minutes. Over their lifetimes, SpaceX has launched more than 300 rockets to orbit, ULA has launched 155, and Rocket Lab has launched over 45. Blue Origin, by comparison, has yet to launch one rocket to orbit though its New Glenn orbital rocket is scheduled for its first launch later this year. Bezos' company announced it was building New Glenn in 2016, with an inaugural launch scheduled for 2020. However, the company has suffered a series of setbacks, delaying lift-off. These delays have cost Blue Origin potentially millions of dollars in service flights that companies are willing to pay to get their tech to orbit. ULA, for example, states on its website that its rockets have "placed more than $70 billion of satellite assets into orbit." That said, Blue Origin has contracts with NASA, the US Space Force, and Amazon for its New Glenn rocket once it's ready to fly. Bezos says Blue Origin's culture isn't fast enough Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. AP/Ted S. Warren Part of Blue Origin's sluggish pace is its work culture, which Bezos aims to change. "We're going to get really good at taking appropriate technology risk and making those decisions quickly, being bold on those things and having the right culture that supports that," Bezos told Fridman. Sunday's scheduled launch is a step in the right direction for Blue Origin. It may be playing catch-up now, but Bezos wants to kick the company into high gear, telling Fridman that's one of the reasons he left his role as Amazon's CEO. "I turned the CEO role over, and the primary reason I did that is that I could spend time on Blue Origin, adding some energy, some sense of urgency. We need to move much faster, and we're going to," he said. Blue Origin did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Meryl Streep in 'Mamma Mia!' Fans hoping for a third installment in the Mamma Mia! franchise just might get it...and Meryl Streep might somehow, inexplicably, come back as Donna Sheridan. What?! Streep herself shared the news. In an interview with Deadline at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was honored with an honorary Palme D'Or, Streep said "of course, I want to do it" and added, "I dont know how theyre going to do it. They have an idea. I havent heard it yet but its in [my diary] and Im going to hear about it pretty soon." Keep reading for everything there is to know about Mamma Mia 3, including who might be in the cast. Related: All About Meryl Streep's Children Is there going to be a Mamma Mia 3? A third movie hasn't been confirmed, but talk of one has been circulating for quite some time now. Producer Judy Craymer told the Daily Mail in 2020, "I think one day there will be another film, because theres meant to be a trilogy, you see. I know Universal would like me to do it." The idea has been supported by Streep herself, despite the fact that her character Donna died in the second movie and appeared only as a ghost. "Of course I want to do it. I think folks love it, she told Deadline in May 2024. Her agent, Kevin Huvane, also chimed in, telling the outlet, "Were optimistic about it." That wasn't the first time Streep had expressed interest in doing a third movie, either. Ill have to schedule a knee scoping before we film, but if theres an idea that excites me, Im totally there, she said in 2023. She also acknowledged, however, that her character had died in the second movie, which makes her return a bit tricky. I told [creator] Judy [Craymer] if she could figure out a way to reincarnate Donna, Im into that. Or it could be like in one of those soap operas where Donna comes back and reveals it was really her twin sister that diedWe may have to call it Grand-Mamma Mia! by the time we make it! That same year, Craymer expressed her belief that she could indeed pull off Streep's return. There is a story there, and I do think Meryl should come back," she told Deadline. "And if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna. Related: 100 Best Movies of All Time What is the Mamma Mia 3 release date? Don't get ahead of yourself! The movie needs to be greenlit before it can get a release date. Who is in the cast of Mamma Mia 3? Again, the movie is not yet in development, so there is no casting news. However, Streep isn't the only star who's spoken out in favor of bringing a third movie to theaters. Star Amanda Seyfried told Collider in 2020 that there was potential for a third movie. "Listen, every single person in that movie would say yes in a heartbeat, because we want to hang out with each other," she explained. "Thats what we talked about last time, like, did we ever think that wed end up here again on an island in Croatia?" But there's one potential snag, Seyfried added a few years later, in a 2023 oral history of the original Mamma Mia! with Vogue: money. Nobody is saying no, but nobody is saying yes either. The powers that be probably cant afford us, to be honest," she said. I hate to say it, because would I do Mamma Mia 3 for freeof course I would but thats not the business were in. Whats fair is fair, and I feel like a third film is going to come down to something stupid like whether or not Universal wants to pay the money. Actor Pierce Brosnan also joined the conversation during a May 2023 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. He told the host he would be open to returning for a third installment. "It's easy to fall in love with Meryl. It's easy to fall in love with every member of the cast. It was criminal how much fun we had. Everyone brought their wives, their girlfriends, their boyfriends, so it became a family...Everyone got on extremely well together." What happens in Mamma Mia 3? A script doesn't exist yet, so it's too soon to say. But the movie could, in theory, follow Seyfried's character Sophie into motherhood. Of course, that still begs the question: How the heck could Meryl Streep return?! Next, Best Movie Musicals of All Time, Ranked Four minors as young as 16 were allegedly discovered working overnight at an Alabama slaughterhouse owned by the same firm that was found directly responsible for the death of a 16-year-old Mississippi worker last summer, the U.S. Labor Department said in federal court filings. The company, Mar-Jac Poultry, has denied that it knowingly hired minors for its Jasper, Alabama, facility, saying the workers had verified IDs that gave ages older than 17, and has also argued that some of the workers were performing jobs that are not prohibited by federal regulations. The Labor Department is seeking a temporary restraining order against Mar-Jac as part of the ongoing legal dispute. Agency officials declined to comment, citing their investigation. The Labor Department has said that most slaughterhouse work is too dangerous for minors and is prohibited by federal regulations. Under the Biden administration, the department has taken action against companies for employing minors to clean, use or work near dangerous machinery. A chicken trade group to which Mar-Jac belongs says it has "zero tolerance" for employing minors, and a major meat industry trade group also stated recently that no minors should be working in slaughterhouses. Mar-Jacs attorney Larry Stine said the company has a policy of not hiring anyone under the age of 18. Federal law, however, does not categorically prohibit minors from working in slaughterhouses, listing a few narrow exceptions. Stine told NBC News that to defend against child labor allegations, he argued in court filings that the specific jobs were allowed under the law. Mar-Jac Poultry in Jasper, Ala. (Google Maps) Stine wrote in a brief that the job performed by two of the workers in the rehang department, which involves lifting and hanging chilled and eviscerated chicken carcasses, is not prohibited by federal regulations. He also wrote that the workers were not using power machinery, and that a job where one of the workers used a knife to cut wings from carcasses on a conveyor belt is also not prohibited. The company said the workers were verified through the governments E-Verify system and that once the Labor Department identified them as minors the workers were immediately fired. Stine said the alleged minors in Alabama were hired directly by Mar-Jac and not a third-party staffing company. The Jasper plant was cited in December for a serious violation of worker safety by a different part of the Labor Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In November, according to OSHA, an employee reached into [a] machine using an unguarded approach attempting to rectify the hanging placement of a chicken and was injured. According to the agencys online enforcement database, Mar-Jac formally settled with OSHA on the injury citation earlier this week. Court documents show the Labor Departments child labor investigation into the Alabama facility began with a complaint in March of this year. In May, 20 Labor investigators went into the plant without prior notice in the early-morning hours and verified that at least four of the workers at the plant were minors, according to the departments court filings. The Jasper facility processes more than 1.6 million chickens per week, according to the companys website. In affidavits, Labor Department investigators said there were 18-year-old workers present who told investigators they were hired by Mar-Jac when they were 15. At least some of the minors working at the plant were Guatemalan and attended a local high school, Labor investigators said. They said the minors started their shifts at 11 p.m. and worked from Sunday through Thursday. Death in Mississippi In January, OSHA found Mar-Jac to be directly responsible for the death of 16-year-old Duvan Perez at its Hattiesburg, Mississippi, facility. Perezs body was sucked into a machine that he was cleaning on the night shift and he died instantly. Perezs family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mar-Jac. The company has contested OSHAs conclusions, according to the agencys enforcement database. In a previous email about the incident, Stine said, Mar-Jac thoroughly investigated the accident and has not found any errors committed by its safety or human resources employees. It has learned many lessons from the accident and has taken aggressive steps to prevent the occurrence of another accident or hiring underage workers. The NBC News documentary Slaughterhouse Children revealed that at least nine times in the past three years, American citizens have complained to the Hattiesburg Police Department and sometimes to Mar-Jac that their identities were stolen and being used by Mar-Jac workers, according to police reports obtained via public information requests. The company maintained that it was duped by workers using false identities who were hired by an outside staffing firm. Perez used the identity of a 32-year-old man to get his job at Mar-Jac in Mississippi, the company previously told NBC News. The company has also said Perez was a contract worker and that Mar-Jac relied on a staffing company to fill positions at the Hattiesburg facility and verify work eligibility. As part of the companys response to Perezs death, Mar-Jac said it was applying additional scrutiny to any IDs presented for employment. Company representatives said they were also hanging up signs saying children could not be employed and the third-party hiring firm was required to provide a photo of applicants to Mar-Jac in addition to their photo ID. Some of the steps Mar-Jac said it was taking in Mississippi are the same as those recommended in a new best practices document for meat processing companies released a few weeks ago by the nation's largest meat industry trade group, the Meat Institute, which represents companies that sell beef, pork, lamb and poultry products. The groups best practices were published after a year of aggressive federal investigations and high-profile media coverage showing that the hiring of children to work in slaughterhouses was widespread across the industry. But the trade group also said categorically that minors should not be working in slaughterhouses. In a press release accompanying the new best practices document, Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts wrote, The members of the Meat Institute are universally aligned that meat and poultry production facilities are no place for children. Stine noted that Mar-Jac is not a member of the Meat Institute. Mar-Jac does belong to trade groups representing the poultry industry, including the National Chicken Council, which says it represents companies that provide about 95 percent of chicken meat products to U.S. consumers. In a statement, Tom Super, a spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, said, "The poultry industry has zero tolerance for the hiring of minors. Our members have recently come together to form a Task Force to Prevent Child Labor, to treat this issue as non-competitive and to foster collaboration through the sharing of best practices that aid in the prevention of minors from gaining employment." "Unfortunately, in most of these cases, minors are hired even when using all of the required government screening programs and the applicants appear to be of legal age. These challenges are not unique to the poultry industry but are systemic issues affecting many other sectors in the United States, as well." Asked about Mar-Jac's assertion that minors are not barred from some jobs, however, Super said, "Some jobs are lawful, some arent. We oppose all unlawful hiring." Becky Luigart-Stayner Bomb Pops are a July 4th favorite. They can be traced to Kansas City, Missouri, where Merritt Foods debuted the patriotic treat, designed like a bomb with six fins, during the early days of the Cold War. (The company later sold to Iowa-based Wells Dairy. The Popsicle brand created their variation, the Firecracker, in 1989.) This Red, White & Blue Sorbet Loaf serves up a similarly sweet-and-tart experience in the form of cherry, lime, and coconut flavors. Yields: 8 servings Prep Time: 25 mins Total Time: 13 hours 15 mins Ingredients For the cherry sorbet base: 1 1/2 lb. fresh sour cherries, stemmed and pitted, or 1 1/2 pounds frozen sour cherries, thawed 3/4 c. granulated sugar 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice Pinch kosher salt 1 tbsp. vodka, optional but recommended for texture Red gel food coloring For the lime sorbet base: 1 c. granulated sugar 1 c. fresh lime juice 1 tbsp. unsweetened coconut milk, plus 1 tablespoon if needed 1 tbsp. vodka, optional but recommended for texture Pinch kosher salt For the coconut sorbet base: 3/4 c. coconut water 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk 1 tbsp. vodka, optional but recommended for texture 1/8 tsp. kosher salt Electric blue gel food coloring Maraschino cherries with stems, for garnish Directions Make the cherry sorbet base: Puree cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain through a wire mesh strainer, pressing on solids to remove as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Whisk in vodka, if using, and food coloring. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours. Make the lime sorbet base: Heat sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high, whisking often until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a bowl or liquid measuring cup, and cool to room temperature. Whisk in lime juice, coconut milk, vodka, if using, and salt. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours. Make the coconut sorbet base: Heat coconut water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high, whisking often, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; whisk in coconut milk, vodka, if using, salt, and food coloring. Transfer to a bowl or glass measuring cup, and chill until cold, at least 2 hours. Line a 9 1/4- by 5 1/4-inch loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the long sides. Pour cherry sorbet base into an ice-cream machine. Process according to manufacturers instructions. Spread in an even layer in prepared loaf pan. Place a piece of parchment paper directly on surface. Freeze until firm, at least 1 hour. Pour chilled lime sorbet base into an ice-cream machine. Process according to manufacturers instructions. Remove parchment, and spread in an even layer over frozen cherry sorbet. Place a piece of parchment directly on surface of lime sorbet. Freeze until firm, at least 1 hour. Pour chilled coconut sorbet base into an ice-cream machine. Process according to manufacturers instructions. Remove parchment, and spread in an even layer over frozen lime sorbet in pan. Place a piece of parchment directly on surface of coconut sorbet. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 8 hours. When ready to serve, turn loaf out onto a cutting board. Slice and serve immediately, garnished with cherries. You Might Also Like PEZINOK, Slovakia (AP) The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was ordered to remain behind bars Saturday as the nations leader was in serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshots, officials said. Slovakias Specialized Criminal Court ordered the detention of the suspect after prosecutors said they feared he could flee or carry out other crimes if set free, a court spokesperson said. The suspect can appeal the order to the Supreme Court. Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, officials said. Video showed Fico approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man stepped forward, extended his arm and fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested. Government ministers outside the hospital where Fico is being treated said his condition Saturday looked promising after two hours of surgery Friday removed dead tissue from his gunshot wounds. But he still is not healthy enough to travel to a hospital in the capital, Bratislava. Several miracles have occurred ... in the past few days, coming from the hands of the doctors, nurses and entire medical staff, Defense Minister Rober Kalinak said outside University F. D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. I cant find words of gratitude for the fact that we are steadily approaching that positive prognosis. The hearing in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was held behind closed doors and under tight security by heavily armed police. Reporters were not allowed on the grounds of the courthouse. Officers carrying rifles wore flak jackets, helmets and had balaclavas covering their faces. They guarded a gate that only opened when a vehicle presumably carrying the suspect came and later left with a two-car police escort. Little information about the suspect has been disclosed after prosecutors told police not to publicly identify him or release details about the case. Unconfirmed media reports have named him and said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard. Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didnt belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated. Its not clear how long the hearing lasted but the suspect was inside for about four hours. A day earlier, police took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station reported. Footage showed the gray-bearded man being escorted out of the building while holding a shopping bag full of items in his cuffed hands. He was wearing a helmet and protective vest. Police didnt comment on the apparent search. With authorities remaining largely silent about the case, it was not clear how the suspect got a gun. Slovakia has strict rules on firearms and gun owners must have a good reason to possess one and are required to pass a test. As a consequence, Slovakia has one of the lowest gun ownership rates in Europe. It was ranked 23rd out of 27 European Union countries with a gun ownership rate of 6.5 per 100 people, according to the Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the EU. World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Slovakia and Fico, who has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power for the fourth time last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly neighboring Ukraine. Slovakia was one of Ukraines staunchest supporters after Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, but Fico halted arms deliveries when he returned to power. Ficos government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism, have led opponents to worry Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path. Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies. Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions. Supporters of Fico who showed up outside the hospital Saturday spoke of the divisions in the country that had led to this moment. We are here mainly because the oppositions hatred of this government has come to such a point that a psychopath who is an assassin has been created and has (tried to) assassinate Prime Minister Robert Fico, Marek Soun said. He has been harassed for months and months by todays opposition. Despite nobody being named as temporary leader of Slovakia, there was nothing imminent that needed the premiers attention and the government was operating as planned and moving forward with Ficos agenda, Kalinak said. Communication with Fico was limited given his condition, Kalinak said. The next government session is planned for Wednesday and Kalinak will be in charge, the Slovak government office said. ___ Associated Press reporters Karel Janicek in Vsetin, Czech Republic, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report. The UCLA Academic Senate rejected censuring and making a no confidence statement against university Chancellor Gene Block amid mounting criticism over his handling of a campus pro-Palestinian encampment that was violently attacked by counterprotesters. Faculty members were divided Thursday while mulling whether Chancellor Block failed to ensure the safety of our students and grievously mishandled the events. On the motion to censure Block, 50% of votes cast were in favor. The motion of no confidence in Block garnered 43% of votes in favor. After the vote, University of California President Michael V. Drake said in a statement: These are extraordinarily complex and unprecedented times for American universities. I appreciate Chancellor Blocks dedication and commitment to the University during these difficult times. We will continue to provide our chancellors with the support and resources they need to respond to these ever-evolving situations. Andrea M. Kasko, who serves as the chair of the Academic Senate, called on colleagues to try to find common ground in a statement issued following the votes. As we all process the results of the votes by the Legislative Assembly on May 16, 2024, on the resolutions of no confidence and censure of the Chancellor, it is clear that we are not united in how we view the major events of the past weeks and the campus response to them, Kasko said. CNN has reached out to Block and UCLA for comment. As part of a movement that swept university campuses throughout the nation, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at UCLA in an effort to raise awareness about the mass deaths and destruction in Gaza, and calling for the university to divest from any financial ties with Israel. On April 30, law enforcement stood by for hours as counterprotesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, which erupted into the worst violence stemming from the ongoing college protests around the country over Israels war in Gaza. More than 150 students were assaulted with pepper spray and bear mace, and at least 25 protesters ended up being transported to local emergency rooms, according to the encampments organizers. While a criminal investigation is still underway into the assaults, a CNN review of footage, social media posts, and interviews found that some of the most dramatic attacks caught on camera that night were committed by people outside UCLA not the university students and faculty who were eventually arrested. After the violence and as the university faced criticism, Block announced UCLAs security operations would change. He said it is clear that urgent changes are needed in how we administer safety operations in order to best protect the school community. The university also said it is investigating a group of instigators who attacked the encampment, according to a statement from Block. Holding the instigators of this attack accountable and enhancing our campus safety operations are both critical. Our community members can only learn, work and thrive in an environment where they feel secure, Block said in the May 6 statement. Other universities and their leaders have faced backlash over their response to campus protests as well. This week, arts and sciences faculty at Columbia University passed a vote of no confidence in the schools president, Minouche Shafik, who has been under intense scrutiny for her handling of campus protests and her congressional testimony on the subject. Last week, the University of Southern Californias faculty senate voted 21-7 to censure USC President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman over the removal of a protest encampment from campus and the use of Los Angeles police to arrest protesters, among other issues. Faculty and staff express disapproval Hundreds of University of California faculty and staff signed a letter addressed to Block decrying the horrific violence perpetrated against our students on April 30, and calling on him to fully protect our students safety and security, and to honor their first amendment rights to free speech. Days later, more than 900 University of California faculty and staff signed a letter demanding Blocks resignation following the arrests at the campus. 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, the letter said. The United Auto Workers 4811, which represents 48,000 University of California academic workers, has authorized a strike if circumstances justify, citing numerous, egregious unfair labor practices committed during on-campus protests. Specifically, the union mentioned the handling of protests on April 30 and May 1 at UCLA. At the heart of this is our right to free speech and peaceful protest, said Rafael Jaime, a graduate worker in the English department and president of UAW 4811. If members of the academic community are maced and beaten down for peacefully demonstrating on this issue, our ability to speak up on all issues is threatened. CNNs Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Allison Gordon, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Em Steck, Daniel Medina, Kyung Lah, Anna-Maja Rappard, Emma Tucker, Cindy Von Quednow and Taylor Romine contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com There have been countless idiotic challenges on social media that have caused those who participated in them to get hurt in the process. Some even suffer the worst consequences and end up dying as a result. You'd think that eating something extremely spicy it relatively tame compared to others, but it might just be as bad. One Chip Challenge Contributes to Teen's Death TikTok has some kind of trend where people push their limits by eating tons of spicy food. One product in particular that stands out in this phenomenon is the Paqui One Chip Challenge chip, which has caused countless creators to turn red and cry real tears. Tragically, one teen from Worcester, Massachusetts decided to try the chip himself and ended up losing his life for it. 14-year-old Harris Wolobah was picked up from school by her mother, Lois Wolobah after the nurse called her out of concern. The teen lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital immediately. It was too late for Harris as he died not long after in the hospital. As it turns out, the teen already had a heart condition that may have been worsened by the ingestion of a large dose of capsaicin, which is the compound that peppers have that gives off the heat. In the autopsy report, Harris' official cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, which was due to his condition of having an enlarged heart and myocardial bridging, and "the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration," as per Ars Technica. Tufts Medical Center Chief of Cardiology Dr. James Udelson said: "It is possible that with significant stimulation of the heart, the muscle beyond the bridge suddenly had abnormal blood flow and could have been a cause of a severe arrhythmia." Harris' heart defect made the ingestion of high amounts of capsaicin more dangerous than it already was, but it can still be lethal to anyone who has a healthy heart. Studies have found that it can even cause neurological symptoms. In case you're unfamiliar with the Paqui One Chip Challenge, it is a single chip wrapped in tin foil and is seasoned with two of the hottest peppers in the world, which are the Naga Viper pepper and the Carolina Reaper pepper. Be Careful What You Participate In TikTok has been the starting ground for many challenges that any logical human would not do. There is one where people would hold their breath until they passed out and another where they would eat Tide Pods because they looked edible. Arguably the worst of all is the trend where people would break into cars and use phone chargers to start the vehicle called the Kia challenge. There have been a lot of reports of car thefts at the height of the challenge, with one case resulting in the death of teens. As reported by AP News, six teens rode a previously reported stolen Kiat Sportage and crashed the car on Route 33 in Buffalo. The incident led to the death of four teens, and the 16-year-old behind the wheel pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges. Atlanta panda fans, prepare to bid goodbye to the citys four iconic black and white bears. The four giant pandas housed at Zoo Atlanta, Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun will be sent to China later this year, as the zoos agreement with China is set to expire in late 2024, the zoo announced in a news release Friday. Zoo Atlanta has applied for the pandas international travel permit, and the bears are expected to travel to China sometime in the fourth quarter of 2024, the zoo said, noting the exact timing of their return has yet to be determined and will be identified collaboratively with official partners in China. While Zoo Atlanta remains committed to the stewardship and long-term conservation of the species, no discussions have yet taken place with partners in China as to the future of the Zoos giant panda program following the expiration of Zoo Atlantas current agreement, the release added. Zoo Atlanta pointed out its panda program has been notably successful in terms of future contributions to the population of the species, with seven giant pandas born at the zoo since 2006, including two pairs of twins. Lun Lun and Yang Yang are the parents of Ya Lun and Xi Lun. The pairs other offspring have already been returned to the Chengdu Research Center of Giant Panda Breeding in China. Giant panda cub Mei Lan, who was born on September 6, 2006, is shown at her formal debut at Zoo Atlanta. The bear was one of the offspring previously born to parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang. - Tami Chappell/Reuters Over the last few years, pandas from the San Diego Zoo, Memphis Zoo and Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC were also returned to China. But more pandas are set to arrive in different parts of the United States. In April, it was announced China would send giant pandas to live at San Franciscos zoo for the first time. And the San Diego Zoo announced in February it would receive two giant pandas from China, marking the first time the country has granted new panda loans in the US in two decades. Pandas have served as something of an unofficial barometer of China-US relations since 1972, when Beijing gifted a pair of the bears to the Smithsonian National Zoo, following US President Richard Nixons historic ice-breaking trip to China. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in 2023 the bamboo-eating bears serve as envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. Just over 1,800 giant pandas remain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which lists the species as vulnerable and describes them as the worlds rarest bear. Habitat destruction and fragmentation has contributed to the species decline. CNNs Zoe Sottile contributed to this report. 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. Nissan confirmed that the Social Security details from 53,000 of its employees could have been compromised during a reported data breach at its North American branch last November. According to a letter sent to the Maine Attorney General's office, the Japanese carmaker reported that the threat actors accessed "certain personal information" of its current and former workers. The numbers are only part of the estimated 100,000 individuals, both customers and employees, that could have been affected by the data breach. According to Help Net Security, at least 10% of the individuals affected have had "some form of government identification compromised." This is in addition to the business details Nissan reported to have been accessed, including financial details with other car dealers like Mitsubishi, Renault, Skyline, Infiniti, LDV, and RAM. Nissan Hit with Repeated Cyberattacks in 2023 Although Nissan has yet to confirm any misuse of the stolen data, the company has already offered affected individuals data protection guidelines, including a fraud alert directory. The data breach was first reported on Nov. 7, after Nissan detected an attack in its external VPN where the threat actors "deliberately shut down" company systems. Ransomware group Akira later claimed responsibility for the attack and leaked all stolen data after Nissan refused to pay the undisclosed ransom demand. This was the third consecutive data breach in two months that Nissan suffered last year as cybersecurity experts criticized the company's lax digital defenses and preparation against cyberattacks. How to Protect Personal Information from Nissan Data Breach Impacts? In addition to the emergency alert notices, Nissan is offering affected customers a free two-year complimentary credit service via Experian's IdentityWorks. The service will protect users' identity and credentials from being stolen or misused while Nissan continues with its investigations. Customers are given until Aug. 30, to register for the free credit service before it expires. Of course, customers can also ensure the security of their digital accounts by updating their passwords, emails, and two-factor authentication systems to prevent bad actors from easily accessing their accounts. Mumbai: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed that the INDIA bloc is going to win 46 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and the opposition bloc will form the next government in the country. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misusing the central agencies against the opposition. He held a joint press conference with Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray and NCP founder Sharad Pawar on the last day of campaigning for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The Congress president said that the BJP is toppling the opposition parties governments in the states, but the opposition parties are together fighting against the BJP. We are strong in Maharashtra. I think we can win 46 seats out of 48 seats in the state, he said. Mr. Kharge alleged that the constitutional institutions are being misused to issue threats to the opposition parties. Even the party symbols were taken away from the opposition parties and given to those who are supporting the BJP. Everything is being done on the instruction of Narendra Modi, he said. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was not an election issue, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to polarize people by talking about him during his campaign rally here. Mr. Modi, in his speech here on Friday, dared Mr. Pawar to make Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promise that he would not criticise the late freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue ever again. Savarkar is not an election issue, and Rahul has not spoken about him (lately). But Modi's speech was divisive and meant to instigate, polarise. I have never seen such a prime minister, Mr. Pawar said. Mr. Thackeray said the INDIA bloc's government will complete the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, while Mr. Pawar said it will be the duty of their government to protect not just temples, but the places of worship of all religions. Claiming that the INDIA alliance has several prime ministerial faces, Mr. Thackeray said the BJP has only one and even that is not working. Now they cannot replace the face at the fag end of poll campaign. We have decided what we should do when we get the majority, he said. To a question on his party's stand on Article 370, Mr. Kharge said, I am not answerable to Modi. We will implement what we have promised in our manifesto. Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said Uddhav Thackeray has now developed an allergy to the saffron colour. Speaking at a rally in Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency on the last day of campaigning, Mr. Shinde sought votes for his candidate to give the third prime ministerial term to Narendra Modi. Shiv Sena led by Mr. Shinde has fielded sitting MLA from Byculla assembly constituency as Lok Sabha candidate from the Mumbai South seat, where the voter list includes Indias top industrialists. Urging the voters to vote for Ms. Jadhav, the Maharashtra CM said, This election is about ensuring Indias future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased Indias respect worldover in the last 10 years. We have to make him the PM again. Therefore vote for Yamini Jadhav. The Mumbai South constituency has a significant Muslim population, which is decisive in two assembly segments Mumbadevi and Byculla. As per the 2011 census, the constituency has more than 21 per cent Muslim voters. Mr. Shinde also said that the NDA government does not discriminate against people on the basis of their religion. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc is indulging in appeasement politics to win the election. We treat everyone as equals. But in the Shiv Sena (UBT) rallies, we see Pakistans flags, he said. Further targeting Uddhav Thackeray, Mr. Shinde said, He has abandoned Balasaheb Thackerays ideology and joined hands with the Congress. Now he has an allergy to the saffron flag, which was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharajs flag, Lord Rams flag and varkaris (devotees of Lord Vithhal) flag. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Arvind Sawant is seeking a third term from the Mumbai South seat. He had defeated Congresss Milind Deora in 2014 with the margin of over 1.28 lakh votes. His lead reduced in 2019, but it remained over one lakh votes. However, this time he is facing a major challenge because of the changed political equations despite the fact that Ms. Jadhav is considered to be a lightweight candidate and is not known so much outside her Byculla assembly segment. Mumbai South consists of six assembly segments Worli, Shivadi, Byculla, Malabar Hill, Mumba Devi and Colaba. Aaditya Thackeray is the sitting MLA from Worli. However in 2019, Mr. Sawant got the biggest lead of 59,000 votes from the Malabar Hill assembly segment. His biggest deficit was 35,000 votes from Mumba Devi assembly segment, which has the highest Muslim population. This time around, Mr. Sawant is expected to increase his vote share significantly in Mumba Devi and trail in Malabar Hill because of the changed political equations. Worli and Shivadi assembly segments are dominated by Marathi voters. Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Senas support can also help Ms. Jadhav to dent Shiv Sena (UBT)s Marathi votes in these two assembly segments. NEW DELHI/ LALITPUR/BANDA/Amethi: Highlighting Uttar Pradesh's transformation from a state known for producing country-made pistols to cannon balls, Union home minister Amit Shah said at an election rally in Lalitpur on Saturday that the state started developing only after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister and Yogi Adityanath the chief minister. Mr Shah also addressed an election rally in Banda and took part in a roadshow in Amethi in favour of BJP candidates. Canvassing for his party candidate from Jhansi Anurag Sharma, who is eyeing a second term, Mr Shah said, "There was a time when country-made pistols were produced in Uttar Pradesh. But Mr Modi built a defence corridor in Bundelkhand and now cannon balls are made here." He added that "if Pakistan makes any mistake", the shells made in Bundelkhand will be used to "destroy" them. Slamming Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's atom bomb remark that has sparked a political row, he said, "Mr Aiyar said Pakistan should be respected as it has the atom bomb and not ask for PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) from the country. But this is Narendra Modi's government. We are not afraid of the atom bomb. PoK belongs to India and will remain so. We will take it." In a purported video clip that went viral on social media, Mr Aiyar is heard saying India should give respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also possesses the atom bomb. Making a clarification, Mr Aiyar had said the video was old and dredged up now that the BJP's election campaign is faltering. The Congress said it totally disagreed with the remarks made by him some months ago. In a veiled attack on the Opposition, the Union minister said, "This land fought against the Mughals and the British. Now Bundelkhand also has to fight against the desi angrez present in our country." Urging people to vote in favour of the BJP, the home minister said, "This election is for the development of the country, for securing the country. This election is an election to protect our religion and culture. This election is to make India great. It is for the welfare of the poor in the country. And to quench the thirst of Bundelkhand." Launching a scathing attack on the Opposition, Mr Shah said, "In this election, on one side there is the INDIA bloc which has committed a scam of '12-lakh crores. On the other hand, there is Mr Modi, who has together served for 23 years as a chief minister and Prime Minister, but no one can level a corruption allegation of even '25 paise on him." ""On one side are (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi and (SP chief) Akhilesh Yadav, who were born with a silver spoon. On the other hand, there is our leader, Mr Modi, who was born in the house of a poor tea seller," the senior BJP leader said. "On one side, there is the Samajwadi Party, which opened fire on Ram bhakts. On the other side, there is Mr Modi, who is building the Ram temple," he added. The home minister said the Congress party wants to divide the country into two halves -- South India and North India -- but no one can break India" as long as the country is run under Mr Modi's leadership. Later, while addressing an election rally in Banda in favour of BJP candidate R.K. Singh Patel, Mr Shah pointed out that this election is between those who opened fire on Ram devotees and those who built the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. The Union minister reminded the gathering that the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had opened fire on karsevaks and devotees of Lord Ram during the Babri Masjid demolition and turned Saryu river red with blood. Mr Shah also said Mr Yadav, his wife and Dimple Yadav, Mr Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi did not attend the 'pran pratistha' ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya as they are afraid to lose their votebanks. Attacking the INDIA bloc and Mr Gandhi, the Union home minister said the Opposition Alliance members have said they will have different Prime Ministers on a rotational basis. "But Rahul baba, this is not a grocery shop. To run the country, a strong Prime Minister is needed, one who has a 56-inch chest," he added. Sharpening his attack on the Opposition, he said, "This entire 'ghamandia gathbandhan' (arrogant alliance) is an alliance of familists who work only for their sons and daughters. Sharad Pawar wants to make his daughter Supriya Sule the chief minister, while Uddhav Thackeray wants the same position for his son Aditya Thackeray and Mamata (Banerjee) wants it for her nephew. And Mrs Gandhi wants to make her son the Prime Minister." In Uttar Pradesh, on the last day of campaigning for the fifth phase of polling in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Mr Shah took part in a roadshow taken out to garner support for Smriti Irani, the BJP's Lok Sabha poll candidate from Amethi. Mr Shah and Ms Irani greeted people in an open-top vehicle decorated with saffron flags, banners and flowers, with the slogan of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre written on it. As the roadshow started from the Ramlila Maidan and proceeded till the Devipatan temple, the crowd raised the "Jai Shri Ram" slogan. The Jhansi, Banda and Amethi Lok Sabha seats will vote in the fifth phase on May 20. The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso), who was born on July 6, 1935, has been resident in India since 1959, and is the highest spiritual leader and most revered head of Tibetan Buddhism. When I had visited Tibet, it was common to see ordinary Tibetans discreetly wearing his medallion. It was also very common to see his pictures in most Tibetan-owned shops in Tibet, Yunnan and Qinghai. The Dalai Lamas ecclesiastical influence extends into Indias border areas such as Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh. Despite a historical political identity entwined with China, Tibet has traditionally looked towards India for moral and spiritual sustenance. Tibet has had a long history of struggle with China and the present Dalai Lama is not the first one to seek refuge in India. The British had an active policy to create a buffer against China in the form of an independent Tibet. The Chinese Amban (plenipotentiary) in Lhasa watched the Younghusband expeditions exertions in Tibet passively and one immediate consequence of this was an assertion of Tibets independence. After the establishment of the Republic of China with Sun Yat Sen as President on January 1, 1912, in April that year the 13th Dalai Lama declared the end of Tibets relationship with China and expelled the Amban and all Chinese troops. Almost immediately after their civil war triumph in 1949, the Chinese Communists reasserted control over Tibet, which had by then enjoyed over four decades of independence. Since then, India has tried to head off the Tibet problem by accepting its annexation into the Peoples Republic of China. In the years since, the Chinese Communists tried to solve the Tibet problem by attempting to wipe out Tibetan nationalism and Buddhism with Maos Communism. It didnt succeed. This policy has now been replaced by the creeping Hanisation and massive doses of economic development. These too have worked only partially for the Chinese, but they seemed to do better with this than with the Maoist iron hand. Though Tibet is now relatively passive, it still remains a dry tinderbox and the Chinese dread the likelihood of any spark that may set off a fire. For India too, the policy has worked partially. Over 150,000 Tibetan refugees now live in India, and India has willy-nilly become the fulcrum of a worldwide struggle by the Tibetans to regain their nation. In short, the Tibet issue, though dormant now, is still very much alive and whether India likes it or not, it is being played out in its front yard. Central to this sustained struggle has been the international stature of the Dalai Lama, who has become the symbol of many ideals and images. The mix of new age spiritualism, ethics, ecological values and politics has won for the Dalai Lama many influential and wealthy Western adherents to Tibetan Buddhism and supporters of Tibets cause. Today, the tiny enclave of McLeodganj, a suburb of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, is a magnet that draws large numbers of young Westerners seeking a new meaning to and purpose in life. It draws top political personalities like Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and top Hollywood actors like Richard Gere and Uma Thurman. Both China and India must worry about a post-Dalai Lama period. Tibetans believe the Dalai Lama to be a living God. But he is also human and must die like all humans. He is now 88 years old, and time is certainly not on his side. As long as he is alive, he keeps the embers of Tibetan nationalism from conflagrating with the blanket of the new age Buddhism that he has woven. When this Dalai Lama is gone, the embers might just combust. The chosen leadership of the exiles will not go unchallenged. The Chinese Communists will almost certainly try to foist their own incarnation and will try to legitimise it with all the power available to them. It is unlikely that they will succeed, but it will certainly obfuscate the situation and preclude any future compromise on the issue of the spiritual leadership of the Tibetan Buddhists. While the spiritual leadership may be contested, it is almost inevitable that a new generation of Tibetan exiles will stake a claim for the temporal leadership of the Tibetan nationalist movement. If this is contested by the regency around the India-based incarnation, then we will almost certainly see a competition for the hearts and minds of young Tibetans and this will inevitably lead to more assertive postures as the different factions jockey for power. Such internal struggles often result in greater militancy, with India has its base. On the other hand, we may see a duality of leadership emerging among the Tibetan exiles, a spiritual leadership that tends to the soul and a militant leadership that leads the struggle for attainment of political goals. It is due to the Dalai Lamas foresight and sagacity that the contours of such a dual leadership is now emerging, with the second tallest Buddhist ecclesiastical figure, Ugen Thinley, the Karmapa (now in Germany), and the Sikyong (president) of the government-in-exile, Tempa Tshering. Both now enjoy much stature among emigre Tibetan groups and within Tibet. From the Indian perspective, the rise of an alternate religious leader in the interim would well prevent the splintering of the Tibetan Buddhist movement. The young Karmapa might well provide this. Geographically and ethnically, much of Ladakh is an extension of the Tibetan Changthang, and the main language spoken is a Tibetan dialect. The Tawang tract in the other end was, till it was annexed by India in the early 1950s, under the temporal control of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. We must not forget that the border dispute with China is in reality a border dispute with Tibet. It is another matter that if Tibet was truly independent, it would have been unable to assert its claims in the way that the Chinese did. The Chinese claims to Tawang and surrounding areas is largely based on a claim made by the present Dalai Lama in the late 1940s, when he wrote a letter to the government of newly independent India laying formal claim to it. Two decades from now, China will be an aging nation and hence it feels that it must make the best of the present opportunity. Its periodic aggressiveness with India has more to do with this, than any parcels of land. The transition of Tibetan leadership is a major consideration. In Verona for the Arena of Peace the gesture of two people who have both lost loved ones in the Gaza conflict. The pontiff told the weavers of dialogue in the Holy Land: Ask world leaders to listen to your voice, so that agreements are born from reality and not from ideologies. The sin of political regimes that have ended in dictatorships is not to admit plurality: only a society where conflicts are addressed and dialogue takes place has a future. Verona (AsiaNews) - Israeli Maoz Inon whose parents were killed by Hamas on 7 October. And Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah, who mourns a brother who died under the blows of the Israeli army in the ongoing war in Gaza. They embraced in front of Pope Francis, to express their desire for peace but also to indicate the only way to achieve it. It happened this morning at the Verona Arena packed with 12,000 people gathered for the Arena of Peace, the meeting promoted by the Italian pacifist and social initiative movements at which Pope Francis wanted to be present. Invisible grains of dust to block the infernal machine and build justice and peace, defined these people as Don Luigi Ciotti, president of the Libera association against mafias, presenting them to the pontiff. This powerful gesture of Maoz and Aziz - together with the video appeals sent by some women from the Israeli Women Wage Peace movement and the Palestinian Women of the Sun - that set the tone for the morning spent by the pontiff with those popular movements that he has repeatedly indicated as prophecies of a fairer world, starting from the little ones and the concrete lives of people. Seated next to him - together with the bishop of Verona Monsignor Domenico Pompili - was Comboni missionary Fr. Alex Zanotelli, for many years the voice of the last in the peripheries of Kenya and the historical face of Italian pacifism. A On the stage - with so many realities committed to the issues of participation, care for the environment, work, disarmament, migration - Afghan Mahbouba Seraj (who denounced the illusion and failure of a peace that was being imposed from above), Vanessa Nakate, a young Ugandan climate activist, and Pedro Stedile, from the Brazilian landless movement, also brought their experience. In a close dialogue during which he often abandoned the prepared text to add his own thoughts off the cuff, Francis denounced plagues such as child labour, the arms trade, indifference (the Nobel prize we could give to so many of us is that of Pontius Pilate). Peace cannot be invented from one day to the next, it must be nurtured, he added, pointing the way to a dialogue that does not anaesthetise or remove conflicts. Not being afraid of conflicts is the richness of society, he added, Dialogue always helps us, but not to make everything equal. The sin of political regimes that ended in dictatorships is not to admit plurality. A society without conflict is a dead society; only a society where we take conflict by the hand and dialogue is a society that has a future. We are both entrepreneurs, the Israeli Maoz Inon and the Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah told the pope on their part, and we believe that peace is the greatest undertaking to be achieved. There can be no peace without an economy of peace, an economy that does not kill. An economy that does not produce war, but is instead based on justice. But how can young people be entrepreneurs of peace when the places of formation are influenced by technocratic paradigms and the culture of profit at any cost? Pope Francis did not answer this question directly, but invited us to look at the experience of these two brothers, which is the suffering of the two peoples. They,' he added, had the courage to embrace each other. Theirs is not only courage and a testimony of peace; embracing each other is also a project for the future. Both have lost family members, their families are broken because of this war. What is the point? Let us be silent and, looking at this embrace, let each one pray and decide within himself to do something to end wars. The Pope also recalled the suffering of Ukrainian children, who have lost their smiles. Those of the elderly who have worked all their lives to bring their countries forward and now see a historic defeat, a defeat of us all. We pray for peace and we say to these brothers that they bring this desire of ours for peace to their peoples. He also reiterated his conviction that the future of humanity is not only in the hands of great leaders, great powers and elites, but in the hands of the peoples, in their ability to organise themselves giving voice to change. You, weavers and weavers of dialogue in the Holy Land, the pope went on to say, ask world leaders to listen to your voice, to involve you in the negotiation processes, so that agreements are born from reality and not from ideologies: ideologies do not have feet to walk, they do not have hands to heal wounds, they do not have eyes to see the suffering of others. Peace is made with the feet, hands and eyes of the peoples involved. Everyone will reap what they have sown, he added, Our civilisations are sowing death, destruction, fear. Instead we sow hope. That is what you are also doing, in this Peace Arena. Do not stop. Do not become discouraged. Do not become spectators of the so-called inevitable war. As Bishop Tonino Bello used to say, he concluded, Arise builders of peace. Today's news: Bodies of three Israeli citizens killed on 7 October found in Gaza; China announces massive funding to clear the glut of unsold housing created by the housing bubble; North Korea wants to strengthen the country's nuclear weapons; In Georgia those who take part in protests risk dismissal AFGHANISTAN Three Spanish tourists were killed in an attack by gunmen in the central province of Bamyan in Afghanistan, the Spanish Foreign Ministry announced yesterday. The Taliban are in fact encouraging tourist visits: there is a UNESCO heritage site in Bamyan. It is one of the most serious hostilities towards foreign citizens since foreign forces left the country in 2021. CHINA Beijing announced funding of 300 billion yuan (about 40 billion dollars) to help dispose of the glut of unsold housing, as well as measures to ensure builders have access to financing and to encourage the repurchase of idle land. This is the most ambitious effort to save the real estate sector and support the economy in general. The initiative will allow local authorities to purchase unsold houses to be offered as affordable housing. NORTH KOREA After a joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington, which saw stealth fighter jets simulating air engagements in action, Kim Jong Un ordered an acceleration of production to more rapidly strengthen the country's nuclear force. The intention is to cope with the enemies reckless military confrontation", the leader said on Friday while visiting a weapons factory. GEORGIA In Georgia, several civil servants and workers of state-owned companies were dismissed for being among the participants in demonstrations protesting against the law on foreign influence, which the leaders forbid, including the invalid Georgij Mukhigulasvili, who worked as a street sweeper in Tbilisi. Demonstrators' rallies continue every night in many cities across the country. INDIA Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Indian Congress Party, made an emotional appeal to voters in her family's district - in Raebareli, which goes to the polls in the fifth phase of India's general elections on 20 May - asking them to vote for her son in a region that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have dominated for the past ten years. His son Rahul was announced the candidate for the region. ISRAEL The Israeli army announced that it had recovered in a night operation in Gaza the bodies of three hostages - Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter - taken to the Strip on 7 October, and found in a Hamas tunnel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the news heartbreaking. The three victims had been killed at a road junction near the Nova Festival site in southern Israel. RUSSIA-UKRAINE In Krasnogorsk in Moscow province, survival courses began at St. Elizabeth's Church in Opalikh, led by veterans of the war in Ukraine, open to boys aged 12 and up, who can learn free of charge how to resist firearms with the assistance of Orthodox priests, who will deliver sermons on patriotism in life. A new wave of email scams is rising, this time targeting college and graduate students struggling to pay for their student loans. Over the past month, several students have reportedly received emails from the supposed Student-Loan Debt Department as more people lose money, rather than the hoped debt relief promised by the department. What is the Student-Loan Debt Department? First noted by Verify in April, the scam often disguises itself as the Student-Loan Debt Department asking people to provide contact details after being "marked as eligible for forgiveness under the new 2024 guidelines." The email would then ask the receiver to contact the alleged person to properly file their name into the system. This is especially dangerous as many people could actually believe that the emails are real, especially after US President Joe Biden announced plans to help 30 million students out of their academic debts. It is worth noting, however, that $30 million debt relief remains a proposal as it would still need to go through legislative approval before going into effect. Student Loan Relief Package: What You Need to Know A quick Google search would show that there is no Student-Loan Debt Department. Rather than some made-up government agency, the US Department of Education and the Federal Student Aid often handle student debts, including any relief packages from the government. Students would also need to consolidate their remaining loans before becoming eligible for the program, as noted by the Education Department. All of the inquiries are directed to official Federal Student Aid pages rather than any individuals presenting themselves as representatives for the student loan relief program. How to Spot Email Scams on Student Loans? The first indicator to tell whether an email is genuine is to check the information about the sender. Government websites and staff often use official emails to contact people for federal- and state-related business. These emails would usually come with an official seal related to the department or agency the official is affiliated with. All of these are to make sure that no impersonator could steal their identity and deceive people. That said, the absence of a .gov mark alone on the sender's email address is already a big red flag about their authenticity. Official agency-sent emails would also be more likely to refer people to their websites to provide personal information rather than through emails and calls. What to Do After Receiving an Email Scam? In the case that you have identified an email scam, quickly notify the Federal Trade Commission's Anti-Phishing Working Group via reportphishing@apwg.org or at the commission's consumer complaint page. Once reported, the agencies can track down the scammers and possibly prevent more student borrowers from falling into the same scam. Zelensky signs legislation to allow some convicts to join armed forces Xinhua) 10:37, May 18, 2024 KIEV, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signed legislation allowing certain convicts to join the country's armed forces, the parliament press service reported. The legislation, which was adopted by the parliament on May 8, enables certain categories of convicts to be enlisted for military service under a contract during martial law. In exchange, the convicts will be granted the possibility to get parole from serving their sentences. The new law will not apply to prisoners who were convicted for crimes against Ukraine's national security, intentional murder of two or more persons, and other serious crimes. Last week, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said that Ukraine has the potential to conscript between 10,000 and 20,000 convicts, according to media reports. On May 18, a law to tighten military mobilization rules, which aims to recruit more troops for the country's armed forces, will take effect in Ukraine. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Wu Chaolan) The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) advised its citizens to not use TikTok, citing that the user data is "available to the government of China." The U.S. government has been working to regulate and potentially ban social media platforms from the country due to security concerns linked with China. Read Also : TikTok Explores 60-Minute Video Uploads for Select Users Canadians Discouraged From Using TikTok In an interview with CBC News, David Vigneault, CSIS director, warned Canadian TikTok users, especially teenagers against using the app. He also stated that he would not recommend someone to have an account on the platform. According to Vigneault, China has been using big data analytics and computer farms to analyze all the data from their users. These data will allegedly be used to train AI models for their country. "There is a very clear strategy on the part of the government of China ... to be able to acquire ... personal information from anyone around the world," he added. He also warned teenagers from using the account citing that China would have a lot of information about a user within five to 10 years. TikTok Accused of Helping China's System In the U.S., the popular social media company is facing a possible ban. Last month, President Joe Biden signed the legislation that could effectively ban TikTok in the country. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, was given six months to divest its shares to prevent a nationwide ban. In other regions, the company is also accused of helping China to take down the Uyghur minority and targeting Hong Kong protesters. The social media giant has been firm in its explanation that its servers are outside China and that it has no intention of sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party. "We will continue to engage with Canadian officials and would welcome the opportunity to meet with CSIS to discuss how we protect the privacy and security of Canadians," said Danielle Morgan, TikTok's spokesperson in Canada. 18 May 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Today, Azerbaijan has formulated a new strategy that aligns with national interests, encompassing a competitive economy, social justice, and innovation. Among these priorities, emphasis is placed on achieving a clean environment and promoting 'green development.' Harmonizing national environmental policies with international best practices is crucial in this endeavor. Azerbaijan's hosting of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in November further underscores this commitment. Considerable attention is devoted to environmental protection in Azerbaijan. President's decree declaring 2024 as the 'Year of Solidarity for the Green World' signifies a continuation of the transition to a green economy strategy. COP29 offers an opportunity for Azerbaijan to glean insights and strategies to mitigate environmental impact while integrating best practices for climate change adaptation. Although the focus of COP29 is environmental issues, its broad scope and relevance also carry significant economic implications. In the long term, hosting COP29 may bolster Azerbaijan's transition to a green economy and attract foreign investments. In its efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of global climate change and transition to clean energy sources, Azerbaijan has initiated investments in green energy projects in collaboration with foreign investors. The role of COP29 in Azerbaijan as a platform for attracting long-term investments and fostering advancements in the field of green energy cannot be overstated. So, what role can the holding of COP29 in Azerbaijan play in attracting long-term investments and as a platform in the field of "green energy"? In his comment to Azernews on the issue, Vugar Bayramov, Azerbaijani MP and economist emphasized the significance of the COP29 event in showcasing Azerbaijan's economic potential. "COP29 is considered the largest event in the world in terms of participant numbers. Considering that the leaders of most countries will participate in the COP29 event, it will also serve as a platform for presenting the potential of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani economy." Vugar Bayramov highlighted the significant role COP29 in Azerbaijan could play in attracting investments to the non-oil sector. "Of course, the hosting of this event will enable attracting investments, and particularly, it will provide an opportunity for a closer presentation of our economic potential to investors. Generally, such events create opportunities for attracting investment in the non-oil sector and encourage increased investment in sectors beyond energy." Currently, presenting projects related to green energy being implemented in Azerbaijan at this event dedicated to climate change (COP29) can facilitate attracting more investments to green energy projects in Azerbaijan, as stated by the expert. "Additionally, Azerbaijan is already implementing many projects related to green energy. By showcasing its potential in this field, Azerbaijan will create an opportunity to attract more investments to green energy projects by presenting activities and implementing programs in this direction. Azerbaijan has already collaborated with several leading companies. COP29 can provide an opportunity to strengthen these collaborations and attract more foreign investment in green energy projects." It should be noted that the most significant event in terms of foreign investments in renewable energy resources was the commissioning of the 230 MW Garadagh Solar Power Plant (GES) with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan. That GES is the first industrial-scale solar power plant in the Caspian Sea region. Thus, the project of the station is implemented with the prestigious "Masdar" company of the United Arab Emirates. Continuing this trend, works on the construction of the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind power station (KES) project are currently ongoing, and works on the 240 MW Shafaq GES project in Jabrayil district will commence from the second half of the current year. Additionally, "Masdar" company continues to implement 315 MW solar power plants in Neftchala, 445 MW in Bilasuvar, and 240 MW wind power plant projects in the Absheron-Garadagh regions. In this regard, the territories of renewable energy sources were determined in Bilasuvar, Neftchala, and Absheron-Garadagh regions by the relevant decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers. Also, it is planned to hold the first auction for the 100 MW solar power plant project in the Gobustan region. In conclusion, the hosting of COP29 in Azerbaijan emerges as a pivotal opportunity to showcase the nation's economic potential and attract long-term investments, particularly in the realm of green energy. The event's global significance, with the participation of leaders from around the world, underscores its role as a platform for highlighting Azerbaijan's capabilities and fostering collaboration in sustainable development initiatives. As Azerbaijan continues to prioritize green energy projects and implement measures to mitigate climate change, COP29 serves as a catalyst for advancing these efforts and positioning the country as a key player in the global transition to renewable energy. With ongoing projects and strategic initiatives in place, Azerbaijan stands poised to harness its favorable geostrategic position and natural resources to drive sustainable development and address the challenges of climate change in the region and beyond. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 17:53 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Work on a railroad connecting the Turkiye's Kars to the Igdir region bordering Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan, a crucial component of the Zangezur corridor, is scheduled to begin later this year and be completed within five years, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkiye Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, Azernews reports citing Turkish nationwide TV channel. The minister recalled that the tender for constructing a 224-kilometer railroad in eastern Turkiye was announced earlier this year, and negotiations are currently underway to finance the project. "Construction work from Kars to the Dilucu border crossing point on the Azerbaijan border will take about five years," Uraloglu said. He noted that building the railroad section between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Zangilan district might also take several years. The minister highlighted the importance of completing railroad construction in the regions of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation and modernizing rails in Nakhchivan. "The full-fledged functioning of the transportation corridor will be possible in 20282029. This route has significant economic and strategic importance for Turkiye and the entire region," he emphasized. Uraloglu also discussed the importance of the Zangezur Corridor for global trade, mentioning the risks associated with incidents in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. "The opening of the Zangezur Corridor will provide a crucial new alternative for establishing economic ties between Asia and Europe," he said. Additionally, the minister mentioned the possibility of the Zangezur Corridor passing through Iran. "We know that Azerbaijan is negotiating with Iran on this matter. The final decision has not been made yet. I do not exclude that some sections of the corridor will also pass through Iran and Armenia," he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 10:30 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more The First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijan Army, Colonel-General Karim Valiyev, along with the Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander of the Land Forces, Lieutenant-General Hikmat Mirzayev, met with military officials at the mobilization preparation training camp, Azernews reports citing the Ministry of Defense. During the meeting, Colonel-General Karim Valiyev highlighted the positive results of the successful reforms in the army under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ilham Aliyev. The First Deputy Minister of Defense emphasized the importance of regularly conducting training sessions to ensure planned mobilization preparation, the creation of mobilization resources, and maintaining the combat readiness of reservists at a high level. The Chief of the General Staff expressed interest in the provision and practical exercises of military officials. He conveyed the Defense Minister's directives to the relevant officials, focusing on increasing their professional level, adapting the training to real combat conditions, and using technological innovations to effectively apply newly adopted weapons and combat techniques. Specific tasks have been assigned to the commanders of military units to further enhance the quality of the training and improve the professionalism of the personnel involved. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 10:50 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Cuba, Ruslan Rzayev, held a meeting with Eduardo Martinez Dias, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Environment of Cuba, Azernews reports citing the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Cuba. The meeting addressed the longstanding friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Cuba, expressing satisfaction with the recent developments in bilateral relations. Discussions also revolved around potential cooperation in the fields of science, technology, and the environment, along with matters pertaining to the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be hosted in Baku. The Cuban minister extended congratulations to Azerbaijan for hosting COP29, highlighting their readiness to support the country in this endeavor. Furthermore, the meeting facilitated an exchange of views on various other topics of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 11:58 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova, spoke at the 1st meeting of the Organizing Committee of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on May 17 as part of her official visit to Geneva, Switzerland, Azernews reports. Stating that many important issues were addressed during the discussions, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted that comprehensive and significant deliberations took place. Emphasizing the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in advancing peace, security, and the rule of law, she highlighted its close connection to our visions for the future. Sahiba Gafarova stated that the rule of law is a prerequisite for ensuring peace and security. Any approach to this issue should be based on strict adherence to universally recognized norms and principles of international law, such as respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-discriminatory application. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova emphasized that given the current global situation, the Inter-Parliamentary Union should also address this issue in its activities and within the framework of the 6th World Conference. The Speaker of the Parliament also addressed the issue of climate change, stating that it is one of the urgent global problems that must be solved. Sahiba Gafarova recalled that Azerbaijan was chosen to host COP29 with the unanimous support of all countries, and this grand event will be held in Baku in November this year. According to her, Azerbaijan will do everything possible to engage all parties and unite all countries and societies around a common goal. Sahiba Gafarova said that the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament should develop new ideas and approaches on this issue and reflect them in future activities. She also participated in the meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament on May 17 in preparation for the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. At the event, the results of previous summits were reviewed, and a number of organizational issues were discussed to prepare for the next summit. In her speech, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova drew attention to the challenges faced in ensuring gender equality worldwide. She stated that although the issue of gender equality has been discussed at various events, it is still not possible to solve the issues related to it in many countries. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said that increasing the social activity of women, realizing their right to education, and representation in high positions should be widely discussed at the next Summit. She also emphasized the importance of women's active participation in this issue, taking into account that the issue of global climate change is very relevant. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 13:29 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Kamran Aliyev, Azerbaijans Prosecutor General, along with his delegation, arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a working visit to attend the 5th Meeting of the Attorneys/Prosecutors General of the ECO Member States, Azernews reports. During his meetings held on the sidelines of the visit, Prosecutor General informed his colleagues about restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, as well as ongoing restoration and construction projects in the liberated territories. In a meeting with Yusuf Rahmon, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Tajikistan, the sides discussed cooperation in mutual legal assistance and the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral activities within international organizations. They expressed optimism about the future flourishing of mutual relations between the prosecutor's offices of the two countries. During a separate meeting with Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, Iran's Prosecutor General, both parties praised the momentum of relations between their respective prosecutor's offices. Kamran Aliyev invited his Iranian colleague for an official visit to Azerbaijan and expressed his optimism that the cooperation would continue to develop further. Azerbaijans Prosecutor General also met with Khusrav Noziri, ECO General Secretary. The ECO General Secretary underscored that the Dushanbe meeting of the Prosecutors General benefits from the success of the meeting held in Baku last September. Kamran Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan always attaches great importance to relations with the ECO. During their meeting, they explored avenues to enhance the organization's effectiveness, strengthen legal cooperation among member states, bolster efforts in combating crimes, facilitate mutual international legal assistance, and discussed potential future areas of collaboration. Additionally, Kamran Aliyev met with Rashideen Nawaz Kasuri, the Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan, where they commended the comprehensive cooperation between their countries and emphasized the need to further develop cooperation between their prosecutor's offices. As part of the visit, a meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Turkic Council, established in Baku on November 1, 2021, took place. Discussions focused on prospects for future cooperation within the Turkic Council, including organizational matters related to the upcoming 3rd meeting scheduled to be held in Kyrgyzstan this July. The Azerbaijani delegation's visit to Tajikistan has concluded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 18:50 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Russia is collaborating closely with Azerbaijan and Central Asia to develop the North-South transit corridor, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk during his address at the plenary session of the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum," Azernews reports. "We have already discussed the infrastructure projects, including creating the North-South corridor that we are developing with our partners. We are working closely with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. This involves the development of both rail and road transportation," he said. Overchuk noted that Russia aims to enhance the transport and logistics connectivity of "Greater Eurasia" to provide better competitive conditions for manufacturers. "Our primary goal is to ensure the transport and logistics connectivity of Greater Eurasia. By doing this, we are providing our manufacturers with the best competitive conditions to enter the markets of the global South," the deputy PM added. He emphasized that Russia is not working alone in this effort but is cooperating with the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. It should be noted that the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" is an annual international economic forum held in Kazan, Tatarstan, aimed at fostering cooperation between Russia and the countries of the Islamic world. The forum serves as a platform for discussing economic, cultural, and political partnerships, and addressing common challenges. It brings together leaders, policymakers, and business representatives to explore opportunities for collaboration and development across various sectors. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00) Up to 2,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after a bunker barge struck a bridge in the island city of Galveston, eastern Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated on Thursday. The source of the leakage from the barge has been contained after the accident, said the U.S. Coast Guard. AP reported that the Coast Guard had deployed a boom, or barrier, to contain the spill. The Coast Guard said it deployed planes and drones to evaluate the extent of the oil spill on Thursday, while closing about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, a busy shipping channel for the region. Galveston is about 50 miles (80.5 km) away from downtown Houston, the largest city of Texas. "We're pretty confident there was much less oil introduced to the water than we initially estimated," Coast Guard Captain Keith Donohue told a news conference on Thursday. "We've recovered over 605 gallons of oily water mixture from the environment, as well as an additional 5,640 gallons of oil product from the top of the barge that did not go into the water," Donohue said. The 321-foot barge, which has the capacity to hold 30,000 barrels of oil, was carrying 23,000 barrels, that amounts to nearly 966,000 gallons, when it slammed into a pillar of the Pelican Island Causeway bridge on Wednesday, Rick Freed, vice president of barge operator Martin Marine, told the news conference. A tugboat lost control of two barges "due to a break in the coupling" connecting them. One of the barges slammed into the bridge, the Coast Guard said. Freed said an investigation is still underway. The crash led to the partial collapse of the bridge, forcing the only land connection from Galveston to Pelican Island to shut down. No injuries were reported. "The harmful consequences of oil are once again impacting our coastal communities, wildlife, and waters," Joseph Gordon with an ocean conservation group named Oceana said in a statement. The spill will probably have minimal long-term consequences, considering the volume of oil on board the barge, Danny Reible, a Texas Tech University professor, told ABC News on Thursday. The accident came weeks after a cargo ship slammed into a support column of the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, claiming six lives. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A CSC ServiceWorks security flaw could potentially allow millions of Americans to do their laundry for free, according to two University of California, Santa Cruz students. First reported by TechCrunch, the vulnerability allegedly allows anyone to remotely control coin-operated commands without ever needing to pay. The two students, Alexander Sherbrooke and Iakov Taranenko, found the same bug in the CSC ServiceWorks app that also allows them to raise the stored balance to several millions of dollars. It is uncertain if the security bug could also allow people to remotely operate or stop multiple laundry machines. Sherbrooke and Taraneko have already reported the security flaw to the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University after failing to contact CSC ServiceWorks. As of writing, the CSC ServiceWorks bug remains, exposing thousands, if not millions, of businesses to huge financial losses. The company has yet to provide a statement regarding the vulnerability. Also Read : Citrix Bleed Vulnerability Still Exploited by Hackers for Cyberattacks How to Protect Your CSC ServiceWorks Laundry Machine from Bug Exploit? Since the issue is in the CSC ServiceWorks' systems, it is more difficult to prevent people from exploiting the security flaw. However, laundromat owners and other businesses can still protect themselves from huge financial losses by temporarily disconnecting their remote laundry machines from their networks. CSC laundry machine owners can also try to contact their dealers to check if they can have their machines only operated manually to prevent third parties from connecting to them. It is important to remember, however, that these remedies are temporary, and only CSC ServiceWorks can provide a permanent fix to the issue. CSC ServiceWorks Criticized for Silencing the Security Bug Issue In the interview with TechCrunch, Sherbrooke and Taraneko also highlighted the difficulty of contacting the company or any actions to notify other customers about the massive security flaw. According to the US Santa Cruz students, CSC Serviceworks simply removed the million-dollar cash balance on the students' app after reporting the issue to the company. It is also worth noting that the vulnerability was found earlier this year, an issue CSC ServiceWorks did not disclose to the public until the TechCrunch report. 18 May 2024 18:32 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Dagestan is aiming to boost the export of agricultural products to Islamic nations, with Dagestan lambs emerging as a particularly sought-after commodity, Azernews reports citing the TASS agency. This initiative was announced by Abdulmuslim Abdulmuslimov, the Chairman of the Government of Dagestan, during the XV International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum". Abdulmuslimov highlighted that Dagestan recently showcased its agricultural products to ambassadors from nine Islamic countries during the holy month of Ramadan, emphasizing the region's commitment to producing high-quality ecological products that meet global standards. He mentioned the existence of a halal certification system in the region, facilitating the export of products, especially meat, to Islamic countries. The Prime Minister pointed out that besides mutton, Islamic nations also express interest in Dagestan's rice and fish. Currently, 64 percent of Dagestan's foreign trade turnover involves countries within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), with Iran, Iraq, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan being the region's primary partners. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2024 19:47 (UTC+04:00) The creation of a digital state land cadastre continues in Turkmenistan, Azernews reports. According to the official source, the land cadastre is a unified electronic system that contains a set of information collected during the state registration of lands, accounting for their quantity and quality, economic assessment, and other data to control the effective and rational use of land resources and acreage. At the moment, information about wheat fields, their location, tenants, and users has already been fully entered into the land registry database. Furthermore, work is currently underway to provide relevant information on the lands allocated for cotton, vegetables, and other agricultural crops and to further improve the cadastre. The state land cadastre is of economic importance and is intended for the organization of effective use of land and its protection, farm planning, placement and specialization of agricultural production, land reclamation, legal certification of land rights, etc. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan's agricultural sector plays a key role in the country's economy, representing an important area of employment and food security. In recent years, the government has been actively investing in the modernization and mechanization of agriculture, the introduction of advanced agricultural technologies, and improving the efficiency of water resources, taking into account the arid climate. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 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. Reagan Reese, White House correspondent for the Daily Caller reports: A whos-who of Obama administration alumni are seemingly behind a concerted push to drive a wedge between President Joe Biden and Israel. For weeks, stories of chaos across the nations college campuses dominated the media. Anti-Israel protestors set up encampments, ignored charges of trespassing and ripped down the American flag to replace it with the Palestinian flag, all to protest the United States pro-Israel stance in the countrys war against Hamas. Recent reporting by Tablet Magazine, as well as public statements from former White House officials, reveal that members of the Obama administration are stoking the flames of anti-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party, exacerbating a headache for Biden. During the chaos, Biden avoided the press for nine days before publicly stating that the protests were not influencing his policy. But the damage was done, and some began to question the presidents commitment to Israel. I think by forcing Biden to this dilemma, the outside folks are in practice hurting him, a former Trump administration official, granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the matter, told the Daily Caller. They probably dont view it that way. They probably view themselves as being trying to be advocates for certain anti-Israel policies. But the net effect of it is, yes, they are undermining Biden by sort of railing against him on this wedge issue. Tablet identified several organizations, like Students for Justice in Palestine, that have had their hand in backing the students and individuals protesting. The magazine named financial backers like the WESPAC Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund among the groups that are funding the activist organizations on the ground. The WESPAC Foundation and Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an anti-Israel group, have received significant donations from the Tides Foundation, a major progressive dark money group. Indeed, scratch a pro-Palestinian radical organization, and you are likely to find Tides involvement somewhere. The Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), which organized an illegal blockade of the Port of Tacoma in November and an anti-Israel walkout of high school students in San Franciscowhere AROC contracts with the unified public school districtis a fiscal sponsorship of the Tides Center, the Tablet piece read. One less-talked-about phenomenon Tablet identified is the prominence of Obama administration alumni at these organizations. Dylan Orr, a board member of Tides, was a part of the Obama administration, working in the Department of Labor. Cheryl Alston, another board member of Tides, was previously appointed to the advisory committee of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation by Obama, where she sat for two years. Former secretary of the Tides board, Suzanne Nossel, was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations in the Obama State Department. I think there was a time in the partys history early in the Obama years when there was a Clinton Democrat and an Obama Democrat, with the former considered to be more hawkish and centrist. But by the time the Clinton Democrats graduated from Obama U, that distinction had become harder to discern, Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Caller. And the merger was completed during the Trump years as they coalesced in defense of the Obama foreign policy legacy of cozying up to Iran and undermining Israel. The Obama-protest ties run deeper. Tim Wang, another board member of Tides, is a managing partner at Westley Group, which was founded by Steve Westley, Tablet noted. Westley was the former California co-chair of Obama for America. Lori Chatman, also a Tides board member, is the president of the capital division of Enterprise Community Partners, which is run by Shaun Donovan, Tablet reported. Donovan was Obamas Housing and Urban Development Secretary and also the director of the administrations Office of Management and Budget. It is here that the outsize role of Tides in funding the protests may be especially significant. More than any of the dark-money giants on the left, Tides has become tightly integrated with the ascendant Obama faction of the Democratic Party, Tablet stated. In the immediate weeks after Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, reports surfaced of previous conflict between Obama and Biden when it came to handling the Middle East, and specifically Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Obamas foreign policy was largely defined by an attempt at detente with Iran, much to the chagrin of Netanyahu. Biden took a more pro-Israel path during his first several years in office, although the limits of his relationship with Israels prime minister have been tested. (RELATED: Not A Vassal State: Netanyahu Reportedly Explodes In Meeting After Biden Sets Red Line For Israel Support) Privately, the president had reportedly been touting his strong pro-Israel stance compared to that of Obama, despite backlash from within his party and even his own administration, five people familiar with Bidens comments told NBC News. Biden recounted a story from his vice presidency where Obama and some of his staffers apparently denounced Bidens belief that the best way to treat Israel was to hug them close but not criticize them, the sources told NBC News. But after reflecting on the moment, the president said that he was correct on his stance in 2014 and he continues to be right now, NBC reported. Other reports detailed how Obama was breaking with Biden on his pro-Israel stance and their strained relationship. I think they are looking to reshape the Democrat Party long term. And so I think if you look at that movement, if you look at the Detroit, the Dearborn boycott movement, what they are ultimately doing is saying, were willing to actually lose one election. If in doing so, it sends a long-term message to the Democrat party, that its my way or the highway, and they want party discipline going forward. To show this you have to take this anti-Israel position or we will cause you to lose in that election, Gabriel Noronha, executive director of Polaris National Security and a former State Department official, told the Daily Caller. I think something like the Soros types are more willing to play in that long term view of we want to reshape the party, and that this is Bidens last election, but that there are many, many more to come in the Democrat party, he added. As the war in Gaza has progressed, high-profile Obama staffers have become more vocal, taking to social media to criticize the president and his pro-Israel stance. The President doesnt get credit for being privately enraged when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people. These stories only make him look weak, Jon Favreau, a former assistant to Obama and director of speechwriting, tweeted. Im voting for Joe Biden, campaigning for Joe Biden, love most of what Joe Biden has done, but hate his Israel policy and want it to change. Not sure why thats hard to get, he added. Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser and speechwriter, also spoke out on social media about Bidens Israel stance. The U.S. government is still supplying 2 thousand pound bombs and ammunition to support Israels policy. Until there are substantive consequences, this outrage does nothing. Bibi obviously doesnt care what the U.S. says, its about what the U.S. does, he wrote. Foreign policy experts pointed out that the same types of staffers for Bidens former boss who are holding his feet to the fire also make up his own administration. In some respects, theyre all Obama alumni, with Bidens senior officials having served as senior officials during Obama. Sullivan was on the secret trip to Oman to start the Iran nuclear deal talks. McGurk was a senior architect of Obamas Mideast realignment. Bill Burns was a key architect along with Wendy Sherman (now departed from the Biden administration) in cementing the interim nuclear deal with Iran, and then Blinken was instrumental in securing the final nuclear deal, Goldberg said. The vice presidents national security advisor was also part of the JCPOA dream team. Lets not forget Colin Kahl at Department of Defense until recently, another Iran echo chamber key actor. Oh, and lest we forget Rob Malley was appointed by this president to be special envoy for Iran working with his close childhood friend Tony Blinken. The White House insists that its relationship with Israel is ironclad but the president drew his red line on the Israel-Hamas war during an interview with CNN. Biden said if the country chooses to invade Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are seeking refuge, he will withhold aid to Israel. The administration also withheld shipments to the country in an apparent effort to send a political message. To some degree, the Obama wing of the party seems to be making headway. AI companies have always been regarded as shifty when it comes to the training data they use, particularly where they get them. It's time for people to read the fine print as they might unknowingly agree to have their data used to train AI. Such is the situation with Slack. Slack Uses Customer Data to Train AI Machine learning AI models need troves of data to become smarter, therefore providing its users with better service. However, AI companies haven't always been upfront about the kind of data they use. OpenAI has been under fire for it, and now Slack is facing the same backlash. DuckBill Group Executive Corey Quinn decided to take a look at Slack's Privacy Principles, only to find that the messaging app has been using user data to train AI and machine learning models. The problem is that customers have already agreed to it probably without their knowledge. "To develop AI/ML models, our systems analyze Customer Data (e.g. messages, content, and files) submitted to Slack as well as Other Information (including usage information) as defined in our Privacy Policy and in your customer agreements," the policy reads. Since it's an opt-out feature, the app already takes and uses the data by default, as reported by Engadget. Slack is not making it easy to opt out of the policy as well. To do so, customers have to email the company instead of having a toggle button that turns it off. What's worse is that not everyone is eligible to send that opt-out email. The privacy notice states that only the organization, workspace owners, and primary owners can contact customer support to stop the leeching of data. Slack clarified that the platform has "machine-learning models for things like channel and emoji recommendations and search results," and that the machine-learning models in question are not generative. That means that your private data will not pop up when a person enters a certain prompt. Even Slack's policies are contradictory. In another published policy, the messaging app states that when developing AI or machine-learning models, "Slack can't access the underlying content," and that they have "various technical measures preventing this from occurring." The privacy policy statement is the direct opposite of another, which assures customers that they can work without worry as their data is their data. "We don't use it to train Slack AI," the company notes. "Everything runs on Slack's secure infrastructure." Read Also : Salesforce to Pay a Whopping $27.7 Billion to Acquire Slack What Slack Uses It For Since it gets confusing how Slack uses customer data in the first place, here are the listed improvements that the messaging platform claims to develop as it uses private data such as messages, content, and files. One is Channel Recommendations, wherein Slack uses insights to recommend that a user join a new public channel in their company. Slack will scan the membership, topics, and activity overlaps to see where a user may fit in. There's also Search Results, where the company bases the outcomes on the customer's historical search results and previous engagements. Autocomplete, provides suggestions to complete search queries by sourcing common public message phrases in a workspace. A second organization has issued a warning of the potential for blackouts this summer due to a strained electric grid and overdependence on unreiable wind and solar energy. The previous report had issued a warning for 32 states including North Carolina, but this report is centered on 18 states and North Carolina is not among them. Germany has faced similar situations with prolonged "wind droughts" where wind turbines were producing far less than capacity if they were producing at all. These wind conditions tend to happen in summer when there is high electric demand for airconditioning. Germany survived without blackouts by importing power from nuclear-powered France and coal-powered Poland. Germany's Energy Transition under Merkel had moved the country to high reliance on intermittant power sources of wind and solar. The United States does not have the depth of alternative power supply from other countries that Germany has had to keep its grid up when wind and solar fail to meet the demand. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NAERC) report cited the unreliability of wind power as the biggest danger to the grid. "Wind generator performance during periods of high demand is a key factor in determining whether there is sufficient electricity supply on the system", the report declares. Factors like rain, fog, cloud cover, and, of course, nighttime also can limit solar power production. With sufficient warning, grid operators can manage to avoid the whole system going down by doing a rolling blackout, where they shut down parts of the grid for a few hours before moving to another part of it to shut down. However there have already been cases in other countries where loss of wind turbine electric supply happens too suddenly and takes the whole grid down with it for an extended period. A "black restart" in such conditions is more difficult to do with reliance on wind and solar and can take days to accomplish. https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Reliability%20Assessments%20DL/NERC_SRA_2024.pdf https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/us-power-grid-may-become-unreliable-summer-watchdog-warns By Terri Wu at The Epoch Times Chinas communist regime is using the pro-Palestinian campus protests to discredit the U.S. government and amplify social divisions. This online activity, experts say, is part of Chinas information warfare or psyoppsychological operationto weaken the United States by causing Americans to fight each other. Researchers have traced such IsraelHamas war-related campaigns to a multi-year online influence operation known as Spamouflage or Dragonbridge, which Meta found had links to Chinese law enforcement. Meanwhile, Chinese propaganda and officials accuse the U.S. government of having double standards and being hypocritical. Along with a montage video of police arrests on various campuses, Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, implied on social media that the United States was handling protesters in the same way that it has criticized other countries for. According to H. Colleen Sinclair, a Louisiana State University associate research professor specializing in misinformation and methods, China uses a false equivalencyequating the U.S. arrests of protesters to the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) persecution and silencing of its own peopleto say that the United States doesnt have the moral authority to criticize Beijings human rights record. Its just a form of distraction: whataboutism. It also further amplifies any political divisions or polarization that there might be in a particular culture, she told The Epoch Times. Referring to the CCP, she continued, They are always looking for things that make the United States look unstable, unable to be trusted, and hypocritical. CCP Propaganda Highlights Internal Divisions in US On April 17, Columbia University students started protesting by camping out on campus, demanding their schools call for a ceasefire in Gaza and divest from all Israeli institutions and Israel-aligned companies. They called the IsraelHamas war genocide of Palestinians, an accusation that the Israeli government has repeatedly rejected. A day later, police began arresting protesters at Columbia. Students vowed to stay on until the university met their demands. As the negotiations between the school and students broke, the tension escalated. The encampment protests at Columbia inspired more students at a dozen other colleges to do the same. In an April 24 editorial, state-run media China Daily described the situation as a disconnect and internal divisions between elites and ordinary citizens in American society. The US airdrop of aid for Gaza, and the conflict between US law enforcers and the US students and teachers are both ugly shows of contradictory foreign policies of the US, the editorial continued. Yao-Yuan Yeh, professor of international studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, said that the CCP wants to paint a picture of the United States in chaos to justify its stability maintenanceits authoritarian approach to sustain its rule of China. As a long-term cognitive warfare to the United States, what the CCP wants to achieve is to use the pro-Palestinian protests to show America as a country in crisis at home with racial and religious divides and democracy as a bad form of government, Mr. Yeh told The Epoch Times. Ms. Sinclair pointed out that during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, the CCP deployed a similar propaganda narrative to make democracy look bad. According to her, the CCP also exploits civil unrest to further polarize our society. Once were more divided, then were fighting amongst ourselves. And they dont even have to engage in any sort of kinetic warfare; we can engage in that warfare amongst our own citizens, she added. This is what information warfare is. An Incredibly Successful Psyop According to Graphika, Spamouflages political disinformation campaigns began in the summer of 2019. The disinformation research firm observed the operations surge in English content in early 2020, starting with praise for Beijings handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and moving on to attack U.S. foreign policies and policies against TikTok as tension rose in U.S.China relations. In August 2023, Meta removed over 7,000 inauthentic Facebook accounts and a smattering of Instagram accounts linked to Spamouflage. However, the operation simply sprawled through other fake accounts. Spamouflage appears easily able to reconstitute itself after its accounts are taken down from social media, Max Lesser, a senior analyst of emerging threats at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based think tank, told The Epoch Times in an email. Why? Pre-positioned, dormant sleeper accounts lie ready and waiting to be activated by operators. Mr. Lessers research identified a Facebook page called The War of Somethings, a previously unrecognized component of Spamouflage. One of the unauthentic accounts commented on a video about the IsraelHamas War, America is the warmonger, the Jews own son! While Mr. Lesser focused on Facebook, Rutgers Universitys report in December 2023 showed that pro-Israel content is suppressed on TikTok, a short-video platform under a deadline to be sold by its Chinese parent company or be banned in the United States according to a new law. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a global advocacy nonprofit focusing on reserving disinformation, reported last year TikTok continued to host pro-Islamic State propaganda. Clemson Universitys Media Forensics Hub also identified Spamouflage-linked social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, calling on people to flood the encampments in universities in New York City. Antonio Graceffo, a China analyst and an Epoch Times contributor, said that the campus protesters are under the influence of a psyop. To him, an outcome of the addiction to social media platforms, including TikTok, is that people lose their ability to see patterns and identify any logical disconnect in forming their opinions. In his view, the protesters want peace and to stop the genocide in Gaza without acknowledging that Hamas is a designated terrorist group and that Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 by killing people, raping women, and holding hostages. In addition, he said the protesters are supporting a system that doesnt approve of their liberal and progressive lifestyles. Its such an incredibly successful psyop that they are able to get people to protest for a system that would kill them, he told The Epoch Times, referring to campus protesters embrace of what he views as an incomplete narrative. Mr. Yeh also thinks its highly likely that the campus protesters are under cognitive influence. People are given fragmented information that drove their cognitive intensification to some degree, he said. He added that, unlike the protests during the Vietnam War, in which the United States had an action item to stop fighting in a foreign country, what the United States could do in the IsraelHamas war is limited. Mr. Yeh said he didnt know a good solution as an international relations scholar. The protesters react to international relations in a very emotional way. However, they dont know that the United States cannot make everything happen, he added. He could understand the protesters passion, but their demand for the U.S. government to force peace in Gaza might not be achievable. Mr. Graceffo also sees the unsolvable nature of the student demands. China amplifies these messages through fake accounts and through its own media. Its amplifying all these problems so that they cant be resolved and [get] bigger and bigger, he said. Over time, Ms. Sinclair at Louisiana State University has noticed creeping aggression from the CCP; it moved from mainly defending its policies and images to dividing and discrediting the United States. She has also seen China increasingly borrowing from Russias playbook and collaborating directly on stories. After Global Times questioned the double standard of the United Statess handling of campus protests, the Chinese version of Sputnik News, an official Russian news agency, echoed a week later, Americas policies are hypocritical; the world has seen its true color. Mr. Graceffo thinks Russian propaganda might be more convincing than Chinese, but the CCP threat should not be underestimated: Theyre bad at convincing people, but I think theyre good at stirring people up. Anesthesiologist Sebo Amirkhanian Namagerdy, MD, is the highest-paid official in the county, the Los Angeles Times reported May 16. Dr. Namagerdy, who works at county-run rehab facility Rancho Los Amigos, earned $1.26 million in 2023, according to the Times. He was the highest-paid official for the fifth year in a row. The high salary stems from an extremely heavy workload and an anesthesiologist shortage in the market, according to the report. He was working 94 hours per week in 2023. According to the report, he made about $450,000 more than any other physician at the facility or any other anesthesiologist in the county. "Patient safety is our top priority, the L.A. County Department of Health Services said in a statement shared with Becker's There were no patient safety concerns in the case of this doctor." The department added that it is common for physicians, particularly in the ICU, to work 90 hour shifts that include rest hours they are considered on the clock even when they do not provide direct patient care. Additionally, the department noted that the ICU at Rancho is small with an average daily census of 4-5 patients. Other physicians in the facility cite a failure to adequately staff the ICU, according to the Times report. Police posted an image of the party items. A chance roadside encounter involving the PSNI has helped ensure a special birthday for a young boy. Officers on patrol in Newry discovered a haul of stolen Amazon parcels for Northern Ireland customers in a broken down vehicle. The driver had been wanted for theft. The parcels recovered included party supplies for a five-year-olds birthday party this weekend. Police posted about the incident on their social media pages. The PSNI said the incident started on Wednesday when officers on patrol in the Newry area stopped with a male who appeared to require assistance with a broken down vehicle. On speaking with the male and conducting checks, it was noted that he was wanted in relation to a theft investigation, they added. Having arrested the male, a search was then carried out on his vehicle, which located a large number of Amazon parcels addressed to multiple different persons across Northern Ireland. The male was then further arrested on suspicion of seven counts of theft and seven counts of handling stolen goods. He has since been interviewed and is on bail pending further enquiries. One of the parcels was found to contain party supplies for a five-year-olds birthday party this coming weekend. The arresting officers have since attended the house the parcel was addressed to, and given the package to the young boys father who, at the time police attended, was actually online and about to spend 150 purchasing replacement party supplies. This year also saw a host of new attractions added to the event The Balmoral Show came to a close on Saturday, with more than 100,000 visitors flocking to the event over the last four days. Prolonged sunshine attracted played its part in attracting visitors to the 2024 show, with crowds continuing to stream in the gates to experience the biggest food and agricultural event in Northern Ireland. With a host of new attractions and the return of some firm favourites, visitors were treated to range of traditional farming and machinery displays, livestock competitions and tasty treats in the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Pavilion. New on the show schedule for 2024 were sheepdog displays, a revamped childrens area and the new Strategic Power Connect Sustainability Village, showcasing the agri industrys commitment to tackling climate change. Watch: Over 100 cows paraded in the main arena at Balmoral show As ever, the funfair and Bolddog Lings Motorcycle Display Team drew in some of the biggest crowds and many visitors were wowed by the closing events, which included the champion cattle parade. The local business community were also well-represented across the week with many engagement events held and a bumper week of livestock, machinery, and commercial sales. Over 100 of Ulster Banks business customers, agri stakeholders and trade representatives attended the flagship corporate event hosted by Ulster Bank on Thursday May 16, where guests heard from two industry leading figures about how knowing your supply chain can boost productivity. Rhonda Geary, Group Operations Director at the RUAS, said the success of this years show was once again down to the volunteers, colleagues, sponsors, stewards, and judges who work so hard to deliver a world-class event. Everyone at the Society is really pleased with how well this years event has gone and once again thats all down to the hard work and months of preparation that goes into planning for show of this size and scale. Glenarm Castle celebrate first year at Balmoral show with mini Land Rover experience "Thanks also to all of our sponsors who support us to deliver the Balmoral Show to such a high standard and of course thanks to the sunshine for finally making an appearance. Cormac McKervey, Head of Agriculture at principal sponsor Ulster Bank, said: This is our 15th year as principal sponsor and the reason we come back year after year is that the Balmoral Show provides a great mix for consumers, retailers and everyone on the supply chain. Agrifood is so important to our local economy and we are very keen to support and back this. Generally, farmers were very positive about the state of the sector throughout the four days and its a great way for Ulster Bank to say thank you and spend some time with our customers. Dates for the 2025 event will be announced soon, with details available on www.balmoralshow.com. Crowds attend solidarity marches across NI to mark milestone in Israel-Palestine conflict Palestinians across the world have been marking the partition of Palestine this week Crowds attending the IPSC march in Derry Liam Tunney Sat 18 May 2024 at 21:15 Crowds have attended solidarity marches across Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary of a significant milestone in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Private Sean Rooney was killed in Lebanon in 2022 (Defence Forces/PA) The Irish Government is determined that those responsible for the death of a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon are brought to justice, deputy premier Micheal Martin has said. The Tanaiste is visiting Beirut to meet Irish troops serving with the United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil). Mr Martin will travel to Camp Shamrock to greet the members of the 124th Infantry Battalion in Unifil, Irelands largest overseas deployment. In 2022, Irish peacekeeper Private Sean Rooney, 24, from Co Donegal, was killed while serving in Lebanon when his convoy was attacked. Mr Martin said: A central focus of my visit will be meeting with Lebanese ministers to communicate the absolute determination of the Irish Government to ensure those responsible for Private Rooneys death are brought to justice. The Tanaiste recently approved deployment of an additional platoon of 33 troops to serve with the Irish Battalion in Unifil. He said: I am very much looking forward to meeting our peacekeepers who serve with such distinction in Unifil, and in a very challenging environment amid escalating tensions due to the war in Gaza. We recently reaffirmed our continuing support to Unifil and the important role it plays in de-escalation in the south of Lebanon, through an increased force protection element to the battalion. The dedication of Defence Force personnel and their families is a vital part of Irelands commitment to global peace and security. Nowhere is this engagement more evident, than in South Lebanon. 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 Upon arrival at Camp Shamrock, Mr Martin will receive an Honour Guard from Defence Forces personnel, meet UN and Irish military leaders, and address the troops. His itinerary also includes meetings with the Lebanese minister for defence Maurice Sleem, and minister of foreign affairs Abdallah Bou Habib. It is his second visit to Beirut after the death of Private Rooney. Mr Martin is accompanied by the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Jacqui McCrum, and Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy. An independent review into political violence and disruption will recommend that teachers be legally protected from blasphemy claims by religious groups, the Times has reported. According to the newspaper, the report by the Governments adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, will urge the Department for Education (DfE) to issue schools with statutory guidance to protect teachers freedom of expression. The guidance would also say schools should not automatically suspend teachers over blasphemy claims and would prevent schools from publicly identifying teachers involved. Under the proposals, schools would not be obliged to consult parents, faith or community groups on educational content that might insult religious groups. Schools would not be obliged to consult parents, faith or community groups on educational content that might insult religious groups, under the guidance (Alamy/PA) The Times said the report, due to be published next week, is understood to have placed emphasis on making the guidance statutory. Lord Walney declined to comment. A Government spokesman said: Extremism of any kind has no place in our society and we will not tolerate tactics that set out to intimidate, threaten or cause disruption to the law-abiding majority. In recent months, we have also witnessed a small number of protesters display violent and hateful behaviour, and the police have our full support in tackling extremism and hate crime. We will consider the reports final recommendations extremely carefully and will respond in due course. Last November, a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 teachers conducted for the Policy Exchange think tank found 16% of them admitted having self-censored in order to avoid causing religious offence. The think tank claimed this had created a de facto blasphemy code in schools across the country. It made reference to the Batley Grammar School incident, where a teacher was forced into hiding and received death threats after showing a class a picture of the prophet Muhammad, and said it had clearly scared the teaching profession. Some 55% of teachers polled said they would never use an image of the Islamic prophet in class and a further 9% cited the Batley incident as the reason they would not do so. Half of teachers said there would be a risk to their safety if protests similar to the ones which sprang up outside the school gates in Batley took place, with one in five saying there would be a very big risk. A total of 1,132 teachers from across the UK took part in the survey. They say that the age of modern technology leaves very little privacy to those who live in advanced countries. That is growing more true each day now that cameras are everywhere, even drones flying overhead. If a pro-Trump Congressman gets his way, they would also be equipped with tasers. Police Drones with Tasers Republican Representative Troy Edwin Nehls has a few ideas when it comes to law enforcement, and it involves drones having the ability to incapacitate anyone. Just this Thursday, the Congressman had the idea of adding tasers to the proposed use of drones by the NYPD. For context, the New York Police Department intends to start using drones to respond to 911 calls in a new program. Intrigued by the idea, the politician said that "Drones are absolutely a wonderful way," and that he thinks it "saves lives," as per Gizmodo. "I'll even take it to the next step and say eventually we should put non-lethal on drones. Use one to tase somebody," he expressed during the hearing. If you watched the video, your eyes are not playing tricks. He actually is wearing a tie with former US President Donald Trump's face. This might just be a possibility. NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry already confirmed that the department has 85 drones in its fleet, and will soon deploy them to respond to 911 calls. It's unclear what kind of emergencies the drones are fit to respond to given the limited capacity of small aerial vehicles, but maybe equipping the drones with tasers isn't the best way to add functionality for responding to hostile situations. The aerial technology will be used in five New York precincts, three of which are in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, and one in Central Park. Drones have already seen an uptick in use since 2022, with a 420% increase in the following year. And yes, the number joke is not lost on us. If taser drones are to be developed, the NYPD might have difficulties finding manufacturers that would do it. Maker of taser products, Axon already had the same idea, but the development was later shut down after many of its ethics board members protested the design by resigning. The Deployment of Police Drones Coming close to the definition of an eye in the sky, with the police advertising them as first responders. However, this might raise concerns from citizens who are not exactly too happy about being under constant surveillance. The American Civil Liberties Union has already pointed out how drones can be used to target poor and marginalized communities, as reported by The Guardian. Even certain military officials acknowledge how drones might not be the right response for certain situations. Amnesty International UK Military, Security, and Policing Director Oliver Feeley-Sprague said: "Drones should not be used in frontline policing until clear safeguards are in place to specify exactly how and where drones can be used and robust controls are in place." Lorries loaded with humanitarian aid cross the pier before arriving on the beach in the Gaza Strip (Staff Sgt Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/US Army via AP) The first distribution of badly needed aid is expected to begin this weekend after rolling off a newly built US pier off the coast of Gaza. It is expected even as aid workers warn much more access is needed to the besieged territory where famine might be under way. Israeli restrictions and heavy fighting in the war against the Hamas militant group now in its eighth month have left residents in parts of Gaza scrounging for weeds and animal feed and skipping meals. Deliveries to the territory that long has largely relied on humanitarian aid are still far from the average of about 500 trucks that entered daily before the war. The pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip (US Central Command via AP) United Nations officials have not said where the truckloads of food would be distributed after arriving on Friday and being stored in central Deir al-Balah. US military officials anticipate the pier operation could reach 150 truckloads a day. Risks include attacks, logistical hurdles and a growing shortage of fuel. The Israeli blockade of Gaza began after Hamass attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the occupied West Bank. On Saturday, at least five police officers were killed in an Israeli strike on a car in the Nuseirat refugee camp, medical officials said. They were taken to a hospital in Deir al-Balah and counted by Associated Press journalists. The police are a civilian force distinct from Hamass military wing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP) Overnight, at least three people were killed in a strike that hit a house in the Barbara refugee camp in the southernmost city of Rafah, according to the Kuwaiti Hospital. The hospital said in the last 24 hours it had received the bodies of six people killed in Israeli strikes. The military said it remained active in eastern Rafah. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said one person was killed when an Israeli strike hit the city of Jenin on Friday night. The Israeli army said it struck a militant command centre and killed Islam Khamaysa. He was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander in Jenin, according to the militant group and the army. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing pressure on multiple fronts. Hardliners in his government want the military offensive on Rafah to press ahead with the goal of crushing Hamas. Top ally the US and others have warned against the offensive on a city where more than half of Gazas population of 2.3 million had sheltered hundreds of thousands have now fled and they have threatened to scale back support over Gazas humanitarian crisis. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will be in Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend to discuss the war and is scheduled to meet Mr Netanyahu, who has declared that Israel would stand alone if needed. Many Israelis, anguished over the hostages and accusing Mr Netanyahu of putting political interests ahead of all else, want a deal to stop the fighting and get them freed. There was fresh frustration on Friday when the military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack. Troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack (Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via AP) The latest talks in pursuit of a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt, have brought little. A vision beyond the war is also uncertain. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, a member of the three-member War Cabinet, in the past week openly said he has repeatedly pleaded with the Cabinet to decide on a post-war vision for Gaza that would see the creation of a new Palestinian civilian leadership. Meanwhile, fighting recently erupted again in places Israel had targeted in the early days of the war and said it had under control, notably in northern Gaza. A member of Israels three-man War Cabinet has threatened to resign from the government if it does not adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza. The move would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies. Benny Gantzs announcement on Saturday escalates a divide within Israels leadership more than seven months into a war in which it has yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages abducted in the October 7 attack. Mr Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israels three-member War Cabinet, set out a six-point plan that includes the return of hostages, ending Hamass rule, demilitarising the Gaza Strip and establishing an international administration of civilian affairs. It also supports efforts to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia and widen military service to all Israelis. He gave a deadline of June 8. If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss we will be forced to quit the government, he said. Mr Netanyahu, in a statement reported by Israeli media, responded by saying Mr Gantz had chosen to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister instead of to Hamas, and called his conditions euphemisms for Israels defeat. Mr Gantz, a longtime political rival of Mr Netanyahu, joined his coalition and the War Cabinet in the early days of the war. The departure of the former military chief of staff and defence minister would leave Mr Netanyahu even more beholden to far-right allies who have taken a hard line on negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release, and who believe Israel should occupy Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP) Mr Gantz spoke days after Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the War Cabinet, said he would not remain in his post if Israel elected to reoccupy Gaza. Mr Gallant also called on the government to make plans for Palestinian administration of the enclave. In what will be seen by many as a veiled swipe at Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gantz said personal and political considerations have begun to penetrate into the holy of holies of Israels security. Mr Netanyahus critics accuse the prime minister of seeking to prolong the war to avoid new elections, allegations he denies. Polls suggest Mr Netanyahu would be replaced in elections, with Gantz the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister. That would expose Mr Netanyahu to prosecution on longstanding corruption charges. The people of Israel are watching you, Mr Gantz said in the prime-time address to Mr Netanyahu. Mr Netanyahu is under growing pressure on multiple fronts. Hard-liners in his government want the military offensive on Gazas southernmost city of Rafah to press ahead with the goal of crushing Hamas. Top ally the US and others have warned against the offensive on a city where more than half of Gazas population of 2.3 million had sheltered hundreds of thousands have now fled and they have threatened to scale back support over Gazas humanitarian crisis. The pier to help transport aid on the coast of the Gaza Strip (US Central Command via AP) The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will be in Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend to discuss the war and is scheduled on Sunday to meet Mr Netanyahu, who has declared that Israel would stand alone if needed. Many Israelis, anguished over the hostages and accusing Mr Netanyahu of putting political interests ahead of all else, want a deal to stop the fighting and get them freed. There was fresh frustration on Friday when the military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack. The discovery of the body of a fourth hostage was announced on Saturday. Thousands of Israelis again rallied on Saturday evening to demand a deal along with new elections. The latest talks in pursuit of a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt, have brought little. A vision beyond the war is also uncertain. Meanwhile, a new effort to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza appeared to falter on Saturday. Several Israeli tanks fired warning shots in an apparent attempt to clear the way for trucks ferrying food supplies on their way from a new US-built pier. One Palestinian was killed, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered around the stopped trucks and carried away boxes. Troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack (Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via AP) The war began after Hamass October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the occupied West Bank. Mr Gantz echoed Mr Netanyahus call for the return of scores of hostages, ending Hamass rule and demilitarising the territory. But he also said an international administration should be set up there, apparently ruling out long-term Israeli occupation. Mr Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with local Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas or the western-backed Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But Mr Netanyahu also said it is impossible to plan for such a post-war authority before Hamas is defeated. In March, Mr Gantz met US officials in Washington to discuss the war, earning a rebuke from Mr Netanyahu. He had been widely expected to leave the government once the heavy fighting in Gaza subsides, signalling the period of national unity established after the October 7 attack has ended. In defence of leaking: Sometimes you have a right to know, and weve a duty to tell you The Covid Inquiry repeatedly decried unauthorised disclosures without once examining if some of them were in the public interest, as they revealed Stormonts spin was untrue Clockwise from bottom left: Edwin Poots, Deirdre Hargey, Naomi Long, Michelle ONeill, Conor Murphy, Peter Weir, Nichola Mallon, Robin Swann, Diane Dodds, Arlene Foster, Gordon Lyons and Declan Kearney were all ministers in the Executive during the pandemic Sam McBride Sat 18 May 2024 at 08:00 For three weeks, the Covid Inquiry has sat in Belfast to examine Stormonts response to the pandemic. Is NI Tayto really better than the Republic version? Our foodies have their say... Cops hunt UVF thug after man stabbed in stomach in Belfast Victim the son of a leading loyalist forced to flee Mount Vernon estate last year A UVF mural in Mount Vernon Sunday Life Reporter Sat 18 May 2024 at 22:06 Cops are hunting a UVF member in connection with a vicious stabbing in north Belfast that left the victim with a gaping wound to his stomach. Ciaran Hinds and Liam Neeson in Netflix film In The Land Of Saints And Sinners (Pic: Netflix) Liam Neeson is a champion champ maker, according to his friend and movie co-star Ciaran Hinds. The Ballymena-born actors prowess at cooking up the Northern Irish favourite consisting of mashed potatoes, scallions, milk, butter surfaced, said Belfast man Hinds, when he shared a house with Neeson while filming in Donegal. (Photo : Unsplash/Kevin Ku ) US prosecutors have alleged that an American woman assisted North Koreans in securing remote jobs in the US and subsequently transferring their earnings back to North Korea. Conspiracy Charges Against A US Woman and Three North Korean Nationals Christina Chapman, along with three North Korean nationals, has been charged for their staggering scheme and faces nine counts of conspiracy to commit fraud against the US by stealing the identities of American citizens, according to BBC reports. Prosecutors stated that North Korean IT professionals were instructed to impersonate Americans to secure jobs and earn income from US companies. Investigations are uncovering the details of the scheme, including the theft of identities from 60 individuals, which generated nearly $7 million (5.5 million) in funds sent back to North Korea. READ ALSO: Ex-Google Engineer Busted Working with Chinese Companies, Faces Four Theft Counts for Stealing AI Trade Secrets Secretly Channelling Aid to Pyongyang Court documents underscore a more significant issue that US officials are grappling with, the efforts of North Korean IT professionals to funnel money to Pyongyang, as reported by CNN. The US State Department is offering a reward of $5 million for information leading to the disruption of North Korean financial frauds. This does not appear to be a simple case of financial fraud. Reports suggest that the money might have been directed towards North Korea's weapons program. The scheme, which began in October 2020, involves 300 US companies. Numerous companies were unaware of the scheme, including several Fortune 500 companies, a major TV network, a leading Silicon Valley tech firm, and an iconic American auto manufacturer. Silicon Valley, located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, is renowned for its concentration of tech giants and several start-ups. The Laptop Farm Conspiracy Chapman purportedly operated a laptop farm from her residence, where she used the laptops provided by the companies to create the appearance that the North Korean professionals were working from the US According to the document, Chapman charged monthly fees to the overseas IT workers for her services, profiting from the scheme, and even allegedly attempted to assist these professionals in securing employment at US government agencies. Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, emphasized that the charges in this case should serve as a wake-up call for American companies and government agencies that utilize remote IT workers. The crimes, which benefited the North Korean government, provided it with a revenue stream and, in some cases, proprietary information stolen by the co-conspirators. Chapman was arrested on Thursday in Arizona, along with North Korean citizens Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, and Haoran Xu. According to the US State Department, all three North Koreans are associated with the North Korean Munitions Industry Department, which is engaged in ballistic missile and weapons manufacturing for North Korea. It remains unclear whether she has retained legal representation who could advocate on her behalf. RELATED ARTICLE: US Officials Confronted Chinese Government Over Volt Typhoon's Cyber Espionage to Infiltrate American Infrastructure 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BENNINGTON A last-minute Hail Mary motion by a defendant facing a possible life sentence to dismiss a felony charge of aggravated domestic assault with a prior conviction was granted. This happened on the second day of a two-day trial in Bennington after the victim in the case did not physically point out the defendant while on the stand. According to Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady, the victim did not fully identify the defendant during her testimony on the witness stand. In fact, she inferred that there was no evidence that the defendant sitting in the courtroom at trial was the same individual with the same name and the same relationship with the victim. This allowed the judge to consider the possibility that the state did not have sufficient evidence to convict. This resulted ultimately in granting the defense motion before the defense had even started their case or called a single witness. Timothy Harrington, 37, was facing a possible life sentence as a habitual offender for being a three-time felon in Vermont. He was accused of second-degree aggravated assault stemming from a July 2022 incident in which, according to a police affidavit, Harrington had hit and strangled the victim after she mistakenly left their dog outside in the backyard. Before the judge had announced her decision on Thursday, Harrington was arraigned on six additional charges against the same victim for alleged crimes three months prior. Deputy States Attorney Robert Plunkett, after preparing for trial, felt that there was ample evidence to charge Harrington with the additional, separate charges stemming from separate incidents of alleged abuse. Those charges include four additional charges of domestic aggravated assault, all from separate incidents of abuse. They also included two charges of domestic assault. Each one of the six additional charges carries a possible life sentence. Harrington pleaded not guilty to all counts. Soon after the arraignment, the judge announced her decision. According to the judges entry order explaining her decision, McDonald-Cady first cited a Vermont statute, which reads, The court on motion of a defendant or of its own motion shall order the entry of judgment of acquittal of one or more offenses charged in the indictment or information after the evidence on either side is closed if the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction of such offense or offenses. She then went on to justify and explain her decision in a written order 48 hours after the case closed. She cited each essential element of the charge and concluded the lack of evidence to convict through several past case files of identity in Vermont. According to the written decision, her reasoning was that there was no clear evidence that the defendant sitting in the courtroom and the person accused were the same. Identification of the defendant as the person who committed the charged crime is always an essential element which the government must establish beyond a reasonable doubt, McDonald-Cady explained. However, in the same paragraph, Judge McDonald-Cady also stated, While an in-court identification of the accused is generally an essential element in the establishment of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, there is no rule of law that requires identity to be established by an eyewitness. Instead, identity can be inferred from all the facts and circumstances that are in evidence. This is where the reasoning seemed to take a turn into the weeds. In this case, the State presented the sworn testimony of two witnesses: the [alleged victim] and Officer Benjamin Lackey. The State asked [the alleged victim] the first question of whether she knew the defendant, Timothy Harrington. [The alleged victim] responded 'Yes'. [She] described that she had known him for almost nine years. The State then quickly moved to the date of the offense, asking [the alleged victim] if she remembered what had happened. [She] described an argument that she had with 'him' about her leaving the dog outside the house overnight, resulting in him backhanding her so hard she fell on the floor. Here, the State presented extensive evidence that Timothy Harrington violently assaulted [the alleged victim] on July 16, 2022, and that she incurred physical injuries, including significant bruising to her left eye and red marks on her neck from being strangled. [Furthermore] that she was a household member in that she was dating Timothy Harrington, was living with him and had been in a sexual relationship with him. The issue raised in the Defendants motion is whether the State presented sufficient evidence to permit the jury to infer that the person on trial was the same person who committed the crime. The Court finds that the evidence, even in the light most favorable to the State, does not. No witness linked the Defendant Timothy Harrington, who was present in the courtroom, as the same person who committed the assault. [The alleged victim] stated that she knew the defendant, Timothy Harrington, and described a very violent assault by Timothy Harrington. However, [she] was never asked nor testified that the person who assaulted her was present in the courtroom. [She] did not gesture to the Defendant in Court [nor with any] non-verbal conduct, such as pointing to him or nodding towards him during her testimony to identify him as the same Timothy Harrington who assaulted her. The State argued that [the alleged victim] looked at the Defendant and identified him. However, in the Courts review of the record, there is no reference to [the alleged victim] identifying the Defendant in Court in any way as the same person who assaulted her. Although the State argued that Defendant Timothy Harrington was the only Defendant present in the courtroom, there was no evidence presented by sworn testimony or admitted exhibits to that fact to allow such an inference to be relied upon. The Court grants the Defendants motion for judgment of acquittal. Although a common practice with many prosecutors, having a witness physically point to a defendant at trial while identifying them or describing what they are wearing in the courtroom is not legally required as part of any Vermont statute dealing with identifying a defendant, according to Prosecutor Robert Plunkett. During his direct examination, Plunkett asked the victim if she knew who Timothy Harrington was, to which her answer was, Yes. She went on to describe her relationship with Harrington and what happened during the alleged assault. Further, after the decision to acquit was announced, Plunkett stood up and asked the judge who the Defendant was. Judge McDonald-Cady then said, Timothy Harrington. It did not change her mind. In her decision to grant the motion for acquittal, Judge McDonald-Cady did not feel that was enough evidence to identify the Defendant for the jury. The trial ended with the judge's dismissal with prejudice, meaning Harrington could not be tried for the crime again. After the motion to acquit was revealed, Harrington was again taken back into custody on a hold without bail on the new charges. He also faces an additional charge of obstruction of justice in a separate case for lying to police during an investigation. He is currently held at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland. No additional hearings are currently scheduled. DALTON Dalton police officers will soon carry a new, potentially life-saving resource a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Chief Deanna Strout said the department received a shipment of 108 units of Opvee on May 7 making it the first law enforcement agency in the state to receive the nasal spray, which was approved for prescription use by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2023. Opvee, a product of the pharmaceutical company Indivior, is reported to alleviate the effects of opioid-induced respiratory depression, the major cause of death in fatal overdoses. The Opvee website states that the drug reverses respiratory depression by an average of 98.9 percent within five minutes of delivery. Opvee, a brand of the drug nalmefene, can be administered for emergency use to people 12 and older who are experiencing an overdose. Sgt. Tyler Miller, who was trained to administer the drug on Monday, said Opvee is engineered to go after synthetic opioids, so its a little bit more potent. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 88 percent of fatal overdoses in 2021 involved synthetic opioids. The FDA approval comes with the caveat that administering the long-acting drug may induce longer periods of opioid withdrawal symptoms in users, resulting in intense body aches, nausea and several other side effects. A study by the medical journal Frontiers in Public Health notes that a dose of Opvee has an average half-life of 11 hours in the body, as opposed to roughly two hours for naloxone, which could result in prolonged withdrawal symptoms. Sarah DeJesus, program manager for Berkshire Harm Reduction, said that despite the potentially life-saving effects of Opvee, she had some reservations about its use. I think Narcan is a kinder, gentler alternative to Opvee, DeJesus said, noting her concern over precipitated withdrawal symptoms. She went on to say, however, that its good to have the option to use it and that she was glad that the Dalton Police Department had taken the initiative to get the drug, which showed a commitment to finding new solutions, and that it could be an important resource. Nalmefene was previously approved by the FDA for injection use in the 1990s but was withdrawn from the market in 2008 due to business reasons. The department received the supply of Opvee, expected to last over a year, free of charge from a pilot program from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Strout said. While other agencies are in the pipeline, Strout said her department was the first to successfully apply for the program in the commonwealth. Officers in Dalton will now carry both naloxone and Opvee during patrols, Strout said, and will have the drug available for mutual aid calls in neighboring communities. While the two drugs function similarly, officers will likely provide Opvee treatment first in the near future. Miller said officers at the department will provide one dose of the drug after arriving on the scene of an overdose, then monitor for signs of improvement over the course of two minutes to determine if a second dose needs to be administered. A second dose can be administered up to five minutes after the first spray, he said. Each unit of Opvee comes with two doses, effectively giving the department 216 doses in the first shipment. Strout said that the department still needs to develop a policy for administering the drug, which will likely be similar to its guidance for naloxone administration. Officers will begin using Opvee after that policy is finalized. SANDISFIELD Voters at Saturdays annual town meeting approved the town's budget, restored stipends for the Select Board and opted to repair rather than replace an aging ambulance and a dump truck. The meeting took more than three hours as 66 voters asked questions and debated the finer points of spending and reducing the tax rate. They also applauded the work of Janey Beardsley, who is acting town manager following the abrupt resignation of Jonathan Sylbert in that role in April. Town meeting voters unanimously approved spending on the operating budget $3,995,869.77, an increase of nearly 5.4 percent. That included $1,621,516.26 both for the Farmington River Regional School District and for one student to attend vocational school. They rejected adding a section to the zoning bylaw that would have regulated commercial tenting operations, including glamping, which the Planning Board proposed. It would have required a two-thirds majority and garnered a vote of just 21-20. AMBULANCE REPAIRS Through amendments, residents voted to spend $20,000 to repair rather than $300,000 to replace the towns 2012 ambulance with 60,000 miles. It has an electrical short in its computer, rendering unpredictable power failures to the interior functions of the ambulance, including oxygen, suction, air conditioning and heat. Select Board member Robert Fedell, who serves on the New Marlborough Fire Department, said hes ridden in the ambulance when the electrical system has failed. Its quite exhilarating to be rocking down the road in pitch black trying to do CPR, Fedell said. Its not safe, said Police Chief Michael Morrison. He said the dealership where the Fire Department has taken the ambulance hasnt been able to diagnose the problem. We did a great deal of due diligence in finding an ambulance under $300,000, Morrison said, adding that the one it would replace has brought in more than $500,000 in its lifetime. The prices are going up every year. Finance Committee Chair Dominic Konstam, who is also the town moderator, said he believed the ambulance could be repaired by replacing the computer. The discussion was similar around the $300,000 cost to replace the 2017 Freightliner dump truck for the highway department, which has 36,000 miles on it. Highway foreman Tony Suares said the 2017 Freightliner has a litany of problems. In addition, he said it could take three to four years to get a new truck. By a majority, voters pared down the expenditure to just $30,000 to pay for repairs rather than buying a new truck. OTHER VOTES Voters also voted to appropriate $309,140 to reduce the tax levy in other words to cushion taxpayers. They also voted to erect signs heralding New Boston Village Historic District for $1,000, and voted to approve $7,000 to fund improvements at the towns cemeteries. Over the years, there have been proposals to have commercial tenting operations in town, including one that has not yet come before the Select Board on Old River Road, said Barbara Cormier, Planning Board chair, who called the tenting bylaw a common sense piece of legislation. Town Clerk Douglas Miner said he favors bylaws only when they offer a large benefit to the town or if they touch a lot of people. The measure failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed. In one other change to the bylaw, language proposed by Miner to replace the current bylaws language on the appointing of the Finance Committee won unanimous approval. That restores the moderator to the position as appointing authority as opposed to a committee. During the discussion, there was a question about whether Konstams position as both town moderator and Finance Committee chair posed a conflict of interest. The town is seeking opinions from both the state Ethics Commission and from the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's Office. Konstam said he would step down from the Finance Committee if it is determined that serving in both roles poses a conflict of interest. Ralph Gardner Jr. is a journalist whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and New York magazine. He can be reached at ralph@ralphgardner.com. More of his work can be found on Substack. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle. Editors note This article is the last in a three-part contribution on the "Korea discount" and McKinsey Korea's take on how to resolve it. ED By Richard Lee Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, two commonly deployed vaccines proved out to be effective against the virus Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. What these two different substances had in common, besides medical efficacy, was that both had been developed by immigrants. Founding Moderna was Noubar Afeyan from Armenia, who started the company in the United States in 2010. BioNTech, which collaborated with Pfizer in the vaccine's development, was founded by the husband-and-wife team of Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, both Turkish immigrants from Germany. The influx of immigrants is often seen as triggering social, political and economic tension but in fact, contributes to the corresponding countrys human resource innovation. This is all the more significant for Korea, given its relatively limited population and stalled growth momentum, as well as its chronic market undervaluation dubbed the Korea discount, or K-discount. The lack of diversity in governance not only in terms of nationality but also in terms of gender, age and social backgrounds has always been deemed a chronic roadblock for Koreas industrial circles. Koreas inflow rate of foreign labor with higher education qualifications stood at 2.8 percent as of 2022, ranking 33rd among OECD member states outrunning only Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Turkey. Also, its total number of skilled professionals remained more or less unchanged during the 10 years from 2012 to 2022, marking a contrast with peer economies including neighboring Japan. During the same period, Japan saw its professional foreign workforce almost quadruple on the back of overseas recruitment policies such as the Industrial Revitalization Strategy. While continuing efforts to attract foreign workers in areas such as hospitality, food services and small-and-medium enterprises, Koreas policymakers should extend such efforts to leading advanced industries such as software, semiconductors and bio. Adding further to the lack of a quality workforce and diversity here is the very low proportion of non-Koreans in corporate decision-making bodies. The number of foreign executives in the countrys top 100 companies stood at 1.4 percent as of 2018, with the figure dropping further to below 1 percent when excluding the top player Samsung Electronics. Japan, on the other hand, recently vowed to double the count of foreign professionals working under a business manager visa, aiming for an increase from 95,000 in 2019 to around 200,000 in 2030. Many of the notable businesses such as Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Trend Micro are already led by non-Japanese chief executive officers. Once the foreign talent pool is diversified beyond Korean nationals, Korea should then move on to cultivating a richer startup ecosystem. The D-8-4 startup visa program has been active for over 10 years but the yearly volume of issuances has remained below 50, with only 111 individuals actively qualifying as of 2022 a figure translating into some 0.3 percent of all startups in Korea. Meanwhile, Japan recently introduced a digital nomad visa starting this year, allowing remote workers to work anywhere in Japan for up to six months. This new system quickly gained popularity among young professionals around the globe, especially as the yen's devaluation allowed for low-cost living for expats. In step with such trends, Mitsubishi Real Estate announced a plan to add 10,000 rental homes by 2030 for foreign nationals. In an era of uncertainties, one of the most effective ways to break free from conventional practices and attain innovation is to increase diversity. Standing at the current crossroads for growth, Korea should place priority on expanding its talent base and embrace a wider audience. Richard Lee is a senior partner at the McKinsey Korea office. His area of expertise includes high technology, media and telecoms and private equity practices in Seoul. BillOReilly.com is not available in this country. We apologize for any inconvenience. BHARAT EYES GLOBAL BIOMANUFACTURING DOMINANCE Boosting Innovation, Collaboration & Entrepreneurship with BioE3 Policy Bharat has demonstrated a strong economic growth in the past decade and is poised to be amongst the global leaders in the next industrial revolution by leveraging emerging technologies and new innovative solutions. Bharat is competitively positioned to be amongst the global leaders in futuristic manufacturing that leverages living systems. Biomanufacturing can fundamentally transform the global economy from todays consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles. Biomanufacturing refers to the use of engineered microbial, plant, and animal (including human) cells with increasing precision and control to produce commercially important products on scale. These are versatile processes that have the potential to create bio-based products allowing efficient utilisation of resources, in a scalable and costeffective manner with reduced environmental impact. Keeping in view the national priority of steering Bharat on the path of accelerated Green Growth, an integrated BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy for Fostering High-Performance Biomanufacturing with an aim to make a green, clean, prosperous, and self-reliant Bharat was released on September 12 at Global Bio-India (GBI) 2024. Lets take a look at how the BioE3 Policy for biomanufacturing is set to transform this landscape. North Korea said Saturday it had test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new "autonomous" navigation system in a bid to advance its weapons capabilities. The North's leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the weapons test Friday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The report did not reveal further details, such as how many missiles were fired. "The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire," the report said. The South Korean military said Friday it detected the North's firing of several short-range ballistic missiles from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan. The missiles flew about 300 kilometers and landed in the East Sea, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the latest launch would mark an increase in range for the North's tactical guided weapons, which previously had been known to have a range of 100 to 110 kilometers. Considering the flight distance of some 300 kilometers, the North may have tested the missile with major military facilities in South Korea in mind. The direct distance between Pyongyang and the South's Gyeryongdae military headquarters in Gyeryong is measured at around 330 kilometers, while that between the North's capital and the U.S. 8th Fighter Wing in Gunsan is about 350 km. It marked the first weapons test since April 22, when North Korea fired projectiles from 600-mm super-large multiple rocket launchers, considered to be short-range ballistic missiles, toward the East Sea. The move came one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their support for North Korea during their summit in Beijing. The leaders adopted a joint statement opposing "acts of military intimidation" against North Korea by the U.S. and its allies. The latest test also came after South Korea and the United States staged combined aerial drills involving advanced stealth jets Thursday in an apparent show of airpower against evolving North Korean military threats. In a separate dispatch, the KCNA said Kim visited a defense industrial complex the previous day that produces transporter erector launchers for the North's Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in an apparent "show of force" against South Korea-U.S. drills. The Hwasong-18 is a solid-fuel ICBM that is presumed to have a range long enough to strike the U.S. mainland if fired at a normal trajectory. The North staged the missile's maiden flight in April last year on a lofted trajectory. At the facility, Kim expressed his satisfaction over its production results in the first half and its yearly production plan, according to the KCNA. The North's leader also highlighted the need to bolster the country's nuclear war deterrent against the enemies' "reckless military confrontational" moves, the report said. Kim "stressed the need to continue to accelerate important activities and production activities for more rapidly bolstering the nuclear force of the DPRK without halt and hesitation," the KCNA said. using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The North Korean leader has recently inspected munitions factories, but Pyongyang has not issued any bellicose messages against South Korea, spawning speculation that the North has been ramping up arms production for exports to Russia. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of Kim, flatly dismissed suspected military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, Friday, saying the country's weapons are solely intended to target South Korea, not for exports to Moscow. (Yonhap) The businessman Tony O'Reilly has died at the age of 88. The former Ireland rugby player has passed away at St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin on Saturday after a short illness. Advertisement The Glasnevin native became chairman of Heinz and invested in the Independent group. As The Irish Times reports, losses suffered by the Irish companies contributed to his losing much of his wealth later in life. It led to him being declared bankrupt in the Bahamas in 2015, aged 79, after AIB which opposed the bankruptcy decision in the Bahamas had secured a debt judgment against him for 22.6 million. He emerged from bankruptcy in January of this year. From Griffith Avenue in Glasnevin, Dublin, OReilly was born in May 1936, went to Belvedere College and University College Dublin, qualified as a solicitor, played rugby for Ireland, and enjoyed early success as an Irish business executive before moving to the other side of the Atlantic where he became one of the most highly-paid executives in the United States. Advertisement Before he moved to the United States OReilly was the head of Bord Bainne, the Irish Dairy Board, and the Irish Sugar Company, with his appointment to the latter being suggested by the then taoiseach, Jack Lynch. In 1969 he became the head of Heinz in the UK, and two years later moved to Pittsburgh to take on the role of senior vice-president with that corporation. He remained with Heinz until 1998, becoming chief executive and chairman and overseeing a twelvefold increase in its size. While running his hugely successful career in the US, he also returned regularly to Ireland to oversee his investments here. Advertisement At the height of his career and wealth he was known to some of the most powerful political figures of the age, and had homes in Dublin, Kildare and Cork, as well as in Pittsburgh, the Bahamas, and Deauville, France. He was a founder of the philanthropic US Ireland Fund, which raised hundreds of millions of euros for the cause of peace and reconciliation in Ireland and helped undermine IRA fundraising efforts in the US. In 2001, he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth for his services to Northern Ireland, the first such award for an Irish citizen and something for which the Government had to grant permission. He preferred thereafter to be known as Sir Anthony. Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein look set to win seats in each of the three European Parliament constituencies, according to an Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll. Irish voters will head to the ballot box on June 7th to decide on 14 MEPs for the European Parliament. Advertisement According to the Irish Times poll, Fianna Fails Barry Andrews in Dublin is in a strong position on 18 per cent, followed by Lynn Boylan of Sinn Fein on 15 per cent. Fine Gael's Dublin candidate Regina Doherty is at 12 per cent, while Labour TD Aodhan O Riordain gets 10 per cent support, ahead of sitting Green MEP Ciaran Cuffe at 8 per cent and fellow incumbent Clare Daly at 6 per cent. In Ireland South, Fine Gaels Sean Kelly is on course to top the poll on 23 per cent, followed by Fianna Fails Billy Kelleher on 18 per cent. Sinn Fein TD Kathleen Funchion received 11 per cent support in the poll. Green Party MEP Grace OSullivan and fellow sitting MEP Mick Wallace are currently under pressure, with both incumbents on 3 per cent. Advertisement Independent Luke Ming Flanagan leads the field in Midlands-North-West on 11 per cent, but is followed by two candidates each from Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Barry Cowen of Fianna Fail is on 10 per cent and his party colleague Lisa Chambers is on 9 per cent. Maria Walsh of Fine Gael is on 10 per cent and her running mate Nina Carberry is on 9 per cent. Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Fein is polling at 8 per cent, while Independent Irelands Ciaran Mullooly is on 7 per cent. The survey also found that far-right and anti-migration candidates will require a dramatic change in voter sentiment if they are to challenge for seats, with support scattered among several candidates in the three constituencies. The poll was conducted among a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and upwards across 150 sampling points throughout all constituencies. In-home interviewing took place between May 11th and 15th. The total number of interviews conducted was 1,500. The accuracy level is estimated to be approximately plus or minus 4.4 per cent. Georgias president has vetoed the so-called Russian law targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests in the country. The law would require media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Advertisement Critics of the bill say it closely resembles legislation used by the Kremlin to silence opponents, and that it will obstruct Georgias bid to join the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with Georgias ruling party, said on Saturday that the law contradicts Georgias constitution and all European standards, and added that it must be abolished. A protest against the bill in Tbilisi, Georgia (Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP) Advertisement The ruling party, Georgian Dream, has a majority sufficient to override Ms Zourabichvilis veto, and is widely expected to do so in the coming days. The Georgian government insists that the law is intended to promote transparency and curb what it deems harmful foreign influence in the country of 3.7 million. Many Georgian journalists and campaigners fiercely dispute this characterisation, saying they are already subject to audit and monitoring requirements. They say that the laws true goal is to stigmatise them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October. The EU offered Georgia candidate status last December, while making it clear that Tbilisi needs to implement key policy recommendations for its membership bid to progress. Advertisement The recommendations concern, among other areas, elections that must remain free and fair, fighting disinformation against the EU and its values, and safeguarding the independence of public institutions such as the central bank and anti-corruption bodies. The opposition United National Movement and many protesters accuse Georgian Dream of trying to scupper the EU integration process, and to instead drag Georgia into Russias sphere of influence allegations the ruling party vehemently rejects. Advertisement Georgian Dream was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and billionaire who made his fortune in Russia. The bill is nearly identical to one that the party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests. Renewed demonstrations have rocked Georgia for weeks, with demonstrators scuffling with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. An opposition politician earlier this month spoke in parliament with a bandaged face, visible bruises and cuts. His allies said he had been assaulted by police during the protests. Advertisement EU officials and western leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns over the law, as well as Tbilisis heavy-handed response to dissent. The EUs top diplomat, Josep Borrell, issued a statement on Wednesday in support of the Georgian protesters, and to condemn what he described as a wave of violence against opposition politicians, activists, journalists and their families. European Council president Charles Michel said on Tuesday that if Georgians want to join the EU, they have to respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the democratic principles. Demonstrators attend a protest near the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia (Shakh Aivazov/AP) Ms Zourabichvili told the Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that it was hard to say whether the bill was Georgian Dreams initiative or if Moscow had played any role in its passage, but she emphasised that the Kremlin is unhappy with Georgias pro-western aspirations. Its clear that Moscow is not seeing with lots of appreciation this accelerated pace of Georgia towards the European Union, she said. Russia-Georgia relations have been strained and turbulent since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and Georgias departure from its role as a Soviet republic. In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made a botched attempt to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognised South Ossetia and another separatist province, Abkhazia, as independent states and strengthened its military presence there. Most of the world considers both regions to be part of Georgia. Tbilisi cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the regions status remains a key irritant even as Russia-Georgia relations have improved in recent years. A member of Israels three-man war cabinet has threatened to resign from the government if it does not adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza. The move would leave prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies. Advertisement Benny Gantzs announcement on Saturday escalates a divide within Israels leadership more than seven months into a war in which it has yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages abducted in the October 7 attack. Mr Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israels three-member war cabinet, set out a six-point plan that includes the return of hostages, ending Hamass rule, demilitarising the Gaza Strip and establishing an international administration of civilian affairs. Advertisement It also supports efforts to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia and widen military service to all Israelis. He gave a deadline of June 8th. If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss we will be forced to quit the government, he said. Advertisement Mr Netanyahu, in a statement reported by Israeli media, responded by saying Mr Gantz had chosen to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister instead of to Hamas, and called his conditions euphemisms for Israels defeat. Mr Gantz, a longtime political rival of Mr Netanyahu, joined his coalition and the war cabinet in the early days of the war. The departure of the former military chief of staff and defence minister would leave Mr Netanyahu even more beholden to far-right allies who have taken a hard line on negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release, and who believe Israel should occupy Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there. Advertisement Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP) Mr Gantz spoke days after Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the war cabinet, said he would not remain in his post if Israel elected to reoccupy Gaza. Mr Gallant also called on the government to make plans for Palestinian administration of the enclave. In what will be seen by many as a veiled swipe at Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gantz said personal and political considerations have begun to penetrate into the holy of holies of Israels security. Mr Netanyahus critics accuse the prime minister of seeking to prolong the war to avoid new elections, allegations he denies. Advertisement Polls suggest Mr Netanyahu would be replaced in elections, with Gantz the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister. That would expose Mr Netanyahu to prosecution on longstanding corruption charges. The people of Israel are watching you, Mr Gantz said in the prime-time address to Mr Netanyahu. Mr Netanyahu is under growing pressure on multiple fronts. Hardliners in his government want the military offensive on Gazas southernmost city of Rafah to press ahead with the goal of crushing Hamas. Top ally the US and others have warned against the offensive on a city where more than half of Gazas population of 2.3 million had sheltered hundreds of thousands have now fled and they have threatened to scale back support over Gazas humanitarian crisis. The pier to help transport aid on the coast of the Gaza Strip (US Central Command via AP) The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will be in Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend to discuss the war and is scheduled on Sunday to meet Mr Netanyahu, who has declared that Israel would stand alone if needed. Many Israelis, anguished over the hostages and accusing Mr Netanyahu of putting political interests ahead of all else, want a deal to stop the fighting and get them freed. There was fresh frustration on Friday when the military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7th attack. The discovery of the body of a fourth hostage was announced on Saturday. Thousands of Israelis again rallied on Saturday evening to demand a deal along with new elections. The latest talks in pursuit of a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt, have brought little. A vision beyond the war is also uncertain. Meanwhile, a new effort to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza appeared to falter on Saturday. Several Israeli tanks fired warning shots in an apparent attempt to clear the way for trucks ferrying food supplies on their way from a new US-built pier. One Palestinian was killed, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered around the stopped trucks and carried away boxes. Troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack (Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via AP) The war began after Hamass October 7th attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the occupied West Bank. Mr Gantz echoed Mr Netanyahus call for the return of scores of hostages, ending Hamass rule and demilitarising the territory. But he also said an international administration should be set up there, apparently ruling out long-term Israeli occupation. Mr Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with local Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas or the western-backed Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But Mr Netanyahu also said it is impossible to plan for such a post-war authority before Hamas is defeated. In March, Mr Gantz met US officials in Washington to discuss the war, earning a rebuke from Mr Netanyahu. He had been widely expected to leave the government once the heavy fighting in Gaza subsides, signalling the period of national unity established after the October 7th attack has ended. Campaigners against mass tourism are threatening to collapse Majorcas busy international airport and protest outside hotels. The radical tactics were put forward at a citizens assembly on Friday at a school in the inland town of Sineu. Advertisement Association Menys Turisme, Mes Vida, which translates into English as "Less Tourism, More Life", organised the meeting to prepare the way for a large protest against so-called tourist massification and the effect it has on the lives of local people. More than 300 people took part in the brain-storming session. The idea of a protest at Palma Airport, one of the busiest in Europe during the peak summer months, involving cars massing outside and causing traffic gridlock was greeted with rapturous applause. No date was finalised for the demo and nothing set in stone but activists showed they were serious about the airport proposal by discussing its legal implications and the wisdom of setting up a fund to pay fines levied by the authorities. Activists promised an intense summer at the packed meeting held at Sineu Secondary School. Advertisement Local media reported around 30 people had been forced to watch from the entrance doors because they couldnt fit into the assembly hall. The idea of protests outside island hotels was also put forward. The meeting ended with organisers suggesting more proposals should be registered in writing in the coming days before a final decision on a massive demonstration in the next few weeks is taken. A separate protest against tourist overcrowding next Saturday in Palma has already been announced. Advertisement An organisation called Banc del Temps has organised the event under the slogan Mallorca no se vende - Spanish for "Majorca is not up for sale." A group called Prou has organised a protest which will take place on the neighbouring island of Ibiza on Friday night against the stress mass tourism brings. Activists are calling on everyone who supports a sustainable Ibiza to join them and have flagged up the problems of lack of affordable housing and packed public spaces as issues they want to combat. Thousands of people in the Canary Islands took to the streets of the Atlantic archipelago last month to protest against the problems caused by mass tourism and demand their politicians take action. Advertisement Government officials in Tenerife, where protestors held up banners which said: You enjoy we suffer and Tourism moratorium now, said around 30,000 people had taken part but organisers put the figure at 80,000. Anti-tourist graffiti has appeared in both Majorca and Tenerife in recent weeks. Last month the words Go Home Tourist were scrawled in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in the Majorcan neighbourhood of Nou Llevant, which has undergone massive transformation with most new properties being snapped up by Germans. It was billed as a smaller version of San Franciscos Silicon Valley when the transformation of the neighbourhood five minutes from Playa de Palma got underway. Advertisement Locals have been echoing some of the same complaints protestors in the Canary Islands have been making, claiming code-operated key lock boxes have appeared on many of the entrances of new apartment blocks. One Spanish woman interviewed under a fictitious name in an island paper last year complained it was difficult to communicate with neighbours because most only spoke German and the majority of apartments where she lived were being purchased as holiday homes or rental investment properties. Thousands took to the streets in Tenerife last month in protests over mass tourism. The signs read 'Paradise can't be made of cement' and 'Canarias is paradise for tourists and gangsters'. Photo: AFP via Getty Campaigners in Tenerife were quick to distance themselves from anti-tourist graffiti which appeared on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar in the south of the island at the start of April. Messages in English left on walls and benches in and around the resort included My misery your paradise and Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200 euros. In an apparent UK backlash, a response left in English on a wall next to a Tourists go home message said: F##k off, we pay your wages. A picture was subsequently published in local press showing the words Go Home on a hire car in Tenerife. Canarias Se Agota, the lead platform behind the Canary Islands protests grouping together a number of ecological associations, has voiced demands which include a halt to two controversial hotel projects, an eco-tax and more sustainable tourism. Some foreign holidaymakers have shown their support for the issues raised by the islanders but others have accused them of biting the hand that feeds them. Six men and women affiliated to Canarias Se Agota, which in English would translate as Canary Islands on the Brink,' went on an indefinite hunger strike on April 11 outside a church in the town of La Laguna in northern Tenerife. It was called off after 20 days, with one of the activists who stopped eating saying as the decision to end the radical action was announced: Weve been amazed at the social response and thats the best thing well take away from this. Im very hopeful for the future. The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been ordered to remain behind bars. Prosecutors sought an order from Slovakias Specialised Criminal Court to detain the suspect because of fear he could escape or carry out other crimes, a court spokesperson said. Advertisement The order came as the nations leader was in a serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. Prosecutors told police not to publicly identify his alleged would-be assassion or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a shopping centre security guard in the countrys south west. Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect did not belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated. Robert Fico was shot on Wednesday (Denes Erdos/AP) Advertisement The courthouse in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by police wearing helmets and balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media were not allowed in and reporters were kept behind a gate outside. Surgery that took two hours on Friday to remove dead tissue from Mr Ficos multiple gunshot wounds led to an optimistic outlook for his recovery, but he was not healthy enough to travel to a hospital in the capital, Bratislava, government ministers said outside University FD Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystric, where Mr Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. Several miracles have occurred in the past few days, coming from the hands of the doctors, nurses and entire medical staff, defence minister Robert Kalinak said. I cant find words of gratitude for the fact that we are steadily approaching that positive prognosis. Advertisement Mr Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters following a government meeting on Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, officials said. The suspect fired five rounds before being tackled to the ground and arrested. The update on Mr Ficos health was issued as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him made his first court appearance, according to Slovak state media. Police took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice on Friday and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station reported. Police did not comment. With police remaining largely silent about the case, it was not clear how the suspect came to possess a firearm. Advertisement Slovakia has strict rules on firearms and gun owners must have a good reason to possess one and are required to pass a test. As a consequence, Slovakia has one of the lowest gun ownership rates in Europe. It was ranked 23rd out of 27 European Union countries with a gun ownership rate of 6.5 per 100 people, according to the Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the EU. World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Mr Fico and Slovakia. Police escort a man, believed to be the suspect for Wednesdays assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, from his home in Levice, Slovakia (TVNoviny via AP) Advertisement Mr Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and Nato members that he would abandon his countrys pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine. At the start of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraines staunchest supporters, but Mr Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister. Mr Ficos government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-corruption prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Mr Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path. Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest against his policies. Mr Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fuelling tensions. Before Mr Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organised crime, corruption and extremism. Despite nobody being named as temporary leader, there was nothing imminent that needed the premiers attention and the government was operating as planned and moving forward with Mr Ficos agenda, Mr Kalinak said. Communication with Mr Fico was limited given his condition, Mr Kalinak said. The next government session is planned for Wednesday and Mr Kalinak will be in charge, the Slovak government office said. Protesters in Peru are demanding that the government repeals a decree characterising seven gender identities, including transgenderism, as mental illnesses. Demonstrators gathered in front of the health ministry in Perus capital city, Lima, and the Peruvian Embassy in Ecuadors capital, Quito. Advertisement The demonstrations coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia, celebrated since 2005 to mark May 17, 1990, when homosexuality then considered a mental illness was removed from the World Health Organisations International Classification of Diseases. In Lima, hundreds protested against last weeks decree by Peruvian President Dina Boluartes administration. The Ministry of Health said the action would guarantee comprehensive mental health care coverage to those affiliated with public, private or mixed health plans. Members of the LGBTQ+ community protested outside Perus Health Ministry (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Advertisement Peru does not recognise same-sex marriage. Demonstrators carried signs with a variety of messages including My life is freedom, not a disorder, Health is not legislated in the past, The disease is you, transphobia kills and No diversity with Dina. Several people beat on drums and others chanted: Trans people are love. We have had conservative governments for many years. We had military governments, then right-wing governments linked to Catholic and evangelical churches, so the position regarding us they have revived again, said Gia Cruzado, a transgender woman and writer. Advertisement The decree is a step backwards and is a way to continue closing the doors to progress for our community, Ms Cruzado said. A protester argues with a police officer in Quito, Ecuador (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) Gahela Cari, a transgender woman who unsuccessfully ran for congress in 2021, said that being gay, lesbian, non-binary or bisexual is not a disease, it is a human condition. Advertisement In Ecuador, dozens of members of a collective defending the rights of the LGBTQ+ community marched to Perus embassy. They staged a sit-in outside while waving flags and signs declaring that being trans is not a disease. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may not be "eager" to engage with former U.S. President Donald Trump if the latter wins the White House in the Nov. 5 election, a U.S. expert has said, noting Pyongyang has already been "burnt" by Trump. Ralph Cossa, president emeritus at the Pacific Forum, made the forecast in a recent piece for The National Interest, an international affairs magazine, suspecting Pyongyang will be more interested in "what kind of damage a second Trump administration will do to relations between South Korea and the United States. "Having been burnt once or twice already by Trump, Kim Jong-un is not going to be eager to try again. In truth, Kim Jong-un has already gotten what he most wanted from Trump: international legitimacy," Cossa wrote. "Why risk getting the rug pulled out from under him again, just for another photo op? Kim certainly understands the prospects of getting unrestricted aid from Trump at this point are slim to none," he added. With Russia now supporting North Korea, Kim has made it clear he is no longer interested in dialogue with either Washington, Seoul or Tokyo, Cossa noted. "A change in administration in Washington is not likely to change this," he said. His remarks came amid speculation that Trump could consider another round of personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three in-person meetings with the North Korean leader during his presidency, including their first-ever summit in Singapore in 2018. Cossa pointed out that chances are "pretty slim" that Beijing or Moscow would pressure Kim to resume negotiations with Washington or Seoul. "Both see the value in keeping the North Korean threat alive, as one struggles with Ukraine and the other continues to apply pressure on Taiwan," he said. He also noted that there is little chance that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will change his "get-tough" policy toward the North. "I suspect that Pyongyang (and Beijing and Moscow) will be more interested in seeing what kind of damage a second Trump administration will do to U.S.-ROK relations than how it will impact U.S.-DPRK relations," he said. The ROK and DPRK stand for the official names of South Korea and North Korea, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, respectively. (Yonhap) Red Worship | Merge PR NASHVILLE, TN / SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (MAY 17, 2024) - Red Worship, the musical expression of Redemption Church located in San Jose, California, has released their brand new album How He Reveals. Released through EMPIRE, the new album features seven songs with worship leaders Lizzie Morgan, Andrew Maldonado, Roosevelt Stewart, Ashley Hayes, and Trinity Anderson. The album was produced by Terrance White and Roosevelt Stewart, mixed by Sean Moffitt, and mastered by Drew Lavyne. Listen to the new album here. We truly believe that sound precedes movement and we hope that as you sing these songs your lives shall reflect a move of God," shares Pastor Ron Carpenter of Redemption Church. "That Hell be revealed to you as a keeper of His word, as a forgiver and a friend and as a miracle worker. Red Worship has built an engaged fanbase by releasing key worship moments from their weekly Sunday services, reaching more than 600k people monthly on socials. Their song, "Forgive and Forget" feat. Lizzie Morgan and Roosevelt Stewart, which is featured on the album, already has more than 4.7M vertical video views. Watch this song performance below. Worship leader Lizzie Morgan adds, It has been beautiful to witness the way God has moved through each and every song on this record at our church and to see our congregation grab hold of these songs. Our prayer and hope as Red Worship is that they will impact people the way theyve impacted us Red Worship's new album, How He Reveals, is featured on Apple's New In Christian, Gospel Worship, New In Gospel, Spotify's Fresh Gospel, Amazon's Fresh Worship, GMA New Music Friday, and more. ABOUT RED WORSHIP: Red Worship is a collaboration of worship leaders, artists, and musicians cultivating a Kingdom sound that breaks down strongholds, touches the heart of every listener, and magnifies Jesus Christ through life-changing praise and worship. Red Worship exists to bring songs to the global church that equip and empower, bring joy and unity to communities, and lead people to life-changing encounters with God. That vision, that sound, that power can now be experienced through the music of Red Worship. Red Worship is the musical expression of Redemption Church located in San Jose California. Over the past three decades, Pastors Ron and Hope Carpenter have led Redemption Church casting a clear and strategic vision and releasing the Kingdom message. David & Nicole Binion | Merge PR 17 May 2024 - Nashville, TN - David and Nicole Binion continue to share the compelling story of the Book of Revelation through music. The second of three cinematic EP installments, The Revelation Of Jesus: Tribulation, releases today, offering more songs that continue to bring Revelation to life, illuminating the glory, mystery, and encounters between God and man. Courtesy of Integrity Music, listen HERE to Tribulation. Their first installment, The Revelation Of Jesus, debuted just before Easter (listen HERE). Additionally, TBN airs the first two segments tonight. Don't miss out so visit TBN.org for more information. One day in May 2020, during the throes of the global pandemic, David Binion was inspired to create the project. Awakened by Gods voice to write the Revelation of Jesus, David explains, "It was an audible voice that woke me out of my sleep. I was stunned and a little reluctant to dive into this scary book of the Bible. But my eyes were opened to the beauty of the Resurrected Jesus and the victory throughout the book." Not long after, David Binion penned 18 songs with songwriters and artists including Mitch Wong, Krissy Nordoff, Dwan Hill, Steffany Gretzinger, and Gracie Binion. All of the songs were recorded live at the Huckabee Theater in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and artists including Danny Gokey, Rita Springer, DOE, and Mitch Wong joined the Binion's on the recordings. All three of The Revelation of Jesus installments were produced by David Binion and Daniel Lopez. "Jesus did not mince words when He said, 'In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, for I have overcome the world!'" David Binion elaborates further on the Tribulation songs. "The book of Revelation is a book of hope! Its a book of victory. The book declares that we are made overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, not the Antichrist. There is a reward for those who hold on!" With the hope that these songs bless the listeners, the Binions collectively state, "We hope that these songs will help erase the fear that has held people back from pursuing the study of this great and final book of the Bible." EP 2 - The Revelation Of Jesus: Tribulation tracklisting: "These Things Must Happen" - David & Nicole Binion, Mitch Wong "The Ones" - David & Nicole Binion (feat. Maranda Curtis) "Silence" - David & Nicole Binion "Kingdoms" - David & Nicole Binion (feat. BJ Putnam) "Song of Moses" - David & Nicole Binion, DOE, Gracie Binion "Hallelujah (Babylon Has Fallen)" - David & Nicole Binion, Gracie Binion, Mitch Wong About David & Nicole Binion: David and Nicole Binion are a Dallas, Texas-based husband and wife ministry team who share a passion to worship God and lead others into His presence. Married for 28 years, the Binions have been in ministry together for almost as long, working with a myriad of artists, evangelists, and organizations representing the global church. A few years ago, David and Nicole pursued a long-held dream, launching Dwell Ministries to mentor and train a new generation of worshipers, worship leaders, and church creatives. Since then, the couple planted Dwell Church in Dallas. The Binions, who serve as guest hosts for TBNs flagship Praise! program, also hosted Dwell Nights of worship across the U.S. and abroad after their 2018 critically acclaimed album fittingly called Dwell. Their most recent album, Glory of Eden, came out in 2020 and was followed by multiple collaborations with Integrity Musics REVERE. David & Nicole Binion are now readier than ever to release new music, launching believers into a new dimension of faith and encounter with Jesus. For more information, visit BinionWorship.com. The sit-in stalemate has triggered an escalating dispute with university management, which is facing political pressure and calls from some Jewish groups to end the protests. University leaders have threatened to send in law enforcement to clear the camp, but Victoria Police says no formal complaint of trespass required for them to go in and remove the protesters has been made. Protesters, meanwhile, have renamed the Arts West building Mahmoud Hall in honour of Palestinian student Mahmoud Alnaouq, who they say intended to study at Melbourne University on a scholarship this year but was killed alongside 19 family members in Gaza on October 20. Luca said the protest could only continue because of support from other students and staff, especially as the semester draws to a close and exams loom. On Friday night, students from the universitys veterinary school in Werribee delivered pizza. Others brought instant noodles. To those who argue students should be focused only on their studies, Luca said it was the university taking part in activism by partnering with the defence industry. The students and staff here arent asking for the University of Melbourne to solve everything happening in Palestine. I want to be thriving in my degree but I also want to know that while Im doing that, the money I contribute to the university is not complicit in weapons manufacturing. Loading Despite a renewed warning from the university it could send in the police on Thursday night, there was no sign of a police presence on campus on Friday. On Saturday, the building was quiet as the students caught up on eight hours of sleep for the first time since the sit-in started earlier this week. About two dozen tents remained in the entry and mezzanine levels, where protest banners decrying the violence in Gaza and Palestinian flags hang on the walls and windows. A group of female students got ready for the day in a bathroom about 9.45am, while others slept inside the tents and sleeping bags laid out on the floor. Three police officers strolled by half an hour later to check on the encampment. The officers did not venture inside the building but stopped briefly to exchange information with a trio of security guards stationed outside. Loading Just before noon, the students delivered breakfast and food supplies to those camped inside the building, whose main plan for the day focused on holding the fort. The university cancelled classes in the Arts West building for a third straight day on Friday, forcing it to reschedule 247 classes affecting more than 8300 students, and disabled its sliding doors. Not all students support the protests, though. Victorian Liberal Party deputy leader David Southwick attended the university on Friday to meet a number of Jewish students who he said felt intimidated and harassed by the protesters. Those students did not want to speak to media. But their concerns included signs calling for an intifada an Arabic word for uprising, which is associated with periods of civil disobedience in the occupied Palestinian territories but also deadly violence targeting Israeli civilians and chanting of the contested pro-Palestine slogan, from the river to the sea, which they see as a call for Israels destruction. Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick said police should move the protesters on. Credit: Justin McManus If students dont feel safe on campus, then I think the police do need to step in, said Southwick, who is Jewish. As he was speaking, a masked protester stood behind him with a sign saying that the Nakba never ended a reference to the catastrophe that saw more than half the Palestinian population displaced when the State of Israel was established in 1948. Im standing here with this guy with his face covered I dont feel terribly safe right now, Southwick said. Southwick on Saturday shared a letter from a Jewish student who didnt want to be identified for fear of harassment; The Sunday Age has confirmed he is a student at the university and authored the letter. It asked the university administration how it could tolerate a most pernicious form of hatred that has taken root on your campus, starting just days after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Under your leadership, populist antisemitic narratives have flourished, and you are complicit, the student wrote. I should be mourning my loved ones and dedicating myself to my academic passions. Instead, here I am, forced to explain to you your roles as leaders of the academic community in protecting minority students at Melbourne University from daily doses of racism. Loading Mercedes Scott, a third-year history student at the university taking part in the Arts West sit-in, said the protesters included Jewish students, and the camp had hosted Shabbat Friday prayers. Scott and other protest organisers did not dispute claims that they had been joined by protesters who were neither students nor staff at the University of Melbourne. The 21-year-old said she was following a long line of university protesters who railed against the Vietnam War and South Africas apartheid regime, and had always been on the right side of history. The university says the protest camp presents a significant safety risk to our students and staff members, and has resulted in damage to university property. But for now, their actions pale in comparison to campus conflict of years past. Loading In 1974, about 200 Melbourne University students agitating for on-campus childcare facilities barricaded the vice chancellor in his office with a concrete and wooden barrier for more than seven hours until the police came to his rescue. In 1989, students smashed windows and kicked down doors as they forced their way into an administrative building to protest against the introduction of HECS payments. Its too early to say whether this stand-off will escalate into that kind of violence. But neither side is backing down. Washington: Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built US pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting have hindered the delivery of food and other supplies. The shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day, all while Israel presses in on the southern city of Rafah in its seven-month offensive against Hamas. At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said more than 300 pallets of aid were in the initial delivery and handed over to the UN, which was preparing it for distribution. The US military finished installing the floating pier on Thursday (Gaza time). Credit: US Central Command via AP Kirby said the US has gotten indications that some of that aid was already moving into Gaza. But the US, UN and aid groups warn that the floating pier project is not a substitute for land deliveries that could bring in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered the Palestinian territory on an average day. Niuelesolo Boland, who is at the church with his wife Lauina, said his name was inspired by an islet with a lone palm on Nukufetau, an atoll of Tuvalu. Niuelesolo Boland with his wife Lauina outside the church in Melton. Credit: Darrian Traynor Rising seas threaten to drown this island nation a sign of whats in store for us all, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted in 2019. This Sunday afternoon service at Melton Baptist Church is a thread that connects the Tuvaluan diaspora in Melbourne to their homeland, a tiny country in the South Pacific Ocean that many see as the canary in the climate change mine. The service is mostly in Tuvaluan, a Polynesian language spoken by only 13,000 people worldwide. In a suburban cream-brick church in Melbournes outer west, 5000 kilometres from a homeland facing extinction, the mellifluous voices of a congregation of Tuvaluans rise in song. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. In 2022, there were just 250 people who were born in Tuvalu, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics , although the number is closer to 700 when it includes those who identify as Tuvaluan but were born elsewhere. I was named Niuelesolo, meaning the coconut tree that stands alone. He has been told the islet has now been engulfed by the ocean. We know Tuvalu didnt cause the climate crisis, but you are on the front lines of its devastating impact, Wong said. Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited Tuvalu on May 8 to cement the deal , announcing $110 million in development projects, including an extra $19 million for land reclamation and $50 million for Tuvalus first undersea telecommunications cable. Both countries said it would enter into force as soon as possible this year. The treaty which comes as Australia pushes back against Chinas growing influence in the Pacific was first announced last November. The Falepili Union marks the first time Australia has offered resettlement rights due to the threat posed by climate change. Last week Tuvalu and Australia confirmed a landmark climate and security pact , which would allow 280 Tuvaluans to migrate to Australia every year. But this diaspora is likely to become the vanguard of a new wave of migration to Australia. Last year it even launched a project to safeguard the nations future that sounds straight out of science fiction: replicating its existence in the metaverse. Tuvalu which has a population of just 11,200 has long battled the spectre of its land being swallowed by the ocean. It is, in fact, a power intervention, a bribery, and a military deal against China and others, and against the weak and vulnerable SIDS (Small Island Developing States) like Tuvalu, former Tuvaluan prime minister Enele Sopoaga wrote in an opinion piece published by Radio New Zealand in November. Others raised concerns about a brain drain and criticised a controversial clause that would give Australia veto powers over Tuvalus security and defence deals with third countries. A woman rides her scooter through floodwater in Tuvalus capital, Funafuti, in November 2019. Credit: Getty Images Lisepa Paeniu cant wait for the treaty to be ratified, so she can apply to migrate to Australia. For the past couple of years, Paeniu has been studying a Masters in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at UNSW. Lisepa Paeniu (left) and Tekita Neemia with their children, Laban (front) and Nehemiah. Credit: Simon Schluter But the new migration pathway will leave many Tuvaluans facing difficult questions: stay or go? How does the diaspora preserve their culture and language in the face of a disappearing homeland? And what happens to a country without land? This treaty came about because Tuvalu government requested Australia, not the other way around, as some critics of the treaty attempt to misinform the public, Teo said. Prime Minister Feleti Teo said the Falepili Union was entirely an initiative of the Tuvalu government. She is a lawyer from Tuvalus capital, Funafuti, a thin strip of land with the Pacific Ocean on one side and Te Namo Lagoon on the other. As a child Paeniu used to swim in the Funafuti Airport airstrip every February after the king tides. Now every month my seven-year-old can swim in the airstrip. From once a year to once a month. The sad reality is the kids have so much fun. They dont realise how bad it is. A strip of land between the Pacific Ocean (left) and lagoon in Funafuti, Tuvalu. The low-lying South Pacific island nation of about 12,000 people has been classified as extremely vulnerable to climate change by the UN. Credit: Getty Images Her grandmothers huge banana plantation has dwindled to less than 30 trees. The soil is just ridiculously salty, Paeniu says. Its been really terrible. The Falepili Union has attracted enormous interest around the world. In Tuvalu, the reaction was mixed. I feel that the youth especially people without formal qualifications were very happy to have this option of migrating to Australia, Paeniu says. Theyre so used to the small wages back home, they would take any job that they get in Australia. The older generation had misgivings. They wanted to know why they werent consulted. How does this work? Tuvalu is among only 11 countries that has formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Australia is aware this could change quickly, after Nauru switched alliances to China in January. But Prime Minister Feleti Teo has ruled out a shift and Paeniu is pragmatic about Australia having veto powers over security agreements with other countries. Theres no such thing as a free lunch right? Obviously, Australia has more power in this relationship. I think the question people need to ask is who would come to help Tuvalu if not Australia? Penny Wong in Tuvalu this month. The two countries moved to hose down criticisms of the Falepili Union when Wong visited Tuvalu earlier this month. There was only a narrow set of circumstances in which Australia might be concerned about Tuvalu engaging with another state on security and defence matters, they stressed in an explanatory memorandum. Tuvalu does not need permission from Australia before it starts to talk with other partners. Tuvalu would not have to consult Australia over any security arrangements it strikes with other Pacific Island nations. Sensitive to the complaints over the lack of public consultation, Teo promised an education campaign to ensure people fully understand the treaty before it was ratified. Enele Sopoaga, pictured in 2017, says the pact should never have been signed without prior consultation with the people of Tuvalu. Credit: AP But former prime minister Enele Sopoaga is not appeased. It is a daft agreement, he says. It has nothing to do with climate change, nothing. All China wants, Sopoaga says, is peaceful engagement with Pacific nations. Our duty is to help our people not to escalate tension by this type of silly arrangement to scare the people to run away. The former prime minister said the migration pathway to Australia would depopulate Tuvalu in 20 years. As an Australian do you morally believe that is good for the people of Tuvalu? Under the Falepili Union, visas will be allocated to Tuvaluan citizens through a random ballot managed by Australia. The first year up to 280 will be offered; this number could be adjusted in following years. Applicants will need to be 18 but spouses and dependent children could be included. People with disabilities and chronic health conditions will also be eligible. Falepili visa holders will also get access to many of the same entitlements as citizens Medicare, higher education loans and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The visas would provide for indefinite permanent residency and the ability to apply for citizenship on the same basis as other permanent residents. Australia has also promised to provide support for visa holders to find work and assist the growing Tuvaluan diaspora in Australia to maintain their culture. Tuvalus capital Funafuti in November last year. Credit: Getty Images/Mario Tama There is a risk of brain drain for Tuvalu, acknowledges Australian National Universitys Development Policy Centre director, Stephen Howes. Theres no doubt that people with skills may leave. He says the Falepili Union in addition to existing visas to Australia and New Zealand would equate to 3.8 per cent of the population, which is an extraordinarily high level of out-migration in a single year, let alone annually. But Howes believes migration is necessary for Tuvalus future as it is for any tiny country. It would allow Tuvaluans to study and gain skills in Australia, some of whom would return for work, retirement or family reasons. Its very hard to run a school or hospital system in a very small country. There is a risk low-skilled migrants will face poverty in Australia due to the high cost of housing and living, Howes says, but he points out Tuvaluans have a long history of migration to New Zealand. We shouldnt be paternalistic about this. The first country to clone itself in the metaverse The UN has warned 95 per cent of land in Tuvalu could be flooded by routine high tides by 2100 if no action is taken. We are sinking, former foreign minister Simon Kofe told the world in a dramatic pre-recorded speech to a UN climate conference in 2021, standing behind a lectern in the ocean, his suit pants rolled up to his knees. Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe addresses COP26 in 2021 standing in the rising seas threatening his island, which could be lost beyond 1.5 degrees of warming. In 2017, a major land reclamation project was launched, partly funded by Australia, which aims to expand the land mass in Funafuti by 6 per cent. On Nanumea, Tuvalus northern atoll, a 170-metre seawall provides a buffer during storms. But the government is also making plans for the worst-case scenario an entirely uninhabitable environment. In 2022, it announced plans to become the First Digital Nation. By archiving its culture online from bird species to the scores of the national volleyball team the project explores how Tuvalu can exist as a nation even after its land is no more. It will digitally recreate its land and a record of Tuvalus history and culture as well as moving its governmental functions online. Loading At its most ambitious, the project speculates that the government could join the metaverse and be administered virtually, Australian Research Council Research Fellow Colette Mortreux wrote in East Asia Forum. That a country would even be at the point of considering a virtual existence is shocking for many. Tuvalu is exploring a digital ID system, which would use blockchain to connect the diaspora and allow them to participate in Tuvaluan life. It has completed three-dimensional scans of all 124 islands and islets, which it says will help redefine its territory in the eyes of international law. In September, Tuvalu changed its constitution to say its statehood and maritime zones would remain in perpetuity, even if the impacts of climate change or anything else result in the loss of its physical territory. Tuvalus metaverse project is digitising its geography, culture, languages and history. James Batley served as Australias high commissioner to Tuvalu between 2007 and 2009. He describes the digital nation project as unprecedented, but riddled with challenges. Without a land of their own, Batley says it is unclear whether other nations would recognise Tuvalus sovereignty. Even if all the population moved somewhere altogether in one place how would they enforce Tuvaluan law if they were living in a different country and jurisdiction? Invoking Falepili far from home Taukiei Kitara was on one of Tuvalus outer islands, Vaitupu, when the Falepili Union was announced. The questions that were asked by a lot of people on Tuvalu is what is Australia like to live on? Kitara, a climate activist, researcher and diaspora leader, told them it was a nice place but warned they would face cultural shocks including a housing crisis and high rental costs. In Tuvalu, land is owned by families and passed down through generations. There are a lot of people who dont have jobs, and they live happily because they have land and go fishing. Fale pili, after which the treaty is named, is a Tuvaluan term, which reflects the mutual responsibility of neighbours to care for each other. The concept is embedded in Tuvaluan culture. Kitara says the diaspora will automatically invoke fale pili and share their homes and food with the Tuvaluans who come to Australia and help them secure work. But he worries about whether the Tuvaluan community in Australia can realistically provide the required assistance to up to 280 people a year. There is a risk that the overall burden to the Tuvaluan diaspora in Australia will be quite high. Te ano is a traditional Tuvaluan sport, described as a little like volleyball, a little like murderball. It is occasionally played among the Tuvaluan diaspora in Brisbane, although there is a shortage of the balls, which are woven from pandanas and filled with old leaves, pieces of coconut shell, and small stones. We keep that up for the children to see what we do culturally, says Keleta Avene, the deputy of the Tuvalu community in Brisbane. Keleta Avene outside his home in Brisbane. Credit: Glenn Hunt Avene a former maths and science secondary school teacher moved to Melbourne in 1986 after marrying an Australian. He says the diaspora meets regularly to worship, speak Tuvaluan and celebrate everything from baptisms to birthdays. Every October 1, they commemorate Independence Day, which marks the anniversary of Tuvalu a former British colony becoming a sovereign state in 1978. They feast on traditional food such as Funafuna, a fried donut, and fekei, a sweet pudding made from grated swamp taro. Its a matter of identity, Avene says. If you lose knowledge of your culture, then theres not much else to identify with. Magao Maketi Eliu moved to Rooty Hill in western Sydney almost two years ago with her two young children and husband who is studying for his masters at Macquarie University. Despite the threat to her homeland, Eliu still hopes to raise her children in Tuvalu when her husband completes his studies. Magao Maketi Eliu is living in Sydney but still wants to raise her children in Tuvalu. Credit: Steven Siewert I really want my kids to grow up in Tuvalu to know and experience our culture, our community, she says. In Australia, she sees how cultures can slip away over the generations. The kids understand Tuvaluan, but they cant speak it. That makes me really worried. One day Eliu concedes climate change may force them to build another home elsewhere. And she knows preserving her culture will require commitment. Im going to make a rule for my kids: if its my house youre going to speak Tuvaluan. Niuelesolo Boland had the kind of childhood Eliu wants for her children. He lived with his grandparents on the northern island of Niutao. Chores before and after school included gathering fallen breadfruit tree leaves and feeding the pigs and chickens. I had the whole island and ocean as my playground, he says. Supply ships would come once or twice a month. When cyclones delayed them, the residents of Niutao would share whatever they had food, matches and even clothes. Tuvalu is seen as one of the worlds most vulnerable countries to climate change. Credit: Louise Southerden Neighbours, families, friends, you can never go hungry. You never know starvation or homelessness. But in 2001 when he turned 10, Boland was sent to Perth to live with his parents his mother had moved to Australia to study, and his stepfather was also there. He was overwhelmed with homesickness and isolation. Even going to bed in his own room was scary for a child accustomed to sleeping on the floor in an open house with extended family. The changing seasons were jarring and completely unlike the consistently warm weather in Tuvalu where the temperature always seemed to stay between 28 and 32 degrees. It took a good few years to adjust. In 2016, Boland moved to Melbourne and found work in the construction industry. He now speaks to family in Tuvalu weekly. We still send money back home as well. Most islanders do that. Boland expects Tuvaluans may experience some homesickness as he did when he arrived in Australia. But not to the same extent, he says. Tuvalu is a lot more modern now with more exposure to the outside world. In February, a king tide rose and flooded Funafuti, inundating the islands main road and many properties. Although king tides and some flooding occurs regularly, the severity of this event underscored the nations perilous future. Losa Sogivalu. Credit: Jason South Losa Sogivalu was distressed by the footage. People post on Facebook about the king tides in Tuvalu, and it just makes me emotional because the weather is changing, she says. Sogivalu was born in Nauru but identifies as Tuvaluan, the nationality of her own father and the father of her children. I was kind of like a fish out of water. I had that feeling I wasnt whole because something was missing. And then I found it in the Tuvalu people. Even though I have never been, I have this strong connection to it. The Tuvaluan language is vital to her identity. The traditional music is beautiful ... we get emotional, Sogivalu says. At Melton Baptist Church she commands the microphone as she leads the band and congregation in melodious Tuvaluan prayer. Sogivalu closes her eyes and sways as the sumptuous chorus swells through the hall. Losa Sogivalu singing at the Melton Baptist Church. Credit: Darrian Traynor Like many in the Tuvaluan diaspora, she is passionate about her children maintaining their connection with the language and culture. If its the last thing I do, thats what I would like for them. Sogivalus children have been to Tuvalu with their grandparents. Getting there costs an arm and a leg, she says, but one day, she also dreams of visiting. I should go home, she says. As humans we have that instinct to connect to a land. If Tuvalu no longer exists, where do we belong? We have got a community here, but its not the same. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Prince Harry loses all of his military titles after giving Queen Elizabeth a firm no to not coming back as a working royal. (Photo: Hannah Mckay/REUTERS/ File Photo) Prince Harry's recent return to the United Kingdom has been described as a "painful mess" for the Royal Family, according to royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams. The Duke of Sussex's brief visit, which lasted from Tuesday to Thursday last week, did not include any meetings with senior members of the Royal Family, including his father, King Charles III, due to the monarch's busy schedule. A spokesperson for Prince Harry confirmed the lack of a father-son meeting, stating, "The Duke of course is understanding of his father's diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon." The strained relationship between the Duke and the Royal Family was further highlighted by his swift departure to Nigeria, where he and his wife, Meghan Markle, undertook an overseas tour focused on the Invictus Games and mental health awareness. Fitzwilliams noted that the Royal Family has little choice but to accept the Sussexes' independent actions, stating, "If they find it pays and they find it useful to their brand, which it is, then they will do more [overseas engagements]." He emphasized the importance of a peaceful co-existence between the Sussexes and the Royal Family, despite the challenges posed by Harry's recent visit. As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan more international trips, concerns have been raised about the potential dangers of their "quasi-royal tours." Royal expert Richard Eden has urged King Charles III to step in and put a stop to these visits, warning that they could be manipulated by foreign governments without the control and oversight typically provided by the British foreign office for official royal trips. Eden, speaking on Palace Confidential, stated, "Harry and Meghan are open to being manipulated by foreign governments who may not have the interests at heart of Britain or America and I think it is dangerous." He called on the King to take action to prevent such risks. Despite the strained relations with the Royal Family, the Sussexes remain committed to their international engagements. A source close to the couple told The Mirror, "The Duke and Duchess have other trips planned for the remainder of the year. They are hoping to be able to share more details in the coming weeks. It is definitely possible they could return to Africa for more tours after that." Prince Harry himself emphasized the importance of their international work, telling People magazine, "It is hugely important for us to meet directly with people, supporting our causes and listening, in order to bring about solutions, support and positive change." He acknowledged the limitations of working remotely and expressed his eagerness to continue traveling for their various causes, including the Archewell Foundation and the Invictus Games. The Sussexes' determination to pursue their own agenda and engage in international tours has further complicated their relationship with the Royal Family. While the couple stepped down as working members of the Royal Family in 2020, their continued high-profile activities have drawn both praise and criticism. The United States on Saturday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches this week as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, stressing its close coordination with allies and partners to address Pyongyang's "dangerous" provocations. On Saturday, the North's state media reported that Pyongyang conducted a test-fire of a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new "autonomous" navigation system Friday, in yet another sign of its push to sharpen its weapons capabilities. "The United States condemns the DPRK's May 17 ballistic missile launches," a State Department spokesperson said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Like all other DPRK ballistic missile launches in recent years, these launches violated multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, and posed a threat to regional and international peace and security," the official added. The spokesperson reaffirmed that Washington harbors no "hostile" intent toward the North. "We continue to consult closely with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and other allies and partners about how to best engage the DPRK, deter aggression, and coordinate international responses to the DPRK's ongoing and dangerous provocations," the official said. The South Korean military said Friday that it detected the North's firing of several short-range ballistic missiles from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan. The missiles flew about 300 kilometers and landed in the East Sea, it said. The latest launches came after South Korea and the U.S. staged combined aerial drills involving advanced stealth jets Thursday in an apparent show of airpower against evolving North Korean military threats. (Yonhap) By KTimes The recent murder of a Korean tourist in Pattaya, Thailand, allegedly by another Korean, has prompted a travel advisory for Southeast Asia, highlighting the frequent targeting of Koreans, especially by their fellow nationals, in the region, despite a temporary decrease during the pandemic. Following the Philippines, known for cases of extortion, Thailand has seen a rise in violent crimes that some have linked to the legalization of cannabis, necessitating caution when travelling to the country. On May 11, a 34-year-old Korean tourist, identified as A, was found dead in a reservoir in Pattaya. The victim's fingers were severed, and the body was concealed in a plastic drum, highlighting the brutality of the crime. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asia's gambling and nightlife culture made it a hotspot for crimes targeting Koreans. The Philippines, in particular, is notorious for its rampant gun violence and extortion, where pre-selected victims are lured into traps using prostitution as bait, then demand money in exchange for their release. Thailand has emerged as a dangerous area, particularly due to drug-related issues. In June 2022, Thailand effectively legalized cannabis by removing it from the list of narcotics. The negative effects were swift, with foreigners increasingly becoming victims. Last year, a foreign tourist died after drinking cannabis tea at a cannabis cafe on Walking Street in central Pattaya. The deceased Korean tourist may also have been a victim of drug-related crime. The perpetrators demanded a ransom of 11.2 million won ($8,300) from A's mother, claiming, "Your son discarded illegal drugs and suffered the consequences." High alert on drug-related crimes Other Southeast Asian countries are also not safe from drug-related crimes. In October 2016, Park Wang-yeol, who became known as the "drug king," killed three Koreans in the Philippines and disposed of their bodies while using the country as a base to distribute large quantities of drugs worldwide. As drug crime in Southeast Asia gains renewed attention, Koreans are growing fearful. A 30-year-old office worker, only identified as Lee, said, "I was planning to travel to Thailand for my summer vacation, but I might change my plans. I'm worried not only about movie-like incidents but also about copycat crimes." Online communities have also shared testimonies, with one person stating, "(A) was kidnapped from a club that is very popular among foreigners. I once lost consciousness after drinking a beverage given to me by someone there." Korean Embassies are on high alert to ensure the safety of Korean tourists. The Korean Embassy in Thailand advised, "Check for cannabis-related symbols or ingredients listed on products or menus, and be cautious of cannabis specialty shops." Similarly, the Korean Embassy in the Philippines posted a "Guidance on Preventing Drug Crime Involvement" on its website last year. International drug cartels luring individuals into drug trafficking with promises of high-paying jobs through social media should also be approached with caution. If someone is suspected of being missing, it is crucial to report it immediately to the local embassy or police. The Korean Embassy in Thailand said, "Thai police typically accept missing person reports only after 24 hours of no contact, and it is essential for the concerned party to report directly to local law enforcement. Initially, report the case to the relevant Korean police station and inform the embassy about the missing person's status." This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by staff of The Korea Times. In honor of Saul Basss birthday this month, were taking a look at some of the greatest animated title sequences from live-action movies (the topic of great credits sequences in animated movies is a subject for another time). I love a good title sequence. Its inspiring to see artists pour so much imagination and skill into what could be a simple list of credits. Heres Walt Disney describing the process of creating the titles for The Parent Trap (1961). As Walt Disney suggested above, opening credits in the early days of movies tended to be straightforwardly informational, often created quickly by in-house art departments superimposing text over static background paintings. Even so, there are a handful of movies from the 1930s and 40s that contain brief bits of animation during the credits. One great example is the cartoon opening of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). This scene is frequently attributed to Walter Lantz, but was actually directed by Dave Fleischer. The idea of the title sequence as an art form that serves as a little mini-movie in and of itself can be traced back to Saul Bass, who got his start in Hollywood as a designer of logos and movie posters. When director Otto Preminger suggested he create opening titles based around his poster design for Carmen Jones (1954), Bass became interested in the creative potential of a title sequence to contribute to the themes and overall tone of a film. As he said, I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience so that when the film actually began viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it. He spent the next forty years creating titles for directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese that are just as iconic as the films that followed. Although he was not an animator himself, many of Saul Basss titles incorporate animated elements. Here are a few of his most memorable: It was the six-minute sequence Bass designed for Around the World in 80 Days (1956) that firmly established animated credits as an exciting new trend. The titles take us through the entire movie in miniature, transforming the characters and main events of the film into stylized icons. Although Bass was the only artist credited for the sequence, it was actually directed by Bill Hurtz, a UPA veteran who went on to direct hundreds of Rocky & Bullwinkle episodes and Capn Crunch commercials. In the 1950s and 60s, movie studios were desperate to lure people away from their television sets, so they used attractions like CinemaScope and 3d to provide audiences with an experience they couldnt get at home. Elaborate animated titles added to the sense that the movie you were about to see was not just something to idly watch, but a major event. The title sequence for the epic comedy Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) again designed by Bass and directed by Hurtz crams in nearly as many jokes as the movie itself. As Bass said of the sequence, The idea was take a globe of the world and see just how many visual jokes can be squeezed out of it. Both the film and the title were based on similar notions take a joke and push it beyond a reasonable point. The positive reaction to Basss work opened the floodgates for innovative titles designed by the likes of Wayne Fitzgerald, Pablo Ferro, and Iginio Lardani. Outside of Bass, perhaps the most famous title designer is Maurice Binder, who created the opening of the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962) and proceeded to design the titles of fifteen more entries in the series. He also designed the abstract animated titles for Stanley Donens brilliant mystery caper Charade (1963). The sequence is just so Sixties, with its mod color scheme and ultra-cool Henry Mancini soundtrack. And these arent just meaningless shapes; the spinning pinwheels and intersecting lines (animated by Robert Ellis) represent the twists and turns of the films narrative, leading our heroine Audrey Hepburn down a maze of mistaken identities and double-crosses. Maybe the all-time classic title sequence comes from The Pink Panther (1963), by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, which not only introduced a cartoon star but also introduced one of the best movie themes ever composed (by Henry Mancini). Looney Tunes director Friz Freleng supervised the sequence, while Frelengs longtime layout artist Hawley Pratt designed the panther and Ken Harris primarily animated him. Producer David DePatie remembered the movies premiere: The memories of that night will remain with me forever. The projector started to roll and as the Panther first appeared there was a ripple of laughter from the audience which quickly became whistles and roars of approval as the Panther toyed with the various titles. At the conclusion of the main title, the crowd went bananas. Animated title sequences became a tradition for the Pink Panther series, which starred Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. In my opinion, the funniest Clouseau movie is the second one, A Shot in the Dark (1964), which also boasts one of the funniest title sequences. DePatie-Freleng once again designed the titles, but they were animated in the U.K. under the supervision of George Dunning, who later directed Yellow Submarine. Compared to the original Pink Panther sequence, you can see the drawing style here is looser and scratchier, but so charmingly kooky. And once you hear that original theme (by Mancini, again) it will never leave your head. Riding high off of the success of The Pink Panther, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises handled the titles of various movies of the 1960s and early-70s, each one unique and beautifully designed by animation greats like Ken Mundie, Corny Cole, and Robert Dranko. Here are a few of their best: DePatie-Freleng wasnt the only studio to design intros for the Pink Panther films. The legendary Richard Williams (of Who Framed Roger Rabbit fame) handled the lavishly animated titles of The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976). Williams designed many outstanding credits sequences over the years, but Im fond of Strikes Again for its unique photographic backgrounds, beautiful animation by Tony White, and funny movie parodies. The success of The Pink Panther prompted a wave of cartoon animal mascots in live-action films. The Peter Sellers comedy After the Fox (1966) introduces a fox character for the opening sequence designed by Binder and animated by Dick Horn. The animation is choppier than in the Panther films, but the sequence is bluntly effective at delivering loopy cartoon silliness. Disney often used animated titles for live-action comedies like The Shaggy Dog (1959), The Parent Trap (1961), and Freaky Friday (1976) in order to give them a dash of the cartoony visual imagination audiences associated with the Disney name. One of my favorites is Bill Justice and Xavier Atencios stop-motion opening of The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), which features a cutout version of Annette Funicello singing the movies theme song. The Sixties mustve been the golden age of animated movie titles; you could find clever, beautifully-drawn credits sequences in everything from expensive super-productions like Doctor Dolittle (1967) to cheap drive-in fodder like Catalina Caper (1967). Several of the Frankie Avalon-Annette Funicello Beach Party movies contained quirky stop-motion titles by Art Clokey, creator of Gumby. Heres one from How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). Animated movie titles werent only a trend in the United States. Comic artist extraordinaire Ronald Searle designed the titles of many British films, including Those Daring Young Men in their Jaunty Jalopies (1969). Its a pleasure to see Searles intricately gnarled drawing style in motion. Ive never heard of Harry Hess, a former UPA animator, but based on his gloriously goofy and psychedelic titles for the Italian feature The Prophet (1968), Im a huge fan. Georges Grammat is another cartoonist Ive never heard of before now, but I adore this zany title sequence he created for the French crime film The Troubleshooters (1971). The little square guys here look like the Seventies equivalent of the Minions. The demand for whimsical animated opening credits died down a bit in the more serious New Hollywood era of the 1970s, but they still popped up occasionally throughout the decade, perhaps most famously in the musical Grease (1978). Despite the movie being set in the 1950s, the disco beat and grungy art style immediately mark this sequence as a product of the 70s. Animator John Wilson seems to be channeling Ralph Bakshi with his scratchy line-work and underground comix aesthetic. Ive always been amused by the vague lyrics of the title song, which suggest that songwriter Barry Gibb had no idea what the movie was about. Jumping ahead to the 1980s, the animated titles to the Madonna vehicle Whos That Girl (1987) transform the popstar into a Betty Boop-type character, designed by Argentinian artist Daniel Melgarejo. This likable sequence, stylishly drawn in grease pencil, completely steals the show; even the films director James Foley conceded that it was the best scene in the movie. The sequence was produced by Broadcast Arts, the studio behind Pee-Wees Playhouse, and was directed by Ric Machin, who later worked on Batman: The Animated Series. You can read more about who animated the title in this Cartoon Brew post. Indie animator Sally Cruikshank directed a handful of title sequences for Eighties movies, including one for the teen romantic comedy Mannequin (1987), which accompanies a song by Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Gos. You have to wonder what the films target audience made of this random intrusion of cartoon weirdness. Bill Kroyer (director of FernGully: The Last Rainforest) produced three of the most memorable title sequences ever made, all in the same year: Honey I Shrunk the Kids, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and Troop Beverly Hills were all released in 1989, and all display Kroyers innovative combo technique of blending hand-drawn animation with computer-generated 3d elements. For Troop Beverly Hills, Kroyer sought help from the artists at Spumc, who would go on to create The Ren & Stimpy Show (John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith, Bob Camp, Don Shank, Lynne Naylor, etc.). Its fascinating to see that zany Nicktoons style in its early stages. One of the most fun aspects of animated title sequences is when cartoon characters interact with the credits themselves. No one is better at spinning gags out of that concept than Bob Kurtz, who directed wonderful titles for films like City Slickers (1991), Four Rooms (1995), George of the Jungle (1997), The Pink Panther (2006), and Are We Done Yet? (2007). Ron Underwood, director of City Slickers, said of Kurtzs titles: It gave the opening of the film the perfect lift. You can always count on the F word with Bobs work: Funny! But its the H word that makes it so memorable: Heart! Here are a few of Kurtzs credits gags: The credits are also cleverly revealed in the title sequence of Brain Donors (1992), which was directed by Claymation legend Will Vinton. The movie itself is a tribute to the timeless comedy of the Marx Bros., but it might be Vintons animated opening that comes the closest to capturing that wacky Marxian energy. I get especially excited by title sequences that take an unusual approach to animation. For the credits of the underrated bizarro comedy Freaked (1993), David Daniels used his totally unique and difficult-to-fathom Stratacut animation technique, which involves molding an entire animated movement into a piece of clay and then slicing into it frame-by-frame like a loaf of bread, creating a flip book effect. This sequence perfectly matches the in-your-face MTV-era insanity of the movie that follows. The film barely received a release in the U.S. because executives deemed it too weird, so the movie and this sequence never got the attention they deserved. WARNING: This scene contains intense flashing lights. Aleksandra Korejwo is a one-of-a-kind talent who creates animation out of colored salt. Her opening credits for the Disney feature The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) are lovely and unlike any other credits sequence Ive seen. According to Korejwo, I animate directly under the camera; I destroy the first picture to create the second. When I finish, all that remains is the dirty salt on the floor. The life of the material exists only in movement and only for a few minutes, but I hope it remains forever in the imagination of the audience. It isnt only comedies and family movies that benefit from animated titles. The acclaimed German action thriller Run Lola Run (1998) features a cartoon opening by Gil Alkabetz that instantly sets the tone for the films fever-pitch adrenaline. Sometimes title sequences outclass the movies theyre attached to: Tomcats (2001) is a gross-out sex comedy in the American Pie vein about a couple of womanizing bachelors, but animators Darrell van Citters and Scott OBrien use that setup as a jumping-off point to create a cel-animated Tex Avery slapstick cartoon with a cat and a dog, set to an early 2000s pop-punk tune by the Offspring. One of the most influential title sequences comes from Steven Spielbergs Catch Me if You Can (2002), designed by Paris-based artists Olivier Kuntzel and Florence Deygas. The Saul Bass-inspired sequence combines old and new technology: the figures were created using hand-printed rubber stamps (based on Leonardo DiCaprios character using rubber stamps to create new identities for himself in the movie) and then were moved around digitally. The positive reaction to the sequence led to a wave of stylish motion graphics-based title sequences, like the ones in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Thank You For Smoking (2005). There have been plenty of excellent animated title sequences in the 21st century, although instead of appearing during a films opening credits, they are now more commonly used as a lead-in to the end credits. One of the best is Jamie Caliris masterful five-minute end credits sequence for Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), which cleverly turns the villainous Count Olaf into a huge, invasive graphic element. I love the darkly gothic art style and Thomas Newmans moody musical theme. Lots of animated end credits run through the events of the movie, or sometimes even bring a characters drawings to life (this was done in Super, American Ultra, and the recent Spider-Man movies). In other cases, the primary goal is just to leave the audience with a buzz of excitement. Matt Reynolds striking sequence for the comic thriller Villains (2019) is a gutsy explosion of punk neon grossness. According to the films director Robert Olsen, We had intended for it to be at the beginning of the film but it wound up kicking too much ass! It was so energetic and full of life and so crazy that it made the film that came after it feel less so, so we wound up putting it at the end. Even so, theres nothing like a good opening credits sequence to really get the ball rolling. I still remember seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) in theaters and having my mind blown by the abstract scribbles dancing around while Beck is blasting on the soundtrack. Apparently, the title was added when Quentin Tarantino viewed a rough cut of the film and suggested it needed a title sequence to hint at the mayhem to come. Director Edgar Wright told animator Richard Kenworthy that he wanted it to be like 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Sesame Street, further explaining, The idea was to have it as if the animation is a manifestation of how cool the music is in Knives head. Thats why we end the sequence on her watching, the titles are like her brain is exploding with how cool the track is. We dont see enough animated opening credits in movies these days, but maybe the tide is turning: the recent horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein (2024) features a pleasantly macabre animated opening from Tulips and Chimneys. What are your favorite animated title sequences? Let us know in the comments. Well finish things off with a title sequence that doubles as a parody of title sequences: Terry Gilliams opening for Monty Pythons Life of Brian (1979), which features a spoof of one of those Shirley Bassey James Bond theme songs. Enjoy! Breaking News Would you like to receive our breaking news news? 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